Split (1)

train · 160M rows

text large_stringlengths 1 1.03M	language large_stringclasses 1 value	warc_record_id large_stringlengths 36 36	url large_stringlengths 13 1.07k
For instance, if Adam was created on Earth, why did he have to go to paradise in heaven for Allah to create Eve? If they were to live on Earth, why was it later used as a punishment? If Allah forgave them, why weren't they allowed back in paradise in heaven if they were only thrown out prematurely for their sin? If they stayed to live where they were sent after winning but before being forgiven, than was a punishment really administered, or where they ever really forgiven? Did Adam accomplish what he was placed on earth to do? If so, what was that? If not, did he go to heaven or hell after his earthly life? If he didn't accomplish it and went to heaven, does it even matter if one does not fulfill Allah's wishes? Since he sinned, can he really be considered an infallible Muslim prophet? Does Islam allow for prophets who sin? If sin is not inherited, why do people suffer even when they are too young to consciously sin (babies and young children)? Are humans given the same command to fulfill on earth that Allah gave Adam? If so, why does everyone need to do it? If earthly life is a test of our worthiness, why don't angels and other spirits need to do this? Are angels just humans before they come to earth? Are humans thrown out of paradise or do they willingly go? If they are thrown out of paradise to earth than have they already sinned? If they have sinned in paradise why do they have to come to earth for more tests? Haven't they already proved unworthy? Shouldn't they just go to hell? Since Adam and eve knew they sinned in heaven and repented on earth, why don't other humans have that luxury and instead sometimes die without knowing what they need to repent from? If the answer to that question is learning Islam, then why aren't Muslims more proactive in telling others about the way to salvation instead of trying to limit their contact with unbelievers to the point that most contact relating to religion is negative or initiated by the unbeliever? If humans in heaven willingly go down to earth, for what purpose? If it is for the same purpose Adam was sent, then why does it need to be repeated? If it is to be tested for the first time or in addition to whatever test they failed that caused them to sin and be sent to Earth like Adam and Eve, wouldn't the series of tests be better administered in the place that they are being tried to see if they are worthy of living in (Paradise Heaven)? Or is Earth so similar to Paradise Heaven that it can adequately serve as an equal testing ground? If Earth and Paradise Heaven are just alike, why even have Earth? Why not just have infinite space in Paradise Heaven for all good living creatures? If Adam was going to end up on Earth in the end anyway (at least for some time), and he wasn't kicked out (since Earth was originally just an assignment, and only according to some scholars made a punishment, did Allah not punish him at all? Isn't punishment the agreed upon consequence of sin according to the Qur'an? If that wasn't Adam's punishment, what was? If there was no punishment, did Adam actually sin, or is this how Allah planned to send him back to earth with Eve? If Adam and Eve did not sin, why did they need Allah's forgiveness? If it was to show that simply Allah can forgive in such situations where a sin actually occurs, than does that mean that Allah viewed needing forgiveness from sin as part of being human? If not, what other things does a person need forgiveness from besides sinning? These are serious questions I have after doing much research on Islam (non-Muslim). I had others, but these are the ones I still had or developed in addition to the originals once I started doing my reasearch. I have tried to keep my research as unbiased as possible, only reading what unbiased secular authorities have written about Muslim beliefs as well as reading answers about similar subjects by various recognized scholars of the Qur'an. I understand there is at least some disagreement at least where Adam was created, but I chose to question the answer that made the least sense to me in terms of that. Please cite and quote the Qur'an and include explanation of those verses in your answers, please. And please don't send me to another site, I'm weary of link-surfing. Thanks in advance! I TRIED TO ANSWER EACH OF YOUR QUESTION YOU ASKED BUT IF I FELT LIKE ONE OF THEM WAS ALREADY COVERED IN WHAT I SAID I DIDNT REPEAT IT.I CURRENLY DIDNT HAVE WHERE EACH OF THE QUOTES ARE FROM BECAUSE I DID THIS ALL BASED ON MEMORY OF WHAT I HAVE BEEN TAUGHT BUT I ASSURE YOU IT IS VERY ACCURATE AND LONG BECAUSE I STUDIED OVERSEAS.SORRY IM NOT SCREAMING AT YOU I JUST FELT LIKE THE FONT WAS TOO SMALL. TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION IM JUST GONNA HAVE TO RE-EXPLAIN THE STORY BECAUSE MUCH OF WHAT YOU SAID IS BASED ON CHRITIAN BELIFS THE FIRST THING I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT TO YOU IS THAT GOD IS ALL KNOWING AND ALL SEEING AND BEFORE I BEGIN THE STORY YOU MUST KNOW THAT ALLAH ALREADY KNEW THAT IBLEES(DEVIL)HAS DISOBEYED AND DOES NOT LIKE THE IDEA OF HUMANS AND THAT HE MADE AN OATH TO DESTROY MANKIND TILL THE LAST DAY ON EARTH. SO ADAM WAS THE ONLY MAN TO BE CREATED DIRECTLY FROM ALLAH AND ALLAHS BREATH WE WERE CREATED FROM CLAY THEN WE WERE BLOWN ON WHICH IS WHAT A SOUL IS AND THEN ADAM WAS ALIVE THIS SHOWS HOW HE WAS CREATED IN HEAVEN BUT THE MATIREAL HE WAS MADE FROM WAS FROM EARTH (DIRT) SO THE ANGELS ASKED WHY MAN WAS CREATED WHEN GOD HAD LOYAL SERVANTS(THE ANGELS) BUT THEN ALLAH DISPROVED THEM AND SHOWED THEM THAT WE ARE MUCH MORE KNOLEDGEABLE SO ALL THE ANGELS WERE TOLD TO BOW DOWN TO HIM AND THEY OBEYED BUT IBLEES AND HE SAID I WAS MADE OF LIGHT AND HE FROM DIRT SO HOW WILL I BOW DOWN TO HIM. SO ADAM WAS DIRECTED TO NAME THE CREATURES HE SAW AND HE GAVE THEM EACH NAMES THEN ALLAH ASKED THE ANGELS TO DO THE SAME BUT THEY SAID WE ONLY KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TAUGHT US. SO THIS PROVED TO THEM THAT THIS CREATION WAS A WORTHY ONE AND THEY SAID BY ALLAH! YOU TRULY KNOW WHATS BEST. SO THEN WHILE THEY WERE STILL IN HEAVEN ALLAH TOOK THE TOP RIB OF ADAM AND MADE FROM HIM A WIFE SO THAT MAN AND WOMEN WOULD HAVE HUMAN INSTINCT TO BE TOGETHER AS ONE( BUT ONLY WHEN THEY ARE MARRIED) AND THEN THEY WERE KEPT IN HEAVEN FOR SOME TIME THIS GAVE THE HUMAN RACE THE NATURAL YEARNING TO WANT TO BELONG IN HEAVEN AND ALLAH INSTRUCTED THEM THAT THEY MAY BE ABLE TO STAY AS LONG AS THEY WANT AS LONG AS THEY STAY AWAY FROM THE TREE, WE ARE NOT TOLD WHAT TYPE OF TREE IT IS BUT CHRITIANITY CLAIMS IT TO BE EITHER A POMAGRANTE OR APPLE TREE. THE DEVIL TOLD THEM THAT THE REASON WHY THEY COULDENT EAT FROM IT IS BECAUSE IT WOULD CAUSE THEM TO LIVE FOREVER. BUT. AND FROM HERE ON IT SOUNDS LIKE THE SAME STORY BUT THIS IS THE DIFFERANCE WITH OUR BELIFS, WE BELIVE THAT GOD ALREADY KNEW THEY WERE GOING TO SINAND THIS IS WHY HE PREPARED EARTH AND KNOWLEGDE IN A FRUIT FOR THEM THIS WAS A TEST THAT THEY WERE ALREADY DESTINED TO FAIL BUT THROUGH FAILURE THEY WERE ABLE TO LEARN RIGHT AND WORNG, IM GOING TO START NOW FROM WHERE ALLAH WAS QUESTIONING THEIR ACT, UNLIKE IN CHRISTIANITY NEITHER EVE NOR ADAM WERE PUNISHED MORE SEVERLY OR WERE BLAMED MORE BUT IT WAS EQUALLY THEIR FAULT AND THEY RECIVED THE SAME PUNISMENT THEY WERE SENT DOWN TO EARTH BUT THE REASON WHY THIS HAPPENED WAS SO THEY MAY GROW A NATURAL HATE TOWORSS THE DEVIL KNOW THAT HE IS A LIAR AND A DECIVERAND ALSO THEY LEARNNED RIGHT AND WRONG NOT ONLY THROUGH ACTION BUT PHYSICALLY TOO THROUGH THE APPLE SO THIS PREPARED THEM FORTHEIR LIFE ON EARTH AND GAVE HUMANS A VERY GOOD LESSON. THIS IS WHY ADAM IS OUR PROPHET BECAUSE THROUGHT HIS ACTION WE LEARNED SOMTHING VERY GOOD AND WHEN HE ATEE THE APPLE IT GAVE US KNOWLEDGE AND FROM HIM WE WERE ALL BORN EVEN HIS WIFE. AND FROM THEN ON THEY HAD CHILDREN SO WE WERE ALL BORN THROUGH ADAM AND ONLY ADAM WAS ACUALLY CREATED BY THE HANDS AND BREATH OF ALLAH. SO ADAM WAS SENT ON EARTH SIMPLY TO LIVE IT WAS A PUNISHMENT BUT EVEN MORE IT WAS A LESSON AND HE BELONGED TO EARTH ANYWAY HE WAS ONLY IN HEAVEN IN THE FIRST PLACE TO 1-HE WAS CREATED THERE 2- SO WE MAY HAVE A NATURAL YEARNING TO BE IN HEAVEN AND FEEL LIKE ITS OUR HOME. SO. PARADICE IS NOT EQUAL TO EARTH NOR WILL IT EVER BE WE. AND AS FOR HAVING AN INFINITE SPACE, THERE IS IN HEAVEN THERE IS ENOUGH ROOM FOR EVERY SINGLE PERSON CREATED OR WILL BE CREATED EVEN THOUGH WE WONT ALL GO TO HEAVEN, ENOUGH SPACE WAS CREATED JUST IN CASE OUR SPECIES WERE ALL GOING. THE REASON WH YMOST DONT CONTACT UNBELIVERS AS YOU SAY IS THAT AMERICANS DONT WANT TO LEARN FOR THOSE WHO DO THERE ARE SITES LIKE THIS AND MANY OTHERS AND MOSQUES BUT WE ARENT SENT TO CONVERT PEOPLE IT HAS TO BE SOMONE PERSONAL CHOICE SO WE ONLY PREACH TO THOOSE WHO WANT TO LEARN NOT LIKE MORMANS WHO DIRECLTY KNOCK ON YOUR DOOR AND SHOVE INFORMATION DOWN YOUR THROUT, BUT IF YOU GO TO OTHER CONTRIES IN THE EAST YOU WILL SEE THAT THEY ARE MUCH MORE OPEN BECAUSE IN PLACES LIKE GERMANY,FRANE, AND AUSTRALIA, THEY ARENT LABELED AS TERRORIST EVERY TIME THEY WALK OUT THEIR DOOR IT MAKES MUSLIMS LIVING IN AMERICAAFRAID TO RANDOMLY GO UP TO PEOPLE AND TALK ABOUT THEIR RELIGION IN FACT IN AMERICA MANY YOUNG MUSLIMS GO TO THE EXTENT OF REMOVING THEIR VEILS AND CHANGING THEIR NAMES TO "FIT IN" IN PUBLIC SCOOLS PEOPLE CAN BE VERY CRUEL EVEN AT THE PARK ONCE AN OLD COUPLE WERE WHISPERING ABOUT OUR FAMILY AND STARING AT US IN DISCUST AND I SPECIFICALLY HEARD ONE OF THEM SAY THEIR WEARING OUR SHOES AS IF VANS BELONG TO THEM EVEN THOUGH I AM AMERICAN AND LABLED AS WHITE WHEN I SIGN STUFF. AND AND WORSHIPED WILL BE THROWN IN HELL. A. IF YOU HAVENT DONE ANYTHING WRON THEN YOU DONT NEED FORGIVNESS. IF. Ok wow, thank you :) this final Answer of yours, while I may not agree, does help me to know Better what it is and how that Muslims believe. Our views of the original state of mankind and paradise are very different indeed, but this does give me an indication why Islam has no belief of original sin, as well as what Islam teaches about what heaven is like. Thank you for your explanations and patience, they have cleared a lot of things up. I wish you all the best :) So mila....Hello again, seems better to paste it as a whole here... i'll just paste it to be sewed together, and I got ur reply so no need to paste it here again. Bismillah Alrahman Alrahim.. Why was Adam created? When Allah created Adam, He created him for two reasons: to worship Him, and to success the earth: [2: 30 And when thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to place a viceroy in the EARTH, they said: Wilt thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee ? He said: Surely I know that which ye know not. Here, the verse showed that Adam was created to LIVE ON EARTH, to be a viceroy.. and this is the burden that human accepted to carry: [33:72] We had offered the Trust (of divine responsibilities) to the heavens, the earth, the mountains, but they refrained from bearing the burden and were frightened of it; but man took it on himself. He is a faithless ignoramus. But what about the garden/Jannah where Adam was created? Why didn't he just stay there? The word: Jannah/Paradise is an Arabic word stands for paradise of heaven, and for gardens of earth, like the verses: [55:46] But for him who lived in awe of the sublimity of his Lord, there will be two gardens [34:15] There was a sign for the people of Saba in their habitations: Two gardens, on the right and left. (And they were told:) "Eat of what your Lord has given you and be thankful. Fair is your land, and forgiving your Lord." The two previous verses both used the word Jannah/garden, but one meant the Paradise and one meant a garden on Earth. From this was the conflict amongst scholars, but the wisest of them said: The heaven Paradise was never seen by any living creature, and it couldn't be the garden that Adam was created in for a simple reason, that the one who enters jannah of heaven shall never get out: [15:48] No weariness will come upon them, nor will they be sent away from there. So what was that jannah where Adam was created in? it was a jannah of examination. And the word dwell mentioned for Adam expelled out of that jannah meant to go from a higher state to a lower state, from this jannah to real earth, not necessarily to fall from heaven to earth, and that jannah just disappeared.. it did its job! Where is it now? Allah knows best! If it's so, then why was all this for? Allah wanted to teach Adam a little lesson before he goes on with his life on Earth.. SATAN IS UR ENEMY, but it was made in a practical lesson, another lesson Adam learned, ALLAH IS UR SHELTER, HIS DOORS ARE ALWAYS OPEN, AND HE'S ALWAYS THERE WATCHING YOU. These lessons are the core of life, they are the pavement we'll walk on to fulfill our mission here on earth. So, Allah doesn't need us, or our worship, and He's beyond question.. if you really know He's your creator, the next step shall be obeying Him and submission to His might.. So if u ask if Allah doesn't need us so why did He create us, I'd say I've no answer but for expression of His power as a Creator. Back to Adam, he knew now the way to Allah, knew how to return for Him after mistake, just like what his offspring shall do. And he fulfilled his mission, he worshipped Allah the way Allah commanded him, and worked on earth, made a change in it, brought the whole mankind. Now why need testing if Allah already knew who deserves jannah and who doesn't? When someone brings you a gift for no reason but that he knows you are smart, would it be better or having an exam where all would have the same chance to express their abilities then the reward goes for those who SHOWED UP intelligence and hard work? Suppose Allah let us all go to heaven, each in his grade; some have lower and some have higher grades, couldn't just anybody of lower grades say: O' God, this is unfair.. I deserve to be higher!! suppose Allah replies: no, I know u don't.. the reply would then be: try me, and will see! Another thing… when someone works so hard and then get paid, he feels the joy of earning that with his hard work.. and when you do something wrong to someone and apologize then he accepts your apology, you just feel grateful to him.. That's how it goes; a human who enters jannah after that earth life feels so grateful that Allah granted him with mercy and the great reward of forgiveness and the jannah where joy is endless. But Adam sinned, this means that all prophets sin, is that logic? And why were we created sinning? And how would we enter jannah after that? sinning doesn't mean being unworthy.. we all enter jannah by Allah's mercy after all, not even with our good deeds, it's Allah who made us be able to do them! Gave us tongue, eyes, limbs, will, health… And asking for forgiveness means that you recognize Allah's power and direct to His Face.. means you know what God means, and God's mercy is beyond imagination. But on condition that: do not live a sinful life and turn to repent when you're about to die! That means cheating, and relation with Allah must be so pure and honest. The one who sins and doesn't repent just sends that message: I DON'T RECOGNIZE YOU AS A GOD, I don't care for you! The more you regard Allah the more you get closer to Him, your sins lessen while your awareness of His watchfulness is heightened; this is when you have a different meaning of sinning: you'll then consider wasting time a sin, overeating a sin, oversleeping a sin.. you'll just see Allah in every movement and try not to let Him see something He Hates from you, you'll then see even thinking of sin is a sin.. that's sure a very high grade, and that's somewhat the grade of sinning for the prophets. And yeah, sinning is part of being human: in a Hadith, Prophet Muhammad tells that: if you don't sin, Allah would remove you and bring others who sin then repent then be forgiven! Okay, but if earth resembles paradise, then why is there earth or why is there paradise? Allah made heaven similar to earth in shape of fruits, trees, birds… to make us feel familiar to it, but Allah who was able to create different crops rising out of same soil could make a banana in heaven look like a banana on earth but with a different taste and pleasure. So they indeed are totally different, the differences are too many to be mentioned here, and the Noble Quran mentioned that issue in detail. So dear Mila, I'll make it all here as long as u prefer that Pleased to share my answer with u Accept my respect Wallahu Aaalm/Allah knows best! Ok, concerning question 1, if Adam and Eve already had this knowledge, did the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad signify anything at all? if they already possessed what supposedly this tree provided then why was it forbidden from them to eat of it? If it wasn't really forbidden but Allah simply set it up as a test, like you say, just to see if they would eat it or not, obey or disobey, I don't see why Satan would, seemingly, agree to participate in a meaningless test that was just about obedience when it seems his main problem was his own pride. Was it pride in misleading humans to listen to him? It sounds like this actually may be what you are saying. Anyways, I still don't understand setting up a test to inform them about Satan with the actual devil as the threat, unless Satan was simply fooled into trying to fool them with this fruit as well. If Allah wanted to set up a trial run for them in case they ran into Satan why wouldn't he make it all fake, with no real punishment and some other angel playing as a deceiver. This is like explaining the rules of a game to kid that has never played it and suggesting doing a pracice game where no one is taking score, so they know what to expect, like baseball and then instead of you being the pitcher, you bring in the professional who someday your kid might actually have to play against, and the when they lose, even though you knew they would, even though it's their first tIme playing ever, you say, "well actually that loss does count as a real loss. Okay let's play again now that you are now 0-1.". I would feel tricked if I was that child, even if it was just because my parent wanted me to feel what it was like to lose. I never really had a chance to begin with. Concerning question 3: you would honestly put your own child through hardship and temptation concerning intsructiOns you gave them for life just to see how much they loved you? Where is your love as a parent to try and do all you can to protect them from the indecent things of the world. If this were true, then the Prophet would tell all Muslims what Allah commanded and then to expose themselves to all these forbidden things to see how well they do. Isn't the Quran all about guarding oneself and staying pious and god-fearing, even to the extent of either converting those who do not believe or not having fellowship with them at all? Where does it advocate exposing oneself or others to temptation just to prove love for Allah? I do specifically mean purposefully placing oneself in temptations path as you say Allah did with Adam and Eve. Besides, if he felt he needed to prepare them for Satan because he was such a threat, why didn't he simply destroy Satan and settle the problem before it began? Question 4 If Allah is the creator, than certainly he can do whatever he wishes. This is why I asked about your statement that no human can leave heaven once they are there, because either that wasn't entirely true or else Allah had instituted a law stating that even he would not do this. But I am sorry I misunderstood you; now that that is clearer, I can understand a little better now. As far as fathers sin affecting sons I meant that since Islam does not teach original sin, than all humans would have to come into being in the same way like Adam. Not neccesarily direct creation of God, but if Adam originated in heaven in a sinless state and only went down to Earth after sinning, than all his offspring would have to follow this course if they too were brought into this world sinless. Unless earthly life is not just a punishment or proving ground for humans to prove themselves worthy after sinning (even if such a sin was set up to occur by Allah, which then that first sin would have to be failing a divine heavenly test by Allah) or else it could be said that humans born on Earth are already considered needing to prove themselves as worthy since Adam had failed the first test in heaven. By the way, I forgot to mention that while Eve is recorded in the Bible as taking the first bite of the fruit, it is Adam, the head, God addresses first in the Bible, first to question, then to pronounce sentence upon. Yes, Eves birth pangs increased, but Adam would forever be attributed as the introducer of sin to mankind in the Bible. As far as Jesus need dying being a Muslim belief, in my public school, I didn't have any classes on religion. All my studying has been independent and through my religion. Question 5 This greatly clears up a large issue. I apologize for harping on the subject of prophets and infallibility, however, it is something I read from quite a few different sources on Islam, and it didn't make much sense to me anyways. QuestiOn 6 Actually, because the Bible does not teach about an immortal soul, I do not believe in it. The bible says that when a person dies his spirit or life force (ruach) goes out, he goes back to the ground (his physical body) and in that day his thoughts do leave him. It also says the dead are not conscious of anything at all. When Sarah died, Abraham's wife, the bible says her breath left her. The idea of an immortal soul comes from the twisted teaching of many pagan religions in the first century blended in with apostate Christianity to attract more worshippers and gain power and government approval. When jesus followers spoke of heavenly life, they were referring to a small group of worshippers that would be ressurected to spirit life like Jesus. Jesus also spoke of many more people who would inherit a peaceful earth free of wickedness through resurrection on earth. Jesus is recorded in the bible giving resurrections. But nowhere do those resurrected talk about a life after death experience of heaven or hell (which sadly, since Jesus was the first to ascend to heaven, would mean if there was an afterlife, there would only be hell waiting for them. Don't you think they would have wanted to talk about that! And if they did it would make sense to record their testimony; this is of course so long as you don't believe in purgatory, which as a place that one can leave and go to heaven or hell from is not a biblical teaching either). I do enjoy this conversation and it is wonderful to get detailed answers from an actual Muslim. It helps me to understand your mind and beliefs. This website isn't too difficult for me, actually prefer it as if we did Skype, my husband would probably forget if I was having a private conversation and walk in the room and I wouldn't want there to be an uncomfortable situation. But do reply back to me on here! Question 1-Allah wasent trying to hide somthing good from them the knowledge already belonged to them God made angels to only worship and only understand what is right but Allah wanted to give them the choice of worship so gave them knowlegde allah would ave given it to them weather they ate from it or not i forgot to mention this but it was the first time that anyone was tested by the tempations of the devil and they didnt know that it was right to listen to their creator and wrong to listen to the devil because they have only been exposed to good untill this point and think its ok to listen to anyone so because Allah is so merciful he allowed them to disobey(although allah wasent pleased that they did) its like if somone was an expert at somthing then they told somone else to do it and they mess up they wont punish them for it. so God wasent rewarding them for disobeying When Allah saw that the species was weak and fell into the devils trick Allah handed them the knowledge they needed to futher help fight them off. so instead of thinking it as a reward for disobeying think of it as a sheild for any futher temptations the devil tries to put on them.you gave the example with the toy but it dosent really work because the fruit was somthing that they didnt know heres how i think of the example based on the quran its like when you have a toddler that dosent know how to use a book their sibling(which i feel really bad about comparing to the devil sorry just want somone to do it) tells them to take it and read it because it will make the smatest being ever. but then you get angry with the toddler for ruining the book you dont punish them because you know that they are young and dont understand and see their sibling as somone to look up to and listen to. so you just let them keep it for later because as it turns out the book is about not falling into peerpressure and this will help them with their brother later and then they wont ruin another book. when they turn a little older they read that book, and the book explained to them that somtimes their siblings and freinds can be wrong so they apologize to their mother and even though the mother knew that they were young and uneducated at the time they are still very pleased with their actions, and the child is happy they apologized. question 2- what i meant by belonged on earth is because earlier i disscussed how humans were sent on earth as a trial to test if on their own will would worship their creator they dont belong their forever in fact prophet muhammad said treat this life as if you are a visitor i meant belong their temporarily i thought you got that from what i said earliler i wrote at the begining that if i fealt like i covered somthing i didnt restate it. so they needed a yearning of heaven because we do belong their if we pass our test which would give us motivation to try to pass it and worship Allah the best way we can. so we are given this natural yearning so we may try our best to return their. and as for if he lived their there is food inheaven and it was made for humans to life in before there were only angels and Allah paradise was made for humans and it was made in the 6 days as you know even chritianity covers that i know my own religion and i know that they were in heaven untill the devil came along.question 3-as i stated earlier it was the first time they were presented with this a child has already lived for some time adam and eve were just made and they needed to have a hate for the devil in the example you gave there is nothing tempting the child but the object itself but in adam and eves story they belived being sent to earth although as you can see i do not feel punished and then they would blame the devil for this and know not t listen to them a mother would never do this because she dosent want her child to feel a natural hate towards he so you must think of it as there are four different beings in the story and not only two like in the example. a better example again the one i said earlier. question 3- now here you have to know that Allah already has the power to crate somone to just plainly worship him Allah already had angels that have that job you have to think of it this way would you like to have a child that you have sheltered them from all evil temptations to the point where they dont know what lying is so they always listen to you and do good because this is all they know or would you rather have a child where they hace been exposed to every single indecent act in the wourld yet they would rather listen to you because they know you raised them and know what is best for them this is like humans and angels why would the child need this skill to always listen to their mother whe in these days you leave at 18 and some parents never see their children again. its because it will make the parent happy to know that you are willing to do that and as a result the parent will always treat you with care and give you whats best. if they choose to disobey you run around do what the others do and leave at 18 if you find out they are broke you will feel bad for them and give money but if they constantly do it then abandon you you will stop giving money untill they begin to act like they love you. question 4- im gonna tell you one thing Allah can do whatever he pleases thats why we can be sent unwillingly and i dont understand what you mean by father affecting sons thing so please clarify when you respond which i assume you will. If you have never heard about Jesus never dying in our religion then you have missed the main differnce about the difference in our religions i assumed you already knew that we belived this they usually teach it in middle school social studies if need more information about this you should research it because it will take too long to explain i have a perfect website to ask a religious american scholer all about our religion but he takes about a week to reply and i dont know if you have all that time. question 5- im sorry i misunderstood your question i would like you to know that we belive that every single prophet made a mistake and repented exept muhammad and this reason it because Allah said in the quran anything that muhhamad says becomes Allahs law too so if Muhammad ever made a mistake than mandking would follow in his footsteps but every other prophet did make a mistake which after repentace was forgiven and We do not claim them to be perfect I belive that there are only two human beings who were ever perfect: mary and muhammad which a lot of people would agree but others might include jesus. so allah didnt make him perfect his mistake was perpously made well known so we may learn from him, but i guess you can saw that he never made another mistake. question 6- yes adam did sin, but his sin was one that couldent be prevented because he didnt know right and wrong from that point but he still did do somthing cosidered to be wrong. for example if a baby tthrew up all over a very expensive blouse, the child didnt know that its wrong to do or can even controll it the lady wearing the blous still felt like it did somthing bad but didnt punish them because they are young and cluless, but as they grew up they needed to puke they kniw to run somwhere like a trash can a bag outside anywhere away from people and learned from their mistake. Adam did pass away at the time when the devil was tempting him he was in a body and if you ask somone religious what is the definition of death its when your body dies but me and you both know that a sould remains forever so the devil said you will live forever is he meant your body will because he knows a soul will live forever so he did lie the body died but the soul lived on but the devil was refering to the body not the soul. and if you become confused about the soul and how it lives on or anything concerning this subject i wont be able to answer you because as the prophet said the soul is a secret that belongs to allah and we were given no clarification to what it is. I would also like to inform you not to take offense because i simply love speaking about this subject and i do often study other religions to see how others think and feel (i have read the bible) and i love educating others about this religion because i find it to be a beautiful subject and would like others to feel how i feel i do not take offense to what you say i have heard things that were meant to insult me and the religion and they are very far from anything you have said i respect the patcience you have because others get frustrated with what i say and simply call me a terrorist and leave the subject alone and just for fun try to guess my age gender and what state im from...... if you feel like this website is a difficuly way of communicating i do have a skype and an oovoo and i would love to talk to you as long as you agree to have no one else present in the conversation assuming you are a lady if your a man forget my offer....sorry! Thank you for your thorough answer! Believe it or not, I do still have a few questions, although, you did address the ones I already have asked. As I said, if either Adam or Eve were actually created in heaven, this seems to be much more in agreement on the verses quoting Allah, in saying that he would Adam on the Earth (however, I do not personally believe this, but I'm sure you already guessed that anyways). As far as Christianity goes, as I am a Christian, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, it is a bit frustrating when I hear that other faiths believe certain things are taught from the Bible that actually aren't. while it is true that many who profess to be Christian or of that background will say that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad had a particular type of fruit that we are familiar with today, the actual Bible doesn't make this claim. Instead, it also only refers to it as fruit. I am sure you shake your head at some of the teachings or beliefs that those who claim they are Muslim but do not truly understand the Qur'an and therefore encourage the misunderstsanding of the Qur'an among those not well acquainted with it. "BUT." Now this right here I have an issue with, because it almost sounds like there was a reward for disobeying, which is exactly what the Bible says Satan told Eve about the Tree. Even though he was partially right (she would know the difference between good and bad, and the Bible says he also told her she would not die when God expressly said otherwise), he implied that God was holding back something good from them, which if the Qur'an is to be belived, sounds like Allah is saying as well. If he knew that they would eat from it, why would he reward them with knowledge, wouldn't this make it seem as if Allah tells you not to do things because he is trying to hide them from you, but if you find them, because it is a trick, you will obtain what he had intended for you all along. That doesn't sound like a good incentive to follow, Allah, rather, it makes it sound like a dare, as in, Allah says not to do it, but he may have something good waiting for you if you do. Wouldn't a better way to teach this lesson be to not have a good outcome for the disobedient ones? And if he gave them knowledge because in their disobedience they would be sent to Earth and need it, isn't he helping them lessen the effects of his own punishment? If the real purpose of being sent down to earth was not only to develop it but also to feel hardship, then why would he want to soften that blow and risk them not getting the need to worship him as urgently? This is like if I punished my child, told them to go their room, no toys, no t.v., because they opened a box I told them not to open. Perhaps it was meant for them one day, but they had opened it before I meant for them to have it. Inside that box is a toy that I know they would really enjoy. So, now that they've got the toy, and enjoyed it, instead of sending them to their room without it, which would make sense, I send them to their room, but let them keep it, because even though I won't let them have anything else, if they have that toy, it'll take the sting off my punishment and make it easier to bear. Do you think my child is going to learn from thislesson that they need to obey me because they miss being with me in the living room, or do you think their going to think, well it was worth it, because I still got the toy, and besides, I know how to get mom to love me again, and she will forgive me (you say Adam knew how to gain God's approval already, unless you mean he learned this afterwards). It's not important to wait in my child's mind, because even though I wanted them to open their present later, I just let them keep it when they did open it. In other words, I don't even care about my own rule to enforce it properly. Does it even make it seem as if that rule was important to begin with? Anyways, why would Allah, or even God for that matter, who wanted humans to worship him, wish for them to take the authority of deciding good and bad upon themselves. We can't say that it was simply knowing right and wrong that they were taking for themselves, because they already knew right and wrong. They knew it was right to listen to their Creator, and wrong to disobey him. If they didn't, they wouldn't need punishment, they would need correction, but no, Allah did not keep them around to teach them this principle because they had already known it. In fact, he punished them, because it was a concsious decision they made, not just a simple mistake or understanding. It makes more sense, that the tree meant not just knowing what good and bad was, the taking the authority to dictate or decide what good and bad was, and they wanted this for themselves, even though God in the Bible says that the tree, or we could even say authority, was his. "SO ADAM WAS SENT ON EARTH SIMPLY TO LIVE IT WAS A PUNISHMENT BUT EVEN MORE IT WAS A LESSON AND HE BELONGED TO EARTH ANYWAY HE WAS ONLY IN HEAVEN IN THE FIRST PLACE TO 1-HE WAS CREATED THERE 2- SO WE MAY HAVE A NATURAL YEARNING TO BE IN HEAVEN AND FEEL LIKE ITS OUR HOME." This also bothers me, because if Adam belonged on the Earth (you say to, but I assume you mean on, if not, let me know; I'm not trying to harp on grammar either, but in matters of ancient texts that we do not currently speak anymore compared to our modern languages and words and meanings, it actually becomes an issue), then why would Allah make him yearn to be somewhere he didn't belong? This sounds frustrating at best. And if he belonged on Earth, why wouldn't he stay there? Or why wasn't he at least made there? And how does Islam explain the formation of a physical body that Adam presumably used in the heavens (you say the Qur'an says he was made of earth and the breath of life blown into him) and then lived there for some time in? What did he eat? How did he survive in the atmosphere, even if it was within the earth's atmosphere where there would be oxygen, the lack of it in so high an altitude that would constitute the difference between being in the heavens and being within Earth range? Either he was not in heaven in the body that is recorded Allah made for him before everything else happened, or he was in a different kind of human like body that could survive in those circumstances (which would make him not really human, or spirirt, but some other kind of being), or he was at an altitude where he wasn't physically touching the ground but he was able to breathe air that is oxygen saturated enough for human life, and have access to food from the earth. Unless he ate something else, or Allah sustained him, which, if he was going to do that, would be much easier to do with him in spirit form, since everyone else was a spirit, and Adam and Eve would have been the only beings visible to the human eye. On top of the fact that you say one day we will be able to see Allah, so is that a third existence, the first being a human in heaven unable to see Allah, because he is human, than a human living on Earth, then the third being spirits in heaven? The last two I can believe, and do believe for some, but the first just seems too impractical, far-fetched, etc. "SO." While I see the benefit of learning from one's mistakes, it just doesn't seem like a good way to go about learning. If Allah is as concerned with obedience as the Qur'an says he is, why wouldn't he just want them to be obedient in the first place and learn to be obedient to him by practicing it, instead of learning the hard way. Afterall, these were perfect individuals, with perfect minds capable of learning probably far more complex ideas than we are currently able to. I'm not sure I have ever met a human who was a parent who would set up a test that they knew their child could not pass so they could learn not to do that. An example would be the present again. Suppose I don't have that present in any old cardboard box, but it is wrapped in my child's favorite pattern and colors, it is all shiny, and perhaps it is not even a box, perhaps it is just wrapping paper covering the item where he can make out the shape, like a bicycle. Now, he's never had a bicycle before, and I've told him he isn't allowed to have it yet, because he isn't ready for it. I tell him this bicycle is mine, but it looks like it is for him, and is so alluring. In fact, I purposely make it look like this, so I can see if he is worthy of having it someday. But I know that there is no way he can resist it, and I don't want him to, because if he takes it, I can then show him what happens when he disobeys me. I ground him and send him to his room and also make him feel terrible for what he is done, but I also let him take the bike with him to his room, so he isn't too sad. Now I've punished him for something I told him he couldn't have, although at the very least, I knew this would happen, and then I let him keep the forbidden object, leaving him to wonder, is it really all that bad to have this after all? Or am I being lured into wanting things that I'm not supposed to have? This is mixed messages to put it lightly. "PARADICE IS NOT EQUAL TO EARTH NOR WILL IT EVER BE" I agree with you on that, I asked the question related to this because it is impossible to answer that question yes. And if you cannot answer the question with a yes, than you also cannot say that Earth and Paradise Heaven are equally good places for the same kind of test to take place. "WE." Now this puzzles me. I don't understand why I would need to hone a skill I don't intend to use in the future. Of what good is believing in something I cannot see if its only to prove that I belong where I can see him? Why would Allah ask his worshippers to something that is more than neccessary? If we are working towards being in a paradise where we can see him, why would we need to practice having faith in an unseeable God, unless, we would actually need that in the future, like if we remained in earth where we would never be able to see him. Thereby making that kind of skill very useful to have. I sympathize and empathize with the situation of Muslims who abide by the laws of Islam and therefore become physically conspicuous towards outsiders and face stigma. However, as a stigmatized people, you must also understand or at least strive to understand what other religious groups like Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses who by their actions in faith are also conspicuous and stigmatized (I am actually a Jehovah's Witness myself) go through. For all of us, our religion is a choice, so it's not like we can say, well we cannot help it. Yes, if we wanted to, we could blend in and not follow what we feel is the right way of worshipping God, but in the same vein, it is sad that there is so much prejudice towards faith in general. Because I am receiving information from you, a Muslim, about your faith, I hope you will extend to me the patience of acknowledging me when I say that we do not shove anything down people's throats. I cannot speak for other groups for evangelize, but Jehovah's Witnesses simply do what they do because that is what Christ did, and is a part of our religion to follow his example. We do not believe he is divine or partners with God. While he enjoys an elevated position in our eyes, we view him as subject to God, as he even said he was. He expressly said he was not God when opposing religious leaders of the day tried to say that he was calling himself such as a form of blasphemy. But he denied it to the death (which we feel he did experience). That is what the Bible really says. It may seem as if we are forcing others to listen to use because even if someone says they are not interested, we may come back at another time. This is not because we want to pester them, and if they tell us to never come back, we make a note of that so we can comply with their request. But if someone says they are not interested because that day we are there to share with them a specific scripture or talk about a specific subject, often it is not clear whether it is the religion, the subject, or the Bible they are not interested in. So we check in with people from time to time because we may later be discussing a topic that does interest them. In addition, as I'm sure you have experienced with Muslim converts, peoples lives change constantly, and the answers to life that they have today may not satisfy their needs tomorrow. We want to make ourselves always ready and available for people to have open scriptural discussions. Thats whay we do it. Jesus also went from one person's house to another, instead of waiting at the synogogues to preach, and that is also why we are so proactive in our approach. Whether you believe Jesus wass a man worth following is your own opinion, but it cannot be refuted that we are engaging in the work he also did. "AND AND WORSHIPED WILL BE THROWN IN HELL." If humans cannot leave heaven for any reason, then why can they still be sent unwillingly? Do they not have a pre-human existence in heaven according to the Qur'an? If they do not, because Adam was sent down to heaven first as a punishment, wouldn't this be the sin of the father affecting the sons, which the Qur'an says Allah does not allow? If they do have a pre-human existence, then there must be some allowance for them to leave heaven, willingly or unwillingly. As for Jesus never dying, what does the Qur'an have to say concerning this? I am not familiar with this teaching. If, as you say, the earth will be destroyed (presumably because it is only a testing ground), will creation of people in heaven cease, or have they all been created in heaven beforehand and so will it be more like there are no more individuals to be sent down for testing? If there will be more people created (if it is an ongoing event), how will they be tested if there is no earth? Or will they need to be tested? What is the principle of justice behind that? "A." This is probably the only question I didn't feel you answered head-on. I'm not asking about whether or not once if a person sins they are always doomed, so perhaps I was unclear on this question. I have read that in Islam, every prophet is seen as infallible. If this is true, I would like to know how Adam was considered a prophet because he did sin. My question was whether or not Allah made him perfect again afterward as part of his forgiveness, as this would be the only way to be considered a prophet by Islam's standards. In this vein, since all humans are presumably born pure according to the Qur'an, if they sin, do they lose or retain their prefection in Allah's eyes? I'm not saying that all humans are prophets who Allah views as deserving of going (back) to heaven, but in order to be received, Allah would have to forgive them of their sins. If they were not made perfect again before death, like Adam, then is their's a different kind of forgiveness granted? Is their repentance of less value in Allah's eyes if they are not made perfect again like Adam? Or does sinning not affect one's perfection? If this is true, then it wouldn't matter what you did, because Allah wouldn't send a perfect person to hell. Or does it take a certain severity of sin to mar that perfection? This s perhaps the hardest concept for me to understand, because if Adam was pure when made, and I am pure when made, and then Adam sinned, and I sin, and then Adam repented, and I repent, and Allah forgave him, and Allah forgives me, and Adam was considered perfect and went to heaven, then aren't I considered perfect and will go to heaven (This is on my belief that Islam states that a prophet is someone whom God has spoken to and also happens to be infallible, not infallible because God has spoken to him, or a prophet because he is infallible, or infallible because God has spoken to him and is therefore infallible. Correect me if I am wrong)? The only difference I see is Adam was considered a prohpet but I am not. "Do prophets receive a better, more powerful, forgiveness than non-prophets?" is basically what I am asking. "IF YOU HAVENT DONE ANYTHING WRON THEN YOU DONT NEED FORGIVNESS." Exactly, so the question is, did Adam sin or no? If not, because he was infallible, then he didn't receive forgiveness either because he didn't need it. If he did sin, was he still, or really, a prophet? "IF" Does this mean that Adam died, or no? If he didn't die, then Satan would actually be telling the truth (although he is called a liar) that he wouldn't die. If he did die, was he resurrected to a spirit life? Or was he transformed to a spirit creature or angel, therefore not really dying, and in that case, Satan would still have to be not lying. And that is something no one who believes the Bible or Qur'an can accept because if Satan isn't a liar, and he told the truth, then he didn't sin, he just exposed the truth about God, who could presmubaly said to be a liar according to our holy books. In which case, why would a liar deserve worship? I know you don't believe that as much as I dont. I hope you don't take offense to what I have written here. I mean no disrespect to who you believe to be the Creator and the religion you believe is true. I have tried to present some alternatives to many of the views you expressed even if I don't believe they are true to really emphasize the things I do not understand with the full weight of what the answers might imply. In all honestly, I really want to understand how Muslims think, believe, and feel, because that is the only way to feel love for someone whose beliefs contradict your own, be it large or small. If we don't try to understand and relate to each other, than we can never escape the prejudice and dehumanisation of misunderstood peoples and cultures which often leads to hate and bloodshed. I thank you in advance for your careful reply, and appreciate your willingness to calmly discuss these topics with me!	eng	e1bf0580-ff00-4295-8e5c-64f4be91981b	http://islam.com/questions/420/can-any-muslims-answer-questions-about-islams-teaching-of-adam-and-eve?sort=newest
Career Rating and Comparison School and Career Overview Degrees and Schools Many community colleges, vocational schools, state colleges and universities offer associates degrees in office administration. Classes Coursework in office administration usually combines classroom and lab practice. Areas of study often include: computer and software skills organization and filing systems researching and reporting operating office machines typing and dictation human resources and ethics Online Classes and Programs Online courses and degree programs in office administration are plentiful. When evaluating online programs, look for those that are part of an institution with accreditation from agencies approved by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or United States Department of Education (USDE). Employment Requirements Most employers prefer to hire executive secretaries and administrative assistants who have a college degree, especially if it is in the field or industry in which they will be working. For additional career advantage, candidates can pursue certification through professional organizations such as the International Association of Administrative Professionals or for specific software applications such as Microsoft Office Specialist. How to Evaluate Executive Secretary or Administrative Assistant Schools Consider the following when comparing office administration degree programs: Career goals - Will the prospective student be specializing in particular field, such as technology, finance, legal or medical? Choosing schools that offer classes in these areas too will allow for convenient additional training. Class size and experiential learning - Are classes or labs crowded? Does the school have a well-developed internship and job placement assistance program? Are there plenty of interesting opportunities? Tuition and financial assistance - Does the school provide resources to help students take advantage of scholarships, loans and grants? Graduate success - How many students successfully complete the program each year? What is the program's track record for placing graduates in jobs? Executive Secretary or Administrative Assistant Job Description An executive secretary (also called an administrative assistant) fills the demanding role of providing administrative support to organizational leaders in companies, government agencies, legal offices, schools and hospitals. Their responsibilities are more information management-oriented than clerical, and require a high degree of organization, detail management and professionalism. Required tasks often include: supervising other administrative staff planning and scheduling high-level meetings arranging travel, catering and agendas managing executive calendars screening and distributing important memos managing paper and electronic file systems researching via the Internet and other channels creating and setting up presentations answering phones and emails faxing, copying, scanning and transcribing solving minor software or computer problems publishing reports, memos, correspondence, newsletters, etc. gathering information from other departments and generating complex reports assisting in HR-related tasks such as policy writing attending meetings and recording minutes Executive secretaries and administrative assistants primarily work for larger organizations in any industry. Some have additional training, specializing in legal or medical support. Career Profiles To help career searchers evaluate their options, BrainTrack has asked hundreds of workers to profile their jobs with a review and ratings. See below for a summary of this career compared to all rated careers and for detailed reviews. "Being an administrative assistant is a highly flexible job. It can be as creative, challenging, lucrative or fulfilling as you are willing to make it. However, you really have to challenge yourself to make it rewarding, and the path of finding the right administrative job can be wrought with all kinds of frustrations." Evergreen is a liberal arts institution that focuses on a well-rounded education. Its graduates are capable of working in multicultural environments and are very conscious of power structures and diversity. Opportunity for Promotion 7 If I want to leave my job level or my current position, there are all kinds of opportunities in my institution to move to more professional positions. However, I am at the top of my job class within the union I belong to. So I'd have to leave the unionized job and take a professional class job, which would sacrifice security. Job Security 9 I work in a state institution. My job is union-protected. Earnings Potential 7 The salary is steady and reasonable. However, nobody's going to get rich being an administrative assistant unless they're some kind of super executive personal assistant to the Queen or something. How Stressful 9 Multitasking in a busy environment while working on highly important projects on a tight deadline is stressful to begin with. When you add in the personalities of the people you support, the stress level can go up or down significantly depending on your relationship with those people. One misconception is that secretaries have to take a lot of guff from people. I've found that's not true. The stress level of my career went down when I discovered that I could set boundaries and refuse to be treated without courtesy. Task Variety 9 There is about an hour of routine in the morning and half an hour of routine at the end of the day. Other than that, I almost never know what I'm going to be doing from day to day. Work varies significantly in my public sector job, and when I worked in the private sector, it varied even more. How Cool Is The Career 3 There isn't a lot of glamor to being an administrative assistant, particularly at a state institution. When I was temping I got to attend top secret meetings at large corporations, see projects unveiled before they became public, work on documents involving famous names, and et cetera. Once I settled into my current position, though, the cool factor definitely plummeted. Career Flexibility 8 Administrative assistants are needed everywhere. If you're willing to be specific about what you want and need from a career and willing to work to find the right context, you can have just about any set of circumstances that you want. If you're willing to do temporary assignments, the flexibility factor explodes. Social Orientation 10 I support 14 faculty and sit at a front desk. Interacting with a lot of people is a big part of my day. Central College is not well known for any of their degrees. I took some classes that have been relevant but wish I would have had more options. Opportunity for Promotion 7 Within universities, there are several opportunities to work in research administration. I live in a large city and there are several universities. Job Security 9 I provide a specialized skill: research administration, which is the administration of sponsored projects, or grants. It is a growing field and I've made myself somewhat invaluable. Earnings Potential 7 There is potential for me to increase my salary by around $10,000 per year at each step I make. I think that's promising but tends to be ultimately run by people that want to talk about policy for research administration rather than actually work in it. How Stressful 8 Research Administration is deadline driven for at least 50% of the job. Grant proposals have hard deadlines and the job entails supporting investigators in getting their materials correct and on time. Task Variety 8 Tasks vary but are in the same realm every day. One day might be forcing a proposal through to the deadline and another day might be spent writing letters for grant extension or auditing an account. The tasks vary within a small pool of duties. How Cool Is The Career 3 Grants administration is not very cool, glamorous or exciting. It is fairly boring. Every year or so, the University might pay for attendance at a national conference, so it's better than some, I suppose. Career Flexibility 2 Pretty inflexible. I can take days off but I need to give at least a week's notice. I couldn't go part-time. Social Orientation 7 I work in a team environment so there is a good amount of social interaction. We have regular "debriefing" sessions and some after work functions. I would rather have a higher paying or more flexible job that didn't have as much social interaction though. "I do love what I do. I get to interact with customers, and being employed by a seasonal employer it also allows me to fill in at other areas of the business when needed during the busy months. That way I don't get stuck in ruts. I also LOVE the relationship that I have with my boss. He makes me feel respected and that my opinion actually matters. It makes you feel important when the Vice President of the company is asking for your opinion on business decisions." I feel like I had gotten more attention and input from a counselor at a community school where I had done a few classes. Opportunity for Promotion 8 I do have a few opportunities for promotion - I consider a promotion a pay raise. I have currently applied for a Freight Manager position which would double my current salary. I have also recently been appointed to the Marketing Group, so that has been a promotion. Job Security 8 I believe in my company, but right now we have a city government who is imposing a franchise fee of 7% on us, thus controlling our schedule and rate fares. This puts a strain on our business and reduced profit by about one million dollars. We are in the process of working with the other boat lines and the government so we don't all end up broke and there are no boat lines servicing the island. Earnings Potential 4 I think my earnings are fairly normal. I did take a pay cut, however, when I took this job, so this is why I rate it below average. I feel like I should earn a bit more. How Stressful 5 I have previously worked at a financial institution and I will give this job a normal rating. I find this job much less stressful than the banking job, as I don't have to deal with as much money or as many federal regulations as I did at the financial institution. So I see this job as having just normal business stress. Task Variety 8 I have things that I have to do everyday, however there are also tasks that are not included in my everyday chores. During the summer months, I am in many places besides my office to help elevate some of the pressure on my other co-workers. How Cool Is The Career 8 I have a pretty good job, I make a decent amount of money, my job is flexible, and my job changes every day so I don't get bored. Since my job is with a seasonal employer I can take about a month to a month and a half off in the winter without issue. Career Flexibility 7 My husband and I are discussing starting our family and we have talked to my employer about work possibilities. One option we have come up with is me working part time in the office and then coming home to work the other 20 hours on billing and other tasks as needed. My boss is also very flexible if I need any time off for any reason. I just need to ask. Social Orientation 8 Being an administrative assistant, I am frequently interacting with customers and employees on the phone, through email, and in person. In the winter months there is not quite as much interaction. The school of business in Eugene does a pretty good job of preparing you for the real world. They offer excellent courses such as Finance, Business Law, Corporate Finance, and Business Comprehension and Training. Opportunity for Promotion 7 I think the local business here in Eugene has good opportunities for me to advance in this sector. I would like to advance within the next year or so. Job Security 7 My job, I feel, is pretty safe. The company I work for needs an assistant like me. I get along with everyone in the company and the business is doing fairly well. Earnings Potential 5 The career earnings for assistants are just average. Nothing special about it. They don't make as much as other positions in a company. How Stressful 7 It can sometimes be quite stressful for an administrative assistant, especially when everyone is busy. And scheduling everyone's appointments, taking phone calls, and dealing with customers can sometimes be tough. You have to be a great multitasker. Task Variety 5 I'm going to say day-to-day tasks can vary slightly. But it's mostly filing paperwork, making appointments, taking calls, and doing the grunt work. Sometimes the boss will give you a different task then what your use to it. But it's more interesting that way. How Cool Is The Career 5 Being an administrative assistant does not necessarily exude the "coolness" factor. Not like a financial analyst or CEO, Director, or CFO or Financial consultant. But they basically do the dirty work for the company. Career Flexibility 7 My employer is pretty lenient with my career flexibility. I don't have to be at the office the whole time. I have a computer and I can sometimes be at home doing computer filing or scheduling appointments. They also have plenty of sick days to offer me. Social Orientation 8 I interact with people on a daily basis. You have to be socially interactive as an administrative assistant. They constantly deal with higher ups and as well as people's emotions all the time. "I like my job because I enjoy the atmosphere of my workplace. The people I work with make my job interesting and fulfilling. I am a computer person, so working at a computer is a pleasure for me and this helps immensely with keeping things from getting boring." The technology provided at the time I attended was severely behind the norm. Most of the software platforms I am proficient in are self taught. Opportunity for Promotion 1 I work for a small firm with only a few employees. There is simply no other job available above what I do now, in my field at this company. For other companies it really depends on your knowledge base and work ethic. If you put in the time you may have the opportunity for advancement in a larger company to Executive Administrative Assistant or even Office Manager. Job Security 9 As jobs go, my job is about as secure as can be expected in this economy. Unless the country goes into a complete depression my job will be safe. Earnings Potential 2 That is one of the down sides of this job. Although starting pay is not bad, there is not really much room to advance in pay after several years. The company I work for is small and continually raising pay is just not an option. At some point you reach a cap. How Stressful 5 It really just depends on the work schedule. We do seminars and there are times when it can be very stressful, and there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. During those times the work load is double, with normal day to day duties compounded by seminar preparations and reservations. Task Variety 4 Of course there are always the daily tasks that remain the same that must be completed. I am lucky that the business I work for does different seminars and productions often, so I get to work on many different things in addition to the day to day things. How Cool Is The Career 5 There is really not much glamor or prestige associated with my position. Just being employed in a professional setting does provide some sense of prestige and accomplishment. Career Flexibility 8 The flexibility of this position is very dependent upon travel schedules and seminar schedules. When we are not on a crunch, things can be very flexible. When we are on a crunch there is usually still some time that can be flex, hours just need to be shuffled. Social Orientation 5 We deal with many people through our seminars, so I meet new people on a regular basic. We also have many long time clients who I see often and know by name. Some of our clients are several generations of families, so it can be very rewarding working with them. I was able to go to this school online and complete it at my own pace. I didn't have to waste my time or theirs sitting in class. I was also able to pass a certification exam for my major that over half of the students that take it do not pass. I passed in the top ten of my block. Opportunity for Promotion 3 I do not have a lot of chances for promotion at my job because I do not want to become a loan officer. I enjoy the administrative side of the job. I could change my job and title, but I would have to move to do so. Job Security 7 My job is fairly secure because I work for the federal government. However, with recent cuts, there could be changes. Earnings Potential 6 I am almost at the top of my pay scale. In a few years, unless we get cost of living raises, I won't make anymore in this job. How Stressful 5 There are times that my job is busy. However, after loan season is over, I'm not busy and the workload is not stressful. Task Variety 5 Some days I do different tasks. However, for the most part, I do the same tasks every day. I may file papers in files for different people, but I am still just filing. How Cool Is The Career 3 It is a good job, but it's nothing glamorous. I am basically a secretary for the loan officers and I help them get their jobs done. Career Flexibility 7 My job is fairly flexible because I can have every other Friday off. There really aren't any part-time opportunities or work-at-home for me because what I do requires me to be there. Social Orientation 5 I chat with fellow employees and customers, but nothing really outside of work. I do run into customers outside of work, but not a lot. Sometimes it is better to not have personal relationships with those you work with to avoid complications at work. "I'm somewhat satisfied because while I believe that I do my job very well, and have lots of administrative experience, I find myself often bored. I would like to find another job that has more purpose." I believe that I was given an excellent education at the University of Washington. It was a comprehensive education with an excellent-quality faculty and an overall great learning experience. Opportunity for Promotion 5 I don't foresee many opportunities for promotion and career growth as I work at a public university that is currently experiencing budgetary issues. I also work for a boss that is not really supportive of promoting her staff. Job Security 9 I believe that this job is very secure as there will always be a need for people like me in this role. Managers and others often need administrative support and thus will always need someone like us to assist them. Earnings Potential 5 This type of position is somewhat valued in the workplace, so I gave this an average rating. However, it is often overlooked and taken for granted, which is why I didn't rate it higher. How Stressful 8 My position can be very stressful because it can be very demanding and inflexible at times. I also know that my workload has tremendously risen over the years, which is also making it very stressful. Task Variety 3 I find that in my position, I am pretty much doing the same thing, day to day. There may be an occasional difference, but pretty much it's the same mundane work. How Cool Is The Career 5 I don't believe administrative professionals like myself are really seen in a positive manner. The only time I've seen this job portrayed in the media it was negative, like the movie "9 to 5." Career Flexibility 4 I don't see much flexibility in this position, and I have been doing it for almost 20 years. I have worked in a variety of office settings and the hours have been the same. There also some other non-flexible conditions. Social Orientation 5 I gave this question an average rating as I don't have as much social interaction as I would like because I am so busy. Social interaction is also very frowned upon in my office. "My career has served me well over 35 years. I have never been unemployed. I have worked for larger institutions so my benefits have been good. The pay has not always been good, but now I have a good paying job with great benefits. The work is somewhat repetitive and boring so I find creative outlets outside of work." Excelsior accepted all my previous credits from a few different schools. I was able to take CLEP exams for 6 courses which saved a lot of time and money. They helped me tie up all my loose ends and get an A.S. degree. Opportunity for Promotion 6 In my career I was promoted twice: to buyer, and to supervisor. I did not like either promotion. Being a supervisor was a particularly bad experience because I was young and female and not respected by the older workers, especially the males. Job Security 9 I work for a public school system and our state government has budget problems. It is possible my hours could be cut back or I could be laid off. I think I am safe because my boss is a top director and I don't think they would cut her assistant. Earnings Potential 4 Currently I earn the national average, but that has only been in the last few years. I have topped out and will only get cost-of-living raises from here on out. I am paid well for my area and I don't think I could do better. How Stressful 5 I have had volatile bosses and mellow ones. Every boss can get wound up if they are under stress, and they will pass that on to you. You can't take anything personally. That can help with the stress. Task Variety 5 As the school year cycles there are certain reports and tasks that become due. Most tasks are repetitive: answering emails, creating purchase orders, filing, etc. How Cool Is The Career 3 This job is not glamorous at all. You make coffee, make copies, run errands, etc. at your boss' whim. You are dressed nicely in an office, not digging a ditch in the weather, so there's that. If your boss is high up the ladder, you have residual prestige from being his/her assistant. The job itself is boring and repetitive. Career Flexibility 3 I have not found this type of work to be flexible. You are needed to be present at the same time and place as your administrator. You could work part time for a small operation. You can specialize some, in legal for example. Social Orientation 8 My work space has typically been in an open area with varying degrees of traffic. I have many opportunities to socialize with coworkers and some with the public. I enjoyed the hands on approach of the program. While it was not directly related to my profession, I learned many valuable clerical skills through the research required in the program. Opportunity for Promotion 1 Because I am the only secretary in my building, that means I already am doing all the jobs that would require my skills. This is common among education admin. asst. Job Security 5 I'm the only secretary in my office, so my job is relatively secure. On the other hand, our school recently lost a large amount of funding and that always makes people nervous. Earnings Potential 8 I received a raise after my first year and it is in my contract that I will continue to receive a raise at different stages in the time with the district. I also put in a significant amount of overtime. How Stressful 8 I'm responsible for 100 children and where they are going after school, allergies, parental guardianship issues, and much more. On top of the students, I also must preform all the normal secretarial duties, such as paperwork and meeting deadlines. Task Variety 9 Every day is different and unique. I learned not to make a plan for the day because it will often change. Instead I focus on tasks and not a full daily plan. I love the change from day to day How Cool Is The Career 5 It was a highly sought after job among community members. Although the position is highly coveted, it is demanding and requires a variety of skills, some of which are not "glamorous." Career Flexibility 4 I am required to be in the building before anyone and after almost everyone else leaves. I am able to be extremely flexible in my hours during school vacations and can basically come and go as I please. Social Orientation 10 My office is the main office for the building and the district, so I'm in constant contact with the public. Also, there is a staff of 30+ teachers as well as administration and staff that come to me for work and personal issues. I have very good friends because of my job. "I enjoy working steadily, and the nature of our Engineering firm causes our workload to range from extremely busy to very slow. I would prefer a steady pace at all times. I also would prefer more direction from our management." "I love my position because I always have something to do. However, sometimes it can get a bit stressful doing administrative work for various agents. Assisting more then one agent at a time can make it feel as if you are in a game of tug o' war." I actually attended two different colleges to prepare for the business world. The first was an Executive Assistant training school and then I added the Associate's Degree to tie it in with the office procedures classes. Opportunity for Promotion 5 At a time when I should have been moving up, companies started downsizing for one reason or another. Long breaks between employment can raise questions or doubt in long-term employment. Job Security 3 Admin. assistants or assistant managers for some companies are just glorified secretaries with no real value or potential for moving too far up the ladder. Often important information is not shared on a regular basis. Earnings Potential 8 One must be willing to take on more responsibility than what's listed on the job description and be the reliable go to person who knows their stuff. Consistency pays off eventually. How Stressful 10 Managing an office with 5 or more managers plus other staff can be very hectic. The go to person has to be able to handle more that one person and one task at a time. Task Variety 7 Most paperwork and database work is the same. Handling a different set of unexpected problems everyday is challenging. How Cool Is The Career 7 Depending on the company, the more laid back, the better. The pay may be slightly lower than some corporate salaries, but it's better to work and have some fun. Career Flexibility 1 As the first point of contact with most companies, the office wouldn't open without the Assistant. It is usually this person's responsibility to handle voice mail, do equipment checks, and, in some cases, make coffee. Social Orientation 5 I interact with many different vendors during the day. This definitely makes some days better than others. The professors had business experience. The school allowed me to select targeted classes that would be of very specific use to me in my work. Opportunity for Promotion 5 I would need further my education/specialization to be promoted in this organization. That education would include technical/medical training. If I were to comply with these requirements, then the chances for promotion would be very good. Job Security 9 I provide on-site services for my supervisor. These can not be outsourced. The field I work in now, medicine, is one of the few that continue to show growth. Earnings Potential 9 There is an upper limit to my earnings, I am sure. I am already earning more than most midlevel managers are in our organization. My job is specialized, and that fact is appreciated and that appreciation has been shown through fairly regularly raises. How Stressful 8 My job may be stressful, but I don't feel it. I love the excitement and challenge of not always knowing what I will be doing or where I may be traveling in 6 months. Task Variety 10 My daily work depends on what my boss is doing, and he is basically the trouble-shooter in our organization. We go where there are Human Resources problems and "fix" them. This makes for a challenging and stimulating work day. How Cool Is The Career 10 Not all administrative assistant jobs are cool, but mine is. I get to travel to cool places, I am put up at the best hotels, and I meet the top people in their respective fields. Career Flexibility 1 I am needed on-site, and can not do my work from any satellite location. I am needed at my desk all the time that my boss is at her desk. You can not goof off or be absent a lot in this job. Social Orientation 10 I am interacting with many people within and outside of our organization on a daily basis. It is up to me to make sure that these interactions are pleasant, smooth, and productive. "The company I work for is in the oil and exp;oration business. These are very exciting times with all the drilling going on in the Rocky Mountain area. We are expanding rapidly and I report to the CEO and have a lot of responsibility for doing initial screening of new employees. We are hiring in a lot of different areas so I am very busy and feel like I am making a big contribution to the growth of the company." The schooling in the marketing area was good, but what I am doing is more a result of on the job experience over the past 15 years than my education. I learned a lot of job skills in general, but not those specific to my current job description. Opportunity for Promotion 10 The company is in an exciting area of growth. The oil and gas industry in Denver is exciting and people are looking to hire and my company is growing, so there are a lot of chances to advance. Job Security 10 As I mentioned, the company is growing rapidly and my job is very important to the success of the company. I have also had good reviews and have a good relationship with the CEO. Earnings Potential 10 The company I work for has great benefits. We have a profit sharing plan that participates in all our successes in the drilling and production of oil. I have a very competitive salary and expect nice raises. How Stressful 10 The stress is there, but I strive in this kind of situation. I would rather be in a high stress environment than a boring one. With all the people we are hiring, I am responsible for a lot of the initial screening, and getting the right people is critical. Task Variety 10 Every day is a new challenge and I get to work on my regular work load which covers a lot of different areas. In addition, our company always seems to be on the cutting edge of exciting things. How Cool Is The Career 7 The industry I work in is exciting and growing. Unlike a lot of industries that are in decline, the oil business is booming and it is great to be working in an area that can help get the country away from Middle Eastern oil. Career Flexibility 10 The experience I have now has given me a lot of avenues to pursue both within my company and in the industry. The job market is improving and my salary is increasing. I see no need to look for a job now. Social Orientation 10 Being in charge of office management and reporting to the CEO, I have dealings with everyone in the company and get to be involved in a lot of major decisions. The new hiring requirements keep me in touch with a lot of potential employees. "I am satisfied with my career because it fits my family schedule and lifestyle at present. However, I look forward to utilizing more of my education and skills as a manager or executive in the future." The University of Notre Dame is an internationally recognized Catholic university with noteworthy Philosophy and Theology professors. The Bachelor's of Arts and Letters program provides a rich, well-rounded education from excellent scholars. Opportunity for Promotion 8 There are frequent opportunities to demonstrate my worth and skills to my employer that earn bonuses and acclaim. I view each task and assignment as an opportunity to earn a promotion. Job Security 8 Once established as an effective part of a team, the Administrative Assistant can be such a vital asset to her or his manager that it would be difficult to eliminate the position. Administrative Assistants are utilized by many organizations in a variety of capacities, so there are a lot of employment opportunities in the position. Earnings Potential 5 Including performance bonuses, I can earn a decent amount of income and benefits. The non-monetary earnings of stability and flexibility are equally important. How Stressful 8 There are frequent last-minute deadlines and constant efforts to organize. Most of the stressors are from sources beyond my control as an Administrative Assistant. Task Variety 6 While there are many routine tasks, my organization projects change and so do my day-to-day tasks. Almost everything involves being connected to a computer or phone, but that is pretty common for an office career. How Cool Is The Career 3 There is not a lot of prestige that comes with the title "Administrative Assistant." However, some amount of excitement and glamor can be achieved by being an executive's trusted "right hand." Career Flexibility 10 There are many opportunities to work a variety of schedules and levels of employment. Administrative Assistants are employed by many different companies in a variety of locations. Social Orientation 9 I am frequently contacting or receiving contact from my employer's clients, colleagues, and business contacts. From ordering business cards to handling contract invoicing, I have almost constant social interaction in my career. I had excellent teachers who had good jobs in business and were able to teach based on experience. The school was also just the right size to provide diversity, yet give a lot of individual attention. Opportunity for Promotion 8 Room for advancement is possible only if I become an attorney. The only other opportunity for advancement is if the office grows and they needed to hire someone below me. Job Security 10 My job is secure because I do an excellent job. My bosses are also happy. Earnings Potential 5 Earning potential increases as the size of the office increases. How Stressful 7 The job can be stressful at time as attorneys produce a massive amount of paperwork. As an administrative assistant, I am responsible for filing and I have implemented numerous systems in the office to make this easier. Task Variety 5 I can expect relatively the same type of paperwork and interaction with the types of law the firm practices. We do take on different types of cases sometimes, and the rules of court change sometimes, so things do change. As stated above, I have also implemented new interoffice systems to make things more efficient. How Cool Is The Career 7 My bosses are in high demand so by association, I am important because I work with them. I also tend to impress people by saying I am an administrative assistant/paralegal and want to be an attorney. Career Flexibility 4 Although I do work from home at times, I need to be in the office as well. It is my responsibility to open the office in the morning and even though I do most of the administrative work, I also answer the phones. Social Orientation 8 I am the primary person who answers the phones, so I have initial contact with clients and other people calling the office. I also greet people when they arrive and deal with other firms. "I love my job in the sense that I have a wonderful boss who pays me well for what I do and who allows me a lot of flexibility. Both of these are very important to me seen as I have two young kids. The reason I'm not very satisfied is because sometimes I feel like I'm not challenging myself enough." I don't think the school is known for their counseling courses. I originally went there for business and switched halfway through. Opportunity for Promotion 1 There are no opportunities for me to advance here unless I get my CPA license because it's an accounting firm. Job Security 9 I feel pretty secure at my job. Our office has been running pretty much the same the past few years. There hasn't been one year in which I haven't received a raise. Earnings Potential 9 Considering what I do, I get paid quite well. How Stressful 6 This time of year it's more stressful because this is an accounting firm and it's tax season. The rest of the year, though, it's pretty quiet and very low stress. Even on the most stressful days, though, it's pretty low key compared to a lot of other offices or jobs. Task Variety 7 There are some days in which we do the same thing for the most part throughout the day, but those days are few and far between. For the most part it's a highly varied job. How Cool Is The Career 3 Not a very glamorous place to work. We are a small office too, so there's not a lot of prestige. Career Flexibility 10 I am allowed to come in later every day than my actual 'core' hours because I bring my son to school and can not get here any earlier than that. If I need to leave for appointments or because one of my kids is sick, there are no questions asked. I am allowed great flexibility at this job. No complaints. Social Orientation 10 The office is small, so there's a lot of interaction. No one sits in cubicles. We also have a steady stream of traffic coming and going. With clients and delivery men, there's really never a dull moment. "I like the business of administration, however I have always worked for people who want your maximum and pay you the minimum. I have copywriting and editing experience among other things, because I have worked in small companies where I had to wear many hats. But to find work in those fields without having a credential on a resume is difficult." They have a very complete English Department, and they are very helpful with assisting the students. When a student does well, they encourage the hardest workers to volunteer as student advocates and in other areas to help build experience and confidence. Opportunity for Promotion 6 Much of this depends on where you work, and whether or not your company will train/promote from within. There is not as much advancement in small companies. Job Security 8 Although this economy is shaky, and the pay isn't the most fantastic, I am sure that there is no way that I would ever be unemployed as long as I can be flexible with pay and distance. Administrative help is always needed somewhere, and this is also the day of the virtual assistant--when much of what admins do can be done from home, and your 'office' can be anywhere in the United States, not necessarily close to your job's location. Earnings Potential 9 If you are the second income earner in the house, this is a good profession--you can find work around kids' schedules, etc. If it is a primary profession in the household, and if you can travel, then you can be paid more to work in larger firms/bigger cities. How Stressful 6 This is always going to depend on your boss and the management. If you like the work and are good at it, even a busy office and lots of demands don't have to cause too much stress. If your boss doesn't appreciate you, or uses you far more than they compensate you, you tend to become unhappy, and that can indeed contribute to stress. Task Variety 7 In the companies I've worked for, my tasks varied. Some I did like very much, others not so much at all. But again, since I liked the work, the subject matter really didn't matter. I was bored at times, but most times didn't mind the work. How Cool Is The Career 5 I would not think of this as a 'cool' profession, however, to rate it in the middle is ok, because it's not 'uncool', either. It's normal, regular, dependable, and can be fulfilling if you like what you do. Career Flexibility 10 Although limiting financially, the kind of work admins do is in demand in every industry. There is always work available to suit YOUR needs if you can be flexible enough. Social Orientation 7 Depending on the company you work for, there's plenty of opportunity for social interaction. In a larger company, there's much more potential. I have enjoyed close friends in a small company setting, too, however. My teachers were a huge help in teaching me about real life situations that would pertain to my job profession. Just learning about computers, marketing, business law and accounting was a lot of fun for me. Opportunity for Promotion 5 I do not think I will get any promotions beyond administrator, but I do get annual raises. Job Security 8 I hope I do my job well enough that they will keep me. I do not think the business will close in the near future. Earnings Potential 5 I will receive a raise once a year and that was explained to me very clearly when I was hired. So there's not much potential to get rich but loving what I do certainly matters for me. How Stressful 4 I do not have much stress as long as I do my job on time. I haven't had a time yet when I couldn't complete my work. Task Variety 7 My daily tasks are not different all the time, but there is a great variety in what I do, so I may not do the same thing twice in a day. How Cool Is The Career 5 To me it is cool, but to others it is not real glamorous to work in a office pushing paper around all day. I really love what I do, so I have no problem with it not being cool. Career Flexibility 5 I am able to take off pretty easily if I have appointments as long as I have someone cover my duties. There is no flexibility in terms of working at home or changing locations. Social Orientation 7 I have most of my social interaction on the phone with clients. I have quite a rapport with a lot of our clients. I do see some in person, but that is rare. I majored in Biology, but I have extensive coursework in English and public relations, allowing me to qualify for this position. There isn't much more to teach one about answering the phone. Opportunity for Promotion 2 There are no opportunities for advancement. Maybe if I switched companies, but currently there is no where to go. There is no lower position, no higher position (except owner of the company). Job Security 3 Administrative work will always be around. However, it is not always something I want to do. That is why it got a 5. Earnings Potential 6 In the area where I live, my salary is decent, but only slightly higher than minimum wage. With no chance of increase, it only gets a 6. How Stressful 4 During peak seasons, it's busy, but nothing drastic. The only stress is when the boss is angry, but that isn't based on the job itself. Task Variety 2 Very mundane, repetitive tasks. While the material may change, the task never does. How Cool Is The Career 2 Cool is the least likely description I'd ever use for this job. Khaki pants, fancy top, uncomfortable shoes, stuck in a box all day - none of the above is cool. Career Flexibility 6 There is flexibility in hours, such as leaving early for appointments and coming in early to make up for it. There is the option to work at home, but not for more pay, just to try to keep up. No opportunity to relocate. Social Orientation 6 Working in a small business, I'm constantly interacting with coworkers, and make many phone calls per day with customers. I'm constantly talking to people, but none of it is in a casual social setting, so it got a 6. "I work with difficult people and some (not all) of my work is boring. I HATE the commute, and I don't get paid very much at all (less than $10 an hour after taxes, health insurance, and gas are taken out). It is very frustrating." I didn't graduate from a very good school. Most other students I went to school with were not very intelligent. I got accepted to a better school but couldn't afford it. Opportunity for Promotion 1 It is a small company and there's not much room for growth. I was considered for a promotion a few months ago but was passed over because my boss is a jerk, so even if such an opportunity opened up again (very unlikely), the same thing would happen. Job Security 10 I am not afraid of being fired because they need me. I wish they would fire me so I could collect unemployment. Earnings Potential 1 I make around $20K a year (pre-tax) and I pay FOUR THOUSAND of that for health insurance. Also, I have no health problems! It's ridiculous how little money I make. My boss does not pay well. I see no reason this will improve. How Stressful 10 I HATE my boss and coworkers. I feel extremely unfulfilled. The work is boring and I am constantly stressed about finances because I make so little money. Task Variety 4 Most days are spent doing the same things over and over again. I am able to take brief trips out of the office to interact with potential new clients. These trips generally involve the same type of work each time, but it is a break from the office monotony. How Cool Is The Career 1 My job isn't very cool at all. It's a lot of boring and tedious work, I get almost no positive feedback, and I feel like I'm constantly being monitored so I can't even take short breaks online. Career Flexibility 8 I asked for a reduction in hours to give me more time to work on my own projects, and potentially take more classes. My boss agreed because the workload is not really overwhelming and they didn't need me there five days a week, so I only work four now. Social Orientation 5 I share an office with several other people. There is time for small talk throughout the day. I do not have much in common with them so we don't have any meaningful conversations. "It is a very stable position I am in, yet there is little room for growth. It is also hard to find new/different jobs that pay as well in the same industry. It seems as if these jobs are reserved for students fresh out of school." It was a very challenging yet fun major. The staff made almost all the courses interesting and used a hands on approach to learning within the hospitality field. Opportunity for Promotion 1 As explained earlier, there is no room for growth at my current position, and there few comparable jobs on the market. To further my career I would need to relocate which I am unable to do at this time. Job Security 7 My particular job, I feel, is very secure and I know there will always be a need for admin assts, but with all the technological advances, maybe one day the position will be threatened by automation. Earnings Potential 7 Compared to the national average, I would consider it a good salary, but again, there is little room for gains in salary other than the appropriated reviews we receive once a year. How Stressful 5 It's usually not too stressful on a day to day basis. But when it gets hectic, it seems to get a lot more stressful than it needs to be. Task Variety 2 Usually it's a very repetitive job day to day, but with additional clients and vendors there is some variation. Daily work never changes, and our organization has set strict requirements on our work flow. How Cool Is The Career 1 It is not a very glamorous position. In fact, I believe admin assts are often overlooked for the work they do and are viewed as little more than secretaries. Career Flexibility 5 I am relied upon to be at my desk/phone for the entire day, M-F 9-5, but there are ample opportunities to take vacations and sick leave. Social Orientation 10 From vendors to insurance companies and sales calls, I talk to over a dozen different businesses a day, and also field calls from customers and members. The University I attended was in my home town and it was very close. I loved getting to know all the teachers and the schedule was enjoyable, but if I had to do it again, I might have tried to study more of the English language. Opportunity for Promotion 1 Well, working for a government contractor does have its draw backs. There are no higher levels to get promoted to - we are hired for a job and that is all. Job Security 5 Well, I work for a Federal Contractor and it is very difficult sometimes to not be stressed when a contract is renewed. Overall I really do enjoy being an Administrative Assistant for my company. Earnings Potential 5 Like I said, there are no promotions. But there is a wage determination change that happens and most of the time it is an increase, but not always. How Stressful 9 We have deadlines that we must meet everyday so that we can report what the government wants us to report. These reports are very important and they must be correct. Task Variety 5 I have a lot of average daily tasks. I enjoy it when there is something new to change it up. How Cool Is The Career 10 The job is very cool, I get to work with many diverse and challenging people. Sometimes I get to travel and that is the coolest. Career Flexibility 1 The contractor does not have any place for flexibility. We must be at work or we are on leave - simple as that. Social Orientation 10 I must work with external and internal customers all the time. Sometimes I wish I could find a hole to hide in, but I have made some really interesting friends. Georgia Tech has excellent engineering programs. Quality of life can suffer because of the intensity of the work that most professors require, but the degree itself it fantastic. Opportunity for Promotion 2 It is a very small company. Unless I become a mortgage broker, there is nowhere for me to get promoted to. Job Security 7 I perform a variety of tasks and it would take a lot of time and effort to train someone else for my position. The only way I'd lose the job is if the company started failing. Earnings Potential 2 I am making just a little more than minimum wage. It's very unlikely that they could afford to give me a decent raise unless business picks up substantially. How Stressful 6 The job itself can be stressful, especially with the variety of tasks I am asked to perform. On the other hand, my boss is wonderful. Task Variety 8 There are a few tasks that I perform every day, such as filing. There are some tasks that vary widely, such as pre-screening applicants for loans and helping to re-wire the attic. How Cool Is The Career 1 This is not something that kids want to be when they grow up. It's not something where people are interested enough to ask follow up questions after I answer, "what do you do?" Career Flexibility 3 My employer will work with me if I need to adjust my schedule a bit. I gave this a low rating because I cannot work from home, or in other locations, and must work a set number of hours per week even if I shift my schedule. Social Orientation 3 We never have clients come into the office. At most, I will sometimes make phone calls or answer the phone. Ivy Tech has a great program for human services because they have diverse classes and professors who work in their fields. At this school, you can focus on elderly, inmate, children or family counseling, which are great options. Opportunity for Promotion 5 There are higher titles, such as office manager, general manager, etc., but there are more opportunities for additional responsibilities rather then titles. This way, you can be responsible for more and get a higher wage but still not be a salaried manager. Job Security 10 People will always need social workers and psychologists to help them through their issues. Being that social workers work for the government, their jobs will always be safe. Earnings Potential 4 The pay is very basic for the amount of work you do. There is more earning potential if you become a manager. How Stressful 6 Dealing with ringing phones, cranky clients, and prima donna hairstylists makes this job extremely stressful. Add to that closing one night and opening the next and you get a very stressful experience. Task Variety 3 The daily tasks rarely vary. Usually any variation comes from a problem or obstacle in the day to day tasks. How Cool Is The Career 3 While it is great to deal with the public and be the first person clients see when they visit, you don't have a lot of heft in the business. Administrative assistants are usually looked at as the lowest on the totem poll. Career Flexibility 10 Being that a lot of places are open for longer then from 9 to 5, you can choose either morning or evening shifts after you have been working for awhile. Also, in my position, my manager works around my class schedule to assign my shifts. Social Orientation 10 From answering phones, talking to clients, and dealing with the stylists and the other girls at the desk, there is constant interaction with others. You are the first person people see when they come in and therefore you talk the most. The business program at Cleary University works well for people who continue to work full time and would like to go to college. There are classes available online and in person which allows students to work the classes into their schedules. Opportunity for Promotion 1 I work at a window sales company as an administrative assistant. The only other position available in my particular location include sales, which I have no interest in doing. Job Security 1 Michigan is an at-will employment state. Employers can fire an employee for any reason, at any time. Earnings Potential 2 Most employers do not reward administrative assistants with much earning potential. In my last two positions I have had to ask for pay raises. The work done is often not appreciated! How Stressful 9 Administrative assistants have to have stress in their positions. Most stress is from meeting deadlines. The stress I encounter is from deadlines and having so much responsibility for one person. Task Variety 5 An administrative assistant job consists of many tasks that have to be scheduled daily, weekly, or monthly. The tasks must be completed - even mundane filing! How Cool Is The Career 1 An administrative assistant is a pretty "uncool" position. Children do not grow up saying they want to be administrative assistants. Furthermore, the jobs you complete are all behind the scenes and there isn't much recognition. Career Flexibility 1 This particular position does not allow for flexibility in any aspect other than taking unpaid days off when your vacation time is all used up. Most of my current position would need to be completed in office as I also take phone calls. Social Orientation 7 As an administrative assistant I get to interact with many businesses and employees as I process billing and payroll. While I am not the face of the company, I work on some of the most important book work and am usually the first to be asked when a problem arises. I feel like classes basically taught me how to work. I feel like it didn't really prepare me too much for what I'm actually doing, though. Opportunity for Promotion 5 I have a few opportunities to get promoted to a few other positions, but the company isn't very large. There isn't really much other than moving up a few levels because my job isn't really related in any way to other people's position. Job Security 9 Most places are always going to need receptionists, so I feel like I should always be able to find a job somewhere. I also feel secure at the place I work because even though I don't do the most important work, the place wouldn't run efficiently without my position. Earnings Potential 5 The earnings aren't going to be that promising in the long run. I am making more money that some people who have jobs, but I could be making more and I don't think any raises that might come would be huge. How Stressful 5 There are certain points of my job where it gets overwhelming and stressful. Compared to other jobs, though, it can be pretty easy-going. Task Variety 1 I do basically the same things every day. I don't really have many new tasks that differ from the days before. How Cool Is The Career 5 I think that my job wouldn't be someone's ideal job description. I also thing that my job is considerably cooler than people that work in fast food places, or other low paying jobs. Career Flexibility 5 My schedule is pretty flexible for when I work and when I am off. It's also really flexible with vacation time and picking the hours I would like to work. Social Orientation 10 There is always a point in my job where I am talking to someone, whether it is a co-worker or a patient. Even when I'm answering the phones, I'm always having some kind of interaction with people. The school I attended provided very little beyond the basic information that one would acquire through two years of on the job experience. Most of my courses were little more than brief introductions to the subject matter. There was no in depth learning in obtaining my business certificate. Opportunity for Promotion 1 We have in our office a publisher, an editor, a bookkeeper, and myself. None of the aforementioned are apt to leave anytime soon, so my opportunities for promotion are bleak at best. Job Security 10 I work for a hometown newspaper with strong ties to the community. Because of that fact and the fact that our staff is so small already, my job is secure. Earnings Potential 5 I have a job that pays very little above minimum wage. I have asked for a raise, but do not think it will be approved. Our home office has us on such a tight budget, that there is little hope for great earning potential. How Stressful 1 I work for a newspaper in a small town. There is nothing exciting going on in the community and that translates to a job of a very routine nature. Task Variety 5 In assisting everyone in our office, most of my duties are routine and I handle out of the ordinary things generally before I'm asked. Nothing at my job is hard and anything "out of the norm" is dealt with quickly and without incident. How Cool Is The Career 1 There is nothing cool about my job because I sit at a desk and complete routine tasks. Nothing exciting happens. Career Flexibility 8 Within certain constraints, I am able to be off work when I want. I can come in late, stay late, work through my lunch, or be off when my children need me to be at home or at school with them. Social Orientation 5 Within my office there are four other people. One of those is a family member. There is some, but limited, talking throughout the day, but no social interaction outside of work. "I am currently satisfied with my career, but I do have hopes to move forward. I love the company I'm working for. I would like to move up in the company into an accounting position or something similar that would utilize my expertise more." I am very happy with my education from DeVry. They had flexible hours and class options including doing some classes from home. I was able to fit my degree into my schedule. Opportunity for Promotion 10 There are many opportunities to get promoted within my organization. The organization as a whole has hundreds of small and large offices, many located right in my city. I actually just applied for a promotion about a month ago and I am waiting for a decision. Job Security 10 The company I work for is doing very well. I have no worries about the company going under. The department that I am located in is doing exceptionally well, and is extremely busy. My department is the biggest money maker for the company, therefore I have no worries about job security. Earnings Potential 8 The organization I work for pays very well. I am currently about a third of the way up the pay scale, and have a long way to go. They give a large and broad pay range, and it is fair for the work. How Stressful 4 I would say that the stress in my position would be a little below average. Although we are busy, it is a quiet, friendly working environment. Everyone is professional and I am able to get a lot done with few distractions. Task Variety 3 Much of my tasks are the same or nearly the same every day. My duties include speaking to dealers and customers about their loans via our automated system to help with customer issues, speaking to loan officers to bring issues to their attention, scheduling meetings and tasks for my supervisor, writing form letters, copying, etc. How Cool Is The Career 3 My career is not very glamorous or prestigious. It is a regular, average office environment. I work here 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, doing many of the same tasks daily. Career Flexibility 9 Again, the company that I work for has hundreds of locations, including many in my city; but many in others as well, spanning from New york to Florida to Texas. As far as hours, I can start any time I want between 6:30am - 9am, as long as I work 8 hours, so my company is extremely flexible. I can also make up hours as opposed to using vacation time. Social Orientation 4 I have a little below average social interaction in my position for a usual AA job. The reason being is because we use an electronic system to speak to the dealers and customers, so much of the interaction is done over the computer. Interaction with most employees is done via instant messaging. "I just graduated from college in December, so I am just now starting to get work. While my ultimate career goals are much different than the work I'm doing now, assistant work is generally the entry point into my chosen field." The film program is small and relatively lacking in resources compared to larger programs. On the bright side, though, smaller classes meant more time and attention from professors. The creative writing program is one of the few BFA writing programs in the country, and was a really enjoyable and beneficial experience. Opportunity for Promotion 5 As a part-time position, my job doesn't offer much room for advancement. There is, however, a slim chance that I may be able to move to full-time in the next few months. Job Security 5 I have been accepted to graduate school for the fall. This, along with a variety of other factors, mean that my situation is highly unstable at the moment and will continue to be unstable for the next seven or eight months, at least. Earnings Potential 3 Because of my graduate school situation mentioned above and the fact that my position is part-time, I earn little more than is necessary to keep my bills and rent paid. The relatively limited prospects for advancement mean that this probably won't change soon. How Stressful 6 My intern work requires me to be able to work from home, which my roommates don't respect, at all. There is never a chance to work at home in an environment that allows me to concentrate like I should. At work, when things get really busy, it can easily be overwhelming if I let myself get effected. Task Variety 6 In my internship, my work is incredibly varied and gives me plenty of different opportunities. There are the relatively mundane generic tasks that need to be performed in every office (answering phones, taking notes, data entry, etc.) but these opportunities make the job interesting. In my regular work, however, I mostly do the same basic office duties every day. How Cool Is The Career 4 Neither position is as cool as others perceive them to be. Although there is an occasional exciting project, most work varies from monotonous to exhausting, especially once business picks up in the afternoons. Career Flexibility 5 My work schedule has been pretty flexible, but the lack of jobs that I'm qualified for in my area led me to stick to a mid-range rating. My intern work is mostly done from home, and provides much more flexibility than my more traditional office work. Social Orientation 7 My workplaces tend to be rather social and laid-back, at least when business is slow. Because I'm still relatively new, I still don't know the others very well, but the atmosphere is really welcoming/inclusive. I believe that NAU has an adequate program and it was very convenient. I do know that other schools are more highly rated, but I do not feel like I was inadequately taught. Opportunity for Promotion 6 My current boss is trying to get my position reassessed and possibly realigned, which would end up being a promotion. However, overall at my company it is well known that assistants don't get much in the way of promotions, other than becoming an executive assistant, and it is very hard to jump career paths if you start as an assistant. Job Security 9 We have a shortage of assistants at our company. In addition, my specific position has several unique responsibilities that would be hard for an average assistant to do (because of my IT training). Earnings Potential 5 Since I work in HR, I know the kinds of salaries people are paid and to be honest, assistants are at the low end of the scale for earnings. However, since I work for a very large company I still make more than many assistants in smaller companies. How Stressful 6 Overall it's not terribly stressful, but occasionally we are on a deadline or support a type-A boss and the job can be stressful then. Some assistants thrive on the stress while others let it bother them, so it is important to know what your specific position will entail. Task Variety 8 I do have a couple of things that need to be checked on daily, however most of my day is not planned out. I often am pulled in different ways throughout the day and have to be able to think on my feet. How Cool Is The Career 3 I think a lot of people see us a "peons," even though assistants do a lot of work in my company. Often, assistants know more about things than the execs they support but rarely get recognition - we are looked at as just secretaries. Career Flexibility 5 A lot of what I do could be done at home, but many things require me to be in the office. My company does promote flex work options such as job sharing so I would be able to take that type of option if necessary. Social Orientation 8 I often interact with people, whether co-workers or executives or vendors. In addition, there are people I am friendly with at work that I only see at work so we will catch up with each other during work hours, though not for extensive periods of time. "I am satisfied with the job that I have right now as I feel needed, busy, and that I am in a great position for my age. I just think there are other things out there that would be ten times better for me, too." This college program gave me the tools to succeed in business by teaching me all aspects of business, from accounting to marketing. Opportunity for Promotion 2 There are not many opportunities to be promoted because of a lack of funding. Also, those above me in rank aren't going anywhere. Job Security 4 Because of the economy, and because I work at a nonprofit, my pay heavily relies on grants and on the donations of others. If we do not get the needed grants for a year, then I could be fired, or have my pay dramatically decreased. Earnings Potential 1 My pay has remained the same for the past 4 years that I have been working at this organization. It has been made clear that I will not get a pay increase, and other organizations pay about the same per hour. How Stressful 10 My job is extremely stressful because I have no help. There are no other office assistants and there is much work that I am responsible for. Currently, I do the work of an accountant on top of my regular activities because of reduced funding. Task Variety 8 Tasks vary, especially when it is grant time because I am busy maintaining the office as well as doing grant research and data collection. How Cool Is The Career 2 There is some prestige when working for a nonprofit because people are aware of the hard work involved, but I would not say that it is a cool job. Career Flexibility 1 I cannot work at home, part-time, or in any other location. Furthermore, if I take a day off, then the work piles up. Social Orientation 10 We have clients coming in constantly so I have quite a bit of social interaction with others. Job Title: Zoning & Health Coordinator Attended: Iowa Western Community College • Council Bluffs, IA Studied Business (completion in 1995) Highest relevant degree: Associate's 3 Career Satisfaction: • Submitted: 2/29/2012 "I believe that had I applied myself, I could have accomplished a lot more in my career than I have. I do not feel there is room for growth in my current position." I think to succeed in the business field you need to go beyond the AA that I received. The basic foundation is provided by IWCC. Opportunity for Promotion 2 Job Security 8 I am employed by the local government. In the twelve years I have been there, I have not seen any employees let go. Earnings Potential 1 The Board of Supervisors annually set a budget for all the county departments. The pay raises are a set amount across the board, typically 1% - 2%. Unless other positions open up, I am stuck at the pay scale I am at. How Stressful 8 The stress level of my job varies. When a resident has not followed the local code, they typically become very angry, which causes great stress. Task Variety 2 The department I work in performs certain services to the public. Unless there are new projects assigned or new developments within the County, the day to day tasks do not vary. This spring there was a local, long duration flood. This was something I had never experienced in the twelve years of my employment. We are still working through that process. How Cool Is The Career 2 Government employees are not well liked people. We are not "cool" in the eyes of the public. Career Flexibility 1 The hours of my job are set. A few years back a coworker & I presented a proposal to our supervisor and Board of Supervisors to work rotating 10 hour days. Without any consideration, our proposal was denied. Social Orientation 9 My job requires repeated interaction with the general public. My department is responsible for issuing permits to county residents. There is considerable interaction among my coworkers as we all perform different components of the work process. Online Course Finder Find the path to your education in 3 easy steps. Degree Finder Find the path to your education in 3 easy steps. Career Highlights Executive Secretaries And Administrative Assistants Training generally required for this career includes: Work experience in a related occupation.	eng	14487751-d705-47cd-9848-7b210569c2e1	http://www.braintrack.com/colleges-by-career/administrative-assistants
The Onion has written a satirical piece on how abortion could be written into a t.v. sitcom. The fictitious CBS show is Same Difference, and in an upcoming episode: … star Kirsten Sumner's character, Trish O'Connell, the sharp-tongued but beautiful wife of portly Chicago bread-truck driver Greg O'Connell, played by Carl Hubbard, will reveal to her husband she was pregnant and had an abortion without his knowledge. Trish's revelation comprises the secondary, or "B," story of the episode, in which Greg eats a meatball sandwich against his wife's wishes. The abortion story line had to be written into the show, said fictitious producers, because in real life Sumner had a late term abortion after the show had already acknowledged her pregnancy…. "It would've been insulting to our viewers if we never addressed the fact that Kirsten is so obviously post-abortion," executive producer Aaron Karsch said. "We did consider shooting around the abortion and using lighting tricks and strategically placed plants to cover up her uterus. But everyone would have been able to tell anyhow, so we figured we might as well use it to the show's advantage." Yes, abortion can be funny: "It wasn't easy, but in the end, we got some very solid material out of it – the plotline stayed true to the O'Connells' relationship while still being entertaining," said co- executive producer Larry Krespie, adding that, thanks to the show's resourceful writing staff, Sumner's evacuated womb may be "the best thing that ever happened to Same Difference"…. "Kirsten did some brilliant acting," said Krespie, who called Sumner's portrayal of a woman who had recently had an abortion "spot-on." "Our show does a lot of quiet, observational humor, and I think anyone who's had an abortion would be hard-pressed not to relate to, and get a chuckle out of, Trish's situation." Continued Krespie: "Kirsten really got into the mind of her character, even in the physical-comedy scenes, like when she was trying to avoid Greg and get out of the house to get the abortion. And later in the packed abortion clinic, when she mistakes the number 81 she received from the receptionist for 18, and finds out she has to wait much longer for her abortion. But it all leads to a nice, poignant ending when both characters realize they should have been honest with each other all along—Trish with her pregnancy, and Greg with his sandwich." Witty piece. And I think Hollywood, which so strongly supports abortion, should indeed explore its humorous side55 Responses to "Here's a pitch: Abortion in a sitcom" What the hell? This is ridiculous…no abortion is a laughing matter, and that's coming from a pro-choicer. It's a decision not made rashly. Holy crap, this is awful. Comparing an abortion to a sandwich is terrible. I don't know what to think about this… on the one hand, it can be helpful to look at things from a humorous perspective. On the other hand, Alyssa is right. The comparison of an abortion to a sandwich is not only terrible, but rather insulting. Is that the normal niveau for the show? I've never watched it. I realize that the show is fictitious… and I never said that there was humor in abortion. Women making the choice to either have a child or have an abortion are not thinking about celebrating after either process. We never said that it was a happy thing to do. It's a decision made with careful consideration. It, like other medical procedures, is always considered serious. Alyssa, Ingrid and anyone else who will post later, This is what we keep trying to tell you…there is a portion, maybe a large portion, of the pro-choice population that thinks this is a "game". Remember the story of the escort who high fived her comrade? WE know you guys don't see abortion this way, but our take on it is that the people who began this movement (ie naral, now) do see it this way. We believe it is based on lies (remember the post by Bernard Nathanson saying they laughed, laughed while coming up with the word choice? And we believe that well meaning young men and women have been duped into believing these lies. I know you don't see it this way, but I think if you stick around on this sight long enough, you will. You'll notice that while we are a "strange" group, with all of our religious mumbo jumbo, we have never, nor will we ever, lied to you. But over and over again we point out the lie that abortion is good for women. No laws regulating the clinics, the breast cancer link (you have to rethink that one after you see how the pro-aborts, and I mean pro-aborts, have lied to you), the dangers of the procedure itself… Anyway, something to chew on… MK I want to know why you abortion proponents find no humor in abortion. We manage to find happiness and humor in all our other constitutional rights. There have even been sitcoms focusing on overcoming racial prejudice like The Jeffersons and Good Times. Why are you so touchy? We're not touchy. I respect your opinions just as much as a pro-choicer's. Just because it's a right doesn't mean that we have to exercise it. Just as we don't have to vote. Personally, I view the right to vote as less of a serious matter than the right to my bodily autonomy. I don't think pregnancy, or anything that deals with it, including abortion, is a laughing matter. Voting? eh, I can laugh about candidates and "dimpled chads" and all that junk. But pregnancy? That will always affect any woman much more deeply. It's not a laughing matter whether or not you decide to maintain a pregnancy (unless of course, the pregnancy is planned…then you can give a 'high-five' to your partner and say "GREAT JOB, HONEY"). But why isn't abortion a laughing matter, or at least a right to be proud of? Not all Americans may vote, but there's no American I know who is ashamed of it. Yes, ashamed is the right word here. Otherwise you wouldn't resist being called pro-abortion. This particular right is so unusual, isn't it? So different from the rest. Jill, We resist being called pro-abortion because that doesn't accurately describe how we view it. You resist being called anti-choice or anti-woman, right? It's just another misleading term to make the other side sound more horrible than they really are. I and many others use the term pro-life. Please give pro-choicers the same respect. It's insulting that you use pro-abortion to describe the pro-choice side because we don't advocate abortion; we only support a woman's choice to have one if necessary. All the women on these boards have explained this to you, but I have never seen you acknowledge it. And for the record, I am not ashamed to say that I am pro-choice. Jill, "I want to know why you abortion proponents find no humor in abortion. We manage to find happiness and humor in all our other constitutional rights" Erm Jill,I think a lot of fellow Americans cannot find much humor or happiness in the right to bear arms. Not too funny for mothers who lost children in Columbine. I think it was mentioned once before. People defending the legality of abortion defend civil liberties and equality for both sexes. They defend the rights they perceive as unalienable in a liberal democracy. Though this can entail that women may choose to not carry a pregnancy, for the people defending the legality of abortion forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy and violating her civil rights is WORSE than the decisions the women makes. I have not heard anyone pro-choice saying abortion itself was a glorious thing. You would have to be mad to say so. And about this sitcom- it is The Onion after all, so, I mean… I said, I don't even think pregnancy is a laughing matter…so why would something related to pregnancy be one? You're right…this right is so much different than all of the others because it affects women on a much more deep and profound level. Not all rights are laughable. I wouldn't laugh about a woman's right to remain pregnant, nor would I laugh about all the complications it entails (who would laugh at a woman dealing with morning sickness, weight gain, edema, labor, post-partum depression?). Nothing about pregnancy should be a laughing matter. And neither should there be a reason to laugh about abortion. Jill "This particular right is so unusual, isn't it? So different from the rest." Actually, it is not. it is quite consistent with your right to liberty and privacy under a due process clause. it is quite consistent with those rights in a liberal democracy that protect you from being enslaved or that the government can claim your organs for benevolent purposes. I think pro-choicers are probably proud of the right to be free from government imposed slavery. The fact that this can entail abortion I think is being disjuncted. Does that make sense at all?! I like having my right to free speech to be on here to debate, but I'm not laughing about it, nor do I find it particularly humorous. Just because we have a right doesn't make it funny. But most rights can be made to seem funny, in a joke, or a sitcom… I can easily imagine our right to bear arms being used in jokes, I can see our right to free speech being used in jokes…you can even make most minor or major surgeries into jokes…just watch "Scrubs" on NBC and see how many funnies they work into their show, dealing with different medical situations and surgeries…. and they're hilarious! But there is really no way to make abortion funny. It's different. It's sad. And deep down, I think you know why. "Women making the choice to either have a child or have an abortion are not thinking about celebrating after either process." I can assure you that I joyously celebrated each and every one of my pregnancies. Even the first one, when I was unmarried and barely supporting myself, and even though before I learned I was pregnant I had said if I was, I would abort. It was the unexpected and indescribable joy over the conception of my child that made me pro-life. And I've celebrated every pregnancy since then. A life is a thing to laugh over and celebrate. It's death that isn't funny. Stephanie, I do not know whether you have a selective memory for posts or what … there have been several (Alyssa being one) who has proposed this same sentiment … over and over – as if the repetition made the observation true. During pregnancy there are at least two beings present … more if there are multiple fetuses. Our DNA says there are multiple humans involved. And they are no doubt alive beings … both the mother AND her offspring are alive and human. So, then it comes down to autonomy … is a fetus then a free-loader? Looks so doesn't it? Here are a few of the things happening right now … an immigrant is forced to leave his home and seeks asylum here … he has no documents … do you then say: 'he is safe with me' or, is it your patriotic duty to rid your country of this parasite? …. during pregnancy a fetus will actually send stem cells out to the mother to heal metabolic processes that she has! So, just who benefits from motherhood? …. in psychology the bond between mother and her child is so strong – that a child of 4 yrs still has a very hard time thinking of his/her being as one that is at all distinct from his/her mother. Is this perception wrong even though it does clash with what chemistry says? …. a very profound reality can be 'real' and very much outside what we call science … there was a test group of people who only had good thoughts & prayers – they had discernible influence several thousands of miles away on mice, burned for this experiment. The people who gathered did not know who they were praying for until just prior to the experiment. ….'Psychology Today' So what do you have …. a highly selective view of what a pregnancy means … I should ask just who benefits from the view that humans are isolates and women should rightly fear pregnancy? … do not adult male perceptions dominate, here? Science itself is only an adult male take on reality … many claim religion is like this and therefore, should be rejected … reminds me very much about the folks who want history to be herstory – but isn't science (instead of being 'objective') even more-so? Scott, There are people born with the condition of having no pain receptors and will never experience physical pain in their lifetime. Are these people "rocks"? Brain dead? If the fetal brain starts out dead it stays that way and will develop no further. A dead brain, fetal or otherwise, does not suddenly come to life. Is the person in the hospital, someone's loved one, who is declared brain dead a "rock"? As for humor, who remembers Archie Bunker? His character was racist and bigoted. Maybe you couldn't call him bigoted since he equally disliked everybody. Anyway, this show certainly was popular, controversial, and yes funny. Bigotry and racism funny? Yes, by showing just how stupid it looks and sounds. In fact, what life situations have not been made fun of? There are certainly those I would never consider humorous, among them sexual abuse, domestic violence, and abortion. In fact, programs that have in any way tried to put a nice face on abortion have all too often met with controversy or angry audience reaction. One such example is the movie "Roe v Wade", which I understand flopped on TV. As for being for the right to choose abortion while opposing abortion, I just throw this question out there. Can one oppose rape and wife abuse yet at the same time support a man's right to choose to commit these acts? The only time I hear the argument that one can oppose an action yet support a person's right to choose to commit it is in reference to abortion. Does this argument apply to all other aspects of life as well or does it exclusively apply to abortion and why is that? I don't mind being referred to as "anti-choice" but please specify the choice you assume I oppose before you refer to me as such. There are many choices I support as well as those I oppose. John all the aspects you list are true, which is why you probably could call a pregnancy a symbiosis- I know biologists studying symbiosis are sceptical about the comparison, but I like it because it says in a symbiosis both the host and parasite receive benefits from the arrangement. Given that the fetus is of human nature as the mother, it is not really a symbiosis in the technical sense- but you get the idea. However, only women who want theyr pregnancy get something out of it. Women forced to carry unwanted pregnancies do not seem to perceive any benefits and have a much higher likelyhood to kill the newborn than women who loved their pregnancy. Women who love their pregnancy and define its meaning for themselves also happily take on the potential health risks associated with pregnancy. Women who did not want to be pregnant at all seem much more sceptical, but that is just an anecdotal claim. Mary "Does this argument apply to all other aspects of life as well or does it exclusively apply to abortion and why is that?" It applies to all those aspects of life that do not affect the social and economic fabric and stability of society. Domestic violence has proven to not only have detrimental effects on women;s status, health and lives, it also affects their children, raises infant mortality and teaches inequality to witnessing children right from the start. it perpetuates detrimental images of inequality. in countries where inequality is rampat, domestic violence is still a 'private issue'. as a government you derive your legitimacy mainly from keeping society safe and together. I know there are people who sense a 'spiritual' danger for a society in abortion. But there are no links that prove your neighbor having an abortion impacts society, or you, or your life in an indirect or direct way. Which is also why society cannot agree on a clear cut legislature regarding the issue. And Mary "The only time I hear the argument that one can oppose an action yet support a person's right to choose to commit it is in reference to abortion" How about pornography? I oppose pronography but I support free speech. How about the right to carry guns, do you oppose carrying a gun yourself but can understand why some people demand the constitution to be respected? Actually that is a bad example because the spread of guns actually does endanger society. And the costs for treating gun related injuries run up to the billions. Do you oppose Islam? If yes, would you still allow for others to practice it? This attitude is not only practiced in regard to abortion. It is practiced everywhere where people realize that tolerance is appropriate when it comes to personal decisions. Joe, Do you oppose child pornography yet still support one's right to read it? Guns are quite another issue. I have no problem with properly trained and licensed people carrying or possessing guns. In fact, crime rates have dropped where people were allowed to carry concealed weapons. Criminals thought twice when they realized a potential victim might be packing a pistol. As for the costs of treating gun injuries have you ever looked into the costs of treating car accident victims? I support gun ownership, as guaranteed in our constitution, and the right to choose to own a gun. Concerning Islam, I support our country's constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion. There are any number of religions I disagree with, including Islam, but I do not oppose them and support everyone's right to choose to practice or not to practice a particular religious faith. Scott,When a woman is pregnant she is pregnant with another human being.A rock will never play with dolls,chase puppies,have dreams,write a letter,laugh,draw a breath,cry a tear,get married,make others smile,hug you. Get my point?You may say that an embryo,zygote or fetus wouldn't either,but it would if it were given a chance to live.We all had to grow in a woman's womb in order to be here.This is how human beings are made.There is no other way.During pregnancy,there are 2 human beings. excellent analysis Joe and Mary. (wonder where I've heard those names before?) I've always wondered about the nature of power exercised by the will (preference, if you will). I'll bet you could ask a whole stadium filled with people to lift a piece of paper, say 1/4″. I'll bet they cannot. But a lone woman can seek to end the life … of the most sophisticated organization known (her baby). No, a pre-fetus even is not brain dead (we just have not got instruments so sensitive to pick up such tiny waves). We falsely assume that she knows her best interests and that one of these must include the destruction of her child. I keep hearing: 'Yes, that's right!' but, I never do hear a call to support her as pregnant …. are pregnant women less sexy …. we can't have that, so let's kill. … A Star Treck moment: 'beem me-up Scotty' (outa here!) Joe, I'm afraid you dance around the issue I raise. Whether or not abortion is detrimental to the woman and society is open to debate and is hotly contested. Many post abortive women would beg to differ with you. At one time domestic violence, like abortion, was not seen as detrimental and was considered a private matter. I abhor domestic violence. I never want anybody saying I am pro-domestic violence. Is it possible for me to say instead that I support a man's right to choose to beat his wife, but not domestic violence itself? John, about supporting the pregnant woman. There are over 3,000 crisis pregnancy centers that offer support, financial help, medical care, emergency shelter, and job training for pregnant women and young mothers. We have two shelters for pregnant women and mothers with children in the town I live in. mary "Do you oppose child pornography yet still support one's right to read it?" No, I would want to outlaw it. Regular Porn most of the time happens between two consenting adults who made the choice to make money this way. It is unlikely a child readily consents to being sexually assaulted and degraded. Also, sexually abused children often grow up to become prostitutes, drug addicts or become abusers themselves. And many have extremely difficult lives which might affect the life of their own children. See how this feeds back into destabilizing society and making everyone else potentially more miserable? I would be all for supporting a pregnant woman when she feels the only reasons why she has to abort is lack of support! Choice is about being able to make a choice. "choosing" abortion because you felt you had to becasue you were bitter poor or hated because of your pregnancy is not a choice. It is coercion, which is terrible. I feel more supportive communities and families could catch quite a bit of those women who don;t see another solution. I still believe, when looking at history, records and statistics, that there will always be a residual need of some sort or the other though, a need that a legal ban would not be able to eradicate. Mary, "Whether or not abortion is detrimental to the woman and society is open to debate and is hotly contested. Many post abortive women would beg to differ with you." i know they would. However, these women suffered because of the choice they themselves made about themselves. It takes two to make domestic violance happen, it takes one woman to decide on an abortion. When the government intervenes in people's privacy on the basis that people might make decisions that isolatedly harm themselves, you would be on the highway towards Orwell's 1984. That women get hurt during abortion is terribly sad and I wish they would have made the better choice for them. But there is something called self-responsibility. If you look for someone to blame after you committed an act you are ashamed of, it is very easy to blame everyone else to diffuse your own burden, you know? And there are about as many testimonies of women who felt positively about their abortion. There are few testimonies about women feeling helped by domestic violance. I don;t think I am dancing around, really. Joe, We certainly agree on the horrors of child pornography and whatever our reasons or rationale, would NEVER support anyone's choice to produce or possess it. Whatever harm it may do in the longrun, the perversity of using children in this manner can never be a matter of choice. That's my point Joe, you oppose it and agree that one cannot oppose child pornography and at the same time support its publication. Your point about supportive communities for pregnant women is also very valid. A legal ban will never eradicate abortion. But then legal bans have never eradicated car theft, drunk driving, or sexual assault to name only a few. I suppose we shouldn't have legal bans of any kind since they obviously don't work. The women who have been harmed by abortion have not sought pity or to hold others responsible for their decisions. And yes, the decision to abort can hurt others, like the child's father. Also the woman who is coerced or threatened into aborting is not making a sole decision for herself, but being pressured by others. Again, how abortion affects society is debatable and hotly contested Mary "A legal ban will never eradicate abortion. But then legal bans have never eradicated car theft, drunk driving, or sexual assault to name only a few. I suppose we shouldn't have legal bans of any kind since they obviously don't work." No, I never said that. You completely missed everyhting I said about a government deriving its legitemacy from protecting society and its tenants. Firstly, theft of any kind violates the idea of owning property, which I guess we all appreciate and also NEED in order to work as a society in capitalism. Second, can you imagine the anarchy in a society where sexual assualt and theft can happen with impunity? Just take a look at societies where that is the case. Even look at New Orleans and what happened to it shortly after Katrina broke down legal enforcement mechanisms for a while. Unlike for theft, prohibiting all abortion has shown to not greatly change the rate of abortions taking place. For example, Nicaragua has a population of almost 6 million. Abortion is completely banned even when the mother dies. Between 30 000 to 34 000 illegal abortions are registered each year in Nicaragua by independant women's health clinics. This is quite similar to the ratio of abortion we have in the US where abortion is not outlawed yet restricted. I agree that there are probably people who hotly debate the influence of abortion onto society. But you have to admit the 'impacts' are in no way quantifyable and provable as for example the damage child pornography and unregulated murder, drug trafficing and theft do. Besides, it is not like there are NO regulations about abortion in place. I can also completely understand why people who believe it is a genuine threat and that it is never in any way justifiable would want to legalize against it. The point is, a lot of people, though ambivalent about abortion, set it into context with broader issues, thus the issue becomes situational and more relative, and smacking legislation into it becomes very very difficult. Especially if you look at the motivation of many people who want to legalize against abortion altogether. Many people see it as a social issue in which religion has no place. Hey I am being devil's advocate here. You probably assume I am ardently pro-choice but quite honestly I am completely on the fence about the issueI think that's the point of the story she posted, isn't it? Look, it makes you think…if you are pro-"choice"…please explain… why is abortion not something that can be joked about? That's the whole point of this story. This is not told to make fun of abortion, or to laugh about it….this is shared to make a point. You can't find humor in abortion, and even pro-"choice" supporters find a "humorous" story about abortion disgusting. Why is that, why are they offended, if it's just a surgery that removes a "blob of tissue"? I have seen sitcoms that made jokes out of people getting their appendix removed…or their gall bladder. Not once did it ever make me feel uncomfortable. Not once would I expect anyone to be offended by the material. However, this satire about abortion really offends people. The pro-"choice" crowd supposedly believes that what a woman is doing during abortion is just having something removed that is not human and has no value…if that's true, there should be nothing offensive about a joke on abortion, should there? Nothing at all. What makes it any different than removing the appendix? So why is this such a hard thing to read, from a pro-choice stance? I want to know how removing a blob of "meaningless tissue" is such a sensitive matter. Joe, Making abortion illegal will not stop abortion. On this you are correct. But it doesn't make it any less deplorable have a legal sanction on it. If something horrific is happening and you can't stop it, at least you can hold your head up and say that you were on the right side of the fight. Making abortion illegal will say alot about America as a whole. What individuals do is not something we can control, but just like heroine, we can and should make it illegal. In this way we represent ourselves as a whole…and subsequetly bare no responsibility for the actions of individuals. Heroin use is illegal. People still use heroin. America can hold it's head high and say, we, as a whole, say heroine use is wrong. MK this MAY be a problem Joe, when people die in massive numbers many people refer to this as 'war' …. debate and issues are mental abstractions only. The actuality vs the virtuality of this situation leads some to a more hands-on approach rather than the safety of 'debate'. Hey, stop the killing ::: and maybe we can iron out the fine points in a debate, then. Joe, Are you aware that societies that have legalized abortion have seen a significant increase in the incidence of child abuse, and yes that includes the United States. Weren't we promised that child abuse, not to mention poverty, welfare dependency, and illegitimacy would be eliminated by legal abortion? I still recall bumper stickers that said "Stop Child Abuse, Support Abortion Reform". It sure made sense to assume child abuse would be eliminated. That's the problem, it was assumed. Ever break down the word "assume"? What is the impact on society of abused children? So why the increase? One theory holds that parents tend to have much higher and more unrealistic expectations of so called "planned and wanted" children and are frustrated when these expectations are not met. Whatever the reason, the incidence of child abuse has increased in every society legalizing abortion. This fact alone opens your theory that abortion does not negatively impact society to some very serious debate. Concerning laws. My point was that no matter what the crime or how despicable it is or why the government legislates against a certain act, laws do NOT stop those determined to commit illegal acts. The argument that we should not have bans against abortion because abortion will not be stopped could just as easily apply to every criminal statute on the books. Since laws don't stop crime, then why have them? Police officers and prison guards would be forced to seek employment elsewhere if they did. You mention Nicaragua. I imagine they also have any number of other laws that are broken all the time, and on a far greater scale. Bethany I am offended by your insinuation that pro-choice advocates should find abortion humorous. Would you be offended if someone wrote a satire about your miscarriage? I dont know where you people keep coming up with the idea that pro-choicers dont consider a z/e/f to be human. What else would we think it is, a fishstick? Many people dont consider it to be a person due to the development of its brain; however, the words "human" and "person" are not accurately interchangable. I dont believe that a fetus has no value; it has potential value, just like a piano hanging from a rope has potential gravitational energy. It doesnt have energy until it is actually dropped, and how much energy it has is dependent on its initial height. The point is that terminating a pregnancy isnt a joy ride; rather, the right of the mother (a contributing member of society) superceeds the "right" of the fetus (a potentially contributing member of society). Just because a woman feels the need to exercise that right does not mean she doesnt grieve the loss of that potential life. I don't grieve the loss of my husband's sperm and my egg, every time we are intimate….THOSE are potential human beings. Alone, they are just a sperm and an egg. Living, but not a complex human being. I did grieve, however, and am still grieving over the loss of my actual baby. Why do you think that is? I am not grieving over a potential human. I am grieving over my baby! Once the sperm and egg unite, they create a new life which is a complete human, needing nothing but oxygen and nutrition to survive. Saying that the fetus is a "potential person" implies that they are missing something, or that something else would have to be added to them in order to become a human. At what point do you think something is added to the fetus to become a "person"…or at what precise moment do you feel it has achieved personhood? Abortion kills an actual baby, not a potential one. Sperm and egg are potential…embryo and fetus are already actual human life. This has been scientifically proven…it's kind of silly , in my opinion, that it's still being argued…especially by the very people who say they are led by scientific facts. Many people dont consider it to be a person due to the development of its brain; The development of the baby's brain has nothing to do with whether it is a person or not. If that were the case, then couldn't one make the argument that a toddler and an adolescent are both non-persons, because their brains are not developed as a mature adults brain is? It is unlikely a child readily consents to being sexually assaulted and degraded. It's is unlikely a child readily consents to being killed with forceps, scissors, a suction machine, chemicals, or saline. This concept of personhood is a philosophical one that varies, but that is the basic consensus. The law doesnt consider the fetus to be a person until birth. That is why they can be terminated legally by the mother. The fetus is considered a potential person until the moment of birth because its birth is not certain until it occurs. If you are confused about this, I would refer you to Black's Law Dictionary, which is used by the US Supreme Court. The term "baby" is scientifically appropriate for the delivered fetus, not the fetus in eutero. SamanthaT: Your self-deception and lack of logic becomes more and more evident the more I read your posts. Your quote: " " Does that mean that most of the pro-deathers that blog on this site are not people since they exhibit no evidence of consciousness of thought? Just a thought…I mean a joke, ha, ha. "Black's Law Dictionary", now let's see, written by men, 1st edition written in 1891 as "A Dictionary of Law". That makes it about 106 years old, edited numerous times since. Compare that to The Bible, witten over 6,000 years, in 66 Books, inspired by God Himself. Hmmmmmmmmm….which book do I base the definition of life on?The definition of life in a man-made book does not make that definition valid since the definiton can change with the times and circumstances. The definition of life can only be defined by the Creator and He does it in His book, the Bible. Life begins at conception. II'll stick with God's definition of life because I'm smart enough to know that I don't know much but I know enough to know that most pro-deathers simply don't think about their stand very thoroughly or have just chosen to accept self-deception. Bethany, you are so vulnerable right now. You lost your child. Don't let SamanthaT mislead you. Please don't fall into that trap. She is a ravenous wolf in sheep's clothing. I am not really sure what I would do in that situation. I know I would be terribly hurt, but I don't know what I would do. By cyber hugging her I was not condoning her words at all..I still absolutely disagree with her definition of life, and her support of abortion, one hundred percent… I just know that people can change…and when I saw her say that she had sympathy for my loss and that she was comforted by my blog (which is written in a solid pro-life style, and is expressive of my faith), it gave me hope that maybe she understands what we see and just hasn't gotten quite there yet. Maybe she hasn't been totally convinced but could over time. After seeing her story in the other topic, I saw how at least one of the reasons she comes here is out of hurt over her loss in the past…. I realized that being snide or defensive in my response was not going to change her mind, or make her feel any warmer towards pro-life advocates. And if I make it easier for her to continue believing abortion is not murder, then am I really helping the pro-life cause? It would only fuel the fire even more. Even though I feel just as you do about abortion…it sickens me and disgusts me, and I feel that it is an absolute abomination, I think that some women are truly mislead and need loving guidance to the truth, which is that all human life is precious and all humans deserve the right to life, liberty and justice. Maybe I am naive to believe that people will come around, but I just really want to hope that everyone deep down really does know the truth, and that some of these people will be awakened before too long. IGreat thoughts, I completely agree. I don't know why but sometimes when I use the HTML coding it doesn't italicize the whole previous comment… I know I did it right, but for some reason it keeps doing it anyway. Sorry if it's confusing to read some of my posts because of it. His Man–very telling, isnt it? "Man." Unless I missed the boat, that's all there is to it. Not God, not Jesus, just man. Good thing for me, I guess, and a lot of others, because we just dont measure up to your standards. Too bad it's God who does the judging and not you, huh? Bethany, Some of us have the gift of compassion like you do. This obviously came as the result of great suffering and to me this is a privlege. However, the application of the gift of compassion has to be balanced with wisdom. My point is we need to treat, and have sympathy for, and have compassion on people that approve of and participate in killing innocent human beings in the womb in the same way as we would treat, and have sympathy for, and have compassion on people that would murder me, you or one of my out of the womb children. We arrest them, take them to court, sentence them to jail, inflict punishment and give them an opportunity to change, etc. Otherwise we really don't believe that human beings in the womb are human beings. By doing this we send the proper message to society that abortion is murder and committing murder has consequences. If someone then has an unwanted pregnancy, they would then have to choose to commit murder and spend the rest of their life in jail or have the baby and all the blessing that go with that. Seems like a no-brainer to me. I wouldn't coddle a convicted murderer to try to convince them that what they did was wrong. No, they are hurting people. I would take the neccessary steps to prevent them from hurting someone first, then adminster punishment. That would be the only way to get them to even consider repenting and coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Women who consent to kill their unborn children, the people who support the act, and the abortionists who commit the deed need to understand that murder will not be tolerated by society and will have grave consequences. This is why governments, which are instituted by God, have the duty to make abortion illegal again. That is why we have police, politicians, and the military. Unfortunatley, our governement lost its way as of about 34 years ago. In the same light, if abortion is made illegal again, we, especially and primarily the church and Christians, and not primarily the government, need to make it as easy as possbile for a women that finds herself in a difficult situation with a pregnancy, to have that baby showing as much compassion and tender mercy to the mother as is possible in a protective environment. This would be the correct application of our gifts of compassion. SamanthaT: You forgot the "His" part of "His Man". It's about Him not me. Samantha, there you go again, leaving out, and twisting words so that you can decieve and be decieved. Not a good way to live. Judging you or others would be to say "you're going to hell". So, I have never said that since it is very possible that you will repent, come to a saving knowlege of Jesus Christ and thus be in heaven forever. In fact, that is my hope for you. I will also not lie to you by not opposing your stance on abortion. Now that would really be a disservice to you. Perhaps someday, you will grow up, and understand. However, I can say what the Bible says which is, if you or anyone rejects Jesus, you or anyone will have no hope of heaven. I am only stating a conditon for which there is a consquence, not making a judgement. Those are His words made by His Man, blame Him not me. Read it for yourself or choose to live in ignorance. Christians are commanded in the Word to spread the Gospel which is the Good News that forgiveness is available to all through faith in Jesus Christ and rejecting such will damn you to hell, but at the same time we're admonsihed not to judge. One must take the time to understand the apparent dichotomy and thus, come to, well, an understanding. The Bible does not contradict itself as others have so foolishly tried to claim in other topics on this site. So, if I am commanded not to judge and to proclaim the Good News and it is interpreted as judgement by the hearers, I must not be judging them, they must be judging themselves and blaming the messenger. So SamanthaT, while you're words in these posts can be observed and described as those of a ravenous wolf in sheep's clothing (I mean, by your own admission, you're willing to kill innocent children and clothe that stance in false wisdom, by definiton that's wolfy and deceptive), there's still hope for you because of an amazing God that saved even this former wolf in sheep's clothing. He did the same for Paul and Peter, who, by the way, Jesus called satan. He became a piilar of the church. Go figure, Christ calling a spade a spade and I think I have the mind of Christ. That's what the Bible tells me. I will say this Samantha, if I am wrong, I will be the first to ask for your forgiveness. However, based on my extensive and gut wrenching study of God's Word over 30 years that I do not believe I am wrong. I have the courage to ask Him to show me if I am wrong. If He shows me such, I'll repent. I don't think He's going to contradict Himslef because it says that a house divide against itself cannot stand. "The Bible does not contradict itself as others have so foolishly tried to claim in other topics on this site." OT: "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth..," NT: "turn the other cheek" But you accuse me of deceiving people? The abililty to accept the Bible in its true context is real faith, His Man. Why Bethany, thank you, that was most helpful. Perhaps you could look at my numerous other posts pointing out what I found to be contradictory passages in the Bible and help me with them as well, as His Man has continued to ignore them while he claims that I am ignorant and indoctrinated? The loving kindness you and MK and John display makes me very proud to be a Christian. I'm not sure which ones you had mentioned in the other posts, but here are some pages with numerous questions that people had about what seemed to be contradictions, answered. (Scroll down on this one for a little bit and you'll get to the list) A lot of these kinds of answers helped me at one time when I was beginning to think there actually were contradictions in the Bible. It was a very hard time for me, I knew God was real and I wanted to believe the Bible was 100 percent accurate, but these supposed contradictions made it very difficult for me… I eventually realized that I was not reading enough of the passage or seeing the whole picture, and this is what was causing me to see 'contradictions' (also, it didn't help that athiests were giving me examples of the contradictions and I had no way to answer them, because I had not taken the time to read and find out myself)…sometimes if you read just one verse out of a chapter and don't read the context around it, it's very easy to get the wrong idea. (Also, sometimes you have to really, really carefully notice the wording…even little words like "and" or "by" could mean a world of difference in a Bible verse). Once you read around the context (or also compare with other scripture to understand the story line) you'll usually get the picture much more easily. Reporter:What about the trial in Philadelphia of the doctor, Kermit Gosnell? Is there any role at all that Congress could play to ensure that what's happened at that clinic isnt happening elsewhere? Pelosi: I think what went on there, and I only know what you all report on it, is it's really disgusting. It's really disgusting, and when we talk about women's reproductive health, that's not what we're talking about.	eng	17a540d8-38b0-4dd2-ae58-846cb6f7eef5	http://www.jillstanek.com/2007/03/heres-a-pitch-abortion-in-a-sitcom/
Hubble's Historic Shots Ground Image and Constellation Region Around Fornax More from this Slideshow Hubble's Histori...Click through to see the coolest pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Hubble Space Nec.../NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Space BlobThis handout photo provided by NASA, taken April 12, 2010 by the Hubble Space Telescope, shows an unusual, ghostly green blob of gas appears to float near a normal-looking spiral galaxy. NASA released Monday the Hubble Space Telescope's first picture of the mysterious giant glowing green blob of gas called Hanny's Voorwerp. The blob is the size of our Milky Way galaxy and is 650 million light years away. Each light year is about 6 trillion miles. The blob was discovered in 2007 by Dutch school teacher Hanny van Arkel. (AP Photo/Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Supernova BlastThis image provided by NASA Tuesday Dec. 14, 2010 shows a (AP Photo/NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. 20th AnniversaryIn this image provided by NASA this craggy fantasy mountaintop enshrouded by wispy clouds looks like a bizarre landscape from Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" or a Dr. Seuss book, depending on your imagination. The NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, which is even more dramatic than fiction, captures the chaotic activity atop a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being assaulted from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks. This turbulent cosmic pinnacle lies within a tempestuous stellar nursery called the Carina Nebula, located 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. The image celebrates the 20th anniversary of Hubble's launch and deployment into an orbit around Earth. Hubble was launched April 24, 1990. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Jupiter HitThis image provided by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope taken with it's Wide Field Camera 3 on Thursday July 23, 2009 shows the sharpest visible-light picture taken of the impact feature (dark spot) and "backsplash" of material from a small object that plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere and disintegrated. The only other time in history such a feature has been seen on Jupiter was in 1994 during the collision of fragments from comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. This is a natural color image of Jupiter as seen in visible light. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. One Way to MarsThis undated file photo taken by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope shows the planet Mars Hubble Space Telescope) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Starry NightThis photo provided by NASA, taken in 2006 by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a cluster of diverse galaxies. A new study led by a Yale University astronomer looks at elliptical galaxies, such as the bright one in the top middle of this 2006 Hubble Space Telescope photograph, and finds they have far more stars than initially thought. That means the universe may have three times more stars than astronomers previously figured. The bright part of the Hubble photo shows a cluster of galaxies 450 million light years with the giant elliptical galaxy ESO 325-G004 looming large at the cluster's center. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Spiral Galaxy NG...This image provided by NASA Tuesday Aug. 10, 2010 shows a long-exposure Hubble Space Telescope image of the majestic face-on spiral galaxy NGC4911 located deep within the Coma Cluster of galaxies, which lies 320 million light-years away in the northern constellation Coma Berenices. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Oldest Galaxy Ev...In the center of this Jan. 5, 2010 NASA handout image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, is a hard-to-see galaxy that European astronomers say is the oldest seen in the universe so far. They used this image to focus a Chilean telescope to look for unique light signatures. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Brilliant Stars,...This image provided by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Tuesday Dec. 15, 2009 shows hundreds of brilliant blue stars wreathed by warm, glowing clouds. The festive portrait is the most detailed view of the largest stellar nursery in our local galactic neighborhood. The. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Dust in the Iris...This image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and provided by NASA shows a close-up of an area in the northwest region of the large Iris Nebula seems to be clogged with cosmic dust. With bright light from the nearby star HD 200775 illuminating it from above, the dust resembles thick mounds of billowing cotton. It is actually made up of tiny particles of solid matter, with sizes from ten to a hundred times smaller than those of the dust grains we find at home. Both background and foreground stars are dotted throughout the image. Researchers studying the object are particularly interested in the region to the left and slightly above center in the image, where dusty filaments appear redder than is expected. (AP Photo/NASA Hubble Space Telescope) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Crab NebulaThis image provided by NASA Monday Nov. 23, 2009 shows the Crab Nebula that is one of the most studied objects in the sky, making it a cosmic icon. X-ray data from Chandra provide significant clues to the workings of this mighty cosmic "generator," which is producing energy at the rate of 100,000 suns. This composite image uses data from three of NASA's Great Observatories. The Chandra X-ray image is shown in blue, the Hubble Space Telescope optical images are in yellow and red, and the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared image is in purple. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. A New View of Pl...This undated handout photo provided by NASA, taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, shows the dwarf planet Pluto. The image shows an icy, mottled, dark molasses-colored world undergoing seasonal surface color and brightness changes. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Mysterious Objec...This image provided by NASA Tuesday Feb. 2, 2010 shows a mystery object that was discovered on Jan. 6, 2010, by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) sky survey. The object appears so unusual in ground-based telescopic images that discretionary time on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope was used to take this. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Heavenly Mysteri...Still an astrophysical mystery, the evolution of the bulges in spiral galaxies led astronomers to the edge-on galaxy NGC4710. When starring directly at the center of the galaxy, one can detect a faint, ethereal "X"-shaped structure. Such a feature, which astronomers call a "boxy" or "peanut-shaped" bulge, is due to the vertical motions of the stars in the galaxy's bar and is only evident when the galaxy is seen edge-on. This curiously shaped puff is often observed in spiral galaxies with small bulges and open arms, but is less common in spirals with arms tightly wrapped around a more prominent bulge, such as NGC4710. (AP Photo/NASA/ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. New Look of the ...This image provided by NASA Tuesday Nov. 11, 2009 shows observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory in a collaboration to produce an unprecedented image of the central region of our Milky Way galaxy using infrared light and X-ray light to see through the obscuring dust and reveal the intense activity near the galactic core. Note that the center of the galaxy is located within the bright white region to the right of and just below the middle of the image. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Hubble Sees Neve...In this handout image provided by NASA taken in late August 2009, released Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has made the deepest image of the universe ever taken in near-infrared light. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Compass and Scal...In this handout image provided by NASA taken in late August 2009, released Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009, this image was taken in the same region as the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), which was taken in 2004 and is the deepest visible-light image of the universe. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Ground Image and...HUDF Region from...This handout image provided by NASA, released Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009, was taken with the new WFC3/IR camera on Hubble in late August 2009 during a total of four days of pointing for 173,000 seconds of total exposure time. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Barred Spiral Ga...This undated handout image provided by NASA, released Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, taken by the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, shows Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 6217. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. The Globular Sta...This undated handout image provided by NASA, released Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, taken by the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, shows a panoramic view of a colorful assortment of 100,000 stars residing in the crowded core of a giant star cluster, Globular Star Cluster Omega Centauri. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. JupiterThis undated handout image provided by NASA, released Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, taken by the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, shows the planet Jupiter. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Galaxy Cluster A...This undated handout image provided by NASA, released Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, taken by the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, shows Gravitational Lensing in Galaxy Cluster Abell 370. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Bursting StarsThis undated handout image provided by NASA, released Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, taken by the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, shows stars bursting to life in the chaotic Carina Nebula. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. A Galaxy QuintetThis undated handout image provided by NASA, released Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, taken by the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, shows a clash among members of a famous galaxy quintet reveals an assortment of stars across a wide color range, from young, blue stars to aging, red stars. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Butterflies in S...This undated handout image provided by NASA, released Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, taken by the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, shows a celestial object that looks like a delicate butterfly. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC 2074The Hubble Telescope is getting its fifth and final fix-up. Astronauts on the space shuttle Atlantis will repair and replace broken instruments, add a new long-gazing camera, and then say goodbye forever to Hubble. If it all works, Hubble will get another five to seven years of life, before it is remote-control steered into a watery grave. This photo, released by NASA and the European Space Agency to commemorate the Hubble Space Telescope completing its 100,000th orbit around the Earth in its 18th year of exploration and discovery, scientists have aimed Hubble to take a snapshot of a dazzling region of celestial birth and renewal. Hubble peered into a small portion of the nebula near the star cluster NGC 2074, top, on Sunday,Aug.10, 2008. The region is a firestorm of raw stellar creation, perhaps triggered by a nearby supernova explosion. It lies about 170 000 light-years away near the Tarantula nebula, one of the most active star-forming regions in our local group of galaxies. In this representative color image, red shows emission from sulphur atoms, green from glowing hydrogen, and blue from glowing oxygen. (AP Photo/NASA-ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC 2818This image provided by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the striking details of the famed planetary nebula designated NGC 2818, which lies in the southern constellation of Pyxis (the Compass). The spectacular structure of the planetary nebula contains the outer layers of a star that were expelled into interstellar space. The glowing gaseous shrouds in the nebula were shed by the central star after it ran out of fuel to sustain the nuclear reactions in its core. NGC 2818 is often heralded as one of the Galaxy's few planetary nebulae to be discovered as a member of an open star cluster. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. SupernovaFILE - This 2008 image from the Hubble Space Telescope, provided by NASA, shows a remnant from a supernova or star explosion, which looks like its a giant ribbon. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Arp 147This undated handout photo provided by NASA, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, shows a pair of gravitationally interacting galaxies called Arp 147. The Hubble Space Telescope is working again, taking stunning cosmic photos after a one-month breakdown. The Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore said the $10 billion telescope is as good as it was before a shutdown in late September. That glitch scotched plans for spacewalking astronauts to upgrade the telescope this month. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. V838 MonocerotisThis image provided by NASA shows the light echo around the variable star V838 Monocerotis taken by the Hubble Space Telescope released Saturday Oct. 27, 2006. The unusual variable star V838 Monocerotis continues to puzzle astronomers. This previously inconspicuous star underwent an outburst early in 2002, during which it temporarily increased in brightness to become 600 000 times more luminous than our Sun. Signs are promising for a repair of the aging but popular Hubble Space Telescope, once thought doomed because of worries over astronaut safety. The decision rests with NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, who hasn't yet made up his mind, NASA spokesman Dean Acosta said Friday in an e-mail. An announcement on the decision is expected Tuesday. (AP PHoto/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC 6357This photo from the Hubble Spadce Telescope, supplied by NASA and the European Space Agency on Monday Dec. 11, 2006, shows part of the constellation Scorpius centered on the large emission nebula NGC 6357 which has star cluster Pismis 24 in its center. Astronomers have reported this month that a star in the Pismis 24 cluster, which had been thought to be one of the heaviest stars in the Milky Way, is actually two stars and possible three. This image is a color composite taken by the Digitized Sky Survey. (AP Photo/ ESA-NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC 2808This photo supplied by NASA-ESA on Wednesday, May 2, 2007, shows a Hubble Space Telescope image of a dense swarm of stars in the central region of the globular cluster NGC 2808. Astronomers were surprised when Hubble spied three generations of cluster stars. For decades, astronomers thought that cluster stars formed at the same time, in the same place, and from the same material, and have co-evolved for billions of years. Scientists now believe that they can go through several periods of intense stellar formation rather than the previously accepted single burst. Globular clusters are among the earliest settlers of our Milky Way Galaxy, born during our galaxy's formation. The stars were born within 200 million years very early in the life of the 12.5-billion-year-old massive cluster. Clusters are compact swarms of typically hundreds of thousands of stars held together by gravity. Of the about 150 known globular clusters in our Milky Way Galaxy, NGC 2808 is one of the most massive, containing more than 1 million stars. (AP Photo/NASA-ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Cassiopeia AAn image provided by NASA is a false-color picture showing the many sides of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. It is made up of images taken by three of NASA's Great Observatories, using three different wavebands of light. Infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope are colored red; visible data from the Hubble Space Telescope are yellow; and X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory are green and blue. Astronomers have unearthed secrets from the grave of the star that blasted apart in a supernova explosion long ago. The discovery, represents the first time astronomers have been able to resurrect the life history of a supernova remnant in our own galaxy. Cassiopeia A is the burnt-out corpse of a massive star that ended its life in a fiery supernova about 11,300 years ago. Because it is 11,000 light-years from Earth, the light from its explosion would have reached Earth, sweeping right past it, about 300 years ago. (AP Photo/HO/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Omega/Swan nebul...This 2003 image from the Hubble telescope, provided by NASA, shows a storm of turbulent gases in the Omega/Swan nebula. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC 3324In this image provided by NASA Thursday Oct. 2, 2008 shows landscape' image from the cosmos to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope's Hubble Heritage Project. Cutting across a nearby star-forming region, called NGC 3324, are the "hills and valleys" of gas and dust displayed in intricate detail. Set amid a backdrop of soft, glowing blue light are wispy tendrils of gas as well as dark trunks of dust that are light-years in height. NGC 3324 is located in the constellation Carina, about 7,200 light-years away from Earth. The abrupt, mysterious failure of the command and data-handling system for Hubble's science instruments Saturday Sept. 28, 2008 means that the telescope is unable to capture and beam down the data needed to produce its stunning deep space images. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. FomalhautIn this image released by NASA, a dust ring, seen in red, surround the star Fomalhaut, that resides at the center of the image, and not visible to the human eye in this image. The Hubble Telescope discovered the fuzzy image of the planet, known as Fomalhaut b, which is no more that a white speck in the lower right portion of the dust ring that surrounds the star. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC 1569This image taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and released Thursday Nov. 20, 2008 showcases the brilliant core of NGC 1569 one of the most active star making galaxies in our local neighborhood. The entire core is 5,000 light-years wide. According to scientists a new analysis of NGC 1569 shows that it is one and a half times farther from Earth than astronomers previously thought. The extra distance places the galaxy in the middle of a group of about 10 galaxies centered on the spiral galaxy IC 342. Gravitational interactions among the group's galaxies may be compressing gas in NGC 1569 and igniting the star-birthing frenzy. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC-4921In this image provided by NASA shows the very deep image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and released Thursday Feb. 5, 2009 shows the spiral galaxy NGC-4921 along with a spectacular backdrop of more distant galaxies. It was created from a total of 80 separate pictures through yellow and near-infrared filters. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Boomerang NebulaIn this image provided by NASA Tuesday Sept. 13, 2005 the Hubble Space Telescope "caught" the Boomerang Nebula in these new images taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys. This reflecting cloud of dust and gas has two nearly symmetric lobes (or cones) of matter that are being ejected from a central star. Over the last 1,500 years, nearly one and a half times the mass of our Sun has been lost by the central star of the Boomerang Nebula in an ejection process known as a bipolar outflow. The nebula's name is derived from its symmetric structure as seen from ground-based telescopes. Hubble's sharp view is able to resolve patterns and ripples in the nebula very close to the central star that are not visible from the ground. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. MCG+12-02-001MCG+12-02-001 consists of a pair of galaxies visibly affected by gravitational interaction as material is flung out in opposite directions. A large galaxy can be seen at the top of the frame and a smaller galaxy resembling an erupting volcano is at the bottom. The bright core of this galaxy emerges from the tip of the volcano . MCG+12-02-001 is a luminous infrared system that radiates with more than a hundred billion times the luminosity of our Sun. It is located some 200 million light-years away from Earth toward the constellation of Cassiopeia, the Seated Queen. (Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Messier 101This image provided by NASA Tuesday Feb. 10, 2009 shows the spiral galaxy Messier 101 and is a composite of views from the Spitzer Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory. The red color shows Spitzer's view in infrared light. It highlights the heat emitted by dust lanes in the galaxy where stars can form. The yellow color is Hubble's view in visible light. Most of this light comes from stars, and they trace the same spiral structure as the dust lanes. The blue color shows Chandra's view in X-ray light. Such composite images allow astronomers to see how features seen in one wavelength match up with those seen in another wavelength. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Cartwheel galaxyThis false-color composite image provided by NASA Thursday April 2, 2009 shows the Cartwheel galaxy as seen by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer's Far Ultraviolet detector (blue); the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera-2 in B-band visible light (green); the Spitzer Space Telescope's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) at 8 microns (red); and the Chandra X-ray Observatory's Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer-S array instrument (purple). Approximately 100 million years ago, a smaller galaxy plunged through the heart of Cartwheel galaxy, creating ripples of brief star formation. In this image, the first ripple appears as an ultraviolet-bright blue outer ring. The blue outer ring is so powerful in the GALEX observations that it indicates the Cartwheel is one of the most powerful UV-emitting galaxies in the nearby universe. Although astronomers have not identified exactly which galaxy collided with the Cartwheel, two of three candidate galaxies can be seen in this image to the bottom left of the ring, one as a neon blob and the other as a green spiral. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Carina NebulaThis 2007 image, released by NASA for the Hubble Space Telescope's 17th anniversary, shows a region of star birth and death in the Carina Nebula looking much like an abstract painting. The nebula contains at least a dozen brilliant stars that are 50 to 100 times the mass of our Sun, according to the NASA description. (AP Photo/NASA)v The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Hubble Ultra Dee...This 2004 image provided by NASA shows what the space agency scientists call the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. In this composite image, the Hubble Space Telescope looks the farthest we can into the universe, capturing light from 13 billion years ago when the universe was only 700 million years old. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Orion NebulaThis 2006 composite image provided by NASA shows thousands of stars forming in the cloud of gas and dust known as the Orion nebula, as viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope. More than 3,000 stars of various sizes appear in this image assembled from 100 different images sent back by the Hubble Space Telescope. The original Hubble pictures are black and white photos, which are then carefully colorized. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Kohoutek 4-55This image has been released by NASA as the last "pretty" image made by the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. The image made May 4, 2009 is of the planetary nebula known as Kohoutek 4-55. It is one of a series of planetary nebulae that were named after their discoverer, Czech astronomer Lubos Kohoutek. A planetary nebula contains the outer layers of a red giant star that were expelled into interstellar space when the star was in the late stages of its life. Ultraviolet radiation emitted from the remaining hot core of the star ionizes the ejected gas shells, causing them to glow. The Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 will be replace during the space shuttle mission scheduled to launch Monday May 11, 2009. (AP Photo/NASA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Three-Way Tug of...This photo, supplied by NASA-ESA, is a new Hubble Space Telescope image of three galaxies locked in a gravitational tug-of-war that may result in the eventual demise of one of them. The three pictured galaxies -- NGC 7173, middle left, NCG 7174,middle right, and NGC 7176, lower right,-- are part of the Hickson Compact Group 90, named after astronomer Paul Hickson, who first catalogued these small clusters of galaxies in the 1980s. NGC 7173 and NGC 7176 appear to be smooth, normal elliptical galaxies without much gas and dust. In stark contrast, NGC 7174 is a mangled spiral galaxy, barely clinging to independent existence as it is ripped apart by its close neighbors. The strong tidal interaction surging through the galaxies has dragged a significant number of stars away from their home galaxies. These stars are now spread out, forming a tenuous luminous component in the galaxy group. (AP Photo/ NASA, ESA - R. Sharples) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Arp 148This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope and released by NASA Thursday, April 24, 2008 shows Arp 148, the Arp 148 is nicknamed "Mayall's object" and is located in the constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, approximately 500 million light-years away. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC 6050 vs. IC ... (Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. ESO 593-8ESO 593-8 is an impressive pair of interacting galaxies with a feather-like galaxy crossing a companion galaxy. The two components will probably merge to form a single galaxy in the future. The pair is adorned with a number of bright blue star clusters. ESO 593-8 is located in the constellation of Sagittarius, the Archer, some 650 million light-years away from Earth. (Photo: University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC 5331This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope and released by NASA Thursday, April 24, 2008 shows NGC 5331, a pair of interacting galaxies beginning to "hold their arms". There is a blue trail which appears in the image flowing to the right of the system. NGC 5331 is very bright in the infrared, with about a hundred billion times the luminosity of the Sun. It is located in the constellation Virgo, the Maiden, about 450 million light-years away from Earth. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. UGC 8335UGC 8335 is a strongly interacting pair of spiral galaxies resembling two ice skaters. The interaction has united the galaxies via a bridge of material and has yanked two strongly curved tails of gas and stars from the outer parts of their bodies . Both galaxies show dust lanes in their centers. UGC 8335 is located in the constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, about 400 million light-years from Earth. It is the 238th galaxy in Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. (Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. ESO 77-14This Hubble image of ESO 77-14 is a stunning snapshot of a celestial dance performed by a pair of similar sized galaxies. Two clear signatures of the gravitational tug of war between the galaxies are the bridge of material that connects them and the disruption of their main bodies. The galaxy on the right has a long, bluish arm while its companion has a shorter, redder arm. This interacting pair is in the constellation of Indus, the Indian, some 550 million light-years away from Earth. The dust lanes between the two galaxy centers show the extent of the distortion to the originally flat disks that have been pulled into three-dimensional shapes. (Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC 5754 vs. NGC...This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope and released by NASA Thursday, April 24, 2008 shows a pair of interacting galaxies consisting of NGC 5754, the large spiral on the top and NGC 5752, the smaller companion in the bottom left corner of the image. The contrasting reactions of the two galaxies to their interaction are due to their differing masses and sizes. The photos were released to mark the Hubble Space Telescope's 18th launch anniversary. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. VV 340A vs. VV 3...This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope and released by NASA Thursday, April 24, 2008, shows Arp 302, which consists of a pair of very gas-rich spiral galaxies in their early stages of interaction: VV 340A is seen edge-on to the left and VV 340B face-on to the right. An enormous amount of infrared light is radiated by the gas from massive stars that are forming at a rate simila to the most vigorous giant star-forming regions in our own Milky Way. (AP Photo/NASA; ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. LEDA 62867 vs. N...This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope and released by NASA Thursday, April 24, 2008, displays a beautiful pair of interacting spiral galaxies with swirling arms. The smaller of the two, dubbed LEDA 62867 and positioned to the left of the frame, seems to be safe for now, but will probably be swallowed by the larger spiral galaxy; NGC 6786, right, eventually. There is already some disturbance visible in both components. A supernova was seen to explode in the large spiral in 2004. NGC 6786 is located in the constellation of Draco; the Dragon; about 350 million light-years away. (AP Photo/ NASA, ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC 520This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope and released by NASA Thursday, April 24, 2008 , shows NGC 520, the product of a collision between two disc galaxies that started 300 million years ago. It exemplifies the middle stages of the merging process: the discs of the parent galaxies have merged together, but the nuclei have not yet coalesced. NGC 520 is one of the brightest galaxy pairs on the sky, and can be observed with a small telescope toward the constellation of Pisces, the Fish, having the appearance of a comet. It is about 100 million light-years away and about 100,000 light-years across. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. Arp 272This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope and released by NASA Thursday, April 24, 2008 , shows a Hubble view of Arp 272, Universe. The two spiral galaxies are linked by their swirling arms. Arp 272 is located some 450 million light-years away from Earth. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC 6621 vs. NGC...This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope and released by NASA Thursday, April 24, 2008 , shows a Hubble view of Arp 81 is a strongly interacting pair of galaxies, seen about 100 million years after their closest approach. It consists of NGC 6621, to the left, and NGC 6622, to the right. NGC 6621 is the larger of the two, and is a very disturbed spiral galaxy. The encounter has pulled a long tail out of NGC 6621 that has now wrapped behind its body. The collision has also triggered extensive star formation between the two galaxies. Scientists believe that Arp 81 has a richer collection of young massive star clusters than the notable Antennae galaxies, which are much closer than Arp 81. The pair is located in the constellation of Draco, approximately 300 million light-years away from Earth. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. NGC 6670This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope and released by NASA Thursday, April 24, 2008 shows the NGC 6670 pair of overlapping edge-on galaxies. Scientists believe that NGC 6670 has already experienced at least one close encounter and is now in the early stages of a second. The nuclei of the two galaxies are approximately 50,000 light-years apart. NGC 6670 glows in the infrared with more than a hundred billion times the luminosity of our Sun and is thought to be entering a starburst phase. The pair is located some 400 million light-years away from Earth. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. IC 1623This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope and released by NASA Thursday, April 24, 2008, shows a Hubble view of IC 1623, an interacting galaxy system that is very bright when observed in the infrared. One of the two galaxies, the infrared-bright, but optically obscured galaxy VV 114E, has a substantial amount of warm and dense gas. Warm and dense gas is also found in the overlap region connecting the two nuclei. Observations further support the notion that IC 1623 is approaching the final stage of its merger, when a violent central inflow of gas will trigger intense starburst activity that could boost the infrared luminosity above the ultraluminous threshold. IC 1623 is located about 300 million light-years away from Earth. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA) The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.	eng	e0264cca-5173-43a3-bcee-9e9cff7b40f6	http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/news-science-galaxies/20/
If you've been reading my posts about coding the last few weeks, then you're pretty much ready to deal with any of the PHP that you come across in a WordPress theme. Heck, maybe you're even ready to write your own PHP! I'm so proud… you're all such good students. But before we move on to the next part of your theme – the actual HTML in the body that displays what you see on your website – there are a few last things to wrap up regarding PHP. Operators There's one last thing that we haven't discussed much in PHP, that you're guaranteed to see in almost any PHP code out there. Operators. It might seem like we're taking a step back into middle school math, but this will be painless. I promise. First, we have the arithmetic operators: +, -, /, , %. These do exactly what you'd expect: add, subtract, divide, multiply, and take the modulus (the remainder of one number divided by another. 5 % 2 is 1). You can also negate a value by putting – in front of it. Easy. Then, there are the assignment operators. = is obvious, you're just setting one value equal to another, like this: $a = 5. Then there's += which means that you add the value to the variable. So $a += 2 would be 7, because we already set $a to 5. That works for numbers, but what about strings? Here you use .= which tells you to concatenate one string onto the end of other. Pretty much just sticking them together. So if we started with $b = 'Hello '; and then did $b .= 'world!'; $b would end up as 'Hello world!'. You do something similar if you want to stick a variable in the middle of a string. You could just do $c = $b . " What's up?"; and it would show up as "Hello world! What's up?" (Notice that I used double quotes to surround the string there. Since we had an apostrophe in "what's", I didn't want it to be read as a closing single quote, which would screw things up. Luckily, in PHP you can just use double quotes instead, and avoid that problem.) Next are the comparison operators. We already know that = sets a variable equal to a value. But what if we want to test to see if two things are equal? We definitely don't want to set the variable equal to the value we're testing for. That would be bad. So instead we use == or ===. $a == $b will be true if $a is equal to $b. $a === $b is the same, but also adds the constraint that $a and $b have to be the same type. (But why? Well, what if you wanted to test to see if $a is equal to the boolean value true? If $a is any non-zero, non-null value, then when you translate it to boolean it shows up as true. But that's not what we want. So instead we'd use === to say that it's only true if $a is the boolean value true, and if it's not boolean, then it'll show up as false.) Then we have != which tests to see if two values are not equal, and !== to see if two values are either not equal or not of the same type. The opposite of == and ===, if you will. The other four comparison operators should be familiar from your old math classes: <, >, <=, >= simply test to see if one value is less than, greater than, less than or equal to, or greater than or equal to another. Then there are the incrementing and decrementing operators. ++ increments (adds 1 to) a variable. – - decrements (subtracts 1 from) a variable. Put it beforehand if you want to increment/decrement before the value is returned (if you start with $a = 1, echo ++$a; will print out '2′). Put it afterward if you want to increment/decrement after the value is returned (if you start with $a = 1, echo $a++; will print out '1′, and then if you echo $a; after that, it will print out '2′). Next we have logical operators. We've already talked about && and \|\|… ($a && $b) means that both $a and $b have to be true in order for the entire expression to be true, and ($a \|\| $b) means that either $a or $b or both have to be true for the expression to be true. (You can also use 'and' instead of '&&', and 'or' instead of '\|\|'.) If you want either $a or $b to have to be true, but NOT both to have to be true, then you can use $a xor $b. Lastly we have !, which means not. (!$a) means that $a has to be false for the expression to be true. Make sense? Teacher, Teacher, I Have A Question Now that we've explained the basis of PHP for you, where can you go to find more information? Well, you can always come back here, of course. For now I'm moving on to talk about HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but you can be sure there will be more posts about PHP in the future as well. PHP.net is an excellent resource. Any time you ever have to look up a function that you (or your web developer) didn't create on your own, chances are you'll find the documentation for it here. And it goes the other way around too – whenever you need to figure out how to do something (for example, what if you want to display today's date? or change a string to all lowercase?) you can do a search for it, and 90% of the time you'll find a pre-made function that does exactly what you need, on PHP.net. And while you're there, check out the comments on every page – there you'll find discussion and examples about how other programmers have used these functions. w3schools.com is another great resource. While PHP.net is all about documentation, w3schools.com tends more towards tutorials and examples how to use things. If you want to purchase a book about PHP, Head First PHP & MySQL is an excellent resource. I love the Head First series for learning any sort of programming language – they explain things in ways that are very easy to understand, and even have games at the end of every chapter to help you remember what you learned. I have a couple of the Head First books from back when I was first learning, and I can definitely vouch for how helpful and easy to use they are. I Am Here For You! If there's anything else – anything at all – you want to know about PHP, or coding in general, just ask! Even if it's something that can be found in any of those references, I'm always happy to help. Whether it's something confusing from the code in your theme, or questions about different web technologies, or anything else coding- or tech-related, I'm here for you. Really. I want to help you guys. And maybe you'll even get a blog post written specifically to answer your question! I'm such a tease. For the last twoweeks, I've been tempting you with a game of hangman, promising you real PHP code that actually works… none of that silly pseudo-code business. Can you blame me? I've got to keep you all coming back somehow… Well. Today, I tease no more, my friends. Not only do I have real code for you in today's blog post, I actually have code that you can download. For free. With tons of comments throughout that explain everything. Yes, I'm awesome like that. If you download the code itself, you'll see there are a few things I don't talk about today, like sessions and form HTML. These are way, way beyond the scope of today's post, although I may get to them someday. But I've tried to leave comments within the code that will explain everything so it's not too difficult to understand. For the purpose of today's post, this is the code we're looking at, which is really just an excerpt of the code you can download: $word = 'sushi'; This one's easy. (Although in the actual game code, it randomly chooses from a list of words instead.) All you're doing is setting your $word variable equal to the value, 'sushi'. Sushi has to go in quotes (technically you can use either single quotes: ' ' or double quotes: " ") because it's a string – a bunch of characters all put together. In the actual code, there are a few other variables like $hangman, $guessLength, $alreadyGuessed, $hangmanImage, and $display that are also set, using sessions. For the purpose of today, you don't have to know how it's done, just know that they're there. The Outer If-Statement Next, we open the if-statement. (Yes, it was a while loop in last week's pseudo-code. While hypothetically that works great, since in a true human game it's continuous, it doesn't work quite so nicely in the computer world. So we use an if-statement instead.) Since it's an if-statement, we need a condition to test, right? Here, our condition is actually two conditions, that both must be true. The first one, $guessLength < strlen($word), says that we're only going to keep playing the game so long as the number of letters that we've guessed right is less than the number of letters in the word. Because if you think about it, there's no point in continuing to play the game if you've already guessed the entire word, right? The second condition in the if-statement, $hangman < 6, tells us that we're only going to keep going if there are less than 6 parts in the hangman. (Head, body, two arms, two legs.) If the hangman is complete, meaning there are already 6 parts there, then the player has lost the game and we don't want to continue playing. You see the opening curly brace right after the conditions, but where's the closing one? Remember – just like in HTML, your PHP code is like an onion. So each layer has to completely enclose the layers within it, and be completely enclosed by the layers outside of it. So the closing curly brace for our if-statement is at the end – after all the other inner loops have closed. The indentation makes this simple – you can easily see the closing brace because it's on the same indentation level as the opening one. Even More If-Statements Just inside of the outer if-statement, you see a few more statements before your for-loop. The first is a variable that's set to text which we'll print out later. Then two variables: $match which is set to the boolean value false, and $guess which is set to the single letter that the user has guessed. Super easy. Making sense so far? Before you step inside the for-loop, you also create an array called $positions… but don't put anything in it quite yet. But we will, soon. Don't worry. Then a couple of if-statements. By now, you should be able to make some sense of them. The first one is simply making sure that the letter isn't one you've already guessed, and printing out a message if you have. And the second one is saying that if you haven't guessed the letter and your guess isn't blank, then keep going with the code inside. You put the guess into the array of letters you've already guessed, so you can't choose it again… and then you get to your first for-loop. Moving On, The For Loop Next comes your for-loop. Remember last week, when I explained the code you see here? Well, this week you see it in action. We're starting at zero ($j = 0;), looping for the length of the word ($j < strlen($word);) and incrementing by one each time you go through the loop. Then there's an if-statement. It's the fourth one you've seen in today's code, so you're sure to be cool with it by now. And I know you've seen that strcmp() function before. So what's that substr() function do? It takes the sub-string of the string $word, starting at position $j in the string and taking the next 1 letter. So since our word is 'sushi', and if we've looped so $j = 1, substr($word, $j, 1) will be 'u'. ("But why? Isn't the first letter in 'sushi' 's'?" Yes, however remember that in programming, you always start at zero. So the letter at position 0 in 'sushi' is actually 's', and the letter at position 1 is therefore 'u'.) So, if the substring is the same letter as the one the player guessed, then we'll say that yes, there is a match – we'll set $match = true;. In addition, we set $positions[] = $j;. But wait, what does that mean? Like the name suggests, the $positions array is an array that tells us which positions in the word have been guessed correctly. So if our word was 'sushi', and the player guessed 'u', then we would add $j (which at that point equals 1) to the array. And we keep looping through the for-loop until we've checked your guess against every letter in the word. Even Better, A For-Each Loop Another if-statement. Yes, I know, y'all are experts at if-statements by now. I'm so proud of you. So we'll skip over that, and look at that foreach loop. All it's saying is that for each object in the $positions array, we're going to call the key $k, and the value $position. (Remember that they're paired up – every key matches up with a value. Like how every SSN matches up with a person.) So that little block of code just says, if the position you're looking at still shows up as _, meaning you haven't guessed it yet, then put in the guessed letter. Otherwise, if there isn't a match, then add a part to the hangman. Hold On… That's It? Yep. That's all. As you can see, all that's left after that are echo statements (and another sneaky but simple foreach). See? Coding isn't so hard now, is it? But you'll recall that I did promise to go into detail about exactly what the while, for, and for each loops are, and how they work. That's exactly what I intend to do today. So, first things first. Take a look once more at the pseudo-code that I introduced you to last week: $match=false; $guess= the persons guess; for(each letter in the word){ if(letter is the same as$guess){ $match=true; remember which position this letter goes in; } } if($match==true){ display positions where the letter is the same as the $guess; }else{ add a part to the hangman; } } For the most part, that seems to all make sense, right? Everything is in plain English, and it tells you exactly what the code in the program is doing. But then you see the while loop, and the for loop… what does it all mean? Let's go from the outside-in. While While a condition is still true, then continue looping. This is probably the easiest of the three, because you've seen something of a similar layout before. Remember from my article about if-statements a couple of weeks ago, that the stuff between those parentheses after 'while' and before '{' are the conditions. They're the things that you test for truthiness, and if they are true, then you do the stuff that's between the curly braces. So here we're saying, 1 2 3 while(the word is incomplete and the hangman is incomplete){ do stuff } If the word is incomplete, and the hangman is incomplete, that means that the player has neither won nor lost the game yet, right? They still have chances to guess more letters. So that's pretty much saying that while the game is still going, then keep doing all that stuff between the curly braces. The reason we use a while statement for this is because we don't know how long the game will be going. If it's a short word, you could win or lose in three tries, or it could also get up to 26 guesses. Side note: the while loop tests the condition before it runs the code between the braces. But what if you wanted the condition to be tested after each time you run the code? Then you would use a do-while loop. Like this: 1 2 3 do{ the stuff you want to do }while(your condition); Pretty much the same as a normal while-loop, just… backwards. For For every integer starting at one number and ending at another, incrementing by a certain amount each time, loop once. It sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is. I promise. For-loops generally look like this: 1 2 3 for($i=0;$i<10;$i++){ do stuff } Let's break it down. $i=0 tells you that you have a variable $i that starts at zero. $i<10 means you want it to continue looping so long as it is less than ten. And that last bit, $i++, tells you that $i should increment by one at the end of every loop. So it will run through the code inside of the loop when $i is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9... and then it will stop when $i == 10 because it is no longer less than ten. Your variable doesn't have to be called $i (though it quite often is). It can start at any integer and end at any integer. And while you'll usually see the simple increment-by-one expression that we used here at the end, you can have any sort of expression at all that you want to use. But wait… that doesn't look like the for-loop that's in the pseudo-code. You're right. So instead, look at what it would look like in real code: 1 for($i=0;$i<strlen($word);$i++){} See? Now it looks exactly as a for-loop should. (That strlen() function simply gets the length of the string… or in our case, the length of the word that the player is supposed to be guessing, so we can loop through every letter to see if it's a match.) For Each For each thing in some sort of group of things, loop once. This group of things is known as an array. "But wait," you wonder, "what's an array, and why on earth would I use one?" An array is nothing more than a grouping of things. Yes, I know, I just said that. But it's no more complicated than that. Imagine you have a handful of coins. (An array of coins.) And you want to put them in a piggy bank, but it's got a tiny slot so you can only put one in at a time. So you might do it like this: 1 2 3 foreach($handfulOfCoinsas$coin){ put coin in piggy bank } $handfulOfCoins… that's your array. And you're saying that each thing in this array is a $coin, and you want to do the code inside the brackets to every single $coin in your $handfulOfCoins. Now That Wasn't So Hard, Was It? You're catching on. I just know you are. In fact, I have so much faith in you… next week, I'm going to show you what the real code for this hangman program looks like! And, even better, we're going to code our very first real PHP program!! Have you ever played hangman? I used to, all the time. Especially when I was bored, and didn't have a book to read or anything else to do. This was before the 24/7 connection of computers and iPhones, of course. If you haven't, let me explain: hangman is a simple little word game. One person thinks up a word, then writes out dashes and spaces to represent the number of letters in the word. If my word was 'sushi', I'd write: _ _ _ _ _. The other person's job is to guess the word, letter by letter. For every letter they guess that isn't part of the word, a part of the hangman is drawn – until either the hangman is completed and they lose, or they guess the entire word and win. But what does this have to do with PHP code… ? So You Want To Write A Program… Say you wanted to write a PHP program, so you could play hangman on your computer. How would you do it? If you've been reading my coding series, your first thought might be, "If statements!" Okay, so let's see how your pseudo-code might look if you used a bunch of if-statements to write the program: if(hangman is not finished){ if(word is not finished){ if(the first letter in the word matches the guess){ display the letter indicate that there is a match } if(the second letter in the word matches the guess){ display the letter indicate that there is a match } if(the third letter in the word matches the guess){ display the letter indicate that there is a match } if(the fourth letter in the word matches the guess){ display the letter indicate that there is a match } if(the fifth letter in the word matches the guess){ display the letter indicate that there is a match } if(there is not a match){ add a part to the hangman } } } And that's only for one guess, for a word that's only five letters long. What if you had a 20-letter phrase? Or 15 guesses? Yuck. As you can see, it gets real ugly, real quick. So What's A Programmer To Do? Lucky for us, there are more tools in our coding toolbox than just the if/else statement. (Can you imagine if you had to build a house with just a hammer? Darn near impossible.) So how would I code something like this? match =false; guess = the persons guess; for(each letter in the word){ if(letter is the same as$guess){ match =true; remember which position this letter goes in; } } if(match ==true){ display positions where the letter is the same as the guess; }else{ add a part to the hangman; } } You see, we also have things like while statements, for statements, and if I wrote it out as real code you'd even see a couple of foreach statements in there. Okay. Time to explain. Loops Remember our if-statement last week? Each line in the entire statement would be read by your browser (or parser) once, and then when the parser was done with the statement, it would move on to whatever code came next. That's not how loops work. Loops are, as the name suggests, sections of your code that the parser loops through several times. There are several different types of loops – some of which are the while, for, and foreach loops. (There's also a do-while loop, but you're a lot less likely to see it in most code. It's almost exactly like the while loop, except… backwards. In the do-while loop the condition test is done at the end of the code block, instead of at the beginning like in a while loop.) Those are what make it so you can write cleaner code, like my pseudo-code, instead of those messy repetitive if-statements. You Can't Just Leave Us Hanging Like This… Yes, I can. Technically, I've given you all the resources you need to figure out on your own what all these loops do. Go ahead, click the links. You're smart enough to figure it out, I know you are. But if you prefer my explanation style to that of the authors at PHP.net? (You're a sweetheart, really you are.) Then come back the next couple of weeks, when I go into detail about the different types of loops, and show you some real code that would actually create the hangman game for you. And if you're not sure if you prefer my writing style to theirs? Well… I've never claimed to be above bribing with homemade cookies… For the last couple of weeks, we've talked about functions and variables in your PHP code. But that's not nearly all that there is to PHP. After all, there's more to functions than just passing variables around (we have to do something to these variables, else what's the point?) and functions aren't the only way you can insert PHP functionality into your website. It Must Meet These Conditions… "If the user is logged in, they're allowed to edit their profile. But if they're not logged in, we'd better not let them even think about editing profiles." That sound familiar? It should. There are all sorts of websites out there that do something like this: Facebook, Twitter, Gmail… even your own WordPress sites. After all, you don't want some stranger to be able to come in and make changes to your website without being logged in, right? So how would you tell your code to do this? Just use a simple if/else statement. To put it in plain English, it's something like this: 1 2 3 4 5 if(user logged in){ let them make changes }else{ tell them "Sorry, you have to be logged in to do that." } (FYI, this format is something known as "pseudo-code". Some programmers will write their code in plain English like this first, so they know exactly what needs to be done before they start coding. Then they translate it into actual code.) Although real user management systems are a bit more complicated, it really all boils down to a basic if/else statement. Let's break it down. First, you have the word "if", and a condition between the parentheses. If this condition is true (if the user is logged in), then this will tell your browser that it should execute the code between that first pair of brackets (let them make changes). If it isn't true, then it won't execute that code and it'll move on to the "else" statement, and execute the code between those brackets (tell them "Sorry, you have to be logged in to do that."). Make sense? But what happens if you need more than a simple true/false condition? What if, say, you want to display something different depending on what day of the week it is? Well then, you'd do something like this: You see that the code will move through each "if" and "else if" statement until it finds one that's true. Today is Thursday, so it will skip over the first three statements because they will all be false, and only execute the Thursday code and print "It's Thursday! Allison's day to post!" If all the "if" statements are false, then it will end up at that last "else" statement. Taking Off the Training Wheels As you can see, I wrote that entire if/else statement in pseudo-code. What would it look like if I wrote it in real code? It's not as complicated as it looks. Those "if" and "else" parts are exactly like they were in our pseudo-code, so that's nothing difficult. And we talked about how to use "echo" in your code last week, remember? (Don't forget the semi-colons after each line of your code within the "if" statements!) The only thing that's really new is that scary-looking stuff between the parentheses. Your conditions. If you look closely, you'll see that it's just a couple of functions. You can tell because they're of the form name(parameters). "But there's no semi-colon!" That's okay. When you're putting stuff between parentheses, like parameters in your functions or conditions in your "if" statements, you almost never use semi-colons. Except with "for" statements, but we'll get to that later. The first function I used was date($format). I knew I needed a function that would tell me what day of the week it is. The date function does exactly that. The parameter you pass in tells the function what information it should return about today's date. I passed in "l" (lowercase L), which tells it that I want to know what day of the week it is. If instead I wanted it to tell me that today is Thursday, February 18, 2010 then I would pass in "l, F j, Y". How do I know what letter(s) to use? I look at the PHP documentation for the date function, which explains all the parameters that I can pass into it. Then I used strcmp($string1, $string2). "strcmp" stands for "string compare" – all it does is compare two strings to see if they are the same. In my if/else statement, I need to know which day of the week the date function returned so I know which condition will be true. To figure that out, I use the strcmp function to compare the value that the date function returned to each day. If the values of the two strings are the same, strcmp will return 0. So for the first condition, we compare the day to "Monday". Since today isn't Monday, it won't return 0. And since it doesn't return 0, then strcmp() == 0 won't be true, so it will move on to the next function. But when it gets to "Thursday", strcmp will return 0 because today is Thursday. And since 0 == 0, the condition is true! So it will print out "It's Thursday! The Big Bang Theory is on today!" (What? Yes, I'm a nerd. But you knew that already.) Why do we use two equal signs? If you want to set a variable equal to something, you use one equal sign. If you want to see if a variable is equal to something, you use two. So for these conditional statements, where we want to see if our strcmp function is equal to zero, we use two equal signs (I'll explain this more in a few weeks when we talk about PHP operators). If you're looking at the code, there might be one more thing that looks unfamiliar. What is that \|\| thing? In our code, we want to print out "It's the weekend!" if it's the weekend of course, which means Saturday OR Sunday. So we need a way to say that the condition is true if today is Saturday OR if today is Sunday. That's what the \|\| operator does: it says, our condition will be true if "strcmp(date("l"), "Saturday") == 0″ or if "strcmp(date("l"), "Sunday") == 0″. Easy! (There are other operators, like AND or NOT, that we'll discuss in future posts.) Going in Circles… Next week, we're getting a little loopy. 'While' loops, 'for' loops, 'foreach' loops… we're going to be going around and around in circles. Last week we talked about what functions are in PHP, and I promised that this week I would explain more about what goes into a function and why on earth there are so many dollar signs in PHP code. So to put things into context before we jump right in, remember that we were discussing functions, kind of like this: 'multiplyBySeven' is the name of our function (which, as you might guess, multiplies a number by 7), and we pass a parameter $int into it. These Things Called Variables "Alrighty then, Allison, tell us… what are all those dollar signs about? I thought we were talking about coding, not economics." Those dollar signs mean we're talking about variables. Variables are basically containers that hold values that can change or vary throughout your code (hence the name). It's kind of like a present. Say you put something in a box and give it to a friend. Maybe that friend doesn't change anything, and (gasp) re-gifts the present to someone else exactly as they got it. (You can pass the variable around into other functions or use it to change another variable without changing itself in any way.) Or maybe they just reuse the container, and put in another gift (a different value) before passing it along to someone else. (You can alter the variable's value or even replace it with another value before you pass it elsewhere.) Make sense? Another good way to explain how variables work is to show an example: 1 2 3 4 <?php $num=10; $num=$num5; ?> Just as in our parameters example last week, you see that the variable $num starts out with a value of 10. But by the time it is returned, it has a value of 50. The ability to alter or change the value of variables any time you need to makes them very valuable in programming languages. The naming conventions are essentially the same as for functions, except that variable names must always start with a dollar sign. "But… $int has a dollar sign. I thought it was a parameter, because it's between those parentheses after the function name?" It is. It's also a variable. You see, when you pass a value into a function, you want to be able to use that value within the function. Otherwise, what's the point of passing it in? And in order to move a value around within a function, you need to assign it to a variable first. Therefore, anytime you pass a parameter into a function, it will always be assigned to a variable. But not all variables are parameters (like $seven in that first example). Get it? Although in all our examples so far we've assigned integers to our variables, there are lots of other value types that can be assigned to variables as well. For example, you can have boolean variables ($boolTrue = TRUE; $boolFalse = FALSE;), string variables ($stringVar = "sushi";), float variables ($float = 14.75;) (recall that integers are whole numbers, like 1 or -7. Floats, also known as floating-point or 'double' numbers, are non-integers that have decimal points), or even arrays and objects (which are way outside the scope of almost any WordPress theme, so I won't go into them here.) You can even have a variable point to nothing at all ($nullVar = NULL;). But what if you don't want your variable to ever change? You use a constant. These are relatively rare in WordPress themes–you're far more likely to see a variable than a constant. But just so you know, constants are always in all caps, and instead of defining them like you do variables ($num = 7;), you have to use the define() function to instantiate them. That's more than you need to know for WordPress themes, but if anyone's curious, let me know in the comments and I'll gladly explain further. Technically, there are a few other PHP tag styles that you could use, such as <% %>, or <? ?>. However, it's not recommended. These styles are much more rare than the <?php ?> tags, and not nearly as widely supported. So really no reason to talk about it, right? The reason I bring it up is that I have seen some themes use PHP tags that are generally not recommended, and I figure you should know what's going on even if it's not the best way of doing things. They look something like this: 1 <?=get_bloginfo('stylesheet_directory')?> What that does is put the value that you get from that function directly into your code. (It essentially says, "What goes right here is equal to this function.") I believe it's supported by almost all browsers, but technically it's not recommended. Instead, you're supposed to do something more like this, which does exactly the same thing: 1 <?phpecho get_bloginfo('stylesheet_directory');?> (That 'echo' before the function merely means that it's supposed to "echo" the value from the function… or print it out into your code, so it's visible in the final webpage.) Moving On… Thank goodness we got that all straightened out. We know what variables are now, but does this mean we're finished with our PHP lesson? Nope. Not even close. Next,we discuss conditionals. Conditional statements, that is. Not the "If I told you, I'd have to kill you" types, but more like "If a user is logged in, then they get to see this page," or "If you don't read next week's post, then you will be destroyed by the secret internet monster." If you think I'm joking, then you better come back next week to find out, huh? Last week I introduced you to the elePHPant, and showed you how to differentiate the PHP in your code from everything else. But that doesn't actually tell you what's happening between the PHP tags… which is kind of the entire point of learning about PHP, right? So today we begin to dissect the elePHPant, and learn about everything that goes on inside. Functions So how do you make your PHP "do stuff" to your webpage? Well, there are several ways, all of which you are likely to see in your WordPress theme (or in any PHP code), and all of which we will discuss in the next couple of weeks. It essentially comes down to two methods: you can put your logic (yes, you have to use logic; no, it's not as difficult as it sounds) inline in the code for your webpage, or you can put it elsewhere and import it into your webpage using a PHP function. It's similar to what we said about using class attributes to apply the same style multiple places in your code, or using a separate file for your header so that you can import exactly the same header into every page without having to repeat the code. If you're only going to use a certain block of PHP code once in your entire website, then it makes perfect sense to put it inline. However if you plan to use the same code many times in your website, it's far better to put it in a separate function (usually in a separate file such as functions.php), and then just call that code using the name of the function. Okay, so how do you know if something is a function, and not… something else? That's easy. Your basic PHP function looks like this: 1 2 3 <?php myFunction(); ?> This breaks down into three sections: Function Name: We called this function, "myFunction". Notice that there are no spaces in the function name – instead we use something called camelCase, where the first letter in every word is capitalized. You are generally recommended to use only upper- and lower-case letters in your function names. Numbers are allowed but discouraged, and function naming conventions say you should only use underscores under very specific circumstances. (However, many people use underscores where you might find spaces, instead of camelCase, like this: "my_function". If you're working as a professional programmer, you have to use the method that everyone else in your company uses. However if you're just coding for yourself, you can really use whichever you'd like… so long as you never. ever. use spaces in your function names.) Function names should always begin with lower-case letters, and they should describe what the function does – you wouldn't want to name your function "header" (what does it do to the header?), but instead something like "getHeader" (this tells you the function gets the header). Parentheses: You always must have the parentheses directly after the function name. When you have parameters to pass into the function, said parameters go between the parentheses. (What are parameters? Bear with me a moment more, and I'll explain.) But even if you have no parameters, the parentheses must be there. Always. Semi-Colon: Every expression in your code must end with a semi-colon. It's kind of like the period at the end of a sentence – it signifies that you're at the end of the expression. Easy peasy, right? Parameters Sometimes you want your function just to give you something – like the getHeader(); function, which will always give you the exact same header every time you call it. This is normal, and a perfectly valid function. But what if you want to take something in, do something to it, and spit something else out? For example, (this is a super simplified example, bear with me) what if you wanted to take in a number, multiply it by 7, and then return the result? Those things between the parentheses are called parameters. A function does not have to take in any parameters, or it can take in many parameters, or it can even take in optional parameters. For example, you usually wouldn't pass in any parameters into the getHeader() function, however if you look at the documentation for it, you'll see that if you wanted to (and had reason to), you could pass in an optional parameter. Or take a look at our multiplyBySeven($int) function – that takes in one parameter. So how do you know what parameters are supposed to be passed into a function? This is where the internet comes in handy, because there are far too many existing functions for me to explain all of them. If you're wondering about a function defined by the default WordPress theme, all you have to do is search for WordPress and the function name. That should return a link to a page in the WordPress Codex, which is where the documentation for all the WordPress functions (and much more) exists. If it's not there? Do a search for PHP and the function name, and you'll likely get a link to a page within the PHP Manual. This is where much of the more general PHP documentation is. And if you still can't find it? There's a good chance it's a custom function… so check in the files within your theme, like functions.php. I'd Tell You More, But… … goodness geeze, I'm long-winded. I was all ready to move on and explain why all those dollar signs are there in your code, but then I looked at everything I've already tried to stuff in your brain today and I realized I didn't want to make anyone's head explode. But we've just barely broken the skin in our dissection of the infamous elePHPant so come back next week, when we talk variables and I have an itsy bitsy confession to make. And if you ever have any coding questions, please don't hesitate to ask! You can always leave a comment, or even email me… hey, maybe your question will even get its own blog post! Now, I don't care who you are or what you say, but if you want a website that does more than just sit there and forever stay the same, we're going to have to talk about this elePHPant. It goes by the name of PHP, and without it your website wouldn't do jack. You want the same header on every page? You need PHP. You want comments on your posts? You definitely need PHP. Heck, you want posts that you don't have to code by hand? Yep, you need PHP. (Okay, okay, so technically you could do all these things using other programming languages. However you'd still need something beyond HTML and CSS, and PHP is by far the most widespread – and the one that you'll see in every single WordPress website out there.) PHP is an integral part of every WordPress theme. Without PHP, your website just wouldn't work. You couldn't have your newest posts show up on your front page every time you updated your blog; you couldn't have the same header, sidebar, and footer automatically show up on every page. Nobody would be able to leave a comment, and an archive that lists all your posts? Forget about it. Well, if I'm going to be up-front with you, you could have all those things (except for the comments). But you would have to re-code huge amounts of your website every time you added a new post, and if you have a business or a day job or just plain don't want to spend all your time weeding through code when there are much better options… yeah, you don't want to do that. So. Now that we've decided that PHP's an excellent idea for your website (any objections? No? Good.), it would be immensely helpful to understand what all that PHP code means, right? This is where my next few posts come in… I'm going to teach you everything you need to know. For now we're going to ignore the functions.php file, which is where all the fancy schmancy PHP code goes, and just look at the basic PHP that you find in the rest of the files in your theme. Come Out With Your Hands Up, PHP, We Have You Surrounded If you look in most of the .php files in your theme, like index.php or sidebar.php, you'll see that the PHP code is mixed in with the HTML code. So how does your browser know what to render as PHP, and what to render as HTML? Just as almost every HTML element has an opening and closing tag, so does PHP. The opening tag looks like this: 1 <?php The closing tag looks like this: 1 ?> Everything in between the opening and closing PHP tags is… you guessed it… PHP code. There's really nothing more to it. Everything between those two tags is PHP code, everything outside is… not. Outside you usually have HTML, or even JavaScript sometimes, but anytime you ever want to include PHP in your code, it has to be surrounded by the <?php and ?> tags. Ta Da! So there you have it, your very, very basic introduction to PHP. Wait… that's it? Oh goodness no. In the next few weeks, I'm going to have a whole heck of a lot more to teach you about PHP. Believe me, we've hardly scratched the surface. But for now, I'm just going to leave you with today's short lesson, and let you digest that for a week. Now would somebody please do something about the darned elephant crowding us all out of the room? Imagine this scenario: you've decided you want a website, and you set out to code it completely from scratch (It certainly is possible–I've done it in the past–but with the great themes available these days, why bother? It makes so much more sense to let people like me help you). You know you want the header at the top, a sidebar or two, the content in the center, and a footer at the bottom. So you go out on the internet, trying to learn how to code HTML, and you come across the <table> element. "Well, that seems easy," you think. "I'll just use a table for the layout of my website! After all, a website is just one big table, right?" Erm… not so much. When to Avoid 'Em When I began learning web development several years ago, I was taught that no web developer worth their salt would ever use <table> elements for the layout of their websites. EVER. You're supposed to use <div> elements and CSS instead. I realize that I'm biased, of course, towards the way I was taught and the way I've always done things. There are a lot of websites that use <table> elements for layout, so there must be some argument for them, right? I want to bring you guys the best information possible, even if I have to accept that the way I've always done things is wrong, so I ventured out into the internet to research the arguments for and against table-based layouts. Holy cow. There's practically a religious war going on over the use of <table> elements vs. <div> elements for layouts! In my sleuthing, I've discovered a few things: Most professional modern web developers use <div> elements for layout. All the web developers I've spoken with, some of whom are professional front- and back-end web developers at some of the top internet companies in the world, insist that you should always use <div> elements for layout. Most of the arguments boil down to this: if you don't know CSS, <div> elements are a lot harder to use. But quite honestly, if you want a website and don't want to learn CSS, you probably shouldn't be the one coding your website. If that sounds like you, let ,e help you instead and I'll take care of the <div> elements and the CSS. So what makes <div> elements better than <table> elements for the layout of your webpage? Quite a few things, actually. If you look at the table for a website developed using <table> elements, you'll see that there's two to three times as many lines of code as the same website developed using <div> elements. This might not make much of a difference to those of us on high-speed internet when we're looking at regular websites, but for those many, many people still on dial-up, websites that use <table> elements will take forever to load. It just makes more sense to use the method that is most efficient so you don't automatically exclude potential customers. If you develop a website, you want the code to be easy to read and easy to edit. For you, first and foremost. If you ever have to go back and change something in your website (and believe me, you will), you're going to want the code to be as easy as possible to read. With <div> elements, every <div> is essentially labeled (they all have ids or classes) so it's easy to figure out what's going on in your code. With <table> elements, especially once you start nesting tables to get the layout you need for your design, it can become very, very confusing. (CSS Zen Garden is a fairly good example of flexible coding. The HTML file is the same for every page there, but they each have a different CSS file, resulting in vastly different designs. It's pretty interesting to look through to see the power of CSS.) There is a single benefit to using <table> elements instead of <div> elements–vertical alignment. Using <div> elements, there is no way to vertically center elements in your layout. But with <table> elements, you can center things vertically. That single benefit from using <table> elements isn't worth it for me, though. I'd rather have my <div> elements and just hack the vertical centering of elements. So I'm going to tell you to use <div> elements for your website layout. Both because that's what I always have and always will use, and because my research tells me that it's the best option. When to Use 'Em A lot of people nowadays are very familiar with the no-tables rule. But quite often, they assume it means no <table> elements ever. In reality, it's completely logical to use <table> elements at the right time. When you want a table, use the table element. No, seriously! It makes perfect sense. After all, that's what the element was intended for – to create <table> elements. <table> elements like this: Banana Avocado Asparagus Potato Fruit x x Vegetable x x Color yellow green green brown Grown South America California California China Don't reinvent the wheel and spend hours or days trying to recreate an actual table using <div> elements and hoping everything will line up right. That's just plain silly and a huge waste of your time. Just remember any time you want an actual table in your website, use the darn <table> element. That's what it's there for. Now That That's Off The Table… Next week, we're getting hardcore. We're going to look at PHP and get a very basic introduction to the language. You may not be ready to write the Google Algorithm by the end of it, but you'll at least have a much better understanding of what all that PHP code in your WordPress theme means. If you look at the HTML code of any modern website, you're likely to see a lot of <div> elements. A whole lot of <div> elements. A lot of coders use <div> elements to format the layout of their websites. But what does a <div> element do? By itself, not much. All a <div> element does is group the elements inside of it together, and add a line break after the closing tag. Seriously. That's it. Nothing more. Now, you're probably wondering… why do we so often see <div> tags nested one within another… within another… within another? And how do we get from a <div> tag that supposedly doesn't do much to a beautifully formatted website like CodeSwan where there's obviously something more than mere grouping going on? That, my friends, is the beauty of id and class attributes. They are a big part of how a website changes from a barebones scattering of elements to a beautiful work of art like the ones I do. In essence, they are the bridge between your HTML and your CSS. They tell your browser where to apply the styles specified in the CSS file. And they're not just for <div> elements. Anytime you want to apply some style to an element on your website, you'll use an id or a class attribute. Identify Yourself Think of the id attribute as your Social Security Number. Every person only has one Social Security Number, and every Social Security Number only identifies one person (At least, that's how it's supposed to work). If you have one person with many SSNs, or one SSN that's referring to more than one person, you know you have a problem. It's the same way with the id attribute. Every element should only have one id attribute, and you should only ever see each id attribute once in a webpage. Mind you, I said webpage, not website. If you look at the code here on CodeSwan or in most WordPress themes, you'll see that almost every single page has an id="header" attribute (or something similar). That's okay, so long as you don't see that attribute more than once on the same page. One of the main reasons for using an id attribute in any of your elements is, as I mentioned before, to apply styles from your CSS file to your HTML code. Go look in your CSS file (probably titled something like 'style.css'). Do you see how some of the words have a pound sign before them – for example, '#header'? That pound sign tells you that it's referring to an id attribute (A period in front tells you it's referring to a class attribute, and nothing at all means it's a regular element, such as 'body' or 'p'.). Later we'll go into all sorts of detail about your CSS file and how everything works, but for now you just need to know that the id attribute is used in conjunction with the CSS file to apply styles that you only want in one place on your webpage. Another cool thing you can do with the id attribute is link to it to jump to the middle of a page. If you've ever followed a link in one of my blog posts to a previous post, you might have noticed that instead of going to the top of the post, the link jumps right to the part of the post that I'm referring to (Like here, when I was talking about the closing tag in HTML elements). Notice how the URL is the link to the post, but then at the end it has a pound sign and then a name? (In that example, it was '#close_tag'.) That tells your browser that you're jumping to that id in your webpage. Remember that there's only one id in every page – so your browser is going to know exactly where it's supposed to go. If there were multiple ids, then how would your browser know which one you're referring to? So remember: each id should only appear once on a webpage, and each element should only have one id. Have A Little Class Whereas the id attribute has a one-to-one relationship with your webpage elements, the class attribute has a many-to-many relationship. Each class attribute can have multiple elements, meaning it can show up as often as you need it on a single webpage, and each element can have many class attributes. This comes in handy when you want to apply the exact same style more than once on a webpage. For example, take a look at our sidebar here on CodeSwan. Every single one of the boxes has the same design. If we only had the id attribute, then we'd have to create a new id every single time we wanted another box on the sidebar. And if we wanted to change something, we'd have to remember to change it for all of the ids, or else something might look a little screwy. That'd be a pain, right? (If this sounds familiar, it's because we've said the same thing about using PHP to give every page the same header, sidebar, and footer without having to hard code it into every single webpage.) Thus the beauty of the class attribute. You just have to create one class with the specific styling you want, and then add it to any element where you want that style. Even better, if you have several different classes that you want to apply to one element, that's completely okay – just separate each class name with a space, like this: 1 <divclass="comment even highlight"> This will tell your browser that it should apply three different classes to that <div> element: the '.comment' class, the '.even' class, and the '.highlight' class. Stay Tuned… Next week we talk about the general layout of your website. This means we'll discuss tables, when it's okay to use them, and when to absolutely NOT use them (or else suffer my wrath, and the general disdain of any decent web developer out there). Believe me, you're going to want to tune in for this one. Even as we digress a bit the next few weeks, remember today's lesson – every id should only be seen once on a webpage. But you can have as many instances of a class as you want.	eng	5fe9ba07-29bf-4001-ac63-9d842449055b	http://codeswan.com/blog/page/2
Business and management Apple versus Samsung Copy that AFTER a jury in a federal court in California ruled on August 24th that Samsung had violated some of Apple's patents, one wag online began referring to the South Korean company as "Samesung". But for Samsung, the verdict is no laughing matter. As well as vindicating Apple, the jury awarded it $1 billion in damages—an amount that could be tripled because Samsung is deemed to have "willfully" copied some aspects of Apple's wildly popular iPhone and its iPad tablet computer. The outcome of the case will have significant repercussions in the tech world. For a start, it will encourage Apple to lob even more lawsuits at firms it believes are ripping off its intellectual property. It will also encourage other companies that make smartphones and tablets either to license patents from Apple or to modify the design of products to minimise the risk they will be hit with lawsuits too. And the whopping size of the damages will intensify the debate over whether or not America's system for protecting innovations needs revamping. Samsung has already made clear that it intends to appeal against the ruling, a process that could take months or, more likely, years. But legal experts think the chances of getting it overturned are slim. The jury concluded that the company had violated a number of Apple's patents covering things such as a "rubber-banding" feature in its firm's operating system, which makes lists jump back when pulled beyond their limit, and a "pinch-and-zoom" feature which is now found in a wide range of mobile devices. It also upheld Apple's claim that Samsung had infringed on its design patents by copying aspects of the iPhone's design, such as the system used to display icons. At the same time, the jurors tossed out Samsung's charge that Apple owed it money for violating several of its patents, including one that allows a user to listen to music in the background while carrying out another task on a device. On the same day that the American ruling came out, a court in South Korea that had been hearing a similar case between the two firms concluded that both were guilty of violating patents and banned some of their devices from being sold in the country. But because America is the world's largest market for consumer electronics, the Californian ruling will have a far bigger impact. The fight between the two companies had been brewing for some time and was a litmus test for Apple's determination to thwart the progress of Android, a rival mobile operating system championed by Google and embraced by Samsung and a host of other mobile-device makers. (Gartner, a research firm, says that more than two-thirds of the smartphones shipped in the second quarter of 2012 were powered by Android.) Before his death last year, Apple's co-founder, Steve Jobs, told his biographer Walter Isaacson that he believed Android had stolen important features from Apple's iOS operating system and said he would wage "thermonuclear war" on it. His successor, Tim Cook, who celebrated his first year at the helm of Apple on the same day that the court ruling came out, isn't about to declare a truce. During the trial, the notoriously secretive American firm revealed details about its design process and put on the stand a couple of its most senior executives. It also crowed about the verdict. In a statement the firm thanked the jury for sending "a loud and clear message that stealing isn't right" and said that the evidence presented in court "showed that Samsung's copying went far deeper" than even Apple had suspected. Samsung, unsurprisingly, had a different view of the outcome, describing the ruling as "a win for Apple, and a loss for the American consumer". "It is unfortunate," it added, "that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies." The South Korean firm did, however, have a couple of consolation prizes: the jury found that its Galaxy Tab tablet computer had not copied the iPad's design, as Apple claimed, and it refused to grant Apple the full $2.5 billion in damages it had asked for. Robert Scoble, a tech pundit, has even argued that the outcome of the case could be seen as a victory for Samsung on the ground that the penalty is a small price to pay for copying stuff that has helped the firm become a powerhouse in mobile devices. But other experts have pointed out that Apple has a huge stash of patents that it is now likely to defend more aggressively. And it is bound to step up its efforts to have offending Android devices banned from sale. The firm has already asked for a preliminary injunction against Samsung to stop it selling the products that infringe on Apple's patents in America. A hearing is set for September 20th. As a result of all this, makers of Android devices will either have to fork out money to license Apple's technology, which will push up the price of their gadgets, or alter the design of their products sufficiently to shield them from legal challenges. That could slow the roll-out of new devices in the short term. But it could also spark a new round of innovation in the long run, as firms in the Android ecosystem seek to differentiate their offerings to protect them from more legal strikes by Apple. The case will also stir up further debate about the way America's patent system operates. Its fans are already hailing the California ruling as proof that the patent system protects inventors and that its benefits outweigh the costs. But critics will seize on the ruling as evidence that the litigation frenzy and a proliferation of software patents are having a chilling effect on innovation, leaving society worse off. If Samsung pursues its appeal all the way through the America's legal system, the Supreme Court may end up having to decide which camp is right. I think this is an incredibly sad verdict for consumers. Apple is looking more and more like a sulking child and Samsung is looking more an more like a company that has a jury verdict which is purely pro American. Apple now have a mandate to strangle anyone who dare compete with them on their turf. The law suit should have been thrown out. The moral that I take from this, simplistic or not, is that 'look and feel' is a valid design element to protect and that if a consumer or other is easily confused by the offerings of competitors or if there is intent to 'ride the coattails' of a successful product based on obvious design intentions, it should be severely punished. That being said, no design 'look and feel' should be sacred or enshrined in unlimited exclusivity forever. All successful design is a matter of timing and savvy. Apple invented nothing, they only promoted and refined a technology in a timely way - a noble thing of itself and deserving protection. That begin said, choice and the right of others to take a similar design, after a period of time, and introduce ways of making it cheaper and supporting the citizenry's right to choose on price alone, should be supported, such as with generic pharmaceuticals. This further means that companies should not be able to forever sit on patents (though they may be able to now, i don't know). But, that being said, companies will only develop that which they can make profit on, which means many ideas may go unrealized or be of tremendous benefit to consumers, but not profitable now -- another good reason to publish patents, but have them expire. But why do the research, if your patents will expire? Good question. A muddled system to be sure. But the best that can be done in a fiercely competitive, profit-motive driven society where many wouldn't get up in the morning if they couldn't pursue an idea with the chance of others taking it. The ability to patent a technology may provide some incentive for companies to innovate new products and push to market. On the other hand, it often discourages the hobbyists and start-ups who would love to assume some proprietary feature was ubiquitous, and more often than not this is where some of the better ideas come from. The general policy of companies today is to patent everything. The policy of the Patent Office is to grant every patent, and let them fight it out in court. It is much easier than researching and passing judgment on each patent as to worthiness. It is a system controlled by those with deep pockets. In Apple vs. Samsung, it will ultimately result in a cross licensing agreement. The balance in this is what they are really fighting about. I do feel that Apple is a kind of patent trolling but well, I am waiting for an iPhone 5. If the screen is bigger, the battery life lasts longer, prices cheaper, memory size bigger, I will forgive all your dirty tricks. Nope. Google does a pretty good job of only charging for premium service, and cutting costs to make technology accessible to all. Amazon also does a damned good job of driving down software costs, as does the whole open source movement. Across hardware manufacturers, we have intense competition and innovation (with pretty modest/ reasonable ROI), with costs falling and quality soaring - except when Apple lawsuits get in the way. Apple and Microsoft are the big rent seekers (buying out any competitors or shutting them down with lawsuits) on the tech stage - and we really ought to boycott both. Competition is the source of innovation and growth, and we shouldn't tolerate businesses which would quash our future to line their own pockets. It depends on the motivation. If there are substantial barriers to entry (e.g. patent barriers, regulatory barriers, technical barriers, bundling of expensive products/ services, etc), and the motivation in buying out the few competitors that break these barriers is to shut them down and maintain market power, then it constitutes rent seeking. Similarly, buying out suppliers of key technologies in order to stop them from selling to competitors (i.e. constructing additional barriers to entry and undermining existing competitors), constitutes rent seeking. Doesnt look as a free market when cheap and popular business model of Samsung can be stopped because Apple has a big advocates in governments and the courts. What does this mean? Lots of them invested their money in Apple's shares and just haven't any desire to lose those investments on a market's crash which is obviously could happen with Apple's bubble. Apple looks like the IBM in 1970th-80th when they were beaten by Microsoft and Apple and Dell and others.... History repeats itself now - a big company is afraid of losing the market and holds every opportunity to live longer. Which sounds like a reasonable argument, except for the fact that Samsung created phones that were basically an iPhone 3GS clone (like the Galaxy S). If they hadn't done that then yes Apple's case would have little merit, and probably it would be reasonable to argue against the damages. No-one would stand up and say that iPod clones made by no name Chinese manufacturers should be legal, and maybe Samsung hasn't gone quite as far as that, but they've gone pretty close. A refusal to accept that the Galaxy S is very similar to the iPhone 3GS is also fanboi behaviour, just against Apple rather than in support of it. If you cannot see that the Chevy Sonic and a Ford Focus are much more different than Samsung's phones then you either haven't see the Galaxy S or the iPhone 3GS, or you aren't really have too strong a dislike of Apple to make a neutral verdict. The idea that "look and feel" claims have been invalidated ignores the fact that everyone else goes out of their way to make their devices look different from each others. The auto magazines have been running contests for years trying to get people to guess from photos which car they are looking at. From Mercedes through GM's there are many model's that are very hard to distinguish. Some manufactures go out of their way to make their product look like other popular product, others go out of their way to find a different look - Duh! You can look at any industry and see the same thing. For a long time washing machines and dryers were indistinguishable in use and appearance but for their logos. If you plant petunias in your lawn, your neighbor is free to do the same. Look and feel is NOT "the advancement of the useful arts and sciences." This case should never have gone to the jury. This case is about a dominant US firm using public passions to squash competition in the courts. It tarnishes apples reputation as an innovator Beyond that the Galaxy S has a strong physical resemblance to the iPhone 3GS. Technologically it is well ahead, It is a year newer which is centuries in Cell Technology. It has a superior display, superior audio, faster processor, and on and on and on. They are not clones, they just bear a strong physical resemblance. They use completely different and superior hardware, different software. This is completely about appearance, not real technology. At an actual hardware level the Galaxy S is no more similar to an iPhone than it is to any other cell phone. At the software level the Galaxy has as much resemblance to the iPhone as Ubuntu has to windows has to OSX. At the OS level Android was started in 2003, The first release of Android was in 2005, Google bought it in 2007. The first IOS release was 2007. Further Linux was used on Cell Phones prior to Android. Who is copying who ? If you were familiar with the history of patents you would understand that it is only more recently that anyone has even tried to patent such things as appearance. The courts said no, congress said, yes, then no, then maybe, and now the patent office hasn't a clue what is and is not patentable. Regardless, attempting to patent appearance is just stupid. Unless you define prior art so narrowly that the same visual on a different product is independently patentable, I am certain I can find sufficiently similar visuals in the past for most any visual. What you are essentially saying is that you can patent art. That is what copyright is for, and we have already ruled out style as something you can copyright. You are essentially trying to squeeze through patents what could not be accomplished with copyrights. The first multi-touch device was 1982, the first multi-touch screen was 1984, the first touch screen cell phone was 1993. Symbian had a modern touchscreen Cell Phone in 2000. In 2007 there were already nearly 4 times as many Linux (non-android) cell Phones as iPhones. In 2000 there were large clunky Linux Cell Phones with touch screens. Most early Linux Cell phones did not have touch screens, but over the seven years prior to the iPhone several did. I personally worked with touch screen computer displays in the late 80's. I am not knocking Apple, the iphone like most Apple products is an incredible combination of technology and style. But the only thing original beyond artisanship and craftsmanship, is putting lots of peices that already existed and were already being persued by others together and on the market first. I can't comment on each patent ruling but I thought there were several unique interface ones here that Samsung clearly stole and used to gain market share over Apple. So how is this verdict 'unfair'? From a U.S. stock market perspective, I revel in the fact that this verdict may help keep the markets propped up (AAPL a big part of the overall indexes) Vs. the offsetting constant global malaise of the infinite EURO sickness. Eraserhead - Yes and a very good point. I do believe however the damages claim is rather questionable. Apple have, in my view, used overtly litigious means to tie up patents that are questionable at best. Or if Apple should be forced to remove that form of doubleclicking from all of its OS and branded as being a copycat. I get the overwhelming feeling that if anybody sues Apple then people will think those patents are automatically stupid. But if Apple sues anyone else then y'all'll think those patents are automatically valid. This, my friend, is what's known as Fanboi Religion. If you don't actually suffer from this condition, my apologies, but so far plenty of commenters haven't done much to differentiate themselves from it. From my position, I'd sayI agree that a lot of software patents are stupid - I wouldn't go as far as to say 99% of them are invalid as possibly some of the less well publicised ones are considerably more reasonable and less obvious. e.g in this case I would say that the bounce back patent seems reasonable (if there is no prior art) and there isn't any particular harm caused by not having that, but the others are probably not reasonable - 5 years or so is probably enough of a term. However I don't think that addresses the trade dress issues that apply in this case. Putting a wheel on a mouse is an awesome idea and should be patented. However, any of the myriad possible UX permutations created by putting a wheel on a mouse should be allowed by the wheel mouse patent and not separately patentable by themselves. The physical process of how to build a touchscreen should be patentable, but not the "idea" of a touchscreen (ie: touchscreens with a different physical process should be valid), nor any of the myriad possible UX permutations created by making a touchscreen (including the "rubberband" or "pinchzoom" nonsense). The 0.4% of "software" patents I'd allow would be more along the lines of mathematical algorithms. I'd say 100% of software patents for user interface are totally bogus. If you can come up with a mathematical process (say, scoring an Amazon purchase) and work out a set of coefficients to that math that create the most efficient expression of that process, that set of coefficients should be patentable but the "idea" of scoring an Amazon purchase should not. This is, actually, why we all see 91 octane gasoline rather than 92 octane gasoline (the 92 process has a patent). You touch briefly on a key point. Not all patents deserve 20 years of protection and there should be a more systematic means of determining a fair license value for patents. Patents were intended to get ideas out into the marketplace, not create monopolies. I would be perfectly happy to say that 100% of software patents are stupid. You can not patent math. You are not supposed to be able to patent ideas, only their implimentation - but as the modern world has made readily apparent the distance between and idea and an implimentation is miniscule to non-existant. With very few exceptions - pharmaceuticals being the most notable, patents actually do not work. In the past couple of decades most business have flipped their position. There is no connection between R&D effort and patents. Most companies patent defensively. Patent legal battles are counterproductive, costly and even when you win you often lose. The backlash over Samsung may not be significant - but lets see what happens if Apple goes after Google ? You would have thought after the Apple vs. Microsoft fiasco they would have had enough. The issue missed by a lot of the commenters here is that the violation here is really about trade dress and not so much about the patents, which are probably much more dubious. Additionally the court cases that Apple has lost (but also won) in other countries were about an import ban on a specific tablet, and aren't as large in scope as this trial. I believe the jury here threw that tablet out and said it didn't infringe. The trade dress statute is about counterfeiting. You can not copy the appearance or packaging of another product for the purpose of deceiving someone into believing they had bought the product being copied. You can argue that Samsung intended to portray their phones as iPhone like, but they were not trying to sell counterfiet iphones. If trade dress is the issue, this is a clear misapplication of that law. It is astonishing to me that a non-technical jury could consider 700 technical points in 21 hours of deliberation and come to a verdict. Are they just brilliant, or had they already come to a decision based on other factors? I find it strange that Google's Android takes zero blame in this whole deal. Android is the enabler, the one that provides all the baseline code for Samsung's features. Surely that's where most of the stolen codes and ideas are. Why is Google completely absolved in this case? Samsung is a hardware company. All the software is Google's code. Ironically the only patent the jury found not violated is the hardware design, which is the most obvious copying. What are the qualifications of this jury? In any case, Samsung and Korean companies in general have been stealing everyone else's design for years. Just take a look at how much Hyundai cars look like Mercedes, BMW, Audi or Toyota. We're talking blatant, shameless copying, zero originality. Samsung stole/copied lots of Japanese companies' electronic designs and technology. I can see both pros and cons to this verdict. One good thing that could come out of this is that it gives the Koreans a much needed kick in the rear. It's time Korean companies come out with original designs, and stop blindly copying others' designs. They should be fully capable by now considering how South Korea always ranks at/near the top when it comes to education standards, far surpassing the US. The bad thing about this verdict is, it could spark a serious patent war in the tech sector. So now instead of innovating, companies are busy suing one another. Soon tech companies will have more lawyers than engineers on their staff, just what we need in this country, more lawyers. If the patent laws were in place in 1800s, the industrial revolution never would've spread from England to the European continent, and across the atlantic. Even though the main purpose of patent laws is to protect the innovators, when taken to the extreme as it's now heading in the tech sector, it'll turn into more employment for lawyers(aka useless leeches who live off of others' creation) and hinders innovation. A US jury ruled for a US company. Too bad, because Apple is a US company in name only. It makes its products on the backs of Chinese slave labor, selling into the US market for a grotesque premium on the backs of ongoing fraudulent debt epidemic. Given that, more competition is better for the consumer. Ban software patents altogether, force these companies to compete solely on price and service. The enabling technology here is touchscreen and compact, low power memory. Not which way icons are arranged. Apple is an arrogant bully abusing the out of control patent system. >Chinese slave labor I discuss this below. But be careful: while the East dislikes the West thinking of the far East as cheap labor, we all know the truth: Chinese rulers think of then treat their own as cheap labor just fine. A report on Bloomberg shows that the Chinese upper political class increased their net worth $90B (billion) so far this year -- communist rulers mind you -- on the backs of disfranchised poor largely through corruption. Who cares less that Foxconn workers who work hard? Probably not the US. Finally, Apple profits and US government debts and are not equals for comparison. But I do agree we need more competition: un-messed around with competition. No more handouts. Hear that GM? AIG? banks? And no more glad handing the crooks either. Hear that Standard Charter? HSBC? "American lawmakers are paupers compared with China's. In a February column, I mentioned an eye-popping figure from the Hurun Report, which tracks China's wealth, that's worth repeating. The wealthiest 70 members of China's legislature added almost $90 billion to their bank accounts in 2011. That increase is greater than the combined net worth of all 535 members of the U.S. Congress, the president and his Cabinet and the nine Supreme Court justices. Why start a technology company, study science or work in finance when the riches are to be found by rising within the party? As more and more politicians get rich through questionable land grabs, insider trading and old-fashioned rent seeking, there is less incentive to retool the economy. Political will shrinks as overseas bank accounts swell. All that money sloshing around conspires to widen China's rich-poor divide." Bloomberg wrote an article on that? It must have been to combat the recent trend of people asking congress to take a paycut. Anyone without thier head in the sand in the last 30 years knows that China's single party system spawns unimaginable levels of corruption and wealth hording. All this whining about the jury or the patent laws miss the point. There is detailed evidence that Samsung listed all the ways that Apple's products were better. Then they copied Apple to the finest detail. Spend less time complaining about this case until you've spent a little time learning at least the basics of it. Wait until pinch to zoom is removed from your crappy copy of an iPhone.. then tell me how it's not important to the function.. when you get the crappy work around Samesung offers.. you'll see how different creativity is from copying. This is not about and engine and 4 wheels. There are plenty of examples of smartphones that have not copied or infringed and will not be sued. This is about Samesung 'creating' a Thunderbird.. to nearly exact specifications of the original.. then selling it for profit. Well, so, no, I never said anything about whether something was important to function, I think you didn't read me properly. Let's try again. If Toyota created a "Thunderbird" to nearly the exact specifications of the original, it would go into copyright and trademark law -- not patent law. And that's the problem with the software patents: most of this should probably go into copyright and trademark and not patent law. So, now, please justify how "pinch zoom" is in any way a unique enough "discovery" to validate 20 years of monopolism on it? There's plenty of prior art out there if you spend like 10 minutes searching for it. Or explain how it's best for non-technical juries being required to determine what is or is not prior-art without any skill or ability in this matter? How about the stupid idea written into the law that economic success is somehow a valid proof that one's ideas are by definition non-obvious? (So, seriously, if I come up with a wildly obvious idea but make money off of it -- THE LAW SAYS TO TELL THE JURY THAT IT WASN'T ACTUALLY OBVIOUS -- just because I make money off of it, how's that for self fulfilling prophesy?) How about "Wait until all non-iphones have to be triangles with rounded corners then tell me how it's not important to the function to be a rectangle." "Rectangle with rounded corners" has got to be the stupidest patent that's ever been issued, but all of them were sufficiently stupid. Not just Apple's patents but Samsung's as well. This is, absolutely, about "engine and 4 wheels" -- and a dysfunctional PTO/Legal system that doesn't understand modern technology well enough to understand just exactly what bits are "engine and 4 wheels" patents. As for "There are plenty of example of smartphones that don't infringe and won't be sued", how many smartphones out there don't use rectangles with rounded corners? Apple themselves say this is only the first round and they're going to sue the world now that they have legal precedence. Only a fanboi would call such rent-seeking behavior a win for innovation. You tell me if you agree with that patent for doubleclicking an icon. Or if Apple should be forced to remove doubleclicking from its "crappy copy of a GUI interface". I get the overwhelming feeling that if anybody sues Apple then you'll think those patents are stupid. But if Apple sues anyone else then you'll think those patents are valid. This, my friend, is what's known as Fanboi Religion. If you don't actually suffer from this condition, my apologies, but so far you haven't done much to differentiate yourself from it. From my position, I'd guessThat's a branding issue. Samsung does appear to have been trying to ride the Apple brand by copying the look as much as possible, and for that they are guilty of infringing the "trade dress". Beyond that, there is nothing wrong with looking at the competition to see what they're doing right. Basic functionality, like a user interface gesture, is not worthy of patent protection any more than putting bacon on a cheeseburger is worthy of patent protection. Or for that matter patenting a "reply" button in user comments, or any of the 100 other widgets on a typical web page. Can you imaging how crippled the web would be if all these ideas were "owned" by various parties? again.. read the details. They blatantly copied exact specifications. Pinch to zoom is not obvious and it is creative. 20 years? Fine that's a bit much. This case wouldn't have gone anywhere if there wasn't so much evidence of egregious copying on the part of Samesung. So Apple was smart enough to use the worst offender (they also happen to be the best funded) to make their case off of.. and now they can (and will as I laugh in your face (sorry, but it's sort of fun for me)) bludgeon the other crappy knockoffs with this win. Samesung's most recent smartphone is said to have been built by lawyers. It studiously avoids patents owned by Apple. Had they done that to begin with, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Consumers suffer? Naw. Find another way to zoom. It's easy. I'm sure Samesung and others will find perfectly passable ways to do it. Like the two finger tilt zoom for instance.. a fine example of what happens when Samesung has to think for itself. you are missing the point Mig Mig. Samsung CAN copy Apple ingenuity but they have to PAY for it, get it? It's called licensing. It's the Koreans who are trying to get it for free. The Koreans are jumping the fence to watch the football game and not buying a ticket. it's illegal. Pinch to zoom. Yes it is obvious. Once you have a multi-touch screen, many user interface gestures are immediately apparent. Here's some off the top of my head that I've never seen implemented: - Pinch in to close a dialog box instead of having to click a close box or cancel button. - rotate my fingers on a virtual knob to turn it. - drag two fingers instead of one to expand a box instead of scrolling the page. - drag two fingers up on an object to shrink it, and drag down to expand it - dragging 1 finger moves it. I suspect patents are already held for these things, and the only reason those companies hold those patents instead of me is they have the vast resources to file patents first. There are very limited number of user interface gestures that make any sense for zooming an image, or any other task. Have those few gestured "owned" by a handful of companies makes no sense. As far as the verdict is concerned its actually great for all consumers because it forces companies like Samsung to come up with ideas about devices outside of Apple's paradigm. If i wanted an iPhone I'd buy an iPhone. I'd like to try something else. Windows Phones have a really interesting way of doing their UIs and thats more of the stuff I'd like to see developers do. It may not completely work at first but it'll get there eventually. It's extremely boring for me when every device is just trying so hard to look like whatevers the new hot thing. To borrow a phrase, think different. Every Mac forum has this exact same line, "It's good because it requires people to innovate." Rubbish. It's called patent trolling and it's gotten out of hand. HP didn't sue Apple over their first tablet for the concept of a "touch screen device". I was using HP Pavilion tablets in 2007. Remember when Apple sued Microsoft over the "look and feel" of their competing OSs? It's stupid. I had a Compaq PDA that had a swipe to unlock applet in which you used a stylus. I wonder why Apple didn't retroactively sue HP's time-traveling IP thievery department. Hm.... Like other commenters have said, if Apple was a car company they would have sued (and won) a case against Kia for stealing "the concept of a metal box that travels on circular wheels". It's repugnant. In the "BMW M5" analogy here (and the "Thunderbird" analogy below), it would be perfectly legitimate to take them to Trademark court, but not Patent court. I keep seeing this analogy and it is dead dead dead wrong. From a Trademark perspective, looking at the pictures above, there's no chance a normal human would be "tricked" into thinking a Samsung was an Apple (tho, along that line of thinking, there are some Chinese 'iPhondroids' sold that would seriously violate trademark). So, instead, they fall back to the overweeningly broken patent system to try to argue their anticompetitive behavior as "innovation". Unfortunately, once we're back to the idea of Patents and an Automobile analogy, things like "rectangle with rounded corners" really is "a box with four wheels" level of patent. "Pinchzoom" has prior art but the logic for superseding that prior art is about as tortuous as the folks who got a 2005 patent on doubleclicking icons. Trade dress (AKA what the product looks like) was a major part of this court case. Trade dress also isn't controversial, and I don't think anyone would really argue that fake iPods are legal, any more than fake Gucci bags are legal. I'm perfectly happy to agree that the US patent system is broken (especially for software) but I don't think that is essential for this case. im not talking about the rounded corners and box shape, thats kindof ridiculously, but all the little software innovations are what separate a good program from a bad one. There should be a reasonable limitation on how long that patent can be infringed upon but in general yeah, i can see why someone would want to sue over it. So yes, Apple should definitely get sued for that but i dont think that should be the end all be all of it; software patents need to get a lot more progressive because theyre never going to go away, thats for sure. And I think it would be a little unfair to compare a single infringement with a slew of them That's fine, you're consistent, and I'm sure we can agree to disagree -- I don't think Apple should get sued over a bogus doubleclick patent any more than I think Samsung should get sued over a bogus rectangles patent. The fact that an ignorant and understaffed PTO approves any old random patent for software doesn't actually say anything about that software's actual patentability. And it's sad. Software patents need to go away. That's for sure. If people would stand up and ignore the companies involved and look at the actual patents, I'm sure they would agree. If people would stand up and tell their lawmakers that this is stupid, something could be done about it. I suspect that won't actually happen until Apple has to pay someone else a billion dollars over bogus patent claims. And I suspect further that'll happen in the next 24-36 months, since this "thermonuclear war" that Mr Jobs invoked is still only warming up. And only then, when Apple is the victim rather than the troll, will all the fanbois come crying out of the woodwork about how evil and unfair the terrible PTO is. If all my competition was doing was waiting for me to do something and then steal the idea and sidestep the development costs of that while also undercutting me by selling it for less I'd be mad too. Its basically what samsungs been attempting to accomplish since the iPhone and iPad came out. If these ideas were so silly and obvious, everyone would have been doing them prior to Apple but thats simply not the case. Those were not markets until Apple turned them into one. However, my statement was meant to put paid to the fanboi idea that Apple makes all this crap up out of thin air -- that only Apple "innovates" and everyone else "copies" is as much fabrication as the rest of their religion. For instance, the idea that there wasn't a smartphone market before the iPhone (as claimed by the commenter above) might be rather insulting to the Nokias of the world and all the engineers who worked on Symbian smartphone OS. Usually what happens is that Apple comes in and copies someone else, puts a tiny little design cherry on top, then markets the livid shit out of it to popularize the item in the American memespace. Sometimes it works (ipod, iphone) and sometimes it tanks (newton), but the kool-aid still gets drunk and the non-technical population wind up being incapable of differentiating between a Marketing Strategy that says "We're Innovators!" and actual real-life innovation. Apple is no more innovative than any of the other big tech companies. They just have better shills to take things to the level of religion rather than branding. Apple takes concepts from people, everybody does that, but what everybody does NOT do is solve hard engineering problems. And that is something that separates what apple does from what samsung does. When your design process boils down to a list of do's based on competitive analysis you've turned into a copycat company that makes its profits based on undercutting your competition. And theres a lot of money in that but thats not how it works at apple and thats an extremely important difference between the two companies. Also symbian is a horrible OS and nokia smartphones were only successful brcause they were one of the first people on the market with them, not because the devices were well executed. Even if all that is true, all that Apple had to show -- and did --- was that Samsung copied Apple because even though "Apple is no more innovative than any of the other big tech companies" Samsung couldn't even bothered to exceed that minimal threshold.But they essentially did. Apple basically moved tablets and smartphones from the niche market to the mass market. The devices were enough of a success to get other companies to filter a lot more money into those device types. I understand how a software design review works, what my argument is really focused on is the smartphone design between samsung and apple. Im saying that samsungs list revolved around competing with apples device specifically more than it was about solving or even really innovating on any new problems. Also apple does solve hard engineering problems but theyre not as fundamental as Intels or IBMs since theyre all in hardware design and getting everything to fit together and perform in the ways they want it to. As insignificant as they seem, its an extremely important aspect to a devices design and it is the difference between why someone would buy an apple device over something else or why a hospital system would buy them in bulk and also give their new residents new iPads. So i can see why someone would want to patent something so seemingly obvious like that. But a patent like that has to have a reasonable time limit. Things move so fast. It should be like the way generic drugs patents work, but with shorter limits. I disagree with patenting rectangles with rounded edges but i can understand the motivations for software patents, but they do have to be more reasonable. And if samsung is such a great company they can figure out new ways to do these thing. If it can. If it wasnt for android im not sure i would even care about the device. Cant wait to try googles potential motorola phone though ! Marketing an idea from a niche market to a mass market isn't innovation. It's marketing. It doesn't deserve the level of "oh, if you made money, it must not be non-obvious" grant that the current law gives to approved patents. If you made money, it might be non-obvious, or it might be blatantly obvious and just well marketed. The PTO just signs off on nearly everything, assuming the courts will work it out in the future, while the courts still assume the PTO has a clue and give the patent holder a deep and abiding benefit of the doubt. Really, a catastrophic loss for the American consumer today. It's like if Schlage patented the "look and feel" and/or concept of a door knob. Also confirms the fact that Apple is the most vindictive patent troll alive right now, from the GUI, icons, to pinch-to-zoom; it has never been fair or justified. That's a misuse of the term "patent troll". A patent troll owns patents but does not actually produce anything. They just sue people that do, or become parasites through licensing fees on their productive efforts. That's hardly the case with Apple. That said, software patents have got to do, or at least have the bar raised much higher. This is a sad day for the American patent system and consumers in general. By allow companies like Apple to patent such generic ideas for such a long (by it standards) time, we will choke off innovation. Competitors will be too afraid to bring new ideas to market if the idea looks even remotely like something that's already on the market. This will kill improvement via incremental innovation. Meanwhile, small firms lack the marketing apparatus necessary to succesfuly launch a radically different device, thus leaving us stuck with the lumbering giants who happened be first to market (or more specifically first to patent). A couple of simple suggestions for improving the (technology) patent system: 1. Shorten the patent period (if you haven't made a fortune off a great IT idea in 5 years, chances are it's not that great an ide) 2. Get rid of process (and "design") patents (they're waay to generic) 3. Only complete, working and coded ideas should be patented (no more idea patents, too vague) 4. If no infringement is found, the prosecutor pays. (this should deter trolls) I have pushed back on many comments in this page. But we need to be careful about simplistic bias and analysis. The problem isn't patent law or the jury system per se, but the real inability of the mediators (justice system) to use common sense. There is an inflation (in the sense of the big bang that makes everything large regardless of their initial relative size) of what can get a patent combined with a inability to make a decision. The real choices are not Apple-has-the-upper-hand-because-it-patented-round-corners or real surprise followed by blatant demagoging (Samsung lost because the court case was in America or due to trifling facts like round corners etc) that the looser lost. Probably we need to shorten the lifespan of an enforceable patent and then actually enforce the damm thing. Otherwise the inflation of round corners into real engineering feats actually just works to make these extremal points equal. That's in nobody's interest. I used to know a guy who owned a bar in Thailand called the Rolls Royce bar ( yes, he was British). It was a little hole-in-the-wall type where the beer was cheap but was the type of place where you hoped and prayed your tetanus shots were up to date. On the outside above the entrance he placed a large replica of the Rolls Royce Grill complete with the bird on top. About six months later he received a very formal letter from the attorneys of RR asking him to remove the bird. The Grill could remain even though it was obviously a perfect copy of the RR grill. If my memories serves me well I believe they even let him keep the name but remove the distinctive R over R emblem. At the time we all wondered what the hell is the matter with RR making such a big deal about a crappy little bar in a remote section of thailand. My friend being a good Englishman responded to their request with alacrity and made the alteration. Since then I have never ceased to wonder at the great lengths that corporation will go to in protecting what is theirs. In this case it wasn't so much technology but a design which is one of the same, I guess.	eng	8ff493a4-4d93-430b-9c50-f512c78b430a	http://www.economist.com/comment/1596588
This article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license ( The aim of the study was to evaluate the use of leeches of the genus Erpobdella as a means of assessing polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of watercourses. The River Skalice, heavily contaminated with PCBs, was selected as a model. The source of contamination was a road gravel processing factory in Rožmitál pod Třemšínem from which an estimated 1 metric ton of PCBs leaked in 1986. Levels of PCB were measured in leeches collected between 1992 to 2003 from 11 sites covering about 50 km of the river (the first sampling site upstream to the source of contamination and 10 sites downstream). The PCB indicator congeners IUPA no. 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153, and 180 were measured. Levels were highest at the four sampling sites nearest the source of pollution. The highest values of PCB congeners were found in 1992. PCB content decreased from 1992 to 2003 and with distance from the source. The study indicated that leeches of the genus Erpobdella are a suitable bioindicator of contamination in the surface layer of river sediments. PCB indicator congenersSkalice RiverErpobdella1.Introduction Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were first synthesized in the late 19th century. Production spread rapidly with PCBs being used extensively in mechanical, chemical and electrical engineering among other industries. Because of their stability, resistance to degradation, and bioaccumulation, they persist over long periods of time, accumulating in plants and animals and entering the food chain [1–5]. In tissues of organisms, PCBs bioconcentrate at levels that exceed their concentrations in water, where levels may be below detectable levels. Organisms are therefore effective indicators of contamination levels because they reflect changes in the environment, and thus also in bioavailability of the substances and over long periods of time [2, 6–11]. Studies quantifying persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and metals levels in aquatic ecosystems typically focus on predators such as fish [12–21]. Fish are suitable for analyses because they are often the top predator in a food web, they accumulate a variety of contaminants, and their size is conducive to relatively rapid collection for analyses, and through human consumption they are linked with health issues [21,22]. However, the use of large fish as chemical bioindicators is of little use in shallow rivers where trophic levels are limited. In these situations, selecting a suitable indicator species is problematic. Certain features of leeches make them potentially useful as bioindicators of water pollution [23]. Leeches are among the most numerous animals in both standing and running freshwaters. There are several advantages of using the leech as an indicator organism. Leeches of the genus Erpobdella are abundant and easily accessible in small streams. Acquiring fish of similar species and age from different locations can be problematical. Leeches are residential organisms and better reflect conditions in the place from which they have been sampled than do fish, which with exceptions, migrate and may not have grown in the area where they are captured [24]. Compared to direct testing of sediments, leeches provide more objective data since they are taken from several tens of square meters at a given site. The most frequently occurring species at the site monitored was Erpobdella octoculata (Figure 2). Erpobdella spp. have a life span of 1–2 years, they live in flowing as well as stagnant water, and may be present in bodies of water ranging from oligosaprobic to polysaprobic in character. As predators, they feed on various species of aquatic invertebrates, mainly worms and midge larvae [25]. The Skalice River was heavily contaminated in 1986 with waste waters containing an estimated 1 metric ton of polychlorinated biphenyls that leaked from a road gravel processing factory in Rožmitál pod Třemšínem [26]. The aim of the study was to evaluate the use of the leeches of the genus Erpobdella as a means of assessing polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of watercourses. Monitoring for PCBs in the Skalice River began in 1992 and continued until 2003. Samples were collected from a single site upstream and at 10 locations downstream of the source of pollution covering a distance of about 50 km. The following hypotheses were tested: For each contaminated site and PCB congener: the content of PCB in fresh leech tissue is higher at the monitored site than at the control site. For each site and PCB congener: the content of PCB in fresh leech tissue decreased at the site during the time period. For each year and PCB congener: the content of PCB in fresh leech tissue decreased with distance from the source of pollution. 2.Material and methods Monitoring was carried out at 11 locations on the River Skalice between years 1992 and 2003 (Table 1, Figures 3,4). Sample site 1 was a control site located two km above the pollution source. Leeches of the genus Erpobdella (prevailing species E. octoculata) were collected every year except 2002. These collections were performed once a year in June. Due to the low abundance of leeches it was not possible to collect samples every year from each site. Leeches were dried slightly on filter paper, packed into microtone bags, immediately chilled, and frozen to −20˚C. One sample from each site weighed 50 g (corresponding to a composite sample of 600–700 leeches from one site together). This composite sample was analyzed. A homogenous leech sample weighing 30 g was mixed with 100 g of anhydrous sodium sulphate to form a flowing powder and then extracted for 8 hours in a Soxhlet apparatus with 340 mL of a hexane-dichloromethane (1:1, v/v) solvent mixture. The crude extract was carefully evaporated and dissolved in 10 mL of a cyclohexane-ethyl acetate mixture (1:1, v/v) containing PCB 112 (this congener is not present either in commercial mixtures or environmental samples), employed as an internal standard. A clean-up of crude extracts was carried out by an automatic gel permeation chromatographic system (GPC) employing S-X3 Bio Beads. As a mobile phase, cyclohexane-ethyl acetate (1:1, v/v) was used at a flow rate 0.6 mL/min and the fraction corresponding to the elution volume of 14–30 mL was collected. The eluate was evaporated by a rotary vacuum evaporator at 40°C and the residual solvent was carefully removed by a gentle stream of nitrogen. The residue was then dissolved in 1 mL of isooctane and treated with concentrated sulphuric acid to eliminate any co-extracted residues. An aliquot of the upper isooctane layer was transferred into a glass vial for following GC analysis. An HP 5890 Ser. II, gas chromatograph (Agilent Technologies, USA) equipped with an electronic pressure control (EPC), a split/injector, two parallel 63Ni electron capture detectors (ECDs) and two parallel columns possessing a different selectivity (DB-5 and DB-17, both J&W Scientific, USA) were employed for all analyses of PCBs and OCPs. Values of PCB congeners were not normally distributed so nonparametric tests were used. The Wilcoxon matched pairs test was used to compare PCBs between control and downstream locations. Spearman rank correlation was calculated (Daniels test) to assess decrease in PCB levels over time as well as the decrease in PCB levels with distance from the source of pollution. Data analyses were performed using Statistica software (StatSoft Inc., 2007) [28]. 3.Results3.1.Comparison of PCB content at monitored sites with the control site Rožmitál The concentrations of congeners PCB 28, PCB 52, PCB 101, PCB 153, PCB 180 and the total concentration of PCBs in leech tissue was significantly higher at the contaminated site Rožmitál, downstream of the source of pollution, than at the control site Rožmitál upstream. At Skuhrov (3), leech tissue showed significantly higher contents of PCB 28, PCB 52, PCB 101, PCB 118 and total PCBs than at the control site. At the next location downstream, Zadní Poříčí (4), the content of PCB 28, PCB 52 and total PCBs was significantly higher than at the control site. The highest values of PCBs were found at Březnice (site 5), which differed significantly from the control site in all PCB congeners and in total PCB content. At the next three sites (6: Myslín, 7: Mirovice, 8: Nerestce) neither total PCBs nor any individual congener differed significantly from the control site. The next location (Čimelice 9) differed significantly from the control site in PCB 28, PCB 52, PCB 153 and total PCBs. Content of PCB 28 and PCB 138 was significantly higher at site Ostrovec (10) than at the control site. The level of PCB 28 was higher at the final downstream site, the confluence with Lomnice River, than at the control site. However, there was no difference in total content of PCBs at the two most distant sites in comparison with the control site (Table 2). 3.2.Decrease of PCB content from 1992 to 2003 There was a significant decrease of PCB 180 at the control site during the period 1992–2003. The first two locations downstream of the source of pollution showed a non-significant decrease of most PCB congeners over time. Content of PCB 28, PCB 52, and total PCBs decreased significantly with time at site 4. Total PCB and all PCB congeners, with the exception of PCB 118 decreased significantly over the time period at location 5. Levels of PCB 28, PCB 52, PCB 101, PCB 180, and total PCB content decreased significantly over time at location 6. Concentrations of PCB congeners at site 7 decreased during the time period but not to a significant level. Levels of PCB 28, PCB 52, PCB 138, and total PCBs decreased significantly at site 8. Content of PCB 52, PCB 101 and PCB 180, but not total PCBs, decreased significantly over time at site 9. Total PCB, PCB 28, PCB 52, and PCB 180 decreased significantly over time at 10 (Table 3). 3.3.Decrease of PCB content with the distance from the source of pollution Most of the PCB congeners decreased with the distance from the source of pollution, although not in every year and not always significantly. PCB 28 decreased significantly with the distance from the source of pollution only in 2003. PCB 52 decreased with the distance from the source of pollution nearly in every year, but the relationship was significant only in 1995, 1997 and 2003. PCB 101 decreased with the distance from the source of pollution nearly in every year, but the relationship was significant only in 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, and 2003. PCB 118 decreased significantly with the distance from the source of pollution in 1997 and 2003. PCB 138 decreased with the distance from the source of pollution in every year, however the relationship was significant only in 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, and 2003. Also PCB 153 decreased with distance from the source of pollution in every year, the decrease was statistically significant in 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, and 2003. PCB 180 decreased with distance from the source of pollution in every year, however the relationship was significant only in 2001. Total PCB content decreased with distance of the source of pollution nearly in every year, but the relationship was significant only in 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, and 2003 (Table 4, Figure 5). 4.Discussion Benthic macroinvertebrates are moderately long-lived and are in constant contact with river sediments [8]. Contamination and toxicity of sediments will therefore affect those benthic organisms which are sensitive to them. Benthic macroinvertebrates are present, often abundantly, year-round, and since limited in mobility, reflect environmental conditions at the sampling point as well as changes over time and cumulative effects. Biological indicators can show problems otherwise missed or underestimated. Some authors have investigated the use of suitable representatives of invertebrates as a sensors for the assessment of aquatic environment contamination with persistent organic substances [2,8]. A number have monitored the presence of leeches and concentrations of hazardous substances in their tissues to determine levels of water contamination, including organic contaminants and polychlorinated biphenyls [6,10–11,22–23,29–31]. Scrimgeour et al. [22] monitored contamination with selected persistent organic substances in the Beaver Hills Watershed (Alberta, Canada). PCB concentrations were determined in sediment samples and in leech tissue samples. In their case, environmental contamination levels were low and, in a majority of cases, below the detection limit. Metcalfe et al. [10] assessed persistent organic compound concentrations in leech tissues and in water. Leeches were found to accumulate 16 of such compounds (two benzothiazoles, eight chlorophenols, lindane, and DDT and its derivatives), while only ten of the compounds were detected in water (benzothiazoles and chlorophenols). Accumulations of chlorinated phenolic substances in leech tissues exceeding levels in their aquatic environment have also been reported by Prahacs et al. [30]. Prahacs and Hall [11] found a high linear relationship between concentrations of chlorinated phenolic substances in water and bioconcentrations of those substances in leech tissue. This relationship is due to a slow elimination of chlorinated phenols, and it makes it possible to determine aquatic environment contamination levels from concentrations in leeches. Slow elimination of chlorophenols from, and a high degree of bioconcentration in, leech tissue has also been reported by Metcalf et al. [10] and Hall and Jacob [7]. The slow elimination increases biomonitoring sensitivity because larger amounts of hazardous substances are accumulated in leech tissue. Metcalfe et al. [29] found a high content of residues of chlorophenols in freshwater leeches when compared to fish, tadpoles, and other benthic invertebrates from an industrially polluted creek. Leeches may therefore serve as a suitable sensor-bioindicator of aquatic environment contamination with persistent organic substances. 4.1.Comparison of PCB content at monitored sites with control site Rožmitál – upstream to the source of pollution The first hypothesis was a higher PCB concentration in tissue of leeches from contaminated sites compared with that from the control site upstream of the source of pollution. As expected, a comparison of concentrations of individual PCB congeners and the total of seven indicator PCB congeners in tissues from individual sites showed higher concentrations in the four sites nearest to the source of pollution. But the highest content of seven PCB congeners was surprisingly found in Březnice, i.e. the fifth site. It is assumed that this was caused by some other source of pollution believed to exist there. 4.2.Decrease of PCB content from 1992 to 2003 Variations in pollution levels over the period from 1992 to 2003 were also monitored. The highest levels of the congeners were found in the first year of monitoring, i.e. in 1992. In the period that followed, a majority of PCB congeners showed a decreasing trend in all monitored sites. A decrease in the total PCB content was observed in all sites with the exception of site 2, immediately downstream of the source of pollution. The decrease was not significant in all cases. It may be assumed that an important causal factor in the decrease was the superimposition of a new uncontaminated (or less contaminated) layer over the contaminated surface layer of sediment, or the washing away of contaminated sediment. Because leeches of the genus Erpobdella are bioindicators of pollution in the surface layer of sediment, the above processes will block the access of leeches to the underlying contaminated sediment layer and lead to a subsequent lower accumulation of PCB levels in their tissues. 4.3.Decrease of PCB content with the distance from the source of pollution The third hypothesis was the decrease in PCB levels in leech tissues with distance from the source of pollution. A decrease, although not significant, was recorded for a majority of the PCB congeners monitored in each successive year of monitoring. Only a slight effect of contamination caused by the road gravel processing factory in Rožmitál pod Třemšínem is assumed in sites 6–11. These remote sites did not differ from the control site. As representatives of macroinvertebrates, leeches occupy a certain position in the food chain of the aquatic environment. The relationship between the contamination of macroinvertebrates (i.e. leeches) and PCB levels in fish has been studied by a number of authors. Jackson et al. [17] compared PCB congener concentrations among fish (Onchorhnychus kisutch and Oncorhynchus tshawytsha) and macroinvertebrates in the Lake Michigan. While the representation of individual PCB congeners in macroinvertebrates and fish was comparable, there was a twenty to thirty-fold increase in total PCB content from macroinvertebrates to salmon. PCB concentrations in individual fish tissue, fish species, and in other aquatic organisms have been shown to be influenced to a large extent by fat contents, where PCB tend to accumulate [4,12,20–21]. In contrast, Zaranko et al. [5] and McCreanor et al. [31] found no significant relationship between lipid content and PCB concentration in leeches. Zaranko et al. [5], from 1989 to 1993, analyzed biota from Pottersburg Creek, Ontario, Canada for total PCBs and lipids. The relationship between PCBs and lipid suggested that organisms accumulate PCBs relative to their position in the food web [5]. Fish and leeches, which occupy the top of the food web, accumulated more PCBs than organisms occupying a lower trophic position. This indicates that biomagnification through trophic transfer (i.e., the uptake of a chemical through ingestion) is the primary mechanism governing contaminant levels in biota and not bioconcentration (i.e., the uptake of a chemical from water). A different conclusion was drawn by DiPinto and Coull [32], who studied the dynamics of transfer of sediment-bound polychlorinated biphenyls from benthic copepods to juvenile fish. They found five time higher PCB accumulations in fish fed uncontaminated copepods and living in an environment with contaminated sediment than in fish in an uncontaminated environment fed contaminated prey. In analyzing PCB levels in zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), Binelli and Provini [2] noted that bioconcentration played a role at the level of the first consumers (i.e. zebra mussel), while dietary uptake was important in organisms at a higher level of the food chain, including leeches. Comparing benefits of using either mussels (Elliptio complanata) or leeches (Nephelopsis obscura) as sensors of chlorphenol contamination, Metcalfe and Hayton [33] found leeches to be more suitable for the purpose. The level of PCB contamination in the River Skalice was studied by Machala et al. [34] examining muscle tissue of two freshwater fish, roach (Rutilus rutilus) and chub (Leuciscus cephalus) caught in 1995 at nine sites along the River Skalice. The highest PCB concentrations were found downstream at Rožmitál and at Březnice. These results match those found in leech tissues. The results obtained indicate that leeches of the genus Erpobdella are a suitable sensor-bioindicator of polychlorinated biphenyl contamination in rivers. PCB levels in their tissues reflect the current situation in contamination of the sediment surface layer and thus indicate levels of PCB that may be taken up by fish as the next link in the food chain. The study was supported by the project No. MSM 6215712402 and MSM 60076665809. References and Notes1.BallschmiterK.Persistent, ecotoxic, and bioaccumulative compounds and their possible environmental effectsPure Appl. Chem1996681771178010.1351/pac1996680917712.BinelliA.ProviniA.The PCB pollution of Lake Iseo (N. Italy) and the role of biomagnification in the pelagic food webChemosphere20035314315110.1016/S0045-6535(03)00441-7128926773.GilbertsonM.MorrisR. D.HunterR. A.Abnormal chicks and PCB residue levels in eggs of colonial birds on lower great lakes (1971–73)AUK1976934344424.PhillipsD. J. H.The chemistries and environmental fates of trace metals and organochlorines in aquatic ecosystemsMar. Pollut. Bull19953119320010.1016/0025-326X(95)00194-R5.ZarankoD.T.GriffithsR.W.KaushikN.K.Biomagnification of polychlorinated biphenyls through a riverine food webEnviron. Toxicol. Chem1997161463147110.1002/etc.56201607206.FrieseK.FrommichenR.WitterB.MullerH.Determination of trace metals in the freshwater leech Erpobdella octoculata of the Elbe river – Evaluation of the analytical protocolActa Hydrochim. Hydrobiol2004313463557.HallK.J.JacobC.Bioconcentration of chlorophenols by leeches and their use as in situ biological monitorsWat. Poll. Res. J. Can19882369878.JonesD.S.BarnthouseL.W.SuterG. W.EfroymsonR. A.FieldJ.M.BeauchampJ.J.Ecological risk assessment in a large river-reservoir: 3. Benthic invertebratesEnviron. Toxicol. Chem1999185996099.MetcalfeJ.L.Biological water-quality assessment of running waters based on macroinvertebrate communities - History and present status in EuropeEnviron. Pollut19896010113910.1016/0269-7491(89)90223-61509239310.MetcalfeJ. L.FoxM. E.CareyJ. H.Freshwater leeches (Hirudinea) as a screening tool for detecting organic contaminants in the environmentEnviron. Monit. Assess19881114716910.1007/BF0040172711.PrahacsS. M.HallK. J.Leeches as in situ biomonitors of chlorinated phenolic compounds. 1. Laboratory investigationsWater Res1996302293230010.1016/0043-1354(96)00116-912.CiereszkoW.Accumulation dynamics of PCBs in selected organs and tissues of carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)Acta Ichthyol. Piscat20013110511713.HajslovaJ.SchoulaR.KocourekV.HoladovaK.PoustkaJ.KohoutkovaJ.SvobodovaZ.Polychlorinated biphenyls and other persistent chlorinated contaminants in fish as indicators of pollution of aquatic ecosystem in Czech RepublicToxicol. Environ. Chem19975927929110.1080/0277224970935844214.HavelkovaM.BlahovaJ.KroupovaH.RandakT.SlatinskaI.LeontovycovaD.GrabicR.PospisilR.SvobodovaZ.Biomarkers of contaminant exposure in chub (Leuciscus cephalus L.) – biomonitoring of major rivers in the Czech RepublicSensors200882589260310.3390/s804258915.HavelkovaM.DusekL.NemethovaD.PoleszczukG.SvobodovaZ.Comparison of mercury distribution between liver and muscle – A biomonitoring of fish from lightly and heavily contaminated localitiesSensors200884095410910.3390/s807409516.HavelkovaM.RandakT.ZlabekV.KrijtJ.KroupovaH.PulkrabovaJ.SvobodovaZ.Biochemical markers for assessing aquatic contaminationSensors200772599261110.3390/s711259917.JacksonL. J.CarpenterS. R.Manchester-NeesvigJ.StowC.A.PCB congeners in Lake Michigan coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) salmonEnviron. Sci. Technol20013585686210.1021/es001558+1135152718.MarsalekP.WeissV.KolejkaJ.Chlorinated hydrocarbon residues in fish from Nove Mlyny reservoirs along Dyje river, Czech republicActa Vet. BRNO20047327528110.2754/avb20047302027519.RehulkaJ.Chemical monitoring of three water-supply reservoirs, using fish as bioindicatorsCzech J. Anim. Sci20014621723020.RehulkaJ.Content of inorganic and organic pollutants in the fish from the Slezska Harta reservoirCzech J. Anim. Sci200247304421.SvobodovaZ.ZlabekV.RandakT.MachováJ.KolarovaJ.HajslovaJ.SuchanP.DusekL.JarkovskyJ.Profiles of PCBs in tissues of marketable common carp and in bottom sediments of selected ponds in South and West BohemiaActa Vet. BRNO20047313314222.ScrimgeourG. J.WicklumD.PrussS. D.Selection of an aquatic indicator species to monitor organic contaminants in trophically simple lotic food websArch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol19983456557223.KoperskiP.Testing the suitability of leeches (Hirudinea, Clitellata) for biological assessment of lowland streamsPol. J. Ecol200553658024.BarusV.OlivaO.Mihulovci a ryby (1)AcademiaPraha1995623(In Czech)25.KoselV.Hirudinology for hydrobiologists in useMakovinskaJ.TothovaL.Proceedings of Hydrobiological Course 2001Rajecke Teplice3754(In Slovak)26.SvobodovaZ.VykusovaB.MachovaJ.HrbkovaM.GrochL.Sublethal and chronic effects of pollutants on freshwater fishMullerR.LloydR.Fishing News BookOxford1994Chapter 8,889827.HajslovaJ.SchoulaR.HoladovaK.PoustkaJ.Analysis of PCBs in biotic matrices by two-dimensional GC/ECDInt. J. Environ. Anal. Chem19956016317310.1080/0306731950804287428.StatSoft, Inc2007STATISTICA (data analysis software system), version 8.0. L.FoxM. E.CareyJ. H.Aquatic leeches (Hirudinea) as bioindicators of organic-chemical contaminants in fresh-water ecosystemsChemosphere19841314315010.1016/0045-6535(84)90015-830.PrahacsS. M.HallK. J.DuncanW.Leeches as in situ biomonitors of chlorinated phenolic compounds. 2. Pulp mill investigationsWater Res1996302301230810.1016/0043-1354(96)00115-731.McCreanorL.TsujiL. J. S.WainmanB. C.MartinI. D.WeberJ. P.The use of leeches and logit log-linear contingency models to assess and monitor aquatic PCB contamination originating from mid-Canada radar line site 050Environ. Monit. Assess200814021122210.1007/s10661-007-9860-61768762832.DiPintoL. M.CoullB. C.Trophic transfer of sediment-associated polychlorinated biphenyls from meiobenthos to bottom-feeding fishEnviron. Toxicol. Chem1997162568257510.1002/etc.562016121933.MetcalfeJ. L.HaytonA.Comparison of leeches and mussels as biomonitors for chlorophenol pollutionJ. Gt. Lakes Res19891565466810.1016/S0380-1330(89)71519-734.MachalaM.UlrichR.NecaJ.VykusovaB.KolarovaJ.MachovaJ.SvobodovaZ.Biochemical monitoring of aquatic pollution: indicators of dioxin-like toxicity and oxidative stress in the roach (Rutilus rutilus) and chub (Leuciscus cephalus) in the Skalice riverVet. Med2000455560Figures and TablesFigure 1. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Figure 2. The main used bioindicator species - Erpobdella octoculata. Figure 3. Collection of leeches in the Skalice River. Figure 4. Locations of sites (Czech Republic). Figure 5. Σ PCB content in leeches from the River Skalice during 1992–2003. See table 1 for site codes. (Σ PCB content at site 5 in 1992 was 2763.0 μg.kg−1 in 1993 it was 767.0 μg.kg−1). Table 1. Sample sites on the River Skalice Site No. Sample site location Distance above confluence with R Lomnice (km) 1 Upstream from Rožmitál pod Třemšínem - control site 45 2 Downstream from Rožmitál pod Třemšínem 43 3 Skuhrov 40 4 Zadní Poříčí 36 5 Březnice 32 6 Myslín 23 7 Mirovice 19 8 Nerestce 15 9 Čimelice 10 10 Ostrovec 2 11 confluence with Lomnice River 0 Table 2. Comparison of PCB content at 10 monitored sites with control site Rožmitál. Wilcoxon matched pairs test; p < 0.05 indicate significant difference from the control site (n = the number of years that leeches were sampled). Sample site n PCB 28 PCB 52 PCB 101 PCB 118 PCB 138 PCB 153 PCB 180 Σ PCB 2 Rožmitál downstream 11 0.026 0.021 0.021 0.076 0.066 0.037 0.028 0.023 3 Skuhrov 10 0.005 0.008 0.012 0.014 0.139 0.139 0.068 0.005 4 Zadní Poříčí 11 0.006 0.006 0.068 0.051 0.142 0.286 0.715 0.010 5 Březnice 11 0.008 0.010 0.008 0.028 0.007 0.007 0.017 0.008 6 Myslín 11 0.050 0.286 0.445 0.515 0.624 0.799 1.000 0.328 7 Mirovice 9 0.110 0.110 0.110 0.575 0.086 0.066 0.110 8 Nerestce 11 0.062 0.328 0.735 0.386 0.594 0.314 0.593 0.286 9 Čimelice 11 0.003 0.005 0.074 0.169 0.155 0.038 0.593 0.008 10 Ostrovec 11 0.004 0.155 0.484 0.333 0.017 0.080 0.593 0.050 11 confluence with Lomnice 7 0.043 0.237 0.463 0.866 0.080 0.116 0.237 Table 3. Statistical relationship of PCB content from 1992 to 2003 (n = the number of years when leeches were sampled, rs Spearman rank correlation of time and PCB content, p - significance level). Site n PCB 28 PCB 52 PCB 101 PCB 118 PCB 138 PCB 153 PCB 180 Σ PCB 1 11 rs −0.144 −0.467 −0.337 −0.110 −0.038 0.070 −0.681 −0.321 p 0.673 0.147 0.311 0.748 0.911 0.838 0.021 0.336 2 11 rs −0.569 −0.583 −0.145 0.110 −0.073 0.228 0.075 0.073 p 0.067 0.060 0.670 0.748 0.830 0.501 0.826 0.832 3 10 rs −0.406 −0.442 −0.280 −0.293 −0.189 −0.043 −0.152 −0.370 p 0.244 0.200 0.432 0.412 0.601 0.906 0.675 0.293 4 11 rs −0.612 −0.724 −0.563 0.285 −0.501 −0.432 −0.296 −0.664 p 0.045 0.012 0.071 0.395 0.116 0.184 0.378 0.026 5 11 rs −0.645 −0.811 −0.618 0.000 −0.727 −0.627 −0.695 −0.755 p 0.032 0.002 0.043 1.000 0.011 0.039 0.018 0.007 6 11 rs −0.779 −0.839 −0.695 −0.065 −0.205 −0.156 −0.724 −0.743 p 0.005 0.001 0.018 0.851 0.544 0.647 0.012 0.009 7 9 rs −0.059 −0.395 −0.235 −0.194 −0.361 −0.142 −0.408 −0.367 p 0.881 0.293 0.542 0.617 0.339 0.715 0.276 0.332 8 11 rs −0.610 −0.849 −0.510 −0.288 −0.658 −0.167 −0.504 −0.781 p 0.046 0.001 0.109 0.390 0.028 0.623 0.114 0.005 9 11 rs −0.527 −0.636 −0.615 −0.174 −0.598 −0.114 −0.672 −0.582 p 0.096 0.035 0.044 0.610 0.052 0.738 0.024 0.060 10 11 rs −0.714 −0.680 −0.404 0.088 0.106 0.061 −0.732 −0.615 p 0.014 0.021 0.218 0.798 0.757 0.858 0.010 0.044 11 7 rs −0.630 −0.630 −0.206 −0.527 −0.236 −0.527 0.134 −0.577 p 0.129 0.129 0.658 0.224 0.610 0.224 0.775 0.175 Table 4. Decrease in PCB content with distance from the source of pollution. (rs Spearman rank correlation of distance from the source of pollution and PCB content, p - significance level). Only sites downstream of the source of pollution (numbers 2–11) were included in the analysis. (n =the number of sites where leeches were sampled)	eng	ca330d19-c98d-4cfb-bc9c-b338f1499180	http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/9/3/1807/xml
Jack Davis, a wealthy Democratic candidate for Congress from New York's 26th Congressional District, brought this claim challenging the constitutionality of the so-called 'Millionaire's Amendment' to the 2002 campaign finance law. Davis argued in the district court that the law, which basically raises the contribution cap for individuals running against self-financed candidates, violated the First Amendment and the Equal Protection principle implicit in the Fifth Amendment. The district court rejected both of these claims, stating first that the law did not implicate the First Amendment because it did not impede Davis' ability to spend money in support of his message, noting that it actually led to a higher level of speech in the race overall. The district court similarly rejected Davis' Fifth Amendment claim, reasoning that although Davis may have been held to higher reporting standards than his opponent, his disproportionate wealth meant that the two candidates were not similarly situated and, therefore, the Equal Protection Clause did not apply. The campaign finance law allows direct appeal to the Court, which will consider whether Davis has standing to bring the First Amendment claim before deciding the case on the merits. Question Does the Millionaire's Amendment to the 2002 campaign finance law, which raises the contribution limit for those running against a self-financed candidate, violate free speech clause of the First Amendment and the equal protection principle of the Fifth Amendment? Yes. Although all nine Justices agreed that Davis had standing to argue his case before the Court, only a 5-4 majority held that the contribution limits violated the First Amendment. In his majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito noted that the Court had never upheld the constitutionality of a law imposing different contribution limits for candidates competing against one another. Because the Court found the laws in violation of the First Amendment, it did not reach the question of whether the Fifth Amendment was also violated. Justice John Paul Stevens, joined by Justices David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer, filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, agreeing with the majority that Davis had standing but citing the reasoning of the district court to argue that the contribution cap did not violated the First or Fifth Amendment. Justice Ginsburg, joined by Justice Breyer, wrote a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, agreeing with Justice Stevens's argument but basing it on slightly different grounds. Mr. Herman: Mr. Chief Justice and may it please the Court: This case involves the constitutional question of whether the government may regulate the personal spending of a candidate on behalf of his own campaign. This is an activity that constitutes political expression at the core of the First Amendment, yet BCRA Section 319 seeks to deter and, failing that, penalizes such protected political expression. Even if this Court finds that the harms upon speech of Section 319 are modest, the provision still fails to satisfy any constitutional standard. It furthers no legitimate governmental purpose and conversely increases the undue influence of contributions upon Federal candidates. Chief Justice Roberts: There is no restriction whatsoever on the wealthier candidate. He can spend as much of his money as he wants. Mr. Herman: That's correct, Your Honor. The harm from Section 319 is that he is burdened from the beginning of his campaign throughout every step with the knowledge that any time he spends money he is going to be providing his opponent with an advantage; he is going to be enhancing his opponent's speech. Chief Justice Roberts: Well, what if, for example, somebody takes out a television ad that says smoking this type of cigarette is actually, is not harmful to you. The government is free to take out a contrary ad saying, no, it is and so you shouldn't do it, right? Mr. Herman: Of course, Mr. Chief Justice. Chief Justice Roberts: So governmental responses to the exercise of free speech are not automatically... don't automatically burden the exercise of that speech. Mr. Herman: That is absolutely correct, Mr. Chief Justice. Chief Justice Roberts: Well then, why does it burden it for the government to make it easier for private citizens to respond to that speech. Mr. Herman: Well, Mr. Chief Justice, it's making it easier for a self-financed candidate's opponent to respond to that speech. In essence, what Section 319 says is, we are going to make it easier for your opponent to beat you. Justice Scalia: Mr. Herman, can the government respond to political speech? The government can have a position on smoking cigarettes, it can have a position on a lot of things, but can it have a position on whether the Republican Party or the Democratic Party should win the next election? Mr. Herman: Absolutely not, Justice Scalia. Justice Scalia: Isn't that a distinction here? Mr. Herman: Yes. Chief Justice Roberts: What case supports that proposition? Mr. Herman: That the government cannot take-- Chief Justice Roberts: Government can't engage in political speech. Mr. Herman: --Your Honor, Buckley is on... there is not anything-- Justice Ginsburg: How is the government speaking? You have already acknowledged that the wealthy candidate can spend as much as he or she wants and the end result of this scheme is that there will be more, not less, speech because the non-affluent opponent will now have money to spend that he didn't have before. So I think you have to concede that overall the scheme will produce more political speech, not less. Mr. Herman: --Well, Justice Ginsburg, I can't concede that, and this is the reason why. Mr. Herman: --We have very little experience under the statute, Justice-- Justice Souter: Well your clients... wasn't your client's latest filing that he intended to spend a million dollars. Mr. Herman: --For the 2006 campaign? Justice Souter: I think that's-- Mr. Herman: That is correct. Justice Souter: --So it didn't deter him. You're in the position in which it clearly didn't deter your client. He says, I'm going to spend three times as much as the threshold figure, and there is no empirical evidence that it's deterring anybody else. Mr. Herman: Well, Justice Souter, in fact it did deter my client. If you look at his election in its totality, his opponent spent over $5 million. Justice Scalia: Do we usually evaluate restrictions on First Amendment rights on the basis of whether the chill that was imposed by the government was actually effective in stifling the right? Mr. Herman: No, Your Honor. Justice Scalia: If the person goes ahead and speaks anyway, is he estopped from saying that the government was chilling his speech nonetheless? Mr. Herman: Absolutely not, Justice Scalia. Justice Scalia: Isn't that's what's going on here? Mr. Herman: Absolutely. Justice Souter: Don't we expect a chill argument to at least have a ring of plausibility? And your chill argument is that it is deterring. It didn't deter your client. There is no indication that it would deter anybody else and I have to say I don't see why it would. Mr. Herman: Justice Souter, respectfully, I don't think that you can categorically say that it did not deter my client when he was outspent by $3 million in that campaign. As he went through the campaign against his-- Justice Souter: You mean if the... if the other side had not had an enhanced spending capacity, your client would then have spent $2 million? Mr. Herman: --Your Honor, he actually did spend $2 million. Justice Souter: Whatever it is, I mean are you saying that if the... if the client... if the opposing party had not had an enhanced spending capacity your client would have spent even more? Mr. Herman: Potentially. Potentially. Justice Souter: That seems to substantiate the, at least the ostensible basis for this statute. Mr. Herman: Your Honor, if the basis for the statute is to, quote unquote, $1.4 million even though he had already outspent my opponent by $3 million. Justice Alito: Is there any reason to think that this statute will have any greater or different effect of Mr. Davis in the upcoming election than it did in the last election? Mr. Herman: There is, Justice Alito. Justice Alito: Why? Mr. Herman: Because his incumbent opponent from the last two elections has announced his retirement and so Mr. Davis will now be facing very likely primary challengers, and then if he were to prevail in the primary he'll be meeting a non-incumbent challenger in the general election as well. So it's an open seat. And again, one of the great deficiencies of 319 is that it fails to take into account any of the advantages of incumbency, not just the financial advantages but the inherent advantage that each and every incumbent brings to an election when he or she runs for re-election, the fact that the incumbent has much greater status as-- Justice Scalia: The government says that in fact more and quite a bit more incumbents went over the $350,000 personal funding limits than non-incumbents. Something like... I don't know, 14-2 or something like that in the last election, is that right? Mr. Herman: --First of all, the statistics here are incomplete because basically the briefing in this case was concluded in early September of 2006, before a lot of primaries occurred for the 2006 House election. And so I think referring to those numbers... the FEC has never... we've never received any additional numbers for the effect, but-- Justice Ginsburg: But it was a four-year record and the numbers are rather startling that... is it 110 senators or representatives qualified for the enhanced contributions and only 6 of them were incumbents? Justice Scalia: Yes. Mr. Herman: --The other number that was cited is that only 2 of 60 incumbents actually triggered the Millionaires' Amendment in those-- Justice Scalia: Of course, that could mean that the millionaires have already been elected and are now pulling up the ladder after them. [Laughter] Mr. Herman: --That's certainly our argument, Justice Scalia. Justice Scalia: Right. Justice Ginsburg: Well, if that's so, one of the reasons that has been given for this statute is that it encourages the parties to favor the wealthier candidates; it deters people who are non-affluent but highly meritorious. So... and it gives the public the perception that the seats in our Congress are there to be bought by the wealthiest bidder. And if there's anything to that... well, do you reject that out of hand as what the statute is all about? Mr. Herman: Justice Ginsburg, I believe that the... the fact that the statute expands the supposedly anti-corruptive $2300 to $6900 and allows a national party to make coordinated communications of an unlimited amount in response to the, what Buckley called "ameliorative speech" by a self-financer, would also increase the perception that... that our candidates are there to be bought. It seems to me that if Mr. Davis had sat down and read all of this Court's jurisprudence before he decided to run, he wouldn't have seen a word in there about leveling the playing field. Justice Ginsburg: But I thought... I thought your brief... and correct me if I'm wrong... said at one stage that there is... what Congress was driving at is a valid concern, but there are less restrictive alternatives. And I was trying to find what those less restrictive alternatives were. Mr. Herman: Well, Justice Ginsburg, I can think of one off the top of my head which is not this case, and that's public funding. If Congress were truly concerned about providing a boost to minor party candidates who may not be able to raise the $2300 to begin with, much less take advantage of the benefits of 319, or wanted to boost self-financed candidates who, say, like Mr. DeRossett in the amicus brief, in his amicus brief, who mortgaged his house or others who have encumbered their pensions and raised $350,000 or $400,000 and then triggered the amendment, if they wanted to foster all of those people of modest means to participate, then the easiest way and the way sanctioned by this Court in Buckley is to institute a public funding system and allow them to choose. They can raise private funds if they'd like; they could do it personally with their own money; or they could take whatever amount that the... that the State was willing to give them-- Justice Scalia: But that wouldn't level the playing field. I mean, the other side, the millionaire, won't take the public funding and he'll spend his millions and whoever gets the public funding... or are you saying the public funding should match whatever the other side pays? Mr. Herman: --No, Your Honor-- Justice Scalia: Well then-- Mr. Herman: --But this Court's analysis in Buckley... the public funding analysis in Buckley does not center on leveling the playing field or providing equality for all candidates. It-- Justice Scalia: --Do you think that's a valid constitutional objective, to level the playing field? Mr. Herman: --I-- Justice Scalia: Do you think we should trust our incumbent senators and representatives to level the playing field for us? [Laughter] Mr. Herman: --Absolutely not, Justice Scalia. And there's a reason why there's a distinction between an anti-corruptive purpose and a leveling-the-playing-field purpose. When Congress legislates to deal with the actuality or appearance of corruption, they are legislating uniformly and they're not taking an interest in the outcome, in the competitiveness. When they are talking about leveling the playing field, one of the players on that playing field are incumbent members of Congress. It's like saying that we're going to trust basketball players not... to call their own out-of-bounds plays. Justice Ginsburg: But isn't there something different between what the statute was at the time of Buckley, that a lid on, you can't spend more than X amount of money, and a statute that says we're going to let you spend, the sky is the limit for you, but we're going to give a boost to your opponent? Mr. Herman: Justice Ginsburg, in Buckley there... there was no lid on personal expenditures. The Court struck down that aspect of Buckley and upheld the public funding provision. So the Court was-- Justice Ginsburg: I'm talking about the statute as it was originally enacted by Congress did have expenditure limits and this Court said that was no good. This statute doesn't have that problem because it doesn't put a lid on the candidates self-financing. Mr. Herman: --That's correct, Your Honor. But... but again, if you're going to make a comparison to the public funding system in Buckley that was approved by this Court, that system was indifferent to the... the source or the amount of funds. All the Court said there... or the equality... that that statute was indifferent to whether the playing field was level. All... all Buckley said and all Congress said in enacting the public funding was we want to take the allegedly corruptive private funds out of the system, and we want to replace it with public funds and-- Justice Alito: Even if... even if leveling the playing field is not generally a compelling or maybe even a permissible interest, is it a stronger interest when one of the reasons why the playing field is not level is other action that Congress has taken? If there weren't expenditure limits, then self-financed candidates wouldn't perhaps have as much of an advantage as they do. So if we accept the world in which contribution limits are constitutional, it... does that provide a basis for Congress to try to rectify at least in part what it itself has done by imposing the contribution limits? Mr. Herman: --Justice Alito, leveling the playing field is... I'm not quite sure how Congress would start to do that without implicating their own interest. When you say that you're going to level the playing field, Congress has to look at the whole playing field. They can't just carve out a section that applies to other people and not talk about their interest in leveling the playing field. I think it's a very difficult road to go down. Justice Scalia: What we're talking about in leveling the playing field, I guess, is leveling the amount of speech that each side has, to make sure that each side has the same amount of speech. Is that... is that what's going on here? Mr. Herman: Well, it's an attempt to do that. And again, in Buckley this Court said that... that Congress has no interest in determining whether speech is excessive or unwise or wasteful. That's... that's ultimately the purview for the voters, and that's really the fallacy in 319 at its heart, is there's no such thing as secret self-funders. They will... everything that they do is disclosed in the same way that all other expenditures and contributions are disclosed in quarterly and pre-election reports. Certainly, in many cases, their opponents are going to make the case that this wealthy person is out of touch, they don't represent the district, your vote is not to be bought. And then ultimately the voters will have the determination on what kind of candidate they want. Justice Scalia: Are we... are we talking wealthy people here? What's the average price of a home in the United States? I think it's a good deal above $350,000, isn't it? Mr. Herman: It certainly is in this area and in many congressional districts in the United States. And that's a very good point, Justice Scalia. This provision affects less... about a quarter of what it costs to run a competitive race in 2006. So certainly it's not as if Congress said, well, if you spend some disproportionate amount of money to a congressional race, if you go ten times over what it should cost, we're going to step in. They said-- Chief Justice Roberts: You don't think that would be any more constitutional than this, do you? But if you're talking about the tailoring of the statute, I think that that is certainly something that's relevant. Justice Kennedy: I'd like to ask about the provisions of the statute which allow the candidate who doesn't have the personal funds... what was the name of the challenger in this case? Not Davis... Reynolds? Mr. Herman: Tom Reynolds. Justice Kennedy: Reynolds... to receive, is it, unlimited contributions from his own party? Mr. Herman: He can receive up to 100 14 percent of whatever that OPFA number is... the-- Justice Kennedy: Yes. Mr. Herman: --the purported difference in funds. Justice Kennedy: Suppose you had a statute which either explicitly said or has the effect, as this does, that the less wealthy challenger, the challenger in Reynolds' position, has more access and more support from his party than the challenger does from his party? What is your best case that indicates that that is unconstitutional, and what is your argument that that is unconstitutional? Mr. Herman: I'm sorry, Justice Kennedy? Justice Kennedy: That concerns me in this. What is your best argument that differential treatment of the candidates vis-a-vis support from their respective parties is unconstitutional? Mr. Herman: Well, again, Your Honor, if you're making a distinction... when you talk about the-- Justice Kennedy: The statute makes that distinction. Mr. Herman: --Well, the statute talks about the less wealthy candidate. Justice Kennedy: And it seems to me that that distinction is somewhat questionable, and I'm asking you for your best statement of the theory as to why it's unconstitutional and your best case to show that it's unconstitutional. Mr. Herman: The best argument, Justice Kennedy, is that money and speech are synonymous in an electoral context, and it's inappropriate for the government to say that you, as the purportedly wealthier candidate, have too much speech; that that's enough speech from you. Justice Kennedy: But you make that argument to the statute generally. Is there any more specific argument that you can make in the context of the less well-funded candidate having more support from the party than the well-funded candidate had? Mr. Herman: Well-- Justice Kennedy: It seems to me that that's a particular vice of the statute, and I want to know if there is a formulation that's more precise than the general attack that you made... that you make. Mr. Herman: --I-- Justice Ginsburg: Could you clarify with respect to that question two things: The party is not at liberty to give anything it wants. You explained that it would be... it's tied to that formula. So the wealthy person could still have a lot more to spend. But the party also is... there's no obligation of the party to give one cent to anybody that it doesn't choose to give money to; is that right? Mr. Herman: --No, Justice Ginsburg. Of course, the party would have to make a determination if they felt that this person was-- Justice Kennedy: But the party for the less well-funded candidate has the option to have much closer ties, much greater involvement, than the party for the other candidate; and that seems to me highly problematic. And I want to know the best case that you have for that proposition and the best statement of law that can you give me for why that is unconstitutional. Mr. Herman: --Well, Justice Kennedy, if you refer to Colorado II, where this Court talked about the facts that... where this Court upheld limitations on party, unlimited party-coordinated communications, because that... allowing the party to do so would raise the possibility of evading the contribution limits. And so accordingly they upheld the 42... the $42,000 limit on coordinated communication. Chief Justice Roberts: Counsel, you said earlier that money is... money is speech in this area. So I take it you think that the restrictions, otherwise applicable restrictions on the less wealthy candidate, raise problems under the First Amendment? Mr. Herman: Yes, Mr. Chief Justice. Chief Justice Roberts: So this law eases those problematic restrictions. It's less violative of the First Amendment. Mr. Herman: It is less violative of the First Amendment, but, again, this Court has made the distinction between contribution limits, which it found was a reasonable burden on the Constitution, and expenditure limits, which... which are not. This-- Justice Scalia: It doesn't limit those restrictions on your candidate. Mr. Herman: --It does not limit the restrictions. Justice Scalia: It simply makes the imposition of the restrictions uneven. Mr. Herman: That is, that is correct. But-- Chief Justice Roberts: Well, but your candidate isn't subject to any restriction at all on what he can spend and his opponent is subject to less restrictions. Justice Scalia: Doesn't it prohibit... I thought it prohibited him from raising funds in the amount from as wealthy donors as his opponent can now go to? Don't those limits on contributions continue to apply to him? Mr. Herman: --The contribution limits apply to him as they would to any other candidate except for his opponent. Justice Kennedy: And he cannot have the support from his party that the opponent can have from the opponent's party. Mr. Herman: He cannot have the same level of support. Justice Kennedy: Not the same level of support. Mr. Herman: That's correct. Justice Kennedy: And is party support sometimes important in an election? Mr. Herman: Of course, it can be vital in an election, and it can be vital for a candidate who may be a candidate of modest means. That would be certainly one way for them to generate support. Did he convince their party that they were worthy of that support? Justice Kennedy: Does anything in Colorado indicate that there can be a differential between the party support given to one candidate and the party support given to the other? Mr. Herman: Not... only as determined by the party's decision as to how they feel about the candidate's positions. Justice Stevens: Well, but they certainly can allocate funds more generously to one candidate than another; can't they? Mr. Herman: They certainly have that opportunity, but under... under a limit, under the $42,000 limit, as opposed to essentially an infinite limit when you're dealing with a self-funded candidate. And incidentally, Justice Stevens, to address something else that you just brought up, for many self-financed candidates the fact that they don't take money from their party or from donors or from PACs is a significant issue for them in their campaign. I mean certainly for Mr. Davis, the fact that he is independent and can make his own determinations-- Justice Scalia: Who is more incorruptible than the millionaire, right? Mr. Herman: --He is the ultimate independent. Justice Scalia: The ultimate incorruptible. [Laughter] Mr. Herman: You cannot corrupt yourself. And, again, the voters will get to decide whether they want someone who is like that or they want someone who is more in tune with, say, what the party wants or with what his donors want. I mean, that's really the essence of our... of our electoral system. Chief Justice Roberts: I think... I mean, obviously you're correct that this system benefits incumbents, but it benefits your client in a particular way as well. The parties are certainly interested in candidates who will fund themselves because that presents less strain on the party's resources. Mr. Herman: Mr. Chief Justice, they are interested in those candidates only inasmuch as they get elected. The moment that the public turns on them, they won't be interested. And certainly the public was not particularly interested in Mitt Romney, who spent a significant amount of money on his own behalf, and many other spectacular flameouts. [Laughter] Chief Justice Roberts: I'm not sure we need characterizations of the political candidates...-- [Laughter] Mr. Herman: I apologize. Chief Justice Roberts: --in this forum. Mr. Herman: Let me just add... let me just add one other thing. The government's own experts, all of their information is derived from an individual who is quoted as saying that self-financed candidates rarely win, and when they do, it's usually for some other reason. The fact of the matter is they don't always make great candidates because they're not within the mainstream. I'd like to reserve the balance of my time. Argument of Paul D. Clement Chief Justice Roberts: Thank you, Mr. Herman. General Clement. Mr. Clement: Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court: Appellant's claim here is an odd sort of First Amendment complaint. He does not suggest that Section 319 has limited his own spending at all. In fact, he has twice spent a substantial amount of his own money in excess of the statutory triggers. Justice Scalia: It has penalized his own spending. Mr. Clement: Well... and we can talk about that as well, but I think it's worth recognizing that his own spending is unlimited both in theory and in fact. And, if anything, he has announced his intent this next time around to spend even more of his own money. And the other thing that I think is relevant is his experience is not atypical in this regard. Justice Scalia: That just means he is willing to accept the penalty in the next election even if this case doesn't come out in his favor. Mr. Clement: Well, Justice Scalia-- Justice Scalia: It doesn't prove that it isn't a penalty. Mr. Clement: --Well, I don't think in any way it's a penalty. And I think in order to understand it as a penalty you have to accept the proposition that you start out with a constitutional entitlement to speak freely without the opportunity for the other side to respond, and I don't think the Constitution recognizes this. This isn't a context where they forced the Appellant to pay for the other side's speech, as in Tornillo, or carry the speech, as in PG&E. And I don't think it's fair to look at the record here and suggest that what Congress was trying to do here was actually limit or deter self-financing. Justice Alito: Well, isn't there something very... isn't there something very strange about having different contribution limits for candidates in an election? Do you think it would be constitutional for Congress to say that the... the contribution limits for incumbents is X, but for challengers it's 2X or one-half X? Mr. Clement: Well, I think 2X would be constitutional. And I think most people would be surprised if Congress passed the statute that gave more generous contribution limits to challengers, but I think it would be a perfectly appropriate regime because it would recognize that incumbents have certainly built-in advantages such that the relatively low hard money contribution caps have a greater influence, greater impact on a-- Justice Scalia: You think that's really a proper function of government, to look out over there and say, we're going to even the playing field in this election? What if some... one candidate is more eloquent than the other one? You make him talk with pebbles in his mouth or what? [Laughter] Mr. Clement: --Justice Scalia, I think there's an important distinction that was suggested in one of Justice Alito's question, between the government trying to level the playing field in the abstract and the government looking out, not at the eloquence of candidates, but at its own campaign finance regime after this Court's decision and recognizing that, look, the differential-- Justice Scalia: But the campaign finance regimes we've approved up to now, the significant limitations, have had an anti-corruption rationale. There is no anti-corruption rationale here. The only purpose of this is to level the playing field. And I am deeply suspicious of allowing elections to be conducted under a regime whereby Congress levels the playing field. And what Congress has recognized is that after Buckley and after this Court said that a candidate's ability to self-finance is unlimited, it's recognized that in a subset of elections where somebody is going to spend an awful lot of their own money to self-finance, the ordinary hard money contribution caps are going to have a potentially skewing effect. Justice Kennedy: It's not just money. It's not just money. It's the quality and kind of speech. You're saying, the government is saying, the statute says, that the underfunded candidate has less access to coordinated expenditures with the party than... than the other party... than the other candidate. And the cases have acknowledge, the statute acknowledges, that coordinated expenditures have a particularly potent force, and you are saying candidates are treated differently in the access to this kind of speech. And I know of no precedent of this Court that says one party is entitled to assistance from a certain segment and another party is not, based on the... the content of the speech. And that's exactly what this is. Mr. Clement: Well, Justice Kennedy, what I would say is, if you analogize to a system where Congress decided that because of the advantage that incumbents have, there is a greater scope for coordination of the party with the challengers, I would certainly be here defending that statute. I would like to make clear, though, Justice Kennedy, in fairness, that this focus on the coordinated expenditures of the parties has really not been the focus of Appellant's challenge in this case. Justice Kennedy: But it's in the statute and it's part of the challenge. I agree that it's been given a relatively minor position, but it's of great concern to me because it puts this Court, it puts this statute, in the position of preferring one kind of speech over another. And we simply do not do that. Mr. Clement: Well, Justice Kennedy, let me say two things about the fact that this was not the gravamen of the challenge here, because one reason I think that's clear is if you look at the record here, at the point that the record closed in this case no party had taken advantage of that coordinated expenditures provision. Justice Kennedy: Are you saying that argument is not properly before us when we are judging the validity of the statute that's been challenged? Mr. Clement: I'm saying that this record would not allow you to invalidate the statute on that ground. The record at the time that it closed should... there was no time that a party had taken advantage of that. Now, I understand that it's outside the record, but I understand after the record closed there were some coordinated expenditures. But another thing I would certainly want to know before I considered that challenge, Justice Kennedy, is whether this particular Appellant had coordinated expenditures from his own party up to the limit, because we know as a general matter that there is... parties will fund different candidates differently or may fund-- Justice Kennedy: But the provisions-- Mr. Clement: --some and not others. Justice Kennedy: --The provisions of the law which prefers one candidate over the other with respect to coordinated expenditures has an impact on campaign strategy. Mr. Clement: Well, again, Justice Kennedy, in fairness, though, I mean, one would expect if that were the nature of the claim, that at a minimum we would know two facts that I don't know, aren't in the record. One is whether or not his candidate reached the cap from his party's coordinated expenditures, because if he didn't I don't see why that individual would have standing. Justice Kennedy: Mr. Solicitor General, you're defending this statute on its face, I take it. Mr. Clement: Well, I am defending-- Justice Kennedy: And it seems to me that this is a facial invalidity of substantial proportions. Mr. Clement: --Well, Justice Kennedy, I always thought it was harder to bring a facial challenge, not easier to bring a facial challenge. And I realized that we relaxed the normal rules about as-applied challenges in the First Amendment context, but I think there has to be a limit to that, too. And I think in a case where we don't know the fundamental facts that at least I'd want to know before even evaluating that challenge, I think it would be bad for us to invalidate the statute, it would be wrong for us to invalidate the statute on those grounds. And I think I would still be here defending it-- Justice Scalia: I thought that that's what a facial challenge essentially consists of. You don't look to see whether in fact the harmful First Amendment effect has occurred; you look to whether it opens up the possibility for that to occur. Mr. Clement: --But I don't think mere theoretical possibility is enough, even in the First Amendment context. And I still think you ask the question: Does this individual even have standing to bring the First Amendment challenge? And I would think an element of standing to bring the First Amendment challenge Justice Kennedy has in mind would be a candidate who, first of all, his opposing candidate took substantial amounts of excess contributions. But at a bare minimum, I would think that the plaintiff would have to say that, look, I took up to the cap of the coordinated contributions from my party and I would have loved to have gotten more, the party was willing to give me more, but I wasn't able-- Justice Scalia: You can't go in before the election and say: Look, I'm about to be terribly disadvantaged; my opponent is about to have all of these coordinated expenses and I'm not able to. And you're going to say: Oh, we have to wait until the election is over to see whether in fact that happens. It seems to me this is precisely the kind of a situation a facial challenge is designed for. Mr. Clement: --With respect, Justice Scalia, there is two things. There is whether you can bring a facial challenge or not and there's when you can you bring it. And I think if you go in and allege that all of those things are likely, then you probably have standing at the outset. But those allegations weren't made here. The focus of this case has always been on the contribution levels and the contribution provisions of this statute. At the end of the day the analysis is quite similar, so I'm not-- Justice Stevens: Isn't one of the virtues of the independent self-financed candidate is he can emphasize his independence? So he very rarely is going to complain about not being able to get too much money, enough money from outside sources. And isn't it a fact that most of them do finance a very significant 24 percentage of their total campaign costs? Mr. Clement: --I think all that's right, Justice Stevens. And as you suggest, it's an unlikely challenge to be brought because often times the self-financer is advertising his independence from party and contributors here. Justice Kennedy: Do you want us to write an opinion which says that independently wealthy candidates generally have different sorts of views than other people? Mr. Clement: No, I don't think that's true. But I think that they do have different ways of raising the funds necessary to mount their campaigns. And I think... to get back to the focus of this, I think all that the Court needs to recognize is that the Buckley decision itself has created a potential anomaly, because if you want to think about self-financing, you can think about it as being the ultimate form of soft money, because the Constitution itself precludes Congress from limiting the amount of self-funding. Chief Justice Roberts: General, we haven't talked yet about the disclosure, the special disclosure requirements in that money is speech, and in a First Amendment area it strikes me as very problematic that the government requires you to disclose in a differential way how you intend... when you're spending a particular amount of money and on such precise day-by-day requirements. I mean, is there any other area... if you're writing a book, you don't have to disclose to the government when you're going to publish it and how far along you're getting in the draft. And yet, it just seems this is the same sort of thing in the election context. Mr. Clement: Well, Mr. Chief Justice, there are other contexts within the election area where there are comparable disclosure requirements. And I think I would point you to the McConnell case and the fact that this Court approved a 24-hour disclosure requirement for electioneering communications. Chief Justice Roberts: But those are applicable across the board. These are special disclosure requirements for people who are going to engage in additional speech. Mr. Clement: Well, I mean, I'm not... I'm not sure that's right in a sense that these are disclosure requirements that apply across the board. The timing is triggered particularly by a candidate's contribution to their own campaign. So that's the way in which they're different. But I think it's worth focusing on that, because I actually think the constitutional issues that are implicated by a disclosure of a candidate's contribution to his or her own campaign are actually less significant than generally is true of campaign finance disclosure, because what this Court talked about in Buckley as the primary concern in the disclosure context was the associational rights that are reflected when somebody contributes to a candidate or an organization makes an electioneering communication on behalf of a candidate. I think those associational interests are obviously not implicated when all you're forcing someone to disclose is the amount that they spent on their own campaign. Chief Justice Roberts: So wouldn't you think they would require more detailed and more expeditious disclosure of the associational link than of the self-funding? And yet it's the exact opposite? Mr. Clement: No. I would think the Constitution would be more concerned about the disclosing the associational link because there is more than one constitutional interest at issue. And I think if you look at this as a whole there really isn't a differential regime. Every electioneering communication from the first $10,000 has to be disclosed. If anything, the complaint should be the electioneering communication should come in here complaining about the fact that these self-financing candidates get a free pass for the first $350,000 of their financing, before the disclosure requirements kick in. So I mean, I really think this is a relatively modest disclosure provision and it arises in a context where there aren't associational interests. Justice Ginsburg: The problem is it's every $10,000. As you pointed out, it doesn't require more disclosure. All of this information would be disclosed under the system without this 24-hour, and that I think is the complaint, the burden of having every time you spend $10,000 to file something. Mr. Clement: But Justice Ginsburg, I think that's the same in the electioneering communications, which is it's triggered for $10,000 but I think it continues to be triggered. Now, it isn't the nature of the challenge, so I may be wrong about that, but I think that's the way that that works. In any event, I think it's a fair point here that the fact that you trigger additional disclosures with each $10,000 I think is useful in informing the electorate; but I also think it's fair to say is necessary in order for the substantive provisions of the statute to operate, because what they want to do is they want to enable as a self-financed candidate spends additional money as the election date approaches, they want to put the opponent, if they have otherwise reached the cap of what they can raise in additional funds in a position to continue to raise additional funds. Chief Justice Roberts: What if the... what if the restriction were more tailored, if Congress decided the one area where the wealthy really have an advantage is buying television time, so that's what we're going to restrict. If the wealthy individual buys a certain amount of television time, we're going to allow contributions to the less wealthy candidate to buy television time. They think the money is not as big a deal in the other areas. Would that be all right? Mr. Clement: I think it would be constitutional, Mr. Chief Justice. I think it's reacting to the same basic phenomenon, which is one aspect of the campaign finance regime gives self financers an ability to spend a tremendous amount of money and creates a potential disparity. What creates the disparity is the fact that you have relatively low hard money contribution caps, and Congress recognized-- Justice Scalia: What if one party has more time on his hands? He's... he's unemployed, so he... you know, he can go around, whereas the other party has to... has to hire people to speak for him. He has... he has a job most of the time. Are you going to even that disparity, too? Mr. Clement: --No, Justice Scalia, and again I think there's an important distinction between trying to level the playing field in every respect-- Justice Scalia: I can understand leveling, leveling contribution limits when you're worried about corruption, I can understand that. But doing it just to... to make sure that there is an even playing field, I... there's just no end to that. And it just isn't money that makes it an even playing feed. A lot of other factors... incumbency, the war chest that incumbents have which... money from the last election, that isn't counted for... for the millionaires' provision. There are so many factors that... that go to making the even playing field that I... I'm just very reluctant to acknowledge a congressional power to... to sit in judgment of our elections that way. Mr. Clement: --Well, Justice Scalia, I mean, in an odd way I think this principle is actually implicit in the plurality opinion against... in Randall v. Sorrell. I know you didn't join that opinion, but in that opinion this Court said, the plurality said, that contribution limits can in some ways be too low because if they're too low they preclude the ability for somebody to raise enough money and that exaggerates the advantages that incumbents have. And I think Congress really made an analogous judgment here. I'm not suggesting it was constitutionally compelled, but they made an analogous judgment, which is there is more than one source of advantage; one source of advantage is the self-financing candidate's ability to spend unlimited amounts of their own money. They respected the fact that that's a constitutional entitlement, but they said it's not that in the abstract that's the problem; it's the combination of unlimited self-financing and relatively low hard money contribution caps-- Justice Scalia: But-- Mr. Clement: --and they relaxed the one thing that they could control, which was the cap. Chief Justice Roberts: So what if Congress decided that a debate on a particular issue was distorted by the wealth of owners of newspapers? And so it passed a law saying that people who are responding to that are relieved of the tax burden they would otherwise have to pay, on whatever their... you know, sales tax on pamphlets that they want to sell. Would that be all right? Mr. Clement: I-- Chief Justice Roberts: To level the playing field on the debate on that particular issue? Mr. Clement: --I think it might be and it's not that radically different than what this Court approved in Ragan against Taxation Without Representation. Chief Justice Roberts: No... so you can tax... you can tax a newspaper, but you cannot... you don't have to tax people who are responding to the newspaper? Mr. Clement: Well-- Chief Justice Roberts: The taxing power is an... is a limit on the exercise of First Amendment rights? Mr. Clement: --Maybe there are differences in that particular context. Maybe the Freedom of Press clause informs the analysis. But this Court has upheld the regime that withheld tax benefits to an organization if it engaged in lobbying; and at the same time this Court said that it was okay to give those tax benefits-- Chief Justice Roberts: But that's any... any organization that engaged in lobbying. Mr. Clement: --Yes, but the next couple of lines of the opinion said: And it's okay if we give those tax benefits back to a veterans organization, but only veterans organizations. So I just think what that case shows up is that the Court has recognized that the government has a fair amount of flexibility. Chief Justice Roberts: So is there no limitation on the rationale of leveling the playing field throughout the First Amendment? Mr. Clement: No, there is... there is a limiting principle, and I think that, importantly, there is a limiting principle that's very applicable to this very context, which is I think if Congress went to the point where they weren't doing what I think they're doing here, which is not trying to limit the amount of self-financing, but using it as a mechanism here to identify particularly costly races where they should raise the contribution limits, if they went further and basically said we're going to give you public financing if your opponent self-finances, and we're going to give you two dollars for every dollar that your opponent self-finances, I think at that point as a practical matter the regime would operate as a ban on... as a cap, just like this Court held in Buckley. But I think that's the way to approach this issue, which is to basically say if what Congress is doing is really trying to effectively cap self-expenditures, then Congress cannot do that; but if what Congress is doing is giving candidates choice and is trying to react to the regulatory environment created by self-financing-- Mr. Clement: --I mean, I really don't think that's an accurate description of what happened here, because if you look at the legislative record here... I know not everybody likes to do that... but if you look at the legislative record here, you will see that both parties in this, the opponents and the proponents of this amendment, realize that they couldn't limit self-financing and that they were unlikely to limit self-financing because it's such an attractive option for parties and for candidates. And both parties took it as a given that the effect of Section 319 and its Senate counterpart would be to put more money, not less money, into electoral speech. Justice Alito: How is it that there is a serious corruption problem in most instances if a contributor gives more than $2,300 to a candidate, but there is no serious... presumably Congress doesn't think there is a serious corruption problem when this statute kicks in and somebody gives $6,900 to a candidate? Mr. Clement: Well, Justice Alito, what I would say is that what the relaxation of the contribution limits reflects is an adjustment of other interests; and I don't think in principle what Congress has done here is different from what a number of States do, which is they say for the race for governor the contribution cap limit is going to be 2,000; for State auditor it will be a little less; and for local representative it will be substantially less. Now, I suppose somebody could have come in and said, look, you know, the race for governor you can give $2,000; you can only give a 1,000 for this representative race, so surely that's irrational because the State has recognized that a contribution of $2,000 is noncorrupting. It's not the way it's ever proceeded and I think this Court's-- Justice Alito: Isn't there a difference, because it may take... it may take more money to campaign for a particular office, and so the... it might take a greater amount to have a corrupting influence on... on that particular race than on a race where the total amount spent is... is lower. But here you're not talking about different offices. Mr. Clement: --No. But I think you're talking about Congress using a mechanism that is equally effective in identifying races that are likely to be more expensive. When one party is spending more than $350,000 of their own money, that's every bit as likely to be a more expensive race than the race for governor or State treasurer or a local representative. And that's why I think this is so responsive to the problem that Congress recognized with the combination-- Justice Alito: But it applies different limits to different in the same... to candidates in the same race. So why would Mr. Davis be subject to potential corruption if he got 2,300... $2,301 from a... from a contributor, but his opponent in exactly the same race would not be exposed to corruption if he got $6,900? Mr. Clement: --Well, can I say two things in response to that? One is it would not be unprecedented for this Court to approve a regime where the choices of the candidates led to different contribution levels in the exact same race for the exact same office, because that's what happens in Buckley in the public financing scheme that this Court approved. If somebody accepts public financing for the general election for presidency, they are effectively agree to a zero contribution limit; whereas, their opponent, minor party opponent for example, would be subject to higher contribution level. Justice Scalia: --That's the price of accepting the government subsidy. They're... nobody is accepting a government subsidy here. The man is spending his own money-- Mr. Clement: But one-- Justice Scalia: --for a speech. Mr. Clement: --But one of the prices of accepting the government subsidy in Buckley was to agree to limit your own financing of your own campaign to $50,000. Now, their whole theory of this case is that somehow a benefit to their opponent is the same thing as a detriment to themselves. And it seems to me that... I mean, the base lines here are sufficiently manipulable; the analogy is exactly the same. Justice Breyer: Can you back to Justice Kennedy's question, where as I took it he identifies a problem that he sees in this portion of this act which, should the limit be exceeded by our opponent, then we can go to the party and the party can give us more? Now, assume for the sake of argument that he has correctly identified a problem with that. Now, my understanding is that once the limit is exceeded and you have this extra amount, three things happen: One, an individual could contribute two or three times the amount to the party directly. A second possibility is an individual who has exceeded the global amount now gets a bump up and can contribute. And the third thing is the party thing. So focus on that statute where this is written. In your opinion, if, for the sake of argument, there were a problem with the party, would that particular form of words in the statute be severable from the rest of it? Mr. Clement: It certainly would, Justice Breyer, and one thing to keep in mind in interpreting the statute is that it has Section 401 of the original BCRA... I think we have it at page 28 of our brief... is what I would describe, I think, as a "super-severability" clause, because it says not only are unconstitutional provisions severable, but even unconstitutional applications of the same provision are severable. And I think there would be no problem effectively leaving the statute with the disclosure requirements in place and two of the three means of taking advantage of additional opportunities that the statute affords challengers. Justice Ginsburg: It-- Mr. Clement: So I certainly think it would be severable. Justice Scalia: On the theory that it doesn't make much sense anyway? Is that why-- Mr. Clement: No. Justice Scalia: --we can chop it up this way? Mr. Clement: No. To the contrary, on the theory that this statute operates on this record without that provision being implicated at all. I mean, in the first applications of this, the entirety of the 2004 election cycle, no party took advantage of the coordinated-- Justice Ginsburg: --But I thought that-- Mr. Clement: --contributions. Justice Ginsburg: --that Justice Breyer's question, General Clement, was he asked you to assume that that was unconstitutional, and you were answering if it was unconstitutional. But there is one person whose speech is being discouraged in the picture, and that's the contributor to the self-financed candidate. You have to recognize that that one can't speak as much vis-a-vis the contributors to the other candidate. Mr. Clement: I mean, I would concede that there will be these differential limits, but it's based on the choice of the candidate to engage or not in self-financing, and... I mean, the restriction there is much more substantial than the public financing scheme approved by this Court in Buckley, because in the general election if the candidate decides that it's going to... that a candidate is going to take the public financing scheme then in the general presidential election I can't give even a dollar to that candidate. And it's also I think worth recognizing that in Buckley this Court recognized that, for constitutional and associational rights purposes, it's really the ability to associate with the candidate by giving any contribution, rather than the amount of the contribution, that satisfies that limit. In all events, this is not a challenge that's being brought by contributors. And I think it's worth recognizing that Appellant, even though some of its challenge, and I would say the gravamen of the challenge, sounds... his challenge sounds in equal protection terms, he doesn't really want a leveling-up where the opportunity would be for contributors to both candidates to make triple the $2300 limits. He really wants to keep the yoke of relatively low contribution limits on his opponents. And that's why I think this is such an odd First Amendment challenge. Chief Justice Roberts: What if the law expressed a displeasure at the introduction of self-financing and said that, as you have these very rapid disclosures, that the less wealthy candidate can accept contributions whatever, twice the amount of whatever the self-financed candidate is spending on his campaign? Is that all right? Mr. Clement: I mean, I'm not sure I have the hypo. If he can spend twice as much? Chief Justice Roberts: Well, he... you know, the millionaire, as we are talking about, spends... discloses that he has spent $500,000. Then the contribution limits are off the table for the less wealthy candidate to the tune of a million dollars, in other words twice as much as the self-financed candidate. Mr. Clement: If I'm understanding the hypo which we were just talking about contribution limits, because there are no expenditure limits, if I'm understanding the hypo right, I think that would still be okay. I mean, I think if Congress had decided here that if a self-financer spends beyond a certain amount, then what is important is that then the contribution limits would be lifted entirely. I suppose Congress could do that, as long as they maintained what they called the "parity principle" or the "proportionality principle", which is in no circumstance will the opponent be able to raise more than the amount of the additional spending. And if your hypo is suggesting that that would be relaxed so that they could raise twice as much, I think that would raise more difficult constitutional questions. Chief Justice Roberts: Well, why not? Because as... your point in this case, rather than the hypothetical, is that the self-financed candidate is not burdened in any way, but simply that his opponent has benefited. And it seems to me that would be true in the case of my hypothetical as well. Mr. Clement: Again, if I'm understanding the hypo right, I think you would say there that the candidate is effectively burdened because if you get to the point where you're past what I would call $2 additional additionally, I think at that point a rational candidate is not going to engage in self-finance. And so in practice, the provision would operate as an absolute cap, rather than the way it operates here, which is not as a cap. And I think if you look at the numbers in the record, joint appendix page 89-- Chief Justice Roberts: I would have thought all the arguments that you gave before, like the self-financed candidate wants to be able to say he doesn't rely on contributions and so on, those would still be equally applicable. Mr. Clement: --They would, but I do think the statute in practice would operate quite differently. And that's why I think it's very helpful that we have a record here in this case that we can cite to. Chief Justice Roberts: So it's not a... it's not a qualitative argument you're making but a quantitative. At some point, the benefit to the opponent gets to be too much of a chill on the self-financed candidate, but under this system you think it's below the line. Mr. Clement: I would put it differently and say we're not arguing for a principle without limits, but what I would say is that we really benefit here from the fact that this Court found no standing for the challenge to the Millionaires' Provision in McConnell, and we have a record of actual experience. Justice Scalia: Suppose we found... we were of the view that all of the provisions, that the benefits given to the other side here are bad. I suppose we could even... re-even the playing field by either denying those benefits to the candidate opposing the Appellant, the Petitioner here, or we could do the opposite and eliminate similar restrictions upon... upon the Petitioner. Do you have any idea which way we ought to go? Mr. Clement: May I answer the question? I mean, you're right that to the extent that this says this really sounds as an equal protection case more than a First Amendment case, at the remedial stage you'd ask the question: Should we level up and have both candidates have a larger cap or should we level down and hold them both to the $2300 level? I would say two things, if I may. One is it's no accident that Appellant isn't asking you to level up because what... they're not interested in doing additional financing; they're really taking... interested in taking advantage of keeping the opponent down to the $2300 level. The only other thing that I would say about this choice between leveling up and leveling down is I would say that the statute that would have relaxed the caps for both candidates would pose the same First Amendment issue as this statute. And so it really is, at bottom, an equal protection claim that you have before you. Thank you. Rebuttal of Andrew D. Herman Chief Justice Roberts: Thank you, General Clement. Mr. Herman, you may take five minutes. Mr. Herman: Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice. First of all, let me answer this... the discussion about the quote "parity principle". In this case, Mr. Davis was outspent by $3 million, yet the parity principle would have allowed his opponent to raise another $1.4 million. The district court has never answered... never answered that flaw in the statute. I haven't seen any explanation of how that creates parity when the higher fund-- Justice Ginsburg: Where did the money come from? Was it a war chest left over from prior campaigns? Mr. Herman: --For his opponent? Justice Ginsburg: Yes, because he didn't... his opponent did not take advantage of the relaxed contribution limits. Mr. Herman: He went into the election, Justice Ginsburg, with about a $1.15 million war chest. And then he-- Justice Ginsburg: Because he was just a good fundraiser? That-- Mr. Herman: --He was a chairman of the NRCC. He was an excellent fundraiser. [Laughter] Justice Alito: Can you address Justice Scalia's question about leveling up and leveling down? Mr. Herman: I would agree with... with my friend that we have no interest in leveling up. That's... that's... as an independent candidate, Mr. Davis is forgoing, for the vast, vast majority of his funding, contributions from private sources, and he has no interest in fostering higher contribution limits for anyone. Let me also discuss the intent... excuse me... the disclosure very briefly. There has been some discussion about how this is... it's very similar to independent-expenditure disclosure. It's really not. What the... what the statute requires is that a self-financed candidate declare, at the very start of his campaign, whether he intends to spend more than $350,000. That, as the government's brief acknowledges, has no analogue in any other disclosure provision, and it serves... it serves no purpose. It doesn't... it doesn't inform the electorate of anything other than that this gentleman is going to be self-financing. It certainly doesn't address corruption. It's simply... simply harassment of a self-financer requiring them to go on the record-- Justice Scalia: Well, it advises the other side that they should get ready to raise more money. Mr. Herman: --That's exactly right. Justice Scalia: Well... I mean if you say all of the rest of the statute is okay, that's certainly reasonable. If you're going to let the guy go above the limits that would otherwise apply, it's useful to let him know in advance so he can start, you know, beating the bushes, right? Mr. Herman: Certainly. And then, finally, there is a reference to this... this is the ultimate soft money. We would submit this is the ultimate hard money. This is money that was raised by Mr. Davis. He earned it. He is entitled to spend it as he wishes, and he is certainly entitled to spend it furthering his candidacy.	eng	7f56ce5e-36b7-403b-b6d6-66ad559c71b1	http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2007/2007_07_320
Two points: 1) You have no idea how long they will take to drink all that pop, they could be stocking up, and 2) You have no idea who its being bought for. That's not a lot of pop for a family of 6 or 8 or a single holiday party for a dozen people. If just 2 people in the house like to have just one soda a day, a 12-pk box will not last a week. I went through this on vacation in colorado - I thought I was getting 'tired' of beer, but 18 hours later I was puking sick, probably from wild pathogens I picked up hiking. My guess is you're getting sick. Because your ability to calculate that percentage might be impaired. If there is a way to accomplish the goal that does not create a line of sight to damaging anyone or anything of value, why NOT go the extra mile and do it that way, so that you can guaran-f'ing-tee that no tragedy will occur that day 'by accident'. Even when you're sure, you're not sure. That amount of care is what results in noone dying when they shouldnt. A contract cannot sign away rights - they are inaliable. Same goes for the constitution - In a rational and non-hopeless world, a law that says "the constitution does not apply" is thrown out on its face when tested against, wait for it, the constitution. If that sequence does not or cannot occur, then the system has broken down completely and the constitution isnt worth its paper. What nuclear concrete pizzas are you people cooking? 60 seconds with some water on it, and 10 seconds of a brisk scrub with the dish cloth gets EVERYTHING off the pan that rightfully was on or in the pizza in the first place.	eng	5e906262-682f-46c8-9480-691fb0c19eca	http://www.reddit.com/user/skillet42
A.N.: Hello! And thank you very much for reading, leaving me a review if you'd like, and voting also if you'd like. I have to say that I'm all alone with this fic, meaning I need a beta reader because my other two are M.I.A with these stories. sad sigh so if you'd like the job please leave me an e-mail with the subject stating just that. Thank you. I hope you enjoy this. Warnings: Swearing, sex, nudity, violence aaaand... I think that's it. although I should tell you that it might be watered down here so the owners and other busibodies don't bitch. Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Final Fantasy VIII world, or the mentioned things from Final Fantasy VI. I make no profit from this fic, I'm just working to make someone smile in a day if I can. ... Mayor Dobe had been the one to call them in... "This is all insane! I hate it when this sort of things happens!" And mayor Dobe was the one bitching loudly in the background of it all. "There wouldn't be this whole mess at all, if not for people like you!" The seven SeeD members are on the hunt for another Esper. Since coming across Palidor, the spirit has been helpful to them in every aspect that it could, when it came to its contract with Irvine. The ancient spirit can actually sense the other living fossils, that came here much like itself during the age of Time Compression, brought on by Ultimacia. They thought that all the portals had closed up when the war was over, but it would seem that there are some still existing, and still reeking havoc in unknown locations. Overtime they've had F.H. build a machine that can close the portals and, amazingly with Dr. Odine's help, its worked greatly. The people of Fisherman are great at engineering, but when it comes to the science of magics, Esthar is the place to turn. Since the machine was made, there haven't been anymore visible portals in the land or sea. But that didn't mean every one of them has been closed off. From what they've guessed, you can probably dig deep enough and find one swirling away beneath the earth's surface. The top SeeD members didn't have time to find every single one, so a task force was formed to go from area to area detecting fluxuations, where they'll work to quickly seal them off. "Here it comes." Irvine's voice sounds over the earpieces of the group. Squall and Quistis glance to where the cowboy is perched, noticing that he's loading his rifle with thick darts containing a tranquilizer that could knock out a blue dragon or T-Rexor within seconds. Who knew how it would work on a whale, though. Irvine can see it with his scope. The others identified the location from its spraying water out of its blowhole. "I see it!" Selphie called out, pointing like the others are blind. With a serious increase in speed, unlike any other sea creature, a large white whale begins banging into the pillars that keep Fishermans Horizon afloat; its not uncommon to see whales in that area, but when this one started singing its whale song... large blue bubbles drifted through the sky, bursting into a spray of water droplets defined to the sharpness of needles when falling. A real problem, and something had to be done about it. "Just distract the damned thing long enough for Dinky to get at it, alright?" Chided Seifer into his microphone, to the cowboy. Kneeling, Irvine took aim at the great beast. Just as he is about to fire, the ground shook violently beneath them again. "Hyne, that was a big hit!" Zell called out to no one. Rushing over to the edge of town, he calls upon Leviathan. The large serpent draws Zell into the summons' world in order to take his place on the field and battle. The G.F. dives deep into the water, just beneath the whale as its leaping out of the water. The white whale does a back flip, dropping back into the water with such force that a huge wave washes toward the town! Squall took action by summoning Shiva. The ice spirit surveys the area to see what's going on before channeling its energy into using Diamond Dust to freeze over the wave; she returns to the summons' world right after, releasing Squall back to his world. Seifer had already tossed a few grenades into the air using his Bonfire limit break in order to melt the shattering remains of the ice wall, that the whale slammed into it to break it. A vapor shroud covers their vision, but luckily Zell and Irvine have it covered. It sounded like something out of a sci-fi movie when the darts shot from the gun in quiet 'peuw-peuws'. The needles hit the target easily; its big enough! The whale writhed and cried out as the sedative started working. But the beast has a lot of fight in it, deciding to prove this by shooting a bolt of electricity at Irvine. Unable to stop it, he took the hit directly; its potency dulled by the Shell he had cast on himself when they exited the Ragnarok. The electric bird spreads its wings flying around freely for a moment before locking in on its prey. Storm clouds darken the blue sky and soon a huge burst of electricity cracks through the static charged air and into the water. The shock would kill anything in its path, but the whale seemed almost recharged from it. The bird tried again, but the creature dove too deep to be hit. Dead fish and other aquatic creatures surface to the top of the water, bobbing up and down by the rock of the ocean waves; cooked to a soggy perfection. "Hn. This fuckers tougher than we thought." Seifer muses. Turning his attention to his rival he says. "Maybe you can get Shiva to freeze it in a block of ice." He'd already weighed that option, but Squall had to look out for Leviathan as well. Selphie reappeared at their sides, looking annoyed. Nobody survived her blast. Especially sea life! She's about to summon a spell when a loud sound stopped her. The whale sang a lilting, eerie melody and shortly after it stopped the sky was filled with large blue bubbles, just as mayor Dobe had told them. Selphie summoned the Esper at her disposal, Golem. Thin sheets of metal cover the girls arms showing that the spirit is active. Its a defensive Esper that they had found underground in the crater near Trabia. Unlike G.F.s which pull them into the summons world when used, Espers instead bond themselves with the user in someway, changing their appearance. They can battle independently or with the user depending on the type. The spirit vanished the moment it was released; large hands sprout up from the earth, all over the sea town, smacking the bubbles into nothing but a burst of air. The Esper could do this for about an hour or so before it would return to Selphie. Leviathan's tale slapped the white whale on its side; the impact was strong enough to shatter a couple ribs in the beast. It spun as it was knocked a considerable distance away. Leviathan, hot on its heals, unleashed a large aquatic blast of its own. The bubble exploded in its opponents face, blinding it momentarily, and through that haze Leviathan headbutts the thing with enough force to shatter its skull- if that was what it had intended- instead it was only enough to stun it. Through the water another dart lands in the whale's back; its slowed a bit by the moving currents. The whale's eyes roll to the back of its head, and it starts to sink. He had to move quick. Leviathan returned leaving Zell in his place; the martial artist holds his breath as he chants the contract spell before his lungs give out. Kicking his legs vigorously to help him reach the surface faster, once above the water he takes in a large gulp of air. "I got it!" He waves a hand triumphantly. "Alright!" Cheers Selphie. Running along to the peer. She waits for Zell to swim up so she can help him onto dry land- well, board. Squall heads over to where Rinoa is trying her best to calm the mayor down. The man really was annoying with how easily worked up he could get. Its almost as if he has stored up distaste for them, calling them only to let it all out. "Everything is taken care of now. So no need to worry anymore." Rinoa is heard saying. Turning his furry soaked eyes towards Squall, he points a finger practically up the commanders nose. "You money hungry creeps had better learn the meaning of true gratitude!" He barks. Crossing his arms, he humored the man as if he were listening to him, but all the while he's thinking. 'Shouldn't that be my line. Look at how you're barking at us after you called us out here to help you.' "Money hungry Gardens, suckling away at the worlds funds." "You're welcome to call the police next time." Squall suggest. Rinoa laughed at the comment, following the groups leader back towards the ship where the others are headed. Zell's complaining about being drenched, Selphie's snickering while commenting on how the wet view isn't too bad, Seifer's lighting up a cigarette, and Quistis; clipboard in hand, is filling out the report. Squall could always count on her as far as that goes. Which meant he and Irvine would have time to stop off at the market. Kait might already be home from school by now, and they still had to get the materials he needed to bake a cupcakes for his class. They don't know how the boy had talked them into cooking or baking anything when neither he, nor Irvine truly know how to make a really good meal. But the boy insisted, believing it'd be fun for them to learn together as a family. Without even realizing it, Squall had become a sucker for the word 'family'. Since being adopted by Squall, then having their lives intertwine with Irvine; it was hard for Kait to remember anytime when the two men haven't been there for him. No season passed; no event or holiday missed; the two men are always there. The others as well, like one large family. But in the end it remained that Squall Leonhart and Irvine Kinneas are his fathers. He loves them equally and very much so; without question or force... but when it comes to growing up, he depends on them in different ways. Squall's noticed that Kait knows for a fact that he holds the discipline, as he always has, and Irvine... well... he holds... the boy's need to get into trouble from time to time. Kait's actually taken a little something from all of them: Selphie's vivaciousness, Zell's will to stick up for himself if tested, Quistis' determination in her studies, Rinoa's tantrumed optimism, and- thanks to Seifer- the odd way Kait sometimes speaks as if he's trying not to swear. It always left a bad taste in Squall's mouth that swearing is the thing he'd gotten from Seifer. He doesn't care if Kait hears any of them or other people cursing, or even drops one from time to time. But something about a kid swearing, its like hearing an old man use a youthful term or word... you never wanna say it again yourself. Kait agreed not to swear until he was old enough, but on the occasions he'd let one slip out, he had to pay him a gil for it. But out of them all, it was around seven years that he really started to pick things up from Irvine. He'd come home with friends once and said to them: "Y'all wait here while I get my stuff." The two of them, Squall and Irvine, cracked up; but for different reasons. Irvine thought that Kait was picking on him, Squall knew that the boy wanted to be like him and, because of this, he was slowly becoming southern. He wondered how Kait would take it if he knew that that southern lit came from living on a farm in Galbadia and Irvine doesn't really talk like that? Kait was not turning southern entirely though, it was just little things he'd say or ways he'd pronounce stuff. Instead of saying 'different' he'd pronounce it 'differnt', or he'd say Irvine's invulintary 'so like'. Kait wasn't everyone but, at the same time, he wasn't no one. He's just a boy who turned out a certain way by means of the people who grew him up. Taking a seat behind Irvine, who's in the passanger seat of the pilot, he buckles the safety belt across his chest. Clicks from the others' belts sound around him. The Ragnarok then lifts off, heading for Balamb. ... The three man family moved over the past four years, and now live in new apartment on the other side of town. Apartment 4F, Tarot street. Its a three bedroom. The kitchen is still tiny, leaving them with only a long counter as a table- like in their old apartment- but the extra room was nice for when company stayed over. The door knob jiggles as a key is slipped into the locks slit. With a twist of the knob the door is pushed open and Kait walks in. Pal flies from his shoulder landing on its perch in the living room; the bird saw Kait home. As well as being a guide to where the living fossils- called magicites- are, Palidor is the family's- Irvine's- pet bird. It was a promise he'd made with the Esper when he'd gotten his body back, and the deal worked out just fine for all three of them. Not only do they get a helper in battle, but they have a guardian for their son whenever they can't be around- like today. "Why are you just standing there, come in." Kait drops his backpack beside the door. His friend Antione stands outside of the door, looking through to the living room as if it will drag him into some foreign place in the world, rather than his friends home. "Are you sure its okay?" "My dads are on a mission finding more Magicites. Come in." He repeats. Kait didn't know why everyone made such a big deal about it. He'd once overheard a friend's mother say that she doesn't want their son over at the Leonhart-Kinneas home because his fathers are lovers, its fine if the boy or girl plays with him, but they can't be over at his house where they'll be exposed. Bunch of weirdos. As if something like that matters; but it makes people nervous all the same. That, and they know that both men are SeeD and believe that trouble will follow them everywhere. Its weird how people have mixed feelings about the military while other people adore them as heros- which they are. Kait's sure that some day he'll join a Garden. Maybe Galbadia like his pappa, or Balamb like his daddy- even though both men are now working for Balamb, the option is still there. Antione walks into the house, eyes darting everywhere like he's never been inside before. The two boys and an extra two guys, Harold and Bobby, had a sleep over just the other night because of the three day weekend. But then, Antione is always skittish no matter what. "Do you want something to eat? We've got cookies." He walks into the kitchen, grabbing a chair to stand on. Kait's the shortest kid in class. He's 3'8" compared to the other eight year olds that are reaching 4'7". He wonders, constantly, if he'll grow out of it and become as tall as his pappa when he gets older. The likeliness of puberty being his best friend seem slim, though. Seifer once told him that his dad didn't hit it until he was 17 years old. Kait doesn't entirely know what puberty is but, if it'll make him tall he eagerly awaits it. A few months later, with the secret listening skills and a few questions to the right blond, he found out a little more out... Something about things dropping, and urges rising. Seifer can be very insightful. Although, he left the meanings of his insight up to him to dechiper. That was Kait's way of knowing it had something to do with sex. From what the eight year old knows- from listening to the wall- sex is hard work, as it requires a lot of moaning and groaning. He isn't sure of what's going on but, after the first time he'd heard it, he knows not to listen in anymore and goes straight to bed. It wasn't intentional, listening to his fathers, it just sort of happened. He was six, he'd been put to bed but wasn't that tired yet so he decided to listen to the wall, when his fathers voices travelled to his ears. The faint talking from his parents made him feel... cozy... hugged. So whenever he couldn't get to sleep right away, he'd listen to the wall. It was the fourth time he'd done it in the month, when conversation turned into 'the workout' creating a lot of bangs against the far wall, and grunts and groans. Blushing fiercely, Kait returned to bed knowing never to listen to that sort of thing again. He still listens to their talking, though. When he'd turned eight he sort of got an idea of what sex was because of a commercial about lubricant- whatever that is for- but at the end of the commercial, the couple lay disheveled and panting in a rumpled bed. The big red flag being that they were naked beneath the blanket. So sex is something kids can't see because it invovled being naked, and you can never see a naked adult; it also has something to do with a lot of tiring activity on the bed. "Thanks." Antione says. He's planted himself on a black leather covered stool. Pulling books from his backpack, he lays them out across the counter top. "I can give you three. Want milk?" "Yes, please." "Will you stop saying please and thank you, you sound like an old man." Teased the hosting child. Getting two glasses from the upper cabinet then setting on the counter, Kait heads for the refrigerator grabbing the gallon of milk. The jug is light to carry, only having about two glasses left before its empty. A bottle of chocolate syrup is then produced after the jug is put back into the fridge- empty- and soon the white milk is turned a deep brown. Kait grabbed two straws from a packet in a lower drawer, where other random things like: chopsticks, peelers, and skewers are kept. "Here." He puts the glass down before his friend, then climbs into a seat beside him. The two boys pop the straw into their mouth then blow into it, bubbles are created to circulate the chocolate through the milk. They chuckle about the gurgling, bubbling sounds; their laughter forcing more air through the straw than needed, has the milk shaking and rocking in the glass, threatening to spill out and make a mess. "Mr. Shiki always writes so small on the board. I sit in the back, I can't see a thing!" Kait says once he's removed his mouth from the straw, satisfied with how the chocolate has been processed. It'd be no good if it were completely mixed in, the residue at the bottom is like a really good treat. "You're joking? His writting has always been big enough for me, and I sit right behind you." Antione shrugs. "Maybe you need glasses?" Mortified, Kait looks at his friend like he's ready to throw him from a train into foreign lands. How could Antione say something like that? In fact he should say so. "How can you say something like that? Neither of my dads have glasses, so I won't either." Hearing the offense his friend has taken, Antione wards off a shove with a wave of his hands. He may be taller than Kait, but the kid has more meat than he does, and is ten times better at fighting. He doesn't wanna go home with a black eye, or get punched in the stomach- not that Kait was very violent or anything, but he's seen other kids their age so he knows what to expect half the time. Why couldn't he just be allowed to sit at home and read until he's forty? "Its not that big of a deal; my sister has glasses and they look great on her." "Good. Then its settled; he writes too small and we'll have to switch seats." Kait nods. Antione gave his friend a scrutinizing look, but shook it off. You'd swear the boy had multiple personalities sometimes, the way he blows hot and cold. But then, that's one of the funnest parts of being his best friend, you never know what you're gonna get. They work quietly at first, but as the work progressed, Antione had to ask Kait for help on certain questions in science or with problems in math. His real strengths are in reading, and language arts, and social studies- mostly because social studies is a lot of reading. He wants to be a great writer like his grandfather, Albert Hoopsher, when he grows up. He'd once asked Kait what he wanted to be, and the boy said a SeeD. Obviously. But then who was to say he wouldn't again change his mind again, as last year he said that he wanted to be a pet dragon; all the kids wanted to be the same thing, that was around the time they had learned about Ruby Dragons. But regardless odd future goals, Kait's very smart with studies, and helps him out a lot. When homework was finished, Kait told Antione to wait where he was while he'd run off to get something. As the other boy had expected, a little red camera can be seen in his friend's palm as he's climbing back into his seat. Because of one of his aunt Selphie, Kait adores taking pictures of just about anyone and anything he can. Something about saving memories. "I'll call this one, study buddies. Smile!" The picture is taken the moment Antione's teeth are showing. The camera is lowered from the overhead shot it had of them, then set down on the counter top. "Are you going home now?" "Yeah, we're having dinner in a little bit, and I didn't call home." "Oh. Bye then." Both boys look at the front door when it pushes open. "Hi dads!" Kait slips down from his seat gripping one man around the waist then the other. "Hey." "Hey L.B!" Irvine squeezes the boy tightly. "Hi, Antione." "Hello Mr. Kinneas, Mr. Leonhart." He greets while quickly packing his things. "We were just doing homework." He said it as if he had to explain his being in the mens' home. "Well okay." Replied Irvine. "You can call them Irvine and Squall." Kait says absently. He grabs the opening of the groccery bag to search the contents of it. "Did you get the stuff." "Yeah." Replied Squall before disappearing into the hallway. "Bye Kait." Antione says again. The boy wasn't listening. When his fathers are around, they're the only ones who matter. The situation was uncomfortable to him, mostly because he didn't know which man was Kait's mom. Neither of the men acted like a lady, as his father had told him, but then again he doesn't stick around long enough to notice if one of them would. Closing the front door after his departure, Antione heads home. "Can we bake them now?" He follows Irvine into the kitchen. "After dinner." Kait rubbed his hands together as if he had to keep them busy because he just can't wait that long. Watching as other things are pulled from the bag, he asks. "What's for dinner?" "Pasta." "Oh." Tapping his finger on the counter top, he asks. "Was the mission cool? What kind of Esper did you get?" Irvine snickered on that low-level laugh of his. "It was cool. I got to shoot darts at a whale." "It was a whale? How did you guys get at it?" "Zell used Leviathan and battled it under water, while we all," He moved his hand in a circle as if to show every person there. "protected the town from its assalt." "What kinds of attacks did it have?" "Hmm." He thinks it over. Reaching beneath the cabinet he grabs two pots. "Bubbles that turn into needles when they burst." He chuckled at the loudly blurted out, "Cool!". "And lightning bolts, ice, and fire." "Really?" "That's what Zell told us. He's the one who caught it." "Wow." Laying his chin on the counter, he says absently. "I can't wait until I can go on missions." "Thank Hyne that won't be for a while." Squall enters the living room; clothes changed into something you wouldn't mind getting dirty, a dark blue t-shirt and black jeans. Probably for when they're baking later. Water is put into one pot and placed on a stove top, the knob is turned on high. Kait slides the cutting board over to himself when Irvine places it down on the counter diagonal from him. Figuring it was the boys way of asking if he could cut the sausage link, he sets a sharpened knife down in front of him, then puts the link on the board. "Are you coming with me to the bake sale since pappa's gonna be in Deling?" "Yeah." Although Squall really didn't want to. He'd asked Kait to take someone better suited, someone who knew how to be personable, like Zell, or Selphie, or Rinoa. But Kait wanted Squall there, he didn't care if one of the others came along with them but Squall had to be there too. "Just making sure." He lifts the knife slicing it down into the sausage, smiling at how it cut through the meat with ease. "And make sure you smile, at least some." "I will." He doubted he would, but he would try- somewhat. Squall always got into a pissy mood whenever Irvine went out on a mission without him. True its been four years since that Esper took Irvine's body, but still the memory pained him in ways that couldn't easily be reversed. He missed four years of his life with Irvine because he'd stopped looking. He foolishly gave up on his being alive, then there he was... and he didn't even remember him. He'll never let something like that happen again, it doesn't matter how prepared they are, accidents happen all the time. If you're alive you can pretty much expect one every other day. The good that came out of it is that they have Kait. The boy would have been who knows where by now, had Irvine still been around. And Squall has reinforced his belief in people again. He'd gotten to used to having them all around to the point of going back into his anti-social behavior, but losing Irvine and getting him back, he's keeping up with showing them all that he appreciates them- even his father, whose done nothing to him and yet has received harsher treatment than any one. Speaking of his father, the man is longer president of Esthar, he's given the job to Kiros- albiet, Estharians continue to look at and treat him as their president its only out of love for the mans kindness, and all he's done for them. But Laguna wants something new for himself, he's getting up there in age and now he wants to focus on the past- as most people do when they're about to face the harsh reality of death someday. Laguna's just doing what he has to do before he's actually in a place where he's too old to get it done. They work in silence, Irvine watching the pasta boil while stirring ground sausage in the second pot, Kait's slicing the sausage link, and Squall is buttering rolls to stick into the oven. By the time everything is where it should be, the sauce is added to the sizzling meats and the pasta is drained before its dumped into the red sauce, a quick mixing of the contents; the family takes a seat on the green couch to watch television as they eat, and chat. Kait talking about his day at school, and they spoke more about the mission and older ones that Kait hadn't yet heard about. ... Jojo has been traded in for a stuffed blue Mumba that Kait effectionately named, Samba. Its an ice lion like the one his father controls when using his limit break, Frost Bite. Jojo, however, sits atop a hammock with his other stuffed things. Kait and his friends often take the animals down from the hammock and they play UFC with them. Squall is sure that one of these days a kid is gonna go flying from Kait's bed and crack his head open on the floor. Hyne knows what trouble will come with that. Kait has very few friends with parents that allow them to come over and play without bitching about something or another. But then those people are in the military as well, so it makes sense. After a satisfied sigh, Kait closes his eyes. "I still love the goodnight song." He mentions to the two exiting men. "Hn. Most kids would tell their parents to get out if they tried singing to them." "I'm not most kids." He mumbled. That was true. "See ya in the morning, little bird." Irvine says before closing the door. Snuggling his lion to him, Kait waited to hear their foot steps before exiting the bed. Going over to the opposite wall, he presses his ear to it. They're talking about giving their reports tomorrow so that inventory can restock the darts Irvine had used. Then Squall tells Irvine to be careful when taking his team out. They have to make it through the tomb of the unknown king. They'd found an Esper in there last year, a wizard of sorts named Ramuh. Another Esper caught by Zell. Its neat when he uses it because his blond hair turns frost white, like the elderly wizards. He'd once seen Quistis when she'd used one, and she had a halo over her head and was covered by a long blue dress. It was beautiful! And Seifer has a wolf! It lives out in the forest, sure, but it still comes to his command. When their voices got lower, Kait returned to bed, he knew what would come next. "Who cares, its gonna be fun. I hear you can't even find your way through the tomb without getting lost for hours." Phineas mentions. "We are gonna bring a picnic right?" He snickers when receiving a slap on the back by his commander. "Ain't no way we're doin' anything but going through that cave to defeat the brothers." Irvine assures them, while winking to the boy that of course they'll bring food. Squall could only shake his head at that. Irvine really should just be special ops like he is. A guy as carefree as Irvine isn't best for a commanders role. He's surprised that Zell has a troop too, although given the option Zell is a lot more resourceful than Irvine. "Bye, papa." Kait hugs his father. "See ya, L.B." Luna and Eurydice both watch squeaking out an 'aaaaww' at the sight. Kait shakes his head in dismay. Girls are always finding something cute to 'aaaw' at. "And don't worry, I'll keep dad from going nuts while you're gone." 'I don't "go nuts", I just worry a little. Its understandable.' Thinks Squall, crossing his arms. Even at 28 years old, he can't easily break out of his old habits so easily. 'You should be so lucky its stupid to fight with a kid about things.' Chuckling, Irvine whispers to his son. "See that he doesn't do too much of that as well." "Got it." "Whatever." Retorts Squall, rolling his eyes when the two laugh. Its hard to believe they're not cut from the same cloth really. Irvine gets onto the train, waving goodbye to them before disappearing from view. "So like, what are we gonna do now?" Kait asks. "We could always attempt to make more cupcakes." Kait paled. That had been a nightmare. Mostly because of the hand mixer splattering the badder on all of them. Who knew you had to start it on slow. They didn't want any lumps left behind. "No thanks." He takes off down the runway back into the terminal. "How 'bout we go to Garden. Is everyone else having classes?" "I don't think so." "Good. I wanna play cards, and see if I can win some more from non-aunt Quistis, she's got really good ones." "She should, she's the queen of Triple Triad." "No kidding? How come? Because she took so many when she was an instructor?" "Probably." The boy laughs at the thought of Quistis swiping cards just to expand her own collection and become the greatest player in all of Balamb Garden. "I wonder if aunt Selphie can teach me how to play Trabia's rules." He dashes away getting a good distance away from Squall. Squall doesn't mind if Kait runs on ahead; everything in Balamb town is walking distance, and visually he can see the boy making his way around since the place isn't packed with people like Dollet or the large city of Deling. Plus everyone knows Kait since its a small town, if he'd gone out of sight someone would point out his whereabouts. Its good to have certain freedoms. He would have liked to have them himself when he was that age. In anycase, he won't let Kait ever feel the pain he nor Irvine felt as children. ... "Good job, La Russo! Your stamina is awesome!" Zell cheered on one of his cadets. Clipboard in hand, he's writing out the results of the test when the male gets off the treadmill. Little of his breath is lost, and the teen reaches for a towel to wipe the sweat from his face. Last year he didn't do so well, he did worse the year before that. But he's gotten in a lot of extra training for this physical, wanting to really impress instructor Dincht. Macias never understood that nickname that his instructors lover gave him 'chicken wuss', Zell is anything but a wuss, and as far as the chicken comment went- ha! Its really awesome to have gotten the chance to be on Zell's team. The guy is practically a legend in Balamb town; since he was a little boy he's looked up to him. He even died his brown hair blond- when he was old enough- his mother practically fainted when he's stepped out of the bathroom; his girlfriend behind him looking quite guilty at what she'd done. "After Stacey does the tread, we're gonna have a match in the field, okay?" "Yes sir!" Sounded his team. They've been in the infirmary half the morning taking their physical examination. Stacey Ingle complained about having to pee in a cup but she did it regardless. Working with girls isn't always easy, but its life. And besides, she's no different from the boys in some ways. She has muscle mass and stamina to keep it up; her skills in the martial arts are very impressive. Her father was a third degree black belt and taught her everything he knew, which is why she's been placed on his team. The other members: Sheven, Hector, and Macias have no formal training, but they were pals who used to beat on each other a lot in their youth. Zell was honored to have guys willing to be on his team and learn hand to hand skills. He teaches an entire class on Monday and Thursday, but other than that he's special assigned to a squad- just as Seifer and Selphie with their personal best skills. Right now, said boyfriend, is off doing a field exam like Irvine. His team is off on a mission to Dollet, they're heading for the drylands to battle with some large mechanical mantises and Seifer's Esper Fenrir, a wolf. Edea believes nothing good will come of the magicites, but so far nothing bad has happened... so why worry? He tried out Bismark lastnight and found that with the Esper attached to him, he can actually breath under water, for a short time- it was insane! It'll come in real handy someday. Stacey let out a huge sigh, letting herself be wisked off of the treadmill. "Done." She announced in short breaths. "Excellent work. Let's head outside for now." "I can't wait to get out there. I hate being in the infirmary, its so stuffy in here." Hector mentions to no one, yet all of them. "Tell me about it." Sheven slips his shirt over his head, tugging it down over his body. "I heard that you brats." Says Dr. Kadowaki in the other room treating patients. "And here I was gonna give you good little boys and girls some suckers for your hard work." The two boys laugh, waving off the woman's comment while accepting the treat. They always mess with her in that way. Their parents know one another very well, and the doctor has always been like an aunt to the two boys. "What a boy won't back pedal over for some candy." Stacey mentions. "I'm just glad I'm being taught by someone as responsible as-..." She sweat drops seeing that her instructor is also happily sucking on a sugar free taffy. "Men." The small group heads out the door and down the corridor to the main hall. Its a beautiful day outside, the sun is out but way too far away to matter in heating the place up. It'd almost be cool if the North winds would blow some. "Hey Squall!" The martial artist waves when seeing his friend walk through the front gate. Squall nods to him. "Hey Zell!" Kait shouts before finding his way up the stairs to the elevator. Catching up to the brunet, Zell asks. "Where are you guys going? To see Matron?" "Kait wants to play cards with Quistis or Selphie. Are they busy?" "Hmm, I think Sel is but Quistis might be free right now. Its lunch break, after all." "Alright. Thanks." "Hey, since ours are gone how 'bout I come over for dinner tonight?" "Okay." "Sweet. See ya then." Squall heads up the stairs, shaking his head that Kait already left on the thing and now he'd have to wait for its return. Watching Zell's departure he wonders what he's got his team doing today. When the elevator dings, he gets on pressing the button for the second floor. He could hear his son chatting away with Quistis before he even pushed open the office door. Upon seeing him, Quistis smiles. "I was wondering how far behind you were." "Sorry daddy." Kait holds out a peace offering to his father, a piece of orange candy. "That's okay," He takes the offering, rolling it around in his palm. "I intended to leave you in the dust when we go home." He ruffles the boys hair. "Headmistress, I came to give Irvine and my report." "And I came to play cards with Quistis." Comments the child. "Alright, I was just about to go on my lunch break. Come on, we'll get some hot dogs." "Chili?" "Of course. If we're fast enough." That was all the eight year old needed to hear and he was out the doors to the elevator. "Well go ask a kid to wait for you." Laughs the woman following after him. Edea smiled at the scene. Turning her attention to Squall, she holds out a hand receiving the papers. "I don't have to check them, if they're from you I'm sure they've been filled out thoroughly." Squall nods. Taking a seat at her desk, he turns his attention to the large windows. Edea finishes her work, enjoying the comfortable silence between them. Once the stack of papers is set down into the out pile, she intwines her fingers setting her hands to the desk. "We're moving to the Dollet area next weekend. Why don't you guys take a short vacation until we get back to Balamb." This surprised Squall and the thought is written, uncharacteristically, on his face. "Do I look like a I need time off?" "No. Not you. The others though, have been teaching non-stop. I think it would be good for them to get out of the school for a while." "You're saying I don't work as hard as the others?" "Not at all. Your home life must be hectic with an eight year old, and you're still taking missions. You just came off of one last month." "Its alright, I was only kidding. A vacation sounds like a good idea, and Kait's wanted to see the orphanage where we were taken care of since he'd heard about it." "I can't believe the place has stood up all these years." Edea's expression turns very nostalgic. She can see all her children running and playing, Ellone in the kitchen helping her make small but filling meals for them all. There were happy times more than there were sad ones. The feeling from then still warmed her heart. "Do the others know?" "Yes. I've asked for Quistis to tell them." Squall nods to show he understands. Getting up from his seat, he heads to the door. "I'll tell Kait, and Irvine when he calls." "Very good. And Squall," She calls to his retreating back, speaking further when he pauses his steps. "enjoy yourself... no more creases on that forehead of yours. Its a vacation." "Alright, Matron." He smiles, pulling the door closed after him. 66666 Her fingers figit nervously on the hem of her skirt. Unsure of what she'll find, unsure of where this journey will take her, she schools her nerves away. Its better to think positively about things like this. She has to, otherwise she won't be able to live with herself. Her mother died after she gave birth to her, her father became ill with cancer and passed away a few years later. Her husband... no, she can't think of what happened to her husband. She can only hope that she'll find what she's looking for in Timber. Her dear baby... The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.	eng	7ffb7b0a-8fd1-4b97-9359-407e927f5d32	http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6313016/1/
Tracy O'Rourke explains what Lean Six Sigma is, why businesses use it, and why it should matter to you as an individual. The following is a transcript of this video: I do a lot of travelling and the biggest question I get is "what is Six Sigma?" So I'm going to spend a little bit of time talking about: What Lean Six Sigma is Why companies are using it Why it's important for companies to have an initiative And why you should care about that, what does it do for you as an individual So obviously it's important to know what companies want if you want to get a job, but it's also important to know what it really does for you as well. So I've put all that in there and I'm going to try to cover it in 15 minutes. So here's just a little bit about me and some companies I've helped. I started in this industry at GE. I was actually in sales and they asked me to become a Black Belt because they wanted me to talk to GE customers, and they tried a few engineers in that role, it didn't really work out. So they thought it might be easier to train me how to talk about statistics rather than try to teach a statistician how to talk to customers – that's not what I said, that's what they said. It worked out pretty well. What is Lean Six Sigma? I'm going to talk a bit about Lean; this is at a really high level. It is under the process improvement umbrella. So what that means is that you're trying to improve processes, and when I talk about processes, I'm talking about processes in all kinds of processes in all types of Industries. You can see that Jack had mentioned that I've been helping Callaway Golf, DC Shoes, financial services, the government – you can apply this anywhere. If you don't know the root cause of the problem, you can apply Six Sigma and Lean to it. How many of you have kids? Are their grades failing? Root cause analysis! You can even apply it for that. I've talked to people about how you can apply this in almost every situation where you don't know the solution. How many of you have worked for a company where you don't know the solution? Don't know the root cause? This is why companies implement this because they want their people to step back, don't jump to solutions – analyze the data. Although we all know that our managers are sometimes the ones that jump to solutions, right? Lean and Six Sigma used to be sort of separate initiatives if you will. Lean started at Toyota in the 40s. Six Sigma started at Motorola in the 80s, and just recently they've come together now to become a combined tool kit. So if I had to explain in a few words what the difference is between Lean and Six Sigma: Lean is really about identifying and wasteful activities and gaining speed in the process. What is really called NVA (non-value add) to the customer – and how do we either eliminate or minimize that out of the process. And what's really value-add? Are we measuring those things and are we actually making an improvement. If we don't know where we are with those things, what can we do to make improvements. Six Sigma is more about identifying root causes and controlling variation and defects. So a different set of tools, and again, to simplify – it's really about tools do you need to use out of your toolbox. Here's an example of some of the tools you might learn in Lean: Gemba walk, value stream map, standard work, cell layouts, one-piece flow. If you don't know these things, its OK, that's why you might want to get more information on Lean, but these are all very valuable tools that come from the Lean side of the house of process improvement. Then we've got things on the Six Sigma side like swim lane maps, measurement systems analysis, histograms, root cause analysis, fishbone diagrams, design of experiments. How many of you guys have heard or used some of this stuff before? Look at all those hands! See! The common goals really are focusing on the customer. That's one of the really nice things about this. A lot of people think that Lean mean that less employees are needed. So not true! I love my job and I would not love if it were eliminating jobs. What it's really trying to do is cut the stuff that is really unnecessary and so that's what these tools are for – eliminating the NVA (non-value add), reducing variability. Variability is inconsistent processes. How many you have been a customer of an inconsistent process before. Anybody every try to get a loan modification? Don't do it! Oh maybe you've had a good experience! Here's a good example: how many of you go to McDonalds for the food? We go there because it's fast, it's quick, we know what we're going to get, lots of minimized variation. Our cheeseburger will be the same no matter which McDonalds we go to in the entire country. Same with Starbucks, they have really good consistent processes. How many you have ever worked at Starbucks? They have lots of processes and standardization. Increasing speed, reducing errors and ultimately becoming more profitable. It's just expanding your toolkit on how to do that. What is Six Sigma? These are your sigma levels on the left – you've got one sigma, three sigma and six sigma for example. In the middle is DMPO – that stands for defects per million opportunities. Then you've got your yield over here – 99.9997%. So if you have a process that is Six Sigma, that means you have only 3.4 defects per million opportunities. I'll give you an example. Let's say you run a call center, and your goal is that every call will be answered in less than one ring. If that process is Six Sigma, that means out of a million calls, that means only less then four calls will not be answered after one ring. That is a Six Sigma process. That's pretty high quality, right? Three sigma, obviously not so good. The best example that I like to give as far as practically as far as Six Sigma and three sigma is the airline industry. How many of you travel? How many of you have heard that traveling by air is the safest way to travel? How many of you believe that? Let me as you this – how many of you feel confident that you will arrive at your destination alive? Pretty good, right? So it's actually better than Six Sigma! If you get on a plane you have better than a 99.9997% chance of making it to your destination alive. So you should feel really good – it's very low probability that this will happen. As a matter of fact USA reported that nobody died on any airline last year. However, the airline luggage process – is not a Six Sigma process. It is a lot less than that. Which one do you think it is? Sadly it is three sigma. It's still in the 90s (%). What this means that out of a million pieces of luggage, they will lose, misdirect, mishandle or it will not arrive at the same time as you 66,807 times. So how many of you have had a bad experience with your luggage? Look at that! How is it possible that it's only this many times that this many people have had that bad experience? Sometimes people travel a lot. Take a look at this – how many pieces of luggage come through LAX in one day? We're talking millions just at that one airport. So just magnify this 93% / 66,807 pieces of luggage over and over and over, we're talking millions of luggage. That's why it hurts, that's why we feel it because of that defect. Do you all feel more comfortable about what Six Sigma means? Pretty high quality, right? OK. Sometimes quality is the reason why people do it, sometimes it isn't. We're going to talk about that. These are the people that I've just helped. There are lots of other companies that are implementing Six Sigma. How many of you know companies that are using Six Sigma programs? Sometimes they call it process excellence. Sometimes they call it operational excellence. There are lots of different names for it because some people don't like the name Six Sigma because people ask, "What's Six Sigma?" Why Do Businesses Use Lean Six Sigma? Here are some of the reasons. I'm going to talk briefly about why companies want Six Sigma and why it's been at the forefront of many companies – especially large companies, but small companies can do it, too. Back in the old day, if companies wanted to make more money, all they did was they'd take the selling price and they'd increase it, right? What's wrong with that today? Too much competition, you cannot get away with that. You're going to lose business very quickly. You've got savvy shoppers, savvy consumers, they're not going to put up with it. So now the strategy is that you can't increase the selling price – if you want to more profitable, you've got to take it out of your cost to produce – operating expenses. Six Sigma does that. Lean and Six Sigma do that. They are vehicles to reduce operating costs and it's not necessarily to eliminate people. It's about looking at the process and asking what can we do to minimize waste. I ask companies ask, "Why are you doing this? Is it to cut heads? "Cause I'm not your girl if that's what its for. Do people become more streamlined? Do they need less people sometimes? Absolutely, but what do you do with those people and what's the strategy? If you do a Six Sigma project and then got a laid off, what do you think's going to happen when you try to do a Six Sigma project at the next department? Nobody's signing up for that project. That is not the goal. This is another reason why companies want to do it. This is the reason Jack Welch wanted to implement it at General Electric when I was there. Traditional quality cost – the cost of poor quality is expensive. It's actually more expensive to have poor quality than good quality. They say said about 10% of sales revenue is related to the cost of poor quality. That's just the stuff you can capture. The problem is that not all waste is captured. Its embedded or buried somewhere in cost of goods sold and you can't capture it. So in essence, really, additional cost of cost of poor quality can equal about 35% of sales. Let's think about that – if you're a million dollar company, what's 35% of your sales? $350,000 is kind of a lot of money. It can be a big amount of money. At GE, it was in the billions of dollars. Just take any company, maybe you've worked there, maybe you know they have really bad quality. Even if you gauged it at 20%. Things are really hard to measure like change orders or re-tooling or expediting. How many of you have worked for a company that's said "gets the out to the customer now, whatever it takes!" Expediting costs money. Setup slow processes, late deliveries – "I'm sorry we screwed up, here's a free product." All that stuff's waste. Cost of poor quality. So, how do we get rid of this because if you minimize the waste, you're going to improve how much you make in terms of profitability? Those are the big reasons why companies want to implement it. Here are some of the benefits – ultimately drive profitability, but the nice thing about Six Sigma is that it focuses on the customer. It says that if you're going to improve processes, what is your customer want? And design those processes around what the customer wants first. That's really important. Being balanced, being efficient and effective is a big goal of Six Sigma. How do we be effective in the customers' eyes and be efficient in the pocket book by giving them what they want inexpensively. Most companies feel like they have to do either or. Either we can make a lot of money – OR – we have to satisfy our customer. You can do both! But you have to be very strategic about what is important in the processes to get that balance. Empowering employees is a big deal. You can't "do" Lean Six Sigma to people. They have to want to do it. The only way to do that is collaborating with people, not telling them. Gaining a competitive advantage and then not jumping to solutions in another benefit. Those are some of the reasons why companies want to implement Lean Six Sigma. Why You Should Care About Lean Six Sigma So why should you care? Yes, you want to save companies money – that's great. But why should care individually about process improvement? You can make more money! I don't have any statistics but Black Belts can make anywhere from 65k to 85k, Master Black Belts can make anywhere from 90k to 130k. Green Belts usually have a regular job so you don't really see that as much. Here are some interesting statistics – the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today's learners will have 10 to 14 jobs by the age of 38. So, no longer do we have a career for our entire life, so that's kind of compelling. The top 10 in demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004. We're moving in exponential times, things are moving quickly; jobs are being created – high paying jobs too. The amount of new technical information is doubling every two years. For students starting at a 2-year technical degree, this means that half of what they've learned their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study. I'm not showing this to depress you. What does this really mean? We're moving really quickly these days. How as an individual can you prepare for that kind of movement? We're currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist, using technology that hasn't been invented in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet. This is very, very important. It should be a part of your decision making. What does this all mean? We live in exponential times. The only thing that is constant is change. Dealing with change will never become obsolete; process improvement is about changing things, making them better and the cycle of continuous improvement. There will always be problems, you'll always need to find the root causes to problems, that's never going to change. It is not the strongest of this species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. Put that in your pocket! Pick something you're going to use no matter what you do, even if you're a mom. You can use process improvement – it's nature of the beast, it's the nature of our world. By Tracy O'Rourke For over a decade, Tracy O'Rourke, an independent Lean Six Sigma consultant and Master Black Belt, has been helping organizations successfully implement Lean Six Sigma programs and projects in non-manufacturing applications.	eng	8ab7189b-d05d-4ac2-821e-65d3e3ec88cd	http://www.goleansixsigma.com/video-what-is-lean-six-sigma/
June 30, 2011 Fireflies or lightning bugs? Actually, they are neither bugs nor flies. They are members of the winged beetle family. It is possible they got the name "lightning bug" from the fact that a burst of lightning seems to set them blinking. Their larvae also produce light and they are often called "glow worms." The light is due to a chemical reaction called bioluminescence and it isn't "light" at all. There are no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. Each species has a particular flash pattern and that is how they attract the appropriate mate. But in the Smokey Mountains, there is lightning bug species that blinks in unison. They put on such a show that park rangers have to manage crowds and traffic. The light is also a warning to birds and spiders, who find the bugs distasteful. There is a predatory species of lightning bug in which the female will mimic the lighting pattern to attract a male. And then she will devour him. University of Maryland Extension: Garden Q&A Q: I'm concerned about my garlic's early demise. Last month, their stalks withered and fell early. Those I pulled showed no sign of a bulb below ground. Today I pulled some early withering ones to find the stem beneath the ground frail and limp with tiny bulbs. I know that normally I should wait until the stalks produce a bulb, and then fade. A: There are several possibilities, but the most common cause for the situation you describe is a fungal disease known as white rot. If you find a white growth on the leaves at the neck of the plant, and the growth is dotted with tiny black spots, the garlic has white rot. On the other hand, if the neck tissue on the bulb becomes soft and brownish and shrivels, and if you find a gray to brown mold on the surface of the bulbs, the problem is botrytis rot. The least likely problem is an infestation of nematodes. Symptoms would be stunted plants with leaves yellowing prematurely or not surviving until maturity. If you suspect white rot, remove and destroy all affected plants, and plant your garlic elsewhere for the next 3 or 4 years. If you suspect botrytis, remove infected plants. Keep any harvested bulbs cool and dry in storage. In any case, add 3-4 inches of compost this fall and rotate your garlic planting to a new location in the garden. Q: I never want to pull a weed again. I plan to put down black plastic (or landscape fabric) and then put shredded bark mulch over that. All I'll need to do it throw on some new mulch each year. Isn't that a good permanent solution? A: You'll be creating a plastic mulch sandwich. As the bark mulch decomposes to an organic material, you'll end up with a layer of good "soil" on top of the black plastic. Weeds will grow quite happily in it. Over the years, as you add more mulch, the organic layer will get deeper, and the black plastic will be buried deeper, rendering it useless. One option would be to remove the old mulch each year before you apply new mulch, though this robs your plants of all the good nutrients and benefits supplied by decomposed mulch. A better option is to simply use a 1-2 inch layer of mulch. Wordless Wednesday: For only a day... June 28, 2011 University of Maryland: Plant of the Week Common Thyme Thymus vulgaris Text by Lewis Shell Photo by Ken Keefover-Ring Please take the thyme to read this thymely article. There are over 300 species of these small, evergreen, aromatic and extremely versatile perennials, and they have many uses in the landscape, providing attractive groundcovers, fragrant foliage, and colorful flowers. It's unfortunate that the wonderful herb, common thyme, carries such a mundane name. After all, there is nothing vulgar or common about the many attributes of thyme. Thymus vulgaris is a small, upright shrub, growing about one foot tall and two feet wide. Its narrow to oval, aromatic leaves are gray-green and the flowers range from white to lilac in late spring and early summer. Thyme is easy to grow in the garden, but does require well-drained soil and sometimes requires a light blanket of mulch in order to survive our winters. One draw-back however; if it survives for two or three years, it tends to become woody and scraggly. At that thyme, its best to replace the plant with a younger specimen that will guarantee better quality leaves for culinary purposes. June 25, 2011 Tool Time: gardening by hand When It Comes to Your Garden the Best Tools Are the Ones You Operate By Hand A guest post from Lou Manfredini, Ace Hardware's Home Expert Most gardeners agree that the best part of working outdoors is getting your hands dirty. Feeling that soil on your skin, getting dirt under your fingernails - what's not to love? Alas, our hands can only take us so far and sometimes you need a little help. While there are a myriad of power tools to make quick work of just about any job, I still prefer hand-powered tools to achieve garden nirvana. To promote healthy growth in your flower or vegetable garden, it is important to turn the soil regularly. A sharp spade works well but requires extreme caution to ensure you do not damage your plants. I recommend using "The Garden Weasel". It started as a product only available on TV and developed into a go-to item for novices and professional gardeners alike. I've had one for about five years now, and use it often. It has a series of rolling spikes at the end of a long handle that enables you to easily roll it between your plants to turn the soil. This motion opens up the top layer of the soil and allows air to reach the root bed. It is just as easy as it sounds and really works! The Garden Weasel retails for about $30.00. When tackling pruning, the right shears can really help shape up your yard. You'll want good-size loppers to trim tree branches and larger bushes, as well as small pruning shears to create a natural look. Always hold shears in your hands before you buy a pair. They should feel comfortable and easy to squeeze. Good shears exist at most price points and with proper maintenance should last a long time. At the end of the season, wipe them off and spray with a small amount of lightweight oil to prevent rusting. I also recommend looking for a pair with a lifetime warranty! June 24, 2011 Garden photography contest My garden Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer Horticulture and DavesGarden.com are sponsoring a Garden Photo Contest and they want to see pictures of your garden. The grand prize is $1,000. The winners and runners-up will be featured in print with Horticulture and online at HortMag.com and DavesGarden.com. And the winners will also receive one-year subscriptions to Horticulture and DavesGarden.com You can submit photos here: There is no cost, you can submit as many photos as you like, but you have to send them electronically. In other words, no snail mail. Native Plant Experience The Native Plant Experience is set for Saturday in York County, Pa., and five homeowners will open their properties for a self-guided tour, showing how they are using native plants to conserve water, reduce pesticide and fertilizer use and create wildlife habitat. The properties range in sice from a suburban lot to a 6.3-acre wooded area. The gardeners will be on hand to share their successes and challenges. Tickets are $10 and will be available at each of the gardens on the day of the tour and the gardens will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Sunday is the rain date.) For a list of the gardens and their addresses, go to the website or call 717-840-7408. It is an opportunity to learn how to make your yard more enviornmentally friendly, and it is sponsored by the Penn State Cooperative Extension and Mid-Atlantic Landscapes. June 23, 2011 University of Maryland Extension: Garden Q&A Weekend garden events Saturday, 9 a.m.: Plants for Purgatory - Jimmy Turner, from the Dallas Arboretum, coined the above title while talking about plants that thrive in summer's heat and arid conditions. While the humans survived last year's 54 days over 90 degrees, some of the plants weren't so lucky. Learn which annuals and perennials can handle Maryland's hot summers. A slide presentation will include photos of the Dallas Arboretum gardens as well as the plant trials held in nearby Lancaster, PA 11 a.m.: Do-it-Yourself Irrigation and Watering Systems - Learn how to install a drip-irrigation watering system for your gardens and containers. The staff will explain how the rain drip irrigation systems work, relieving gardeners of watering by hand day-in and day-out. The garden shop will also show gardeners how to properly use timers, soaker hoses and other watering accessories. Mt. Cuba Center in Greenville, DE Mt. Cuba Center is offering summer twilight tours on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 5:30 through July 28. In the cool of late afternoon, take a stroll around the garden ponds and babbling brook. Relax, refresh, and rejuvenate as you enjoy the lilies, azaleas, coneflowers, and coreopsis. If conditions are right, birds will serenade you as they perch on the tulip poplar canopy. The cost is $5 and you can reserve a spot by visiting the Mt. Cuba website. June 21, 2011 Baltimore Sun endorses crushing stink bug eggs The stink bug infestation in Maryland -- damaging crops and annoying homeowners -- has caught the attention of my colleagues in the editorial department of The Baltimore Sun and they are outraged -- outraged, I say! Seriously, The Sun editorial writers make the excellent point that while we wait for the USDA to come up with a way to combat the stink bug, we are on our own and one of the best ways it to search for egg sacks on its favorite plants -- tomatoes, peppers, squash, fruit trees -- and crush them. The crushed eggs don't smell nearly as bad as the crushed stink bugs do, hence the name. Stink bugs are such a scourge that they are now infested even the most cerebral sections of a newspaper....University of Maryland Extension: Plant of the Week Sometimes called box-leaf holly, Ilex crenata strongly resembles boxwood in color, leaf shape, and over-all appearance but has some very basic, distinguishing characteristics. Upon close inspection, the leaves and stems of I. crenata are alternate while the leaves and stems of boxwoods are opposite. Also, the leaves of I. crenata have tiny spines near the pointed, tip end of each leaf, while the leaves of boxwood are entirely smooth with a slight dimple in the end of each leaf. Their differences notwithstanding, Japanese holly is an excellent alternative to boxwoods. It has a slow to moderate growth rate, typically reaching 4 to 10 feet high and about 3 feet wide. As a foundation plant, it can be maintained at just about any height by periodic pruning or shearing. Preferring light, moist, well-drained, slightly acid soils, they tolerate city environments happily and adapt well to sun or shade. June 20, 2011 National Pollinator Week This week is National Pollinator Week! Five years ago, the U.S. Senate's unanimously set aside the last week in June to bring attention to pollinating creatures, n an effort to address the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations and habitat. Today, Pollinator Week is an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. Dena has begun including houseplants in her container arrangements for customers, although she still mixes in annuals and some perennials. The advantage is, the containers can be brought in doors during the winter to provide color and life and won't go dormant, as perennials do. But these arrangements aren't suited to hot decks or beside pools. "Most houseplants do best in shade or bright shade conditions," she said. "Although they can usually handle morning sun." She includes flowering annuals that bloom in the shade, such as impatiens or begonias, to add color. When it is time -- by Halloween at the latest -- bring the houseplant containers indoors, she advises. But two weeks before, spray the plants with a general pesticide to thwart pest that may be hiding in the leaves or the soil. And bring it close to the house to it can adapt to the indoor light conditions. "Try not to set them near heat vents or drafty windows," she said. "And cut back on fertilizing in winter and begin again in early spring, around March." Here is a list of plants Dena included in the container above, plus other combinations she likes. June 14, 2011 University of Maryland Extension: Plant of the Week Dill Anethum graveolens Text by Lewis Shell Photo by Antoine McKinney This is an herb that can do it all. Where to start? Wise gardeners know that having dill plants is like having a flotilla of aircraft carriers hovering around a war zone. Dill umbels or 'flat top' flowers attract predator insects that rely on the dill flowers for energy-producing nectar and a vantage point from which to survey your garden for insects to predate. Then, of course, dill leaves provide the gardener/chef with salad garnish and flavor, brightening numerous salads and dishes. Can you imagine a nice fillet of salmon without a delicious tangy dill sauce? Furthermore, those flavorful seeds are used in pickling and longer-cooking recipes. To top it off, the name dill comes from 'dilla,' a Norse word meaning 'to lull.' Dill tea may be just the thing for those who suffer from insomnia. Plant dill seeds after danger of frost in spring and every three weeks during the spring and early summer in order to enjoy a constant supply of dill foliage. Dill tolerates a wide range of soil conditions. When allowed to flower during its second year, the plant produces seed and re-seeds itself. Weeding is the only care required. June 13, 2011 Stink bug tracking Jon Traunfeld of the University of Maryland Extension found a brown marmorated stink bug on his raspberries, and he is asking the rest of us to help keep track of this pest by noting which fruits or vegetables it is not just sitting on, but feeding on. The extension service is trying to develop a comprehensive list of host plants. Right now, that list includes tomatoes, peppers, beans, corn, asparagus, raspberry, peach, pear and apple. Let the extension know if the stink bugs are worse in your garden this year than last. Send him an email at jont@umd.edu My personal tomato tester I'm playing experimental gardener for Susan, who had no room in her own garden for a newfangled grafted tomato plant and its non-grafted cousin. One of the plants is a hybrid Big Beef tomato; the other is a Big Beef that has been grafted onto another, unidentified tomato variety that is said to be extremely vigorous. Marketed under the name Mighty 'Mato, the grafted plants are said to combine the best of heirloom and hybrid taste with better resistance to diseases, pests, drought and other environmental stresses. The makers of the Mighty 'Mato have asked gardening writers (or their brown-thumbed surrogates, if need be) to try out the grafted and non-grafted tomato plants in side-by-side tests. I'm afraid the plants I received were wilting by the time they got out of their shipping box and into my home. The Mighty 'Mato was the limper of the two, so I had to trim quite a few leaves. I got the plants in the ground just in time for a week of torrid weather. The good news: They're still alive. The grafted plant is supposed to have two to three times the yield of the regular Big Beef. As the plants grow, I'll report back here on their progress. Stay tuned. June 12, 2011 Gardening from the couch: Best gardening books One way for a gardener to escape this East Coast heat wave is to simply stay in the air conditioning and read about gardening. Dominique Browning, author and former editor of House and Garden magazine, has created her regular list of best gardening books for the New York Times and here are the highlights. "Grow the Good Life," by my friend and fellow garden blogger Michele Owens, is at the top of her list. Michele's book makes you want to start your own vegetable garden even if you are like me and prefer the farmers' market approach to fresh vegetables. "The Conscientious Gardener: Cultivating the Garden Ethic," by Sarah Hayden Reichard, Browning writes, is a "modest and unassuming but powerful book" that argues that "gardeners should be on the front lines when it comes to recognizing the interconnection of mankind and nature." She says the chapter on soil is an excellent refresher for any gardener. "Beekeeper's Bible: Bees, Honey, Recipes and Other Home Uses," by Richard Jones and Sharon Sweeney-Lynch is the bible -- it is literally that big -- of this new, hip activity, Browning says. "The Book of Fungi: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species from Around the World," by Peter Roberts and Shelley Evans makes the case for this species, which lives on decaying matter. Browning says that if you want one more thing to worry about, worry about the destruction of fungi habitats. Or simply buy some mushrooms at the farmers' market and sauté them in olive oil. "Markets of New England," by Christine Chitnis should be a model for similar regional guidebooks, Browning says. The author makes the case that we should all be supporting our local beekeepers, cheese mongers, weavers, woodworkers as well as local farmers. The other books that Browning recommends include: The Ambonese Herbal" will eventually be a six-volume compendium of the work of 17th century naturalist Georgius Everhardus Rumphius. In a similar vein is "Abundant Beauty: The Adventurous Travels of Marianne North, Botanical Artist." "Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History," by Bill Laws looks like a fun read of plant lore and little known history. "Embroidered Ground: Revisiting the Garden," by Page Dickey is a look back at her life changes and her garden and it sounds like a lovely read. "Tomorrow's Garden: Design and Inspiration for a New Age of Sustainable Gardening," by Stephen Orr, and "The Late Interiors: A Life Under Construction," by Marjorie Sandor are also about lives in transition. And it should also be noted that Browning is the author of her own memoir, "Slow Love." Governor's House vegetable garden is in! Maryland's first lady, Katie O'Malley, has opened her at the governor's house in Annapolis again this season. Master gardeners from the University of Maryland and students from the Cedar Chapel Special School in Worcester County helped plant the first summer vegetable seedlings late last week from plants the students grew in their school greenhouse. The garden is part of the state's "Grow It, Eat It" campaign to encourage one million state residents to eat healthy and to grow their own vegetables, fruits and herbs. "Backyard gardening teaches young people the value of the work it takes to grow something, the perseverance to see it through to harvest, and the joy of tasting something delicious that they grew themselves," said Mrs. O'Malley. "We look forward to growing out the seedlings and expanding the garden offerings as an example of what all Marylanders can do whether they have a patio with planters or a larger backyard garden to improve their health and fitness and to being a part of the State's backyard gardening promotion." Planted in the garden are vegetable plants including tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, Swiss chard, and herbs. Additionally, Sue Langley, beekeeper for the Government House bee hive, is raising bees for honey. Now, in its second year of production, the Government House hive will be harvested for honey this summer for the first time. More information on the campaign and the University of Maryland's Master Gardener program can be found at The web site also provides a blog and list of vegetable gardening classes and events by county. Maryland is one of the first states in the nation to have a backyard food garden at the Governor's home. The vegetable garden sets a realistic example of what Maryland families can do in their own backyards. Cedar Chapel Special School is a unique, alternative learning environment, located in Snow Hill (Worcester County). The school prepares students with moderate and severe disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21 to be included in regular schools, to be gainfully employed, and to be self-sufficient at home and in their community. At the event, the First Lady also announced that the signature kick-off event for the statewide Buy Local Challenge Week (July 23-31) will be held at Government House on July 21. The campaign encourages all Marylanders to eat at least one local product each day of the week. June 10, 2011 Weekend Garden Events: Valley View Farms 9 a.m.: The Succulent Container Garden -- Succulents thrive in containers with little care. Learn the best pots and planters to use and all about many different types of succulents for relatively care free container gardening possibilities. 11 a.m.: Butterflies and Hummingbirds (kid-friendly) We've become infatuated with butterflies and hummingbirds. Follow the metamorphosis of a butterfly captured through the lens on Marian Andelman and Jan Gannon's cameras and watch a short slideshow. Stroll through the butterfly idea gardens. Lastly, take a look at handouts and signs and learn some of the best practices to attract these petite flyers to the garden. Marian will share her experiences in providing the perfect habitat for hummingbirds and butterflies. Weekend Garden Events The Bolton Hill Garden Club's annual garden walk is this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring 14 gardens and the interiors of some historic residences. The Bolton Hill Garden Club's annual garden walk is this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring 14 gardens and the interiors of some historic residences. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased under the tent at the 1600 block of Park Avenue on the day of the walk. Visitors will be given a map and a companion booklet. There will also be some garden-related items for sale, including planters, gardening gloves, planting tools Weekend garden events: I am at Homestead Gardens Sunday I will be talking about "Gardening on the Internet" Sunday at noon. And then I am hanging around for Gene Sumi's advice on maintaining my perennial garden and the talk on solar-powered water features. I soooo want a water feature. Here's a look at the rest of the weekend's events at Homestead. Saturday 10 am: Wonderful World of Water Bugs: A kid's guide to aquatic life with water gardening expert Dave Kemon. ($10 fee includes planter; pre-register by calling 410-798-5000) University of Maryland Extension: Garden Q&A Anthracnose in a beech tree Q: The leaves on our beech shade tree are turning yellow and falling off like it's autumn! This tree is 30 years and we've never seen anything like it. Is it going to die? A: We are getting many panicked calls and e-mails about American beech trees raining leaves. The disease is anthracnose, a fungal disease that begins with brown spots and blotches on leaves, followed by yellowing and leaf drop. This is a very specialized disease, and many trees such as sycamore, dogwood and oak get their own variety of anthracnose. Beech rarely gets anthracnose, but this spring's weather conditions created the "perfect storm" of conditions that it loves. It should not kill your tree, because healthy trees can tolerate one season of partial defoliation and many can put out a new flush of foliage. You can rake up the leaves to remove infected material from the site. It is generally not economical to spray large mature shade trees for anthracnose nor is it effective once symptoms appear because fungicides can't cure, only prevent, disease. Next spring, only young trees or newly planted trees could use a fungicide spray to prevent excessive leaf loss until they become established. A: No, please! No fishing bait of any kind, including crawfish, fish, or worms should be dumped anywhere into the environment. Many of these non-native live baits have already established in Maryland ecosystems where they kill, infect, and outcompete our native marine life. Even dead bait can introduce disease to a body of water. Although it may seem helpful to dump excess bait to feed fish or enrich the environment, instead it can be destructive. Share your extra bait with another fisherman or save it for another trip. You can kill it by freezing it; then put it out with the trash. Never introduce any organisms from one body of water into another one. OPG: The Sun's garden contest Good morning Garden Variety readers! First, my apologies to any of you who have attempted to post comments in the last week. Technical problems required that we shut down the comment phase of some of our blogs and Garden Variety was one of them! I missed you all! And I felt like I was talking to myself... And today I will be out judging the entries in The Baltimore Sun's garden contest (OPG=Other People's Gardens). With a heat index of 100-plus degrees no less. And in the days ahead, I will be posting some pictures of what we see. June 7, 2011 University of Maryland Extension: Plant of the Week Cosmos Cosmos bipinnatus Text by Lewis Shell Photo by Christine McComas If you don't already have Cosmos in your garden, it's not too late to sow some seeds of this airy-leaved flower along the back of your flower bed. Alternatively, look for potted cosmos at your favorite garden center or nursery. Cosmos belong to the daisy family, Compositae, and bear daisy-like flowers with yellow centers surrounded by petals of various colors. Plant the seeds about one foot apart in well drained soil--and do not fertilize! Cosmos tolerate poor and dry soil. But water is essential for germination and establishment, so don't let them dry out at least until they begin to produce flowers. These annual flowers grow up to six feet tall in a good growing season and may require staking, but will continue to bloom well into fall providing you with flowers for show and for cutting. Today is National Gardening Exercise Day Today is National Gardening Exercise Day and on this day, state garden clubs encourage people to substitute the phrase "yard work" with "yard exercise." The theory is, with a little mindfulness, tending the lawn or garden will no longer be a "chore" but a great way to stay physically fit. Now don't feel that you have to "go for the burn" or exercise in the garden aerobically every time. Modify the program to meet your individual needs. At the very least, using these techniques will help reduce back strain and muscle soreness so often associated with gardening. Jeffrey Restuccio, an author and speaker on the subject of gardening and exercise, offers these pointers to get the most physical benefit out of gardening and to reduce the back strain and muscle soreness: 1) Warm up your muscles before you garden for five to ten minutes. 2) Stretch for five to ten minutes. Stretching will help relieve back strain and muscle soreness and avoid injury. 3) Plan your gardening exercise session to include a variety of movements such as raking, mowing, weeding, pruning and digging and alternate between them often, perhaps every fifteen minutes. Don't bend from the back as you rake or hoe. If you make just one change, this should be it. Bend from the knees and use your legs, shoulders and arms in a rocking motion. Also alternate your stance between right-handed and left-handed. Alternating stance balances the muscles used. 4) Ideally, you should stretch again after you have thoroughly warmed up your muscles with 15 to 20 minutes of steady raking, hoeing, weeding, planting or mowing. 5) Cool down after your gardening exercise session by walking, picking flowers or vegetables or just enjoying the fruits of your "exercise." My new garden: a fresh start Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer After leaving Nancy and Pierre Moitrier and their crew to work their magic on my garden, I returned a scant three hours later to find this: a wonderful mix of perennials, shrubs, roses, conifers and a few annuals...and three Happy Birthday balloons! My new garden will have the hint of formality that I think you need in front of the house, but it will also have the colorful, unstructured look that perennials give. Nancy will return this week to give me a rain gauge -- to help me keep up with the inch-a-week watering the garden will require -- and to introduce me to my new garden "friends." Though I helped select the plants and know the habits of most of them, I do not know them all and I will be grateful for her advice. A final note. I plan to invite a few garden friends to a "Garden Party" in a couple of weeks, to show off my new garden. Nancy and Pierre will be the guests of honor...after the new garden, of course. (Full disclosure: I have worked with Nancy and Pierre on a couple of gardening news stories for The Baltimore Sun, but I did not ask for and, I am hoping, did not receive any price breaks.) The key to my choice was that I had met this lovely couple before, toured their own garden and had the kinds of conversations with them that let me know they take time to understand what their clients want, even if their clients can't quite explain themselves. That's me all over. In addition, Nancy offers garden coaching services and I had worked with her before with a new garden design that I installed myself. My new garden: The Before picture Nancy arrived several weeks ago, took a tour of my shade and sun gardens, and realized that I was not the kind of person who wanted three yews under the front window. Her design, instead, is a mix of perennials, small shrubs and a small conifer, and she "repurposed" the three euonymous and the three roses that had been there and moved a hellianthus from another part of the garden. The transformation also included the removal of a giant miscanthus, which had spread and sunk its roots very deep. This was one installation I didn't think I could do myself. So, Friday afternoon, I left Nancy, Pierre and their crew to their work and went to run errands.... June 3, 2011 Annapolis Secret Garden Tour Photo courtesy of Hammond-Harwood House In Annapolis this weekend, the historic Hammond-Harwood House is sponsoring the 11th annual Secret Garden Tour. This popular event will feature twelve to fourteen private gardens, seldom seen by the public, in the neighborhood along Spa Creek in the historic district of Annapolis. The featured gardens, each in a different style, will be open from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. One of the gardens on the tour this year will be the historic John Ridout House garden at 120 Duke of Gloucester Street. This garden will be only open to Hammond-Harwood members on Saturday. (The cost is $40 to become a Hammond-Harwood House member and visit the Ridout Garden.) Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 on the day of the event and are good for Saturday, Sunday, or both days. The printed program for the tour serves as the ticket and it will be available at the will call table at the First Presbyterian Church, 165 & 171 Duke of Gloucester Street, the first stop on the tour. Parking is available on the street, in the Bladen St. Garage on St. John's St. (free on weekends but further away), at the Hillman Garage (not free) at 150 Gorman St. off of Duke of Gloucester St. and Gott's Garage off of Calvert St. (not free). Hillman & Gott's garages are closer to the event. June 2, 2011 Historic Reservoir Hill Home and Garden Tour Baltimore's historic Reservoir Hill will open 30 homes and gardens to the public for this year's tour on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and a pair of free tickets will be awarded to a randomly selected commentor here on Garden Variety. In addition this year, visitors can tour the Lennox Street Community Garden and the Whitelock Commuinity Farm, both of which promote healthy eating in the city neighborhood. Tickets for the self-guided tour $10 and are good on one or both days, and maps will be provided. Columbia (Md.) Home Tour Gary and Sara Hamer plant 100 daffodil bulbs each year to beautify their Dorsey's Search home, which will be on view as part of the Columbia Home Tour on Sunday. (Staff Photo by Sarah Pastrana, Patuxent Publishing) Gary and Sara Hamer plant 100 daffodil bulbs each year to beautify their Dorsey's Search home, which will be on view as part of the Columbia Home Tour on Sunday. The Villages of Columbia will present the second annual Columbia Home Tour on Sunday, June 5, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $20 each and available at any of the ten Columbia village community centers ( With a tour guide book and map, participants will embark on a self-guided tour of five distinct homes nestled in the beautiful Columbia villages. Docents will welcome you at each location and guide you through the home's diverse architecture and unique qualities. The five featured homes include a restored historic mansion in Kings Contrivance, contemporary single family home in Hickory Ridge, unique redesigned townhome in Town Center, beautifully landscaped colonial in Dorsey's Search and lakeside townhome in Owen Brown. For more information on this event, please contact Carol Hobelmann at 410-730-3987 or visit wlevents@columbiavillages.org. Join us on Facebook: "Columbia Home Tour 2011" All ticket holders are invited to visit the newly renovated Owen Brown Community Center for a reception with refreshments and displays by Columbia Archives. Proceeds from The Columbia Home Tour will benefit "One Month's Rent Initiative," a non-profit that helps Howard County residents who are threatened with losing their housing. The Columbia Home Tour is sponsored by the Villages of Columbia and Columbia Archives.University of Maryland Extention: Garden Q&A Q: My euonymus has been defoliated by a caterpillar (white with long black stripes). All that's left of the leaves is a spider web of single strands! A: The euonymus leaf notcher, larvae of the Pryeria sinica moth, entered the US in recent years and has now surfaced with a vengeance in some Maryland counties. Euonymus shrubs ought to recover from a single defoliation, but kill any larvae you can now. Crush by hand, vacuum them up, or drown them in a bucket of soapy water. Oddly enough, the adult moth lays eggs in fall until December. Locate its tan egg masses laid on pencil-size branches near the plant tip. Crush the eggs by hand or prune off and destroy. All sightings of euonymus leaf notcher, at any life stage, should be reported to HGIC. Next spring, if you detect them while they're small, call us for spray recommendations. Photo courtesy of North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Q: A peach-colored foamy-looking mold sprung up all of a sudden at the base of our 20-year-old yellow rose bush. My father removed the stuff. Two of the branches are dead, though the bush lives on. What was that stuff, a new rose fungus? A: Is there mulch around your rose bush? Dog vomit fungus, which you described, occasionally appears when spores blow in and land in a welcoming, moist environment, oftentimes a mulched area but not always. Looking just as its name suggests, dog vomit fungus is very short-lived and harmless. It does not infect or damage plants but lives, like many fungi, on decomposing organic matter, such as mulch. Pulling or raking it away is fine, though it will shrivel up and disappear in a matter of days all by itself	eng	ef52ed12-441e-4513-9efc-c5ebe52b285d	http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/features/gardening/2011/06/
European Kingdoms Northern Europe Norway Much of the area that makes up modern Norway has been occupied since the end of the last ice age by Sami and Kvens. Following the arrival of Finno-Ugric tribes and Indo-Europeans in the third millennium, it became home to various Germanic groups (in the far southern section only, at first). The birth of the modern Norwegian nation took place following the Viking Age, along with the simultaneous arrival of Christianity in Scandinavia and Fennoscandia. Before that, the Scandinavians were contained entirely within the southernmost third of Sweden and Norway. The rest was part of a poorly-defined territory known as Kvenland, which stretched all the way east into modern Russia. As with Denmark and Sweden, the rulers of Norway (the Norsemen) emerged from legendary origins. There are less ambiguities and contradictions in Norway's reignal list, though, probably because it starts much later in time. The only uncertainty here is over the first known ruler, who is ascribed two sets of dates by differing sources. It seems to be fairly certain that Norway's royal line was founded by a refugee king from Sweden, fleeing his homeland during a period of Danish superiority. Alternate dates are shown in red text alongside relevant entries. Rulers with a lilac backing are semi-mythical. Halfdan the Black is the earliest confirmed ruler and his resting place is usually assigned to a large burial mound in Norway. Those kings who ruled before him are generally though to have controlled only limited parts of modern Norway, and perhaps only very small territory. Such minor kingdoms included Agder, Alfheim, Finnmark, Fjordane, Hadeland, Hallingdal, Hålogaland, Hedmark, Hordaland, Möre, Namdale, Nerike, Oppland, Ringerike, Rogaland, Romerike, Sogn, Telemark, Vestfold, and Vingulmark. However, if the list of names is to be believed then the small, regional kingdom that was founded by this Swedish exile was the birthplace of Norway's monarchy. This kingdom bordered the native inhabitants of Kvenland until late in the Viking age, when it began to expand northwards. The Norwegians assimilated the westernmost section of this territory much more quickly than the neighbouring Swedes could absorb 'their' part of it, although the people in Hålogaland may have been Norse from an early point, or possible early descendants of ancient Kvens, or a mixture of the two. (Additional information by Andreas von Millwall, and working in conjunction with the Kvenland site, listed in the 'Northern Europe' section of the Sources page.) Nori is the legendary founder of the kingdom of Norway. He is mentioned in several medieval Scandinavian texts, which establish that he is either the son of Danp (who himself is the brother-in-law of Domar of Upsal), or one of the sons of King Ypper of Upsal (the other two being Dan, who later rules Denmark, and Østen, who later rules the Swedes (possibly the Östen of the late sixth century)). Nori is also claimed as a descendant of King Fornjótr of Kvenland. Perhaps he represents the beginnings of any notable kingship in Norway. However, apart from the tribes mentioned in the Old English poem Widsith, the first kingdoms are petty, coastal territories such as Agder, Hålogaland, Oppland (the exception in that this is inland), Ringerike, and Rogaland. Norway's origins lie in regional petty kingdoms that were challenged in the mid-seventh century by members of the Swedish royal house fl c.480s? Gudlog King of Hålogaland. The Swedish princes, Jorund and his brother Eric, remain on their warships while Hugliek is king of the Swedes, and they prove to be great warriors. They maraud in Norway where they fight and capture King Gudlog of Hålogaland, an early appearance of Norsemen in this northern territory which must have been occupied solely by Kvens until very recently. The princes hang Gudlog at Stomones and allow his men to raise a mound over him. c.500 Heoden / Henden / Hjaðn King of the Gloms. The Germanic Gloms are mentioned in the Old English poem Widsith. They are probably located along the River Glomma (or Glåma) in south-western Norway. The Heatho-Reams are also mentioned, who form the later kingdom of Romerike. According to Jordanes, the tribe of the Adogit live in the far north, while the Grannii (Grenland), Augandzi (Agder), Eunixi, Taetel, Rugii (Rogaland), Arochi (Hordaland, who have been linked to the Charudes) and Ranii occupy central and southern Norway at this time, along with the Raumarici (the later kingdom of Raumarike) close to modern Oslo. Roduulf rules the Ranii until, apparently despising his own kingdom and seeking adventure, he flees to join Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths. fl c.580s Koll (A) King of Norway, according to Saxo Grammaticus. According to Saxo Grammaticus, Koll is killed by Horvendil, Danish governor or prince of Jutland. He is probably one of several minor kings in Norway. A series of petty kingdoms seem to have sprung up along the south-western coastline of Norway by this time. fl c.590s? Fridthjóf the Bold / Friðþjófr inn frækna King of Hordaland. fl c.610s? Hunthjóf / Hunþjófr Son of Fridthjóf. King of Hordaland. c.620s? Swedish control of areas of Norway comes at this time, suggesting increasing Swedish power, but also that there is something worth conquering and ruling in Norway. Many minor kingdoms are known of, but nothing of their history or rulers until they come into contact with the Yngling kings, and are subsequently conquered or absorbed. Following the death of Stóvirk (Stórvirkr), his son Starkad is brought up in the court of Harald, king of Agder, along with Harald's son, Víkar. King Herthjóf (Herþjófr) of Hördaland makes a surprise attack on the kingdom one night and kills Harald, taking Víkar hostage so that the young king's subjects remain subjugated. Herthjóf is the grandson of Fridthjóf the Bold, the main protagonist in Fridthjófs saga ins frækna. Vikar waits some years before gathering some men and striking back, killing Herthjóf and regaining his kingdom, along with some of the lands of his fallen oppressor. Now that he has been restored to his rightful inheritance, Vikar of Agder kills Herthjóf's brother, King Geirthjóf of Oppland, at the First Battle of Telemark. Oppland is incorporated into Vikar's kingdom, and the opportunity to gain Telemark from Geirthjóf's brother, Fridthjóf, presents itself. This king is later defeated at the Second Battle of Telemark, during which Vikar is aided by King Óláf the Keen-Eyed and by Starkad. Telemark is added to Agder, although Fridthjóf is allowed to live. c.655 At a time when the kings of the Denes are conquering his homeland, Olaf Tretelgia is said to flee Sweden and, settling in Norway, founds its first (historical) royal house. However, although perhaps dominant in Norway, Olaf cannot be said to be the ruler of a single kingdom. The historical existence of his descendants of the eighth and early ninth centuries is doubted by some scholars, but the names probably reflect real persons, even if the stories surrounding them may be fanciful. Hedmark borders Sweden in the south-east of Norway, (the north-eastern section of modern Østlandet). The kingdom is either conquered by Halfdan Hvitbeinn or he gains it following the death of his father-in-law. Oppland borders Hedmark on its western flank ('opp' or 'upp' meaning highlands or upper countries, the highlands next to Hedmark). late 7th century Halfdan Hvitbeinn / Halfdan I Whitelegs Son of Olaf. m Åsa, dau of Eystein of Oppland. Halfdan Hvitbeinn becomes one of pre-unification Norway's most powerful kings. He obtains Hedmark and Oppland and conquers Hadeland, Toten (a minor kingdom within Oppland), and part of Vestfold. He also inherits Värmland (which had been founded by Olaf Tretelgia on the border between Sweden and Norway about AD 655) upon the death of his brother, Ingjald Olafsson. ? - c/695 Sigtryg King of Vend. ? - c/695 Agnar Sigtrygsson Son. King of Vend. fl c.700s? Erik Agnarsson Son. King of Vestfold. Vestfold is a minor kingdom which includes Eiker and Lier. It is situated to the south of Oppland (bordering modern Buskerud and Telemark). Erik is its only known independent king of this period. His daughter marries Eystein Halfdansson and upon his death Vestfold passes entirely to Eystein. early 8th century Eystein I Halfdansson / Eystein Vart Son. 'Vart' probably means 'the swift'. m Hild of Vestfold. Eystein inherits the thrones of Romerike (mentioned in the 550s) and Vestfold from his father-in-law. However, his own expansionist skills prove to be limited, and he is killed by Skjöld while pillaging in Varna (location unknown). c.700? The original line of 'kings' of Kvenland ends with the father of Gor Thorrasson 'Sea King'. The appellation of 'Sea King' to subsequent names, from Gor to his great-grandson, Sveidi, suggests that they lose or surrender their inheritance as Kven kings and rule the seas instead, eventually ending up as minor lords in Norway. Skjöld King of Varna. A great warlock. Dag King of Vestmar/Grenland. Vestmar (Westmare), otherwise known as Grenland, is a minor coastal kingdom which is part of the larger region of Grænafylket (or Grenafylket), situated within the modern county of Telemark in the south-west of Norway. Dag's daughter, Liv, marries Halfdan hinn Mildi. A map of eighth and ninth century Norway showing the many petty kingdoms arranged along the coastline, although penetration into the interior is beginning 760 Kvens and Norse cooperate in battling against the invading Karelians, according to Egil's Saga, written around 1240. late 8th century Halfdan II hinn Mildi / Halfdan the Mild Son of Eystein. King of Romerike and Vestfold. Died in bed. fl c.790s? Alfarin King of Alfheim/Bohuslän. c.790s Alfheim (or Alvheim) is a minor kingdom between the Glomma and Göta älv rivers which also incorporates at least the southern section of the province of Bohuslän. The daughter of King Alfarin is Alfhild, who marries Gudröd. Thanks to this marriage, Gudröd inherits half of Vingulmark (bordering the settlement of Romerike and including the site of the country's later capital, Oslo). Later archaeological finds suggest the region is an important centre of power. c.804 - c.810 Gudröd / Gudrod the Magnificent Son. King of Romerike and Vestfold. c.800s Gudröd's wife dies during his reign, so he sends warriors to propose a marriage to Åsa, the daughter of King Harald Grunraude of Agder. Harald refuses, so Gudröd takes her by force, killing Harald and his son, Gyrd, in the process. However, a year after becoming father to Halfdanr Svarti, Gudröd is murdered by Åsa's page boy. The queen returns to Agder to raise her son while Olaf inherits the southern half of Gudröd's kingdom. c.810 - 840 Olaf Gudrodsson Geirstade Son by first marriage. King of Romerike & Bohuslän. c.810 There is a question over whether Åsa reigns in Agder, as her son, Halfdanr has to conquer it in his early years. Possibly it is subjugated by Olaf Geirstade until the late 820s. fl c.820s? Álfgeir / Alfgeir King of Vingulmark. fl c.830s Gandalf Son. King of Vingulmark. fl c.840s - 850s? Hysing Son. King of Vingulmark. Killed by Halfdanr Svarti of Agder. Helsing Brother and co-ruler or prince. Killed by Halfdanr Svarti of Agder. Hake Brother and co-ruler or prince. Fled the kingdom. c.827/828 At the age of eighteen or nineteen, Halfdanr Svarti reconquers Agder before pursuing an aggressive policy of expanding his kingdom further. Dividing Vestfold with his brother, Olaf (later to be inherited by Olaf's son, Ragnvald), he persuades Gandalf of Vingulmark to cede him half of that kingdom (possibly through intimidation). fl c.830s? Harald Gulskeg King of Sogn. fl c.830s? Harald Halfdansson Son of Halfdanr Svarti of Agder & Ragnhild. King of Sogn. c.830s Sogn is a minor kingdom which is located in western Norway and is now the southern half of the modern county of the same name. The king's daughter, Ragnhild, becomes the first wife of Halfdanr Svarti of Agder, and mother to a boy named Harald. Ragnhild's father names the young Harald as his successor, but when all three pass away in succession, Halfdanr Svarti lays claim to the kingdom, and it is peacefully subsumed. fl c.840s Sigtryg Eysteinsson King of Hedmark & Raumarike. Killed by Halfdan Svarti of Agder. fl c.840s Eystein Eysteinsson Brother. King of Hedmark & Raumarike. c.840s Raumarike is a minor kingdom which is located to the north of modern Oslo in south-eastern Norway. In the sixth century, Jordanes mentions a people by the name of the Raumarici, probably the same as Raumarike. The Old English poems Beowulf and Widsith call them the Heaðo-Reamas ('battling Reamas'). In the eighth century, Raumarike is under the rule of Sigurd Ring of Denmark, and then his son, Randver. It is possible that Sigtryg is the son of Eystein Beli, sub-king of Sweden under Randver. He is sometimes given as being the son of Eystein I Halfdansson of Norway, but the likely timescale between them makes this impossible. This kingdom is attacked by Halfdanr Svarti of Agder. He first kills Sigtryg Eysteinsson in battle, and then repeatedly attacks Sigtryg's brother in battle until he is also defeated. Raumarike passes to Halfdanr, along with half of Hedmark. fl c.840s? Ragnvald / Rognvald 'Mountain-High' Son of Olaf. King of Vestfold. c.840s? Halfdanr Svarti of Agder further expands his kingdom following an attempted ambush by Hysing of Vingulmark and his brothers, Helsing and Hake. He raises an army and attacks the brothers, killing two and forcing the third to flee. Vingulmark is incorporated into his kingdom. fl c.840s? Sigurd Hjort 'Snake-in-the-Eye' King of Hringarík / Ringerike. Killed by Hake. c.840s Ringerike is a minor kingdom which is located in the modern county of Buskerud in southern central Norway, close to the south-western border of the kingdom of Oppland. The king's daughter (or great-granddaughter), Ragnhild, becomes the second wife of Halfdanr Svarti of Agder after being kidnapped by one Hake (the same Hake who had been expelled from Vingulmark?). Halfdanr rescues her. Together, they become the parents of Haraldr Hárfagri. 863 - 872 Haraldr Hárfagri / Harald I Fairhair Son of Halfdanr Svarti of Agder. United all of Norway. 866 - 872 There is internecine war between the minor Norwegian kingdoms. Haraldr Hárfagri (or Harfarger) slowly becomes dominant, forcing the kingdoms to acknowledge his rule which, by 872, is complete. During this period, King Faravid of Kvenland is said by later chronicles to ally himself to the Norwegians to fight the Karelians to the east. Haraldr Hárfagri subdues South More and selects Ragnvald 'The Wise' to be earl of North More, South More, and also Raumsdal. Ragnvald is the descendant of the original line of 'kings' of Kvenland who seem to have left their homeland in the time of Gor Thorrasson 'Sea King' in the late seventh century to find a new home amongst the Norwegians. In the following year, Earl Ragnvald captures Firdafylke by burning down a house in Naustdal in which is King Vemund with ninety of his men. Kingdom of Norway AD 872 - Present Day Norway is on the western edge of Scandinavia, bordered to its west only by the North Sea. To its south is Denmark, while Sweden is to the east. Finland connects to Norway's far north-eastern border, as does Russia. By the time the kingdom was founded in the late ninth century, Norway still only comprised the southern third of the modern country, with the rest forming part of a vast territory known as Kvenland. It was only in the latter days of the Viking Age and in the medieval period that the westernmost parts of Kvenland began to be absorbed into the Norwegian territories. Migrants also arrived in Norway from the Finnic lands to the east in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. At least a couple of hundred thousand citizens of modern Norway are known to be descended from the Forest Finns, migrants from a group that is distinct from the Kvens. In Sweden that number is much larger. Norway's minor kingdoms were united by Haraldr Hárfagri during various wars of the 860s and early 870s. Upon the death of Haraldr's father, the kingdom of Raumarike submitted to Sweden, and had to be forcibly encouraged to join Haraldr's kingdom of Norway. This probably helped to complete Haraldr's control of all of that region after he inherited the remainder from his father. The area was also laid claim to by King Eric V Anundsson of Sweden, forcing Haraldr to invade Götaland to defend his own claim. In fact, many of Haraldr's opponents were forced to flee the country and seek refuge in various Viking outposts including the Faroe Islands, the Hebrides, Iceland, the Orkney Islands, and the Shetland Islands. Eventually he was forced to undertake an expedition to clear out some of them, including from outposts in Scotland itself. (Additional information from working in conjunction with the Kvenland site, listed in the 'Northern Europe' section of the Sources page.) 872 - 933 Haraldr Hárfagri / Harald I Fairhair Son of Halfdanr Svarti / Halfdan III the Black of Agder. late 800s Haraldr marries Ragnhidr (Ragnhild), daughter of Eirik, prince of Jutland (who may be the same person as King Eric (I or II) of Denmark). The king's son by her is Eric Bloodaxe. During the same late ninth century period, battles take place as the Geats have to defend themselves against Haraldr. They receive no help from their Swedish overlords. Haraldr Halfdansson united all the minor kingdoms of Norway in the later ninth century through a mixture of force of arms and diplomacy 873 The Kvens and Norse cooperate in battles against the invading Karelians, again according to Egil's Saga. Thorolf Kveldulfsson, the head of taxes for the king of Norway from 872, enters Kvenland, going 'up on the fell with a hundred men; he passed on at once eastwards to Kvenland and met King Faravid.' Based on medieval documents, this meeting takes place during the winter of 873-874. 874 Iceland is discovered and settled in increasing numbers, and an independent republic governs it until 1262. During the reign of Harald I, Thorvald Asvaldsson of Jadar is exiled for murder. He settles in Iceland where he becomes the father of Eirik the Red, who himself goes on to settle Greenland and fathers Leif Eriksson, founder of the Vinland colony in the Americas. c.880 The oldest known written use of the term 'Kven', with nearly that spelling, is made in the Account of the Viking Othere, a report of the geopolitical landscape of the North, based on the voyage by Ottar, the Norse Viking adventurer, as he makes his way through the oceanic coasts of northern Scandinavia and the extreme north-western of modern Russia. In this account, the Kvens are referred to as 'Cwenas' who live in 'Cwena land'. It is the first genuine and comprehensive account of the North, and is therefore a principle source in studies relating to Nordic history. 890 Ottar reports his findings to King Alfred of Wessex, who has his account included in the additions to the Universal History of Orosius, which the king republishes. The book is a shared work between Orosius and King Alfred. The Kven Sea is mentioned as the northern border of Germany. The location of Kvenland is also explained in the following ways: 'Ottar (Ohthere) said that the Norwegians' (Norðmanna) land was very long and very narrow... and to the east are wild mountains, parallel to the cultivated land. Sami people (Finns) inhabit these mountains... Then along this land southwards, on the other side of the mountain, is Sweden... and along that land northwards, Kvenland (Cwenaland). "The Cwenas (Kvens) sometimes make depredations on the Northmen over the mountain, and sometimes the Northmen on them; there are very large freshwater meres amongst the mountains, and the Kvens carry their ships over land into the meres, and thence make depredations on the Northmen; they have very little ships, and very light." c.900 During his reign, Haraldr divides responsibility for the management of the kingdom. The original holdings in the south-east are given to sons (at least twelve) and kinsmen, the south-west coastal region remains under Haraldr's direct control as high king, the long north-western coastal strip is governed by the earls of Lade, while the earls of Møre govern a much smaller region between Lade and the south-west. The earls of Lade prove to be important players in the rule of Norway later in the century. 911 To keep the peace in the face of Viking attacks, Charles III of the Franks grants territory in the north to the Viking chieftain, Rollo. The resulting duchy of Normandy proves to be far more powerful than the king could have feared, but Rollo's origins are today disputed by Norway and Denmark. Norway claims him as the son of Rognvald Eysteinsson, earl of Møre, in western Norway. Records from the twelfth century claim he falls out with the king and migrates to Normandy. 903 Haraldr secures the succession by naming his favourite son, Eric Bloodaxe as his successor. They rule side by side for the three remaining years of Haraldr's life. This does not end the possibility of division within the kingdom, however, and it is not until about 1030 that Norway is unquestionably unified. An apparently harsh ruler, Eric quickly falls out of favour with the Norwegian nobility. When Haakon returns from England, he is asked to take the throne. Eric is banished. and flees the country to become an adventurer. In 946 he is invited to England to become ruler of the Scandinavian kingdom of York. He is rejected in 948, returns in 952, and is finally defeated in 954, although by then he has already killed many of his rivals (who also happen to be his brothers), including Bjørn Farmann, grandfather of Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, the later king of Agder and Vestfold. Even so, Eric's defeat on the other side of the North sea creates a fully unified kingdom of England. The accession of Haakon may cause some disharmony in the Norwegian nobility. From about 976, Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, father of King Olaf II, can be found ruling Agder, Vestfold, and Viken, although it is not clear if he is claiming a kingship or remains subject to the king's authority. 982 Greenland is discovered by Eric the Red and is claimed for Norway. 991 The Battle of Maldon on the Essex coast of England is lost when the forces of Olaf Tryggvason (soon to be king of Norway and the main rival against Sweyn Forkbeard for the throne of Denmark) defeat those of the ealdorman of Essex. The Vikings begin to demand heavy tribute from the Saxon lands. 995 - 1000 Olaf I Tryggvason 1000 Tryggvason is attacked by a united army under the command of Olaf III Skötkonung of Sweden and Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark. The pair have determined that Norway will be conquered and divided between them. They duly defeat Olaf I at the Battle of Svolder and divide the country. A Danish earl of Lade, Eric son of Haakon, holds the Norwegian throne as regent from this point, while the Swedes gain border territories from part of Trøndelag and modern Bohuslän. The accession of Olaf II brings his own domain of Agder fully back under the control of the Norwegian crown (if it was not already under that control beforehand). In gaining the crown, he also restores Norwegian control of the land after the Danish interlude. 1028 - 1035 Norway falls under the rule of Denmark, governed first by Haakon, then directly under Canute himself, and finally under Canute's son, Sweyn, and his mistress, Aelfgifu in his name until his death. Canute's death sees his great Scandinavian empire begin to break up. By the late 1020s he had been able to claim kingship over England, Denmark, Norway, and part of Sweden. Scotland had also submitted to his overlordship, and Viking raids against the British Isles had been ended. Now his brother Harold gains England, his son Hardicanute gains Denmark, and Sweyn gains Norway. The son of Sigurd Syr, sub-king of Ringerike in Norway, Harald III attempts to invade England with the help of King Harold's rebellious younger brother, Earl Tostig of Northumbria. The invasion is defeated at the Battle of Stamford bridge on 28 September, and both Harald and Tostig are killed. A period of prolonged civil war erupts in Norway, partially due to muddy succession laws but also due to various oppositions groups with their own interests in claiming the crown. Conflict is frequent and prolonged but there are periods in which it subsides to the level of a mere feud. 1130 - 1135 Magnus IV the Blinded Died 1139. 1130 - 1136 Harald IV Gillechrist 1136 Sigurd Horrid A deacon, held the throne for one day. 1136 - 1161 Inge I Crookback 1136 - 1161 Sigurd II the Mouth 1142 - 1157 Eystein III (II) 1154 The world atlas by the Arabic geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, which is commissioned by the Norman count of Sicily, Roger II, mentions that the king of FMRK has possessions in Norway. 'FMRK' refers to Finnmark ('Finn land'), the name for the northernmost part of Fennoscandia, which is still part of Kvenland. In the modern northern Norwegian county of Troms alone there are at least twelve prehistoric Kven place names, and Finnmark retains its name as Norway's northernmost county. c.1157 In his geographical chronicle, Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan, the Icelandic Abbot Níkulás Bergsson (Nikolaos) provides descriptions of the lands near Norway: Closest to Denmark is little Sweden (Svíþjóð), there is Öland (Eyland); then is [the island of] Gotland; then Hälsingland (Helsingaland); then Värmland (Vermaland); then two Kvenlands (Kvenlönd, perhaps Kvenland itself and Finland to the south, on the northern shore of the Baltic Sea), and they extend to north of Bjarmia (Bjarmalandi, the land of the Bjarmians). 1161 - 1162 Haakon II Broad-Shoulder 1160s By this time Erling 'Skakke' ('the Jolted', named as such after a war 'accident') has claimed much of the country on behalf of his son, Magnus V Erlingsson. Essentially two power blocs now exist in the civil war; the 'Baglers' (the church and the nobility led by Magnus V and his father), and the 'Birkebeiners' (shown in green, a motley crew of brigands, 'ravers', and other outcasts lead by King Sverre who holds his claim via his mother's side of the family). Once Magnus V is killed at the Battle of Fimreite in this year, Sverre is sole king of Norway. He also proves to be a great king, and perhaps one of the country's most important. In 1194, following a disagreement with the church (which supports the opposing Baglers), he is excommunicated by the Pope. Despite this, he continues to receive support both from Knut VI of Sweden and from Prince John in England, and relations with the Pope become insignificant with the resurgence of Bagler opposition. 1185 - 1188 Jon Cuvlung A Bagler. 1193 - 1194 Sigurd Magnusson A Bagler. 1196 - 1199 Inge Magnusson A Bagler. 1202 - 1204 Haakon III A Birkebeiner. 1204 Guttorm A Birkebeiner. 1204 - 1207 Erling Steinvegg A Bagler. 1204 - 1217 Philip Simonson Steinvegg A Bagler, in Opland & Viken, two main strongholds. 1204 - 1217 Inge II Baardson A Birkebeiner. 1203 - 1208 The four sons of Knut VI of Sweden have been living at King Sverker's royal court, but in 1203 they begin to stake their own claims for the throne. Sverker has them exiled to Norway, but they return with troops in 1205, supported by the Birkebeiner faction of Norway's nobility. Sverker is victorious at the Battle of Älgarås in which three of Knut's sons are killed. The surviving son, Eric Knutsson, retires back to Norway until 1208, when he is able to try again with further Norwegian support, and defeats Sverker at the Battle of Lena. Sverker is forced into exile in Denmark while Eric seizes the Swedish throne. 1209 Agreement is reached between the two warring factions. Inge rules the country while Philip Simonson rules in Viken in a nominally independence guise. 1217 The long-running period of civil war is finally ended following the deaths in this year both of Inge II and Philip Simonson. The thirteen year-old Haakon is chosen as sole king, with Skule Bårdsson acting as regent. The regency does not go smoothly, however, with Skule eventually rebelling against the king. Skule proclaims himself king in 1239 but is killed the following year, and with that country is finally at peace. 1217 - 1263 Haakon IV the Old Son of Haakon III. 1217 - 1240 Skule Bårdsson Regent. Rebelled and was killed. 1251 The Norwegians and Karelians engage in combat. 1262 The Icelandic Althing (Assembly) votes for union with Norway. 1263 - 1281 Magnus VI Lawmender 1271 Icelandic annals report the following to have happened in the mid-northern area of modern Norway: "Then Karelians and Kvens pillaged widely in Hålogaland." Torkel Knutsson, constable of Sweden, governor of Finland, and virtually king during the early years of the young King Berger, is arrested and, in February 1306, he is executed. Prince Waldemar, duke of Finland, divorces his wife, the late constable's daughter, and in 1312 marries Ingeborg Eriksdottir, daughter of the late King Eric II of Norway. Upon the death of Valdemar of Denmark, his daughter immediately secures the election of her infant son as his successor. The daughter is Margaret, wife of Haakon VI, having been engaged to him since the age of six. As Olaf is a baby, Margaret rules in his stead, proving to be an able and accomplished queen regnant. Haakon dies, leaving Queen Margaret to ensure that their son, Olaf, is proclaimed king in Norway, adding it to his territories. This creates the Union of Denmark and Norway, while Denmark also gains Greenland and Iceland. In reality, Margaret is again the de facto ruler, as Olaf is still a minor. 1387 - 1388 Olaf's sudden and unexpected death at the age of seventeen puts Margaret firmly in the driving seat as queen regent of Denmark and Norway. In effect, Norway is ruled as an appendage of Denmark. The nobility of Sweden, already unhappy with their own King Albert, invite Margaret to invade and take the throne. In 1388 she is accepted, at her own insistence, as 'Sovereign Lady and Ruler' of Sweden. Having promised to find a ruling king for the Scandinavian nations under her control, Margaret proclaims her great-nephew, Bogislaw of Pommern-Stolp, king of Norway with her ruling alongside him as specifically agreed for Norway. He receives the more acceptable Scandinavian name of Eric as he takes up his new position, although he is still a minor, so Margaret returns to the role of regent. In order to fully unite the three kingdoms under her control and promote her aim of securing peace and prosperity for Scandinavia, Margaret convenes the Congress of the Realm at Kalmar in June 1397. Eric is crowned king of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under the terms of the Union of Kalmar. Margaret remains regent for the rest of her lifetime so that even when Eric reaches his majority, she remains in control. (Eric is removed by the nobles in 1439, although Norway waits until 1440 to ratify this decision) and returns to Pommern-Stolp.) Christopher dies suddenly. In Norway, Sigurd Jonsson becomes regent in Norway for the second time while the nobles of the three nations decide who to elect as the new king. Sweden selects Karl while Denmark chooses Christian of Oldenburg. Norway debates selecting a third candidate for its own throne but eventually it also goes with Christian of Oldenburg (in 1450), although a portion elects Karl in opposition to Christian. Karl and Christian now jostle for supremacy in Scandinavia, and Karl is soon forced by the nobility to relinquish his claim on Norway. Christian remains Norway's king for the rest of his life. 1450 - 1536 The kings of Denmark rule Norway directly, largely in their minds as hereditary kings, but Norway often insists on a formal election process, confirming the king some time after he has been proclaimed in Denmark. From 1536, governors (statholders) are appointed to manage the country's internal interests. 1536 - 1551 Peder Hansen Litle 1539 The map of Scandinavia by Olaus Magnus shows a Kven settlement to the south of modern Tromsø in northern Norway, named 'Berkara Qvenar'. Integration is continuing, but Kvens are still easy to pick out in northern Scandinavia. c.1550s The first known Norwegian tax records mention Kvens. These records are stored at the Norwegian national archives (Riksarkivet). This is at a time, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, that the Swedish government is encouraging settlement in many wilderness and border areas in order to secure territories against fears of expansionism by the Russians. Even Sweden proper has its wilderness areas which require settlement. Thanks to this policy, many Finns migrate westwards across Scandinavia. Thousands of farmers from Savonia and Northern Häme make the journey as far as eastern Norway and central Sweden and become known as the Forest Finns. They help to turn forests to farmlands using slash-and-burn agriculture, and in return they are given land. More of them head north to Ostrobothnia and Kainuu, east towards Northern Karelia, and south towards Ingria (Swedish land at this time, but now within Russia). An estimated ten or fifteen per cent also cross the Baltic Sea in search of largely uninhabited land fit for their needs. Those Kvens who settle in Norway prior to the twentieth century - and in some cases prior to the Second World War - and their descendants are called Kvens today, as they had originated from the medieval area of Kvenland. Also, the descendants of all the native Kvens in northern Scandinavia continue to be known by that name. 1551 - 1556 Jesper Friis 1556 - 1572 Christiern Munk 1572 - 1577 Pouel Ottesen Huitfeldt 1577 - 1583 Ludvig Ludvigsson Munk of Norlund 1583 - 1588 Ove Juel 1588 - 1601 Aksel Gyldenstjerne 1601 - 1608 Jørgen Friis of Krastrup 1608 - 1618 Enevold Kruse of Hjermislov 1618 - 1629 Jens Hermansson Juel 1629 - 1642 Christopher Knudsson Urne of Asmark 1642 - 1651 Hannibal Sehested 1645 One of the first acts of Queen Christina of Sweden is to negotiate the peace with Denmark. She does so successfully, gaining all of modern Estonia when the Danes hand over the island of Ösel (Saaremaa) under the Treaty of Brömsebro, along with the island of Götaland. As a constituent of Danish holdings, Norway also has to concede territory, this being the districts of Härjedale and Jämtland which remain part of Sweden to this day. 1651 - 1655 Gregers Krabbe 1656 - 1661 Nils Trolle Trollesholl Gauno 1661 - 1664 Iver Tageson Krabbe 1664 - 1699 Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve Count Laurvig-Tønsberg. 1669 - 1675 Ove Juel Acting statholder. 1675 - 1682 Jens Juel Acting statholder. 1682 - 1694 Just Högh of Fultoffe Acting statholder. 1699 - 1708 Frederik Gabel 1708 - 1710 Johan Vibe 1710 - 1712 Ulrik Frederik Valdemar Baron Løvendal. 1712 - 1713 Claus Henrik Vieregg 1713 - 1722 Frederik Krag 1716 - 1718 Karl XII attempts to break the threat of attack on Sweden by Denmark, England, Hannover, Russia, and Saxony by attacking Norway, a vital part of Denmark's war effort. However, Swedish efforts are largely rebuffed. A repeat with greater numbers in 1718 ends prematurely when Karl is killed by a shot through the brain, and under potentially suspicious circumstances. 1722 - 1731 Ditlev Vibe 1731 - 1733 Patroclus Romeling Acting statholder. 1733 - 1739 Christian Count Rantzau. 1739 - 1750 Hans Jakob Arnold Acting statholder. 1750 - 1771 Jacob von Benzon 1751 For the past two centuries, Forest Finns have been settling a swathe of land in Norway from a point about 150 kilometres north of Oslo and covering a long stretch of border land between Norway and Sweden. That border is only now properly established between the two countries. Having secured the Swedish throne through force, Gustavus reintroduces an absolute monarchy, forcing parliament to accept a secondary role. Despite two failed military campaigns in 1788-1790, first to capture Norway and then to recapture the Baltic Provinces from Russia, he is still able to restore Sweden's military power and restore to the country some of its former sense of greatness. Denmark loses Norway, which then comes under the rule of Sweden from the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The post of statholder is retained, but now with Swedish nobles fulfilling the duties of office. From 1818, Sweden's new king is Karl XIV, but in Norway he is known as Karl III John. 1814 - 1816 Hans Henrik Count von Essen. 1816 - 1818 Carl Carlsson Count Mörner. 1818 - 1827 Johan August Count Sandels. 1827 - 1829 Baltzar Count von Platen. 1829 - 1836 The post of statholder is vacant. 1836 - 1840 Johan Caspar Herman Count of Wedel-Jarlsberg. 1841 - 1856 Severin Løvenskiold 1856 - 1873 The post of statholder is again vacant, and is abolished in 1873. Full rule of Norway returns to the kings of Denmark until 1905. 1905 Norway gains full independence on 7 June. On 12-13 August a plebiscite is held in which 368,392 male voters agree to formally end the union with Sweden. A total of 184 vote against the move. Women, unable to vote, collect 250,000 signatures in support of the move. The Norwegian government then asks Prince Carl of Denmark to become the country's new king. Following a highly successful vote on 12-13 November to establish whether the Norwegian people themselves want the prince, he arrives during a blizzard on 25 November, with his wife Maud (daughter of King Edward VIII of England), and his son Alexander. Carl changes his name to the more acceptable Haakon, and is welcomed as the first wholly Norwegian king for 600 years. When the First World War erupts on Continental Europe, all three of the Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, remain neutral. Sweden asserts its right to continue trading with the countries of its choice, whatever side they have taken in the war. In practice this favours Germany so the Allies, especially Great Britain's Royal Navy, blockade Sweden, causing a severe food shortage in 1916. As in the previous war, Sweden manages to remain neutral throughout the Second World War. Despite this, there are unofficial breaches of that neutrality on behalf of both sides in the war. German troops are shipped along Sweden's railways during their invasion of Russia in 1941, while the Allies are allowed to use Swedish airbases from 1944. There are several further examples. Neighbouring Denmark and Norway are both invaded and occupied by the Nazi Germans. During this period a fascist regime rules the country.	eng	ac76d6c8-73eb-45bc-8cde-b5afbfb15ac5	http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/ScandinaviaNorway.htm
short -- we're back to barriers... and in turn, back to the core idea that these laws are solely about a certain party and people of a certain ideological stripe wishing to keep people who predominantly vote in the other direction from votingI don't want to keep people from voting. But people have the right to one vote if they are eligible, not more than one. Large majorities of polling -- like this one from CNN showing 64-30 in favor of hiking taxes on the wealthy (defined in the poll at 1 million+ earners) -- support things you presumably do not support. It's easy to support things that affect other people, such as raising taxes on "the rich," but these voter ID laws affect every single voter. I doubt it was the wording that caused large percentages of minority groups to support laws that allegedly target them. Lunch breaks? Have you ever ridden a city bus any substantial distance? I ask seriously. Here in Chicago we have one of the most thorough transit systems in the country, and I can't get anywhere near a DMV and back during a normal lunch break. I said extra long lunch breaks in the part you didn't quote before you accused me of being disingenuous. I have asked you many questions - reasonable ones - and you never responded. But hey if you don't have an answer, not responding works. And in the post you are accusing me of "Being a troll" I am purposefully copying your language* (I can get cites if you want). I will let your strong claims of not being a troll argue with your claim of my being a troll. And hey, seriously, what is Libertarian thought on voting laws? State issue, Federal, what? I really am interested in what Libertarians think about it, because it is different than the normal three things Libertarians whine about and I want to hear what they say on something different. * Which may make that statement a bit Trollish I admit. Doesn't make me a Troll though. Unless one post destroys all my prior work (and thus I share something with Joe Pos).Except there is no appreciable voter fraud at the national level. And there's absolutely zero evidence that it has an electoral bias. The same Zimmerman whose prosecution the noted right-winger Alan Dershowitz has called "irresponsible and unethical"? And Dershowitz is right. The special prosecutor first stated that her job was to "seek justice for Trayvon." No. Her job is to seek justice. Period. That does not happen when she commits perjury in an affidavit by leaving out crucial facts relating to Zimmerman's self defense claim (i.e., that Zimmerman's head was bloodied). The prosecutor's job is not to prevent riots and it is not to railroad criminal defendants, no matter how contemptible the criminal defendant may be (and as I've said I think Zimmerman is contemptible for appointing himself mall cop and pursuing a kid with a freaking loaded weapon). The prosecutor shouldn't be overcharging (here, second degree murder is absurd), though of course they do this all the time. No offense but health care and voting are important issues. Now I grant there is much sound and fury signifying nothing all around those issues, but they are real issues. Or, if they are not, then what exactly is a real issue? An example of one such would be helpful. Yes, those are real issues and I care about them. Health care I've opined about. The voting is not really a fun issue, just some disgusting tactics that I hope doesn't influence a major election. Campaigning is one thing; depriving people of the right to vote is societal degradation. I'm a little more concerned with the great sweep of history. We are not at the end of history. But we might be at the end of an epoch, the end of the Enlightenment or something like that. I don't really want to be Rome II, but we well could be. In that case the next move is a chaotic one. There are signs to me that we are headed that way I regret the loss of some of our physical world - even 50 years ago people were far less dependent on devices. No one's prepared to go back to the farm any more. The economy just seems increasingly detached from reality. I guess it's like the fable of the bees, if you put up with the corruption you wind up with more materially in a large complex society than in the pure natural state. But at some point the hive gets too big, or too corrupt. Government and or business, it's all intertwined anyway. That's one where the best solutions really have no voice. It would probably help if Americans worked fewer hours, but labor has no power so there is no bargaining towards that. Of course, if a generation or two grows up with 20 hour temp jobs the only option for many, people may adopt that lifestyle by default. If no one you know works a 40 hour week, maybe it feels like a lot more work. There's a market adjustment for you. Jay Z - Ambitious post. I am not sure I can tackle the whole thing, but I will pick out a part if I may Yeah. Between computerization and globalization it seems to me that - absent governmental intervention - wealth will continue to concentrate in fewer (relatively) people's hands. Walmart makes very little on each transaction, but there are so many world wide that huge amounts of money and data flow to them. It is not whether or not they "deserve it" - imo Deserve has nothing to do with it - but what is the impact of that kind of global wealth. Then you combine that with huge amounts of data and the ability to do something with that data and it is a bit worrisome. But what to do about it? India (among many other nations) protects its retail industry. This limits Walmart in India, and protects the "mom-and-pop" stores, but at the cost of huge inefficiency. Is it better to have a more efficient economy that is Walmartized or a less efficient one? Even if it is better to have the more efficient one, what about the disruptive cost of moving from one state to the other? Historically (in the long run) it is better to be more efficient, because pretty much everyone benefits (better to be poor in modern America than a King in 1800s Europe). But just because it was before does not mean it is better going forward. The road from there to here was pretty bumpy and just because we ended up here does not mean we were "destined to be here" and certainly not that it will always work that way. The economic trends of the last few decades have been worrisome. The upper incomes have been "harvesting" a huge majority of the benefits of the increased efficiency and increased productivity, and if that continues then maybe less efficiency and more egalitarianism is a "better" way to go. It is a really good topic to discuss, because there are a bunch of ways to go and things to discuss. Maybe too many, but still. the eligibility for voting is if you're a citizen of the United States. What a photo ID is supposed to do is help determine that in a quick and efficient way [Tripon in #2649] This point brought up an interesting wrinkle, I think. For instance, La Dernière is not a US citizen. But she has a valid driver's license and owns a home with a proper mailing address. She can register to vote if she likes; she'd be violating the law and in a good deal of trouble (deportation, ultimately?) if she did, but I bet it would be a while before they caught her, if ever. How does the photo ID law prevent her from committing fraud? Auditing the rolls, and cross-comparing them to things like jury-pool lists (where she's properly on record as refusing jury service because she's ineligible) prevents this hypothetical fraud, but the ID doesn't do a dang thing, on its own. Interesting and you point out an important bit. The risk/reward of vote fraud (as opposed to election fraud) is very out of whack. In exchange for getting to vote extra times (which for any single person engaged in it) is of very limited utility (what do you gain?), but the punishment (risk) is pretty severe. One could argue the rewards are increased through collective action and payments, but then the risks of getting caught go way up and charges of conspiracy enter into it. Basically that is why there is no non-negligible vote fraud in the nation. And you are right the Voter ID is a solution, where it doesn't actually solve the problem and the problem isn't really there in the first placeigh. No one is "wishing to enable... voter fraud". The evidence says that to the extent it does happen at all, it's statistically insignificant.... and I still come back to the basic idea that individual voter fraud doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things - it's election fraud that matters. Given how enormously inefficient, difficult, and prone to detection even without photo IDs using ineligible voters/multiple-times-voting would be to accomplish election fraud, we're right back to the pointlessness of this endeavor unless your primary concern is less about fraud than it is erecting barriers to unfavorable demographics voting. Thanks to those who responded to me yesterday. I was under the impression that one needed a photo I.D. in order to hold most jobs, which would not by any means make it fair to need to have one in order to vote, but would mean that the vast majority of people would have found some way to get one. Apparently I was wrong about that. Prove it. If it's so pervasive that we need these voter ID laws to stop it, it should be easy to prove, right? While your at it, go ahead and prove that voter ID laws would actually solve the non-existent problem. We know, for example, that ID requirements have COMPLETELY eliminated the scourge of underage drinking, right? I don't want to keep people from voting. Right. I know how much it hurts your heart to raise the barriers to voting for thousands upon thousands of, generally speaking, poor people and minorities, but darn it, we need to stop that one guy who might bring down the whole election by voting more than once, so tough titties, folks. In exchange for getting to vote extra times (which for any single person engaged in it) is of very limited utility (what do you gain?), but the punishment (risk) is pretty severe. What's even more hilarious is that these a-holes couch these laws as a way to keep illegal immigrants from voting. I know if I was an illegal immigrant, the first thing I'd want to do is something illegal that leaves a record and brings me absolutely no material benefit. It's the perfect crime, reallyFrom a political standpoint I am actually OK with the Voter ID initiatives. Politics is about winning, getting your side's viewpoints enacted. And as discussed it is likely constitutional (depending on the details of course). I am even OK with the public spin put on it. I think the private (OK semi-private) refusal of some here to acknowledge it is politically based is silly but whatever. Of course from a political standpoint I am also OK with fighting against these measures (It does hurt my side after all) and also OK with the public branding of these measures (sauce for the goose and all that). From a political science standpoint I think it is much more interesting. Many nations have compulsory voting, and it is a mixed bag which do and do not (and many that do, do not enforce it). How easy or even mandatory should voting be? I think there are credible arguments on all sides of the issue. I don't think there is one right way. As I think about it I am becoming more in favor of more federal control over elections. We should have a national discussion about what kind of elections and rules around them we want and then implement them that way. I can see an argument for state control of many things, but what advantage is there for state control of election laws?The trouble is that some of our resident libertarians have chosen to be dishonest on this subject for some reason.Instead you had a bunch of political operatives brainstorming on how to help their side, old tried and true tactics include targeted election mailings with the wrong date listed, targeted mailings with the wrong polling address listed, etc etc... You have these operatives pouring over polls trying to discern how to separate "our" voters from "their" voters. Our voters live in areas A, B and C? Maximise the get out the vote, hell arrange free car pools if that is what it takes Their voters live in areas D, E and F? Hmmm, is it possible to close/move a polling or station or 2 (for budget reasons of course)... Lets' put up fliers (oops sorry about that typo) But that stuff is chicken feed. If poor people vote disproportionately for the other party- poll taxes are a great idea- oops they got banned. Voter ID, the US is the only advanced industrial nation that has a significant chunk of the voting age populace without government photo ID- why? various reasons, distrust of government, the linkage between car ownership and government issued ID... the poor vote D more than R, D voters are therefore more likely to vote D, disenfranchising non-drivers starts looking like a good idea... And the best part, is that on the surface, requiring voter ID certainly seems reasonable does it not?ays the man who calls Posnanski a liar. I do call him a liar, but as to the point at hand, presuming you're interested in discussing it as opposed to attempting to level irrelevant cheap shots (), if you read my #2701 and what I was responding to, you'll see that my statement you quote above was tongue in cheek. It was the flip of the "oh my god this is all about voter suppression." () So much for Dan's romantic notion that Johhny Sycophant is only interested in high level discussion. ThatI don't think there is a clear "libertarian view" on the subject. For me, it's an obligation, so it's inherently suspect, but on the other hand, it's a process that is itself part of government. You can't "get the government out of the election business." I oppose voter ID laws because I strongly believe that: 1) they are a solution looking for a problem, 2) they don't really have a significant effect even for the purpose of solving that supposed problem, 3) it will be an obstacle to voting for a number of legitimate voters. I see an ID requirement as a fairly trivial one because I already use a photo id regularly. That said, I've been in situations where I had to make several trips in order to renew my driver's license and it took a healthy chunk out of two daysYes, that does happen frequently. I got a warning in 2007 driving through New Mexico (71 in a freaking 65) but it got recorded in the system as me owing... wait for it... $0... which I of course never paid, because you don't pay fines of $0 and I didn't even know about it anyway, but it created a whole issue where I had to spend hours on multiple days in the NY DMV clearing the New Mexico "fine" so I could renew my NY license. (I blame racism against Italians.) So yes, there are always silly issues to deal with. But so what? That is no different from anything else. Poor people can deal with them just like non-poor people do. What the hell. Every year friends and I take a road trip and every year we have our cop friend drive. Only been pulled over once and wow did the officer's attitude change when he realized another cop was driving. We got off (of course).Sometimes it really makes me wonder if some of these folks actually vote or have registered -- Here in Illinois - the DMV will ask whenever I renew my license, my plates, change an address, etc if I want to register.... well and good. The county board of elections sends out regular canvas cards to verify - if the cards get returned, the registration is stricken. We don't have a photo ID -- but I can't just walk in and request a ballot... I have to provide my name and address; the poll worker looks it up in the precinct book, I sign for receipt of the ballot, they compare my signature to the original from my registration and give me my ballot. Now - remember... I'm a Democrat in a blue state, living in a Democratic Chicago (and in a very blue district). I volunteer with my local ward. I've phone banked, door knocked, even driven people to the polls. I know my ward boss. In short - while I'm no big player or insider, I'm certainly known to be a reliable, solid Democrat. However, in 2008 - I actually had to cast a provisional ballot. While I hadn't changed addresses - I had moved from a first floor to second floor apartment at the exact same address (it was a 3 flat, so I never bothered recording the apt #). Apparently, I missed a canvass card/a canvass card got returned and I forgot to verify my registration prior to the election. The poll worker actually knew me -- but she wasn't able to find me in the book... Again - this is in a hardcore Democratic precinct that probably goes 95% Democratic. I'm a known Democrat. If there was even "light" fraud happening -- wouldn't it have happened here? Wouldn't I have been just given a ballot? It's just such a dishonest canard that it boggles my mind -- and especially coming from people who constantly bemoan unnecessary government and bureaucratic red tape. I grew up on Long Island, there really are no speed "traps" on Long Island. I drove on the Island, I'd drive into NYC, no speed traps there (generally speaking it s physically impossible to "speed" on most roads at most times- though I once got a speeding ticket on the Grand Central- there a section where the limit goes from 55 to 45 for no apparent reason- and while reaching 55+ generally never happens on that road, it is possible on days where there are no accidents/pothole repairs going on for traffic flow to hit 50-55mph, so I was nailed for doing "53" in a 45 zone- and I was, but so was everyone else- the cop who got me wasn't so much lying in wait as simply matching speeds with random cars, pulling them over, ticketing them, and circling back around on the GC and nailing someone else...) But upstate New York, lordy, some of those small towns... but they are "nice" about it- the town justice's are more than willing t let a speeder plea "down"- speeding would carry a fine of X, but illegal "parking," would carry a fine of 2X I'm sure quite a few people here can say why it might be a good idea to plea "down" to a higher fine... Seriously, though, has anyone other than me ridden a Greyhound from Seattle to Miami? Poor people can deal with them just like non-poor people do. What the hell. Voter IDs is really not one of my issues, but your ignorance of reality is. As long as we're at it, why don't you also 2.) tell me that the percentage of income lost by that trip is equal for the two of you. What "boggles the mind" is the idea that requiring someone to show an ID before they vote is <gasp!> an outrage. People already have to show ID to vote. The point of the legislation is to limit the kinds of ID so as to disenfranchise certain demographics. A gas bill with your address on it and your name, with your signature, is an ID. It's just the sort of ID that poor people might have, and the GOP wants to limit the number of poor people who vote. With that said, if voter registration was federalized and whatever federal agency was in charge of that mailed out voter ID (with pictures!) and mail-in ballots to every citizen when they turned 18, I'd be much better with that than this obvious ploy by the GOP to suppress voter turnout that they don't like. I'm sure quite a few people here can say why it might be a good idea to plea "down" to a higher fine Can only speak for a few flyover states, but point systems are generally what the drivers care about, as that impacts insurance, keeping/losing your DL, and of all of the traffic matters I handled 99% of the drivers were aiming to get the points reduced and were indifferent as to the fines. If we would amend a citation 'downwards' to a nonmoving violation, or something with fewer 'points', it was taken. The fines in our jurisdiction didn't 'increase', but we never dropped the fines. The last time I participated in a voter ID thread, I proposed the idea of setting up cameras and printers at every polling station so that those who did not have a photo ID could get one and then vote. The last time I participated in a voter ID thread, I proposed the idea of setting up cameras and printers at every polling station so that those who did not have a photo ID could get one and then vote. Acceptable compromise? Works for me. And this avoids the whole "people can't take 2 hours off during the working day!" fiction. No one, of course. But staying in this robotic do-loop is Ray's way of avoiding acknowledgement of the obvious partisan political basis of the issue. It's inherent in your argument. What if I said that people should be allowed to pay income taxes on the honor system without showing copies of their W2 forms and such? Wouldn't you find that unacceptable? So why should people be able to vote on the honor system, without showing an ID?As long as we're at it, why don't you also 2.) tell me that the percentage of income lost by that trip is equal for the two of you. I lose no income, as a salaried employee. ButThe last time I participated in a voter ID thread, I proposed the idea of setting up cameras and printers at every polling station so that those who did not have a photo ID could get one and then vote.How about this? Show photo ID if you've got it. If you don't, have someone with ID vouch for you. If you don't have that, put a thumbprint on the register book, which can be scanned and examined for duplicates and other issues (felons voting). Having that as a record of your act should be enough to dissuade anyone sane from trying to vote twice or vote when they aren't allowed to, and the ink on your finger would discourage people from trying to vote illegally repeatedly. Cost of this proposal...99 cents per polling place for a stamp pad, if they don't already have one. Even that is excessive, I think, but it provides a way to track people who are breaking the law. If I was someone without ID, I'd rather not have my thumb inked, but I'd much rather do that than not vote or spend hours and money getting an ID I don't needI maintain that it is you who have no idea what you are talking about here, so I guess it's an impasse. ButIf this is some kind of plea for sympathy, I'd suggest trying something else. I've worked plenty of low paying jobs - including summers in college where I worked sanding floors for near minimum wage. The regular full-time workers there absolutely could take off a couple hours during the work day if need be And not zero. The goal from a statistical (and I think utilitarian and democratic -- not Democratic) perspective is to maximize the "1"s and the expense of the 0s and 2-20s. It practically a given that any restriction on voting (i.e. IDs) can only reduce turnout: i.e., increase the number of zeros (although I guess technically there could be a secondary effect where the LAW ITSELF inspires someone to vote that otherwise would not). It is also practically a given that such restrictions can only reduce certain kinds of multiple votes (although again secondarily having some "security" in place for fraud strategy "A" might inspire or facility through laxity fraud strategy "B" - for example, forging IDs to vote) The bottom line is that fraudulent votes are no worse than denied votes when the number of votes cast is large in proportion to both. So, in order to justify this law or any other fraud law you would have to make a good argument that Fraudulent votes stopped > True votes suppressed AND that this number was at least 0.1% or whatever the random statistical error is in a given election. It's not really much different that over-enforcing welfare fraud or tax fraud. Since, from the government's (and hence tax payers') perspective there no utility difference between a dollar stolen by fraud and a dollar spent to stop fraud, you have to be damn sure your security dollars are spent efficiently. And in fact the ideal might be to simply ADVERTISE that you have some awesome security to discourage fraud. Let's say - those fancy backscatter xrays machines in Airports - maybe they are just placebos. EDIT - I see Ray posed this in a similar way with his honor system W2s. The answer is, "Yes" of course there's nothing wrong with honor system W2s as long as the revenues stay the same (modulo the budget of the IRS). The IRS has a budget of $13B (proposed) for 2012. I would say as long as only $13B was underpaid (what's that ... 0.5% of tax receipts?) it would be fine. I maintain that it is you who have no idea what you are talking about here, so I guess it's an impasse. I maintain that you should get your head out of a Daily Kos book and go watch the real world. Your position that a minimum wage worker can't take a couple hours off every several years is utterly bizarreI maintain that you should get your head out of a Daily Kos book and go watch the real world. Your position that a minimum wage worker can't take a couple hours off every several years is utterly bizarre. I've never even opened up Daily Kos, you simple blowhard. (Now that I think about it, what exactly is a "Daily Kos book"?) And of course there's no such thing as CAN'T, it was my fault for falling into that trap by using that word. But as you equated the process for you and the po'folk, it costs the poor people more money, more problems, and more political capital in the workplace. It is NOT THE SAME for you and they as you state so blithely in #2728, that was my whole point. Oh, there is, however, a mechanical difference in voting vs. paying taxes (unless we are in the Democratic Republic of GoodFacia) - (legal) voting is binary and paying taxes is quantitative. So it's quite easy to steal 10% of your taxes due to the government by under reporting -- even with the $13B IRS Jackbooted Thug Patrol --, but quite hard to steal 100%. You cannot fradulently vote 1.1 times (and of course, why would you want to).First off - I'm not in favor of a photo ID law. With that said, who cares about cost? Those pushing for the registration laws don't care, and I think it can probably be done for less than you are claiming. As for who am I giving an ID? I personally would just make it an ID that was ONLY valid for voting. So whatever is needed to register in a district is good enough for a voting ID. But I assume that isn't good enough for those pushing for voter ID in the first place, so I'd make it a system set up to help folks get the necessary information required to get a photo ID. Cast a provisional ballot and produce the 'proper' identification later. Or, don't even worry about the 'provisional' part of it, and just help those who want to vote get a valid picture ID in time for the next election. But as you equated the process for you and the po'folk, it costs the poor people more money, more problems, more political capital in the workplace. It is NOT THE SAME for you and they as you state so blithely in #2728, that was my whole pointSo yes, there are always silly issues to deal with. But so what? That is no different from anything else. Poor people can deal with them just like non-poor people do. What the hell. 1) Why should we create more silly issues for people to deal with? If we're going to add another layer of complication, with all of its attendant nuisances, there should be a compelling problem that such a layer will solve. I have yet to see a serious argument that voter fraud as it actually occurs (or even a realistic theoretical voter fraud) is such a problem that creates such a demand. (I'm open to such an argument, and willing to change my mind on the issue if presented with a compelling reason.) 2) Poor people don't deal with issues like this "just like" non-poor people. They pay a higher price. Is it such an obstacle that a person can't possibly get an ID? Of course not. Is it the sort of obstacle that takes someone who already has a more difficult life and makes it more difficult? Absolutely. Will some people who would otherwise vote decide not to because of the nuisance of obtaining a photo ID? Almost certainly.Another under-25 suburban mass murderer developed right here in the USA. This one in med school a few months agoHere's the "what the F." Have you ever worked, or worked closely with anyone that you know of, in a "right to work" state? I ask, not as some sort of gotcha or indictment of your work history, but because in my experience the habits and abilities of wage per hour workers to take off blocks of time in the middle of the day is significantly different in, say, Alabama or Georgia, than in MA or NYAnd here I was thinking "good on the Longthreaders for not delving into rash politicization of that Aurora horror show until some vaguely useful details emerge, at least." I'm sure they'll get over it, as they're busy reaping the benefits of the tax dollars people like me provide, as they get from the "social contract" more than they put in. Actually, you get more. Your ability to have a disproportionately high amount of resources is protected by the system. I am also skeptical of what you really "give" to society in your chosen profession. Most of us do little more than facilitate some form of wealth transfer. Do you make the lives of your fellow citizens better? What do you build?Wealth, unlike pee, trickles up. I'm not sure why you spend all your time hating on poor people for leeching off you, when your tax dollars, like mine, are in fact subsidizing the existence of people like Mitt Romney far more than they are the average CVS worker. I have more respect for poor people than you do, apparently. According to you, getting a photo ID is a huge endeavor for them. This entire thread is a sad commentary of how progressives view poor people, of how condescending progressives are to themAny. #### happened last friggin' night. I think a week's moratorium on using it as a lever to catapult whatever personal flaming balls of poo we wish to launch into the air isn't unreasonable. Just because the internet exists and Reddit's providing a running timeline doesn't mean it's wise to comment on it outside of \"####'s ###### up and ####."My wife just started work at a new job. She gets no sick time or paid vacation. She can blow off work during the day for a couple of hours to run errands, but she loses money every time she walks out the door. It's not a problem for us, because we have two cars, money in the bank, and I have a really flexible schedule with my job, plus no kids. We live in SC, FWIW. She also doesn't get paid holidays, but since she works with salaried people who do, she loses a day's pay on those joyous occasions. Ray's equating working a couple of summer jobs in a northeastern state with universal knowledge of what it's like to be poor in the US. That seems to be the height of arrogance. But Ray's never been afraid to be underservingly arrogantYeah, something like that could never happen in a healthy society like Norway or Finland. The last time I participated in a voter ID thread, I proposed the idea of setting up cameras and printers at every polling station so that those who did not have a photo ID could get one and then voteAgain, nice try. No. That was never your argument, nor was it mine. Your argument - see #2728 - was that it's the same hardship, the same endeavor for poor people as non-poor people, which is false. Until you admit that reality, you can stop patting yourself on the back. Guess there must be something political going on with this on the blogosphere ... what is it?It's this sort of thinking that I absolutely cannot fathom... I know Ray has supposedly spent time on the other side of the median income line -- so have I. Living poor sucks. It sucks that when I was either hopping turnstyles or begging quarters for a train ride to work, it was still costing me money every month just to have a banking account so I could cash my check without paying for access to my wages. I find it ironic and tragic that now that a balance fee would be nothing but a nuisance - I no longer face them. It sucks eating crappy fast food or similarly crappy ramen/etc that isn't good for you, but is the only thing that fits in your budget. And yes - it's not an insurmountable endeavor to get a photo ID, but it DOES come at a price. It boggles my mind that people are so intent on punishing further, on making things more difficult for people that have plenty of difficulties without new ones being created. There was a solid 5 year period of my life where life alone felt like a punishment. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Screw the strawman about condescension or 'giving things away' to the poor -- I've been there. I worked hard while I was poor and I work hard now (in fact, I probably worked harder back in those days). There's nothing wrong with hard work - I encourage it... but this constant rijiggering of the maze, as if to see how much harder we can make life for the poor drives me friggin' crazy. I don't condescend to the poor - I just object to making ordinary, everyday parts of life and normal participation in society more difficult than it has to be. I would prefer to remove difficulties that can be reasonably removed. Going through such nonsense didn't make me more responsible, it didn't teach me the value of hard work, it didn't make me a better person -- it was just years of misery that in retrospect, I wish had been less miserable... Those years are in the past for me - but if a situation comes up where some small element of those obstacles can be reasonably eliminated from others who ARE still in that place, then WTF not [Edit: so zonk has had some experience with actual poverty, it seems] of my own voice). Edit: For example, I find myself agreeing with both Ray's point that some liberals seem to be talking down to poor people by generalizing about what they are able to do, would be willing to do, etc., and also with zonk's post immediately above. Of course, as he points out, he's not talking down to poor people. I don't mean, either, to imply that I think anyone's doing that intentionally.What's especially ironic about all it -- and I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that we ought to just STFU -- these things almost always seem to boil down to anger... doesn't matter if it's a Beck listener on a mission to shoot up an environmental NfP or an OWS type planning a series of bombings for a NATO summit -- anger, anger, anger... so what do far too many people give us of my own voice). Never quite reached that point -- completely recognize that you can find people that have been poor and come out of it believing in a conservative ideology, believing in a liberal ideology, or somewhere in between... As I said above, for me personally, it's a situation I just wouldn't wish on anyone -- and while I don't expect to fix the world or make life peaches and cream for all the poor, and while I likewise think hard work is important, of paramount importance -- I just cannot fathom any attitude that doesn't look upon such situations with an eye towards "what silly little obstacles can I remove from your menu hardships so you can focus on getting over the major hurdles?" For me at that time -- free public transit would have helped. Food stamps did help. Subsidized housing would have helped (I applied, but got nowhere). This entire thread is a sad commentary of how progressives view poor people, of how condescending progressives are to them. From reading this sub-thread on voter ID, it seems more like a sad commentary on how some are either unable or unwilling to engage with reality, and also their abject hypocrisy when it comes to invoking the "big bad Government." Others have said this already (Crosbybird among them, very succinctly), but it seems to need more repetitionFor example, the genesis of this thread was ACA/Healthcare. ISSUE: There are people without health insurance. PROBLEM: We might disagree that this is a problem, but the majority seemed to think so. ADDRESSES ISSUE: Require people to get health insurance. In the Voter ID context: [PURPORTED] ISSUE: Voter Fraud is occurring on a noticeable/identifiable scale. But the analysis short-circuits right there. Before we even get to whether "Voter ID" would address this "issue," we need to recognize there is no "there" there. There is no issue. As others have said there is no voter fraud occurring on a noticeable/identifiable scale. Does someone disagree with this? Ray's rejoinder seems to be: ISSUE: Each person is entitled to only one vote. But again, the analysis short-circuits right there. Where is the evidence that a noticeable/identifiable group of people are getting more than the one vote to which they're entitled? The burden is on the proponent of the problem to demonstrate that it exists before the rest of us have to waste our tax money solving said problem, right?Is there someone with evidence that voter fraud on an individual scale is occurring? Please step forward if so. Then, and only then, can a discussion be had concerning whether Voter ID is the right solution.It's a silly, righty distraction -- a cheapjack way to take potshots at the poor and hourly workers. Complete waste of time and mental energy. From reading this sub-thread on voter ID, it seems more like a sad commentary on how some are either unable or unwilling to engage with reality, Fully agreedAbject hypocrisy indeed, that progressives are suddenly concerned about these things. If progressives truly cared about a, b, and c, we could slash tax revenue by 50% or more. States presumably have an interest to count everyone (arguably cheat and over-count) because it means more representatives and federal dollars. You want to surpress vote, keep them off the census too and have it cost your state. Now for members of the Republican Syndicate, their fealty to that syndicate probably outweighs the interests of the state they purportedly represent, and they will still opt to repress. It's then the duty of the voters to move such people out of elected offices to prevent your state from losing representation and dollars to states who are allowing everyone to vote.'ve never been on that level. Once, I had to go to court to buy enough time to avoid an eviction but at the time I still had a car, health insurance (through COBRA, part of why I couldn't make my rent), internet access, etc. The closest I've been to truly poor is living without health insurance and not being able to afford eating anything more expensive than ramen noodles or a bowl of pasta with sauce from a jar for a few meals each week. I slept on an air mattress in my living room (no bed, no couch) for about a month. It wasn't for very long, and I always knew that my family simply wouldn't let me be homeless, but it was enough to get a taste of some of the ways poor people get screwed invisibly. (I was charged monthly fees for failing to maintain a minimum balance. I couldn't afford to buy things in bulk because I couldn't scrape together enough money at one time.) I don't pretend to REALLY understand what it's like to be poor, but I did get a sense of the worst part of all: the anxiety. I don't pretend to REALLY understand what it's like to be poor, but I did get a sense of the worst part of all: the anxiety. But you don't understand. The poor don't spend their days in anxiety driven depression trying to figure out how to keep a roof over their heads and the heat/AC running. They spend it dancing around because they're going to get tax credits in 9 months! Lucky duckies, the lot of them.	eng	9fc20afd-296b-40ea-9c7d-58095cc505ab	http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/newsstand/discussion/obamacare_decision_as_baseball_the_runner_is_safe_so_now_what/P2700
In 2012, the Mexican government had granted rights to 2,173,141 hectares of indigenous territory to transnational mining companies. Indigenous communities have lost jurisdiction over 17% of their lands through mining concessions in the last 100 years, not including hydroelectric projects. The majority of these concessions in indigenous territories were granted by the last two PAN governments under the Salinas government's neoliberal mining law. Number of concessions granted in indigenous territories, 2000-2012 Gold 2814 Silver 71 Copper 25 This small table of recent land concessions indicates that the most profitable form of open pit mining is currently gold. In 2009, the global use of gold is spread across private investments (18%), official reserves (16%), jewelry (52%) and industrial purposes (10%). It is incredible how the fetishism surrounding gold has wreaked such economic, social, cultural, and environmental havoc. As massive industrial mines are exhausted, gold dust or particles are collected in rock or gravel deposits. To obtain tiny volumes of the metal—a medium-depth mine yields just .7 grams per ton removed—large tracts of land must be acquired to explore precise sites of mining interest. Industrial open-pit mining produces craters. The material removed is placed in large pools, and sodium cyanide, as the cheapest and most "efficient" compound, is used to leach the metal. After various accidents, the use of sodium cyanide in the leaching process has been prohibited in some European countries. The same European companies, however, intend to open a production plant for this highly toxic compound in Mexico. These intensive industrial processes are high risk, and can't be both sustainable and competitive, as SEMARNAT claims. The environmental scars (including the destruction of ecosystems and biodiversity) social scars, and economic scars are long lasting. It is a model that carries high risks for human and environmental health and generates significant amounts of greenhouse gasses without providing any benefit our towns, municipalities, states, and the nation. Most of the concessions in indigenous territories are in the exploration phase or in search of investors, while 106,833 hectares are already being mined. According to the mining law, the government is obligated to inform the landowners of its intention to grant a concession and inquire as to whether there is local interest in exploiting the minerals, and give "preferential" status to these local interests. There are greater instances of illegal concession in indigenous territory concessions, since international conventions for free and informed consent (Convention 169 OIT, U.N. Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Communities and the "Protocol for imparting justice in cases involved the rights of indigenous peoples and communities" in the Mexican Supreme Court) are ignored by the Secretary of the Economy. Some concessions cover nearly all of the territories of small indigenous groups in the north of the country, including the Kiliwas, Kikapoo, Cucapas, Pimas, Guarijios, and Pápagos–all peoples that are in danger of disappearing. Groups hit hardest are the Rarámuri, (Tarahumaras), Zapotec (mainly in the central valleys of Oaxaca), Chatinos, Mixtecos, Coras and Tepehuanes, and the Nahua of Michoacán. Concessions in these territories total more than one million hectares. What does the government handing over the country to transnational mining companies mean for indigenous groups? By 2012, the PAN governments had given 31 million hectares to these large companies. Many concessions cover marine areas, environmentally protected areas, indigenous territories, peasant communities, and ejidos. Lands are handed over often without even informing the inhabitants. This pattern of land redistribution is happening on a global scale. Mining concessions are part of the territorial dispossession of thousands of Mexicans, transferring land to large mining consortia, mostly foreign. For indigenous and peasant communities, the incursion of this type of mining on their lands means no commons to administer, no social relations to establish, no nature to administer, no ancient knowledge systems to reproduce, no gardens to sow, no plants to domesticate. In short, it means cultural death, generated by the collision between an industrial project of the culture of death and the implicit, regional projects of the indigenous and campesino communities over a given territory. For these communities, it is part of a serious neocolonial process, whereby jurisdiction over lands and lives, over Mesoamerican cultural relations to the land, to the ecosystems, and to natural resources including water are lost. ]]> of U.S. Law in Mexico 13 Jun 2013 20:53:14 +0000Dawn Paley Five Years Later, U.S.-Backed Legal Reforms in Mexico Show Few Results It has been five years since Mexican legislators approved a series of changes to Mexico's constitution relating to security, the justice system, and organized crime. The changes, it was promised, would make the courts system more reliable and open, and protect the rights of citizens. The reforms introduced spoken arguments in trials, the presumption of innocence and an adversarial criminal process, marking what experts call a "paradigmatic shift in Mexican jurisprudence." While the new system has support in high places, it also has its detractors, many of whom point out that the legal reforms were "Made in the USA." It's "the Monroe Doctrine applied in our courts, and, in short, all the way to the Supreme court," according to Francisco Rodriguez, a Mexican columnist. For Oscar Castrejón Rivas, President of the Lawyers College of Chihuahua, the constitutional adjustments and the changes to the Mexican legal system that they imply have done little to improve access to justice in Mexico. His organization represents eight law associations in Chihuahua State. "What has happened, in our view as community members from Chihuahua and also as members of lawyers' forums, is a counter reform, something very distinct from what was promised by Washington through USAID," Castrejón said during an interview earlier this year. Chihuahua was a pilot state for the legal reform, which as of June 2012 has been introduced in 20 of the country's 31 states and Federal District. Since the new Criminal Procedure Code became effective in Chihuahua on Jan. 1, 2007, there have been over 300 reforms to the penal code. According to Castrejón, these reforms have pushed his state's legal system back into the dark ages. Castrejón is a busy man, with a practice in Chihuahua City and clients all over the state. I interviewed him as he drove his white Mini Cooper from his office to the nearby city of Cuauhtémoc. I asked him what concretely has changed and he rattled off one example after another. Because of the reforms, he says, people accused of stealing an item worth less than $25 can be held without bail. Diversion programs were cancelled, multiple sentences were made consecutive instead of simultaneous, and life sentences were introduced. The defense is no longer allowed to see the investigation file before hearings, he says, and eyewitnesses can testify directly in front of prosecutors without a defense attorney present. "Legislative power and juridical power cozied up to executive power, and they cancelled many of the rights that were originally in the Criminal Procedure Code, and which are in our constitution, basically cancelling out the presumption of innocence, which is the central axis of the adversarial criminal system," said Castrejón. In addition to making the system less just, he says, the changes have also failed to reduce crime. "Two years ago, that was the argument so that the population would accept these reforms… Two years later, what we see is that crime is worse." Management Systems International (MSI), which was contracted by USAID to promote and carry out legal reforms in Mexico, maintains Chihuahua has what is "considered to be the most advanced, progressive criminal justice Code in Latin America." MSI, using U.S. taxpayer money, sent politicians from Chihuahua to Chile and Argentina to study their justice systems. Both South American countries underwent the transition towards an accusatorial system in the 1990s, funded by USAID, the World Bank, the United Nations and the Inter-American Development Bank. USAID reports praise the reforms and claim they're working. But Castrejón isn't alone in feeling duped by the changes. According to a 2011 study by the University of San Diego's Trans-Border Institute, "More than half of the respondents —especially judges— indicated that Mexico's traditional inquisitorial system was both efficient and effective, and at least a third feel that the traditional system was disparaged by a deliberate, negative campaign designed to promote a shift to the new adversarial system." The ongoing reforms to Mexico's legal system represent the most recent development in campaigns that have spanned decades attempting to change the way laws are written and enforced south of the U.S. border. USAID has been sponsoring Rule of Law programs in Latin America since JFK launched the Alliance for Progress at the apex of the cold war. And after more than 50 years of U.S.-designed attempts at legal reform, some experts do not see progress. "I don't think there is any evidence that these programs work," legal scholar and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill law professor Deborah M. Weissman told the Americas Program. "There's no doubt that the Mexican legal system needs improvement. Mexicans know that," said Weissman. "They're not doing nothing about it. What they're doing is vastly different than what the United States is pushing on them." When the reforms started, Mexican jurists felt that the reforms came from the top down, without meaningful participation from local lawyers or judges or examination of existing Mexican Rule of Law initiatives, explains Weissman. Weissman points out that what the U.S.-backed legal reform programs are doing in Mexico is strengthening prosecutors, and that there is no training for jury trials under the new system. "If you look at the allocation of Rule of Law money; it's for surveillance it's for 'activating', whatever the heck that means, new prisons in Mexico; it's for training Mexicans with regard to the adversarial and oral trial systems, yet they do not introduce the jury system." A study carried out by researchers working for the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States found that compared with citizens of other countries, Mexicans expressed confidence in the ability of jurors to make fair decisions, and showed willingness to participate as jurors. "The great majority of Mexicans have also supported the broader application of lay participation in the administration of justice," reads the study. Regardless, in the U.S. government reports reviewed by Weissman, there is no reference to training or introducing jury trials in Mexico. U.S. funding for legal reforms in Mexico was integrated into the Mérida Initiative, a U.S. foreign aid package launched in Mexico in 2008 to provide funding and support for militarizing the drug war. In 2009, USAID awarded a $66.3 million dollar contract to Coffey International, the Australian company that owns Management Systems International. The contract, which ends in 2014, was to provide "support for legal reforms" in Mexico as part of the Merida Initiative. "These Rule of Law programs are always married to military expansion, just like the Merida Initiative," said Weissman, who notes that Rule of Law programs are a centerpiece of the U.S. Army's counterinsurgency manual. "You have a Rule of Law program in what is essentially a plan to militarize the drug war. You see that everywhere." Weissman, whose detailed examination of the U.S. role in Mexico's legal reforms will be published next year in the Cardozo Law Review, is skeptical about what exactly the United States has to teach other countries about law. "We are so punitive, and so disproportionate, and so racist, how could we be the model?" she asked. Dawn Paley is a freelance journalist and independent researcher. She is regular contributor to the CIP Americas Program . See more of her work online at dawnpaley.caPhoto: Caracol ProduccionesurrenceU.S. militarization of the Mexico border has claimed 5,000 lives since the late 1990s. The U.S. government spent more than $18 billion last year on predator drones, bombardier aircraft, black hawk helicopters, sophisticated surveillance systems, 22,000 armed border guards and 651 miles of steel wall at the border. This has pushed migrants – often fleeing the dire consequences of US economic policy – to take the only remaining passage north: the deadly Sonora desert. The desert has claimed most of the 5,000 migrants killed entering the United States. Dehydration, dysentery, heatstroke, hypothermia, and sheer exhaustion are often lethal. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill that the Senate will debate this week only exacerbates this deadly situation, mandating billions of dollars to exponentially increase border militarization before putting anyone on the path to citizenship.coyAfter this experience, I came to see the urgency of engaging the SOA Watch movement to resist the militarization of our border and its deadly consequences. The story of Maria and Jose and others presented below are a compelling call to action. There are many things we can do to make a difference—whether it's taking one minute to email your senator to say no to more border militarization, or reaching out to immigrants in your own community, or joining us at the Stewart Immigration Detention Center during the SOAW vigil weekend in November. What we cannot do, is to allow this to continue. Maria's Story Maria's roommates from the shelter in Nogales, Mexico, carried her gently into the room where members of our SOAW Border delegation had gathered to talk to some of the migrants recently deported to Mexico. After five days traversing Arizona's Sonora desert, her frail and swollen legs had given out, and she was unable to walk. Next to her sat Sofia, able to walk -barely -but with large black and purple bruises on her arms from six days of IV fluids. She was flown out of the desert by a rescue helicopter, unconscious. Both women smiled shyly, in seeming contrast to their battered bodies and they horrors they had just lived through. Or maybe not.–maybe their smiles revealed an awareness of the sheer miracle of still being alive. The desert had taken the power out of Maria's legs, but it did not claim her spirit. Maria told us that once the swelling goes down and her knees are able to again carry her 100-lb body, she'll head out to try to cross the desert once more. I was astonished, having just walked a small piece of that same desert two days earlier. We had gone to do a water drop on a migrant trail with the expert guidance of No More Death's volunteer, Steve. This group, along with the Samaritans, makes daily treks into the desert to leave water for migrants. The fact that we picked up more empty jars than we left was testimony that it was fulfilling its purpose: saving lives. Although I drank water like a camel and knew that an air conditioned van was awaiting me, I was utterly depleted after only after three hours in the desert, one of the most brutal in the world. The desert is scattered with small shrines that mark where dead bodies have been retrieved: 5,000 of them in the past 15 years, plus an untold nuimber more whose named and remains the desert will never reveal. Still reeling from my own mini journey, I asked Maria why take this risk again? Her answer was one I immediately understood: her children were on the other side. State-of-the-art military technology doesn't stop moms like Maria, even as the industrial military complex falls over itself to gain bids for the extra $6.8 billion dollars the Senate wants to spend for more border militarization. They are willing to risk everything to be united with their children, to put food on their tables. What this militarization does is to push migrants to the deadliest route. Even as overall immigration is waning in recent years, border deaths remain constant. A hundred years ago, if Maria's name were Laura Ingalls, her story of braving treacherous lands to forge a new life or reunite with family would have been part of the mythical fabric of our nation. Children in elementary schools would be required to read her tale. One difference: Laura was stepping into lands never owned by her ancestors , while Maria was heading to land that had long been part of her native Mexico. But instead of being a heroine, Maria is a criminal. Today, while Washington debates the decriminalization of some immigrants (after all, our society would fall apart without immigrant workers), quietly, our tax dollars are going to criminalize and imprison tens of thousands of immigrants in our own communities. Tax Dollars to Streamline Injustice We witnessed this public policy schizophrenia in the Federal courthouse in Tucson where 60 immigrants – shackled with chains on their hands and feet, looking exhausted after days in the desert – were paraded in groups of five before a judge, and sentenced to an average of four month in jail. Their crime was entry without inspection. The whole process, called Operation Streamline, took only two hours and cost tax payers a million dollars. And that price tag is just for one session in one courthouse on one day. The same thing happens in six border city courthouses each week day. And the new Senate bill hopes to triple that. Immediately after Streamline, the immigrants are escorted to prison, mostly private ones. Schools in the US may be closing, but private prisons, such as those run by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), are being opened and expanded at an astonishing rate. This is mostly due to the new trend of massively incarcerating immigrants for the crime of having entered our country through the back door. Fully 60% of Tucson's federal court time is spent with deportation cases, leaving them unable to adequately deal with serious crimes. President Obama is currently on track to deport more immigrants during his 6 years – more than 2 million – than the sum of all immigrants deported in the 100 years from 1892-1997. More than 200,000 families have already been separated by such deportations in the past two years alone. For those processed through Operation Streamline, first comes prison, then detention center, then deportation. Maria was lucky to "just" go straight to ICE detention. After walking for five miserable days through the blistering heat of the day and the brutal cold of the night, her coyote's pick-up never arrived and she ended up in a Border Patrol van. They shackled her swollen feet and hands and delivered her prostrate to the detention center. Because she was so thin, her wrists kept slipping out of the handcuffs. She explained she had to continually shove them back into the handcuffs to avoid being scolded trying to get away by the Border Patrol. Tragically, the Border Patrol sometimes goes beyond scolding. In October 2012 16 year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez was brutally murdered by a US Border Patrol agent, riddled by 13 bullets to the head and back. He was on the Mexican side of the border wall, when he was shot, allegedly for throwing rocks toward the fence. As we gathered with Fr. Roy Bourgeois to give Jose's family a photo of the cross bearing Jose's name that Roy carried at last year's vigil, we realized how impossible it would have been for rocks to even reach over the top of the 30-foot wall perched on top of a 30-foot hill. In fairness, several of the migrants reported that the Border Patrol had rescued them from sure death. Tanya told us that the Border Patrol searched all night for her after her husband was able to contact them after she passed out in the desert. Once found, she was airlifted to a hospital in Phoenix. What is clear is that the blame for the rise in deaths in the desert does not lie on the shoulders of the Border Patrol, but on the policy that has shaped it. So, why do they come at all? We asked the staff of the Kino Border Initiative, whose services include serving hundreds of meals a day to migrants recently deported to Mexico, and running a shelter for women deported. Kino Education Director West Cosgrove replied that during his 17 years at border cities he has heard multiple versions that boil down to this brief explanation: We are here because you were there. This was affirmed when Sister Engracia told us that the biggest increase in recent migrants are those from Honduras. They come fleeing the violence unleashed by the 2009 coup carried out by SOA graduates and continued under a regime supported by US military aid. The biggest way that "we were there" in Mexico is of course NAFTA, the free trade agreement that promised to bolster Mexico's economy, but destroyed the livelihood of millions of small farmers who couldn't possibly complete with subsidized giant US agro business. It is no wonder that the wall started to be built in 1994,the year that NAFTA was approved. Maquiladoras from the U.S. moved in, paying wages so low that a community at the Nogales, Mexico trash dump that we visited included former maquila workers who made more picking trash than working at the factory. A group of workers from the closed Legacy printer ink factory met with us under a tent they had installed outside the abandoned factory, demanding the assets in lieu of the unpaid wages and severance pay owed by the owner, who closed the factory and hightailed it back to the U.S. and his numerous other businesses. The School of the Americas has also contributed to the dangers faced by migrants, through their training of elite Mexican Special Forces known as the GAFES. Some of those soldiers deserted the army to become leading members of the Zetas–the hired assassins of a Mexican drug cartel: The Zetas later split off to form their owsn cartel. Migrants passing through the desert must pay cartels to enter and leave the border towns, and pay cartel-affiliated coyotes to lead them through the desert. Minimum price for these services: $4,000, per migrant, not including frequent rapes, torture and sometimes death at the hands of the coyotes. Migrants get a $500 discount if they agree to carry a 50-pound sack of marijuana. U.S. border security has been a boom for human smugglers. The environment is also suffering irreversible damage because of border militarization policies, affecting pristine wild lands, national forests, and refugees for wildlife such as pygmy owls and desert bighorn sheep, contributing also to severe flooding. In a bizarre twist, Sierra Club activist Dan Millis was charged with littering when distributing water jugs on migrant trails, even though he and other No More Deaths volunteers were simultaneously picking up boxes of trash in the desert. Dan refused to pay the ticket, and was later convicted in federal court. Several months earlier, Dan had discovered the remains of 14-year old Josseline Hernandez who was left to die in the desert while journeying to reunite with her mother in California. As the Senate brings to its chambers the debate on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform, it is clear to many at the border that this bill is not comprehensive. The bill does not address the root causes of migration. Nor does it assure respect for the human rights of migrants and families. Before anyone can even qualify for the complex steps to a legal status, "border security triggers" will mandate an additional $6.8 for more border militarization, assuring more deaths in the desert. At the border of my own country– the United States–I heard some of the most horrific tales of human rights violations that I have ever heard in my years of traveling throughout the Americas. But, I also witnessed some of the most moving expressions of solidarity, such as dropping water on a migrant trail in the desert. Not all of us live in the desert. But we all live in communities that depend on immigrants. As Isabel Garcia of the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos based in Tucson told us, "the border is everywhere". As migrants die in the desert, more and more local groups are emerging to help save lives and change death-dealing policies. This is a critical time to write Congress, join actions for immigrant rights and justice and speak out for and with the immigrant members of our communities. We can be the water in the desert. In Suriname, mining is slowly turning the country into the poster child for the complex interplay between environmental degradation, human displacement and wreaking havoc on individual and community health. Among some of the direct health problems are mercury poisoning caused by industrial run-off. But other health challenges, like increasing cases of malaria and HIV rates are also becoming a source of concern. Latin America's Forgotten Wild Coast In conversations with "buitenlanders" (foreigners), the most common and unfortunate reaction to "Suriname" is Suri-what? Where? Suriname lies nestled between Guyana and French Guyana with Brazil to the south. The country occupies 63,675 rugged square miles, nearly 80-percent of which is covered by the Guianas shield rainforest. Most of Suriname's 560,000 inhabitants live on the Atlantic coast, in and surrounding the capital city of Paramaribo. The rainforests are inhabited by indigenous peoples and Maroons, the descendants of runaway slaves. A former Dutch colony, Suriname's linguistic and multiethnic profile often erases the country from people's conceptual map of South America. In many ways, the country has more in common with the Caribbean. The Dutch-speaking nation is a multicultural patchwork of Creoles, Javanese, Chinese, Maroons, Hindustanis, and indigenous peoples. Despite that Sranan-tongo, a Creole language coined by African slaves in the 17th century, is the official language, ethnic groups speak different languages among themselves. Suriname produces gold and bauxite, which dominated the economy, and has a nascent oil industry. Mining, the country's longest-standing industry, began under Dutch colonial rule in the late 19thand early 20th century with U.S. based Alcoa and its subsidiary Suralco. Bauxite, the main source for aluminum, is the country's leading export. Gold, however, has gradually become a major attraction. Since the 1900s, prospectors drifted in seeking their fortunes. In 1901, the gold industry in Suriname employed over 5,500 people. By 1903,a railroad was built to link Paramaribo to the goldfields, bringing increased development. After Suriname gained independence from the Netherlands in 1975, mining operations dwindled. Then, between the 1980s and 1990s, the country experienced political turbulence, including two military coups that resulted in an 8-year civil war. Regional poverty coupled with an upswing in gold prices worldwide sparked renewed interest in the industry. By 2007, mineral exports including gold, bauxite and oil represented 50% of GDP. Thanks to the mining sector, the country is now ranked as a middle-income country, on par with South Africa, and has one of the lowest public debts in the region. Mercury Rising Suriname's environment and health bear the burden of this prosperity. Inspired by promises of gold, small to medium-scale artisanal mining—defined as "mining characterized by an untrained labor force that uses rudimentary techniques for prospecting, extracting, and processing of gold"—is booming in what once were densely forested areas. For the estimated 20,000 small-scale miners, the preferred method of mining is often hydraulicking. This method uses hydraulic monitors and excavators to spray pressurized water to disintegrate and move sections of the ground suspected of holding gold particles. Once sprayed, this reddish clay mixture is then pumped to sluice boxes, where heavier minerals, including gold particles, are separated from lighter waste minerals. The parts containing gold are then collected and panned with mercury for further processing. At the end, mineral waste is discarded into nearby streams and jungle patches, resulting in water contamination by siltation, heavy metals and mercury. Exposure to small amounts of mercury can cause serious health problems depending on the type of mercury. In Suriname, most miners are exposed to metallic and vapor mercury. According to a WWF report, "high-level exposure to mercury vapor, and to a lesser extent metallic mercury, can result in nervous system damage causing tremors, as well as mood and personality alterations. Broad, systemic effects occur on kidneys, lungs, muscle, liver, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal system, and circulatory systems." Medical science has documented the negative impact of mercury exposure in Suriname since 2003. Local doctors noticed an increased incidence of birth defects attributable to mercury poisoning in children born to Maroon and indigenous women living near artisanal mining camps. Birth defects included central nervous system problems and stunted limb development. The WWF designed trainings for gold miners on the use of new and environment -friendly mining techniques in 2006, and the Suriname government passed legislation regulating the use of mercury. Yet, mercury poisoning continues to be a persistent problem among the Wayana people and other indigenous and maroon groups. Large-scale mines also use dangerous chemicals either. Frequently, they employ cyanide in a closed industrial circuit to accomplish what small-scale miners do with mercury. Leakage incidents are common. In 1995,the Omai gold mine in neighboring Guyana experienced a spill of 800-million gallons of cyanide-laced sediment into one of its main rivers, poisoning thousands of people. As a result, governments environmental protection legislation but it remains difficult to enforce, especially in the border areas between Suriname, Guyana, and Brazil where many exploration concessions exist. Malaria on the Golden Frontier In Suriname, mining is concentrated along the Northeastern district of Brokopondo, the site of a man-made reservoir, and on the Marowijne River along the border with French Guiana. Along these areas, malaria rates are also the highest. The recent gold fever has drawn miners from across Latin America. The most visible and well- document migrant miners are Brazilians, known as garimpeiros amongst each other, and "porkknockers" locally. An estimated 8,000 live within the country's borders. More are thought to drift between northeastern Brazil and French Guiana. Migration, small-scale mining, and malaria go hand in hand. Brazilian and Maroon gold miners live in open-air camps without mosquito nets. These camps are located near man-made pools of water from which gold is extracted in patches of newly cleared forest—an ideal breeding ground for mosquitos carrying malarial parasites. The human body can establish some immunity, but high-rates of mobility among mining groups contribute to the creation of endless cycles of "frontier malaria"—malaria fueled by mobility and environmental degradation in the Amazon. A Global Fund campaign started in 2004 and targeted interventions aimed at Brazilian miners have helped dramatically decrease malaria rates across Suriname. Even so, according to a report released in 2012, 81% of new infections occur among mining populations. Indigenous and Maroon communities with no prior exposure to the parasite are among the most vulnerable to malaria, along with the cooks, truck drivers, shop owners, and sex workers who travel with them. Money, Sex, Blood: HIV-AIDS Sex work in Suriname is turning into the most lucrative sector of these attachment service economies,. This has drawn the attention of government officials seeking to increase the country's tax revenues off the estimated one billion dollars mining brings in each year. In September 2011, the Committee Structuring Gold Sector announced that sex workers operating in mining fields would be required to register with the government and file taxes each year. However, the risks are quickly outweighing the benefits. Released ahead of the 19th International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C. in 2012, the UNAIDS "Together We Will End AIDS" report offered updates on the global AIDS epidemic. Among the most curious pieces of information was the data from Suriname that estimates HIV prevalence for sex workers at 24 percent. Among the population as a whole, rates of infection hover around 1% for adults ages 15-49. Similar to the rest of the world, male and female sex workers in Suriname are disproportionately affected by the epidemic. In Paramaribo, curb-side soliciting is illegal yet night club-based sex work is allowed and regulated. By law, sex workers are required to register at a local dermatology clinic and get tested for STIs every 2 weeks. However, regulation and availability of contraceptives are frequently absent in mining camps located in the country's interior. Miners who hire sex workers often engage in unsafe sex practices that lead to sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. While Suriname has made significant strides in increasing the number of persons tested for HIV, HAART and 2nd line ARV regimes, challenges to access lie in the country's Amazonian topography. Localized prevention efforts led by Maroon and indigenous women involving plays and dances advocating safe sex are usually the best and only line of defense. The Promise of El Dorado: Displacement and Degradation Despite falling gold prices and rising operating costs, gold fever reigns supreme among small-scale miners and multinational mining corporations. On June 6, the Surinamese government and Canadian-based Iamgold Corp signed a deal to expand the country's Rosebel gold mine—the country's oldest and most productive mine. Talks are slated to take place with Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp in the coming days to develop the Merian Gold Project. The latter came under fire in 2009, when the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) warned that the project—located on a 400-square-kilometer area of unprotected rainforest known as the Nassau Plateau—"would destroy habitats that support rare and endemic species including several newly discovered species of catfish, frogs, and a stunning purple toad." The resolution also stated that, "Mining operations would further encourage the influx of wildcat gold miners in the area, increasing environmental damage and putting pressure on wildlife." The most immediate impact of the boom is the displacement of indigenous and maroon tribes. In the 1960s, Suralco forced members of the Saramaka and N'Dyuka tribes off their lands to build a hydro-electric dam and reservoir. A number of displaced families relocated to Nieuw Koffiekamp, which sits on the same gold deposits that feed the Rosebel gold mine. An agreement signed with Alcoa in 2003 to develop the Bakhuis mountains region in Western Suriname for extensive timber, mining and gold extraction projects, caused the displacement of indigenous communities living in the area. In 1597, British explorer Sir Walter Raleigh referred to Guiana as "a country that hath yet her maidenhead, never sackt, turned, nor wrought." The sexualized portrayal expresses underlying colonial aspirations at the core of Europe's 16thand 17thcentury gold rush. Spanish, Portuguese and British explorers searched for the mythical city of gold believed to be located in the untrammeled Amazonian wilderness. Yet, as one of Raleigh's contemporaries put it, the reckless pursuit for El Dorado "cost Spain more than all the treasures she received from her South American possessions." Raleigh himself led several unsuccessful expeditions on the Orinoco river and into the Guiana shield region comprising modern day Venezuela. Like many before him, he paid a heavy price for his quest, including the life of his son Watt Raleigh, his own freedom, and eventually, his head. Despite Raleigh's and countless others' dire fates, the idea of an untapped and endless source of wealth has proven resilient, drawing ruthless explorers and desperate human beings seeking to better their fortunes. The small-scale miners working in the informal sector of the economy—whether Brazilian or Surinamese— hardly ever strike it rich. Their meager finds may temporarily alleviate poverty, but at the expense of their health and the environment. Yet somehow, the old myths persist. And the price of seeking the gold-paved streets of El Dorado continues to be –too often—life itself. Alexandra McAnarneyis a communications consultant and recent graduate from the University of Chicago's Latin American Studies M.A. Program. As part of her field research, she lived at a migrant shelter along the Mexico-Guatemala border. Before studying at the University of Chicago, she worked as a Communications Coordinator at the Florida Immigrant Coalition and as an HIV/AIDS Journalist in South Florida. She writes for the CIP Americas Program A native of El Salvador and former resident of Mexico City, her work focuses on migration, youth, gangs, and health and can be found at perishmotherland.tumblr.com – See more at: Rudolf Kemper contributed to this report. ]]> Celebrates "Carnival of Corn" and Rejects Monsanto 04 Jun 2013 20:57:20 +0000Alfredo AcedoWorldwide demonstrations against the company took place following the "Monsanto Protection Act" passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in March1 and the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of patents on living organisms2Millions of people gathered across the world on May 25, outraged by the complicity of the governments with the interests of the transnational corporation. Monsanto has immense power to corrupt. A company that last year grossed more than $14 trillion dollars3and spent $6 million in lobbying4 can be very convincing for the U.S. Supreme Court or the president, not to mention its influence over Mexican government officials and legislators. Portrayed as a technologically innovative company, it is a monopoly whose objective is to control at all costs food agro-food production by diverting laws and manipulating patents to legalize looting peoples and nations. But the biotech giant, based in St. Louis, Missouri, is in the eye of the hurricane since studies came out recently regarding the dangers posed to human health and life by genetic engineering of food. Last year a study from the University of Caen in France documented the effects of genetically modified (GM) corn NK 603 and the weed killer Round-Up or Faena (glyphosate) on mammals, both products made by Monsanto. Rats fed with these ingredients for two years, in doses equal to their exposure in the environment, developed breast cancer and chronic hormonal, kidney and hepatic dysfunctions, as well as premature death. Just last April, scientist Stephanie Seneff of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an independent colleague, Anthony Samsel, concluded that glyphosate, the most widely used weed killer in the world, interferes with the biosynthesis of nutrients in the human digestive apparatus and is at the root of fatal diseases associated with the western diet: gastrointestinal illnesses, obesity, diabetes, cardiac disease, infertility, depression, autism, cancer and Alzheimer's.6chemical giant and protect the well-being of the population. Hundreds of young people from political, social and environmental organizations and artists' collectives held cultural events and paraded from the Palace of Fine Arts to the Monument to the Revolution. It was a festive atmosphere, with drummers and street theater, music, performance and dance. Handmade signs ranged from the humorous to the furious: "Monsanto, Go home! (Hell)", "We are not your f*** scientific experiment". The most popular hash tag in the social networks was #FueraMonsanto (#MonsantoOut) The street festival caught the eye of vagrants and passers-by, attracted by the joy and color of the artistic expressions. The slogans in defense of food and culture broadened the traditional repertory of march chants. "Queremos frijoles, queremos maíz, queremos a Monsanto fuera del país" (We want beans, we want corn, we want Monsanto out of our country") Youth comprised the overwhelming majority of participants. Laura Carlsen, director of the Mexico-based international think tank the Americas Program, noted "a new generation of activists that reject GMOs and is convinced corporations like Monsanto are a threat–not only to our food but to life on this planet. On the global scale, it's really important the way in which these movements that started in several countries are finally coming together. In the United States people are beginning to react, there are many grassroots networks. They´re not just NGOs but citizens that are organizing and could even annul the infamous Monsanto Protection Act. It's a battle that has a lot of symbolism and both sides have a lot at stake." Mexico is the global center of origin of maize. Even so and defying the warnings of scientists, producers and consumers, the past administration of Felipe Calderon authorized open-air cultivation of GM corn in the experimental and pilot phases. In 2011, Monsanto and other transnationals filed for permits to cultivate commercial GM corn on more than a million hectares in Sinaloa and Tamaulipas in the northern part of the country. Apparently the government did not respond to the requests during the allotted time period. But Monsanto raised the stakes this season, applying in March for more than 11 million hectares for commercial cultivation in the northern states of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Durango.7 Mexican officials and legislators are inclined to favor Monsanto's petition. Since 2005 they have been paving the legal road for the invasion of GM crops. Only broad and organized public opposition and concerns about the political cost of the move have kept them from speeding up the process. By organizing from the grassroots, Mexico has made some positive steps forward, including local and national efforts to establish the conditions for food sovereignty, community seed banks to preserve native seed, protection and consolidation of production for family and community needs in areas not controlled by Monsanto, and an increase in public awareness of the strategic importance of defending native corn. For the May 25 demonstrators it's clear that accepting Monsanto's designs would be a frontal attack on food sovereignty, conservation of the agro-genetic wealth of Mexican corn varieties, and the right of peasant farmers to maintain their important labor as food producers. In short, an attack on the right to life. Over this year, actions to resist Monsanto and GM corn have multiplied in Mexico. A nine-day hunger strike staged at the foot of the Angel of independence statue in Mexico City in January by the National Union of Regional Autonomous Peasant Organizations (UNORCA, by its Spanish initials) brought public attention to the demand to block GM corn production. It was followed by a large march on Jan. 31. The movement Sin Maíz No Hay País (Without corn there is no country), the Mexico chapter of the Union of Concerned Scientists and Greenpeace Mexico, among others, have made public statements, organization demonstrations and carried out high-impact actions in defense of native corn. Greenpeace recently hung a huge banner reading "NO GMOs" on the downtown monument called the Tower of Light– a structure notorious throughout the country for its scandalous cost overruns and considered a monument to governmental corruption.8 The activities have been inspired by deep concerns for the health of the people and the environment, based on verifiable information obtained from careful studies carried out by respected scientists without a conflict of interest. But the more evidence that emerges showing the dangers or possible dangers of Monsanto products, the more the company spends on efforts to slander the messenger, defame the scientists who carried out the studies and deceive the public. A decent corporation would respond with concern, commission unbiased investigations and withdraw products from the market to protect the population. Monsanto is not a decent corporation. The one merit that can be attributed to it is that it has sparked a dynamic global movement against it that is demanding accountability for who grows our food and how they do it. Alfredo Acedo is Director of Social Communication and adviser to the National Union of Regional Organizations of Autonomous Small Farmers of Mexico and a contributor to the Americas Program on food and agriculture issues. A young man climbs back on the train after stocking up on water and soda. Tancochapa Station, Las Choapas, Veracruz. Photo by Dawn Paley. It was far too late to do anything to help. Little yellow numbers, from one to six, were placed on each piece of ballistic evidence, grim reminders of how Mexico is refashioning its police after the US model. According to local media, the women were murdered by stab and bullet wounds in the late afternoon on May 30. A preliminary report suggests they refused to pay the quota charged by a criminal group after climbing up on the train. Their bodies were found later that same day just north of the Mexican tourist town of Palenque, in Chiapas. Both women were from Honduras–Mexicans don't risk traveling on cargo trains when they migrate through their country toward the United States. Most Central Americans traveling through Mexico do so as undocumented migrants. This means they are not afforded the right to free movement. If they board a bus, undocumented migrants in Mexico can be pulled off and deported by soldiers at numerous checkpoints dotting northern-bound highways. Without paperwork, they can't make it past the airport service counter. Thus, the train remains the most accessible means of transport for Hondurans, Guatemalans, Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, and others who hope against hope they'll make to the US and find employment. The double murder on the train tracks in Chiapas took place on the heels of an Observation Mission into the conditions of migrants in southern Mexico, coordinated by the Mesoamerican Migration Movement. The Mission, led by activists and members of the Catholic Church as well as journalists based in Veracruz and Mexico, made its way from Orizaba, in Veracruz state, to Tenosique, a municipality in Tabasco state, which borders Guatemala. On the last night of the four-day Mission, participants stayed overnight at La 72, a migrant shelter in Tenosique. The shelter was opened following the discovery of the bodies of 72 migrants on a ranch in San Fernando, in the border state of Tamaulipas in August of 2010. It takes its name in honor of the memory of the dead. A report from the mission was prepared by participants and delivered to four members of Mexico's senate who visited the shelter on May 28. "What motivated us to carry out this mission is the tragedy, the new tragedy that came to light through the media in Cosoleacaque, in the community of Barrancas, when the train was attacked," said Fray Tómas Gonzalez Castillo when the report was presented to senators. "This tragedy has had aftershocks, just like after an earthquake, just recently on May 14, here in Tenosique, the train was stopped and there were kidnappings, we're looking after the victims now, though they are not present today for security reasons," he said. The report's final text rejected the official version of events related to the attack on migrants in the evening of May 1in Barrancas, in southern Veracruz. Dozens of migrants were wounded, one seriously, after they were attacked while riding the cargo train. Members of the state government claimed the migrants were wounded because of infighting between migrants. But when hundreds of people descended from the train and sought refuge in the village of Las Barrancas, they told local authorities that they were attacked on the train related to the payment of a quota. South of Las Barrancas, in Las Choapas, Veracruz, members of the Observation Mission, witnessed a train passing carrying between 1,000 and 1,500 migrants. As the train stopped and started as machinists added another car, we watched passengers got off to buy food, pop and water from local vendors along the tracks. Some on the train that day claimed they were told they would be required to pay four $100 quotas to travel through four stations, each controlled by criminal groups. Those who don't pay are kidnapped and ransomed, assaulted, killed or disappeared. "Today there's a lot of death along the train tracks, and we want support as migrants, a permit or something, so that we can follow the path to our dream, our dream is to arrive to the United States and help our people," said Gustavo Adolfo, a Garifuna man from Honduras on his way up to the US. "Over the last years thousands of migrants have been disappeared and thousands have died on the trains without their families ever finding out what happened. We are victims, we are kidnapped, and we die as innocents." In the places the Mission visited in Veracruz state, church groups and local organizations provide assistance to migrants, including shelter, meals and legal aid. "The participation of the government, for it's part, lacks organized, coordinated assistance for people who are migrants," reads the report. "Among various agencies, the services offered are intermittent, lacking, and in some areas and cases, null." Those who have stepped in to assist migrants have also been threatened and intimidated for their work. "Around two years ago there started to be complaints in this region, complaints of human rights abuses thathave been taken to the authorities, and the activists here have received threats for their work," said José Jacques, a former legislator who took part in the Mission and in the writing of the report. There was a time when the extortion and murder of migrants was primarily an issue in the US-Mexico border region. Over the past years, Mexico's southern region has also become a hellish passage for migrants. The report ends by echoing a general sentiment that "Mexico is a graveyard for migrants." The appearance of the bodies of two women migrants murdered two days after the document was released is a dreadful confirmation of their conclusion. Dawn Paley is a freelance journalist and independent researcher. She was the only foreign journalist to take part in the Observation Mission. Find more of her work online at dawnpaley.ca. She is a regular contributor to the Americas Program ]]> Downplays Drug War, Recasts Mexico, Central America as Economic Allies 30 May 2013 16:08:30 +0000Laura CarlsenWhat he left unstated is how the two seemingly competing themes are intrinsically linked. Agreement on Mexico's NAFTA-Plus Agenda It was easy for Obama and Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto to come together on trade and integration issues. Peña Nieto comes from the historically nationalist Institutional Revolutionary Party. Within the party he's connected to the former president Carlos Salinas, the architect of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Like his predecessor Felipe Calderon, Peña Nieto has a strong commitment to the neoliberal reforms that the U.S. government and multilateral banks have been imposing on Mexico for years. Unlike his predecessor, however, he has a chance of pushing them through. During his visit to Mexico, Obama and Pena Nieto committed to deepening NAFTA, although they avoided calling the controversial trade agreement by name. Both are acutely aware that nearly twenty years since its ratification, NAFTA has a decidedly tarnished image among the publics of all three countries involved. Instead, they announced a binational high-level commission to make both nations more competitive, increase efficiency and security at the border, and further integrate industry. Obama also put in a plug for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a geographically rearranged version of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas killed by South American nations in 2005. In some aspects, the TPP goes even further in binding governments to corporate agendas than NAFTA. Obama threw his weight behind Peña Nieto's reforms, referring obliquely to the education reform that has provoked thousands of teachers to take to the streets in defense of their jobs and the public education system. He also mentioned the crown jewel for U.S. oil companies and Pentagon planners—the privatization of the national oil company PEMEX. At the joint press conference in Mexico's National Palace, Obama stated "I want to commend President Peña Nieto and the Mexican people for the ambitious reforms that you've embarked on to make your economy more competitive, to make your institutions more effective. And I know it's hard, but it's also necessary. Ultimately, only Mexicans can decide how Mexico reforms. But let me repeat what I told the President — as Mexico works to become more competitive, you've got a strong partner in the United States, because our success is shared," U.S. oil companies have long been chomping at the bit to share success in Mexican oil resources. For decades, Mexican governments have run the state-owned enterprise into the ground in anticipation of making the case for greater privatization, taxing away funds for even basic reinvestment and maintenance. Peña Nieto denies he's promoting "privatization" but believes he can pass legislation to greatly increase areas where private investment is allowed. Obama's reference to "Mexicans deciding" was carefully calculated. He arrived with a pronounced sensitivity to accusations of intervention; on several occasions, he felt it necessary to state that his government will not impose policies on Mexico. Any perception of U.S. pressure on PEMEX privatization would backfire—millions of Mexicans strongly oppose privatization. Even if Peña Nieto manages to get Congress on board for the reform, popular protests are likely. Even a shadow of a U.S. hand behind the move would add fuel to protests. The sensitivity also arises from criticisms from both Mexican and U.S. citizen groups that the Obama administration is in large part responsible for the disastrous drug war. The Obama administration–especially the Pentagon and DEA, FBI, CIA, ATF and other agencies that now enjoy an expanded presence in Mexico–has been watching carefully to see what the Peña Nieto government will do with the drug war morass it inherited. Despite the direct result of 80,000 dead, these agencies hail the strategy as a major advance in bi-national cooperation. The Peña Nieto government dropped a bombshell just days before the meeting, announcing that all security cooperation with the U.S. government must go through the Secretary of the Interior. The decision effectively reins in U.S. security operations after the conservative PAN party tore down historical limits to U.S. intervention in-country. This prohibits the now common (and largely uncontrolled and uncoordinated) operations directly between numerous agencies. U.S. government agents have complained the decision will have a chilling effect on U.S. operations in the country, which is probably just what Pena Nieto had in mind. Direct U.S. involvement in Mexican security has been ramped up, with a huge increase in Embassy personnel, making the U.S. embassy in Mexico among the largest in the world. The range of security-related activities also expanded exponentially. The recent announcement is in line with consolidating the Interior Ministry as an Uber-ministry, which has already absorbed the Ministry of Public Security. Publicly, Obama accepted the decision. Whether in response to the uncertainty surrounding Peña Nieto's position or not, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announcedon April 18 that State Department aid to Mexico was decreasing by $124 million compared to 2012. He described it as a general "downward glide path"—a gradual decrease for both heavily funded Mexico and Colombia. However, Washington insiders say that even some appropriated funds are on ice as the terms of the new relationship are worked out and could be re-channeled. At the same time, security aid to Central America and the Caribbean are on the rise. Both presidents painted a rose-colored picture of Mexico as an up-and-coming middle-class society that utterly ignored the rise in poverty and inequality, violence and human right violations. The Los Angeles Times coverage of Obama's speech aimed at young people quoted several students smitten by the U.S. president but stumped by the distance between the his portrayal of their country and their own experience. According to the Times, they wondered out loud, "what country is he talking about?" Obama's pronouncements weren't just a matter of focusing on the glass half full. If Obama and Peña Nieto were to discuss the serious problems facing the nation, they would have had to confront the criticisms of the same policies they committed to continue. "This American Moment" Two weeks after Obama's return, Roberta Jacobsen and Ricardo Zuniga, heads of Western Hemisphere Affairs for the State Department and the President, respectively, clarified the central purpose of his trip. "The focus was really on diversification of energy supplies, new energy resources in the Americas, the way in which the global energy map is increasingly focused on the Americas, both in fossil and traditional fuels and in renewables, and new fuels, whether it's shale oil or shale gas or other things. And so there was a lot of conversation about how to take advantage of this American moment, if you will, on energy throughout the hemisphere," said Jacobsen. Zuniga stressed the geopolitical aspect of the visit, "…we see energy as a unifying theme in the Americas, that it's clearly something that tends to bring countries together because in the Americas you see both vast opportunity and a lot of the continuing challenges. And so bringing those two together and linking them together, and thinking about not just the Americas but the impact of the development in the Americas in the global energy supply and on the global markets is critical." Jacobsen noted that, "The Americas obviously produces more than half of U.S. oil imports, almost one-third of its natural gas, nearly 30 percent of global electricity. And so we look forward to the possibility that in two decades the United States will rely almost exclusively on hemispheric sources of energy. And I think that's an incredibly important point in terms of shifting strategic partnerships, that all of the countries of the region are feeling that greater importance in some ways because of the global energy map." The emphasis on Mesoamerica as an energy source for U.S. over-demand was the central point that the press and pundits largely ignored. It has tremendous implications. In theory, the idea of helping to develop energy projects, especially clean energy sources, makes sense. But what that means and could mean in practice is far more disturbing. Throughout Mexico and Central American countries energy and mineral development projects are generating conflict and severe violations of human rights, especially of indigenous peoples and the rural poor. Experience shows that foreign policy based on desperately extending fossil fuel consumption and reliance, leads to conflict. More and more, troops sent out in the name of the drug war are engaging with local communities fighting against displacement caused by energy and other development projects. As energy sources become scarcer, the social and environmental costs of extraction and distribution rise sharply. By shaping a submissive Mesoamerica into the energy source for the United States, it is those nations and peoples that will assume those costs. The Connect the Americas 2022 initiative, discussed on Obama's trip includes the prospect of hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. loans and millions in contracts for U.S. companies. Further energy development for U.S. needs would require privatization, and if history is any guide at all, imply displacement of populations often through violence. The war on drugs provides the cover for sending soldiers and police throughout Mexico and Central America. Every day there is more evidence –local resource battles, Guatemala's state of siege—that security forces are being used to back up changes in land use, wresting resources from local communities to deliver to large development projects. With a major push to open up energy and other resources in the region, the U.S. plan to make Mesoamerica its new energy platform only intensifies those fears. Drug War pushed behind the curtain The few references to the drug war, the Merida Initiative and to a lesser extent the Central American Regional Security Initiative (formerly part of Merida) during the Presidential visit was no surprise. Obama's security policy in the region has become a major embarrassment. First, the strategy to physically attack drug cartels and militarize the country has sparked confrontations between the drug cartels, leading to widespread violence throughout the country that claims thousands of victims a year. Second, human rights violations have also risen alarmingly, with security forces involved in torture, rape, murder, complicity and other crimes. As to the U.S. role, more of the public and even prominent political leaders regard the interdiction and enforcement model promoted by the U.S. as Mexico doing the dirty work of a nation obsessed with the both consumption and prohibition. U.S. involvement in the Mexican drug war is increasingly seen as a vehicle for U.S. politicians, advisers and agents to define and implement their own security priorities in Mexico. During Obama's visit, the leaders agreed in public to reorient the strategy to reducing violence rather than stopping drugs. It remains to be seen if that focus will be reflected on the ground, for example, in a decrease in DEA activity and an increase in social programs. Central America was just as complicated for Obama when it came to defending current U.S. drug war priorities. When he arrived at the meeting of Central American heads of state, he faced leaders with major doubts about the strategy. Guatemala's President, Otto Perez Molina, has called for a discussion on legalization. And he is not alone: the Organization of American States issued a report calling for discussion of legalization of marijuana and other alternatives to the drug war. Meanwhile, in the United States, public views toward the most consumed illicit drug, marijuana, do not support the nation's expenditures in marijuana seizures and arrests. There's a general trend to greater social acceptance of marijuana use, a trend that has also been expressed in the legalization of use for medical purposes in 18 states, regulated use in two states and polls showing that a majority favors ending marijuana prohibition. Desperate to show some justification for a drug war that has devastated producing countries, U.S. government agencies and allied think tanks have made the claim that consumption has declined. The statement is flat-out false. The government's own National Institute on Drug Abuse survey shows an increase in illicit drug use among teens. In the case of marijuana, use went up from 32% of those surveyed in 2008 to 36% in 2012, with a similar decrease in those who felt smoking marijuana was risky. Instead of vowing to revamp the strategy in the midst of these contradictions, Obama said little about the drug war in public in Mexico or Central America. Press releases regarding the Central America meeting stressed programs for youth, prevention and blocking precursor chemicals and mostly ignore trafficking. Threats and Promises There is no doubt that recasting Mexico from a national security threat to a partner would be a positive and long-overdue step forward. The way in which Mexico has been portrayed as a threat—as a source of spillover drug violence, a failed state, a home to terrorist migrants, etc.—has distorted reality and devastated the bi-national relationship. On his trip Obama stated that the U.S.-Mexico relationship "must be defined not by the threats that we face but by the prosperity and the opportunity that we can create together." It's just not clear that the shift is genuine. Aid to both Mexico and Central America continues to be heavily skewed to the drug war, including military and police aid, and training programs and "institution-building" among judiciary and penal institutions to support U.S. counternarcotics objectives. While State Department aid to Mexico may decrease somewhat, Department of Defense aid is growing and in Central America security aid is slated to rise 20% over already rising 2012 levels, as noted at the first SICA-North American Security dialogue held in Washington days before Obama's visit. A serious shift would require dramatically rechanneling security aid to social and development goals. It would require focusing on unmet responsibilities at home to stop arms flows and money laundering, reduce corruption and reduce the market for illicit substances through regulation, prevention and treatment. It would mean revamping economic policies that have led to the crisis in youth unemployment and lack of education in the region, to assure a future for youth instead of spending U.S. taxpayer dollars for at-risk youth who were placed at risk in part due to our policies. It would mean fixing trade and labor policies to ensure that working people are able to meet the needs of their families. Nothing really changed on Obama's three-day trip to the region. The effort to spin a new relationship built on shared interests left more doubts than optimism. The emphasis on economic ties rang hollow due to the absence of any mention of the relationship between those policies and the security crisis. Downplaying security when in fact it is still the central aspect of the relationship raises concerns about what's below the shiny surface of the photo ops. Laura Carlsen is director of the CIP Americas Program in Mexico City We, the undersigned civil society organizations from throughout the region, welcome the opportunity for our nations to discuss cooperation on critical regional issues and urge our governments to address our concerns about the dire human rights crisis in Mesoamerica. . It is time to refocus regional dialogue and resource investment to address the root causes of violence, understanding that for many citizens and communities, drug trafficking is not the principal cause of insecurity. Harmful "development" policies have similarly caused increased conflict and abuses, while forced migration and criminalization of migrants and human rights activists continues to divide families. Most importantly, the region's challenges must be addressed without violating fundamental rights and human dignity.We offer further analysis and recommendations of the key issues that require urgent attention: 1. Militarization of the drug war has caused increased violence and has failed to provide citizen security.* In Mexico, drug-related violence and the militarized response has killed an estimated 80,000 men, women, and children in the past six years. More than 26,000 have been disappeared, and countless numbers have been wounded and traumatized. With little civilian control over security forces, massive deployments across the country have contributed to increases in forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture and attacks on human rights defenders. Meanwhile, prohibited narcotics continue to flow into the U.S. market virtually unabated * In Guatemala, rates of violence are dangerously reaching levels only seen during the internal armed conflict, and rampant impunity for these crimes continues. As the nation only begins to address past atrocities committed by the armed forces against the civilian population, controversial "security" policies have placed the military back onto the streets. This has placed the peace process in jeopardy, and with it, the fragile democracy built on the 1996 Peace Accords. The Guatemalan army ́s massacre of six indigenous protesters in October 2012 is tragic evidence of these misguided policies * Perhaps the starkest example of a breakdown of democratic institutions today is Honduras. Sinceunas community. Both military and police are allegedly involved in abuses and killings but are almost never brought to justice * Even Costa Rica, which has no army and a constitutional mandate for peace, finds itself drawn into a mounting military effort to confront drug trafficking that compromises its independence and tranquility * The U.S. government's domestic and regional policies that promote militarization to address organized crime directly affect the human rights situation in Mesoamerica, resulting in a dramatic surge in violent crime, often reportedly perpetrated by security forces themselves. The narrow focus of these policies have proven ineffective in addressing other, often related human security issues, such as sex and labor trafficking and femicides, which have increased at an alarming rate throughout the region. Meanwhile, the lack of effective gun control in the U.S. has led to the massive and nearly unrestricted transfer of arms to criminal networks throughout the region. 2. The imposition of large-scale extractive projects on marginalized communities does not constitute "development." The violence we face today has its roots in the poverty, injustice and inequality of our societies. National and bilateral investment policies enshrined in Free Trade Agreements exacerbate these problems. Large-scale "development" projects are imposed on the region's most vulnerable populations with little or no regard for their lives or livelihoods. This results in forced displacement, especially of indigenous, peasant, and Afro-descendant communities; bloody conflicts over resources; environmental destruction and impoverishment. Governments and businesses routinely violate communities' right to consultation. Communities across the region that oppose large-scale transnational projects have suffered repression at the hands of government security forces, and we have documented systemic patterns of threats, criminalization, and attacks against land rights activists. 3. Violations of migrant rights continue while policies disregard the root causes of migration.The harmful consequences of U.S. regional security policies such as the "war on drugs" and the imposition of mega-development projects have displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their land and communities and limited local economic opportunity. Many are left with few options other than to migrate to the United States in search of safety and economic opportunity. Meanwhile, the United States has criminalized and detained immigrants in ever-greater numbers within its own borders. Any humane and sensible immigration reform must consider the impact of policies that force persons to migrate To meet these regional challenges, we must first and foremost make the protection of fundamental human rights–economic and social, civil and political–a focal point of this gathering and future regional dialogues. We ask our governments to: a. Propose a new model for security cooperation that provides alternatives to the ongoing war on drugs, such as regulation rather than prohibition, strong regional anti-money laundering efforts, and withdrawal of the armed forces from domestic law enforcement. We call on the U.S. government to end military aid and instead channel scarce public resources into domestic efforts to block transnational crime. b. Recognize and protect human rights defenders, with specific attention to the contributions of women, indigenous and Afro descendant defenders, and acknowledgement of the risks they face. c. Promote development through democratic dialogue, not repression, with respect for human and environmental rights, and with prior consultation of affected communities as mandated in ILO Convention 169. d. Address the root causes of migration and stop the criminalization and deportation of migrants; investigate and prosecute crimes against migrants as they travel through Mexico, as well as human rights violations at the border and within the United States. e. Take executive action in the United States to stop the flow of assault weapons and other firearms across the U.S.-Mexico border. We hope to see these concerns reflected in your discussions and agreements and in ongoing bilateral conversations about security, investment, development, and immigration reform. Organizations Signed: International & US-Based Alianza de Organizaciones Guatemaltecas de Houston (ADOGUAH) Alliance for Global Justice America's Program of the Center for International Policy American Friends Service Committee Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) Bay Area Latin America Solidarity Coalition (BALASC) CASA de Maryland Chiapas Support Committee Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN) Comite Chirij' Juyub' Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) Dominican Sisters-Grand Rapids Fellowship of Reconciliation Friendship Office of the Americas Global Fund for Women Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA (GHRC) Impunity Watch JASS (Just Associates) Lakes Area Group Organizing Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (LAGOS) Latin America Solidarity Committee-Milwaukee Latin America Working Group (LAWG) Marin Task Force on the Americas (MITF) National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC)	eng	a7e9ec44-1ac6-43be-ac04-1a790113d32b	http://www.cipamericas.org/feed
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW T-0609.22 WITH VIVIAN DREER INTERVIEWED BY DORIS WESLEY STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS DW: Today is 1995, and this is Doris Wesley of the Western Historical Manuscripts Collection at the University of Missouri St. Louis. I have with me today. Miss Vivian Dreer who has agreed to make a tape recording with me for our St. Louis African-American Heritage Oral History Project. Good afternoon, Miss Dreer. VD: Hello. DW: Let's start with your childhood first. Where did you grow up? VD: Well, I was born... I'm a native St. Louisan. So I grew up in the Ville, what they call Eleardsville, in St. Louis and I was born there. I was born on Cote Brilliant. That was the street that a lot of blacks lived who were interested in improving their lifestyles and moving upward, becoming upwardly mobile, I suppose and active in the community. And... so I had ... we had a rather cohesive group of people who lived in the 4200 west block, particularly of Cote Brilliant where I lived in about 4 or 5 different houses. I went to Cottage Avenue Elementary School, which was located at that time in the portables next to Sumner High School. And they had built these portables, they were suppose to be temporarily, put up for the elementary school, until they could afford to build a new school, which never got built. But in ... and then in junior high instead, I would have gone to Marshall School, but there again I was night class. I was put in Sumner High. They had the junior high and senior high in the same building, but we had only certain areas of it that we used for the junior high. And then I graduated from Sumner High School. DW: Do you remember what year? Do you recall? VD: I do, very well. DW: Well, tell us about it. VD: Oh, 1932 was my...We celebrated our sixtieth class reunion, ah in 92 and people came from California and Wisconsin and all around to mark the anniversary of our graduation from high school. DW: Sounds like quite a reunion. VD: It was. DW: Yes. Tell me about your parents. VD: Well, my parents...My father brought his family here...My sister was born in Chatham, Virginia and they came here in 19....I don't know if she would want me to say this or not, 1914. Oh, but anyway, he came here to teach at Sumner High and at that time he taught several subjects. He taught not only ... he was supposed to be teaching English and some of the social sciences, but he taught languages and he was the kind of person who never seemed to forget anything he learned. And so they could place him…he was a really, a real scholar and they could place him in any subject area and he could handle it quite well in teaching. So he taught at Sumner for awhile and then he became the assistant principal. And then when he ... after thirteen years as assistant principal he left to go to teach at Stowe Teacher's College because he felt that was a long enough and he really wanted be a principal. But he was a very highly respected person, honest and he kept us really attuned to the achievements of blacks and the history of blacks and we grew up with a thorough knowledge, fairly thorough for young people of black achievement, so that we could have pride in our heritage. And my mother was a housekeeper, but she taught for a brief period in the evening school of St. Louis. DW: Do you remember what evening school that was? VD: Sumner High. DW: Sumner High, ok. VD: They had an adult education program and she finished Virginia Theological Seminary, where they met. And he was a professor there and she was... This was his first teaching assignment after finishing Bowdoin College, in Maine. And she... they met and married and then she was from...really Chatham Virginia, but...so she was a daughter of farmers. And they, she and her sister, her older sister, were students at Virginia Seminary, Theological Seminary. Her sister became a missionary to Africa and she married the Secretary of the Foreign Mission Board of the Baptist Church. And they moved to South African and had eight children born there, at that time. I don't know whether it was eight or six, but anyway several of their...probably it was six, multifaceted person. He just became...he was a business person, sold real estate and he did insurance and he raised...even took a little project on of raising chickens in his garage, so he could sell them to the market. He would experiment, you know, people would interest him in something and he'd go on and try it. He believed in investing in black businesses and he would invest in New Age Savings and Loan. And he... the People's Finance Building, he lost some money in that. He also opened up what they call a Pushkin Publishing Company. And that was ...some people invested in it with him, but that went under and he lost money in that. But he was very innovative and as I say when I came along I was encouraged to be creative and I liked to write plays. And too he wrote plays and gave ... he also...he would write Biblical plays and he would write plays on different subjects that he felt he was interested in and present them through his dramatic club at the high school and at the college. And I started out giving…writing plays when I was in first grade in the school room when the teacher would get tired of teaching she would turn the class over to me and I would present group. I would have written this play and present it all in the same day. DW: Fantastic. VD: And it would have my best friend, always, Hattie Sawyer was a...lived across the street from me and she was the daughter of the Latin teacher at the school and Hattie was...always had a part in that . . . in my plays. And also I would give them in our back yard that we had, you know, some of the neighborhood kids I think she had eight all together...So we grew up with a feeling about interests in other countries and what was going on in Africa and identified with peoples of color all over the world through our discussions with my father who became interested in Carter G. Woodson and helped in his...disseminating his books when he wrote the first history of blacks in our country which my father worked with him and with Lorenzo Green who was his assistant. And Lorenzo Green later settled in Jefferson City. And I have to be careful, because I might talk more about my father than... DW: It's interesting. VD: This is one of my projects is to hopefully...I have done some research and I had hoped to write the story of his life, but I seem to be, as I get older, I don't have time to really sit down and concentrate on it, so I'm leaving that for Doris Wesley…(laughter)...I would like to see the bibliography of Herman Dreer. DW: Thank you. What your father has written two novels, could you tell me what they are? VD: The Ties That Bind, a ... his first one was The Immediate Jewel of His Soul. which was written in 1919. And The Tie that Binds, was written later, more as a church project, he was hoping to raise money for his church which was Kingsway Baptist and he was pastor of that church in addition to being an educator. He always wanted to be a minister and so he was an ordained minister through the University of Chicago. And he is [a very men] of. . . well multifaceted person. He just became…he was a business person, sold real estate and he did insurance and he raised…even took a little project on of raising chickens in his garage, so he could sell to the market. He would experiment, you know, people believed in investing him in something and he'd go on and try it. He believed in investing in black businesses and he would invest in New Age Savings and Loan. And he…the People's Finance Building, he lost some money in that. He also opened up what they call a Pushkin Publishing Company. And that was…some people invested in it with him, but that went under and he lost money in that. But he was very innovate and as I say when I came along I was encouraged to be creative and I like to write plays and gave…he also…he would write Biblical plays and he would write plays on different subjects that he felt he was interested in and present them through his dramatic club at the high school and at the college. And I started out giving…writing plays when I was in forst grade in the school room when the teacher would get tired of teaching she would turn the class over to me and I would present group. I would have written this play and present it all in the same day. DW: Fantastic. VD: And it would have my best friend, always, Hattie Sawyer was a…lived across the street from me and she was the daughter of the Latin teacher at the school and Hattie was…always had a part in that…in my plays. And also I would give then in our back yard that we had, you know, some of the neighborhood kids would participate in the plays. So... DW: Have you published any books, Vivian, I meant to ask you that? I have wanted to ask you that. Have you published anything? VD: Nothing that...no, I have written things, but I am interested in writing poetry and I have written...when I took a two year leave of absence and went to Cleveland. I worked as a...in the Urban League as Public Relations Secretary for two years and I at that time wrote radio programs, we had a radio program called the Urban League Hour. And Langston Hughes was one of the people on our program. And we would have a chorus, of different, from... groups in the cities and important people to speak and so on. So I've always been kind of interested in production kind of thing and when I returned to St. Louis I married and was married for eight years before it broke up. In the meantime, I was in ... diocese of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in the Gamma Omega Chapter and I was on the board of the Urban League... local Urban League here when Leo Bohannan was director. And I was on the Board of the NAACP when Ernest Calloway was the director. DW: Nice. VD: And I was in early CORE, but I've skipped my educational background. DW: Lets' go back then. VD: After starting college at Stowe, I definitely wanted to go to Fisk University and they permitted me to go to Fisk and I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1937. And in '39 I got my masters from Fisk, in English. In ... then later I studied at the University of Michigan in the summers. They used to pay blacks to go to study anywhere but in St. Louis, because St. Louis University and Washington U. were not open to blacks. So most of us who wanted to do...to find something to do of interest would go away in the summers. And I would go to the University of Michigan and had started work on a doctorate in theater and dramatic arts, but decided not to complete it there. And...I'm not really the scholarly type actually for research, the type, I'm more of a...you know...interested in the creative arts and history, and interested in the history of blacks and achievements and this has been my passion in most of the things that I've done. After my marriage dissolved, I moved to New York in 1958, and I began my travels, going to Mexico and to ... and then to ... I got the job in New York because I wanted to conquer New York, I felt that maybe I could write a play there, in New York. But first you have to live. And I found that I was able to get a job in Yonkers, teaching in the junior high. And…Yonkers, New York, which is a bedroom community outside of New York City...And then after eight years of that I said, well enough of the young kids in junior high, they didn't place me in high school, because my experience in teaching was all at Vashon. And that was...Vashon...I started teaching there in 39 and it was a beautiful experience for...until 58, I was…you know...except for the two years I took a leave and went to Cleveland. The experience . . . the thing that has impressed me is the impact that the faculty must have had on the young people that came through our school because they are all community minded, service minded, want to give something back to the community for what they have received, and many of them hold important positions, or certainly service positions in the community. And I am very proud of them as one of the former teachers who touched their lives and always happy to go back to their reunions when they invite me and to see them, and to greet them, and find out what's been going on. So...I'm wandering about because...you're going to have to unscramble it, so whatever you want. I'm leaving out big blocks of what happened and when and so you can stop me whenever you want. DW: Ok. Did any teachers have a big effect on your life? Can you name some names for me, when you attended Sumner and Fisk University? VD: Ok. Wally Thompson was one of my English teachers that I was very fond of and had made a great impression on me in encouraging my writing skills and creativity. Of course growing up in a school where your father is the assistant principal was not the easiest kind of thing to do because quite often people hold some things...they...feelings they have towards the parent are passed on to the child and sometime you have ... it helps and sometimes it doesn't. You know as far as your being able to make it through, but I finished from ... on the honor society. I was on the honor society and dramatic club, I've always been interested in being involved in groups, and wrote in the school journal, newspaper that they had and student council, things like that in high school. And so one of the reasons I wanted to go to Fisk was that I had heard of W.E.B. DuBois and I was very impressed with James Weldon Johnson. At Fisk he use to come to our campus and lecture in the...we would have to go to chapel. At that time they required you to go to chapel. Reverend Faulkner was our college chaplain and he. . . Reverend Faulkner has written some books on folk tales of black...you probably are aware of it, I can't remember the exact name right now. DW: That's ok. VD: But anyway, he'd have people like James Weldon Johnson and Aaron Douglass, the artist, would come and they would sometimes have us to...sort of like a fireside chat, have you sit around and talk to some of the students who are interested in...I was. . . became editor of The Fisk Herald, at Fisk for a brief period, which is the Fisk newspaper. And I was vice president of the dramatic club, so I always wanted to be involved, and I think this is important for any students and especially our black students who go to the Ivy League Schools. Sometimes while they have the advantage of finishing from an Ivy League School, they miss the involvement that you get when you have an historically black college experience. And I'm glad to see more of our students taking advantage ... or at least insisting on going to get that experience, especially since integration. Because now that our communities are so dispersed, people live out in the counties and live all around in the city, but at the time that I came along most of us lived in the Ville or either on Enright and on West Bell, we a ... Cook Avenue. Some of those streets opened, as they would open we would move out into those different neighborhoods and… But we were all within a certain perimeter and we had our many businesses thrived, had our own appliance stores, grocery stores, dry goods stores, instead of going to Famous and all the time we had businesses right there in ... on Easton Avenue and places like that so ... I have seen a succeed in entrepreneurship, you know, and people who wanted to be their own boss instead of just working for someone else. So I know when I talk to young people and try to encourage them to at least try, but certainly study first how to run a business. DW: That's true. VD: I think it's very important for our young people to have the feeling of being able to ... looking at those who are succeeding and now many of us are, black are in positions that were not open to me at the time that I came along. I probably could have been a librarian, a nurse, or a social worker and a teacher. So I thought I would teach for five years and instead that^s where I found that I really got great pleasure and I worked at that and I could use my talents and not only just teaching English and grammar and literature, but in the dramatic arts. So at Vashon I had a dramatic club, and I presented plays, and they had that experience. I liked to direct plays and all. But when I moved to New York, I decided no more plays, not more dramatic club, but I just survived. DW: Okay. VD: After getting tired of teaching, eight years in Yonkers, with junior high primarily, I did teach some senior high students. DW: Um-uhm. Did you ever teach on the university level Miss Dreer? VD: No, no I didn't, but I did go back and get another masters degree and I planned to get a doctorate, but I decided that I didn't chose to go through that arduous study and everything that goes with it. And to have to deal with all of the racism that you have to deal with to get . . . you know to move up, to become upwardly mobile. So I just got the second masters in counseling and ... guidance in higher education. DW: Did you do anything with that? Did you work at ... VD: Yes I did. That's where, sixteen years experience ... I was able to get a job at a part of the City College of New York, it was called New York City Technical College, now, it was at that time ... it was called New York City Community College and it was in Brooklyn, New York, downtown Brooklyn. So I worked in the College Discovery Program and the College Discovery Program was in ... really the reward for all of the experiences I have had: Urban League, NAACP, CORE . ... early CORE ... and I didn't get to mention my work with that, but all of those experiences came ... helped me a lot in working with young people in the open admissions ... who were students ... who were students who were tested. You see City University was practically free for you ... if you passed the certain test at a certain level, the SAT's and the kind of the admissions tests. These students were let in who had not made that level of ... you know ... weren7! able to pass and that. And then they were able to go on to a four year college, if they did well in the two year college. And our College Discovery counselors would give them supports and influence them, encourage them in whatever: personal counseling, educational counseling, and whatever was necessary to help them to achieve. This was really a great period of my life, sixteen years there. The whole time that I spent in New York was twenty-four years. DW: Fantastic. VD: So ... but this sixteen years at the college level ... So when you said did you teach, you sort of ... I was a counselor. I became a ... I did not want an administrative position, but I was an assistant to the dean in the counseling area, but without ... head of my division of counselors. See they would have financial counselors, educational counselors and so on, and I became the assistant to the dean of students in that area. And that's the way I ended it ... my career there. I finished in '81, I retired and then I moved to St. Louis to be ... and when my father died in '81, the same year, I retired and I came back to be with my mother. I still hung on to my apartment in New York because I didn't want to give it up. If you can get a rent controlled apartment in New York, you don't give it up easily. So I tried to hang on to it to be sure that this St. Louis was going to work out and finally gave it up in '82 and got a condo here and moved in. DW: Well Miss Dreer, let me ask you this question. In the early part of the interview, before we really got started, remember when I let you talk and answer all of the questions without me. You stated earlier that you did not get the opportunity to talk about CORE in the in the early period. VD: Right. DW: Let's talk about that for a few minutes and that will cover the Civil Rights ... that I was just about to ask. VD: Well, one of the reasons that I took the leave of absence from St. Louis schools, I was very disenchanted with the segregation in St. Louis. And I didn't want to have to endure that, or to falsely teach students that life would be equal and you'd would get social justice when it wasn't available. So I thought of Cleveland as the place to go ... to where the Underground Railroad and so on and different ... it was suppose to be the Mecca of democracy. And I ... when I worked ... I was ... I said I would be a maid in the kitchen just to get away and to try ... to feel like a human being again. Not again ... I don't think that any one here has democracy ... to experience it. But anyway, this was the reason that I left and that was when CORE was just beginning. That was in... 1948 ... early CORE... Marion Oldham was one of the young women who used to volunteer her time to type papers for my father. She actually helped him with some of his paperwork, so I knew her through that. And she encouraged me to work with them. When I came back from Cleveland, I really helped, they were getting ... they were going into full swing in about 1950. And that's when I really became very active, in they ... going, trying to open up the public facilities, restaurants, and making contacts to make St. Louis the kind of city I wanted to live in. And so I would picket or do whatever they assigned me to do. DW: Were you ever arrested Miss Dreer? VD: No, but we had an experience that I like to talk about. DW: Tell us about it. VD: Howard Johnson's, they had us to get up very early one morning to go there and the white members of Core and the black ... the black ones held the newspapers up over their heads ... faces too. So they couldn't see until we got up on the stools and then we sat there until ... they wouldn't serve us and they wouldn't serve us. The whites would get ... whatever ... something and then pass it on to us. And they had the police to come and made us leave, but I wasn't arrested. We would always leave peacefully and that was one of the things that I liked about it, it was nonviolent and I remember standing in line to be served at Pope's Restaurant, right here at ... Washington and Grand, and then they had Woolworth's. DW: Did you ...? Yes, I was going to ask ... VD: Woolworth's and at Stix and Famous . . . Baer & Fuller and Famous Barr. And then at Famous I was able to actually say, "Why don't we talk to the top person?" And I remember talking to Morton May .. . DW: Oh he was in charge ... he owned the Famous Barr. VD: He was ... he owned the whole ... and trying persuade him to ... and I tackled him by myself, I was able to get the appointment, but ... DW: That's great, a big hand! What did you tell him ... what was you approach ... and what did he say? VD: I didn't try to say... that we were the Congress of Racial Equality and he knew that we've been picketing trying to get ... because they use to have a little counter for blacks to go to to eat. DW: Yes. VD: They wouldn't let you eat in the restaurants. DW: And shop downstairs. VD: Right. And one of the things he said, I will never forget. He thanked me for coming and all, and he said why don't you blacks start your own businesses and things. And this is quite typical of what people used to say then, that excused them ... we ... just as well to say that we Jewish people have done our thing. But he ... it wasn't that he was, I don't think, anti-black or anything. He has a marvelous collection in the Art Museum, you know, of black artifacts and things from Africa and different parts of the Third World. And that's the Morton D. May Collection ... is well known. DW: That was one of his interests. VD: Yes, but they would do that yet not let you have your dignity of eating in a restaurant at that time. And shortly after that though, they did open the restaurants to us and I take some of the credit for that. VD: Yeah. Great. This is one of the reasons why the story of early CORE needs to be told and they are trying to do something about that now. Some of the members who are living are trying to write the story of early CORE and the struggle and what it meant, you know the context that they had, what it meant to ... So you'll perhaps be hearing ... if they are as... and I'm sure they will. Margaret Dagen, who is the wife of Irvin Dagen is spearheading the project along with Billy . . . DW: Daven? VD: Dagen . . . DAGEN. And her husband was an attorney Irvin Dagen, who was . . . they were both very into early CORE along with Charles and Marion Oldham and Billy and Joe Ames. But Billy is married to someone else now. I can't think of her married name. But they are... they strategize and had meetings and planned and made whatever . . . all kinds of contacts to make St. Louis what it is today, including the theaters, and of course you know of Henry Wheeler ... DW: Yes. VD: You've heard of his ... work to open the American Theater and other . . . ticketed . . . DW: He also started the American Federation of ... American Something ... VD: Postal Employees DW: Postal Employees, yeah. I was just looking at him today at the office. VD: Um-uhm. DW: I was . . . Wash U. . . . Washington University students were there and I was telling you they were looking at the Herman Dreer papers. And they just wanted to look up other black politicians and things like that for research. VD: Good. DW: It's exciting. While I have you here ... VD: And I remember one incident that ... I was so intent on trying to do something, and I don't remember ... I don't know if this should be mentioned but Maxine Bruce Starks and I called some of the leaders in the community, like Mr. Cook of the YMCA, James Cook, Sidney Redmond, and a number of ... Attorney Espy, Attorney Witherspoon ... something we were very interested . . . and I cannot remember what it really was that had, you know, we were going to discuss it... But we would call meetings together and I think we were astounded that they came. Because he was white ... we just were two. . . Most of us were educators, you know teachers, but other that that we were not the big shots. DW: Right. The representatives of something. VD: We went to this meeting and we discuss this issue very ... But this was the kind of courage we had then ... And I don't know many people now who feel that they need to take an initiative to do that . . . things like that. DW: I think most people don't have time right now ... they're just ... VD: They won't take the time. DW: Or they are just complacent, they might have a good job, and they're living well and doing things, and I just think that ... self-centered ... is what I think. VD: Yeah. But we have started a group called Black Women Stirring the Waters and we have ... DW: Where? This year? VD: This year and we've been meeting bimonthly. And at a ... DW: It sounds like a great big title. VD: We are really kind of a sister organization of a group in San Francisco, Oakland area, called Black Women Stirring the Waters. Started by a group of black women and ... who feel that the experience of the black woman is so unique that it must have its own . . . that our experiences should be ... we should have a chance to exchange ... to dialogue. DW: Right. VD: And this is what we are primarily doing now, we're sort of feeling our way to see what is it that we feel is not being done, that needs to be done. What can we contribute ... as women ... and most of these women are busy women who are holding jobs and working, some of us are retired, but we read a lot and we read widely on ... from people like Cornell West and Bell Hooks and John Hope Franklin and people who are concerned about where our country's going, where this diversity of ... how we can become more diverse in our interests and in our ... finding commonality with other groups and making this truly a democracy. I mean in the true sense of the word, which has never been, really ... DW: Um-uhm. VD: Since its inception of the Constitution. So we were not really included. So this is . . . we're not trying to ... we're trying to see where we are needed. We are not trying to be a . . . like an activist group to ... but yet to connect with groups, not only in the United States, but in Africa and other Third World countries. DW: That'd be a good place to start, since Nelson Mandela's become … VD: Right, and then I have friends . . . DW: Yes, you do ... That's true, that's true. VD: So from my travels and so on. DW: Have this organization had any conferences ... or ... [?] VD: No, we just very ... we've been meeting bimonthly and we ... the interest is growing and usually groups wake up and don't have a meeting in the summer, but we plan to meet in June ... at the end of June and also at the end of August. So ... we're going on through the year and just ... DW: Do you ... VD: Now we'll be meeting at the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA ... we had started meeting at the Salad Bowl and then we went to the Missouri Historical Society. And our last meeting was there on that very rainy Sunday that so much was going on, April 23rd. DW: Yeah, a lot was happening ... It rained all day. VD: Yeah. And then ... Now we're going to ... we've got permission to meet at this new Phyllis Wheatley (YWCA), which is on West Pine you know. And so that ... we'll see what ... how it goes next year. DW: It sounds great. VD: But so far there have been kind of about twenty . twenty-five or more women who are coming fairly regularly. And even on that rainy day we had fourteen. DW: Have you notified ... I'm gathering that you've notified Oakland, California ... in Oakland, California ... the other organization. VD: Yes, they gave us some suggestions. DW: Ok, have they had any conferences? VD: Now they've been going for ten years and they're suppose to have a kind of tenth celebration ... of their tenth year of existence. DW: That's when you all should go ... VD: Yeah. DW: ... and meet. VD: Well, at first it was going to be a big thing, but they decided that they would keep it kind of small. But I suggested that they try to internet ... find out if you could do it through... without having to travel . . . maybe be a contact way. Some different ... DW: ... could write or something? VD: Um-uhm. In other words, for example, a Bell Hooks ... or what's our great writer? DW: Our great writer? VD: Yeah, Nobel Prize winner. DW: I'm drawing a ... VD: Toni Morrison. DW: I see. Right. VD: Maya Angelou ... They've got ... DW: Yeah. VD: They may not be able to come to L.A. or something, but they could ... you could internet with them or with some of the young people who have been making inroads and through ... And if that is within their, you know, somebody may ... maybe even get a grant or something. They could finance it. DW: Yeah, I know that Danforth is really a good organization to tap into. VD: That's right! I'll just come back with all this enthusiasm. DW: Right, and a that would be a good place to start first. VD: That would be a good place. Um-uhm. See, we need people like you with ideas. DW: Thank you very much. VD: So when you finish down there with the academic mountains that you have to climb, and . . . this might be the kind of group you might want to ... DW: Okay. VD: It won't cost you anything. DW: Okay. VD: Just your time. DW: Before we close, this has been a fantastic, wonderful interview, I want to tell you. But I have one more question and that is messages for young people. What words of advice would you like to share with young people about your profession, about life, or about St. Louis? VD: Well, my concern is primarily, that we're a little too inbred in St. Louis, we're not global minded enough. And we need to travel, we need to be aware of not only what's happening in our own little community, but what is connecting with people of ... a ... in other parts of the world. The ... those who are ... on the lower end of the economic ladder who might have great ideas for making our world a better place. And I would like for them the set their sights more on ... less on the materialistic things ... not that money isn't everything and it means a lot to live well. I want them to be able to be educated and to live a ... comfortably and well, but don't put all of you energies and priorities into the materialistic side of life. And ... pass on to others ... go back to help somebody get a start. And even if you . . . just a little here and there. If you can feel a personal responsibility for mentoring and helping some who have ... who haven't had the advantages you've had. And consider yourself lucky if you have a chance to really develop on your own and to give ... to give your inner . . . Develop your spiritual life so that you will connect with ... go back to your African roots and to your ... whatever your roots are, if you identify more with ... the Irish or the ... so be it. But whatever it is, connect with your ancestors and those who have gone on before you and these marvelous civilizations ... and have left what we have now, what we are enjoying. And to the world of the computer, the information age, to me is ... can be disastrous if you aren't careful. DW: That's true. VD: So, use it wisely. While it is ... these little children are learning very early how to use the computer. I hope they realize that life isn't just in that little box. What would I say to them? I would say that... open up and learn to love ... DW: Yes, that's important. VD: ... and to care. And I think our disasters ... and when you have things that happen like the terrorism in Oklahoma, you realize ... Let groups ... don't listen to these little cult groups and beware of ... there ain't no Santa Claus and there ... you know ... it's a way to do things that ... to work within the system to change it ... is what I would like to see, rather than to be explosive and violent. And ... get ... open up our prisons and let . . . let the nonviolent criminals have a chance to really rehabilitate and be a part of the ... of our society. Now that was one thing that Angela Davis brought out in her lecture and it is not my original idea by any means. What about all of these men and women who are in prison for maybe drug use or something. DW: Yes, yes or small white collar crime, you know like writing a check or something like that. VD: Right. And they could become useful citizens. DW: Yes. You know there are a lot of educated people in prisons that have two and three and four degrees. VD: With crime ... DW: Degrees. VD: They get [?] and they use it to... DW: Yes. VD: But, in other words, use your common sense. DW: [That's right.] VD: Develop your common sense. And don't be attracted to all of these influences, because to be young today is ... a real challenge to grow up and to live and to see adulthood on this level of life. We ought to make the most of it. DW: Well, Mrs. Dreer that was really neat. And I have really thoroughly enjoyed this interview with you. And thank you very much. VD: Um-uhm, okay	eng	684c93af-a015-4d0c-b5c5-207e316d4d18	http://www.umsl.edu/~whmc/guides/t609-22.htm
This biography of Malcolm was more than a decade in the making. It was written by Manning Marable, who died on April 1, 2011, shortly before the publication of his reevaluation of Malcolm's life and politics. Marable was one of the foremost scholars of Black politics in the United States. Here Marable has crafted a compelling intellectual history of Malcolm in which he shows how Malcolm's thoughts grew out of social and religious movements that first emerged within the black community during the nineteenth century. A Critical Reevaluation Marable structures his reevaluation of Malcolm X's life, as a critical deconstruction of Malcolm X's The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As told to Alex Haley. Marable's reevaluation required questioning the redemption story that forms the heart of The Autobiography. The story of the Autobiography, fashioned in partnership with the liberal republican Alex Haley and released after Malcolm's death, often falls into motifs of decline and then salvation, which date back to earlier slave narratives and stories of Christian redemption, examples ranging from Olaudah Equiano to Frederick Douglas. When Malcolm agreed to work on the Autobiography in 1963 his objective was to present to the reader "the transformative power of the apostle Elijah Muhammad, who had taken him from a life of criminality and drugs to one of sobriety and commitment" (p. 260). In contrast, Marable historicizes Malcolm's intellectual development, showing not only the disjunctions but also the commonalities between Malcolm's earlier beliefs and his later insights. Marable also firmly locates Malcolm's ideas within the wider African American intellectual tradition. Tagged: Black Muslims, Blyden, chickens coming home to roost, Egypt, Elijah Muhammad, Human Rights, Islam, Kenya, Malcolm X, Manning Marable, Middle East, OAAU, police, Politics, The Nation of Islam]]> for a Turning Point in Contemporary History 16 Sep 2012 16:31:33 +0000Alden Young reading →]]> Citing Asmara's role in the January death and abduction of European tourists in Ethiopia's Afar region, Ethiopia's retaliation represented the first direct military confrontation between Eritrea and Ethiopia since the 1998-2000 border war. Coincidentally, these events came one month before the 10th anniversary of the delimitation decision of the Eritrean Ethiopian Boundary Commission. The EEBC was the product of the Algiers Accord, which formally ended the Eritrean-Ethiopian war by referring the border dispute to arbitration. The EEBC's findings should have been the final chapter in the bloody border row between the two countries, but instead, gave the dispute new momentum. The crux of the problem was that Ethiopia rejected the EEBC's decision when it realized that Badme, the small piece of disputed territory that triggered the border war, and which it had acquired at a high human cost, had been awarded to Eritrea. Addis later accepted the decision "in principle," but demanded negotiations on the normalization of relations before it would permit the disputed border to be demarcated (and return Badme to Eritrea). bargaining Tagged: Al Jazeera, Arab Spring, Chad, CPA, Eckart Woertz, Economy, Egypt, Eritrea, Gerard Prunier, Heglig, Horn of Africa, Kenya, Khalil Ibrahim, Lamu, NCP, Oil, Omar El-Bashir, Riek Machar, Rumbek, Salva Kiir, Sudan, Uganda]]> the Limits of Deterrence Shape the Possibility of a Strike on Iran 12 Feb 2012 03:53:15 +0000Alden Young reading →]]>It is in this climate that a certain pessimism has set in amongst Middle East watchers. Over drinks at one of New York's cooler than thou bars: Bathtub gin,[3] I recently met two friends of mine in town from Geneva. One of whom has now settled in New York doing publicity, the other a former al Jazeera reporter and now a thriller writer, who was happy to engage in tales about her most recent trip to Beirut. The punch line she delivered in no uncertain terms, a consensus opinion of the Beirut nightlife scene, was that not only is Syria going to hell, but so is the whole Middle East, and in many ways it was hard to argue that 2012 will be kind to the region. Undoubtedly, the aftershocks of 2011 will continue to be felt, and outside of the widening of the political sphere, which was not a small achievement, few if any of the cleavages in the region have been bridged. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict continues to fester, as does a rising awareness of sectarian differences within societies, as well as, political cleavage between states. One reaction to political change has been the strengthening of political organization, such as the Gulf Cooperation Community, devoted to resisting change rather than facilitating it. Add to all of these concerns, the very likely possibility of failed states taking shape in Syria and Yemen, added uncertainty in Israel's security environment and an American attempt to redeploy its forces towards Asia, and continued volatility is all but assured. The question then is not whether or not the Middle East will be tumultuous in 2012, I believe we can rest assured that it will be, but whether or not their will be a catastrophic event. Catastrophe is perhaps an overly vague term, so lets be a bit more specific. I believe the odds are better than not that there will not be inter-state conflict in the Middle East in 2012. The two most likely locations of interstate war are Israel-Lebanon, see 2006, or Israel and Iran with or without American support. Yet both conflicts while potentially related are unlikely to breakout into out right war, because the consequences and costs have become too high. And the rhetoric in support of war appears to have reached truly unprecedented levels amongst some constituencies in the United States. For an truly outrageous example, see the story of the publisher of a Jewish newspaper calling for Obama's assassination.[4] The intellectual consensus amongst the policy making elite appears to be opposed to the outbreak of open conflict.[5] In order to understand why the smart money remains opposed to war with Iran lets turn to one potential scenario of how such a conflict might play out. Because the consequences of an attack on Iran's nuclear sites have been played out over and over again by strategists, it is possible to turn to a number of very detailed accounts of how such an event might unfold, in order to build our own sketch of how such a conflict might develop. One of the best, though now slightly out of date scenarios, was conducted by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy under the direction of Kenneth Pollack in February 2010.[6] Though a lot has changed during the intervening years. In particular, there has been the escalation of a major covert war inside of Iran, Syria is in civil war, and while Iran has not begun a clear nuclear weapon program, the sophistication of its nuclear energy program has become clearer as has the amount of popular support the program enjoys.[7] The new year began with the Obama Administration and its European allies pushing for the adoption of sanctions targeting Iran's oil exports. These sanctions were designed to prohibit transactions with the Central Bank of Iran. Intelligence officials believe that these sanctions could reduce Iran's revenue by more than a third.[8] Already on the eve of European Union sanctions on the imports of Iranian crude oil Iran has suffered from rising inflation. The Iranian rial this year has lost 40% of its value, and even more critically, wild fluctuations in the value of the Iranian currency have made it hard for many businesses to survive.[9] Pollack and David Milliband both argue that the possibility of a miscalculation is incredibly high, and that as the covert war escalates and an increasingly aggressive posture and signals are adopted, the likelihood of an unintended conflict grows.[10] There is an incredible amount of truth in the assumption that without serious restraint–after all four scientists have been assassinated in the last year and our involvement with dissident groups attempting to overthrow the regime has grown–the possibility that we could find ourselves in a situation where we are fighting an open war will continue to grow. Yet, the events of the last year have made the conditions for such an attack less auspicious not more so. In order to understand why we must examine a scenario of how such an event would likely play out. A limited attack by Israel would seriously degrade Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities, but it would not be able to destroy Iran's ability to retaliate or to reconstitute its program. To prevent Iran from reconstituting its nuclear program would take a sustained series of assaults over many months, a pattern that is surely unrealistic. A strike by the United States directly from its forward positions in the Persian Gulf would be more likely to destroy a significant part of Iran's command and control structure, as well as its military capacity, but even then it is doubtful that the regime could be overthrown through an air campaign alone or that the Iranian military could be decimated. Additionally, the likelihood of the United States launching an air campaign against Iranian targets during the remainder of 2012 without direct provocation is extremely low. The best case scenario for an attack against Iran would include surgical strikes against Iran's nuclear energy or weapon facilities and then rely on deterrence to prevent Iran from escalating the conflict. The goal would be to ensure a contained conflict largely on terms dictated by the aggressor. However, an equally or perhaps more likely scenario foresees Iran responding to a strike against its nuclear facilities by retaliating either directly or through proxies, forcing an escalation of the conflict and denying the aggressor the right to define the boundaries of the conflict. The most likely strategy for Iranian policymakers to change the terms of a conflict in which they are conventionally over-matched, would be for them to export the conflict from a purely Iranian field of combat to new arenas. The four possible arenas in which Iran could spread conflict are the Levant (Lebanon and Syria), the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan. A direct escalation in the Persian Gulf would bring about a uncontrolled and dramatic escalation in the conflict, particularly an overwhelming response by American forces stationed in the Gulf. Escalations in Iraq and Afghanistan would also primarily target American forces, and while extremely aggravating to American interest, an escalation in violence in these regions would take a long period to sufficiently impact the United States. The scenario concocted by the Saban Center focused on how the conflict would escalate from an air assault over Iran into a possible ground war in Lebanon. The trigger being Hizbullah's or other Iranian proxies decision to assist Iran by launching wave after wave of rocket attacks against northern Israel. Building on the lessons of 2006, we know that Israel cannot counter such attacks through an air campaign alone. Nor would a limited invasion of southern Lebanon suffice. Though given adequate time, punitive measures short of a major ground campaign might eventually compel an end to the barrage against northern Israel, it is extremely unlikely that the Israeli public would tolerate an the necessary period of insecurity for such an outcome to be reached. Therefore, it is extremely likely that the Israeli Defense Forces would feel compelled to enter Lebanon, engaging in a major land campaign. In 2010, the Saban Center predicted that such a move would result in an unpredictable quagmire, for which the IDF would be poorly prepared. A military occupation would be extremely taxing, and the international attention would make it very difficult for the IDF to operate freely. The possibility of atrocities might invite the involvement of additional regional actors, the most problematic of which would be Turkey. The IDF is essentially built as a strike force, and the likelihood of an early or decisive victory in an extended Lebanon campaign is quite low, yet, eliminating rocket fire or decimating Hizbullah would require a substantial period of occupation. Since 2010, the outlook for the success of an Israeli campaign in Lebanon has severely darkened. Even though Assad's regime in Syria was the major conduit through which Iranian support passed to various groups in Lebanon, the regime's very dictatorial and highly centralized nature made it vulnerable to deterrence. It had always been assumed that Hafez, and later his son Bashar, wanted to survive, and therefore could be counted on to prevent a massive escalation of conflict in Lebanon, and assuredly the spread of conflict to Syria. Yet, one wonders whether a weakened Assad regime in Syria could prevent a major war in Lebanon from spilling across the border? And if it would still be in Syria's interest to limit conflict in the Levant? The possibility of an expanded arena of conflict, which includes not only Lebanon but also Syria must be a nightmare for IDF military planners. The strain of a pacification campaign would pose unpredictable obstacles to both the Isreali military, but also the Israeli economy, and the lack of a centralized government or military complex to deter would neutralize the overwhelming conventional superiority of the IDF. The importance of resolving the Syrian dilemma for Israeli military and intelligence planners was recently recognized by the wily former Mossad chief Efraim Halvey in a New York Times column last week.[11] Halvey, who for years was the primary interlocutor between the Israeli government and King Hussein of Jordan, argues that the Assad regime is finished and that a return to the old devil's bargain of stability in exchange for support for the personal rule of the Assad family cannot be reconstructed. Halvey goes on to argue that the battle now is not just a battle to get rid of Assad, but to assure a stable Syria that is friendly to Israel and hostile to Iran. A concern for Israel, because he rightly points out that it is very possible for Iranian influence in Syria to outlast the regime. However, even under the most favorable circumstances for Israel, such a scenario will take time, perhaps months to become clear. Civil War in Syria appears to be on the horizon. A good friend of mine, Karam Nachar recently declared in a talk at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, that the "Tahrir Square moment" has passed in Syria, and that the time of armed struggle has arrived. In addition there are daily reports of arms flooding into the country and the development of more sophisticated attacks. Even in Libya months after the fighting ceased the problem of militias and establishing a strong government remains, how much worse will it be in Syria during the coming months. The unpredictability of politics within the Levant make it extremely unlikely that Israeli military planners will risk igniting a tinderbox in their own region. The consequences of war are becoming harder and harder to figure with each passing month, and the allure of a strike on Iran rest entirely in the aggressor being able to control the terms of conflict and to define the arena of battle. It is very likely that aside from the ongoing covert war within Iran there will be very little appetite during the remainder of 2012 for a sharp escalation. [11] Efraim Halvey. "Iran's Achilles' Heel," The New York Times. February 7, 2012. Tagged: America, Arab Revolution, Arab Spring, Assad, Baathists, bathtub_gin, Camp_David, Egypt, Halvey, Iran, Israel, Karam_Nachar, Kenneth_Pollack, Lebanon, Libya, Middle East, Pax_Americana, Politics, Qaddafi, Saban_Center, Scenario, Security, Syria, Tahrir_Square_Moment, Turkey]]> Does UNSC 2023 Mean for Eritrea? 15 Jan 2012 18:07:02 +0000mwoldemariam reading →]]> Intellectually, there are two more interesting questions that need to be considered. First, what will be the effects of resolution 2023 on Eritrea and the region? Second, given that UNSC sanctions are rare (only 11 UNSC sanctions regimes are currently in place), how was the resolution passed? In this post, I focus on the former. The Ambiguous Resolution The conventional wisdom about UNSC 2023 is that the resolution lacks teeth, particularly when compared to its original draft (which would have installed the most far-reaching sanctions regime currently on the books). Beyond a call that member states demonstrate "vigilance" in ensuring that revenue from Eritrea's mining sector is not used for nefarious purposes, and new strictures that prevent the use of extortion in the collection of Eritrea's diaspora tax, the resolution does little to modify its predecessor, UNSC 1907. Yet this view must be squared with the reality that the Eritrean government fought tooth and nail, to the eleventh hour, to prevent the resolution's passage. If UNSC 2023 was a paper tiger, why did it cause such alarm in Asmara? Surely, for a government whose reputation was already in tatters, public image concerns did not loom large. The real threat that UNSC 2023 poses to the Eritrean government is rooted in the resolution's ambiguity. In mandating that member states shall "undertake appropriate measures" in regulating Eritrea's mining sector and collection of its diaspora tax, UNSC 2023 provides national governments free reign in targeting Eritrea's primary revenue generating activities. Since "appropriate measures" are never defined , nor the circumstances under which these "appropriate measures" may be deployed, Eritrea could face an avalanche of national level regulation that severely curtails its freedom of action. (Note: Even if further action is not taken by UN member states, the resolution creates so much uncertainty that the effects on foreign direct investment are likely to be significant). Indeed, there is ample precedent for this sort of scenario, which is a key reason China and Russia were reluctant to support 2023. UNSC 1973, an ambiguous resolution that authorized member states to protect Libyan civilians during the recent civil war, was liberally interpreted by western governments as a legal justification for regime change. In this sense, what makes UNSC 2023 so dangerous to Eritrea, is not what it officially sanctions, but what it fails to proscribe. The relevant point here, is that when one peers beyond the public posturing of concerned parties, there is ample reason to believe that UNSC 2023 could have a severe impact on the way the Asmara conducts its business. An Eritrean Shift? The logic of UNSC sanctions, in most cases, is to generate some change in behavior on the part of a target state. Will UNSC 2023 spur a rapprochement between Eritrea and its regional and western critics? Will Eritrea bend to pressure? The empirical record of UNSC sanctions is mixed. The collective weight of sanctions eventually prompted Qadaffi to take partial responsibility for 1989 bombing of Pan Am 103. But the current hand-wringing over the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs suggests that UNSC sanctions don't always produce their intended effects. The point raised earlier is important. If UN member states use 2023 as an opportunity to produce national level regulations curtailing the Eritrean government's ability to generate revenue, then there will be real incentive for Eritrea to change its behavior. This could produce a diplomatic thaw, and possibly, an end to Eritrea's isolation on the world stage. However, if UN member states fail to take further action, UNSC 2023 will have produced the worst of both worlds: the resolution will create more hostility in Asmara towards neighboring countries, the UN, and major international powers, while failing to provide a compelling motive for Eritrea to curb its alleged destabilizing activity in the Horn of Africa. Tagged: China, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Horn of Africa, Libya, NGO, Politics, Qaddafi, Russia, sanctions, Security Council, Somalia, Trade, UN, US]]> escalating situation in Syria 31 Dec 2011 05:53:40 +0000Alden Young reading →]]>See an activist from within Syria and my colleague at Princeton Karam Nachar describe the state of war which exist inside of Syria today. Listen to this video and find out more about the role of international monitors, the Syrian protest movement, social media and the role of the Syrian diaspora and exile communities. Both analysts provide precious insights into which communities have moved away from the regime and which communities remain loyal. Tagged: Al Jazeera, Arab Revolution, Arab Spring, Baathists, Politics, Princeton History, Sudan, Syria]]> Revolutions, Economic Growth and Political Order 30 Dec 2011 07:19:51 +0000Alden Young reading →]]> Reviewing our questions and assumptions can help us to create a mental map showing the different ways in which we thought about how the events in Tunisia were connected to the events occurring in Egypt and Yemen or Uganda and London. Has it been a year of contagion, the falling of a new Berlin Wall in the Middle East, or a return to the youthful and left wing revolutions of 1968? Can Occupy Wall Street's origins be traced back to the example of the restless and brave citizens of Tahrir Square, or does the slogan we are the 99% have its roots solely in the United States. Perhaps, the quest to confront the 99% has its origins in the growing inequality which is stalking the rich countries of the world, the occupy movement and its slogans acting as a countervailing force to the political pressure put forward by the rightward leaning Tea Party. In February 2011, the question on the mind of my partner Mike Woldemariam and myself was whether or not the revolutions blazing across the Arab World would spread to Africa, and if not why not? Revolutions were spreading across North Africa like a contagion. Of course, the commonplace wisdom was that it was just a matter of time before the revolution spread into the Arab East and across the Sahara into Africa. And why not? It was assumed after all that the revolutions and uprising were the products of poverty and authoritarianism. Despite the African Renaissance, a phrase used to describe the dramatic rise in the number of African democracies and in the growth rates of African economies over the last decade, it seemed obvious to ask and easy to answer the question: whether or not the countries of sub-Saharan Africa were similar to the countries in revolt, suffering from poverty and autocracy in abundance? One of the earliest framings of the Arab uprisings was as an epic battle between civil society and the state. This juxtaposition fit nicely with our narrative about the uprisings being the result of a natural and inevitable struggle between the people's desire for democracy and the frustrations of those yearnings at the hands of a corrupt and venial elite. Yet, the failure of the uprisings to spread south of the Sahara, and instead the intensification of protests in southern Europe, began to call this line of analysis into question. A second challenge to the idea that a united civil society was standing against the regime came from the fracturing of the Syrian, Libyan and Yemeni revolutions. The longer conflict continued the more apparent it becomes that the dominate fault lines were not necessarily between the state and civil society, but within society itself. The fallacy of a united civil society has been amply illustrated by the ongoing political drama in Egypt. The fight over who will eventually rule in Cairo has exposed the lingering divisions between the Liberals and Islamists, the military and businessmen. The existence of these divisions is hardly surprising, yet the ways in which new coalitions were readily forming between old members of the regime and the different factions of the opposition points to the extent to which it was impossible to draw a firm line between an oppressed civil society and an oppressive state. The London riots, the increasingly shrill political debates taking place in the United States, and parts of Western Europe also made it increasingly difficult to characterize the uprisings as a simple preference for democracy over autocracy. Other attempts were made to make comparisons between our present year of discontent and years past. Analogies have been made ranging from 1989 and the end of Communism to 1968 and even 1848. Yet as Robert Service's insightful op-ed in the New York Times reminded us today historical analogy as the root of explanation is inherently fraught with difficulty.[1] Because, do we really understand what occurred in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe from 1989 until 1991? Was there a popular uprising or did the elite simply lose the will to govern? When so much about even the recent past remains unclear, how useful a guide is it to understanding an uncertain present? And what should we make of the recent unrest in Russia and China? Writers like Immanuel Wallerstein have posited that the unrest that we are currently witnessing is analogous with the unrest that swept across much of the world in 1968. What Wallerstein calls the "1968 current." He writes that first, the revolutionaries of 1968 were protesting against the inherently undemocratic behaviour of those in authority. A misuse of authority that was present at all levels of society. The 1968-revolutionaries were also against vertical decision-making and in favour of horizontal decision-making – participatory and therefore popular.[2] Yet in some ways it is scholars such as Lisa Wedeen talking about Syria today who have raised some of the most interesting questions about the revolutions taking place in the Arab world currently. She poignantly asks why now? Why have states like Syria, Egypt, Russia and Spain faced such prolonged periods of unrest now? Regimes such as those in Syria and Egypt had for years focused on mediating between different social groups, surviving only because amongst the often fractious stakeholders the regime itself was the least hated party. Proof that this model is not completely discredited for the time being, the monarchy in Jordan has been able to survive in its role as a mediator between different social forces that are mutually unacceptable to one another.[3] But what changed in Syria, Libya and Egypt? Speaking at the Davis Seminar at Princeton University Lisa Wedeen posited that the regimes' embrace of neo-liberalism meant that the ways in which the regimes interact with other social actors has shifted. Regimes like the those in Egypt and Syria began to move away from directly controlling the means of production and the economy in their respective countries to standing as a guarantor of private property; however, it was gained.[4] Similar arguments have been made about the evolution of the Russian state under Putin as Wedeen is making about the Syrian state under Bashar al-Assad.[5] These changes resulted in increased economic growth, the enrichment of elements of the elite and the incorporation of new elements of the rising middle classes into the regimes' power structures. But the question remains to what extent the state's increasingly indirect interactions in the daily lives of its citizens means that its ability to mitigate social conflicts has been reduced? Acknowledging the global nature of the unrest, but still left with the mystery of its most serious manifestations taking place in southern Europe and the Arab world one is left to wonder if the best place to turn for an explanation is not still the well worn truisms of Samuel P. Huntington in Political Order in Changing Societies.[6] His first principle is the most startling. Huntington argued that the largest difference between states is not whether or not a state is a democracy or an autocracy, but rather the degree to which a state is governed or governable. Governability, according to Huntington, was related to the maturity of a state's political institutions. This starting point may help us understand why democratic Ireland has been able to withstand severe fiscal austerity while Greece has not. Similarly, it may help us to begin to understand the differences between the ways in which regimes in Libya, Egypt and Jordan for instance have dealt with challenges to the legitimacy of their respective political systems. The second insight learned from Political Order is that political stability is a variable, which is largely independent from other factors such as economic growth or social liberalization. In fact, reforms in both of these areas may actually be politically destabilizing. The third factor, and the one which I believe has the most bearing on the current situation, is that after a period of sustained economic growth, societies which have not enjoyed similar rates of development in their political system are particularly vulnerable to the plague of political disorder, particularly during periods of economic slowdown or rising social tensions. The severity of the disorder in Arab countries such as Libya, Egypt, Syria and Yemen can in large part be explained by preexisting problems in their political institutions. For instance, even as Egypt, Libya and Syria began to liberalize their economies, each political system had failed to fully institutionalize the relationship between their ruling families and the rest of the political system. Though each of these political systems possesses different characteristics, which in part explain the different outcomes in each society, the failure to institutionalize the relationship between the palace and the rest of the political system allowed space for inter-regime fracturing to occur, once these regimes were confronted with an economic slowdown and social unrest. Similarly in the countries of southern Europe, particularly in Italy and Greece, the deepening of the European common market and the adoption of the Euro meant that rapid economic growth was possible, slowed only by the global economic downturn in 2008 and the looming financial crisis.[7] Yet weaknesses in both the European Union's political and economic infrastructure and the domestic political institutions in those two countries have exacerbated the crisis. One of the looming stories of 2012 will be whether Russia will suffer a similar fate or if Putin's political circle will be able to reconcile itself with the rest of the Russian political system to present a united front in the face of rising social unrest and possibly declining commodity prices. [5] For a discussion of how the political system in Russia moved away from one in which the state attempted to directly control the economy towards a system in which the state became the guarantor of risk and profit for private actors in the economy, see: Stephen J. Collier. Post-Soviet Social: Neoliberalism, Social Modernity, Biopolitics. (New York, NY: Princeton University Press, 2011) [6] Samuel P. Huntington. Political Order in Changing Societies. (1968) Tagged: Economy, Horn of Africa, NCP, Omar El-Bashir, Qatar, Sudan]]> Joys of Secession: The Economic View from Khartoum 17 Nov 2011 21:45:05 +0000Alden Young reading →]]>In the months since South Sudan became independent, the northern economy has plunged into a tailspin. In candid comments on World Food Day, the British ambassador to Sudan Nicholas Kay highlighted the seriousness of the current situation. Writing in October Kay mentioned that: In Sudan, the past month has seen a further half a million people fall into food insecurity. The international community, including the UK, aims to feed5.2 millionSudanese this year. Food problems are the result of both natural forces – poor rains– and man-made causes, such as conflict. The continuing refusal of the government to allow international aid into conflict-affected states of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan makes the impact on civilians worse. The wars there continue with no end in sight. Civilians suffer while leaders sacrifice lives rather than sit around a table. Miscalculation, pride and an exaggerated sense of strength bring suffering to tens of thousands. In the very states that should be planting and growing food for much of Sudan and South Sudan, the fields are abandoned. The bitter seeds of future hunger have been sown. You don't have to travel to the periphery of Sudan to find hunger. Daily life in Khartoum is increasingly hard. Since I left on holiday at the end of August, many food prices have risen sharply: cooking oil from 25 SDG to 33 SDG for 3 litres; a chicken from 14 SDG to 18 SDG; rice from 7 SDG to 9 SDG a kilo; bread from 20 cents to 25 cents. I'm no mathematician, but it looks like rises of 20-25% in one month. Little wonder Khartoum has seen protests in the last few weeks.[2] Kay's candidness naturally caused a storm of government protests in the Sudanese press, as the Ambassador put the blame for Khartoum's economic recession on bad policy making and a return to belligerent behavior in the border states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile Province. All true, but what would a successful economic policy for the government in Khartoum look like? Kay gives a hint when he emphasizes the economic ramifications of the continued fighting in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States: food. Food. In order to understand the political and economic implications of this single word we have to turn to the competing economic narratives at work in Khartoum today, and how these narratives have changed since Independence in 1956.[3] Investigating these narratives is one way of judging the magnitude of Khartoum's political errors in the lead up to and after South Sudan's succession without becoming trapped by the standard assumption that the leadership in Khartoum is always utterly incompetent.[4] There may after all be a method to the madness. Why did Sudan break up? Or more accurately, assuming that there was anything that Khartoum could do to prevent Sudan's break up, why was the July 9 separation of South Sudan from the Republic of Sudan such a whimper. Khartoum's loss of upwards of 75% of the roughly 490,000 barrels of oil produced daily in both countries has been read by commentators as a foreseeable and unmitigated defeat for the North. Yet, if one believes that for the foreseeable future the export of hydrocarbons remains the only viable basis of the economies of both South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan, then intense (and with signs of a global economic downturn building) unrelenting pressure has just been placed on the Republic's economy. Pressure, which in the face of the South's hard-line position in regards to the amount of revenue it is willing to share from its oil proceeds, shows no signs of being alleviated. So why has Khartoum not done more to alter its predicament? After all, it is natural to assume that unless someway is found to relieve the pressure on the North's economy there will inevitably be a return to hostilities. And sure enough, on the 11th of November, Bloomberg News quoted Salva Kiir accusing Khartoum of plotting to invade the South, in particular of targeting a takeover of the oil wells in Upper Nile Province along with government backed rebels. These accusations followed recent reports of a bombing raid on a refugee camp in Unity state.[5] The accusations resonate in South Sudan in part because they echo the North's original strategy of dividing the Southern Nationalist movement by supporting various southern rebels during the Second Civil War. The most famous of which were Riek Machar's fighters.[6] The gains from this strategy originally allowed Khartoum to develop the oil fields in Upper Nile Province. Yet, the very similarities between the scenarios put forth by Southern leaders, and their own master narratives about the Second Civil War, should give outside analysts pause. Can the Sudanese Armed Forces really believe that an invasion of the South would result in anything besides further and utter humiliation? Another potential wild card is the SPLM-North, the continuation of which serves to highlight the ways in which short of the "New Sudan," South Sudan potentially remains an eternally expanding project. Because, if South Sudan is the state of the African peoples of Sudan, then where do its borders end? Are there not African communities in the North? Alternatively, if the state is not defined ideologically, but as a collection of ethnic communities, then the South's potential internal fault lines are unending. A real question will be the extent to which the Southern leadership desires to or is even capable of successfully marginalizing the supporters of the SPLM-North. In order to do so the SPLM will be forced to surrender tons of the movement's ideological armour. The answer to this question will have an out-sized impact on future prospects for peace between the two neighbors. Yet, I am optimistic about the prospects for peace. The case for a return to a full-scale war, begun by Khartoum, rests overwhelmingly on the assumption that Sudan's economic planners still believe that their economy can rely on the oil sector to propel its growth. Yet, at 500,000 barrels a day there has never been enough oil to fund the adequate development of both North and South Sudan, let alone to support the stressed northern economy in the face of a protracted and bloody war. A war that even in more favorable conditions, in the late 1990s, ate up as much as 80% of Khartoum's annual budget. Development requires peace. And, there is a wide consensus within the northern elite about this point. A consensus strengthened by the still palpable feeling of war fatigue in Khartoum and other cities throughout the North. Recently, widespread riots in northern cities only underlined the extent to which the SAF cannot hope to mobilize the population in the ways that were necessary to prosecute the last civil war. Plus, as Alex De Waal and Julie Flint point out, so many of the troops who fought in the 1990s originally came from Darfur, and what are the prospects of this traditional source of manpower being available for a new war in South Sudan.[7] The announcement of a new rebel alliance in Darfur on the 13th of November only confirmed that Khartoum will face continued problems in that region in the near to medium term, whatever the talk of progress.[8] Some members of the armed forces and sections of the NCP, who monopolized the profits from the oil sector within their own patronage networks, may harbour hopes about sustaining Sudan's oil economy. However, a large constituency within the military and within the NIF has for years, since the signing of the CPA, believed that the cost of integrating the South with the North, either as a result of continuing military occupation or through large-scale transfers of wealth, was too high. Witness the campaign for separation led by the pro-government newspaper al-Intibaha, or the willingness to cast the South off by Islamist politicians such as Hasan Al-Turabi. A man who after the 1989 coup, along with other officers within the military, justified the escalation in the civil war during the 1990s as a crusade. Still, the idea that the South is not a blessing, but a burden is hardly new. It has been expressed by northern politicians for decades. So what has changed? Today, an alliance between the Umma party and the DUP, whose traditional networks of patronage were largely marginalized in the oil economy of the 1990s, and the peace camp within the ruling coalition, finally posses the upper hand. The result has been the creation of a powerful constituency to re-imagine the Sudanese state and economy. The prospect of a long and sustained international boom in food prices holds out the promise of finally reviving Sudan's agricultural sector, making it a secure foundation for the northern economy. The way forward has been led by enterprising and multinational companies, such as the DAL Group, and interest and investment from other Arab countries has made the idea that Sudan could soon become a bread basket appear tantalizingly real once again. This dream has been seen before, most recently in the 1970s, but also right after the Second World War, but it has usually lost out to a focus on the export of a single commodity be it cotton or later oil. An adverse international investment climate over the next few years, and the possibility of a world recession, will make the transition to an agricultural economy more difficult for Sudan. But with the support of the international community, Sudan does not need to have an economic rationale to return to war. Then how do we explain the continuing patterns of belligerence of the SAF and Omar El-Bashir?[9] One, the secessionist coalition is firmly opposed to the continued life of the "New Sudan" idea. There will be no more concessions. Second, here Ambassador Kay hit it on the head: South Kordofan and Blue Nile State's rich agricultural lands are vital to Khartoum's attempts to adjust its economy away from the oil sector.[10] And consequentially, any further withdrawals from land in those two states can only be offset by South Sudan's concessions in the energy sector. If international investment is available to fund Sudan's transition away from an economy dominated by the energy sector to one based on food production, and Khartoum is allowed to retain sufficient territory to make such a transition attractive, then the prospects for peace between the two Sudans will remain strong from Khartoum's perspective. [9] For a review of Khartoum's aggressions and a statement of the view that the SAF plans to seize control of at least some of the oil reserves in South Sudan see: Eric Reeves. "Full-scale war looms as Khartoum bombs civilians in South Sudan," (November 12, 2011.) Sudan Tribune.	eng	530b3893-45c1-4b5c-83be-2998f6999194	http://redseanotes.com/feed/
Samurai Warriors 2 FAQ/Walkthrough By: Robert Dohner (a.k.a. Rampidzier) ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ Table of Contents \____________________________________________________ Note: All names are currently going by the format in the US version of the game. Since this is a US guide, I will go by what the names are in the US version of the game, no matter how the order of the names are in the Japanese version or in history. To navigate this guide, use your Find function on your browser (normally, it's Ctrl+F) and then input the code for the chapter you want. 1. Introduction....................................................SW2INTRO 1a. Version History.............................................SW2INVER 1b. FAQ Progress................................................SW2INPRO 2. The Basics of Battle............................................SW2BASIC 2a. Controller Setup/Move Notations.............................SW2BACON 2b. General Tips................................................SW2BAGEN 3. Playable Characters' Move Sets..................................SW2PCHAR 3a. Yukimura Sanada's Move Set..................................SW2PCYUK 3b. Keiji Maeda's Move Set......................................SW2PCKEI 3c. Nobunaga Oda's Move Set.....................................SW2PCNOB 3d. Mitsuhide Akechi's Move Set.................................SW2PCMIA 3e. Kenshin Uesugi's Move Set...................................SW2PCKEN 3f. Oichi's Move Set............................................SW2PCOIC 3g. Okuni's Move Set............................................SW2PCOKU 3h. Magoichi Saika's Move Set...................................SW2PCMAG 3i. Shingen Takeda's Move Set...................................SW2PCSHI 3j. Masamune Date's Move Set....................................SW2PCMAS 3k. No's Move Set...............................................SW2PCNOH 3l. Hanzo Hattori's Move Set....................................SW2PCHAN 3m. Ranmaru Mori's Move Set.....................................SW2PCRAN 3n. Hideyoshi Toyotomi's Move Set...............................SW2PCHID 3o. Tadakatsu Honda's Move Set..................................SW2PCTAD 3p. Ina's Move Set..............................................SW2PCINA 3q. Ieyasu Tokugawa's Move Set..................................SW2PCIEY 3r. Mitsunari Ishida's Move Set.................................SW2PCMII 3s. Nagamasa Azai's Move Set....................................SW2PCNAG 3t. Sakon Shima's Move Set......................................SW2PCSAK 3u. Yoshihiro Shimazu's Move Set................................SW2PCYOS 3v. Ginchiyo Tachibana's Move Set...............................SW2PCGIN 3w. Kanetsugu Naoe's Move Set...................................SW2PCKAN 3x. Nene's Move Set.............................................SW2PCNEN 3y. Kotaro Fuma's Move Set......................................SW2PCKOT 3z. Musashi Miyamoto's Move Set.................................SW2PCMUS 4. Story Mode Walkthroughs.........................................SW2STORY 4a.-4z. Each Character..........................................SW2ST* 5. Weapons.........................................................SW2WEAPO 5a.-5z. Each Character..........................................SW2WE* 6. Skills..........................................................SW2SKILL 6a. Ability Skills..............................................SW2SKABI 6b. Growth Skills...............................................SW2SKGRO 6c. Battle Skills...............................................SW2SKBAT 6d. Special Skills..............................................SW2SKSPE 6e. Self Skills.................................................SW2SKSEL 6f. Fourth Level Skills.........................................SW2SKFOU 7. Survival Mode...................................................SW2SURVI 7a. Regular Missions............................................SW2SMREG 7b. Special Ranmaru Missions....................................SW2SMRAN 7c. Special Mount Missions......................................SW2SMMOU 7d. Special Guard Missions......................................SW2SMGUA 7e. Special Skill Missions......................................SW2SMSKI 8. Sugoroku........................................................SW2SUGOR 8a. Minigames...................................................SW2SUMIN 8b. Shrine and Port Events......................................SW2SUSHR 8c. General Tips................................................SW2SUGEN 9. Guards..........................................................SW2GUARD 9a. Samurai.....................................................SW2GUSAM 9b. Lady Samurai................................................SW2GULSA 9c. Ninja.......................................................SW2GUNIN 9d. Kunoichi....................................................SW2GUKUN 9e. Musketeer...................................................SW2GUMUS 9f. Archer......................................................SW2GUARC 9g. Monk........................................................SW2GUMON 9h. Shrine Maid.................................................SW2GUSHR 9i. Sumo........................................................SW2GUSUM 9j. Fire Ninja..................................................SW2GUFIR 9k. Special Bodyguards..........................................SW2GUSPE 9l. Max Bodyguard Test..........................................SW2GUMAX 10. Mounts..........................................................SW2MOUNT 11. Unlockables.....................................................SW2UNLOC 12. FAQs............................................................SW2FREQU 13. Special Thanks..................................................SW2THANK 14. Contact Information and Legal Stuffies..........................SW2LEGAL Second Note: For Sections 4 and 5, the sections are divided by sections based on characters. Since it would make the Table of Contents too long and not very good to list every character individually every time, I will list them here with their character codes. To find the specific section you are looking for, replace the * with the correct character code. For example, to find Yukimura Sanada's Story Mode walkthrough, you can hit Ctrl - F and then type in the code SW2STYUK, with the YUK replacing the * above. I did Section 3 to provide an example as to what I mean. Here is the list of the character codes: Yukimura Sanada........YUK Keiji Maeda............KEI Nobunaga Oda...........NOB Mitsuhide Akechi.......MIA Kenshin Uesugi.........KEN Oichi..................OIC Okuni..................OKU Magoichi Saika.........MAG Shingen Takeda.........SHI Masamune Date..........MAS No.....................NOH Hanzo Hattori..........HAN Ranmaru Mori...........RAN Hideyoshi Toyotomi.....HID Tadakatsu Honda........TAD Ina....................INA Ieyasu Tokugawa........IEY Mitsunari Ishida.......MII Nagamasa Azai..........NAG Sakon Shima............SAK Yoshihiro Shimazu......YOS Ginchiyo Tachibana.....GIN Kanetsugu Naoe.........KAN Nene...................NEN Kotaro Fuma............KOT Musashi Miyamoto.......MUS ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 1. Introduction SW2INTRO \____________________________________________________ Samurai Warriors 2 is a game based on the Sengoku (Warring States) Era of Japan. While the first Samurai Warriors focused on Nobunaga Oda and earlier battles of this era, Samurai Warriors 2 focuses on battles later on in this era. The main focus of this game is the Battle of Sekigahara, which was the battle that gave the Tokugawa Army the momentum to be the eventual winners of this era. Samurai Warriors 2 is a hack and slash game. You can choose from one of 26 different characters, each with their own weapon, moves, and personalities. You help guide that character throughout many of the historic battles of Japan. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 1a. Version History SW2INVER \____________________________________________________ Version 0.1 (09/28/06): This is the start of the FAQ. This FAQ has actually been in progress for many months, since the release of the Japanese version of this game. I have been adding to this FAQ what I saw through videos and what I heard from people on the GameFAQs board. However, everything in this FAQ has been personally confirmed by me through play of the game. Nothing in this FAQ that is currently in this FAQ is hearsay. I really wasn't going to put this FAQ up until it was completed, but it is taking longer than I thought (the unedited version is 175 pages long, the edited version is smaller, but that's because I took out all the move set sections that aren't completed yet). Version 0.2 (09/29/06): Apparently I'm having punctuation problems, which is the reason for this early update. Some of my dashes and apostrophes are turning into question marks. I will figure this out and fix it, but I need to run this test update. Damn converting into a text file. I finished up Masamune Date's walkthrough and added Yukimura Sanada's move list. I also made a quick update to the contact information. Version 0.3 (10/02/06): Finally, more than halfway through with the walkthroughs. Finished up two more characters and finally got Mitsunari's fourth weapon. I decided to make this quick update because people seem to be having problems with Kanetsugu's fourth weapon (it's not that hard, folks). I also categorized the special missions in Survival mode because the section was too long and finding information there was more of a hit or miss thing. I'm also thinking about redoing the mounts section to make them with gauges, but I'm still thinking about how to do that. My free time is about to get limited again, so I'm not sure when I can make the next update. Version 0.4 (10/13/06): Added three more walkthroughs and fourth weapons. Only nine more characters to go. I have decided that I'm going to finish up the move lists first, then finish up the walkthroughs for those characters that don't have walkthroughs, getting their fourth weapons while doing the walkthroughs. I decided to take one character at a time when the guide started off so that I don't rush things with the FAQ. However, since I'm almost completely done with the walkthroughs and such, I've decided to make things go by quicker. Besides, I've been wanting to play all the characters anyways. Also added an often asked question about CAW (create-a-warrior) in the FAQ section. There is no CAW in SW2. Also, worked on the guards section a little bit. This section really won't be complete until I level up all the bodyguards to level 20. However, it just takes a long time to do so. But I did format the section and separated it into types. Version 0.5 (10/17/06): Added three more walkthroughs and fourth weapons. Down to six more left. This will be getting slower now that I got another job, so expect less and less updates. I will try to complete this guide by the end of the month, but I don't know if I can pull it off. Even after I do complete the walkthroughs of this guide, there are still a lot more information I want to add to this guide. I also added my bodyguard test to prove that bodyguards will max out without the help of the Sensei growth skill. There was some debate on this issue, so hopefully the test I ran will give people a better understanding of what the Sensei growth skill does. I also finished up the Sugoroku Chapter, so that's over and done with. I added an Unlockables Chapter that consolidates and adds information on everything that needs to be unlocked in SW2. Version 0.6 (10/26/06): I've had a couple of people ask me questions about what is the best way to play a certain character, which gave me the idea to put up a chapter on individual character strategies. Of course, I'm not an expert with every character, but I have played this game for more hours than I care to disclose (don't ask me, either). These strategies are incomplete, but hopefully they will be completed by the time this guide is at complete status. I've also decided that Chapter 2 has been missing for long enough. It's not complete, but this should be completed by the time of complete status. I've also completed all of the Survival Mode Regular Missions. Finally, I finished up one more walkthrough and two more fourth weapons. If you're wondering why I only did completed one character this update, it's because of my job and my other side project taking up a lot of my time. I'm afraid I don't have much time to create FAQs anymore. Added some new confirmed information to Mitsuhide Akechi's fourth weapon. Version 0.7 (11/05/06): I like to ramble in my version history. Finished up Ina, Kotaro, and Musashi. Also, added more character strategies and general tips. I listed all the bodyguard's starting stats. I will be listing their max stats as I max them out. Finally, I fixed some information in Yukimura Sanada's fourth weapon. Version 0.8 (11/19/06): Finished up Hanzo and Yoshihiro and started working on some Dream stages. Should be a completed guide once the Dream stages are all there. Also finished up all the move sets. I want to have this guide completed by the end of the month. I don't think it will happen, but we'll see. I've been working on this guide more now that I can see the end of it. Version 1.0 (01/28/07): Finished the Story Mode Walkthroughs, the Guard section, and anything else that needed to be finished. This is a completed guide. I also fixed some Survival Mode missions with the help of some nice and friendly e-mailers. Sorry it took so long to complete. I hit a rough patch of time where I had no free time whatsoever to complete this. Better late than never, I guess. Due to the lack of free time, I've decided to scrap all other projects in regards to this guide, so this will probably be the last time I update this guide. Version 1.1 (03/28/07): It's been a long time coming, but I finally added Keiji Maeda and Musashi Miyamoto's Self skill. Version 1.2 (06/20/07): Minor changes. Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends has been announced...for Japan. It will probably make it to the states, but I never thought it was going to be produced period. But then again, I did underestimate KOEI's ability to milk a franchise... ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 1b. FAQ Progress SW2INPRO \____________________________________________________ This guide is currently complete. DONE Regular Missions in Survival Mode. DONE Better sort of the Special Missions in Survival Mode. DONE Finish up the Sugoroku Chapter. DONE Making the Guards Chapter nicer looking. DONE The Basics of Battle Chapter. DONE Fourth Weapons. DONE Move Sets. DONE Story Mode Walkthroughs. DONE Listing and maxing out all bodyguards. DONE Individual character strategies. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 2. The Basics of Battle SW2BASIC \____________________________________________________ Samurai Warriors 2 is, at its very core, a hack and slash game. Even the most hardcore fan must admit that on a certain level, there is a lot of button mashing happening. However, that doesn't mean that there isn't any finesse to the button mashing. There are many strategies involved with this game that can mean the difference between victory and defeat. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 2a. Controller Setup/Move Notations SW2BACON \____________________________________________________ If you have played other Samurai Warriors games or even the Dynasty Warriors games, then you should know the basic controller setup. The only major difference between this game and the last game is that the first person bow and arrow view has been replaced with a special move button. ---------------- Controller Setup ---------------- Left Analog Stick/Directional Pad: Moves character Right Analog Stick: Rotates camera Square: Normal attack Triangle: Charge attack Circle: Musou attack X: Jump/Mount or dismount horse L1: Guard/Strafe/Reset camera L2: Toggle mini map R1: Special stance R2: Evade (Note: I personally change the L1 and the L2 buttons on my controller because it is easier for me to hit L2 than it is to hit L1 and I block more than I toggle the mini map. Therefore, if in this guide, you see me say the L2 button, odds are, I'm talking about blocking. I don't think it comes up, but just in case, I don't want to confuse anyone.) -------------- Move Notations -------------- These are all the move notations that I will use throughout this guide, along with some explanations of some terms that is used throughout the game. S: This stands for the square button on the controller. T: This stands for the triangle button on the controller. S String: This is the regular attack combo of general. Charge #/C#: This indicates a specific charge attack. The number indicates what type of charge attack it is. For example, a C1 would be an attack where you just press T. A C4 would be an attack where you press SSST. For tiered charge attacks, they would be indicated with a C#-#. The first number is what type of charge attack while the second number indicates what tier of the charge attack it is. Therefore, a C2-3 would be where you would press STTT. Jump Charge: This is performed by pressing triangle while in midair. Special Attack: If you press the R1 button, you enter a special stance. Pressing the square or the triangle button while in this special stance will execute your character's special attacks. Back Flip: When you are knocked into the air, you can back flip and land on your feet by pressing the guard button at the right moment. There is a certain bit of timing involved, but the window of opportunity is normally very big. You cannot always perform a back flip when you get knocked down. This can also be called a tech by some people. Grab: Grabs are unblockable attacks where you pick up the enemy and throw them in some fashion. Musou: This is performed by pressing the circle button when your musou bar is charged up completely. When you press the circle button, all regular soldiers slow down and your attacks are more powerful. Unique soldiers do not slow down. When you hold down the circle button, you will perform a powerful, unique attack. True Musou: This is performed by pressing the circle button when your musou bar is charged up completely and you are low on life. When your life bar turns red, your musou will become a true musou. True musous are the same as a regular musou except for two differences. The first one is that true musous have the fire element attached to them. The second one is that at the end of your musou, your character will perform additional attacks automatically. Double Musou: This is the same as a true musou except that the element attached is lightning instead of fire. This can only be performed when you are close to your bodyguard and your bodyguard has a full musou bar while you have at least one level of your musou bar filled. Level # Musou: In SW2, the musou bar has three different levels. The first level is a regular musou. The second level is the regular musou with more power. The third level adds a special effect to your musou. You gain more levels to your musou bar as you level up your character. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 2b. General Tips SW2BAGEN \____________________________________________________ Seal off Enemy Strongholds: If you are finding out that your allies are dying quickly and you can't seem to keep people alive, odds are, the problem is that your morale is too low. The best way to raise morale is to seal off enemy strongholds. This is the best way to keep allies alive longer. You'd be surprised at how much morale you are finishing stages with if you seal off every stronghold you come across while you are completing a stage. You don't have to go out of your way to seal off strongholds, but if you are in the vicinity of one, seal it off. I don't mention this during my walkthroughs, but I always seal off every stronghold I come across, unless I'm really pressed for time. Learn to Play Defense: If you are a novice at the game, the best way to stay alive is to learn how to block and how to roll. Blocking allows you to find openings in your enemy's attacks while preventing you from taking damage. Rolling allows you to avoid enemy attacks and get to the opponent's exposed side for a counter attack. If you can master these two abilities, then you will be able to protect yourself while allowing your enemy to be exposed to your own attacks. Learn to Back Flip: A back flip can save you time and allow you to immediately launch a counter attack on an enemy. However, it can also land you right back into another one of the enemy's combos. First, learn how to perform a back flip just every time you get knocked down. Then, learn when to perform a back flip. Normally, it's best not to back flip when you are close to an enemy, as you are in range for them to catch you in midair and perform another combo on you. The window of opportunity to perform a back flip is very big, so it's not a hard technique to perform. Learn the Move Sets: Know yourself and know your enemy. If you know your character's move set, you will know what move is best for what situation and you can quickly adapt to situations. One move may be good for one situation while another move may be good for another situation. Also, if you learn your character's move set, you will know what that character can do when you have to face that character as an enemy. If you learn the openings of a character's move set, you can exploit them. Always try to recognize the way a character moves when they are performing certain charge attacks. Also, try to recognize what a character does when he is about to perform the first attack of his S string. This way, you can anticipate and formulate a counter attack on the fly. Play to a Character's Strengths: This goes along with learning the move sets. The problem I hear most about people not liking a character is that they are trying to play every character the same way. While you can do this, you won't get the most out of your character. Not every character will be Musashi or Tadakatsu. Instead, you must play to a character's strengths, especially the strengths of each move set type. If a character is a Normal type, use that person's Normal attacks to either circle around them or set up a charge attack. If a character is a Charge type, use the charge attacks to deal massive damage to crowds or officers. If a character is a Special type, use their special attacks to your advantage to set up enemies for an attack. While this is a button mashing hack and slash game, you don't have to button mash all the time. You are allowed to infuse strategy into your gaming. Best Skills for a New Character: The skills I have found most helpful when creating a new character are Resilience, Prodigy, and Discern. Try to start off playing a new character with these three skills at level 3. The Resilience skill will help a whole lot, allowing you to get off attacks and charge attacks you really have no business performing. Prodigy will allow you to get more skills. Discern will allow you to get a better weapon which is extremely helpful early on. Some other skills you should consider getting for a new character is Rage, Reach, Fitness, Potence (both the ability skill and the growth skill), Fortitude (both the ability skill and the growth skill), and Focus (just the growth skill). Resetting the Camera: The right analog stick now controls the camera. This can be a useful tool in the middle of a musou attack, but sometimes, it can be hard to use during normal attacks. However, there is one thing you can do with the camera while you are attacking. If you press the block button, the camera automatically defaults behind your character. If you press the block button while you are attacking, you will still attack, but the camera will also default behind you. This can be very useful, as the hit detection in this game relies on you being able to see an enemy. If you cannot see an enemy on your camera, odds are, you will not hit that enemy, even though your attack should hit the enemy. Resetting the camera behind you while you are attacking ensures that you will always hit the target. I normally hit the block button about once every two regular attacks. Circling the Enemy: This is a technique that I use often when fighting enemy generals. I call it circling. When you are attacking, you are still able to use the left analog stick to move your character. Whenever I am attacking an enemy general that is blocking, what I do is try to circle around the enemy while I am attacking and he is blocking. Most characters with a Normal move set will be able to get to the enemy general's back after 5 or 6 hits, leaving him vulnerable to a C8 or the rest of the S string. This only works if all your attacks hit the enemy's block. If an attack misses the enemy general, he will be able to reset his block. To solve this problem, press the block button while you are moving behind the enemy. This will ensure that the enemy general stays on your screen and blocks your decoy attacks while you are moving behind him. This works really well with characters that have a Normal move set, as they have more regular hits to use, but some Charge and Special type characters can also circle really well. Also, characters with less range are easier to circle with than characters with more range because of the distance put in between you and your opponent. The closer the distance, the easier it is to circle. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3. Playable Characters' Move Sets SW2PCHAR \____________________________________________________ There are a few new features of the move sets of Samurai Warriors. The first new feature is the special abilities. Each character has two special abilities, normally with one being a passive ability and the other being an attack ability. The second new feature of the move sets are the different types of move sets that the characters can have. Each character has one of three types of move sets. The first type is the Charge move set. The characters with this move set type can perform 8 regular attacks and 4 charge attacks that can be extended up to 3 times by pressing the Triangle button more times. The second type of move set is the Normal move set. The characters with this move set type can perform 12 regular attacks and 8 charge attacks, which can normally not be extended. The final type of move set is the Special move set. The characters with this move set type can perform 8 attacks with 4 charge attacks that can be extended up to 2 times by pressing the Triangle button more times. However, characters with the Special move set types can extend their special abilities up to three times by pressing the corresponding special ability combination more times. Extending a special ability can have many effects, depending on what special ability you are extending. Some special attacks can increase in power while some passive abilities can change effects depending on how many times you pressed the Square or Triangle button. Some charge attacks may have more extensions than what their move set calls for. These descriptions are very generalized and there are some exceptions to the rules. The third new feature is the musou bar. The musou bar is divided up into three levels. If you fill up the first level of the musou bar, you get just a regular musou. If you fill up the second level, you get the regular musou with more power. If you manage to fill up all three bars, you get regular musou with more power plus an added effect. The descriptions for the regular musous are only for when you press and hold down the circle button. Of course, when you just tap the circle button, you are able to use your square and triangle attacks as normal. They will be powered up while you are under your musou's effect. The level 3 musous are the same way, except the extra effects will still be there, even if you do not hold down the circle button. As for horse attacks and horse specials, all special attacks are done on the right side of the horse unless otherwise noted. In regards to horse musous, everyone has the same horse musou. If you hold down circle, your horse will run at top speed and deal a large amount of damage to anyone it hits. The added effects for a character's level 3 horse musou will be the same as the added effects for their regular level 3 musou with the exception of four characters. When Kenshin, Hanzo, Nene, or Kotaro perform a level 3 musou on a horse, their musou changes. These are noted in their move set list. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3a. Yukimura Sanada's Move Set SW2PCYUK \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Initially available. Weapon Type: Cross Spear Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 115 Life: 289 Musou: 92 Musou: 276 Attack: 88 Attack: 181 Defense: 91 Defense: 186 Ride: 92 Ride: 181 Speed: 110 Speed: 175 Dex: 114 Dex: 179 Luck: 93 Luck: 187 Titles: Level 1-10: Warrior in Red Level 11-20: Sanada's Hope Level 21-30: Crimson Samurai Level 31-40: Raging Inferno Level 41-49: Mightiest Hero Level 50: Immortal Legend Twirls his spear alternating from right to left. SSSSSSSS A horizontal slash to the left. T(T) Yukimura charges up a dash attack while twirling his spear. Pressing triangle more will make the dash attack longer. Once the dash attack has been charged up, Yukimura will start running. Pressing triangle during this run will cause Yukimura to swing his spear. The dash attack is ended with a spinning, horizontal swing to the right. ST An upward slash that launches the enemy. STT Swings repeatedly at the midair enemy. STTT A downward slash that sends the enemy towards the ground. When the enemy lands on the ground, it creates a ground shockwave that damages other enemies. SST Thrusts with the end part of his spear that dizzies. SSTT Dashes forward with a horizontal slash. SSTTT Turns around and does a jumping, spinning slash that launches enemies. SSST A jumping, spinning slash. SSST(T) A series of multiple thrusts followed by a jumping, spinning, slash. The more times triangle is pressed, the more thrusts will be performed A swing upwards with the end part of his spear that launches the enemy. Horse SST A slash towards the front of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST A slash towards the back of the horse. Jump Attack A downward slash to the right. Jump Charge Stabs the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A spinning slash to the right. Deadlock Attack A stab followed by a downward swing with the end part of his spear to the left followed by another stab. Musou Level 1 A series of downward, horizontal slashes, alternating from right to left. Musou Level 3 A series of downward, horizontal slashes, alternating from right to left. During this musou, there are multiple flame geysers that appear from the ground. True Musou ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: A quick, fiery dash, leaving a trail of flames behind him. R1 + T: Whistles for his horse. Character Strategies: Yukimura's move set is all around good, combining range, power, and quickness. The only move that doesn't stand out is his C1, but even then, that move does have its uses. You can run through crowds of soldiers with this move and you don't have to worry about staying near your horse when performing this move, as one of Yukimura's specials calls for his horse. The other three moves that Yukimura has are outright general killers. His C2 and C4 can run through a general's health while his C3 has a guard breaking attack with the second hit. Yukimura's C3 is also good for crowds. His S string is alright, but with three really nice charge attacks, you should be ending every attack with some type of charge attack. His fire dash special is pointless and really has no uses that I can think of. His special to call for his horse is convenient, but that's all. The best element for Yukimura is Fire. Yea sure, maybe the Demon element will get you more kills, but the Crimson Samurai would be nothing without the red swings of his spear. When playing against Yukimura, there aren't many characters that can outrange or outspeed him. The first attack of Yukimura's S string is quick. His C1 does leave him open, but the computer does not use this move very often, so you really cannot take advantage of it. However, the computer controlled Yukimura doesn't use his C3-2 that much either, which means that both guard breaking attacks that Yukimura has aren't really used. Therefore, you can be relatively safe blocking most of Yukimura's attacks and you don't have to worry about your guard being broken. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3b. Keiji Maeda's Move Set SW2PCKEI \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Kanetsugu Naoe's Story Mode. Weapon Type: Pike Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 128 Life: 317 Musou: 82 Musou: 246 Attack: 95 Attack: 198 Defense: 95 Defense: 198 Ride: 95 Ride: 185 Speed: 94 Speed: 154 Dex: 86 Dex: 146 Luck: 93 Luck: 190 Titles: Level 1-10: Wild One Level 11-20: Beast of Chaos Level 21-30: Fierce Predator Level 31-40: Wild Tiger Level 41-49: The Unstoppable Level 50: Insurmountable A series of alternating moves of horizontal swings using the end part of his pike to the left and horizontal slashes to the right. SSSSSSSS Jumps in the air and slams the end part of his pike on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. T A diagonally upward slash to the left that can break the enemy's guard. TT Two spinning, horizontal slashes to the right. TTT A stab followed by an upward slash that launches. ST A diagonally upward slash to the right that launches the enemy. STT A diagonally upward swing to the left using the end part of the pike. STTT An aura energy blast attack. SST A left forearm swing that dizzies. SSTT A spinning, horizontal swing to the right using the end part of his pike. SSTTT Slams the end part of his pike on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. SSST(T) A series of swings to the left over the head followed by a final spinning, horizontal slash to the left. The more times triangle is pressed, the more times the pike is swung over his head. Horse S A swing towards the front using the end part of the pike towards the back of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST Slams the end part of the pike on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Jump Attack A downward slash to the right. Jump Charge Slams his pike on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A spinning horizontal slash to the left slash Deadlock Attack A diagonally downward slash to the right followed by a horizontal slash to the right and a diagonally upward slash to the left. Musou Level 1 A series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from left to right. Keiji stands in one place when performing this musou. Musou Level 3 A series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from left to right. Keiji stands in one place when performing this musou. During this musou, there are multiple ground shockwaves that appear. True Musou A series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from left to right, finishing with a horizontal slash to the right, a horizontal swing to the left with the end part of the pike, and a spinning, horizontal slash to the left. Keiji stands in one place when performing the main part of this musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Grabs the enemy, spins around once, and then throws them. R1 + T: Whistles for his horse. Character Strategies: Keiji is an all around powerhouse. All of his moves are really good. The last hit on his S string has a slight delay in the attack, but the attack is an area attack. His C1 is good for breaking the opponent's guard and then juggling them. His C2, C3, and C4 are all good for any situation. In fact, his worst move may be his C4 because there is a slight delay at the start of the charge attack. However, the move is still really good and hits a wide area of people. His musou can run through the life bars of most enemy officers, although the level 3 version of this musou does sometimes knock the enemies out of the combo. Still, every once in a while, you will be able to get the musou to hit just right where the ground shockwaves will knock the enemies straight up into the air and allow them to get hit for more damage. His grab special is really good for dealing quick damage to enemies, especially to those powered up enemies that block a lot. His horse whistle isn't as effective for Keiji as it is for Yukimura simply because of the fact that a lot of Keiji's attacks have him moving very little while most of Yukimura's attacks having him moving a whole lot. However, it is still nice to know that you can fight away from your horse. Keiji's self skill allows you to perform an attack while your opponent is attacking you by pressing triangle. This allows you to interrupt your opponent's combos. As long as they are not juggling you, they basically cannot hit you for more than a couple of hits. As far as elements go, Lightning always seems to be the best choice for Keiji. He hits a lot of people and the Lightning element just adds to the devastation of crowds. When fighting against Keiji, remember that Keiji loves to use his C1. This move has a decent amount of start up time, so you should be able to get a quick hit in before Keiji attacks. Also, the first attack on his S string is slow, so you can normally predict his moves and attack him before he can attack you. The best way to approach Keiji is to watch his movements and predict his attacks and counter with an attack of your own. Keiji's C1 will break your guard if it hits, so don't play a defensive battle with Keiji. Go on the offensive as much as you can. Normally, if you run into Keiji, he will be powered up. There are not many times you will see him not powered up, so be prepared for a long fight. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3c. Nobunaga Oda's Move Set SW2PCNOB \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Magoichi Saika's Story Mode. Weapon Type: Broadsword (surrounded by an aura) Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 115 Life: 289 Musou: 94 Musou: 282 Attack: 91 Attack: 186 Defense: 89 Defense: 183 Ride: 97 Ride: 188 Speed: 106 Speed: 171 Dex: 106 Dex: 171 Luck: 99 Luck: 196 Titles: Level 1-10: Fool of Owari Level 11-20: Storm General Level 21-30: The Upstart Level 31-40: Nether Lord Level 41-49: Master of Chaos Level 50: Demon King Move Set Type: Special Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally downwards slash to the left. SS A horizontal slash to the right. SSS A diagonally downwards slash to the left. S4-S7 A series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from right to left. SSSSSSSS A spinning, horizontal slash to the right.ST A diagonally upward slash to the right that launches the enemy. STT A diagonally upward slash to the right followed by another diagonally upward slash to the right that sends the enemy to the ground. When the enemy lands on the ground, it creates a ground shockwave that damages other enemies. SST A spinning, horizontal slash to the left that dizzies. SSTT Jumps into the air and punches the ground, causing a small, dark energy burst. SSST A shockwave. SSSTT Surrounds himself in an aura barrier that dizzies any enemies in the vicinity of the barrier before releasing a shockwave. Horse S A slash towards the front of the horse. Horse SS A slash towards the back of the horse. Horse SSS A slash straight down off to the side towards the back of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST A shockwave. Jump Attack A downward slash to the right. Jump Charge Stabs the ground with his sword, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A hovering horizontal slash to the right. Deadlock Attack Two diagonally downward slashes to the left followed by a horizontal slash to the right and then a diagonally downward slash to the left. Musou Level 1 Hovers in the air and moves really quickly, performing a series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from right to left. Musou Level 3 Hovers in the air and moves really quickly, performing a series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from right to left. During this musou, there are multiple dark energy bursts that appear from the ground. True Musou Hovers in the air and moves really quickly, performing a series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from right to left, finishing with a spinning slash to the right, a downward spinning slash to the left, and a dashing horizontal slash. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S(S): Surrounds himself in a barrier. The more times Square is pressed, the longer the barrier lasts and the more hits it can take. R1 + T(T): Increases the strength, range, and speed of weapon attacks. The more times Triangle is pressed, the more powerful the strength. When this move is performed three times in a row, this move can also extend the length of Nobunaga's charge attacks, giving them three extensions instead of two. Here is how the charge moves change based on the new extensions:If triangle is pressed three times, Nobunaga hovers even higher before throwing the ball of energy and the shockwave has the Demon element attached. ST A diagonally upward slash to the right that launches the enemy. STT A series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from right to left for four slashes. STT A diagonally downward slash to the left that sends the enemy to the ground. When the enemy lands on the ground, it creates a ground shockwave that damages other enemies. SST A spinning, horizontal slash to the left that dizzies. SSTT Jumps into the air and punches the ground, causing a small energy burst. SSTTT Torpedoes himself forwards (normally called the Psycho Crusher attack for it's resemblance to M. Bison's Psycho Crusher attack from Street Fighter). SSST A shockwave. SSST(T) Surrounds himself in an aura barrier that dizzies any enemies in the vicinity of the barrier before releasing a shockwave. Pressing triangle more than twice will cause the barrier to hit twice instead of once. Character Strategies: There is absolutely no reason to not use his weapon power up special ability when fighting an enemy officer. This weapon power up turns Nobunaga from a good character to a great character. The increase in range, weapon speed, and power is really good. The best way to abuse the weapon power up special ability is to blow away the enemy officer with his C4 and then charge up Nobunaga's weapon as much as possible without letting the enemy general get near you. A lot of people mistakenly think that you need all three tiers of the weapon power up move for the move to be good. Even one charge up of the weapon will make Nobunaga more powerful. The trick to abusing this move is to power up your weapon only as much as you can without getting hit. You can also combine his shield special ability with this by first putting up your shield and then charging up your weapon while you are invulnerable to attacks. Obviously, the best crowd control attack Nobunaga has is his C4. Nobunaga's C2 and C3 are good for one on one battles. His musou is a little bit hard to control and isn't very good for one on one situations, so you may want to just use regular attacks during Nobunaga's musou. Nobunaga's best element seems to be the Demon element, which makes sense. He is the Demon King after all. Wind and Fire aren't bad choices either as they add extra damage. When fighting Nobunaga, don't expect to see a lot of C1 attacks. This attack leaves Nobunaga open, but the computer won't do it that much. Even if the computer does use this attack, it's easily counterable. You have plenty of time to lower your block and hit Nobunaga out of this attack. Nobunaga's regular move set is fast, so it may be a little bit harder to predict his other attacks. His musou is extremely hard to block as the computer likes to go around your block and hit you from behind. They can control this musou so well. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3d. Mitsuhide Akechi's Move Set SW2PCMIA \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Initially available. Weapon Type: Katana Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 118 Life: 292 Musou: 90 Musou: 270 Attack: 89 Attack: 183 Defense: 91 Defense: 186 Ride: 93 Ride: 182 Speed: 106 Speed: 171 Dex: 100 Dex: 165 Luck: 87 Luck: 182 Titles: Level 1-10: Mino Nobleman Level 11-20: Man of Culture Level 21-30: Man of Honor Level 31-40: Warrior Sage Level 41-49: Lord of Virtue Level 50: Bringer of Peace Move Set Type: Normal Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A horizontal slash to the left. SS A horizontal slash to the right. SSS A diagonally downward slash to the left. SSSS A horizontal slash to the right. SSSSS A diagonally downward slash to the left. SSSSSS A diagonally downward Mitsuhide charges up a dash attack while sheathing his sword. Once the dash attack has been charged up, Mitsuhide will start running. Pressing triangle during this run will cause Mitsuhide to swing his sword. The dash attack is ended with a diagonally upward slash to the left that launches the enemy. ST A diagonally upward slash to the right that launches the enemy. SST A diagonally downward slash to the left. SSST Sheaths his sword and then performs a horizontal slash to the right. SSSST A jumping slash upwards that causes a tornado to appear and spin around Mitsuhide. Both the slash and the tornado launches the enemy. SSSSST(T) A series of quick stabs forward followed by a stab at the ground, causing a small ground shockwave. The more times triangle is pressed, the more stabs will be performed. SSSSSST A grab attack where Mitsuhide stabs the enemy with his sword, picks them up, throws them forward and performs a quick horizontal slash to the right followed by a diagonally downward slash to the left. SSSSSSST A jumping, spinning horizontal slash to the right An upward slash towards the front of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST A slash towards the back of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST A slash towards the front of the horse. Jump Attack A spinning, downward slash to the right. Jump Charge Stabs the ground with his sword, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A diagonally upward slash to the left that launches the enemy. Deadlock Attack While running behind the enemy, Mitsuhide performs a horizontal slash to the left followed by a horizontal slash to the right. When Mitsuhide is behind the enemy, he stabs him in the back. Musou Level 1 A series of alternating horizontal slashes from left to right. Musou Level 3 A series of alternating horizontal slashes from left to right. During this musou, there are multiple energy bursts that appear from the ground. True Musou A series of alternating horizontal slashes from left to right, finishing with a diagonally upward slash to the right, a diagonally upward slash to the left, and a horizontal slash to the right. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Mitsuhide sheaths his sword and then quickly draws his sword and slashes. This attack has the Demon element attached to it. R1 + T: Counter attack stance. When you are in this stance and an enemy attacks you, you immediately parry the attack and perform a diagonally upward slash to the right followed by a dashing diagonally upward slash to the left. Character Strategies: Mitsuhide has nice range and good attack speed. All of his regular attacks have nice range and good speed. His Normal move set allows him to circle around the enemy really well. His C1 is not that good, but his other charge attacks are nice. His C3 and C4 are quick charge attacks. His C5 and C8 are good at crowd clearing, although his C8 does have a little startup time. Also, his C8 doesn't always guard break, but it has enough power to force a guard break most of the time. His C6 is great for one on one situations while his C7 is an unblockable grab attack. As far as his specials go, his quick slash attack is good for surprising the enemy with a quick hit. It has the Demon element attached, so it can do decent damage as well. His counter attack special can be extremely useful, especially if you're good at predicting your opponent's attacks. Mitsuhide works well with all elements, although the Lightning element can lower the damage on his C6 due to its juggling effect. Still, the Lightning element can provide more hits to his attacks that have a wide radius. When fighting Mitsuhide, watch out for his quick regular attacks. Mitsuhide doesn't like to use many charge attacks. Instead, he likes to juggle and combo you with regular attacks. He will not use his C1 attack often, so you cannot really take advantage of the slow startup time that move has. Mitsuhide's first attack on his S string is kind of hard to predict due to its speed. However, having the Resilience 3 skill will increase that window of opportunity you have to catch Mitsuhide in your combo before he can catch you in his. His musou is one that can be used to get around to your exposed side when you are blocking, so be careful of that. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3e. Kenshin Uesugi's Move Set SW2PCKEN \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Kanetsugu Naoe's Story Mode or have a Samurai Warriors save file on your memory card before you start a new game. Weapon Type: Seven Bladed Sword Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 125 Life: 314 Musou: 84 Musou: 252 Attack: 95 Attack: 198 Defense: 92 Defense: 193 Ride: 89 Ride: 176 Speed: 90 Speed: 150 Dex: 86 Dex: 146 Luck: 93 Luck: 187 Titles: Level 1-10: Hero of Kasuga Level 11-20: Great Warlord Level 21-30: Dragon of Echigo Level 31-40: Bishamon Avatar Level 41-49: Divine Avenger Level 50: God of War Move Set Type: Normal Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally downward slash to the left. SS A diagonally upward slash to the right. SSS A stab. SSSS A diagonally upward Spins his sword around in front of him. SSSSSSSSSSSS A spinning, diagonally upward slash to the left. T Throws out a ball of energy that circles around him twice. ST A diagonally upward slash to the right that launches the enemy. SST A diagonally upward slash to the left that dizzies. SSST A shockwave. SSSST Slams his sword onto the ground, causing a ground shockwave that launches the enemy. SSSSST Charges forward and thrusts with the side part of his sword. SSSSSST A grab attack where Kenshin grabs the enemy, picks them up, throws them forward, and punches them. SSSSSSST Throws out a ball of energy that travels in a zigzag pattern. Horse S A slash towards the back of the horse. Horse SS A slash towards the front of the horse. Horse SSS A slash towards the back of the horse. Horse S4-S8 Spins his sword around off to the side. Jump Attack A downward slash to the right. Jump Charge Stabs the ground with his sword, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A horizontal slash to the right. Deadlock Attack A spinning horizontal slash to the right followed by a spinning horizontal slash to the left followed by a vertical slash downward. Musou Level 1 A series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from left to right. Musou Level 3 Creates an after image of himself and then performs a series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from left to right. When this musou is performed on a horse, multiple ground shockwaves appear instead. True Musou A series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from left to right, finishing with a diagonally upward slash to the right, a diagonally downward slash to the left, and a horizontal slash to the right. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Calls upon the powers of Bishamonten to create an after image of himself. R1 + T: Releases a white paper doll that explodes and dizzies. The explosion has the Fire element attached. Character Strategies: Kenshin is really the god of circling. He was the character that I was using when I discovered the technique. Most of his regular attacks have a wide area and he moves forward a good bit when attacking. You should easily be able to get behind an enemy with the circling technique and then unleash a charge attack on their exposed side. As for charge attacks, his C8 is his best charge attack. It has a wide area of range and is great for crowds and one on one battles. It can hit an enemy officer multiple times, making it a great officer killer. His C5 is a little slow. If an enemy blocks all the attacks before Kenshin's C6, they will almost always roll away from Kenshin's C6. His C7 is unblockable, but it seems really weak. His C4 is good, but not as good as his C8. His after image special is nice and extends the range, but the damage could be better. The paper doll explosion is really useful when you need to dizzy strong opponents. Save Kenshin's musou for countering purposes only. It's slow and not really all that powerful, so it's best to keep the full musou bar to unleash elemental attacks. Kenshin's best element is the Ice element, although the Demon element is also a good choice. When fighting Kenshin, since he has a Normal move set, be prepared to get hit with a lot of regular attacks if you leave yourself wide open. Normal move set characters tend to like regular attacks a lot. You won't see many charge attacks from Kenshin. This means you won't see his C1, which has a lot of start up time. Block Kenshin's attacks and prepare to counter attack when Kenshin is done swinging his sword. Most of Kenshin's S string has a little bit of lag in between attacks, but there really isn't that much startup time for his first attack. Therefore, his attacks are a little harder to predict than some other characters. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3f. Oichi's Move Set SW2PCOIC \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Initially available. Weapon Type: Kendama (a Japanese toy similar to a cup and ball toy) Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 103 Life: 261 Musou: 106 Musou: 318 Attack: 84 Attack: 169 Defense: 85 Defense: 171 Ride: 90 Ride: 178 Speed: 124 Speed: 194 Dex: 126 Dex: 196 Luck: 105 Luck: 200 Titles: Level 1-10: Lady of Odani Level 11-20: Battle Flower Level 21-30: Warrior Princess Level 31-40: Deadly Rose Level 41-49: Celestial Maiden Level 50: Light of Hope Move Set Type: Normal Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally downward swing to the left. SS An upward swing. SSS A diagonally downward swing to the left. SSSS A spinning, diagonally downward swing to the left. SSSSS A diagonally downward swing to the right. SSSSSS A spinning, diagonally downward swing to the right. SSSSSSS A spinning, diagonally upward swing to the left. S8-S10 Spins the ball of the kendama over her head. SSSSSSSSSSS A spinning, horizontal swing to the left. SSSSSSSSSSSS A downward swing. T A horizontal swing to the left that can break the enemy's guard. ST An upward swing that launches the enemy. SST A horizontal swing to the left that dizzies. SSST(T) Spins around with the ball of the kendama out. The more times triangle is pressed, the more times Oichi spins. SSSST Spins around with the ball of the kendama out, causing a cyclone to appear around her that launches the enemy. SSSSST Slams the ball of the kendama down onto the ground, creating a small ground shockwave that dizzies. SSSSSST A straight forward swing with the ball of the kendama, which shoots out a small, whirlwind projectile at the end of the ball. SSSSSSST Does a back flip while the ball of the kendama spins around her. Horse S A swing towards the front of the horse. Horse SS A swing towards the back of the horse. Horse SSS A swing towards the front of the horse. Horse S4-S8 Swings the ball of the kendama around in circles off to the side of the horse. Horse ST An upward swing off to the side of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST A swing straight down off to the side of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST A swing towards the front of the horse on the right side and then a swing towards the back of the horse on the left side. Jump Attack A swing straight down. Jump Charge Stomps on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack Spins around with the ball of the kendama out. Deadlock Attack A swing to the right followed by a swing to the left followed by a straight swing and then swing straight downward. Musou Level 1 Walks while spinning the ball of the kendama around her over her head. Musou Level 3 Walks while spinning the ball of the kendama around her over her head. During this musou, there are multiple energy bursts that appear from the ground. True Musou Walks while spinning the ball of the kendama around her over her head, finishing with a diagonally downward swing to the left, a diagonally downward swing to the right, a spinning, diagonally downward swing to the right, and a spinning, jump swing to the left. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Calls for an allied unit to appear. Character Strategies: Oichi is another good circling character. She also has a nice variety of charge attacks at her disposal. Her C1 is great for taking out enemy blocks. Her C4 has good range of attack, but it's weak, even if you land multiple hits with it. Her C5 and C8 are better for crowd control than her C4. Her C6 and C7 are great for one on one situations. Her C7 is her best move. While it's not completely unblockable, 99.9% of the time, the enemy will not block this move. Her musou is weak until you get Awakening 3. Then, her musou is devastating. She probably has one of the best double musous in terms of combo count. Oichi's best element is Lightning, as it turns some of her straight forward attacks like her C6 and C7 into area attacks. One of her C7 attacks with the Lightning element attached will knock down just about anyone in front of Oichi. Her specials aren't really anything great, but it's always fun to summon some help every now and then. Since Oichi has a Normal move set, she will perform a lot of regular attacks. She likes to try to juggle you with her regular attacks. Watch out for her C1. It is faster than you think. Also, the first attack of her regular move set comes out quickly, so it can be hard sometimes to predict her attack pattern. Of course, if you have the skill Resilience 3, you are normally not affected by Oichi's first attack. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3g. Okuni's Move Set SW2PCOKU \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Beat Sugoroku once in 1 Player Mode. Weapon Type: Umbrella Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 117 Life: 291 Musou: 89 Musou: 267 Attack: 90 Attack: 184 Defense: 91 Defense: 185 Ride: 86 Ride: 172 Speed: 96 Speed: 158 Dex: 94 Dex: 154 Luck: 105 Luck: 200 Titles: Level 1-10: Ingenue Level 11-20: Kyoto Dancer Level 21-30: Shrine Maiden Level 31-40: High Priestess Level 41-49: Enchantress Level 50: Diva Move Set Type: Charge Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A horizontal swing to the right. SS A horizontal swing to the left. SSS A spinning horizontal swing to the left. S4-S7 Opens her umbrella, places it on her shoulders, and spins around. SSSSSSSS A dashing attack with her umbrella open and out in front of her. T(T) Opens her umbrella and throws it out in front of her while walking. The more times triangle is pressed, the longer the umbrella will stay out. ST An upward kick that launches the enemy. STT Jumps up at the launched enemy and performs a series of four upward swings alternating from left to right. STTT Opens her umbrella and twirls it around, letting the launched enemy land on the umbrella. When the enemy lands on the ground, it creates a ground shockwave that damages other enemies. SST Opens the umbrella out in front of her. SSTT A spinning horizontal swing to the left. SSTTT Opens the umbrella, plants it into the ground, and spins around the umbrella, causing a cyclone to appear around her. SSST An upward swing to the right that launches the enemy. SSSTT Opens her umbrella and twirls it around, letting the launched enemy land on the umbrella. SSSTTT Throws her open umbrella around her in a circular motion. Horse S A swing towards the front of the horse. Horse SS A swing towards the back of the horse. Horse SSS A swing towards the front of the horse. Horse S4-S8 Opens and closes her umbrella rapidly. Horse ST An upward swing towards the back of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST A swing towards the front of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST Opens her umbrella and throws it around the horse. Jump Attack A downward swing to the left. Jump Charge Stabs the ground with her umbrella, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack An upward swing to the right. Deadlock Attack A diagonally upward swing to the right followed by a diagonally upward swing to the left followed by a "stab". Musou Level 1 Opens her umbrella and throws it around her in a circular motion. Okuni stands still during this musou. Musou Level 3 Opens her umbrella and throws it around her in a circular motion. During this musou, there are multiple auras surrounding her that will randomly raise the stats of your allies temporarily and also randomly heal them. Okuni stands still during this musou. True Musou Opens her umbrella and throws it around her in a circular motion, finishing with a horizontal swing to the right, a horizontal swing to the left, and a spin kick around her open umbrella while it is planted on the ground. Okuni stands still during the main part of this musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lowers the enemy's defense but raises their attack. Character Strategies: Okuni isn't really as good in this game as she was in the last, even though most of her move set did not change. It's probably just that every other character improved so much that Okuni just feels...old. Her C1 only can break the opponent's guard with the very last hit, making this move pointless. Her last couple hits of her regular move set are erratic and doesn't always hit. Her C2 and C4 are good officer killers. The last hit of her C4 can clear out crowds, but sometimes you get knocked out of your combo before you can get to it. Her best move is her C3. It's good for both crowds and one on one battles. Her musou is probably one of the worst. It wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't a huge blind spot on the musou. That blind spot just happens to be anywhere near Okuni. Her umbrella flies out around Okuni in a very wide radius, leaving anyone right next to Okuni immune to this musou. It doesn't help that the level 3 version of the musou doesn't deal damage, but instead provides help to allies. It would be nice if it would also provide some power boosts to Okuni as well, but that is not the case. When performing a musou with Okuni, stick to just performing her C3 during the musou. Her triangle special would be good...if it didn't have such a bad start up time to it. The computer likes to fall in love with Okuni's C1 attack. You can catch Okuni before she can throw out her umbrella. If she does manage to throw out the umbrella, don't worry. Just dodge the umbrella and attack Okuni. There is a nice blind spot for this attack and it is right in front of Okuni. Get right next to Okuni and beat her up. The first attack of her move set can be hard to predict. Okuni stands with her umbrella down, which makes her first attack comes from a weird angle. It doesn't help that the attack does have some speed to it. Her running attack also comes from that weird angle and has a lot of range to it. Just try to abuse Okuni's C1 attacks. She should give you many opportunities to do so. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3h. Magoichi Saika's Move Set SW2PCMAG \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Mitsuhide Akechi's Story Mode. Weapon Type: Rifle and Bayonet Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 113 Life: 286 Musou: 92 Musou: 276 Attack: 88 Attack: 181 Defense: 89 Defense: 183 Ride: 87 Ride: 173 Speed: 102 Speed: 167 Dex: 106 Dex: 171 Luck: 93 Luck: 189 Titles: Level 1-10: Loner Level 11-20: Musketeer Level 21-30: Marksman Level 31-40: Sharpshooter Level 41-49: Master Sniper Level 50: Perfect Shot Move Set Type: Charge Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A horizontal swing to the right. SS A horizontal swing to the left. SSS A diagonally downward swing to the right. S4-S7 Fires shots. SSSSSSSS Fires three shots at once. T(T) Fires multiple shots in multiple different directions. The more times triangle is pressed, the more shots that are fired. ST An upward swing that launches the enemy. STT Shoots the launched enemy in the air multiple times. STTT A final shot into the air that causes damage to anyone within a small vicinity of Magoichi. SST A diagonally downward swing to the right that dizzies. SSTT A diagonally upward swing to the right followed by a diagonally downward swing to the left. He does two sets of these attacks. SSTTT A back flip kick that launches the enemy. SSST(T) Fires multiple shots horizontally in a quick succession. The more times triangle is pressed, the stronger the shots are. Horse S A swing towards the back of the horse. Horse SS A swing towards the front of the horse. Horse SSS A swing towards the back of the horse. Horse S4-S7 Fires shots downward off to the side of the horse. Horse SSSSSSSS Fires three shots at once downward off to the side of the horse. Horse ST An upward swing towards the front of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST A swing straight down off to the side of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST A swing towards the back of the horse. Jump Attack A downward swing to the right. Jump Charge Slams the barrel of the rifle to the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A spinning kick with the right leg. Deadlock Attack A downward swing followed by a stab and then a shot. Musou Level 1 A series of quick shots that have a shotgun like impact, hitting multiple people with one shot. Musou Level 3 A series of quick shots that have a shotgun like impact, hitting multiple people with one shot. During this musou, a volley of gunshots is fired from above. True Musou A series of quick shots that have a shotgun like impact, hitting multiple people with one shot, finishing with a diagonally downward swing to the right, a back flip kick, and a firing of multiple shots horizontally in quick succession. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Shoots with rifle. R1 + T: Lock-on multi shot that shoots five bullets. Character Strategies: Magoichi is definitely better at one on one confrontations than crowd control. His regular move set and C3 can run through an opponent's life bar. The bullets on his regular move set can break the enemy's guard, but normally the enemy will roll out of the way if they are blocking. Magoichi's best crowd control move is the last hit on his C2. Getting to that attack can sometimes be a pain, but if you can, you won't have an enemy in sight. His C4 is also good for crowds and is definitely improved from SW1. Avoid his C1 like the plague. It's one of those moves that covers too much ground to be useful for dueling but covers too little ground to be useful for crowd control. His lock-on special is nice and deals good damage. It's great to knock enemies off of horses. His other special is only good for running up the combo meter. Magoichi's musou is very powerful and is great for both crowds and dueling. His level 3 musou can sometimes ruin the musou, but it can also sometimes add nice extra damage. Magoichi works well with any element, although Fire seems to suit his weapon's nature the best. When fighting Magoichi, the computer loves to use his C1, which means you should have plenty of openings to take advantage of. Magoichi's first hit of his S string comes out kind of slow, leaving you another opening that you can exploit. Also, remember that the bullet shots at the end of his move set can break your guard, so you can't really block around Magoichi. Therefore, your best strategy around Magoichi is just to go all out offensive. Exploit his slow attack speed and just keep beating him down. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3i. Shingen Takeda's Move Set SW2PCSHI \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Kenshin Uesugi's Story Mode. Weapon Type: War Fan Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 128 Life: 317 Musou: 80 Musou: 240 Attack: 93 Attack: 195 Defense: 95 Defense: 198 Ride: 83 Ride: 167 Speed: 88 Speed: 148 Dex: 82 Dex: 142 Luck: 97 Luck: 181 Titles: Level 1-10: Strategist Level 11-20: Scholar of War Level 21-30: Tiger of Kai Level 31-40: Elder Tiger Level 41-49: Master of War Level 50: Omnipotent Move Set Type: Special Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A horizontal swing to the left. SS A horizontal swing to the right. SSS A horizontal swing to the left. S4-S7 A series of alternating moves of punches with the left hand to the right and horizontal swings to the left. SSSSSSSS A spinning, horizontal swing to the right. T(T) A cyclone appears around Shingen. The more times triangle is pressed, the more powerful and bigger the cyclone is. ST A spinning upward swing that launches the enemy and causes a small wind gust to appear on screen. STT(T) A series of kicks alternating from the left leg to the right leg. The more times triangle is pressed, the more kicks will be performed. SST A downward swing that shoots out a wave of fire in front of Shingen. SSTT(T) A series of headbutts. The more times triangle is pressed, the more headbutts that will be performed. SSS(T) A ground shockwave. If triangle is pressed twice, the shockwave turns into a more powerful ground fissure that appears underneath Shingen and hits any enemies that are around him. Horse S A swing towards the front of the horse. Horse SS A swing towards the back of the horse. Horse SSS A swing towards the front of the horse. Horse S4-S8 A series of swings alternating from towards the back to towards the front of the horse. Horse ST An upward swing towards the back of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST A swing towards the front of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST A swing towards the back of the horse. Jump Attack A downward swing to the right. Jump Charge Stomps on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack Runs with both of his arms extended for a short period of time. At the end of the run, he will swing both of his arms towards his chest. Deadlock Attack A swing of both arms towards Shingen's chest that dizzies followed by a huge uppercut with his right hand that launches the enemy. When the enemy lands on the ground, it creates a ground shockwave that damages other enemies. Musou Level 1 A series of horizontal swings alternating from right to left. Musou Level 3 A series of horizontal swings alternating from right to left. During this musou, there are multiple orange energy geysers that appear from the ground. True Musou A series of horizontal swings alternating from right to left, finishing with a punch with the right hand, a swing towards the left, and a spinning horizontal swing towards the right. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S(S): Grabs the enemy, swings them around, and then throws them. When the thrown enemy lands on the ground, it creates a small ground shockwave that damages other enemies. The more times square is pressed while Shingen is spinning, the more times Shingen will spin and the more powerful the throw will be. R1 + T(T): Random stat boost for ten seconds. If triangle is pressed once, the most common stat boost will be Speed Up. If triangle is pressed twice, the most common stat boost will be Defense x2. If triangle is pressed three times, the most common stat boost will be Attack x2. Sometimes, if your level is high enough, when you press triangle three times, you will get multiple stat boosts instead of just one. Character Strategies: Shingen is a Special move set character that relies on one his specials and his self skill to become anywhere near good. His random power up special is really useful if you can get the Attack x2. Granted, it doesn't show up as often as it probably should, even if you charge the special up to three levels. However, the special charge doesn't take that long, so you should charge up that special every time you knock down an enemy officer. Always try to keep the Attack x2 effect on, because Shingen really needs all the help he can get. His self skill makes it harder for Shingen to flinch when he is attacked, providing some help for his slow regular attacks. Shingen's best move is his C4. You should abuse this move as much as possible. Even though they added a wider area of attack to first hits his C2 and C3, the lag on those moves and the lack of flow between the hits of his moves really hurts those moves. His C1 is slow and really doesn't provide much help and the last hits on his regular move set have a tendency to miss the intended target. His C4 is good because most of the time, even if the enemy blocks your regular attacks, they will drop their guard when you are charging up your C4. If you have your self skill and Resilience 3, you should be able to unleash your C4 almost every time without interruption. Because your self skill relies on you having a full musou bar, try to keep it full at all times. Shingen's throw special is alright, but it's more of a fun move to use rather than a practical one. Shingen's best element would be the Demon element, but if you can't find a weapon with that, stick to Fire or Wind. Shingen would be good with Ice because of his C4 attack, but because Shingen's attacks are so slow, you might not be able to hit your opponent enough to really damage the frozen enemy. When fighting Shingen, realize that all of his moves are slow. His regular attacks are slow, his charge attacks are slow, and his musou is slow. You should find ample opportunities to interrupt his attacks. The computer cannot take advantage of Shingen's self skill to make up for the slow attacks, so you should be able to predict Shingen's attacks and then pound him. You shouldn't really see Shingen too often unless you are in Survival Mode, as he's only on a few Story Mode stages. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3j. Masamune Date's Move Set SW2PCMAS \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Magoichi Saika's Story Mode. Weapon Type: Saber and Two Pistols Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 105 Life: 264 Musou: 102 Musou: 306 Attack: 85 Attack: 171 Defense: 88 Defense: 176 Ride: 104 Ride: 199 Speed: 124 Speed: 194 Dex: 126 Dex: 196 Luck: 99 Luck: 192 Titles: Level 1-10: Pride of the Date Level 11-20: Young Hero Level 21-30: Fury's Prodigy Level 31-40: One-Eyed Dragon Level 41-49: Patron of Oshu Level 50: Northern Legend Move Set Type: Charge Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally downward slash to the left. SS A diagonally upward slash to the right. SSS A diagonally upward slash to the left. S4-S7 Fires shots from one pistol. SSSSSSSS A horizontal slash to the right. T Fires three bullets at once from one pistol that can break the enemy's guard. TT A dashing, horizontal slash to the left. TTT Does a back flip while firing many shots from both pistols. ST An upward slash that launches the enemy. STT Shoots the launched enemy in the air multiple times using both pistols. STTT Jumps up and slashes downward at the launched enemy. When the enemy lands on the ground, it creates a ground shockwave that damages other enemies. SST A spinning kick with the right left that dizzies. SSTT A dashing, horizontal slash to the left. SSTTT Fires four wide angle shots in four different directions. SSST(T) A series of diagonally downward slashes alternating from left to right followed by a spin while firing multiple shots downwards in quick succession from both pistols. The more times triangle is pressed, the more slashes Date will perform Fires shots downward off to the side of the horse. Horse ST An upward slash towards the back of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST A slash straight down off to the side of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST Fires shots from one pistol off of the right side of the horse then fires shots from the other pistol off the left side of the horse. Jump Attack Fires multiple shots downward. Jump Charge Stabs the ground with his sword, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A horizontal slash to the right. Deadlock Attack A diagonally downward slash to the left followed by three more slashes that gets Masamune behind his opponent followed by a shot behind him from one of his pistols. Musou Level 1 Fires multiple shots from both pistols horizontally in quick succession. Date stands in one place when performing this musou. Musou Level 3 Fires multiple shots from both pistols horizontally in quick succession. Date stands in one place when performing this musou. During this musou, beams of light are falling from above. True Musou Fires multiple shots from both pistols horizontally in quick succession, finishing with three spins while firing multiple shots from both pistols downward in a circle in quick succession. Date stands in one place when performing the main part of this musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Shoots with both pistols. R1 + T: Lowers the enemy's defense but raises their attack. Character Strategies: Masamune's strength lies in his ability to hit multiple people and hit them at a distance. His C1, C3, and musou attacks all have great range and all have projectile attacks involved. The last hits of his C1 can hit enemies on the ground. His best charge attack is probably his C3, which not only clears a crowd, but can sometimes be used to get around an enemy officer's block. His C4 is a great for either dueling or crowd control, depending on how many slashes you perform. His C2 is only good for one on one encounters, but even then, his C4 is much better and does more damage. Another problem with his C2 is that sometimes, it doesn't combo properly. The pistol shots at the end of his S string can break the guard of an enemy, but most enemy officers will roll away before that happens. His first special would be good if it did any damage or break the opponent's guard. His second special is just a run of the mill taunt attack, which is good in certain situations. Masamune is best with the Ice element, which transforms his musou from very good to downright deadly. When fighting Masamune, remember that he likes to use his C1. His C1 can be annoying because it's a projectile guard breaker. However, it is slow enough to counter with relative ease. Also, remember that the pistol shots on his regular attacks also guard break. It is best to not play defensive against Masamune and just focus on attacks. That way, you don't get caught in his regular attacks and end up having your guard broken, leaving you open. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3k. No's Move Set SW2PCNOH \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Nobunaga Oda's Story Mode. Weapon Type: Retractable Blades Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 115 Life: 289 Musou: 96 Musou: 288 Attack: 88 Attack: 181 Defense: 88 Defense: 181 Ride: 87 Ride: 173 Speed: 106 Speed: 171 Dex: 100 Dex: 165 Luck: 93 Luck: 189 Titles: Level 1-10: Viper's Daughter Level 11-20: Lady of Oda Level 21-30: Sweet Poison Level 31-40: Deadly Beauty Level 41-49: Demoness Level 50: Venom Queen Move Set Type: Special Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A kick with the right leg. SS A kick with the left leg. SSS Turns around and performs a back flip kick. S4-S7 A series of back flip kicks. SSSSSSSS A jumping, spinning, horizontal back flip slash with both blades out. T Throws out a bomb that dizzies, but doesn't explode. This attack can break the enemy's guard. TT Throws out a bomb that explodes. ST A back flip kick that launches the enemy. STT A horizontal slash with both blades. SST A jumping, spinning kick that dizzies. SSTT Stabs forwards and backwards with both blades followed by a sweeping kick. SSST A horizontal slash to the left with both blades. SSST(T) A series of spins with both blades out before a final, horizontal slash to the left with both blades. The more times triangle is pressed, the more spins are performed. Horse S Slashes outwards towards the front and back of the horse with both blades. Horse SS Slashes inwards towards the middle of the horse with both blades. Horse SSS Slashes outwards towards the front and back of the horse with both blades. Horse S4-S8 A series of stabs off to the side of the horse. Horse ST An upward slash towards the front of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST A spinning kick that dizzies. Horse SSST Slashes outwards towards the front and back of the horse with both blades. Jump Attack A back flip horizontal slash with both blades out. Jump Charge A stomp that causes a small shockwave. Running Attack A spinning horizontal slash with both blades out that launches the enemy. Deadlock Attack A horizontal slash followed by a back flip kick and then a backwards stab. Musou Level 1 Walks backwards and throws multiple bombs. Musou Level 3 Walks backwards and throws multiple bombs. During this musou, there are multiple midair explosions that appear all around No. True Musou Walks backwards and throws multiple bombs, finishing with two straight forward bomb tosses and then a toss of three bombs at the same time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S(S): Place a bomb on the ground. No can place up to six bombs on the ground; two for each time this skill is upgraded. R1 + T(T): Performs a series of horizontal slashes with both blades out while detonating bombs. The more times triangle is pressed, the more bombs are detonated. Press triangle once to detonate one bomb. Press triangle a second time to detonate up to two more bombs at the same time and the explosion will dizzy. Press triangle a third time to detonate up to three more bombs at the same time and the explosion will have the Fire element. Character Strategies: No's best move is her C3. This move is quick and can sometimes get around an enemy guard. Abuse this move as much as possible. I have issues aiming her C1 and it's very slow. Her C2 isn't that great. It's good for crowds, but if you want to get rid of crowds, her C4 is better. Her C4 would be one of the better ones if it didn't lift enemies off of their feet. This causes less damage to be done. Her best asset is her specials. The bombs are not that great as an attack, but they are perfect as a decoy. If you know how to use the bombs, you can make the enemy vulnerable to attack almost every time. What you do is knock the opponent down on the ground or away from you. Place one bomb and only one bomb on the ground and stand behind the bomb so that the enemy will run towards you, but will run across the bomb first. Detonate the bomb as soon as the enemy runs near the bomb. One of three things will now happen. The first is that the enemy will get hit by the explosion and get stunned, leaving the enemy open to attack. The second is that the enemy will attempt to block the explosion, which will cause his guard to be broken, leaving him open to attack. The third, and the most common, is that the enemy will roll towards you. The enemy will be vulnerable to attack as soon as they come out of their roll. If you practice doing this, you can almost always get the enemy open with a bomb. If the enemy does not come directly at your bomb, just leave it there and knock the enemy down again and then move behind your already set bomb. This technique doesn't provide quick kills, but it does provide sure openings. The only thing you have to worry about is enemies with long range running attacks like Tadakatsu or Nene, but once you get the range down with this technique, you can negate their chance for a running attack by shortening their running distance so they cannot perform one. No's best element is the Demon element, as she is the Demon's Wife, although Fire works also. I haven't tried her with Ice yet, but I don't think she would be very compatible with Ice, considering that most of her attacks knock enemies into the air. When fighting No, take advantage of her short range on her regular attacks. No has great range with her charge attacks, but very short range with her regular attacks. That is because all range enhancers seem to only work on her weapons and not her kicks. An officer like Yukimura or Yoshihiro can get the early attack on No at a decent range. Don't let No close in on you, because once she does, you're susceptible to her attacks. Her kicks come out quickly, so most officers cannot out speed her in terms of regular attacks. She doesn't use her C1 often, but if she does, take advantage of the long start up time. Also, if you see her charging up for her musou and you don't think you can hit her in time, then run the opposite way of where she is going. Her musou makes her move backwards, which means she can't close in the distance between you and her unless you're behind her. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3l. Hanzo Hattori's Move Set SW2PCHAN \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Kotaro Fuma's Story Mode or have a Samurai Warriors save file on your memory card before you start a new game. Weapon Type: Kusarigama (a sickle and chain) Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 103 Life: 261 Musou: 100 Musou: 300 Attack: 87 Attack: 174 Defense: 84 Defense: 169 Ride: 101 Ride: 194 Speed: 130 Speed: 200 Dex: 150 Dex: 200 Luck: 93 Luck: 187 Titles: Level 1-10: Iga Ninja Level 11-20: Ninja Leader Level 21-30: Dark Assassin Level 31-40: The Unseen Level 41-49: Silent Death Level 50: Lord of Shadow Move Set Type: Special Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally upward slash to the left. SS A diagonally upward slash to the right. SSS A diagonally downward slash to the left. S4-S7 A series of dashing, horizontal slashes alternating from right left. SSSSSSSS A dashing, horizontal slash to the right. T(T) Throws a bomb forward that explodes and can break the enemy's guard. If triangle is pressed twice, the explosion will be bigger and have the Ice element attached. ST A kick upwards with the left leg that launches the enemy. STT A kick upwards with the right leg followed by a jump into the air and a downward kick at the launched enemy. When the enemy lands on the ground, it creates a ground shockwave that damages other enemies. SST Jumps in the air and throws an explosive down to the ground that dizzies. SSTT A series of swings with the chain of his weapon diagonally downward alternating from left to right, finishing by throwing a black energy wave. SSST(T) Swings his weapon over his head multiple times before a final, horizontal slash to the left. The more times triangle is pressed, the more times the weapon is swung over his head. Horse SST Throws a bomb off to the side of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST Swings his weapon around in circles off to the side of the horse. Jump Attack Throws three shrunkens downward. Jump Charge Slams his weapon on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A horizontal slash to the left. Deadlock Attack Two kicks followed by a horizontal slash to the right, a jump into the air, and a downward slash from behind. Musou Level 1 Throws multiple black energy waves. Hanzo stands in one place when performing this musou. Musou Level 3 Creates three illusions of himself and then throws multiple black energy waves. Hanzo stands in one place when performing this musou. When this musou is performed on a horse, multiple mid air explosions appear instead. True Musou Throws multiple black energy waves, finishing with three horizontal slashes alternating from right to left. Hanzo stands in one place when performing the main part of the musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S(S): Performs various types of ninjutsu moves, which starts off with a fire wave in front of him, then a slam of the ground which causes a ground shockwave, followed by a tornado that moves around him. R1 + T(T): Makes copies of himself. The more times triangle is pressed, the more copies are made. Hanzo can make up to three copies. Character Strategies: Hanzo relies on speed more than dealing damage, which can sometimes leave him underpowered for certain situations. Also, for someone wielding a weapon on a chain, most of Hanzo's moves have no range because the chain is rarely involved in his attacks. Hanzo's best move is his C4. It has good range and damage (for him), but the problem is that there is a slight start up time at the beginning of the move. His C1 is really too slow to be useful, even with the added Ice element if you hit Triangle twice. His C2 is average and the last parts of his C3 can be hard to aim because of the rapid change in camera angle during the stun bomb. His S string is quick, but the lack of range and power hurts. His musou is slow until you get his level 3 musou. Once you get his level 3 musou, you can trap an enemy against the wall and then beat them down with the multiple energy waves that are coming out of the clones. His clone special is good, but sometimes the clones can get lost because they don't exactly mimic Hanzo's movements. This can be a good thing if you know how to abuse it, but it can also make this special less useful due to the fact that you have to try hard to get multiple hits. Hanzo's ninjutsu special isn't that great because of its lack of power. Element wise, stick with the Demon element that comes on his fourth weapon. It adds much needed killing power to Hanzo's weak charge attacks. If you don't have his fourth weapon, then try to find an Ice element third weapon, as it will make his C4 attack that much better. When fighting Hanzo, first thing you should take note of is his quick opening attack on his S string. Not only is the attack quick, but it's also deceptive and has very little movement to the attack. This can make this move hard to predict. While Hanzo has very horrid start up time on his C1, he will very rarely use it. Finally, if Hanzo unleashes his musou, instead of putting distance between you and Hanzo, simply move to Hanzo's backside. Hanzo's musou is a projectile wave that goes out very far, but doesn't hit the area behind him. Also, Hanzo cannot turn quickly while performing this attack, so behind Hanzo is the safest place for avoiding his musou. Just make sure you block the final shockwave of the musou attack. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3m. Ranmaru Mori's Move Set SW2PCMOR \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Complete Ranmaru's 2nd Request on 31F of Survival Mode. Weapon Type: Nodachi (a long katana) Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 108 Life: 267 Musou: 102 Musou: 306 Attack: 87 Attack: 174 Defense: 85 Defense: 171 Ride: 96 Ride: 187 Speed: 124 Speed: 194 Dex: 122 Dex: 192 Luck: 87 Luck: 180 Titles: Level 1-10: Squire Level 11-20: Elegant Page Level 21-30: Retainer Level 31-40: Model Samurai Level 41-49: Guardian Level 50: Wunderkind Move Set Type: Charge Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally downward slash to the left. SS A horizontal slash to the right. SSS A diagonally downward slash to the left. S4-S7 A series of slashes alternating from diagonally upward to the right to diagonally downward to the left. SSSSSSSS A spinning, horizontal slash to the left. T(T) A horizontal slash to the right that sends out a blue energy wave. The more times T is pressed, the bigger the energy wave is. ST An upward slash that launches the enemy. STT A dashing horizontal slash forward. STTT A dashing horizontal slash in the opposite direction. STT A downward slash that dizzies. STTT A horizontal slash to the left followed by a horizontal slash to the right. STTTT A dashing diagonally upward slash to the left that sends out a ground energy wave forward. SSST A diagonally downward slash to the right. SSSTT A diagonally upward slash to the left that launches the enemy. SSSTTT A spinning, horizontal slash to the left that sends out a blue energy wave An upward slash towards the front of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST A slash towards the back of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST A slash towards the front of the horse. Jump Attack A diagonally downward slash to the right. Jump Charge Stabs the ground with his sword, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A jumping, diagonally downward slash to the left. Deadlock Attack A vertical slash downward followed by a horizontal slash to the right. Musou Level 1 A series of spinning, diagonally upward slashes to the left. Musou Level 3 A series of spinning, diagonally upward slashes to the left. During this musou, there are multiple blue energy waves that appear from above and move towards the ground. True Musou A series of spinning, diagonally upward slashes to the left, finishing with a diagonally downward slash to the left, a horizontal slash to the right, and a dashing horizontal slash to the left. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: A quick forward slash of the sword. This attack has the Demon element attached to it. R1 + T: Increases attack power but lowers defense. Character Strategies: Ranmaru has a lot of range, but his attacks can be slow. His charge attacks are very unique. His C1 is good for crowds, but in one on one situations, the enemy officer normally will roll out of its way. His C2 is good for dueling, but it can be hard to use sometimes for crowds. With his C3, sometimes it's best to just use the first three hits and not use the running slash. The two horizontal slashes for his C3 can clear out crowds very effectively, but the running slash can miss a lot of times, even with the projectile that comes out. His C4 can be tricky to master, but if you learn the AI's tendencies with this move, you can hit enemy officers with it most of the time. If the enemy officer blocks every hit of his C4, the officer will roll to avoid the energy wave at the end of that move, since the energy wave will break an enemy's guard. However, if the enemy has not blocked the hit right before the energy wave, he will not roll. Therefore, if an enemy is blocking and you want to use Ranmaru's C4 on that officer, hit with the first two slashes on an enemy that is off to the side of the enemy officer and then turn and aim your energy wave slash at the enemy officer. If you can perfect this move, you will normally be able to break the enemy officer's block and then have a free attack on that officer. Ranmaru's musou is good, but it has been toned down from the first game. Ranmaru works best with the Ice element, although Lightning can work as well with Ranmaru's wide slashes. When fighting Ranmaru, the AI likes to use his C1. Not only do they like to use his C1, but they like to charge it up some before releasing it. Therefore, you should have plenty of time to counter this move. Also, Ranmaru's slashes have lots of range and have a wide area of attack, but they are very slow. You should be able to see his attacks coming from a mile away and be able to counter them with just about anyone. Use Ranmaru as a good starting practice dummy for predicting enemy attacks. Try to see his attacks coming and roll out of their way. When you can dodge most of Ranmaru's attacks, move on to a harder opponent. Ranmaru as an opponent isn't hard to defeat at all. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3n. Hideyoshi Toyotomi's Move Set SW2PCHID \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Mitsunari Ishida's Story Mode. Weapon Type: Sansetsu (a three sectioned staff) Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 110 Life: 270 Musou: 102 Musou: 306 Attack: 85 Attack: 171 Defense: 87 Defense: 174 Ride: 105 Ride: 200 Speed: 120 Speed: 190 Dex: 128 Dex: 198 Luck: 105 Luck: 198 Titles: Level 1-10: Stable Master Level 11-20: Monkey Level 21-30: Commander Level 31-40: Cleaver Diplomat Level 41-49: Great Dreamer Level 50: Unifier Move Set Type: Normal Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally upward swing to the left. SS A diagonally downward swing to the right. SSS A diagonally downward swing to the right. SSSS A diagonally upward swing to the left. SSSSS A diagonally downward swing to the left. SSSSSS A diagonally upwards swing to the right. SSSSSSS A diagonally downward swing to the right. S8-S11 A series of quick, twirling swings alternating from right to left. SSSSSSSSSSSS A dashing stab forward. T Jumps into the air and stomps on the ground, causing a small ground shockwave. ST A diagonally upward swing to the right that launches the enemy. SST A stab forward with the staff that dizzies. SSST A diagonally upward swing to the left followed by a horizontal swing to the right. SSSST Jumps up into the air and spins around, causing a cyclone to appear around him that launches the enemy. SSSSST A dashing, diagonally upward swing to the right followed by a dashing, diagonally upward swing to the left that dizzies. SSSSSST A grab attack where Hideyoshi wraps his sansetsu around the enemy, flips over them, and throws them forward. SSSSSSST A diagonally upward swing to the left followed by a diagonally upward swing to the right followed by a jumping, spinning, diagonally upward swing to the left. Horse S A swing towards the back of the horse. Horse SS A swing towards the front of the horse. Horse SSS A downward swing off to the side of the horse. Horse S4-S8 A series of swings towards the front of the horse. Horse ST An upward swing towards the front of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST A stab off to the side of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST A somersault swing towards the back of the horse. Jump Attack A downward swing to the left. Jump Charge Slams his weapon on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A series of spinning, horizontal swings. The more times square is pressed, the more times Hideyoshi spins and swings. Deadlock Attack A series of seven swings, alternating from left to right. Musou Level 1 A series of quick jumps and landing with horizontal swings to the right. Musou Level 3 A series of quick jumps and landing with horizontal swings to the right. During this musou, there are multiple energy bursts that appear from the ground. True Musou A series of quick jumps and landing with horizontal swings to the right, finishing with four spinning, horizontal swings. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Causes the enemies to drop gold when defeated. R1 + T: Lowers the defense of enemies but raises their attack. Character Strategies: Hideyoshi has lots of range and quick attack speed, but not a whole lot of power. You will need to use the range and attack speed to your advantage. Not many characters can outrange Hideyoshi. He really does not have a charge attack that stands out, but a lot of his charge attacks are multihit. His C7 is a grab, which means it's unblockable. However, this attack only hits once and is kind of weak compared to other charge attacks. His best charge attacks for crowds are the ones that hit multiple times, which are his C4, C6, and C8. His C5 is decent, but you can sometimes get caught while you're still in the air if an enemy officer blocks. I don't like his C1 at all, but that's probably just personal preference. Besides, his C6 can get around most blocks and his C7 is unblockable. Hideyoshi is not good at circling because of his range. His attacks will knock the enemy out of range and will not give him a chance to get around him. In fact, the only way to really circle using Hideyoshi is to use his C6 to get behind the enemy. His musou is unique in the fact that it doesn't seem to be very good at crowd clearing or one on one situations. I would just stick to using his musou as a counter measure and just use regular attacks when you do use his musou. His special that causes the enemies to drop gold is a great way to money farm, especially when paired up with his fourth weapon. His other special can sometimes make up for his lack of power, but enemies do tend to block this more often than not. Hideyoshi doesn't seem to be too compatible with the Lightning element, which means his fourth weapon is only good because of the Luck bonuses on it. I would suggest using his fourth weapon to try to find a better third weapon, probably one with the Fire, Ice, or if you can find one, Demon element. Hideyoshi, in my opinion, is one of the harder enemies to fight. He has three things going for him that makes him a tough opponent: Deceptive attack range, a Normal move set, and a first attack that seems to come out of left field. It is hard to predict his first attack because it is so fast and has a weird motion to it. What's worse, it has more range than you expect it to have because his staff extends. This makes it harder to hit Hideyoshi before he can hit you. He has a Normal move set, which means he has a tendency to just use his S string to combo you. He doesn't use his C1 a whole lot, but when he does, make him pay for it. There should be enough start up lag on his C1 that you can get in an attack on him. This is about his only attack that you can disrupt. Of course, if you have Resilience 3, sometimes you don't have to worry about Hideyoshi's first attack. His musou can get around your guard because of its nature, but it won't do a lot of damage to you because it isn't powerful and it doesn't hit that many times. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3o. Tadakatsu Honda's Move Set SW2PCTAD \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Ieyasu Tokugawa's Story Mode or have a Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends save file on your memory card before you start a new game. Weapon Type: Large Headed Spear Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 128 Life: 317 Musou: 82 Musou: 246 Attack: 96 Attack: 200 Defense: 96 Defense: 200 Ride: 94 Ride: 184 Speed: 90 Speed: 150 Dex: 90 Dex: 150 Luck: 93 Luck: 189 Titles: Level 1-10: Mikawa Warrior Level 11-20: Mighty Samurai Level 21-30: Loyal Protector Level 31-40: The Unparalleled Level 41-49: The Indomitable Level 50: Valued Guardian Move Set Type: Charge Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A horizontal slash to the right. SS A diagonally downward slash to the left. SSS A stab forward with the end of his spear. S4-S7 A series of diagonally upward slashes to alternating from right to left. SSSSSSSS A diagonally downward slash to the left. T A spinning horizontal slash to the right that can break the enemy's guard. TT A dashing stab forward, which launches a small energy wave forward. TTT A horizontal slash to the right, which launches an energy wave forward. ST A diagonally upward slash to the left that launches the enemy. STT Jumps up and slashes downward at the launched enemy. When the enemy lands on the ground, it creates a ground shockwave that damages other enemies. STTT A diagonally upward slash to the right followed a diagonally upward slash to the left. SST A horizontal slash to the right that dizzies. SSTT A diagonally upward slash to the left that launches the enemy. SSTTT Jumps and slams his spear down onto the ground, causing a ground shockwave. SSST A stomp on the ground that sends out a wave of energy forward. SSSTT A series of four diagonally downward slash alternating from right to left. SSSTTT Spins his spear towards the front three times followed by a shockwave. Horse S A slash towards the front of the horse. Horse SS A slash towards the front Spins his spear twice off the side of the horse followed by a ground shockwave that appears around Tadakatsu. Jump Attack A downward slash to the right. Jump Charge Stabs the ground with his spear, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A horizontal slash to the right. Deadlock Attack A diagonally downward slash to the left followed by a ramming headbutt that launches the enemy and a spinning horizontal slash to the right. Musou Level 1 A series of horizontal slashes alternating from right to left. Musou Level 3 A series of horizontal slashes alternating from right to left. During this musou, there are multiple steam geysers that appear from the ground. True Musou A series of horizontal slashes alternating from right to left, finishing with a horizontal slash to the right, a diagonally downward slash to the left, and a spinning, diagonally downward slash to the left. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Twirls his spear and performs a war cry that fills up the musou bar. R1 + T: Powers up to be able to run into enemies and deal damage to them. Character Strategies: Tadakatsu Honda is very powerful with attacks that hit a wide area. His C1 is much improved from SW: Xtreme Legends, although there is still a heavy lag time when performing the move. His C2 can be used for crowd control, although it's much better for dueling. His C3 is probably best for crowd control, although the second hit of the attack can break the opponent's guard. Still, it is sometimes hard to aim the last hit of the move because of the way the camera moves around. His C4 is powerful and has a lot of hits, but sometimes it can take too long to get to the end of the move, which is a shockwave attack. His musou is much improved from his first appearance and hits much faster and more times. His musou charge special can be abused, although it does take longer to perform than Musashi's. His second special has its uses, but it doesn't last long enough to warrant any special consideration. Tadakatsu works well with any element because of his wide range of attacks. As far as I know, there isn't a single time where you fight Tadakatsu Honda in Story Mode and he is not powered up. He is always powered up with a lot of attack, defense, and life. When fighting Tadakatsu, remember that both his first attack on his S string and his C1 are very slow and very easy to predict. The AI falls in love with his C1, which means you should be able to get your hits in. Still, it will take a lot of hits for the big man to fall. Avoid getting hit, because most of the time, he can deal some serious damage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3p. Ina's Move Set SW2PCINA \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Tadakatsu Honda's Story Mode. Weapon Type: Bow and Arrows Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 113 Life: 286 Musou: 92 Musou: 276 Attack: 88 Attack: 181 Defense: 88 Defense: 181 Ride: 98 Ride: 190 Speed: 110 Speed: 175 Dex: 118 Dex: 183 Luck: 93 Luck: 189 Titles: Level 1-10: Bow Maiden Level 11-20: Great Archer Level 21-30: Arrow Mistress Level 31-40: Dangerous Lady Level 41-49: Graceful Fighter Level 50: Bow Goddess Move Set Type: Special Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally upward swing to the left. SS A diagonally downward swing to the right. SSS A diagonally upward swing to the left. S4-S7 Fires arrows. SSSSSSSS Fires three charged arrows. T Fires arrows upwards. They come back down in a wide area. The more times triangle is pressed, the stronger the arrows are. ST An upward swing to the right that launches the enemy. STT Fires a charged arrow at the launched enemy. SST Fires an arrow downward that explodes into a puff of smoke that dizzies. SSTT A series of three horizontal swings alternating from left to right followed by a jumping, spinning horizontal swing. SSST(T) A series of diagonally downward swings alternating from left to right followed by shooting two wide, energy waves. The more times triangle is pressed, the more swings she performs. Horse S A swing on the left side towards the back of the horse. Horse SS A swing on the left side towards the front of the horse. Horse SSS A swing on the left side towards the back of the horse. Horse S4-S8 Fires sets of three arrows off to the left side of the horse. Horse ST An upward swing on the left side towards the front of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST a swing on the left side towards the back of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST A spinning swing on the left side of the horse. Jump Attack Fires three arrows downward. Jump Charge Fires an arrow downward. When the arrow lands, it causes a ground shockwave. Running Attack Jumps and spins around 180 degrees with the bow out. Deadlock Attack A diagonally upward slash to the left followed by a firing of five arrows. Musou Level 1 Fires multiple, wide area arrows in rapid succession. Ina stands in one place when performing this musou. Musou Level 3 Fires multiple, wide area arrows in rapid succession. Ina stands in one place when performing this musou. During this musou, a volley of arrows is fired from above. True Musou Fires multiple, wide area arrows in rapid succession, finishing with three horizontal swings alternating from right to left. Ina stands in one place when performing the main part of this musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S(S): Fires arrows. Ina will shoot five singular arrows, then two triple arrow, then one triple charged arrows. R1 + T(T): Fires three elemental arrows and then adds an element to attacks while your musou bar is full. The type of element depends on how many times square was pressed. Pressing square once add a fire element. Pressing square twice will add a lightning element. Pressing square three times will add an ice element. Character Strategies: Ina's strengths lie in her projectile attacks. Her C1 and C2 have both been severely powered down to the point where they are both should not be used at all. However, her C3 and C4 have been powered up. The swings on her C3 are now faster and her C4 is probably her best move. The two projectile energy waves at the end of the attack are very powerful and can clear out a crowd very easily. The swings on her C4 can also be used to deal damage to enemy officers. Her first arrow special is very good for getting rid of crowds, especially if you combine it with her Self Skill Pierce. However, her second special, the elemental arrows, can be abused very easily. The first two elements, Fire and Lightning, aren't that great. However, the Ice element is extremely useful. Having the Ice element on all of Ina's attacks can really increase the amount of damage she can do. Ina's best element is Ice, as you can easily freeze an opponent and the immediately go into a musou for massive damage. Also, remember that her mounted attacks are all on the left side of the horse, not the right side of the horse. When fighting Ina, remember that most of her attacks are slow. She won't use her C1 very much, but if she does, knock her out of it. Even if she can get it off, it probably won't hit you due to the fact that it has poor accuracy. The arrows at the end of her S string knock you down to your knees instead of knocking you backwards, which means you cannot perform backflip to recover out of the attack. Also, even though her musou is one of those that stands still, the range that the arrows can fly and the speed in which she can turn while performing her musou means that you probably will not be able to outrun her musou. Instead, either knock her out of it or block it. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3q. Ieyasu Tokugawa's Move Set SW2PCIEY \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Initially available. Weapon Type: Cannon Spear Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 125 Life: 314 Musou: 84 Musou: 252 Attack: 93 Attack: 195 Defense: 95 Defense: 198 Ride: 84 Ride: 169 Speed: 86 Speed: 146 Dex: 82 Dex: 142 Luck: 99 Luck: 194 Titles: Level 1-10: Lord of Mikawa Level 11-20: The Persevering Level 21-30: Eastern Champion Level 31-40: Patient Ambition Level 41-49: Shogun Level 50: Great Patriarch Move Set Type: Normal Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally downward slash to the right. SS A horizontal slash to the left. SSS A diagonally downward slash to the right. SSSS A stab forward. SSSSS A horizontal swing to the left with the end part of the spear. SSSSSS A diagonally upward slash to the right. SSSSSSS A diagonally upward slash to the left. S8-S11 Fires cannonballs. SSSSSSSSSSSS Fires a cannonball that explodes. T Stabs the ground and fires a cannonball, which causes a small explosion that can break the enemy's guard. ST A diagonally upward slash to the left that launches the enemy. SST Fires an explosion that dizzies. SSST A horizontal slash to the left. SSSST Fires three cannonballs upward that launches the enemy. SSSSST Fires a cannonball downward at the ground, causing a shockwave. SSSSSST Fires a beam of light straight forward. SSSSSSST A flamethrower blast towards the right. This attack has the Fire element attached. Horse S A slash towards the back of the horse. Horse SS A slash towards the front of the horse. Horse SSS A slash towards the back of the horse. Horse S4-S8 Fires cannonballs downward off to the side of the horse. Horse ST An upward slash towards the front of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST Fires a cannonball at the ground, which causes an explosion that dizzies. Horse SSST A flamethrower blast towards the front of the horse. This attack has the Fire element attached. Jump Attack Fires a cannonball downward. Jump Charge Lands and fires a shot into the ground that causes a ground shockwave. Running Attack A horizontal slash to the left. Deadlock Attack A stab forward, impaling the enemy, followed by firing a cannonball. Musou Level 1 Fires multiple sets of five cannonballs that home in on enemies. Ieyasu stands in one place when performing this musou. Musou Level 3 Fires multiple sets of five cannonballs that home in on enemies. Ieyasu stands in one place when performing this musou. During this musou, cannonballs are fired from above. True Musou Fires multiple sets of five cannonballs that home in on enemies, finishing with three more firings of five cannonballs. Ieyasu stands in one place when performing this musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Fires a cannonball that explodes. R1 + T: Fires five cannonballs that home in on enemies. Character Strategies: Ieyasu is supposed to be one of those slow but powerful characters. Unfortunately, his power level doesn't seem to be as high as some of the other characters. His charge attacks all seem to be lacking in strength. His weapon and move set are definitely unique. His regular move set does seem like it could have more range, considering how big his weapon is. However, it does have decent range and power. His regular attacks are awkward with the way he swings his spear, making it hard to get behind his opponents while they are blocking. His C1 is slow and lacks the range it probably should have. His C3 is useful and his C4 is your standard crowd clearer. His C5 and C6 seem to be his best attacks, as they both have nice range and power. His C7 is slow in execution, which allows most enemies to dodge it. His C8 has good power if you can hit with it multiple times. Unfortunately, this can be hard to do. His musou is great for crowds of enemy soldiers, but it will knock enemy officers out of the musou. His special where he fires one cannonball may be the best projectile special attack in the game. It's powerful for a special move and is a great way to finish off enemy officers that get knocked away before they die. His second special is slow in execution and not as powerful as the first special. His best element will have to be the Demon element as the other elements don't add enough damage to make his charge attacks powerful. If you have to settle for another element, stick with the Fire or Wind elements, as it will add a little bit more damage to his charge attacks. When fighting Ieyasu, be wary of his deceptive range. He swings his spear awkwardly, which may make you think that his attacks don't have range. However, they do have enough range to catch you off guard. His first attack is one of the harder attacks for me to predict, even though the attack is kind of slow. The motion of the attack makes it kind of hard to see when he is attacking and when he is not. He has a Normal move set, which means he will mainly use regular attacks. He will normally hit you with his S string until he fires one of the cannonballs at you. This will drop you straight down instead of launching you backwards, which means that if you back flip out of this attack, there's a good chance that he can hit you with an attack before you recover completely. Since his C1 is easy to predict and is all but useless, just block Ieyasu's attacks until you see an opening. Normally, you can hit him before he can hit you when he leaves himself open. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3r. Mitsunari Ishida's Move Set SW2PCMII \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Initially available. Weapon Type: Folding Fan Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 115 Life: 289 Musou: 92 Musou: 276 Attack: 89 Attack: 183 Defense: 89 Defense: 183 Ride: 92 Ride: 181 Speed: 106 Speed: 171 Dex: 100 Dex: 165 Luck: 87 Luck: 183 Titles: Level 1-10: The Precocious Level 11-20: Loyal Retainer Level 21-30: Talented Leader Level 31-40: Disciple of Right Level 41-49: Divine Minister Level 50: Secret Schemer Move Set Type: Special Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally upward swing to the left. SS A horizontal swing to the right. SSS A diagonally upward swing to the left. S4-S7 A series of spinning, diagonally upward swings to the left. SSSSSSSS A horizontal swing to the right. T Creates an energy ball that travels forward. This attack can break the enemy's guard. TT Turns the energy ball into a fast moving beam of light. ST A throw of his fan upwards that launches the enemy. STT Jumps up, catches the fan, opens the fan, and spins it downwards at the ground, throwing an energy ball at the ground that causes a ground shockwave. SST A diagonally downward swing to the right that dizzies. SSTT An explosion that surrounds Mitsunari that dizzies. SSST(T) Opens the fan and throws it around him. Pressing the triangle button twice will cause the fan to go around him twice. Horse S A swing towards the front of the horse. Horse SS A swing towards the back of the horse. Horse SSS A swing towards the front of the horse. Horse S4-S7 A series of swings alternating from towards the back to towards the front of the horse. Horse SSSSSSSS Opens the fan and spins it around multiple times off to the side of the horse. Horse ST Opens the fan and performs a swing towards the front of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST Throws a mine on the ground that explodes and dizzies. Horse SSST Opens the fan and throws it around the horse. Jump Attack Throws the fan downward. Jump Charge Opens the fan and slams it down against the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A swing towards the right. Deadlock Attack A stab with a closed fan followed by a twirl of an open fan followed by a horizontal swing to the left with an open fan. Musou Level 1 Opens the fan, throws it forward, and has it come back multiple times. Mitsunari stands in one place when performing this musou. Musou Level 3 Opens the fan, throws it forward, and has it come back multiple times. Mitsunari stands in one place when performing this musou. During this musou, there are multiple mine explosions on the ground. True Musou Opens the fan, throws it forward, and has it come back multiple times, finishing with a horizontal swing to the right, a diagonally upward swing to the left, and then a throw of his fan around him. Mitsunari stands in one place when performing the main part of this musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S(S): Place a mine on the ground. Mitsunari can place up to six mines; two for each time this move is upgraded. R1 + T(T): Detonates mines previously set. Pressing triangle once will detonate one mine and the explosion dizzies. Pressing triangle a second time will detonate up to two more mines at the same time and the explosion will have the Fire element. Pressing triangle three times will detonate up to three more mines and the explosion will have the Lightning element. Character Strategies: Mitsunari's main problem is lack of range and the slow delay on some of his charge attacks. This means that getting the skills Reach 3 and Resilience 3 are a must for Mitsunari. If you have these two skills, Mitsunari becomes a pretty good character. Mitsunari's best crowd clearing attack is really his Horse C4. It seems to have more range than his standing C4. Mitsunari's C1 is good for one on one situations and the ball of energy he fires out does cover a decent area and can break an opponent's guard. It is one of the quicker guard break attacks and deals a fair amount of damage, so abuse this move as much as possible. His C2 leaves him wide open if you miss, so make sure you hit with it. His C3 and his C4 are good, but if you don't have Resilience 3, you will end up getting knocked out of his attacks more often than not. What you do is knock the opponent down on the ground or away from you. Place one mine and only one bomb on the ground and stand behind the mine so that the enemy will run towards you, but will run across the mine first. Detonate the mine as soon as the enemy runs near the mine. One of three things will now happen. The first is that the enemy will get hit by the explosion and become dizzy, leaving the enemy open to attack. The second is that the enemy will attempt to block the explosion, which will cause his guard to be broken, leaving him open to attack. The third, and the most common, is that the enemy will roll towards you. The enemy will be vulnerable to attack as soon as they come out of their roll. If you practice doing this, you can almost always get the enemy open with a mine. If the enemy does not come directly at your mine, just leave it there and knock the enemy down again and then move behind your already set mine. This technique doesn't provide quick kills, but it does provide sure openings. The only thing you have to worry about is enemies with long range running attacks like Tadakatsu or Nene, but once you get the range down with this technique, you can negate their chance for a running attack by shortening their running distance so they cannot perform one. Mitsunari's best elements are probably Demon, Fire, and Wind. Ice is a decent element for Mitsunari, but his move set really doesn't take full advantage of what the Ice element can do. Most of Mitsunari's first hits on his charge attacks knock the enemies off of their feet, which means that you only have one chance to activate the Ice element on each of his charge attacks. When fighting Mitsunari, always try to block his attacks, even if he's got you in a combo. Most of his charge attacks have a delay on them, which means you can sometimes slide in a block to prevent the rest of his combo from hitting you. Take advantage of Mitsunari's range issues. If you have a person that has a long range, then you hold the advantage. Also, you should be able to predict his first attack on his S string. His attacks are not that fast, so you can normally hit him before he hits you. Finally, he will not use his C1 all that often, so you don't have to worry about having your attack blocked. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3s. Nagamasa Azai's Move Set SW2PCNAG \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Oichi's Story Mode. Weapon Type: Lance Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 115 Life: 289 Musou: 90 Musou: 270 Attack: 91 Attack: 186 Defense: 88 Defense: 181 Ride: 99 Ride: 191 Speed: 106 Speed: 171 Dex: 100 Dex: 165 Luck: 87 Luck: 180 Titles: Level 1-10: Young Romantic Level 11-20: Pious Youth Level 21-30: Prince of Omi Level 31-40: Honorable Lord Level 41-49: Faithful General Level 50: Decisive Wisdom Move Set Type: Normal Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally downward slash to the left. SS A diagonally upward slash to the right. SSS A spinning, horizontal slash to the left. SSSS A diagonally downward slash to the left. SSSSS A diagonally downward slash to the right. SSSSSS A diagonally downward slash to the left. SSSSSSS A diagonally upward slash to the right. S8-S11 A series of stabs. SSSSSSSSSSSS A spinning, horizontal slash to the right. T A diagonally downward slash to the left that can break the enemy's guard. ST A diagonally upward slash to the right that launches the enemy. SST A stab that dizzies. SSST A dashing stab. SSSST Jump up and stabs the ground, causing a ground shockwave that launches the enemy. SSSSST Stabs the lance into the ground and performs a spinning kick around the lance that dizzies. SSSSSST A grab attack where Nagamasa stabs the enemy with his lance, lifts them up, and then performs a spinning slash to the right, throwing the enemy forward. SSSSSSST(T) A series of stabs followed by a spinning slash to the left, which shoots an energy wave forward. The more times triangle is pressed, the more stabs are performed A stab off to the side of the horse. Horse ST An upward slash towards the front of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST A stab off to the side of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST A slash towards the back of the horse. Jump Attack A downward slash to the right. Jump Charge Stabs the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack Runs with his lance out in front. Deadlock Attack A stab followed by a horizontal slash to the left and another stab. Musou Level 1 A series of rapid stabs. Nagamasa stands in one place when performing this musou. Musou Level 3 A series of rapid stabs. Nagamasa stands in one place when performing this musou. During this musou, Nagamasa is surrounded by a pulsating energy field. True Musou A series of rapid stabs, finishing with two stabs and a horizontal slash to the left. Nagamasa stands in one place when performing the main part of this musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Adds an element to regular attacks when the musou bar is full. R1 + T: Calls for an allied unit to appear. Character Strategies: Nagamasa has great reach, which means he can outreach most opponents. This also means he cannot circle behind the enemy. Instead, to deal with an opponent who is blocking, you should use his C1 which breaks the enemy's guard or his C7, which is an unblockable grab. His C4 can also be a good choice, as the enemy will sometimes lower his guard when you use this move, allowing you to hit the enemy. Nagamasa's C5 is his best crowd clearing move. His C6 and C8 all have startup lag, which means they can be blocked. The best time to use Nagamasa's C8 is when you are juggling the opponent. If you do manage to hit a standing opponent with every hit of Nagamasa's C8, it will deal massive damage to them. You should almost always finish off your S string with a charge attack or end right before the last five hits. This is because four of those last five hits are stabs that are hard to aim. Nagamasa's musou is one of the best general killing musous. However, his level 3 musou will push away enemy officers. You can counteract this by maneuvering your opponent near a wall and then using this musou. That way, he will get hit by both the stabs and the pulsating field. The best element for Nagamasa is the Demon element. This element combines extremely well with Nagamasa's elemental special. Being able to have the Demon element for every hit is just devastating and really is the only reason why Nagamasa would even be considered to be a good character. If you cannot find a Demon element third weapon, the Ice element is also an excellent choice for Nagamasa. Nagamasa's fourth weapon is not that great for Nagamasa simply because that weapon has the Lightning element, which is probably the most incompatible element with Nagamasa. This is because the Lightning element will cause Nagamasa's S string to juggle the enemy in the air instead of getting them into a combo on the ground. Enemies in the air take less damage. Once you have a third weapon with a good element on it, you should use Nagamasa's elemental special often. When fighting Nagamasa, the biggest thing you have to worry about is range. Getting within Nagamasa's range should be your biggest priority. If you take away Nagamasa's range advantage, you can take advantage of his slow first hit on both his S string and his C1. You should be able to neutralize his range with either your own range or with a character with speed. Also, projectile attacks can also help neutralize Nagamasa's range advantage. Nagamasa has a Normal move set, which means if he catches you, he will most likely juggle you for the entire length of the S string. This also means that Nagamasa won't be inclined to use too many charge attacks once he has started to hit you. You will see a charge attack every once in a while, but Normal move set characters normally just like to juggle with their normal attacks. Also, Nagamasa has a musou that stands in one place. Therefore, if you cannot knock Nagamasa out of his musou charge, run away from him to avoid getting hit by his musou. He cannot chase you when he is performing his musou. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3t. Sakon Shima's Move Set SW2PCSAK \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Mitsunari Ishida's Story Mode. Weapon Type: Giant Sword Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 118 Life: 292 Musou: 92 Musou: 276 Attack: 91 Attack: 186 Defense: 91 Defense: 186 Ride: 91 Ride: 179 Speed: 102 Speed: 167 Dex: 100 Dex: 165 Luck: 93 Luck: 190 Titles: Level 1-10: Rebellious Spirit Level 11-20: Sharp Mind Level 21-30: Brilliant Protege Level 31-40: Famous Samurai Level 41-49: Sword and Savvy Level 50: Deadly Tactitian (that's how it's spelled by KOEI) Move Set Type: Special Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally downward slash to the left. SS A horizontal slash to the right. SSS A diagonally upward slash to the left. S4-S7 A series of spinning, diagonally downward slashes to the right. SSSSSSSS A diagonally downward slash to the right. T A diagonally downward slash to the right that can break the enemy's guard. TT A grab attack where Sakon grabs the enemy, runs with them for a little bit, throws them forward, and performs a jumping, diagonally upward slash to the left that launches the enemy. ST A diagonally upward slash to the right that launches the enemy. STT Stabs the ground, causing a ground fissure that hits any enemies around Sakon. SST A diagonally downward slash to the left that dizzies. SSTT Slams his sword on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. SSST A shockwave. SSSTT A diagonally upward slash to the left that sends out a ground energy wave forward on the right side and then a slash towards the back of the horse on the left side. Jump Attack A diagonally downward slash to the left. Jump Charge Slams his sword on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack A diagonally upward slash to the left followed by a spinning, diagonally downward slash to the left. Deadlock Attack A diagonally downward slash to the left followed by a diagonally downward slash to the right. Musou Level 1 A series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from left to right. Musou Level 3 A series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from left to right. During this musou, fireballs are falling from above. True Musou A series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from left to right, finishing with a series of three spinning, diagonally downward slashes to the right. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S(S): Damages enemies within a specific range with a elemental ground attack. Pressing square once will cause a fire attack, twice for a lightning attack, and three times for an ice attack. R1 + T(T): Calls for volley fire from behind. Pressing triangle one time will fire regular arrows, twice for charged arrows, and three times for rifle fire. Character Strategies: Sakon is one of those rare characters that has useful moves in all of his charge attacks and special attacks. Also, unlike most characters, you don't need to have his entire move set for him to be good. He is powerful right out of the box with great attacks. His S string is quick, has lots of range, and is powerful. His charge attacks are all useful. His C1 is great to break an enemy's guard and the grab attack is unblockable as well. His C2, C3, and C4 all are great crowd clearers. His C3 routinely goes around an enemy's block while his C4 is great for both crowds and one on one battles. In fact, his weakest move is probably his C2, not because it's bad, but because his other charge attacks all outshine it. His C2, however, is also useful for both crowd control and dueling. His elemental ground attack special is great for crowds, but you can sometimes get caught when powering it up. The ice attack is useful for freezing, but the amount of start up time it has can sometimes nullify its uses. His volley special is great to the point of almost broken. The charged arrows can dizzy while the rifle fire can break the opponent's guard and dizzy. Whenever you're fighting an enemy officer, it's always nice to have this move going on while you're attacking. His regular musou is generic, but deals nice damage. His level 3 musou deals a lot of damage to anyone who gets hit by the fireballs. The Wind element is good for Sakon, but really, any element is good for Sakon. He is just one of those characters that can dominate with whatever you give him. When fighting Sakon, watch out for his quick S string. The computer AI doesn't like to do a lot of charge attacks, but with Sakon, charge attacks aren't really needed. His regular move set is quick and has enough range to hurt you on its own. He won't use his C1 often, but that doesn't mean you can just block whenever you want. His C1 is faster than most, so you might end up getting your block broken if you're not careful. Overall, Sakon is one of the tougher enemies. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3u. Yoshihiro Shimazu's Move Set SW2PCYOS \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Ginchiyo Tachibana's Story Mode. Weapon Type: Hammer Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 130 Life: 320 Musou: 80 Musou: 240 Attack: 93 Attack: 195 Defense: 93 Defense: 195 Ride: 85 Ride: 170 Speed: 90 Speed: 150 Dex: 86 Dex: 146 Luck: 87 Luck: 182 Titles: Level 1-10: Hero of Satsuma Level 11-20: Proud Veteran Level 21-30: Shimazu the Devil Level 31-40: Wild Gambler Level 41-49: One Man Army Level 50: Island Colossus Move Set Type: Normal Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally downward swing to the left. SS A diagonally downward swing to the right. SSS A horizontal swing to the left. SSSS A diagonally downward swing to the right. SSSSS A diagonally upward swing to the left. SSSSSS A diagonally upward swing to the right. SSSSSSS A horizontal swing to the left. S8-S11 A series of spinning, horizontal swings to the left. SSSSSSSSSSSS A horizontal swing to the right. T Slams his hammer on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. ST A diagonally upward swing to the right. SST A thrust forward with his hammer that dizzies. SSST A horizontal swing to the left. SSSST A spinning, horizontal swing to the left that launches the enemy. SSSSST A spinning, horizontal swing to the right followed by another horizontal swing to the right. SSSSSST A grab attack where Yoshihiro grabs the enemy, throws them forward, and then performs a diagonally upward swing to the right that launches the enemy. When the enemy lands on the ground, it creates a ground shockwave that damages other enemies. SSSSSSST Jumps and slams his hammer on the ground, causing a ground fissure that hits any enemies around Yoshihiro. Horse S A swing towards the back straight down off to the side of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST A slash towards the back of the horse on the left side and then a slash towards the back of the horse on the right side. Jump Attack A downward swing to the left. Jump Charge Slams his hammer on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack Hops forward with a shoulder block. Deadlock Attack A shoulder block that launches the enemy followed by a slam of his hammer on the ground that causes a ground fissure that hits any enemy around Yoshihiro. Musou Level 1 Slams his hammer on the ground multiple times, causing a ground shockwave each time. Yoshihiro stands in one place when performing this musou. Musou Level 3 Slams his hammer on the ground multiple times, causing a ground shockwave each time. Yoshihiro stands in one place when performing this musou. During this musou, there are multiple ground shockwaves that appear. True Musou Slams his hammer on the ground multiple times, causing a ground shockwave each time, finishing with three slams of his hammer on the ground. Yoshihiro stands in one place when performing this musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Increases attack power but lowers defense. R1 + T: Powers up to be able to run into enemies and deal damage to them. Character Strategies: Yoshihiro is a powerhouse with a lot of range. The problem with that range is that sometimes, an enemy can get inside of your range and hit you. This doesn't happen to often, but you will find that sometimes you can miss an attack simply because the enemy is too close. His regular attacks are all generic swings. The last four hits of his S string don't connect with the rest of his S string, which means that the enemy can block the last four hits if you caught them in a combo. Because of this, it is always best to end with a charge attack. His C1 isn't as slow as some of the other character's first charge attack and has good range to it. His C3 can be a good move to use, but it can miss sometimes if the enemy is too close. His C7 is very good to use against a blocking enemy. His best charge attack is his C8, which has good range and has a jumping motion to it. This allows you to sometimes get behind the enemy with this move and hit them. The rest of his charge attacks are just generic swings or variations of them. Another problem Yoshihiro has is his slow attack speed. He can be knocked out of his attacks very easily. However, this changes when you get his Self skill, which allows him to withstand a lot of attacks when your musou bar is full. Combine this with Resilience 3 and there will be very few attacks that can knock you out of your move set. It is always best to keep Yoshihiro's musou bar full because of this. Besides, Yoshihiro's musou is slow and doesn't do as much damage as it probably should anyways. Yoshihiro really doesn't have a best element. All elements work equally as well with him. The Demon element does work a lot better than the other elements, but that element is normally the exception and hard to find. When fighting Yoshihiro, take advantage of his slow attacks. His first attack is very predictable for both his S string and his C1. Of course, you will need to get inside of Yoshihiro's range first. Speedy characters are the best characters to use against Yoshihiro because they can get to Yoshihiro and attack before he can swing his hammer. Also, if you do manage to get caught up in a combo, just hold the block button the entire time. A lot of times, you can manage to get a block inside one of his attacks, which will give you some time to perform a counter attack. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3v. Ginchiyo Tachibana's Move Set SW2PCGIN \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Initially available. Weapon Type: Lightning Sword Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 108 Life: 267 Musou: 102 Musou: 306 Attack: 84 Attack: 169 Defense: 87 Defense: 174 Ride: 90 Ride: 178 Speed: 124 Speed: 194 Dex: 126 Dex: 196 Luck: 93 Luck: 189 Titles: Level 1-10: Dosetsu's Heiress Level 11-20: Brave Princess Level 21-30: Southern Fury Level 31-40: Queen of Valor Level 41-49: Kyushu's Finest Level 50: Lady of Thunder Move Set Type: Normal Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally downward slash to the left. SS A diagonally downward slash to the right. SSS A horizontal slash to the left. SSSS A horizontal A lightning storm that surrounds her. ST A diagonally upward slash to the right. SST A vertical slash downwards that dizzies. SSST A spinning, diagonally downward slash to the left. SSSST Throws a ball of lightning forward that explodes into a lightning shockwave that launches the enemy. SSSSST A shockwave that dizzies. SSSSSST(T) A stab. Pressing triangle more than once will cause a beam of light to shoot out from the end of the sword. SSSSSSST A dash forward while surrounded by a yellow aura lightning storm off to the side of the horse. Jump Attack A downward slash to the right. Jump Charge Throws a ball of lightning down at the ground. When the ball hits the ground, it causes a ground shockwave. Running Attack A flipping, horizontal slash to the right that launches the enemy. Deadlock Attack A diagonally downward slash to the left, a spinning horizontal slash to the right, and a backwards stab that shocks the opponent. Musou Level 1 Jumps up and surrounds herself in a yellow aura that pulsates multiple times. Ginchiyo hovers in one place when performing this musou. Musou Level 3 Jumps up and surrounds herself in a yellow aura that pulsates multiple times. Ginchiyo hovers in one place when performing this musou. During this musou, there is a lightning storm around Ginchiyo. True Musou Jumps up and surrounds herself in a yellow aura that pulsates multiple times, finishing with a horizontal slash to the left, a spinning, diagonally downward slash to the left, and a diagonally upward slash to the right. Ginchiyo hovers in one place when performing the main part of this musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Lightning storm attack. R1 + T: Increases the power, reach, and speed of weapon attacks. Character Strategies: Ginchiyo is a really good all around character. Her attacks are quick and powerful. Her C1 is dreadful. It is slow and lacks range. Her C2 through C4 are average. However, the rest of her charge attacks are really good. Her C5 and C6 are great for clearing crowds. Her C7 is unblockable, making up for her bad C1. Its only problem is that it's harder to aim than most charge attacks. The beam of light on that attack only activates when you hit with the stab, which means that missing the attack will leave you pretty wide open. Her C8 is a great combo finisher and great for any situation. She is good at circling, which makes her two last charge attacks even more valuable. Her musou is a general killer, but is weak against crowds. You really only want to use her musou against officers. Her musou has short range, so you will always want to use it as a counter or in the middle of your attacks. Her sword special is almost broken. The reach she gains is extremely useful and her attack speed goes through the roof, almost to the point that she's uncontrollable. Almost. The extra power boost seems secondary to the reach and attack speed. You should abuse this move every chance you get. When you knock an enemy down on the ground, activate this move. Then, knock the opponent down on the ground and power up her sword again. The enemy will be defeated in no time flat. Her other special is decent, but the lightning storm doesn't last a long time and it hits random places, making it unreliable. Her best element is, of course, Lightning. She seems tailor made for that element. When fighting Ginchiyo, keep in mind that she is quick. Her first attack is a compact quick slash, so unless you're playing a character that also has quick attacks, you probably will get hit twice before you can hit her once. That means Resilience 3 will be your friend when fighting Ginchiyo. She will almost never use her C1, so the openings in her attacks will be few and far between. I would play defensively around Ginchiyo. Block her attacks until she stops attacking, then begin your attack on her. If she's powering up to use her musou and you don't think you can reach her in time to hit her out of it, then run away. Her musou has very short range and she doesn't move at all when using it. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3w. Kanetsugu Naoe's Move Set SW2PCKAN \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Yukimura Sanada's Story Mode. Weapon Type: Broadsword and Charms Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 115 Life: 289 Musou: 94 Musou: 282 Attack: 89 Attack: 183 Defense: 89 Defense: 183 Ride: 92 Ride: 181 Speed: 102 Speed: 167 Dex: 106 Dex: 171 Luck: 99 Luck: 194 Titles: Level 1-10: Man of Honor Level 11-20: Blade of the Uesugi Level 21-30: Passioned Thinker Level 31-40: Genius of Echigo Level 41-49: Chivalrous Warrior Level 50: Defender of Right Move Set Type: Special Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally upward slash to the left. SS A diagonally downward slash to the right. SSS A horizontal slash to the left. S4-S7 A series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from left to right. SSSSSSSS A horizontal slash to the right. T Throws his charms out in front of him that can break the enemy's guard. TT Sends the charms upwards and then down to the ground, causing an explosion. ST A diagonally upward slash to the right that launches the enemy. STT Throws his charms upward at the launched enemy followed by a jump and a diagonally downward slash to the left. When the enemy lands on the ground, it creates a ground shockwave that damages other enemies. SST Throws his charms forward in a circular pattern that dizzies. SSTT A stab that causes a beam of light to shoot out from the end of the sword. SSST Throws his charms around him in a circular pattern multiple times. SSSTT Fires beams of light from the charms in multiple directions. Horse S A slash towards the back of the horse. Horse SS A slash towards the front Throws his charms around him and then upwards, launching the enemy. Horse SST Throws his charms off to the side of the horse in a zigzag pattern that dizzies. Horse SSST Throws his charms around the horse in a circular pattern. Jump Attack Throws his charms downward in a circular pattern. Jump Charge Throws his charms out and then stomps on the ground at the same time his charms land on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack Throws his charms around him in a circular pattern. Deadlock Attack A dashing horizontal slash that allows Kanetsugu to get behind the enemy followed by a throw of his charms backwards that hits the enemy multiple times. Musou Level 1 Throws his charms forward in a circular pattern while firing multiple beams of light from the pattern. Kanetsugu stands in one place when performing this musou. Musou Level 3 Throws his charms forward in a circular pattern while firing multiple beams of light from the pattern. Kanetsugu stands in one place when performing this musou. During this musou, rocks are falling from above. True Musou Throws his charms forward in a circular pattern while firing multiple beams of light from the pattern, finishing with throwing his charms around him in a circular pattern and firing beams of light from the charms in multiple directions. Kanetsugu stands in one place when performing this musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S(S): Surrounds himself with charms that act like a shield. The more times square is pressed, the wider the area of the circle. R1 + T(T): Creates a field that decreases the enemy's speed. The more times triangle is pressed, the larger area the field will encompass. Character Strategies: Kanetsugu Naoe is a very interesting character. He isn't as strong as some of the other characters, but his moves are all useful. Even though he doesn't really look like it, he is more of a speed and finesse character. His regular attacks all come out quickly. His C1 is quick and is very good at breaking the guard of the enemies. His C2 is a great attack for one on one situations. However, his best move for dueling is his C3. It has some power and is great for knocking the enemy backwards. His C4 is good for crowd control, but it is weaker than a lot of charge attacks and the lasers that shoot out of the cards can sometimes miss an enemy, leaving you open to attack. His musou is also lacking in power. While it is good for clearing out a crowd, it won't do much damage against a powered up enemy officer. A really good move that he has is his Horse C4. This move can clear out a wide circle of enemies very quickly. Unfortunately, his specials are not that great, mainly due to the fact that none of them last very long. The Fire, Wind, and Demon element all help add a little bit of damage to Kanetsugu's attacks, which are lacking in that department. When fighting Kanetsugu, you shouldn't have to worry too much about his C1 attack. While it is a very good attack, the computer won't use it very often. On the other hand, Kanetsugu's regular attacks are deceptively quick. The best way to attack Kanetsugu is to focus on blocking his attacks until he is done, then hit him with a counter attack. Also, even though it may not look it, Kanetsugu's musou is a range musou. There are beams of light that come out of the circular patterns that he makes with his charms. Therefore, even though he is standing still, he does have some range to his musou. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3x. Nene's Move Set SW2PCNEN \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Clear Hideyoshi Toyotomi's Story Mode. Weapon Type: Two Daggers Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 100 Life: 358 Musou: 104 Musou: 312 Attack: 84 Attack: 169 Defense: 84 Defense: 169 Ride: 96 Ride: 187 Speed: 126 Speed: 196 Dex: 150 Dex: 200 Luck: 99 Luck: 192 Titles: Level 1-10: Courtly Maiden Level 11-20: Devoted Wife Level 21-30: Monkey Charmer Level 31-40: Headmistress Level 41-49: Lovely Matron Level 50: Far Eastern Queen Move Set Type: Special Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A horizontal slash to the left. SS A horizontal slash to the right. SSS A diagonally upward slash to the left. S4-S7 A series of spinning kicks alternating from the right leg to the left leg. SSSSSSSS A spinning, handstand kick with both legs out. T Combines her daggers in a star shape and throws them forward. This attack can break the enemy's guard. TT Splits the two daggers, making them go in separate directions when they return back to Nene. ST A diagonally upward slash to the right. STT Jumps up and does multiple back flips slashes followed by throwing a bomb towards the ground that explodes. SST A spinning kick with the right leg that dizzies. SSTT Flips upside down and spins around on her hands with her daggers out followed by throwing her daggers around her in a circular motion. SSST(T) A series of horizontal slashes alternating from right to left followed by a throw of her daggers forward. The more times triangle is pressed, the more slashes are performed Throws a dagger upwards towards the back of the horse that launches the enemy. Horse SST Throws a bomb off to the side of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST Throws both daggers off to both sides of the horse at the same time. Jump Attack Throws her daggers downward. Jump Charge Stabs the ground with both daggers, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack Rolls and throws her daggers forward. Deadlock Attack A series of four horizontal slashes alternating from right to left followed by a throw of her combined daggers. Musou Level 1 Combines her daggers to form a star shape and throws them forward multiple times. Nene stands in one place when performing this musou. Musou Level 3 Creates three illusions of herself, combines her daggers to form a star shape, and throws them forward multiple times. Nene stands in one place when performing this musou. When this musou is performed on a horse, multiple energy bursts appear from the ground instead. True Musou Combines her daggers to form a star shape and throws them forward multiple times, finishing with a horizontal slash to the left, a horizontal slash to the right, and an upward slash with both daggers. Nene stands in one place when performing this musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S(S): Makes copies of herself. The more times square is pressed, the more copies will be made. Nene can make up to three copies. R1 + T(T): Spins around and then transforms into a nearby soldier or general on the battlefield. Pressing triangle once will turn you into a regular soldier. Pressing triangle twice will turn you into a nearby specialized soldier, your bodyguard, or a generic officer. Pressing triangle three times will turn you into a nearby unique officer. Character Strategies: Nene is very fast, but some of her moves don't have the range to make them really good until you get her fourth weapon. Her C1, C3, and C4 are decent without her fourth weapon, but when you do get her fourth weapon, the area these three attacks cover is really nice. Her C1 is quick and the second part of it covers a wide area, which makes it good for any situation. Her C3 and C4 are also good for any situation. Her weakest move is her C2, but even then, it's a good move for one on one battles. Her musou is decent, but nothing really special. Her level 3 musou doesn't do much to help it, but it doesn't hurt the musou either. Her specials are really just novelties at best. Her special that makes copies of herself really doesn't do much to add damage, but it works really well to add hits to the combo meter. Her transforming special works the best when you don't have your entire move set unlocked yet. You get the ability to change into generic officers before you get the second tiers of your charge attacks. However, if you do change into a generic officer, you get the entire move set of that officer. This way, you can have multi-tiered charge attacks of another officer before you have unlocked your own. This is really nice when your Nene is weak, but when your Nene has her entire move set, transforming into another officer is really just for fun because it's too easy to get knocked out of it. As far as elements go, Ice is good for most of her charge attacks. It's really good when paired up with her C4, as it has multiple chances to activate and the enemy stays on the ground during the entire move. When fighting Nene, remember that all of her attacks are fast. Her C1 is kind of hard to predict and knock her out of. Plus, it has really good range. Luckily, she won't use it that much. Her first hit of her S string is also quick. Even her jump charge seems to be faster than the jump charges of other officers. It's best to not really focus on predicting her moves. Instead, just play a defensive battle. Her C1 is something to worry about, but she uses it rather sparingly. Block her normal attacks and then counter with your own attacks when she is finished. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3y. Kotaro Fuma's Move Set SW2PCKOT \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Initially available. Weapon Type: Gauntlets Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 108 Life: 267 Musou: 100 Musou: 300 Attack: 88 Attack: 176 Defense: 85 Defense: 171 Ride: 100 Ride: 193 Speed: 126 Speed: 196 Dex: 150 Dex: 200 Luck: 87 Luck: 183 Titles: Level 1-10: Ninja of the Hojo Level 11-20: Master Fuma Level 21-30: Fiend of Hakone Level 31-40: The Catalyst Level 41-49: Plague Upon Man Level 50: Chaos Incarnate Move Set Type: Charge Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally downward punch with the right hand to the left. SS A diagonally upward punch with the right hand to the right. SSS A spinning kick with the right leg. S4-S7 A series of horizontal punches alternating from the left using the right hand to the right using the left hand. SSSSSSSS Throws a dark energy wave. T Swings both arms forward. This attack can break the enemy's guard. TT(T) Launches forward with multiple somersaults. The more times triangle is pressed, the more somersaults are performed. ST Punches the ground with the left hand, causing a dark energy blast that launches the enemy. STT Slams the enemy down with a downward punch, causing a ground shockwave. STTT A horizontal punch with the left hand. SST A forearm attack with the right hand to the left that dizzies. SSTT A diagonally upward punch with the left hand to the right that launches the enemy. SSTTT Throws a dark energy ball forward. SSST A spinning punch with both fists stretched outward. SSST(T) A series of diagonally downward punches with the left hand alternating from left to right followed by a spinning punch with both fists stretched outward. The more times triangle is pressed, the more punches are performed. Horse S A punch towards the front of the horse. Horse SS A punch towards the back of the horse. Horse SSS A punch towards the back of the horse. Horse S4-S8 A series of punches towards the front of the horse. Horse ST An upward punch towards the front of the horse. Horse SST Throws a bomb off to the side of the horse that dizzies. Horse SSST Punches off to both sides of the horse at the same time. Jump Attack Throws a dark energy wave downward. Jump Charge Slams both hands on the ground, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack Swings both arms forward. Deadlock Attack A backflip kick that launches the enemy followed by a jump into the air, a grab of the enemy, a flip around, and then a slam of the enemy on the ground headfirst. If Kotaro misses with the grab, he will wait for the enemy to land on the ground and then he will stomp on the enemy, causing a ground shockwave. Musou Level 1 Runs forward performing multiple punches. Musou Level 3 Creates two illusions of himself and then runs forward performing multiple punches. When this musou is performed on a horse, multiple dark energy bursts appear from the ground instead. True Musou Runs forward performing multiple punches, finishing with a spinning kick with the right leg and a spinning punch with both arms stretched out. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Stretches out his arm, grabs the enemy, and throws them. R1 + T: A ninjutsu move where he creates four fireballs and throws them. Character Strategies: Kotaro is a very interesting character. The first three hits of his S string do not have that much range. However, the last five hits are very quick and the projectile attack at the end can be very damaging. Also, you can circle around the enemy using the alternating punches and then hit the enemy with the energy wave. His C1 is very useful for breaking the opponent's guard. However, the forward summersaults at the end of the attack can be hard to control sometimes. His C3 has a guard break in the middle of the attack, but the dark energy ball at the end of it cannot be aimed. You must aim the attack before the second punch of the move. His C4 is probably his best attack. The multiple punches have a wide range and can be very damaging to an enemy officer, while the spin at the end can knock the entire crowd backwards in an instant. His running musou attack is slow enough to be controlled, although sometimes you can over run the enemy if you are just targeting one person. His throw special attack is useful for dealing with a blocking opponent, but his fireball attack doesn't do enough damage to warrant using. Of course, Kotaro's best element is the Demon element. Out of all the characters in the game, Kotaro seems to be the one that likes to perform his C2 attack the most. It can be a very annoying attack, since it is very quick. The first attack on his regular move set is quick, but lacks range. Therefore, if you have a long ranged character, you can normally get off the first hit before Kotaro can get to you. His C1 would be very annoying if he ever decided to use it. Kotaro's musou is a running attack, which means he can normally get around your guard if you try to block it. Therefore, it is best to just try to hit Kotaro when you see him charging up for the musou. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 3z. Musashi Miyamoto's Move Set SW2PCMUS \____________________________________________________ How to Unlock: Unlock all characters other than Okuni and Ranmaru Mori. Weapon Type: Two Swords Starting Stats: Maximum Stats: Life: 120 Life: 295 Musou: 92 Musou: 276 Attack: 92 Attack: 188 Defense: 88 Defense: 181 Ride: 93 Ride: 182 Speed: 106 Speed: 171 Dex: 106 Dex: 171 Luck: 93 Luck: 189 Titles: Level 1-10: Untamed Frenzy Level 11-20: Dual Swordsman Level 21-30: Deadly Artist Level 31-40: Great Teacher Level 41-49: Unrivaled Master Level 50: Living Legend Move Set Type: Charge Move Set: Attack Type Move Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- S A diagonally downward slash to the left. SS A diagonally downward slash to the right. SSS A horizontal slash to the right. S4-S7 A series of diagonally upward slashes alternating from left to right. SSSSSSSS A double slash with one sword going diagonally upwards to the right and one sword going diagonally downwards to the left. T Jumps and performs a downward slash with both swords that breaks the enemy's guard. TT A kick with the left leg. TTT A spinning, horizontal slash to the left with the left sword followed by a downward slash with the right sword. ST A diagonally upward slash to the right that launches the enemy. STT Jumps up and performs multiple stabs downward at the launched enemy. STTT Stabs downward at the enemy and performs a back flip kick. When the enemy lands on the ground, it creates a ground shockwave that damages other enemies. SST A stab with both swords that dizzies. SSTT A horizontal slash to the right. SSTTT Jumps forward and performs a double horizontal slash with one sword going right and one sword going left. During this attack, multiple smaller slashes appear around Musashi. SSST A double horizontal slash with one sword going right and one sword going left. SSST(T) A series of horizontal slashes alternating from right to left followed by a double horizontal slash with one sword going right and one sword going left. The more times triangle is pressed, the more horizontal slashes are performed. Horse S A slash towards the front of the horse on the right side. Horse SS A slash towards the front of the horse on the left side. Horse SSS A slash towards the front of the horse on the right side. Horse S4-S7 A series of slashes towards the front of the horse alternating from the left side to the right side. Horse SSSSSSSS A double slash towards the back of the horse on the right side. Horse ST Slashes towards the front on both sides of the horse at the same time with both swords that launches the enemy. Horse SST Slashes towards the front on both sides of the horse at the same time with both swords that dizzies. Horse SSST Slashes towards the back on both sides of the horse at the same time with both swords. Jump Attack A slash downward with both swords. Jump Charge Stabs the ground with both swords, causing a ground shockwave. Running Attack Runs and performs a series of three horizontal slashes alternating from right to left, fishing with a spinning horizontal slash to the right. Deadlock Attack A diagonally downward slash to the left followed by two diagonally downward slashes to the right, a horizontal slash to the left and a spinning, horizontal slash to the right. Musou Level 1 A series of diagonally downward slashes alternating from left to right. Musashi stands in one place when performing this musou. Musou Level 3 A series of diagonally downward slashes alternating from left to right. During this musou, multiple smaller slashes appear around Musashi. Musashi stands in one place when performing this musou. True Musou A series of diagonally downward slashes alternating from left to right, finishing with three double slashes with one sword going diagonally upwards to the right and one sword going diagonally downwards to the left. Musashi stands in one place when performing the main part of this musou. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Abilities: R1 + S: Counter attack stance. When you are in this stance and an enemy attacks you, you immediately parry the attack and perform three quick slashes in a triangular pattern. R1 + T: A war cry that fills up the musou bar. Character Strategies: Musashi is an above average character. His fourth weapon really makes him better than he should be. His C1 is a great dueling attack since it has two guard breaks. Unfortunately, the last hit is very vertical, which means it has to be aimed precisely or it will miss. His C2 is one of the better and most damaging C2 attacks out there. His C3 also has a guard break at the end of the move, but enemies will roll out of its way most of the time. Also, the jump near the end of the move can sometimes be a blessing or a pain. It can either jump you to behind your opponent or it can simply jump you away from the opponent. His C4 and the end attacks to his regular move set are about the same. His C4 simply has more elemental activation moves than his regular move set. His musou keeps him in one place, but it has wide range. Unfortunately, his level 3 musou can sometimes knock enemy officers into the air and out of the way of the attack. His horse attacks do alternate from side to side, but they have a very wide range of motion. His horse charge attacks do hit both sides. Musashi's running attack is a multi hit attack. You can hit enemies multiple times, making this a very damaging attack. You can also take advantage of hit and run attacks using this move. His war cry special is very cheap and will quickly fill up your musou bar. Also, his Self skill is just as cheap. If you are every caught in a combo, simply press Triangle and Musashi will perform an elemental horizontal slash. This means that unless you are juggled, you shouldn't be hit by too many attacks. Musashi works well with any element, but the Demon element on his fourth weapon turns him into a character comparable with Keiji and Tadakatsu. When fighting Musashi, you need to watch out for his C1 attack. Since his C1 attack is a jumping attack, you will normally juggle Musashi a lot. Unfortunately, this means you will be dealing less damage to him with each attack. The trick is to try to catch Musashi when he is not performing his C1 to deal the most damage to him. Unfortunately, the first attack on his S string is decently quick, so it will take a good eye and good timing to catch him off guard. Since he stands still for his musou attack, you can run away from it. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4. Story Mode Walkthroughs SW2STORY \____________________________________________________ Every character except for Ranmaru Mori and Okuni have their own Story Mode. The Story Mode takes your character through different battles on the way to unifying Japan for either themselves or their lord. Each character has their own unique walkthrough for each stage, as most of the stages are different for each character, even if multiple characters play on the same side on the same stage. Normally, the missions are different for a character in a stage. I have listed the victory and defeat conditions for each stage, as well as the armies that are on the battlefield. I have tried to list all the reinforcements that arrive during the course of the battle. Each walkthrough is a walkthrough for Hard mode. While I was making the walkthrough for the stage, I was actually following the path in the game, so I know these walkthroughs work. Of course, you may find a different path through your game, triggering different missions or different scenarios. I have listed only one possibility for each stage. There are many more possible outcomes that could happen on a stage. I have tried to maximize the completed missions and kills in my walkthroughs while minimizing casualties. Hopefully, I have succeeded. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4a. Yukimura Sanada's Walkthrough SW2STYUK \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- Stage 1: Retreat from Nagashino -------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Nobunaga. Defeat Conditions: Katsuyori or Yukimura is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Takeda Army: \| Oda-Tokugawa: \| \| Katsuyori Takeda \| Nobunaga Oda \| \| Yukimura Sanada \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| Keiji Maeda \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| Masatane Hara \| No \| \| Masakage Yamagata \| Katsuie Shibata \| \| Nobufusa Baba \| Nobutada Oda \| \| Reinforcements: \| Kazumasu Takigawa \| \| None \| Nagahide Niwa \| \| \| Tadatsugu Sakai \| \| \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| \| Nobumori Sakuma \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| \| \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| \| \| Nobumasa Okudaira \| \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, turn around and pick a fight with Katsuie Shibata. This will cause a mission to appear to defeat the Oda enemies on the front line. You will need to defeat two other officers in order to complete this mission. Those officers are Kazumasu Takigawa and Nagahide Niwa. Once they are defeated, rush over to where Katsuyori Takeda is at. He should be getting attacked by Hideyoshi Hashiba. When you get close to Katsuyori, you should get a mission to defend his retreat. Defeat Hideyoshi and allow Katsuyori to escape. He will attempt to go east, but the gates will be closed, so he will have to go south. Clear out some enemies on the bridge structure and wait for the riflemen ambush inside Tobigasu Garrison. Once that happens, defeat Nobumori Sakuma. When Katsuyori makes it to Nagashino Castle, Mitsuhide Akechi and Nobumasa Okudaira will ambush him. You will get a mission to defeat them both. Defeat these two generals to complete the mission and allow Katsuyori to continue to retreat. Katsuyori will continue north towards either the Maruyama Garrison or the northeast stronghold (I've seen both). For this walkthrough, let's just assume he's going to the Maruyama Garrison (the northeast stronghold is actually easier and simpler). When he gets near the stronghold at the intersection of the two paths, Hanzo Hattori will appear. Defeat Hanzo and allow Katsuyori to continue his retreat. Inside Maruyama Garrison, there should be a couple of officers in there waiting for Katsuyori. Defeat them to allow Katsuyori a clear path to safety. During this time, you should get a mission to defeat the Tokugawa Army. This mission consists of defeating Ieyasu Tokugawa, Tadatsugu Sakai, and Yasumasa Sakakibara. Defeat all three generals while waiting for Katsuyori to retreat. There should be only three or four generals left on the board. Three of them should be Nobunaga Oda, No, and Tadakatsu Honda. If you're good at fighting or you have a powered up Yukimura, go fight Tadakatsu Honda for the experience and completion sake. If you get Tadakatsu down to half life, a mission will appear to defeat him. If you don't feel like fighting Tadakatsu, Keiji Maeda will keep Tadakatsu in check, so just run into the enemy main camp. There, you will have to fight Nobunaga and No. Defeat No first to get the distraction out of the way, then focus on finishing off Nobunaga. --------------------------------- Stage 2 will want to make your way to the central clearing. Defeat the Defense Captain to open the gate to Mt. Ishigaki. Defeat Ujiteru Hojo and Naosada Hojo (wait, Hojo names start with things other than Uji???) to take the mountain and open up all the gates in the central area. Make your way out through the south gate. Some enemies will attempt to charge their way to the central area. Clear them out and then head over to the southwestern fort. Kanbei Kuroda should have appeared there with the engineers to build the castle. However, Ujitada Hojo is here trying to stop them. Defeat Ujitada Hojo and then go north of Mt. Ishigaki. Near the northern garrison, Ujitaka Hojo and Norisada Ueda is trying to get to Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Defeat these two and then immediately head to the southern garrison. When the castle is completed in the central area, a new path will appear in the central area and a siege ramp will appear in the southern garrison. You will need to protect the siege ramp as it's getting into place. You can get a head start by clearing out some of the enemy troops in this area, as well as getting rid of Yasusato Matsuda. When the siege ramp is in place, make your way up the ramp and inside the castle. Check the map for Masataka Kasahara's position, as you will get a mission from Hideyoshi to save one of his officers. You can't find the officer on the map, but he is next to Masataka. Defeat Masataka to save the officer and complete the mission. The front gates should be opened, so the enemy will begin to march on your makeshift castle. Start defeating enemies that are outside of the main keep of the castle. There should be a few in the north and a few in the middle areas. There's no real pattern to the destruction. Just everyone except for Ujimasa Hojo should be dead before you move on. Once Ujimasa is the only Hojo left, defeat the Defense Captain protecting the main keep and then go inside the castle. Once inside the castle, there are some annoying things you have to do first. The gate on the first floor is locked, so you have to go to the second floor and destroy the statue that is blocking the mechanism that controls the gate on the first floor. Head down through the gate on the first floor to get to another mechanism that controls the gate on the second floor. Destroy the statue blocking the mechanism and then make your way back up the stairs again. Go through the gate and head to the third floor. When you reach this floor, you will face off with Ujimasa Hojo. However, when you defeat Ujimasa, it turns out that the person you just fought was just an illusion made by Kotaro Fuma. You will need to defeat Kotaro before you can go back outside of the main keep. Kotaro will be on the second floor. While you are fighting Kotaro, Ujimasa and a few other Hojo officers will surround your main camp. Defeat Kotaro quickly and then make your way back down to the first floor and out of the main keep. Get on your horse and ride back to your main camp. When you reach your main camp, first defeat Ujifusa Hojo and Hiroteru Minagawa. Then, you can focus on the two Hojo leaders. Defeat them in any order you want. ----------------------------- Stage 3When the stage starts, go north. When you reach Nagamasa Kuroda, defeat him. When Nagamasa is defeated, Hanzo Hattori will appear north of you. Make your way through the alleyways towards Hanzo and defeat him. You will find out that it was just a double of Hanzo, which means he's still out there on the loose. Continue to follow the alleyways until you are close to Iemasa Hachisuka and Sakon Shima. Help out Sakon by defeating Iemasa. Take the north route all the way around to the castle that Mitsunari Ishida is holed up in. Inside Nijo Castle, Yasuharu Wakisaka should be here, so escort him out of the castle by defeating him. Two more Hanzos should appear, one at Mitsunari and one at Kanetsugu. You will get a mission to defeat both Hanzos. Also, a Spy Captain will appear with both Hanzos. Defeat both the Hanzo and the Spy Captain near Mitsunari and then leave the castle through the western gate. Make your way south along the western path. You want to rescue Kanetsugu Naoe next. Defeat the Hanzo and the Spy Captain here too. This will complete your mission to defeat both Hanzos. Unfortunately, both Hanzos you killed were doubles. By this time, both Kiyomasa Kato and Yoshiaki Kato should be moving. Head towards Kiyomasa first and defeat him. Make your way towards Yoshiaki, who should be trying to get to Mitsunari, and defeat him as well. This should cause enemy reinforcements to arrive. You should eventually get two missions. The first mission is to defeat all the enemy reinforcements. The second mission is to help Mitsunari and Kanetsugu meet at the rendezvous point. In the south, Yoshinaga Asano and Masanori Fukushima should be trying to get to Mitsunari. Defeat them both and then make your way towards Mitsunari. He should be trying to escape now. Defeat the enemy officer that is north of him to complete the mission. There should be even more enemy reinforcements now. They should all arrive along the eastern route, making it easy to knock each one of them off one by one. The first two generals that you should defeat are Nagamasa Kuroda and Tadaoki Hosokawa. Take the eastern path south towards where Yasuharu Wakisaka and Terumasa Ikeda are. They should be harassing Kanetsugu, so defeat them both to allow Kanetsugu to reach the rendezvous point. Once both Mitsunari and Kanetsugu are at the rendezvous point, they will talk strategy and decide it's best to run away. During this time, Hanzo will appear again. You should defeat Kiyomasa Kato and Hanzo to provide Mitsunari an open path to the escape point. Hanzo is powered up, so it may take some time to bring him down. But at least this time, you're bringing down the real deal. Once Mitsunari reaches the escape point, the stage is finished. -------------------------------- Stage 4: Defense of Ueda Castle -------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Hidetada. Defeat Conditions: Masayuki or Yukimura is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Sanada Army: \| Tokugawa Army: \| \| Masayuki Sanada \| Hidetada Tokugawa \| \| Yukimura Sanada \| Hanzo Hattori \| \| Genba Karasawa \| Ina \| \| Mino Kaneko \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| Yorisada Yazawa \| Nobuyuki Sanada \| \| Reinforcements: \| Hidehisa Sengoku \| \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| Tadamasa Mori \| \| Keiji Maeda \| Ietsugu Sakai \| \| \| Hidemasa Ogasawara \| \| \| Tadachika Okubo \| \| \| Tadamasa Matsudaira \| \| \| Bitchu Hineno \| \| \| Masanobu Honda \| \| \| Kazuaki Toda \| \| \| Tadamasa Honda \| \| \| Yasunaga Ishikawa \| \| \| Yorimizu Suwa \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: I'm not a big fan of Ueda Castle, but at least on the Sanada side, you can at least see where all the tunnels go. When the stage starts, make your way south to where Tadamasa Mori is located at. You will eventually get a mission to ambush Tadamasa Mori and Hidehisa Sengoku, so get a jump start on the mission and defeat Tadamasa. Make your way through the tunnels to where Hidehisa is at and defeat him to complete the mission. You will get reinforcements in the form of Keiji Maeda and Kanetsugu Naoe, so the odds will get evened up a little. Make your way through the main gates to Ueda Castle and prevent Yasumasa Sakakibara from going inside. Defeat him and then head north. What you will want to do is defeat any enemy generals that are in Mino Kaneko's way. The first one to cause problems for Mino should be Kazuaki Toda. Defeat him and move on. When you get close to Nobuyuki Sanada, you will get a mission to defeat him to protect Toishi Castle. Defeat Nobuyuki and then continue to clear enemies out of Mino's path. Kotaro Fuma will eventually show up to try to stop Mino. Kotaro is powered up, so he's not going down without a fight. Defeat Kotaro and then finish up assisting Mino to the floodgate. When Mino reaches the floodgate, he will initiate the flood attack against the Tokugawa forces. The flood attack will cause three enemy generals to retreat and injure Ina, taking away her powered up status. Go over and help Kanetsugu get rid of Yasunaga Ishikawa. Eventually, Hanzo Hattori will reappear on the battlefield...in three places. Typical Hanzo. When you get close to one of the Hanzos, you will get a mission to defeat all three of them. One is outside the front gates of Ueda Castle, one is inside the underground area of Ueda, and one is inside Toishi Castle. Hunt down all three Hanzos before they can do any damage to Masayuki. Luckily, Keiji should disappear and reappear near Masayuki, protecting him for a little while. Defeat all three Hanzos and make him realize that he's just a failure. The southeastern garrison should be the last place where Tokugawa forces are at, other than the main camp of course. Make your way towards that point and defeat Ietsugu Sakai and Yorimizu Suwa. From here, it's a straight shot into the east gate of the enemy main camp. Inside the main camp, you will deal with three enemy generals. Masanobu Honda and Ina are guarding Hidetada Tokugawa. Get rid of Hidetada's two bodyguards. Ina should be easy to defeat since she was injured in the flood attack. Once Hidetada is defeated, you will have successfully defended Ueda Castle. However, you will get grim news that Mitsunari Ishida lost at Sekigahara. ------------------------ Stage 5: Osaka Campaign ------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. (Later changes to Defeat Keiji.) Defeat Conditions: Hideyori or Yukimura is defeated. (Later changes to Hideyori, Yukimura, or Kanetsugu is defeated.) Kanetsugu Naoe Keiji Maeda \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, you're inside the main keep of your castle. Katsumoto Katagiri is inside the main keep also, so you want to kick him out by defeating him. Once he is defeated, make your way outside through the main gate. Your horse will be waiting out there for you. Once outside the castle, defeat Naotaka Ii, Tadanao Matsudaira, and Toshitsune Maeda. All the while, Musashi Miyamoto will start talking about Yukimura's past, thinking he's some kind of fight commentator or something. Although, he will inform you that you need to take the Sanada Ward, which will be an important stop in the future. Once the main gate is clear of enemies, make your way south. Ieyasu Tokugawa will order a cannon to approach the main gate. Destroy the cannon before it can approach the main keep of your castle. This will cause Ina and Masamune Date to lead their armies at your main keep from two directions. Defeat any enemy generals that may still be in this area to prevent them from storming your castle and then make your way over to Ina's army. Ina will be here with Tadamasa Sengoku, Tadateru Matsudaira, and Nagamasa Kuroda. You will get a mission to prevent Ina from entering the main keep of your castle, but you might as well just defeat all of these enemy generals to protect Hideyori Toyotomi. Once the eastern gate is cleared of enemies, make your way over to the western gate. Here, Masamune is trying to enter the main keep through this entrance. He will be here with Yasunaga Matsudaira and Tadaoki Naito. You will get a mission to prevent Masamune from entering the main keep, so defeat him first to complete the mission. After that, clear this entrance of all enemies. This will cause the Toyotomi Army to begin to march on Ieyasu Tokugawa's main camp. However, there is a couple more things you need to do before you can begin you yourself can charge the main camp. Head south to where Kanetsugu Naoe is. He is in the Sanada Ward and he will be powered up. He will challenge you to a duel to the death. You will get a mission to defeat Kanetsugu. He has a lot of defense, so this will be a long battle. Defeating him will cause him to defect to your side and get the cannons firing on Ieyasu's main camp. There should be two more enemies in the Sanada Ward. Yoshinobu Satake and Hidemune Date should also be here, so defeat them to protect Kanetsugu. From this point forward, it's just cleaning up the rest of the Tokugawa Army. Shigenaga Katakura should be in the northwestern area of the castle, so get rid of him first. After that, there should only be the enemies that are around the Tokugawa main camp. Hidetada Tokugawa and Tadatomo Honda should be at the front gate of the Tokugawa main camp. Ietsugu Sakai should be at the western gate of the enemy main camp and Tadaoki Hosokawa should be at the eastern gate. Defeat all four generals and then enter the Tokugawa main camp. Here, Ieyasu Tokugawa should be all alone, so defeat him. This will not end the battle, but this will force all the enemy soldiers to retreat. There is just one more thing left to do. Keiji Maeda will appear near the main gate of the main keep of the castle. He will challenge you to a one on one fight. You will get a final mission to defeat Keiji. Keiji is powered up and has a lot of attack and defense, but just remember, the second part of Yukimura's C3 breaks the enemy's guard, so abuse this to defeat Keiji Yoshinobu Satake northern part of the map. Immediately defeat Sadatsugu Tsutsui. While you're fighting Sadatsugu, Sakon Shima should get sniped by the enemy riflemen, which cuts his life bar in half. Don't worry about him right now. Instead, make your way east and defeat Kazutoyo Tamanouchi and then go west to the northwestern garrison to defeat Takatora Todo. From the northwestern garrison, make your way south to the central area of Sekigahara. Make your way over to Sakon Shima right away. When you reach Sakon, he will begin to retreat. When he reaches your main camp, he will completely leave the battlefield. Defeat the enemy officers that are in this area to prevent them from causing anymore problems to Sakon. When two of them are defeated, Tadakatsu Honda will begin his march towards your main camp. He will have to get through you first to get there. Tadakatsu is powered up, so he will be difficult to beat. This is why you should defeat the enemy officers in this area quickly, so you can make the battle a one on one fight. Try to defeat Tadakatsu as quickly as possible, as enemy reinforcements will be arriving soon. When Tadakatsu is defeated, begin clearing out the enemy officers that are in central Sekigahara. Eventually, Ginchiyo Tachibana should make her way close to the enemy main camp. When she does, Naomasa Ii will ambush her. Make your way over to Ginchiyo. You will get a mission to rescue her. Defeat Naomasa Ii to complete this mission. Now, continue clearing out the central area. You should have most, if not all, of the enemy officers in the central area defeated by the time Masamune Date arrives with reinforcements. When Masamune shows up, Mitsunari Ishida will charge at Masamune, leaving the allied main camp. What you should do now is make your way over to your main camp and clear the enemy officers out of this area. Make sure to take out the enemy stronghold that is just north of your main camp. This will be important for a mission later. Ina will be here along with three other enemy officers. Try to defeat these enemy officers quickly, as when Mitsunari reaches Masamune, Masamune will call for more reinforcements to appear and attack your main camp. Sakon Shima will appear again and try to guard the main camp by himself, but he's still injured. You will get a mission to prevent the Yuki Army from entering your main camp. First, defend the eastern gate of the main camp by defeating Tadatoshi Sengoku, Tadachika Okubo, and Masanobu Honda. You will have to be really quick in defeating these three enemy officers. The two enemy officers attacking your main camp from the north will be distracted by that stronghold you took earlier, but the stronghold won't last very long. If you're quick enough in killing off the enemy officers, you should be able to make it to your north gate in time to prevent Hideyasu Yuki and Yasumasa Sakakibara from entering your main camp. When all five enemy officers are defeated, you will have completed the mission. Ieyasu will send out his pet assassin, Hanzo Hattori, out to try to take Mitsunari Ishida's head. Make your way over to Mitsunari. He should be fighting off the Date Army. Make your way over to the Date Army and begin defeating them one by one. When you defeat Masamune Date, the Date Army will begin to retreat. So much for the enemy reinforcements. Now, it's time to find Hanzo Hattori and defeat him. Hanzo should be easy to defeat. When Hanzo is defeated, all that is left now is to clean up the rest of the Tokugawa Army. Defeat all the enemy officers that are in the central area and then head east. In the eastern garrison, Yoshihiro Shimazu should be fighting off Hidemoto Mori. Defeat Hidemoto and make your way north. The only enemy officers that are left should be those three guarding the gates to the Tokugawa main camp and Ieyasu himself. Defeat all three main camp guards before taking on Ieyasu. Defeat Ieyasu to completely turn a losing battle into victory. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4b. Keiji Maeda's Walkthrough SW2STKEI \____________________________________________________ --------------------------------- Stage 1're north of the central area. Hideyoshi Toyotomi will order his forces to attack the central area and get it ready for the makeshift castle. Defeat the Defense Captain guarding the north gate of the central area and then make your way inside. You will get a mission to take Mt. Ishigaki, which is the central area. Guarding this area is Naosada Hojo and Ujiteru Hojo. You will need to defeat both of these enemies to complete this mission. Now, all the gates to the central area will open. You will first want to go through the southern gate and then follow the path until you reach the southern garrison. Ujinori Uesugi and Ujimitsu Hojo will be here, attempting to find out what is going on in the central area. Stop these two enemy generals before they can even come close to the central area. Now, the engineers should have arrived by now. They are being led by Kanbei Kuroda. They will appear in the southwestern fort. Ujitada Hojo will be trying to do everything he can to make sure the engineers don't reach the central area, so defeat him and clear out some of the enemies that are in front of Kanbei to get him going towards the central area. When Kanbei gets moving, make your way back to the central area and leave through the north gate. Here, Yukimura Sanada should be fighting off some enemy officers that are trying to get to Hideyoshi. You will get a mission to prevent these officers from reaching your main camp. Complete the mission by defeating Norisada Ueda and Ujitaka Hojo. Now, while Kanbei is setting up the castle in the central area, you should make your way back south to the southern garrison. Go through the southern garrison and clear out all of the enemies in this area. Make sure you defeat Yasusato Matsuda, who is also in this area. When the makeshift castle is completed, you will get a new path to the central gate. Also, a siege ramp will appear near the southern garrison and will begin moving towards the area you just cleared out. While the siege ramp is getting into position, make your way towards the central gate of Odawara Castle and defeat Ujinaga Narita and Naohide Matsuda. Now, go up the siege ramp and enter the castle. Your first goal will be to make your way towards the southeastern section of the map. Here, Masataka Kasahara will be attempting to kill off Norihide Matsuda. You will get a mission to rescue Norihide, so defeat Masataka to complete this mission. Kotaro Fuma will open up the main gate of Odawara Castle. This will allow Masayo Ito and Naoshige Chiba to charge out and attempt to take the makeshift castle. Defeat these two enemy generals. Now, go around and clear out the rest of the enemy generals that are outside of the main keep of Odawara Castle. They should be mainly concentrated in the northern area of the map. When the outside of Odawara Castle is cleared out, defeat the Defense Captain that is guarding the main keep of the castle and make your way inside. When you're inside the castle, your first goal will be to get to the third floor. To do this, you will have to go up to the second floor and destroy the statue that is blocking the mechanism that controls the closed gate on the first floor. Now, go back to the first floor and destroy the statue that is in the way of the other mechanism. This will open the gate on the second floor, allowing you to go to the third floor. On the third floor, you will find Ujimasa Hojo. However, this Ujimasa is a fake set up by Kotaro Fuma. Kotaro will appear on the second floor and block your path. Also, the Hojo will ambush your main camp from all sides. You will have to defeat Kotaro to be able to escape the main keep. Kotaro is powered up a little, but not that much. When you get outside of the main keep, get on your horse and make your way over to the makeshift castle. Your first target should be Ujifusa Hojo. Defeat him and then leave the central area through the western gate. South of your main camp, you should find Hiroteru Minagawa and Ujimasa Hojo. Defeat them both and then enter your main camp. Ujinao Hojo should be here fighting with Hideyoshi. Defeat Ujinao to complete the stage. ----------------------------- Stage 2On this stage, you will need to make sure both Mitsunari Ishida and Kanetsugu Naoe don't get defeated. This should not be too hard, as both Mitsunari and Kanetsugu are pretty strong. You're right in front of Yoshiaki Kato when the stage starts, so why not start off by defeating him? When Yoshiaki is defeated, stay in this area. Hanzo Hattori will appear in the alleyway just west of the eastern path. Unfortunately, this Hanzo is just a fake. Defeat Hanzo and then continue north along the eastern path. Kanetsugu will get ambushed, but don't worry about him for now. Instead, defeat Nagamasa Kuroda and continue along the central path. When you're south of Sakon Shima, go north. You will get a mission to rescue Sakon. Complete this mission by defeating Iemasa Hachisuka. Now, make your way over to Mitsunari Ishida. He is holed up inside of Nijo Castle. Inside this castle, there is a Spy Captain. I don't really know what the Spy Captains do, but defeat him just in case he does something bad. Also, while you're here, defeat Yasuharu Wakisaka. Finally, Hanzo Hattori will appear in two places. One place will be inside Nijo Castle, where you are currently at. The other place is near Kanetsugu Naoe. You will get a mission to defeat both Hanzos. Defeat the Hanzo that is currently inside Nijo Castle and then leave the castle through the western gate. Make your way south along the western path and enter the series of alleyways that Kanetsugu is currently in. Here, you will find the second Hanzo and a second Spy Captain. Defeat the second Hanzo to complete your mission and defeat the second Spy Captain just to get another kill. Unfortunately, both Hanzos were doubles, so of course, you're going to see Hanzo again sometime in the future. Rescuing Kanetsugu will cause Kiyomasa Kato to begin to charge out. Go meet up with Kiyomasa and defeat him. Of course, just when you think you've defeated everyone on the map, more reinforcements arrive for the enemy. These reinforcements are led by Masanori Fukushima. Since Masanori arrives close to where you are currently at, defeat Masanori first. Make your way north along the western path to the northwestern corner, defeating Yoshinaga Asano along the way. You will get two missions around this time. The first will be to defeat all the enemy reinforcements. You should already have two down by now and making your way towards the third. The second mission will be to escort Mitsunari and Kanetsugu to the rendezvous point. This just involves defeating the enemy soldiers that are in the way of both allies. First, take care of the enemy reinforcements. Defeat Takatora Todo to complete your first mission. This will cause Kiyomasa Kato to appear once again, bringing along more enemy reinforcements. Make your way along the central path to the eastern path. First, defeat Nagamasa Kuroda and Tadaoki Hosokawa. Now, make your way south along the eastern path until you get to the next batch of enemy generals. They should be Yasuharu Wakisaka and Terumasa Ikeda and they should be getting in the way of Kanetsugu. Defeat both enemy generals and then continue south. Here, Kiyomasa should be trying to kill off your reinforcements, so defeat Kiyomasa. Now, defeat any enemy soldiers that are in the way of Mitsunari and Kanetsugu. When they both reach the "X" on the eastern path, your second mission is completed. They will discuss how to defeat Ieyasu Tokugawa. Of course, Keiji just wants into the action because of the fighting. Mitsunari will continue his escape, but Hanzo Hattori will appear in the southeastern corner of the map, near Mitsunari's escape point. This Hanzo is the real Hanzo and he is powered up. However, he shouldn't be too hard to defeat. When Hanzo is defeated, Mitsunari should have a clear path to escape Keiji Maeda get two missions right away when the stage starts. The first mission is to protect all the Peasants. This is easy to complete as long as you complete all the missions you are given on this stage. The second mission you get right away starts when you make your way south towards the Peasant that is on the boat. You will get a mission to protect this Peasant. Complete this mission by defeating the two Raiders that are attacking this Peasant. Make your way across the boat to the next Peasant. You will get another mission to protect a Peasant. The same thing applies to this Peasant. Defeat both Raiders attacking the Peasant to complete this mission. Now, make your way south along the eastern path until you reach the southeastern garrison. Here, three Raiders will be attacking this garrison. You will get a mission to protect this garrison. Complete this mission by defeating all three Raiders. When you have successfully protected the southeastern garrison, more Raiders will appear along with more boats. Some Raiders will begin to attack the northwestern garrison. Make your way across the boats in the south to make your way towards the northwestern garrison. You will need to be quick in taking this garrison, as a Peasant will move onto the boats and end up getting ambushed by Raiders. You will get two missions. The first mission will be to protect the northwestern garrison. This is completed by defeating all three Raiders attacking this garrison. The second mission will be to rescue the ambushed Raiders. When the northwestern garrison is rescued, make your way across the ships once again, this time making your way towards the central ship. Defeat the Raider that is in the way and then defeat the Defense Captain that is protecting the plank to the area that the Peasant is at. This will lower the plank, allowing you to defeat both Raiders that are attacking the trapped Peasant. When this mission is completed, more Raiders will appear, this time in the south. Also, the Marauder will finally show up to handle things personally. Defeat both Raiders that appear in the south to get the plank to the Marauder's ship to be lowered. Defeat the Marauder to complete the stage. -------------------------- Stage 4: Battle of Hasedo -------------------------- Victory Condition: The allied officers arrive at the Escape Point. (Later changes to Defeat Masamune.) Defeat Condition: Kanetsugu is Nobuyasu Goto \| \| \| Tsunenaga Hasekura \| \| \| Tsunamoto Oniniwa \| \| \| Kageyori Yashiro \| \| \| Yoshiyasu Mogami \| \| \| Mitsushige Nobesawa \| \| \| Hidetsuna Sakenobe \| \| \| Mitsunao Tateoka \| \| \| Masamune Date \| \| \| Shigezane Date \| \| \| Kojuro Katakura \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts off, make your way north to the first gate. Yoshiaki Mogami is here guarding the first gate. You will get a mission to break through the first gate. Defeat Yoshiaki to get his troops to retreat and to open up the first gate. Make your way up the path. When you or your allies get too far north on the path, the enemy will ambush you. You will then get a mission to break through the second gate. There will be three enemy officers that will attack you. The first two are Mitsuyasu Shimura and Mitsuuji Ujiie. They will ambush you on the path. Defeat these two enemy officers and then continue to make your way north. Minbu Satomi is guarding the second gate. Defeat Minbu to open up the second gate and complete your mission. Now, wait for your allies to make their way north towards the third gate. While you are waiting for this to happen, defeat the enemy soldiers that are just south of the third gate. When your allies get close to the third gate, enemy reinforcements will appear from behind. Keiji Maeda will offer to stay behind and defeat the enemy's entire rearguard while Kanetsugu Naoe escapes. You will get a mission to prevent the enemy from passing the third gate. You will fail this mission if any enemy officer passes through the third gate, so you don't have to worry about regular enemy soldiers passing through. There will be four waves of enemies that will come at you. The first wave will be three officers from the Date rearguard and they will appear just south of the third gate. The second wave will also be from the Date rearguard and they will appear in the area east of the second gate. There will be two officers in this group. The third wave will be officers from the Mogami rearguard. There will be four officers in this wave and they will appear around the second gate. Finally, the fourth and final wave will appear, lead by Yoshiaki Mogami. He will bring back some of the officers you have already defeated, except they will be powered up. However, they are still generic officers, so this shouldn't be too bad. When all of the officers from all four waves are defeated, you will have completed the mission to stop the enemy at the third gate and gained a bonus reward of 500 gold in the process. Make your way north to where Kanetsugu is. This will cause Masamune Date and his officers to appear just south of the fifth gate. Your victory condition will change now. To complete this stage, you will need to defeat Masamune-----+ towards the north gate of Edo Castle. Defeat Tadamasa Honda to open the north gate. Make your way towards the main keep of the castle. Chikayoshi Hiraiwa should be in your way, but you should easily be able to defeat him. Defeat the Defense Captain in front of the main keep of the castle and enter. You will want to quickly take the main keep of the castle, as Tokugawa reinforcements will constantly appear and make their way towards Kagekatsu Uesugi. You cannot let Kagekatsu die, so you will want to be quick in taking the main keep. Once inside the main keep, make your way up the stairs to the second floor. Ina is guarding the gate to the third floor. Defeat Ina and make your way up the stairs. Hidetada Tokugawa will be here, trying to guard Edo Castle with his life. He is powered up, but should be no match for the might of Keiji Maeda. Defeat Hidetada to seize the castle. Now, once you have the castle, you will need to quickly back outside of the castle to your horse. When you get back on your horse, leave Edo Castle through the north gate and go all the way around the western path towards your main camp, which is located in the southwest. Here, Kagekatsu should be fighting off hordes of Tokugawa officers. One of them should be Hanzo Hattori, but the rest should be just generic officers. Still, this will be a five on two battle. Not good odds...for them. Defeat every officer that is inside your main camp. When this is done, the Tokugawa main army should arrive. Ieyasu Tokugawa wants some revenge for the death of his son. The first mission you will get is to escort Kagekatsu into the Edo Castle. What you will want to do first is to make your way into the smaller keep of the castle. Inside the smaller keep, Yasumasa Sakakibara is here. Defeat him to seize the smaller keep. If you don't seize the smaller keep, Kagekatsu will take the long way around to the main keep, which just takes forever. This way, he just uses the smaller keep to get inside the main keep of the castle. Now, defeat all enemy soldiers that are in the path of Kagekatsu. Some enemy officers will also try to get in the way, but defeat them as well. Once Kagekatsu announces that he will use the smaller keep to get to the main keep, you can just ignore him for now. He should find his way inside the smaller keep, as long as there are no officers in his way. Make your way towards the west gate of Edo Castle and defeat Munenori Yagyu and Ietsugu Sakai. Around this time, Ieyasu will talk some smack about how you haven't seen the full power of his army yet. Masamune Date and his army will arrive in the northwest as enemy reinforcements. Masamune will charge the main keep of the castle. Tadakatsu Honda will also make his charge towards the smaller keep. Make your way over to Masamune. You will get a mission to prevent him from entering the main keep. Defeat Masamune Date to complete this mission and then and his other officers, Kojuro Katakura and Masakage Rusu. Now, make your way over towards where Tadakatsu Honda is. He should be at the eastern part of the castle trying to fight his way towards the smaller keep. You will get a mission to prevent Tadakatsu Honda from entering the smaller keep. Tadakatsu is powered up, but you're Keiji Maeda. Prove that you are the strongest in the land by defeating Tadakatsu. Now, finish off any officers that are not in the northeastern part of the map. When you are finished, there should only be two officers left. They should be Ieyasu Tokugawa and Tadayoshi Matsudaira. Make your way towards them both. Defeat Tadayoshi first and then take on the man who wants to rule Japan. Defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage. ------------------------------- Dream: Tournament of Champions ------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. (Later changes to Defeat Tadakatsu.) Defeat Conditions: Main Camp is captured. (Later changes to Either Kanetsugu or Yukimura is defeated, or Main Camp is captured.) Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Toyotomi Army: \| Tokugawa Army: \| \| Keiji Maeda \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| Reinforcements: \| Tadatsugu Sakai \| \| Yukimura Sanada \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| Naomasa Ii \| \| \| Hideyasu Yuki \| \| \| Masanobu Honda \| \| \| Hidetada Tokugawa \| \| \| Tadachika Okubo \| \| \| Tadatoshi Sengoku \| \| \| Yasunaga Ishikawa \| \| \| Tadamasa Mori \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| \| \| Kojiro Sasaki \| \| \| Musashi Miyamoto \| \| \| Yoshihisa Shimazu \| \| \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| \| \| Toshihisa Shimazu \| \| \| Iehisa Shimazu \| \| \| Masamune Date \| \| \| Shigezane Date \| \| \| Kojuro Katakura \| \| \| Tsunamoto Oniniwa \| \| \| Tadakatsu Honda \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: You start off facing an entire army by yourself. You're in the central castle and the enemies are trying to get to your location. Make your way north and defeat Yasunaga Ishikawa quickly. You have to be really quick about this, as Ieyasu Tokugawa will send out his pet ninja, Hanzo Hattori, to try to take your main camp. Hanzo starts off in the southeastern corner of the map, but he moves quickly. Quickly make your way back to your main camp and leave this area through the south gate. When you reach Hanzo, you will get a mission to prevent him from entering your main camp. Defeat Hanzo quickly to complete this mission. Clear your main camp of any enemies that might be here. Yukimura Sanada and Kanetsugu Naoe should arrive to assist you. Make your way to the southeastern area of the map and begin clearing out enemies in the south. Defeat Tadamasa Mori and then make your way to the northeastern area of the map. Musashi Miyamoto and Kojiro Sasaki should appear near Kanetsugu Naoe. When you reach Kanetsugu, you will get a mission to assist him. Complete this mission by defeating Musashi and Kojiro. Both of them are powered up and definitely will try to bring the fight to you. When both of them are defeated, Kanetsugu will continue along his path. Continue to follow the northern path and defeat Naomasa Ii. Make your way south to the central garrison and defeat Tadatsugu Sakai and Yasumasa Sakakibara. Leave the central garrison through the western gate and head south back to where Yukimura is. On your way there, you will get ambushed by the Shimazu Army. Also, the Date Army will appear south of the Tokugawa main camp. First, deal with the Shimazu Army. You will get a mission to destroy the Shimazu Army. Complete this mission by defeating Yoshihisa Shimazu, Toshihisa Shimazu, Iehisa Shimazu, and Yoshihiro Shimazu. While you're fighting the Shimazu Army, the Date Army should blow a hole in the wall of the central garrison and create a path leading to your main camp. Quickly deal with the Shimazu Army so that you can go protect your main camp. This is another four on one battle, but this shouldn't be any different than the one you just went through. When the Date Army has been defeated, it's time to focus on the Tokugawa main camp. Make your way to the area south of the Tokugawa main camp and defeat Tadachika Okubo and Masanobu Honda to open up the south gate of the enemy main camp. Make your way inside the main camp to face off with Ieyasu Tokugawa. Ieyasu has three generic officers as bodyguards, but this should be a familiar situation by now. Ieyasu promises you that if you beat him, you will be able to fight Tadakatsu Honda, so defeat the head of the Tokugawa clan to make him make good on his promise. Everyone will leave the battlefield, leaving it just a one on one battle between you and Tadakatsu Honda. Tadakatsu Honda will appear in the southwestern garrison and will begin hunting you down. You will get a mission to defeat Tadakatsu. Make your way over to Tadakatsu and bring the fight to him. Your C1 should be faster than his C1, so you should have no problems breaking his guard and knocking him down. Defeat Tadakatsu Honda to become the champion of champions, or as Keiji puts it, the baddest of the bad. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4c. Nobunaga Oda's Walkthrough SW2STNOB still haven't gotten a real good grasp on this stage yet, so the path I take may not be exactly the best path. You start off with a mission requiring you to defeat all of the Takeda Cavalry that is charging your main base. There are a lot of regular soldiers on horses that are a pain in the butt and can take serious chunks out of your life, so make sure you take off anyone that's on a horse. The officers that are part of the Takeda Cavalry are Yukimura Sanada, Masakage Yamagata, Masatoyo Naito, and Masatsugu Tsuchiya. Defeat all four to complete the first mission. I don't think there is any real sensible way to save Nagashino Castle other than going directly there from the start, which isn't practical. From here, you can either head north or south. I normally head north to where Nobufusa Baba is. If he has caused a lot of devastation and destruction, when you reach him, there should be a mission to defeat him. Either way, run him through along with Masatane Hara and then make your way to Katsuyori Takeda, defeating any generals along the path. Katsuyori should be inside Nagashino by now. Defeat him while he is still inside the castle. When Katsuyori is defeated, you will need to defeat every Takeda general in order to complete the stage. Around this time, Yukimura Sanada should reappear close to your main base. Head over to Yukimura. You should receive a mission to defeat him. Be careful, as he is powered up this time. Once Yukimura is defeated, the rest of the Takeda Army should fall easily. They should all be charging the main camp, so they should be close by. Defeat any generals that may still remain and complete the stage. ----------------------------- Stage 2: Battle of Osaka Bay ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Magoichi. Defeat Condition: Main Camp is captured. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Oda Army: \| Honganji Army: \| \| Nobunaga Oda \| Magoichi Saika \| \| Ranmaru Mori \| Rairen Shimozuma \| \| Katsuie Shibata \| Rairyu Shimozuma \| \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| Chuko Shimozuma \| \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| Yorichika Shichiri \| \| Nobumori Sakuma \| Shigetomo Suzuki \| \| Narimasa Sassa \| Yoshimasa Oka \| \| Reinforcements: \| Ujiyoshi Horinouchi \| \| Kazumasu Takigawa \| Morishige Tsuchihashi \| \| Yoshitaka Kuki \| Peasant \| \| \| Peasant \| \| \| Peasant \| \| \| Peasant \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Takeyoshi Murakami \| \| \| Motoyoshi Murakami \| \| \| Sukeyasu Innoshima \| \| \| Michiyasu Kurushima \| \| \| Munekatsu Nomi \| \| \| Terumoto Mori \| \| \| Peasant \| \| \| Peasant \| \| \| Peasant \| \| \| Peasant \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: This battle will start off with a lot of enemies charging your main camp from two directions. Start off by defending the eastern entrance to your main camp and defeat the Peasants that come through. Also, Chuko Shimozuma should also be in the area, so defeat him quickly. There should be enemy ships south of your main camp, so finish up any remaining enemies and head south. When you get close to Mitsuhide Akechi, you should receive a mission to protect him. Defeat all enemy generals near him to complete this mission. Now, continue to clean up in this area while waiting for the enemy supply captain to arrive. Terumoto Mori is the supply general and when he appears on the boats, quickly run over to him. You should receive a mission to defeat him, so quickly do so. Once you have stopped the supplies from reaching the Honganji Army, continue to defeat any enemies near your main camp until your reinforcements arrive. When your reinforcements arrive on the war ships, the enemy morale will go down and the ally morale will go up, allowing you to quickly run through all the remaining enemies around your main camp. Head over to the enemy main camp where Magoichi Saika is at. Also in the area should be Rairen Shimozuma and Yoshimasa Oka, who are guarding the gates to the main camp. Defeat Magoichi's two officers and then finish off Magoichi to complete the stage. ------------------------------ Stage 3: Battle of Tedorigawa ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Kenshin. Defeat Condition: Main Camp is captured the next ally. The first general you should now save is Kazumasu Takigawa. He is being attacked by Kagemochi Amakasu. Defeat Kagemochi quickly and then continue along the path to Nagahide Niwa. When you reach Nagahide Niwa, Nagahide Yasuda will attempt to stop your retreat plans. Defeat Nagahide Yasuda and head north, leaving Nagahide Niwa to find his way home. Katsuie should be the next general you save, which means Takahiro Kitajo should be the next general you kill. Now there are only two generals left to save. Toshiie Maeda is next up on the list. He is north of Katsuie and guarded by Shigenaga Honjo. Defeat Shigenaga and then continue along the path to the northwestern area of the map Kanetsugu Naoe will begin to take the southeastern path to Funaoka Castle to initiate a flood attack. Stop him by going through Funaoka Castle and cutting him off while he's on the path. You should receive a message to prevent Kanetsugu from reaching the castle. Defeat Kanetsugu to prevent the flood attack and to complete the mission. The rest of the Uesugi Army will begin to charge for the Oda main camp. There should be only three enemy generals to stop and they are all easy to cut off, as they head in the same direction. However, once you do defeat them, Kenshin will call for an ambush at your main camp. Quickly rush over to your main camp. When you get near Kagekatsu Uesugi, a mission will appear to defeat him. Quickly oblige and defeat Kagekatsu and protect your main camp. The only thing left to do is to defeat Kenshin at his main camp. Head to the northeastern fort and invite yourself in. Defeat Yataro Onikojima who is with Kenshin and then face off with the God of War himself. Defeat Kenshin to complete the stage. ---------------------------- Stage 4: Fall of the Takeda ---------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Kenshin and Katsuyori. Defeat Condition: Main Camp is captured am not a big fan of this map. I do like the idea, but the execution is flawed. There are just too many underground passages. It seems like half the map is underground. Also, you cannot get to anywhere directly. You have to go through the maze just to get anywhere. By the time you actually do get to where you are going, you're too late to save your allies. The main focus of the first part of this map is saving your allies who have defected from the enemy. The three defectors are Nobukimi Anayama, Yoshimasa Kiso, and Nobushige Oyamada. Because of where they are located on the map and because you cannot get to anywhere within a reasonable time frame, expect two of them to die. If you can just save one, consider it a moral victory (although I have completed this map without losing a single ally using this method, so while it's hard and you need a lot of speed to get everywhere, it's not impossible). When the stage starts, make your way directly (or as directly as possible) to Toishi Castle. This will assist with morale a little and also assist Nobukimi Anayama's survival rate. To get there, go straight and then hang a left right before the second underground tunnel. There, go straight to the gates of the castle. Norinobu Nishina is guarding the castle, so enter the castle and defeat him quickly. By this time, Masanobu Kosaka should have ambushed Nobushige Oyamada and Nobukimi Anayama should be surrounded by generals. Nobushige will probably die even if you do try to assist him, so just head over to Nobukimi and complete the mission to protect him from all the enemy soldiers in the area. Defeating Yoritsuna Yazawa and Nobutoyo Takeda will complete the mission. Sometimes, when you pass through an underground tunnel, an ambush of soldiers and riflemen will appear. Ignore them for now and only clean them out if your allies are having problems with them. Now, defeat Zushonosuke Yumoto (gets my award for strangest name in the game) just to make sure he doesn't cause any problems for Nobukimi. Go to where Nobushige is. Odds are, he's already dead. Sometimes he dies really quickly, sometimes he decides to hang around a bit. If he isn't, complete the mission to protect him by defeating Masanobu Kosaka. If he is already dead, get your revenge by defeating Masanobu. To reach them, go back around the way you came by route of Toishi Castle. When you reach the first tunnel near your main camp, hang a left (where the lamps are). This should lead you to where Masanobu is. By now, Kotaro Fuma should disappear from the map and the Hojo should retreat, saying there is a revolt in their homeland. You will see Kotaro again in the future, but not in a good way. Yoshimasa Kiso will be left out to dry, so he should be your next protection target. To get to him, continue east from where Nobushige and Masanobu are/were. There should be a tunnel there that will take you to the eastern path. Once you're on the eastern path, head directly south. By now, Kanetsugu Naoe should have talked a lot and then opened the fort where they were hiding. Their target is going to be the main camp, so protect Yoshimasa fast. He has two generals in his area, who are Tomonobu Saito and Takahiro Kitajo. Defeat them to complete the mission of protecting Yoshimasa. Now, quickly run over to where the Kanetsugu Naoe and the Uesugi Army are. You will get a mission to defeat the Uesugi Army. Defeat Kanetsugu and Kagekatsu Uesugi to complete the mission. Now, if Nobushige Oyamada is still alive, lead him to the main gate. If he is not, you will have to defeat all the Takeda generals outside the castle to get them to open the gates. Either way, inside the gate is three generals. They are Katsuyori Takeda, Nobutomo Akiyama, and Iyo Tomizawa. Defeat them quickly, as there is an ambush party that hits your main camp. You will need to quickly go there first. There are three generals in your main camp. When you reach your main camp, you are requested to defeat the Sanada ambush. The generals who are part of the ambush are Bitchu Kozuki, Mino Kaneko, and Genba Karasawa (what kind of name is Bitchu?). Defeat all three of them to protect your main camp and complete the mission. Now back to the main task of invading Ueda Castle. Masayuki Sanada is hiding inside of his castle. Defeat any enemy generals who are still outside of the castle and then make your way inside. Don't try to enter the right tunnel, as the door at the end of the tunnel will remain permanently locked. Instead, go through the left tunnel. Waiting for you here is Yukimura Sanada and Nobuyuki Sanada. Yukimura is powered up, so be careful when you face him. After this fight is over, the door they were guarding will open, allowing you to reach the stairs to the second floor. When you reach the second floor, you will meet an old ally. Kotaro Fuma is here, but he's not here to assist you with your Sanada problem. He's here to attack you and he's also powered up. Defeat him in order to be able to access the stairs that will lead to Masayuki Sanada. Masayuki Sanada does have some riflemen with him, so take them out first. After they are done with, take out all your frustrations that the map has provided you out on Masayuki and the stage will be complete Magoichi Saika \| \| \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| \| \| Fujitaka Hosokawa \| \| \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: You need at least one ally to survive with you on this map, so I normally protect No and Ranmaru Mori. As soon as the stage starts, you already have enemy generals in your vicinity. Your first target should be Nobuharu Tsuda. Defeat him and then continue on your way north to Nijo Castle. Mitsuhide should start to burn Honnoji. Just continue along your way north to where Kaneaki Mimaki is. Defeat him and enter Nijo Castle. This will give you a mission to save Nobutada Oda. Defeat Hidemitsu Akechi to complete the mission. Nobutada Oda will begin to make his way back to the temple, so do the same. After all, you have to protect your wife and your bodyguard. Mitsuhide will bring out his riflemen out to play, so defeat them quickly, as they can be a pain when fighting other generals. Defeat any and all enemy generals that are around the temple. After a little while, Magoichi Saika will ambush you. He will be powered up, so he won't be an easy kill. However, you should have some allies in the area to assist you. When Magoichi is defeated, Mitsuhide Akechi will finally arrive on the battlefield. Ranmaru will decide he wants to charge Mitsuhide. Follow him and defeat any enemy generals along the way. There should be no enemy generals left on the board, as they should have all attacked Honnoji. However, just in case some of them got caught up in some area, you can decide to go after them if you want. When you reach Ranmaru and Mitsuhide, you will get a mission to assist Ranmaru in defeating Mitsuhide. This battle should be two on one, with you having the numbers edge in terms of generals. Mitsuhide is powered up, but the added distraction of Ranmaru should even the odds. Defeat Mitsuhide to complete the stage. ----------------------------- Dream: Nobunaga Unites Japan ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. Defeat Condition: Main Camp is captured. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Oda Army: \| Coalition: \| \| Nobunaga Oda \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| Katsuie Shibata \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| \| Nobutada Oda \| Keiji Maeda \| \| Toshiie Maeda \| Masamune Date \| \| Kazumasa Takigawa \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| \| Nagahide Niwa \| Tadatsugu Sakai \| \| Reinforcements: \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| Hidemitsu Akechi \| Naomasa Ii \| \| Toshimitsu Saito \| Nobumasa Okudaira \| \| \| Kazumasa Ishikawa \| \| \| Masanobu Honda \| \| \| Moritsuna Watanabe \| \| \| Tadayo Okubo \| \| \| Tadasuke Okubo \| \| \| Shigenaga Honjo \| \| \| Nagazane Irobe \| \| \| Kojuro Katakura \| \| \| Shigezane Date \| \| \| Toshihisa Shimazu \| \| \| Iehisa Shimazu \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Yukimura Sanada \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, make your way north to where Keiji Maeda is. You will get a mission to prevent Keiji from entering the south rampart. While you're at it, defeat Masanobu Honda and Moritsuna Watanabe. Kazumasa Ishikawa should also advance. Defeat him as well and then make your way back to your main camp. Head over to Iwasaki Castle. Defeat Kojuro Katakura to open up the western gate to Iwasaki Castle and let yourself inside. Masamune Date will call for his riflemen to appear. You will also get a mission to take control of Iwasaki Castle. Complete this mission by defeating Shigezane Date and Masamune. Now, make your way back to the south rampart. Yoshihiro Shimazu should charge out of the north rampart and attempt to take your main camp. Ignore him for now, as you will receive reinforcements in the form of the Akechi Army. They will handle Yoshihiro for now. There should be a path from the south rampart that allows you to get to Kiyosu Castle. Here, Tadatsugu Sakai and Yasumasa Sakakibara should be trying to take Kiyosu Castle. Defeat Tadatsugu and Yasumasa. Make your way back to the south rampart. Yoshihiro should be here, along with Toshihisa Shimazu and Nobumasa Okudaira. You will get a mission to prevent Yoshihiro from entering your main camp. Defeat all three enemy officers that are in this area. Make your way towards the northwestern garrison. Defeat both enemy officers that are outside of this garrison. Inside this garrison, it will be a one on one fight with a powered up Kanetsugu Naoe. You will get a mission to defeat him. Keep using your weapon power up special to maintain a range advantage over Kanetsugu and you should be able to beat him down without having him hit you a lot. Ieyasu Tokugawa will leave his main camp and make his way over to Gakuden Castle. Tadakatsu Honda will begin his march on your main camp. Make your way to the central area of the map. Defeat Naomasa Ii while waiting for Tadakatsu. When you get close to Tadakatsu, you will get a mission to defeat him. Tadakatsu Honda is powered up, so he won't be easy to defeat. Again, use your weapon power up special to increase your range and power. You won't get enough range to gain the range advantage over Tadakatsu, but it will quicken his defeat by dealing more damage to him. Now, make your way back to the northwestern garrison. Defeat Tadasuke Okubo to open up Inuyama Castle. Use this castle as a way to get into Gakuden Castle. Inside Gakuden Castle, defeat Ieyasu Tokugawa and his bodyguard to unify Japan under the Oda banner. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4d. Mitsuhide Akechi's Walkthrough SW2STMIA \____________________________________________________ --------------------------------- Stage 1: Retreat from Kanegasaki --------------------------------- Victory Condition: Nobunaga arrives at the Escape Point. Defeat Condition: Nobunaga is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Oda-Tokugawa: \| Azai-Asakura: \| \| Nobunaga Oda \| Kazumasa Isono \| \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| Masazumi Azai \| \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| Sadayuki Atsuji \| \| Magoichi Saika \| Naoyori Shinjo \| \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| Kagenori Asakura \| \| Tadakatsu Honda \| Jinpachiro Maeba \| \| Reinforcements: \| Tsunachika Kaiho \| \| None \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Naotaka Magara \| \| \| Kagekata Uozumi \| \| \| Nagashige Tomita \| \| \| Kagetake Asakura \| \| \| Yoshimune Kawai \| \| \| Naotsune Endo \| \| \| Kiyotsuna Akao \| \| \| Nagamasa Azai \| \| \| Oichi \| \| \| Yoshikage Asakura \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, move north to where Kazumasa Isono and Masazumi Azai are and quickly defeat them both. Try to clear out as many enemies as you can quickly to avoid them causing problems to your allies in the future. Once that is done with, head to where Hideyoshi Hashiba is and defeat some enemies surrounding him. Don't spend too much time here, as there are other allies who need help. Just make sure you seal off the stronghold in the area. By this time, Sadayuki Atsuji and Naoyori Shinjo should be surrounding Ieyasu Tokugawa, so head over there and a mission will activate. Defeat the two generals and then seal off the stronghold. Nobunaga should have some company in the form of Jinpachiro Maeba and Tsunachika Kaiho, so quickly run to Nobunaga and defeat them both. Once they are defeated and the enemies surrounding Nobunaga are gone, head over to where Magoichi Saika is and help him out. When you enter the northeast garrison, Naotaka Magara will ambush Magoichi Saika and you will receive a mission to take the northeast garrison. Defeat Naotaka Magara and Kagenori Asakura to complete the mission. Defeat any enemies still inside the garrison and then make your way back to Nobunaga. Defeat any enemies around Nobunaga and follow him until he reaches the closed gate. When that happens, an ambush will appear consisting of Kagekata Uozumi and Nagashige Tomita and a mission will activate. Defeat both enemy generals in the area to complete the mission and then continue to follow Nobunaga. Two more enemy generals will appear north of where Nobunaga is. Defeat both Kagetake Asakura and Yoshimune Kawai and continue to move on. By now, you should have an entire entourage for Nobunaga, which was the goal of saving everyone. When Nobunaga reaches the central area on the eastern path, two more enemy generals will ambush Nobunaga. This time, they will try to pincer Nobunaga. Rescue Nobunaga again by defeating both ambush generals and then continue to escort Nobunaga. When Nobunaga gets too far south, the main Azai Army will appear and then burn a path to where the escape point is. Yoshikage Asakura will also appear. Defeat any enemies that get close to Nobunaga. If Nagamasa or Yoshikage gets close to you, a mission will appear to defeat them. As long as you guard the burnt out path, Nobunaga should be able to escape. ------------------------------- Stage 2 Azai Toshiie Maeda \| Keijun Miyabe \| \| Nagahide Niwa \| Kagetake Asakura \| \| Reinforcements: \| Kagekata Uozumi \| \| None \| Nagashige Tomita \| \| \| KagetakeAs soon as the stage starts, head directly north and defeat Kagekata Uozumi and Nagashige Tomita. Also, close off the stronghold in this area. Once you have done that, immediately go after Kagekata Uozumi. Very soon, Hideyoshi will say he has a plan. You will receive two missions. The first mission is to guard the engineers. The second mission is to not allow any of the Azai Army into the central garrison. Complete the second mission first. Defeat Kagekata Uozumi and Naganori Yamazaki to complete that mission. Then, defeat any enemies surrounding the engineer unit. Close off the stronghold near the southern gate of Yoshikage's fort if it's producing units that are bothering the engineers. When the engineers get close to the central garrison, an ambush unit will appear, lead by Yoshimune Kawai. Defeat him and all the soldiers around the Spy Captain and then lead them into the central garrison. Once they are inside, you are told to defeat Yoshikage Asakura. He is hiding in the northwestern fort. Defeat him and the general who is acting as his bodyguard and the wall in the central garrison will be destroyed, providing you a path into the castle that Nagamasa is hiding in. By this time, Katsuie Shibata should either be dead or close to dying (although sometimes he does survive), which will trigger an Azai ambush in the south. Head to the south and protect your main camp from any advancing armies. Once they are defeated, make your way back to the Inner Ward. A mission will trigger ordering you to take the inner ward. Do this by defeating Naoyori. Now, you can head for Nagamasa directly or you can complete another mission by taking out the minor ward and the Sadayuki Atsuji, who is guarding the minor ward. Once you reach the area where Nagamasa is hiding, all the gates in that area will close and Nagamasa will disappear and reappear in the southeast. He will attempt to charge the Oda main camp. Defeat the two generals inside the main ward to open all the gates back up and then charge Nagamasa. Defeat him before he takes the main camp to complete the stage. ------------------------------ Stage 3: Assault on the Saika ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Magoichi. Defeat Condition: Nobunaga is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Oda Army: \| Saika Renegades: \| \| Nobunaga Oda \| Magoichi Saika \| \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| Shigetomo Suzuki \| \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| Yoshimasa Oka \| \| Katsuie Shibata \| Morishige Tsuchihashi \| \| Nobutada Oda \| Ujiyoshi Horinouchi \| \| Hidemasa Hori \| Magoroku Saika \| \| Toshiie Maeda \| Peasant \| \| Kazumasu Takigawa \| Peasant \| \| Nagahide Niwa \| Peasant \| \| Reinforcements: \| Peasant \| \| Nobumori Sakuma \| Peasant \| \| \| Peasant \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Yoshiro Sakai \| \| \| Hyobu Miyamoto \| \| \| Yuunken Mitsui \| \| \| Yoshimasa Satake \| \| \| Kamon Seki \| \| \| Genshiro Matoba \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: Your main goal early on is to make the fire attack successful. You can help this out by quickly dispatching any enemies in the southern area. You don't have to defeat all the soldiers, but you should at least thin them out and close off all the strongholds. The first general in your path is Morishige Tsuchihashi. When you reach the central area of the southern path, there will be a Saika ambush. There will be many more ambushes along the paths you take on this map. Again, you don't have to defeat all the enemies here, but thin them out a little. Your next goal should be to defeat Shigetomo Suzuki in the south. Also close off the stronghold in the area and defeat the Peasants there. That will close off the central gates. By this time, Kazumitsu will be heading for the southeastern garrison because of a taunt. Let him go for now and continue to close off all the gates around the central garrison. Hideyoshi will retreat also. Head for the eastern gate of the central garrison and close it off. Now it's time to rescue Kazumitsu. Head for the southeastern fort by way of the eastern path. When you are on this path, Hyobu Miyamoto will ambush you. Defeat him and continue along the path. When you reach the southeastern fort, you will receive a mission to take it. Defeat Magoroku Saika and Yoshiro Sakai and you will have completed the mission. Nobunaga will order the fire attack to commence. Nobumori Sakuma is the unit that will set fire to the central garrison. Protect this unit until it reaches its destination. Yoshimasa Satake will attempt to ambush Nobumori, so defeat him and all his men quickly. When the central garrison is on fire, the Peasant units will attempt to escape and a few more ambush units will appear. Quickly defeat all the Peasant units, not because it's mean, but because it's a mission. Magoichi Saika will ambush Nobunaga in his main camp, so quickly defeat all the officers on the board and then head on over to the main camp. The final person to defeat should be Magoichi. ----------------------------- Stage 4: Incident at Honnoji ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Magoichi. Defeat Condition: Nobunaga is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Akechi Army: \| Oda Army: \| \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| Nobunaga Oda \| \| Hidemitsu Akechi \| No \| \| Shigetomo Akechi \| Ranmaru Mori \| \| Toshimitsu Saito \| Oichi \| \| Nobuharu Tsuda \| Nobutada Oda \| \| Masachika Matsuda \| Sadakatsu Murai \| \| Katsusada Shibata \| Shoju Ogura \| \| Yasuie Namikawa \| Jinsuke Yuasa \| \| Kunitsugu Yasuda \| Reinforcements: \| \| Kaneaki Mimaki \| Kagemune Susukida \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| None \| \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: At the start of this battle, make your way towards Sadakatsu Murai and defeat him quickly. Make your way to Nijo Castle where Nobutada Oda is. You should receive a mission to take Nijo Castle. Nobutada Oda is harder than other generics on the battlefield because he is powered up, but he should fall rather easily. Watch out for the massive amounts of musketeers surrounding him though. Once Nijo Castle is taken, head north and take a quick tour around the perimeter of the stage. This is to defeat the generals surrounding the stage and keep your morale high for your own soldiers. Mori Ranmaru will begin his charge and come after you. He is powered up a lot, so watch out. However, if you defeat him and all the generals in the northern part of the map, then the morale of your army will stop dropping randomly. It's time to set fire to Honnoji. The unit that will set fire to the map is Toshimitsu Saito, so you will have to protect him. Defeat Shoju Ogura, who should be engaging Toshimitsu. You should receive a mission to take the central stronghold. Take the stronghold to complete the mission. Run back to Toshimitsu and there should be a mission to protect him. Defeat any soldiers that are near Toshimitsu and allow him to run to the X. When he reaches that point, the fire attack will happen. Defeat all the enemies that are outside the temple and then the temple gates will open. Inside the temple, you will face off with No and Oichi. They are both powered up and they will double team you, so this should be a rough battle. Try to focus on one of them to even the odds. Once you got rid of the sister-in-law pair, it's time to face off with the Demon King himself. Nobunaga will be inside the main hall of the temple and you cannot take a horse inside, so you will be on foot facing off with him. Nobunaga has surrounded himself with a lot of musketeers, so defeat them all first before moving onto Nobunaga himself. Defeat Nobunaga to complete the stage. ---------------------------- Stage 5: Battle of Yamazaki ---------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Hideyoshi. Defeat Conditions: Mitsuhide is defeated, or Main Camp is captured. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Akechi Army: \| Hashiba Army: \| \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| \| Hidemitsu Akechi \| Nene \| \| Shigetomo Akechi \| Magoichi Saika \| \| Toshimitsu Saito \| Mitsunari Ishida \| \| Nobuharu Tsuda \| Hidenaga Hashiba \| \| Sadayuki Atsuji \| Kanbei Kuroda \| \| Yasuie Namikawa \| Nagahide Niwa \| \| Sadaoki Ise \| Tsuneoki Ikeda \| \| Reinforcements: \| Kiyohide Nakagawa \| \| Masachika Matsuda \| Hidemasa Hori \| \| \| Shigetomo Takayama \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Sakon Shima \| \| \| Fujitaka Hosokawa \| \| \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| \| \| Junkei Tsutsui \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: First thing you need to do is to stop the cannon fire from Mt. Tenno. Kanbei Kuroda is the one controlling all the cannons, so get close to him the start the mission to stop the cannons. Defeat him to stop the cannon fire and prevent your morale from taking a big hit. Enter Mt. Tenno by defeating Hidenaga Hashiba. Mitsunari Ishida is guarding Mt. Tenno, so take the mountain by defeating him. Hideyoshi will order an attack by Magoichi Saika and Hidemasa Hori to take back Mt. Tenno. A mission will appear to protect Mt. Tenno. Defeat the two attackers to protect the high ground. Magoichi will be powered up after the confrontation between Magoichi and Mitsuhide, so it may take longer to defeat Magoichi. When you have finished protecting Mt. Tenno, head over to Shoryuji, which should be either getting attacked by the rest of Hideyoshi's army or already fallen. Defeat all the enemies in this area and that should leave only Hideyoshi's main camp left. After time passes, Sakon Shima and the rest of his forces will appear near both Shoryuji and the Akechi main camp. Dispatch of Fujitaka Hosokawa and Tadaoki Hosokawa first and then head to your main camp. Sakon Shima is powered up, so he will take a while to defeat. Once your main camp is safe, the only two generals left for the enemy is Hideyoshi and Nene. Charge into the enemy's main camp and face off with the happy couple. Try to separate Nene from Hideyoshi to make the two on one a one on one battle. Defeat Hideyoshi to complete the stage. ------------------------------ Dream: Mitsuhide Unites Japan ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. Defeat Condition: Main Camp is captured. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Akechi Army: \| Coalition: \| \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| Hidemitsu Akechi \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| Shigetomo Akechi \| Yukimura Sanada \| \| Toshimitsu Saito \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| \| Nobuharu Tsuda \| Keiji Maeda \| \| Masachika Matsuda \| Masamune Date \| \| Sadaoki Ise \| Katsuie Shibata \| \| Yasuie Namikawa \| Okuni \| \| Sadayuki Atsuji \| Tadatsugu Sakai \| \| Reinforcements: \| Naomasa Ii \| \| None \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| \| Mototada Torii \| \| \| Kazumasa Ishikawa \| \| \| Tadayo Okubo \| \| \| Tadasuke Okubo \| \| \| Shigenaga Honjo \| \| \| Kojuro Katakura \| \| \| Shigezane Date \| \| \| Toshiie Maeda \| \| \| Kazumasu Takigawa \| \| \| Narimasa Sassa \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Nagazane Irobe \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: There is a way to get through this stage without losing a single ally. To do this, you have to be extremely quick in killing everyone. If you slow down in killing one enemy general, odds are, it will affect you in a future mission. You have to kill quickly and a lot of the times, you will have to kill off two generals at once. Either way, you can modify this walkthrough to just use it to get through the stage, as this is probably the easiest path to go, since you save the most allies this way. As soon as the stage starts, defeat Narimasa Sassa. Ignore Kazumasu Takigawa for now. You will come back for him later. When Narimasa is defeated, make your way to the northern garrison. This is where your ally Nobuharu Tsuda is. He will be fighting off Keiji Maeda and Kazumasa Ishikawa. You will get a mission to protect Nobuharu. Complete this mission by defeating Keiji. While you're here, defeat Kazumasa also. Make your way directly south to where your ally Sadaoki Ise is. He will be fighting off Katsuie Shibata and Toshiie Maeda. You will get a mission to rescue Sadaoki. Complete this mission by defeating both Katsuie and Toshiie. Now, make your way over to where your ally Masachika Matsuda is located at. Ignore the two enemy officers on the way there. You don't have time to deal with them now. Their deaths can wait for later. Masachika should have gotten himself into a little bit of trouble by getting ambushed by Nagazane Irobe. He will also be getting attacked by Okuni and Naomasa Ii. You will get a mission to rescue Masachika Matsuda. Defeat Nagazane and Okuni to complete this mission, and then defeat Naomasa Ii just because he's annoying. When Masachika is defeated, make your way to the southwestern corner of the map. Go directly there. Don't stop to defeat any enemy officers. When you reach the southwestern corner of the map, you will find Yasuie Namikawa is being beat up on by Kojuro Katakura and Shigezane Date. You will get a mission to defeat the Date Army. First, defeat Kojuro and Shigezane. When they are defeated, make your way over to Masamune Date. He will be all alone, but when you get close to him, riflemen will appear and start firing on you. Ignore the riflemen and defeat Masamune. When the Date Army is defeated, make your way back to your main camp. Yukimura Sanada and Kanetsugu Naoe should be trying to charge your main camp. First, defeat Kazumasa Takigawa and any generic officers that may be around him. This will protect your allies that are south of your main camp. Now, make your way over to the allies that are east of your main camp. Yukimura and Kanetsugu should be here, trying to double team you. Defeat them both. Now, clear out the enemy soldiers that are anywhere near your main camp. You should now be able to leave your main camp without having your allies die on you. Make your way over to the western gates of the enemy main camp. Defeat Yasumasa Sakakibara, but don't enter the area where Tadakatsu Honda is just yet. Circle around to the north gate of the enemy main camp. Defeat Mototada Torii and then Tadatsugu Sakai and then approach Tadakatsu Honda. This will cause Kotaro Fuma to appear in the northeastern garrison. Your army will begin to charge out. They should all be fine, since there isn't really anyone to give them any problems. Make your way over to Kotaro. You will get a mission to defeat him. Kotaro is powered up, so he's not going to be easy to kill. When Kotaro is defeated, make your way over to Tadakatsu Honda. Tadakatsu is also powered up, so this will take even longer. When Tadakatsu Honda is defeated, the final gate will open up. Ieyasu Tokugawa is here, waiting for you. Defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4e. Kenshin Uesugi's Walkthrough SW2STKEN off, make your way west and then south towards the Takeda main camp. You will want to get to the area where Masanobu Kosaka is. If you are here, you will also lure out Nobukado Takeda and Kansuke Yamamoto. Defeat all three generals while you're waiting for the enemy reinforcements to appear in the northwest. When Nobufusa Baba and Nobushige Oyamada appear in Kaizu Castle, make your way north towards them. You will get a mission to stop the detached force from entering your main camp. Defeat Nobufusa and Nobushige to prevent the pincer attack. By the time you have completed that mission, you should find that about half of the Takeda Army is now in the central area. Make your way for the central area and defeat any enemy generals that are in this area. When there are no more enemy generals left in the central plains, make your way towards the western garrison. You will get a mission to seize this garrison. Complete this mission by defeating Yoshinobu Takeda. Once you have the western garrison, make your way towards the southeastern garrison by making your way through the central plains. When you reach the southeastern garrison, you will get a mission to seize this garrison as well. Complete this mission by defeating Masakage Yamagata. Leave this garrison through the western gate. The Takeda forces should now ambush your detached force that is west of the southeastern garrison. You will get a mission to save the detached force. When you enter this area, the area will be completely blanketed by fog. What's worse, the area is set up to be kind of like a maze. You will need to defeat Morinobu Nishina, Masatsugu Tsuchiya, Masakiyo Morozumi, and Nobutoyo Takeda to complete this mission. When this mission is complete, try to escape this area. Shingen should open up the gates to his main camp and call for Sakon Shima to appear as reinforcements. Defeat Sakon before he can cause much trouble and then isolate Shingen. He should be the last general left for the enemy. Defeat your nemesis to complete the stage Kenshin Uesugi you're close to the southeastern garrison. Make your way towards the garrison and you will receive a mission to protect the garrison. To complete this mission, you will have to defeat all four Raiders near the garrison. Start by defeating the two Raiders near the western gate of the garrison. Then, go through the garrison to the north gate and defeat the two Raiders there, completing the mission. Two more Raiders will appear in the northeastern part of the map and ambush a Peasant. You will get a mission to protect the Peasant. Complete this mission by defeating the two Raiders. The central village gates will now open. Make your way inside the central village. The gates will close, trapping you inside. You will get a mission to take control of the village. Complete this mission by defeating all four Raiders who are inside the village gates. When this mission is complete, all the gates of the village will open. By now, the northwestern garrison should be getting attacked by Raider reinforcements. When you reach the northwestern garrison, you will get a mission to defend it. Complete this mission by defeating all four Raiders attacking the garrison. There should be two at the north gate and two at the south gate. Leave the northwestern garrison through the north gate and make your way to the north gate of the central village. When you enter the village, a lot of bandits will appear in the central village. Ignore the Raiders for now, as you will be given a mission to defeat a certain amount of enemies within a certain timeframe. The best way to complete this mission is to use your horse musou as often as possible. This will cover the most ground and kill off the most bandits, since they seem to form pockets of enemies all around the village. When you complete this mission, the Marauder will appear along with two more Raiders. Also, Keiji Maeda will appear. Defeat all the Raiders near the north gate of the village and then make your way over to Keiji. You will get a mission to defeat Keiji. When Keiji is defeated, defeat any Raiders that may be left on the map. You should save the Marauder for last, as defeating him will save the village and end the stage. ---------------------------- Stage 3: Melee at Nagashino ---------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Nobunaga. Defeat Conditions: Shingen or Kenshin is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Takeda-Uesugi: \| Oda-Tokugawa: \| \| Shingen Takeda \| Nobunaga Oda \| \| Kenshin Uesugi \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| \| Yukimura Sanada \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| \| Sakon Shima \| Katsuie Shibata \| \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| Kazumasu Takigawa \| \| Katsuyori Takeda \| Nagahide Niwa \| \| Nobufusa Baba \| Nobumori Sakuma \| \| Masatoyo Naito \| Nobukatsu Oda \| \| Yataro Onikojima \| Narimasa Sassa \| \| Reinforcements: \| Toshiie Maeda \| \| None \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Nobuyasu Matsudaira \| \| \| Nobumasa Okudaira \| \| \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| \| \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| \| Kazumasa Ishikawa \| \| \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, make your way towards Nagashino Castle. You will have to defeat the Defense Captain at the eastern gate to get inside. You will get a mission to take Nagashino Castle. Complete this mission by defeating Nobumori Sakuma and Nobukatsu Oda. Your next goal will be to take Tobigasu Garrison. To get there, exit Nagashino Castle through the southern gate and follow the path. Again, you will have to defeat a Defense Captain at the eastern gate to get inside the garrison. This time, when you pass through the gate to enter the garrison, Mitsuhide Akechi will call for reinforcements inside the garrison. You will get a mission to take Tobigasu Garrison. Complete this mission by defeating Mitsuhide, Nobuyasu Matsudaira, and Nobumasa Okudaira. This will clear out all the enemies in the eastern area of the map. This will cause the rain to fall on Nagashino, effectively making the Oda riflemen null and void. Shingen will call for his army to charge the Oda Army now. Leave Tobigasu Garrison through the western gate and make your way through the Takeda main camp. Your goal is to reach the northern garrison. This is where Hideyoshi Hashiba will arrive as reinforcements for the Oda Army. With Hideyoshi out of the way, make your way towards Shitarahara. You will get a mission to defeat the Oda Army that is at Shitarahara. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Katsuie Shibata, Nagahide Niwa, Toshiie Maeda, Kazumasu Takigawa, and Narimasa Sassa. During this mission, the Tokugawa Army will arrive. Ignore them for now. However, when Hanzo Hattori arrives on the battlefield, make your way over to the Takeda main camp. You will get a mission to prevent Hanzo from assassinating Shingen. Defeat Hanzo to complete this mission. When you have finished with Hanzo, make your way through the south gate of the Takeda main camp. Ieyasu Tokugawa should be here with Yasumasa Sakakibara. You will get a mission to prevent the Tokugawa Army from entering the Takeda main camp. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Ieyasu, Yasumasa, and Kazumasa Ishikawa. When you have completed this mission, you can continue with your mission of destroying the Oda Army at Shitarahara. Nobunaga should open the gates to his main camp when you complete the mission of defeating his army. The only two generals that should be left on the map should be Tadakatsu Honda and Nobunaga Oda. Tadakatsu Honda should be standing guard right outside Nobunaga's main camp. Tadakatsu is powered up, but you should have enough allies in the area to distract him so you can get open shots at him. Defeat Tadakatsu Honda to leave Nobunaga the last enemy general left. Defeating Nobunaga will give victory to the Takeda-Uesugi coalition. This also sets up a future battle between the Takeda and the Uesugi...involving tea and stabbing, which is always a good combination. ------------------------------ Stage 4: Battle of Tedorigawa ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Katsuie. (Later changes to Defeat Nobunaga.) Defeat Conditions: Kenshin or Kagekatsu there should be two enemy generals over on your side of the map already. They are Nagahide Niwa and Nagachika Kanamori. Defeat them both. When they are defeated, make your way towards the southeastern corner of the map. Use this path to get to Funaoka Castle (it's actually faster to get to Funaoka Castle through the southeast, as there is no direct path through the central area to get to Funaoka Castle until after the flood). At Funaoka Castle, you will get a mission to open the floodgates and flood the Oda troops. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat both Mitsuhide Akechi and Morinari Ando. When you have captured Funaoka Castle, the floodgates will open and flood the central area of the map, completing changing the landscape of this area. There will be fewer bridges and less Oda troops. This will also cause Hideyoshi Hashiba to retreat. Over at your side of the river, there should be four Oda officers here, including Katsuie. Defeat all the generic Oda officers on your side of the river first and then defeat Katsuie. Once Katsuie is defeated, make your way towards the northwestern corner of the map. Hideyoshi should reappear in the southeastern corner of the map and order for all the leftover Oda troops to charge. There are only three officers left on the map, including Hideyoshi. Two of them are in the northwestern corner of the map, which is where you should be going. Defeat Koroku Hachisuka and Hanbei Takenaka. Now, make your way back across the river to where Hideyoshi is located at. He should still be at the southeastern corner of the map. The monkey is powered up, so he will be a tough fight. Hideyoshi is actually one of the tougher generals to read in my opinion, as his first attack on his S string comes out really fast and he has deceptive range because his weapon extends. Defeat Hideyoshi to make more Oda reinforcements to appear. This time, it's the main army, lead by Nobunaga Oda himself. He will appear with three other unique generals and lots of soldiers. Your first target should be No. She will appear in the central area of the western path, so go there first. When you get close to No, you will get a mission to prevent her from crossing the river. Defeat No quickly, as you will have to activate another mission quickly. That mission is to prevent Oichi from reaching your main camp. She will appear in the northwest, but will quickly begin crossing the river to make her way to your main camp. Rush over to where Oichi is and activate the mission to stop her. Defeat Oichi to complete this mission. Now, the only thing left is the Oda main camp. The only access to the Oda main camp is being guarded by Ranmaru Mori. Defeat Ranmaru to open the gate to the Oda main camp. Now you will come face to face with the Demon King. Defeat Nobunaga to kill him off and end his reign of terror. -------------------------------- Stage 5: Showdown at Sekigahara -------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Shingen. Defeat Conditions: Kenshin, Kanetsugu, or Kagekatsu is defeated Sakon Shima \| \| Kagekatsu Uesugi \| Yukimura Sanada \| \| Tomonobu Saito \| Katsuyori Takeda \| \| Shigenaga Honjo \| Nobuyuki Sanada \| \| Yataro Onikojima \| Masakage Yamagata \| \| Kageie Kakizaki \| Masatoyo Naito \| \| Masashige Jojo \| Nobukimi Anayama \| \| Kagetsugu Amakasu \| Masanobu Kosaka \| \| Reinforcements: \| Nobufusa Baba \| \| Nagahide Yasuda \| Nobukado Takeda \| \| Katsunaga Irobe \| Nobushige Oyamada \| \| Takahiro Kitajo \| Morinobu Nishina \| \| Naganori Kawada \| Yoshimasa Kiso \| \| \| Moritomo Saegusa \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| \| Ina \| \| \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, make your way towards the central area of Sekigahara. Shingen Takeda will order his forces to charge the central area, giving you a mission to defeat all of Shingen's forces in the central area. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Masanobu Kosaka, Masatoyo Naito, Nobukimi Anayama, and Masakage Yamagata. Start off by defeating Masanobu and Nobukimi (or Masatoyo, whichever is closest). Shingen will order his second wave to attack the northwest garrison when you're about halfway through clearing out the central area forces. Race back towards the western path to meet up with this second wave. You will get a mission to protect the northwestern garrison. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Nobuyuki Sanada and Nobukado Takeda. This will cause Sakon Shima to appear from his castle in the south. Make your way back towards the central area and defeat Masatoyo (or Nobukimi, whichever one you did not defeat earlier). Head over to where Sakon Shima is. He will be here with Nobufusa Baba, Nobushige Oyamada, Morinobu Nishina, and more than likely, Masakage Yamagata. Either way you look at it, it will be a lot against you. Start by clearing out the generic officers. They are easier to defeat. When you have Sakon Shima in a one on one situation, just use your skills in dueling to defeat him. When you have defeated Masakage Yamagata, you will have succeeded in the first mission. Make your way over to the eastern path. Over here, Kanetsugu Naoe should be fighting off Yoshimasa Kiso and Moritomo Saegusa. You will get a mission to rescue Kanetsugu Naoe. Complete this mission by defeating Yoshimasa and Moritomo. With most of the Takeda Army now obliterated, you will need to get the stage moving forward. To do this, you will have to defeat any enemy soldiers that may be around your allied generals. You will need all four of your allied generals to reach a stronghold in the central area. When all four strongholds in central Sekigahara are yours, you will have officially taken control of central Sekigahara. Of course, Shingen doesn't like this one bit. He will now play his trump card. The Tokugawa Army will appear as reinforcements for the enemy. You will have to deal with Ieyasu Tokugawa's regular assortment of unique generals, such as Tadakatsu Honda, Ina, and Hanzo Hattori. However, you will also receive reinforcements from the four strongholds in central Sekigahara. They will begin to go after the Tokugawa Army and protect your allied forces. The battle now begins anew. The first enemy general you should deal with is Hanzo. He will appear south of the western gate of your main base. Make sure you're in the vicinity when he appears, as he appears after Ieyasu does. You will get a mission to prevent Hanzo from reaching your main camp. Hanzo will be powered up, but he shouldn't be too bad to defeat, since he is alone. Defeat Hanzo to protect Kagekatsu Uesugi and complete your mission. Now, the next ally you should save is Kanetsugu Naoe. He will be getting attacked by Ina. Make your way over to the eastern path. Ina will also be powered up, so she won't go down without a fight. However, she's all alone and you have allied help this time in the form of Kanetsugu. Defeat Ina and rescue Kanetsugu. Now, the only officers left of the Tokugawa forces will be in the northeastern part of the map. They should be attacking your northeastern garrison, which is being protected by Masashige Jojo and Kagetsugu Amakasu. Help them out by riding to their rescue. When you enter the northeastern garrison, you will quickly realize that the Tokugawa Army holds the advantage. You will need to fight Ieyasu, Tadakatsu, and Yasumasa Sakakibara in a three on one fight (not counting any allied generals that may still be alive in this garrison). Try to get rid of Yasumasa first, as he is just an annoyance and normally will go down quickly. Ieyasu and Tadakatsu, on the other hand, are both powered up. You will need to use a lot of area attacks to get them off of your back. This may be a tough battle, but your allied generals in this area may be a lot of help in distracting and interrupting the enemy attacks. When the northeastern garrison is cleared out, Yukimura Sanada will charge out, along with Katsuyori Takeda. Their only goal is to take you down and bring your head back to Shingen. When you reach either Yukimura or Katsuyori, you will get a mission to defeat them both. Yukimura is powered up, so he won't be an easy kill. Katsuyori is just a minor nuisance. When you have defeated both guardians of Shingen, the gates to the Takeda main camp will open. Make your way over to your nemesis. Shingen will be waiting for you inside his main camp. He won't make your victory a quick and easy one, but he should be no match for your strength. Defeat Shingen to complete the stage Kazumasa Takigawa \| \| \| Nagahide Niwa \| \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| \| \| Nagamasa Kuroda \| \| \| Kanbei Kuroda \| \| \| Hidemasa Hori \| \| \| Koroku Hachisuka \| \| \| Toshiie Maeda \| \| \| NeneThere are two things that are tough about this stage. The first one is protecting all of your allies. The enemy is very strong, so you need to raise your morale quickly and kill even quicker. The second tough thing about this stage is the final battle. You start off in the southern garrison. Leave this garrison through the eastern gate and make your way north along the eastern path. When you reach the garrison, leave through the eastern gate and head over to Narimasa Sassa. He will order an ambush. A rockslide will block your path and Kazumasa Takigawa and Nagahide Niwa will appear. You will get a mission to defeat the Oda Army. Defeat Narimasa and the two ambush generals to complete this mission. While you're fighting the Oda army, Toyohisa Shimazu and two other officers will ambush Kanetsugu Naoe. When the gates to the eastern garrison are opened, make your way over to Kanetsugu. You will get a mission to defeat the Shimazu army. Complete this mission by defeating Toyohisa Shimazu, Nagamasa Kuroda, and Kanbei Kuroda. Now, from this garrison, make your way to Tsuruga Castle. Shingen Takeda will be at the north gate, fighting off Hideyoshi Hashiba and two other generic officers. You will get a mission to defeat the Hashiba army. Complete this mission by defeating Hideyoshi Hashiba, Hidemasa Hori, and Koroku Hachisuka. While you're fighting with Hideyoshi, Nene will appear in the north and begin her attack on the Takeda Army, so quickly defeat the Hashiba Army. When the Hashiba Army is defeated, make your way to the north path. Yukimura Sanada should be trying to fight off Nene. You will get a mission to rescue Yukimura. Defeat Nene and Toshiie Maeda to complete this mission and avoid getting a spanking from Nene. Now, your next goal should be the northwestern garrison. When you enter the northwestern garrison, the gates will close behind you. You will quickly learn that the Yoshihisa Shimazu and the Yoshihiro Shimazu that are inside this garrison are not the real guys. The real guys will appear in Tsuruga Castle. Yoshihiro will order Shimazu ambushes at both main camps. So while you're trapped inside the northwestern garrison dealing with fakes, the Shimazu army is beating up on your main camps. Defeat both Shimazu fakes quickly, as No and Nobutada Oda will be looking to join in the fun as well. And if that wasn't enough, as soon as you beat No and Nobutada Oda, Mitsuhide Akechi and Ranmaru Mori will appear and hunt down both commanders. Another losing battle Yoshihiro says. Has he looked at who's got the most men on the battlefield lately? When you escape the northwestern garrison, the first thing you should do is hunt down Mitsuhide Akechi. He will be going after Shingen. You want to protect Shingen first. Mitsuhide is powered up, so he's going to be a pain to defeat. You will want to defeat Mitsuhide as quickly as possible, as Ranmaru should be trying to find you. When Mitsuhide is defeated, find Ranmaru next. He might already be with you or he might be still searching for you. Either way, Ranmaru is powered up and is looking to avenge the loss of his master. Defeat Ranmaru quickly, as there are two other places you still need to go. When Ranmaru is defeated, make your way south to the Uesugi main camp. You will get a mission to rescue your main camp. Toshihisa Shimazu is here and powered up, but he's still just a generic officer. Defeat both Toshihisa and Tadatsune Shimazu to complete your mission. Make your way back north to the Takeda main camp. You will get a mission to rescue the Takeda main camp. Tadanaga Shimazu and Iehisa Shimazu are here. Iehisa Shimazu is powered up. Defeat both Shimazus to complete your mission. Now, the only thing left to do is to defeat Yoshihisa and Yoshihiro. The problem with both Yoshihisa and Yoshihiro is that they are powered up to the point that most regular attacks will not make them flinch, unless you are really powerful. You're going to have to dizzy them somehow and then juggle them. Kenshin's exploding paper doll special attack will dizzy them, as will Kenshin's C3, if you can get it to connect. Try to use your musou as a counter attack only, as Yoshihiro does a lot of damage every time he hits you with that huge hammer. You also need to protect your allies. By now, some of them should be near the two powered up Shimazus. They will take a lot of damage if they get caught in a combo by Yoshihiro. A bodyguard that can break the enemy's guard or stun such as a Fire Ninja or a Sumo can be useful as well (yea I know, this information would have been useful up at the top of this walkthrough, sue me). If you can manage to take down both powered up officers, you will have completed the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4f. Oichi's Walkthrough SW2STOIC \____________________________________________________ ------------------------ Stage 1: Village Rescue ------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat the Marauder. Defeat Conditions: Nagamasa is defeated, Main Camp is captured, or all peasants are eliminated. Armies: +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ \| Azai Army: \| Bandits: \| Interlopers: \| \| Nagamasa Azai \| Raider \| None \| \| Oichi \| Raider \| Reinforcements: \| \| Kazumasa Isono \| Raider \| Kojiro Sasaki \| \| Kiyotsuna Akao \| Raider \| \| \| Peasant \| Raider \| \| \| Peasant \| Raider \| \| \| Peasant \| Raider \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| None+-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ Walkthrough: As soon as the stage starts, there will be a cut scene. After the cut scene, follow Nagamasa south. There will be two Raiders in the area and a mission will trigger to defeat them. Defeat both Raiders quickly. There will be some talking going on between your allies about the love between Oichi and Nagamasa. Take this time to eliminate some soldiers in the area. Once the bandits start to invade the central area, Nagamasa will take off again, this time heading east. Follow him to get more Raiders to appear and another mission. Defeat the Raiders and close off the stronghold in the area. Now, make your way towards the central area. You will receive another mission, asking you to protect the central area from more bandits. Defeat the two Raiders in the central area to complete that mission. Follow Nagamasa to the eastern garrison, where inside there are, guess what?!? More Raiders and another mission! This time, they have a new trick. If you are not ahead or close to Nagamasa when he enters the eastern garrison, they will close the gates on him and force you to defeat a Defense Captain to get inside first. Either way, there will be two Raiders in this area. While you are fighting off these Raiders, more Raiders will be attacking the central area, so be quick about defeating them. Once the eastern garrison is taken, head back towards the central village and you will receive a mission to defeat all Raiders in the area. There is a lot of Raiders in this area, so make sure you get all the blinking dots before you leave the central village. Once you complete the mission, make your way towards the Marauder. You may think he's the last general to defeat, but unfortunately, you have one more uninvited guest to get rid of. Kojiro Sasaki will appear out of no where and stick his nose where it doesn't belong. Try to separate Kojiro from the Marauder, since they are both stronger than any of the other generals you have fought. Defeat them separately to save the villages and complete the stage. --------------------------------- Stage 2: Retreat from Kanegasaki --------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Nobunaga. Defeat Conditions: Yoshikage, Nagamasa, or Oichi is defeated, or Nobunaga reaches the Escape Point Nobutada Oda \| \| Kiyotsuna Akao \| Hidemasa Hori \| \| Naotsune Endo \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| Naoyori Shinjo \| Reinforcements: \| \| Reinforcements: \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| \| Kagenori Asakura \| No \| \| Tsunachika Kaiho \| Magoichi Saika \| \| \| Ranmaru Mori \| \| \| Katsuie Shibata \| \| \| Toshiie Maeda \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: You will need to kill quickly in order to kill just about everyone and catch up with Nobunaga. There may not seem like there are a lot of generals on the battlefield for the enemy, but reinforcements come often. Your first target should be Hideyoshi Hashiba and Hidemasa Hori. Defeat the monkey and his lackey, close off the stronghold in the area, and make your way north towards Yoshikage Asakura. A mission will appear to receive reinforcements from the Asakura, which requires you to defeat both enemy generals surrounding the northeastern fort. Ieyasu Tokugawa should be guarding the south gate of the northeastern fort, so defeat him. At the other gate of the fort is Yasumasa Sakakibara, who should be easy compared to Tokugawa. When you get reinforcements from the Asakura, Nagamasa will begin his plans for the fire attack and bring out Tsunachika Kaiho as reinforcements. This is when Nobunaga starts pull out his trump cards, beginning with Mitsuhide Akechi. No and Magoichi Sakai will also soon appear. When Mitsuhide appears, run to him, defeat him, and collect the rewards from completing the mission. Now, head straight south to where Magoichi Sakai is. When you reach the central area, an ambush will appear consisting of Ranmaru Mori, Katsuie Shibata, and Toshiie Maeda. Ranmaru is supposed to be a distraction to you while Katsuie defeats the Asakura and Nobunaga retreats. However, since you're already in the central area, Katsuie will normally come to you, with Toshiie, allowing you to defeat all three relatively quickly in the same area. This will also succeed in another mission, which is protecting Yoshikage from Katsuie. Since Katsuie won't even come close to where Yoshikage is, it's an easy mission. When you have cleared out the central area of generals and Reserve Captains, continue your march south towards Magoichi Sakai. When you reach him and Tsunachika, a mission will appear to assist with the fire attack. Defeat Magoichi Sakai quickly to allow the fire attack to happen. This will open a path to the Escape Point, providing you a direct route to Nobunaga without having to take the scenic route. Nobunaga should have a bodyguard of Nobutada Oda. Defeat them both to complete the stage. This route should get to Nobunaga before he escapes and defeat every general on the map except No. However, if you are quick enough, after the fire attack, you can race to No, defeat her quickly, and then race back to Nobunaga to finish him off before he escapes. --------------------------- Stage 3: Battle of Anegawa ---------------------------This map is unique in the fact that there are currents in the water that can hinder your progress from going from one area to the next, so make sure you don't accidentally get taken by a current you didn't want. Bring a horse to this stage, as they are really helpful. Nobunaga starts off with a major advantage in terms of generals. The only advantage you have is that both Nobunaga and Ieyasu are both tentative in attacking. Ieyasu will start off by attempting to attack the Asakura, so make your way towards the western part of the map. Your first target should be Tadatsugu Sakai. Defeat him and other generals will flock to the area, such as Yasumasa Sakakibara, Nagatada Ogasawara, and Kazumasa Ishikawa. Now, head towards Nagamasa Azai, as he's about to fall into trouble. Along the way, defeat any enemy generals in your path. The more you defeat now, the less you will have to deal with near the end. The Mino Three will appear and make their way towards Nagamasa, triggering a mission when you get close to Nagamasa. Defeat them before they can get even close to Nagamasa. The Mino Three will attempt to tag team you, but they shouldn't be too much of a problem. While you're in the area, you might as well get rid of Nagahide Niwa, who thinks he can take a castle away from you. At any rate, it's an easy mission to complete. By this point of the battle, the only enemy generals that should be left should holed up in some stronghold or guarding the gates to Nobunaga. Your next mission is to make your way towards Nobunaga. Make your way to Nobunaga's first northern gate of his southeastern stronghold and defeat Masahisa Sakai. Make your way inside and come face to face with Katsuie Shibata. Defeat the man that should be a playable character and the next gate...will remain shut. That means you need to find another way in. Lucky for you, there's a western gate with guards of Nobumori Sakuma and Mitsuhide Akechi. Defeat them and then make your way towards Nobunaga. However, when you get near the final gate, Hideyoshi will order an attack on your main camp. Quickly defeat Yoshinari Mori, but don't head in to face off with Nobunaga just yet. Backtrack to your main camp and defeat Hideyoshi and Magoichi. If you do this later instead of now, Tadakatsu Honda will join the two of them, severely limiting your chances of survival. It's best to take on Tadakatsu one on one. Now, make your way back to Nobunaga and defeat him. During this time, the Asakura Army should retreat. This causes Tadakatsu to charge out, which separates him from Ieyasu. Ieyasu will eventually come out, but he will not be in the same area as Tadakatsu, leaving you with two one on one battles. You can choose to defeat Tadakatsu or not. It really depends on your skill level and how leveled up your character is. Either way, defeat the isolated Ieyasu to complete the stage. -------------------------- Stage 4: Siege of Mt. Usa -------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Yoshinari. (Later changes to Defeat Nobunaga.) Defeat ConditionThis stage starts off pretty easy. Only two enemy generals on the battlefield...which means that there are going to be a lot of reinforcements coming for the enemy. However, you also get some reinforcements, although they seem to be a little grumpy to be lead by Nagamasa. Either way, quickly run through both generals on the field. Since this is a mountain stage, you need to follow the paths to reach the top of Mt. Usa, where Hidemasa Hori is. Defeat him and make your way towards the Asakura main camp, where Yoshinari is heading to. A mission will appear to prevent Yoshinari from entering the main camp. This should be simple, considering the fact that you got help from Magoichi. However, now the real fun begins. Nobunaga will appear on the map with all his reinforcements. You will need to get the jump on them by quickly heading south of the Asakura main camp. Hideyoshi will be heading that way, so make your way towards him and cut him off quickly. Once he is defeated, move very quickly to the Azai main camp, where your allies are all located. Katsuie will be trying to get into the main camp. If he succeeds, most of the allied generals within the Azai main camp will defect to the enemies. Not good. Defeat Hideyoshi Hashiba and Tsuneoki Ikeda and then make your way towards the Azai main camp. You can take a shortcut by jumping down some ledges of the mountain. You will get a mission telling you to prevent Katsuie from entering the Azai main camp. Defeat Katsuie along with Nobumori Sakuma and Kazumasu Takigawa to prevent your allies from defecting. Nobunaga will receive even more reinforcements. Head for Mt. Usa again and clear out all the enemies in that area. You should get a mission to defeat Ranmaru Mori. Watch out for him. Since you killed his father, he's mad and is in powered up mode. Also on the mountain top should be Mitsuhide Akechi and a few other generic generals. Defeat them all and then race over to Yoshikage. He should still be alive, but maybe just barely. Once Yoshikage is safe or as safe as he can be on this stage, head over to where Nobunaga is hiding. A mission should appear to break into the main camp by defeating No. There should be a few generals outside of his main camp. The main concern is No, as the other generals in this area are generics. However, you should have a few allied generals in this area of your own to assist you and even the odds. Once the main camp gates have been opened, run in and defeat Nobunaga. ------------------------------- Stage 5 Azai Nagahide Niwa \| Keijun Miyabe \| \| Reinforcements: \| Kagetake Asakura \| \| None \| Kagekata Uozumi \| \| \| Nagashige Tomita \| \| \| KageakiraIn this battle, you are now on the Oda Army fighting against the Azai-Asakura Army. However, you're still looking at a bigger army on the other side of the field. As soon as the stage starts, quickly head north and kill Kageakira Asakura. Don't worry about cleaning up any of the enemy soldiers in the area just quite yet. There will be plenty of time for that later. You should kill off Yoshitsugu Maeba and Nagashige Tomita next. By this time, two missions will appear. The first one is to protect the engineers. The second one is to prevent any enemy generals from entering the central fort. Neither should be a problem if you kill quickly. Once the southern area is clear of generals, quickly close off the western stronghold and then head for the central area via the western route. Here, you should defeat Kagekata Uozumi. Go straight through the central area and defeat Naganori Yamazaki, who is heading for the north gate. Once they are all defeated, the protecting the central area mission will be cleared. It's time to focus on getting those engineers to the central area. Normally, I close off the stronghold that is south of the northwestern fort. However, if this stronghold is not producing any enemy soldiers, then don't worry about it. Clear out any enemy soldiers in the way of the engineers and then escort them towards the central area. When they get close to the center, an ambush lead by Yoshimune Kawai will appear. Defeat the general quickly, as he can put a hurting on the Spy Captain/Lead Engineer. Defeat any stray soldiers and then head north towards where Yoshikage Asakura is hiding. Defeat him and his general bodyguard and the wall in the central fort will explode, providing you with a trail into Nagamasa's castle. If Katsuie dies, Azai calls for an ambush near your Main Camp. This is no big deal, just a hassle to go back and defend your Main Camp. Once you have dealt with this problem, go to the Inner Ward and defeat Naoyori Shinjo to complete another mission. Now, all that is left is the Main Ward with Nagamasa Azai and two of his generals (well, that and Sadayuki Atsuji, if you so decide to fight him). As soon as you enter the Main Ward, the gates close on you and Nagamasa Azai is no where to be found. You must defeat Masazumi Azai and Tsunachika Kaiho before the Main Ward gates will open. Where is Nagamasa Azai? He's trying to turn defeat into victory by charging the Oda Main Camp. Rush over to Nagamasa and defeat him before he can take your Main Camp to end the stage. ------------------------------- Dream: Incident at Shizugatake ------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat all enemy officers. Defeat Conditions: Nagamasa or Oichi is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ \| Azai Army: \| Oda Army: \| Coalition: \| \| Nagamasa Azai \| Nobunaga Oda \| None \| \| Oichi \| No \| Reinforcements: \| \| Keijun Miyabe \| Kazumasa Takigawa \| Ginchiyo Tachibana \| \| Naotsune Endo \| Narimasa Sassa \| Ina \| \| Kiyotsuna Akao \| Nagahide Niwa \| Okuni \| \| Tsunachika Kaiho \| Yoshinari Mori \| \| \| Sadayuki Atsuji \| Toshiie Maeda \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| Hidemasa Hori \| \| \| Okuni \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| \| Nene \| \| \| \| Nagachika Kanamori \| \| \| \| Tsuneoki Ikeda \| \| \| \| Ranmaru Mori \| \| +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ Walkthrough: This battle is to determine the most beautiful woman in the land. When the stage starts, make your way over to Hidemasa Hori and defeat him quickly. If you don't, Sadayuki Atsuji will die in record time. Defeat Hidemasa Hori and then make your way over to Narimasa Sassa. Okuni should also appear, but she will provide you with some reinforcements. Defeat Narimasa Sassa and then head over to your ally Naotsune Endo. He will be getting attacked by Yoshinari Mori. You will get a mission to protect Naotsune Endo. Nene will now appear as unwilling reinforcements for the enemy. Defeat Yoshinari Mori to complete your mission and then make your way over to your ally Keijun Miyabe. He is located in the western stronghold and will be getting attacked by Nene and Nagahide Niwa. Nagamasa Azai will charge out and try to prove your beauty with his strength, which makes no sense at all. When you reach Keijun Miyabe, you will get a mission to rescue him. Complete this mission by defeating Nene and Nagahide Niwa. Make your way back east to the central garrison. Defeat Kazumasa Takigawa and then make your way over to Toshiie Maeda and defeat him as well. It's now time to go rescue Nagamasa Azai. He should be on the northern path fighting off Nagachika Kanamori and Tsuneoki Ikeda. You will get a mission to rescue Nagamasa. Complete this mission by defeating both ambush generals. Now, head straight south towards Nobunaga Oda. He is in the southern garrison. Nobunaga is powered up, but try to kill him as quickly as possible. No should be trying to seduce Kiyotsuna Akao, so you will want to rescue Kiyotsuna from No's evil clutches quickly. When Nobunaga is defeated, double back to the central garrison. You will get a mission to rescue Kiyotsuna Akao. Defeat No to complete this mission. No will retreat, as will the rest of the Oda army, but No will definitely be back for some more. Oichi begins to declare herself the most beautiful in the land, but Ginchiyo Tachibana and Ina stop her from doing so. Apparently, even the tomboys want to be beautiful. Ginchiyo will threaten your army, so they will all begin to retreat except for Nagamasa and Okuni. Nagamasa will just hide in his stronghold the rest of the battle, so you don't have to worry about him. Both Ginchiyo and Ina have some twisted logic as to their reasoning on why they are the most beautiful, so get them straightened out by defeating them both. Eventually, Ranmaru Mori will stumble his way onto the battlefield, wondering what is going on. Oichi accidentally makes a mistake and thinks he's trying to become the most beautiful woman in the land, so he's here to stay. Okuni, also wanting to get into the action, will defect to the third party Coalition side and try to fight you for the title. Both Ranmaru and Okuni will be looking for you. Ranmaru is powered up, but Okuni is not. Defeat Okuni first so that you can have a one on one battle with the man who looks like a girl. When Ranmaru is defeated, he will run off saying that he's not a girl. Just when you think everyone has been defeated, No will return for one last go around. This time, No is powered up, so she really means business. Defeat No to claim the title as the most beautiful woman in the land. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4g. Okuni's Walkthrough SW2STOKU \____________________________________________________ Okuni doesn't have a Story Mode. However, for most stages, she does speak a couple of lines at the beginning of the stage and she even has a special mission set for one battle. It is the Battle of Anegawa, Azai-Asakura side. This is the only stage that I know of that Okuni has a special set of missions. I have listed the walkthrough for that battle in this section. --------------------------------------- Battle of Anegawa: Azai-Asakura Forces --------------------------------------- Okuni \| Masahisa Sakai \| \| Reinforcements: \| Narimasa Sassa \| \| NoneWhen the battle starts, make your way west to where the Asakura Army is. You want Nagamasa Azai to run into the two Oda officers that are in the area to prevent him from making it to the Oda main camp. This way, you can do missions and kill officers at your speed instead of the stage's speed. The first officer you should run into is Narimasa Sassa. Defeat him and then continue on to the Tokugawa Army. You do not want to defeat Yasumasa Sakakibara right away. You will want for Ieyasu Tokugawa to tell Yasumasa to attack the Asakura from behind. That will trigger a mission telling you to prevent Yasumasa's sneak attack and protect the Asakura. Defeat Yasumasa to complete this mission. Now, get rid of the rest of the Tokugawa Army in this area. This means defeating Nagatada Ogasawara, Tadatsugu Sakai, and Kazumasa Ishikawa. Now that the Asakura Army is protected and has no chance of losing this battle for you, make your way back east. If you run into Oichi or Nagamasa, Okuni will begin to make comments about how she can get Nagamasa whenever she wants...although, it seems like the conversation with Nagamasa is missing a piece...which makes the conversation pretty...weird... Eventually, Nagamasa Azai will call forth a challenge against Nobunaga Oda. Of course, Nobunaga has a couple of tricks up his sleeves. The first trick is the Mino Three, which are Ittetsu Inaba, Bokuzen Ujiie, and Morinari Ando. These three enemy officers will ride out and charge directly at Nagamasa. You will get a mission to protect Nagamasa from the Mino Three. You should also get a mission to break through the gates protecting the Oda main camp. You can deal with this mission later. First, take down the Mino Three. Make your way over to Nagamasa and if they are still alive, defeat Saizo Kani and Tsuneoki Ikeda. Now, it's time to take on the Mino Three. Defeat the three officers that are trying to take down Nagamasa to successfully protect Nagamasa. Of course, this leaves Nagamasa dazed and confused. Could he possibly leave Oichi? Doubtful...Oichi's just too cute. Either way, continue to head east and then north to Yokoyama Castle. Here, Naotsune Endo is trying to hold out against Nagahide Niwa. You will get a mission to defend Yokoyama Castle. Complete this mission by defeating Nagahide. Once Yokoyama Castle is saved, it's time to complete that one mission of breaking through the gates of the Oda main camp. First, attack the north gates of the camp. They should be guarded by Masahisa Sakai and Katsuie Shibata. When you defeat Katsuie Shibata, he will seal off the north gate, making it unable to open. Looks like the only option left is to go through the west gate. Make your way over to the western gate of the main camp. To get through here, you must defeat Nobumori Sakuma and Mitsuhide Akechi. When Mitsuhide is defeated, you will now have access to the enemy main camp. However, the battle is far from over yet. The moment you set foot inside the enemy main camp, Hideyoshi Hashiba and Magoichi Saika will begin their assault on your main camp. You will get a mission to defend your main camp. You can either intercept them before they make it to your main camp or you can just stand by Oichi and wait for them to come to you. Either way, get rid of the monkey and the marksman to complete your mission. Sometime during or after the mission, the Asakura Army should retreat, thinking the battle is well in control. Ieyasu Tokugawa thinks this is the best time to make their attack. He will send out Tadakatsu Honda to attempt to take your main camp. Everyone is just after poor Oichi these days. Either way, make your way over to the big man. He's powered up, which is normal for Tadakatsu, but you should be able to find a way to bring him down. You get a gold bonus of 2000 for defeating him, so there's no reason not to. When Tadakatsu falls, Ieyasu is all alone and defenseless. Make your way south to where Ieyasu Tokugawa is hiding at. He doesn't seem to have a way with the ladies, so take down the would be emperor to teach him some manners. Now, you have to travel all the way across the stage back to the Oda main camp. Defeat Yoshinari Mori to open up the final gate to Nobunaga. Defeat Nobunaga to complete the stage. I don't think Okuni managed to get Nagamasa in the end... ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4h. Magoichi Saika's Walkthrough SW2STMAGoyori Shinjo \| \| Tsuneoki Ikeda \| Naotsune Endo \| \| Nobumori Sakuma \| Kiyotsuna Akao \| \| Yoshinari Mori \| Tsunachika Kaiho \| \| Masahisa Sakai \| Kagenori Asakura \| \| Tadatsugu Sakai \| Jinpachiro Maeba \| \| Masanobu Honda \| Kagetake Asakura \| \| Reinforcements: \| Yoshimune Kawai \| \| None \| Nagashige Tomita \| \| \| Kagekata Uozumi \| \| \| Naganori Yamazaki \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| None \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, head west towards Masazumi Azai and Kazumasa Isono. Defeat them quickly and continue west. You will get a cut scene of Nagamasa running through your ranks. Just let him go and let him run out of steam. He will kill off a lot of generals in your army, but they are of no consequence. Basically, their whole point on the map is to die to Nagamasa. Continue to make your way towards where Oichi is located at. Defeat anyone around the Nagamasa main camp and then head to where Naotsune Endo is guarding the gate. Defeat him and enter the camp. You should receive a mission to take the Azai main camp. Oichi is in there waiting for you. Unfortunately, she's waiting to kick your butt, so you're going to have to defeat her. Once she is defeated, Nagamasa should be feeling the fatigue and should be ready for the kill. Make your way towards where Nagamasa is, defeating any generals along the way. They should all be generics and all very easy to defeat. Nagamasa should have one or two generals near him, so take them out first before dealing with Nagamasa. Finally, face off with Nagamasa. You will receive a mission to not let Nagamasa into the Oda main camp. Complete this mission by defeating Nagamasa quickly. This will cause Yoshikage Asakura and his army to make an all out dash towards Ieyasu Tokugawa. Start running through the Asakura Army by defeating those who are the closest to getting to Ieyasu Tokugawa and make your way north. You may end up fighting three, four, or five generals at a time, but they should all be generics. The only officer that should present any problems is Yoshikage, but that is only because he has more stamina than the other generals. Other than that, he won't put up much of a fight. Defeat Yoshikage to end the stage. ----------------------------- Stage 2: Battle of Osaka Bay ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Nobunaga. Defeat Conditions: Main Camp is captured. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Honganji Army: \| Oda Army: \| \| Magoichi Saika \| Nobunaga Oda \| \| Rairen Shimozuma \| Ranmaru Mori \| \| Rairyu Shimozuma \| No \| \| Chuko Shimozuma \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| \| Yorichika Shichiri \| Katsuie Shibata \| \| Takeyoshi Murakami \| Ujisato Gamo \| \| Motoyoshi Murakami \| Nobumori Sakuma \| \| Munekatsu Nomi \| Narimasa Sassa \| \| Peasant \| Murashige Araki \| \| Peasant \| Toshiie Maeda \| \| Peasant \| Hidemasa Hori \| \| Peasant \| Nobutada Oda \| \| Peasant \| Reinforcements: \| \| Peasant \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| \| Peasant \| Kazumasu Takigawa \| \| Peasant \| Nagahide Niwa \| \| Reinforcements: \| Yoshitaka Kuki \| \| Terumoto Mori \| \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: You want to get supplies to your troops as soon as possible. This means taking the southern path first. Head directly for Murashige Araki and defeat him. This will cause the bridge to drop. Once you are on the southern ships, head north to where Hideyoshi is. Defeat your friend and then continue to forge a path north by dropping the next bridge. When Nobutada Oda starts attacking Takeyoshi Murakami, run over to where Takeyoshi is. A mission will appear to defend Takeyoshi. Complete this mission by defeating Nobutada. By this time, Terumoto Mori should have appeared from the southern ship and a mission to protect the transport units. Terumoto is the supply officer. His final destination is the northeastern fort. Help him get there by plowing a path for him. Defeat any and all soldiers in his path so that he may continue northward. There will be a couple of generals in your path, but they only one to worry about is Katsuie Shibata. If anything, this mission may take a while because of how many soldiers are in the way between you and the northeastern fort. Once Terumoto Mori enters the northeastern fort, your army receives its supplies and you have completed the mission. Unfortunately, this is only the start of the battle. A huge Oda warship will appear south of the main camp firing off cannons at your main camp. What makes things even worse is that Mitsuhide Akechi appears with a lot of reinforcements. A mission will appear to protect your main camp. You will need to defeat Mitsuhide and all the generals not inside or guarding Nobunaga's fort to complete this mission. However, during the fighting, cannonballs will be exploding around you, making this that much more difficult. Fighting a battle two on one can be no fun sometimes. Fighting a battle two on one with explosions happening around you can be no fun at any times. The enemies will come swarming at your main camp from the west and from the south, so you will need to protect both fronts. Try to clear out one front before moving on to the other front. Once you have defeated all the generals trying to invade your main camp, the mission will be completed and the cannons will stop firing. The only thing left to do is to take out Nobunaga, who is hiding in the northwest. Ranmaru Mori is guarding Nobunaga's fort, so you will need to defeat him before the gates open. Inside the fort, Nobunaga and No will be there waiting for you. Try to separate the couple if you can so that you can defeat them individually, as it's a pain to defeat one while the other is attacking you from behind. Once Nobunaga is defeated, the stage is complete. ------------------------------ Stage 3: Assault on the Saika ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Nobunaga. Defeat Conditions: Sadayu or Magoichi is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Saika Renegades: \| Oda Army: \| \| Sadayu Suzuki \| Nobunaga Oda \| \| Magoichi Saika \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| \| Shigetomo Suzuki \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| \| Yoshimasa Oka \| Ranmaru Mori \| \| Ujiyoshi Horinouchi \| No \| \| Morishige Tsuchihashi \| Katsuie Shibata \| \| Magoroku Saika \| Nobutada Oda \| \| Yoshimasa Satake \| Hidemasa Hori \| \| Reinforcements: \| Toshiie Maeda \| \| None \| Narimasa Sassa \| \| \| Nobumori Sakuma \| \| \| Kazumasa Takigawa \| \| \| Nagahide Niwa \| \| \| Murashige Araki \| \| \| Yasuie Namikawa \| \| \| Fujitaka Hosokawa \| \| \| Junkei Tsutsui \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| None \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: You will receive a mission to defeat Hideyoshi Hashiba as soon as the stage starts. Kill him off as quickly as possible and then move on to saving your allies. Hideyoshi will run off after his defeat. Now, it's time to focus on saving your allies. Most of your allied generals are on the outside of the central fort. Defeating the closest generals around your allies will allow them to retreat to inside the central fort. The first ally you should save is Morishige Tsuchihashi, since he's the closest. He is being attacked by Toshiie Maeda. While you're in the area, you might as well defeat Narimasa Sassa and Hidemasa Hori, since they will normally join the fight anyways. Once Morishige is saved, head over to where Murashige Araki is and defeat him. Take the eastern path all the way south to the southeastern fort. When you enter the southeastern fort, all the gates will close and you will receive a mission to save Magoroku Saika. Rescue Magoroku by defeating Nobumori Sakuma. Once you have completed the mission, take the western gate out to where Fujitaka Hosokawa is and defeat him. When you get close to Yasuie Namikawa, a mission will appear to protect Ujiyoshi Horinouchi from him. Defeat Yasuie to complete the mission and continue along the southern path. Mitsuhide Akechi is on the southern path. When you meet him, a mission will appear to defeat him, so do so. While you are fighting Mitsuhide, a whole lot of riflemen will appear and hamper your fight, so you may want to take out any riflemen in your area before continuing your battle with Mitsuhide. Once Mitsuhide falls, make your way towards Junkei Tsutsui. A mission will appear to protect Yoshimasa Satake, so complete that mission. Now, make your way to the central fort and then to where Katsuie Shibata is. When all your allies are in the central fort, Nobunaga will decide to set fire to the fort and order all of his generals to attack the main fort. However, you should have taken care of most of Nobunaga's army, so this shouldn't be a big deal. Finish off Katsuie if you haven't already and then clear a path to the southeastern garrison, where your army will be retreating to. Defeat any soldiers along the path to allow them to escape. Now, Nobunaga will order his army to make their way to the southeastern fort. The main part of this army will attack from the north. Head north and cut them off. Ranmaru Mori should be in this mess of generals, so make sure you try to take care of him first before he becomes a problem. After the generals in the north have been defeated, make your way back south. Normally, No likes to attack from the south to be a pain, so take care of her quickly. Finally, the last general on the board should be Nobunaga. Defeat him to complete the stage. ----------------------------- Stage 4: Escape from Honnoji ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Nobunaga. Defeat Conditions: Sadayu or Magoichi is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ \| Magoichi Saika: \| Oda Army: \| Bandits: \| \| Magoichi Saika \| Hidemitsu Akechi \| None \| \| Reinforcements: \| Reinforcements: \| Reinforcements: \| \| Peasant \| No \| Raider \| \| Peasant \| Ranmaru Mori \| Marauder \| \| \| Toshimitsu Saito \| Raider \| \| \| Masachika Matsuda \| \| \| \| Sadayuki Atsuji \| \| \| \| Shigetomo Akechi \| \| \| \| Nobunaga Oda \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| Interlopers: \| \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| \| None \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| (Note: The Oda Army \| \| \| \| changes its name to \| \| \| \| Interlopers when \| \| \| \| Nobunaga Oda is \| \| \| \| defeated.) \| \| +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ Walkthrough: On this stage, everything is covered beneath a veil of fog. You have no mini map on this stage. Also, you cannot see any generals on the general map when you press start. You will have to travel without knowing where anything is. However, you do not have to travel blindly. You can use the walls of the stage to guide you to where you need to go. Make sure you have a horse for this stage, as it will become very critical in moving around. Whenever you dismount your horse to fight, make sure you are pointing your horse in the direction you were heading. It is really easy to get turned around on this stage. Also, stay close to your horse when you are fighting, as it is easy to lose track of where your horse is located. As soon as the stage starts, make your way to the right hand walls and follow it to Hidemitsu Akechi. Defeat him and then get back on your horse and continue to follow the walls. You should soon reach a Peasant fighting off some bandits. A mission will appear to save the Peasant. You need to defeat the Raider in the area in order to save the Peasant. Continue to travel in the direction you were going along the walls (you did remember to point your horse in the direction you were traveling, right?). You should get a cut scene of Ranmaru and No appearing from the fog and a mission to defeat them. Dismount from your horse and fight off the two lovers of Nobunaga. Try to lure them out one at a time if you can. Once they are defeated, continue along the walls again. You should run into another Peasant, this time being attacked by a Raider and a Marauder. You should also get another mission to save the Peasant. Defeat the Raider and the Marauder to complete the mission and then continue to follow the walls. You should reach a garrison. However, it's being guarded by Shigetomo Akechi. Defeat him quickly and then duck into the garrison. However, inside the garrison is Nobunaga Oda! Even though he's supposed to be dead, apparently he came back for one last go around. Defeat him quickly to uncover the truth of the matter. Turns out, it wasn't really Nobunaga, but a trick that Kotaro Fuma is playing on Magoichi. It's now time to find Kotaro Fuma. Apparently, he appears in random places, so just walk around until you encounter him. ---------------------------- Stage 5: Battle of Yamazaki ---------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Mitsuhide. Defeat Conditions: Any allied officer Akechi Kotaro Fuma \| \| Sakon Shima \| Toshimitsu Saito \| \| \| Katsusada Shibata \| \| \| Fujitaka Hosokawa \| \| \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: The hardest thing about this stage is keeping everyone alive. Fortunately, most of your allies are good at staying alive. However, you do not want to leave anyone asking for help for too long on this stage. When the stage starts, start making your way to Shoryuji. You can leave the rest of your allies to take Mt. Tenno for now. Kaneaki Mimaki should be the first officer in your way. Defeat him and make your way to the fort. Defeat the Defense Captains guarding the gates and then enter Shoryuji. You should receive a mission to take Shoryuji. Inside Shoryuji should be Sadayuki Atsuji. Defeat him quickly and then head back out. The last person to defeat before you can claim Shoryuji is Nobuharu Tsuda. Defeat him to complete the mission. Now, make your way back and head towards Mt. Tenno. When you get close to the western gate of Mt. Tenno, you will be ambushed by Kotaro Fuma. Kotaro is powered up, so he will be a tough opponent. Use every trick in the book to take him down as quick as possible. While you are fighting Kotaro, an ambush unit will appear around Shoryuji, so make sure to hurry up with Kotaro and any of Mitsuhide's generals around in the area. Masachika Matsuda and Yasuie Namikawa should also be in the area, so dispatch of them as well in order to make sure your allies take Mt. Tenno. After Kotaro is defeated, Mitsuhide will order an all out assault on the Hashiba main camp, but you don't have to worry too much about this. Head back to Shoryuji. When you get close to the ambush generals, you will receive a mission to defeat them. Defeat them quickly and then start making your way back to Mt. Tenno. There should be a couple of generals in this area heading for the Hashiba main camp. Defeat both Shigetomo Akechi and Hidemitsu Akechi. The only enemy general that is left should be Mitsuhide. Don't charge after him yet. Instead, take over Mt. Tenno if your allies haven't done so already. If they have, then just complete the missions that you are given in regards to Mt. Tenno. When Mt. Tenno is captured, Sakon Shima will appear as reinforcements for your army. However, Mitsuhide will also receive reinforcements in the form of Fujitaka Hosokawa and Tadaoki Hosokawa. You will receive a mission to protect Mt. Tenno from these two, as well as a mission to escort Kiyomasa Kato to Mt. Tenno. Defeat the two Hosokawas and then clear a path for Kiyomasa to enter the mountain. Once these two missions are complete, the only thing left to do is to face off with Mitsuhide. Storm into the Akechi main camp and face off with Mitsuhide. Defeat him to complete the stage. -------------------------------- Dream: Showdown at Mikatagahara --------------------------------You start off in the northern area of the map. Musashi Miyamoto will throw taunts your way, trying to lure you into a trap. Ignore Musashi for now and make your way over to the northeastern garrison. You will get a mission to take this garrison. Complete this mission by defeating Yoshinao Tokugawa. While you are here, defeat Ietsugu Sakai. Make your way across the northern path and head for the western garrison next. Make sure you don't get near the central garrison. Masamune Date has a trap ready for Musashi. At the western garrison, you will get a mission to seize it. Complete this mission by defeating Yorinobu Tokugawa. This will cause Musashi to get really mad and charge out of the central garrison. When he gets too far north, he will get ambushed by the Saika riflemen and lose his powered up status. Now, attack Musashi Miyamoto and Naotaka Ii to take control of the central garrison. Masamune Date will move his main camp to the central garrison. From the central garrison, make your way to the southwestern corner of the map. This area is covered with ledges that you can only jump down. You cannot jump back up a ledge. Therefore, if you don't know this area really well, you could get lost. Also in this area, you will get ambushed by riflemen. Looks like the Saika aren't the only ones that know how to use rifles. Defeat Masanobu Honda and Tadachika Okubo and continue to head east. You should receive some allied reinforcements, who will help out later on. Make your way inside Hamamatsu Castle. Ieyasu Tokugawa is here...or so you think. Turns out, the Ieyasu here is Hanzo Hattori in a disguise. Hanzo will close all the gates to Hamamatsu Castle and trap you inside. The real Ieyasu Tokugawa will appear outside of the castle and make his way towards your main camp, along with the rest of the Tokugawa reinforcements that appear with the real Ieyasu. Quickly defeat Hanzo Hattori and Tadamasa Honda to get the gates to the castle to open up. Leave Hamamatsu Castle through the north gate and make your way over to Ina. Hopefully, she hasn't gotten too far of a head start on you. Defeat Ina and then make your way over to the central garrison. From the central garrison, take the western gate out and follow the path to the western garrison. You will get a mission to protect the western garrison. Complete this mission by defeating Hidetada Tokugawa and Tadateru Matsudaira. Make your way back to the central garrison and leave this area through the north gate. You will come face to face with Tadakatsu Honda, who needs to die. Here will be here with Tadanao Matsudaira, who needs to die also. Tadakatsu is powered up, which is par for the course for him. Take advantage of Magoichi's officer killing musou as much as possible to take down Tadakatsu with minimum problems. When the area north of the central garrison is cleared out, make your way back into the central garrison and leave through the southern gate. Here is where the real Ieyasu Tokugawa will be. Defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4i. Shingen Takeda's Walkthrough SW2STSHI \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- Stage 1: Battle of Kawanakajima -------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Kenshin. Defeat Conditions: Shingen is defeated, or Main Camp is captured. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Takeda Army: \| Uesugi Army: \| \| Shingen Takeda \| Kenshin Uesugi \| \| Yoshinobu Takeda \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| \| Nobushige Takeda \| Shigenaga Honjo \| \| Masatane Hara \| Katsunaga Irobe \| \| Kansuke Yamamoto \| Sadamitsu Usami \| \| Nobukimi Anayama \| Tomonobu Saito \| \| Reinforcements: \| Masayori Takanashi \| \| Masatoyo Naito \| Kageie Kakizaki \| \| Nobufusa Baba \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Yoshikiyo Murakami \| \| \| Takahiro Kitajo \| \| \| Kagetsuna Naoe \| \| \| Sadanaga Sanbonji \| \| \| Yataro Onikojima \| \| \| Kagemochi Amakasu \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, make your way towards the central area of the map. You will get a mission to distract the frontline of the enemy. Complete this mission by defeating Shigenaga Honjo and Tomonobu Saito. When this mission is completed, make your way over towards the enemy main camp. You will find out that no one is there. Kenshin Uesugi will now appear in Zenkoji. The enemies that were inside the enemy main camp will now appear near your main camp. Rush over to your main camp and defeat Katsunaga Irobe, Masayori Takanashi, and Sadamitsu Usami. When you clear out this area, Kenshin will call for reinforcements to appear south of your main camp. Since you're already at your main camp, take the southern gate out of your main camp and enter the area east of Zenkoji. This area will be covered in a blanket of fog. You will not be able to see your position on the mini map, nor will you be able to see your position on the general map when you press start. Two enemy ambush generals will attack your main camp, while the other two will head for the southeastern garrison. You will get a mission to protect your main camp from the ambush generals. To complete this mission, defeat Kagetsuna Naoe and Sadanaga Sanbonji. More enemy reinforcements will arrive east of Zenkoji. Make your way over to the southeastern garrison and defeat all the enemy generals that make their way near the garrison. You should defeat four generals in all. When all the ambush officers from Zenkoji are defeated, make your way north to where Kanetsugu Naoe is. He should be making his way for Kaizu Castle. Also, Nobufusa Baba should appear as ally reinforcements. Make your way to Kaizu Castle in the northwest. You will get a mission to defend Kaizu Castle. Complete this mission by defeating Kanetsugu Naoe. By now, Kenshin should have reappeared at Hachimanbara. First, defeat Kageie Kakizaki, who is hiding in the western fort. You will get a mission to seize the western fort, which you can complete by defeating Kageie. When the western fort is yours, make your way east towards your rival. Defeat Kenshin to complete the stage. --------------------- Stage 2: Pirate Raid Shingen Takeda area of the map. You will get two missions right away. The first mission will be to protect all the Peasants on the stage. This will only be completed when you complete the map and all the Peasants are still alive. The second mission you will get will be to defend the southeastern garrison. You can complete this mission by defeating the one Raider south of the garrison and the two Raiders west of the garrison. When this mission is completed, make your way north. You will eventually reach another Peasant. This Peasant will be getting attacked by two Raiders. You will get a mission to protect this Peasant, so complete this mission by defeating the two Raiders. Make your way onto the boat that is just south of the Peasant and use this boat to reach the next Peasant. He is also getting jumped by two Raiders. You will get another mission to protect the Peasant, so once again, complete the mission by defeating the two Raiders. By now, there should be no more Raiders left on the map. This won't last long, as more pirates will arrive on the scene, with a lot of boats. From the point you are currently at, make your way south. There will be a Raider on this boat. Defeat the Raider to lower the plank and continue to make your way west along the boats. You will soon run into another Raider. Defeat that Raider and make your way towards the northwestern garrison. Here, there will be three Raiders attacking this fort. You will get a mission to protect this garrison. You will need to quickly dispose of all three Raiders, because a Peasant troop will get ambushed in the central area of the boats. You will get a mission to rescue the ambushed Peasants. Defeat all three Raiders to protect the garrison and then run back onto the boats. Backtrack along the path you initially took to get to the northwestern garrison. This time, you will see a Defense Captain guarding a plank to get to the ambushed Peasant. Defeat the Defense Captain to lower the plank. To rescue the ambushed Peasant troop, defeat both Raiders that are on this boat. This will cause the Marauder to appear in the south, along with two more Raiders. Defeat both Raiders that the Marauder brings along to lower the plank to the Marauder's boat. Defeat the Marauder to complete the stage. If all the Peasants survived, you will also complete the first mission of protecting all the Peasants. -------------------------------- Stage 3: Battle of Mikatagahara -------------------------------- Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| \| Tadayo Okubo \| \| \| Nagatada Ogasawara \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: This map has some of the best lines in all of the game. Shingen's comments are very well written. You start off in the northern section of the map. Make your way towards the central garrison. Defeat both Ietada Matsudaira and Tadatsugu Sakai. Don't go inside the central garrison just yet. Turn around and make your way west. Over in the western area, you will run into the remnants of the Oda Army. You will get a mission to not allow the Oda Army to escape. Complete this mission by defeating Nobumori Sakuma, Hirohide Hirate, and Kazumasu Takigawa. Now, make your way back towards the eastern garrison. Kazumasa Ishikawa should be south of the eastern garrison, so defeat him. Tadakatsu Honda will take up his position at the rear guard, trying to give Ieyasu Tokugawa time to escape. Do not worry about Ieyasu escaping just yet and face off with Tadakatsu. Tadakatsu will be extremely powered up and may be one of the toughest versions of Tadakatsu that you will run into. Since you don't have any kittens to throw at Tadakatsu, you will only have your attacks to use. It may take some time to slowly bring down the big man, but don't worry. Ieyasu will stop once he reaches the ledges and wait for you, so take your time and destroy Tadakatsu the right way. When Tadakatsu goes down, continue along the path to where Hanzo Hattori is. Defeat Hanzo and continue to make your way to the southwestern area. When you reach the southwest, you will realize this area consists of a series of ledges. While you can jump down a ledge, you cannot jump back up a ledge. Ieyasu should be here waiting for you. You will get a mission to defeat Ieyasu. Face off with Ieyasu and defeat him. However, the Ieyasu you defeated was merely a double. Another Ieyasu will appear west of the central garrison. He will also bring along some friends with him. First things first, make your way towards Hamamatsu Castle and defeat Mototada Torii. Make your way back towards the ledges and defeat Nagatada Ogasawara and Tadayo Okubo. For this next part, you will need to be quick. Make your way north towards the central garrison via the ledge that drops you off south of that garrison. Moritsuna Watanabe will be attacking the central garrison. You will get a mission to defend this garrison. Complete the mission by defeating Moritsuna. Get back on your horse and ride over to the southwestern area of the map once again. Ieyasu Tokugawa should either be passing through or just out of the ledges. He will have a bodyguard with him this time that will try to distract you. Defeat Yasumasa Sakakibara first to keep him from being a problem. Once the bodyguard is out of the way, defeat Ieyasu Tokugawa for a second time. However, this Ieyasu is also a double. When the second double is defeated, three more Ieyasus will appear on the map. One will be north of the western garrison, one will be north of the central garrison, and one will be south of the northeastern garrison. One of these Ieyasu Tokugawas is the real one. You will get a mission to defeat the real Ieyasu. The two times I have played this stage, the real Ieyasu has been the one along the eastern path, which makes sense, since he is the closest to reaching the Escape Point. However, this could be something that is random. Either way, your army will hold off all three Ieyasu Tokugawas long enough to allow you to defeat all three of them, if need be (or if you just feel like doing it anyways for the experience). All three Ieyasus are powered up, so they won't be quick kills. Defeat the real Ieyasu to prevent his retreat and complete the stage. ----------------------------- Stage 4: Battle of Nagashino ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Nobunaga. Defeat Conditions: Shingen or Katsuyori is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Takeda Army: \| Oda-Tokugawa: \| \| Shingen Takeda \| Nobunaga Oda \| \| Katsuyori Takeda \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| Yukimura Sanada \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| \| Sakon Shima \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| \| Nobukado Takeda \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| Nobuzane Takeda \| No \| \| Nobukimi Anayama \| Katsuie Shibata \| \| Masatane Hara \| Ranmaru Mori \| \| Masakage Yamagata \| Nobumasa Okudaira \| \| Masatoyo Naito \| Tadatsugu Sakai \| \| Nobufusa Baba \| Nobumori Sakuma \| \| Reinforcements: \| Nobutada Oda \| \| None \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| \| Kazumasu Takigawa \| \| \| Nagahide Niwa \| \| \| Toshiie Maeda \| \| \| Tadayo Okubo \| \| \| Tadasuke Okubo \| \| \| Nagachika Kanamori \| \| \| Kagetada Matsudaira \| \| \| Koretada Matsudaira \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| None \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: There are a lot of enemy generals on this stage and a lot of unique generals as well. When the stage starts, your first target should be Nagashino Castle. Defeat Kagetada Matsudaira to open the east gate to Nagashino Castle. Inside the castle, you will get a mission to seize the castle. Defeat Nobumasa Okudaira and Koretada Matsudaira to complete this mission. Your next goal will be south of Nagashino Castle. Take the southern gate out of the castle and make your way towards Tobigasu Garrison, defeating Nagachika Kanamori along the way. When you reach Tobigasu Garrison, you will get a mission to defend the garrison. To complete this mission, you must defeat Tadatsugu Sakai and Mitsuhide Akechi. Tadatsugu starts off in the garrison, but Mitsuhide will take some time to get there, so you might have to go looking for him. When you have successfully defended Tobigasu Garrison, make your way quickly to your main camp. Both Hideyoshi Hashiba and Tadakatsu Honda should be attempting to force their way inside your main camp. You will get a mission when you approach either of these two generals to prevent them from entering your main camp. Tadakatsu Honda is powered up, as usual, but Hideyoshi should fall quickly. Complete both missions by defeating these two generals before they can enter your main camp. When Tadakatsu and Hideyoshi have both been defeated, rain will fall on the battlefield. This will nullify Nobunaga Oda's riflemen, allowing the Takeda Calvary to run wild all over the Oda Army. Of course, Nobunaga won't admit defeat quite yet. He will send Katsuie Shibata out to get into your main camp. Katsuie will open up the gates to the northern garrison, which will allow No to make her way towards the main camp as well. You will get a mission to prevent Katsuie Shibata from entering your main camp. Defeat Katsuie to complete your mission, then defeat No just because she's there. By now, your army should have high morale and should be running all over the Oda Army. The rest of the officers should all be concentrated in the western part of the map. Start defeating all enemy generals that are outside of the main Oda camp. The only officer outside of the Oda main camp that should present any problems will be Ieyasu Tokugawa. He is guarding the gates to the Oda main camp. When you get near Ieyasu, you will get a mission to open all the gates to the Oda main camp. To complete this mission, simply defeat Ieyasu. He is powered up a little, but should really only be a minor pain. Inside the main camp, Nobunaga is being protected by his trusted bodyguard, Ranmaru Mori. Defeat Ranmaru first and then go after his lord, Nobunaga. Defeat Nobunaga to complete the stage. -------------------------------- Stage 5: Showdown at Sekigahara -------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Kenshin. Defeat Conditions: Shingen or Katsuyori is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ \| Takeda Army: \| Uesugi Army: \| Coalition: \| \| Shingen Takeda \| Kenshin Uesugi \| None \| \| Katsuyori Takeda \| Kagekatsu Uesugi \| Reinforcements: \| \| Masakage Yamagata \| Kagetsugu Amakasu \| Nagamasa Azai \| \| Masatoyo Naito \| Yataro Onikojima \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| \| Nobufusa Baba \| Shigenaga Honjo \| Katsuie Shibata \| \| Nobukimi Anayama \| Chikanori Suibara \| Yoshikage Asakura \| \| Nobukado Takeda \| Kagetsuna Naoe \| Kazumasu Takigawa \| \| Nobushige Oyamada \| Kagemochi Amakasu \| Nagahide Niwa \| \| Reinforcements: \| Nagahide Yasuda \| Toshiie Maeda \| \| Sakon Shima \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Masanobu Kosaka \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| (Note: These officers \| \| Masatane Hara \| Nagazane Irobe \| will join up with the \| \| Morinobu Nishina \| Tomonobu Saito \| Uesugi Army when you \| \| \| Takahiro Kitajo \| defeat one of them.) \| \| \| Naganori Kawada \| \| \| \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| \| \| \| Naomasa Ii \| \| \| \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| \| \| Tadatsugu Sakai \| \| \| \| Tadayo Okubo \| \| \| \| Tadasuke Okubo \| \| +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, there are not many enemy generals on the field. Make your way towards the central area. Kenshin will order his troops to march towards the center, giving you a mission to defeat the Uesugi front lines. Complete this mission by defeating Yataro Onikojima, Shigenaga Honjo, and Kagetsugu Amakasu. I normally start off with Yataro and work my way east. However, during the middle of this mission, Kanetsugu Naoe will arrive as reinforcements in the southwest. Ignore them for now and continue defeating the Uesugi front line. When the front line is defeated, you will now have to contend with the second wave of Uesugi generals. Start off by defeating Kagekatsu Uesugi and Chikanori Suibara. This will cause Kanetsugu Naoe to come out of his hidey hole and charge your army. Make your way towards the southern part of the map and face off with Kanetsugu. He will be trying to go after Katsuyori Takeda, so prevent him from reaching him. You will get a mission to defeat Kanetsugu. Of course, Shingen Takeda always has a quick and witty retort to whatever is said. Defeat Kanetsugu along with his two bodyguards, Takahiro Kitajo and Naganori Kawada. When Kanetsugu is defeated, former officers of the Oda Army, along with the Azai and Asakura Army, will arrive in the northwest. They will start off as their own army first. Ignore them for now and clear out the middle again, defeating Tomonobu Saito and Nagazane Irobe. Now, make your way all the way to the eastern path. This is where Yoshikage Asakura will be heading towards Mt. Matsuo Castle. Stop him while he's on his way there. You will get a mission to defeat Yoshikage, so complete this mission. The Asakura Army will retreat. However, the Azai and Oda Army will then join Kenshin. Luckily for you, Katsuyori decides to play it safe and hide inside Mt. Matsuo Castle, so you no longer have to worry about him. First, make your way over to Mitsuhide Akechi. He should be here with Nagahide Niwa. Defeat them both while you are waiting on Katsuie Shibata to make his way south. By the time you are done with Mitsuhide and Nagahide, Katsuie should be close enough to where it's a quick ride to him. When you reach Katsuie, defeat him to prevent him from reaching Mt. Matsuo Castle. By this time, Sakon Shima should arrive with reinforcements for your army. Shingen will order a charge and your army will begin to march forward. Once again, clear out the central area by defeating Kazumasu Takigawa and Toshiie Maeda. When this is done, remnants of the Tokugawa forces should arrive on the battlefield. It seems like everyone hates Shingen. Nagamasa Azai will make the first move, making his way towards Mt. Matsuo Castle. Make your way towards the northwest. You will get a mission to prevent Nagamasa from entering Mt. Matsuo Castle, so defeat him quickly. While you are there, you might as well defeat Tadatsugu Sakai also. While you're distracted with Nagamasa, Hanzo Hattori will also start to make his way towards Mt. Matsuo Castle. When you're done playing with Nagamasa, it's time to play with a ninja. Hanzo should either be inside the castle or close to it, so make your way towards him. You will get a mission to defeat the cute little ninja, so defeat him quickly. Make your way back towards the central area and clear this area out again for the third time. Or was it the fourth time? It's hard to keep track of these things. Do this by defeating Yasumasa Sakakibara, Tadasuke Okubo, Tadayo Okubo, and Naomasa Ii. With this done and all the surprise reinforcements out of the way, you are finally now able to move on to the Uesugi main camp. When you come close to a gate of the main camp, Tadakatsu Honda will teleport from inside the main camp to right at your position. Damn that Tadakatsu. He's so powerful, he can now teleport. Doesn't matter though. His teleportation skills should be no match for your witty remarks. You will get a mission to defeat Tadakatsu. Tadakatsu Honda is powered up, as always, but he should leave his usual openings in his move set as well. When Tadakatsu is defeated, you will need to then open up the gates to the Uesugi main camp. You can do this by defeating the enemy officer that is stationed at each entrance. I normally defeat all three enemy officers to leave Kenshin the last enemy general left on the battlefield, just to prove how superior my strategies are to his. When Kenshin is the last enemy general left on the battlefield, defeat the God of War to complete the stage Hidemasa Hori \| \| \| Kuroku Hachisuka \| \| \| Toshiie Maeda \| \| \| Nene \| \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| \| \| Nagamasa Kuroda \| \| \| Kanbei Kuroda \| \| \| Kazumasa Takigawa \| \| \| Nagahide NiwaYou start off at the northeastern garrison. Make your way over to Tsuruga Castle. Defeat the Defense Captain that is at the north gate of Tsuruga Castle and then enter the castle. You will end up getting ambushed by two officers under Hideyoshi Hashiba. You will get a mission to defeat the Hashiba Army. Complete this mission by defeating Hideyoshi Hashiba, Hidemasa Hori, and Kuroku Hachisuka. While you're fighting Hideyoshi, Nene will appear and ambush Yukimura Sanada. When you're done with the Hashiba Army, make your way to the northern path where Yukimura is. You will get a mission to rescue Yukimura. Complete this mission by defeating Nene and Toshiie Maeda. By this time, Kanetsugu Naoe should have been jumped by the Shimazu Army. Kanetsugu is in the garrison that is along the southwestern path. You will get a mission to defeat the Shimazu Army. Complete this mission by defeating Toyohisa Shimazu, Nagamasa Kuroda, and Kanbei Kuroda. Now, make your way over the southeastern garrison. The Oda Army should be here, trying to fight off your archrival, Kenshin Uesugi. Make your way over to the northwestern garrison. This is where Yoshihiro Shimazu and Yoshihisa Shimazu are at. Get there before anyone else. When the first officer enters the garrison, the gates will close. The two Shimazus that are here will say they are not the real people. Turns out, they are fakes. The real Shimazus will appear in Tsuruga Castle. Yoshihiro will also call for an ambush on both main camps. Quickly defeat the two fake Shimazus, as No and Nobutada Oda will quickly make their way to the northwestern garrison to say hi. No will be powered up because you killed her husband, so send No to reunite with her lost Nobunaga. Defeat both No and Nobutada Oda and leave the northwestern garrison. Yoshihiro will call for more backup in the form of Mitsuhide Akechi and Ranmaru Mori. Mitsuhide will go after you, but Ranmaru will make his way towards Kenshin. Head out to where Ranmaru is first, since you will probably survive longer than Kenshin will on this stage. Try to defeat Ranmaru quickly, even though he is powered up. Mitsuhide is looking for you and fighting two powered up officers looking for revenge is a whole lot worse than just fighting one of them. When Ranmaru is defeated, either find Mitsuhide or let Mitsuhide find you. Either way, you should defeat Mitsuhide next. Like Ranmaru, he is powered up. Unlike Ranmaru, Mitsuhide has quicker attacks. Still, if you have your self skill and a full musou bar, this should not matter. Defeat Mitsuhide and make your way to your main camp. When you reach your main camp, you will get a mission to rescue your main camp. Complete this mission by defeating Iehisa Shimazu and Tadanaga Shimazu. Iehisa Shimazu is powered up, but should be nothing compared to the powered up Mitsuhide and Ranmaru you just had to deal with. When your main camp has been rescued, make your way all the way to the southern garrison, which is the Uesugi main camp. Like your main camp, this main camp is getting attacked by an ambush party. You will get a mission to rescue this main camp. Defeating Toshihisa Shimazu and Tadatsune Shimazu will complete the mission. Toshihisa is powered up, just like Iehisa. However, just like Iehisa, it shouldn't matter much. When the Uesugi main camp is defended, there should be only two enemy generals left. They should be Yoshihisa and Yoshihiro in Tsuruga Castle. However, these two enemy generals are not like the other generals on the map. These two are powered up, but even more so than the other powered up generals. Unless you have gotten your Shingen maxed out with every skill that improves your attack power, you might not be able to make Yoshihiro flinch with regular attacks. On top of that, Yoshihiro and Yoshihisa deal a lot of damage with each of their regular attacks. Getting caught in one of Yoshihiro's combos might be enough to finish you off completely. You will definitely need Shingen's self skill and a full musou bar if you even want to think about competing with these two enemy officers. Shingen's self skill will allow you to act like Yoshihiro and not make you flinch to most of his attacks. However, you will still take a lot of damage to his attacks. Try to pick your spots to attack. You should be able to use Shingen's throw special to deal some damage to Yoshihiro, but don't rely on it as your main attack. Also, if you have a bodyguard that can stun your enemy or break their guard, such as a Fire Ninja, it will be an advantage. If you can manage to take down the two overly powered up Shimazus, you will have completed the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4j. Masamune Date's Walkthrough SW2STMAS \____________________________________________________ --------------------------------- Stage 1, you will need to break through into the castle. Defeat Norisada Ueda to get the north gate to open. Once inside the castle, Ujinori Uesugi and Masataka Kasahara will be waiting for you. Defeat these two enemy generals. You should have a mission to open up all the gates of Odawara Castle. The first gate you should open is the east gate. To get there, make your way through the bomb corridor. Open up the east gate by defeating Ujifusa Hojo and Yasusato Matsuda. This lets in the Tokugawa faction. Make your way south to where Naohide Matsuda is at. He is the one controlling the cannons that are firing on your allies. Defeat Naohide and move on to the south gate. At the south gate, Naoshige Chiba and Ujinaga Narita are guarding the gate. Defeat these two and let Yoshihiro Shimazu in. By now, the enemies that were hiding in the northeastern section of the castle will begin to march to the main camp. Rush over to your main camp. You will get a mission to defend your allied camp, so defeat Ujitaka Hojo, Tanenaga Hara, and Masayo Ito to complete the mission. Once your main camp is secure, head back inside the castle and make your way to the southwestern corner of the castle where Ujitada Hojo is. The storehouse is in this area. To get there, you will need to take the southeastern path around to the storehouse. When inside the storehouse, you will get ambushed by Yasuhiro Ogasawara. The storehouse is also being guarded by Ujitada. You will get a mission to take the storehouse. Complete this mission by defeating both generals inside the storehouse. Make your way north to the clearing that is just above the storehouse. The gates around you will shut and you will be ambushed by ninja troops. You will get a mission to defeat 100 ninjas. Complete this mission and the gates will open. The last two generals that are outside of the main keep of the castle should be Ujiteru Hojo and Ujimitsu Hojo. They are either at their original starting point or they might have charged out. Either way, locate these two and defeat them. After they are defeated, make your way inside the main keep of Odawara Castle. When inside the main keep of Odawara Castle, pay a visit to Naosada Hojo and Hiroteru Minagawa. They are to the left when you enter the main keep. When you get near them, you will get a mission to stop the bomb corridor. Defeating these two generals will complete that mission. Make your way to the second floor of the main keep. Kotaro Fuma will appear out of no where and begin to fight you. You will get a mission to defeat him. He is powered up a little bit, but not much. Defeat him to open up the gates to the third floor. On the third floor, you will fight the two main Hojos, Ujimasa and Ujinao. Defeat both Hojos to complete the stage. -------------------------- Stage 2: Battle of Hasedo -------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Kanetsugu and Keiji. Defeat Conditions: Masamune or Yoshiaki Is defeated, or Kanetsugu reaches the Escape point. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Date-Mogami: \| Uesugi Army: \| \| Masamune Date \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| \| Yoshiaki Mogami \| Keiji Maeda \| \| Yoshiyasu Mogami \| Chikanori Suibara \| \| Mitsuuji Ujiie \| Yoshihide Shida \| \| Hidetsuna Sakenobe \| Kagetsugu Amakasu \| \| Reinforcements: \| Yasutsuna Kamiizumi \| \| Masakage Rusu \| Yoshitada Shimo \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Mitsunaga Irobe \| \| \| Dokyu Yamagami \| \| \| Samanosuke Mizoguchi \| \| \| Mototada Kasuga \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: On this stage, you will need to kill as quickly as possible, as you are trying to chase down Kanetsugu Naoe. You do not want him to escape, as that will cause you to lose the stage. As soon as the stage starts, you will face off with Keiji Maeda. Keiji is not powered up here, so it shouldn't be a tough battle. Once you have defeated Keiji, he will run off and the first gate will open. Make your way up the mountain to the second gate. When you get close to the second gate, the enemy will start rolling boulders down the mountain. You will get a mission to stop the boulder attack. You can put a stop to this by defeating Yoshihide Shida. This will complete the mission and allow your allies to climb the mountain. The second gate will be sealed, but there is a gatehouse you can use to get through. The gatehouse is guarded by Yoshitada Shimo, but I'm sure he won't mind you using it once you beat him senseless. When the gatehouse gate is open, rush over to where Yoshiaki Mogami is and defeat the two generals that have him surrounded, which should be Kagetsugu Amakasu and Yasutsuna Kamiizumi. You will also get a mission to open the third gate. To do so, you will need to defeat Yoshihide Shida at the gatehouse. This will cause the third gate to open and complete your mission, as well as open the second gate. By now, Kanetsugu should be close to the fourth gate. Make your way through the maze area. There will be a Uesugi ambush in this area. At first, it's only two generals. They are Mitsunaga Irobe and Dokyu Yamagami. Defeat one of them quickly. Two more enemy officers will arrive as ambush units. They are Samanosuke Mizoguchi and Mototada Kasuga. They will head over to where Yoshiaki is. Make your way to Yoshiaki and you will get a mission to defeat all the ambush troops. Defeat the remaining ambush units and then make your way north again. Once you pass through the fourth gate, Keiji Maeda will make his grand reentrance. Again, he will not be powered up, so he should be an easy kill. You should kill Keiji before Kanetsugu, as a powered up Keiji is more powerful than a powered up Kanetsugu. When Keiji is dead, Kanetsugu will get mad and be powered up. However, he should be basically alone and in a two on one match against you and Masakage Rusu. Defeat Kanetsugu to complete the stage Masamune Date part of the map. You will get an overall mission to rescue all the peasants and another mission to save the southeastern garrison. You can save the southeastern garrison by defeating the three Raiders in the area. There is one Raider south of the garrison and two west of the garrison. Once you have completed this mission, go north and then west until you get close to another Peasant. You will be asked to rescue this Peasant. You can do so by defeating the two Raiders that are closest to him. Once you have completed this mission, make your way onto the boat that he is near and ride it all the way until you see another Peasant. This Peasant is also being harassed by two Raiders. There will be another mission to save the Peasant, so defeat both Raiders in this area. When you have completed this mission, there should be no more Raiders on the map...until more reinforcements arrive for the enemy. Make your way south on the newly docked boats until you reach another Raider. Defeat this Raider and then use the boats to get to the northwestern garrison. There will be four Raiders in this area. You will get a mission to protect the northwestern garrison, so defeat all four Raiders to complete this mission. Do so quickly, as some of your Peasant army will attempt to run onto the boats while you are completing this mission. They will get trapped and ambushed. You will get a mission to rescue the trapped Peasants, so you will want to be quick with defending the northwestern garrison. Once you have rescued the northwestern garrison, run back onto the boats and make your way towards where the Peasants are located at. You will find you cannot get onto the boats where they are quite yet. You will need to defeat a Defense Captain in order for the plank to be lowered. Once it has been lowered, defeat the two Raiders that are in this area to rescue the trapped Peasants. The Marauder will appear along with two more Raiders. Make your way south to the Marauder's boat and defeat the two Raiders that are in this area. This will cause the plank to the Marauder's boat to be lowered. Make your way over to the Marauder and defeat him to complete the stage and complete the mission to rescue all the peasants. ------------------------ Stage 4: Osaka Campaign ------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Hideyori. (Later changes to Defeat Hideyori and Yukimura.) Defeat Conditions: Ieyasu is defeated. (Later changes to Ieyasu towards Yukihiro Ujiie. He is the guard of the gate to the Sanada Ward. One of the first missions you receive will be to take the Sanada Ward, so it only makes sense to go here first. Defeat Yukihiro and then enter the Sanada Ward. Inside the Sanada Ward, you will have to fight off three generals, one of which is Yukimura Sanada. The other two are Hidenori Sengoku and Kanesuke Susukida. Yukimura is not powered up at this moment, so he shouldn't be too big of a problem. Defeat all three generals to take control of the Sanada Ward and stop the cannon fire. This will cause Yukimura to retreat. Make your way south and rescue Ina from Katsunaga Mori real quick, then use the Sanada Ward to make your way to the west gate of Osaka Castle. You should have a mission to open the west gate of Osaka Castle, so you should complete this mission next. While on your way to the west gate, you will run into Shigenari Kimura, so just make quick work of him and move on. The west gate is being controlled by Danemon Ban. Defeat him and the gate will open, allowing your allied forces to storm the castle. From here, you should focus on clearing out the west side of the castle of officers. Make your way to Teruzumi Akashi's position and defeat him. Continue along the path to where Yoshikatsu Otani is and defeat him. Don't go inside the main keep of the castle just yet. There are some more things to do outside of the castle. Backtrack to where you fought Shigenari Kimura and then continue along that path. You should run into Musashi Miyamoto. He will be powered up on this stage, so be careful. Treat him as you would Keiji Maeda or Tadakatsu Honda. You should be able to read his C1 move, but his regular S-string is pretty quick. Either way, try to save up your musou to use against him for counterattacking purposes. When Musashi is defeated, the gate south of him will open. Ieyasu Tokugawa will call for the cannons to be used. You will get a mission to protect the cannons from the enemies. There should be two enemy generals in this area. One of them will be Yasukatsu Ishikawa. The other will be Morichika Chosokabe. Try to focus on the enemy soldiers attacking the cannons and deal with the two generals if they come close to the cannons. You can attack them from behind while they are attempting to attack the cannon. Remember, when you are in musou mode, the enemy soldiers will move slowly, but your cannon will continue to move at its normal speed, so use this to your advantage. Once the cannon is at the main gate of the castle, it will begin to bombard the castle, which will cause the Toyotomi army to open all the gates and charge out. Make your way inside the main gates of the castle and start defeating enemies in this area. There should be three generals in this area, including Magoichi Saika. You will get a mission to defeat Magoichi. He will be powered up, so he won't go down without a fight. Defeat Magoichi and make him see the light. This will open the front door to the main keep of the castle. Go inside the main keep of the castle. There will be a lot of riflemen in this castle, so be cautious of that. Make your way up the stairs to face off with Harufusa Ono. Defeat him and go up to the third floor. Hideyori Toyotomi is here. Yukimura Sanada will appear to protect Hideyori. Both Hideyori and Yukimura will be powered up, so they will be a tough team to beat. Focus on defeating Yukimura first, then fight off Hideyori. It appears that both Yukimura and Hideyori were body doubles. The real Hideyori and Yukimura will appear outside the main keep of the castle. Hideyori will attempt to escape while Yukimura will attempt to charge your main camp. Make your way to Hideyori first to prevent his escape. He should be located east of the castle's main keep. You will get a mission to stop him from running away. Defeat him and then make your way over to Yukimura. He will be located in the northwest corner of the castle. Yukimura is still powered up, so again, he won't be an easy kill. Defeat Yukimura to conquer Osaka Castle and bring the Toyotomi rule to a halt. ---------------------------------- Stage 5: Showdown at Mikatagahara ----------------------------------As soon as the stage starts, make your way over to the northeastern garrison. Do not attack the central garrison just yet, as Masamune has a plan to weaken Musashi Miyamoto. You will get a mission to take the northeastern garrison, so complete this mission by defeating Yoshinao Tokugawa. While you are in the area, you might as well defeat Ietsugu Sakai. This will help Hidemune Date to survive. Now, make your way over to the northwestern garrison. Again, you will get a mission to take the garrison. The holder of this fort is Yorinobu Tokugawa. Defeat him and make your way back to your original starting point. By this time, Musashi Miyamoto is getting impatient and decides to charge out. He will get ambushed by Magoichi Saika's riflemen and get injured, causing him to lose his powered up status. This will make Musashi easy to defeat. This will also cause some reinforcements to arrive in the central garrison. Defeat Musashi and Naotaka Ii, who should also be in the area, and then make your way into your new main camp in the central garrison. From the central garrison, take the western gate. Around this time, you should receive some reinforcements in the eastern area of the map. They will definitely help you in the battles to come. You will reach an area that has a lot of cliffs. You can only go down the cliffs. You cannot go up them. It may take a little time to get this place memorized. Don't worry about getting lost in this area. You're now at a time where you can take a little bit of time to set things up. When you get too close to the southwestern clearing, you will get ambushed by riflemen. They can be a pain, but they are spread out far enough where you can take them out one at a time. There are two generals in this area. They are Masanobu Honda and Tadachika Okubo. Defeat both generals and then get rid of the riflemen if you wish. This should leave only the garrison with Ina and the southeastern fort with Ieyasu Tokugawa left. You cannot get into the fort where Ina is quite yet, so you will have to go into Ieyasu's fort. When you enter the southeastern garrison, the garrison gates will close and the man you thought was Ieyasu turned out to be Hanzo Hattori. Reinforcements will arrive for the enemy at various points on the map and Ieyasu Tokugawa will appear outside of the southeastern garrison. You will need to defeat Hanzo Hattori to get all the gates of the southeastern garrison to open. Also inside this fort is Tadamasa Honda, so defeat him while you are down there. When the garrison gates have opened, your first order of business should be to track down Ina. She should have started moving north from her garrison when all the enemy reinforcements have arrived. Since she is the closest to you, she should be the first to go. When Ina is defeated, make your way to the area north of your main camp. This should be where Tadakatsu Honda and Tadanao Matsudaira are located at. Tadanao is an easy kill, but Tadakatsu is a different story. There is no way to take off his powered up status, so you will have to fight a powered up Tadakatsu. Try to get behind him and use your allies as decoys to defeat him. Once Tadakatsu falls in battle, make your way over to the northwestern garrison. Hidetada Tokugawa and Tadateru Matsudaira should be here trying to take over what you rightfully conquered. You will get a mission to protect the garrison, so defeat these two enemy generals to complete that mission. Finally, the only general left on the battlefield should be Ieyasu Tokugawa, who should be south of your main camp. Defeat Ieyasu to take over control of Japan. ---------------------------- Dream: Battle of Sekigahara ---------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Mitsunari. (Later changes to Defeat Hideyori and Mitsunari.) Defeat Conditions: Ieyasu is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Eastern Army: \| Western Army: \| \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| Mitsunari Ishida \| \| Masamune Date \| Sakon Shima \| \| Tadakatsu Honda \| Terumoto Mori \| \| Ina \| Hidemoto Mori \| \| Hidetada Tokugawa \| Satoie Gamo \| \| Naomasa Ii \| Yukinaga Konishi \| \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| Yoshitsugu Otani \| \| Tadayoshi Matsudaira \| Teruzumi Akashi \| \| Kojuro Katakura \| Hideie Ukita \| \| Shigezane Date \| Morichika Chosokabe \| \| Takatora Todo \| Hideaki Kobayakawa \| \| Terumasa Ikeda \| Masaie Natsuka \| \| Masanori Fukushima \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| \| Yoshiaki Kato \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| \| Yoshimasa Tanaka \| Tadatsune Shimazu \| \| Sadatsugu Tsutsui \| Musashi Miyamoto \| \| Yoshinaga Asano \| Reinforcements: \| \| Nagamasa Kuroda \| Hideyori Toyotomi \| \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| Ginchiyo Tachibana \| \| Reinforcements: \| Masanori Fukushima \| \| None \| Yoshiaki Kato \| \| \| Yoshimasa Tanaka \| \| \| Sadatsugu Tsutsui \| \| \| Yoshinaga Asano \| \| \| Nagamasa Kuroda \| \| \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: The Eastern Army starts off with a decided officer advantage against the Western Army. You start off near Morichika Chosokabe. Defeat him and then defeat Hideie Ukita, who should be north of Morichika. Head south to where Yoshitsugu Otani is and defeat them. Then, make your way east a little and defeat Yukinaga Konishi. Mt. Matsuo Castle will open up and Hideaki Kobayakawa and his army will begin his march to your main camp. Ieyasu Tokugawa and Masamune will both express concerns about this battle. Make your way over to the eastern path. When you get near Hideaki, you will get a mission to prevent him from entering your main camp. Defeat Hideaki Kobayakawa to complete your mission and then defeat Masaie Natsuka, who should be in the area. When you complete this mission, Hideyori Toyotomi will appear in Mt. Matsuo Castle with Ginchiyo Tachibana. Hideyori doesn't seem like he's much of a threat when he first arrives. However, half of your army will decide to defect to the Western Army. So much for the officer advantage. You will get a mission to defeat all the traitors who defected to the Western Army. Start off with Tadaoki Hosokawa, who should be the closest to the eastern path, which should be your current position. Once Tadaoki is defeated, just continue to make your way westward, defeating any traitors along the way. To complete your mission, you will need to defeat Sadatsugu Tsutsui, Yoshimasa Tanaka, Yoshiaki Kato, Nagamasa Kuroda, Masanori Fukushima, and Yoshinaga Asano. Along the way, you will get missions to protect Takatora Todo and Terumasa Ikeda until all the traitors are defeated. When all three missions are completed, Yoshihiro Shimazu will lead his Shimazu Army out from the northwestern garrison. He will charge your main camp. Quickly make your way to the northern path. When you get near Yoshihiro Shimazu, you will get a mission to prevent him from entering your main camp. He will be here with Toyohisa Shimazu and Tadatsune Shimazu. Yoshihiro will be powered up, but with your quick attacks, his hammer shouldn't pose a threat. Defeat all three Shimazus and complete your mission. Your next problem will be Ginchiyo Tachibana. She will attempt to quietly sneak into your main camp while you're fighting her rival, Yoshihiro. Make your way over to the south gate of your main camp. Ginchiyo should be here. When Ginchiyo is defeated, that should be the last main threat on your main camp. Now, it's time to go on the offensive. Make your way over to the southwestern corner of the map. Mitsunari Ishida and his gang should be trying to escape this area. Ina should be stalling the Western Army at the eastern gate of their main camp while Tadakatsu Honda should be stalling the enemy at their northern gate. Make your way over to there and just start beating up enemies. Mitsunari is the only one in the group that is powered up, but Sakon Shima and Musashi Miyamoto aren't exactly pushovers either. When you have cleared this area out of enemy officers, the only enemy general that should be left standing is Hideyori Toyotomi. He will still be inside Mt. Matsuo Castle. Defeat Hideyori to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4k. No's Walkthrough SW2STNOH don't really have a good feel for this map. Everything seems to be separated by a lot of distance and there seems to be no direct routes to anywhere. When the stage starts, you are getting charged by the Takeda Cavalry. The first mission you have is to stop them. The Takeda Cavalry consists of Yukimura Sanada, Masatsugu Tsuchiya, Masakage Yamagata, and Masatoyo Naito. Defeat all four of these generals to complete the first mission. Be careful about the enemy soldiers on horseback. They tend to be a pain and use hit and run tactics. Now, after this part, I normally go north, although that may not be exactly the best path. Defeat Nobufusa Baba in the northern fort and then continue to make your way to Katsuyori Takeda. Defeat any generals in your path to Katsuyori. Once you reach Katsuyori, defeat him. He will be harder than most generic generals, although not by much. Once he is defeated, quickly rush back to your main camp. By this time, Yukimura should have reappeared on the map. When you approach Yukimura, you should get a mission to defeat him. Yukimura is powered up now, so he's a lot stronger than before. Also, there will be probably a couple of generic generals in the area along with him, so watch out for double and triple teams. Once Yukimura goes down, the rest of the Takeda Army should be a breeze. Defeat all the generals on the map No \| Raider \| None \| \| Peasant \| Raider \| Reinforcements: \| \| Peasant \| Raider \| Magoichi Saika\| \| Yoshikata Rokkaku \| \| +-------------------------+-------------------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: As soon as the stage starts, run over to the southeastern garrison. It will be under attack by four Raiders, two at each gate, and you will receive a mission to protect it. Defeat all the Raiders surrounding this garrison quickly. When you have completed your mission, two more Raiders will appear in the northeast. They will attack a Peasant unit there, which will give you a mission to protect that Peasant. Quickly defeat the two ambushing Raiders to complete the mission. The gates to the central village will open. Quickly run inside the village. The gates will shut and then Raiders will ambush the northwestern garrison. Quickly defeat all four Raiders inside the central village to open the gates again. Doing this will make the end of the stage a lot easier. Make your way to the northwestern garrison. It is also being attacked by four ambushing Raider units, two at each gate. When you reach the garrison a mission will appear to protect it. Defeat all four Raider units to protect the garrison. Once you have protected the northwestern garrison, three more Raiders will ambush the central village. Quickly head over there and face off with the bandits in the area. You will be given a mission to defeat a certain amount of bandits in a certain timeframe. The best move for this kind of feat is the horse musou. Since you are able to charge quickly and hit multiple enemies, this is your best bet for killing quickly, considering the fact that the bandits seem to be in multiple areas around the village. When you have completed the mission, the Marauder will appear with two more Raiders. Also appearing on the map is Magoichi Saika and Yoshikata Rokkaku. Defeat Yoshikata and the rest of the Raiders on the map and then head over to Magoichi Saika to see what he wants. You will receive a mission to defeat Magoichi Saika. He is powered up a little bit, but not that much. Defeat him to complete the mission. Now, the last enemy on the map should be the Marauder. Defeat him to complete save the village. ------------------------------ Stage 3: Battle of Tedorigawa ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Kenshin. Defeat Condition: Nobunaga is defeatedThere are five allies in danger on this map. They are each facing an enemy general. Your first goal is to save the five generals. As soon as the stage starts, ignore Kagetsugu Amakasu for now and head straight for Shigeie Shimura. Kagetsugu should follow you to this area. You want to face off with these two generals at the same time in order to save some time. Defeat them both and then close off the enemy stronghold in this area. Also, defeat Nagaatsu Shimura, who will cause problems for your returning allies. Now it's time to save some allies. Whenever you approach one of the generals that are in trouble, a mission will appear to escort them to the gathering point. You only need to defeat the general that is in the area with your ally. You don't have to escort them as they tend to find their way back safely by themselves. The first ally you should assist is Kazumasu Takigawa, who is being harassed by Kagemochi Amakasu. Defeat Kagemochi quickly so that you can move on to save Nagahide Niwa. Here, the Uesugi general in the area is Nagahide Yasuda. Once Nagahide Niwa is rescued, make your way to Katsuie Shibata. The big guy is having problems with Takahiro Kitajo. Assist Katsuie by defeating Takahiro and then move on to your next ally. Toshiie Maeda is the next up on the rescue list. The person there giving him problems is Shigenaga Honjo. Defeat Shigenaga and then move on to the monkey. Hideyoshi is normally the general that survives the longest, so he should be fine being last. He is taking on Naganori Kawada. Once Naganori is defeated, make sure all your allies return safely to the rendezvous point. When all five missions have succeeded, you can now move on to more important things. By this time, Mitsuhide should have had a conversation with Kenshin Uesugi and Nobunaga and decided that it is best to leave the battlefield. Therefore, Kanetsugu Naoe has decided that he wants to try a flood attack. His goal is Funaoka Castle. He takes the southeastern route to get there, so cut off his path by going through Funaoka Castle. When you get near Kanetsugu, you will be given a mission to prevent him from entering Funaoka Castle. Defeat Kanetsugu and complete the mission. Kenshin will now order an all out assault. All the enemy generals that were lined up along the eastern route will begin to mobilize. You can cut them off easily, since they are all heading in the same direction. Defeat all three of them quickly. Kenshin has one more trick up his sleeve. He will call for an ambush of the Oda main camp. Kagekatsu Uesugi will lead this ambush, along with a couple more Peasant units. Quickly run back to your main camp and prevent Kagekatsu from doing any damage. You will receive a mission to defeat Kagekatsu. Finally, when you have completed that mission, the only officers left are Kenshin and Yataro Onikojima, who is hiding in Kenshin's main base. Run into Kenshin's base and defeat the two enemy generals there to complete the stage. ---------------------------- Stage 4: Fall of the Takeda ---------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Kenshin and Katsuyori. Defeat Condition: Nobunaga is defeated don't really like this map at all. There are too many underground tunnels. It's a novel concept, but way overused on this map. Also, the paths are like mazes. It takes a while to get used to where everything is and even then, the map still plays longer than it looks. You have three allies that have defected from the enemy. They are Nobukimi Anayama, Yoshimasa Kiso, and Nobushige Oyamada. The enemy will try to kill off these three allies and odds are, they will succeed. Because of where everyone is located and because of the map, it is hard to reach allies who are in trouble. When the stage starts, immediately make your way north. After you go through the first tunnel, take the left path before you reach the second tunnel. Continue along the path straight north until you reach Toishi Castle. Barge into the castle and you will receive a mission to take the castle. Defeat the keeper of the castle, Morinobu Nishina, and then make your way to where Nobukimi Anayama is located. You will receive a mission to protect him. Defeat Nobutoyo Takeda and Yorisada Yazawa to complete this mission. While you are here, you might as well knock off the enemy stronghold along with Zushonosuke Yumoto, who will later in the battle attempt to kill off Nobukimi. By this time, Nobushige Oyamada will get the brilliant idea to attack the front gate of the castle. Of course he runs into an ambush. By the time you navigate the maze of tunnels, he might already be dead. If he isn't, you will receive a mission to protect him from the ambush. To get to Nobushige from your current position, backtrack your way through the tunnels the same way you came. When you reach the tunnel nearest to your main camp, hang a left. The pathway should be marked by two lamps. When you reach this area, whether or not Nobushige is dead or not, defeat Masanobu Kosaka. While you were doing all of this, Kotaro Fuma should have already disappeared from the map and the Hojo forces should have already retreated due to a fake revolt in their homelands. This will leave Yoshimasa Kiso all alone to fend off Tomonobu Saito and Takahiro Kitajo. So why don't you help an ally out and assist him with his enemy problems. To get to Yoshimasa, continue to go east from the main gate of Ueda castle. There should be a tunnel south of that path. Take that tunnel all the way to the eastern path. Once on the eastern path, just go south to where Yoshimasa is. You will get a mission to protect him. Defeat both enemy generals in this area. Now, the Uesugi Army should charge out of their fort and begin to make their way to the Oda main camp. Stop them by cutting them off. When you get near the two Uesugi generals, you will receive a mission to defeat them. Defeat Kanetsugu Naoe and Kagekatsu Uesugi to complete the mission. Now, if Nobushige is still alive, just lead him to the main gate of Ueda Castle. If he's not alive, you will need to defeat all the generals outside of the castle in order to get the gates to open. Either way, get the main gates to open and move on to where Katsuyori Takeda is hiding. Along with Katsuyori, there are Nobutomo Akiyama and Iyo Tomizawa hiding just inside the front gate. Defeat all three enemy generals quickly, as Masayuki Sanada decided to ambush your main camp. Head back to your main camp to receive a mission to protect your main camp. There are three generals in the ambush. They are Bitchu Kozuki, Mino Kaneko, and Genba Karasawa. All three are easy to defeat, so this should not be a hard mission to complete. Backtrack back to Ueda Castle and defeat any enemies that may still be outside. Go inside the castle, but don't go down the right hand tunnel. It's a dead end with a permanently locked door. Instead, go down the left tunnel. There, Yukimura Sanada and Nobuyuki Sanada will be waiting for you. Yukimura is powered up, so he may present a problem. Defeat both Sanadas to get the door they were guarding to open. Head through the door and then go up to the second floor. Masayuki Sanada is not here either, but your old friend and former ally Kotaro Fuma is. Apparently, the Hojo betrayed you (as if you didn't already know). Kotaro is also powered up, but he shouldn't pose too much of a problem. Defeat him and the stairs to Masayuki will appear. Go down the stairs and face off with the elder Sanada. He's surrounded by enemy soldiers and riflemen, so be careful. Sometimes, it's best to lure him out of his room to take him out. Whatever strategy you use, when you defeat Masayuki, the stage will be completedAs soon as the stage starts, head out through the western gate. You will want to defeat Nobuharu Tsuda first. Once he is defeated, make your way to Nijo Castle. Mitsuhide Akechi should set fire to Honnoji. Kaneaki Mimaki is outside the western gate of Nijo Castle. Defeat him quickly and then make your way inside Nijo Castle. This will activate the mission to protect Nobutada Oda. Defeating Hidemitsu Akechi will complete this mission, so do so quickly. Make your way back to the temple where Nobunaga is. While you're on the road, Mitsuhide will use his riflemen to ambush the temple along with block a couple of the road. When you reach the temple, protect Nobunaga from the hordes of enemies that are pouring through the eastern gate of the temple. There should be a lot of generals and enemies here, so run through them all. When you have defeated enough generals, Mitsuhide himself will show up, along with Fujitaka Hosokawa and Tadaoki Hosokawa. This will cause Ranmaru to charge Mitsuhide. Defeat all generals that may remain near the east gate of the temple and then follow Ranmaru to Mitsuhide. When you reach where Mitsuhide and Ranmaru are fighting, a mission will appear to defeat Mitsuhide and protect Ranmaru. Mitsuhide is strong and powered up, but this should be a two on one situation. Use Ranmaru to distract Mitsuhide while you attack him from behind. This should allow you to keep Mitsuhide from hurting you too much. There will be a lot of soldiers in the area, but they're mostly just regular troops and really there are not that many specialty troops in the area. Defeat Mitsuhide to complete the mission and the stage and survive the ambush. ------------------------------- Dream: Incident at Shizugatake ------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat all enemy officers. Defeat Conditions: Nobunaga or No is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ \| Oda Army: \| Azai Army: \| Coalition: \| \| Nobunaga Oda \| Nagamasa Azai \| None \| \| No \| Oichi \| Reinforcements: \| \| Kazumasa Takigawa \| Keijun Miyabe \| Ginchiyo Tachibana \| \| Nagahide Niwa \| Naotsune Endo \| Ina \| \| Yoshinari Mori \| Kiyotsuna Akao \| \| \| Toshiie Maeda \| Tsunachika Kaiho \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| Sadayuki Atsuji \| \| \| Nene \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| \| Okuni \| \| \| \| Nene \| \| \| \| Ranmaru Mori \| \| +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, make your way north to where Sadayuki Atsuji is. Defeat Sadayuki Atsuji while No and Oichi are talking about who is the most beautiful. When Sadayuki Atsuji is defeated, make your way over Tsunachika Kaiho. You will get a mission to defeat Tsunachika and make him recognize your beauty. While you're fighting Tsunachika, Okuni will appear as reinforcements for the Azai Army. Defeat Tsunachika and then make your way over to Okuni. She will be attacking Yoshinari Mori. You will get a mission to rescue Yoshinari. Complete this mission by defeating Okuni. While you're fighting Okuni, Nene will appear as reinforcements for your army. Of course, she really doesn't want to, but No convinces Nene by threatening the well being of Nene's pet monkey, Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Make your way over to Naotsune Endo. You will get a mission to make him recognize your beauty. While you're fighting Naotsune, Kiyotsune Akao should make his way over to you, triggering another mission. This time, you will have to force Kiyotsune to recognize your beauty. Complete both missions by defeating both officers. By this time, Nagamasa Azai should be near your position. Nagamasa is powered up, so it will take some time to defeat him. When Nagamasa Azai is defeated, you will have sufficiently pissed Oichi off enough to where she will storm out of the central garrison looking for you. Ignore Lady Oichi for now and make your way over to Keijun Miyabe. You will get a mission to make him recognize your beauty. Complete this mission by defeating Keijun. By this time, Oichi will be attacking Kazumasa Takigawa and spreading dirty rumors about you. You will get a mission to rescue Kazumasa. Complete this mission by defeating your sister-in-law. Oichi will be powered up, so she's not going to go down without a fight. Seems like she's pretty serious about being the most beautiful in the land. Now you are the most beautiful woman in the land...except there are some people that still don't recognize your claim to the title. Ginchiyo Tachibana will appear in the east to try to take that title away from you. The Azai and Oda Armies will leave the battlefield. Nene will also defect to the enemy, making this battle a three way battle for beauty. When both Ginchiyo and Nene are defeated, Ina will appear in the north and Ranmaru Mori will appear in the west. Make your way north to Ina and defeat her first. Ranmaru is powered up, so you want to get rid of the easier of the two. When Ina is defeated, find Ranmaru. He should be looking for you. When you get to Ranmaru, defeat him to claim your prize as the most beautiful woman in Japan. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4l. Hanzo Hattori's Walkthrough SW2STHAN, immediately go north and defeat both Kagenori Asakura and Nagashige Tomita. Continue to go north and then go west towards the back road to the Asakura main camp. You will get a mission to attack the Asakura main camp from the back road. Complete this mission by defeating Jinpachiro Maeba and the Defense Captain that is guarding the back gate to the enemy main camp. Once you have opened up the back gate, you will have completed your mission. Once this mission is completed, defeat both Kagetake Asakura and Yoshikage Asakura to take control of the Asakura main camp. Now, finish off the Asakura Army by defeating Kagekata Uozumi and Naganori Yamazaki. When the Asakura Army has withdrawn, Ieyasu Tokugawa will call for his army to assist the Oda. This will cause Oichi to think she can stop an entire army by herself. Of course, she charges your army with her personal bodyguards to assist her. There will be three Azai officers that charge with Oichi. They will get to your army before Oichi does, so defeat them while you're waiting for the princess to show herself. When Oichi arrives, defeat her. She isn't tough to defeat as she is not powered up. When Oichi is defeated, this will cause Nagamasa Azai to lose some of his will to fight. This will also stop him from reappearing on the stage every time he is defeated. Now, it's time to clean up some of the officers that are on the stage. Make your way first to the southern garrison where Yoshimune Kawai is. Defeat him and then make your way back to the northern river and follow it over to Masazumi Azai and Kazumasa Isono. Defeat them both and make your way towards the Oda main camp. Nagamasa should either be close to entering the main camp or already inside of it. If Nagamasa has not defeated Katsuie Shibata yet, you will get a mission to defeat Nagamasa before he enters the Oda main camp. Defeat Nagamasa's two bodyguards first and then defeat Nagamasa to complete the stage. -------------------------------- Stage 2: Battle of Mikatagahara -------------------------------- Victory Conditions: Defeat Shingen or Ieyasu and Hanzo arrive at the Escape Pointhide Hirate \| Masatsugu Tsuchiya \| \| Reinforcements: \| Reinforcements: \| \| Yoshinobu Natsume \| Katsuyori Takeda \| \| Tadatsugu Matsui \| Kotaro Fuma \| \| Kyuzaburo Suzuki \| Masakage Yamagata \| \| \| Nobukado Takeda \| \| \| Masanobu Kosaka \| \| \| Sakon Shima \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: You start off at the northwestern section of the map. Your overall goal is to allow Ieyasu Tokugawa to reach Hamamatsu Castle. Your immediate goal is to assist the Oda Army in retreating. You will get a mission to assist in their retreat. To complete this mission, first defeat Nobukimi Anayama to open the north gate to the western garrison. Enter the garrison and defeat Masatane Hara to open up the south gate to the western garrison. Finally at the south gate of the western garrison, defeat Moritomo Saegusa. This should clear out the path for the Oda Army. They should have no problems retreating on their own now. Make your way back north and head towards Tadakatsu Honda. He will be either near or fighting Nobushige Oyamada. You will get a mission to halt Nobushige's pursuit. Complete this mission by defeating him. Make your way south to where Ieyasu Tokugawa is. He should have triggered an ambush by Katsuyori Takeda. You will get a mission to defeat Katsuyori Takeda. Now, continue to go south, following Ieyasu. When he reaches the area south of the central garrison, Kotaro Fuma will appear. He will target Ieyasu and attempt to assassinate him. You will get a mission to stop Kotaro's assassination attempt. Defeat Kotaro to complete this mission. Now, double jump onto the ninja path and cross over to the southern area. You will get a mission to attack Masatoyo Naito. Complete this mission by attacking Masatoyo Naito by way of the ninja path. If you take another route, the mission will fail. Defeat Masatoyo Naito and make your way back across the ninja path. Make your way towards the south gate of the central garrison. Defeat Masatsugu Tsuchiya and enter the southern garrison. The gates of the southern garrison will close and a Takeda ambush party will appear. You will get a mission to defeat this ambush party. Complete this mission by defeating both Masakage Yamagata and Nobukado Takeda. In the southwestern section of the map, you will run into an area full of ledges. You can only move down ledges. You cannot move up a ledge unless you double jump up it. Also in this area, another ambush will be sprung. This time, it is lead by Masanobu Kosaka. Defeat him and continue on. Eventually, Shingen Takeda will open up all the gates to his garrison and order a full assault on your army. Ieyasu Tokugawa doubles will appear all over the map, distracting the Takeda Army. Continue to fight off enemy soldiers that are blocking Ieyasu's path and allow him to continue to move forward. When Ieyasu reaches Hamamatsu Castle, Sakon Shima will appear. He has closed all the gates to Hamamatsu Castle. To open up these gates, you will need to defeat Sakon. Sakon is determined not to let you through, however, and is powered up. Defeat Sakon to allow Ieyasu to retreat. Now, you can retreat as well or you can go find Shingen and defeat him. It's normally more fun to hunt down Shingen, so you might as well. Make your way to the northeastern garrison, defeating Nobufusa Baba along the way. Inside the Takeda main camp, you will find Nobutoyo Takeda and Shingen himself. You will get a mission to defeat Shingen. Defeat both Takedas to complete the stage. ----------------------------- Stage 3 Hanzo Hattori \| Moritomo Saegusa \| \| Reinforcements: \| Reinforcements: \| \| None \| None \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: Right from the start, you get a mission to defend Nagashino Castle. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Yukimura Sanada and Nobukado Takeda, who will attack the castle from different directions. When you have completed this mission, you will immediately get another mission. This mission will be to defend Maruyama garrison. Maruyama garrison is located on the northern path. On your way to Maruyama garrison, defeat Nobushige Oyamada. When you get inside Maruyama garrison, you will find Nobufusa Baba. Defeat Nobufusa to complete your mission. Make your way towards your main camp. You will get a mission to defeat the Takeda Calvary. To complete this mission, defeat Masatoyo Naito, Masakage Yamagata, and Masatsugu Tsuchiya. Katsuyori Takeda will be forced to retreat. He won't retreat right away. He will try to go through Nagashino Castle, but since it didn't fall, he will have to go another way. While he is figuring out what path to take, make your way to the southern area of the map. Defeat Nobutsuna Sanada and make your way north. At the four way bridge area, defeat Masateru Sanada and Moritomo Saegusa. While on the four way bridge, wait for Katsuyori Takeda to pass through here. When you get close to Katsuyori, Yukimura will reappear in the central area. Ignore him for now and defeat Katsuyori. When Katsuyori is defeated, the gates to Tobigasu Garrison will open. Inside Tobigasu Garrison, defeat Nobuzane Takeda. Now, make your way back west. The leftovers of the Takeda Army should be in this area. The only enemy officer you have to worry about is Yukimura. He is powered up. When you get close to Yukimura, you will get a mission to defeat him. Defeat the last three enemy officers to complete the stage. ----------------------------------- Stage 4: Battle of Komaki-Nagakute ----------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Hideyoshi. Defeat Condition: Ieyasu or Nobukatsu is defeated\| \| Nene \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, make your way north. Just defeat enemies in the central area until a detached enemy force attacks Iwasaki Castle. Do not defeat any enemy officers until this point. When Iwasaki Castle is under attack, make your way over to the eastern side of the map. You will get a mission to capture Iwasaki Castle. To complete this mission, defeat Hidetsugu Hashiba, Nagayoshi Mori, Tsuneoki Ikeda, and Hidemasa Hori. When this mission is completed, the Hashiba Army will begin their advance. You will get a mission to defend the allied front line. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Ujisato Gamo, Suketada Ogawa, Nagachika Kanamori, Ittetsu Inaba, and Hidenaga Hashiba without losing any of your frontline officers. I normally go from the west to the east when defeating enemy officers. When your frontline has been protected, Ieyasu Tokugawa will charge the enemy main camp. When he crosses through the gate to the northern castles, the gate behind him will close and you will get two enemy officers that appear inside the gates. You will also get a mission to rescue Ieyasu. If you are outside of the northern area when the gates close, you will have to use the ninja path to get inside to reach Ieyasu. Complete the mission by defeating Kiyomasa Kato and Kazutoyo Yamanouchi. Nene will appear near Nobukatsu Oda while you're fighting Hideyoshi's reinforcements, so when you're done rescuing Ieyasu, quickly make your way towards the southwestern castle. You will get a mission to defeat Nene. When you get to Nene, you will find that she is powered up (and no, Nene is not Kunoichi from SW1 and Hanzo's remarks to Nene does not imply that Nene is Kunoichi, since kunoichi is the word for a female ninja). When Nene is defeated, the rest of the Hashiba Army will charge out. Sakon Shima will attack from the western path while Mitsunari Ishida and Hideyoshi will attack from the central path. Defeat Sakon first and then make your way over to the central area. Defeat Mitsunari and then Hideyoshi to complete the stage. ------------------------------- Stage 5: Siege of Osaka Castle ------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Hideyoshi. Defeat Conditions: Either Ieyasu or Ujimasa is defeated, or Kotaro Kotaro FumaYou start off in the southern area of the map. Quickly head north and defeat Tadaoki Hosokawa. The front gate of Osaka Castle cannot be opened from the outside. You will need to find another way. That way is through the eastern path. When you get close to the eastern path, Koroku Hachisuka will appear and attempt to attack your main camp. You will get a mission to defeat Koroku before he can enter your camp. Defeat him and then make your way over to the eastern gate of the castle. The eastern gate is guarded by a Defense Captain, but you should be able to defeat them easily to open the gate. Make your way north and defeat Kanbei Kuroda, who is attacking Ina. Once inside Osaka Castle, you will be given an order to find the enemy storehouse. It could be in this area of the castle. If it is, you will get a mission to take over the storehouse. To complete this mission, defeat Hidenaga Hashiba. When you have captured the storehouse or if the storehouse isn't here, continue to move north to where Kiyomasa Kato is. Defeat him but do not enter the main keep just yet. Instead, head back south and then west towards the western gate of Osaka Castle. Along the way, defeat Masanori Fukushima, but don't pass through the gate he is guarding just yet. When you reach the western gate of Osaka Castle, you will get two missions. The first mission is to seize control of the outer ward. The second mission will be to prevent Tsuneoki Ikeda from entering the Hojo main camp. Complete the second mission first by defeating Tsuneoki Ikeda. Defeat Hidemasa Hori and Hideie Ukita to ensure the protection of the Hojo main camp. If you haven't taken down the enemy storehouse yet, make your way towards the northwestern corner of the castle. The storehouse should be located here. To capture the enemy storehouse, defeat Hidenaga Hashiba. Either way, your next target should be the outer ward. Magoichi Saika has control over the outer ward. Since you shouldn't be giving snipers control over bigger guns, defeat Magoichi Saika and stop the cannons. While you are here, you might as well defeat Hidetsugu Hashiba as well. Now, make your way towards the main entrance to the main keep of the castle. When you enter the courtyard right in front of the main keep, Mitsunari Ishida will appear with a couple more enemy officers. Clear this area out of enemy officers and enter the main keep of the castle. Make your way to the second floor of the main keep. You will get a cut scene of Nene appearing and trying to fight you off, with Kotaro appearing to make the save for Nene. Kotaro will become his own third army. This will be a three way ninja battle to see who gets to kill off (or protect) Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Even though they can hurt each other, they both really just want to kill you off. Both ninjas are powered up, so this will be a serious battle with Japan as the prize. Defeating Nene will open up the gate to the third floor. Defeating Kotaro will ensure that he doesn't kill Hideyoshi and ruin your day. When both ninjas are defeated, make your way to the third floor. Defeat Hideyoshi to complete the stage. ---------------------------- Dream: Siege of Ueda Castle ---------------------------- Kotaro FumaAt the start of the level, make your way north and then west. You will have to go around the closed gate that is directly north of you. The western path will lead you around the gate and to Toishi Castle. Defeat Tomonobu Saito and continue north. You will get a mission to seize Toishi Castle when you reach it. Complete this mission by defeating Yataro Onikojima. While you are here, also defeat Chikanori Suibara. When Toishi Castle falls, Kotaro Fuma will appear south of Toishi Castle. Ignore him for now, because Masayuki Sanada will be attempting a flood attack on your allies. There will be Spy Captains that appear at the western gate of Ueda Castle. Make your way over to those Spy Captains. You will get a mission to prevent the flood attack. Complete this mission by defeating all the Spy Captains before they reach the floodgates. When you complete this mission, you will find a map that will show you all of the annoying underground tunnels that are on this map. Now, head back to Kotaro. Kotaro will be powered up, but you should be strong enough to defeat him. When Kotaro retreats, make your way back south and then east. You want to end up in the central area, south of where Yukimura Sanada is. Kotaro Fuma will reappear, but he will reappear in three different places. You will get a mission to eliminate Kotaro Fuma. From the central area, take the ninja path to the southern area of the map, where the first Kotaro is. When you reach this area, Yukimura Sanada will call for an ambush. Mino Kaneko will appear near Kotaro. Defeat the first Kotaro clone and Mino Kaneko and then head back over the ninja path. Get back on your horse and take the tunnels to the southeastern garrison. You will get a mission to take this garrison. Defeat the Defense Captain that is at the southern gate to the garrison to gain access to this area. Complete your mission by defeating Takahiro Kitajo. Leave this garrison through the western gate and defeat Nagazane Irobe and Zushonosuke Yumoto. Do this quickly, as Kanetsugu Naoe will begin to move from his garrison. When the south is cleared out, make your way over to Kanetsugu. Defeat Kanetsugu Naoe along with all enemy officers that are along the eastern path. Make your way north through the eastern garrison. When you're close to the northeastern corner of the map, you will get ambushed by Yukishige Yokotani and Mikawa Hisaya. Now, make your way to the eastern gate of Ueda Castle. You will want to avoid taking on Yukimura head on. You can if you want, but it's easier to take Ueda Castle first and make Yukimura less powered up than he already is. Once you defeat the Defense Captain at the east gate of Ueda Castle, enter the main keep of the castle. Once inside the main keep, the first enemy officer you will come across is Nobuyuki Sanada. Defeat him to open up the gates to the underground tunnels of Ueda Castle. There are two paths you can take. For now, take the western path. Defeat Shigenori Suzuki and make your way up the stairs to the second floor. Masayuki Sanada is here, along with another Kotaro clone. Defeat the Kotaro clone first, as Masayuki is a commander on this stage and therefore, is powered up. When you have made the second Kotaro clone disappear, defeat Masayuki to bring down Ueda Castle. Yukimura Sanada will be disheartened by the loss of the castle and will lose his will to fight and make him less powered up. Make your way out of the main keep of Ueda Castle through the front gate. Yukimura is here, along with a couple of generic officers and the real Kotaro Fuma. You should deal with Kotaro first. The real Kotaro is powered up, so try your best to move him away from the other enemy officers. When your rival has finally been defeated, you should focus on the enemy officers that are around Yukimura next. When Yukimura is the last enemy officer on the map, defeat him to complete the stage. He should be much easier to defeat now that he's less powered up. He's still powered up, but he's no longer has the ungodly high attack, defense, and life he once had. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4m. Ranmaru Mori's Walkthrough SW2STRAN \____________________________________________________ Ranmaru doesn't have a Story Mode. However, he does have a couple of lines spoken about him at the battle of Odani Castle if you are playing as him and he does have a special mission set for one battle. It is the Incident at Honnoji, Oda side. This is the only stage that I know of that Ranmaru has a special set of missions. I have listed the walkthrough for that battle in this section. -------------------------------- Incident at Honnoji: Oda Forces -------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Mitsuhide. Defeat Condition: Nobunaga isAt the start of the battle, you will be given a mission to secure an escape route for Nobunaga Oda. You will need to defeat either Kunitsugu Yasuda or Nobuharu Tsuda. I normally defeat Nobuharu first to complete the mission and then double back to defeat Kunitsugu to make sure he doesn't bother Nobunaga. When you have secured the escape route, you will get three new missions. The first will be to escort Nobunaga to the escape point. The second will be to escort No to the escape point. The third will be to defeat the Spy Captain and prevent the fire attack. The Spy Captain will appear in the alley near the western path and head east, so be quick in catching up with the Spy Captain. When the Spy Captain is defeated, you will have prevented the fire attack. Now, continue along the western path and head north to Nijo Castle. Here, you will get a mission to rescue Nobutada Oda. Complete this mission by defeating Kaneaki Mimaki and Hidemitsu Akechi. Make your way back to where Nobunaga is. He should be getting bothered by Akechi officers like Shigetomo Akechi and Katsusada Shibata. Defeat any officers that may be in the vicinity of Nobunaga and clear a path for him to head north. You should run into Sadaoki Ise on the northern path, so defeat him. Also in this area should be whatever remnants of the Akechi Army is left. There might be quite a few officers, so quickly dispatch of them before Nobunaga makes his way through this area. The officer that should be guarding the escape point is Sadayuki Atsuji. When Nobunaga reaches him, Mitsuhide Akechi will appear, along with some reinforcements. Quickly get rid of Sadayuki Atsuji and then clear the area out as quickly as possible. Allow Nobunaga and No to both make it to the escape point to complete your missions. The only things left to do is to take out Mitsuhide and the rest of his army. Defeat both Fujitaka Hosokawa and Tadaoki Hosokawa first, then finish of Mitsuhide to foil his assassination attempt. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4n. Hideyoshi Toyotomi's Walkthrough SW2STHID Toyotomi Army: \| Akechi Army: \| \| Hideyoshi Toyotomi battle starts, run up the mountain quickly to Mt. Tenno. Try to defeat as many enemies as you can along the way. You don't have to defeat every enemy soldier. Just focus on the group leaders to allow Kiyomasa Kato a semi-clear path to the top. When you have taken the mountain jump down the cliffs towards your main camp and then go over to where Shoryuji is. When you get close to the southeastern fort, you will get a mission to take Shoryuji. Sakon Shima should arrive as reinforcements, so he'll help take down Shoryuji as well. To complete the mission of taking Shoryuji, you will need to defeat Kaneaki Mimaki and Sadayuki Atsuji. While you're fighting Sadayuki Atsuji, Nobuharu Tsuda should appear as reinforcements for Shoryuji, so defeat him as well, since you're already down there and everything. Once Shoryuji is cleared out, race back up the mountain and get next to Kiyomasa Kato. You should get a mission to assist him up to the top of Mt. Tenno. Get rid of any enemy soldiers that may remain in his path. When Kiyomasa's path is clear, head back to Shoryuji. Kiyomasa can make it to the top on his own if his path is clear. Mitsuhide will call out another ambush party to attack Shoryuji. This ambush party consists of Toshimitsu Saito and Katsusada Shibata. When you get close to one of these two officers, you will get a mission to defeat the ambush party. Complete this mission by defeating the two officers. Mitsuhide should call for a full assault, so defeat the two Akechis that are trying to get to your main base. They should be Hidemitsu Akechi and Shigetomo Akechi. Defeat them and race back up to the top of Mt. Tenno. There should be a few generals trying to reach the mountain top. Defeat any enemies that are on the mountain top to protect your cannons and then jump back down the cliffs of the mountain, this time on the Akechi Army's side of things. Mitsuhide should be the last officer to beat. He shouldn't be too hard to beat, considering this is the first level and all. ------------------------------- Stage 2: Battle of Shizugatake ------------------------------- Victory: Defeat Katsuie. Defeat: Main Camp is captured. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Toyotomi Army: \| Shibata Army: \| \| Hideyoshi ToyotomiWhen the fight starts, head over to where Yasumasa Sakuma is. He should be trying to make an early charge at you, so defeat him while Hideyoshi is contemplating his next step. When Hideyoshi says that he doesn't want to fight Toshiie Maeda, make your way over to the western fort, where Toshiie is. That fort is guarded by Toshinaga Maeda, so defeat him. I normally don't go into the fort at this time. I normally head over to where Morimasa Sakuma is. This will give you a mission to prevent Morimasa from entering your main camp. However, you should only defeat Morimasa before Toshiie if you are fast at killing. If you are afraid you are not, you can forgo this mission and kill Toshiie first and then defeat Morimasa. When you get close to Toshiie, you will get a mission to defeat Toshiie. Once Toshiie is defeated, he will retreat from the battlefield and you will get the western fort. You will also get a tongue lashing from Oichi, but not the good type. Okay, enough sexual innuendos. If you haven't defeated Morimasa, do so now. Morimasa's entrance into the main camp or defeat will cause Shogen Yamaji to defect to the enemy's side. He should be your next target, since you can't let people who defect live. It sets a bad example, you know? By this time, Keiji Maeda should get bored and decide to charge after your main camp. Don't go to him. Let him come to you. While you're waiting for him to arrive, you can take down a couple of garrisons on the eastern side of the map. There are four garrisons in all. When you enter a fort, you will get a mission to take over all four garrisons. Each garrison is guarded by a different enemy general. When that general is defeated, you will get the garrison. When Keiji is within a respectable amount of distance to you, go over and say hi to him. Ignore the message to ignore Keiji. There's no reason to ignore Keiji. Keiji just wants to play, after all. Keiji will be extremely powered up, so this won't be an easy battle. However, if you are good at reading moves, you can normally catch Keiji before he can hit you. His opening move for his S-string and his C1 both have huge openings before they connect with you. In the middle of your fight with Keiji, you should get a mission to defeat Keiji. Once Keiji is defeated, take down the remaining garrisons. This will cause Katsumasa Shibata to begin to charge your main camp. Defeat him while he's on the way to your main camp. Then, go through the fort that Katsumasa was located in to reach the northern path. Take the northern path to Katsuie Shibata's main base. Defeat Nagayori Murai, who is guarding the gate, and let yourself in. Inside, Katsuie and Oichi are waiting for you. Defeat Oichi first if you want to defeat her. Defeating Katsuie will end the stage in victory for you Toyotomi Army: \| Tokugawa Army: \| \| Hideyoshi Toyotomi the first officer you should fight is Nobumasa Okudaira. Continue moving east by defeating Tadayo Okubo. By the time he is defeated, you should receive a report that Tsuneoki Ikeda is charging Iwasaki Castle. Go rescue your ally. When you get close to Tsuneoki, you will receive a mission to save him. Complete this mission by defeating Naomasa Ii and Ujishige Niwa. With Tsuneoki rescued and you so close to the castle, you might as well just take Iwasaki Castle. When you get inside the castle, you will receive a mission to take the castle from its owner, Yasumasa Sakakibara. When you have Iwasaki castle and Yasumasa is defeated, Ieyasu Tokugawa will retreat into Kiyosu Castle. This will also cause Tadakatsu Honda and his daughter, Ina, to try to take Iwasaki Castle back. Don't let the father and daughter pair get close to Iwasaki Castle. Make your stand inside Komaki Castle or just outside of Iwasaki Castle. Defeat Ina first, as that will make dealing with Tadakatsu easier. Tadakatsu is powered up, as always, so this may take some time. When you have finished with Tadakatsu, make your way back to your main camp. While you were fighting Tadakatsu, your main camp has probably had a ninja infestation, led by Hanzo Hattori. Since Terminex doesn't exist in Japan during this era and they don't exterminate ninjas anyways, you're going to have to do the exterminating yourself. Rush to where ever Hanzo is and defeat him. If he is not inside your main camp yet, you will receive a mission to stop him from entering your main camp. When Hanzo is defeated, head back to the central plains. Defeat any enemy generals that are in this area. Your army should have been working these enemies over, so there shouldn't be many people left here that isn't an ally. Once the central area is cleared out, the only enemies left should be in the southwest. Make your way there and defeat the first enemy general you see, who should be Tadasuke Okubo. Once he is defeated, you have a choice. You can either go to the south and defeat Moritsuna Watanabe or go west and defeat Kazumasa Ishikawa. Either one you pick, you should probably defeat the other next. This will leave only Nobukatsu Oda and Ieyasu left. Defeat Nobukatsu first, then defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage. ----------------------------- Stage 4 Nobuchika Chosokabe \| Arinobu Yamada \| \| Reinforcements: \| Nobumitsu Saruwatari \| \| None \| Tadatsune Shimazu \| \| towards Tadamune Ijuin. He should be the first to go. This will open the gates of the central garrison. Next, you should head north. If the enemy hasn't destroyed the northern bridge already, they should now. Defeat Nobumitsu Saruwatari next. When you get to Iehisa Shimazu, he should trigger an ambush, lead by Tadamoto Niiro. You will get a mission to rescue Hidehisa Sengoku. Rescue him by defeating both Iehisa and Tadamoto. Iehisa will retreat when defeated. Once Hidehisa is rescued, continue west along the northern path. You should run into Arinobu Yamada. Defeat him and continue to take the path until you reach the northeastern fort. Inside this fort is Tadanaga Shimazu. Defeat Tadanaga and then make your way south to Tsuruga Castle. When you get close to Tsuruga Castle, you will get a mission to seize control of it. The castle is currently being guarded by the general with the big hammer, Yoshihiro Shimazu. Defeating Yoshihiro will cause him to retreat, the mission to be completed, and all the gates inside the castle to open. Head out of Tsuruga Castle through the west gate. This will cause the geyser that was blocking the path to Toyohisa Shimazu to recede. This will also cause the volcano on the stage to erupt, shooting out fireballs into the sky that will damage you if they land on you. These fireballs will only hit the parts of the map near the volcano, so it's not a stage wide thing. Make your way towards Toyohisa Shimazu and you will get a mission to prevent Toyohisa from entering your main camp. This shouldn't be too hard, as your main camp is quite a bit of distance away. Defeat Toyohisa to complete your mission and then rush back to Tsuruga Castle. There should have been an ambush consisting of Kakuken Uwai and Hisataka Kabayama. Their goal is to take back Tsuruga Castle, so assist them with failing their goal by defeating them both. When you get close to either ambush party officer, you will trigger a mission to defend your castle, so it all works out in the end. Well, except for the Shimazu. Who you're in the middle of crushing. Back to the matters at hand. Your next goal should be the two Shimazu's south of Tsuruga Castle. They are Toshihisa Shimazu and Tadatsune Shimazu. When you get close to Toshihisa, he will set off a rockslide that will block your retreat path. No matter. You shouldn't need to retreat anyways. However, there will be another ambush led by Hisatora Ei. You will get a mission to defeat Toshihisa. When defeated, Toshihisa will make up some kind of excuse and retreat. While you're here, also defeat Hisatora for trying to ambush you. The only thing left is the Shimazu main camp, guarded by Yoshihisa Shimazu. However, when you enter the Shimazu main camp, Yoshihiro, Iehisa, and Toshihisa will all appear once again to fight you in a four on one battle inside their main camp. Not sporting odds, but this is war. The Shimazus are stronger now than the first time you met them. To complete this stage, you will need to defeat Yoshihisa, Yoshihiro, and Iehisa. --------------------------------- Stage 5: Siege of Odawara Castle --------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Ujimasa. Defeat Conditions: Hideyoshi is defeated, or Main Camp is captured. +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Toyotomi Army: \| Hojo Army: \| \| Hideyoshi Toyotomi \| Ujimasa Hojo \| \| Nene \| Kotaro Fuma \| \| Mitsunari Ishida \| Ujitada Hojo \| \| Masanori Fukushima \| Ujiteru Hojo \| \| Ujisato Gamo \| Yoshitake Mibu \| \| Hideie Ukita \| Norihide Matsuda \| \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| Masataka Kasahara \| \| Nagachika Kanamori \| Hiroteru Minagawa \| \| Kiyomasa Kato \| Yasuhiro Ogasawara \| \| Kanbei Kuroda \| Ujimitsu Hojo \| \| Kazutoyo Yamanouchi \| Naosada Hojo \| \| Terumasa Ikeda \| Reinforcements: \| \| Reinforcements: \| Ujinaga Narita \| \| None \| Naoshige Chiba \| \| \| Ujinao Hojo \| \| \| Ujitaka Hojo \| \| \| Ujifusa Hojo \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: It's time to take on the large family of the Hojo. When the stage starts, you are given a mission with the option to go north or south. Your first choice should be...middle. Take out the Ujimitsu Hojo and Naosada Hojo first. Kotaro Fuma should be in the vicinity also, so he should be the next one to fall. Kotaro shouldn't be too bad of an opponent for now. When the middle is cleared, make your choice to go north or south. I normally go south to assist Nene. After all, she is your wife. Either way, destroy the enemy general that's inside the garrison of your choice. Once that general is defeated, the gates inside the garrison will open. A siege ramp will appear and immediately get attacked by a lot of enemy troops, along with two enemy officers. You will get a mission to defend the siege ramps. Take this time to clear out as many enemy troops as possible and defeat the two officers. If the siege ramp breaks, don't worry. A second one will appear. This is why you need to clear out the enemy troops during the first one's appearance. Once either siege ramp is in position, you can now enter the outside grounds of Odawara Castle. Once inside the castle, make your way to where Ujitada Hojo is. He is guarding the Odawara Castle storehouse. You will get a mission to capture the storehouse. Complete this mission by defeating Ujitada. When you get close to the gates of the inner keep of Odawara Castle, Ujimasa will call for an ambush of your main camp. Three more Hojos fresh off of the Hojo production line will surround your main camp. You will get a mission to protect your main camp. Also, Kotaro will show up near your position and ask you to beat him up again. Kindly oblige him by beating him down. During your fight with Kotaro, Masamune Date should arrive as reinforcements, adding some more firepower to your arsenal. Go over to your main camp and defeat the three Hojos surrounding it. It doesn't matter which one goes down first as long as all three are defeated. To finish up the mission of protecting your main camp, you will need to defeat every enemy that is outside the castle's inner keep. Once you have done that, the gates to the inner keep of the castle will open. Make your way inside the castle. Enter the castle and face off with Yoshitake Mibu and Norihide Matsuda on the first floor. Once they are defeated, make your way to the second floor. On the second floor, there are a lot of riflemen in the area. Ujiteru Hojo should be your first opponent on the second floor. He is guarding the gate to the stairs. Once Ujiteru is defeated, the gate will rise up. However, before you can go up the stairs, Masataka Kasahara will try to block your path. Defeat Masataka and climb the stairs to the third floor. Here is where Ujimasa Hojo is. However, he is not alone. Kotaro Fuma will show up again, officially making him a huge pain in the ass. Kotaro will be powered up, so he won't be as easy to defeat as he was in the first two fights. Defeat Kotaro first and the focus all your attacks on the leader of the Hojos. Defeat Ujimasa to complete the stage and complete your conquest of Japan. ---------------------------- Dream: Battle of Sekigahara ---------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. Defeat Conditions: Main Camp is captured. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Western Army: \| Eastern Army: \| \| Hideyoshi Toyotomi \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| Mitsunari Ishida \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| Sakon Shima \| Ina \| \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| Naomasa Ii \| \| Ginchiyo Tachibana \| Masanori Fukushima \| \| Yoshitsugu Otani \| Nagamasa Kuroda \| \| Yukinaga Knoishi \| Takatora Todo \| \| Hideie Ukita \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| \| Teruzumi Akashi \| Nagachika Kanamori \| \| Hideaki Kobayakawa \| Tadayoshi Matsudaira \| \| Ekei Ankokuji \| Yoshinaga Asano \| \| Hidemoto Mori \| Terumasa Ikeda \| \| Hiroie Kikkawa \| Yoshiaki Kato \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| Kazutoyo Yamanouchi \| \| Satoie Gamo \| Reinforcements: \| \| Reinforcements: \| Kiyomasa Kato \| \| None \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| \| \| Ginchiyo Tachibana \| \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| \| \| Masamune Date \| \| \| Kojuro Katakura \| \| \| Shigezane Date \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: As soon as the stage starts, make your way over to Masanori Fukushima. You will get a mission to defeat the traitor. While you are fighting Masanori, the Mori army will decide they don't want to defect and will begin to move towards the enemy main camp. When Masanori is defeated, make your way over to Naomasa Ii and defeat him. Make your way over to Takatora Todo and defeat him as well. You will be waiting on Kiyomasa Kato to appear. When he does, make your way over to Kiyomasa. You will get a mission to defeat him. While you are fighting Kiyomasa, Ginchiyo Tachibana, Yoshihiro Shimazu, and Toyohisa Shimazu will all defect to the enemy. Also, Tadakatsu Honda will begin to march towards the northwestern garrison and Hanzo Hattori will appear in Mt. Matsuo Castle. When Kiyomasa is defeated, make your way over to Mt. Matsuo Castle. You will get a mission to rescue Hideaki Kobayakawa. Complete this mission by defeating Hanzo Hattori. While you are here, also defeat Yoshiaki Kato. Make your way over to your main camp. At the eastern gate of your main camp, Ginchiyo Tachibana and Ina will be trying to get inside your base. You will get a mission to prevent Ginchiyo from entering your main camp. Defeat Ginchiyo to complete your mission and then defeat Ina to prevent her from causing problems and then make your way to the northern gate of your main camp. Yoshihiro Shimazu will be here, along with Toyohisa Shimazu and a few other enemy officers. You will get a mission to prevent Yoshihiro from entering your main camp. Defeat Yoshihiro before he can enter your camp and then clear this area out of enemy officers. When this is done, make your way to the northwestern garrison. Your army will begin to charge the enemy main camp. This will cause Masamune Date along with his army to appear in the northwestern garrison. Tadakatsu Honda will also be here. You will get two missions. The first mission will be to rescue Satoie Gamo. Complete this mission by defeating Tadakatsu. This might be the only stage where Tadakatsu is not powered up, so enjoy it while it lasts. The second mission will be to prevent Masamune Date from entering your main camp. This shouldn't be too hard to complete, since Masamune is a long ways away from your main camp. The hard part of these two missions will be defeating the multiple enemy officers that are all crowded in the same area, but if you defeat each enemy officer on at a time, this shouldn't be too hard. The only powered up officer is Masamune, so save him for last. Once both missions are completed, clear out any enemy officer that is around or near your main camp. When that is done, make your way towards the Tokugawa main camp. Defeat the three guards that are guarding the gates to the main camp and then enter the main camp. Once inside the Tokugawa main camp, you will have to face off with Kazutoyo Yamanouchi and Ieyasu Tokugawa. Defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4o. Tadakatsu Honda's Walkthrough SW2STTADThe stage starts off with the Tokugawa Army outnumbered 3 to 1. Of course, this doesn't matter since one of those officers in the Tokugawa Army is Tadakatsu Honda. When the stage starts, make your way north and defeat Nagashige Tomita and Kagenori Asakura. Ieyasu Tokugawa will order you to attack the central garrison, so make your way over there. The garrison is being guarded by Yoshimune Kawai. Defeat him and then make your way back west. Help out the Tokugawa frontline by defeating Naganori Yamazaki, Kagekata Uozumi, and Jinpachiro Maeba. By now, Yasumasa Sakakibara should have infiltrated the Asakura main camp and opened all the gates to the camp. Go inside the Asakura main camp and say hi to the leader of the Asakura. Defeat both Yoshikage Asakura and his bodyguard, Kagenori Asakura, to drive off the Asakura Army. Now, the next goal is to defeat the Azai Army. From the Asakura main camp, head east. Oichi will order her faction of the Azai Army to charge the Tokugawa. You will face off with Kiyotsuna Akao, Tsunachika Kaiho, and Naotsune Endo. Each one of those enemy officers thinks he can stop you, so prove each one of them wrong by defeating them. Finally, Oichi will attempt to stop the Tokugawa advance. Defeat Oichi and then continue east along the river. When you reach the eastern part of the northern river, you will run into two Azai officers. They are Kazumasa Isono and Masazumi Azai. Defeat them both and then make your way inside the Oda main camp through the north gate. Here, Nagamasa Azai should be either inside or almost inside the Oda main camp. He should be here with Sadayuki Atsuji and Naoyori Shinjo. Defeat both of Nagamasa's officers first before defeating Nagamasa himself to complete the stage. -------------------------------- Stage 2: Battle of Mikatagahara -------------------------------- Victory Conditions: Defeat Shingen or Ieyasu and Tadakatsu arrive at the Katsuyori Takeda \| \| Tadatsugu Matsui \| Masakage Yamagata \| \| Kyuzaburo Suzuki \| Nobukado Takeda \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| \| \| Masanobu Kosaka \| \| \| Sakon Shima \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: This is basically a stage where you retreat, but you don't really have to retreat at the end. When the stage starts off, you're in the northern area of the map. The first person you should come across is Nobushige Oyamada. You will get a mission to stop his pursuit, so defeat him to complete this mission. Now, make your way west towards the Oda Army. You will get a mission to help them escape. You can help them out by opening a path for them. First, defeat Nobukimi Anayama to open up the north gate to the western garrison. Once inside the western garrison, defeat Masatane Hara to open up the south gate to the western garrison. Finally, defeat Moritomo Saegusa at the south gate. Now, thin out some of the enemy soldiers in this area. You don't have to defeat them all, but just get rid of some so that the Oda Army doesn't die to them. Now, leave the western garrison through the north gate and take the long way around to where Ieyasu Tokugawa is. He should be getting attacked by Katsuyori Takeda at this point. If you go through the central garrison, you will get ambushed there and you don't want that to happen just yet. When you reach Katsuyori, you will get a mission to stop his attack. Defeat Katsuyori to complete this mission. Now, go back to the central garrison. When you go inside the garrison, all the gates to the garrison will close and Masakage Yamagata and Nobukado Takeda will ambush you. You will get a mission to open up all the gates to the central garrison. Defeat Masakage and Nobukado to complete this mission and open up the gates. Leave the central garrison through the south gate and defeat Masatsugu Tsuchiya. Now, go back to where Ieyasu is and defeat all enemy soldiers that are around him. This will get him moving towards Hamamatsu Castle. When Ieyasu gets near the south gate of the central garrison, Kotaro Fuma will appear and attempt to assassinate Ieyasu. You will get a mission to defeat Kotaro, so complete this mission and then continue to escort Ieyasu towards Hamamatsu Castle. In the southwestern section of the map, this area will be filled with ledges. This area can be easy to get lost in if you don't know the terrain. You can only jump down ledges. You cannot go back up a ledge. Also, here in this area, Ieyasu will get ambushed once again. This ambush will be lead by Masanobu Kosaka. You will get a mission to protect Ieyasu. Complete this mission by defeating Masanobu. Now, by this time, Shingen Takeda should order a full attack on your army. You should get some allied reinforcements. Now, you can ignore protecting Ieyasu for the time being. The first general you should defeat is Masatoyo Naito. Now, make your way over to where Nobufusa Baba is. He should be in the garrison just north of Hamamatsu Castle. Defeat him and then make your way back towards Ieyasu. Clear out the enemies that are near him to get him moving towards Hamamatsu Castle again. When Ieyasu gets closed to Hamamatsu Castle, Sakon Shima will arrive as reinforcements for the Takeda Army. He will close all the gates to the castle and stop Ieyasu's retreat. You will need to defeat Sakon to open up all the gates to the castle. Now, when Sakon is defeated, you have two options. You can either escape with Ieyasu through the castle or you can go pay Shingen a visit. I normally just go after Shingen's head. Make your way all the way north to the northeastern garrison. Shingen is here with Nobutoyo Takeda. You will get a mission to defeat Shingen. Defeat both Takedas to complete the mission and the retreat. ------------------------------ Stage 3: Siege of Ueda Castle ------------------------------When the stage starts off, make your way east. Your first goal will be to seize the southwestern garrison. When you get close to Nagazane Irobe, there will be some ambush troops that will appear behind you. Ignore them for now. They will come to you, so just focus on the southwestern garrison. You will get a mission to take the southwestern garrison, so complete this mission by defeating Nagazane and Takahiro Kitajo. When they are defeated, go ahead and defeat the two ambush units, Zushonosuke Yumoto and Mino Kaneko. Now, leave the southwestern garrison through the north gate and head north. You cannot get inside the Uesugi garrison just yet, but you can defeat the enemy officer that is outside the stronghold. Defeat Shigenaga Honjo and then make your way back inside the cave and head west. You will get ambushed by Bitchu Kozuki, so teach him that it is not wise to ambush one of the strongest warriors in Japan by defeating him and then move on. At the south gate of Ueda Castle, you should find Yukimura Sanada, who is powered up and more powerful than most powered up enemy officers. He will be here with Genba Karasawa and Yorisada Yazawa. Normally, when you're facing an officer that is as powered up as Yukimura is, there is a way to get rid of that powered up status. In this case, you can get rid of Yukimura's status by taking control of Ueda Castle by defeating Masayuki Sanada. However, since you're Tadakatsu Honda, why not challenge the powered up Yukimura and see who exactly the strongest warrior in Japan is? Get rid of Yukimura's two bodyguards first and then face off with Yukimura himself in a one on one confrontation. During this battle, your army should get flooded near the central area, but don't worry about that too much. The only major thing that happens is that some of the terrain changes because of the flood. Just concentrate on knocking off Yukimura for now. When Yukimura falls, you should be able to access Ueda Castle. Now, you can open up the western gate of Ueda Castle from the inside just by going near it. First, make your way through the western gate of Ueda Castle and head over towards the northwestern castle. You will get a mission to take Toishi Castle. Do this by defeating Yataro Onikojima. Also, make sure you defeat Chikanori Suibara, who is guarding the south gate of Toishi Castle. When you have taken Toishi Castle, there is just one more officer in this area that you must defeat. South of Toishi Castle is Tomonobu Saito. Defeat him and then make your way back to the western gate of Ueda Castle. Your next goal will be Kanetsugu Naoe. He is locked away in the eastern garrison. You cannot get inside that garrison from the south, but you can get inside the garrison from the north. You will need to travel through another cave to get to the north gate of the eastern garrison. This gate is being guarded by a Defense Captain, so run through the soldier quickly and then make your way inside the garrison. Kanetsugu Naoe is not powered up, so he shouldn't provide much trouble. When you are finished with Kanetsugu, make your way back through the cave that is north of the eastern garrison and then head north through the cave. Follow this path until you get ambushed by two enemy officers. They should be Yukishige Yokotani and Mikawa Hisaya. Defeat them both and follow this path all the way to the east gate of the main keep of Ueda Castle. To open the east gate of the main keep of Ueda Castle, you will need to defeat the Defense Captain guarding it. Once inside the main keep, the first officer that will greet you will be Nobuyuki Sanada. Defeat your future son-in-law to open up the gates within Ueda Castle. Now, there are two paths you can take. Take the western path. This will lead you to Shigenori Suzuki. While you are fighting Shigenori, Kotaro will announce his presence on the stage. Defeat Shigenori and go up the stairs to the second floor. On the second floor, you will face off with both Kotaro Fuma and Masayuki Sanada. You will get a mission to defeat Kotaro, so defeat him first. When the dark ninja is defeated, finish off the elder Sanada to complete the stage. ---------------------------- Stage 4itsugu Otani \| \| \| Yoshikatsu Otani \| \| \| Ginchiyo Tachibana \| \| \| Yoritsugu Kinoshita \| \| \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: This stage is a relatively quick stage. You have to protect four allied generals from getting defeated. Since there are four of them, this shouldn't be too much of a problem. When the stage starts, make your way west. Defeat Teruzumi Akashi and continue to go west. When you get close to Kazuhide Nakamura, you will get a mission to rescue him. Complete this mission by defeating Satoie Gamo and Shigemasa Toda. When this mission is complete, make your way towards the northwestern part of the map. Ginchiyo Tachibana will launch an ambush of the southern garrison, but ignore her for now. You should be close to Tanomo Noisshiki, who should get ambushed by Yoshitsugu Otani and Yoshikatsu Otani. You will get a mission to assist in Tanomo's retreat, so defeat both Otani officers to help him survive. He should be fine now, so just leave him to retreat on his own. Make your way towards the southern garrison. Ginchiyo should be here with her assistant, Yoritsugu Kinoshita. You will get a mission to defend the southern garrison. Complete this mission by defeating both Ginchiyo and Yoritsugu. Now, leave the southern garrison through the south gate. Yoshihiro Shimazu should appear with Toyohisa Shimazu. Toyohisa will appear in the southeastern corner of the map, hence the reason for leaving the southern garrison through the south gate. When you get close to Toyohisa, you will get a mission to destroy the Shimazu Army. Defeat Toyohisa and then make your way north along the eastern path to the northeastern garrison. Defeat Yoshihiro Shimazu to complete your mission of destroying the Shimazu Army. Now, Yukinaga Konishi and Tamehiro Hiratsuka should be inside or around the northeastern garrison. Defeat both of these enemy generals to rescue Toyouji Arima. If Tanomo hasn't retreated yet, make your way over to him and defeat any and all enemy soldiers that around him until he retreats to complete the mission. The only thing left to do now is to take down the enemy main camp. Make your way back across the river to the western side of the map. Guarding the entrance to the enemy main camp is Musashi Miyamoto and Hideie Ukita. Hideie should be an easy kill, but Musashi is powered up and may take some time to bring down. You should have the advantage in terms of reach, so use that to your advantage. Once Musashi is defeated, make your way inside the enemy main camp. Sakon Shima is waiting for you here. Defeat Sakon to complete the stage. ------------------------------ Stage 5 south and then west. Your first target should be Teruzumi Akashi. When he is defeated, defeat Yukinaga Konishi next. South of your location should be the first enemy cannons. It's guarded by a Defense Captain. Defeat that Defense Captain and shut down that cannon. You will get a mission to shut down the enemy cannons. You've stopped one, but wait to stop the other one until later. Now, make your way south to where Masanori Fukushima is located at. He should be fighting off Yoshitsugu Otani. Defeat him and then quickly make your way north. Ginchiyo Tachibana should be attempting to make a run at your main camp. Normally, the west gate of your main camp is protected by Tadakatsu Honda. However, since you're Tadakatsu, there isn't anyone guarding that gate, which means once Ginchiyo defeats one allied general, she has a clear shot at your main camp. Track down Ginchiyo before she can enter your main camp. You will get a mission to prevent Ginchiyo from reaching your main camp. She will be powered up, so it may take some time to defeat her. When Ginchiyo is defeated, it's time to start the enemy defections. The first defection you should focus on is the Mori Army defection. This happens when you defeat Ekei Ankokuji. Make your way over to Ekei, ignoring Hiroie Kikkawa in the process. You will get a mission to defeat Ekei. When you have completed this mission, Hiroie and Hidemoto Mori will defect to your side. Now, remember that mission to stop the enemy cannons? Complete that mission by stopping the enemy cannons that are just south and west of your current location. Now, it's time to get the main defection started. Make your way over to the eastern path. When you get close to Magobei Fuse, you will get a mission to assist him in getting to Mt. Matsuo. To do this, first you must defeat Masaie Natsuka, who is trying to act like a roadblock. When he is defeated, make your way to the southern path that leads to Morichika Chosokabe. Defeat him and then leave the area. Magobei should make his way to Mt. Matsuo without anymore help, thus completing your mission. What you should do while you're waiting for Hideaki Kobayakawa to defect is to clear out some of the enemy generals that are still alive in the central area. When Hideaki defects, immediately begin to make your way towards the northwestern section of the map. Here, the Shimazu Army will begin to make their retreat. You will get a mission to stop their retreat. To complete this mission, you need to defeat Yoshihiro Shimazu and Toyohisa Shimazu. Both Yoshihiro and Toyohisa will be powered up with lots of life and defense, so they can take a few hits. Quickly defeat Toyohisa, as Musashi Miyamoto should begin to make his way towards your location. That is, unless you like three on one battles. Musashi is also powered up, so he also can take a few hits. However, he can also dish out the hits as well, making Yoshihiro's range and Musashi's power a deadly combination. Defeat one of these two enemy generals first, and then focus on the other one. When you get through these two generals, there should only be two enemy generals left on the battlefield and they should both be at the southwest corner of the map (if not, hunt down everyone else first). Sakon Shima is the general that is guarding the enemy main camp, so you will have to go through him first. You may have to open up a gate by defeating a Defense Captain, but that shouldn't be any problem. Sakon is powered up a little, but compared to Yoshihiro and Musashi, he should go down relatively quickly. When Sakon is defeated, the only thing left to do is defeat Mitsunari Ishida. Defeat Mitsunari to complete the stage. ------------------------------- Dream: Tournament of Champions ------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat all enemy officers. Defeat Condition: Any allied officer is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Tokugawa Guardians: \| Rival: \| \| Tadakatsu Honda \| None \| \| Naomasa Ii \| Reinforcements: \| \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| Musashi Miyamoto \| \| Tadatsugu Sakai \| Kojiro Sasaki \| \| Reinforcements: \| Tadaaki Ono \| \| None \| Munenori Yagyu \| \| \| Shigetaka Togo \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| \| \| Nene \| \| \| Genba Karasawa \| \| \| Koroku Hachisuka \| \| \| Keiji Maeda \| \| \| Dokyu Yamagami \| \| \| Danemon Ban \| \| \| Matabei Goto \| \| \| Shigenari Kimura \| \| \| Hideyoshi Toyotomi \| \| \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| \| Masamune Date \| \| \| Ujinao Hojo \| \| \| Yoshihisa Shimazu \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: This stage is different from any other battle. You start off with no enemies on the stage. The enemies will appear in four waves. The first three waves are random in appearance. The enemy officers for each wave are the same, but which waves appear first, second, or third is randomized. Furthermore, which garrisons the enemy officers attack are also randomized. Therefore, this is a hard battle to give specifics on. However, there are some tips that I can provide. First off, prevent the unique officers from entering the garrisons. If they enter a garrison, they will become powered up. You will know they have become powered up because they will say something along the lines of they rule you drool. Either way, make sure the unique officers are the first to fall. You will get a mission each time you get close to a unique officer to prevent them from entering whatever garrison they are targeting, so you can gain some gold for stopping the enemy officers from getting inside your garrisons. Second, try to keep as many soldiers alive as possible. You can do this by defeating the enemy officers quickly. The more soldiers that are alive in front of the gates to the garrisons, the more of a chance you have to prevent unique officers from entering a garrison. Even though when the enemy officers will show up is random, I can provide you which enemy officers will appear each wave. One wave will be the wave of swordsmen. This wave has the unique officers of Musashi Miyamoto and Kojiro Sasaki and the generic officers of Tadaaki Ono, Munenori Yagyu, and Shigetaka Togo. Another wave will be a wave of ninjas. This wave has the unique officers of Kotaro Fuma, Hanzo Hattori, and Nene and the generic officers of Genba Karasawa and Koroku Hachisuka. The third wave is the wave of miscreants. This wave has Keiji Maeda as it's only unique officer, but it has four generic officers. They are Dokyu Yamagami, Danemon Ban, Matabei Goto, and Shigenari Kimura. When the first three waves are defeated, the fourth wave will show up. This is the wave of minor lords. This wave is always last. This wave has the unique officers of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Ieyasu Tokugawa, and Masamune Date and the generic officers of Ujinao Hojo and Yoshihisa Shimazu. This wave is normally the toughest wave because of two reasons. First, they are all already powered up. If a unique officer enters a garrison, they become even more powered up. The second reason is the simple fact that most of your soldiers guarding the three garrisons should be killed off. Therefore, the unique officers will normally have an easy time breaking into a garrison and becoming stronger. Odds are, you will have to fight one or two powered up officers before completing this stage. When the last minor lord is defeated, you will have proven yourself to be the strongest warrior in the land. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4p. Ina's Walkthrough SW2STINA \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- Stage1: Siege of Odawara Castle -------------------------------- eastern gate. This gate will not open, so you will need to get a siege ramp set up to enter the castle. The siege ramp will start off along the eastern path and move towards the southeastern part of the castle. You will get a mission to defense the siege ramp. There will be an ambush of the siege ramp, but they will only be regular soldiers. Use a horse musou to run through these soldiers. Once the siege ramp is set up, your mission will be complete. Run up the siege ramp and enter Odawara Castle. Once inside, you will get a mission to stop the enemy cannon fire. Complete this mission by defeating Naohide Matsuda. Now, you will get a mission to open all three gates of Odawara Castle. Start by opening up the east gate. You can do this by defeating Yasusato Matsuda and Ujifusa Hojo. Now, make your way to the south gate. Here, defeat Naoshige Chiba and Ujinaga Narita to open up the south gate. Run outside of the south gate and defeat Yoshitake Mibu. Now, make your way towards the north gate of Odawara Castle. Take the eastern route around. This means you will have to navigate through the bomb corridor, but it's not too bad. Worst comes to worst, use a horse musou to get through it. When you arrive at the north gate, defeat Masataka Kasahara and Ujinori Uesugi to open the gate. Make your way outside of the gate and defeat Norisada Ueda. With your mission to open up all the gates of Odawara Castle complete, Kotaro Fuma has a surprise for you. He will open up a gate next to your main camp and allow some enemy generals direct access to your main camp. Rush over to your main camp. You can use the gate Kotaro opens to get to your main camp faster. When you reach your main camp, you will get a mission to defend your main camp. Defeat Masayo Ito, Ujitaka Hojo, and Tanenaga Hara to complete this mission. Now, leave your main camp through the southern exit and re- enter Odawara Castle through the east gate. Take the southern path around to the southwestern corner of the map. It is here that the storehouse can be found. When you enter the storehouse, you will get ambushed by Yasuhiro Ogasawara. You will also get a mission to take the storehouse. Complete this mission by defeating both Yasuhiro Ogasawara and Ujitada Hojo. Once you have taken the storehouse, make your way north towards the western courtyard. Kotaro will close off all the gates in this area and ambush you with ninjas. You will get a mission to defeat 100 enemy soldiers. Your horse musou will quickly run through a lot of enemy soldiers, so use that to your advantage. When 100 enemy soldiers are defeated, all the gates in this area will open. Continue to make your way north to where Ujiteru Hojo and Ujimitsu Hojo are. Defeat these two officers and then make your way towards the main keep of Odawara Castle. Enter the main keep and immediately head east. You will find two enemy soldiers here that are running the bomb corridor. You will get a mission to shut down the corridor. Defeat Hiroteru Minagawa and Naosada Hojo to complete this mission. Make your way west and head up the stairs to the second floor. On the second floor, Kotaro Fuma will appear and challenge you. You will get a mission to defeat Kotaro. When you have defeated Kotaro, the gates to the third floor will open up. Make your way to the third floor and defeat both Ujimasa Hojo and Ujinao Hojo Ina \| Raider \| None \| \| Peasant \| Raider \| Reinforcements: \| \| Peasant \| Raider \| Kotaro Fuma-------------------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, make your way towards the southeastern garrison. Four Raiders will be trying to get inside. You will get a mission to protect this garrison from the Raiders. Start off by defeating the two Raiders that are attacking from the south. When they are defeated make your way towards the northern gate of the garrison. Defeat the two Raiders who are here to complete your mission. Now, a Peasant should get ambushed in the northeastern part of the map. He will get attacked by two Raiders. Make your way towards this area. You will get a mission to protect the Peasant. Complete this mission by defeating the two Raiders who are attacking the Peasant. From here, make your way towards the central village. When you get inside, the gates of the central village will close. To get the gates to open, you will need to defeat all four Raiders who are inside this central area. When all the gates are open to the central village, leave the village through the north gate. While you were trapped inside the central village, Raiders have ambushed the northwestern garrison. Make your way towards the northwestern garrison. You will get a mission to protect this garrison. Complete this mission by defeating all four Raiders that have surrounded this garrison. Now, go back to the central village. When you enter the central village, a lot of regular bandits will appear here. You will get a mission to defeat a certain amount of bandits within a certain timeframe. The best way to kill off a lot of enemy soldiers quickly is to abuse your horse musou. This way, you can kill off many pockets of enemy soldiers. When this mission is completed, the Marauder will finally make his appearance. He will bring some more Raiders with him. Leave the central village through the north gate. Defeat all of the Raiders who are here and make your way back to the central village. Defeat any and all Raiders until you get close to the Marauder. The Marauder will say that he is bringing the Hojo back. This will cause Kotaro Fuma to appear on the map. He will be in the northeastern corner of the map. Make your way over to him. You will get a mission to defeat Kotaro. Kotaro is powered up, so he's much stronger than any of the other enemies on the map. When Kotaro is defeated, defeat any leftover Raiders. When the Marauder is the last enemy left on the battlefield, defeat the Marauder to complete the stage. ---------------------------- Stage 3ihiro Shimazu \| \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| \| \| Yoshitsugu Otani \| \| \| Yoshikatsu Otani \| \| \| Ginchiyo Tachibana \| \| \| Yoritsugu Kinoshita \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: You start off in the northeastern garrison. Make your way west across the river. In the northwestern corner of the map, Yukinaga Konishi and Tamehiro Hiratsuka are just starting their march towards the northeastern garrison. You will get a mission to protect the northeastern garrison. Defeat both of these enemy officers to complete this mission. Sakon Shima will call for reinforcements from the Shimazu Army. They will appear along the eastern path of the map. They will march towards the northeastern garrison. Make your way back to the northeastern garrison and then leave through the south gate. The first Shimazu you should run across is Toyohisa Shimazu. You will now get a mission to defeat the Shimazu Army. Defeat Toyohisa and continue south. Here, Yoshihiro Shimazu should challenge you to a fight. Defeat Yoshihiro to complete your mission. By this time, more reinforcements should arrive for the enemy. What you will want to do first is to go to where your ally Kazuhide Nakamura is located at. He should have three enemy generals surrounding him. You will get a mission to rescue Kazuhide. Complete this mission by defeating Teruzumi Akashi, Satoie Gamo, and Shigemasa Toda. Ginchiyo Tachibana should arrive as enemy reinforcements, but ignore them for now. Make your way towards the western path. Your ally Tanomo Noisshiki should be here getting attacked by Yoshitsugu Otani and Yoshikatsu Otani. You will get a mission to assist in Tanomo's retreat. Defeat these two enemy generals to assist in Tanomo's survival, and then head back to the southern garrison. You will get a mission to protect the southern garrison. First, defeat Yoritsugu Kinoshita. Now, make your way inside the southern garrison. Ginchiyo should be here waiting for you. Ginchiyo is powered up, so she won't be an easy kill. Now, make your way back to Tanomo and defeat any enemy soldiers that are in his way. When Tanomo reaches the retreat point, you can finally now go after the enemy main camp. There are two enemy officers guarding the enemy main camp. One of them is a generic officer, Hideie Ukita. The other is Musashi Miyamoto. Musashi isn't powered up on this stage, so he's not as powerful as he could be. However, he can still be a real handful. Get rid of Hideie first to make the battle one on one. Then, defeat Musashi to isolate Sakon Shima. Now, enter the enemy main camp and face off with Sakon. Defeat Sakon to complete the stage. ------------------------------ Stage 4When the stage starts, make your way over to where Teruzumi Akashi is. He should be fighting with Naomasa Ii. Defeat Teruzumi and then continue west. Don't get near Musashi Miyamoto. Leave him for later. However, do defeat Yukinaga Konishi. Now, make your way towards the first of the enemy's cannons. It should be east and then south of your location. Defeat the Defense Captain that is here to seal off the first of the cannons. You will get a mission to stop all of the enemy's cannons. You will get the second one later. For now, make your way north. Defeat some enemy generals in the central region along the way. You should try to defeat at least two of them quickly. When you have done that, make your way to where Tadakatsu Honda is. He should be getting attacked by Ginchiyo Tachibana. You will get a mission to prevent Ginchiyo from entering your main camp. Ginchiyo is powered up, but you should have some help from Tadakatsu. Defeat Ginchiyo to complete the mission and protect your main camp. Now, you should focus on getting some enemies to defect. The first defections you should trigger are the defections of Hiroie Kikkawa and Hidemoto Mori. To get them to defect, you will need to defeat Ekei Ankokuji. When you get close to Ekei, you will get a mission to defeat him. Defeat Ekei to gain some new allies. Now, make your way south. The second enemy cannon should be here. Defeat the Defense Captain that is guarding the second cannon and complete your mission of stopping the enemy cannons. Now, defeat Tamehiro Hiratsuka and make your way east. When you get close to Magobei Fuse, you will get a mission to escort him to the top of Mt. Matsuo. First, defeat Masaie Natsuka to get Magobei to start moving. Then, pass through the gate on the eastern path and follow the southern path to where Morichika Chosokabe is. Defeat Morichika to clear the path for Magobei. When Magobei enters Mt. Matsuo, he will use a hail of rifle fire to get Hideaki Kobayakawa and his men to defect. Now, the tides of the battle have turned. Make your way back north. You should clear out any enemy officers that may be trying to attack your main camp while you're waiting for Hideaki to defect. When Hideaki defects, there will be some talking. Once all the talking is done with, Yoshihiro Shimazu decides to make one final charge. When this happens, make your way towards the northwestern part of the map. You will get a mission to stop Yoshihiro from retreating. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Yoshihiro, but Toyohisa Shimazu is also in the area trying to cause problems for you. They are both powered up, so they have a lot of life and defense. Take down Toyohisa first to even things up a little. Yoshihiro has the advantage of range, but you should be able to negate this advantage with your attack speed. Try to be quick with defeating one of the two Shimazus, as Musashi Miyamoto is looking for your head. A two on one battle is much more preferable than a three on one battle, especially when all three enemy generals are powered up. Musashi has quick attack speed, so he will make up for the slow attack speed that Yoshihiro has. This is not a good situation for you to be in, so focus on one enemy general and then focus on the other. When both Yoshihiro and Musashi are defeated, there shouldn't be too many enemy officers left. Defeat anyone who still may be attempting to get into your main camp. You should defeat everyone until there are only two enemy officers left. They should be Sakon Shima and Mitsunari Ishida, both hiding in the southwestern corner of the map. Make your way to that area. Sakon Shima is guarding all the gates to the enemy main camp. Defeat Sakon to get those gates to open. Now, it's just Mitsunari left. Defeat Mitsunari to complete the stage. ------------------------ Stage 5 north and defeat Katsunaga Mori. This will open the gates to the Sanada Ward. You will get a mission to seize the Sanada Ward. Inside the Sanada Ward, you will have to deal with enemy officers and enemy riflemen. Defeat the riflemen so they won't cause any problems and then focus on the enemy officers. First, defeat Hidenori Sengoku and Kanesuke Susukida. Now that you have isolated Yukimura Sanada, he shouldn't be too hard to defeat. He is not powered up at this point, so he will fall quickly. When you have defeated him, Yukimura will retreat and you will have seized the Sanada Ward. Now, leave the Sanada Ward through the western gate and defeat Yukihiro Ujiie. Make your way back inside the Sanada Ward and leave this area through the north gate. This will allow you to have access to Osaka Castle. Your first goal should be to clear out the western part of the castle and open the western gate. Make your way over where Shigenari Kimura is and defeat him. Now, make your way over to the western gate of the castle. Danemon Ban should be guarding this gate. Defeat Danemon to open up the western gate. Make your way north to where Teruzumi Akashi is. Defeat him and pass through the gate he was near. In this area, you should find Yoshikatsu Otani. This will open up a gate to the main keep, but don't enter just yet. There's still some more work to do outside. Leave this area and make your way back south and then east towards the central area of Osaka Castle. It is here that you will run into Musashi Miyamoto. He is powered up and ready to fight. He has a lot of attack power, life, and defense, so he's not an easy challenger. However, consider this a litmus test for later. If you are having problems defeating Musashi, then odds are, what comes later will provide even more issues. When Musashi is defeated, the front gate to Osaka Castle will open. Ieyasu Tokugawa will order a cannon to move in front of Osaka Castle. You will get a mission to protect the cannon. First thing you want to do is get rid of all the riflemen that were behind the front gate of Osaka Castle. This way, you don't get knocked off of your horse. Now, you will want to defeat as many regular soldiers that are around the cannons as possible. The best way to do this is by using a horse musou. When you use a horse musou, the cannon will still move at normal speed because it is considered an officer, but the enemy soldiers will all move slowly, making them easy targets to run into. Also remember that Ina's horse attacks are on the left side of the horse, not the right side as most officers have them. There will be two enemy officers that also will try to attack the cannon, but they shouldn't be able to do too much damage. When the cannon is in place, it will fire on the main keep of the castle. This will get the enemy officers to charge, opening up the gates to Osaka Castle. Make your way north to the main gate of the main keep. Here, you will find Magoichi Saika along with Masayasu Miyoshi and Matabei Goto. Magoichi is powered up. He doesn't try to hit on Ina, so you definitely know he means business. Also, since it is Magoichi, he's brought along a lot of his friends, all of whom know how to use a rifle. Defeat all enemy officers in this area to get the main gate to the main keep to open. When you enter the main keep of the castle, take the stairs on your left and go up them. Here, you will fight Harufusa Ono. When he is defeated, what I normally do is go back down the stairs, go north a room, and then go up those stairs. That way, I can get rid of Harunaga Ono before aiming for Hideyori Toyotomi's head. When you go up to the third floor, Yukimura Sanada will appear again. Both Yukimura and Hideyori will be powered up. Defeat Yukimura first and then defeat Hideyori. Turns out, they were both merely doubles. The real Yukimura and Hideyori are actually outside of the main keep of the castle. Hideyori will attempt to escape through the eastern path while Yukimura will aim for Ieyasu's head. Your first goal should be to stop Hideyori. Hideyori will make a mad dash for the escape point, so it's your goal not to let him do that. Hideyori is powered up, but he shouldn't be any more difficult than the last time you fought him...which was about a minute ago. Defeat Hideyori and move on to Yukimura. Yukimura appears in the western area of the castle and tries to go south. He should have to deal with some allies first, so he shouldn't be anywhere near Ieyasu. Yukimura is even more powered up and will definitely put up a fight worthy of the greatest samurai of the era. When Yukimura is defeated, Osaka castle will have fallen and Japan will be unified under the Tokugawa banner. -------------------------------- Dream: Defense of Numata Castle -------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Masayuki and Yukimura. Defeat Conditions: Numata Castle is captured. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Tokugawa Army: \| Sanada Army: \| \| Ina \| Masayuki Sanada \| \| Shobei Fukae \| Yukimura Sanada \| \| Mohei Takigawa \| Genba Karasawa \| \| Shigeyasu Ikeda \| Zushonosuke Yumoto \| \| Tadashige Suzuki \| Bitchu Kozuki \| \| Reinforcements: \| Yukishige Yokotani \| \| None \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Mino Kaneko \| \| \| Yorisada Yazawa \| \| \| Mitsunari Ishida \| \| \| Sakon Shima \| \| \| Yoshitsugu Otani \| \| \| Mikawa Hisaya \| \| \| Iyo Tomizawa \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, you will get a mission to prevent the first wave of Sanada troops from entering the castle. Make your way south to defeat Genba Karasawa. After he is defeated, make your way over to the eastern gate of Numata Castle. Here, Zushonosuke Yumoto will be trying to break into the main keep. While you are fighting Zushonosuke, Masayuki Sanada should leave the battlefield. Something is going on. When Zushonosuke is defeated, head for the western gate of the castle. Defeat Bitchu Kozuki to complete your mission. Now, your next target should be the southeastern garrison. Yukishige Yokotani is here, guarding the garrison. You will get a mission to seize this garrison. Complete this mission by defeating Yukishige. Now, use the southern path to enter the enemy main camp. Here, Yukimura Sanada will be waiting for you. However, as soon as you reach Yukimura, Masayuki Sanada will appear in the northwestern garrison and will begin to move towards Numata Castle from the north. Defeat Yukimura Sanada quickly, as Masayuki does move fast towards the castle. He will be held up by some enemy soldiers, but not for long. Use Ina's musou early and often against Yukimura, as her musou is a general killer when it's not in level 3 form. When Yukimura is defeated, leave the enemy main camp through the north gate and take that path all the way to the northern path. You should have just enough time to cut Masayuki Sanada off from entering your castle. You will get a mission to defeat Masayuki before he can enter your castle. When Masayuki is defeated, the mission will be complete, but the stage will not. Masayuki will reappear inside your castle anyways and claim his strategy worked. I don't see how as you handed him his ass on a platter, but we'll let him think what he wants to think. Make your way over Mino Kaneko and defeat him while the Sanada Army is regrouping. Yukimura Sanada will eventually appear inside Numata Castle and he brings some friends with him. Mitsunari Ishida will appear, along with his army. Ina gets really flustered now that Mitsunari is around. After Mino Kaneko is defeated, make your way north to where Mitsunari is. Mitsunari is powered up, so he's going to take a while to defeat. You want to defeat Mitsunari quickly, as there are more places to go and more enemies to defeat. When Mitsunari goes down, make your way over to Numata Castle. If at any time Mikawa Hisaya and Iyo Tomizawa appear, make your way over to them. They will only appear when Tadashige Suzuki reaches the lake area that is northeast of the enemy main camp. You will get a mission when you get near them to defeat the ambush party and rescue Tadashige Suzuki, so defeat both ambush officers to complete this mission. Yoshitsugu Otani and Yorisada Yazawa should either be around or just barely inside Numata Castle. Defeat both of these generals and then head for the southeastern garrison. Sakon Shima will be here, trying to advance onto the castle. Again, Ina will ask the age old question: Why is Mitsunari here? Try to beat the answer out of Sakon Shima. Sakon is powered up, so he's not going to respond well to any interrogations. When Sakon is defeated, make your way back to Numata Castle. Enter the main keep and take the eastern path. The western path is blocked off. When you reach the end of the path, Yukimura Sanada will be here, trying to stop you from reaching the second floor. Yukimura Sanada is powered up and is surrounded by riflemen. So much for family reunions. Yukimura has a lot of attack, but his defense isn't high enough to make him withstand regular attacks. When your brother-in-law is defeated, make your way up the stairs to the second floor to face off with your father-in-law. Defeat Masayuki Sanada to complete the stage and defend your castle. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4q. Ieyasu Tokugawa's Walkthrough SW2STIEY off, you're at the southwestern corner of the map with your army. Immediately defeat Nagashige Tomita and Kagenori Asakura, since they are the first two generals you will run across. Now, make your way north. You will get a mission to divert the enemy's attention by attacking the frontline. Complete this mission by defeating one of the three enemy generals that are in the area. Of course, why just defeat one of them when you can defeat all three? Defeat Naganori Yamazaki, Kagekata Uozumi, and Jinpachiro Maeba, completing the mission in the process. This will allow Yasumasa Sakakibara to attack the back gate of the Asakura main camp, opening up all the gates to the Asakura main camp. First, defeat Yoshimune Kawai, who should be east of where you are currently located at, and then enter the Asakura main camp. Inside, you will find Yoshikage Asakura along with a bodyguard, Kagetake Asakura. Defeat both Asakura generals to force the Asakura Army to retreat. Now, you can focus on the Azai Army. Oichi will decide it is up to her to stop your entire army and leave her main camp. From the Asakura main camp, make your way east along the river. You should run into Oichi along with a couple other Azai officers, Kiyotsuna Akao and Naotsune Endo. Defeat all three Azai officers and continue to make your way east along the river. You should reach an area where Masazumi Azai and Kazumasa Isono are at. Defeat them both and then use the north gate of the Oda main camp to make your way towards Nagamasa. Nagamasa should either be inside the Oda main camp or close to being inside the Oda main camp. He should also be here with the remaining forces of the Azai Army, so defeat them first before you take on Nagamasa. Nagamasa should be tired by now and not as powered up as he starts off, so he shouldn't be that hard to defeat. Defeat Nagamasa to complete the stage. -------------------------------- Stage 2: Battle of Mikatagahara -------------------------------- Victory Conditions: Defeat Shingen or Ieyasu arrives at the Masakage Yamagata \| \| Tadatsugu Matsui \| Nobukado Takeda \| \| Kyuzaburo Suzuki \| Katsuyori Takeda \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| \| \| Masanobu Kosaka \| \| \| Sakon Shima \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: This stage is a retreat battle, but that doesn't mean you have to treat it as if it were a retreat. When the stage starts, make your way north and defeat Nobushige Oyamada. Now, head west to where the Oda Army is located at. When you reach them, you will get a mission to protect their retreat. Do this by defeating the enemy soldiers that are in the way. You don't have to defeat all of them, but at least make sure the enemy officers that are in the area are out of their way. Start off by defeating Nobukimi Anayama to open up the gate to the western garrison. Enter the western garrison and defeat Masatane Hara. This will open up the next gate. At this gate, Moritomo Saegusa will attempt to block the Oda Army's retreat. Defeat him and then thin out the enemy soldiers a little. You don't have to defeat everyone, but just make sure that there are not too many people around these areas. When you are satisfied with your killing, make your way east towards the central garrison. When you get inside the central garrison, the gates will close and you will get ambushed. You will get a mission to open all the gates to the central garrison. You must defeat Nobukado Takeda and Masakage Yamagata to complete this mission and escape the central garrison. Leave through the northern gate of the central garrison and make your way south of the Takeda main camp. Katsuyori Takeda should ambush you at this area. You will get a mission to defeat Katsuyori, so do this. Make your way south and take the path that leads you south of the central garrison. Kotaro Fuma will appear and attempt to take your head. You will get a mission to defeat Kotaro, so complete this mission. Kotaro is powered up slightly, but he should present no problems. While you're in this area, defeat Masatsugu Tsuchiya as well. Now, continue along the path that you are on. This will lead you to the southwestern area of the map. This area is filled with ledges and if you don't know this area very well, you could get lost. You can only jump down ledges. You cannot climb back up the ledges. Of course, since you are entering a new area, you're going to get ambushed again. This time, Masanobu Kosaka is leading the ambush. You will get a mission to defeat him and stop the ambush. Defeat Masanobu and continue along towards Hamamatsu Castle. Around this time, the Takeda Army should order a full scale attack on your army. However, you will also receive a lot of reinforcements in the form of Ieyasu impersonators. They will appear at various points on the map to distract the Takeda Army. Continue along the southern path, defeating Masatoyo Naito along the way. When you reach Hamamatsu Castle, Sakon Shima will appear as enemy reinforcements. He will close all gates to Hamamatsu Castle. Of course, Sakon has some witty comments for you. Sakon's quotes are second only to Shingen Takeda himself. In order to get inside Hamamatsu Castle, you must defeat Sakon. Now, you have two choices once Sakon goes down. You can end the stage by going inside Hamamatsu Castle, or you can hunt down Shingen. I normally go face off with Shingen. Make your way north to where Nobufusa Baba is and defeat him. Exit this garrison through the north gate and continue going north to the northeastern garrison. Shingen is here with Nobutoyo Takeda. You will get a mission to defeat Shingen. Defeat both Takedas to complete the stage. ----------------------------------- Stage 3: Battle of Komaki-Nagakute ----------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Hideyoshi. Defeat Condition: Nobukatsu is defeated, or Main Camp is captured+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, you are told not to charge out right away. Instead, defeat some enemy soldiers in the central area. I normally just close off the stronghold that is in the central area while waiting. After a little bit of time, you will get a message that says a detached enemy force is at Iwasaki Castle. They will start to attack the castle. You will get a mission to defend Iwasaki Castle. Complete this mission by defeating Nagayoshi Mori, Tsuneoki Ikeda, Hidetsugu Hashiba, and Hidemasa Hori. When Iwasaki Castle is defended, the Hashiba Army will begin to march. You will get a mission to defend the allied frontlines. I normally start off with defeating the officers in the west and work my way east. First, defeat Ujisato Gamo and Suketada Ogawa. Now, at the central area of the map, Nagachika Kanamori and Ittetsu Inaba should have gathered here. Defeat them both and make your way north. Your final target to complete your mission is Hidenaga Hashiba. Defeat him and you will have defended your frontlines. You should be close Gakuden Castle, so enter this area. The gates to the castle will close on you and you will get ambushed by Kiyomasa Kato and Kazutoyo Yamanouchi. Also, Hideyoshi Hashiba will begin his march south towards Nobukatsu Oda. Ignore him for now and deal with Kiyomasa and Kazutoyo. They both will be powered up, but they should go down quickly. When they are both defeated, the gates to Gakuden Castle will open. Nene will begin her attack on your main camp. You will get a mission to defeat Nene. Make your way south towards your main camp. Nene will be powered up, so she won't retreat without putting up a fight. When you defeat Nene, make your way back north to the central area. Defeat Mitsunari Ishida and Sakon Shima, who should be in the same area. They will try to double team you, but they both shouldn't be too much trouble. Now, if Hideyoshi hasn't reached Nobukatsu yet, make your way over to him and prevent him from reaching Nobukatsu. If he has, don't worry. Just rush over to Hideyoshi and defeat him to complete the stage. --------------------------------- Stage 4-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, you start off near the eastern gate. This gate will not open, so Hideyoshi Toyotomi calls for a siege ramp. You will get a mission to protect the siege ramp. There are no enemies to where the siege ramp is going, so of course, there's going to be an ambush of the siege ramp. They're just regular enemy soldiers, so it should be easy to knock them all off of the ramp. Worst comes to worst, a horse musou really works wonders on regular soldiers. When the siege ramp is in place, go up the ramp and inside the castle. You will now get a mission to stop the enemy cannon fire. Complete this mission by defeating Naohide Matsuda, who should be in this area. When this mission is completed, you will get another mission. This time, the mission will be to open all the gates to Odawara Castle. Start with the east gate, since you're already there. To open this gate, defeat Ujifusa Hojo and Yasusato Matsuda. Now, make your way over to the south gate. Open this gate by defeating Naoshige Chiba and Ujinaga Narita. Now, put your mission to open all the gates of Odawara Castle on hold for just one second while you go take out the enemy storehouse. They are located in the southwest, so make your way over to there. On your way to the storehouse, you will get ambushed by two ninja units, but just ignore them. When you reach the storehouse, you will get a mission to take the storehouse. Also, you will get ambushed by Yasuhiro Ogasawara. Defeat both Yasuhiro and Ujitada Hojo to take the storehouse and complete your mission. Now, you have pissed off Kotaro Fuma. He will open a gate that leads to a path that will lead directly to your main camp. Enemy generals will use this path to reach your main camp, so make your way over to your main camp. You will get a mission to defend your allied main camp. Complete this mission by defeating Ujitaka Hojo, Tanenaga Hara, and Masayo Ito. Now, remember that mission you got earlier to open all the gates to Odawara Castle? Masamune Date should complete this mission for you by opening up the north gate. However, sometimes he is slow, so if he doesn't open up the gate fast enough, the enemy will open the gate up for him and begin to charge after him, which means you need to go save him. Either way, make your way towards this area. You will probably have to pass through the bomb corridor to get there, so make sure you don't lose your horse in this area. Defeat any enemy generals that may still be in this area. Now, from this area, take the western gate around to north entrance to the main keep of the castle. This entrance should be guarded by Ujimitsu Hojo and Ujiteru Hojo. Defeat both Hojos, but don't enter the main keep of the castle just yet. Instead, from this area, make your way back to the western path and go south. You will be in a large courtyard. Kotaro Fuma will have the gates of this courtyard close and ambush you with a large group of ninjas. You will get a mission to defeat 100 enemy soldiers. A horse musou will kill off a lot of enemy soldiers quickly, so use that to your advantage. When 100 enemy soldiers are defeated, all the gates will open again, including an entrance to the main keep of the castle. Go inside the main keep. When you're inside the main keep of the castle, the first thing you should do is shut off the bomb corridor. The enemy officers controlling the bomb corridor are two rooms east of the staircase to the second floor. You will get a mission to stop the bomb corridor. Complete this mission by defeating Hiroteru Minagawa and Naosada Hojo. With the bomb corridor shut down, make your way up the stairs to the second floor. Here, Kotaro Fuma will appear and shut the gate to the third floor. You will get a mission to defeat Kotaro. Kotaro is powered up, but shouldn't be too hard to defeat. Ruin Kotaro's fun by giving him a good beating. When Kotaro is defeated, the gate to the third floor will open up. Now, you will face off with the two heads of the Hojo clan. Ujimasa Hojo and Ujinao Hojo will attempt to double team you, but they're only Hojo officers, so they shouldn't be too hard to defeat, even with a two on one disadvantage. Defeat both Hojo leaders to complete the stage and unify Japan for the Toyotomi Army. ------------------------------ Stage 5: Battle of Sekigahara ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Mitsunari. Defeat Condition: Main Camp is captured over to where Naomasa Ii is located at. In this area, there should be two generals here trying to defeat him. Defeat both Teruzumi Akashi and Yukinaga Konishi. Now, make your way south of this area to where the first cannons for the Western Army is located at. Defeat the Defense Captain that is here. You will get a mission to stop the enemy cannons. You have stopped the first one. You will get the second one later. For now, make your way over to where Hideie Ukita and Yoshitsugu Otani are at. They will either be finishing off Masanori Fukushima or making their way north. Defeat them both and then defeat Shigemasa Toda and Satoie Gamo while you are at it. Now, make your way north towards your main camp. Here, Ginchiyo Tachibana should be attempting to take on Tadakatsu Honda. Normally, this is an unfair fight, but Ginchiyo is powered up, so she's not going to let Tadakatsu stand in her way. Defeat Ginchiyo quickly. Now, it's time to make some enemies defect to your side. Your first goal is to make the Mori camp defect. To do this, you will need to defeat Ekei Ankokuji. Ignore Hiroie Kikkawa and make your way straight to Ekei. You will get a mission to defeat him, so do so. Defeating Ekei will cause Hiroie and Hidemoto Mori to defect. The fun doesn't stop there. Remember that mission to stop the enemy cannons you partially completed? Now complete that mission by getting rid of the second Defense Captain that is located southwest of your current position. Once you have done that, defeat Tamehiro Hiratsuka and continue along this path that leads to the eastern path. When you get close to Magobei Fuse, you will get a mission to escort him to Mt. Matsuo. To complete this mission, first, defeat Masaie Natsuka and then move south and then west towards Morichika Chosokabe. Defeat Morichika and then clear the path for Magobei Fuse to enter this area. When Magobei gets close to Mt. Matsuo Castle, you will get a cut scene of his riflemen firing at Hideaki Kobayakawa. This will cause Hideaki and his troops to defect to your side, giving you the advantage in the battle. Now, from this point, make your way towards the northwestern part of the map. Here, Yoshihiro Shimazu will be attempting to retreat along with Toyohisa Shimazu. You will get a mission to defeat the Shimazu Army and stop them from retreating. Both Yoshihiro and Toyohisa will be powered up, so they won't be quickly defeated. What makes things even worse is that Musashi Miyamoto will begin to hunt you down. He is also powered up, so you will want to defeat Toyohisa quickly to avoid a three on one battle. A two on one battle isn't that good either, especially when one of them is Musashi, but it's better than a three on one battle. Yoshihiro isn't really a good match up for Ieyasu because Yoshihiro has the edge in range, so you will have to find some ways to get close to Yoshihiro to combo him. You can't really use long range attacks on him because Musashi is there to stop your attacks if you attempt to use them. Try to focus on one of these two generals and defeat them so you can focus on the other. When both Yoshihiro and Musashi are defeated, this will leave only two enemy generals left on the battlefield. Make your way south using the western path until you get to the enemy main camp. Sakon Shima will be guarding the main camp, so you will need to get by him first to get to Mitsunari Ishida. Defeat Sakon to get the gates of the main camp to open. Here, Mitsunari is waiting for you. Defeat Mitsunari to claim victory at Sekigahara. ------------------------ Stage 6 When the stage starts off, cannons are firing from the Sanada Ward. Your first goal should be to stop those cannons. The gate to the Sanada Ward is being guarded by Katsunaga Mori. Defeat him to gain access to the Sanada Ward. Once inside, you will get a mission to take control of the Sanada Ward. The first two generals to greet you are Hidenori Sengoku and Kanesuke Susukida. Defeat them both and then continue on deeper into the Sanada Ward. When you go up the stairs inside the Sanada Ward, you will come face to face with Yukimura Sanada. Yukimura is powerful, but not powered up. When Yukimura is defeated, the cannons will stop firing. Also, the west gate of the Sanada Ward will open up. Take the west gate out of the Sanada Ward and defeat Yukihiro Ujiie. Make your way back inside the Sanada Ward and go back up the stairs to where you fought Yukimura. This will give you access to the entire castle. The first thing you will want to do is clear out the western section of the castle. The first general in this area you will want to defeat is Shigenari Kimura. Now, head over to the western gate of Osaka Castle. Here, Danemon Ban will be guarding the western gate. Defeating him will open up the gate, allowing more of your allied troops to enter the castle. Make your way north to where Teruzumi Akashi is located at and defeat him as well. This will open up the gate north of him. Pass through the gate and face off with another enemy general. This time it is Yoshikatsu Otani. Defeating him will open up a gate to the main ward of the castle, but don't go inside just yet. You still have a few more enemies on the outside of the castle you need to get rid of. Make your way back out towards the western gate of Osaka Castle and then head back up the stairs, working your way towards the central area of Osaka Castle. Here, Musashi Miyamoto will be standing guard. He will be powered up, so he's not going to be an easy kill. Just try to get to his backside and attack him from behind whenever possible. Also, try to defeat all the riflemen that are in this area. This will become important later on. When Musashi is defeated, the front gate of Osaka Castle will open up. A cannon will appear outside the front gate and will slowly move towards the castle. You will get a mission to protect the cannon. Use your horse musou often to defeat any enemy soldiers that are around the cannon. This will also slow down the enemy soldiers while your cannon moves at regular speed, since it is considered to be an allied officer. This is why you needed to defeat those riflemen earlier. The cannon can take a lot of hits, but it still needs a lot of protection. When the cannon is in place at the second front gate of Osaka Castle, it will begin firing at the main keep of the castle, completing your mission. The gate will open up, allowing you to access the front door of the main keep. However, this area is guarded by a few enemy generals, the strongest being Magoichi Saika. Defeat Magoichi and the men that are protecting the front door of the main keep and then enter the main keep of the castle. Once inside the main keep, make your way up the first set of stairs to the second floor. Here, Harufusa Ono will attempt to stop you from getting to his lord. Defeat Harufusa, but don't go up the stairs just yet. Go back to the first floor and then go north to the next room. Go up the set of stairs that are in this room. Here, Harunaga Ono will attempt to stop you from going any further inside the main keep. Defeat Harunaga and then go up the stairs to the third floor. Hideyori Toyotomi is here, but he is not alone. Yukimura Sanada will come back to protect Hideyori. Both Yukimura and Hideyori will be powered up. Try to defeat Yukimura first, as when you do, you will realize that he is just a body double. When you defeat Hideyori, the same thing will happen. It will be just a body double. The real Hideyori and Yukimura will appear outside of the main keep of the castle. Hideyori will attempt to escape while Yukimura will go after Hidetada Tokugawa. Make your way outside the main keep of the castle and get back on your horse. Ride over to where Hideyori is at. He will be attempting to escape in the southeast. Defeat Hideyori before he can reach the escape point. Hideyori shouldn't be too hard to defeat. Now, the only enemy officer you have left to defeat is Yukimura, who is powered up and gunning for Hidetada. Make your way over towards the western side of the map. Yukimura will not go down without a fight, but this should be a fairly one sided battle. Defeat Yukimura to complete the stage, unify Japan, and bring an end to the Sengoku Era. --------------------------------- Dream: Last Stand against Ieyasu --------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Kagekatsu, Kanetsugu, and Yoshinobu. (Later changes to Defeat Kagekatsu, Kanetsugu, Yoshinobu, Yoshishige, Masayuki, and Yukimura.) Defeat Conditions: Any allied officer is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Tokugawa Army: \| Uesugi Coalition: \| \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| Kagekatsu Uesugi \| \| Ina \| Yoshinobu Satake \| \| Nobumasa Okudaira \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| \| Tadayoshi Matsudaira \| Keiji Maeda \| \| Tadamasa Matsudaira \| Yoshishige Satake \| \| Reinforcements: \| Mototada Kasuga \| \| None \| Chikanori Suibara \| \| \| Dokyu Yamagami \| \| \| Yasutsuna Kamiizumi \| \| \| Fusamoto Makabe \| \| \| Shigemoto Makabe \| \| \| Masakage Umezu \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Mitsunaga Irobe \| \| \| Yoshihide Shida \| \| \| Yoshitada Shimo \| \| \| Masayuki Sanada \| \| \| Yukimura Sanada \| \| \| Yorisada Yazawa \| \| \| Genba Karasawa \| \| \| Mino Kaneko \| \| \| Bitchu Kozuki \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, make your way north and quickly defeat Fusamoto Makabe and Masakage Umezu. You will want to kill them fast, as Shigemoto Makabe will eventually begin his march on Zenkoji. When you have killed the two enemy officers in the central area, make your way to Zenkoji. You will have to get here by going through your main camp and through the southern maze area to reach Zenkoji in the southwest. When you reach Shigemoto, you will get a mission to prevent him from entering Zenkoji. Defeat him to complete this mission. When Zenkoji is safe, make your way north along the western path into the western garrison. You will get a mission to take this garrison by defeating the Satake Army. Complete this mission by defeating Yoshishige Satake and Yoshinobu Satake. Leave the western garrison through the north gate. You will get ambushed by Mitsunaga Irobe here. Quickly defeat him, as the Uesugi Army will begin to charge your main camp. You will want to stop the Uesugi Army before they can do any damage. When Mitsunaga is defeated, make your way to the central plains. Defeat Mototada Kasuga and Chikanori Suibara and then make your way over to Kagekatsu Uesugi and his army. When you reach Kagekatsu, you will get a mission to prevent the Uesugi Army from entering your main camp. Defeat Kagekatsu and the other officers in the area to complete this mission. Even with Kagekatsu gone, Kanetsugu Naoe doesn't seem to be startled one bit. Make your way south to the southeastern garrison where Kanetsugu is. You will get ambushed by Yoshihide Shida and Yoshitada Shimo. You will also get a mission to seize this garrison. Clear out all enemy officers in this garrison to complete this mission. Kanetsugu Naoe is powered up, so he may take some time to defeat. When Kanetsugu is defeated, the Sanada Army will appear and try their luck against your army. Unfortunately, Keiji Maeda decides that this is the right moment to make his move and leave his garrison in the northwest. Quickly defeat Mino Kaneko, who will appear in the southeastern garrison and then make your way to the western garrison, which is Keiji Maeda's target. He will be powered up and will have Bitchu Kozuki in tow. Try to defeat Keiji quickly, as Yukimura Sanada and everyone else will pick this time to make a run at your main camp. When Keiji is defeated, make your way into your main camp. Yukimura will be here, along with his father, Masayuki Sanada, and a couple other generic officers. Of course, Yukimura and Masayuki are both powered up, so try to kill off the two other generic officers first. After that, defeat the two Sanadas and complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4r. Mitsunari Ishida's Walkthrough SW2STMII starts, quickly take over Mt. Tenno. Once you have done this, defeat some enemies that are along the slopes of the mountain, along with Masachika Matsuda, and then run back down the mountain. Make sure you activate the mission to assist with Kiyomasa with going up to Mt. Tenno. You don't have to escort him, but just clear out all enemies that are in his path. Head over and assist with the taking of Shoryuji. When you get close to Shoryuji, you will receive a mission to take Shoryuji. To accomplish this mission, you will need to defeat Kaneaki Mimaki and Sadayuki Atsuji. While you are taking Shoryuji, two things should happen. Kiyomasa should reach the top of Mt. Tenno and Nobuharu Tsuda should ambush your troops near Shoryuji. Once you have taken Shoryuji, defeat Nobuharu and then head over to Mt. Tenno. Wipe out any troops and generals that are attempting to climb up the mountain. What you are waiting for is another ambush by Mitsuhide at Shoryuji. This ambush unit will consist of Toshimitsu Saito and Katsusada Shibata. When you get close to the ambush unit, you will receive a mission to defeat the ambush unit. Defeat these two generals quickly, as Mitsuhide will launch another ambush at Mt. Tenno. Rush up the mountain defeat the two generals here. Now the only people left should be the Akechi family. Hidemitsu Akechi and Shigetomo Akechi should be out trying to charge Mt. Tenno at this time, so hunt them down and defeat them before they can even get on the slopes. The only person left should be Mitsuhide in his main camp-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ \| Hashiba Army: \| Shibata Army: \| Uesugi Army: \| \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| Katsuie Shibata \| None \| \| Mitsunari Ishida \| Oichi \| Reinforcements: \| \| Nene \| Keiji Maeda \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| \| Masanori Fukushima \| Toshiie Maeda \| \| \| Kiyomasa Kato \| Toshinaga Maeda \| \| \| Nagahide Niwa \| Morimasa Sakuma \| \| \| Hidemasa Hori \| Katsumasa Shibata \| \| \| Hidenaga Hashiba \| Nagachika Kanamori \| \| \| Shigetomo Takayama \| Nagayori Hara \| \| \| Kiyohide Nakagawa \| Katsumitsu Fuwa \| \| \| Shogen Yamaji \| Hideaki Tokuyama \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| Nagayori Murai \| \| \| None \| Yasumasa Sakuma \| \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| \| Shogen Yamaji \| \| +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ Walkthrough: The first mission you receive when you start the stage is to take more garrisons than Kiyomasa Kato or Masanori Fukushima. This should be easy, as you only need to take three garrisons to complete this mission. However, the mission is not considered to be complete until all four garrisons are taken. The closest garrison is the southern garrison, guarded by Hideaki Tokuyama. The closest garrison to that one is the eastern garrison, guarded by Nagayori Hara. Then, take your third garrison by taking over the west garrison and defeating Katsumitsu Fuwa. When you have taken two garrisons, Kanetsugu Naoe should appear on the battlefield. Ignore him for now and make your way to the central path. Wait for Hideyoshi to say that he would like to talk to Toshiie Maeda. You will need to complete a mission before you can rush over to where Toshiie Maeda is located at. You will receive a mission to stop Morimasa Sakuma from entering the central garrison. Complete this mission first by defeating Morimasa and then go to the fort where Toshiie is. To get inside the fort, you will need to defeat Toshinaga Maeda first. When you get inside the fort, you will be given a mission to defeat Toshiie Maeda. Completing this mission will cause Kanetsugu Naoe to retreat. By now, Shogen Yamaji should have defected to the Shibata Army, so head to your main camp. You will get a mission to protect your main camp. Defeat Shogen Yamaji to complete this mission. If the fourth garrison hasn't been taken yet, head for the north garrison and take it. Either way, when all four garrisons have been taken, your next target should be the central fort. Inside the fort is Katsumasa Shibata. Defeat him and to get the north gate to open. Right beyond the north gate is Keiji Maeda. Keiji is Keiji, meaning he won't be an easy general to defeat. However, if you are having problems with Keiji, you can try to get some of your allies to help you out. Hideyoshi should have called for his army to charge, so there should be some allies somewhere just waiting to be used as decoys. Once Keiji is defeated, the only thing left to do is storm the enemy main camp. Nagayori Murai drew the short straw of defending the main camp gate, so reward him by killing him off. Inside the main camp, Katsuie Shibata and Oichi are waiting for you. Defeating Katsuie will end the stage, so if you want the experience from defeating Oichi, you have to defeat her first. ----------------------------------- Stage 3: Battle of Komaki-Nagakute ----------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. Defeat Condition: Hideyoshi is defeated head for the central area and then make your way towards the eastern path. Along the way, you should defeat Nobumasa Okudaira and Tadayo Okubo. This should give Tsuneoki Ikeda enough time to be a moron and attack when he shouldn't. Go over and help the moron stave off the enemy. When you reach the Ikeda Army, you should receive a mission to assist them. Complete this mission by defeating Ujishige Niwa and Naomasa Ii. Once that is done with, continue on and take Iwasaki Castle. When you get inside the castle, you will receive mission to take it. Defeat Yasumasa Sakakibara to complete this mission. This will cause Ieyasu Tokugawa to move his forces to Kiyosu Castle. Tadakatsu Honda will advance on Iwasaki Castle and Hanzo Hattori will begin his move to your main camp. Cross the bridge and take the fight to Tadakatsu. Ina should advance first, so defeat her quickly before Tadakatsu arrives. You do not want this to be a two on one battle, especially if one of those two is Tadakatsu. When Tadakatsu arrives in your area, you will be given a mission to defeat both Ina and Tadakatsu. Tadakatsu is not an easy opponent, so defeating him will be a pain. However, you should have some allies in the area, so use them as decoys to beat down Tadakatsu. When you have completed the mission to protect Iwasaki Castle, make your way back towards your own main camp. You will want to cut Hanzo off before he reaches your camp. When you approach Hanzo, you will receive a mission to stop him from reaching your main camp. This should be no problem, as Hanzo should be no where near your main camp. After beating down Tadakatsu, Hanzo should be a breeze to beat. Once Hanzo is defeated, make your way back to the central area of the map and start to clean house. When there are no more enemies in the central field, make your way to Kiyosu Castle. Along the way, you should run into Tadasuke Okubo. Defeat him and then move on to the castle. There should be two gates here. Each gate is guarded by a general. Kazumasa Ishikawa is defending the north gate and Moritsuna Watanabe is defending the east gate. Pick a door that you want to go through (or go through both if you want to defeat both generals) and make your way to Nobukatsu Oda and Ieyasu Tokugawa. This will be a two on one battle, but Nobukatsu should only be a minor annoyance. Defeat him first and then finish off Ieyasu to complete the victory. --------------------------------- Stage 4 Kanetsugu Naoe \| Yoshitake Mibu \| \| Yukimura Sanada \| Norihide Matsuda \| \| Masanori Fukushima \| Masataka Kasahara \| \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| Naohide Matsuda \| \| Nagachika Kanamori \| Yasusato Matsuda \| \| Kiyomasa Kato \| Ujinaga Narita \| \| Kanbei Kuroda \| Naoshige Chiba \| \| Kazutoyo Yamanouchi \| Hiroteru Minagawa \| \| Terumasa Ikeda \| Yasuhiro Ogasawara \| \| Reinforcements: \| Ujimitsu Hojo \| \| None \| Naosada Hojo \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Ujinao Hojo \| \| \| Ujitaka Hojo \| \| \| Ujifusa Hojo \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: There are a lot of Hojos on the board, but as Shingen said in SW:XL inside the infinite castle, they are just Hojos. Your first mission is to take the northern garrison. You can complete this mission by defeating Hiroteru Minagawa. Once you have the northern garrison, the gates in that garrison will open and a siege ramp will appear. Your next mission will be to defend the siege ramp. Odds are, because of how many enemies are in this area, you won't be able to defend the first siege ramp, so just focus your energy on defeating as many soldiers and generals in this area as you can. If the first siege ramp is destroyed, don't worry. Hideyoshi has lots of money, so he can afford to bring a spare one. Make sure one of the two siege ramps goes up to complete the mission. Now, make your way inside the castle walls and start running wild over any enemies inside. Your first target should be Ujimitsu Hojo. Defeat him and then continue south. Your next target should be Naosada Hojo. Continue south to where Ujitada Hojo is. He will be guarding the storehouse for the castle. You will get a mission to take the storehouse. Complete the mission by defeating Ujitada. The Hojo will then spring an ambush around your main camp. This will cause a mission of defending your main camp to appear. Don't rush to your main camp just yet because as soon as you leave through the front gate, Kotaro Fuma will show up and try to ambush Hideyoshi. Kotaro is powered up, so he won't be an easy kill. Once you have defeated Kotaro, make your way back to your main camp, which is now surrounded by various Hojos. They're worse than cockroaches and number as many. To complete the mission of defending your main camp, you need to defeat all enemy generals outside of Odawara Castle. This means that even if that a general not anywhere near your main camp could cause the mission to continue. However, if you have been following my guide, there should be only a few enemy generals that are not inside the main keep of the castle. When going to your main camp, you should run into a couple of generals. They are Naoshige Chiba and Ujinaga Narita. Defeat them both and then make your way into your main camp. It doesn't matter which order you defeat the Hojo ambushers just so long as you defeat all three. They all pretty much have the same name anyways, so it really doesn't matter. Christmas time in the Hojo household must have been very confusing. I mean, if they had Christmas back then in Japan... Either way, once all three Hojo ambushers are defeated, defeat any other generals that may be on the map. There should be only be a few more generals left, so clean them out. To complete the mission, you do not have to defeat Yoshitake Mibu or Norihide Matsuda, so you can save them for last. However, you do need to defeat Yasuhiro Ogasawara, so defeat him while you're down there defeating Ujifusa Hojo. Once all the generals outside have been defeated, you will be complete the mission of protecting your allied base. It's now time to go inside the castle. Once inside the castle, make your way to the second floor. There, you should find a bunch of riflemen along with Ujiteru Hojo. When Ujiteru is defeated, the gate on the second floor will rise up. Beyond the gate is Masataka Kasahara, who is not a Hojo but should be beat like one anyways. There are a lot of riflemen here, so get them out of the way first. Once Masataka is defeated, make your way up to the third floor. There, you will find Ujimasa Hojo, but he will not be alone. Kotaro Fuma has decided that being a loser once a day is not enough, so he will show up again. Make Kotaro a two time loser and then defeat Ujimasa to complete the stage. Long live the Hojo Clan indeed. ---------------------------- Stage 5: Battle map is actually a pretty quick map and it's not as tough as it may sound. Your allies are surprisingly tough and won't die at the slightest touch. However, that doesn't mean you can take your time. In order to complete the missions on this map, you need to be quick. As soon as the stage starts, make your way to where Kazuhide Nakamura is located. Defeat Kazuhide quickly, as you will soon receive a mission to prevent the Eastern Army from retreating. Make your way north and defeat Tanomo Noisshiki next. Yoshimasa Tanaka should appear and try to make an escape route for the Eastern Army, so you have to be quick with completing the first mission. You will receive a second mission soon after Yoshimasa arrives. That mission is to stop the enemies from securing the escape route in the southeast. Defeat Tanomo and then continue north to where Noriyori Arima is. While you are fighting him, Kojiro Sasaki should arrive as reinforcements for the Eastern Army. Defeat Noriyori quickly and then make your way to the southeastern corner of the map. There, you will face off with Yoshimasa and Kojiro. Defeat these two quickly, as while you are fighting them, they are trying to secure the escape route. If you have managed to do everything quick enough, you should complete both missions. When both missions are completed, the gates to the southern and northeastern forts will open, allowing you access to Kazutada Nakamura and Toyouji Arima. You should first defeat Kazutada, as he is the closest. Once Kazutada is defeated, Tadakatsu Honda and the rest of the Eastern Army reinforcements will arrive. Tadakatsu's goal is your main camp, so cut him off before he reaches it. You will receive a mission to prevent Tadakatsu from reaching your main camp. While you are fighting Tadakatsu, Hanzo will appear and head for Sakon. Ignore Hanzo for now and beat down Tadakatsu. I love how Tadakatsu says he's never suffered any wounds in battle, considering the fact that he already got beat once at Komaki-Nagakute. Once Tadakatsu is defeated, make your way back to your main camp. While you're on your way to your main camp, defeat any generals that are standing along the way. Hanzo might be in the area, so if he is, have a nice friendly debate with him on the topic of "Which is cooler: Ninjas or Pirates" and then prove your argument by beating him. When you reach your main camp, Tadatomo Honda should be there trying to cause problems. Once Tadatomo is defeated, it's time to do some clean up duties. The main general that you really should focus on is Ina. When you reach Ina, there will be a mission to defeat her. She is powered up and should have a couple of enemy generals in the area, so she won't go down easily. However, you should also have a couple of allied generals in the area also, so use them as distractions to get to Ina's backside (I mean in terms of attacking her, you pervert). Once she is defeated, the rest fall easily and without much trouble. When all enemy generals on the map are defeated, then victory is yours. ----------------------------- Stage 6: Battle of Sekigahara ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. Defeat Conditions:I apologize if this walkthrough isn't that great. When making this walkthrough, this was only the second time I played through Sekigahara (Mitsunari was the first character I used that had Sekigahara as a stage and was actually the sixth character I played as when playing this game). The path I provide here may not be the best path through the stage. Either way, make your way towards the central area and start to clear out some of the enemy generals in this area. Ina will disappear, but she will be back later. When you get the mission to stop the enemy cannons, complete this mission. Magobei Fuse will appear and then begin to make his way to where Hideaki Kobayakawa. When you reach Magobei, you will get a mission to defeat him. Stop Magobei from being able to taunt Hideaki and prevent Hideaki from defecting. Now, head to where Ekei Ankokuji is, but do not go there by way of the eastern path. Take the other path and go around to where Ekei is. Getting too close to Hiroie Kikkawa will cause him to defect. You will have to take on a few generals in this area. Some of them are Terumasa Ikeda, Kazutoyo Yamanouchi, Yoshinaga Asano, and last but not least, Hanzo Hattori. This can be a rough battle, especially considering the fact that there are a lot of annoying ninjas in this area. Fight off everyone and clear the area of enemy soldiers to save Ekei from being defeated. By now, Ina should have showed back up on the western path and is heading for your main camp. Get back on your horse and ride all the way across the map to where Ina is. When you get close to Ina, you will receive a mission to prevent her from reaching your main camp. She is powered up, so she may take a good bit of time to defeat. Once Ina is defeated and you have completed the mission to stop her, head back to the central area. There should still be a few generals in this area such as Masanori Fukushima and Naomasa Ii, so clear out this area. After all the enemy generals in the central area are defeated, make your way to the northwestern section of the map. Ginchiyo Tachibana should be here fighting with Tadaoki Hosokawa, so help her out with this issue. Once there is only Ieyasu Tokugawa and Tadakatsu Honda left on the battlefield, the entire Western Army will begin charging the enemy main base. However, to get to Ieyasu, you will need to go through Tadakatsu. However, this is the third time you've seen Tadakatsu, so this battle is no different than the other two. Use your allies and decoys and attack Tadakatsu when he's not looking and the big man will go down pretty quickly. The only thing left to do is to run Ieyasu out of town. Defeat Ieyasu and you will have won the battle of SekigaharaMake your way over to the north gate right away and defeat Naotaka Ii. Masamune Date will eventually open up the north gate and begin firing at Hideie Ukita with an ambush of riflemen. Make your way inside the north gate. You will get a mission to rescue Hideie Ukita. Complete this mission by defeating Shigenaga Katakura. While you're in this area, also defeat Masanobu Honda, who is located in the northwestern part of the castle. Now, make your way back out of the castle through the north gate. Make your way over to the west gate of Edo Castle. You will get a mission to open the west gate. Complete this mission by defeating Terumasa Ikeda. At this point, the Mori army will defect to the Eastern Army. It didn't work the first time at Sekigahara (well, historically, it did, but not in this story mode), so what makes them think it will work a second time? You will get a mission to quickly wipe out the Mori traitors. Defeat Hiroie Kikkawa, who is at the west gate of Edo Castle and then make your way to the south gate of Edo Castle. You will get a message that Ekei Ankokuji has been taken prisoner inside Edo Castle. You will get to this in a moment. Right now, focus on defeating the three defectors. Your next target will be Hidemoto Mori. He will be with Nagachika Kanamori. Defeat them both and move on to the east gate of Edo Castle. By now, Kanetsugu Naoe and Yukimura Sanada will bring some reinforcements to assist your army. They should be able to hold most of the enemy army in check while you are dealing with the traitors. When you reach the east gate of Edo Castle, Hideaki Kobayakawa will be here with Yoshiaki Mogami. Defeat Hideaki to complete your mission. Make your way back to the western gate of Edo Castle and enter the castle. You will get a mission to defeat all enemies inside the castle walls to open the gates to the main keep. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Naomasa Ii, Shigezane Date, Takatora Todo, Ietsugu Sakai, and Yasumasa Sakakibara. While you are completing this mission, you should also open up the two remaining closed gates from the inside. Eventually, Kotaro Fuma will appear and attempt to rush Hideyori Toyotomi. Quickly make your way over to Kotaro. You will get a mission to prevent Kotaro from entering your main camp. Kotaro is powered up, but he shouldn't be too hard to defeat. When Kotaro is defeated, make your way to the southeastern section of Edo Castle. Here, you will find a Defense Captain guarding a gate leading to the smaller keep of the castle. This is where Ekei Ankokuji is being locked up. When you reach Ekei, you will get a mission to escort him to your main camp. However, when Ekei steps out of his prison cell, Toranosuke Aoyama ambushes him. Toranosuke is a powered up ninja officer, so he can be annoying sometimes. Defeat Toranosuke and then clear a path for Ekei to reach your main camp. Ekei likes to stop along the way and fight any peons in his line of sight, so make sure his path is cleared for him to reach the main camp. Now, if you want, you can head to the main keep and defeat Hideyasu Yuki and Hidetada Tokugawa. However, you cannot reach Ieyasu Tokugawa through the main keep. You will have to reach Ieyasu through the smaller keep. Hidemune Date is on the first floor of the smaller keep. Defeat him and then make your way upstairs to Masamune Date. He is guarding the path to the second floor of the main keep. Masamune is powered up, but you should have some help in the form of allied generals. Defeat the ambitious young lord and make your way across the catwalk. Now, the only obstacle standing in between you and Ieyasu is Tadakatsu Honda, and he is one big obstacle. Tadakatsu is powered up and has lot of life and defense, so it may take a while for you to bring the big man down. Once Ieyasu's bodyguard is defeated, make your way to the third floor of the main keep. Defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4s. Nagamasa Azai's Walkthrough SW2STNAG \____________________________________________________ --------------------------- Stage 1: Battle of Anegawa --------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Nobunaga and Ieyasu. Defeat Conditions: Nagamasa, Oichi, or Yoshikage is defeated. Hanzo Hattori \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: At the start of the battle, quickly get rid of Tsuneoki Ikeda and Saizo Kani. When that is done with, head over to where the Asakura are. Start taking down the Tokugawa Army one by one. Clear out all the generals from this side of the map to make sure the Asakura don't get into any trouble at all. Ieyasu will order Hanzo Hattori to attack Oichi. Protect your woman by heading back to your main camp. You will receive a mission to protect Oichi. Defeat Hanzo quickly, as Hideyoshi Hashiba should have ordered an attack on your main base, triggering another mission. He will come with Magoichi Saika, so you really don't want a three on one battle right now. When Hanzo is defeated, focus your attention on the monkey and the sniper. Complete the mission of protecting your main camp from these two and then begin your trek east. When you get close to Yokoyama Castle, you will receive a mission to protect it. The enemy general attacking Yokoyama is Nagahide Niwa, so make quick work of him. With all the wandering enemy generals out of the way, it's time to focus on those generals that just stay in their forts all day. The first general you want to try to get to is Nobunaga Oda. You will need to break through two sets of gates to get to him. Since you're already close to the north gate of Nobunaga's fort, you might as well break through there first. The first general guarding the north gate is Masahisa Sakai. Defeat him and then move on to Katsuie Shibata. He should provide a little bit more of a challenge, but not by much. When you have defeated Katsuie, Katsuie will seal the gates so that you can't open them (why didn't he just do that to begin with and then go attack your main base?). You will need to find another way into the main base. Luckily, there a west gate conveniently placed for all your breaking in needs. Nobumori Sakuma is guarding the first western gate while Mitsuhide Akechi is guarding the second western gate. Defeat these two guards and you will meet up with the final guard. However, the Asakura will retreat and Tadakatsu Honda will decide that this is the perfect time to attack your main camp. You have one of two choices. You can quickly finish off the level and hope Tadakatsu doesn't take your main camp or you can defeat face off with Tadakatsu. Since we're assuming you want to defeat every general on the map (you do want to, right?), head back and cut off Tadakatsu Honda from invading your main camp. After all, you can't let Oichi get hurt trying to fight off Tadakatsu and you get 2000 gold just for beating him. I love how Nagamasa talks about protecting Oichi his entire Story Mode, yet when knowing Tadakatsu is trying to kill off Oichi, he goes and says he must not face Tadakatsu. Tadakatsu is not like normal generals. He is always in powered up mode and has a lot of stamina and health. He won't fall quickly, so use every trick in the book that you know to beat him. Once Tadakatsu falls, you will need to head back to the Oda main camp. Defeat Yoshinari Mori, who is guarding the last gate into the Oda main camp, and then face off with your brother-in-law. Defeat Nobunaga and then locate Ieyasu. He will not be in his main camp. He will be out trying to assist Nobunaga. Where ever Ieyasu is, defeat him to complete the stage. -------------------------- Stage 2: Siege of Mt. Usa -------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Yoshinari. (Later changes to Defeat Nobunaga.) Defeat ConditionsWhen the level starts, make your way up Mt. Usa. Keep going to the top of the mountain. When Nagamasa sees that no one is at the top of the mountain, jump down the cliffs of the mountain to where Yoshinari Mori and Hidemasa Hori are. You will get a mission to stop Yoshinari from entering the Asakura main camp. Defeat Yoshinari and Hidemasa and the Oda main forces will arrive on the battlefield. What you will want to do first is to take the eastern path to where Hideyoshi Hashiba and Tsuneoki Ikeda are located at. You will want to defeat these two generals to help the Asakura survive this battle. Defeat them quickly, as this isn't the only main camp you have to save. You need to rush over to Katsuie Shibata and prevent him from entering your main camp. You have some time, but not much. When you get close to Katsuie, you will receive a mission to stop him. If he enters your main camp, all the generals inside your main camp will defect to the Oda forces, leaving you with more problems than you want to deal with right now. While you're in the area, you might as well defeat Nobumori Sakuma and Kazumasu Takigawa, since they're there in your way. The Oda Army will receive some more reinforcements and then begin to charge. You need to defend two points. The first point you should defend is Mt. Usa. Mitsuhide Akechi, Morinari Ando, and Nagahide Niwa should be attacking the southern side of mountain, so rush up the mountain and knock these guys off of it. You want to protect Mt. Usa first instead of the Asakura main camp because Yoshikage Asakura is surprising durable. After you're done defeating Mitsuhide and his gang, you will want to fight off Ranmaru Mori next. Ranmaru has Narimasa Sassa with him and Ranmaru himself is powered up because you killed his father. Defeat Ranmaru and Narimasa and then jump down the mountain to where the Asakura main camp is. Start defeating enemies near Yoshikage. Yoshikage is durable, but not that durable. He should be surrounded, so thin out some of the Oda troops. Also, Ittetsu Inaba should be here, so make sure you get rid of him. Once you have gotten it to a point where you know Yoshikage will survive, take down some strongholds that are producing the enemy soldiers. You don't have to get rid of the ones far away, but get rid of the ones closest to the Asakura main camp. Once this is over and done with, it's time to invade Nobunaga Oda's main camp. When you get close to the Oda main camp, you will receive a mission to get inside. There are three generals outside of the Oda main camp. The gates will open if you defeat No. The other general, Bokuzen Ujiie, is just here to be annoyances. Get rid of all three generals and invite yourself inside the camp. Nobunaga should be inside with Toshiie Maeda, so defeat these two generals to complete the stage. --------------------------------- Stage 3: Defense of Odani Castle --------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Nobunaga. Defeat Conditions: Either Oichi or Yoshikage is defeated, or Odani Castle is captured. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Azai-Asakura: \| Oda Army: \| \| Nagamasa Azai \| Nobunaga Oda \| \| Oichi \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| \| Kazumasa Isono \| Katsuie Shibata \| \| Sadayuki Atsuji \| Ranmaru Mori \| \| Kiyotsuna Akao \| Ujisato Gamo \| \| Tsunachika Kaiho \| Kazumasu Takigawa \| \| Keijun Miyabe \| Narimasa Sassa \| \| Reinforcements: \| Hidemasa Hori \| \| Yoshikage Asakura \| Saizo Kani \| \| Kagenori Asakura \| Nagahide Niwa \| \| Kagetake Asakura \| Nagachika Kanamori \| \| Kageakira Asakura \| Reinforcements: \| \| Kagekata Uozumi \| Ittetsu Inaba \| \| \| Yukihiro Ujiie \| \| \| Morinari Ando \| \| \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| \| \| Tsunoeoki Ikeda \| \| \| No \| \| \| Nobutada Oda \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: As soon as the stage starts, ride out to where Saizo Kani and Hidemasa Hori are located at. Defeat these two quickly, as Nagamasa will begin to say that reinforcements from the Asakura are coming from Mt. Jizo. Mt. Jizo at the time is currently occupied by the Oda Army, so you will have to ride up there and defeat the enemies there. There are a lot of riflemen outside of Mt. Jizo, so be careful of your advance. At Mt. Jizo, Nagahide Niwa and Nagachika Kanamori aren't just going to give you the mountain, so you will have to take it from them by defeating those two. Taking the mountain will fulfill two things. The first thing it will do is it will complete the mission that pops up when you arrive at Mt. Jizo. The second thing it will do is allow your reinforcements to show up. When your reinforcements do show up, quickly make your way to the central garrison. Hideyoshi Hashiba should have blown up a wall in the garrison that revealed a path to the Inner Ward of your castle. When you get close to Hideyoshi, you will receive a mission to stop him from going inside your castle. Punish the bad, destructive monkey by defeating him in battle. This will complete your mission, but this will also cause you to get ambushed by Ittetsu Inaba, Yukihiro Ujiie, and Morinari Ando. Defeat these three generals quickly, as there are other places you need to go. When the gates of the central garrison open, make your way to where Ranmaru Mori is located at. He should be here with Ujisato Gamo. Mitsuhide Akechi should also show up in this area as an ambush unit. Defeat these three generals while you are waiting for another Oda ambush, this time north of the central garrison. These ambush troops will arrive when Oichi reaches the Minor Ward. They are Tsuneoki Ikeda and Toshiie Maeda. There should be some allied soldiers in this area, so they shouldn't be able to go very far. They should still be in the northern area by the time you reach them. Defeat these two enemy generals and make your way back into the central garrison. Use the path that Hideyoshi created to get inside your castle. The place you want to go is where Tsunachika Kaiho is located at. He should be getting beat up on by Katsuie Shibata and his two cronies, Kazumasu Takigawa and Narimasa Sassa, so go assist your ally. When you reach Tsunachika, you will receive a mission to assist him. Defeat these three generals here in this area and you will complete the mission. Nobunaga Oda will commend Nagamasa for his abilities and the Azai Army will begin to charge the Oda main camp. This will cause No and Nobutada Oda to appear at the gates of the Oda main camp. No will be guarding the north gate and Nobutada Oda will be guarding the east gate. Defeat one of these two generals and then make your way inside the main camp. You will probably have to face the other general along with Nobunaga, so defeat the other general as well before finishing off Nobunaga. --------------------------------- Stage 4: Showdown at Shizugatake --------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Hideyoshi. (Later changes to Defeat Hideyoshi, Ieyasu, and Mitsuhide.) Defeat Conditions: Either Oichi or Yoshikage is defeated, or the Main Camp is captured. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Azai-Asakura: \| Coalition: \| \| Nagamasa Azai \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| \| Yoshikage Asakura \| Nene \| \| Oichi \| Sakon Shima \| \| Kazumasa Isono \| Kiyomasa Kato \| \| Kiyotsuna Akao \| Masanori Fukushima \| \| Tsunachika Kaiho \| Hidemasa Hori \| \| Sadayuki Atsuji \| Koroku Hachisuka \| \| Kagenori Asakura \| Tsuneoki Ikeda \| \| Kagetake Asakura \| Hidenaga Hashiba \| \| Reinforcements: \| Yoshinaga Asano \| \| None \| Saizo Kani \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Mitsunari Ishida \| \| \| Yoshitsuga Otani \| \| \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| \| Katsuie Shibata \| \| \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| \| \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| \| Naomasa Ii \| \| \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| \| Toshiie Maeda \| \| \| Hidemitsu Akechi \| \| \| Nobuharu Tsuda \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: This battle is a long one and is a two phase battle. The first phase is taking on the Hashiba Army. When the battle starts, make your way south and then towards where Nene is. You do not want Nene to convince to Asakura to defect. This would mean you have to worry about enemies on all sides instead of just three fronts like you are right now. When you reach Nene, you will receive a mission to stop her. Complete this mission and then make your way back to the central path. Sakon Shima will be trying to charge into your main camp. Stop him from doing so. Now, Mitsunari Ishida along with Yoshitsuga Otani should have appeared near the Asakura main camp. You will want to help the Asakura out. However, what you can do is complete one mission while going to rescue your allies. You might as well complete the mission to take down the four garrisons on Mt. Tenjin while you're on the way to fighting Mitsunari. It will kill two birds with one stone. Each garrison has a guardian in it, with Kiyomasa Kato guarding the eastern garrison, Masanori Fukushima guarding the western garrison, Hidemasa Hori in the southern garrison, and Koroku Hachisuka hiding in the northern one. You should start at the southern garrison and work your way north. Defeat all four of these generals to complete the garrison mission. Now, take the northern path to where Mitsunari is trying to defeat your allies. Fighting off Mitsunari and Yoshitsuga should not be a hard battle because you should have a few allies in the area. Defeat them both and then make your way back to the central area. The next goal you should focus on is taking out that western fort. You will need to access the fort through the south gate. When you get to the south gate, you will receive a mission to take the fort. Defeat the Defense Captain and then make your way inside. To complete the mission, you will need to defeat Tsuneoki Ikeda and Hidenaga Hashiba, which should be simple. Once you have taken the western fort, make your way south. You will get a mission to assist Kiyotsuna Akao with the attack on the Hashiba main camp. You will want to attack the Hashiba main camp from the western gate, so defeat Yoshinaga Asano and Saizo Kani who are just in the way. When you defeat Saizo Kani, the western gate will open. When you enter the Hashiba main camp, the second phase of the battle will begin. Ieyasu Tokugawa, Mitsuhide Akechi, and Katsuie Shibata will all arrive on the field with their armies. Defeat Hideyoshi quickly, as the stage rapidly fills up with enemies again. Luckily, Hideyoshi isn't powered up on this stage, so he should fall pretty easily. When Hideyoshi is done for, leave through the same gate you came in. You will run into a few members of Mitsuhide's army, Hidemitsu Akechi and Nobuharu Tsuda. Defeat these two enemies and then continue north along the western path. Since Mitsuhide is going for your main camp, you will want to defeat him first. Mitsuhide is a little powerful, but not by much. He should fall quickly. Go rescue Oichi if she is in danger from any enemy generals and then make your way north through your main camp. Katsuie Shibata should be your next target, as the garrisons you have taken on Mt. Tenjin are extremely sturdy, especially against a Tadakatsu Honda attack. Toshiie Maeda should be inside your main camp, so get him out of it by defeating him. Make your way to the Asakura main camp. Katsuie should either be inside the Asakura main camp or close to entering the camp. Defeat him before he can cause too much damage. Now, you can focus on defending the eastern garrison. Your first target should be the biggest target, and on the battlefield, they don't come much bigger than Tadakatsu Honda. He should be harassing the southern garrison, so go there quickly to assist with its defense. Tadakatsu is the same as always. It's a pain to hurt him and he painfully hurts you. When you manage to get the big man down, assist with the defense of the next two garrisons by defeating Naomasa Ii and Yasumasa Sakakibara. When you have isolated Ieyasu Tokugawa, go after him. Defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage. ------------------------------ Stage 5: Battle of Kanegasaki ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Nobunaga. (Later changes to Defeat Yoshikage.) Defeat Conditions: Nagamasa, Yoshikage, or Oichi is defeated, or Nobunaga reaches the Escape Point. (Later changes to Nagamasa, Nobunaga, or Oichi is defeated). No \| \| Oichi \| Ranmaru Mori \| \| Kazumasa Isono \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| \| Kiyotsuna Akao \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| \| Tsunachika Kaiho \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| Reinforcements: \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| None \| Yoshinari Mori \| \| \| Saizo Kani \| \| \| Hidemasa Hori \| \| \| Tsuneoki Ikeda \| \| \| Hidemitsu Akechi \| \| \| Toshimitsu Saito \| \| \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| \| Tadatsugu Sakai \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Magoichi Saika \| \| \| Yoshimasa Oka \| \| \| Morishige Tsuchihashi \| \| \| Katsuie Shibata \| \| \| Naramasa Sassa \| \| \| Toshiie Maeda \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Oda-Azai: \| Asakura Army: \| \| Nobunaga Oda \| Yoshikage Asakura \| \| Nagamasa Azai \| Kagenori Asakura \| \| Oichi \| Kagetake Asakura \| \| Kazumasa Isono \| Kagekata Uozumi \| \| Kiyotsuna Akao \| Naotaka Magara \| \| Tsunachika Kaiho \| Naozumi Magara \| \| Reinforcements: \| Jinpachiro Maeba \| \| None \| Yoshitsugu Maeba \| \| \| Naganori Yamazaki \| \| (Note: In the middle of the \| Yoshimune Kawai \| \| battle, you will switch sides. \| Nagashige Tomita \| \| Any previous enemies you did not \| Reinforcements: \| \| defeat will become your allies.) \| None \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: So apparently, all the battles up until now were just a dream. Say what you want about KOEI and their storylines in this game, that twist was one twist that no one was expecting. Whether you liked the little plot twist or not, it sure was creative. Things don't stop their either. This battle is another two phase battle. The first phase is chasing down Nobunaga Oda. When the stage starts, make your way north to where Hideyoshi Hashiba is. Pick a fight with the monkey and you will get a mission to break through the surrounding enemy. You will need to defeat Hideyoshi, Tsuneoki Ikeda, and Hidemasa Hori to complete this mission. Continue north to the Asakura main camp. You will get a mission to prevent the Tokugawa Army from entering the Asakura main camp. You can accomplish this by defeating Ieyasu Tokugawa and Yasumasa Sakakibara. During this mission, the Asakura should order you and your men to burn down a forest. Don't worry about this quite yet. When you have accomplished this mission, your next targets should be Tadatsugu Sakai and Tadakatsu Honda. Tadatsugu should be an easy kill, but Tadakatsu, as always, is a different story. You do have some time to play with him, but not a whole lot of time, so try to end the battle as quickly as possible. When Tadakatsu is defeated, you will want to help Oichi now and the fire attack. Take the long way around by taking the eastern route. Taking the central route will cause Nobunaga to show up prematurely. You're not done setting up the battlefield quite yet. When you reach where Oichi is, she should be getting harassed by Magoichi Saika and his posse. Defend your woman by beating down Magoichi and then clean this area out. You should get a mission during or after this battle with Magoichi to make the fire attack succeed. There should be three more officers in this area. They are Saizo Kani, Yoshimasa Oka, and Morishige Tsuchihashi. Get rid of all three of them, along with any other enemy soldiers, so that the fire attack may succeed. Take the path that the fire attack carves out to where Yoshinari Mori and No are at. Defeat these two generals and then head north. When you reach where Mitsuhide is located at, there will be a lot of riflemen in the area. A level 3 musou from Nagamasa will get rid of most, if not all, of the riflemen. If you don't have that yet, then just get rid of the riflemen that are the most annoying and then focus on Mitsuhide. Also in this area should be Hidemitsu Akechi and Toshimitsu Saito, who should die as well. Once they are defeated, Katsuie Shibata should show up with more men for you to kill. When you have defeated Katsuie Shibata and his men, Nobunaga Oda and Ranmaru Mori will appear around the center of the western path. You will receive a mission to not let Nobunaga escape. Chase down Nobunaga. The Asakura Army will call for reinforcements, but this shouldn't be a big deal. Ignore Ranmaru (or defeat him if you want, doesn't really matter) and defeat Nobunaga. Nobunaga is tough, so this may take a little bit of time. After Nobunaga is defeated, you will get a cut scene of Nagamasa deciding to not kill Nobunaga. The Asakura will receive a lot of reinforcements. All of a sudden, most of your allies are now your enemies and all of your enemies are now your allies. The second phase of the battle has just begun. There should be an Asakura enemy at just about every clearing, so get to work going around and defeating the Asakura Army. Since you defeated Nobunaga, in the western area, it only makes sense to target the enemy in that area first. Defeat Naotaka Magara and then make your way south. Jinpachiro Maeba should be here fighting with Kazumasa Isono, so rescue your ally. Head east through the fire carved path to where Naganori Yamazaki is. Defeat him and then go north. By now, all the Asakura Army should be gathering in the northern areas trying to take down Nobunaga, Oichi, or both. Destroy any enemies in the northern areas that your allies haven't gotten to yet. When you have defeated all the enemies outside of the Asakura main camp, defeat the Defense Captain guarding the enemy main camp and make your way inside. Your former ally, Yoshikage Asakura, should have two bodyguards with him, Kagenori Asakura and Kagetake Asakura. Defeat all three Asakuras, leaving Yoshikage for last, to complete the stage. ------------------------------ Dream: Showdown at Sekigahara ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat all enemy officers. Defeat Conditions: Nobunaga, Nagamasa, or Oichi is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Oda-Azai: \| Takeda-Uesugi: \| \| Nobunaga Oda \| Shingen Takeda \| \| Nagamasa Azai \| Kenshin Uesugi \| \| Oichi \| Yukimura Sanada \| \| Yoshinari Mori \| Katsuyori Takeda \| \| Toshiie Maeda \| Masayuki Sanada \| \| Hidemasa Hori \| Nobufusa Baba \| \| Tsuneoki Ikeda \| Masakage Yamagata \| \| Saizo Kani \| Masanobu Kosaka \| \| Reinforcements: \| Ujimasa Hojo \| \| \| Ujinao Hojo \| \| \| Ujiteru Hojo \| \| \| Tsunamoto Oniniwa \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| \| \| Kagekatsu Uesugi \| \| \| Yataro Onikojima \| \| \| Kageie Kakizaki \| \| \| Yoshikiyo Murakami \| \| \| Kagetsuna Naoe \| \| \| Masamune Date \| \| \| Shigezane Date \| \| \| Kojuro Katakura \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: You have a lot of enemy officers to defeat on this stage. Make your way to the central area of the map. The Takeda Calvary will begin their charge on the central area. The first officer you should aim for is Nobufusa Baba. He will be powered up, so he may take some time to defeat. When he is defeated, make your way south and defeat Katsuyori Takeda and Masanobu Kosaka. They will also be powered up. When all three are defeated, Kenshin Uesugi will charge out from the northwestern garrison. Make your way over to Kenshin. When you reach Kenshin, the main army of the Uesugi will arrive. You will receive two missions. The first will be to defeat the Uesugi army. The second will be to prevent Kenshin from entering your main camp. Focus your energy on defeating Kenshin. He is powered up, so he's going to be hard to defeat, especially with Kagetsuna Naoe in the area providing a distraction. When Kenshin and Kagetsuna are defeated, quickly make your way south to Mt. Matsuo Castle. Tsuneoki Ikeda should be attempting to capture this castle. Unfortunately, Masamune Date and his army will ambush him. You will get a mission to rescue Tsuneoki Ikeda. Defeat Shigezane Date, Kojuro Katakura, and Masamune Date to complete this mission. While you are here, also defeat Tsunamoto Oniniwa. Now, make your way back to where Kanetsugu Naoe and the rest of the Uesugi Army are. Defeat Kanetsugu Naoe and the remnants of the Uesugi Army to complete your first mission. There should be four or five officers leftover from the Uesugi Army. When they are defeated, make your way north to where the north cannon is. You will get a message that Yukimura Sanada is controlling the cannons. You will then get a mission to halt the cannon fire. To complete this mission, defeat Yukimura Sanada. Yukimura is not powered up, so he shouldn't be too difficult to defeat. When Yukimura is defeated, the cannons will stop firing on the central area, making this a little bit easier. With the death of Yukimura, the remnants of the Takeda Army will begin another charge on your main camp. Make your way back to the central area and fight off this next wave of attackers. When the last Hojo officer is defeated (or when Shingen Takeda is the last one left, I'm not sure which), Kotaro Fuma will appear near Oichi. Make your way over to Oichi to assist her. You will get a mission to protect Oichi from Kotaro Fuma. Kotaro really wants to kill off your wife, so he's powered up. Defeat Kotaro to complete this mission. When Shingen is the last enemy officer left standing, make your way northeast to the enemy main camp to face off with the cunning strategist one on one. You will get a mission to defeat Shingen. Complete this mission to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4t. Sakon Shima's Walkthrough SW2STSAK Sakon Shima \| Kaneaki Mimaki \| \| Nene \| Yasuie Namikawa \| \| Kiyomasa Kato \| Masachika Matsuda \| \| Hidenaga Hashiba \| Hidemitsu Akechi \| \| Hidemasa Hori \| Reinforcements: \| \| Masanori Fukushima \| Nobuharu Tsuda \| \| Reinforcements: \| Toshimitsu Saito \| \| None \| Katsusada Shibata \| \| \| Kunitsugu Yasuda \| \| \| Sadaoki Ise \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts off, you will be at the southern area of the map. Kaneaki Mimaki is just north of you, so make your way to him first and defeat him. You're already near Shoryuji, so you might as well take it first. Defeat the Defense Captain that is guarding the gate to Shoryuji. You will get a mission to take Shoryuji. Complete this mission by defeating Sadayuki Atsuji. Nobuharu Tsuda should appear as reinforcements for the Akechi Army near Shoryuji, so defeat him while you're on your way to Mt. Tenno. You should have a mission to stop the Akechi officers from getting to Mt. Tenno. The two officers you need to defeat to complete this mission are Yasuie Namikawa and Masachika Matsuda. Defeat them both to complete your mission and then make your way up to Mt. Tenno. Get to the peak to claim the mountain for the Hashiba Army and then make your way back to Shoryuji. By this time, there should be ambush units near this area trying to take it back. When you get near the ambush units, a mission will appear to defeat them. Defeat Toshimitsu Saito and Katsusada Shibata to complete this mission. Mitsuhide will call for, you guessed it, another ambush. This time, it will be an ambush of Mt. Tenno. Make your way back up the mountain again and clear it out of enemies. You should have a mission to escort Kiyomasa Kato up to the top of the mountain. First, clear off the mountain top so it doesn't get taken. If you lose the mountain top, you fail the mission. Kunitsugu Yasuda and Sadaoki Ise should be the two enemy generals you will need to defeat to ensure the safety of the mountain top. Once the mountain top is safe, clear out any enemies that are around Kiyomasa. He gets distracted easily. Once you have completed this mission, make your way towards the two enemy generals that are attempting to get to your main base. They should be Shigetomo Akechi and Hidemitsu Akechi. Defeat these two enemy generals to isolate Mitsuhide Akechi in his main base. The only thing left to do is charge into the enemy's main camp and take Mitsuhide's head. ----------------------------- Stage 2: Conquest for Kyushu ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Yoshihisa, Yoshihiro, and Toshihisa. Defeat Conditions: Hideyoshi or Ginchiyo is defeated south along the path you are currently on towards the garrison. Defeat Tadamune Ijuin to open the gates. This will allow you to reach most of the northern area. The Shimazu should destroy the bridge in the north, cutting off some of your allies. You better go rescue them first, as they are about to get ambushed. Defeat Nobumitsu Saruwatari on your way north. When you get close to Hidehisa Sengoku, Iehisa Shimazu will call for an ambush. The ambush unit will be led by Tadamoto Niiro. You will get a mission to rescue Hidehisa. Defeat both Iehisa and Tadamoto to complete this mission. Iehisa Shimazu will run away, so don't think you've seen the last of him just yet. Continue on the northern path until you reach Arinobu Yamada. Defeat him and continue on the path to the northeastern fort. Guarding this fort is Tadanaga Shimazu. Defeat Tadanaga and claim the fort as your own. Now, from this fort, you can reach Tsuruga Castle, which should be your next target. You will get a mission to take Tsuruga Castle. Yoshihiro Shimazu is guarding Tsuruga Castle and he won't give it up without a fight. He's powerful, but his attacks are slow, so they are easily readable. Defeat Yoshihiro to claim Tsuruga Castle. Yoshihiro will retreat. Makes you think you will see him again sometime soon... From Tsuruga Castle, make your way out of the western gate. This will cause two things to happen. First, the geyser blocking one of the paths will stop flowing. Secondly, a volcano that is on the map will begin to erupt. The volcano will spit fireballs onto the paths that are near it. It doesn't affect the northern area or the southern fort, but anywhere else, you might get hit by a fireball. When the geyser goes down, Toyohisa Shimazu decides it would be best to attack your main camp. You will get a mission to defend your main camp. Defend your main camp by defeating Toyohisa Shimazu. After Toyohisa is defeated, the enemy will call for another ambush, this time at Tsuruga Castle. Their plan is to cut your attack line in half. Make your way back to Tsuruga Castle. You will get a mission to defend your castle, so defeat Kakuken Uwai and Hisataka Kabayama to complete the mission. Make your way back out through the west gate of the castle onto the main path. This time, go east instead of west. You will reach a fort that is occupied by Tadatsune Shimazu. Defeat Tadatsune and ride through the fort. Yoshihisa Shimazu decides to block your retreat by using trees and rocks. Since you can't retreat, you might as well just charge forward. Toshihisa Shimazu will also send an ambush party after you. Defeat Toshihisa and the leader of the ambush party, Hisatora Ei. Toshihisa will end up retreating when you defeat him. The only place left to go is the enemy's main camp in the south. When you enter the main camp, all the Shimazus that retreated earlier will be back inside the fort. This battle will most likely be a four on one battle, but I'm sure you can handle it. The only general you really have to worry about is Yoshihiro. All the generals in the fort are powered up, but Yoshihiro is the only unique general in the group. Clear the fort of all four Shimazus to finish your conquest of Kyushu will want to build a castle in the central area on Mt. Ishigaki. Assist Hideyoshi in his castle building project by entering Mt. Ishigaki and clearing it out. You will get a mission to take the mountain, so defeat Naosada Hojo and Ujiteru Hojo to complete this mission. Make your way through the south gate and go to the gates of the southern garrison. The enemy will begin to march towards Mt. Ishigaki, so don't let them get anywhere near your castle in the making. Defeat Ujimitsu Hojo and Ujinori Uesugi to prevent them from finding out about your castle. Kanbei Kuroda should arrive with engineers to build the castle with. They will appear in the southwestern fort, which is currently closed off. Defeat the Defense Captain outside of the fort to open it up. Ujitada Hojo is currently trying to kill off your engineers, so defeat him. Clear out the southwestern fort to allow your engineers to start marching towards Mt. Ishigaki. From the southwestern fort, make your way back to the center and then go through the north gate. You will reach two enemy officers trying to force their way to your main camp. They are Ujitaka Hojo and Norisada Ueda. You will get a mission to defeat them both and protect your main camp. Complete this mission and move on. Make your way back to the southern garrison. You will want to be here because when the castle is finished being built at the center, a siege ramp will appear in this garrison and head for the walls of Odawara Castle. However, Yasusato Matsuda and his troops will do their best to try to break your siege ramp. Defeat Yasusato and clear this area out of enemies to allow your siege ramp set up. If your siege ramp gets destroyed, you will have to enter the castle through the north gate. However, you shouldn't need to do that, as you should be able to clear out this area in time. Once your siege ramp is set up, do go up it yet. Make your way north near the central gate. Ujinaga Narita and Naohide Matsuda are trying to guard the central gate, so defeat them. You won't be able to enter the central gate quite yet, as Kotaro Fuma has placed a ninja spell on the gate to keep it closed. However, once you have defeated both of these generals, you can enter Odawara Castle using your siege ramp. When inside the castle, immediately make your way towards Masataka Kasahara. You will get a mission to save Norihide Matsuda, who is Hideyoshi's agent on the inside. You won't be able to find Norihide Matsuda on the general map when you press start, but he will always be near Masataka Kasahara. Defeat Masataka to save Norihide. Now, Kotaro should perform his little ninja trick and open the front gate to Odawara Castle, allowing the Hojo forces inside the castle to begin to try to take out the makeshift castle. Masayo Ito and Naoshige Chiba will charge the central area, so stop them in their tracks and defeat them. Clear out the northern area of all enemy generals. This should leave only Ujimasa Hojo left. He is inside the main keep of the castle. To get inside the main keep of the castle, defeat the Defense Captain standing guard and walk right in. Inside the main keep of the castle, you will notice that a gate on the first floor is locked. It can only be opened by a mechanism on the second floor. When you get to the second floor, there is another gate that is locked. It can only be opened by a mechanism on the first floor that is passed the locked gate. However, the mechanism for the gate on the first floor is accessible. Destroy the statue that is keeping the gate on the first floor closed and then make your way back down the stairs. Go through the gate on the first floor and destroy the other statue that is blocking the mechanism from working. This will open up the gate on the second floor. If you have ninjas explaining this kind of thing to you, why don't they just open the gates for you? Go through the gate on the second floor and up the stairs. You will now face off with Ujimasa Hojo. However, when you defeat Ujimasa, Kotaro will begin to laugh at you and say it was all just a trick. The real Ujimasa, along with some other Hojos will ambush your main camp. Kotaro will close and lock the gate on the second floor, preventing you from saving your main camp. The only way to open the gate is to defeat Kotaro. Kotaro is powered up and is the hardest officer on the map, but he still shouldn't cause too many headaches. Once Kotaro is defeated, the gate will open, allowing you to escape the main keep of the castle. Get back on your horse and ride towards your makeshift castle. Ujifusa Hojo should be attempting to attack your makeshift castle, so defeat him. Now, leave the makeshift castle area through the west gate. The real Ujimasa Hojo and Hiroteru Minagawa should be trying to attack your main camp from the south. Defeat both Ujimasa and Hiroteru. Make your way into your main camp. Ujinao should be here by now. He thinks he's a match for Hideyoshi, but you already know he's hopelessly outclassed. Help out Hideyoshi by defeating Ujinao. Now, the Toyotomi have all of Japan under their control. ---------------------------- Stage 4 stage is a pretty quick stage. You need to keep all your allies alive and defeat all of the enemy officers, but your allies all tend to be really good at surviving. By the time the main batch of reinforcements arrive, you will have killed off a lot of generals, giving your allies some morale boosts in the process. When the stage starts, you will get two missions in a short time span. The first mission will be to kill off all the enemy generals trying to escape. These generals are Kazuhide Nakamura, Noriyori Arima, and Tanomo Noisshiki. The second mission will be to prevent the enemy reinforcements in the southeastern corner of the map from securing an escape route. Those two generals will be Yoshimasa Tanaka and Kojiro Sasaki. First, start off by defeating Tanomo, then immediately go north to where Noriyori is. Defeat him and then make your way south to where Kazuhide is. Since all of the islands are connected to each other by bridges, you should be able to get to each general without any problems. You want to end with Kazuhide so that you can continue moving south. When you have defeated Kazuhide, you will have completed the first mission. By this time, Yoshimasa Tanaka should have arrived in the southeastern corner of the map. Make your way towards that corner and defeat him. Eventually, Kojiro Sasaki will arrive and attempt to secure the escape route. Defeat him as well to complete the second mission. Both Kazutada Nakamura in the southern garrison and Toyouji Arima in the northeastern garrison will realize it's pointless to try to hide and escape. They will both come out and charge your force. Since you're already in the south, defeat Kazutada. By now, a lot of enemy reinforcements should arrive. Since you're currently in the southern garrison, defeat the two enemies that arrive inside there. They should be Naomasa Ii and Moritsuna Watanabe. Defeat both of them. Tadakatsu Honda should be attempting to charge your main camp. Cut him off while he is crossing the river and face off with him. You will get a mission to prevent Tadakatsu from entering your main camp, which you can complete by defeating Tadakatsu. He will be with Tadatomo Honda. Defeat Tadatomo first and then focus all your power on Tadakatsu. Tadakatsu is powered up, as usual, and will take a while to defeat. Don't worry about your other allies. They should be fine and more than able to survive on their own. I love Sakon's response to Tadakatsu about Tadakatsu's daughter. Sakon has some really good lines on this level. Anyway, Hanzo should be trying to jump Mitsunari Ishida while you are fighting Tadakatsu, so make your way over to the dark ninja next. Defeat Hanzo and then head north. The last enemies on the map should be fighting with the Shimazu clan. You will get a mission to defeat Ina. There will be two other generals with Ina. They are Toyouji Arima and Tadayoshi Matsudaira. Ina will be powered up, but if you had no problems with her dad, you should have no problems with her. Defeat all three generals to complete this stage. ------------------------------ Stage 5: Battle of Sekigahara ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. Defeat Conditions: Main Camp is capturedWhen the stage starts, make your way north. There are four enemy generals in the central area. Start with the one that is the furthest to the north. This should be Yoshiaki Kato. The next general you should defeat is Yoshimasa Tanaka. Now, continue north to where the first of the enemy's cannons are at. Defeat the Defense Captain guarding this cannon. You should get a mission to stop both enemy cannons. This is one. The second one is located near your next destination. Leave the cannon and move southeast, defeating Takatora Todo in the process. You should run into Nagamasa Kuroda. Defeat him and then make your way towards the second cannon. Defeat the Defense Captain here to complete your first mission. When Hideaki Kobayakawa begins to speak, make your way for the passageway near the southwest. Ieyasu Tokugawa will call for riflemen to shoot at Hideaki. Magobei Fuse will appear in this area. You will get a mission to stop Magobei's taunts, so defeat him before he can cause any problems. Now, you will need to stop Hanzo Hattori next. However, you cannot get near Hiroie Kikkawa or the Mori camp, or they will defect to the enemy. To get to Hanzo without crossing through the Mori camp, simply take the eastern path that is the closest to the central area and go around the camp. That path will allow you to assist Ekei Ankokuji in defeating the enemies in his area and allow you to get to Hanzo without making the Mori defect. In this area, there should already be three other generals. They are Terumasa Ikeda, Yoshinaga Asano, and Kazutoyo Yamanouchi. Defeat all three, along with Hanzo, to save both Ekei and Hideaki. By now, Ina should have shown up along the western path. Get on your horse and quickly ride over towards the western side of the map. On your way there, protect one of your cannons by defeating Masanori Fukushima. Don't worry, Ina will wait for you. When you reach Ina, you will get a mission to prevent Ina from entering your main camp. Ina is powered up and will take a little bit of time to defeat. Now, from Ina, make your way back out to the central area and defeat Tadayoshi Matsudaira, Naomasa Ii, and Sadatsugu Tsutsui. There should only be three generals left. Tadaoki Hosokawa should be fighting with Ginchiyo Tachibana, so make your way to him next. Defeat Tadaoki and continue along the northern path. Mitsunari should order his army to charge. When you get to Ieyasu Tokugawa's main camp, you will see that Tadakatsu Honda is guarding the camp. You will have to defeat Tadakatsu in order to get inside. Tadakatsu is powered up, as usual. Use your allies as decoys and get behind him to injure him. When the big man goes down, all the gates to the enemy main camp will open. The only thing left to do is defeat Ieyasu Tokugawa to complete the stage. ------------------------------ Dream: Battle of Mikatagahara ------------------------------ Moritsuna Watanabe \| \| \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| \| Tadayo Okubo \| \| \| Nagatada Ogasawara \| \| \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| \| \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| \| \| Katsuie Shibata \| \| \| Nagahide Niwa \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, immediately make your way west to the Oda Army. You will face off in a three against one situation. Good thing Sakon is great at crowd control. You will get a mission to prevent the Oda Army from escaping. Complete this mission by defeating Kazumasu Takigawa, Nobumori Sakuma, and Hirohide Hirate. Now, make your way over to Tadatsugu Sakai. Defeat him and then continue on to where Ietada Matsudaira. He should either be close to or inside your main camp. Defeat him and then leave your main camp through the southern gate. Make your way over to where Kazumasa Ishikawa is and defeat him. Now, the next officer in your path is Tadakatsu Honda. You can either face off with him or you can avoid him and go around him. When you get near him, you will get a mission to defeat him. Tadakatsu Honda is extremely powerful on this stage. However, you should have enough useful skills and a decent enough weapon by now to take him on. Just take advantage of the openings he leaves when he attacks and you shouldn't take too much damage. After Tadakatsu is defeated or avoided, make your way over to the gate that is south of the central garrison. You should be able to catch up to Hanzo Hattori here. Defeat Hanzo and then continue make your way to the southwestern part of the map. This area is filled with ledges. You can only jump down a ledge. You cannot jump back up a ledge. The ledges area should be where you can catch up to Ieyasu Tokugawa. When you do, you will get a mission to defeat Ieyasu. When Ieyasu is defeated, you will have realized that you have killed a fake Ieyasu. Ieyasu Tokugawa will reappear west of the central garrison. He will bring two more enemy officers with him. One of them, Moritsuna Watanabe, will begin attacking the central garrison. You will get a mission to defend the central garrison. Complete this mission by defeating Moritsuna. When Ieyasu Tokugawa reaches the ledges area, there will be more enemy reinforcements that will arrive west of the southeastern castle. Make your way over to the area where the enemy officers are gathering at. Eventually, the Oda Army will also appear, lead by Mitsuhide Akechi, Hideyoshi Hashiba, and Katsuie Shibata. The Oda Army will begin attacking your main camp. Quickly run through Tadayo Okubo, Yasumasa Sakakibara, Nagatada Ogasawara, and Mototada Torii. Then, defeat Ieyasu Tokugawa for a second time. Once again, it's only a double. Use this time to make your way over to the western garrison. Here, Nagahide Niwa and Katsuie Shibata should be trying to take over the garrison. You will get a mission to defeat the Oda Army. Defeat Katsuie and Nagahide and then make your way north and then east to where Mitsuhide Akechi and Hideyoshi Hashiba are at. You will want to defeat them quickly, because while you are playing with the Oda Army, the real Ieyasu Tokugawa will be retreating. For a fat man, Ieyasu sure can run fast. When the Oda Army is completely wiped out, make your way back south to where Ieyasu Tokugawa is. Defeat him one last time to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4v. Yoshihiro Shimazu's Walkthrough SW2STYOS \____________________________________________________ ----------------------------- Stage 1: Conquest for Kyushu ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Hideyoshi. Defeat Conditions: Yoshihisa or Yoshihiro is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Shimazu Army: \| Toyotomi Army: \| \| Yoshihisa Shimazu \| Hideyoshi Toyotomi \| \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| Mitsunari Ishida \| \| Toshihisa Shimazu \| Sakon Shima \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| Ginchiyo Tachibana \| \| Reinforcements: \| Hidehisa Sengoku \| \| Arinobu Yamada \| Motochika Chosokabe \| \| Iehisa Shimazu \| Nobuchika Chosokabe \| \| \| Yoshimune Otomo \| \| \| Ekei Ankokuji \| \| \| Nagayasu Sogo \| \| \| Kiyomasa Kato \| \| \| Masanori Fukushima \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Nene \| \| \| Kanbei Kuroda \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: You start off with only three allies, but you will receive reinforcements in the form of ambushes while you are playing through the map. When the stage starts, make your way north and then east when you reach the garrison. You will get a mission to defeat Nobuchika Chosokabe. Defeat him and then make your way back to the garrison. Hidehisa Sengoku will charge after you. Just stay put. He is powered up, but when he gets lured too far out, a rockslide will cut off his retreat and an allied ambush party will appear, taking away his powered up status. Defeat Hidehisa Sengoku and then make your way west. Yoshimune Otomo should be trying to attack Toyohisa Shimazu. Defeat Yoshimune and then make your way to Tsuruga Castle. Defeat Motochika Chosokabe to take control of Tsuruga Castle. Mitsunari Ishida will charge out and try to take Tsuruga Castle away from you. Nene will also appear and do the same thing. You will get two missions. The first mission will be to defend Tsuruga Castle from Mitsunari. The second mission will be to prevent Nene from entering Tsuruga Castle. Defeat both Nene and Mitsunari to complete both missions. While you are busy defending Tsuruga Castle, Toyohisa will attempt to attack the enemy main camp while the geyser recedes. Unfortunately for Toyohisa, the geyser reactivates when he passes it. The geyser cuts off Toyohisa's retreat, effectively trapping him. Kanbei Kuroda will appear as an enemy ambush unit. Make your way over to Toyohisa. You will get a mission to rescue Toyohisa. Complete this mission by defeating Sakon Shima and Kanbei Kuroda. Make your way to the northern path to where Ekei Ankokuji is. You will get a mission to defeat Ekei. When you do, Ginchiyo Tachibana will be lured out. When she crosses the bridge on the northern path, your army will collapse it, trapping her. Another allied ambush unit will appear. Ginchiyo will lose her powered up status, allowing you to defeat her easily. Now, make your way to the northwestern garrison. When you are at this garrison, leave through the southern gate. This will get you inside the Toyotomi main camp. Hideyoshi Toyotomi is here with a few bodyguards. Defeat Hideyoshi and the other three enemy officers to complete the stage. --------------------------------- Stage 2 Ginchiyo Tachibana \| Ujimitsu Hojo \| \| Masamune Date \| Naosada Hojo \| \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| Ujitaka Hojo \| \| Kojuro Katakura \| Ujifusa Hojo \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| Naohide Matsuda \| \| Reinforcements: \| Tanenaga Hara \| \| None \| Norisada Ueda \| \| south gate of Odawara Castle. Defeat Yoshitake Mibu to open up the south gate of Odawara Castle. Make your way inside the castle and defeat Naoshige Chiba and Ujinaga Narita, who should be just on the other side of the south gate. Make your way inside the castle and head north and east. By this time, you should get a mission to open up all the gates to Odawara Castle. You should focus on this mission first. Make your way to Naohide Matsuda. You will get a mission to stop the enemy cannons. Complete this mission by defeating Naohide. Make your way to the east gate of Odawara Castle. Open this gate by defeating Ujifusa Hojo and Yasusato Matsuda. Now, there is only one last gate left to open. It is the north gate. To get to the north gate, you will have to cross through the bomb corridor. When you get passed the annoying area of the castle, defeat Masataka Kasahara and Ujinori Uesugi. Now, Kotaro Fuma will open up a gate that leads to a path that goes directly into your main camp. He will send out three enemy officers to try to take down Hideyoshi. Make your way back to the east gate of Odawara Castle. There should be a gate in this area that goes north. This gate will lead to that northeastern path that will get you inside your main camp. Here, you will get a mission to protect your main camp. Complete this mission by defeating Tanenaga Hara, Masayo Ito, and Ujitaka Hojo. Now, make your way back inside the castle. This time, your goal is the southwestern corner of the map. It is in this area that the enemy has hid their storehouse. When you reach the storehouse, you will get ambushed by Yasuhiro Ogasawara. You will also get a mission to seize the storehouse. Complete this mission by defeating Yasuhiro Ogasawara and Ujitada Hojo. Leave this area through the north gate. You will end up in a courtyard. Kotaro will close all gates to this area and ambush you with ninjas. You will get a mission to defeat 100 enemies. The fastest way to defeat enemies is by using your horse musou. When you have defeated 100 enemies in this area, the gates will open. Leave this area through the north gate. In this area, you should find Ujiteru Hojo and Ujimitsu Hojo fighting the Date Army. Help out Masamune Date by defeating both enemy officers. Now, enter the main keep through the gate that is in this area. When you are inside the main keep, head east. When you enter this area, you will get a mission to deactivate the bomb corridor. Complete this mission by defeating Naosada Hojo and Hiroteru Minagawa. You have shut down an annoying area that you will never cross again on this map. Now, make your way back west until you reach a set of stairs. Head up those stairs to the second floor. On the second floor, you will run into Kotaro Fuma. He has shut the gate to the third floor. You will need to defeat Kotaro in order to advance further. Kotaro is powered up, so he's pretty upset that you have entered his home. Defeat Kotaro to raise the gate to the third floor. Make your way up to the third floor. It is here that you will find the two leaders of the Hojo clan. Defeat both Ujinao Hojo and Ujimasa Hojo to complete the stage. ---------------------------- Stage 3: Battle of Kusegawa ---------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat all enemy officers. Defeat ConditionEven though you lose if an ally dies, this stage is relatively easy and quick. Your allies do stay alive for quite a while on this stage. You start off in the northwestern corner of the map. You will get three missions immediately. The first mission will be to protect your allied officers, which if you fail this mission, you fail the stage. The second mission will be to prevent the enemy officers that are outside the garrisons from retreating. The third mission will be to prevent the enemy officers from preparing an escape route in the southeast corner of the map. Your first objective should be to prevent the retreat of the enemy officers. Start off by defeating Noriyori Arima and work your way south. Defeat Tanomo Noisshiki next and finish with Kazuhide Nakamura to complete the second mission. While you're fighting off the enemies that are out in the open, Yoshimasa Tanaka will appear in the southeastern corner of the map and try to prepare an escape route. When you are finished with your second mission, head directly for the southeastern corner of the map and defeat Yoshimasa Tanaka. This will get Kojiro Sasaki to appear in the battlefield at the area you are currently at. Kojiro is powered up, but try to defeat him quickly, as if you spend too much time playing with Kojiro, you will fail your third mission. Defeat Kojiro to complete the third mission. Now, both garrisons in the northeast and the south should open up their gates. Make your way inside the southern garrison and defeat Kazutada Nakamura. Around this time, Tadakatsu Honda should arrive with reinforcements. Tadakatsu himself will attempt to charge your main camp while the other enemy officers will try to distract you. Two of those enemy officers, Naomasa Ii and Moritsuna Watanabe, will appear in the south garrison. Defeat both of these enemy officers and then head directly for Tadakatsu Honda. Tadakatsu will run directly to your main camp without stopping to play with your allied soldiers, so you he should be well on his way to your main camp. When you reach Tadakatsu, you will get a mission to prevent him from entering your main camp. Tadakatsu is powered up, so he might present problems to you. Try to stay out of his range while taking advantage of your range. Also abuse your unblockable C7 move if you have to. When you have finished with Tadakatsu, take out Tadatomo Honda as well. Your next goal should be to locate Hanzo Hattori. He will appear while you're fighting Tadakatsu and attempt to make his way into your main camp to assassinate Mitsunari Ishida. Hanzo is powered up, but after dealing with Tadakatsu, the little ninja should present no problems. After Hanzo is defeated, the only thing left to do is take out Ina and her crew. They should be trying to track you down, since their goal is to defeat the Shimazu Army. Find out where Ina is and make your way over to her. It's not nice to keep a girl waiting, you know. When you reach Ina, you will receive a mission to defeat her. Ina will be powered up and should have Toyouji Arima and Tadayoshi Matsudaira with her. Defeat all three enemy officers in any order you want to complete the stage. -------------------------------- Stage 4: Struggle at Sekigahara -------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. Defeat Condition: Any allied officer Toyohisa Shimazu \| Naomasa Ii \| \| Reinforcements: \| Nagamasa Kuroda \| \| None \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| \| \| Hideaki Kobayakawa \| \| \| Takatora Todo \| \| \| Yoshimasa Tanaka \| \| \| Hiroie Kikkawa \| \| \| Hidemoto Mori \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Hidetada TokugawaAs soon as the stage starts, defeat Masanori Fukushima, Sadatsugu Tsutsui, Yoshiaki Kato, Yoshinaga Asano, and Tadayoshi Matsudaira to clear out the central area. After you have done this, make your way towards your allied main camp in the southwest. You will get a mission rescue Mitsunari Ishida. Complete this mission by defeating Hideaki Kobayakawa, Takatora Todo, and Yoshimasa Tanaka. Make your way east towards Sakon Shima. On your way there, Ieyasu Tokugawa should order Hanzo Hattori to assassinate Mitsunari Ishida. Hanzo starts off in Mt. Matsuo Castle and will head directly for the main camp. When you reach Hanzo, you will get a mission to prevent him from entering your main camp. Hanzo is powered up, so he will have a lot of life and defense. Defeat Hanzo before he can enter your main camp to succeed in your mission. Mitsunari will now move towards the center of the map. Now, continue on your march west towards Sakon. When you get close to him, you will get a mission to rescue Sakon. Complete this mission by defeating Terumasa Ikeda, Hidemoto Mori, and Hiroie Kikkawa. Ieyasu will order Tadakatsu Honda to attack Sakon. Intercept Tadakatsu before he can reach his destination. Tadakatsu is powered up, as usual, so he might take a while to defeat. When Tadakatsu is defeated, Sakon will begin to march towards the center. Make your way over to the northwestern garrison. Ginchiyo Tachibana is here, trying to fight off three enemy officers of her own. You will get a mission to rescue Ginchiyo. Complete this mission by defeating Tadaoki Hosokawa, Nagamasa Kuroda, and Naomasa Ii. Ieyasu will order another one of his generals to attack the person you just rescued. This time, he sends Ina off to fight Ginchiyo. Again, intercept Ina before she reaches Ginchiyo and defeat her. Ina is also powered up, but she shouldn't be as bad as Tadakatsu was. When Ina is defeated, Ginchiyo will move towards the central area. When all your allies are in the central area, Ieyasu will send out a second wave of reinforcements. Most of the enemy reinforcements will surround the central area. You will get a mission to defeat the reinforcements of the Eastern Army. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat the following generals: Tadachika Okubo, Tadamasa Mori, Masanobu Honda, Yasunaga Ishikawa, Tadatoshi Sengoku, Tadamasa Honda, Yasumasa Sakakibara, and Hidetada Tokugawa. This will open up the gates to the enemy main camp. Make your way inside the Tokugawa main camp and face off with Ieyasu. Defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. ----------------------------- Stage 5: Siege of Edo Castle ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. Defeat Condition: Hideyori is defeated. (Later changes to Yoshihisa is defeated.) Armies: +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ \| Shimazu Army: \| Eastern Army: \| Western Army: \| \| None \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| Hideyori Toyotomi \| \| Reinforcements: \| Masamune Date \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| Tadakatsu Honda \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| Naomasa Ii \| Mitsunari Ishida \| \| Yoshihisa Shimazu \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| Satoie Gamo \| \| Tadatsune Shimazu \| Yoshiaki Mogami \| Yoshitsugu Otani \| \| Hisataka Kabayama \| Takatora Todo \| Hideie Ukita \| \| Arinaga Yamada \| Nagachika Kanamori \| Hideaki Kobayakawa \| \| Tadamoto Niiro \| Terumasa Ikeda \| Hiroie Kikkawa \| \| \| Hidetada Tokugawa \| Hidemoto Mori \| \| \| Ietsugu Sakai \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Hideyasu Yuki \| Kagekatsu Uesugi \| \| \| Naotaka Ii \| Yoshihide Shida \| \| \| Shigenaga Katakura \| Yoshinobu Satake \| \| \| Shigezane Date \| Ginchiyo Tachibana \| \| \| Hidemune Date \| \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| \| Hideaki Kobayakawa \| \| \| \| Hiroie Kikkawa \| \| \| \| Hidemoto Mori \| \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| \| \| \| Ina \| \| +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ Walkthrough: You start off on the side of the Western Army at the north gate. You will get a mission to secure the northern and northeastern strongholds. Defeat Yoshiaki Mogami first. Then, make your way east. Defeat Nagachika Kanamori to complete the first mission. Ieyasu Tokugawa will convince the Mori Army to defect. Those Mori switch positions more times than a politician. Make your way south to where the defectors are at. They have surrounded Toyohisa Shimazu. You will get a mission to rescue Toyohisa. While you're completing this mission, you and Toyohisa will defect to your own army, making your former allies a third army on the battlefield. The Western Army will receive reinforcements, but so will your army. Now, complete your current mission by defeating Hideaki Kobayakawa, Hiroie Kikkawa, and Hidemoto Mori. While you're here, defeat Ietsugu Sakai as well. Your next mission will be a long one. It is to defeat the entire Western Army. Start off by defeating Yoshitsugu Otani at the east gate and Satoie Gamo at the south gate. While you're at the south gate, defeat both Eastern Army generals here as well. Kotaro Fuma should appear at this time and attempt to assassinate Yoshihisa Shimazu. Circle around the castle by taking the eastern path to the northern path and make your way to Kotaro Fuma. You should defeat Hideie Ukita at the north gate along the way. When you reach Kotaro Fuma, you will get a mission to defeat him. Kotaro is powered up, but you should have some allies that are willing to help you. When Kotaro is defeated, continue on your mission of defeating Western Army officers. Make your way to the west gate of Edo Castle and defeat Yoshinobu Satake. Also, defeat both Eastern Army generals that are here too. This should leave the southwestern garrison as the only place where Western Army officers are at. At the southwestern garrison, you should have two Eastern Army officers and four Western Army officers just looking to take your head. Deal with the Eastern Army officers first. When they are defeated, focus your attacks on the Western Army officers. Mitsunari Ishida is the only officer here that is unique, but Hideyori Toyotomi is a powered up generic officer. These two officers will give you the most problems, but they shouldn't be too hard to defeat. Defeat Hideyori Toyotomi, Mitsunari Ishida, Kagekatsu Uesugi, and Yoshihide Shida to complete your mission of destroying the Western Army. Now, it's time to focus on the Eastern Army inside Edo Castle. Make your way inside Edo Castle through the trap door that Kotaro Fuma opened. It's located in the northwestern corner of the castle. Defeat Hideyasu Yuki to open up the gate to the main keep. Inside the main keep, Hidetada Tokugawa is guarding the gate to the second floor. However, when you defeat Hidetada, the gate will not open. You will have to access the second floor of the main keep by using the smaller keep. Leave the main keep and use the path inside the castle that goes east and then south to circle around to the smaller keep. At the entrance to the smaller keep, Ina and Naomasa Ii are determined to keep you outside. Since they're not being very hospitable, defeat the both of them to open the gate to the smaller keep. When the smaller keep is opened up, Hidemune Date will rush out. Defeat him and then make your way to the second floor of the smaller keep. Masamune Date is here, guarding the gate to the main keep. He is also here with a bunch of riflemen. However, if you have Yoshihiro's self skill, Resilience 3, and a full musou bar, the riflemen should provide no problems at all. Defeat Masamune to access the catwalk that will lead to the main keep. On the second floor of the main keep, Tadakatsu Honda will challenge you to a fight. Tadakatsu is powered up, as always, so he may take some time to take down. Defeat Tadakatsu to open up the final gate to Ieyasu Tokugawa. Defeat Ieyasu to unify all of Japan under the control of the Shimazu...except there are still a few enemy officers who don't accept your rule, even after the beating you gave them. After your army retreats, Edo Castle gets set on fire and some enemies you have previously beaten come back to stop you. On the second floor of the main keep, you will run into Tadakatsu Honda again. Fighting Tadakatsu once is bad enough. Fighting him twice on the same stage is just not fair, especially with a burning castle. When you have defeated Tadakatsu for good, make your way onto the catwalk. Here, Masamune is still trying to take Japan for himself. This time, Masamune is powered up. Defeat the ambitious One- Eyed Dragon to open up the gate to the smaller keep. Make your way inside the smaller keep and down the stairs. On the first floor of the smaller keep, Ina is here, looking to still impress her daddy. Of course, like everyone else, she is powered up. When Ina is defeated, you can get outside of the burning castle. Finally, just when you think everything is over, Ginchiyo Tachibana appears to try to settle the score one last time. She appears in the southwestern garrison. Make your way to the garrison and fight with your rival. Ginchiyo is powered up, of course, and attacks a lot faster than you do. Take advantage of your unblockable C7 grab attack and try to keep a full musou bar at all times, so that your self skill will be in effect. This should help you fight off some of Ginchiyo's regular attacks. Defeat Ginchiyo to finally complete the stage southeastern part of the map. Make your way north and west and defeat Hiroie Kikkawa. Then, make your way over to Tadakatsu Honda. He is powered up and will be a pain later on in the battle, so since you have some free time, why not defeat him sooner rather than later? It will take some time to whittle his high health down, but you should be able to do it in a reasonable fashion. When he is defeated, make your way over to Ginchiyo Tachibana. She will have been ambushed by Naomasa Ii. You will get a mission to rescue Ginchiyo Tachibana. Complete this mission by defeating Naomasa Ii. While you are here, also defeat Kazutoyo Yamanouchi. Make your way north to where Yukimura Sanada is and defeat Sadatsugu Tsutsui. This will free up Yukimura to cause havoc in other places. Make your way to the central area of Sekigahara. Clear out some of the enemy officers that may be in this area. Also, make sure to make your way over to Sakon Shima. This will cause him to retreat. When the central area is relatively cleared out, make your way over to your main camp. It should be under siege by now by many officers, including Ina. Begin to clear out this area of all the enemy officers. Masamune Date will soon appear in the central area, causing Mitsunari Ishida to charge after him. Eventually, Masamune will call for an ambush of your main camp. You will get a mission to not allow the Yuki Army inside your main camp. There are two armies that will attack your main camp. A good way to stall one of the armies is to take the gates that are near the entrance points to your main camp. That way, the army will stop and seal up that gate before moving on to your main camp. To complete this mission, defeat Yasumasa Sakakibara, Hideyasu Yuki, Masanobu Honda, Tadatoshi Sengoku, and Tadachika Okubo before they reach your main camp. Now, Ieyasu Tokugawa, realizing that he's beginning to lose, will send out his pet ninja to try to assassinate Mitsunari Ishida. Make your way over to Mitsunari and protect him from both Hanzo and the Date Army. When Masamune Date is defeated, the rest of his army will retreat, so you may want to defeat him either first or last, depending on how quickly you want to complete the stage or how many officers you want to kill. Now, clear the central area of the rest of the Tokugawa Army and then head for the Tokugawa main camp. Each gate of the Tokugawa main camp is being guarded by an officer. Defeat the three guards and then make your way inside the main camp. Ieyasu is waiting for you to have a showdown to determine which side will take the land. Defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4w. Ginchiyo Tachibana's Walkthrough SW2STGIN \____________________________________________________ ----------------------------- Stage 1As soon as the stage starts, make your way east and across the bridge. The bridge will collapse and you will get ambushed by Tadamoto Niiro. Defeat Tadamoto and also Iehisa Shimazu and Nobumitsu Saruwatari, who are also in this area. This will force Iehisa to retreat. Now, continue to make your way east towards the northeastern garrison. Along the way, defeat Arinobu Yamada. Now, at the northeastern garrison, you will face off with Tadanaga Shimazu. Defeat him to open up the gate in the northwestern garrison. Now, make your way south towards Tsuruga Castle. Here, you will get a mission to take Tsuruga Castle. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Yoshihiro Shimazu. Yoshihiro is powered up, but he shouldn't be too hard to defeat. You should be able to counter his range with your attack speed. Yoshihiro will retreat when you defeat him. When you have seized Tsuruga Castle, leave the castle through the western gate. Now, two things will happen. First, the geyser that was blocking the western path will recede, allowing Toyohisa Shimazu to gain access to your main camp. Secondly, the volcano on the stage will erupt, throwing fireballs on the paths around the volcano. You can't do anything about the volcano, but you can do something about Toyohisa's attack on your main camp. Make your way over to the western path. When you get close to Toyohisa, you will get a mission to defeat him. When you have completed that mission, Yoshihisa Shimazu will order an attack on Tsuruga Castle. Hisataka Kabayama will attack the western gate of the castle while Kakuken Uwai will attack the northern gate. Make your way back over to Tsuruga Castle. When you get close to the castle, you will get a mission to protect the castle. Defeat both Hisataka and Kakuken to complete this mission. Now, leave through the western gate of Tsuruga Castle again, but this time take the eastern path. Tadatsune Shimazu should be at the garrison that is on this path, so defeat him. Now, approach Toshihisa Shimazu. He should call for a rockslide to block off one of the paths. He will also call for an ambush. Defeat Toshihisa and his ambush partner, Hisatora Ei. Toshihisa will retreat when he is defeated. Now, the only thing left to do is to raid the enemy main camp. When you get inside the enemy main camp, Yoshihiro, Iehisa, and Toshihisa will all appear inside the main camp. They will be powered up, so they won't be as easy to defeat as they were the first time. You only need to defeat Yoshihisa, Yoshihiro, and Toshihisa to complete the stage, but you might as well defeat Iehisa along with them, just to make him feel like he is part of the group. --------------------------------- Stage 2 off, you will be inside your main camp. Make your way south and wait for the siege ramp to appear. You will get a mission to escort the siege ramp into place. The siege ramp will get ambushed by soldiers, but they should be easy to clear out. There will be no officers that ambush the siege ramp. When the siege ramp is in place, your mission will be completed. Now, use the siege ramp to enter the castle. The first area you will be in is the area that controls the cannons. You will get a mission to stop the cannons from firing. Now, your next goal will be to open up all the gates to Odawara Castle. The first thing you want to do is open up the east gate. This gate is being guarded by Ujifusa Hojo and Yasusato Matsuda. Defeat them both to get the east gate to open. Your next goal will be the north gate. This gate is guarded by Masataka Kasahara and Ujinori Uesugi. Defeat them both to allow the Date Army inside the castle. Now, the last gate you will need to open up is the south gate. Do not go around to the south gate by way of the western path. Use the bomb corridor to get to the south gate. You don't want to trigger anything else just yet. At the south gate, you will need to defeat Naoshige Chiba and Ujinaga Narita to get that gate to open. When all the gates to Odawara Castle are open, Kotaro will order an attack on your main camp. He will open up a gate that leads to a path that goes right into your main camp. You can use this path to get to your main camp faster. When you reach your main camp, you will get a mission to protect it. Complete this mission by defeating Ujitaka Hojo, Masayo Ito, and Tanenaga Hara. Now, from your main camp, you want to go all the way to the southwestern corner of the castle. This is where the storehouse is located at. When you reach the storehouse, you will get ambushed by Yasuhiro Ogasawara. You will also get a mission to take the storehouse. Complete this mission by defeating Yasuhiro and Ujitada Hojo. Now the enemy won't get morale boosts anymore. Leave this area through the northern gate. You will be inside of a courtyard. All the gates to this courtyard will close and you will get ambushed by a huge amount of ninjas. You will get a mission to defeat 100 enemy soldiers. Use your horse musou to kill off enemies quickly. When you have killed 100 enemy soldiers, the gates in the courtyard will open. Leave the courtyard through the north gate. You will find Masamune Date fighting off two Hojo officers here. Defeat them both and then make your way inside the main keep of Odawara Castle. The first thing you should do when you get inside the main keep is to shut down the bomb corridor. The officers controlling the bomb corridor should be one room east of where you are currently at. When you reach this room, you will get a mission to shut off the bomb corridor. Complete this mission by defeating Hiroteru Minagawa and Naosada Hojo. Now, make your way up the stairs to the second floor. Here, Kotaro Fuma will shut the gate to the stairs to the third floor. You will get a mission to defeat Kotaro. He should not be too difficult to defeat. When Kotaro is defeated, the gate will open up, allowing you to access the third floor. On the third floor, you will find the last two members of the Hojo family. They are Ujinao Hojo and Ujimasa Hojo. Defeat both Hojos to complete the stage. ---------------------------- Stage 3 battle should be relatively quick. Your objective is to keep all allied generals alive, which really is not that hard to do. Most of the allied generals on this map have good staying power. When the stage starts off, you are on the western path and next to Kazuhide Nakamura. You will get three missions right away. The first mission will be to prevent the Eastern Army's retreat. The second mission will be to prevent them from preparing an escape route. The last mission will be to protect your allies. If you fail this mission, you fail the level, so don't let an allied officer die (this isn't hard to do). Complete the first mission by defeating Kazuhide Nakamura, Tanomo Noisshiki, and Noriyori Arima. Kazuhide and Tanomo are next to each other in the central area. Noriyori is along the northern path. Defeat all three of them and immediately make your way towards the southeastern corner of the map. This is where you will complete the second mission. You will need to defeat Yoshimasa Tanaka and Kojiro Sasaki to prevent the enemy from preparing an escape route. Now, the garrisons in the northwest and the south will open up, allowing you to get at the enemy officers that have been in there hiding. Make your way towards the southern garrison and defeat Kazutada Nakamura. While you are defeating Kazutada, the Eastern Army should receive reinforcements. These reinforcements are lead by Tadakatsu Honda. There will be two officers that appear in the southern garrison. They are Naomasa Ii and Moritsuna Watanabe. Defeat them both while you are inside the southern garrison. Now, you will want to locate Tadakatsu Honda. He will be running towards your main camp and won't stop until he gets there or until you stop him. Make your way over to Tadakatsu and you will get a mission to prevent him from entering your main camp. Tadakatsu is powered up, but you should be able to beat him with your quick attacks. Tadakatsu is also here with Tadatomo Honda, so defeat Tadatomo also. Now, the next officer you should defeat is Hanzo Hattori. He should be on the western path. Defeat Hanzo and then make your way over to Yoshihiro Shimazu. He will be fighting off three enemy officers, one of which is Ina. You will get a mission to defeat Ina. Defeat Ina and the other two officers to complete the stage. ------------------------------ Stage 4: Battle of Sekigahara ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. Defeat Conditions: MitsunariYou start off the stage in the northwest. Your first goal will be to take the northwestern garrison. When you get inside the garrison, defeat Tadaoki Hosokawa to seize this garrison. There should be an enemy cannon nearby in this area. Make your way over to that cannon. It will be guarded by a Defense Captain. You will get a mission to take down both enemy cannons. This is the first one, so defeat the Defense Captain. You will get the second one later. Now, pick out a couple of generals in the northwest to take out. You should get two defeated before Ginchiyo talks about wanting Yoshihiro Shimazu out on the battlefield. Make your way over to Yoshihiro and then make your way back towards central Sekigahara. You don't have to wait for Yoshihiro to respond. Now, Magobei Fuse should appear on the battlefield. When he does, immediately make your way over to him. Seal off the second of the enemy's cannons on your way there and then continue on to Magobei. Magobei will be attempting to reach Hideaki Kobayakawa. Don't let him do this, as this will cause Hideaki to defect. When you reach Magobei, you will get a mission to stop his taunting. Do this by defeating Magobei. Ieyasu will order Hanzo Hattori to attack Kobayakawa next. To prevent this from happening, what you will want to do is circle around the garrison that the Mori have occupied. If you go inside the garrison on the eastern path, the Mori will defect to the enemy. There is a path that goes around this camp, so use that path. It will lead you to where Ekei Ankokuji is located at. Rescue Ekei and at the same time, defeat Hanzo. There should be four enemy generals in this area, so be prepared to defeat a lot of generals. When you have defeated Hanzo and the rest of the enemies along this path, you will want to go all the way across Sekigahara to the western path. Ina will be here, trying to make her way into your main camp. You will get a mission to prevent Ina from entering your main camp. Defeat Ina to complete this mission. Now, what you will want to do is clear out the central area of Sekigahara. There should be a lot of enemies in this area alone, since you have been focusing on every area but the central area, so make sure you defeat everyone that is here. When everyone but Tadakatsu Honda and Ieyasu Tokugawa is defeated, Mitsunari will order his army to charge the enemy main camp. Make your way towards the northeastern section of the map. Here, you will find Tadakatsu Honda is guarding all the gates to the enemy main camp. Tadakatsu is powered up, but you should have experience fighting him from the previous stage. Use your quick attacks to defeat Tadakatsu. This will open up all the gates to the enemy main camp. Defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage. ------------------------------ Stage 5: Pursuit of Yoshihiro ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Yoshihiro. Defeat Conditions: Either Mitsunari or Sakon is defeated, or one of the Main Camps is captured. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Toyotomi Army: \| Shimazu Army: \| \| Mitsunari Ishida \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| \| Ginchiyo Tachibana \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| \| Sakon Shima \| Masanori Fukushima \| \| Yoshitsugu Otani \| Nagamasa Kuroda \| \| Hideie Ukita \| Yoshinaga Asano \| \| Morichika Chosokabe \| Terumasa Ikeda \| \| Reinforcements: \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| \| None \| Yoshiaki Kato \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| \| \| Yoshihisa Shimazu \| \| \| Tadatsune Shimazu \| \| \| Hisataka Kabayama \| \| \| Arinaga Yamada \| \| \| Tadamoto Niiro \| \| \| Shigetaka Togo \| \| \| Kojiro Sasaki \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: Of course, Ginchiyo's story couldn't end without one last standoff with Yoshihiro. When the stage starts, make your way east towards Shoryuji. Defeat Yoshiaki Kato, who is standing outside of Shoryuji, and then make your way inside the garrison. You will get a mission to take Shoryuji. Complete this mission by defeating Masanori Fukushima. Now, leave Shoryuji and make your way north towards the northeastern allied main camp. Here, you will get a mission to prevent the Shimazu Army from entering this main camp. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Yoshinaga Asano and Terumasa Ikeda. Now, your next goal will be to stop the enemy's cannons. Make your way towards Mt. Tenno. You will get a mission to stop the enemy's cannons. Tadaoki Hosokawa is the one controlling the southern cannons and Nagamasa Kuroda is the one controlling the eastern cannons. Defeat both of these enemy generals to stop the cannons and complete your mission. By this time, Kotaro Fuma should have arrived to spread some chaos in the south. Jump the ledges of the mountain to make your way towards the southwestern allied main camp. You will get a mission to protect the southwestern main camp. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Kotaro. Kotaro is powered up with a lot of life and defense, so he's not an easy kill. While you're fighting Kotaro, the Shimazu reinforcements will arrive and begin attacking the two allied main camps. You will probably get some officers trying to assist Kotaro while you're fighting him, so don't expect this fight to be fair. Defeat Kotaro and anyone who dares interfere with your match and then make your way over to the western path. Here, you should find Toyohisa Shimazu and Tadatsune Shimazu trying to make their way towards the southwestern main camp. Defeat them both and then make your way east. Sakon Shima should be here fighting with Kojiro Sasaki inside a closed up Shoryuji. Kojiro appears when Sakon arrives at Shoryuji, so he might already be in trouble. Hopefully, Sakon's timing is good and that he doesn't actually reach this area until you're ready for him to. You will get a mission to rescue Sakon when you get close to Shoryuji. To get inside Shoryuji, defeat the Defense Captain that is outside the gates of Shoryuji to open the gates. Kojiro is also powered up, but he should not be as tough to defeat as Kotaro was. Defeat Kojiro to complete your mission. Clear out any enemy officers that may be in this area to ensure Sakon survives. Now, make your way north towards the northeastern main camp. Yoshihisa Shimazu should be leading a couple of his generals in attacking this main camp. Yoshihisa is powered up, but is only a generic officer. The other two enemy officers are easy kills. Defeat all three enemy generals that are attacking this main camp and then proceed to climb up the cliffs of Mt. Tenno. Yoshihiro should be the last remaining enemy officer on the map, so this will be a one on one confrontation. Yoshihiro is really not powered up, but he does have the advantage in terms of range. However, you can match this advantage with your attack speed and nullify his advantage with your special weapon skill. Defeat Yoshihiro to complete the stageYou start off in the northwestern corner of the map. Make your way over to the north gate of Edo Castle. Defeat Naotaka Ii and then enter the castle through the north gate. Masamune Date should open it up for you, so invite yourself inside. When you get inside, you will find an ambush waiting for Hideie Ukita. A bunch of riflemen will appear. You will get a mission to protect Hideie. Complete this mission by defeating Shigenaga Katakura. While you are here, also defeat Masanobu Honda. Leave Edo Castle through the north gate and make your way over to the west gate of Edo Castle. You will get a mission to open the west gate. Complete this mission by defeating Terumasa Ikeda. When the west gate is opened, the Mori Army will defect to the enemy. You will then get a mission to defeat the traitors quickly. Start off this mission by defeating Hiroie Kikkawa. Make your way to the south gate of Edo Castle. Here, you will find Nagachika Kanamori and Hidemoto Mori trying to make their way to your main camp. Defeat them both. By now, you should receive some allied reinforcements in the form of Yukimura Sanada, Kanetsugu Naoe, and Yoshinobu Satake. They will be a big help in defending your main camp and keeping the enemy in check. Now, make your way over to the eastern gate of Edo Castle. Here, you will find Yoshiaki Mogami and Hideaki Kobayakawa. Defeat them both. Defeating Hideaki will complete your mission to defeat the traitors. Make your way back to the western gate of Edo Castle. You will have to enter the castle here, since you can only open the other gates from the inside. Once inside the castle, you will get a mission to defeat all of the enemy officers that are inside the castle but not inside one of the two keeps. Complete this mission by defeating Naomasa Ii, Shigezane Date, Takatora Todo, Ietsugu Sakai, and Yasumasa Sakakibara. These officers are spread out throughout the castle, so just make sure you get rid of them all. Also, make sure you open all the gates to Edo Castle while completing this mission. This will allow your allies to have better access to the castle. Completing this mission should open up the gates to the main keep and the smaller keep. Now, make your way over to the northwestern corner of the castle. Kotaro Fuma should be here, trying to make his way over to Hideyori Toyotomi. You will get a mission to defeat Kotaro. Kotaro is powered up, but unfortunately for him, chaos is going to turn against him. Defeat Kotaro to complete that mission. Make your way back to the southeastern corner of the castle. You should find a Defense Captain guarding a gate right next to the smaller keep. This is the jail cell that Ekei Ankokuji is located in. Perform a prison break by defeating the Defense Captain. You will get a mission to escort Ekei to your main camp. Unfortunately for you, jail warden Toranosuke Aoyama isn't about to let the inmates run the prison without a fight. Toranosuke is powered up, but he shouldn't be any harder than Kotaro was. Defeat Toranosuke and then clear a path for Ekei to make it back to your main camp. He has a tendency to stop and fight peons that should just be left alone, so you may have to end up clearing out all the little red dots between Ekei and your main camp. Now, if you want, you can clear out the first floor of the main keep. There are two enemy officers on this floor. They are Hideyasu Yuki and Hidetada Tokugawa. Unfortunately, you cannot reach the second floor of the main keep from the first floor. You will need to go through the smaller keep to get to the second floor. When you reach the smaller keep, your first enemy will be Hidemune Date. He is on the first floor of the smaller keep. Defeat him and then make your way up the stairs to the second floor. Here, Masamune Date is still dreaming about ruling Japan. Masamune is powered up and surrounded by riflemen. Put the kid in his place by beating him down. This will open up the gate to the second floor of the main keep. Cross the catwalk to the main keep. Unfortunately for you, your way is blocked by Tadakatsu Honda. He is powered up and doesn't really like the idea that you're after his lord's head. I guess that's reasonable. Like Masamune, Tadakatsu is also surrounded by riflemen. When you defeat Tadakatsu, the gate to the third floor will open. Here, you will find Ieyasu Tokugawa. Defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4w. Kanetsugu Naoe's Walkthrough SW2STKAN, head south and cross the central river. Defeat Nobushige Takeda and Nobukado Takeda while you're waiting for the Shingen reinforcements to arrive in the northwest. When Kaizu Castle opens its gates, Nobufusa Baba and Nobushige Oyamada will appear there. Make your way to the northwest section of the map. You will get a mission to prevent the two ambush units from reaching your main camp. Defeat the pincer before it can even get started by defeating Nobufusa and Nobushige to complete the mission. Make your way back to the central area. There should be a few Takeda officers around this area, still trying to complete the failed pincer attack, so defeat them as well. You will get some reinforcements in the southwest from Zenkoji. They will be important later, but ignore them for now. Once there are no more enemy generals in the central area, make your way to the southeastern garrison. You will get a mission to seize this garrison, so complete it by defeating Masakage Yamagata. Make your way west towards your reinforcements from Zenkoji. This area is blanketed by a thick fog, so you will not be able to use your mini map or see your position on the general map when you press start. There will be many Takeda reinforcements in this area, so you will have to hunt them out blindly. You will get a mission to save your detached unit that is in this fogbank. To complete this mission, you must defeat Masatsugu Tsuchiya, Morinobu Nishina, Masakiyo Morozumi, and Nobutoyo Takeda. Once this mission is completed, you have to find your way out of this area, which is no easy task considering the fact that most of this area is like a maze. Once you manage to find your way out of the fog, there should be only three enemy generals left. Hunt down Yoshinobu Takeda and finish him off. Sakon Shima should arrive as reinforcements as some point, so find him and defeat him as well. Once Shingen Takeda is the last person left, make your way to his main camp and face off with him. Defeat Shingen to complete the stage. ------------------------------ Stage 2: Battle of Tedorigawa ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Katsuie. (Later changes to Defeat Nobunaga.) Defeat Conditions: Kenshin begin to clear out an enemy general that is on your side of the map. Nagachika Kanamori and Nagahide Niwa should start the battle over on your side, so take them out first. When they are gone, there should be more forces that charge at your side. Defeat Nagayori Hara and Kazumasu Takigawa. You should receive an order to go to Funaoka Castle to start off the flood attack. Katsuie Shibata should begin to march over to your side. You will need to take Funaoka Castle before Katsuie crosses to your side. Katsuie does take a while to get over, so you do have some time. Inside Funaoka Castle, Mitsuhide Akechi and Morinari Ando are guarding the castle. You will get a mission to seize the castle. You can complete this mission by defeating these two generals. As soon as you have defeated the last general inside the castle, the floodgates will open, flooding the map and causing a lot of the Oda generals to retreat. It's funny that Katsuie gets caught in a trap, but doesn't realize it. Over on your side of the battlefield, there should be two generals there. Toshiie Maeda and Katsuie Shibata should have made it across the river before it flooded, so you will have to defeat them yourself. Hideyoshi Hashiba should run away, but he will be back. Defeat Toshiie and Katsuie to clear off your side of the battlefield again. When Katsuie is defeated, Hideyoshi will come back, this time in the southeastern corner of the map. He will call for a charge of all the enemy forces remaining on the map, which should be only two generals other than himself. Apparently, he thinks he can gain control of your main camp before Nobunaga arrives. Make your way to the northwestern corner of the map and defeat Hanbei Takenaka and Koroku Hachisuka. Then, make your way back to the southeastern corner of the map where Hideyoshi is and defeat him. As soon as you defeat Hideyoshi, make your way towards the central area on the western side of the map. You won't make it there, but your goal is to attempt to cut off No as quickly as possible. When Nobunaga Oda arrives, he will bring with him three generals. Two of them, No and Oichi, will attempt to cross the river to get to your side. You will get missions to not let them cross. You cannot let No cross over to your side of the map. For Oichi, you just need to prevent her from entering your main camp. In order to complete both missions, you will have to get the jump on No first. Rush over to No and quickly defeat her before she can get very far. After No is defeated, loop around the river area and make your way over to where Oichi is. Defeat her before she can get into your main camp to complete the second mission. The only thing left to do is take the main camp of the enemy. Ranmaru Mori should be guarding the only entrance to the enemy main camp, so defeat him first. Once the gates are open, you can get to Nobunaga. Defeat Nobunaga and win victory for the Uesugi Mits and Mitsunari will have a conversation about Odawara Castle. Hideyoshi, being the castle building monkey he is, will decide to build a castle at Mt. Ishigaki. Your first mission will be to defeat all enemies on Mt. Ishigaki. Of course, Naosada Hojo and Ujiteru Hojo just won't give you the mountain. You have to take it from them by defeating them. That will complete the mission and open all the doors on the mountain top. Make your way south, as enemies will attempt to get to Mt. Ishigaki and see what is going on. Defeat them and then make your way north. Defeat Ujimitsu Hojo and Ujinori Uesugi, who isn't a Hojo but has a name like one. By this time, Kanbei Kuroda should have arrived with the engineers. He will arrive in the southwestern garrison. You will have to go to the garrison and get rid of Ujitada Hojo to open all the gates to the garrison. Now, clear out any and all enemies inside the garrison to allow Kanbei to start moving towards the central mountain. Once Kanbei gets to the center, he will begin working on the castle. In the meantime, make your way to Mt. Ishigaki also and then leave through the north gate. Defeat Norisada Ueda and Ujitaka Hojo to prevent them from getting anywhere near your main camp. Make your way back to the southern path again. This time, go inside the southern garrison and make your way towards Yasusato Matsuda. When the castle gets built on Mt. Ishigaki (I was hoping for the Hideyoshi monkey dance), a siege ramp will appear near Yasusato Matsuda. Defeat Yasusato and clear out this area of enemies to allow the siege ramp to get set up. While the siege ramp is getting into place, get rid of Ujinaga Narita as well. This will allow you to get into the castle. Immediately make your way towards Masataka Kasahara. He should be fighting Norihide Matsuda. You will get a mission to rescue Norihide. Defeat Masataka to complete this mission. Kotaro Fuma should have opened the main gate of Odawara Castle, so you will want to defeat any enemies that are trying to get to the makeshift castle. The three enemy generals that attack the central area are Naohide Matsuda, Masayo Ito, and Naoshige Chiba. Go to the northern garrison now and then clear out the enemies that are in this area. Yoshitake Mibu and Tanenaga Hara should be outside of the castle. When they are defeated, the north Odawara gate will open, allowing you to reach Yasuhiro Ogasawara. This will leave only Ujimasa Hojo left. He is inside the main keep of the castle. Defeat the Defense Captain guarding the gate to the main keep of the castle and enter. The gate on the first floor will be locked, so you will have to go up to the second floor. On the second floor, another gate will be locked. You will find a rotating mechanism that is being blocked by a statue. Destroy the statue and the mechanism will open the gate on the first floor. Head through the gate on the first floor and you will find the same mechanism. This mechanism will open the gate on the second floor. Once the gate on the second floor is open, you can proceed to where Ujimasa Hojo. Defeat Ujimasa Hojo to...continue the battle. Apparently, Kotaro Fuma played a trick on you. That was a fake Ujimasa. The real Ujimasa, along with reinforcements, are surrounding your main camp. Kotaro Fuma closes the gate to the second floor. You will have to defeat Kotaro to get them to open. Now, rush back all the way across the stage to the central area. Ujifusa Hojo should be attacking this area, so defeat him first. Once Ujifusa is gone, take the western gate out of the central area and then follow the path all the way to your main camp. You should run into two enemy generals at the southern gate of your main camp. They should be Hiroteru Minagawa and Ujimasa Hojo. Defeat them both and then locate Ujinao Hojo. Defeat him to complete the stage. -------------------------- Stage 4: Battle of Hasedo -------------------------- Victory Condition: The allied officers arrive at the Escape Point. (Later changes to Defeat Masamune Date.) Defeat Conditions: All allied officers other than Kanetsugu are Tsunenaga Hasekura \| \| \| Nobuyasu Goto \| \| \| Yoshiyasu Mogami \| \| \| Mitsushige Nobesawa \| \| \| Hidetsuna Sakenobe \| \| \| Mitsunao Tateoka \| \| \| Minbu Satomi \| \| \| Mitsuyasu Shimura \| \| \| Mitsuuji Ujiie \| \| \| Masamune Date \| \| \| Shigezane Date \| \| \| Kojuro Katakura \| \| \| Tsunamoto Oniniwa \| \| \| Kageyori Yashiro \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, you will get a mission to break through the first gate. Complete this mission by defeating Yoshiaki Mogami. This will cause all enemies near the first gate to retreat. Lead your allied generals up the mountain. When you get too far up, enemy reinforcements will arrive and ambush you on the mountain. You will get a mission to break through the second gate. You will need to defeat Mitsuuji Ujiie, Mitsuyasu Shimura, and Minbu Satomi to get the second gate to open. When the second gate opens, clear out the enemies just beyond the gate while waiting for your army to make its way to the third gate. When your army is all gathered near the third gate, enemy reinforcements will arrive from behind. You will get a mission to get all your officers to retreat. I normally go over to where the ambush generals are at and defeat all three of them to give Keiji a little help before passing through the third gate. When your entire army goes through the third gate, Keiji will close the gate. Your army will get ambushed by the enemy just passed the third gate. There will be four enemy generals that will begin to attack your army. Defeat all four of the generals from the ambush party to get the fourth gate to open. Defeat any stray enemies and allow your army to cross the fourth gate. Yoshiaki Mogami will return with reinforcements and will guard the fifth gate. Masamune Date will also appear, but he will be blocked by Keiji and the third gate. You will need to defeat Minbu Satomi, Mitsuyasu Shimura, Mitsuuji Ujiie, and Yoshiaki to get the fifth gate to open. There will be more Date reinforcements beyond the fifth gate, so clear them out. Now, your allies can retreat. However, there is an enemy stronghold in this area that will continue to pump out enemies even after these enemies have been defeated. However, if you leave this area, your allies tend to want to retreat more than if you stay here and try to guard their path. If you have defeated the three earlier reinforcements for Keiji, Keiji should be able to guard the gate long enough for your allies to retreat. Make your way back to the third gate and help Keiji out. Stand by Keiji and just defeat any enemies that may come your way. Eventually, Masamune and his crew will slowly reach you. Of course, you could always go to them and defeat them. Once Masamune is defeated, you will have successfully let your army retreat-----+ north and defeat Bitchu Hineno. This will cause the west gate to open. Make your way inside the castle and defeat Yoshiaki Mogami. Defeat the Defense Captain that is outside the smaller keep and enter the smaller keep. You will want to quickly take the main keep away from Hidetada Tokugawa. Inside the smaller keep, go to the second floor. Yasumasa Sakakibara should be guarding it. Defeat him and make your way across the catwalk to the main keep. Ina will be guarding the gate to the third floor of the main keep. Defeat Ina and the gate will open. Make your way to the third floor and face off with Hidetada Tokugawa. Defeat Hidetada and Edo Castle will be yours. Make your way back across the catwalk to the smaller keep. Exit through the gate and get back on your horse. You will want to rush over to your main camp. By now, there should be a lot of generals infesting your main camp, including Hanzo Hattori. You will need to protect Kagekatsu Uesugi by defeating every general. Once all the generals have been defeated in your main camp, the main Tokugawa Army will arrive. You will get a mission to escort Kagekatsu to the main keep. Ieyasu will open up two hidden gates in an attempt to get his soldiers inside the castle to prevent Kagekatsu from getting to the main keep. Defeat any and all soldiers in Kagekatsu's way. You will probably end up facing off with Tadatomo Honda, Yasutada Matsudaira, and Terumasa Ikeda along the way, so defeat them all. Once you have completed the mission to protect Kagekatsu, start hunting down any Tokugawa generals inside Edo Castle. Eventually, Tadakatsu Honda will begin to make his march to Edo Castle and Masamune Date will arrive with reinforcements. First, deal with the Date faction. You will get a mission to prevent Masamune from entering the main keep. You can use the hidden passage in the northwest to your advantage. Defeat Masamune along with his two officers and then make your way over to where Tadakatsu is located at. You will get a mission to prevent Tadakatsu Honda from entering the smaller keep. Tadakatsu is powered up and will be more difficult to beat than Masamune. After all, Tadakatsu is the Lu Bu of the Samurai Warriors series. Defeat Tadakatsu and complete the mission. Your army will begin to charge the enemy's main camp. Clear out the southern section of the castle of all enemies and make your way to the northern section. There should only be about four enemy generals in the northern section of the battlefield, including the enemy's main camp. There should be some enemy generals at Edo Castle's north gate and two enemy generals in the enemy's main camp. Defeat all the enemies at the north gate and then enter the enemy's main camp. Defeat Tadayoshi Matsudaira first, leaving Ieyasu Tokugawa for last. Defeat Ieyasu to take over his home castle. -------------------------------- Dream: Last Stand against Ieyasu -------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. Defeat Conditions: Kagekatsu, Keiji, or Yukimura is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Uesugi Coalition: \| Tokugawa Army: \| \| Kagekatsu Uesugi \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| Chikanori Suibara \| Ina \| \| Mototada Kasuga \| Nobumasa Okudaira \| \| Reinforcements: \| Tadasuke Okubo \| \| Kagekatsu Uesugi \| Yasutada Matsudaira \| \| Keiji Maeda \| Chikayoshi Hiraiwa \| \| Katsunaga Irobe \| Tadamasa Matsudaira \| \| Yukimura Sanada \| Masanari Naito \| \| Katsunaga Irobe \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Masakage Rusu \| \| \| Kojuro Katakura \| \| \| Masamune Date \| \| \| Shigezane Date \| \| \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| \| \| Naomasa Ii \| \| \| Takatora Todo \| \| \| Moritsuna Watanabe \| \| \| Terumasa Ikeda \| \| \| Kazutoyo Yamanouchi \| \| \| Nagachika Kanamori \| \| \| Tadayoshi Matsudaira \| \| \| Kojiro Sasaki \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: At the beginning, there are not a lot of enemies on the battlefield. This will quickly change, so you will want to defeat enemies quickly. Quickly get rid of Chikayoshi Hiraiwa, Tadasuke Okubo, and Nobumasa Okudaira. Chikayoshi and Tadasuke will attack from the east while Nobumasa will attack Kaizu Castle from the west. You should be able to defeat all three of them before your allied reinforcements arrive. Kagekatsu Uesugi will appear and head for Kaizu Castle. Along the way, he will get ambushed by Masakage Rusu and Kojuro Katakura. You will get a mission to escort Kagekatsu to Kaizu Castle. Defeat Masakage and Kojuro to get Kagekatsu moving towards Kaizu. When Kagekatsu gets close to Kaizu Castle, Masamune Date and Shigezane Date will appear and try to prevent Kagekatsu from going any further. Defeat both members of the Date clan and then quickly make your way over to Kaizu Castle. Kaizu Castle should be under attack by Yasutada Matsudaira and Tadamasa Matsudaira. When Kagekatsu makes his way into Kaizu Castle, you will have completed your first mission. This will cause Yukimura Sanada to arrive with reinforcements. However, Ieyasu Tokugawa will call for his reinforcements, and he has a lot of them. These reinforcements are lead by Tadakatsu Honda and Hanzo Hattori. First thing you will want to do is make your way over to the western garrison. This is where Tadakatsu Honda will appear. You will want to get rid of him quickly. When you get near Tadakatsu Honda, you will get a mission to defeat him. Tadakatsu is powered up and has a lot of life and defense. Unfortunately, power isn't one of Kanetsugu Naoe's strong points. It may take some time to whittle down the life of Tadakatsu. Also, Kazutoyo Yamanouchi will be here to try to cause some problems. When the western garrison is cleared out, make your way over to the central garrison. Here is where Hanzo will be hiding. You will get a mission to seize the central garrison. Complete this mission by defeating Hanzo, Tadayoshi Matsudaira, and Naomasa Ii. When this mission is completed, make your way over to the southeastern garrison. This is where Ina should be, attempting to hold off your allied attack. You will get a mission to capture the southeastern garrison. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Ina, Terumasa Ikeda, and Nagachika Kanamori. When this mission is completed, make your way over to the maze area that is west of the southeastern garrison. Make your way over to Moritsuna Watanabe. When you reach him, Kojiro Sasaki should appear to try to cause some problems. You will get a mission to defeat Kojiro. Kojiro is powered up, but after dealing with Tadakatsu, he shouldn't be too terribly difficult. When Kojiro is defeated, make your way over to Zenkoji. When you get there, first defeat Takatora Todo to get him out of the way. Then, defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4x. Nene's Walkthrough SW2STNEN begins, rush up to the top of Mt. Tenno. Your first mission will be to be the first one to take Mt. Tenno, so complete this quickly. You will have a lot of places to go and people to see. You will probably complete the mission before it even pops up. Use this time to head to Shoryuji and defeat Kaneaki Mimaki. If Yasuie Namikawa and Masachika Matsuda are close to Mt. Tenno, defeat them on your way to Shoryuji, but don't make it a priority. Make your way into Shoryuji and you should receive a mission (eventually, once all the message spam is over with) to defeat Sadayuki Atsuji and take Shoryuji. Nobuharu Tsuda should arrive near Shoryuji, so defeat him next. If you have defeated Yasuie and Masachika, Mt. Tenno will get ambushed. Either way, the top of Mt. Tenno should be your next target. Make sure you get next to Kiyomasa Kato to trigger the mission to escort him to the top. When you get to the top of Mt. Tenno, defeat any enemies that may be up there. You don't have to wait for Kiyomasa. He normally gets there on his own. When the top is clear enough to where it will survive until Kiyomasa gets there, make your way to Shoryuji. Waiting for you there is another ambush party consisting of Toshimitsu Saito and Katsusada Shibata. When you get close to them, you will trigger a mission. Defeat these two generals to complete that mission. Your next two targets should be Shigetomo Akechi and Hidemitsu Akechi. They should be attempting to charge your main camp, but they should be pretty far away from actually succeeding. Defeat these two generals. If Mt. Tenno has any generals around it (and it will if you didn't defeat Yasuie and Masachika early), then defeat them. You may or may not see a cut scene about a ninja path on Mt. Tenno. It's practically useless if you got a fast horse. The amount of time to go up the ninja path and to use a horse to go around on the trails is roughly the same. You want to defeat all generals on the map until Mitsuhide Akechi is the only one left. When Mitsuhide is all alone, make your way into his main camp to duel with him-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Hashiba Army: \| Shibata Army: \| \| Hideyoshi HashibaAs soon as the stage starts, make your way towards the southern garrison on the eastern side. You will have a mission to seize all four garrisons on your own soon. To complete this mission, you and you alone must get the final kill on all four garrison guards. When you reach the southern garrison, Hideaki Tokuyama will be guarding the garrison. Defeat him quickly and move on to the western garrison. Katsumitsu Fuwa will be here trying to impede your path, so defeat him quickly as well. Move to the eastern garrison and face off with Nagayori Hara. Defeat him quickly. You should hopefully have these three garrisons down before or just a little after Hideyoshi asks you to go speak with Toshiie Maeda. When you have the western garrison seized, make your way over to the central path (I love Mitsunari's comments towards Nene). Morimasa Sakuma will be trying to force his way into your main camp. If you let him, he will wound Kiyohide Nakagawa, leaving the north gate of your main camp unguarded. We can't let that happen, so defeat Morimasa before he can enter your main camp. Defeating Morimasa will cause Shogen Yamaji to defect, but he would have defected anyways. Ignore Shogen for now and head over to the western fort, where Toshiie is located at. Toshinaga Maeda will be guarding the southern gate of the fort, so defeat him. Quickly run inside and you will get a mission to force Toshiie to retreat. Defeat Toshiie quickly. Otherwise, Katsuie might order him to attack your army and you will fail the mission. Once Toshiie is defeated, race back to your main camp. Now is the time to deal with that traitor Shogen Yamaji. Defeat Shogen and make your way back to the north garrison, which should be the last garrison that you left behind. It should still belong to the enemy, but not for long. Defeat Nagachika Kanamori to finish off the mission to take over all the garrisons. By now, Keiji should be feeling a little antsy and wants to rush into your main camp. Don't allow him to do this. Instead, block his path and battle with him. Keiji is powered up and he can put a hurting on you if you let him. However, he does have some openings in his move set that you can exploit. Otherwise, just use some allies as decoys and then beat him while his back is turned. Either way, escort Keiji off of the battlefield. This will cause Katsumasa Shibata to think he can be like Keiji and charge into your main camp. Rush over to your main camp's front gate and defeat him. Then, use the central fort he came out of as a shortcut to get to Katsuie Shibata's main camp. Nagayori Murai is guarding the only way into the main camp, so defeat him. Once inside, you will get double teamed by Oichi and Katsuie. Defeat Oichi first, as she is the weaker of the two. After it's a one on one battle, Katsuie should fall easily make your way towards the central area. Focus on getting rid of Nobumasa Okudaira first. Tadayo Okubo should be next on your list. These two generals are close to the eastern path, which is the next place you will be going, once Tsuneoki Ikeda gets into trouble. When Hideyoshi Hashiba asks Hidemasa Hori to assist Tsuneoki, make your way over to Tsuneoki yourself and assist him. He should be getting beat up by Naomasa Ii and Ujishige Niwa. You will get a mission to rescue Tsuneoki, so beat down the two bullies who are bothering him. Once this is done, Hideyoshi decides it's just best to take Iwasaki Castle while everyone is down there. Yasumasa Sakakibara is the holder of this castle, so hand him his eviction notice and force him to leave. This will cause Ieyasu Tokugawa to leave his castle and move over to the Kiyosu Castle. This will also cause Tadakatsu Honda and his daughter, Ina, to attempt to take Iwasaki Castle away from you. Tadakatsu Honda is powered up, as usual, so get rid of Ina first. Tadakatsu will take some time to beat, but he has the same openings in his move set that Keiji Maeda does. His first attack in his S string is a tad bit faster to come out, but it's still easy to get the jump on him before he can use it, especially with someone who has the weapon speed that Nene has. His C1 is just as long as Keiji's C1, so this is definitely exploitable. You really don't have any allies in the area to be nice decoys, so you will just have to do this with your bodyguard alone. While you're fighting with Tadakatsu, Hanzo Hattori should be trying to get into the Hashiba main camp. When you're done with Tadakatsu, make your way over to your own castle. The front gate of your castle will be closed, but there will be a ninja path off to the right of the gate. Double jump up to the ninja path and then follow Hanzo's trail. If he hasn't entered your main camp yet, you will get a mission to prevent him from entering your main camp. If he's already inside your main camp, get him out of it by defeating him. Either way, once he's done with, your castle gates will open up again. Clear out the central area of the stage. There should be a couple of generals here still alive, but they shouldn't be doing any harm to the massive numbers you have on them. The only place that should be left for Ieyasu to hide in is Kiyosu Castle. On your way to the castle, defeat Tadasuke Okubo. Once he is defeated, there should be two generals that you can choose from next. You can either defeat Kazumasa Ishikawa or Moritsuna Watanabe. Either way, when you defeat one, you should make your way to the other one and defeat him as well. When the outside generals have retreated, it's time to make the inside ones do the same. Nobukatsu Oda is here with Ieyasu, so make quick work of Nobukatsu. Finally, the only person left to beat is Ieyasu. Defeat the man with the cannon on his spear to complete the stage. ---------------------- Stage 4: Pirates Hunt ---------------------- NeneWhen the stage starts, you will get a mission to protect all the Peasants. At various times throughout the stage, you will be asked to protect each Peasant individually, which will help in the success in the overall mission. You start next to where four Raiders are. You will get a mission to protect the Peasants in your area. You only need to defeat the two Raiders closest to the Peasant troops to complete this mission. Make your way across the ship to where the other two Raiders ran off to. They will be harassing another Peasant, so you will get a mission to protect them. Defeat the two Raiders in this area to complete this mission. Make your way to the southeastern garrison. You will get a mission to protect it. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat the three Raiders that are attacking it. Once this mission is completed, more ships will arrive, along with five more Raiders. Four of those Raiders will attempt to attack the northwestern garrison, giving you a mission to protect that area. You can use the ships as a shortcut to get to that area. You won't be able to cross some ships. When you go up to a plank that is up, it will either stay up or it will go down for you. To make it to the northwestern garrison, stay along the south ships until you are forced to go north. Defeat all the Raiders in the northwestern garrison quickly, because some Peasants that were trying to get to the northwestern garrison will get ambushed on the ships and will need to be rescued. The mission for it will spring up as soon as the Peasants are ambushed. Once the four Raiders are out of the northwestern garrison, make your way to the trapped Peasants. To get there, take the ship that is second to the left and use that to make your way across (the leftmost ship isn't connected to anything). To get the plank to the Peasants to go down, you will need to get rid of the Defense Captain there. There should be another Raider on the ship, but ignore him for now. You can get him later and he isn't part of the mission. Defeat the two Raiders that have ambushed the Peasants to complete this mission. Once the Peasants have been rescued, the Marauder will appear with two more Raiders. Defeat the two Raiders that just appeared and then go back and defeat that Raider you bypassed. He should still be standing there doing nothing. Once there are no more Raiders on the map, defeat the Marauder, which will complete the first mission of saving all the Peasants. Warm and fuzzy Japan indeed. --------------------------------- Stage 5 Masanori Fukushima \| Yoshitake Mibu \| \| Ujisato Gamo \| Norihide Matsuda \| \| Hideie Ukita \| Masataka Kasahara \| \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| Naohide Matsuda \| \| Nagachika Kanamori \| Ujinaga Narita \| \| Kiyomasa Kato \| Naoshige Chiba \| \| Kanbei Kuroda \| Hiroteru Minagawa \| \| Kazutoyo Yamanouchi \| Yasuhiro Ogasawara \| \| Terumasa Ikeda \| Ujimitsu Hojo \| \| Masashige Daidoji \| Naosada Hojo \| \| Reinforcements: \| Reinforcements: \| \| None \| Ujinao Hojo \| \| \| Ujitaka Hojo \| \| \| Ujifusa Hojo \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, make your way to the southeastern garrison. Yasuhiro Ogasawara is here defending the garrison. You will get a mission to take the garrison, so defeat Yasuhiro to complete this mission. The gates inside the garrison will open and a siege ramp will appear. You will get a mission to protect the siege ramp. Defeat as many soldiers as you can and clear this area out. If the enemy breaks the siege ramp, it's no big deal. There will be a second one to come out. That's why you need to use the first one to clear out as many soldiers and enemy generals as possible. When the siege ramp is up, some enemy spies will start spreading rumors. You will get a mission to locate the spies and destroy them. Make your way over to where Masashige Daidoji is. The Spy Captain will be near him. Defeat the Spy Captain and then head back to the siege ramp. Go up the ramp and make your way inside the castle. Once inside the castle, your first order of business is to take out the storehouse of the castle. Ujitada Hojo is guarding the storehouse, so make your way to where he is located. You will get a mission to take over the storehouse, so defeat Ujitada to complete this mission. Now, go over to Naosada Hojo and defeat him next. Once Hideyoshi Hashiba is inside the castle gates, Ujimasa Hojo will order an ambush of your main camp. You will get a mission to protect your main camp. Don't rush over to your main camp yet. Kotaro Fuma will show up and ambush Hideyoshi, so you will want to protect him first. Kotaro will be powered up, so he won't be a quick kill. While you're in the area, you might as well clean out all the enemy officers that ran into this area when Kotaro showed up. Now, it's time to protect your main camp. Rush over to your main camp and start getting rid of all the Hojos that are surrounding it. When the three gates are cleared of the Hojos, make your way to the northern garrison, as there is a general there that is important to the mission, for some reason. Inside the northern garrison, Hiroteru Minagawa is there occupying Mitsunari Ishida. Defeat Hiroteru and the mission to protect your main camp should be successful. The gates to the main keep of the castle should then open. Clear out any enemy officers that may be outside of the main keep and then make your way inside the castle. When you get inside the main keep, run up to the second floor. Once on the second floor, the first officer you will see is Ujiteru Hojo. Defeat Ujiteru to get the gates to the third floor to open. When the gates open, the next general in your way will be Masataka Kasahara. There will be a lot of riflemen in the area, so you might want to get rid of them first. Once Masataka is defeated, climb up to the third floor. There, Ujimasa Hojo will be waiting for you. However, Kotaro Fuma will also show up and try to protect his master. Defeat Kotaro first and get him out of the way. Ujimasa should be the last general left, so defeat him to complete the stage. --------------------------- Dream: Melee at Sekigahara --------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat all enemy officers. Defeat Condition: Any allied officer is defeated. Armies: +------------------------+------------------------+-------------------------+ \| Nene: \| Western Army: \| Eastern Army: \| \| Nene \| Mitsunari Ishida \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| Hideaki Kobayakawa \| Sakon Shima \| Ina \| \| Reinforcements: \| Ginchiyo Tachibana \| Masanori Fukushima \| \| Okuni \| Teruzumi Akashi \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| \| \| Satoie Gamo \| Takatora Todo \| \| \| Yukinaga Konishi \| Nagamasa Kuroda \| \| \| Hideie Ukita \| Naomasa Ii \| \| \| Yoshitsugu Otani \| Yoshiaki Kato \| \| \| Ekei Ankokuji \| Yoshimasa Tanaka \| \| \| Hiroie Kikkawa \| Tadayoshi Matsudaira \| \| \| Hidemoto Mori \| Kazutoyo Yamanouchi \| \| \| Tamehiro Hiratsuka \| Terumasa Ikeda \| \| \| Shigemasa Toda \| Yoshinaga Asano \| \| \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| Kiyomasa Kato \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| Magobei Fuse \| \| \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| +------------------------+------------------------+-------------------------+ Walkthrough: You start off as your own force and attempt to stop the battle of Sekigahara. Actually, your main goal is to spank everyone in sight. Your starting point is Mt. Matsuo Castle. Leave the castle through the north gate and defeat Yoshiaki Kato and Yoshitsugu Otani. You will get a mission to stop the enemy cannons from firing. There are two cannons in this area, one belonging to the Eastern Army and one belonging to the Western Army. Stop both cannons and then make your way towards the central area of Sekigahara. You will receive reinforcements in the form of Okuni. And by reinforcements, I mean she will basically just stand there, hit on you, and become an annoyance while trying to die. Make your way over to Masanori Fukushima. You will get a mission to lecture Masanori. Complete this mission by defeating him. After spanking Masanori, also defeat Shigemasa Toda, who should also be in this area. Make your way over to Okuni and defeat any enemy officers that area around her. During this time, Magobei Fuse will attempt to fire rifles at Hideaki Kobayakawa to get him to defect to the Eastern Army. However, with Lady Nene around, he's more afraid of a spanking than the rifle bullets. Having failed to persuade Hideaki through means of bullets, Magobei Fuse will then retreat. Kiyomasa Kato will appear and make his way towards central Sekigahara. While you are waiting for him to make his way there, stop the second Eastern Army cannon. When that cannon is down, make your way over to Kiyomasa. You will get a mission to lecture him. Spank Kiyomasa and then make your way over to the second Western Army cannon, defeating any enemy officers you may encounter along the way. Stopping that cannon will complete your first mission. Ginchiyo Tachibana will then decide to charge out. Make your way over to her. You will get a mission to lecture her. Proceed to put a spanking on Ginchiyo and then make your way back to central Sekigahara. Defeat some enemy officers in this area while waiting for people to get done talking. If you get close to Tadayoshi Matsudaira or defeat him, you will get some funny comments from Nene. (Hell, who am I kidding? Just about every comment from Nene on this stage is funny.) When Yoshihiro Shimazu says that he's going to retreat, make your way over to him. You will get a mission to prevent Yoshihiro from escaping. Defeat Yoshihiro and Toyohisa Shimazu and complete this mission. Now, make your way back to Mt. Matsuo Castle. Hanzo Hattori should appear inside the castle and try to convince Hideaki to betray his mother. Well, we can't have bad influences around Hideaki, now can we? When you get close to Hanzo, you will get a mission to lecture him. Spank Hanzo and teach him the value of sharing and being a good boy. Now, clear out central Sekigahara and then make your way over to the eastern path. There should be a lot of enemy officers on this side of the stage. Clear this area out and then make your way towards the northeastern garrison. The northeastern garrison is where Ieyasu Tokugawa is hiding at. First, you will have to deal with Ina. When you approach her, you will get a mission to lecture her. After spanking Ina, make your way inside the garrison. You will then get a mission to lecture Ieyasu Tokugawa. Cure Ieyasu of his delusions with a good spanking. This will cause the Eastern Army to retreat. However, there's still the matter of Mitsunari Ishida and the Western Army to deal with. Mitsunari will charge out, which will also cause Hideaki to charge out as well. Defeat any remaining Western Army officers that are not Sakon Shima or Mitsunari. When Sakon and Mitsunari are the only officers left, make your way over to Sakon. You will get a mission to lecture Sakon. Spank Sakon and then make your way over to Mitsunari. Mitsunari, as usual, will have a very sharp tongue and isn't the least bit happy that you interfered with his plans. You will get a mission to lecture Mitsunari. Defeat him to end the battle of Sekigahara. Does this mean that Japan is now unified under Nene? ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4y. Kotaro Fuma's Walkthrough SW2STKOT \____________________________________________________ ------------------------------- Stage 1: Melee at Mikatagahara ------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. (Later changes to Defeat Shingen.) Defeat Condition: Kotaro is defeated. (Later changes to Kotaro or Ieyasu is defeated.) Armies: +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ \| Kotaro Fuma: \| Oda-Tokugawa: \| Takeda Army: \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| Tadakatsu Honda \| Katsuyori Takeda \| \| Reinforcements: \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| Masanobu Kosaka \| \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| Kazumasa Ishikawa \| Masatoyo Naito \| \| \| Toranosuke Aoyama \| Nobukimi Anayama \| \| \| Nobumori Sakuma \| Masatane Hara \| \| \| Kazumasu Takigawa \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| Shingen Takeda \| \| \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| Nobukado Takeda \| \| \| Toranosuke Aoyama \| Nobutoyo Takeda \| \| \| \| Nobufusa Baba \| \| \| \| Nobushige Oyamada \| \| \| \| Masakage Yamagata \| \| \| \| Moritomo Saegusa \| \| \| \| Masatsugu Tsuchiya \| \| \| \| Sakon Shima \| +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, three fake Ieyasu Tokugawas will appear on the map. You will get a mission to find the real Ieyasu Tokugawa. Start off with the fake Ieyasu that is just west of your position. Defeat that fake Ieyasu. Kotaro will mention about the art of ninjutsu is at work here. You will get a mission to enter the ninja path without being detected. You will fail this mission if you enter the central garrison of if you defeat all three doubles. Make your way back where you came from and then go north. You want to defeat the double that is right next to the ninja path next. When that double is defeated, jump up on the ninja path and head for the ninja that is controlling the doubles. When you enter the garrison, you will get a new mission to break Toranosuke Aoyama's spell that is creating the doubles. Toranosuke is a ninja and has a ninja move set. Furthermore, he is powered up. However, he shouldn't be too hard to defeat. When Toranosuke is defeated, all the fake Ieyasus will disappear, leaving only one remaining. Make your way back across the ninja path and get on your horse. Ride west towards the southwestern area. This area is covered with ledges. You can only go down a ledge while on your horse. You must double jump to get back up a ledge or find a new path to get back on that ledge. In this area, Yasumasa Sakakibara is here waiting for you. Defeat Yasumasa and move north, out of this area. When you reach the "real" Ieyasu, ignore him for now. Make your way north towards the western garrison. You will get a mission to prevent the Oda troops from escaping. To complete this mission, defeat Nobumori Sakuma and Kazumasu Takigawa. While you're here, you might as well defeat Nobukimi Anayama as well. After all, the Hojo may care about the Takeda, but you don't. Now, it's time to finish off the "real" Ieyasu. Make your way over to Ieyasu and defeat him. Turns out, that wasn't the real Ieyasu either. That was just Hanzo Hattori in a disguise. Now, here is where you have to be quick. The real Ieyasu Tokugawa will appear along the eastern path of the map. You can either go directly to where Ieyasu is and defeat him, or you can defeat the remaining two enemy officers on the map and then go after Ieyasu. Tadakatsu Honda is in the central garrison. If you get near him, you will get a mission to defeat Tadakatsu. He is powered up, but a few C4s from Kotaro and he should fall. If you have time, also defeat Kazumasa Ishikawa, who is located south of the central garrison. Ieyasu runs slow, so you should have just enough time to defeat both enemy generals and catch up to Ieyasu. If you reach Ieyasu while he is still outside of Hamamatsu Castle, you will get a mission to prevent him from entering the castle. Complete this mission by defeating Ieyasu. Kotaro decides to take over the Tokugawa Army and the main force of the Takeda Army arrives. Kotaro presents a challenge to the Takeda Army: Defeat Ieyasu before Kotaro defeats Shingen Takeda. You must now protect Ieyasu as well as get rid of Shingen. First, make your way north to where Nobufusa Baba is. While you're fighting him, Sakon Shima should bring more reinforcements for the enemy. Quickly defeat Nobufusa Baba and then make your way back to the castle. From the castle, go west to where Sakon Shima is. You will get a mission to prevent the enemy reinforcements from entering your castle. Two will try to get inside the castle from the western gate. One will try to get through the northern gate. First, defeat Sakon Shima and Moritomo Saegusa. Now, make your way over to where Masatsugu Tsuchiya is located at. Defeat him to complete your mission. Now, you just need to prevent the rest of the Takeda Army from entering your castle. The enemy officers will try to split up and enter Hamamatsu Castle from two sides, so you will have to do a little bit of traveling to get rid of all the enemy officers that are trying to break into your castle. You should defeat all enemy officers until there are just three left. Those three should be in the northeastern corner of the map. Make your way up there to face off with Shingen. Nobutoyo Takeda is guarding the southern gate of the main camp while Nobushige Oyamada is guarding the western gate. Defeat both of these guards before you defeat Shingen. Defeat Shingen to complete the stage. ----------------------------- Stage 2: Battle of Osaka Bay ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Nobunaga. Defeat Condition: Kotaro is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ \| Kotaro Fuma: \| Oda Army: \| Honganji Army: \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| Mitsuhide Akechi \| Rairen Shimozuma \| \| Reinforcements: \| No \| Shigeyasu Suzuki \| \| None \| Sadakatsu Murai \| Chuko Shimozuma \| \| \| Toshimitsu Saito \| Yorichika Shichiri \| \| \| Hidemitsu Akechi \| Rairyu Shimozuma \| \| \| Nobumori Sakuma \| Narihide Kodama \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| Harutada Inoue \| \| \| Nobunaga Oda \| Munekatsu Nomi \| \| \| Nobutada Oda \| Motoyoshi Murakami \| \| \| Narimasa Sassa \| Yoshimitsu Murakami \| \| \| Hideyoshi Hashiba \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Ranmaru Mori \| Terumoto Mori \| \| \| Yoshitaka Kuki \| Takeyoshi Murakami \| \| \| Kazumasu Takigawa \| Sukeyasu Innoshima \| \| \| Toshiie Maeda \| Michiyasu Kurushima \| \| \| Hidemasa Hori \| Magoichi Saika \| +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, make your way east towards Narihide Kodama. You will get a mission to prevent the Mori navy from reaching shore. First, defeat Narihide Kodama. Then, make your way back west and defeat Motoyoshi Murakami. You don't have to worry about the other two officers just yet. They will get stopped by the Oda Army. Instead, make your way all the way west to the southwestern island. Here, you will get a mission to take control of the Mori navy's stopover point. Defeat Yoshimitsu Murakami to complete this mission. Now, make your way back east and take the central path across the boats north to the rest of the Mori navy. Defeat Munekatsu Nomi and Harutada Inoue to complete your initial mission. While you are in the area, you might as well defeat Sadakatsu Murai and Nobumori Sakuma while you are at it. Now, Mitsuhide Akechi will decide to try to solve things peacefully. That's not very chaotic. He will begin moving towards the northeastern garrison. From the area you are currently at, take the boats east and then north. You cannot get to Mitsuhide Akechi by way of the shoreline because the gates to the northern garrison are closed. When you reach Mitsuhide, you will get a mission to stop the reconciliation. In this area also are Shigeyasu Suzuki and Toshimitsu Saito. Kill off both generic officers and then focus on Mitsuhide. Defeat Mitsuhide to break off all talks of peace. Nobunaga Oda will appear and bring some warships with him. He will also bring out a lot of reinforcements. First, defeat Yorichika Shichiri. Now, make your way south. You will get a mission to prevent the Oda reinforcements from entering Honganji Castle. Do not enter Honganji Castle while completing this mission. You will trigger the Honganji reinforcements to arrive when you do and you do not want that to happen just yet. First, defeat Rairyu Shimozuma. Then, make your way onto the Oda warships and defeat Toshiie Maeda and Hidemasa Hori. Make your way south and defeat Hideyoshi Hashiba. Continue to go south and east until you reach the southeastern boat. Here, when you defeat Yoshitaka Kuki, you will stop the firing of the Oda warships. This will make the battlefield less hectic. Make your way back north and defeat Kazumasu Takigawa and Ranmaru Mori to complete your mission of preventing the Oda reinforcements from entering the castle. Finally, defeat Chuko Shimozuma because he is in the way. The Honganji reinforcements will arrive along with Magoichi Saika. Make your way north and inside Honganji Castle. Rairen Shimozuma will be here, trying to escape. He is powered up, but he shouldn't pose any threat. Defeat him quickly and then continue to head north. Magoichi Saika is here, trying to make his way to Nobunaga to assassinate him. You will get a mission to prevent the assassination attempt. Defeat Magoichi to complete this mission. Now, make your way onto the boats and head west. When you get close to the Mori navy, you will get a mission to prevent them from getting inside the Oda main camp. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Terumoto Mori, Michiyasu Kurushima, Takeyoshi Murakami, and Sukeyasu Innoshima. While you're at this, you might as well defeat Nobutada Oda and Narimasa Sassa. Now, enter the Oda main camp. Here, you will get double teamed by No and Nobunaga. Defeat No first and then finish off the Demon King to complete the stage. ------------------------------- Stage 3: Siege of Osaka Castle ------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Hideyoshi. Defeat Conditions: Either Ujimasa or Ieyasu is defeated, or Hanzo Hanzo HattoriWhen the stage starts, you will get a mission to take control of the Outer Ward. Quickly defeat Hidemasa Hori and Hideie Ukita. Now, make your way north to the northwest corner of the map. Double jump and enter the castle. The storehouse is randomly located inside the castle, but it always appears at certain spots. This area is one of them. If the storehouse is here, Hidenaga Hashiba will appear and you will get a mission to take the storehouse, which you can do by defeating Hidenaga. Either way, you should defeat Yoshiaki Kato. By now, Tsuneoki Ikeda should have appeared and opened up the west gate of Osaka Castle. He will be charging the Hojo main camp. Double jump back outside of the castle and then ride your horse to where Tsuneoki is. You will get a mission to prevent Tsuneoki from entering the Hojo main camp. Defeat Tsuneoki to complete this mission. Now, enter Osaka Castle through the west gate. Make your way to the Outer Ward. Here, Magoichi Saika will be controlling the cannons. Defeat Magoichi Saika to seize the Outer Ward and complete your first mission. Also, defeat Hidetsugu Hashiba, who should be south of Magoichi's position. Now, leave the Outer Ward through the south gate and make your way over to the Tokugawa main camp. Make your way over to Koroku Hachisuka. You will get a mission to prevent him from entering your main camp. Defeat Koroku to complete this mission. While you are here, also defeat Tadaoki Hosokawa. Now, from here, you will want to re-enter Osaka Castle through the Outer Ward. Make your way through the Outer Ward and the castle until you reach Masanori Fukushima. Defeat Masanori to open up both front gates to Osaka Castle. Don't make your way towards the main keep of the castle just yet. Instead, you will want to take the stairs that are east of the second main gate and continue to go east. If the storehouse wasn't at the first area I specified, it will most likely be in this area. If it is, defeat Hidenaga Hashiba to complete the mission to capture the enemy storehouse. Either way, continue to go east until you make your way to Ina. You will get a mission to rescue Ina. Complete this mission by defeating Kanbei Kuroda. Make your way back north and defeat Kiyomasa Kato. Now, it's time to approach the main keep of the castle. When you get close to the front gate of the main keep of the castle, Mitsunari Ishida will ambush you along with two other generic officers. Defeat Mitsunari to open up the front gate to the main keep. When you enter the main keep of the castle, make your way up to the second floor. You will get a cut scene of Nene appearing and Hanzo Hattori attacking you. Hanzo will then appear on the second floor as a third party army. Both ninjas will be powered up and will normally try to double team you, even though they can technically hurt each other. Defeating Nene will open up the gate to the third floor. Defeating Hanzo will prevent him from even attempting to defeat Hideyoshi and ruining all your hard work up to this point. You should defeat both ninjas and then make your way up the stairs to where Hideyoshi is. Defeat Hideyoshi to complete the stage. ------------------------------- Stage 4: Kotaro's Insurrection ------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Ujimasa and Ujinao. Defeat Condition: Ieyasu is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Fuma-Tokugawa: \| Hojo-Date: \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| Ujimasa Hojo \| \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| Ujinao Hojo \| \| Tadakatsu Honda \| Ujimitsu Hojo \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| Naosada Hojo \| \| Reinforcements: \| Ujitada Hojo \| \| Ina \| Ujitaka Hojo \| \| Naomasa Ii \| Ujifusa Hojo \| \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| Norihide Matsuda \| \| \| Tanenaga Hara \| \| \| Yoshitake Mibu \| \| \| Ujinaga Narita \| \| \| Masayo Ito \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Naoshige Chiba \| \| \| Ujiteru Hojo \| \| \| Norisada Ueda \| \| \| Ujinori Uesugi \| \| \| Masamune Date \| \| \| Kojuro Katakura \| \| \| Shigezane Date \| \| \| Tsunamoto Oniniwa \| \| \| Kageyori Yashiro \| \| \| Munezane Shiroishi \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: You start off inside the main keep of the castle. You're on the second floor. Make your way up the stairs to the third floor and defeat Ujimasa Hojo. Make your way down to the first floor of the main keep and leave the main keep through the western gate. Out here, Ujitada Hojo is the first to greet you. Defeat him and then make your to the southwestern corner of the map. The enemy storehouse is in this area. Hanzo Hattori is already there and has the enemy supplies. You will get a mission to escort Hanzo to the escape point. Defeat all the enemy soldiers that are in Hanzos way and follow him. When you get close to the southern gate of Odawara Castle, you will run into Yoshitake Mibu. Defeat him and clear this area out of enemy soldiers. Your horse musou should be a really good way to defeat enemy soldiers quickly. Finally, Naoshige Chiba will ambush Hanzo in one last attempt to prevent him from escaping. Defeat Naoshige and then leave Hanzo here to escape on his own. He should now be able to make it out without any more of your help. Now, make your way north. Defeat Ujimitsu Hojo and then go east. Norihide Matsuda is here. He is controlling the cannons that are firing on Tadakatsu Honda. You will get a mission to stop the enemy cannons. Defeat Norihide to complete this mission. Make your way towards the eastern gate of Odawara Castle. Defeat Ujifusa Hojo to open up the eastern gate. Now, make your way outside and defeat Ujitaka Hojo, who should be fighting Tadakatsu Honda. Now, make your way onto the eastern path and go north to the Tokugawa main camp. Here, Ieyasu Tokugawa should be getting attacked by two enemy officers. You will get a mission to rescue Ieyasu. Complete this mission by defeating Ujinaga Narita and Tanenaga Hara. Leave the Tokugawa main camp through the north gate and follow the path back inside Odawara Castle. In this area, there should be a ledge that you can double jump on top of to get inside the sealed off area where Ina is. You will get a mission to rescue Ina. To get to Ina, you will have to defeat Ujinori Uesugi to open up the gate. Now, enter this area and defeat Ujiteru Hojo and Norisada Ueda to rescue Ina. Leave this area the way you came in and double jump back up the ledge to get back to your horse. Now, make your way to the Tokugawa main camp and go south along the eastern path. When you reach the southeastern area of the map, you will get a mission to open up the southern pass. Complete this mission by defeating Masayo Ito. Now, make your way back inside Odawara Castle by using the eastern gate and make your way south. There should be another ledge in the southern area of the castle that you can double jump onto to gain access to the central area of the castle. Enter the main keep of the castle through the gate here and make your way north and then east. Naosada Hojo should be here. Defeat him to defuse the bomb corridor. Now, go back outside of the main keep and then go to the Defense Captain that is guarding the central gate in the bomb corridor. Defeat him to open up this gate. Make your way back to the ledge you double jumped and get back on your horse. Make your way back to the area that you rescued Ina at and follow this path until you reach the area where Ujinao Hojo is hiding in. When you enter this area, Masamune Date will appear with his army to try to take over Japan. Defeat Ujinao Hojo quickly and focus your wrath on the Date Army next. Make your way back out of this area and go to the northern gate of Odawara Castle. Defeat Kageyori Yashiro here and then go south and then east. You should find three enemy officers at the eastern gate of Odawara Castle. Defeat all three and then go north. Shigezane Date should be here, so defeat him. Take the path that leads from this area to your former main camp. Masamune Date has decided to use this area as his base of operations. Raid his main camp and face off with the One-Eyed Dragon. Defeat Masamune Date to complete the stage. ----------------------------- Stage 5: Conquest for Kyushu ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Mitsunari, Nene, Sakon, Yoshihiro, Ginchiyo, and Musashi. Defeat Condition: Any allied officer is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Fuma-Tokugawa: \| Toyotomi-Kyushu: \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| Mitsunari Ishida \| \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| Nene \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| Sakon Shima \| \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| \| Tadatsugu Sakai \| Ginchiyo Tachibana \| \| Naomasa Ii \| Musashi Miyamoto \| \| Reinforcements: \| Yukinaga Konishi \| \| None \| Hideie Ukita \| \| \| Hideaki Kobayakawa \| \| \| Yoshimune Otomo \| \| \| Kanbei Kuroda \| \| \| Morichika Chosokabe \| \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Yoshihisa Shimazu \| \| \| Ekei Ankokuji \| \| \| Hiroie Kikkawa \| \| \| Hidemoto Mori \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, make your way to the northeast garrison. Ginchiyo Tachibana will collapse a bridge and then make her way towards the northeastern garrison. You will get a mission to defend the northeastern garrison. While you are completing this mission, Yoshihiro Shimazu should spring an ambush on one of your allies and Sakon Shima should be making his way towards another one of your allies. You will need to kill Ginchiyo quickly. However, Ginchiyo is powered up, so she won't be that easy to kill quickly. When Ginchiyo is defeated, you will have completed the mission. Now, follow the northern path until you reach the path that goes south towards the central garrison. Along the way, defeat Yoshimune Otomo. When you reach the central garrison, defeat the Defense Captain that is guarding the northern gate and enter the garrison. You will get a mission to seize control of the central garrison. Complete this mission by defeating Musashi Miyamoto. Musashi is powered up and can dish out a lot of damage. He can also take a lot of damage, so this may take a while. Try to kill him as quickly as possible, as you have other allies to rescue. When you have completed this mission, defeat Hideie Ukita who is also in this area and then make your way south. Defeat Morichika Chosokabe to free up Hanzo Hattori. He will be useful later. Now, take the path that is going east towards Tsuruga Castle. Sakon Shima should be along this path, trying to get inside Tsuruga Castle. You will get a mission to prevent Sakon from entering the castle. Defeat Sakon to complete this mission. Now, continue to follow this path to the western garrison. Pass through this garrison and make your way east towards Naomasa Ii. You will get a mission to rescue Naomasa. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Toyohisa Shimazu, Yoshihisa Shimazu, and Yoshihiro Shimazu. When Naomasa Ii is rescued, make your way towards the southern garrison. Defeat the two enemy officers that are right outside of the southern garrison and then enter the garrison. Nene is here waiting for you. You will get a mission to defeat Nene. Of course, she has some ninja tricks up her sleeve. Nene will split into three Nenes. Each time you defeat a Nene clone, another one will appear. Also, she taunts you in her cute voice the entire time you are fighting her and defeating her clones. Finally, after you have defeated a fair amount of clones, Kotaro will ask for help from Hanzo. Hanzo will make all the fake Nenes disappear, leaving only the real one remaining. The real Nene is powered up, so even without her clones, she can be a handful. Defeat the real Nene to complete your mission. With Nene's house of fun dismantled, make your way all the way north and enter the northwestern garrison. From the northeastern garrison, take the southern path to the eastern garrison. Here, Mitsunari Ishida is waiting for you. He will close all the gates to this garrison and spring an ambush lead by the Mori Army. You will get a mission to defeat all of these enemies. The Mori Army is easy to kill off, but Mitsunari is powered up. Defeat all of these enemies to complete your mission and to get the gates to this garrison to open. Just when you think you have finally defeated all of your enemies, all the unique officers you have previously beaten will ambush Tsuruga Castle. This is why none of them had retreat or death scenes. The only one that doesn't show up is Mitsunari Ishida. Quickly rush to Tsuruga Castle. All five enemy officers are not powered up, but they do seem to have more life and defense than they normally would. They will be at various points around the castle, so just defeat them one by one. When all five enemy officers are defeated, the stage is completed. --------------------------------- Dream: Defense of Odawara Castle --------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Hideyoshi and Mitsunari. Defeat Conditions: Ujimasa or Kotaro is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Hojo Army: \| Toyotomi Army: \| \| Ujimasa Hojo \| Hideyoshi Toyotomi \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| Mitsunari Ishida \| \| Ujinao Hojo \| Hidemasa Hori \| \| Ujitada Hojo \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| \| Ujiteru Hojo \| Hidetsugu Hashiba \| \| Ujimitsu Hojo \| Hideie Ukita \| \| Yasuhiro Ogasawara \| Yoshitsugu Otani \| \| Naoshige Chiba \| Kazutoyo Yamanouchi \| \| Reinforcements: \| Kanbei Kuroda \| \| None \| Yoshitaka Kuki \| \| \| Yasuharu Wakisaka \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Nene \| \| \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| \| Hidetada Tokugawa \| \| \| Masanobu Honda \| \| \| Yasumasa Sakakibara \| \| \| Tadatsugu Sakai \| \| \| Naomasa Ii \| \| \| Sakon Shima \| \| \| Keiji Maeda \| \| \| Kiyomasa Kato \| \| \| Masanori Fukushima \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: The biggest annoyance on this stage is the fact that you will be spending most of the stage off of your horse. As soon as the stage starts, double jump over the wall directly in front of you. In this area, the Toyotomi Army will send a siege ramp and try to set it up in this area. While you are waiting for the siege ramp to appear, defeat Yoshitaka Kuki. When the siege ramp appears, you will get a mission to destroy it. Quickly destroy the siege ramp and then head north. In this area, you will get a mission to defend the entrance to Odawara Castle. Complete this mission by defeating Tadaoki Hosokawa and Hidemasa Hori. Now, continue to head north to where Ujiteru Hojo is. You will get a mission to rescue him. Complete this mission by defeating Kazutoyo Yamanouchi, Yasuharu Wakisaka, and Kanbei Kuroda. By this time, Nene, should have appeared inside the main keep of Odawara Castle. Make your way back south and then double jump over the wall and then head for the main keep of your castle. When you enter the main keep of your castle, Kotaro Fuma will inform you that there are explosives inside the castle. You will get a mission to defeat all fire ninjas on the first and second floors. For me, there has always been five fire ninjas, although this number could be random. You will know you have gotten them all when the mission is completed. When you have completed the mission, make your way up the stairs to where Ujimasa Hojo is. Nene should be here, trying to take Ujimasa's head. Defeat Nene and then make your way back outside the main keep. Now, depending on how fast you were at getting everything done, Yasuhiro Ogasawara may or may not be defeated already. If he is still alive, make your way over to him. He is located in the southwestern garrison. Ieyasu Tokugawa will arrive with reinforcements inside Odawara Castle when you reach the southern garrison. When you reach Yasuhiro, you will get a mission to rescue him and escort him to Odawara Castle. When Hideie Ukita and Terumasa Ikeda are defeated, Yasuhiro will begin to make his way towards Odawara Castle. When he reaches the southern garrison, Sakon Shima will ambush him there. Defeat Sakon and any enemy soldiers that are in Yasuhiro's way until he reaches Odawara Castle. If Yasuhiro was already defeated, Ieyasu Tokugawa will still arrive with reinforcements. Either way, when your mission to protect Yasuhiro is completed or when Ieyasu Tokugawa arrives, begin to take out the Tokugawa soldiers. You will get a mission to protect Ujimasa Hojo. Complete this mission by defeating Hidetada Tokugawa, Masanobu Honda, Tadatsugu Sakai, Yasumasa Sakakibara, Naomasa Ii, and Ieyasu Tokugawa. When this mission is completed, clear out the third floor to ensure the safety of Ujimasa Hojo and then make your way back down the stairs and exit the main keep. Make your way across the stage over to where Mitsunari Ishida is. Mitsunari's garrison is guarded by Hidetsugu Hashiba in the south and Yoshitsugu Otani to the north. Defeat one of those two generals and then enter the garrison. Mitsunari Ishida is powered up, so he's pretty determined to take Odawara Castle. Defeating Mitsunari will open up the western gate to the Makeshift Castle. When you enter the Makeshift Castle, you'd think that Hideyoshi Toyotomi will be man enough to fight you one on one. Think again. Hideyoshi will call for his bodyguards. They are Keiji Maeda, Kiyomasa Kato, and Masanori Fukushima. All two of the four enemy officers are powered up and all four are aiming for your head. It's like they're having some private contest to see who can kill you first. This battle will not be easy. It is best to try to isolate each enemy officer one at a time and defeat them separately, but most of the time, they will not let you do that so easily. Also, always be aware of where Keiji and Hideyoshi are located at. Both of these enemy officers can do a lot of damage with one combo. When Hideyoshi is defeated, you will have successfully defended Odawara Castle. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 4z. Musashi Miyamoto's Walkthrough SW2STMUS \____________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Stage 1: Battle of Sekigahara ------------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. (Later changes to Defeat Kojiro.) Defeat Conditions: Musashi or Hideie is defeated. (Later changes to Musashi is defeated.) Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Western Army: \| Eastern Army: \| \| Hideie Ukita \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| \| Musashi Miyamoto \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| Ina \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| Naomasa Ii \| \| Yukinaga Konishi \| Nagamasa Ii \| \| Shigemasa Toda \| Nagamasa Kuroda \| \| Tamehiro Hiratsuka \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| \| Teruzumi Akashi \| Takatora Todo \| \| Reinforcements: \| Hideaki Kobayakawa \| \| None \| Mototsuna Kutsuki \| \| \| Hirotaka Terasawa \| \| \| Tadayoshi Matsudaira \| \| \| Naoyasu Akaza \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Takatsugu Kyogoku \| \| \| Masanori Fukushima \| \| \| Yoshiaki Kato \| \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| \| \| Kojiro Sasaki \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, you will get a mission to defeat all enemies that are attacking you. Quickly defeat Tadaoki Hosokawa and Naomasa Ii. Then, make your way south to where Takatora Todo is and defeat him. This will complete your mission. By now, Hideaki Kobayakawa should begin to march on your main camp. Since you're already in the south, you might as well stop him from doing so. They will march from Mt. Matsuo Castle, so stop them while they are on the path towards your main camp. Defeat Hideaki and his crew and then head back north towards central Sekigahara. You will want to make your way north towards the northwestern garrison. Along the way, you will get ambushed in the central area by three enemy officers, but ignore them for now. You will also get a mission to defeat 100 enemy soldiers, but also ignore this mission for now. When you reach the northwestern garrison, you will get a mission to assist Yoshihiro's attack. Help him out by defeating Nagamasa Kuroda and Ina. When Yoshihiro reaches the enemy main camp, you will complete your mission and Ieyasu Tokugawa will begin to retreat. Now, focus on getting your 100 kills and killing off the three enemy generals that ambushed you in the central area. Hanzo Hattori will appear on the western path. Make your way towards Hanzo and defeat him. When you get close to Hideie Ukita, you will get a mission to assist in his retreat. Just defeat the enemy soldiers that are in his way and he will make his way to the escape point. Your next target should be Tadakatsu Honda. He will charge out and begin to look for you, so why don't you find him instead? Tadakatsu is powered up, but you should be also, since you're Musashi. Defeat Tadakatsu Honda and then make your way Ieyasu. You will get a mission to prevent Ieyasu's retreat. Defeat Ieyasu before he reaches the southeastern corner of the map to complete this mission. When Ieyasu is defeated, Kojiro Sasaki will appear in the central area of the map. Make your way over to Kojiro and complete the stage by defeating him Musashi Miyamoto make your way east towards the southeastern garrison. When you get near the Raiders, you will get a mission to protect the garrison. To complete this mission, you will have to defeat the two Raiders at the west gate of the garrison and the two Raiders at the north gate. When that is completed, make your way north. When you get near the Peasant that is here, you will get a mission to protect that Peasant. Complete this mission by defeating both Raiders that are in the area. Now, make your way west and inside the central village. When you get inside the village, all the gates will shut. To open these gates, you will have to defeat all four Raiders that are inside this village. While you are fighting off these Raiders, more Raiders will appear and ambush the northwestern garrison. When you get all the gates to the central village to open, leave the central village through the north gate. Make your way towards the northwestern garrison. You will get a mission to protect this garrison. Complete this mission by defeating the four Raiders that have surrounded this garrison. Now, make your way back towards the central village. When you get inside, a bunch of bandits will appear here. You will get a mission to defeat a certain amount of bandits within a certain amount of time. The quickest way to kill off these bandits is by using a horse musou. That way, you can hit many bandits quickly. When you have succeeded in this mission, the Marauder will finally make an appearance. He will bring more Raiders with him, but don't worry about him for now. Keiji Maeda should appear in the eastern part of the map. He will offer to give you some sword lessons. Make your way over to Keiji. You will get a mission to defeat him. Keiji is the most powerful general on this board, but that really isn't saying much. You should be able to handle him with no problems. When Keiji is defeated, defeat the rest of the Raiders and then make your way towards the Marauder. Defeat the Marauder to complete the stage. ------------------------ Stage 3: Chaos at Kyoto ------------------------ Victory Condition: Hideyori arrives at the Escape Point. (Later changes to Defeat Kojiro.) Defeat Condition: Hideyori is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ \| Toyotomi Army: \| Tokugawa Army: \| Vagabonds: \| \| Hideyori Toyotomi \| Ieyasu Tokugawa \| Vagabond \| \| Musashi Miyamoto \| Terumasa Ikeda \| Vagabond \| \| Kiyomasa Kato \| Yoshinao Tokugawa \| Vagabond \| \| Yoshinaga Asano \| Yorinobu Tokugawa \| Vagabond \| \| Katsumoto Katagiri \| Reinforcements: \| Vagabond \| \| Harunaga Ono \| Hanzo Hattori \| Vagabond \| \| Reinforcements: \| Ina \| Vagabond \| \| Yukimura Sanada \| Masanobu Honda \| Vagabond \| \| \| Takatora Todo \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Tadakatsu Honda \| Vagabond \| \| \| \| Vagabond \| \| \| \| Vagabond \| \| \| \| Vagabond \| \| \| \| Vagabond \| \| \| \| Vagabond \| \| \| \| Kojiro Sasaki \| \| \| \| Vagabond \| \| \| \| Vagabond \| \| \| \| Vagabond \| \| \| \| Vagabond \| \| \| \| Vagabond \| +-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+ Walkthrough: As soon as the stage starts, head straight for Ieyasu Tokugawa. He will begin to retreat when the stage starts. He starts off in the northwestern corner of the map. His retreat point is the northeastern stronghold. You will get a mission to prevent Ieyasu's retreat when you get close to him. Defeat Ieyasu Tokugawa before he can escape to complete this mission. Ieyasu is powered up, so he will not be quick to kill. While you're along the northern path, you might as well defeat the three other Tokugawa officers that are scattered along this path. When there are no more Tokugawa officers left, make your way over to Nijo Castle. Hideyori Toyotomi should be south of this castle and should be getting attacked by some Vagabonds. Defeat all the Vagabonds that are on the map and then clear the path for Hideyori to move south. There should be some Vagabonds around Hideyori and then some more Vagabonds in the south. When Hideyori makes his way too far south, some more Vagabonds will appear as reinforcements. They will appear along the central road. Make your way back north to this central path. You will get a mission to defeat all the Vagabonds. These Vagabonds are more powerful than the other Vagabonds, but they shouldn't be too hard to defeat. Yukimura Sanada will also appear and decide to assist you. When all of the powered up Vagabonds are defeated, the Tokugawa Army will appear and mistake you for Hideyori. They will charge after you. You will get a mission to defeat the Tokugawa Army. Start off with the enemy officers that appear in the west. They are Takatora Todo and Hanzo Hattori. Defeat these two and then go east. Ina should be here, trying to chase after you. Defeat Ina and then continue to go east. When you reach the eastern path, go north through the alleyways towards Masanobu Honda. Tadakatsu Honda should appear, but ignore him for now. Yukimura should keep him busy long enough for you to take down Masanobu. When Masanobu is defeated, you will have completed your mission to defeat the Tokugawa Army. Make your way over to where Tadakatsu Honda is. You will get a mission to defeat Tadakatsu. You will need to defeat Tadakatsu before Hideyori reaches the escape point. Otherwise, you will fail the mission to defeat Tadakatsu and he will retreat. When Tadakatsu Honda is defeated, just wait for Hideyori to reach the escape point. When he does, Kojiro Sasaki will appear, along with more Vagabonds. All of the enemies will appear in the southern part of the map. You will get a mission to defeat Kojiro. Make your way here and defeat all the Vagabonds that Kojiro brings. When Kojiro is the last enemy officer on the map, make your way over to your rival. Defeat Kojiro to complete the stage. ------------------------ Stage 4: Osaka Campaign ------------------------ Victory Condition: Defeat Ieyasu. Defeat Conditions: Hideyori or Yukimura is defeated. None None \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, you're at the entrance to the main keep of Osaka Castle. Make your way up to the second floor. Here, Katsumoto Katagiri is trying to get to Hideyori Toyotomi. Stop him from getting there by defeating him. Now, make your way back to the first floor and leave the main keep. Your horse should be right outside the main gate of the main keep. There should be three enemy officers in this area. Defeat all three of the enemy officers. Now, Ieyasu Tokugawa will order his cannon to bombard the main keep of the castle. Ride south to where the cannon is. You will get a mission to destroy the cannon. Destroy the cannon before it can reach it's destination to complete this mission. Now, defeat Katsunari Mizuno and Takatora Todo. Now, go back north and make your way towards the eastern part of the castle. Ina is here, trying to enter the main keep through the east gate. You will get a mission to defeat Ina before she enters the main keep. Defeat Ina quickly. While you are here, also clear out this area of enemy officers. There should be three enemy officers in this area. When you have cleared out the eastern area, it's time to do the same to the western area. Like the eastern area, there are three generic enemy officers here and one unique enemy officer. The unique enemy officer this time is Masamune Date. You will get a mission to prevent him from entering the main keep of the castle. Defeat Masamune Date quickly, along with the other three enemy officers. When these missions have been completed, Hideyori Toyotomi will order his army to charge out. Assist the Toyotomi with their charge. First, you will want to help Yukimura Sanada take over the Sanada Ward. The enemy officer in control of the Sanada Ward is Kanetsugu Naoe. You will get a mission to defeat Kanetsugu Naoe. Kanetsugu is powered up, but you should be strong enough to take him down easily. While you're fighting Kanetsugu, Yoshinobu Satake should join in the fight to make this a two on two battle. Defeat both Kanetsugu and Yoshinobu to take control of the Sanada Ward. Taking over the Sanada Ward will fire cannons at the enemy main camp, forcing open the gates to the enemy main camp. Now, defeat Hidemune Date and make your way south. There should be four enemy officers that are around the enemy main camp. Defeat each one of them and then enter the main camp. Ieyasu Tokugawa is here, making one last stand against you. Defeat Ieyasu to complete the stage. ----------------------------- Stage 5: Siege of Edo Castle ----------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Hidetada. (Later changes to Defeat Kotaro, and Hideyori arrives at the Escape Point.) Defeat Conditions: Any allied officer is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Toyotomi Army: \| Tokugawa Army: \| \| Hideyori Toyotomi \| Magoichi Saika \| \| Yukimura Sanada \| Tadachika Okubo \| \| Musashi Miyamoto \| Yoshinao Tokugawa \| \| Matabei Goto \| Shigezane Date \| \| Morichika Chosokabe \| Yoshiaki Mogami \| \| Reinforcements: \| Hidemune Date \| \| None \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| \| \| Yorinobu Tokugawa \| \| \| Tadaoki Hosokawa \| \| \| Tadamasa Sengoku \| \| \| Yasunaga Matsudaira \| \| \| Tadateru Matsudaira \| \| \| Naotaka Ii \| \| \| Ietsugu Sakai \| \| \| Toshitsune Maeda \| \| \| Kagetsuna Naoe \| \| \| Masamune Date \| \| \| Shigenaga Katakura \| \| \| Kagekatsu Uesugi \| \| \| Kageie Kakizaki \| \| \| Hidetada Tokugawa \| \| \| Ina \| \| \| Takatora Todo \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: You start off in the northeastern part of the map. Make your way west. Here, Magoichi Saika is looking for a happy ending. Of course, he's not going to have one with you around. You will get a mission to defeat the Date Army. Complete this mission by defeating Magoichi and Hidemune Date. When they are defeated, the north gate of Edo Castle will open. Don't enter Edo Castle just yet. Instead, circle around the castle via the northwestern path. Make your way to the southwestern camp where Hideyori Toyotomi is. You will get a mission to prevent the Tokugawa Army from entering your main camp. To complete this mission, defeat Yoshiaki Mogami and Shigezane Date at the north gate and Yoshinao Tokugawa at the east gate. When this mission is completed, enter Edo Castle through the west gate. Make your way to the smaller keep of Edo Castle. Kanetsugu Naoe will give soliloquy about how his life is so horrible. Since when did Nagamasa Azai invade Kanetsugu's body? Either way, make your way to the second floor of the smaller keep. On the catwalk between the main keep and the smaller keep, Tadachika Okubo will be here. Defeat him to open up the main keep. Make your way to the third floor of the main keep. When you get here, Kanetsugu will set the main keep on fire and will try to take as many people to the afterlife with him. Also, the main army of the Tokugawa will arrive, along with the Uesugi and Date armies. On the third floor of the main keep, Kanetsugu will be here with Kagetsuna Naoe. You will get a mission to defeat Kanetsugu. Kanetsugu will be powered up, so he's definitely trying to take someone with him to the afterlife. Defeat both Naoe's and move on to the second floor. Here, Yasunaga Matsudaira and Tadateru Matsudaira will try to get in your way. Defeat them both and make your way down the stairs to the main keep's first floor. Here, five enemy officers will be trying to prevent you from leaving. Each one is powered up, so they're determined to make this area your fiery grave. Defeat all five enemy officers. When you have defeated all five enemy officers, the gates to the main keep of the castle will open, allowing you to leave this area. However, right outside the gate is Yorinobu Tokugawa. He's there just in case you manage to escape. Defeat Yorinobu and leave this area. To get back to your horse, circle around by staying inside the castle. You will have to take the eastern path to circle around, as the northwestern part of the castle is not connected to the southwestern part. When you reach your horse, ride it on out through the western gate. When you reach your main camp, you will get a mission to defend your main camp from the enemy. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Kagekatsu Uesugi, Kageie Kakizaki, Masamune Date, and Shigenaga Katakura. When you get near Hideyori, you will get a mission to assist his retreat. Hideyori will try to reach the northeastern part of the map. When you have protected your main camp, Hidetada Tokugawa will appear in the southeast. When you get near Hidetada, Ina and Takatora Todo will appear to protect him. Defeat Hidetada's bodyguards first, then defeat Hidetada himself. When Hidetada is defeated, Kotaro Fuma will appear in the northeast. When you get close to the northeastern corner of the map, Kotaro will create two doubles of himself. There will be a total of three Kotaros on the map. One will be along the eastern path. One will be on the northern path. One will still be in the northeast. You will have to find the real Kotaro by defeating all of them. When you defeat the real Kotaro, the doubles will disappear with him. When Hideyori reaches the escape point, the stage will end in victory. ------------------------------- Dream: Tournament of Champions ------------------------------- Victory Condition: Defeat Tadakatsu and Sakon. (Later changes to Defeat Kojiro.) Defeat Conditions: Musashi is defeated. Armies: +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ \| Musashi Miyamoto: \| Toyotomi-Tokugawa: \| \| Musashi Miyamoto \| Tadakatsu Honda \| \| Reinforcements: \| Sakon Shima \| \| None \| Yukimura Sanada \| \| \| Kanetsugu Naoe \| \| \| Yoshihiro Shimazu \| \| \| Reinforcements: \| \| \| Miscreant \| \| \| Miscreant \| \| \| Toyohisa Shimazu \| \| \| Kagekatsu Uesugi \| \| \| Chikanori Suibara \| \| \| Kagetsugu Amakasu \| \| \| Nagahide Yasuda \| \| \| Keiji Maeda \| \| \| Kotaro Fuma \| \| \| Nene \| \| \| Hanzo Hattori \| \| \| Kojiro Sasaki \| +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ Walkthrough: When the stage starts, make your way north along the western path. The first enemy officer you will run into is Yukimura Sanada. He is powered up, as are all of the unique enemy officers are on this stage. Continue to follow the western path north. Tadakatsu Honda and Sakon Shima will decide to team up against you when you get further north. Also, Miscreants will appear in the northwestern corner of the map. You will get a mission to defeat a random number of enemy soldiers within a random timeframe. Quickly defeat as many enemy soldiers as possible. Don't worry about running out of enemies. They will pour out of the gate in this area. When you have completed this mission, make your way east towards Yoshihiro Shimazu. When you reach Yoshihiro, Toyohisa Shimazu will appear. You will need to defeat Yoshihiro Shimazu before Toyohisa arrives in the area. Continue south to where Kanetsugu Naoe is. The Uesugi Army will arrive to protect Kanetsugu, but Kanetsugu will tell them to retreat and go home. You will get a mission to defeat the entire Uesugi Army before they retreat. Complete this mission by defeating Nagahide Yasuda, Chikanori Suibara, Kagekatsu Uesugi, and Kanetsugu Naoe. Each member of the Uesugi Army other than Kanetsugu will retreat in a different direction, so it's best to try to kill one or two members of the Uesugi Army before they begin their retreat. When you have defeated the Uesugi Army, find Toyohisa Shimazu and defeat him. Continue to head south. Kotaro Fuma will appear in the southern area and Keiji Maeda will appear in the northern area. Quickly defeat Kotaro Fuma and then make your way back north. Keiji Maeda will be looking for you, so be sure to welcome him with open arms...or open swords. Now, make your way towards the southeastern corner of the map. Sakon Shima is here waiting for you. Of course, if you thought this was going to be a one on one battle, you thought wrong. Nene, Japan's cute, happy homemaker, will appear to assist Sakon. Defeat both Sakon and Nene and then make your way north to where Tadakatsu Honda is. Tadakatsu, not to be outdone by Sakon, has his own ninja to show you. Hanzo Hattori will appear to make your life even more fun. When you have defeated the two officers of the Tokugawa, one of two things will happen. If you failed to defeat someone personally or you failed a mission, Kojiro will say you are not worth his time and will not appear. However, if you managed to defeat everyone personally and complete both missions during the course of the stage, Kojiro Sasaki will appear and challenge you to a duel. You will get a mission to defeat Kojiro. Defeat Kojiro to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5. Weapons SW2WEAPO \____________________________________________________ Knowing and managing your weapons in Samurai Warriors 2 will greatly help you in your battles. Each character has four different types of weapons of varying power. The first three weapons can be found at random in weapon boxes. The stats on these weapons are random. The higher the difficulty a weapon is found, the better the chance to find more and higher stats on a weapon. Fourth weapons can only be obtained by (unless otherwise indicated) completing certain tasks on a certain stage on Hard mode. You must be playing Story Mode and not Free Mode. Also, you may have to complete the character's Story Mode once before you can get his or her fourth weapon. The stats and elements on fourth weapons are set. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5a. Yukimura Sanada's Weapons SW2WEYUK \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Cross Spear - Base Attack: +20 Lunar Spear – Base Attack: +29 Crimson Fang – Base Attack: +37 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Dragon's Tail Base Attack: +45 Element: Fire Life: +19 Attack: +20 Attack: +15 Defense: +20 Defense: +18 Ride: +18 Musou Charge: +17 Musou Charge: +15 Stage: Osaka Campaign Requirements: Succeed in getting your entire army to advance. Location: On the second floor of the main keep of the castle in the western area of the floor in a black box. My Method: The three things you need to do in order to get your army to charge the enemy main camp are destroy the enemy's cannon, prevent Ina from entering the main keep of the castle, and prevent Masamune Date from entering the main keep of the castle. You do not have to personally defeat Ina or Masamune Date and you don't even need to wait for the mission to prevent them from entering the main keep to show up. The first thing you should do is get rid of that one enemy general that is currently inside the main keep of your castle. That general is Katsumoto Katagiri. Find him and defeat him. He should be on the second floor. Once you have done that, make your way out of the main gate of the main keep. Here, there should be three generals right around this area. They should be Naotaka Ii, Tadanao Matsudaira, and Toshitsune Maeda. Defeat all three of them. This will cause Ieyasu Tokugawa to call forth a cannon to bombard the main keep of your castle. It will begin to slowly move towards your main keep. Defeat it quickly by using musou attacks. This will cause both Ina and Masamune Date to charge your castle with their armies. Ina will approach from the east side and Masamune will approach from the west. Since you're already near the east side, approach Ina first. You will get a mission to prevent her from entering the main keep. Defeat Ina to succeed in this mission. You do have enough time to get rid of the three generals that she brings with her to the east side of the main keep, so you might want to do that to save you some trouble in the future. Make your way over to the western entrance to your main keep. This is where Masamune Date is with two more generals. You will get a mission to prevent Masamune from entering your main keep. Defeat Masamune to cause the weapon to appear. The weapon will be inside of a box on the second floor of your main keep. To get there, enter through the gate that Masamune was trying to break through and go up the stairs. When you zoom in on your mini map, you should see an X where the box is located at. The box is black and along the wall, so you may not see it at first. Just because the mission succeeds does not mean you have your weapon. You need to break open the box and grab your weapon for it to count. Once this is done, defeat Kanetsugu Naoe to get him to defect to your side, clear out the rest of the Tokugawa forces, and then charge into Ieyasu's main camp and defeat him. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5b. Keiji Maeda's Weapons SW2WEKEI \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Double Pike - Base Attack: +23 Snake Tongue – Base Attack: +33 Ogre Horn – Base Attack: +41 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Divine Mandible Base Attack: +50 Element: Lightning Life: +18 Attack: +20 Attack: +18 Attack: +15 Ride: +19 Musou Charge: +18 Musou Charge: +17 Musou Charge: +14 Stage: Battle of Hasedo Requirements: Achieve 1000 KOs. Location: Supply Team will appear near the stronghold that is just west of the second gate and move south. My Method: You will need to get as many kills as you can. Don't let many enemies get through you. Luckily, you don't really have to worry about keeping all your allies alive. You only need to keep Kanetsugu alive and he doesn't die easily. Also, when you see a large group of enemy soldiers, a horse musou is the best way to kill off many regular soldiers quickly. It's fast and it does tons of damage to enemy soldiers. When the stage starts off, Yoshiaki Mogami is blocking your path. Try to get at least 100 KOs before you defeat Yoshiaki. If you defeat Yoshiaki, all enemies will retreat. A retreating enemy dies in one hit, but only if you can catch them. It's best to defeat enemies while they are not trying to run away, as you have more of a chance to not miss. Still, knocking off runaways is a good way to get some easy kills. When you get passed the first gate, you will get ambushed by more enemy soldiers. You will want to try to be close to 300 KOs by the time you are finished with the ambush troops. When all the ambush officers are defeated, make your way passed the second gate to the third gate. You will find some soldiers here, just waiting to be picked off. Defeat these soldiers and wait for your allies to arrive in this area. When your allies get close to the third gate, more enemy reinforcements will arrive. This is where you will get most of your kills. There will be four waves of enemy reinforcements. You should try to get at least 100 KOs per wave, but you will probably want more than that. Don't let any enemy officers get passed the third gate while you are getting kills. You should have close to 900 KOs by the time you have completed your mission and finished off the last officer from the final wave of enemy reinforcements. Now, make your way north to where Kanetsugu and his gang is. Masamune Date should ambush your allies in the northern area of the map. You should be able to get the rest of your kills in this area to make 1000 KOs. Now, make your way south towards the second gate. The Supply Team should be on the path south of the second gate. Defeat the Supply Captain to get your weapon and then finish off Masamune Date to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5c. Nobunaga Oda's Weapons SW2WENOB \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- King's Sword - Base Attack: +21 King's Rage - Base Attack: +30 Demon Slayer - Base Attack: +38 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Demon Regalia Base Attack: +46 Element: Wind Musou: +18 Attack: +18 Attack: +17 Defense: +16 Speed: +18 Musou Charge: +18 Musou Charge: +15 Range: +19 Stage: Battle of Tedorigawa Requirements: Complete the missions "Assist Kazumasu Takigawa's escape", "Assist Nagahide Niwa's escape", "Assist Katsuie Shibata's escape", "Assist Toshiie Maeda's escape", and "Assist Hideyoshi's escape". Location: Supply Team will appear south of the Uesugi main camp and move south. My Method the next ally. The first general you should now save is Kazumasu Takigawa. He is being attacked by Kagemochi Amakasu. Defeat Kagemochi quickly and then continue along the path to Nagahide Niwa. When you reach Nagahide Niwa, Nagahide Yasuda will attempt to stop your retreat plans. Defeat Nagahide Yasuda and head north, leaving Nagahide Niwa to find his way home. Katsuie should be the next general you save, which means Takahiro Kitajo should be the next general you kill. Now there are only two generals left to save. Toshiie Maeda is next up on the list. He is north of Katsuie and guarded by Shigenaga Honjo. Defeat Shigenaga and then continue along the path to the northwestern area of the map Oh, and yes, I did just copy and paste this from the Story Mode Walkthrough section. Honestly, why would you want me to type the same thing twice? It's a method that works for both getting through the stage normally and for getting the weapon. God invented copy and paste for a reason. The weapon will appear south of where the Uesugi main camp is, which is convenient because that's where you need to go next. Grab your weapon, hunt down Kanetsugu Naoe before he launches the flood attack, protect your main camp from the Uesugi charge and ambush, and then beat down Kenshin. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5d. Mitsuhide Akechi's Weapons SW2WEMIA \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Katana - Base attack: +20 Masterpiece - Base Attack: +29 Hallowed Edge - Base Attack: +37 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Gilded Talon Base Attack: +45 Element: Lightning Musou: +19 Musou: +17 Attack: +18 Attack: +16 Defense: +18 Defense: +17 Range: +20 Range: +17 Stage: Mitsuhide Unites Japan Requirements: Succeed in getting your main army to charge and advance after Kotaro Fuma appears. You need to keep four allies alive for the charge to happen. Location: Supply Team will appear near the middle stronghold along the northern river route and move west. My Method: There is a way to keep all your allies alive. This way is probably a lot tougher than the way I described here. That is because you need to kill everyone faster in that method. If you slow down at any step, an ally will die. To see that method, look for the walkthrough of this stage in section 4d. In order to get your army to charge, you need to defeat Masamune Date, Katsuie Shibata, Keiji Maeda, Okuni, Yukimura Sanada, and Kanetsugu Naoe while keeping four allies alive. You don't need to protect all your allies, just most of your allies that are near the main camp. To get Kotaro Fuma to appear, you will need to get to where Tadakatsu is after you have defeated all the enemy officers outside of the Tokugawa main camp. Your first target should be Katsuie Shibata. Make your way to him and defeat any generals you see along your way. A mission will appear to protect Sadaoki Ise when you approach him. Complete that mission by defeating Katsuie Shibata and Toshiie Maeda. Now, continue on your way south to where Masamune is. You will receive another mission to defeat the Date Army. Defeat Kojuro Katakura and Shigezane Date before entering the southern fort. When you approach Masamune, he will ambush you with a lot of musketeers. Ignore them the best you can and focus on defeating Masamune quickly. Once that is over with, you should have a flood of enemies approaching your main camp. Defeat any and all generals that approach your main camp. You should have every general charge your main camp except for those protecting the gates of Ieyasu's fort and Ieyasu himself. Odds are, you will be triple teamed and more by the likes of Keiji, Okuni, Yukimura, and Kanetsugu, so do your best to quickly defeat generals. Luckily, you should have some allies in the area to assist you with the massive onslaught. If you manage to survive all of this and defeat all the enemy generals charging your main camp, it's time to return the favor. Head for Ieyasu's main camp and then break through either the western or the northern gates, whichever one you choose. Kotaro Fuma should appear shortly after you reach Tadakatsu Honda. Kotaro will then proceed to charge your main camp, but the allies in your main camp will proceed to charge Ieyasu's fort, so long as you have four allies still alive. After you receive the message that your allies are charging, the supply team will appear. Chase after them and grab your weapon. Now, it's just defeating Kotaro, Tadakatsu, and Ieyasu to complete the stage. Special thanks to saitou1024 for providing information in regards to the requirements of this weapon. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5e. Kenshin Uesugi's Weapons SW2WEKEN \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Spiked Blade - Base Attack: +21 Seven Spirits - Base Attack: +30 Barbed Fang - Base Attack: +38 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Frozen Flame Base Attack: +46 Element: Ice Musou: +19 Attack: +20 Attack: +17 Attack: +13 Speed: +20 Speed: +18 Range: +18 Range: +16 Stage: Conquest for Kyushu Requirements: Complete the following tasks: Activate the geyser, complete the mission "Defeat the Hashiba Army", defeat Mitsuhide Akechi, and defeat Ranmaru Mori. (I think these are the exact requirements, I may be missing something or added something extra, but I do know the method below works. I'm just guessing these are the exact requirements, but I could be wrong.) Location: Supply Team will appear inside the Uesugi main camp and move east. My Method: When the stage starts, make your way over towards the western path of the map. You need to head towards the geyser. Pass the geyser to activate it. Now, make your way around the map by way of the north path. You will want to go where Shingen Takeda is currently at. He will get jumped by Hideyoshi and two generals. Those generals are Hidemasa Hori and Koroku Hachisuka. Defeat all three generals to rescue Shingen. Now, make your way back to the northern path. Nene should be here with Toshiie Maeda. They're in the middle of attacking Yukimura Sanada, so rescue him by defeating both generals. Now, what you will want to do is make your way south towards your main camp. You will want to locate Toyohisa Shimazu. He could either be at your main camp or attacking the southwestern garrison where Kanetsugu Naoe is. Either way, you will want to defeat Toyohisa and the two generals with him, Nagamasa Kuroda and Kanbei Kuroda. Now, what you will want to do is locate Narimasa Sassa. He should be with Kazumasu Takigawa and Nagahide Niwa. You can either do one of two things here. You can kill off all three generals, which will cause your allies to charge the Shimazu main camp. Or, you can leave just one enemy alive and then charge the Shimazu main camp. Either way, you want to reach the northwestern garrison before Shingen does. If Shingen enters the garrison first, it might cause you to lose the weapon. The northwestern garrison gates will close when the first allied general enters the garrison, so make sure that first allied general is you. When you reach the northwestern garrison, you will find out that the Yoshihiro Shimazu and the Yoshihisa Shimazu are both doubles. Also, No and Nobutada Oda will leave their main camp and enter the northwestern garrison, giving you four generals that you need to defeat. The real Shimazus will appear on the map, along with many enemy reinforcements. These enemy reinforcements will begin to attack both main camps. You need to quickly defeat all four generals that are inside the northwestern garrison. This will cause Yoshihiro Shimazu to call for more help. This time, Mitsuhide Akechi and Ranmaru Mori will appear. Mitsuhide will go after Shingen and Ranmaru will go after you. First, make your way over to Mitsuhide. Mitsuhide is powered up and has really high attack, defense, and life, so he will be a tough fight. Defeat him quickly, as Ranmaru is chasing after you. Ranmaru also is powered up and has very high attack, defense, and life, so you really don't want to be double teamed against two overpowered generals (although this will be the case later on in the stage). When Mitsuhide is defeated, find Ranmaru (or let him find you). Defeat Ranmaru to make the Supply Team appear. They will appear in your main camp. Make your way over towards your main camp and grab your weapon. Now, defend your main camp by clearing out Toshihisa Shimazu and Tadatsune Shimazu. Toshihisa Shimazu will be powered up, so he won't be easy to defeat. Now, you can go over to Tsuruga Castle and defeat Yoshihiro and Yoshihisa or you can assist the Takeda by defending their main camp from Iehisa Shimazu and Tadanaga Shimazu to gain some more gold and experience (Iehisa is powered up). Either way, you will eventually need to end up in Tsuruga Castle fighting with Yoshihiro and Yoshihisa. Both Yoshihiro and Yoshihisa are severely overpowered. If your Kenshin isn't strong enough, then your regular attacks won't even make either one of these two generals flinch. If this is the case, you will need to rely on attacks that dizzy (Kenshin's C2, C6, and R1+T) or grab attacks when they are blocking (Kenshin's C7). These two are very powerful and have a tendency to attack your allies, so don't think you have all day to defeat them. They can turn your allied generals into corpses with just a few hits, not to mention turn you into a corpse with just a few hits as well. If you manage to defeat the two Shimazus, you will complete the stage with your new weapon. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5f. Oichi's Weapons SW2WEOIC \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Cup & Ball - Base Attack: +19 Cup & Stone - Base Attack: +27 Cup & Iron - Base Attack: +35 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Cup & Gold Base Attack: +42 Element: Lightning Life: +20 Life: +14 Attack: +20 Attack: +18 Defense: +20 Defense: +16 Musou Charge: +19 Musou Charge: +13 Stage: Incident at Shizugatake Requirements: Perform the following tasks in order: Complete the mission "Rescue Nagamasa Azai", defeat Nobunaga Oda, defeat No, defeat Ginchiyo Tachibana and Ina (doesn't matter in which order), defeat Ranmaru Mori, and defeat Nene and Okuni (doesn't matter in which order). Location: Supply Team will appear south of the western fort and move south. My Method: As soon as the stage starts, start to defeat some of the generic officers. Don't touch any of the unique officers just yet. There should be many generic officers to choose from. When you defeated on generic officer, Okuni should join the battle as one of your allies. Once you have defeated three generic officers, Nagamasa Azai should leave his fort and start to charge out. This will cause No to also come out. When Nagamasa Azai reaches the first stronghold on the northern path, he will get ambushed by Nagachika Kanamori and Tsuneoki Ikeda. Quickly rush to where Nagamasa to trigger the mission to rescue him. Defeat both enemy generals to complete the mission. Now, head directly to the southern fort. This is where Nobunaga Oda is. Defeat him quickly. He will take a while to beat, as he is powered up. Nene might try to get involved in the action, so avoid killing her. You need to save her for the end. Once Nobunaga is defeated, it's time to go after his wife. No should be in the central fort by now, so run up there and face off with her. You will also have to fight off a couple of generic officers along with Nene. Again, don't kill Nene, but everyone else is fair game. No should be easy to kill this time around. Once No is defeated, Ginchiyo Tachibana and Ina should appear along the eastern side of the map and join the fight as well. You must defeat these two. Also, during this time, Nene should get upset at Oichi because she thinks that Oichi is trying to steal her husband. That will get Nene really fired up, which means she's now a powered up general. Defeat both Ginchiyo and Ina. It does not matter who dies first, as long as they both die. Now, Ranmaru Mori shows up in the battle along the western side of the battlefield. Even though he's not a woman, he wants to claim the title as most beautiful woman himself, for whatever reason. Ranmaru is powered up as well, so be careful. Defeat him and he will run off, stating that he's not a girl (so shut up with your "Ranmaru is a girl" topics already). Okuni will then defect to the Coalition side. Both Nene and Okuni should be conveniently located in the central fort. However, this also means that this is going to be a two on one. Well, not exactly because they can hit each other, but they will be trying to hit you and not each other. You should defeat Okuni first, as Nene is powered up and has a lot of stamina. Once you have isolated Nene, defeat her. Oichi will begin to claim victory as the most beautiful woman, but No will appear once again in the southern fort. Apparently, she's not going down without a fight. After No has said her speech, the supply team with your weapon will appear along the western path, south of the western fort. They will be heading south, so quickly cut them off before they can get too far and claim your weapon. Now, just finish off No, who should be chasing after you, and Oichi will claim the title as most beautiful woman in the land (which I agree). ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5g. Okuni's Weapons SW2WEOKU \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Umbrella – Base Attack: +19 Dance Parasol – Base Attack: +28 Scorned Moon – Base Attack: +36 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Raging Sun Base Attack: +44 Element: Fire Attack: +19 Defense: +20 Defense: +17 Speed: +17 Dex: +20 Dex: +19 Range: +18 Range: +17 Stage: None (Must be obtained in Survival Mode) Requirements: Complete the mission "The Traveling Dancer" on any floor higher than 61F. Location: Dropped by Keiji Maeda when you defeat him on the fifth floor. My Method: First off, the floor to complete this mission on is 61F. To ensure that you get this mission on 61F, first make your way up to level 60F with Okuni. When you are given the option to exit Survival Mode and save, do so. Now, select the Continue option on the main menu. This will send you right back to Survival Mode on 61F. If you do not see "The Traveling Dancer" as one of the missions, soft reset and then load your save file. This will allow you to keep starting up in Survival Mode on 61F until you get the mission you want. Now, I could just direct you to where the mission is located in the Survival Mode chapter, but I decided to copy and paste this for convenience sake. On the first floor, just defeat enemies until the stairs open. On the second through fourth floors, you will have to convince a lord to donate to your cause. You must defeat a general or generals (normally) to get that lord to come out. When the officer's lord appears, you must defeat him to force him to make a contribution. On the fifth floor, you must defeat Okuni. Keiji Maeda is your ally and will assist you in defeating Okuni. Okuni is powered up, so she's not just going to go down easily. If you are playing as Okuni and are above 60F, you will fight a fake Okuni with Keiji. When you have defeated the fake Okuni, Keiji will then say he has something for you, but you have to defeat him first to get it. Keiji will turn into an enemy and fight you. He will be powered up. If you defeat him, he will drop Okuni's fourth weapon. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5h. Magoichi Saika's Weapons SW2WEMAG \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Musket - Base Attack: +20 Silver Trigger - Base Attack: +29 Thunder Thrower - Base Attack: +37 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Marksman's Pride Base Attack: +45 Element: Fire Life: +19 Life: +16 Attack: +20 Attack: +18 Luck: +12 Musou Charge: +20 Range: +20 Range: +19 Stage: Escape from Honnoji Requirements: Defeat Nobunaga Oda within 10 minutes. Location: No clue, although I believe I caught the supply team somewhere in the southwestern area, but not 100% sure. My Method: Nobunaga Oda is hiding in the northeast garrison, so you need to make your way there. The problem is that there is a fog covering the entire stage, preventing your from seeing where you're going. You also have no mini map and cannot locate yourself on the general map by pressing start. Therefore, you will need to do a few tricks in order to make your way to the northeast garrison. First of all, you will need to follow the wall that leads to the northeastern garrison. Second of all, you will need a horse. Whenever you dismount from your horse, always point it in the direction you were traveling so you do not get lost. Third of all, you need to stay close to your horse. If you do not, you could easily get turned around and lose sight of your horse. Also, you may want to save frequently during this battle, just in case you get lost or you lose sight of your horse. As soon as the stage starts, you are near Hidemitsu Akechi. Quickly head for the right hand walls and follow it to where Hidemitsu is located. Defeat him quickly and then get back on your horse. Continue along the walls until you reach a Peasant fighting a Raider. It's your choice whether or not you want to save the Peasant, but you do have enough time to do so. Once the Peasant is saved, continue along the walls again. This time, you will face off with Ranmaru Mori and No. When you dismount from your horse, try to lure the enemies to your horse so you do not lose it. If they are still too far away for them to chase after you, get back on your horse, move along the walls some more, then dismount again. Once you defeat these two generals, continue to move along the walls. You will run into another Peasant, this time being attacked by a Marauder and a Raider. Again, it's your choice whether or not to save the Peasant, but again, you do have time to do so. The Peasant is very close to the northeastern garrison, so once you have saved the Peasant, make your way to the fort. The gates to the fort are shut. You will need to defeat Shigetomo Akechi in order to get the gates to open. When inside the gate, leave your horse at the gate you entered and then make your way to the center of the garrison. There, Nobunaga Oda will appear. Defeat him as quickly as possible. When Nobunaga is dead, he will turn out to be just an illusion of Kotaro Fuma's. After Kotaro Fuma talks for a little bit, a supply team will appear. However, because of the fact that there is no mini map and you cannot see enemies on the general map, you will need to blindly look for the supply team. I do not know where they show up, but I can direct you to where the supply team showed up for me. Get on your horse again and then go through the other gate (the one you did not leave your horse by). When you exit the garrison, head straight. When you reach a dead end, take a right. When you reach a dead end again, take another right. This is where I encountered the supply team at. I would suggest saving your game right after the supply team appears just in case you cannot find them the first time. Once you have defeated the Supply Captain and grabbed your weapon, start searching for Kotaro. He tends to appear at random, so just keep wandering around until he shows up. Defeat Kotaro to finish this god awful map. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5i. Shingen Takeda's Weapons SW2WESHI \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- War Fan - Base Attack: +21 Takeda Fan - Base Attack: +31 Pressed Element - Base Attack: +39 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Heaven's Sign Base Attack: +48 Element: Wind Life: +18 Attack: +20 Defense: +20 Defense: +17 Ride: +19 Speed: +19 Range: +19 Stage: Battle of Nagashino Requirements: Defeat Tadakatsu Honda and Hideyoshi Hashiba to make the rain fall on the battlefield. Location: Supply Team will appear near the southwestern garrison and move east. My Method: To make the rain fall, you will need to defeat Tadakatsu Honda and Hideyoshi Hashiba. They start off on the opposite side of the map, so you do not have to rush them. Instead, wait for them to come to you. Start off by taking Nagashino Castle. Defeat Kagetada Matsudaira to get inside the castle and then defeat Nobumasa Okudaira and Koretada Matsudaira to claim the castle for the Takeda Army. Next, make your way south to Tobigasu Garrison. Here, you will get a mission to protect the garrison. While you're completing this mission, Tadakatsu Honda and Hideyoshi Hashiba will begin to make their march on your main camp. They will take some time in getting near your main camp, so you can go ahead and protect Tobigasu Garrison by defeating Tadatsugu Sakai and Mitsuhide Akechi. Now, cross the four way bridge and make your way north to your main camp. Tadakatsu Honda will be close to the south gate of your main camp. He is powered up, so he may take some time to defeat. However, you should have some helpful allies that will make good distractions. Defeat Tadakatsu and then continue along the path that is just east of your main camp. Hideyoshi Hashiba should be along this path, getting beat up by Sakon Shima. Assist Sakon by defeating Hideyoshi. This will cause the rain to fall on the battlefield. After Sakon is done praising your intelligence, your weapon will appear in the southwestern corner of the map. Make your way down there and meet with the Supply Team. Defeat the Supply Captain to get your weapon. Now, your army should be more than able to survive the rest of this battle. The only real threat to your main camp will come from Katsuie Shibata and No, but you should be able to stop these two from getting anywhere near your main camp. When you have cleared out any and all enemy officers from around your main camp, make your way east towards the Oda main camp. The Oda Army should still have quite a few enemy generals concentrated around the Oda main camp, but with your army having high morale and their army having low morale, this shouldn't be any problems. Destroy all the enemy officers that are outside of the main camp. To get inside the Oda main camp, you must defeat Ieyasu Tokugawa. When Ieyasu is defeated, the gates to the enemy main camp will open, allowing you to access and defeat Nobunaga Oda to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5j. Masamune Date's Weapons SW2WEMAS \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Blade & Pistol - Base Attack: +19 Edge & Powder - Base Attack: +28 Metal & Fire - Base Attack: +36 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Manhunters Base Attack: +44 Element: Ice Attack: +20 Attack: +17 Ride: +18 Ride: +16 Musou Charge: +20 Musou Charge: +18 Range: +19 Range: +16 Stage: Showdown at Mikatagahara Requirements: Without losing a single ally, personally defeat all enemy generals except for Ieyasu Tokugawa. Location: Supply Team will appear near the northwestern stronghold and move east. My Method: On this stage, morale can be a huge help to your allies. Whenever you can, if you are near an enemy stronghold, take it over. Taking over enemy strongholds will greatly help out your morale. You will need all the morale you can get near the end of the level. When the stage starts, you will want to avoid the central garrison where Musashi Miyamoto is located at. You want him to fall into your trap, not fall into his. Therefore, your first target should be the northeastern garrison. You will get a mission to take the garrison when you get close. Defeat Yoshinao Tokugawa to claim this garrison. Also, while you're in the area, defeat Ietsugu Sakai, who should be here also. This will help Hidemune Date survive. When that is over and done with, make your way over to the northwestern garrison via the northern route. Inside this garrison, Yorinobu Tokugawa is standing guard. When you get close to the garrison, you will get another mission to take it, so defeat Yorinobu and complete this mission. This will cause Musashi Miyamoto to charge out, which is exactly what you want. He will get ambushed by riflemen and get injured, causing him to be powered up no longer. He should fall easily now, along with Naotaka Ii, who should be in this area. Once Musashi has fallen, make your way over to the western side of the map. There are a lot of cliffs in this area, so try to have this section memorized by the time you attempt to get this weapon. Masanobu Honda and Tadachika Okubo will attempt to ambush you with riflemen, so defeat the two generals and then clear out the riflemen. There are four strongholds in this area, so take all four. This will help out your morale. If your morale is more than half of the morale bar, then you're in good shape. By this time, only Ieyasu Tokugawa, Ina, and Tadamasa Honda should be alive on the map. Make your way over to the southeastern garrison. The gates to the garrison will close and Hanzo Hattori will appear. Apparently, he was acting as a body double for Ieyasu. Defeat Hanzo to get all the gates to open and then defeat Tadamasa Honda while you're in the area. The enemy should get a lot of reinforcements on the map, but if your morale is high enough, your allies should survive long enough for you to get rid of them all. Your first target should be the closest, which is Ina. Defeat her as she is trying to get to your main camp. Make your way north of your main camp to where Tadakatsu Honda is. He will be here with Tadanao Matsudaira. Tadakatsu will be his normal powered up self, so he may take some time to defeat. Try to keep him from hurting your allies too much. You may be able to take a few hits from Tadakatsu, but that doesn't mean your allies can. When you have defeated Tadakatsu and Tadanao, go over to the northwestern fort. There should be two enemy generals in here trying to kill off one of your allies. Protect Shigenaga Katakura by defeating Hidetada Tokugawa and Tadateru Matsudaira. If all your allies are still alive, a Supply Team should appear close to the northwestern stronghold. Since you're already in the area, just head north, grab your weapon, and finish off Ieyasu. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5k. No's Weapons SW2WENOH \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Hand Claw - Base Attack: +19 Spider Sting – Base Attack: +28 Scorpion Tail – Base Attack: +36 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Delicious Venom Base Attack: +44 Element: Wind Musou: +20 Musou: +18 Defense: +19 Defense: +17 Speed: +19 Speed: +18 Musou Charge: +20 Musou Charge: +16 Stage: Incident at Honnoji Requirements: Complete the mission "Rescue Nobutada Oda". While Nobutada Oda is still alive, let Ranmaru Mori get defeated without activating the mission to protect Ranmaru. Location: Supply Team will appear at the central western stronghold and move east along the central road. My Method: Apparently, No is jealous of Ranmaru. As soon as the stage starts, make your way through the west gate of the temple. Along the western path, you should run into Nobuharu Tsuda. Defeat him quickly and then make your way north to Nijo Castle. Outside of Nijo Castle should be Kaneaki Mimaki. Defeat him and then go through Nijo Castle. This will activate the mission to rescue Nobutada Oda. To complete this mission, you will need to defeat Hidemitsu Akechi. Complete this mission and then make your way down the middle path. Defeat one or two generals along this path to help Nobutada survive. This will mean that you will have to take the long way around to get back to the temple, so make sure you are quick in defeating those generals along the middle path. When you get back to the temple, your area should be surrounded by riflemen and generals. The good thing about taking a long time to reach your main base is that Ranmaru should be beat up a little bit. Defeat any generals in the area and try to clear out some of the massive amounts of soldiers here. Continue to clear out enemy generals until Mitsuhide appears on the map. Ranmaru Mori will then charge Mitsuhide. When Ranmaru and Mitsuhide meet, do not get near these two. If you do, you will activate the mission to save Ranmaru and the weapon will be lost. You can't go help Nobutada because the only path to him is along the eastern path, unless there is some path through Honnoji that I'm not seeing. Either way, when Ranmaru is defeated, the supply team will appear in the west and move east along the central path. Quickly grab your weapon and then quickly head back to Nobunaga. He should still be alive, but barely. Lure Mitsuhide away from Nobunaga and then defeat him as quickly as possible. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5l. Hanzo Hattori's Weapons SW2WEHAN \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Scythe - Base Attack: +19 Flash Cutter – Base Attack: +28 Shadow Fang – Base Attack: +36 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Chained Dragon Base Attack: +44 Element: Demon Attack: +20 Attack: +19 Speed: +20 Speed: +16 Dex: +20 Dex: +14 Range: +20 Range: +18 Stage: Siege of Ueda Castle Requirements: Defeat Yukimura Sanada before defeat Masayuki Sanada and defeat Kotaro Fuma and all of his clones. Location: On the first floor of the main keep of the castle in the northern most room in the eastern area of the floor in a black box. My Method: The biggest problem with this weapon is defeating Yukimura Sanada before defeating Masayuki Sanada. Normally, you can take off Yukimura's powered up mode by defeating Masayuki Sanada and taking over Ueda Castle. However, you cannot take Ueda Castle first. You must defeat Yukimura first. Therefore, it is best to make Yukimura Sanada the only enemy officer left outside of Ueda Castle before taking him on. That way, he takes a slight morale hit and you get some of your allies fighting at your side. First, make your way towards the northwestern corner of the map. Defeat all of the enemy officers that are in this area. This will make the first Kotaro appear. He will appear south of Toishi Castle. However, first deal with the Sanada flood attack. When Hanzo discovers the Sanada plan to flood the river, make your way west of Toishi Castle and then head south through the cave area to the bridge that is west of Ueda Castle. This is the bridge that the Sanada spy units will use to the flood control device. Defeat all three Spy Captains to prevent the Sanada flood attack and to make the entire map visible. Now, make your way over to the first Kotaro and defeat him. This Kotaro is powered up, but if you are having major problems with this Kotaro, then you might want to power up your Hanzo some more, as this isn't even close to difficult compared to what is to come. When Kotaro is defeated, he will send three more clones out on the battlefield. They will appear in different areas of the map, but one will always appear inside Ueda Castle. Ignore the one that appears inside Ueda Castle and go after the two that are outside of it. One normally appears south of the ninja path that is south of the main gate of Osaka Castle. Normally, when you get here, Yukimura will call for an ambush right near the Kotaro double. Defeat the ambush party while you are defeating the Kotaro double that is in this area. Now, defeat all enemy officers that are in the southeastern area of the map. This will cause Kanetsugu Naoe to come out and charge your army. Defeat Kanetsugu and the rest of the enemy officers that are in this area. Now, make your way towards Yukimura Sanada. The second Kotaro Fuma should be with Yukimura by now, along with two other generic officers. Try to defeat Kotaro and the other generic officers to isolate Yukimura. Yukimura is not only powered up, but he has a lot of attack and defense. He can take you down from full life to no life in only a few hits. Also, you might have problems making him flinch. Hanzo doesn't really have any dominant moves, so you will have to take him down little by little. Take advantage of all the power ups that the enemy soldiers drop. Don't be afraid to use your allies as distractions for Yukimura. When you defeat Yukimura, the main gates to Osaka Castle will open. Make your way inside the main keep of Ueda Castle. Defeat Nobuyuki Sanada to get the gates inside Ueda Castle to open. On the first floor of the main keep, there are two paths. Kotaro is along the eastern path. This Kotaro is powered up, but after fighting Yukimura, this should be a cinch. Defeating Kotaro will make your weapon appear in the room north of you inside of a black box. Grab your weapon, go the second floor of the castle, and defeat Masayuki Sanada to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5m. Ranmaru Mori's Weapons SW2WEMOR \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Long Sword – Base Attack: +21 Brave Metal – Base Attack: +30 Storm Blade – Base Attack: +38 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Iron Vengeance Base Attack: +46 Element: Ice Life: +20 Life: +17 Defense: +20 Defense: +18 Speed: +19 Musou Charge: +20 Musou Charge: +17 Range: +14 Stage: None (Must be obtained in Survival Mode) Requirements: Complete the mission "Keiji's Real Request" on 46F. Location: Dropped by Keiji Maeda when you defeat him on the fifth floor. My Method: I could just direct you to where the mission is located in the Survival Mode chapter, but I decided to copy and paste this for convenience sake. On the first floor, you will need to ask questions to a lot of people. Detective Keiji Maeda will be your assistant and ally through these floors, so he will provide some nice help in the interrogation process. An interrogation inside the castle, of course, normally means beating down someone, so run over to Katsuie Shibata and "interrogate" him. Once he is defeated, he will let you know that he was somewhere else, which means he has to be telling the truth. Make your way to the staircase. On the second floor, it's Lady No's turn to be "interrogated". Defeat her and she will also say it wasn't her. Like the real fugitive will just tell the truth. On the third floor, Oichi is here. Keiji wants to "interrogate" her, so go over to her and ask her about that night. Of course, Oichi doesn't want to talk and will fight you over it. Even the cute ones are violent. Oichi also has two generals that will assist her with her Fifth Amendment rights. Kindly remind Oichi that she's not in the United States by defeat her and her two allies. Of course, when she does talk, she denies everything, so move on. After all, it's never the cute ones. On the fourth floor, Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Nene are having a conversation about ninjas. It's obviously not a conversation about two ninjas walking into a bar, so the suspicion level is high. "Interrogate" Hideyoshi and Nene. They will attempt to double team you, but remember, you have Detective Keiji on your side. After the battle, Hideyoshi confesses to the crime, move to the next floor. On the fifth floor, Detective Keiji decides to throw a little party to celebrate solving the crime. And by "party", he means "fight". Your first objective is to defeat 100 enemy soldiers. Once you have done this, Keiji will think you want to have a little throw down. Keiji will turn hostile and begin to attack you. When Keiji is injured, he will regain life and then become harder to stagger, so just when you think you have him beat, you really don't. If you are playing as Ranmaru Mori and you defeat Keiji, you will get Ranmaru's fourth weapon. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5n. Hideyoshi Toyotomi's Weapons SW2WEHID \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Triple Staff – Base Attack: +19 Painful Triad – Base Attack: +27 Monster Bones – Base Attack: +35 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Simian Sansetsu Base Attack: +42 Element: Lightning Speed: +20 Speed: +20 Speed: +20 Dex: +20 Dex: +20 Luck: +20 Luck: +20 Luck: +20 Stage: Battle of Shizugatake Requirements: Succeed in the missions "Defeat Toshiie Maeda and convince him to retreat" and "Defeat Keiji Maeda". Location: Supply Team will appear near the stronghold inside the western fort and move south. My Method: As soon as the stage starts, defeat Yasumasa Sakuma while you're waiting for Hideyoshi to mention that he wants to meet with Toshiie Maeda. When Hideyoshi says he doesn't want to fight Toshiie, make your way to the western fort. This fort will be guarded by Toshinaga Maeda. Defeat Toshinaga to get the gate to the western fort to open. Once inside the fort, you will get a mission to defeat Toshiie Maeda and convince him to retreat. Defeat Toshiie Maeda before Katsuie orders him to attack your main camp. If Toshiie starts to glow a bright red and he becomes harder to kill, then Katsuie has ordered him to attack your main camp and you have lost your weapon. Once Toshiie is defeated, guard your main camp from the enemy general and the defected ally. Keiji will soon get bored and then begin to charge, with the intentions of running through your main camp. Don't let him near your main camp. Instead, meet him while he's in the eastern plains. While you're waiting on him, you can take down a garrison or two. Once you get in range of Keiji, you will get a message to ignore him. Don't ignore him. Instead, begin to fight him. Once you get Keiji's life bar down half way, you will receive a mission to defeat him. Keiji is a tough kill, but his attacks leave openings that you can exploit. Once Keiji is defeated, the supply team will appear inside the fort that Toshiie was in. Rush over and defeat the Supply Captain to force him to drop your weapon. Once you have your weapon, take the remaining garrisons in the east, take the northern path to Katsuie's fort, and say hi to Katsuie and Oichi. Oh, and while you're saying hi to them, make sure you defeat them also. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5o. Tadakatsu Honda' Weapons SW2WETAD \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Great Spear - Base Attack: +23 Tiger Slayer – Base Attack: +33 War Trident – Base Attack: +41 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Tonbo-giri Base Attack: +50 Element: Fire Musou: +15 Attack: +20 Attack: +17 Defense: +20 Defense: +17 Defense: +16 Musou Charge: +17 Musou Charge: +16 Stage: Tournament of Champions Requirements: Prevent Keiji Maeda, Musashi Miyamoto, Kojiro Sasaki, Kotaro Fuma, Hanzo Hattori, Nene, Hideyoshi Hashiba, Ieyasu Tokugawa, and Masamune Date from entering any one of the three garrisons and kill them personally. Location: Supply Team will appear near the stronghold south of the central garrison and moves northeast. My Method: This weapon is really hard to provide decent walkthrough on as the enemies come out at random and seem to attack random garrisons. While the enemy officers do seem to appear at the exact same spots, the paths they take are random. However, there are three important things you need to remember. The first one is to focus on the unique generals first and defeat them quickly. It does not matter if a non-unique general enters a garrison, but you just need to make sure no unique generals enter a garrison. The second thing you need to remember is that even though you do not have to prevent the non-unique generals from entering a garrison, you should still kill them quickly. The more enemies at a gate they kill, the more of a chance they give another enemy general to enter that garrison through that gate. You want to keep as many regular soldiers alive on the battlefield as you possibly can, and the only way to do this is to kill enemy officers quickly. The third thing to remember is that whenever a new wave of enemies attack, try to protect the garrisons that are the weakest first. With each wave, they will take down some of the defenses that are outside of a garrison. If you see a garrison with no allied soldiers outside of the gate and you see a unique general attempting to go after that gate, you should focus on that general first. The enemies will come at you in four waves. Each time a wave appears, the enemy officers will go after a garrison. You will get a mission to prevent the unique officers from entering the garrison they are aiming for. If you manage to complete all nine of these missions, you will get your weapon to appear. The wave of Miscreants is led by Keiji Maeda and has four other generic officers with him. The wave of Swordsmen is led by Musashi Miyamoto and Kojiro Sasaki and has three other generic officers with them. The wave of Ninjas is led by Kotaro Fuma, Hanzo Hattori, and Nene and has two other generic officers with them. These three waves will attack you at random and they will also attack garrisons at random. When you get done with these three waves, the final wave will be the Minor Lords wave. They are led by Hideyoshi Hashiba, Ieyasu Tokugawa, and Masamune Date and have two other generic officers in the wave. This wave will be the hardest to keep out, since most of your defenses are already beaten up. For this last set, Hideyoshi normally appears in the southwest while Ieyasu and Masamune normally appear in the north. Of course, luck plays a huge factor in getting this weapon. If you get enemies that decide to focus on a single gate and leave other ones alone, you will have some defense still left at the end. However, if you don't have many defenses left at the end and the unique generals decide to focus on the many areas that you are the weakest at, then you might have to restart the stage and hope you get some better luck. There is a way to sort of manipulate the randomness of the game. If you save right before each wave shows up, then each time you reload the game, the enemy officers will attack different gates and different garrisons. This way, you might be able to get the enemy officers to attack gates that have defenses up instead of attacking those that have no defenses. If an enemy officer enters a garrison, they will normally make some comment about how they got in and they're better than you. Then, you will see a message that the enemy officer has gotten stronger because they got inside the garrison. You lose your weapon if this happens. When you have prevented all nine unique officers from entering your garrisons, the Supply Team will appear south of the central garrison. Remember, the stage ends when you defeated all enemy officers, so you want to keep at least one generic officer from the last wave alive so that you can go after your weapon. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5p. Ina's Weapons SW2WEINA \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Long Bow - Base Attack: +19 Bladed Bow – Base Attack: +28 Wind Rider – Base Attack: +36 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Coiled Viper Base Attack: +44 Element: Ice Attack: +17 Defense: +18 Defense: +15 Dex: +16 Musou Charge: +19 Musou Charge: +17 Range: +20 Range: +18 Stage: Siege of Odawara Castle Requirements: Personally defeat all enemy generals except for Ujimasa Hojo and Ujinao Hojo. Location: Supply Team will appear in your main camp near the stronghold there and move south. My Method: The two enemy officers that die the fastest are Yoshitake Mibu and Norisada Ueda because they start outside Odawara Castle. Also, they start off getting attacked by Yoshihiro Shimazu and Masamune Date. You will need to make defeat these two enemy officers your main priority. Once they are defeated, getting to the rest of the enemy officers should be easy. You should save every so often to make sure your kills don't get stolen. And yes, I did copy and paste this from Ina's walkthrough, taking out some parts about missions because missions aren't important for this weapon. I actually tailored her walkthrough for this weapon. You start off near the eastern gate. This gate will not open, so you will need to get a siege ramp set up to enter the castle. The siege ramp will start off along the eastern path and move towards the southeastern part of the castle. There will be an ambush of the siege ramp, but they will only be regular soldiers. Use a horse musou to run through these soldiers. When the siege ramp is set up, run up the siege ramp and enter Odawara Castle. Once inside, defeat Naohide Matsuda. Now, you will get a mission to open all three gates of Odawara Castle. Start by opening up the east gate. You can do this by defeating Yasusato Matsuda and Ujifusa Hojo. Now, make your way to the south gate. Here, defeat Naoshige Chiba and Ujinaga Narita to open up the south gate. Run outside of the south gate and defeat Yoshitake Mibu. Now, make your way towards the north gate of Odawara Castle. Take the eastern route around. This means you will have to navigate through the bomb corridor, but it's not too bad. Worst comes to worst, use a horse musou to get through it. When you arrive at the north gate, defeat Masataka Kasahara and Ujinori Uesugi to open the gate. Make your way outside of the gate and defeat Norisada Ueda. With your mission to open up all the gates of Odawara Castle complete, Kotaro Fuma has a surprise for you. He will open up a gate next to your main camp and allow some enemy generals direct access to your main camp. Rush over to your main camp. You can use the gate Kotaro opens to get to your main camp faster. When you reach your main camp, defeat Masayo Ito, Ujitaka Hojo, and Tanenaga Hara. Try to make sure Hideyoshi Toyotomi doesn't steal your kills. Now, leave your main camp through the southern exit and re-enter Odawara Castle through the east gate. Take the southern path around to the southwestern corner of the map. When you enter the storehouse, you will get ambushed by Yasuhiro Ogasawara. Defeat both Yasuhiro Ogasawara and Ujitada Hojo. Once you have taken the storehouse, make your way north towards the western courtyard. Kotaro will close off all the gates in this area and ambush you with ninjas. You will get a mission to defeat 100 enemy soldiers. Your horse musou will quickly run through a lot of enemy soldiers, so use that to your advantage. When 100 enemy soldiers are defeated, all the gates in this area will open. Continue to make your way north to where Ujiteru Hojo and Ujimitsu Hojo are. Defeat these two officers and then make your way towards the main keep of Odawara Castle. Enter the main keep and immediately head east. You will find two enemy soldiers here that are running the bomb corridor. Defeat Hiroteru Minagawa and Naosada Hojo and move on. Make your way west and head up the stairs to the second floor. On the second floor, Kotaro Fuma will appear and challenge you. Defeat Kotaro to open up the gates to the third floor and to get the Supply Team to appear. They will start off in your main camp and move south, so leave the main keep of the castle, get on your horse, and make your way towards the east gate of Odawara Castle. Once you have reached the east gate, make your way south towards the Supply Team. Defeat the Supply Captain to get your weapon. Now, go back inside the main keep of Odawara Castle and defeat the two Hojo leaders. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5q. Ieyasu Tokugawa's Weapons SW2WEIEY \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Cannon Spear - Base Attack: +21 Fuse Pike – Base Attack: +31 Boom Blade – Base Attack: +39 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Quake Maker Base Attack: +48 Element: Fire Musou: +17 Attack: +19 Attack: +16 Defense: +20 Defense: +18 Speed: +19 Speed: +17 Luck: +19 Stage: Battle of Sekigahara Requirements: Personally defeat all enemy generals except for Mitsunari Ishida and including the ones that normally defect to your side during the battle. Location: Supply Team will appear near the northwestern stronghold and move south. My Method: You need to personally defeat every enemy general, which means no one can steal a kill from you, even your bodyguard. You will want to save often to ensure you don't lose a kill. Also, you need to ensure that no enemy generals defect to your side. Normally, Hiroie Kikkawa, Hideaki Kobayakawa, and their factions defect to your side. You do not want this to happen. The good thing about this weapon, though, is that you don't need to keep your allies alive, so that's one less thing to worry about. When the stage starts, make your way towards the central area of Sekigahara. Defeat Teruzumi Akashi and Yukinaga Konishi quickly. Next, you will want to defeat Hideie Ukita, Yoshitsugu Otani, and Shigemasa Toda. Magobei Fuse should appear to attempt to convince Hideaki Kobayakawa to defect. Ignore him and let him die to the enemy forces. Now, make your way back north to where Ginchiyo Tachibana is. She should be trying to get into your main camp, so stop her by defeating her. Next, defeat Tamehiro Hiratsuka and Satoie Gamo. Now, make your way over to Hiroie Kikkawa and Hidemoto Mori and defeat them both. This will allow you to now be able to defeat Ekei Ankokuji without having any enemy officer defect to your side. Defeat Ekei and continue on south. Stop the enemy cannons from firing and then defeat Suketada Ogawa. Now, wait for Hideaki Kobayakawa to march on your main camp. While you are waiting, defeat the Shimazu Army of Toyohisa Shimazu and Yoshihiro Shimazu. This should provide time for Hideaki to decide to remain with the Western Army. When he does, the entire Western Army will begin to march on your main camp. Start off by defeating Musashi Miyamoto and make your way east, defeating Yasuharu Wakisaka along the way. On the eastern path, you should find Morichika Chosokabe and Masaie Natsuka here trying to enter your main camp, so defeat them first. Now, all that is left is Mitsunari Ishida, Sakon Shima, and Hideaki Kobayakawa. They should all be grouped together, so you may find it difficult to defeat two of them while keeping the other one alive. When Sakon and Hideaki are defeated, the Supply Team will appear in the northwest. Get on your horse and race over to them. They will move south along the western path, so cut them off along that path. When you have your weapon, defeat Mitsunari to complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5r. Mitsunari Ishida's Weapons SW2WEMII \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Folding Fan - Base Attack: +20 Fuji's Grace - Base Attack: +29 Open Valor - Base Attack: +37 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- Golden Frill Base Attack: +45 Element: Ice Musou: +19 Musou: +17 Defense: +20 Defense: +18 Musou Charge: +17 Musou Charge: +16 Range: +20 Range: +17 Stage: Edo Campaign Requirements: Perform the following tasks: Complete the mission "Open Edo Castle's east gate", complete the mission "Rescue Hideie Ukita", complete the mission "Defeat the traitors quickly", complete the mission "Destroy all enemies within the castle", complete the mission "Prevent Kotaro Fuma from entering the main camp", complete the mission "Protect Ekei Ankokuji", and reach the locked door in the main keep. Location: On the second floor on a catwalk between the smaller keep and the main keep of the castle in a black box. My Method: As soon as the stage starts, make your way south to the east gate. Yoshiaki Mogami is here guarding the east gate. You will get a mission to open the gate, so complete this mission by defeating Yoshiaki. As soon as you complete this mission, make your way back north and go to the north gate. Here, Hideie Ukita should be getting shot by riflemen. You will get a mission to rescue Hideie. To complete this mission, defeat Shigenaga Katakura. Clear the northern area of enemy generals. Some allies should defect to the enemy's side. Make your way outside of the castle and then take the western route around to where Terumasa Ikeda is located at. Defeat him and then make your way to your main camp. When you approach Hiroie Kikkawa, you will get a mission to defeat all three traitors quickly. Defeat Hiroie and then go to the next traitor. That should be Hidemoto Mori. Defeat him and any other general that may be near him and then make your way back to the east gate. The final traitor, Hideaki Kobayakawa, should be here. Defeat him and complete this mission. Go inside the castle through the east gate. You will get a mission to defeat all the enemy generals inside the castle. The generals you must defeat to complete this mission are as follows: Ietsugu Sakai, Yasumasa Sakakibara, Takatora Todo, Shigezane Date, and Naomasa Ii. Naomasa Ii should be left for your last kill. There might be some more enemies at the north area of the castle if you didn't clear this area out of enemy generals like I said to earlier. Also, you should open the south gate and the west gate while completing this mission, since you're going around the inside of the castle anyways. Once you have completed the mission to defeat all enemies within the castle, Kotaro Fuma will appear in the northwestern part of the castle. Leave through the west gate of the castle and enter the castle through the secret passage at the northwestern part of the castle. Kotaro Fuma will be trying to get to your main camp. There will be a mission to prevent Kotaro from doing so. Defeat Kotaro to complete this mission. Now, make your way back to the southeastern corner of the castle. Just before you cross the bridge to get to the east gate, there should be a Defense Captain in front of a door. Beyond this door is Ekei Ankokuji. You will want to defeat the Defense Captain and let Ekei Ankokuji out. You will get a mission to protect him. You must escort him to your main camp. When Ekei gets out of his prison, an enemy general will ambush him. That enemy general is Toranosuke Aoyama. Toranosuke is powered up, so it might be a long battle with him. Defeat Toranosuke and clear the path for Ekei. He will stop to fight every enemy in his way, so you got to clear everyone out. Once Ekei is safely back inside your main camp, go back to the north part of the main keep of the castle and enter. Make sure you enter from the north, because if you enter from the south and go too far in, you won't get the next mission or the fourth weapon. Go inside the main keep and keep going until you reach a locked door, defeating any enemy generals that may be in your way. When you get to the locked door, Ekei will begin to talk about the smaller keep, which is the southern keep. This will make the weapon appear in the smaller keep. Make your way back out through the hidden passage in the northwest and then go through the west gate. The smaller keep entrance should be straight ahead. Enter the smaller keep. There are two members of the Date clan in your way before you can grab your weapon. Hidemune Date is on the first floor and Masamune Date is on the second floor. Defeat both of these generals. The box with the weapon in it will be on the catwalk between the smaller keep and the main keep. You need to grab the weapon from the box to get the weapon in the end. Just because the mission was completed before you opened the box doesn't mean you have the weapon. Now, the last two generals in your way are Tadakatsu Honda and Ieyasu Tokugawa. Defeat these two generals and complete the stage. ______________________ Samurai Warriors 2 \ FAQ/Walkthrough \ 5s. Nagamasa Azai's Weapons SW2WENAG \____________________________________________________ -------------------------------- First, Second, and Third Weapons -------------------------------- Lance - Base Attack: +20 Knight's Staff – Base Attack: +29 Impaler – Base Attack: +37 ------------- Fourth Weapon ------------- King's Honor Base Attack: +45 Element: Lightning Attack: +19 Attack: +16 Defense: +17 Ride: +18 Ride: +17 Musou Charge: +20 Musou Charge: +19 Musou Charge: +17 Stage: Defense of Odani Castle Requirements: Succeed in getting your entire army to advance and charge the Oda main camp within 10 minutes. Location: Supply Team will appear at the central western stronghold and move south. My Method: To get your entire army to advance, you will need to complete a few missions as well and defeat just about every enemy general on the map. You will need to do all of this quickly, so make sure you have a really fast horse. This is where I start copying and pasting, since the path for the weapon is probably the best path through this stage. As soon as the stage starts, ride out to where Saizo Kani and Hidemasa Hori are located at. Defeat these two quickly, as Nagamasa will begin to say that reinforcements from the Asakura are coming from Mt. Jizo. Mt. Jizo at the time is currently occupied by the Oda Army, so you will have to ride up there and defeat the enemies there. There are a lot of riflemen outside of Mt. Jizo, so be careful of your advance. At Mt. Jizo, Naga	eng	d03f31af-6971-435b-8616-c293f470dc55	http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/930941-samurai-warriors-2/faqs/44990
Named Entity Recognition for Question Answering a Diego Moll´ and Menno van Zaanen and Daniel Smith Centre for Language Technology Macquarie University Sydney Australia {diego, menno, dsmith}@ics.mq.edu.au Abstract range of applications beyond the generic task of information extraction, such as in bioinformatics, Current text-based question answering the identification of entities in molecular biology (QA) systems usually contain a named en- (Humphreys et al., 2000), and text classification tity recogniser (NER) as a core compo- (Armour et al., 2005). nent. Named entity recognition has tra- In this paper we will focus on the use of named ditionally been developed as a component entity recognition for question answering. For the for information extraction systems, and purposes of this paper, question answering (QA) current techniques are focused on this end is the task of automatically finding the answer to a use. However, no formal assessment has question phrased in English by searching through been done on the characteristics of a NER a collection of text documents. There has been an within the task of question answering. In increase of research in QA since the creation of this paper we present a NER that aims at the question answering track of TREC (Voorhees, higher recall by allowing multiple entity 1999), and nowadays we are starting to see the labels to strings. The NER is embedded in introduction of question-answering techniques in a question answering system and the over- mainstream web search engines such as Google1 , all QA system performance is compared to Yahoo!2 and MSN3 . that of one with a traditional variation of An important component of a QA system is the the NER that only allows single entity la- named entity recogniser and virtually every QA bels. It is shown that the added noise pro- system incorporates one. The rationale of incor- duced introduced by the additional labels porating a NER as a module in a QA system is is offset by the higher recall gained, there- that many fact-based answers to questions are en- fore enabling the QA system to have a bet- tities that can be detected by a NER. Therefore, by ter chance to find the answer. incorporating in the QA system a NER, the task of finding some of the answers is simplified consid- 1 Introduction erably. Many natural language processing applications re- The positive impact of NE recognition in QA quire finding named entities (NEs) in textual doc- is widely acknowledged and there are studies that uments. NEs can be, for example, person or com- confirm it (Noguera et al., 2005). In fact, vir- pany names, dates and times, and distances. The tually every working QA system incorporates a task of identifying these in a text is called named NER. However, there is no formal study of the entity recognition and is performed by a named optimal characteristics of the NER within the con- entity recogniser (NER). text of QA. The NER used in a QA system is Named entity recognition is a task generally typically developed as a stand-alone system de- associated with the area of information extrac- signed independently of the QA task. Sometimes tion (IE). Firstly defined as a separate task in 1 the Message Understanding Conferences (Sund- 2 3 heim, 1995), it is currently being used in a varied Proceedings of the 2006 Australasian Language Technology Workshop (ALTW2006), pages 51–58. 51 it is even used as a black box that is not fine-tuned ABBREVIATION abb, exp to the task. In this paper we perform a step to- ENTITY wards such a formal study of the ideal character- animal, body, color, creative, currency, dis.med., event, istics of a NER for the task of QA. In particular, food, instrument, lang, letter, other, plant, product, re- ligion, sport, substance, symbol, technique, term, vehi- section 2 comments on the desiderata of a NER for cle, word QA. Next, section 3 describes the QA system used DESCRIPTION in the paper, while section 4 describes the NER definition, description, manner, reason HUMAN and its modifications for its use for QA. Section 5 group, ind, title, description presents the results of various experiments evalu- LOCATION ating variations of the NER, and finally Section 6 city, country, mountain, other, state NUMERIC presents the concluding remarks and lines of fur- code, count, date, distance, money, order, other, period, ther research. percent, speed, temp, size, weight 2 Named Entity Recognition for Table 1: Complete taxonomy of Li & Roth Question Answering Class Type ENAMEX Organization Most QA systems gradually reduce the amount of Person data they need to consider in several phases. For Location TIMEX Date example, when the system receives a user ques- Time tion, it first selects a set of relevant documents, NUMEX Money and then filters out irrelevant pieces of text of these Percent documents gradually until the answer is found. Table 2: Entities used in the MUC tasks The NER is typically used as an aid to filter out strings that do not contain the answer. Thus, after a question analysis stage the type of the expected ble 1. answer is determined and mapped to a list of entity A QA system typically uses both a taxonomy types. The NER is therefore used to single out of expected answers and the taxonomy of named the entity types appearing in a text fragment. If a entities produced by its NER to identify which piece of text does not have any entity with a type named entities are relevant to a question. The compatible with the type of the expected answer, question is assigned a type from a taxonomy such the text is discarded or heavily penalised. With as defined in Table 1. This type is then used to fil- this in mind, the desiderata of a NER are related ter out irrelevant named entities that have types as with the range of entities to detect and with the defined in Table 2. recall of the system. A problem that arises here is that the granular- ity of the NEs provided by a NER is much coarser 2.1 Range of Entities than the ideal granularity for QA, as the named en- Different domains require different types of an- tity types are matched against the types the ques- swers. Typically, the question classification com- tion requires. Consequently, even though a ques- ponent determines the type of question and the tion classifier could determine a very specific type type of the expected answer. For example, the of answer, this type needs to be mapped to the questions used in the QA track of past TREC con- types provided by the NER. ferences can be classified following the taxonomy shown in Table 1 (Li and Roth, 2002). 2.2 Recall The set of entity types recognised by a stand- Given that the NER is used to filter out candidate alone NER is typically very different and much answers, it is important that only wrong answers more coarse-grained. For example, a typical set are removed, while all correct answers stay in the of entity types recognised by a NER is the one set of possible answers. Therefore, recall in a NER defined in past MUC tasks and presented in Ta- in question answering is to be preferred above pre- ble 2. The table shows a two-level hierarchy and cision. Generally, a NER developed for a generic the types are much more coarse-grained than that NE recognition task (or for information extrac- of Table 1. Within each of the entity types of Ta- tion) is fine-tuned for a good balance between re- ble 2 there are several types of questions of Ta- call and precision, and this is not necessarily what 52 we need in this context. on. The advantage of this approach is that progres- sive phases can perform more "expensive" opera- 2.2.1 Multi-labelling tions on the data. Recognising named entities is not a trivial task. The first phase is a document retrieval phase Most notably, there can be ambiguities in the de- that finds documents relevant to the question. This tection of entities. For example, it can well happen greatly reduces the amount of texts that need to be that a text has two or more interpretations. No- handled in subsequent steps. Only the best n doc- table examples are names of people whose sur- uments are used from this point on. name takes the form of a geographical location (Europe, Africa) or a profession (Smith, Porter). Next is the sentence selection phase. From the Also, names of companies are often chosen after relevant documents found by the first phase, all the name of some of their founders. The problem sentences are scored against the question. The is that a NER typically only assigns one label to a most relevant sentences according to this score are specific piece of text. In order to increase recall, kept for further processing. and given that NE recognition is not an end task, it At the moment, we have implemented several is therefore theoretically advisable to allow to re- sentence selection methods. The most simple one turn multiple labels and then let further modules is based on word overlap and looks at the number of the QA system do the final filtering to detect of words that can be found in both the question and the exact answer. This is the hypothesis that we the sentence. This is the method that will be used want to test in the present study. The evaluations in the experiments reported in this paper. Other presented in this paper include a NER that assigns methods implemented, but not used in the ex- single labels and a variation of the same NER that periments, use richer linguistic information. The produces multiple, overlapping labels. method based on grammatical relation (Carroll et al., 1998) overlap requires syntactic analysis of 3 Question Answering the question and the sentence. This is done using QA systems typically take a question presented by the Connexor dependency parser (Tapanainen and the user posed in natural language. This is then a J¨ rvinen, 1997). The score is computed by count- analysed and processed. The final result of the sys- ing the grammatical relations found in both sen- tem is an answer, again in natural language, to the tence and question. Logical form overlap (Moll´ a question of the user. This is different from, what is and Gardiner, 2004) relies on logical forms that normally considered, information retrieval in that can be extracted from the grammatical relations. the user presents a complete question instead of They describe shallow semantics of the question a query consisting of search keywords. Also, in- and sentence. Based on the logical form overlap, stead of a list of relevant documents, a QA system we have also implemented logical graph overlap typically tries to find an exact answer to the ques- a (Moll´ , 2006). This provides a more fine-grained tion. scoring method to compute the shallow semantic distance between the question and sentence. All 3.1 AnswerFinder of these methods have been used in a full-fledged The experiments discussed in this paper have a question answering system (Moll´ and van Zaa- been conducted within the AnswerFinder project nen, 2006). However, to reduce variables in our (Moll´ and van Zaanen, 2005). In this project, a experiments, we have decided to use the simplest we develop the AnswerFinder question answer- method only (word overlap) in the experiments re- ing system, concentrating on shallow representa- ported in this paper. tions of meaning to reduce the impact of para- After the sentence selection phase, the system phrases (different wordings of the same informa- searches for the exact answers. Some of the sen- tion). Here, we report on a sub-problem we tack- tence selection methods, while computing the dis- led within this project, the actual finding of correct tance, already find some possible answers. For ex- answers in the text. ample, the logical graphs use rules to find parts The AnswerFinder question answering system of the sentence that may be exact answers to the consists of several phases that essentially work question. This information is stored together with in a sequential manner. Each phase reduces the the sentence. Note that in this article, we are amount of data the system has to handle from then are only interested in the impact of named entity 53 recognition in QA, so we will not use any sentence 4.2 AFNER selection method that finds possible answers. In addition to ANNIE's NER, we also look at the The sentences remaining after the sentence se- results from the NER that is developed within the lection phase are then analysed for named entities. AnswerFinder project, called AFNER. All named entities found in the sentences are con- sidered to be possible answers to the user question. 4.2.1 General Approach Once all possible answers to the questions are The NER process used in AFNER consists of found, the actual answer selection phase takes two phases. The first phase uses hand-written reg- place. For this, the question is analysed, which ular expressions and gazetteers (lists of named en- provides information on what kind of answer is tities that are searched for in the sentences). These expected. This can be, for example, country, river, information sources are combined with machine distance, person, etc. as described in Table 1. The learning techniques in the second phase. set of possible answers is now considered prefer- AFNER first tokenises the given text, applies ring answers that match the question type. the regular expressions to each token, and searches The best answer (i.e. with the highest score and for occurrences of the token in the gazetteers. Reg- matching the question type) is returned to the user, ular expression matches and list occurrences are which finishes a typical question answering inter- used as features in the machine learning classifier. action. These features are used in combination with token specific features, as well as features derived from 4 Named Entity Recognition the text as a whole. Using a model generated from the annotated corpus, each token is classified as ei- The ability of finding exact answers by the An- ther the beginning of ('B') or in ('I') a particular swerFinder system relies heavily on the quality type of named entity, or out ('OUT') of any named of the named entity recognition performed on entity. The classified tokens are then appropriately the sentences that are relevant to the user ques- combined into named entities. tion. Finding all named entities in the sentences 4.2.2 First Phase — Regular Expressions and is therefore of utmost importance. Missing named Gazetteers entities may mean that the answer to the question Regular expressions are useful for finding cannot be recovered anymore. named entities following identifiable patterns, We have tried different NERs in the context such as dates, times, monetary expressions, etc. of question answering. In addition to a general As a result, the entities that can be discovered purpose NER, we have developed our own NER. using regular expressions are limited. However, Even though several high quality NERs are avail- matching a particular regular expression is a key able, we thought it important to have full control feature used in identifying entities of these partic- over the NER to make it better suited for the task ular types. Gazetteers are useful for finding com- at hand. monly referenced names of people, places or or- ganisations, but are by no means exhaustive. The 4.1 ANNIE purpose of combining lists with other features is ANNIE is part of the Sheffield GATE (Gen- to supplement the lists used. eral Architecture for Text Engineering) system 4.2.3 Second Phase — Machine Learning (Gaizauskas et al., 1996) and stands for "A Nearly- New IE system". This architecture does much The second phase involves the machine learn- more than we need, but it is possible to only ex- ing component of AFNER. The technique used is tract the NER part of it. Unfortunately, there is maximum entropy, and the implementation of the not much documentation on the NER in ANNIE. classifier is adapted from Franz Josef Och's YAS- The named entity types found by ANNIE match MET.4 The system is trained on the Remedia Cor- up with the MUC types as described in Table 2. pus (Hirschman et al., 1999), which contains an- ANNIE was chosen as an example of a typical notations of named entities. NER because it is freely available to the research The regular expression and gazetteer matches community and the named entity types are a subset are used as features, in combination with others 4 of the MUC types. 54 pertaining to both individual tokens and tokens plemented by filtering out all the overlapping enti- in context. Features of individual tokens include ties of the output of the multiple type combination. those such as capitalisation, alpha/numeric infor- This is done by selecting the longest-spanning en- mation, etc. Contextual features are those that tity and discarding all substring or overlapping identify a token amongst surrounding text, or re- strings. If there are two entities associated with late to tokens in surrounding text. For example, exactly the same string, the one with higher prob- whether a token is next to a punctuation mark or ability is chosen. a capitalised word, or whether a token is always The probability of a multi-token entity is com- capitalised in a passage of text. Contextual fea- puted by combining the individual token probabil- tures relating to global information have been used ities. Currently we use the geometric mean but we as described by Chieu and Ng (2002). In addition, are exploring other possibilities. If Pi is the proba- features of previous tokens are included. bility of token i and P1...n is the probability of the The features are then passed to a maximum en- entire sentence, the geometric mean of the proba- tropy classifier which, for every token, returns a bilities is computed as: list of probabilities of the token to pertain to each n log Pi category. The categories correspond with each P1...n = e i=1 n type of entity type prepended with 'B' and 'I', and a general 'OUT' category for tokens not in any en- 5 Results tity. The list of entity types used is the same as in the MUC tasks (see Table 2). To evaluate the impact of the quality of NER Preliminary experiments revealed that often the within the context of question answering, we top two or three entity type probabilities have sim- ran the AnswerFinder system using each of the ilar values. For this reason the final named entity named entity recognisers, ANNIE, AFNERs and labels are computed on the basis of the top n prob- AFNERm . This section first explains the experi- abilities (provided that they meet a defined thresh- mental setup we used, then shows and discusses old), where n is a customisable limit. Currently, the results. a maximum of 3 candidate types are allowed per 5.1 Experimental setup token. Classified tokens are then combined according To evaluate AnswerFinder we used the data avail- to their classification to produce the final list of able for participants of the QA track of the 2005 named entities. We have experimented with two TREC competition-based conference5 . This com- methods named single and multiple. For single petition provides us with a nice setting to measure type combination only one entity can be associ- the impact of the NERs. We simply use the doc- ated with a string, whereas for multiple type com- uments and questions provided during the TREC bination several entities can be associated. Also, 2005 competition. To determine whether a docu- the multiple type combination allows overlaps of ment or text fragment contains the answer we use entities. The multiple type combination aims at Ken Litkowsky's answer patterns, also available at increasing recall at the expense of ambiguous la- the TREC website. belling and decrease of precision. The questions in TREC 2005 are grouped by topic. The competition consisted of 75 topics, with In the case of multiple type combination (see a total of 530 questions. These questions are di- Figure 1 for an example), each label prepended vided into three different types: factoid, list, and with 'B' signals the beginning of a named entity other. In this paper, we only consider the fac- of the relevant type, and each 'I' label continues a toid questions, that is, questions that require a sin- named entity if it is preceded by a 'B' or 'I' label gle fact as answer. List asks for a list of answers of the same type. If an 'I' label does not appear and other is answered by giving any additional in- after a 'B' classification, it is treated as a 'B' la- formation about the topic. There are 362 factoid bel. In addition, if a 'B' label is preceded by an questions in the question set. 'I' label, it will be both added as a separate entity (with the previous entity ending) and appended to In the experiments, AnswerFinder uses the the previous entity. TREC data as follows. First, we apply docu- 5 The single type combination (Figure 2) is im- 55 BPER ILOC IPER BLOC BLOC BDATE BLOC IPER OUT OUT IPER OUT IDATE OUT Jack London lived in Oakland in 1885 . PERSON LOCATION LOCATION DATE PERSON PERSON LOCATION Figure 1: Named entities as multiple labels. The token-based labels appear above the words. The final NE labels appear below the words. BPER ILOC IPER BLOC BLOC BDATE BLOC IPER OUT OUT IPER OUT IDATE OUT Jack London lived in Oakland in 1885 . PERSON LOCATION DATE Figure 2: Named entities as single labels. The token-based labels appear above the words. The resulting NE labels appear below the words. ment selection (using the list of relevant docu- # of documents % of questions ments for each question provided by TREC). From 10 75.5% these documents, we select the n best sentences 20 81.6% based on word overlap between the sentence and 30 86.9% the question. 40 89.5% We can now compute an upper-bound baseline. 50 92.1% By taking the selected sentences as answers, we Table 3: Percentage of factoid questions that can can compute the maximum score possible from a still be answered after document selection question answering perspective. By not requiring exactly matching answers, we can count the num- # of sentences % of questions ber of questions that could be answered if the an- 5 42.4% swer selection phase would be perfect. In other 10 49.9% words, we measure the percentage of questions 20 62.0% that can still be answered if the answer selection 30 65.4% part of the system would be perfect. 40 68.8% Next, we run experiments with the same set- 50 70.8% tings, but applying each of the NERs to the rele- 60 73.0% vant sentences. All named entities that are found 70 73.7% in these sentences are then considered possible an- swers to the question and again the percentage of Table 4: Percentage of factoid questions that can questions that can be answered is computed. still be answered after sentence selection from the Finally, we embed the NERs in a simplified ver- top 50 documents sion of AnswerFinder to test their impact in a base- line QA system. relevant documents provided for the competition. If we continue with 50 documents after docu- 5.2 Empirical results ment selection, we can select relevant sentences In Table 3 we see the percentage of questions that from the text in these documents using the word can still be answered after document selection. overlap metric. We end up with the percentages as The table reflects the intuition that, the smaller the given in Table 4. number of preselected documents, the more likely There is quite a dramatic drop from 92.1% in it is that the document that contains the answer is all the documents to 73.7% with 70 sentences se- left out. The documents are selected using a list of lected. This can be explained from the fact that the 56 # of % of questions the most frequent entity found in the sentences sentences ANNIE AFNERs AFNERm preselected. If there are several entities sharing the 5 27.9% 11.6% 27.7% top position then one is chosen randomly. In other 10 33.0% 13.6% 33.3% words, the baseline ignores the question type and 20 41.4% 17.7% 41.9% the actual context of the entity. We decided to use 30 44.3% 19.0% 45.6% this baseline setting because it is more closely re- 40 46.2% 19.9% 47.4% lated to the precision of the NERs than other more 50 47.8% 20.5% 48.8% sophisticated settings. The results are shown in 60 49.3% 21.3% 51.0% Table 6. 70 50.5% 21.3% 51.5% # of % of questions Table 5: Percentage of factoid questions that can sentences ANNIE AFNERs AFNERm still be answered after NE recognition from the top 10 6.2% 2.4% 5.0% 50 documents 20 6.2% 1.9% 7.0% 30 4.9% 1.4% 6.8% word overlap sentence selection is not extremely 40 3.7% 1.4% 6.0% sophisticated. It only looks at words that can be 50 4.0% 1.2% 5.1% found in both the question and sentence. In prac- 60 3.5% 0.8% 5.4% tice, the measure is very coarse-grained. However, 70 3.5% 0.8% 4.9% we are not particularly interested in perfect an- Table 6: Percentage of factoid questions that found swers here, these figures are upper-bounds in the an answer in a baseline QA system given the top experiment. 50 documents From the selected sentences now we extract all named entities. The results are summarised in Ta- The figures show a drastic drop in the results. ble 5. This is understandable given that the baseline QA The figures of Table 5 approximate recall in that system used is very basic. A higher-performance they indicate the questions where the NER has QA system would of course give better results. identified a correct answer (among possibly many The best results are those using AFNERm . This wrong answers). confirms our hypothesis that a NER that allows The best results are those provided by AFNERm multiple labels produces data that are more suit- and they are closely followed by ANNIE. This able for a QA system than a "traditional" single- is an interesting result in that AFNER has been label NER. The results suggest that, as long as re- trained with the Remedia Corpus, which is a very call is high, precision does not need to be too high. small corpus on a domain that is different from the Thus there is no need to develop a high-precision AQUAINT corpus. In contrast, ANNIE is fine- NER. tuned for the domain. Given a larger training cor- The table also indicates a degradation of the per- pus of the same domain, AFNERm 's results would formance of the QA system as the number of pres- presumably be much better than ANNIE's. elected sentences increases. This indicates that the The results of AFNERs are much worse than the baseline system is sensitive to noise. The bottom- other two NERs. This clearly indicates that some scoring sentences are less relevant to the question of the additional entities found by AFNERm are and therefore are more likely not to contain the indeed correct. answer. If these sentences contain highly frequent It is expected that precision would be differ- NEs, those NEs might displace the correct answer ent in each NER and, in principle, the noise in- from the top position. A high-performance QA troduced by the erroneous labels may impact the system that is less sensitive to noise would proba- results returned by a QA system integrating the bly produce better results as the number of prese- NER. We have tested the NERs extrinsically lected sentences increases (possibly at the expense by applying them to a baseline setting of An- of speed). The fact that AFNERm , which produces swerFinder. In particular, the baseline setting of higher recall than AFNERs according to Table 5, AnswerFinder applies the sentence preselection still obtains the best results in the baseline QA sys- methods described above and then simply returns tem according to Table 6, suggests that the amount 57 of noise introduced by the additional entities does Kevin Humphreys. 1996. GATE: an environment not affect negatively the process of extracting the to support research and development in natural lan- guage engineering. In Proceedings of the 8th IEEE answer. International Conference on Tools with Artificial In- telligence, Toulouse, France. 6 Summary and Conclusion [Hirschman et al.1999] Lynette Hirschman, Marc In this paper we have focused on the impact of in- Light, Eric Breck, and John D. Burger. 1999. Deep troducing multiple labels with the aim to increase Read: A reading comprehension system. In Proc. recall in a NER for the task of question answering. ACL'99. University of Maryland. In our experiments we have tested the impact of [Humphreys et al.2000] Kevin Humphreys, George the ANNIE system, and two variations of AFNER, Demetriou, and Robert Gaizauskas. 2000. Two our custom-built system that can be tuned to pro- applications of information extraction to biological duce either single labels or multiple labels. The science journal articles: Enzyme interactions and protein structures. In Proceedings of the Pacific experiments confirm the hypothesis that allowing Symposium on Biocomputing' 00 (PSB'00), pages multiple labelling in order to increase recall of 502–513. Honolulu, Hawaii. named entities benefits the task of QA. In other words, if the NER has several candidate labels for [Li and Roth2002] Xin Li and Dan Roth. 2002. Learn- ing question classifiers. Proc. COLING 02. a string (or a substring of it), it pays off to out- put the most plausible alternatives. This way the a a [Moll´ and Gardiner2004] Diego Moll´ and Mary Gar- QA system has a better chance to find the answer. diner. 2004. Answerfinder - question answering by combining lexical, syntactic and semantic infor- The noise introduced by returning more (possibly e mation. In Ash Asudeh, C´ cile Paris, and Stephen wrong) entities is offset by the increase of recall. Wan, editors, Proc. ALTW 2004, pages 9–16, Syd- Further work includes the evaluation of the ney, Australia. Macquarie University. impact of multi-label NE recognition on higher- a a [Moll´ and van Zaanen2005] Diego Moll´ and Menno performance QA systems. In particular we plan van Zaanen. 2005. Learning of graph rules for ques- to test various versions of the complete An- tion answering. In Tim Baldwin and Menno van Za- swerFinder system (not just the baseline setting) anen, editors, Proc. ALTW 2005. ALTA. with each of the NERs. In addition, we plan to re- a a [Moll´ and van Zaanen2006] Diego Moll´ and Menno train AFNER using more data and more relevant van Zaanen. 2006. Answerfinder at TREC 2005. data and explore the impact of the single and mul- In Ellen M. Voorhees and Lori P. Buckland, editors, tiple methods on the resulting higher-performance Proc. TREC 2005. NIST. NER. a a [Moll´ 2006] Diego Moll´ . 2006. Learning of graph-based question answering rules. In Proc. Acknowledgements HLT/NAACL 2006 Workshop on Graph Algorithms for Natural Language Processing, pages 37–44. This work is supported by the Australian Re- search Council under the ARC Discovery grant [Noguera et al.2005] Elisa Noguera, Antonio Toral, DP0450750. n Fernando Llopis, and Rafael Mu˜ oz. 2005. Re- ducing question answering input data using named entity recognition. In Proceedings of the 8th Inter- national Conference on Text, Speech & Dialogue, References pages 428–434. [Armour et al.2005] Quintin Armour, Nathalie Japkow- icz, and Stan Matwin. 2005. The role of named [Sundheim1995] Beth M. Sundheim. 1995. Overview entities in text classification. In Proceedings CLiNE of results of the MUC-6 evaluation. In Proc. Sixth 2005, Gatineau, Canada. Message Understanding Conference MUC-6. Mor- gan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc. [Carroll et al.1998] John Carroll, Ted Briscoe, and An- tonio Sanfilippo. 1998. Parser evaluation: a survey a [Tapanainen and J¨ rvinen1997] Pasi Tapanainen and and a new proposal. In Proc. LREC98. a Timo J¨ rvinen. 1997. A non-projective dependency parser. In Proc. ANLP-97. ACL. [Chieu and Ng2002] Haoi Leong Chieu and Hwee Tou Ng. 2002. Named entity recognition: A maximum [Voorhees1999] Ellen M. Voorhees. 1999. The TREC- entropy approach using global information. In Pro- 8 question answering track report. In Ellen M. ceedings COLING 2002. Voorhees and Donna K. Harman, editors, Proc. TREC-8, number 500-246 in NIST Special Publica- [Gaizauskas et al.1996] Robert Gaizauskas, Hamish tion. NIST. Cunningham, Yorick Wilks, Peter Rodgers, and 58	eng	9e1b9730-78b8-4185-a393-391ccdf069ac	http://www.docstoc.com/docs/31822459/Named-Entity-Recognition-for-Question-Answering
How Much Does Someone Need to Earn to Be 'Rich'? This Recent Poll May Surprise You How wealthy does someone have to be to qualify as "rich" in America? Not too much, according to a new poll by Gallup. The data shows that Americans, who the government says have a median household income nationwide of about $50,000, believe that what many would consider a modest wage—$250,000—is more than enough money to lead "a very good life." Source: U.S. Census Bureau/Becket Adams Click to enlarge Does this mean that American aspirations about income have fallen? Gallup reports that: Americans say they would need to earn a median of $150,000 a year to consider themselves rich. Separately, 50% say they would need $1 million or more in savings and investments to consider themselves rich. It may be that at a time when median income has not risen on a real basis for a decade, the threshold of what's considered "wealth" is not in the millions of dollars. And, in a time when many Americans do not have retirement funds, a nest egg that might only yield $40,000 to $50,000 a year on a $1 million principal in enough for the aged to live on. With many people over 65 continuing to work, that level of income may seem indeed high. Gallup's research report on wealth adds: Americans' perceptions of the annual income they need to be rich are a bit higher than in 2003, when Gallup last asked the question. Then, $120,000 a year was the median amount Americans said they would need to make in order to think of themselves as rich. Since real wages have not moved at all since 2003, and the recession may have eroded income or robbed people of jobs, the fact that there is no change makes sense. But do most Americans really define being "rich" as earning $150,00 a year? If they do, then they might as well forget about the idea of owning a $500,000 house with two cars in the garage. Apparently, that type of thinking is well beyond the grasp of most Americans, and the economy may keep it that way for years. [Methodology: Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Nov. 28 to Dec. 1, 2011, with a random sample of 1,012 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.] Comments (313) $150K looks good on paper as far as appearing rich, but take one third away in taxes, take out your cost of living (food, utilities, health costs, mortgage, car and home maintenance, etc.) and you won't exactly be swimming around in a pile of money after that. All the money in the world can not make you rich if you are not right in your heart. I've seen wealthy people who were broke and poor people who are rich. Happiness and self fulfillment can not be fixed with money. I've been on both ends and what I learned is the envy is as evil as it gets. It can make people do horrible things. I used to make way more than that, but that was about a decade ago. I was very comfortable making the equivalent of $100k. Those were the good old days of income. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't aspire for more (my husband is in law school and I own a business, so we have some good potential). That's just what looks very fortunate to me from my current vantage point. Right now, my daughter accidentally loses a pair of shoes in a river, and we pray for a replacement. At the same point, I feel like I already am wealthy, in some respects. I realize that throughout history, even most kings and queens do not have the kind of wealth that I have. Compared to all of the world, including the starving children in Ethiopia, I'm still in the top 14% of the wealthiest people in the world. Wow, maybe it's just because of where I live, but after the payroll deduction for my ex wife comes out of my check, I make around $11,000 a year. My wife lost her job 2 months ago, so, until she finds a new one, This is what we live on. And I'm able to pay the phone bill, the rent, purchase food, pay the utilities, and pay for internet. Not to mention the $50 bucks a week to get me to and from my job, and the car insurance. Please don't complain to me that it's hard to make ends meet on $150 k a year. There is a saying, "Rich people are just broke, on a different level." What that means is that the more you make the more you spend. Anybody who knew how to budget would be rich with $100,000 a year, let alone 150. When your buying your third house, or have more than a minium wage worker will make in the next 25 yrs in the bank YOU SHOULD be payin more if you disagree well hope youe athiest ! No new taxes under 750K 3% bump on EVERYONE making more and 5% on everyone over 1.5 million, Dont like it your gonna lose ie all I 'm warning ya…..Put it to a popular vote it will pass by over 80% garnteed ! ! !…………….. The world is so unfair It rain here it doesn't rain there, it snows here it doesn't snow there, some places have mountains some don't, some places have beaches some don't, some areas can grow food some can't and that is the reality of the world. My grandfather liked to say, "The more you make, the bigger your bills." I used to laugh at this. But now in my adult years I find his saying more true than ever. I make a nice salary, but find myself taxed, paying out to insurances, paying my underwater mortgage that I can not refinance, three years remaining on our "Cash for Clunkers" purchase, paying to a loan to make improvements in our underwater home, and the list goes on. In my book, "rich" has nothing to do with how much you make…but how much you have in savings. If we go to a flat tax with no loopholes or flim-flam, people will be happy. As it is, the whole "rich people pay more in taxes" means squat when half that say this are referring to what the tax charts show as the amount owed before deductions, and the other half refer to the "dollars" they pay after all deductions…as opposed to the percent they pay. Am I suppose to whoop and holler for you because you paid a million in taxes and I only paid 20K? What if we look closer and see that I made $50K and you made 30 million? Still whooping & hollering? Rush Limbaugh often spends whole shows on this topic…defending how much he makes and explaining it is unfair to ask any citizen to pay more than others just because they are wealthy. Here is the rub though. If our country needs more money through taxes just to survive, and decide to increase taxe percents EVENLY across the board…well, it might mean Rush may have to cut back a bit on flying his private jet all over to see football games and to golf. But for your average Joe/Jane, those extra taxes may mean losing their home or eating soup every day, or skipping needed medical procedures/prescriptions. Fair is fair…but in this context, it is hard not to say "Tax the Rich!" It's a difference between forgoing luxuries…and not eating. And the arguement "well…go earn more then", is shallow and asinine. When I was in CA, earning just slightly less than $150,000, I paid 55 cents of every dollar in payroll taxes. Good riddance to the People's Republic of California. Unfortunately, we all now live in the People's Republic of America. Tyranny is HERE — in the USA! You don't need it…..the government says so; what BHO and his cronies want is that EVERYBODY makes $50K; if you 'earn' more, they will take it away via taxes; if you 'make' less; they will 'redistriute' from those who 'earn' more to those who 'make' less; except government workers of course. When my biggest concern in life becomes "Hmm, which brand of caviar should I feed to my albino tigers", maybe I'll start refering to myself as rich. $150k a year, puhleese, $150k won't buy a decent cabin-cruiser these days. I guess the new "being rich" standard to being able to take your family to an amusement park once a year. Who knew? Al Gore used to talk of millionaires and people who made $250k as the same class of people because after four years, four times $250k equals a million dollars. The only reason this was discussed was that a reporter called him on what seemed to be either a mistake or an over generalization. I think Spotted Al was a senator at the time and it was before the Global Warming Revelation. Unfortunately , the reporter failed to ask why some one making $100,000 a year wasn't a millionaire too since it only took 10 years to make a million at that rate. How many years do you have to be on welfare to be a millionaire? You sorta had to be there to look at the stare warning the reporter that any further questions like that only proved the reporter was an idiot and you sorta had to hear the tone of the voice that warned not to sift this concept too finely. In the early 80's, I was pulling in a low six-figure income Lived comfortable, but not extravagant Today, that income would not be acceptable Looking at just the housing … The home then was twice as big as the one now It took twice as much time and money to care for It had twice the amount of taxes and utilities were expensive Have friends and business associates now that pull in more then $250,000 a year, live in houses not much bigger then a tract house, drive cars 10 times more expensive then 10 years ago and can't spend money due to higher taxes Have a good friend that is a self-made billionaire and he's so sick of people wanting some of his money that he started his own foundation … Now even HE can't get at his own money Greed is everywhere … Especially in our own government It's sickening how the government has given the IRS so much power The elected have done that to steal their own citizen's money … period The only way I can see $150k as being rich is if you make that much and do not work. If you're sitting on enough cash or assets to pull that in without a job, I think it's safe to call you rich, but just the income by itself I'd pin you solidly in the upper middle class. This is exactly what the "Anointed One", O'Bummer wanted and promised. This is class warfare pure and simple. America and Americans are better than this. Since when it is "evil" to be successful and, through hard work and talent, be able to earn a good salary? It's as simple as "give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, but teach the man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime". I make around $80000, and I seem to be doing alright compared to many in my neck of the woods(Northern California) but then I'm sure most lie about how much they make. Point is that $150000 would be awesome, and easy to do if the Government would get out of the way. I have learned to live on much less than I thought possible and trust me I may have hard times paying my bills each month but I'm far from poor. If I made 100K a year I would consider myself rich. Strangely enough, 10 years ago when I made 80K a year I was barely getting by. What changed? My lifestyle. I live within my means, I cook and eat at home, I have one car rather than two, I don't have premium channels on my TV, I don't "party" (drink to excess smoke anything etc.) I don't have a flat screen or a smart phone. I denied myself the things that I thought were important for me to have a good life and found that I needed none of them. I don't use food stamps, EBT cards or even shop at thrift stores (Costco rocks) and I STILL live very well. I think if more people learned to live on less that they would see that a lot of money is wasted on STUFF that we really don't need. I have no drive for the material lifestyle that would be your subject of envy. I do have a drive to earn enough $ to not always be living from paycheck to paycheck, down the the last dollar cents, with nothing leftover to place in savings for medical emergencies, or repairs to the house. As it is now, that is how i am living and it is third world living, because it is always in a state of crisis and emergency because something is always breaking, or the government is fining you for not weedeating your yard down to one inch tall right before christmas, or the washing machine breaks, or you get an ear infection that is 24 hours away from perforation. MY IDEA of RICH: TO NOT BE IN A CONSTANT STATE OF CHAOS WITH REGARDS BASIC SUBSITENCE AND SURVIVAL. As it is now, all of the money gos to bills and food- and i don't eat the cheap sh$t because it is harder on my health, so i take the time to cook my own- but now, one tomato cost me $1.14 and i only make $8.00 an hour,… and to all of those who say get another job: THERE ARE NONE TO GET IN THIS SMALL TOWN!!!!! WE USED TO MAKE THINGS, NOW THERE IS NOTHING HERE! Oh, and as far as starting my own business, i can't do that because in this small town, the city permits and licenses you to death! Can't run a stand at the farmers market because i have to have a commercial or retail kitchen to poperate out of that is inspected by the health department and approved!!!!!!!!!!!! This is exactly what the socialists want Americans to be doing. Coveting thy neighbors goods. The fruits of my labor are what I have earned by my time and my talents. They do not belong to the state. If I work harder and earn more then how is it right that the idle of the world can then lay claim to such labors and time? At this time the state has determined that I shall labor 5 months to pay my share. Is this right? Do I need to labor more time to send the presidents wife to Spain with a fleet of jumbo jets for her entertainment? Is your neighbor rich? That is none of your business. Does he give to charity? Again that is none of your business. They are telling you it is your business so they can convince you to force all of us to give up more of our time and talents to support an elite class of rulers that are exempt from the rules. Our government is more than 99% too large. If it were the right size and fulfilling its designed purpose it would have very little power and nobody would care who was the president or in congress. Don't be fooled into believing that your neighbors wallet is your business. For those here going with the simple fix "tax the rich" and not even considering our out of control spending and that if we took 100% of the income from the top 5%, it would not fix the problem, just one thought: "Tax the rich will surely work. When Ireland started taxing the millions U2 made, they moved elsewhere in Europe (Ireland lost it all). When NY tried to stop giving huge breaks to the Screen Actors Guild, it's president (Alec Baldwin) threatened to move their base … and NY backed down. When John Kerry, wanted a new $7M yacht … he bought it in NZ instead of RhodeIsland but saved $70K/year by docking it in RI and avoiding Mass docking fees. So if these "good" rich progressives will avoid new taxes on the rich … what will the "evil" rich do?" Bottom line, the world is far more fluid now. You make it less lucrative to run businesses and employ people here, the job-creators will go elsewhere. Contrary to popular belief, gov't does not create jobs. Best they can do is create an environment friendly to job-creation. Out of control spending, out of control regulations, forced unionization, and constant threats of higher taxes do not create an environment friendly to that. When you have enough money that you aren't dependent on anyone or any organization, but have cash to burn for anything, including medical care (since you don't need health insurance, life insurance, etc), you are rich. In other words, you don't have to work, even if you lose all your worldly goods in a fire, because you still have tons of cash. Think Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, some movie stars, etc. If you fear losing your house, car, job, etc., or know an accident and medical bills can due you in financially, you are not rich. The idea that $250,000 a year is rich is nothing but progressive propaganda put out by the Obama Administration. It didn't exist before him. It was always the millionaire, not the quarter millionaire. I have to agree with StephenB.net. In many cases, people spend more than they really need to. With my family's poverty-level income, I manage to have two paid-for cars. Sure, one of them is 24 years old, but I don't have to worry about it getting repossessed. When my washer and dryer broke last year and I needed to replace it, we cashed in our gold piece to pay for a new set. Once we decided that it was time to replace it, we were able to go and order it (and pay for it) the very same day. We don't have credit cards or any other kind of debt. That helps. When my family was making four times what it makes now, we were always running out of money towards the end of the month. Now, we get paid on a very irregular basis, and we budget very carefully. I know that a lot of "poor people" use their credit cards or go to payday loan places, but personally, I can't afford to go to those places. they just eat away at money I don't have. My grandma is a millionaire. I guess a lot of people would say that she's rich. She didn't get that way by earning a large income. She got that way by doing things like using a 13″ black and white television until the 1990s, not spending money on things like cable television, and buying used cars and paying cash for them. I didn't even know that she had a lot of money until I was at my 10 year high school reunion, and someone mentioned that they worked in a building that my grandpa owned. Shortly after that, I put the piec BULL, In RI where I live, it takes a family of 4 $100K to survive. A small home, 2 used cars and public school is what $100K per year buys here! $300K a year leads,,,LEADS to a nice life style but hardly makes you rich. In a world where a nice home is $500K PLUS, a 40 foot fishing boat is $500K and a nice car is $70 to 150K. How could any thinking person believe they will be "RICH" on $150 PY is beyond me? Maybe because when I think "RICH" I think Ferrari and Yacht….not Hyndai and a 3 bedroom ranch? JMHO VERY good point. And the people in the poll are the people who "qualify" for the student aid for college age kids, earned income tax credit, free lunches, rent subsidies, homestead property tax credit, reduced lunches, food stamps — the list goes on. Yes, I would be sitting pretty well if I made 150K and received all that "AID." Oh — but I need to pay 40% in taxes (including state, federal, property and local taxes) so those who think I make too much can get all the freebies. Meanwhile, I suspect a lot of income is unreported by people with "home businesses." Due to my many "riches" going to pay for things like my own kids lunches and college education, maybe I'll be able to cash in on some of these freebies like foodstamps when I retire with very little savings. Sheesh! These people have been taking handouts for so long they feel entitled to them. Oh wait… that's what our government calls the dole these days… Sane, Im with you, 150k isn't a lot of money in 2011. Not by a long shot. My problem with "taxing the rich" is that it defines "rich" as $250k a year (for your household). Sorry, thats not rich. The "One percent" average $2,800,000 a year. Now, Thats rich. In the past ten years, their income has grown by 18%, while ours has grown by 3%. And i don't think they worked "15% harder" or they were "15% more clever". So its clear, our system is working for them, better than it is for us. I'm completely with OK on this one, it completely depends on where you live. $150k in a rural town could be a huge amount, while in any semi/major city you might use $30,000+ of that on housing alone. OK noted income taxes (should have noted local and state taxes too), which take that $150k down to around $100-115k. So you get your $110k and $36k($3000/mo) goes to housing, then figure $7,200 for food ($600/month), $3,000 for one car payment($250/mo)- could have car taxes(muni or state), maybe $2,000 in gas. Then throw in utilities, tv, phone, internet, etc. etc. etc. for $500-700/mo and you get another, say $7500 per year. Then add in dining out, entertainment and clothing for another $3,000 (conservative). Don't forget healthcare costs, deductables, etc. for another $5,000…. (doesn't include any deductions for 401k, etc. and from that $150,000 you end up with about $35,000 when it's all said and done. If that's supporting a family of 4 you get kid expenses too. Didn't bother to include credit cards, but most people carry a balance on those too. Yes that leaves a nice chunk of change, but it's not gold leafing the tub and having a milk bath either. It depends on where you live, how big your family is, and what type of lifestyle you expect to maintain. For my family, $150 K would be doing really well, but we're used to getting by on substantially less. Being rich or just paying the bills with a bit extra left over, plus your savings, 401K, and any other investments, is not the definition of "Rich". Our family after my father got out of the Military (after moving 5 times-all three of us children were born in different cities), didn't make crap from his service. I began working at age 12, at 13…I got a job in the oil field (my Pops friend) and all the money made I gave to the family. Lucky enough to earn a scholarship to The University of Texas at Austin, lost my last year the was 4.0 GPA down to a 3.99 due to a political argument w/one of my profs (couldn't help myself…lol). My point is, I was still working with the very same oil service co. During the 1980s and 90s I spent 17 years working overseas, primarily in dangerous countries where there are no friendly embassies, many were Mid-Eastern countries, 6 yrs was in the Libyan Sahara desert…there are not any roads where our camp was located, temps up to 142 degrees. But the taxes in other countries were more than here. I returned back to the states, in the late 90s, Clinton back taxed me for all 17 years of earnings of back earnings, even while I was also giving info about what I had seen and where during the debriefings, each time I would re-enter the good ole USA. Getting hit with 17 years of back taxes, we now have to depend on investments. I still feel like I was been robbed by the IRS. So…no we are not wealthy, Rich is having more than you can spend. RICH, I think it's really rich when you have insider trading information and it's legal to use it as Congress and all the other f king CROOKS in DC do. OH yea if I used insider trading with the co. I work for I would be fired and put in Jail. RICH MY ASS I understand your anger towards insider trading – we knew Congress is crooked, but now it has been exposed how they got there… I'm angry too. Now I know how Pelosi got $880,000 in just one year!!!! Scalp her mouse! That's the one she protected to get where she is. Who really thinks that any new tax code. tax increases. or any tax the rich thing will effect any person who earns more then 10 million per year? First of all the rich do not get paid like most people, so income tax has no effect. They use trusts, can right off every thing they use and own as expenses, including cars, boats, etc before they take any money as income. The tax code is written by the wealthy. Lets get this right. Rich and Wealthy. Rich is any one who has a little more then you do. Wealthy are the people you never see or hear about unless they want you to. The government wants everyone to give up their rights so they can tax the rich (anyone who has more then you) (Not wealthy) and take a small fee to give it back to whom they see fit. Keep it up OWS you guys are so smart. yea Target and them not having a Union is why America is in trouble. Lets close them down now. Close down Walmart. yea. America is getting better everyday with all this change. Wait for the government to start messing with your food source with more regulation. I'm sure a bug will be endangered and we cannot plant corn in Iowa soon. wait, people have to be hungry to give the government all their rights that God gave us. If we're talking about money and who's rich, let's talk about "assets" rather than current wages. Those Soros, Pelosi, Gore, Kerry, Obama, Clintons, all "lifer" government workers, union bosses and hollywood glitterati have already safely amassed THEIR big stashes so they now want to put the kibosh on anyone else climbing the elitist ladder. If we want to tax "the rich" so bad, I wish that some conservative would call that bluff and demand that all ASSETS over $5M be taxed at 30% for a one time surcharge because those are the REAL rich. Watch the liberals scatter…. I so agree with you these guys have done inside trading built their riches & talk about rich people-look @ Gore how he has gotten rich & made many jobs disappear someone needsto addressthis group first 150k is rich? It shows you how God-awfully stupid many of our fellow Americans are. How is it possible that so many people can be so obtuse and unwitting??? Does anybody pay income taxes? A mortgage? Student loans? Property taxes (anywhere but the South)? Essentially gotten 0% interest on short term savings over the past 10 years? Had a 401k for at least 10 years? It's amazing and we wonder how a Marxist got elected and will probably get re-elected??? i'm sixty, worked hard all my life, I am a rich man, I have a wife who loves me, I have a few acres, a job of 28 years that pays ok, but the crap Obama is spitting at us scares the shi// out of me. I was raises butcher lambs but that and our produce is gone thanks to this idiot How wealthy does someone have to be to qualify as "rich" in America? t many would consider a modest wage—$250,000—is more than enough money to lead "a very good life." I built a successful business – paid 10% tithe for years – put 15% in retirement for years -clear over 250K a year – have no debt – put an additional 10K a month into savings and am worth beyond one million by working hard for 40 years – yet none of my friends look at me as a rich person. I'll never make that much money per year without owning my own business, but I'll be honest and say that it is people like you I have always tried to emulate because that attitude simply kicks ass – there's no other way to put it. Think about it – you are completely independent and you help your fellow citizens realize some type of independence. I'm jealous, but not the way liberals are jealous. Let's call it a productive type of envy. Oh, he doesn't look at you as rich. You are what he fears most – an American who has achieved the American dream through hard work and would like to see everyone else do the same. He only refers to you as "the rich" so that those who haven't accomplished what you have will hate you. Divide and conquer is the plan. And it seems to be working for him; I can't remember a time in recent history that this nation was so divided. It all depends on where you live. In north eastern Nebraska where I live, you can do very well on $30,000 a year. In a big city on the coast and a lib state where taxs are so high you may be homeless. You can buy a older house that is not that bad for $20,000- $30,000. Foods a bunch cheaper. We can buy whole rib eye for less than $6.00 a pound. Take them home cut then and wrap them and with veggy from our garden have a better meal the you could get in the big city that cost $100+ for $6-$7. My wife and I live very well and our back yard is 160 acres. We have 3 cars. 2 pickup and a suburban. I bet we burn less fuel than the aveage city dweller does by a lot. It's all a matter of how much money have left after goverment works you over and whhat it buys you where you live. Dumb poll. "The idea this president now, with Iran getting one of our predator drones in their possession, and he had opportunities — he had two choices. Actually, he had three. He chose the worse. And those two opportunities he had was to either retrieve that drone or to destroy it. And he did the worst of the three. And he did absolutely nothing. And the Russians and the Chinese will have our highly technical equipment now. This president IS the problem," Perry said at the ABC News debate in Des Moines, Iowa If you lived in NY City and earned $150,000 this poll effects you. You probably already pay over 55%in taxes and If the Government tells you that you are rich and need to pay 75% tax this is important. Try to live in NY on $65,000 a year without housing help, etc. Understand America, $200,000 a year really means about $110,000 at best take home pay. $100,000 is about $55,000. So when you hear polls or people talking remember anyone who earns over $100,000 is not earning that much, they are in the highest tax rates and don't have the protection wealthy people do. I was in high school in the early 80′s and way back then the term "millionaire" didn't even seem "rich" to me. But then again, I had travelled beyond the county line a few more times than most hicks I grew up with…..and apparently MOST of American Proles. I am wealthy beyond measure. I own my property outright, I eat every day and have luxuries like TV, electricity, internet and running water. After my few bills are paid I still have enough money to save for my taxes next year. I have people who love me and people that I love. I am a child of God and Jesus is my Saviour. I am blessed among women. Amen MOMRULES! Well said, compared to most of the world , 95% of Americans are rich financially not to mention the other most important blessings you referred to! Praying we will get a President in 2012 than realizes this too! Money doesn't make one rich. Rich is having health and well being. After having a terrible illness and fighting for my life I know for a fact just "being alive" is what makes me wealthy. There is no dollar amount to put on that. The results of this poll certainly don't surprise me. I am a hard working college educated K-12 public school employee that earns 36,720 after 8 years in the system (Florida). As a single father of two teens, I am really struggling to make ends meet. That said, God has bless us with a beautiful home and everything we need and most of our wants. If I just had another income coming in equal to mine I would feel "rich" let alone another 100K+. Also, keep in mind folks are coming to the realization that our country is on the verge of collapsing and scaling back their interpretation of the "American Dream". I agree. My husband makes about $31,000 a year. He gets a retirement check from the military (after 20 years in) of about $16,500, making a total of $47,500, but we have 2 mortgages. Sucks to have bought a house right as the housing market crashed. His brother and sister-in-law both work for AT&T and make a combined income of about $115,000. I consider them almost rich. He gets all the latest toys, drives a Lexus, lives in a half million dollar condo, etc. I'd think a single family who makes $250,000 would be rich (meaning it's not their small business that draws in that much). I'd be sitting on easy street even with 2 special needs kids if I could sell that other house. Now, consider those of us non-public-sector employees that get basically ZERO employer pension. Wait, I shouldn't sound so harsh. OK, depending on your employer, you can get a generous average of between 1.25 and 3% of your salary that gets put into a stock market that is completely corrupted – ironically – a lot of it because of unfunded liabilities promised to public sector workers. Your first seven years as a school teacher in Florida you didn't have to pay a cent for your health care insurance, so I am sure you are now feeling a little more pinch since Gov. Scott enacted the new policy of making teachers pay something for their health insurance like all the rest of us. Plus, just think how much less you would have if Florida had a state income tax, so, when you really analyze it, you could be in worse financial shape as far as take home pay than you are currently experiencing. I assume your spouse works and your family is not trying to make it on your salary alone. If not, I am sure things could be rather tight. Also, you might want to get your administration credentials and become a principal. I have a friend here in Georgia who is a retired high school principal in his fifties who made 70k his first year in retirement with subsidized health care and a 1.5% raise every six months – courtesy of us taxpayers. Good Luck! Who said I was JEALOUS of other people's success? The only thing I'm upset with is not being able to sell a house. I'm glad my BIL makes what he does. Actually, he keeps trying to turn my husband into an executive or at least get him into AT&T. But after 20 years as a engineman in the Navy, the only thing he would be qualified for is a tech that drives all day long. He makes a decent amount of money, and like I said, if we could sell that other house, we'd be on easy street. No struggles. I hold Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac responsible for my woes. I technically qualify for disability, but I don't collect it. This goes back to the $10,000 bet Romney made. People who make that much money don't realize how the average man views it. Rich is owning out right all your belongings including your land. Does not matter if land is lot with home or 100 acres with live stock. Rich is having the money to pay the gas electric water trash home owners car health insurances groceries and have money left over in the bank for the next generation. First Plank communist manifesto: Abolition of property in land and the application of all rents of land to public purposes. (Zoning – Model ordinances proposed by Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover widely adopted. Supreme Court ruled "zoning" to be "constitutional" in 1921. Private owners of property required to get permission from government relative to the use of their property. Federally owned lands are leased for grazing, mining, timber usages, the fees being paid into the U.S. Treasury.) Yea, and you only own the topsoil. I had to sign a form that said if they discovered precious metals, gas or oil on my propety, it belonged to the state, not me. To OWN your land, means you OWN your land and everything on it. And Heaven forbid if they find a dinosaur bone on your land. "Rich" has always been always been a matter of perspective to me. I've always thought, since I was in high school, that having $50 left over at the end of the month, after all the bills were paid, was "rich" to me. cdavis2009 Posted on December 11, 2011 at 7:45pmYou are right about the poorest actually being wealthy in some way compared to the rest of the world, but if you determine rich by your tv size, the car you drive or the clothes you wear. We around here call that OBAMA rich. Get my drift. 150K a year is rich? hahahahaha yeah in Bangladesh you'd be a king,but here 150K is not 'rich'. It's all subjective though,some people have no ambition and want to earn a set amount and are fine with that.Some people,I call them obamazombies want people to work hard to support them,they don't pay federal income tax but if you ask the intellectual titans should taxes be raised? They all agree yes they should be raised,and often,funny how that works eh? This is all about innumeracy. Folks these days have NO clue what anything costs or what money can, and cannot, buy. I work in retail sales, making just a little over the minimum wage. You've heard the TV commercials about "ramen noodles every night." Well, on the shifts when I don't happen to be too busy to get any break at all, I eat those ramen noodles and I'm happy to have them. These days, it takes a cool billion to be rich, and that's only if one is free from predatory "friends" or relatives who are desperate to grab a big piece of it for themselves, AND if one has the self-discipline not to be wasteful. Without those two things, NO amount of money is enough to make one wealthy.	eng	605da9c9-ad13-4d67-bf7d-d5ff0cff3c2a	http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/12/11/how-much-does-someone-need-to-earn-to-be-rich-this-recent-poll-may-surprise-you/
COLOMBIA February 2007 COUNTRY Formal Name: Republic of Colombia (República de Colombia). Short Form: Colombia. Term for Citizen(s): Colombian(s). Capital: Bogotá. Major Cities: According to the 2005 census, the four cities with more than 1 million population are: Bogotá (4,300,000; Greater Bogotá, 6,776, 009), Medellín (2,223,078), Cali (2,068,386), and Barranquilla (1,380,437). These cities are also the four major industrial centers. Independence: Colombia officially marks its independence from Spain on July 20, 1810, the date that criollo revolutionists established a ruling junta in the capital city of Santafé de Bogotá. Early History and Colonial Era: Colombia's pre-Columbian history began more than 20,000 years ago, according to the earliest evidence of human occupation. The Chibcha, sub-Andean (Arawak), and Caribbean (Carib) peoples, most of whom lived in a patchwork of separate but organized, agriculturally based communities, inhabited the area now called Colombia. By the early colonial period in the 1500s, the Chibcha had become the most advanced of the indigenous peoples. Conservatives, a war that devastated the country and cost at least 100,000 lives. Panama seceded from the Republic of Colombia and, on November 3, 1903, declared independence. In 1946 fighting again broke out following a change of parties in power, and in April 1948 the assassination of the popular Liberal leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán led to a major outburst of rioting in Bogotá itself. The countrywide violence known as "La Violencia," in which as many as 300,000 people were killed, raged for more than 10 years. In 1958 the Conservatives and Liberals banded together to form the National Front, which helped to greatly reduce the violence in the early 1960s. Although the National Front arrangement ended in 1974, the tradition of presidents inviting opposition figures to hold cabinet positions continued through the 1990s. The Era of Insurgency, Counterinsurgency, and Narcotrafficking: By excluding dissident political forces, the National Front pact contributed to the emergence of guerrilla groups in the mid-1960s. In 1965 the pro-Cuban National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional—ELN) and the Maoist People's Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Popular—EPL) were founded; the next year, the pro-Soviet Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia—FARC) was founded and quickly became the largest guerrilla group. They were joined in 1974 by another left-wing insurgent group, the Nineteenth of April Movement (Movimiento 19 de April—M–19). Although the M–19 and EPL later demobilized and formed political parties (the former in 1989 and the latter in 1991), the ELN and FARC, as well as a dissident element of the EPL, have continued insurgent activities to the present day. As Colombia became a world leader in the production and trafficking of illegal drugs in the 1970s and 1980s, the large drug syndicates such as the Medellín and Cali cartels gained wide power through terror and corruption. During the narco-terrorist era (1983–93), narcotics traffickers sponsored assassinations of numerous government officials, justices, and politicians, particularly those who favored an extradition treaty with the United States. The government broke up the Medellín Cartel in 1993 and later the Cali Cartel by arresting key leaders. Despite the setbacks, drug traffickers continued to fuel the civil conflict during the 1990s, as the illegal armed groups became increasingly dependent on the drug trade for financing their insurgent operations. Colombia's present constitution, adopted on July 5, 1991, replacing the 1886 charter, initially prohibited the extradition of Colombians wanted for trial in other countries. But drug traffickers have again faced extradition to the United States since 1997, when Colombia's Congress reinstated, by constitutional amendment, the extradition of Colombian nationals. AlthoughStrengthened by income from the illegal drug trade during the 1990s, the ELN and FARC extended their territorial presence in Colombia in 1996–98. The administration of Andrés Pastrana Arango (president, 1998–2002) was marked by high unemployment, increased countrywide attacks by the guerrilla groups, widespread drug production, and expansion of paramilitary groups. As a concession in exchange for beginning peace talks, Pastrana granted the FARC a 51,000-square-kilometer demilitarized zone (DMZ) in south-central Colombia in November 1998. However, the FARC used the DMZ as a haven to increase illicit drug crops, transport military equipment and provisions, and negotiate kidnappings and extortions. Since the collapse of this arrangement along with the peace talks in early 2002, both the FARC and ELN have continued their insurgencies. Stepped-up government actions against the guerrillas during the first administration of Álvaro Uribe Vélez (president, 2002–6, 2006– ),Paramilitary Partial Demobilization: The paramilitary groups that emerged in the early 1990s, including the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia——ACCU). Other important paramilitary organizations include the Cacique Nutibara Bloc (Bloque Cacique Nutibara—BCN), the Central Bolívar Bloc (Bloque Central Bolívar—BCB), and the Middle Magdalena Bloc (Bloque del Magdalena Medio—BMM). The againstGEOGRAPHY Location: Colombia lies in the northwestern part of South America, bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north and the North Pacific Ocean to the west. Size: The fourth-largest country in South America, Colombia measures 1,138,910 square kilometers, including insular possessions and bodies of water, or slightly less than twice the size of Texas. Of this total, land constitutes 1,038,700 square kilometers and water, 100,210 square kilometers. The sizes of Colombia's islands in square kilometers Land Boundaries: Colombia's continental neighbors are Ecuador and Peru to the south, Brazil and Venezuela to the east, and the Isthmus of Panama to the west.Borders with neighboring countries total 6,004 kilometers, as follows: Ecuador, 590 kilometers; Peru, 1,496 kilometers (estimated); Brazil, 1,643 kilometers; Venezuela, 2,050 kilometers; and Panama, 225 kilometers. Disputed Territory: Unresolved territorial disputes persist with Nicaragua and Venezuela. The issue of Nicaragua's alleged sovereignty rights over the Colombian islands of San Andrés y Providencia lying off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua occasionally produces diplomatic disputes. Nicaragua revived the issue in 2002 by asking the International Court of Justice at The Hague to validate its claim. Colombia's dispute with Venezuela over substantial maritime territory lying off the Guajira Peninsula and in the Golfo de Venezuela (Gulf of Venezuela), an area popularly referred to by Colombians as the Golfo de Coquibacoa, is being resolved through bilateral negotiations, although elements of national prestige continue to make it a national issue in both countries. Length of Coastline: The only South American country bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, Colombia has a total of 3,208 kilometers of coastline—1,448 kilometers on the Pacific Ocean to the west and 1,760 kilometers on the Caribbean Sea to the north. Maritime Claims: Colombia claims a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, a 12-nautical mile territorial sea, and jurisdiction over the continental shelf to a 200-meter depth or to the depth of resource exploitation. Topography: The mainland territory is divided into four major geographic regions. First, the coastal region consists of the Caribbean Lowlands and the Pacific Lowlands. Swamps separate the Caribbean Lowlands from the base of the Isthmus of Panama. The second region, encompassing the Central and Andean Highlands, consists of three rugged parallel mountain ranges (the Eastern Cordillera, the Central Cordillera, and the Western Cordillera), which constitute 33 percent of the country's land area. An isolated range, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, rises on the Caribbean coast and includes Colombia's highest point at Pico Cristóbal Colón (5,776 meters). The third region consists of the intervening high plateaus and fertile valley lowlands that are traversed mainly by three rivers: the Atrato, Sinú, and Magdalena. About 95 percent of the population resides in the narrow valleys and basins within the mountainous western part of the country. Finally, eastern Colombia includes the great plains (llanos) in the northern part and the tropical rainforest (selva) in the southern half. The llanos plain drains northeast into the Orinoco, while the selva drains southeast into the Amazon River Basin. Although eastern Colombia makes up about 54 percent of Colombia's territory, less than 3 percent of the total population resides in the nine eastern lowlands departments. Principal Rivers: Colombia has 20,000 kilometers of rivers. Its principal rivers are the Magdalena, 1,540 kilometers; the Putumayo, 1,500 kilometers; and the Cauca, 1,014 kilometers. The Cauca and Magdalena, which flow northward, divide the three principal Andean mountain ranges and join after emerging from the mountains and descending through marshy lowlands to the Caribbean near Barranquilla. In the west, the Patía flows through the Andes and empties into the Pacific. A total of 18,140 kilometers of waterways are navigable by riverboats. Climate: Mainly as a result of differences in elevation, Colombia has a striking variety in temperatures, with little seasonal variation. The habitable areas of the country are divided into three climatic zones: hot (tierra caliente; below 900 meters in elevation), temperate (tierra temblada; 900–2,000 meters), and cold (tierra fría; 2,000 meters to about 3,500 meters). The hottest month is March, and the coldest months are July and August.Precipitation is generally moderate to heavy, with the highest levels in the Pacific Lowlands and in parts of eastern Colombia. Considerable year-to-year variations are recorded, but generally most of the country has two main wet seasons with heavy daily rainfall (March to May and September to November) and one or two dry seasons with little or no rainfall (December to February and June to August), except in the northern plains, where there is only one long wet season from May through October. The wettest month is October, and the driest month is February.Average annual precipitation is 3,000 millimeters. Average temperature ranges in Bogotá, which has an elevation of 2,560 meters, vary little, for example, 10° C–18° C in July and 9° C–20° C in February. Natural Resources: Colombia is well endowed with agricultural export products, energy resources, and minerals. These resources include coal, coffee, copper, emeralds, flowers, fruits, gas, gold, hydropower, iron ore, natural nickel (also known as Millerite, a compound that is a natural nickel sulphide), petroleum, platinum, and silver.Colombia ranks first in Latin America for its coal reserves (with 7.4 billion metric tons of proven and recoverable reserves), fourth for natural gas (proven commercial reserves of around 114.4 billion cubic meters as of 2005, or enough to last until about 2022); and sixth for oil (1.4 billion proven barrels at the end of 2005, or enough to prevent Colombia from becoming a net oil importer until 2010–11). In addition, the country is second only to Brazil in hydroelectric potential. Potential natural gas reserves in offshore basins along the Caribbean Coast are estimated to cover 150 to 200 years of consumption. Most of the natural gas reserves are located in the Llanos Basin in the foothills of the Eastern Cordillera. Land Use: Colombia's arable land is located mostly in patches on the Andean mountainsides. In 2005 an estimated 2.01 percent of the total land area was arable (approximately 21,000–23,000 square kilometers). The amount of arable land apparently has declined since 2003, when it was estimated to be 28,880 square kilometers. An estimated 1.37 percent of the total land area (14,230 square kilometers) was planted to permanent crops in 2005. Irrigated land totaled 9,000 square kilometers in 2003. Environmental Factors: The 1991 constitution codifies new environmental protection legislation, including the creation of specially protected zones, of which Colombia had 443 in 2003, mostly in forest areas and national parks. Colombia has an extraordinarily high percentage of its total land area designated as a protected area (72.3 percent in 2003). Current environmental issues include deforestation resulting from lumber exploitation in the jungles of the Amazon and the region of Chocó on the Pacific coast. In 2004 about half of Colombia's territory, or 607,300 square kilometers (2,300 square kilometers less than in 2000), was forested area. Other issues include illicit drug crops grown by campesinos in the national parks of Sierra de la Macarena and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, soil erosion, soil and water quality damage from contamination by the use of chemicals in the coca-refining process, spillage of crude oil into the local rivers caused by guerrilla sabotage of pipelines and overuse of pesticides (and herbicides to eradicate the coca crop), air pollution (especially in Bogotá) from vehicle emissions, and endangerment of wildlife. The government's use of herbicides has compounded the environmental degradation. As a result of soil erosion, 65 percent of the country's municipalities are facing water shortages by 2015. Although 93 percent of the population had access to improved water sources and 86 percent to adequate sanitation facilities in 2004, only about one-third of Colombia's 1,098 municipalities have adequate treatment systems for contaminated waters. Time Zone: Colombia Standard Time is five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT–5). SOCIETY Population: Colombia is the third most populous country in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico. According to the official final number compiled by the 2005 national census conducted by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística—DANE), the national population was 41,468,384 in 2005. This adjusted figure takes into account geographical coverage omissions but does not include Colombians living abroad. According to the 2005 census, the population growth rate during 2001–5 was 1.6 percent. The estimated population growth rate in 2006 was 1.46 percent. Colombia has a largely urban population. By 2005 the urban population had increased to 75 percent from 57 percent of the total population in 1951, according to the DANE census. About 35 percent of the total population is concentrated in four cities: Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, and Barranquilla. Estimates of population density (inhabitants per square kilometer) have varied, ranging from 37 in 2000 to 44 in 2005. Moreover, population distribution throughout the country is very skewed. Population density in the eastern departments is less than one person per square kilometer. The net migration rate in 2006 was –0.3 migrant(s) per 1,000 population. Migration from rural to urban areas has been prevalent. The move to urban areas reflects not only a shift away from agriculture but also a flight from guerrilla and paramilitary violence. According to the 2005 census, 1,542,915 Colombians were victims of forced displacement between 1995 and 2005, but the actual number may be between 2 and 3 million, according to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). More than 3.5 million Colombians have been displaced since 1985, according to the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (La Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento—Codhes), an authoritative NGO source. Almost 1 million people have been displaced since the government of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez took office in 2002, according to Codhes and official sources. Codhes recorded more than 250,000 newly displaced people in 2005, or 90,000 more than the government's figure. Owing to problems of security and unemployment, a total of 1.2 million Colombians abandoned the country legally during 2000–5 and have not returned.According to the 2005 census, 3,331,107 Colombians were living abroad. According to other estimates, the actual figure may exceed 4 million, or almost 10 percent of the country's population. External migration is primarily to Ecuador, the United States, and Venezuela. Demography: Colombia has a relatively young population, with a large percentage in the 0–14 age-group and about 80 percent of the population under age 45. The median age in 2006 was estimated at 26.3 years (25.4 years for males and 27.2 years for females). The estimated age profile of the population in 2006 was 30.3 percent in the 0–14 age-group, 64.5 percent in the 15–64 age-group, and 5.2 percent in the 65 and older age-group. According to the 2005 census, 48.8 percent of the population was male and 51.2 percent female. According to 2006 estimates, the birthrate was 20.48 per 1,000 population; the infant mortality rate was 20.35 deaths per 1,000 live births; life expectancy at birth for the total population was 71.99 years (males, 68.15 years; females, 75.96 years); the estimated total fertility rate was 2.54 children born per woman; and the estimated death rate was 5.58 deaths per 1,000 population. In 2004 the under-five mortality rate per 1,000 population was 24 for males and 17 for females, and the adult mortality rate per 1,000 population between 15 and 60 years of age was 226 for males and 93 for females. The greater number of male homicide victims accounts for the significant gap between life expectancy and the probability of dying for men and women. The 2005 census found that approximately 66.7 percent of Colombian homes had four or fewer persons, and the average number was 3.9. It also determined that 44.9 percent of Colombians were single, 23 percent married, and 23.1 percent over 10 years of age were living together as unmarried couples. Official Language: Spanish. Ethnic Groups and Languages: The 2005 census defines ethnic groups as being the Afro-Colombian, indigenous, and gypsy populations. It defines the Afro-Colombian population as including blacks, mulattoes (mixed black and white ancestry), and zambos (mixed Indian and black ancestry). Although ethnic estimates vary widely, the census found that the Afro-Colombian population accounted for 10.5 percent of the national population; the indigenous population, for 3.4 percent; and the gypsy population, for 0.01 percent. The census also reported that the "nonethnic population" (whites and mestizos—those of mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) constituted 86 percent of the national population. Estimates of the mestizo category, to which almost all of the urban business and political elite belong, range from 54 percent to 58 percent of Colombia's national population. Estimates of the category of unmixed white ancestry range from 20 percent to 40 percent. The upper class, constituting 5 percent of the population, is overwhelmingly white; the middle class, 20 percent, is mostly mestizo; and the lower class, 75 percent, is proportionately mestizo, Afro-Colombian, and indigenous. The populations of major cities are primarily white and mestizo. Most indigenous people and Afro-Colombians live in rural areas—the former in barren and inaccessible regions and the latter in the Caribbean and Pacific coastal regions and tropical valleys. The country has as many as 98 languages, of which 78 are living and 20 extinct. There are about 500,000 speakers of Amerindian languages, which include Wayuu, Camsá, and Cuaiquer, but their numbers are diminishing rapidly. Religion: Article 19 of the 1991 constitution, building on the Concordat of 1973, gives Colombians the right to freely practice their religion on an equal basis with Roman Catholicism, which was traditionally the country's official religion. The government generally respects this right in practice. However, for political reasons the illegal armed groups, both left-wing and paramilitary, have targeted religious leaders and practitioners, killing, kidnapping, or extorting them and thereby inhibiting free religious expression. An estimated 95 percent of Colombians (or only 87 percent, according to a low estimate) are at least nominally Roman Catholics, and the Roman Catholic Church enjoys a de facto privileged status. About 3 percent of Colombians are members of various Protestant groups. The remaining 2 percent, mostly Afro-Colombians, often engage in syncretic religious practices that blend forms of spirit worship with Roman Catholicism. Education and Literacy: Total public spending on education constituted 4.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2004, one of the highest rates in Latin America.The ratio of pupils to teachers in 2001 was 26:1 in primary school and 19:2 in secondary school. The school year extends from February to November. Primary education for children between six and 12 years of age is free and compulsory for nine years, but in many rural areas teachers are poorly qualified, and only five years of primary school are offered. The net primary completion rate (percentage of relevant age-group) in 2004 was 94.3 percent. Secondary education (educación media) begins at age 11 and lasts up to six years, without any opportunity for vocational training. Secondary-school graduates are awarded the bachillerato (high-school diploma).Net secondary enrollment in 2004 was 74.5 percent. Tertiary school enrollment in 2004 as a percentage of gross was 26.9 percent. Colombia has 24 public universities. According to the 2005 census, almost 11 million students attended primary and secondary schools. Of these students, 8,310,165 were in public schools and 2,475,304 in private schools. The census found that the percentages of the population enrolled in a formal educational establishment were 50.3 percent for those between three and five years of age, 90.7 percent for those between six and 10 years of age, and 79.9 percent for those between 11 and 17 years of age. The census data also indicated that 37.2 percent of the population had attained basic primary education; 31.7 percent, secondary; 7 percent, professional; and 1.3 percent, specialized studies (master's or doctorate). The percentage of the population without any education was 10.5 percent. According to the census, 88.3 percent of the total population five years of age or older could read and write. This percentage varies depending on the age-group used. For example, according to a 2004 estimate, a total of 92.8 percent of the population 15 years of age or older is literate. Although literacy for males and females in this age-group is almost 93 percent in urban areas, it is only 67 percent in rural areas. Health: Health standards in Colombia have improved greatly since the 1980s. A 1993 reform transformed the structure of public health-care funding by shifting the burden of subsidy from providers to users. As a result, employees have been obligated to pay into health plans to which employers also contribute. Although this new system has widened population coverage by the social and health security system from 21 percent (pre-1993) to 56 percent in 2004 and 66 percent in 2005, health disparities persist, with the poor continuing to suffer relatively high mortality rates. In 2002 Colombia had 58,761 physicians, 23,950 nurses, and 33,951 dentists; these numbers equated to 1.35 physicians, 0.55 nurses, and 0.78 dentists per 1,000 population, respectively. In 2005 Colombia was reported to have only 1.1 physicians per 1,000 population, as compared with a Latin American average of 1.5. The health sector reportedly is plagued by rampant corruption, including misallocation of funds and evasion of health-fund contributions. General government spending on health accounted for 20.5 percent of total government expenditures and for 84.1 percent of total health expenditures (private expenditures made up the balance) in 2003. Total expenditures on health constituted 5.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2005. The per capita expenditure on health care in 2005 at an average exchange rate was US$150. Since 2001–2 Colombia has halved its homicide rate, which was more than 60 per 100,000 inhabitants, or 28,837, in 2002, one of the world's highest homicide rates. In 2006 a total of 17,206 violent deaths were recorded, the lowest figure since 1987. Other than homicide, heart disease is the main cause of premature death, followed by strokes, respiratory diseases, road accidents, and diabetes. Waterborne diseases such as cerebral malaria and leishmaniasis are prevalent in lowland and coastal areas. Child immunization for measles in 2004 as a percentage of children under 12 months of age was 92 percent. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the fifth-leading cause of death in the working-age population.According to Colombia's National Health Institute data reported in 2003, nearly 240,000 people—mostly women and young people—or 0.6 percent of the population had been infected with the virus since AIDS arrived in Colombia in October 1983. Estimates of the number of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), adults and children (0–49 years of age), in 2005 ranged from 160,000 to 310,000. The comparable figure for women (15–49 years of age) was 62,000. The number of AIDS and hepatitis B cases has been rising. In 2005 the estimated HIV adult prevalence rate (15–49 years of age) was 0.6 percent. As of 2006, between 5,200 and 12,000 people had died from AIDS. Services provided by the new Multisectoral National Plan, launched in July 2004, include integrated care for people living with HIV and provision of antiretroviral drugs. Under the plan, about 12,000 people have been receiving combined antiretroviral therapy (approximately 54 percent of those requiring it). Welfare: All Colombian workers are legally required to be affiliated with a basic pension and health provider. The Social Security Institute (Instituto de Seguros Sociales—ISS) is one of Colombia's largest state companies and is the principal agency involved in the social security field, with responsibility for health care, pensions, and professional risks.In the private sector, workers can choose between the private system based on individual accounts or the state-run system. Employers and employees contribute jointly to a unified social security system. In mid-2005, private pension funds had approximately 6.1 million account holders, and private pension funds had become the largest institutional investors in Colombia. Pension liabilities have been rising in Colombia as a result of corruption and the government's failure to pay into the system as originally planned or to readjust contributions.A pension reform approved in mid-2005 reduced annual pension payments from 14 percent to 13 percent and eliminated privileged pension benefits. The number of retirees in the ISS system starting in 2008 was expected to increase from 819,000 to 955,000. From 2009 on, the government will have to bear the increased cost of allowing women to retire at age 55 and men to retire at age 60, with 75 percent of the final basic wage if they had paid in 1,000 weeks or 90 percent if they had paid in 1,250 weeks by that date. Serious social problems include high rates of criminal violence, extensive societal discrimination against women, child abuse, and child prostitution; trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation;widespread child labor; extensive societal discrimination against indigenous people and minorities; drug addiction; poverty; and displacement of the rural population. The 2005 government census found that about 800,000 children between the ages of 12 and 17 work in Colombia.The only industry identified in Colombia that uses child labor and directly exports to the United States is the flower agribusiness, where children are used in both the processing and harvesting of flowers. The number of children (0–17 years of age) orphaned from all causes was 910,000 at the end of 2003. After having reached a low of 50 percent in 1997, the proportion of the population living below the poverty line exceeded 60 percent in 2005, according to the Comptroller General's Office. However, the Colombian government's official estimate was just under 49.2 percent in 2005. The government estimated that the percentage of the population living in extreme poverty in 2005 was 15 percent, down from 26 percent in 2002, although in rural areas the incidence of extreme poverty could be as high as 40 percent. ECONOMY Overview: In 2006 Colombia had the fifth-largest economy in Latin America, a status that is expected to continue through 2010. Since the liberalization of the economy under the new constitution of 1991, the government has sought to facilitate the gradual transition from a highly regulated economy to a free-market economy through measures such as tariff reductions, financial deregulation, privatization of state-owned enterprises, and adoption of a more liberal foreign-exchange rate. Although the economy became mired in a recession in 1998–99 as a result of external shocks and monetary tightening to curb inflation, it has rebounded since 2003 as a result of confidence in the political and economic policies of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez. The recovery of growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 and an overall reduction in criminal and political violence contributed to the favorable conditions that enabled President Uribe to be reelected in May 2006 with a strengthened popular mandate. The economy is expected to remain steady despite continuing weak domestic and foreign demand, slow GDP growth, austere government budgets, and serious internal armed conflict. Gross Domestic Product (GDP): Overall GDP increased in real terms by an average of 2.5 percent a year from 1990 to 2002.The real GDP growth indicated that the economy—driven by exports, private investment, and a recovery of household consumption—had rebounded from a GDP growth rate of –4.2 percent in 1999.The upward trend has continued, reaching an estimated 6.1 percent in 2006, although this growth was expected to slow to 4.9 percent in 2007. The GDP totaled an estimated US$133.7 billion in 2006. The estimated origins of GDP by sector in 2006 were agriculture, 12 percent; industry, 35.2 percent (including manufacturing, about 15 percent); and services, 52.7 percent. Colombia is a lower middle-income country. Real GDP per capita contracted by 6 percent in 1998–2002 and only recovered its 1997 level in 2005, when it reached US$2,290 (or US$7,661 at purchasing power parity). In 2005 the median household income was US$3,904. The estimated GDP per capita for 2006 was US$2,823, a figure that was expected to decline to US$2,791 in 2007 at market exchange rates. Government Budget: Favorable international conditions such as higher oil prices and Colombia's economic expansion aided the efforts of the Uribe administration to bring Colombia's public finances under control. In 2005 the government had revenues estimated at US$46.8 billion and expenditures estimated at US$48.8 billion. The estimated 2006 budget deficit was 5.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), as compared with 5 percent of GDP in 2005. The growing public-sector debt was about 46 percent of GDP in 2006. Under President Uribe's approved second-term reforms of the tax regime, the income tax rate will decline gradually to 35 percent in 2007, 34 percent in 2008, and 33 percent in 2009, while corporate taxes will be lowered and the value-added tax (VAT) simplified. Inflation: During 1990–2002, the inflation rate averaged 18.1 percent per year, but it gradually fell to an estimated 4.3 percent in 2006. It was expected to remain about the same in 2007–8. Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing: Since 2003 the Colombian Institute of Rural Development has managed the agricultural and fishing industries. Agriculture's share of gross domestic product (GDP) has declined significantly since 1987, when it was almost 21 percent of GDP.During 1990–2001, its share of GDP decreased at an average annual rate of 1.1 percent.In 2006 agriculture accounted for an estimated 12 percent of GDP and employed 22.7 percent of the labor force. Approximately 15 percent of Colombia's total exports come from agriculture, including livestock and fishing. A diverse climate and topography allow cultivation of a wide variety of crops. Products include bananas, beef, cassava, cocoa, coffee, corn, cotton, cut flowers, livestock, palm oil, potatoes, rice, soybeans, sugarcane, timber, and tobacco. Coffee remains Colombia's leading legal cash and export crop, accounting for 6.9 percent of export earnings in 2005 (about US$1.6 billion) and about one-third of employment in agriculture (600,000 people). However, Colombia's arable land has been used increasingly to cultivate coca for cocaine production. Moreover, endemic guerrilla and paramilitary violence has been a serious problem for many campesinos and cattle ranch owners, and it has discouraged investment in the sector. Consequently, sectoral growth has been declining, from 4 percent in 2004 to 2 percent in 2005. Colombia has from 53 to 58 million hectares of forest and woodland, only 3 million hectares of which are dedicated to commercial exploitation. The Institute of Hydrology and Environmental Studies estimated in 2004 that Colombia lost around 101,000 hectares of forest in the period from 1994 to 2001. The government is offering incentives to increase forest and woodland by 1.5 million hectares between 2002 and 2025. Roundwood removals in 2004 totaled 8.1 million cubic meters, and sawnwood production totaled 622,000 cubic meters. Much of the harvested wood is used as fuel. The fisheries and aquaculture sector, which employed 88,000 people in 2001, accounts for less than a quarter of the agriculture sector's percentage of national production. Low fish consumption and rudimentary fishing techniques apparently account for the relatively marginal performance of the fishing industry, despite a huge potential for both aquaculture and sea fishing along Colombia's 3,208 kilometers of coastline. The total catch in 2004 was 211,385 metric tons. Authorized and unauthorized foreign ships commonly fish in Colombian waters. Mining and Minerals: Despite its immense hydrocarbon potential, only 20 percent of Colombia's potential reserves are currently in production. Total crude oil production averaged 526,000 barrels per day in 2005, down from 810,000 barrels per day in 1999. The steady decline is due to a lack of sizable new reserve discoveries. Declining domestic oil production means that Colombia will have to import oil in the medium to long term. With its limited refining capacity, the country is already importing some refined products, especially gasoline and fuel oils. The country's current refining capacity is about 300,000 barrels per day. Colombia is the world's tenth-largest producer of hard coal, with coal production in 2005 totaling 59 to 61 million metric tons. About 90 percent of domestic coal production, which is entirely handled by foreign companies, is exported. In 2005 Colombia was the world's sixth-largest coal exporter, ranking after China and ahead of the United States. It was also the largest producer in Latin America of ferronickel in 2005 (39,700 metric tons). Natural gas production and consumption each totaled an estimated 6.18 billion cubic meters in 2004. Gas for the domestic market is produced at the Cusiana–Cupiagua oil and gas fields in the northeastern province of Casanare in the Llanos Basin. However, the Guajira Basin accounts for most current production. More than 60 percent of natural gas demand comes from the Atlantic coastal region in Guajira Department, where industry and the electricity sector are the main users. Industry and Manufacturing: Industry accounted for 35.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006, including about 15 percent for manufacturing. Industry's share of employment in 2006 was 18.7 percent. Manufacturing has been expanding rapidly since May 2006. Major manufactured products include beverages, cardboard containers, cement, chemicals, electrical equipment, machinery, metal products, pharmaceuticals, plastic resins and manufactures, textiles and garments, transport equipment, and wood products. In late 2000, construction began recovering from a major five-year downturn and was the fastest-growing subsector, driving GDP growth in 2003–5; it jumped from a 9.1 percent GDP growth rate in 2004 to 27.6 percent in 2005. Construction contributed an estimated 6.7 percent of GDP in 2005. Energy: Colombia is self-sufficient in energy. Electricity-generating capacity has remained at nearly 13.5 gigawatts since the mid-1990s. Of that total, an average of 66 percent was hydroelectric and 34 percent thermal. With installed electricity-generating capacity of 13.4 gigawatts in 2004, Colombia produced 46,571 gigawatt-hours of electricity; hydropower accounted for 78 percent of the electricity; thermal power, 21 percent; and other renewable sources, 1 percent. The country's heavy dependence on hydroelectric generation makes it vulnerable to disruptions caused by drought. As a result of Colombia's great potential in terms of its coal, gas, and oil reserves, the energy sector accounts for 51 percent of total investment. Services: The services sector accounted for 52.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006. In the first trimester of 2006, the services sector's share of employment was 60 percent. This sector includes commerce; communications; electricity, gas, and water; financial services; tourism; and transportation. Representing nearly 18 percent of GDP, financial services are centered in Bogotá, Medellín, and, to a lesser extent, Cali. The banking sector has been consolidating since 2004, when domestic banks reportedly controlled 84 percent of the assets and foreign banks, 16 percent. The foreign-owned banks generally cater to multinational corporations and high-income customers. The total number of domestic banks (commercial and mortgage) was reduced to 10 in 2006. The financial system is characterized by a multi-banking model, although only two banking groups own almost half the country's bank assets. The Bank of the Republic (Banco de la República—Banrep) operates as the central bank. Since the government bailed out the banking sector in 1999 at a cost of 7 percent of GDP, most banks have been modernizing and by mid-2001 had returned to profitability. Online banking transactions increased by 67 percent from 2004 to 2005. Since its creation in 2005, the Financial Superintendency, a new financial authority, has supervised and regulated the banking sector as well as public companies and private pension funds, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit and two other agencies. Since the Bogotá, Cali, and Medellín stock markets merged in 2002 to create the Colombian Securities Exchange (Bolsa de Valores de Colombia—BVC), the BVC has received massive inflows of domestic investment. From US$24.6 billion at the end of 2004, market capitalization soared to US$50.7 billion at the end of 2005. Growth of tourism has been slow for several decades because of the country's reputation for criminal, political, and narcotics-related violence and remains a marginal activity, even though conditions have improved under the Uribe government. Colombia remains on the U.S. Department of State's list of 31 countries with "travel warnings." Although the tourism sector accounts for only about 1 percent of GDP, it is an important foreign-exchange earner. International tourism receipts totaled US$1.3 billion in 2005 and an estimated US$1.5 billion in 2006. Despite low rates of tourism, reduced violence in recent years has allowed hotel occupancy rates to begin to recover, reaching 63 percent in 2006. Relatively isolated and safe tourism areas on the Caribbean, such as Cartagena and Santa Marta and the Caribbean islands of San Andrés and Providencia, are among the most popular Colombian tourism destinations. However, Bogotá was the most popular Colombian city for international visitors in 2005. The government has been promoting road travel and providing incentives for hotel construction and tourist projects in natural parks and ecological sites such as the Amazon and the coffee zone. One of the most rapidly growing subsectors of Colombian tourism is ecotourism. Labor: During 2001–5, the working-age population grew by 1.9 percent and the labor force by 1.4 percent. Colombia has a generally well-educated and trained workforce, which totaled an estimated 20.5 million people in 2005. Trade union militancy has declined in recent decades as a result of high unemployment, the loss of prestige of the unions, and paramilitary attacks on union members. The local business community is represented by the Union Council, which is a federation of sectoral interests. Although nonskilled labor wages are protected from declining in real terms by strict minimum-wage regulation, businesses have reduced skilled labor wages and increased layoffs. The national unemployment rate has declined since 2000, when it reached a high of 19.7 percent. By 2005 it had dropped to an estimated 11.8 percent, but it rose to 12.7 percent in the third quarter of 2006, possibly because of a new accounting methodology. Despite the uptick, the gradual downward trend is expected to continue over the next 10 years as the working-age population expands more slowly than the population in general. Underemployment, which has affected more than 30 percent of the working population since 2001, also rose in the third quarter of 2006 to 35.4 percent, as compared with 32.6 percent in 2005. Foreign Economic Relations: The United States has long been Colombia's most important trading partner. Colombia and the United States reached agreement on a major Andean free-trade agreement in February 2006, and the George W. Bush administration signed it on November 22, 2006. However, U.S. congressional reservations remained, and congressional ratification in both countries is needed in order for it to come into effect in 2008. Colombian exports to the Andean countries—including Venezuela, traditionally Colombia's second-largest trading partner—have accounted for about 20 percent of total Colombian exports since 2000. Colombia has signed free-trade agreements with Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela, as well as with the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom). The Uribe administration strongly favors extending these bilateral trade agreements across the hemisphere. Another principal destination for Colombian exports is the European Union (EU). Germany is Colombia's principal EU trading partner. Both the United States and the EU grant preferential access to Colombian exports under the Generalized Preferences System. Imports: Aided by currency appreciation, imports have soared since 1991, when the government cut tariffs and eliminated nontariff barriers on imports. Imports of goods (free on board—f.o.b.) amounted to an estimated US$22.8 billion in 2006. The trend of rising imports is expected to continue, totaling a projected US$27.7 billion in 2007. The major suppliers of imported goods in 2005 were the United States, 28.1 percent; Venezuela, 6.4 percent; Mexico, 5.9 percent; and Brazil, 5.5 percent. Colombia's principal imports include machinery, industrial and oil and gas industry equipment, grains, chemicals, transportation equipment, mineral products, consumer products, metal and metal products, plastic and rubber, paper products, and aircraft supplies. Exports: Exports of goods (free on board—f.o.b) amounted to an estimated US$23.5 billion in 2006. The trend of increasing exports has reflected higher commodity prices and growing foreign demand, as well as the Uribe government's export-oriented strategy. Traditional exports—oil, coal, coffee, and nickel—reached US$5 billion in 2005. Although coffee represented 60 percent of exports in 1987, in 2005 it was in third place behind oil and coal because of low international prices in recent years. Colombia exports about half of its oil production, with most of it (156,000 barrels per day) going to the United States. Oil exports generate about US$2 billion a year and represent more than 20 percent of Colombia's exports and about 4.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Exports of coal rose to US$2.6 billion in 2005, or 12.3 percent of total exports. Despite relatively high prices, export volumes of coal fell by 16 percent and coffee by 6 percent in the first half of 2006. Although oil volumes increased only slightly during this period, revenues from Colombia's most valuable export increased by 35 percent because of higher international prices. The most significant nontraditional exports include agricultural products (cut flowers, bananas, and sugar), mining products (ferronickel, gold, cement, and emeralds), and industrial products (textiles and apparel, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cardboard containers, printed material, plastic resins, and manufactures). The main destinations of exports in 2005 were the United States, 40.4 percent; Venezuela, 9.2 percent; Ecuador, 5.7 percent; and Peru, 3.5 percent. Balance of Trade: Exports grew faster than imports during the 1999–2006 period, allowing Colombia to report positive trade balances. Exports of goods (free on board—f.o.b.) amounted to an estimated US$23.5 billion and imports of goods f.o.b. to an estimated US$22.8 billion in 2006. Balance of Payments: The current account showed a deficit of an estimated US$2.2 billion in 2006, or about 1.7 percent of gross domestic product. The estimated current-account deficit during 2006–10 is expected to widen as a result of a rising import bill and higher debt interest payments. Although the current-account deficit has been growing in recent years, it was more than offset in 2005 by a high surplus of US$3.3 billion on the capital account. (The capital account totaled US$38.7 billion in 2005.) Moreover, the deficit has continued to be fully covered by long-term financing flows, including foreign direct investment and remittances. Colombia's foreign currency reserves (in convertible foreign currencies) totaled an estimated US$16.3 billion in 2006. External Debt: Colombia's foreign debt remains one of the country's main weaknesses. The external debt rose to an estimated US$35.1 billion in 2006 and was projected to continue rising. The paid debt-service ratio as a percentage of annual export earnings was an estimated 28.2 percent in 2006. Foreign Investment: Foreign direct investment (FDI) has grown strongly since the early 1990s, when the government passed laws to stimulate foreign investment in nearly all sectors of the economy by eliminating restrictions on foreign inflows, creating a privatization program, and opening foreign investment in the oil industry. The central bank reported that FDI jumped to US$10.1 billion in 2005 (from US$3.2 billion in 2004), mainly as a result of the acquisition of two of Colombia's largest corporations (beer and tobacco producers) by investors in South Africa and the United States. In 2005 the sectors with the largest FDI inflows were manufacturing (53 percent of the total of US$10.2 billion), mining and quarrying (19 percent), and oil (12 percent). In 2005 the United Kingdom, with 37 percent of total investments, was the main source of FDI, followed by the United States, with 14 percent. Areas closed to FDI include defense and national security, disposal of hazardous wastes, and real estate. The government also reserves ownership in strategic areas such as natural resources, but foreign companies may participate in exploration and exploitation. Currency and Exchange Rate: Colombia's currency is the peso (pl., pesos), which equals 100 centavos. Peso banknotes are issued in the following denominations: 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, and 50,000 pesos. The peso is formally abbreviated as COP and informally as COL$ or Ps. After modest devaluations in 1999–2002, the peso appreciated in 2004–5 as a result of increased remittances from Colombians working abroad, foreign direct investment, and portfolio investment. It began depreciating in March 2006 and lost about 5 percent of its value during the next six months. The peso ended 2006 trading at Ps2,239 per US$1, similar to its level at the end of 2005. Its average exchange rate in 2006 was Ps2,404 per US$1. The average exchange rate forecast for 2007 is Ps2,570 per US$1. The peso is expected to continue depreciating to approximately Ps2,900 per US$1 at the end of 2010 because of the growing current-account deficit. Fiscal Year: Calendar year. TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS Overview: Road travel is the main means of transport; almost 70 percent of cargo is transported by road, as compared with 27 percent by railroad, 3 percent by internal waterways, and 1 percent by air. Nevertheless, Colombia has one of the lowest ratios of paved roads per inhabitant in Latin America. The country has well-developed air and waterway routes. The only means of transportation in 40 percent of the country is via waterways, but guerrilla groups control the waterways in the south and southeast. Urban transport systems have been developed in Bogotá and Medellín. Traffic congestion in Bogotá has been greatly exacerbated by the lack of rail transport. However, this problem has been alleviated somewhat by the development of the TransMilenio Bus Rapid System and the restriction of vehicles through a daily, rotating ban on private cars depending on plate numbers. Bogotá's system consists of bus and minibus services managed by both private- and public-sector enterprises. Since 1996 Medellín has had a modern urban railway referred to as the Metro de Medellín, which also connects with the cities of Itagüí, Envigado, and Bello. An elevated cable car system, Metro Cable, was added in 2004 to link some of Medellín's poorer mountainous neighborhoods with the Metro de Medellín. A bus rapid-transit system called Transmetro, similar to Bogotá's TransMilenio, will begin operating in Barranquilla by late 2007. Cali's streets remain under construction as a new public-transit system called the Massive Integration of the West is being built. Roads: The three main north-south highways are the Caribbean, Eastern, and Central Trunk Highways (troncales). Estimates of the length of Colombia's road system in 2004 ranged from 115,000 kilometers to 145,000 kilometers, of which fewer than 15 percent were paved. However, according to 2005 data reported by the Colombian government, the road network totaled 163,000 kilometers, 68 percent of which were paved and in good condition. The increase may reflect some newly built roads. President Uribe has vowed to pave more than 2,500 kilometers of roads during his administration, and about 5,000 kilometers of new secondary roads were being built in the 2003–6 period. Despite serious terrain obstacles, almost three-quarters of all cross-border dry cargo is now transported by road, 105,251 metric tons in 2005. Railroads: Colombia has 3,034 kilometers of rail lines, 150 kilometers of which are 1.435-meter gauge and 3,154 kilometers, 0.914-meter gauge (2,611 kilometers of which are in use). Rail transport in Colombia remains underdeveloped. The national railroad system, once the country's main mode of transport for freight, has been neglected in favor of road development and now accounts for only about a quarter of freight transport. Passenger-rail use was suspended in 1992 and resumed at the end of the 1990s. However, fewer than 165,000 passenger journeys were made in 1999, as compared with more than 5 million in 1972, and the figure was only 160,130 in 2005. Short sections of railroad, mainly the Bogotá-Atlantic rim, are used to haul goods, mostly coal, to the Caribbean and Pacific ports. In 2005 a total of 27.5 million metric tons of cargo were transported by rail. Although the nation's rail network links seven of the country's 10 major cities, very little of it has been used regularly because of security concerns, lack of maintenance, and the power of the road transport union. During 2004–6, approximately 2,000 kilometers of the country's rail lines underwent refurbishment. This upgrade involved two main projects: the 1,484-kilometer line linking Bogotá to the Caribbean Coast and the 499-kilometer Pacific coastal network that links the industrial city of Cali and the surrounding coffee-growing region to the port of Buenaventura. Ports: Seaports handle around 80 percent of international cargo. In 2005 a total of 105,251 metric tons of cargo were transported by water. Colombia's most important ocean terminals are Barranquilla, Cartagena, and Santa Marta on the Caribbean Coast and Buenaventura and Tumaco on the Pacific Coast. Exports mostly pass through the Caribbean ports of Cartagena and Santa Marta, while 65 percent of imports arrive at the port of Buenaventura. Other important ports and harbors are Bahía de Portete, Leticia, Puerto Bolívar, San Andrés, Santa Marta, and Turbo. Since privatization was implemented in 1993, the efficiency of port handling has increased greatly. There are plans to construct a deep-water port at Bahía Solano. Inland Waterways: The main inland waterways total about 18,200 kilometers, 11,000 kilometers of which are navigable by riverboats. A well-developed and important form of transport for both cargo and passengers, inland waterways transport approximately 3.8 million metric tons of freight and more than 5.5 million passengers annually. Main inland waterways are the Magdalena–Cauca River system, which is navigable for 1,500 kilometers; the Atrato, which is navigable for 687 kilometers; the Orinoco system of more than five navigable rivers, which total more than 4,000 kilometers of potential navigation (mainly through Venezuela); and the Amazonas system, which has four main rivers totaling 3,000 navigable kilometers (mainly through Brazil). The government is planning an ambitious program to more fully utilize the main rivers for transport. In addition, the navy's riverine brigade has been patrolling waterways more aggressively in order to establish safer river transport in the more remote areas in the south and east of the country that are controlled by rebel groups. Civil Aviation and Airports: Colombia has well-developed air routes and an estimated total of 984 airports, 100 of which have paved runways, plus two heliports. Of the 74 main airports, 20 can accommodate jet aircraft.Two airports are more than 3,047 meters in length, nine are 2,438–3,047 meters, 39 are 1,524–2,437 meters, 38 are 914–1,523 meters, 12 are shorter than 914 meters, and 880 have unpaved runways. The government has been selling its stake in local airports in order to allow their privatization. The country has 40 regional airports, and the cities of Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Cucutá, Letícia, Pereira, San Andrés, and Santa Marta have international airports. Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport handles 350 million metric tons of cargo and 8 million passengers a year, making it the largest airport in Latin America in terms of cargo and the third largest in passenger numbers. Pipelines: Colombia has 4,350 kilometers of gas pipelines, 6,134 kilometers of oil pipelines, and 3,140 kilometers of refined-products pipelines. The country has five major oil pipelines, four of which connect with the Caribbean export terminal at Puerto Coveñas. Until at least September 2005, the United States funded efforts to help protect a major pipeline, the 769-kilometer-long Caño Limón–Puerto Coveñas pipeline, which carries about 20 percent of Colombia's oil production to Puerto Coveñas from the guerrilla-infested Arauca region in the eastern Andean foothills and Amazonian jungle. The number of attacks against pipelines began declining substantially in 2002. In 2004 there were only 17 attacks against the Caño Limón–Puerto Coveñas pipeline, down from 170 in 2001. However, a bombing in February 2005 shut the pipeline for several weeks, and attacks against the electrical gird system that provides energy to the Caño Limón oilfield have continued. New oil pipeline projects with Brazil and Venezuela are underway. In addition, the already strong cross-border trade links between Colombia and Venezuela were solidified in July 2004 with an agreement to build a US$320 million natural gas pipeline between the two countries, to be completed in 2008. Telecommunications: Since being liberalized in 1991, the telecommunications sector has added new services, expanded coverage, improved efficiency, and lowered costs. The sector has had the second largest (after energy) investment in infrastructure (22 percent) since 1997. However, the economic downturn between 1999 and 2002 adversely affected telecommunications. During this period, Colombia's telecommunications industry lost US$2 billion despite a profit of US$1 billion in local service. In June 2003, the government liquidated the state-owned and heavily indebted National Telecommunications Company (Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones—Telecom) and replaced it with Colombia Telecomunicaciones (Colombia Telecom). The measure enabled the industry to expand rapidly, and in 2004 it constituted 2.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Telefónica of Spain acquired a 50 percent share in the company in 2006. As a result of increasing competition, Colombia has a relatively modern telecommunications infrastructure that primarily serves larger towns and cities. Colombia's telecommunication system includes INTELSAT, 11 domestic satellite Earth stations, and a nationwide microwave radio relay system. The country's teledensity (the density of telephone lines in a community) is relatively high for Latin America (17 percent in 2006). However, there is a steep imbalance between rural and urban areas, with some regions below 10 percent and the big cities exceeding 30 percent. Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali account for about 50 percent of telephone lines in use. By the end of 2005, the number of telephone main lines in use totaled 7,851,649. Colombia Telecom accounted for only about 31 percent of these lines; 27 other operators accounted for the rest. Colombia's mobile market is one of the fastest-growing businesses in the country. In mid-2004 mobile telephones overtook fixed lines in service for the first time. By 2005 Colombia had the highest mobile phone density (90 percent) in Latin America, as compared with the region's average density of 70 percent. The number of mobile telephone subscribers totaled an estimated 21.8 million in 2005, or 47.4 subscribers per 100 inhabitants, as compared with only 6.8 million in 2001. Colombia is still far behind Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina in terms of online usage. It had an estimated total of 900,000 Internet subscribers by the end of 2005, a figure that equated to 4,739,000 Internet users, or 11.5 percent of the 2005 population (10.9 per 100 inhabitants). Colombia had 581,877 Internet hosts in 2006. Although as many as 70 percent of Colombians accessed the Internet over their ordinary telephone lines, dial-up access is losing ground to broadband. In 2005 Colombia had 345,000 broadband subscriber lines, or one per 100 inhabitants. In 2006 the number of personal computers per 1,000 people increased to an estimated 87 per 1,000 inhabitants, a rate still below that in other large Latin American economies. In late 2004, Radio and Television of Colombia (Radio y Televisión de Colombia—RTVC) replaced the liquidated National Institute of Radio and Television (Instituto Nacional de Radio y Televisión—Inravisión) as the government-run radio and television broadcasting service, which oversees three national television stations and five radio companies (which operate about a dozen principal networks). Colombia has about 60 television stations, including seven low-power stations. In 2000 the population had about 11.9 million television receivers in use. Of the approximately 515 radio stations, 454 are AM; 34, FM; and 27, shortwave (see also Mass Media, below).	eng	22b9f30c-e8e1-4c40-a4fb-ce3293bcf4c8	http://www.mongabay.com/reference/country_profiles/2004-2005/Colombia.html
June 5, 2009 Personally I am an advocate of the idea that the universe is essentially a meaningless place, onto which we impose meaning. We create significance, we constitute it – we don't find it. However, there is a dangerous ambiguity lurking in this brief description. I said that the universe is meaningless – the events in it are without significance – without us. But what does it mean to say that something is meaningless? To call something meaningless is not to leave it exactly as it was, it is to look at it in a certain way. It is to deny the existence of meaningful relationships between it and other things. This looks very much like giving meaning to it, like taking up an attitude towards it, like interpreting it. In other words, "meaningless" is itself a meaning that can be given to things. To say that something is meaningless is not to deny it meaning, it is to give it a meaning – albeit a rather empty one. Nihilism is simply one way of constituting the world, not a refusal to constitute the world at all. This raises the question of what things are like then before we give them meanings. In a way the question cannot be properly answered. We cannot say that they have significant relationships to other things, because that is to say they have meaning intrinsically. But neither can we assert that they lack such relationships, because that is a significant fact on its own, which is also to say that they have meaning intrinsically (the meaning of being "meaningless"). Perhaps weak souls may simply give up at this point and conclude that on the basis of this dilemma that meanings of some kind must be intrinsic after all. The problem, however, stems not from the fact that meanings are really intrinsic, but that to describe something, to understand it, we have to take up an attitude towards it. In other words, if we think about it we can hardly help but give some meaning to it. The apparent contradiction arose then because we were trying to explain what a thing is like outside all attitudes towards it, while at the same time taking up such an attitude. What we are left with are things-in-themselves, noumena, beings-in-themselves. This are all labels for the unthinkable that sits outside, and in a sense "behind", of the domain of meaning. This is more of a terminological clarification than anything, the idea of the noumena has already been done to death by Kant. And besides, what can you say about things of which you cannot think? The interesting lesson is not that noumena pop up, but that meaninglessness is a kind of meaning. One immediate consequence of this is that there are two kinds of nihilists, where nihilists are characterized by the slogan "it's all meaningless". On one hand we have the hypocritical nihilist. The hypocritical nihilist goes around labeling things as meaningless without realizing that in doing so they are giving them meaning. Thus the hypocritical nihilist is constantly in the business of contradicting themselves. On the other hand we have the catatonic nihilist. The catatonic nihilist avoids self-contradiction by actually refusing to give things meanings, and the only way to do that is to refuse to interact with them. Thus the catatonic nihilist must curl into a ball and shut out the world. This is why nihilism is an absurd position. Are there ways for the nihilist to be consistent? Yes. The nihilist could embrace the terminological clarification we have made here and run around saying "it's all noumena". But this would hardly be shocking, because the claim that noumena exist and in some way lie behind the world we experience in no way contradicts our ability to find meaning in the world. Or the nihilist may admit that they had something more traditional in mind when they made their claim. Perhaps they meant only to deny the existence of absolute meanings or divinely ordained meanings. But is there really anything shocking about that these days? We are well aware that most meanings, and most values, vary from culture to culture. We would hardly be shocked if we ran into a culture that thought gold was worthless, even though our culture values it highly. If it is at all bothersome it must be because we are attached to some small set of meanings that we hold to be above this. Ethical values, perhaps, or the significance of life. But I would say that there is nothing contradictory about denying absolute meanings while still holding on to an absolutist system of ethics. In fact the absolutist must affirm this. From the absolutist perspective an ethical fact is not something that exists because we constitute it. Rightness and wrongness are independent of people and their opinions about rightness and wrongness. Thus, so conceived, rightness and wrongness are not a meaning. Rightness and wrongness are as much a fact as the hight of the desk or the weight of the lamp. They are something that belongs to the noumena; they are something that we give a meaning to. Just as we give a meaning to the weight of the lamp (heavy enough to serve as a paperweight) so too would we give meaning to ethical facts. Thus the absolutist position, if it is indeed correct, is in no way threatened by the denial of absolute meanings. Nor is the relativist for that matter. Perhaps I have once again made a straw man out of the nihilist's position. Can't the nihilist simply accompany their denial of absolute meanings with the additional assertion that ethical values are meaning and not facts? Perhaps they could, and this would threaten the absolutist conception of ethics. However, it is also to beg the question against the absolutist, and thus isn't much of an argument. We can borrow an argument from the Euthyphro here, and ask why we constitute something as good or bad, if ethical values are meanings we give things. It it an arbitrary choice, or do we constitute it as good because it is good? The second creates a paradox – if good is nothing but our constitution of something as good, then this is to say that we constitute it as good because we constitute it as good, which says nothing. Thus it must be the first – it is an arbitrary choice. But this is nothing more, and nothing less, than relativism. And relativism is the denial of absolutism. So to tell the absolutist that ethical values are meanings and not facts is simply to assert that absolutism is false. Which is not much of an argument against it. The absolutist's position presupposes that ethical values are facts and not meanings that we assign. This digression into ethics, while not helping the nihilist look like less of a fool, has touched upon an interesting question, namely how to decide what is a "fact" and thus part of the noumenon, and what is part of the meaning that we give to the noumenon. Given that we can't conceive of noumena I would say that it is impossible to know the answer to this question; we can't look at the noumena as they are in themselves and see what we find there. But this is philosophy, the fact of the matter isn't our concern here. On the philosophical level we are still free to hypothesize about what is and isn't a noumenal property, on the same basis which we do all philosophy, namely that some ways of looking at the world are better than others. In simpler terms: the world makes more sense if we conceive of some properties as belonging to the noumenal, regardless of what the noumena is "really" like. This is why I think we can describe the size and mass of an object as "facts", as properties that are what they are independent of us. It's not that these properties couldn't be understood as something we are projecting onto the world – they certainly could. We could point out that length is only something that comes into existence for us through our interactions with the world and through our interpretations of our experiences. This is why things shrank as we grew up, although since we are invested in the idea that length is an objective fact we describe that experience as the size of objects seeming to shrink. But isn't it absurd to say that length is merely a meaning that we impose on the world, and not a fact? It certainly seems absurd to me. The question is why. What's so wrong about taking length to be something imposed on the world when it is perfectly acceptable to say it about the aesthetic value of the same item? One distinguishing feature is that we accept that judgments about aesthetic value can vary without indicating that some of them are in error, but we don't say the same about length. If someone disagrees with us that the ruler is longer than the pencil after we place them side by side we conclude that their vision must be distorted, or that they have misunderstood the word. But if they disagree with our judgment that the pencil is more beautiful than the ruler we shake our heads and accept that they just see things differently than us. The point is that we take uniformity concerning judgments about length very seriously, and judgments about beauty less so. A lot can hang on getting length "right". We desire to communicate accurately and clearly about length, and we can only do that if length isn't up for grabs. Much less hangs on beauty, and so it simply doesn't pay to worry about having a single aesthetic standard. But I can imagine a situation where things are reversed. Imagine a culture with only a very primitive level of technology. Because they don't have much in the way of technology they have no need for precise measurements. Indeed they don't even have words for length specifically. Instead they have words for vaguely defined shapes each of which has a characteristic general size. In this culture there are valid disagreements about whether the ruler is "longer" than the pencil. One person might group the pencil under "A" and the ruler under "B", which is characteristically larger. But another might classify the pencil under "C", which is characteristically larger than "B". Because these notions are vaguely defined, and they accept that there is no "right" way to classify shapes, both answers are equally valid. But, on the other hand, certain aesthetic values might play a large role in their lives. So large that they have developed a complicated numerical system for measuring beauty in its many different forms. They consider it to be an objective matter of fact that the ruler is 5.6 units in the R-h axis, while the pencil is only 3 units in the G-m axis. Thus the ruler has objectively greater aesthetic value than the pencil. If we disagreed with them about this they would conclude that somehow our perceptions were in error or that we didn't properly understand what beauty means. Thus for them aesthetic value is properly placed in the noumena while length/size/shape is merely an interpretation of the world. Now it is easy to object to this example by saying that,as I have described them, these people aren't talking about length and beauty; the words they use simply don't mean the same thing, so there can be no comparison. And that the words they use to describe shapes do not capture facts, as we take judgments about length to, thus says nothing about whether those judgments actually capture facts. This is a valid criticism. The reason I gave the example I did was because we are so set in our ways that we simply can't conceive of using "length" in a way that isn't factual. Thus I described a language that used non-factual shape words to describe something we normally think is factual, namely shape and size, to make plausible the possibility that the same could hold for length, that there might be ways of using length words and length concepts that isn't factual either. At best this is an illustration, not an argument – and I'm perfectly happy with that because of my metaphilosophical commitments. Let me finally get back to the point. The point of this lengthy digression is to show that what we choose to see as a noumenal property, and what we decide isn't a noumenal property, depends on what we, collectively, consider important to communicate about in a clear, unambiguous, standardized, and objective way. We put length, charge, mass, etc into the noumena because they are part of our scientific and technological apparatus where all of the elements on the list are extremely important. It doesn't matter if they are "really" – whatever that could possibly mean in this context – meanings projected out onto the world, so long as we are all projecting the same ones. Since beauty is not part of this or some similar apparatus we are free to leave it up for grabs. So now let me tie this back into ethics and hopefully get some closure on this wandering mess. As I mentioned earlier, whether absolutism in ethics make sense under this worldview (where we project meanings onto a meaningless world) depends on whether right and wrong are facts – part of the substratum for interpretation, the noumena – or whether they are meanings. And that, if the second part of this piece is on the right track, depends on whether clarity, unambiguity, standardization and objectivity are things we want ethics to display. Whether they are things we need ethics to display. Obviously that is a philosophical argument in its own right. But I think the answer is yes; given what we do with ethics those features are features it needs to have, and thus we make better sense of the world we are in by placing ethical facts along with length and mass in the noumena (and let us leave questions of whether they reduce to some of those other properties to philosophers with more time on their hands). Comments Off July 24, 2008 1. Interpretation: To remain unknown is also a kind of vanity, or at least it can result from the same kind of mindset that motivates vain actions. Of course the person who wishes to remain unknown instead of being recognized for some great work or great action probably does not think of themselves as vain. Instead they congratulate themselves for being so humble and not demanding that recognition. But therein lies the problem; they are busy congratulating themselves for being especially humble. Choosing to remain unknown, like attaching your name to something magnificent, is a way to set yourself apart from everyone else. It isn't a case of outward vanity, but it is an example of inward vanity, a course of action we choose to take to prove to ourselves how awesome we are. A truly humble person doesn't think about the credit they will or won't receive and so ends up taking credit for their accomplishments because that is the normal thing to do; they don't spend enough time thinking about the credit to worry about escaping it. Evaluation: This is not to say that there aren't legitimate reasons to remain unknown. An informant, for example, may wish to remain unknown for their own safety. And if Einstein had published poetry he would probably have had to do so anonymously, otherwise his fame as a scientist would have prevented an honest evaluation of his non-scientific work. And it would go too far to accuse everyone who goes anonymous without a special reason of being secretly vain. No generalization of this sort can hope to include absolutely everybody. Still, it includes a fair number of people, because what are the advantages of being unknown? Certainly if you really are a humble person then praise won't change that. Indeed praise is the best test, and demonstration, of a person's humility, since it is easy to be humble when no one is trying to raise you up. So perhaps they wish to remain unknown because they think of themselves as humble now, and fear that praise might change that. But if they would lose their humility in the face of praise are they really humble now? Certainly a person who doesn't do evil simply because they lack the opportunity isn't a good person. Similarly a person who only acts humble because they haven't been praised doesn't really have humility. 2. Interpretation: Perhaps a more direct reading of the saying is take it as asserting that even people unknown because they have done nothing worth being known for are vain. This is simply a comment on the nature of the human ego, which can puff itself up without reason. Many people who have yet to do anything significant, and who are unknown for that reason, believe that they should be praised for their work. They believe that the right people haven't looked at it yet, or that they are ahead of their time and can't be understood properly by their contemporaries. And thus they come to think of themselves as actually better than those who are praised. Evaluation: Of course the reasoning of these unknown but vain people isn't completely wrong. Some people do great work and aren't recognized for it. However, it is much more likely that they haven't done anything worthy of being praised for and have an inflated sense of self worth. Perhaps then this interpretation aims to deflate their egos. But should we deflate their egos? Granted, vanity isn't an admirable quality, but sometimes vanity motivates someone who hasn't produced anything significant yet to keep pushing forward until they do create something noteworthy. We might reason that, since their vanity hurts no one but themselves, from the point of view of the rest of us it is better the let them be vain, in the hope that they eventually will do something useful. On the other hand, vanity can also serve as an impediment to making a breakthrough. Consider a painter who has developed their own unique style and which thinks so highly of themselves that they keep painting even though no one likes their work. The reason no one likes their work is because the unique style that they have developed is awful. Now in one sense their vanity is useful because it keeps them painting, but it also keeps them from trying a different style because they are too vain to accept that their invention may not be working. Thus what is needed may be just the right amount of vanity. Enough that they keep working, but not so much that they get stuck in a rut. But I know of no advice that can produce just that level. 3. Interpretation: Interpretation 1 could easily be extended beyond vanity and humility to good acts in general. Often people take good actions explicitly to do good or to be good. But, as with remaining unknown, that is an attitude that does not suit those actions. To do good because it is good is again to display a kind of inward vanity, as you congratulate yourself for doing the right thing. It also displays a kind of selfishness. Obviously the person who does good for these reasons wants to be good. But if you do something good because you want to be good then really you are doing it for yourself. Evaluation: This interpretation raises the question: how is it possible to be a good person? Clearly we can't be a good person if we don't do good things. But, on the other hand, we can't consciously choose to do good things, because in making that choice we would be choosing it because it is good (assuming we don't have other impure motives) and thus would be choosing it for our own sake. But in presenting the puzzle in this way the answer also presents itself. The key is to do good things without having to make the conscious choice to do something good. In other words, become the kind of person who does good spontaneously without thinking about it; then you will really be a good person. Doing good acts because they are good might be a way to train the right habits, but it doesn't make a person a good person. This interpretation, and the above response to it, assumes that being good also requires the correct intentions, specifically those that are not in any way selfish. That assumption is not shared by everyone. There are some who argue that when it comes to good and evil all that matter is what actually happens, and that people should be judged by what they do and not by what goes on in their heads. That it is so hard to be a genuinely good person when intentions matter may make us sympathetic to this suggestion. 4. Interpretation: In a less literal sense this saying could also be read as expressing the idea that the unknown truth, or us the unknown in general, is vain. Of course an unknown truth does not have a personality, and thus cannot literally be vain. However, if it did have a personality how could it help but be vain, given how much we care about the unknown and how little we care about the known, in comparison. But perhaps that is an intellectual mistake on our part. If there are two boxes, one which is open and can be seen to contain four balls, and one which is closed and contains an unknown number of balls, why should the number of balls in the closed box be any more interesting than the fact that there are four balls in the open box? Evaluation: This interpretation seems to be giving bad advice. Curiosity is an extremely important human characteristic. We find out unknown things because it is possible that we can use that new knowledge to make our lives better after we have exhausted all the possibilities for building upon what we do know. But there also is a sense in which this interpretation is entirely correct. It is entirely irrelevant how many balls are in the closed box. But what's the harm is a little curiosity about irrelevant matters? None, as far as I can see. It is possible though for curiosity to be taken too far. A person who could never be satisfied with unknowns would never be satisfied, since it is impossible to know everything. So while curiosity is an important driving force it is sometimes necessary to be satisfied with not knowing. Indeed the not-knowing of strategic facts is essential to being a good neighbor. 5. Interpretation: The unknown are vain, in the sense of useless. Under this reading the saying would be making the claim that all that matters are a few important individuals, while everyone else is unimportant and largely replaceable. Evaluation: The sentiment in this interpretation is hard to agree with because it reeks of elitism. However, unappealing as it is, there is a grain of truth in it. It is not true that everyone else could be gotten rid of; the world is built upon unknown individuals. But it is true that, from the perspective of society, one unknown individual is much like any other and can probably fulfill the same role. What are we to make of that knowledge? Should we strive desperately to be important and irreplaceable in the eyes of society? Or should we pretend that what really matters are the people we are close to, to whom we aren't replaceable? Neither, I think, is the correct response. To strive to be recognized by and be irreplaceable to society is likely to be futile, and thinking only that mattered is likely to make you a very unhappy person. But valuing the perspective of the people who know you, rather than the perspective of society as a whole, is simply intellectually dishonest. The perspective of someone who knows you is no more important than the perspective of someone who doesn't, by an objective standard. Thus the best response to this realization is to accept that being important or irreplaceable is irrelevant when it comes to living a good life. If you accept that being important doesn't matter then the fact that the world doesn't find you to be important won't bother you. 6. Interpretation: As interpretation 4, but instead taking the unknowable, rather than the unknown, to be vain. The unknowable receives far more praise than the merely unknown. Because it lies in some way outside the human intellect mystics of all sorts have latched onto the idea of the unknowable as encompassing a domain of special or ultimate truths, which the mystic usually promises access to by transcending the intellectual. However, it is foolish to suppose that the unknowable is special just because it is unknowable; that would be to suppose that the human intellect is so special that everything outside it must be special as well. Evaluation: Is anything actually unknowable? It's hard to define precisely what is unknowable, because that would approach knowing it. However, it is possible to give a few examples of things that are unknowable. The decimal expansion of pi, or any irrational number, cannot be known beyond a certain point, simply because the universe doesn't contain enough energy to carry the computation any further. There also may be regions of space-time that are inaccessible to us, such as the inside of a black hole or a region sufficiently far away. There does not appear to be anything special about these examples of the unknowable. Certainly they don't appear candidates for anything like an ultimate truth. And so this interpretation appears to be on track in its recommendation not to treat the unknowable as anything inherently special. 7. Interpretation: The unknown, collectively, are vain. Consider how the unknown masses often demand democratic representation. A democratic system presupposes that the unknown masses are better judges of a politician's quality than any expert or any objective measure. What could be more vain than that? Evaluation: To be honest it is hard to find examples of the unknown masses acting vain collectively. At times it seems that almost every member of them is vain to some extent, and yet as a group they are surprisingly humble. How can that be? Well generally vanity takes the form of an inflated ego, and an inflated ego involves thinking that you are better than everyone else. So consider what would happen if you put four people with inflated egos in the same room. Each would believe that the other three were relatively incompetent. Thus, when they do something collectively, each believes that the group is only moderately competent, since their singular brilliance is outweighed by the other three idiots, and so as a group they tend not to express vanity. Thus in this case acting collectively results in a group that is better than the individual. I would also argue that a demand for a democratic system is not a rare expression of vanity in a group, rather it is a reflection of their fear of being exploited by others who might manipulate the system. Comments Off July 20, 2008 1. Interpretation: The literal meaning of the saying is that all people are ethically good. Of course no one can deny that people do bad things, but perhaps the good they do outweighs the bad. Some have described evil as a kind of nothingness, and if that were true any amount of good, which is something, would outweigh any amount of nothing. Or perhaps this saying should be taken as part of an ethical approach that describes something unorthodox, such as selfishness, to be a virtue. It is possible that all people are selfish to some degree. Finally, all people might be ethically good in the sense that they are inclined or predisposed to be good. In other words, human beings are naturally good. Evaluation: No matter how this interpretation is construed it seems implausible. However, without some standard for what a person ethically good, which is a matter of dispute, it is hard to refute. But suppose that this interpretation was true. Wouldn't it undermine the force of ethics? If everyone is good what is the point of avoiding doing bad things in favor of good things? According to the saying we would still be good people, and thus to be approved of ethically in spite of our bad actions. Thus we may retreat to interpreting the saying as asserting that we are all inclined to be good. This seems more plausible, but it is also much harder to evaluate. What predisposes a person to be good or evil? It is certainly not impossible for people to born with a predisposition towards good behavior. For example, if you believed that homosexuality was a virtue then it is the case that some people are born with a predisposition to be good, at least under that definition of virtue. However, the environment that someone grows up in seems to be a much more powerful force for predisposing them towards good or evil – people tend to adopt as their own morality that of their culture. Thus whether people are inclined to good or evil by birth seems almost a moot point, given that where they grow up has larger effect. And it also makes determining whether people are inclined to be good or evil at birth nearly impossible, since any such inclination is overshadowed by other influences. 2. Interpretation: Often when the word good is used we are inclined to understand it in the ethical sense. However, good can also mean something that is valued, and so the saying could be understood as asserting that all people are valuable. In a practical sense this means that the life of every person is worth preserving, and that every person is worth investing some time and energy in. Such a perspective coheres well with ethical perspectives that place a high value on life in general. Evaluation: As with interpretation 1 there is no way to refute such an assertion without appeal to a specific ethical perspective. However, we can point out that a number of possible unappealing consequences of such a view. Consider the worst person in all of history (probably Hitler or Stalin). Now suppose that they had lost all power and had no hope of getting it back. And suppose that it was your job to catch them and put them in prison. Now you find yourself in a situation where this person is about to elude your grasp and escape, and you know also that if they escape now they will remain free and have a happy life. And the only way to prevent them from escaping is by killing them. Should you kill them or should you let them go free and be happy? If we place a high value on life then we would be forced to conclude that letting them live is more important than punishment. Certainly that will strike some of you as the wrong choice. If it does that means that you are not inclined to place so high a value on life that all lives, no matter what the situation is, are considered to be good. 3. Interpretation: The saying does not indicate which perspective everyone is judged to be good from, which has made evaluating the previous interpretations difficult. And so we could take the saying as asserting that everyone judges themselves to be good (i.e. by their own standards). One reason this might be the case is if the standards that people use to determine whether someone is good vary so much that people we would judge to be evil are simply living by radically different standards. Alternately, it could also be that most people share similar standards but unconsciously overlook their own failings or are more likely to excuse them as justified than they are to excuse the failings of other people. Evaluation: This interpretation does seem to be true for most people. No matter what they are doing most people believe that their actions are justified, or at least aren't clearly wrong. For example, those who perpetrate genocide often believe that the people they are killing deserve to be killed, and thus that they are doing the right thing. And if someone can justify genocide to themselves then they can probably justify anything. However, I'm not sure that everyone does consider themselves to be a good person. Some people are plagued by guilt, which in some cases is justified and in others is cased by holding themselves to an unreasonably high standard. These people don't think that they are good people. Even so it is wise to keep this interpretation in mind. Just because someone professes to be good doesn't mean that they are, even if they sincerely believe themselves to be good. And just because we believe ourselves to be good doesn't necessarily mean that we are either (although it is equally a mistake to believe yourself to be evil without evidence; I suggest withholding your judgment). 4. Interpretation: To say that all people are good could be construed as asserting that all people had or have the potential to be good (not to be confused with the inclination to be good, discussed as part of interpretation 1). Thus this interpretation serves as a caution against judging people too harshly on the basis of the person that they currently are. Yes, the person they currently are may be bad, but it is just as important to steer them towards changing into a good person as it is to punish them for being a bad person. Evaluation: This interpretation does appear to be true; people are malleable enough that almost everyone can change. However, there are dangers to taking it too seriously. First of all that someone might change into a better person doesn't mean that they will change into a better person. Nor is it obvious what influences would lead them to become a better person. Thus knowing that a person could improve isn't necessarily useful unless we also know how to lead them to fulfill that potential. Secondly, taking this saying seriously could lead you to be deceived by someone who is pretending to have become a good person; the repentant and the unrepentant alike profess that they have changed. Thus this is an interpretation that is worth keeping in mind when thinking about human nature, but something that it is probably best to ignore, for the most part, when actually dealing with people. 5. Interpretation: All people are good, not all the time, but sometimes. And so it is possible to encounter an evil person in their rare moments of goodness and mistakenly judge them to be a good person. Thus we should try to judge the whole person, not one or two conspicuous acts. And of course the opposite is true too. We shouldn't condemn a person as evil because of one or two conspicuous mistakes either (although punishment may still be warranted). Evaluation: This interpretation appears to be a good one, and can be legitimately extended beyond ethics. For example, you shouldn't conclude that someone is easily angered just because you see them fly off the handle once; maybe they were having an unusually bad day. It is easy to generalize from memorable incidents to conclusions about who a person is, but that habit is often misleading, since in many cases memorable incidents are out of character for a person. Additionally, devious people often exploit that tendency, and do good things conspicuously to distort our perception of them. Which can make distinguishing a truly good person from someone who merely wants to appear good difficult. One strategy I use is to do something conspicuously virtuous, such as tipping where it isn't expected, and see whether that person does the same thing. If they follow suit then it is likely that they are worried about being seen as good, and hence are copying you because they don't want to appear bad in comparison. A truly good person has no reason to copy you, and if they don't normally tip in those situations they won't start just because you did. 6. Interpretation: Claiming that everyone is good could be part of a perspective in which everything is taken to be good the way it is. Such a perspective would be a kind of stoicism, which emphasizes accepting the world as it is rather than passing judgment on it. Instead of getting upset over the fact that someone is evil we should simply accept that the person is an evil person, and accept that things are fine the way they are. By embracing such an attitude we thus shield ourselves from unhappiness and frustration, because those emotions are a result of wanting the world to be other than it is. Evaluation: The problem with this kind of stoicism is that it promotes inaction. If you are fine with the world the way it is what reason is there to try and change anything? Now inaction is not necessarily bad. Stoicism promises happiness, and maybe inaction is a fair price to pay. Ultimately whether stoicism is agreeable depends on what your values are. If you just want to be happy then perhaps stoicism is the perfect fit, since it promises happiness without actually having to do anything. On the other hand, if you value anything outside yourself, such as justice, the happiness of other people, preserving the rainforest, etc, then a stoic attitude can be counterproductive. Being frustrated or unhappy motivates actions to change the way things are. If the thought of the rainforest being destroyed makes you unhappy then you will be motivated to try to do something about that. Inasmuch as stoicism promotes inaction it can create situations where a person is led to ignore the things they value because they are busy trying to accept destruction of those things instead of attempting to do something about it. Of course this doesn't shed any light on whether a stoic perspective is a good one. To determine that we would have to know whether valuing things outside yourself is good or bad. 7. Interpretation: When we say that something is good we may mean that it is performing its function properly. For example, a good hammer is one that drives down nails, and a good thief is one that doesn't get caught. In that sense if someone was a good person it would mean that they were performing their function or purpose as a person well. But what the function or purpose of a human life is, or if it even has one, isn't clear. In a roundabout fashion this saying could be providing an answer to that question. Read in this light the saying claims that each and every person is fulfilling his or her purpose. And if everyone really is fulfilling his or her purpose then that purpose must be something that is shared universally, such as life itself. And so the function or purpose of a human life would be to live that life. Evaluation: Of course it is not entirely clear whether talking about a human life having a function or purpose even makes sense. Most things in the universe don't have a purpose but simply are. A rock, for example, does not inherently have any purpose. Of course we can put a rock to some use, and thus give it a purpose, but what is there to put human lives to use and give them a purpose? (And is it ethical to use a human life as a means to some end?) But let's suppose that human lives do have some inherent purpose. Now to call a life good in this sense is to say that it is fulfilling its purpose well, which in turn implies that a life can fulfill its purpose to a better or worse degree. But if that is the case why say that every life is good? Why not draw the line for what counts as a good life somewhere in the middle, so that some lives are good and some are bad? Granted, there are no principles that say the line must be drawn in the middle, and so we could classify all lives as good without making some logical error. However, it seems to me that if we are willing to call all lives good then calling a life good loses its meaning. The life would have been good no matter how they lived it, and so under such a definition a good human life means nothing more than a human life. And thus the distinction between good and bad lives becomes useless. 8. Interpretation: So far these interpretations have taken the saying as making an assertion, as claiming that in some sense people are good. However, it could instead be taken as a definition for personhood in terms of good human beings. The notion of personhood has a special role to play in a number of contexts. For example, people are often given rights and privileges that are not extended to animals and plants. Being a person gives you special status, both ethically and legally. Usually it is assumed that all adult human beings are people and any debate surrounding the issue revolves around how far personhood should be extended. This definition, however, would narrow personhood to only those human beings who were ethically good. This might seem absurd, but when you think about it the legal system already reflects this idea to an extent. Criminals, who are supposed to be bad people, are not given all the rights (such as freedom) we assume people to have. Restricting personhood to good human beings would be one way to justify that practice. Evaluation: This sounds reasonable in principle. Adopting such a perspective provides additional reasons to conform to ethical standards (in order to merit the full benefits of personhood) and provides an easy way to justify punishment, which can often be a tricky issue. However, no matter how good this sounds in principle, even if it can be demonstrated to be true beyond all reasonable doubt, it should never be incorporated into public policy. Doing so would give governments a backdoor for all sorts of abuses, so long as they could paint their victims as evil. Secondly, even the best intentioned government will probably be at least somewhat confused as to what the correct ethical standards are. For example, is abortion ethical or unethical? The US government can't seem to make up its mind, nor does every other government take the same position. And so, because of its inability to get the ethical standards right, inevitably some human beings would legally be deprived of their personhood that didn't deserve it. Thus it is better to form public policy under the assumption that every adult human being is a person, for safety's sake. Comments Off December 11, 2007 The title of this post may seem paradoxical. How could it possibly be wrong to tell people to do the right thing, unless you are in some strange situation where you know that they will do the opposite of what you advise? Well, before I get to that let me describe a kind of sister situation involving normative facts in general. By a normative fact I mean simply that someone should do some particular action, which implies in turn that acting in that way will satisfy their desires or facilitate such satisfaction. Given that it is obvious that in most situations there will be a number of normative facts, not all of them compatible with each other. If a person has five desires then there will be at least five things that they should do, which probably can't all be done at once. And, furthermore, there will be a body of other normative facts relating to what would help fulfill those desires, both in the moment and in the long-term. But just because a person should do all of those things doesn't mean that of them none are a better choice than any other, generally there is always one best course of action among many that they should do. Thus, if we have the best interests of the person who we are advising in mind, and nothing else, it would be a mistake to encourage them to do something just because it is a normative fact for them. What we should do is figure our which course of action is best for them overall and then recommend that; doing any less would be encouraging them to make a mistake. Of course that applies to ethics as well, because that we should act ethically is just one normative fact among many with no special status. And thus there may be times when, even though they should act ethically, there are other normative facts that may demand satisfaction more pressingly and thus it may be in their overall best interest not to act ethically. But that situation is not what I have in mind here, because we aren't motivated by the best interests of other people when we advise them to act ethically. Rather we are compelled both by ethics and by simple self-interest to advise people to act ethically. Ethics I take to be acting in the best interests of the community, and thus encouraging people to act ethically is generally in the best interests of the community, and itself recommended by ethics. And, from a purely self-interested standpoint, people are less likely to act against your interests if they are trying to be ethical, and so it benefits you to lead them to be ethical. Of course what I am interested here is just cases where it is actually unethical to encourage people to be ethical, where giving such advice will lead to more harm than good. Obviously there will be times where self-interest will encourage us not to tell people to be ethical, for example when we are benefiting from their unethical behavior, but such cases are trivial to generate, and thus not very interesting. Before I proceed I also should note that when I talk about advising people to be ethical I have in mind specifically situations in which we are trying to argue a person out of taking a particular action or living a certain kind of the life on the basis that it would be unethical, possibly by explaining in detail why it is unethical, and why acting unethically is undesirable. Obviously it is possible to "advise" people to be ethical without ever mentioning ethics. We could, for example, bribe or threaten them into an ethical course of action. Doing that is probably always ethical, modulo the nature of the "advice" itself. Since we are interested in effects changing someone's action from a bad one to a good one is good, assuming that we don't generate more undesirable consequences in doing so. In contrast much more complicated situations can arise when we consider advising people to be ethical when we explicitly invoke notions of right and wrong, because what we say may tie into their conceptions of right and wrong, and may have a number of interesting side-effects. Specifically there is a chance that if we tell someone that they are doing the wrong thing and they do it anyways then they may begin to conceive of themselves as an unethical person. And that may lead them to further unethical actions, since as they see themselves as unethical already they may feel that things can't get worse, that further unethical actions have no consequences for them. Indeed I suspect that this is the source of many unethical people, not necessarily people who have been told what is ethical and then acted against that advice, but those who, for whatever reason, have come to believe themselves to be unethical. We have a tendency to find words to define ourselves with, and then live in accordance with those descriptions. Obviously this is a bad habit, because we are mutable and what we are at one time need not constrain who we are in the future. Still, it is a common habit, and criticizing it will not make it go away. Does this mean then that we should never give advice about what is right and wrong, fearing that someone might go against that advice and then become an unethical person? Of course not, but it does mean that we may need to take a second look at the advice we give. Certainly it is always safe to give general advice about the nature of ethics itself. That might seem contradictory, since obviously it is possible to deduce any legitimate ethical advice we might give from the general laws of ethics. However, given that ethics is complicated, people find it easy to make excuses for themselves, if they want to. Thus someone may know what ethics is and be acting unethically, and yet have convinced themselves that they are ethical. Naturally it would be better if they simply acted ethically, but if they are acting unethically it is better that they believe themselves to be ethical and thus follow the demands of ethics in other situations. Also the demands of ethics come in different strengths, some actions are slightly unethical while other are highly unethical. Given that it is probably always a good idea to give specific advice against doing the most unethical actions in every situation. Such advice, in general, does the most good, and it is likely that someone who is going to act in a way that is extremely unethical already realizes that it is unethical, and hence informing them of that fact isn't going to change anything. The rest seems to come down to a case-by-case basis. Obviously we should give advice about ethics in situations where we are trying to inform people about the nature of ethics in a broad sense and when that advice might cause someone to change their mind about how to act for the better. However, it would be best to withhold that advice when the person we are advising is going to ignore our advice anyways. Then it is just a wasted effort. Since they aren't going to be affected by it we are, at the very least, wasting our time. And we run the risk of accidentally convincing them that they are an unethical person, and thus encouraging further unethical behavior. Perhaps the real problem then is recognizing when we are in one of these situations so that we can appropriately withhold our advice. Obviously nothing will ever be certain in that respect since we aren't mind readers. However a little simple psychology can identify most such cases. For example, if that person has displayed a pattern of a particular kind of unethical behavior it seems unlikely that simply advising them about ethics will convince them to change their ways. Also we must take into consideration that person's desires. If it seems likely that they are acting unethically simply because they don't realize that it is unethical, or because they haven't properly thought about the importance of acting ethically in that situation, then giving ethical advice is a good idea. However if they are acting unethically because they are driven by powerful desires then that advice will probably fall on deaf ears, exactly the kind of situation we are trying to avoid. Perhaps the best advice I can give about giving advice in these matters is simply that, if we are motivated by ethics, our goal is to maximize the other person's good behavior, not to correct specific tendencies. Which means that some times we will have to turn a blind eye to certain faults. Comments Off November 22, 2007 People like to think, when they have a choice to make, that every possibility is open to them, that they are really free in some way to choose whichever they like. Even putting aside the physical nature of the brain it is pretty clear this isn't the case, simply from a psychological point of view. People always pick the choice that seems best to them and so, all other considerations aside, we are thus on a set of tracks from one choice to the next from one apparently best option to the next. Now, obviously, determining what will seem best to a particular person isn't always easy, and often we will be unable to predict what will seem best even to ourselves at the time we will have to make the choice. Because of this unpredictability we have the illusion of "freedom" of the kind where we could really pick any option, but it is only an illusion, although we still have the real freedom of self-determination. (And, before some tries to disprove this claim by intentionally picking a less-than-optimal choice, let me point out that clearly if you pick the less optimal choice then you think that disproving this claim by doing so makes the less-than-optimal choice worth it. But then that choice really does seem best to you at the moment, even if it is sub-optimal by the standards you usually judge choices, which don't take into account philosophical worries.) Because people make choices in this fixed way we are open to purposeful manipulation by others. To manipulate someone, let us agree to say, is to affect someone so that they make a different choice than the one they would have made without manipulation. In this sense of the word one obvious way to manipulate someone is to take away all but one of their options, thus forcing them to take it. For example, if someone was in a maze and they found themselves at a junction we could manipulate them into following one of the paths in this way by lowing walls that block the other options. This is, perhaps, the least interesting way to manipulate someone. More cunning is to affect the choice someone makes by affecting which option seems best to them. And one way to do that is to diminish the value of the option that is currently perceived as best, perhaps by threats. To return to the example of the maze, to manipulate someone in this way would be to affect their perception of the other paths besides the one we want them to go down to make them seem less desirable. Putting up signs saying that the other paths contain landmines would probably do the trick, whether or not we actually can find some. The inverse of this is also possible of course, instead of lowing the perceived value of the options other than the one we desire someone to pick we might instead raise the value of desired option, perhaps with bribes. Returning to the maze, for one last time, this kind of manipulation might be effected by leaving a trail of money along the path we desire the person to take, or possibly signs saying that there is food to be had along it if they have been trapped in our thought experiment long enough. Given that the choices we make play a central role in ethics and that manipulation affects how we make choices we might suspect that manipulation might have an effect on the ethics of the situation, both for the manipulator and the person being manipulated. But, at least for the person, being manipulated, the ethical consequences of their choices aren't affected, contrary to what some might intuitively think. Whether a choice is good or bad depends solely on the intended consequences of that choice by the person making it, it doesn't depend on how they were led to make it one way or the other. If that doesn't seem plausible simply consider how someone might try to excuse their bad choices given the description of manipulation given above. Could they legitimately defend their bad choice by claiming that it seemed best for them at the time? I think not, because if they could every unethical behavior could be excused; clearly when people act unethically they do so because they think it is the best choice they can make at the time. They think that by acting unethically they will receive some advantage, that things will turn out better for them if they do so. And the person manipulated into acting unethically is in exactly the same position in this respect with the person who chose to act unethically without manipulation, they acted unethically because they thought that things would turn out better for them if they did so, whether because of some bribe or some threat. On the other hand, whether someone was manipulated into acting unethically does affect how that choice reflects on our view of them as a good person (or a bad person), because we make such judgments based on how much value the person places on acting ethically; on how likely they are to act ethically in any given situation. Thus if the person acted unethically only because of some huge threat or bribe this would be consistent with them being a good person, because even a good person can act unethically. This brings us to the other half of the question, namely whether it is wrong to manipulate people. Some may again lean towards the intuitive idea that manipulation is intrinsically wrong, possibly because manipulation is a word with negative connotations. Still, I would deny that anything is intrinsically wrong. It seems clear to me that whether manipulation is good or bad must be decided on a case-by-case basis as a result of the effects it has. But this doesn't prevent us from making some broad generalizations. Generally then manipulating people by threatening them or by blocking them from making other choices will be an unethical thing to do because you are making them worse off by doing so (as things were they could have picked some excellent choice, but your manipulations blocked them from picking it and now they must settle for less). But, naturally, this can be outweighed if the other consequences of their new choice are sufficiently beneficial. Maybe they are an intrinsically selfish person and by threatening them we force them to make an ethical choice in a situation where it has large-scale consequences. Thus, overall, our threatening them would still be the ethical thing to do. Conversely then manipulating someone by bribing them would seem like a good thing to do, because it makes one of their choices even better than the choice which was previously best. And, just as threatening people could be good if it led them to make an ethical choice, so can bribing people be bad if it leads them to make an unethical choice. Of course this discussion has so far presumed that people are accurate assessors of the choices before them, such that what they perceive as best is actually best. But in many cases this is not so, the best choice may be hidden from them and they may only be picking a choice that is somewhat good. Thus our manipulation could very well be an alteration of appearances simply so that the best choice really does seem best. For example, by informing someone about all the facts we may manipulate them by changing which choice seems best, but we haven't affected the actual consequences of their choices at all, nor are we pretending to. If we consider whether this counts as threatening or a bribe we see that it depends on whether the person was previously overvaluing some choice, in which case it counts as threatening, or undervaluing some choice, in which case it counts as a bribe. But, obviously, more accurate information is always good for a person. Thus what was said previously about threatening and bribing was really a loose way of describing manipulation capturing only those cases where appearance agrees with reality. What we had to say about threatening really applies to any case in which we cause someone to choose an option that was worse than the one they would have picked without our interference, and what we said about bribery applies to any case where we cause someone to choose an option that is better than the one they would have picked otherwise. Under this more accurate way of looking at matters giving someone more information about their options always falls under the category of bribery and is thus always a good thing, unless the choice they will make is unethical, as described above. But, despite all this, some may still feel that manipulation is in some way unethical or wrong, that it diminishes people's natural freedom to choose, and thus must be avoided out of a matter of principle. Well, I have bad news for those people: the manipulation of others is essentially unavoidable. If you have any affect on the world at all then there is a good chance that, on occasion, you will affect the choices people make, and thus will be manipulating them. For example, let us suppose that you write a blog entry, as I have today. By making it available for people to read I have affected the options available to them when choosing how to spend their time. And, if they read it, I have effectively manipulated them into doing so, although without any specific intention to have that particular effect on that particular individual. Because of this it seems hard to condemn intentional manipulation as a matter of general principle given that it not necessarily any more or less harmful than the unintentional manipulation that occurs constantly.	eng	a74cb388-d37d-4afe-9003-06a90c3a3ad9	http://onphilosophy.wordpress.com/category/ethics/
Hello again. I've been thinking about the future of metapunk lately, and I've decided I'd like to overhaul the site a little bit; give the theme a facelift, and get rid of that redirect page on the main URL to the blog. I'll also be re-focusing the content somewhat, including a bit more structured attention to the "holodoxy" aspect of the site. The process will take some time, but hopefully it will make the site much better. I'll keep you posted on how it's going, and let you know when the new site goes live. In the meantime, I'd still like to develop holodoxy a bit more on the current site. Just remember: what I'm trying to convey with the label of "holodoxy" is not really a formal system of beliefs or principles, but rather an outlook, or a set of attitudes toward life and knowledge. It's a personal form of spirituality that I think is useful, but by no means finished, conclusive, or necessarily universal. Food for thought, and that's all. With that in mind then, I'd like to spend the next few articles on metapunk on some definitions, in holodox terms, of some words which frequently show up in discussions of spirituality or religion. Our word for today is "faith." belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims. belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty. a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith. Take careful note of the distinction between definitions 1 and 2. The first definition is an emotional attitude that has very little to do with knowledge or belief. The second is an epistemological claim (I know X, despite not knowing, or caring, how I know). It's been my experience that debates about the relative merits of faith vs. rationality, or religion vs. atheism, etc., are almost exclusively framed in terms of the second (epistemological) definition for faith. Yet it is my contention that the "faith" of any genuinely spiritual person is almost entirely of the first (emotional) sort. It means: "having confidence and trust in life, being, existence." Even if someone says they have faith in God, as we'll discover as we explore religious words further (in later articles), "God" is in large part just a reference to life, being, or existence. Think about it. Claiming to have knowledge that you can't demonstrate is decidedly idiotic. Atheists are not wrong to feel that people who say they believe without evidence are simply being stubbornly contrarian, and irrational. However, someone who adopts an attitude of trusting oneself, trusting life, and trusting people in a general sense is generally much healthier, happier, and more stable than someone who doesn't have that attitude. It's the feeling that you're going to be okay, whatever happens to you; and it's eminently adaptive, if not rational, compared to either a constant state of anxiety about life's inherent unpredictability, or the false certainty of denying that unpredictability. And this really gets at the heart of the whole religion versus secularism debate: spirituality is about mental and emotional health much more than it's about metaphysical claims. The metaphysics is only there to support the health aspect, even though it seems to overshadow it. So, whether you're an atheist or a believer, please stop framing the debate in terms of beliefs and evidence. Genuine spirituality is not about what a person believes or doesn't, and why. Rather, it's about how a person is able to respond to life: with clarity and confidence, or with anxiety or cynicism. That's what real faith is about—and it's not exclusive to any one point of view. It's just a way of being in the world. I came across this quote as I neared the end of what is now one of my favourite SF stories: "I believe," he thought. "I have faith." He jaunted again and failed again. "Faith in what?" he asked himself, adrift in limbo. "Faith in faith," he answered himself. "It isn't necessary to have something to believe in. It's only necessary to believe that somewhere there's something worthy of belief." —Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination Although Bester uses the word "belief" here to describe faith, I think he's talking about the same thing I was referring to above. "Belief" here refers to a recognition of possibility, rather than a statement of fact (or some metaphysical claim). It's a recognition that the future is always uncertain, and thus always contains the possibility of something better. It's all too easy to forget this, and convince ourselves we know everything there is to know about ourselves, our lives, our relationships, and our world. This kind of certainty is seductive. After all, we can always look for and find evidence (real or imagined) that supports our views on life. But when we do that, it we risk dwelling on what we can't change or control, and spiralling into despair and cynicism when life doesn't go our way. But the future is always wide open, and if you invest your attention in the wonderful possibilities it holds, and act toward that… if you have faith (or hope, or dreams)… you'll always find a way out of whatever trap you're in at the time, and your life will be an adventure. There was an interesting post over on io9 today, speculating about what a new Star Trek show might be like, and why we need one. And it got me to thinking. It's obvious why we need one: Star Trek set the standard for optimistic, forward looking science fiction. It dared to imagine a world where very different people were able to not just tolerate each other, but actually draw strength from each other's differences and create a better world for everyone. It's the noblest interpretation of the founding principles of the United States, and it's this ideal that I most admire about that nation, and which I most admire about my native Canada, too (we approach it a little differently, a little more quietly, but no less idealistically). So, I'm as inspired by Star Trek as any other sci-fi geek. That said, I'm pretty much Trekked out. The Trek universe just doesn't do anything for me—I've seen too many random aliens of the week or something—it just doesn't excite me any more. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't have something like Star Trek on TV. We need that optimism and that strength in diversity. We need it desperately, these days. So, what would I like to see? Well, in an era marked by America trying to bring American democracy* to the rest of the world, with dubious results; I really don't want to see the Federation trying to bring a taken-for-granted Utopia to the rest of the galaxy. I'd rather see how we humans get from here (Earth, circa 2012) to the Federation (or something like it), ourselves. I want to see a show about how people learned to eliminate war, poverty, and ignorance and make a truly better world. I want to watch people struggle with the moral issues and the basic pitfalls inherent in seeking utopia. Maybe a bit like the open-source nation-building from Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Most of all, I want to see this handled in the really compassionate, intelligent way that Star Trek: TNG and DS9 handled moral issues. I want to imagine a world which is certainly not perfect, but certainly better than the one we have today. It should stay close to home; maybe a handful of colony worlds, or maybe even set entirely on Earth or within our own solar system. There should be no sapient aliens or true artificial intelligences. I want to see human problems solved by human beings, not hand-waved away by letting AI do the hard work!.** I wouldn't object to other types of post-humanity though. Genetically engineered / uplifted life forms, cybernetics, and limited AI might be permissible; but they should either be secondary characters, or they should be essentially human in nature, for our purposes. The point is that it should be regular people, like you and I—not super-powered beings—doing the hard work of building a better world. Damn. This is a good idea. Get on it Hollywood, or I will. Arguably, the United States has become a kind of Dark / Corrupted Utopia. It's founded on some very powerful and noble ideals, but it seems to have been disintegrating for a long while now. While their various political & religious/intellectual factions squabble over who is right and what is just, the whole country is being stolen out from under them by big corporations. For what it's worth, it's happening in Canada, too. But Canada isn't as interested in exporting its way of life (well, not as a nation). *The Mundane SF movement—which makes great sense as a sort of writing experiment; not so much as a prescription for the whole SF genre—they really ought to add AI (and the technological singularity), to their list of speculative unlikelihoods. Sentient AI seems no more realistic than FTL right now; and certainly shouldn't be excused as a plot device to avoid making humans grapple with their own humanity. I've been contemplating that quote a fair bit lately. I've been on an emotional and spiritual roller coaster spanning two decades, and what I'm really coming to see is that this quote is literally true—each of us lives in a reality of our own making. This is not a matter of metaphysics. In fact, it's very practical. Experimental psychologists have long known about "priming." Priming is about as close as we get to actual subliminal messages. It works like this: If I tell you to repeat after me: soak, bloke, folk, and then ask you what the white of an egg is called… you're going to be tempted to say "yolk" because the word "yolk" is both similar to "folk," and related to eggs. Your brain will most likely make that association before you're even aware of it, and it might take you a moment to remember that the yolk is the yellow part of an egg, not the white. I'll give you another example: Take two randomly chosen groups of undergraduate students and get them to fill out multiple-choice surveys. The content of the survey is not important. The important part is that the first group gets a survey with ordinary questions and answers, and the second group gets a survey where the questions and answers are loaded with words like "old, aging, disabled, feeble, sickly, dying…" and so on. Then, you time each group as they walk back to the elevators to leave the building. Consistently, the people in the second group walked more slowly to the elevators. The people given the old & sickly survey feel old & sickly after reading it. What does this imply? Well, it means that the messages the world gives us, and the messages we give ourselves—our thoughts—can alter how we feel mentally, physically, and emotionally. It also means that the way we feel is something we can control, if we choose to identify with certain thoughts, and to let go of others. We can psych ourselves up, psych ourselves out, bring ourselves down, work ourselves into a worried frenzy, or feel a state of serene and genuine confidence, all depending on where we invest our attention. This is key, because most of the time people rarely even notice their thoughts. They blame the circumstances of their lives, or other people, for the way they feel. They feel like victims of life, because they have yet to take responsibility for their thinking habits. This leads people to try and control the world through cunning manipulation, or by sheer force of will—and it causes them to be unhappy when they don't get the results they wanted. And if that goes on long enough, they might get angry and resentful, and downright miserable, and as a result might make life difficult for the people around them as well as themselves. So, what can you do about this? Just pay attention to what you're thinking, how those thoughts are making you feel, and how those feelings are reflected in the experiences you allow yourself to have. And take the time to think about things that make you feel good; and act in ways that make you feel good. Chances are, before too long, you'll see ways to feel happier, healthier, and freer, simply by being a little more conscious about which thoughts you choose to entertain, and which thoughts you'll dismiss. And chances are, then, that you'll have a little more energy to deal with difficult situations or people; a little more patience with yourself and with life, a little more ability to recognize fruitful opportunities when they come along, and a little more courage and motivation to act on them. It certainly can't hurt. And it sure beats feeling miserable and angry because the world won't conform to your vision. Seriously—this is the most important thing you can do, because our thoughts and emotions are at the heart of absolutely every experience we have, and every action we take. If you don't do it, well, then you can't really expect your life to change, because you're still thinking and acting the same old way you always have. I was just thinking recently about some political conversations I've had over the last little while, and some thoughts came to mind. There's a number of reasons I'm not a conservative, or a libertarian, or a liberal, really. Here are some of them. I'm not a conservative, mainly, because I don't believe in arbitrary authority, or in immutable tradition. Conservatives seem to believe in the need for a hierarchical social order, mediated through strong traditions and values. Without some strong and capable person (typically a male) at the top, running things, nothing productive would get done, and total chaos may soon follow. But I don't hold to that. First, there's a real problem with authority. Namely, people are human. Authority or no authority, we all make mistakes. But a person with power can make mistakes that can affect multitudes of people, whereas a person without power can only make mistakes that affect their immediate self, friends, and family. This is why I can't ever believe in a monarchy. I mean, a monarchy is great when you have a good leader, when the monarch is intelligent, mature, and happy. But monarchs are human, too, and just as likely as anyone else to be stupid, crazy, corrupt, or evil. And if they're any one of those things, they're going to make a mess not just for themselves and their immediate friends and family, but for the entire nation they govern, and quite likely for other nations as well. Heck, even a good ruler can have a bad day, or a bad experience, and make life miserable for the masses as a result. The same goes for representative governments; at least those where the representatives are chosen by popular vote. Just because someone is charismatic and popular, and/or successful in law or business, does not reduce the chances that he or she is also stupid, crazy, corrupt, or evil. In fact, I'd submit that the chances are higher, because the person has sought out this position of power. It could be that they want to really change things for the better, or it could be that they simply want power for its own sake, because they like pushing other people around or feel that they can benefit personally from the position. If we really must have representative governments, they should be chosen by random lot from the entire population, terms should be limited (as should lobbying), and government (or maybe the whole populace) should have the right to vote to replace (also through random lot) any members who incompetent to the task. No campaign contributions to confuse representatives about who they serve. The other reason I don't believe in arbitrary authority is that I reject the idea that people are incapable of looking after themselves. Average people aren't as stupid, crazy, corrupt, or evil as they're normally assumed to be by believers in hierarchy. Or rather, they are, but only sometimes. Most of the time, people are pretty level-headed. Yes, I'm well aware that this disregards a lot of history, and a lot of what you see on the news. But the fact of the matter is, the news, and the history books—all the stuff that journalists and commentators have found worth commenting on—is not an accurate picture of humanity. Watch the evening news in any major city and you'll hear about another brutal homicide every other night. But what you won't hear about is the millions of other people who live in that city that did not go out and murder someone that day—the millions of other people who just went out to work that morning, and came home to their families when the day was done. That's most of humanity, under most circumstances. And finally, social hierarchies and widespread inequality are just plain bad for people, and for a nation. When there's huge inequality in the distribution of wealth in a society, the wealthy tend to live in fear of losing what they have, and the poor tend to suffer tremendous social burdens in terms of physical and mental health, criminality, and a variety of other factors. More unequal countries are also not as innovative as more equal countries. Bottom line: huge class divisions, although Conservatives seem to favour them, are bad for everyone. As for tradition—well, I'm not a very traditional guy, although I understand the need for it. Tradition can keep people grounded. It lets everybody know what the rules are, and in a perfect world, everybody would follow the rules and nobody would be unhappy. But it's not a perfect world. Sometimes the rules are unrealistic, or unfair. Sometimes the rules that worked a century ago won't work in today's world. Life is change, after all. No matter what traditions you follow, your traditions (and laws) should come up for review every so often, and they should be changed if they get in the way of health and happiness. The rules of law and tradition were made by people. They are tools, and they're supposed to serve humanity. Humans aren't supposed to serve their tools. I should note here, that this is true even if you believe that certain traditions were revealed by God. God may be perfect and limitless, but words are finite, and imperfect. So, even a prophet who encountered God still had to use imperfect words to convey that vision to other people—whether he or she wrote those words down, or used them to teach disciples. So, anything anyone might say or even think about God, or God's law, is necessarily an incomplete and flawed facsimile of the real thing. Do not confuse the moon with the finger pointing at the moon. If the moon is God, words are the finger; and they're not the same thing. The traditions revealed in the Bible and the Koran are words about God. They are not God him/her/itself. This is why we must, in the end, trust our own judgement. We have free will, and we're expected to use it. But I digress. Let's talk about why I'm not a Liberal. Actually, I am more or less liberal; at least in terms of my values. But I hesitate to identify myself as such, because Liberal political parties are still part of the whole screwed up political game—they seem either too ineffectual, or too willing to maintain the status quo for my liking. I mean, they may differ considerably from Conservatives, but Liberal political parties still want to lead the people, when in fact average people need to start taking responsibility and engaging their communities themselves. I guess that makes me (frustratedly) apolitical. I don't believe in political parties at all, really; as if controlling the fate of nations were some prize to be won in regular contests, like the Stanley Cup for lawyers. As for why I'm not a libertarian… Well, there's a number of reasons for this, but let's summarize it with two basic statements: One, selfishness is not a valid moral position. If all you believe in is your own self-interest, then you're acting in a moral vacuum. The word "morality" only has meaning when you're speaking about relationships between feeling beings. I mean, if you lived all alone in your own reality, there would be nothing to tell you what you could or could not do. There'd be no need for morality, because nothing you did would have consequences for anybody but yourself. It's only in relationship to others that morals can develop. Now, that doesn't mean individuals should be slaves to others. It means that a person must balance his or her own interests with the interests of the people around her, even if that occasionally means spending time or money to help out a stranger. What goes around comes around. If no one helped anyone but themselves, we'd still be single-celled organisms. The second reason I'm not a libertarian is because generally speaking, libertarians seem to want to replace government with the market. As if somehow the aggregate of everyone's self-interested financial transactions can actually advance the interests of all of us, and not simply the interests of the wealthy and savvy individuals and corporations who know how the market works, and can manipulate it. I mean, it's a curious thing in itself, because libertarians don't generally believe in "society." That is, they seem to believe that ideas of the common good and social interaction above the level of the individual are all just soothing fictions. And yet somehow the "invisible hand of the market" is something real and trustworthy. But they're wrong. I mean, if the market is the aggregate of everyone's self-interested financial transactions, "society" is just the aggregate of all human decisions, financial or otherwise. Society includes the market, but the market does not encompass all of society. And that's really the ultimate point here. If libertarians hate government because false authority interferes with freedom, then how can we just replace human authority with market authority? At least a human governmental official can reflect on his or her decisions. The market is just a blind process, and really can't be trusted to be any sort of guiding force for human life, unless your only interest in this world is financial. But finance amounts to so little in the course of a human life. It's the relationships we have with others that have the greatest impact on us as living, feeling people; not the change in our pockets. Likewise, doing the right thing often costs money, or means losing money, or means not making as much money as you might otherwise. There are plenty of things in this world that trump money, and to pretend that something like money is all that matters is the absolute height of hubris. But that's exactly what modern economics does. In the end, replacing government / human authority with the market is just another way of avoiding responsibility. That's the responsibility all human beings share; to make decisions together, through honest and patient discussion. That's the only real way to ensure both the well-being of society, and the freedom of the individual… all of us must be willing to set aside our differences and work together on solving problems. But that takes maturity, and courage. It takes people who can really listen, and listen without judgement. Sadly, these are traits that are all too lacking in today's politics. I feel they're lacking in all the major political camps, and in the populace too. And we're paying the price with divisive rhetoric, widespread corruption, and a general sense of apathy and cynicism. And things definitely won't get back on track if we try to avoid the responsibility every citizen has to themselves and each other by fixating on leaders or systems which are supposed to solve all our problems for us. There's only one way to solve this mess, and that's for us—you and me and everyone we know—to sit down, shut up, and really listen to what the other guy (or girl) has to say without judging him or putting him down, without being distracted by celebrity gossip or the latest fads or how much better your neighbour's clothes are, and then to talk it out and keep talking, and keep listening, until we all understand each other. That's the only way there is to give everyone the best chance at a healthy, happy, free life. I just read an interesting post on Kotaku called The Rules of Religion, about the intersection between spirituality and game design. It was quite thought provoking in a number of ways. In particular the author, Patricia Hernandez, advocates the "gamification" of religion—that is, taking a crowd-sourced, game design approach to creating a new spirituality for the modern era. It's reminiscent of an idea I had a couple of years ago for a spiritual wiki-project; a kind of open-source religion. I still think that's a good idea, and incorporating game design into it seems like a natural fit. Of course, I have no idea how to begin a project like that, but it really seems to be an optimal approach to modern, inclusive, and pluralistic spirituality. Maybe while we're at it, we can get open-source political, legal, and economic systems, too. True democracy… I really think that's where we're headed—not that there isn't already a lot of resistance from the people who like to believe they're in charge; but call me an optimist. Let's make it happen. Anyway, the post also reminded me of just how much I've learned over the past few years about how spirituality really works; and what it says about the fundamental conditions of human existence. One day soon, hopefully, I will post at length about the psychology behind what I'm about to say. But for now, let me just sum up what I've learned into four axioms to remember at all times. 1) At all times remain aware that your awareness and knowledge are limited, and that the world around you is vast, changing, and complex. The "world" you can see, the reality you know, is just a tiny, filtered fraction of the world that actually is. 2) At all times remain aware that because you are limited, and the world is vast, you will suffer. Throughout your life, you will frequently be unhappy. However… 3) At all times remain aware that whatever befalls you, you can choose how to receive it. You can deny it, get angry or afraid or depressed about it. You can have a tantrum or a breakdown. There's no shame in this. But you can also accept what is happening. You can look at a tragedy, and see it as a challenge—a gift, even—an opportunity for learning and growth. At all times be grateful for your life and the people in it—even, and especially, when things are difficult. 4) At all times remain aware that the world, the universe, is vast, changing, and complex; and you are a part of it. And because you're part of everything, nothing, no torment, no fear or pain or boredom, perhaps not even death, can affect you forever. All things come and go and come again. Follow your heart and enjoy the ride. Sometimes around Christmas, I send my family a wish list of practical things I need, so we can both be sure I'll make good use of whatever they get me. Some may find that a bit crass, but I figure: I already have a lot of stuff I don't use. I have a strong impulse toward minimalism, and a heavy dislike of pointless materialism. So, while there's no dissuading my family from getting me something (I've tried), at least I can let them know what I can use and everybody will be happy. Here's the list I sent them, for the lulz: One 14 & 1/2 inch by 18 & 7/8ths plank of 3/4 inch chipboard, and a can of matte black spraypaint Kitchen sink (okay, just kidding. This is just here so you can't say this list has "everything but the…" … Actually, now that you mention it, we could use a new aerator nozzle head for the kitchen sink. I keep meaning to pick one up from Home Hardware, but keep forgetting. We almost got one at Canadian Tire, but they're obscenely expensive there—ten freakin' bucks! I remember seeing one at a Home Hardware five towns over for 79 cents! I should have got one there but I wasn't thinking.) Fall / spring jacket, bomber style (used / thrift store is ideal and inexpensive, as long as it's in good shape). Forgive me gamers, for I have sinned. It has been years since my last post about roleplaying games. You see, I've been preoccupied with this whole religion thing. Now I'm going to write a post that combines both ideas. But before I make my point, I want you to consider a couple of quotes, from two of my favourite game texts. The first is from Violence: The Roleplaying Game of Egregious and Repulsive Bloodshed; by "Designer X" (Greg Costikyan). On page 22, he says: Orcs Now—before you put this away, either "hurr hurr"ing like an asshole, or feeling vaguely disturbed, I want to ask you a question. That orc—you know, the orc in that room in the dungeon, you open the door, there's an orc there. He looks up, a bunch of heavily armed human motherfuckers are charging into the room waving weapons. What's he supposed to do? Smile broadly and say "Hey, mi casa es su casa, amigos!"? No, he whimpers with fear, pulls out his pigsticker, and prepares to meet his doom. I wanna know about his childhood. Are you telling me he doesn't have friends who are going to miss him? That he didn't have hopes and fears and aspirations of his own? That you aren't a bunch of fucking degraded monsters for wasting him without a second thought? You're playing a fucking role, okay, you're supposed to act like a real character in this world. And yet you saunter around, killing intelligent creatures like they're just another widget, a bunch of pixels to blow away, a mechanism for obtaining experience points and treasure. That isn't roleplaying. Not as I understand it. Here's what I want to do. I want to go into a Quake® deathmatch. And I want to strip down to a loincloth, sit down on the floor with a begging bowl, and call after the lunatics with the plasma guns as they flee past me, saying, "It is all samsara, it is all illusion, my friend"—for truly it is, pixels on a screen. "Reject the fleeting temptations here, what profiteth you another kill? There is another path." And I want him to turn, think twice—and then I will smile benevolently as he tosses a rocket my way, blows me to my reincarnation as my peaceful self—and he runs on, and kills and kills again, quad damage, armor, another clip, heal and heal and blammo to the floor—until finally he turns, lays down his gun, and sits by me, asking me to teach. And then one by one, the players shall gather by me, sitting, assuming the lotus position, touching the ground in the earth-witness gesture, letting their thoughts still, contemplating that strange Quake sky as it streams overhead, peaceful, in unity, transforming this one, small, cyberrealm of unending war and mayhem into harmony. Sigh. Right. I wanna be a shooter bhoddisatva, baby. Man, I am so full of shit. And then there's this, from Over the Edge (2nd Edition), by Jonathan Tweet with Robin D. Laws; page 167, under Alternative Hypothesis: …Perhaps exposure to tulpas, especially psychic contact, would give a person a brief glimpse of the universe as it really is: an infinite number of immortal spirits donning temporary identities in various "worlds" as they play out their intricate, never-ending games with no true concern other than shared amusement. What would one do with this knowledge? I've been thinking about these quotes for a long time. It started when I had a conversation with a good friend of mine almost three years ago. We spoke about the near-death experience she had on an operating table, after being hit by a truck. I wrote this in my journal, in February of 2009, a couple of days after the meeting: …and [she] told me something that I guess she told me before but I didn't properly understand. She said that death is like taking the blinders off—that when we're not here, living our limited and individual lives, we are infinite beings, capable of infinite understanding. Of course, in a universe where everybody knows everything, beings get bored, so they invented this amusement park / school called life, where we can limit ourselves and experience everything like it's new again. Which ultimately means that nothing can truly hurt you. Nothing is permanent—not even death. The only heavens or hells we need to worry about in life are those of our own making. There's no such thing as eternal punishment or damnation and ultimately there is nothing to fear, or hate, either in life or in death. This is a very comforting thought—a great sense of peace comes with it. Life is what you make it, and there's no need to worry. Everything will be okay. That's not to say that bad things don't happen to good people, for reasons beyond their control. Of course they do. Tragedy happens. Evil happens too. But when these things occur, we have a choice in how we receive them. With a little perspective, it's easier to not take them quite so personally, and thus deal with them more effectively. Then, in the fall of 2010, I saw the first episode ("Is There a Creator?") of Through The Wormhole, with Morgan Freeman. That's where I first learned that the Simulation Argument is a somewhat respectable thought experiment in modern philosophy, and not "merely" an ancient philosophical idea (not to mention a seed for interesting fiction, like The Matrix, or Dark City). If you're not familiar, the Simulation Argument goes something like this: if it's physically possible to make a near-perfect virtual reality, then chances are (given the age and size of the universe) that some technologically advanced alien culture has already done it. And if that's the case, then they're probably running multiple simulations—a multitude, even—including what might be called "ancestor simulations," to study biological and social evolution, among other things. And if there is a multitude of simulations of the universe running, each of them filled with self-aware virtual beings; then statistically speaking, you and I and everybody we know are probably simulated people living in an artificial reality. Now, it's not like these ideas are revolutionary. Pretty much everybody at some point in their lives has heard or thought of the possibility that reality as we know it is an illusion of some kind, or that there might be some greater reality encompassing this one. It's an ancient idea for a reason. But it really got me thinking. The simulation argument suggests we may be living in a simulation. And given the state of present-day video games, it's certainly easy enough to imagine a post-human society with super-advanced video games populated both by living players and simulated intelligences. It's funny, really, because a lot of people of the transhumanist / singulatarian persuasion wouldn't bat an eye at such a possibility; and yet will quickly balk at religious notions of a life beyond the one we commonly experience—whether those ideas are coming from a traditional or more New Agey source. Maybe the Simulation Argument, and religious metaphysics, are just different ways of expressing the same idea—that ultimately, we're really far more than we believe we are. Maybe in actuality, we're all part of some vast collective intelligence—whether that's an omniscient post-singularity hive-mind, or God itself—and maybe the difference doesn't matter. And maybe, we just individuate ourselves from that totality of being to take on temporary, limited forms in simulated worlds, playing out parts for the education and amusement of ourselves and others. Jordan Peterson also talks about this in his talk on Virtue as a Necessity. He begins by noting (at 3:47) that Life is Suffering. Life is Suffering because throughout our lives, our goals are thwarted by the arbitrary limitations placed upon us by nature and time. These are limitations like whether or not we're smart, or good looking, or pre-disposed to certain diseases, and like the fact that one day we'll die. All of these things are (Transhumanist optimism notwithstanding) beyond our control, and so they limit us. He says (around 6:20) that they are: "…conditions of existence. Human being is predicated on a kind of fundamental limitation, in that we are what we are, and we're not other things. And so that means, inevitably, that the awareness of human being comes along with suffering. Life poses the question: How to conduct yourself in the face of suffering. Not only yours, but everyone else's. And it's an inescapable question, except that maybe you're fortunate, and you'll have periods of time where something absolutely horrible isn't happening to you… …And to know this frees you from the false illusion that life can be conducted without suffering. Suffering is an integral part of being. Now, why is that? Well, who knows? It's a metaphysical question. But I have some ideas about that that have helped me, and they're things that I've read. I read, for example, an old Jewish commentary about the reason for creation. It's like a Zen Koan this idea. You take a being with the classical attributes of God: omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience; a totality. And the question is, what does a being with those attributes lack? And the answer is "limitation." And then you think, well, what's so important about limitation? Well, if you can be anything, or do anything, at any time whatsoever; there's no being, because everything is one thing. There's no differentiation between things. So something that's absolute and total has no being—it has to be parcelled out into limited being. And you know this because you all play games. You play video games, you play games with other people. You may play games you don't even know you're playing. And when you play those games you put limits on yourself. You play by a set of rules. And the reason you do that is when you limit yourself—arbitrarily, in some ways—whole new worlds of possibility emerge. And so there's a powerful metaphysical idea that being is not possible without limitation…" Maybe we're all role-players, at heart. Peterson concludes this part of his talk by noting: "So you say, what's the price you pay for being? The price you pay for being is limitation. And the price you pay for limitation is suffering. So the price you pay for being is suffering." Why do we let ourselves suffer if we're just playing an elaborate game? Why would any all-knowing entity voluntarily experience pain and loss and uncertainty? Maybe just so that we take the simulation seriously. Maybe we're all role-players, suffering for our art. Maybe we're just playing characters driven by our passions—suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune to educate ourselves, or the universe itself, in all the wonders of a life well worn. Just so we can feel, and be moved. Maybe Shakespeare was right: The Play's The Thing. All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. More stupidity on Ye Olde Interwebbe. I pretty much lost my shit with a guy on io9 this week. Not that I wanted to, but… well, here's a synopsis of the conversation: Me: Exploring fantasy is a good thing. Metaphorical thinking is useful in a personal crisis. It helps because thinking about metaphors allows you to be more conceptually flexible. Him: YOU'RE WRONG! Because… SCIENCE! Magic is bad! Me: Umm… I think you're misunderstanding what I'm saying. I didn't say anything about magic. What I mean is, theoretical knowledge doesn't disprove the experience of pain or misery, but previous practice exploring metaphors can help deal with it. Here's a scientist talking about what that means (linked video). Him: Fantasy implies magic. That guy seems to be saying that consciousness is magic. But I only watched a few minutes of that video. It's a whole hour long! Obviously he is wrong. You're wrong! Science! SCIENCE!!! Metaphors are stupid! Me: Go away. Him: You're boring. You go away! I'm not even interested in this topic. Me: Seriously? What do you want here? We can't really have a conversation if you're not interested in the discussion. Maybe you're misunderstanding me. Here, this linked video talks about it more directly. Him: Yes seriously. I shouldn't have to look at those videos because I disagree with that guy, and anyway, they're too long. I came here to have fun and have a discussion. I don't think you understand SCIENCE!… [I skimmed the rest.] Me: Sorry, I didn't read your whole post. After all; I disagree with you, so why should I? That's when I left the conversation. He replied twice more, but I didn't read them. This guy just made me so angry. I seriously would have hit him if we'd been in the same room. I know the internet magnifies everything, but holy crap. It's unfortunate when someone disagrees with you because he doesn't understand what you said. It's obnoxious when that person vehemently insists that you're wrong, because he thinks he understands you but refuses to find out what you actually meant. It's bullshit when that person doesn't even live up to his own standards of argumentation, because then you can't even talk to him on his own terms. And it's absolutely infuriating when that person continues to shout at you, regardless. I find myself wondering what the lesson is, here. I guess I could have been a lot cooler about it, and obviously it was a mistake to keep talking to this troll as long as I did. As usual, it seems that contrary to their own assumption, believers in hard rationalism are no more immune to irrational speech as their counterparts in religion. It comes down to a natural, but frustrating part of human psychology: the tendency to assume things when we don't know the facts. The world is complicated. Far too complicated, in fact, to fully grasp with the limited processing power of a human brain. So, evolution blessed us with a shortcut. We put things into categories. We label them, so that we don't have to think about them too deeply, so we can get on with other things. But I don't have to tell you how often this screws us up–because quite often our assumptions are dead wrong. A little while ago, I was at a somewhat formal social function when an older gentleman I had just met engaged me in conversation. He asked me about my life and how old I was. I explained that I was in my mid-thirties. He asked if I was married, and I said no, I wasn't. Then, with a pause and a meaningful look in his eye, he said: "You do like girls, don't you?" I almost facepalmed. Yeah, I wanted to shout, I like girls so much that I can barely converse with them without my palms sweating and my vision going dark. So why must extended bachelorhood automatically imply homosexuality? And what the heck does it matter anyway? It bugs me because the implication is that I should like myself less because I'm chronically single, or if my sexual preference were different than his. And the really infuriating part of it all is that this man was perfectly earnest in what he was saying. There was no hint of irony, or even awareness that his preoccupation with other people's sex lives was a little disturbing. Oh well. I suppose I should have said all this to his face, although I'm not sure what good it would have done, and in any case, open argument would not have been appropriate for the occasion. Still, it's frustrating when people are like that. At the risk of writing a minor rant, I wanted to discuss a comment someone made to me recently, which won't rest until I write it down. Recently, an atheist friend inquired as to my religious beliefs. Because I was tired, and because I didn't want to bore him with all the complicated details of my spirituality, I said I was agnostic. I regretted it as soon as I said it, because his response was very predictable. "Oh, I get that," he said. "As Richard Dawkins says, you're just an atheist who hasn't made up his mind yet." I've tried not to be annoyed by this because he's not agnostic, and therefore he doesn't realize how profoundly ignorant that statement is. But at the same time: he doesn't realize how profoundly ignorant that statement is. Like any of Dawkins' fans, and Dawkins himself, he's an intelligent guy who has utterly failed to apply his intelligence to the subject at hand. Agnosticism does not mean sitting on the fence between strong positions of theism and atheism. It's not some kind of half-assed, waffling maybe. It's a strong position that the entire question of theism versus atheism is a stupid one—that the fence between these poles ought to be torn down (because, despite fears to the contrary, tearing down that fence won't make those poles identical). It is the firm belief that it is a mistake to hold firm beliefs (or non-beliefs, as the case may be). It is the understanding that the reality of these ideologies, and of the universe, is far more complex and nuanced than this simplistic, either/or debate will allow for. Many atheists will argue that scientific understanding is impossible unless there's a clear line separating the world of faith from the world of physical evidence. But if you follow the evidence, particularly in psychology, it's clear that: Human rationality is deeply bounded by intractable and inherent limitations in perspective and processing power; Assuming those limitations don't exist is foolhardy; Spiritual traditions are ultimately just frameworks for dealing with those limitations. And maybe 4: Scientific materialism, by itself, is not a viable substitute for such a framework. Does that mean religions should be followed blindly, or that atheism is an invalid position? Of course not. But it does mean that religious traditions have insights to offer if you know where to look, and that a smart person won't discount religious stories and practices out of hand, simply because he finds them distasteful, or primitive. So, on the contrary: Agnostics aren't just atheists who haven't made up their minds. They are people who refuse to be limited to a single set of possibilities, or to be told which ideas they can and cannot explore. I look at people with fixed concepts of God or the lack thereof, and to me they are like people standing in cages arrayed around an open field. I can move freely around the field and still find my way back home, while they are locked inside prisons of their own making. They could walk out any time, but they don't. So, no thanks. My intellectual freedom / sovereignty is non-negotiable, and this business of sorting each other into ideological camps and then making war on each other is not for me.	eng	dac74584-b33e-48d9-870a-ff39181f837a	http://www.metapunk.org/blog/
Coping With Change Dr Catherine Dawson has been a researcher specialising in educational research and a tutor working with adult learners for over fifteen years. She is also a well-known contributor to academic journals on the subject of education. Her other books include Learning How To Study Again, also for How To Books Many of us have seen the film Educating Rita. Julie Walters goes away to university and begins to change, so much so that family relationships and existing friendships begin to break down. You may be worrying that this might happen to you. This is understandable as, for some adults, returning to education is a major life decision which can cause considerable change. However, I must stress that thousands of people return to education every year and still remain happy with their wives and husbands, partners and friends. They find education an enriching experience which serves to enhance and strengthen existing relationships rather than cause ructions and disharmony (see Chapter 10). The amount of influence returning to education has on existing relationships depends on a number of factors. Firstly, it will depend on the amount and type of education – if an adult is attending a yoga evening class once a week, there may be little effect, apart from that person becoming a little calmer mentally and more supple physically. But if an adult is attending a full-time degree course at a local university, obviously they are open to many more influences, from other students, staff and the whole process of studying. It is inevitable that there will be some change. Also, the amount of change experienced will depend upon the reasons for returning to education. Some people return to learning because they feel they are stuck in a rut–they are unhappy at home or at work. Education is seen to be a means by which they can escape their present, unhappy circumstances. If this is the case, then changes are both expected and desirable. Obviously the problems arise if the adult returning to education has failed to mention, and discuss these issues, with those people close to them. DEALING WITH NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE CHANGE In my research, adults were asked to discuss any changes they had experienced as a result of returning to education. They were asked to divide these into what they perceived to be 'negative' changes and 'positive' changes. As you can see from the following list, there are many more positive changes than negative. Negative Positive Have become more argumentative with my partner when he doesn't support me Become cleverer, more intellectual Can't tolerate racism in my local pub Can think clearer and more analytically Have become a bit boring to my friends, so I'm told No longer have cobwebs in my brain Can understand intellectual discussions Read 'proper' newspapers Have made new and different friends Feel more confident Have become better at socialising Am no longer shy Can stand up for myself Am no longer scared of what I don't understand Like taking part in new and different activities Horizons have been broadened Found a new partner! Self-esteem has gone sky high Stopped smoking Have become more tolerant Can answer questions on University Challenge When compiling this list, adults had to think very carefully about whether a change was positive or negative. For example, several people said that they had begun to understand the issues surrounding racism and when they heard racist comments from their friends, they became very uncomfortable. Some would challenge the comment which would cause friction with their friends. They felt that this was a negative change in the sense that it caused problems with existing friendships, but all agreed that it was a good thing that they had become more aware of racism. All the adults who took part in the research felt that it had been a really useful exercise to think about what changes had taken place since they had returned to education. They felt that this had been a useful way to cope with change, especially as it had reminded them that most change had been positive. Many of the changes mentioned in the table above relate also to the 'benefits' to be gained and will be discussed in more depth in Chapter 10. MAINTAINING EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS If you are in a relationship with another person, and you wish to remain that way, it is common sense to discuss, and try to reach an agreement, on any decisions that will affect both of you. At first, those close to you may be suspicious of your reasons for returning to learning. They may be feeling insecure, or they may feel that you are trying to move on without them. By discussing your reasons for returning to education and talking about possible learning choices together, many of these problems can be overcome from the start. Some adults cope with this type of change by enrolling on a course together so that they can support each other and experience change together. However, this may not be a practical solution for many couples as people might have different demands on their time. Other adults find it useful to discuss any problems they are facing with other people who have been through the same situation. By speaking to students on their course, and to friends who have returned to education, adults find that they are able to understand that many people encounter the same problems and are able to overcome them, as the following example illustrates: Leanne (33) I thought I were the only one with a husband who were a pain in the backside. But when I talked to my mates it turned out some had worse husbands than mine. It made my problems seem small compared to them and it were easier to deal with my problems and with my husband after that! If, however, you are aware that the problems are escalating and you are finding it difficult to cope, many colleges and universities have welfare and counselling services. By speaking to a professional you may be able to sort out the problems you are facing. All advice is free to students and the counsellor should have experience of dealing with this type of problem. Ask your tutor or consult your student handbook for more details of the services available. I must stress, however, that these sorts of serious problems only occur on rare occasions. It is true that some couples may split up, but this is because there were more serious underlying problems present in the relationship in the first place. Returning to education may have helped to bring these problems to the surface, but will not be a sole cause of the problems, as the following example illustrates: Michelle (35) When I first said I was going to do a class Wayne started to take the micky. He said he was going out to buy me a pencil case and a satchel. Then he said he would get me a sexy school uniform. He just didn't take me seriously at all. I didn't say much because I was nervous about going back. I wasn't sure I could do it and I didn't want to make a big fuss in case I couldn't do it or couldn't pass the exam. Anyway, I did the O Level in a year and I passed with an 'A'. I was so surprised and really, really pleased, but all Wayne could say was oh, big deal, it's only an O Level, who wants those anyway? So my tutor asked if I was going on to do the A Level and I thought why not? So I enrolled on that and I was doing really well. Then Wayne started to get funny about me going. He would drop me off and be waiting for me when I got out. He wouldn't let me go to the pub with the other students. I wasn't allowed to go to the Christmas party. Then he'd say things like I wasn't a good mother because if my kids were ill I wouldn't be at home for them. I said he was their dad and he could look after them like me, but he said that was my job. Before, I would have believed him and just shut up for a quiet life. But I didn't shut up this time. We had a huge row. He made me feel so guilty. I decided to pack the course in. But when I spoke to my tutor she asked if I really wanted to stop and I said of course not. So I decided to carry on. Wayne just got worse and worse. In the end he would sit outside the classroom for three whole hours. Sometimes I would see him looking through the window to see what was going on. It began to get really scary. Anyway, the exam came and I passed and I got an 'A' again! Then I heard about an access course and thought I would do that. But Wayne just said no, if I did it he would leave me. I realised I didn't love him anyway; in fact I almost began to hate him. I would never stop him doing what he wanted to do, why was he stopping me? I'd not been allowed to be myself for years. He'd stopped me seeing my friends, he'd made me stay in the house, but I'd gone along with it because I'd thought that's what a wife was supposed to do. I'd been so unhappy for years and then when I finally was doing something I liked he tried to stop that as well. We've split up now and it was the best thing I've ever done. I did my access course and I'm off to university next year. My children have really perked up as well. I hadn't realised how much their lives had been run by him. I think going to college and mixing with other people helped me to realise what I was missing. I've not looked back at all. It was the best thing I've ever done. UNDERSTANDING CLASS CONFLICT Britain is a class society–sometimes people who return to education are accused, by their friends, of betraying their class. Again this happened in Educating Rita – she started to dress differently, cut her hair differently, took part in different social activities. Some adults describe this as a 'push/pull' feeling. On the one hand they are being pushed away from their friends who think that they are becoming 'snobby'; on the other hand they feel themselves being pulled towards people who have similar interests in the classroom. For some adults this is a difficult time, as the following example illustrates: Sally (29) I knew someone who I'd known in drug rehab. She was doing an access course and all me mates were saying, oh, you don't want to mix with her; she's gone all snooty, you know what I mean? Well, it made me think well I'd better not go on the course 'cos they'll say the same about me. Then my social worker really pushed me and I thought ok, I'd give it a go. And they did try to stop me, some of them, they said I'd change. But others were really supportive and I knew I had to get out of the trouble I were in, so in the end I went for it. I've still got some of those friends which is good and now I've made loads more which is even better. My social worker were right. I'm glad I did it. Sally was able to come through the difficult time because she realised that she still had the support of good friends and that she was able to make new friends as she progressed on her course. This is what many adults in similar circumstances find–true friends will support you. Ok, they might make jokes at the beginning, but if they see it is something you are really keen on, they will support you as much as you need. Some adults suggest that if friends continue to put obstacles in your way, then perhaps they are not as good friends as you thought, and that maybe you should consider moving on to new pastures. Sally felt that, although some of her friends thought that she was becoming 'snooty'. and perhaps moving between social classes, this was not really the case. Instead she felt that she was widening her social circles and beginning to understand more about herself. This was helping to reinforce the importance of her social and cultural roots. INCREASING EMPOWERMENT Many adults report an increasing sense of empowerment as they successfully pass through the education system. Suddenly they are able to make sense of their lives and realise that they are able to take more control over what happens to them. At first, this can be a difficult situation with which to cope. Like Michelle, women (and men) can find that they are not happy with their lives and present roles, realising that they are not allowed to be themselves or reach their full potential. This can lead to arguments, tension and unhappiness with loved ones or friends, as Steve illustrates: Steve (41) When I started my university course I used to go to the local pub on a Saturday night and meet up with me mates. I'd done this all my life and I didn't want to change just because I was at university. But me mates used to joke about me supping me wife's money because she was working while I was studying. They said I was mad, why was I doing it when I could be down the building site grafting and earning. I said that's why I was doing it, 'cos I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life working bloody hard for a pittance. Then they'd start turning their noses up and going, oh, listen to him, he's too good for us. I tried to show how they could get out of it and do something more and get jobs that were better paid for much less work. They thought I was insulting them. Then they'd start on about people from other countries taking their jobs and I'd try and talk to them about how attitudes like that are what keeps them in the position they're in. That it's classic divide and conquer, keep people quiet by making them moan about something else other than what bad lives they've got. But they wouldn't listen; they'd just get annoyed with me or make jokes. It was really frustrating and I found it affecting my relationships with them. I suddenly realised I was moving on in my ideas and they weren't. I had loads of sleepless nights trying to decide what I should do. In the end I realised I didn't want to lose some of those friends because where I come from is so important to me. So I have to try and keep a bit quiet with when I'm with them. But I can see they're being kept down, they could do so much if they wanted. It's so weird when you can see what's happening to you and your mates, but nobody wants to listen or change their lives. But I know that anything to get me out of grafting's gotta be good. Some tutors find it hard when they see their students going through such turmoil. However, it is only right that once people realise that they are not happy, they take steps to improve their lives. Some adults who return to education find that once they are able to gain access to more knowledge and information, they are able to challenge and change those aspects of their lives with which they are unhappy. Like Michelle, they come to realise that they shouldn't, and don't have to, put up with this type of unhappiness. In the short-term this may cause friction, but all agree that life is much better in the long-term after they have made the changes. INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT Closely connected to the theme of empowerment is the issue of intellectual development. In the above example Steve shows how he found it hard to communicate with previous friends when they had not developed their thinking in a similar way. He still wanted to keep his friends and so had to keep quiet on issues that he felt would cause arguments. All adults find that intellectual development is an expected and realised benefit of returning to education (see Chapter 10). However, what some do not expect is that this change can cause conflict in existing relationships. How you deal with this has to be your own decision–Steve felt that he would keep quiet, others have decided to 'move on' from friends who will not accept the changes, as the following example illustrates: Jackie (24) What brought it home to me was when I went for a night out with the girls. The conversation all night was about make-up, clothes and dieting. Don't get me wrong, before I'd gone to college I'd be joining in with the rest of them, probably more so where clothes were concerned. But this night I just listened to them and I thought it's not me anymore. I want to talk about more than that. I want to do more than that. I want to think more than that. At college we'd looked at how advertising entices people in and here were my friends showing all the signs we'd talked about. It was as though I'd suddenly got loads more insight and they hadn't. Since I've been at college I've made more friends and we talk about so many different things, you know, quite often have intellectual conversations. I don't want to sound big-headed or anything, but it was just so much more fun. I've decided I'm going to move on from my old friends. Obviously I'll see them if they really want me to, but I don't think they will because I think they can see I'm changing as well. I don't mind not seeing them so much because as I say, I've met so many new people and I know I've changed. Although you will have to decide how to deal with this issue, if you are aware that it can happen, you will be much better equipped to cope with problems should they arise. TIPS FOR COPING WITH CHANGE Adults were asked to give their tips for coping with change. These are listed below with the most popular pieces of advice appearing first. Tips for coping with change 1.Look upon every change, however small, as something positive. 2.Be open and honest with your partner–discuss change as it can scare people who don't understand why it's happening. 3.Don't change because you feel you have to–some people don't change at all. 4.Don't try to be something you're not, just because you think it's expected of you. 5.Don't talk too much about your course to people who are not interested. Save your intellectual discussion for people who share your enthusiasm! Your friends will thank you for it. 6.Don't try to convert people to your way of thinking if they're not interested–you will get a reputation for being a bore. 7.Understand that you might have to play different roles with different people. 8.Enrol on a course with your partner or a friend, then you both experience change together and you can support each other. 9.Don't waste time thinking and worrying about how you might change. You will soon find that it is not that important in the great scheme of things. 10.Get support from other people who have experienced what you are experiencing. We all experience some form of change throughout our lives. It's part of the human growth process and should not be feared. SUMMARY Most adults find that they change in some way as a result of returning to education. For some adults this change is very small and in some cases almost imperceptible–for others it is monumental. Although changes can be either positive or negative, most adults find that the change is positive. The main areas of change occur in: existing relationships perceived movement between social classes, either from the adults themselves or from friends and relatives.	eng	e6d865b2-7d7f-4cc8-905b-740656c8047f	http://www.howto.co.uk/learning/adult-learning/coping_with_change/
Wealth derives from the old English word "weal", which means "well-being". The term was originally an adjective to describe the possession of great qualities. "Wealth" can be described as an abundance of items of economic value, or the state of controlling or possessing such items, usually in the form of money, real estate and personal property. The economic value of a good or service has puzzled economists since the beginning of the disciplineMoney is anything that is generally accepted as Payment for Goods and services and repayment of Debts.Real estate is a legal term (in some jurisdictions notably in the USA, United KingdomProperty is any physical or virtual entity that is owned by an individual In many countries wealth is also measured by reference to access to essential services such as health care, or the possession of crops and livestock. Health care is the prevention treatment and management of illness and the preservation of mental health through the services offered by the medical, Nursing Livestock is the term used to refer (singularly or plurally to a Domesticated Animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to produce such as Food An individual who is wealthy, affluent, or rich is someone who has accumulated substantial wealth relative to others in their society or reference group. In economics, wealth refers to the value of assets owned minus the value of liabilities owed at a point in time. In Economics and Business, Wealth of a person or nation is the value of Assets owned net of liabilities owed (to foreigners in theIn Business and Accounting, assets are everything owned by a person or company (all tangible and intangible property that can be converted into cash. Wealth can be categorized into three principal categories: personal property, including homes or automobiles; monetary savings, such as the accumulation of past income; and business assets, including, real estate, stocks, and bonds. Personal property is a type of Property. In the Common law systems personal property may also be called chattels or personalty.Income, refers to consumption opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame which is generally expressed in monetary termsReal estate is a legal term (in some jurisdictions notably in the USA, United KingdomStocks are devices used since Medieval times for Public humiliation, Corporal punishment, and Torture.BOND (Building Object Network Databases started development in late 2000 as a Rapid application development tool for the GNOME Desktop by Treshna In some forms, stocks and bonds for example, wealth becomes capital and ultimately a new source of income. All these intricacies make wealth an especially important part of social stratification. In Sociology, social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of Social classes Castes and strata within a Society. Wealth provides a type of safety net of protection against an unforeseen decline in one's living standard in the event of job loss or other emergency and can be transformed into home ownership, business ownership, or even a college education. [1] 'Wealth' refers to some accumulation of resources, whether abundant or not. 'Richness' refers to an abundance of such resources. A wealthy (or rich) individual, community, or nation thus has more resources than a poor one. Richness can also refer at least basic needs being met with abundance widely shared. The opposite of wealth is destitution. The opposite of richness is poverty. Poverty (also called penury) is deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life including food clothing shelter and safe Drinking water, and The term implies a social contract on establishing and maintaining ownership in relation to such items which can be invoked with little or no effort and expense on the part of the owner (see means of protection). Social contract describes a broad class of republican theories whose subjects are implied agreements by which people form Nations and maintain a Social orderOwnership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over Property, which may be an object, land/real estate, Intellectual propertyA means of protection is some contract or guarantee of security for Body or Property. The concept of wealth is relative and not only varies between societies, but will often vary between different sections or regions in the same society. A personal net worth of US $1 000 000 in most parts of the United States would certainly place a person among the wealthiest citizens. For the film entitled Net Worth see Net Worth (film. In business net worth (sometimes called net assets) is the total Assets However, such amounts would constitute an extraordinary amount of wealth in impoverished developing countries. Developing countries are countries that haven't reached Western-style standards of democratic government free market economy industrialization social programs and human rights guaranties The wealth of a country can be measured by its GDP per capita. See List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita. This article includes three lists of Countries of the world sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP at Purchasing power parity (PPP Per capita Anthropological views Anthropology characterizes societies, in part, based on a society's concept of wealth, and the institutional structures and power used to protect this wealthPower is a measure of a person's ability to control the environment around them including the behavior of other people Several types are defined below. They can be viewed as an evolutionary progression. Many young adolescents have become wealthy from the inheritance of their families. The interpersonal concept Early hominids seem to have started with incipient ideas of wealth, similar to that of the great apes. But as tools, clothing, and other mobile infrastructural capital became important to survival (especially in hostile biomes), ideas such as the inheritance of wealth, political positions, leadership, and ability to control group movements (to perhaps reinforce such power) emerged. Clothing (also called clothes, accoutrements, accouterments, or habiliments) protects the Human body from extreme Weather Infrastructural capital refers to any physical Means of production or Means of protection beyond that which can be gathered or found directly in natureA biome is a climatically and geographically defined area of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as communities of Plants Animals and&quotHeir&quot and &quotHeiress&quot redirect here For the men and women fragrances endorsed by Paris Hilton see Heiress (fragrance.The word leadership can refer to Those entities that perform one or more acts of leadingNeandertal societies had pooled funerary rites and cave painting which implies at least a notion of shared assets that could be spent for social purposes, or preserved for social purposes. The Neandertal is a small valley of the river Düssel in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, located about east of Düsseldorf A funeral is a Ceremony marking a person's Death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of Beliefs and practices used by a Culture to rememberCave paintings are Paintings on Cave walls and ceilings and the term is used especially for those dating to Prehistoric times Wealth may have been collective. Accumulation of non-necessities Humans back to and including the Cro-Magnons seem to have had clearly defined rulers and status hierarchies. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Cro-Magnon ( French) is one of the main types of Homo sapiens of the European Upper Paleolithic, living approximately 40000 to 10000 yearsDigs in Russia have revealed elaborate funeral clothing on a pair of children buried there over 35,000 years agoRussia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending This indicates a considerable accumulation of wealth by some individuals or families. The high artisan skill also suggest the capacity to direct specialized labor to tasks that are not of any obvious utility to the group's survival. An artisan, also called a Craftsman, is a skilled manual worker who crafts items that may be functional or strictly decorative including furniture clothingDivision of labour or specialization is the specialization of cooperative labour in specific circumscribed tasks and roles intended to increase the Productivity Control of arable land The rise of irrigation and urbanization, especially in ancient Sumer and later Egypt, unified the ideas of wealth and control of land and agriculture. Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing cropsUrbanizationn (also spelled urbanisation) is the physical growth of Urban areas into rural or natural land as a result of population in-migration to an existingThis article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics.In the Common law, real property (or realty) refers to one of the two main classes of Property, the other class being Personal property ( Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture To feed a large stable population, it was possible and necessary to achieve universal cultivation and city-state protection. Tillage is the agricultural preparation of the Soil by Ploughing ripping or turning itA city-state is a Region controlled exclusively by a City, usually having Sovereignty. The notion of the state and the notion of war are said to have emerged at this time. A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population.War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units Tribal cultures were formalized into what we would call feudal systems, and many rights and obligations were assumed by the monarchy and related aristocracy. A monarchy is a Form of government in which supreme power is actually or nominally lodged in an individual who is the Head of state, often for life orAristocracy is a form of Government, where rule is established through an internal struggle over who has the most status and influence over society and internal relations Protection of infrastructural capital built up over generations became critical: city walls, irrigation systems, sewage systems, aqueducts, buildings, all impossible to replace within a single generation, and thus a matter of social survival to maintain. Infrastructural capital refers to any physical Means of production or Means of protection beyond that which can be gathered or found directly in natureSee also List of cities with defensive walls A defensive wall is a Fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressorsIrrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing cropsUrban areas require some methods for collection and disposal of Sewage.An aqueduct is an artificial channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to anotherIn Architecture, Construction, Engineering and real estate development the word building may refer to one of the following Any man-made The social capital of entire societies was often defined in terms of its relation to infrastructural capital (e. Social capital is a concept in business economics, Organizational behaviour, Political science, Public health, Sociology and naturalInfrastructural capital refers to any physical Means of production or Means of protection beyond that which can be gathered or found directly in nature g. castles or forts or an allied monastery, cathedral or temple), and natural capital, (i. A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages.Fortifications are Military Constructions and Buildings designed for defense in Warfare Humans have constructed defensive works forThis article concerns the buildings occupied by monastics. For the life inside monasteries and its historical roots see Monasticism.This article is about the history and organisation of the cathedralA temple (from the Latin word Templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities such as prayer and sacrifice or analogous ritesNatural capital is the extension of the economic notion of capital (manufactured means of production to environmental goods and services e. the land that supplied locally grown food). Soil, often typeset as SOiL, is a four piece rock band from Chicago Illinois United States founded by Shaun Glass Tom Schofield Tim King and Adam ZadelAgricultural economics continues these traditions in the analyses of modern agricultural policy and related ideas of wealth, e. Agricultural economics originally applied the principles of Economics to the production of Crops and Livestock — a discipline known as AgronomicsAgricultural policy describes a set of laws relating to domestic Agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products g. the ark of taste model of agricultural wealth. The capitalist notion Banknotes from all around the world donated by visitors to the British Museum, London. The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London. Industrialization emphasized the role of technology. is a process of social and economic change whereby a human group is transformed from a Pre-industrial society into an industrial one Many jobs were automated. Machines replaced some workers while other workers became more specialized. Labour specialization became critical to economic success. Division of labour or specialization is the specialization of cooperative labour in specific circumscribed tasks and roles intended to increase the Productivity However, physical capital, as it came to be known, consisting of both the natural capital (raw materials from nature) and the infrastructural capital (facilitating technology), became the focus of the analysis of wealth. In general physical capital refers to any non-human asset made by humans and then used in productionNatural capital is the extension of the economic notion of capital (manufactured means of production to environmental goods and servicesInfrastructural capital refers to any physical Means of production or Means of protection beyond that which can be gathered or found directly in natureAdam Smith saw wealth creation as the combination of materials, labour, land, and technology in such a way as to capture a profit (excess above the cost of production). Adam Smith ( baptised 16 June 1723&nbsp– 17 July 1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of Political economy.[2] The theories of David Ricardo, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and later, Karl Marx, in the 18th century and 19th century built on these views of wealth that we now call classical economics and Marxian economics (see labor theory of value). David Ricardo (18 April 1772 &ndash 11 September 1823 was an English political economist, often credited with systematizing economics and was one of the most influentialJohn Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704 was an English Philosopher.John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 &ndash 8 May 1873 British Philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential Classical economics is widely regarded as the first modern school of economic thought.Note Marxian economics is not restricted to Marxist economics as it includes the economic thought of those inspired by Marx's works who do not identify withThe labor theories of value (LTV are theories in Economics according to which the values of Commodities are related to the labor needed to Marx distinguishes in the Grundrisse between material wealth and human wealth, defining human wealth as "wealth in human relations"; land and labour were the source of all material wealth. Sociological view "Wealth provides an important mechanism of the intergenerational transmission of inequality. "[3] Approximately half of the wealthiest people in America inherited family fortunes. But the effect of inherited wealth can be seen on a more modest level as well. For example, a couple that buys a house with the financial help from their parents or a student that has his or her college education paid for, are benefiting directly from the accumulated wealth of previous generations. [4] As a result of different conditions of life, members of different social classes view the world in much different ways. Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification) between individuals or groups in Societies or Cultures. This allows them to develop different "conceptions of social reality, different aspirations and hopes and fears, different conceptions of the desirable. " [5] The way different classes in society view wealth vary and these diverse characteristics are a fundamental dividing line among the classes. Today there is an extremely skewed concentration of wealth in America, more so than even income. Distribution of wealth is a comparison of the Wealth of various members or groups in a Society, and is one aspect of the Economy and Social structure[6] In 1996 the Fed survey reported that the net worth of the top 1 percent was approximately equal to that of the bottom 90 percent. [7] The upper class Inheritance establishes different starting lines. &quotHeir&quot and &quotHeiress&quot redirect here For the men and women fragrances endorsed by Paris Hilton see Heiress (fragrance. The majority of those in the upper class have inherited their wealth and place a greater emphasis on wealth than on income. Upper class children are taught about investments and accumulation. Is a concept in Sociology that refers to the group of people at the top of a Social hierarchy.Investment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in Business management, Finance and Economics, related to savingMost generally the accumulation of capital refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value the increase in wealth or the creation of wealth They are trained and conditioned, technically and philosophically, to handle the wealth that they will inherit and how to earn more later in life. Wealth and being a member of the upper class requires significant prior preparation and familiarization. If not trained correctly children may easily squander immense wealth, though this rarely happens. Despite their affinity to act in haughty ways, they use the power and freedom that comes with wealth to leverage opportunities. This allows them more flexibility in their lives and as a result have fewer worries. [8] The accumulation of wealth fosters a growth of power, which in turn creates privileges conducive to more wealth. Children of the upper class are socialized on how to manage this power and channel this privilege in many different forms such as gaining access to other's capital and to critical information. It is by accessing various edifices of information, associates, procedures and auspicious rules that the upper class are able to maintain their wealth and pass it along, and not necessarily because of an extreme work ethic. [9] The middle class There is a distinct difference in views about wealth among the middle class compared to those of the upper class. The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. Where the upper class beliefs focus on wealth, the middle class places a greater emphasis on income. The middle class views wealth as something for emergencies and it is seen as more of a cushion. This class is comprised of people that were raised with families that typically owned their own home, planned ahead and stressed the importance of education and achievement. They earn a significant amount of income and also have significant amounts of consumption. However there is very limited savings (deferred consumption) or investments, besides retirement pensions and homeownership. A pension is a steady income given to a person upon Retirement, typically in the form of a guaranteed annuity. They have been socialized to accumulate wealth through structured, institutionalized arrangements. Without this set structure, asset accumulation would likely not occur. [10] The working class The working class has fewer options for advancement and wealth accumulation than the upper and middle classes. Working class is a term used in academic Sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe depending on context and speaker those employed in specific fields or types This can be characterized as having limited income, unstable employment and an insignificant retirement pension account. Access to structured asset accumulation programs, such as retirement pensions, are not readily available to those in this class and as a result little of their earnings are actually saved or invested. Consequently, there is a limited financial cushion available in times of hardship such as a divorce or major illness. Just as their parents, children who lack assets are less likely to plan for the future. [11] The welfare class Those with the least amount of wealth are the welfare poor. Wealth accumulation for this class is to some extent prohibited. People that receive AFDC transfers cannot own more than a trivial amount of assets, in order to be eligible and remain qualified for income transfers. Most of the institutions that the welfare poor encounter discourage any accumulation of assets. [12] Other concepts Global wealth Michel Foucault commented that the concept of Man as an aggregate did not exist before the 18th century. Michel Foucault ( (15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984 was a French philosopher, Historian, Intellectual, Critic and Sociologist.A man is a Male Human. The term man (irregular plural The shift from the analysis of an individual's wealth to the concept of an aggregation of all men is implied in the concepts of political economy and then economics. Political economy originally was the term for studying production buying and selling and their relations with law custom and governmentEconomics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. This transition took place as a result of a cultural bias inherent in the Enlightenment. Cultural bias is when someone is biased due to his or her cultureThe Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century Wealth was seen as an objective fact of living as a human being in a society. Not a zero-sum game Regardless of whether one defines wealth as the sum total of all currency, the M1 money supply, or a broader measure which includes money, securities, and property, the supply of wealth, while limited, is not fixed. In Economics, money supply, or money stock, is the total amount of money available in an Economy at a particular point in time Thus, there is room for people to gain wealth without taking from others, and wealth is not necessarily a zero-sum game, though short-term effects and some economic situations may make it appear to be so. In Game theory and Economic theory, zero-sum describes a situation in which a participant's gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the other Many things can affect the creation and destruction of wealth including size of the work force, production efficiency, available resource endowments, inventions, innovations, and availability of capital. However, at any given point in time, there is a limited amount of wealth which exists. That is to say, it is fixed in the short term. People who study short term issues see wealth as a zero-sum game and concentrate on the distribution of wealth, whereas people who study long-term issues see wealth as a non-zero sum game and concentrate on wealth creation. Wealth derives from the old English word &quotweal&quot which means &quotwell-beingWealth derives from the old English word &quotweal&quot which means &quotwell-being Other people put equal emphasis on both the creation and the distribution of wealth. It has been theorized, for example, by Robert Wright, among others, that society becomes increasingly non-zero-sum as it becomes more complex, specialized, and interdependent. One's attitude towards this issue affects the design of the social or economic system that one prefers. Social structure is a term frequently used in Sociology and Social theory — yet rarely defined or clearly conceptualised (Abercrombie et alAn economic system is a System that involves the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services between The non-normative concept Neoclassical economics tries to be non-normative for the most part, to be objective and free of value statements. Neoclassical economics is a term variously used for approaches to Economics focusing on the determination of prices outputs and income distributions in markets If it is successful, then wealth would be defined in such a way that it would not be preconceived to be either positive or negative. This objective has not always been the case. In prior eras wealth was assumed to be a set of means of persuasion. A means of persuasion, in some theories of Politics and Economics, can substitute for a Factor of production by providing some influence or information It was often seen as self-interested arguments by the powerful explaining why they should remain in power. In The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli had commented in that earlier era on the prudent use of wealth, and the need to tolerate some cruelty and vice in the use of it, in order to maintain appearances of strength and power. Il Principe ( The Prince) is a political Treatise by the Florentine public servant and political theoristCruelty can be described as indifference to Suffering, and even positive Pleasure in inflicting itThe software program VICE (all caps standing for V ersat' I' le C ommodore E mulator, is an Emulator for Commodore Jane Jacobs in the 1960s and 70s offered the observation that there were two different moral syndromes that were common attitudes to wealth and power, and that the one more associated with guardianship did in fact require a degree of ostentatious conspicuous consumption if only to impress others. Jane Jacobs, OC, OOnt ( May 4, 1916 – April 25, 2006) was an Jane Jacobs, OC, OOnt ( May 4, 1916 – April 25, 2006) was an A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty to care for the personal and Property interests of another person called a ward Conspicuous consumption is a term used to describe the lavish spending on goods and services acquired mainly for the purpose of displaying Income or Wealth. This logic is almost entirely absent from neoclassical economics, which in its extreme form argues for the abolition of any political economy apart from the service markets wherein favours may be bought and sold at will, including political ones - the so-called political choice theory popular in the U.S.A.. Neoclassical economics is a term variously used for approaches to Economics focusing on the determination of prices outputs and income distributions in marketsPolitical economy originally was the term for studying production buying and selling and their relations with law custom and governmentPolitical economy originally was the term for studying production buying and selling and their relations with law custom and governmentThe United States of America —commonly referred to as the While it is entirely likely that such assumptions apply in the subcultures that dominate modern discourse on technical economics and especially macroeconomics, the less technical notions of wealth and power that are implied in the older theories of economics and ideas of wealth, still continue as daily facts of life. Discourse (L discursus, &quotrunning to and from&quot means either &quotwritten or spoken communication or debate&quot or &quota formal discussionMacroeconomics is a branch of Economics that deals with the performance structure and behavior of a national or regional Economy as a whole Non-financial The 21st century view is that many definitions of wealth can exist and continue to co-exist. The 21st century is the current century of the Christian Era or Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Some people talk about measuring the more general concept of well-being. Quality of life is the degree of well-being felt by an individual or group of people This is a difficult process but many believe it possible - human development theory being devoted to this. Human development theory is a theory that merges older ideas from Ecological economics, Sustainable development, Welfare economics, and Feminist Furthermore, Manoj Sharma [1], the head of DifferWorld's [2]faculty makes a very strong case of the importance of factoring in both financial wealth and non-financial wealth as a measure of True Wealth. Manoj Sharma's definition of True Wealth being a combination of financial, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual wealth; and how it is channeled towards the general good of humanity. Although these alternative measures of wealth exist, they tend to be overshadowed and influenced by the dominant money supply and banking system. In Economics, money supply, or money stock, is the total amount of money available in an Economy at a particular point in timeA banker or bank is a Financial institution whose primary activity is to act as a payment agent for customers and to borrow and lend money For more on the modern notions of wealth and their interaction see the article on political economy. Political economy originally was the term for studying production buying and selling and their relations with law custom and government Sustainable wealth as a measure of well-being Sustainable wealth is defined by the author of Creating Sustainable Wealth, Elizabeth M Parker, as meeting the individual's personal, social and environmental needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This definition of sustainable wealth comes from the marriage of sustainability as defined by the Brundtland Commission and wealth defined as a measure of well-being, not only from marriage but it also can be earned by working hard. Sustainable wealth According to the author of Wealth Odyssey, Larry R. Frank Sr, wealth is what sustains you when you are not working. It is net worth, not income, which is important when you retire or are unable to work (premature loss of income due to injury or illness is actually a risk management issue). The key question is how long would a certain wealth last? Ongoing withdrawal research has sustainable withdrawal rates anywhere between approximately 3 percent and 8 percent, depending on the research's assumptions. Time, how long wealth might last, then becomes a function of how many times does the percentage withdrawal rate go into all the assets. Example: withdrawing 3 percent a year into 100 percent equals 33. 3 years; 4 percent equals 25 years; 8 percent equals 12. 5 years, etc. This ignores any growth, which presumably would be used to offset the effects of inflation. Growth greater than the withdrawal rate would extend the time assets may last, while negative growth would reduce the time assets may last. Clearly a lower withdrawal rate is more conservative. Knowing this helps you determine how much wealth you need also. Example: you know you will need $40,000 a year and use a 4 percent withdrawal rate, then you need to use 5 percent and therefore need $800,000, etc. This simple "wealth rule" helps you estimate both the time and the amount. Buckminster Fuller's Notion of Wealth In section 1075.25 of Synergetics, Buckminster Fuller defined wealth as "the measurable degree of established operative advantage". Richard Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller ( July 12, 1895 &ndash July 1, 1983) was an American Architect, Author In Critical Path[13] Fuller described his notion as that which "realistically protected, nurtured, and accommodated X numbers of human lives for Y number of forward days". Philosophically, Fuller viewed "real wealth" as human know-how and know-what which he pointed out is always increasing. The limits to wealth creation There is a debate in economic literature, usually referred to as the limits to growth debate in which the ecological impact of growth and wealth creation is considered. Many of the wealth creating activities mentioned above (cutting down trees, hunting, farming) have an impact on the environment around us. Sometimes the impact is positive (for example, hunting when herd populations are high) and sometimes the impact is negative (for example, hunting when herd populations are low). Most researchers feel that sustained environmental impacts can have an effect on the whole ecosystem. They claim that the accumulated impacts on the ecosystem put a theoretical limit on the amount of wealth that can be created. They draw on archeology to cite examples of cultures that they claim have disappeared because they grew beyond the ability of their ecosystems to support them. Others are more optimistic (or, as the first group might claim, more naïve). They claim that although unrestrained wealth-creating activities may have localized environmental impact, large scale ecological effects are either minor or non-existent; or that even if global scale ecological effects exist, human ingenuity will always find ways of adapting to them, so that there is no ecological limit to the amount of growth or wealth that this planet will sustain. More fundamentally, the limited surface of Earth places limits on the space, population and natural resources available to the human race, at least until such time as large-scale space travel is a realistic proposition. The difference between income and wealth Wealth is a stock that can be represented in an accounting balance sheet, meaning that it is a total accumulation over time, that can be seen in a snapshot. Income is a flow, meaning it is a rate of change, as represented in an Income/Expense or Cashflow Statement. Income, refers to consumption opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame which is generally expressed in monetary terms Income represents the increase in wealth (as can be quantified on a Cashflow statement), expenses the decrease in wealth. If you limit wealth to net worth, then mathematically net income (income minus expenses) can be thought of as the first derivative of wealth, representing the change in wealth over a period of time. For the film entitled Net Worth see Net Worth (film. In business net worth (sometimes called net assets) is the total Assets Wealth as measured by time Wealth has also been defined as "the amount of time an individual can maintain his current lifestyle for, without any new income". For example if a person has $1000, and their lifestyle dictates $1000 per week of expenses, then their wealth is measured as 1 week. Under this definition, a person with $10,000 of savings and expenses of $1000 per week (10 weeks of wealth) would be considered wealthier than a person with $20,000 of savings and expenses of $5000 per week (4 weeks of wealth). Distribution Capitalism asserts that all wealth is earned, not distributed. Distribution of wealth is a comparison of the Wealth of various members or groups in a Society, and is one aspect of the Economy and Social structureCapitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where It can only be distributed after it is forcibly seized from the earners (usually in the form of tax). Wealth acquired this way is then distributed. Thus this section is concerned with the anti-capitalist conception of wealth, namely that all wealth is collective and distributed among individuals. Different societies have different opinions about wealth distribution and about the obligations related to wealth, but from the era of the tribal society to the modern era, there have been means of moderating the acquisition and use of wealth. An obligation is a requirement to take some course of action whether legal or moral.A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally consists of a Social group existing before the development of or outside of States Many anthropologists use In ecologically rich areas such as those inhabited by the Haida in the Cascadia ecoregion, traditions like potlatch kept wealth relatively evenly distributed, requiring leaders to buy continued status and respect with giveaways of wealth to the poorer members of society. The Haida (19th C-early 20th C Indigenous nation of the west coast of North America.The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America (the term refers to the land not the oceanA potlatch is a festival ceremony practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in North America along Pacific Northwest coast of the United Such traditions make what are today often seen as government responsibilities into matters of personal honour. For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. In modern societies, the tradition of philanthropy exists. Philanthropy is the act of donating money goods services time and/or effort to support a socially beneficial cause with a defined objective and with no financial or material Large donations from funds created by wealthy individuals are highly visible, although small contributions by many people also offer a wide variety of support within a society. The continued existence of organizations which survive on donations indicate that modern Western society has at least some level of philanthropy. Furthermore, in today's societies, much wealth distribution and redistribution is the result of government policies and programs. Government policies like the progressivity or regressivity of the tax system can redistribute wealth to the poor or the rich respectively. Government programs like "disaster relief" transfer wealth to people that have suffered loss due to a natural disaster. Social security transfers wealth from the young to the old. Fighting a war transfers wealth to certain sectors of society. Public education transfers wealth to families with children in public schools. Public road construction transfers wealth from people that do not use the roads to those people that do (and to those that build the roads). Certain people resent having to contribute to some or all of these programs, and disparagingly label them social engineering. Social engineering is a concept in Political science that refers to efforts to influence popular Attitudes and Social behavior on a large scale whether Like all human activities, wealth redistribution cannot achieve 100% efficiency. The act of redistribution itself has certain costs associated with it, due to the necessary maintenance of the infrastructure that is required to collect the wealth in question and then redistribute it. Different people on different sides of the political spectrum have different views on this issue. Some see it as unacceptable waste, while others see it as a natural fact of life, which is inevitable in all kinds of inter-human relations. Proponents of the supply-side theory of "trickle-down" economics claim that it is a form of time-deferred philanthropy. Supply-side economics is an arguably heterodox school of Macroeconomic thought that argues that economic growth can be most effectively created using incentives for The theory is that newly created wealth eventually "trickles down" to all strata of society. The argument goes that although wealth is created primarily by the wealthy, they will tend to reinvest their wealth, and this process will create even more wealth. As the economy grows, it is said that more and more people will share in the newly created wealth. A similar argument can be made in the case of Keynesian economics. In Economics Keynesian economics (ˈkeɪnziən also Keynesianism and Keynesian Theory) is based on the ideas of twentieth-century British economist According to this theory, government redistributions and expenditures have a multiplier effect that stimulates the economy and creates wealth. In economics the multiplier effect refers to the idea that an initial spending rise can lead to an even greater increase in National income. Supply-siders claim that wealth is created primarily by investment (supply), whereas Keynesians claim that wealth is driven by expenditure (demand). Today most economists agree that growth can be stimulated by either the supply or demand side, and some of them argue that these are really two sides of the same coin, in the sense that you seldom get one without the other. Nevertheless, the dispute between supply-side and Keynesian economics is of continuing interest. Stresses within social distribution systems can be understood within a broad theory of political economy, where tradeoffs between means of protection, persuasion and production, and valuations of different styles of capital, are described. Political economy originally was the term for studying production buying and selling and their relations with law custom and governmentA means of protection is some contract or guarantee of security for Body or Property.A means of persuasion, in some theories of Politics and Economics, can substitute for a Factor of production by providing some influence or informationMeans Of Production is a compilation of Aim 's early 12&quot and EP releases recorded between 1995 and 1998In Economics, capital or capital Goods or real capital refers to items of extensive value Simply put, if the rich do not at least once in a while give away, of their own free will, at least a small part of their wealth to the poor, then the poor are much more likely to rebel against the rich. Wealth in the form of land Many indigenous cultures reject the notion of land wealth. In western tradition, the concepts of owning land and accumulating wealth in the form of land, are derived from Biblical tradition, where God told the Israelites to go in and take possession of the promised land of Caanan. Land ownership was also justified according to John Locke. John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704 was an English Philosopher. He claimed that because we admix our labour with the land, we thereby deserve the right to control the use of the land and benefit from the product of that land, subject to the Lockean proviso of "at least where there is enough, and as good left in common for others. The Lockean Proviso is a portion of John Locke's Labor theory of property which says that though individuals have a right to acquire private property from nature that they " Additionally, in our post agricultural society this argument has many critics (including those influenced by Georgist and geolibertarian ideas) that argue that since people did not create land, they have no right of property over it. &quotGeorgist&quot redirects here For the Romanian political group see National Liberal Party-Brătianu.Geolibertarianism is a Political movement that strives to reconcile Libertarianism and Georgism (or geoism) Still, many older ideas have resurfaced in the modern notions of ecological stewardship, bioregionalism, natural capital, and ecological economics. Stewardship is personal responsibility for taking care of another person's property or financial affairs or in religious orders taking care of financesBioregionalism is a term used to describe a political cultural and environmental system based on naturally-defined areas called bioregions or Ecoregions Bioregions are definedNatural capital is the extension of the economic notion of capital (manufactured means of production to environmental goods and servicesEcological economics is a Transdisciplinary field of academic research within Economics that aims to address the interdependence between human economies and natural But in Oriental philosophy, wealth which does not ensure peace of mind, or wealth which is not shared with the needy, or undeserved wealth is no better than poverty. References ^ Gilbert, Dennis. Affluence in the United States refers to an individual's or household's state of being in an economically favorable position in contrast to a given Reference group.Most generally the accumulation of capital refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value the increase in wealth or the creation of wealthDistribution of wealth is a comparison of the Wealth of various members or groups in a Society, and is one aspect of the Economy and Social structureHousehold income is a measure of current private income commonly used by the United States government and private institutionsThe United Kingdom is a wealthy country in world terms with virtually no people living on less than US $2 a dayPersonal income is a measure utilized by the United States government particularly the Department of Commerce, to determine the income of individualsPoverty (also called penury) is deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life including food clothing shelter and safe Drinking water, andPrivate banking is a term for Banking Investment and other Financial services provided by banks to private individuals investing sizable assetsSurplus product (German Mehrprodukt) is a concept explicitly theorised by Karl Marx in his critique of Political economy.Value added refers to the additional value of a commodity over the cost of commodities used to produce it from the previous stage of productionIn Economics and Business, Wealth of a person or nation is the value of Assets owned net of liabilities owed (to foreigners in theWealth condensation is a theoretical process by which in certain conditions newly-created Wealth tends to become concentrated in the possession of already-wealthy individuals The American Class Structure in an Age of Growing Inequality . N. p. : Wadsworth Publishing;, 2002.	eng	ae068628-f36a-4313-a88f-be2c97f2cba1	http://citizendia.org/Wealth
Actually, there is a theological argument that says that if you put your faith in an institution and the authority of the administrative head of that institution that you are engaging in idolatry. In this view, it is the path to becoming not God centric. Not many church goers can get their head around the idea that attending church because of the positive feeling of commonality on a particular set of social mores (rude interpretation- "a feel good club for cultural bigots")- is human centric and by definition atheism. What would make this chart more interesting to me (though I might have to squint to see the difference in numbers) is if we had the two bars comparing red and blue for each religion, but then also reflect on the left axis REAL NUMBERS rather than percentages. This chart makes it look like there are as many Mormons and Evangelicals as there are Catholics, for instance. Or do it in Pie charts, for each religion, have the red and blue in each pie. But then have each PIE BUBBLE reflect the REAL NUMBERS of people, so that the bubbles would be all different sizes. I mean, we live in an age of these kinds of infographics. Just look at Pinterest. That would take, like, 5 minutes to generate. Half the Pinterest infographics are designed like that. I'm getting spoiled. That's the same question I had...many Christians do not consider themselves to be evangelical....and my guess would be the vasy majority voted for the Dems. I am a Christian, and have joined several demoninations of Christianity over the decades, but have never considered myself to be evangelical, nor have any of the churches I have joined considered themselves to be that either. @kevo: Exactly what I was wondering! As an Episcopalian who has supported President Obama since he first burst onto the national scene in 2004, I'm tired of being ignored or worse yet, lumped in with creationists who believe rape is 'God's plan.' This only seems to fit the narrative of those who don't know the difference between a snake handler speaking in tongues and the learned Jesuit. Just because you don't attend church, or talk about it, doesn't mean you can't believe it. I am Christian and was baptized Lutheran, but have since left my church and am looking for a new one. Doesn't mean I have to change what I believe, or say that I am not Christian. That was my first question. Have Protestants gone away, as a group? or are they all listed under Evangelical? Looking at the original article, apparently they still exist but are not interesting to the Maddow blog. The original article from the Pew Forum says that white non-evangelical Protestants were 16% of the electorate, which seems like a large group to omit from the Maddow chart. 54% of that group voted for Romney. Black Protestants (not broken down into evangelical/non) were 9% of the electorate and voted 95% for Obama. I wondered the same thing immediately upon viewing the chart. Are the denominations of the National Council of Churches (NCC)--"mainline" Protestants--really that demographically or numerically insignificant these days as to not be considered a meaningful category? In effect, voters like not only myself but Bill Moyers simply aren't represented (or perhaps are misidentified?) on the chart. they left out congregationalist, methodist, baptist, just to mention a few. here in the north they are no evangel churches....NOT to mention...was a time you had to be protestant to run. those who settled here were protestant, now we get left out and forgotten???????????????????? John Messerly - I'm trying to comprehend what you are saying. I think you missed a word or two here and there. Can you rephrase? I don't get it. "....if you put your faith in an institution and the authority of the administrative head of that institution that you are engaging in idolatry..." isn't a complete thought. What's missing? Are you saying it's an atheistic practice to go to church to be part of the church community because it takes away from being 100% fully God-centric? well John, I must desagree with your conclusion (althou I agree with your premisses). All mythology is humn centric, agreed, but if you remove from the concept of atheism the separetion of mythology and reallity, you lose something. So simply put, even ginven that all mythology is human based, atheist is someone who does not uses mythology to describe reallity. Its usefull to have that distinction IMHO Everybody has a mythology. Myths explain the world in symbolic terms, and everyone (including atheists) think in symbols. I think the problem most people have is that they regard "myth" as synonymous with "fable" or "fiction". That is not really the case. It is possible for a myth to be factual, or at least have a factual basis. For example, on the night of Dec 25/26 1776, George Washington moved his troops across the Delaware River. This is an example of fact. This is an example of myth. The idealization of the event (the fictional element) is not what makes this painting myth. The myth lies in the significance given to the historical event in the stories (the body of myth) concerning the origins of the United States. Myths may be secular and they may be fact-based (at heart). Of course, some myths are utter codswallop, but the point is they don't have to be. And even if they are, they frequently serve a purpose other than fact. Like, for instance, forging a sense of national consciousness. There should be just a category for just Christians not affiliated with any church. I know I just consider myself Christian and do not affiliate myself really with any church, except to follow Jesus' statements as best I can and plus have come to learn much more about Jesus just by going through this election with President Obama and Romney. To me Jesus is savior, guide, and teacher and his statements are more than what that incomplete Bible portrays as you can see in the Gospel of Thomas – Or the many other Gospels about Jesus listed at earlychristianwritings.com. What bothers me is this chart exists at all or that it is meaningful at all in our 'political' discourse. The people treated Zeus and Apollo the same way. Their 'faith' has merely been redirected. And Mormons...are you kidding? That 'religion' was a con from the get go. A grab for power and significance from a self absorbed delusional con man. With just enough Bible thrown in to be beyond complete insanity. magic stones? buried in Palmera, NY...that only one man (the founder of Mormonism) could read...or even see with his personal magic stone...I mean come on now?... and then telll people "one day we will take over the entire country and put it out of its misery"...yeah yeah...that's the ticket...a white horsey prophecy right yeah...Geez, come on now. Next the GOP will run a candidate who thinks Zeus is gonna give him a lightening bolt to throw at terrorists. Get a grip. These religions have no business even being discussed as part of our political discourse much less be involved in the election process. Yet here we are. Spirituality comes from within...in the stillness...and may be known by many names...all of which are personal. I've seen many comments on other sites claiming that 93% of the black vote went to Obama, just because he is black. I wonder how many of the Mormon voters would look at this chart and say that they voted for Romney only because of his policies, and his religion had nothing to do with it? I've seen those same sites and you are engaging in a fallacious argument: The sites that claim Obama won 93% of the black vote did not pretend to know why that number voted for him, but you have.....at the same time allowing Mormons to state their own reasons for voting for Romney? A little ridiculous, don't you think? If I ask black voters why they voted for Obama I doubt that any significant number of them would say it was about his race, the same as you asking Mormons why they voted for Romney, how many will say it was about his religion? The fact is that a majority of the country thought Obama was a more honest person than Romney, and that is borne from Romney's consistent lying to win power while for 4 years Obama has only been dishonest about the things he has a Constitutional duty to obfuscate, due to their sensitive or secret nature. When a person lies to get power as opposed to lying out of duty, their is a difference and people on the whole see that fact. All politicians lie, all national leaders must lie; the good ones keep the lies within bounds. The clincher for me was that Romney claimed to pay a certain rate of taxes that was so false, he had to actually forego claiming some of his "charitable" (read, activism and cash to increase the power of his religious organization, the LDS church) deductions (he filed an extension to redo his taxes so the result would be acceptable) on his 2012 tax returns to prevent his returns from contridicting his previous lie about his tax rate.....that is the difference between a liar and a demon: a demon will manipulate and mix truth with his lies to lend credibility to the lie like Romney does. We didn't need a crook in the White House, that's why Obama won the election, regardless of how much of the 12.6% (the Black population of the US by percentage) voted for him, or why. It wasn't Black Vote Vs. Mormon Vote or White Vote: it was right versus wrong and happily, the 'wrong' lost the election. Religious wise.....I believe the part of the bible that God insisted we take care of the earth God gave use. We are to be wise, and I think it would be wise to go green. I find this religious graft to be very interesting, and not at all surprising. The Catholic vote shows a strong ethnic division, with President Obama favored by 75% of Hispanic Catholics, but only 40% of white Catholics. White Catholicism and Mainline Protestantism are both rapidly shrinking demographics. The Catholic church in America is undergoing a major demographic shift as white leave the church and are replaced by latino immigrants, and mainstream Christianity is rapidly eroding as it is under fire from two fronts, members leaving in favor of irreligion on one side and in favor of conservative fundamentalism on the other. This is the part of the Republican demographic problem that gets comparatively little mention, but may be the most important in the long run. I apologize for creating a great deal of confusion about my intended meaning. I have tried to be more brief but I failed miserably in the post above (1.2)- especially my use of ambiguous referents was unpardonable. I consider myself a devout Christian and that throws people because I don't talk like one. It often seems I am either saying something that might come out of the mouth of a fundamentalist preacher, and at other times from the mouth of a devotee of Dawkins' form of belittling anyone describing themselves as spiritual. To understand my religious context, in terms of the nexus of politics and theology I am close to latin americans who follow social justice themes in liberation theology- but I differ with the literalistic interpretations of the bible frequent even in these leftist christian points of view. Politically? I voted for Jill Stein because I live in a deep blue state, and my vote would not injure the President's chances- I would like Obama to have a viable force to the left of him so that political triangulations can bring his public position more in line with what I believe to be his personal preferences. Social-Psychological: I long ago bought into the central psychological role of what we vaguely call the spiritual in consciousness- the Joseph Campbell type analysis touched on by MeddlingMonk- but I differ with the tendency of this clinical analysis to devalue the ordering models of existence by calling them "myths"- a term whose strong pejorative senses of fantasy and untruth cannot be escaped. These psychologists have a rather crude and infantile approach- it seems to be the true wise figures are literary figures who expressed the ideas in prose and poetry. Denominationally I reject spiritual tribalism. I strongly feel greater common spiritual ground with atheists and members of other faiths who rail against the same fundamentalist tendencies to choke off access to what is good and inspiring- the forces that in the name of religious virtue profanely choke off access to the sacred. It is a tendency as ancient as humanity. Anyway- maybe that gives a bit of context. In terms of pure theology, I stand closest to the ideas of Coleridge whose more modern expression finds voice in the sort of christian existential views of Paul Tillich- the man who Martin Luther King concerned his dissertation with. It is kind of a Spinoza's God version, but not the kind of vague fading spiritual sentiments of lapsed Christians. It is amped up with existentialism and modern understanding of neuroscience, and hardly fading. I think of myself as a devout Christian who attends church every week despite my conviction that most of my fellow congregants go to church precisely for the purpose of avoiding the spiritual. My wife and I have 6 children who we are raising in the Christian tradition, but the spiritual skills and stance I wish to impart to them transcends denomination. If they retain the same spiritual center and honor that centrality within the language of atheism, buddhism, or Islam, I will be profoundly joyful. Anyway, that is the context of my statements, so if my words seem to diverge from that general vicinity of thought, then I have probably been sloppy in expressing myself. Ok, so about the post: At it's simplest, it is the idea that people go to church to hide from God. They want a permission slip excepting them from the demand of the spirit that we be less selfish and bigoted towards others. There are specific and quite extreme statements from spiritual leaders like Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad, and these demands freak out egos out. Many of us escape into fundamentalism in order to hide from those demands. This replacement of the source of spiritual insight that makes real demands on our egos, with a facsimile source of information that silences that voice of the spiritual - that process of the literalistic deadening of the poetic spirit in life can be described as idolatry. If the seeker is not careful, it is easy to mistake the religious institution for that which it is there to only represent. When people put their faith in the institutions, authorities, and literalistic take on writings whose original spiritual meaning have immense power, then we take part in idolatry. I tried to offer some defense of those in the "unaffiliated" category, because many of those folks are trying to be faithful to the spirit of the religious goods they were brought up with. They have rejected the hypocrisy of their religious institutions but are equally uncomfortable with the soul sucking self absorption of a mechanistic uncaring culture where the only thing that matters are bankable literals. I could easily answer that poll three ways, accepting each of three categories with an asterisk that negates the statistical value of my response. I am "evangelical" because I go to the same evangelical church every Sunday, but I am not a member of that church nor because I reject the binding charter of that church on grounds of theology and social fairness. I certainly am not evangelical as the liberal left understands that term. I am in the sense that a charismatic from liberation theology would understand the term. But this has no meaning to the coarse categories of the pollster. So maybe unaffiliated is correct in the sense I described above, though I do think it is important to join collectively in worship and observe religious practice that has the role of reconnection and re energizing of the spiritual connection. "Other faiths" might be accurate in the sense that my view of Christianity looks on most self identified Christians as practicing atheists, who are following a dead idol facsimile of original Christian faith- looking to an institution to provide them a moralistic cloak behind which they have a safe harbor to feel good about themselves and their self indulgent crimes against their fellow humans. But then I sail into the harbor and do not hold my tongue about the mendacity. I am not incendiary, but I do not feel it is my duty to make the fellow congregants feel especially comfortable. I don't do it because I am an insurgent. I really honestly do see deep meaning in the writings of my religion, and think there is great value to join with others in attempting to get at those deeper meanings. I suppose if there were poetry clubs where I could regularly go to discuss Whitman or Coleridge and talk about how the ideas apply to everyday life, then I would be much more satisfied, but I work in the social realities and structures that exist today. There was a story about a guy who got up out of bed from a coma. The staff rushed in to find out what was happening. He said he had to get up and change the channel. His visitor had left it on Fox News. It constantly amazes me to watch people who are basically being bent over and "done" by Faux Snooze. I go to the VA and it's on. I ask the clerk if he's aware that Fox is opposed to everything he does there, he says yes. I say "change it," he points at all the Auld Phartz there and says "they want it." I went over and changed it one time and told them that Fox and the Republicans support killing the VA and privatizing it and leaving them with a voucher, and one old idiot got up and said "they're fair and balanced!" I was at that point reminded that I never met more stupid people in one place than I did in the military (the smart ones were very cool, but they always seemed to be the minority, particularly among the lifers). I've been saying the same thing. Everyone's talking about how the party is going to restructure itself, become more centrist. However, I don't see how when a good chunk of the base loves these conspiracy theories and the right wing ideology that's infected the party like a virus. Other than a few talking heads who seem to make sense, the fact of the matter is: I've seen more blaming of the left and those who voted for President Obama than I have of looking inward. Add to the fact that there are still a good number of Tea Party republicans in the House and I don't think you have a good recipe for metamorphosis. The "sane Republicans" will either have to cut the cancer off, thus disposing of a good portion of their base in the process, or there will be a split. Fox News is but the tip of the iceberg in the media attacks on Obama. Remember that 80% of all media are owned by a few of the .1% in this country. And I would add that some of the remaining 20% have content consistent with agenda of Fox. The significance of this situation is that voters in many parts of the country have the confluence of their local newspaper, their television station, and their church presenting the same messages: protect the unborn, aspire to be rich, distrust the non-Christian, you are exceptional, America, the exceptional country, is under attack, etc. In 2001, Karl Rove established the faith based initiative and many preachers had their coffers filled and then filled their parishioners with the "conservative" agenda. So media and religion were meshed for these voters. Religion, media, and message. Rove is a master of wedge politics. He finds the issues that will motivate people to vote. Most of these are "anti-" messages: anti-black, anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, anti-gay rights, anti-gun control, anti-government, Each issue will motivate only a segment of the voters, but if enough issues are raised and enough segments motivated, then 2010 happens when the issues raised produced such an overwhelming segments turnouts that 550 Republicans were elected and we see, in state after state, the success of anti-abortion lawmakers attacks on women's rights (only the fetus has rights). Obama won in spite of the media and the pulpits because he knew he had to go around them. He used e-mail, the social media, person-to-person contact, and a massive ground game. He used his personal appeal and campaigned in the swing states time and time again, If he had only relied on the national media, he would have lost. Obama won reelection, in part, because the wedge messages had to be taken further to get the voters motivated, but how far further was miscalculated, for example, when the religious liberty argument was applied to Catholic bishops not wanting to pay for contraception, women revolted and asked why they didn't have liberty. Karl Rove knows the power of wedge issues and, as he always has, will continue to rely on them, but now he knows what happens when the content of the issue is advanced too far. Obama won because he implemented a brilliant campaign, but the Koch Brothers and their .1% co-horts are not done. They will be back in 2014 and, if the media is then as it is now, we may see another 2010 election. The media monopoly must be broken up. Fox News owns too many stations. Clear Channel (owned by Bain Capital) owns too many radio stations. Gannett owns too many major newspapers, etc. The future is bright with Obama as President, but what about the elections when he is not running? There is occasional where it can be seen that some people here make some profound comments and are note worthy. And here is a credited comment from – from TO that is listed that people can ponder over – Add the hysterical tone and delivery of a Hitler, translate it into German and you have the Nazi Agenda, Freddie. Now ask yourself these two simple questions: Q: What is conservatism? A: Conservatism is the domination of society by an aristocracy or, in our present context, the Rich Conservatism in every place and time is founded on deception. This would make Romney the perfect candidate since his mendacity is now historic, wide spread and well documented. Only by analyzing this deception will it become possible to revive democracy in the United States. Humanity has struggled for thousands of years to emerge from the darkness of conservatism. I was thinking that "there oughtta be a law" about commentary masquerading as news, but I was shocked to find out that this has already been litigated. As a result of this court case, Fox News is allowed to spew its nonsense while hiding behind the First Amendment. I should think the FCC would at least be able to promulgate a rule that requires a TV news program to differentiate between fact and opinion. It may have been that way in the olden days, because I remember "COMMENTARY" being prominently posted on the screen while opinions were being given. Maybe that's what that case was all about. But journalism died when entertainment became king. The Republicans treated Jews just like all other non-white groups, they insulted us by pidgeonholing us on Israel. They notably did the same with women by pretending there was no war on women. Because they are so wildly successfull with gun nuts and anti-reproductive rights people, they figure "us people" are easily manipulated. Nope... It's a well-known fact that whenever a conservative religious conference is being held in a hotel, use of the porn channel goes way up, for an average of 5 minutes each. No wonder conservative religious women walk around with that frustrated look. Social Security and Medicare are not "free", so I am beginning to wonder if the Shooter and his cohorts have ever earned a paycheck. Look at the stub Shooter, it's a portion of the check that you tear off at the perforated lines. Let me know if you need a copy to peruse, I will redact my sensational salary to prevent your wrist slashing... Shooter, just keep believing that. Because I can't think of a better way to ensure the permanent irrelevance and ultimate death of the GOP. Seriously, though, this country needs at least one functional opposition party, so I hope your party either gets it together, courtesy of any of the small and shrinking number of sane Republicans who remain, or that another party rises quickly to fill the vacuum created by all the crazy mouth-breathers who have taken over what used to be the party of Lincoln and TR, before it became a refuge for angry old white guys shaking their fists at everyone else walking past 'their' lawn. The stuff you refer to Shooter was NOT free it has been paid for by many, some at a very high price. What we want is that you refer to as free stuff: A. Be treated with respect and not have racial or demeaning terms used when referring to our ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and/or religion. B. Be paid a wage that one can support themselves and their families on, so they would not have to be on any assistance program. C. Exercise our right to vote without it being an endurance act, without someone trying to suppress our votes because of we are elderly, middle class or financially challenged, our ethnicity or where we live. D. Stop referring to people as Makers and Takers. Here is another way to look at that wording. Over the last 30 years the top 1% income has increased 240% and the remaining 99% increased approximately 18%. Their income could not increase by 240% if not for the people who worked for them or for the companies and corporations they invested in. So perhaps the makers are the middle class and poor working Americans and the takers are the 1%. E. The equal rights for all our citizens, even those who wish to marry someone of the same gender. F. The right for women to be Pro-Choice and make their own health decisions. What the hell does your article have to do with free stuff? Nothing in your article talks about Obama winning because of "free stuff." It talks about Romney losing because he wasn't authentic and wouldn't take a solid position on policies. It talks about him losing because people didn't know who he was or what he was going to do in office. I would actually agree with that analysis, but no federal programs are mentioned in that entire article. What the hell are you talking about here? Do you EVER read these articles before you link them??? I actually found the article that Shooter referred us to to be pretty interesting. In the article, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada offers some advice to the GOP. In essence, Harper says (1) be authentic--have a firm identity or "brand" (although he himself did not use that term); (2) focus on the economy; (3) reach out to immigrants instead of demonizing them; (4) ignore hot-button social issues such as gay marriage. Some pretty good advice. However, I doubt that the GOP will listen. It's much more fun to fantasize that people voted for Obama because they wanted lots of free cell phones and free T-bone steaks and (to hark back to Reagan) free Cadillacs. Not to mention all that wonderful free health care people get in emergency rooms in urban hospitals. "I got a phone cause I can't afford one and I have a serious medical condition and so does my grandson whom I care for. Thank you Bush for initiating that program" Shooter: "She want free stuff...she wants free stuff". A petulant child who spends hours trying to find something to rile 'others' he dislikes but too stupid to be creative so just repeats what he's heard from those who dislike the same people. Sad. No change likely for those who refuse to deal with reality except to throw rocks at it. Three years ago I was in the hospital for a month (fortunately paid for by the VA), and after being released was enrolled in Medicaid (in Arizona it's the AHCCCS, or "access"). Although I am no longer enrolled, I do periodically get offers of a free phone. The phone has limited minutes (200 per month) no Internet, and is primarily for low income people who need it for emergencies, as a means of contact with employers, etc. It's a great idea, and the upside is amazing. Try to live without having some way to contact other people, especially employers. Shooter, as usual, just pops up like a Whack-A-Mole, doing his best to divert the conversation. Hey Shooter, how long did you have to look to find the Vancouver Sun, and did you really think nobody would go to check out your lie? the constant bickering back and forth and forth and back.....but necessary. The claim shooter made being so soundly debunked by all the posters who followed....people read that, it moves people. Facts spread like probiotics to keep the body-politic's immune system strong, we need the trolls and the fools to try to stir the doo-doo and have their nonsense out in the open to be picked apart publicly, where potential voters can read it and see what his ilk are saying. Since most of our households deter political or religious discussions in polite company, there must be a place where citizens can toss ideas, however insane or inflammatory, back and forth to vet them. I must argue that the internet's discussion boards are that forum we used to have in the middle of town in the 1800s where discussions were publicly held. Yes, the church of free stuff. You may recall Sandra Fluke having a hissy fit because her contraception wasn't free? There are two kinds of Obama voter. The kind that wants free stuff, and the kind that wants to give it to them. And both want someone else to pay for it. You may recall Sandra Fluke having a hissy fit because her contraception wasn't free No. Sandra Fluke gave testimony as to the importance of contraception and how sometimes costs and access can be limited for women with lower incomes. Including contraception with your health insurance plan doesn't make your contraception free. You have to pay your health insurance premium or else you will not have coverage. That's like saying that diabetes medication is free because it's covered in your health plan. And both want someone else to pay for it Really? Because last time I checked the only person paying for health care...was the person paying for their insurance plan. Please explain whose getting stuff for free and why don't you take advantage of the free stuff and quit being so envious of the people who get it? Hmm? Yes, Mr. Harper seems to be on to something. At no point in time did your article mention anything about government assistance. So again what are you talking about here? Mr. Harper was elected in Canada because he's not an extremist, he avoids social issues, and he doesn't flip-flop on policies. That's what the article is about. How does that relate to anything you've said in either of your posts?Sadly I get nothing free. Mr. Harper may be the model for a new conservatism which eschews judging popular culture and concentrates on finances. A more libertarian stance if you like. I have a relative on FB that was quite tea party like before the election, and says things like, "When do I start getting free stuff?" all the time now. I comment back, "I don't want FREE insurance, I want FAIR insurance. " He continues on and on about free everything, forcing people to have abortions, how America is going down the tubes, etc. And he doesn't have any facts to back these comments up, but he continues with a new unbased "fact" every day.then why do you and your party keep repeating the crap you just repeated ? its because that is all you people ever have , is repeated talking points you have been assigned , you have zero substance to offer in ideas of legislation your candidate romney spent the last 2 months apologizing for saying 47% of americans want freee stuff . why is that ? it's because it was a proven lie now the flip flop party wants to just keep trashing their integirity and prove themselves as lower than low on the subject , congratulations The employer doesn't pay for insurance, shooter, the employee does. The employer simply acts as a middle-man to spread costs around all employees. It seems to me that you and other conservatives don't fundamentally understand what insurance is and therefore you keep misrepresenting it. The employee pays for insurance, period. There's no such thing as free coverage. Even if the employer decided to cover X like you say you DO realize that that would STILL not be free coverage because it would STILL require the employee to a. pay into the plan and b. that the employee work for the employer, yes? Use some common sense Shooter. I get that you're pissed that your guy didn't win the election, but that's no excuse for letting your entire brain go out the window. If the employer is paying they can include what they like, or nothing at all. I don't see a problem here. Because employers aren't allowed to dictate existence to their employees like tiny fascist @!$%#s? I mean honestly ya'll spend so much time being terrified of the big bad government, yet it never occurs to you that private business spies on you more than your government, manipulates you more than your government, steals more of your money, and makes you a slave. Let's be slave to our employers! Ya know cause that's so much more preferable than being slave to our government. Hows about you don't have to be slave to anybody??? Nope that doesn't come in place cause that might make you think for yourself. It might require that you read these articles you link to it might require that you exercise some independence. And lastly what does the article you linked to have ANYTHING to do with government assistance??? At NO point in time are benefit programs mentioned so again WHY do you insist on pretending that they are? Hmm??? ''This election signaled the last where a white Christian strategy is workable," said Robert P. Jones, chief executive of the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization based in Washington. yeah, those are the same ones who emphaphtically said early on when they thought they would have a different GOP choice, i.e. Santorum, "I don't know any SBC member who would EVER vote for a Mormon cult member." Basically verbatim words used by an SBC friend of mine during the GOP primary run up. And I absolutely do believe that, in the solitude of the voting booth, quite a few of them left the presidential choice box blank. An old joke: "A man goes to heaven, St. Peter is showing him around. And its very big and very filled with good people. And the guy asked St. Peter, "And what is going on with that tiny little group over there on that hill?" St. Peter said, "OH that's the Baptists, they think they are the only ones here." lol Indeed. That was my big question too. As I understand it, the country is about 3/4 Christian, divided roughly into thirds: Catholics, Mainline Protestants, and Evangelicals. Anecdotally, I'd guess that Mainline Protestants (Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalians, and so forth) probably voted similarly to the way Catholics voted. I don't have any hard data though-- that's just a guess. When I clicked the link to the report, I found that Protestant and Catholic affiliations were 78% of the electorate. Evangelicals are 23%, and Catholic are 25%, so 30% would be Protestant, Non-evangelical. The Hispanic Catholic population is 5% of the electorate. 2% are Jewish, 7% other faiths (Hindu, etc.) and 12% are unaffiliated. The original Pew Forum website has much fuller information than what Steve gave us. According to the Pew people, non-evangelical white Protestants went for Romney (54%), white Catholics went for Romney (59%), while Hispanic Catholics went for Obama (75%) and black Protestants went for Obama (95%). The data also indicates that regular churchgoers favored Romney, while occasional churchgoers favored Obama. I myself am a regular churchgoer, white, and am a non-evangelical Christian. So I defied my demographic by voting Obama. When I was young (eons ago) I was baptized in the Methodist Church. My dad thought the Methodists were the closest thing to being atheists while still having a building to meet in on Sundays. I cut out the middleman by the time I was twelve. My Mom's Dad was German Lutheran. My grandmother was a Mormon. So they both argued over which religion to raise the children in. So every Sunday, they went to the Lutheran Church at 9 am. And then went to the Mormon Church at 11:00. But if they had a party afterward for a holiday, they had to go to the Lutheran Church because they had beer. LOL. According to my Mom, who went to both Churches for about 12 years, there is very little difference in Sunday school between the two. She never noticed any big difference. Wouldn't it have been interesting if they'd asked in the exit polls how many people had been told they'd go to hell if they didn't vote for Romney (and/or how many of them voted for him because they had concerns regarding this)? I know... which makes me very curious to know what percentage of people might actually have ended up voting for him without having first run into threats along the way regarding fearing God and God's wrath. Think it would be a fascinating survey... Did you vote for Romney because, 1) You fear God and don't want to go to hell, 2) You believed the rhetoric of the Romney-Ryan campaign (and/or their backers), 3) You were influenced by the positions and plans the Romney-Ryan campaign put forth, 4) You are a Republican, and that's that... 5) Some of the above, or 6) All of the above. (Did I forget anything?) kassr: I do think that would be interesting-- it would pretty clearly indicate their vote was "coerced" in some way. I also, though, would be interested in knowing something about the "rebellion" vote: that is, "If you did NOT vote for Romney, was it because you were disgusted that your church would attempt to coerce your vote by threatening you? Would you have voted for Romney if you had a fee and unencumbered choice?" Nik, I think those questions are perfect, and would love to see the results of such a survey. I'd also be completely interested in knowing how many people in Ohio or other places ultimately changed their voting preference from Romney to Obama (or an alt option) following Romney's campaign lies and the ads surrounding Jeep, etc. I had read "the white horse prophecy" about a President being elected and is a Mormon and makes this country in to a theocracy, then tries to take over the world. I assumed that Mittens probably thought this was his destiny. However, a Mormon once told me that the white horse prophecy is not a good prophecy, it is bad for the Mormons and their Church too. Along with the country and the world. I disagree on one premise of Benin's conclusion. As a Catholic, I disagree totally on a right to abortion. Contraception, however, is a personal choice upon which people are free to follow their conscience. The government should not decide what should be paid for by others. People should decide what THEY want to pay for. Prior to the election, it was mentioned the vast majority of Catholics are pro-contraception. Benin states the Bishops call fell on deaf ears. The Bishop's call dealth with more than just one issue. The narrow Obama margin suggests the Bishops message did not fall on deaf ears, given the narrow margin. Catholics, like other blocs, are not one issue voters. Let's await the Court's decision on the constitutional right of freedom of expression. That, to me, is the key issue. The Church is not saying you can't decide, just don't force them to participate. You totallly misrepresent the disagreement. The issue is whether the gov't can force a religiously affiliated org to violate it's conscience. HHS seems to think forcing the insurance companies to pay resolves the issue. Unanswered is the self insured where insurance companies only act as administrators under a policy defined by the employer. Many of the autocrats in churches and secular institutions interested in promoting particular social values are interested in using all tools at their disposal, including coercion through tools of the state to force individuals to change their behavior. The right wing likes to make the argument that the left wing does the same thing because they are fond of using to power of the state to attempt to force them to not make employment decisions based on race. These critics are correct that we do use politics as an expression of morality. We should not be shy about that. The election of Obama was good because of the values he is championing, and the ideals he enumerates in his speeches. The critics are wrong because there is a crucial difference between anti discrimination laws and anti abortion laws. Few right wingers are willing to stand up and say they believe that whites are superior to other races. The difference is the basis for the legitimacy of applying the coercive power of the state is that we agree on the premise. We may not agree on the means of battling racism, but we agree (at least publically) that it is a social evil. That is not so on the question of when there an emerging lump of human cells becomes a person and when a declining lump of human cells stops being a person (eg brain death). At some point we may have science to empirically quantify the level of conscious activity in an organism. Until then, we have unprovable philosophical beliefs on which there is no common ground. So there is no basis for legitimate application of the powers of the state to change the behavior of individuals, and punish them for misbehavior. But that's simply not true. The church IS trying to say you can't decide. And not just for the "church" itself, but for for-profit businesses they're associated with. And it really bothers me the prevalence in our society with which people conflate individual, isolated experience with statistical generalizations. Saying that "on the whole" something TENDS to happen is not at all the same thing as saying that it happens in every individual instance, and arguing that a generalization is not true because a specific experience doesn't bear it out makes no logical sense. It is also funny how on one hand Republicans call for smaller government, fewer regulations, "don't let the government take away my right to arms", etc. However, on the other, they want to impose their beliefs on women. Regardless of the circumstances. They want less welfare, yet a woman should be forced to give birth to child that she may possibly have to use welfare to feed. Archie Bunker is not particularly religious or even ideological. There is no real logic to his bigotry. As was pointed out on Up with Chris Hayes today, the GOP has a product to sell to that established market for bigotry. It really doesn't matter what the ideological or religious packaging of it is. Archie Bunker buys it. He will watch any network that gives him a steady diet of it, and politicians that speak to his primitivist social ideas. If you think about it, the Archie Bunker demographic and the people who pander to it has had remarkable resilience through the ages. He has always been with us, from the first days we gathered together in villages scores of millennia ago for common defense against marauding bands of thieves. The only thing that changes is the particular details of his gibberish of intolerance. Pamela: The fact any institution decides to self insure is a financial one. They believe it is more cost effective to set aside funds themselves than turn it over to insurance companies. Nik: Several points. At least for Catholic affiliated orgs, they are non profit. The Church is not saying you can't decide, just live with the choice and pay for it yourself. The bill specifically excludes churches from the contraception requirement. The issue is about compelling a religious organization to pay for something that is clearly against their church doctrine. If they are self insuring, they are paying for that benefit. In forcing them to cover certain things, isn't the government imposing their doctrine on them? I am considering the plight of a private school that was originated by and is overseen by an order of nuns. What position has the government placed them in? MORE BS. Each Catholic Hospital has to turn over a portion of its profits to the Vatican. If you don't believe me, check with your Catholic hospital administrator. They are a MONEY MAKING organization to keep the Vatican in trinkets. They should be declared a "for profit" enterprise because of that. The people who work at the hospital aren't Catholic - the hospital isn't a Catholic Church AND the hospital receives Federal Funds. EVERY OTHER "business" that receives Federal Funds has to follow Federal law. But the hospitals, in order to increase their profit, do not want to do that and they are crying "religion". This is JUST ANOTHER ATTEMPT (and there have been SOOO MANY before this) where the Catholic Church is trying to impose its will on non-Catholics. You DO NOT get to cry "religious freedom" when you are purposely using it to deny the freedom of others!!! I don't know where you get your info from, but, for example, a Catholic hospital does not return money to Rome. In fact, each diocese has annual fund raisers to support affiliated orgs. While they receive fed funds, think about what would happen if they discontinue their service because of some stupid issue like free contraception. We've already seen orgs close because of mandates to enforce social issues - adoption agencies come to mind. Employees have a choice where to work. If they're hell bent on this issue, then don't work there. I used to work for a Catholic Hospital. I KNOW how much money they send back to Rome - Don't feed me BS!! And as far as the threat about what would happen if they discontinue service?? GET a CLUE! There are a LOT of other organizations that will fill the void - my hospital right now is NOT a Catholic Hospital - thank GOD - no silly "nun visits" in the morning! No, employees don't have much "choice" of where to work anymore - haven't you heard?? Oh, and BTW, the Catholic Hospital I worked for had insurance that paid for all of my birth control - hell, they even had them in the hospital pharmacy- AND NOT A SQEEK from anyone about it!!! What's different now? Oh, yea, the Catholic Church thought they saw a chance to take over and force themselves on everybody - how'd that work out? Not that I don't believe you, but please cite which hospital you worked at and where it is stated that monies are sent back to Rome. It's not unusual for employees, unless they are in a position of know, to believe rumors. Hell, Al Smith and JFK were going to bring the Pope over. As far as filling the void, I can cite two examples where Catholic hospitals were kept open to fill the void. On Long Island the state tried to force a Catholic hospital to perform abortions in order to take over a failing hospital. In Augusta, Ga, the state tried the same. In both cases, the state failed because they were more concerned about filling the void. By the way, you can always refuse to see the nun. Here, even in secular hospitals, the Church sends people to give communion if you so choose. The church makes a choice to hire employees who are not of the faith and who are not taking up official positions within the church. Why does the church get a pass when it has the opportunity of choice, but the individual does not? It never ceases to amaze me how people always side with the one they agree with. For the record being self insured only means you handle the administrative costs and transferring of money. You are acting as a middle man as opposed to another entity acting as a middle man between the money and the doctor. The employee still has to pay for their monthly premium (so it's not free like you incorrectly keep saying it is) and the administrative office is never notified of what the service is being used for. Morally speaking this is no different than the church saying it won't pay it's employees because one of them might go out and use that money for contraception or to have an abortion. It's moronic thinking. The church is trying to force it's beliefs onto it's employees by limiting their options and that's wrong. If the church doesn't want to be morally implicit then it can a. only higher people who are of the faith who wouldn't be using contraception in the first place b. only higher people into official church positions or c. not provide health insurance. All of which are options the church has. So why doesn't the church exercise personal responsibility and handle it's issues without pushing them off onto the employee? The catholic hospitals I know of had private insurors and did not tell them what to cover. Check and see...most Catholic hospital's insurance companies already covered BC pills and this was never an issue until the GOP made it one to influence the elections. Suddenly it became about forcing the Catholic Church to go against its teachings...when in fact it was the insurance companies who contracted with the Catholic hospitals who covered birth control for their participants never asking if they were Catholic or not. More divisive tactics from the GOP. It is and was always..a non issue till the GOP made it one...hop on board Catholic stooges. Because a religious organization is welcoming of those of other faiths, they are then mandated to sacrifice their religious tenets?Typically as part of one's benefits package, a percentage if not all of one's health insurance premium would be covered. So they are directly paying for that as a possible service. So your suggestion is... if the church doesn't want to be morally implicit... limit the job market further and only hire people of Catholic faith or don't provide any health insurance to employees. Because a religious organization is welcoming of those of other faiths, they are then mandated to sacrifice their religious tenets No, but they aren't allowed to force their religious beliefs onto those of other faiths. That's the whole point here. limit the job market further and only hire people of Catholic faith or don't provide any health insurance to employees Yes. The church is exercising personal choice when they hire an employee. They have the ability to only hire people who agree with their position, only hire people to an official church position (in which case they then can mandate what that person does), or they can not provide health insurance. The church is making this choice. That is something that they choose to do. It is not their business to enforce what the employee does or doesn't use their health insurance to cover. That's private and is none of the employers business. If the employer doesn't like it then the employer needs to grow a pair and deal with it like an adult. Why do you conservatives always peddle personal responsibility onto the individual, but when it comes to businesses of any kind you cannot give them enough excuses? Businesses don't have responsibility for the things they do and the way they treat their employees? This.Insurance companies are middle men who exchange the money between the patient (in this case the employee) and the doctor. A self-insured company is a company that performs the middle-man practice itself instead of outsourcing it to a third party. That means they handle the exchange of cash from the employee to the doctor- the employee is the person who is paying for the insurance. It is not a free ride. But even so the only way the church can complain that it is morally complicit is if the church believes it has a right to dictate how an employees money is spent. There is no difference between this and a church saying it won't pay a salary to an employee because it's afraid that salary will be used to pay for contraception. In both cases the employer is simply the middle-man between the exchange of currency. Why one would suddenly be more immoral than the other is beyond me. Once: I'll miss you, but I've learned on this blog, if you disagree, you're a troll. No room for intelligent disagreement . Cartoon: you make several points: Employees can refuse to offer insurance. Not true if you have more than 50 full time employees. An employer who provides insurance chooses what they will cover, then negotiates with an insurance company to administer the plan. An employee cannot choose what benefits they want under the plan. The amount an employee pays toward the cost is decided by the employer. It generally is not the employee .deciding what services. The administrator can only pay what the employer defined policy allows.If employees could decide, then Fluke wouldn't have had an issue with Georgetown. I still believe this is a constitutional issue on how free anyone is to exercise their religious beliefs The church is limiting the ability of the employee to exercise his/her first amendment rights by denying the coverage. You are not going to get anywhere by making the liberty argument because in this situation both entities have liberty to claim (the employee vs. the employer). The employer should be the one to capitulate since they have the least to gain and the least to lose int his scenario. They have the most opportunity to work around the problem and therefore have the most freedom to exercise choice within the confines of the law. There isn't an argument you can make as to why the employee should be the one to capitulate for the business that will ultimately win because the employee can die and the business cannot. I used to work for Centura Health, a part of Catholic Health Iniatives. I paid my half of health insurance payments, they paid the other half. I went to the doctor, got a prescription, took it to the pharmacy, paid my 5.00 co pay, and took my BC pills home. Catholic Health Iniatives never stuck their nose in my business. My rights as a Protestant nurse, were more important than their rights to refuse to pay for something. I am sure, if I had gone to a Episcopal hospital (in Pueblo, COlorado), that I could have gotten an abortion using my health insurance from the Catholic Health Iniatives. As it is, I got BC control, I got a hysterectomy from a Catholic Hospital without a problem. They provided the health insurance, I and my Doctor decided how to use it. they stayed out of it. Doesn't it say somewhere that the rights of the Individual are more important than rights of the majority. Even the Nuns are saying that the GOP are not prolife, they are probirth. If they really felt it was important to deliver that child and raise it, they would improve WIC, Early childhood education, Headstart, school lunch payments, better daycare, etc. But as soon as that child is born, he's on his own. The Evangelicals and the rest of the GOP don't like slackers, even if they are babies. @Doug... in terms of private parochial schools, government programs are limited to textbook loans and approved instructional materials and various auxiliary services (speech, hearing). Private schools subsist on tuition and private endowments. I invite you to think about this a little further... what about a school originated by an order of nuns and overseen by it? They should be forced to cover birth control? @Cartoon...easy for you all to say to only employ Catholics although certainly they may be forced to. There are alot of non-Catholic teachers employed by Catholic based schools that would be hurt by this. Also, paying a salary is different than paying for a DEFINED benefit. Typically, the employer does cover all or part of insurance. I never said that it was a free ride. It is part of a benefits package... @cartoon "This." I did not make those statements so please don't attribute them to me. I find it exceedingly tiresome to be thought of in a one dimensional manner. I consider that this is about religious freedom and it is a slippery slope once we move the bar. Also @Cartoon First amendment? Not applicable. I'm not seeing where there is the right to paid birth control anywhere in the first amendment. Unless you are aware of a religious organization that has that as part of it's tenets. First of all a Catholic run school or a Catholic run hospital are not the Catholic Church, they are businesses - pure and simple! If you are harmed egregiously by the actions of a Catholic hospital, do you sue the Catholic Church? I GUARANTEE to you that the Catholic Church would be the FIRST to say that you are suing the wrong entity - that you should be suing the hospital (the business that harmed you) instead! This has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the first amendment - nada, zilch! The first amendment applies to religions, NOT to businesses. The Congress has written laws to control what happens in BUSINESSES, not churches an if the Catholics want to run businesses, they they have to follow the laws for BUSINESSES! If that is too much for you Catholics to bear, then GET OUT OF BUSINESS!!! Here it is just in case you don't know what it there ANYWHERE that religions can DENY rights to any other American citizen?? If you want to practice your religion, you are certainly free to do so and Congress has NO INTEREST in stopping that. However, it gives you NO RIGHTS to force your religion on others!!! You Catholics seem to want it both ways, you have the right to practice as you choose, yet you are intent on stopping others from practicing as they choose! Hey, if you want to make this an issue and bring it up for vote, I am all for that!! You will get stomped on again and again and again because the rest of us see what the Catholic Church is up to even if you, because of your brainwashing, don't!!How is a religious organization choosing not to violate their religious tenets (by not paying for birth control) denying the rights of someone else? Birth control is readily accessible to all at a low cost. "You Catholics"???? Actually, I'm a Methodist... who considers that government intrusion into religious organizations can be a real slippery slope. I too am worried about the "slippery slope". There are several religions in this country who don't believe in medical care at all. Should they have the right to deny employees access to medical care? Do you know what it takes to declare yourself a religion in this country? What if someone like Murray (the owner of many coal mines) decides his "religion" doesn't believe in MSHA? Does that mean his miners have to work in horrendous conditions and perhaps lose their lives because you are "afraid of government intrusion into religious organizations"? Frankly, there is a DIFFERENCE between religions and "religious organizations". If the "religious organization" runs a business in this country, then they should be subject to all of the laws governing that business, or they should exercise their religious freedom and get out of that business. Interesting question about religions who are against medical care. I am not quite sure how they chose to handle this with their employees. Anybody out there familiar with this? I would think that it would be more likely that this type of organization would either employ only members of their own religious faith and/or (pre affordable care act) inform potential employees that it is against their religious faith. I believe that all organizations are subject to labor law. This prevents horrendous conditions for all. I don't think that it is as simple as "get out of the business" if you don't like what the government imposes on you. Society ultimately benefits greatly from the fruits of the missions of various religious organizations. Also, in order to carry out various missions (considering that service is an integral part of most religions) being a formal business is a necessary part of it in our country. I would think that it would be more likely that this type of organization would either employ only members of their own religious faith and/or (pre affordable care act) inform potential employees that it is against their religious faith. For one: The Christian Science (owners of the CS Monitor) religion doesn't believe in medical care but unlike the Catholics, they obey the laws of the land and provide insurance for all medical needs for the people who work for them. If a "religious organization" can disobey ONE law in the name of religious freedom, why can't they disobey others? What is to stop them? Frankly, there are MANY organizations that are willing to obey all the laws of the land that can certainly fill in for these "religious organizations". Look at this list of hospitals - do you see any CATHOLIC hospitals there? There are Jewish hospitals and Presbyterian hospitals and NONE of them would deny contraception to their employees - so what is it that is so "special" that Catholic hospitals do? Because religions have forgotten why they exist and have tried to extend their "missions" doesn't give them the right to deny anyone else ANYTHING!! I know that many religions felt the "need" to expand into areas of poverty, but I can't see that they did anything valuable or long lasting in those areas. You ever read "Toxic Charity" by Robert Lupton?? It might change your mind about "charity" and what religions "do" to help others!It is futile to try and hurl this into the debate , the church chose long ago to turn these into FOR PROFIT business's , so it does not apply to this topic whats so ever , they have chosen profits over service to the people , for them to then try and claim their religion can also dictate OVER free market rules and regulations , is disingenuous , and reveals how shallow their beliefs really are in actual spiritual work ....as oncearepub has laid out so well @once... I prefaced that by saying that I wasn't quite sure how they would choose to handle it. Perhaps the difference is the discussion of medical care versus issues of life/conception. What is the stance in the Jewish faith on birth control? I am not aware of any formal doctrine within the Protestant faith. The difference is that it is quite clear in the Catholic faith. I keep hearing that these organizations will "deny" women birth control. No one is being denied anything, birth control is readily available at a reasonable cost. The issue is having to pay for something that is in direct violation of one's religious tenets. Wouldn't a person have the right to say that they don't want to work for an organization that won't pay for their birth control? Or might they decide that they want to work for the organization for other reasons and pay the $9 /month themselves? I just think that we are letting the government decide what religious doctrines are valuable and what ones can be marginalized. I think that it is a gross generalization to state that religious organization are of no value. Schools have no value? Really? Because I've seen otherwise. No it is not , the majority of american catholics have no problem with BC , while the minority of conservative catholics , along with the leadership , are trying to shove their opinion down every ones throats I keep hearing that these organizations will "deny" women birth control. No one is being denied anything, birth control is readily available at a reasonable cost. You seem to be confused , we are talking about people trying to deny woman BC , they are singling women out , they are singling BC out , and saying they must pay for it , while men can get coverage for their penis pills etc etc , and they have no problem with that The cost has nothing to do with it , you are advocating its ok to discriminate against people for no other reason than what they are doing does not agree with your / their religious beliefs , the u s constitution forbids that , this point has been made all over this comment section not only that , but you are advocating that one free market entity , can dictate what another free market entity does with its business , while trying to claim you have some kind of religious right to do it @Patango. The Roman Catholic Church has not made an exception to their doctrines based on what may very well be the beliefs of many American Catholics. Several individuals on this blog have talked about women being denied BC. That was what I was referring to... so kindly don't be condescending by calling me confused. Of course BC is being singled out... it's use is against the Catholic Church's doctrine. The very issue is about mandating that a religious organization pay for BC when it is against their doctrine. This is an issue of religious freedom. I don't see this as the church trying to shove their opinion down anyone's throat. We all have the freedom to freely purchase birth control. We all have the freedom to choose to not work for a religiously affiliated agency. Don't we? Where is it in the constitution that a religious organization can and should be forced to pay for something that they find morally objectionable. I find it interesting that you contend that the the "efforts to focus on contraception and reproductive rights had limited success, and the Bishops' lobbying largely fell on deaf ears" among Catholics. I'll absolutely agree that such things weren't received with blind obedience, but it's only a slim progressive lead. Catholics may well have voted Republican for other reasons and completely failed to be swayed by reproductive issues or obedience to the hierarchy, but nearly half of them still voted Republican for some reason. "Clearly fell on some deaf ears," I could buy. And, as a former Catholic, "Royally ticked off more than a few faithful Catholics" I'll guarantee. It is difficult to generalize Catholic voting patterns because I suspect that the patterns are more related to age group. The younger Catholics have largely rejected the Church's teachings on contraception. They may accept the doctrine on abortion but not because the Church says it is wrong. I suspect that younger Catholics are more likely to accept the idea that the decision to have an abortion is personal to the woman and the state should not be involved in that medical decision. Also, these Catholics are likely to accept the exceptions for rape and incest. In essence, younger Catholics do not see abortion as the decisive issue when voting. The bishops have been largely unsuccessful because younger Catholics and even some of the clergy do not blindly accept the Church's teachings on many issues including social justice. Bishops have very little influence on voting despite the fact that they claim to represent the Catholic viewpoint and this has been true since the 1960's. If the Catholic Church was really prolife, they would evolve and change their views on contraception. But the Church believes that unless you are procreating, sex is sinful and lustful. So they put the label on sex as procreation, having that child that God says is good for family. If they would evolve and allow contraception, and change their views toward sex in marriage is for procreation and also for drawing the couple closer together, thereby allowing birth control, the % of abortion would drop to near zero. They passed a law in Norway, allowing free contraception for anyone that wishes to use it, regardless of age, gender, finances, etc. And their abortion % dropped to nothing. That is truly pro life, and pro responsibility instead of the viewpoint of the Catholic Church. It's the only time I actually pee on my TV screen right in Pat's mouth. I know, I know...but it gives me some weird feeling of relief and justice on God's tax collector and fleecer of the fearful 'sheep'. Pocketing money keeping it from Katrina victims while installing marble toilet seats and buying his own private jet was still not enough to keep people living in near poverty from sending him even more money. Jon Huntsmann was running too. He was a more moderate Mormon, more common sense candidate. I think President Obama would have had a tough run for the office if Jon Huntsmann had gotten the nomination. If Huntsmann had run, I'd have to think long and hard about who to vote for. I would bet that Pat has watched a lot of porn. You know, just so he could see what he is fighting? Ha Ha. He is an old pervert asking that young woman about how she views porn. He assumes she watches porn? Women are in all porn except some gay porn, so why is he surprised women watch it. Damn, he is so stupid. Did he and Karl Rove go to the same school? Anybody here old enough to remember the Meese Commission during St. Ronnie's administration? They were tasked (due to pressure by the Moral Majority) with defining pornography. The Commission spent over a year on the project, perusing thousands of pornographic movies, books, photos, etc. Meese was Reagan's Attorney General. Google him and have fun. The only guy that makes porn boring is Ron Jeremy or whatever his name is. you know, the kinda hefty guy with the curly black hair, who tries to put humor into the porn? I was never interested in porn, I think men are more visual, and women are more physical. I used to work as a cashier in a convenience store, also had subs, pizzas and VCR rentals. We kept the XXX VCRs in the back, and the guy had to pick the VCR by name, and I would go get the movie. One young newly married guy came in and was all embarassed that he wanted to rent a movie. i told him, "I think this VCR video has been watched by every man in town." He was surprised, "You mean you rent these movies out a lot?" "Yep, most of the men in this town have rented these out." He didn't know. Must have been very protected living on the farm or something. One thing that struck me awhile back. I was reading about DNA testing. And they said that the number of genes related to skin color was just a few. But the number of genes different between blue eyes and brown eyes is a massive amount. IOW, skin color is just a flip of a switch. But a massive amount is used up between eye color. So the eye color of an African American having brown eyes is really the biggest difference between that person and a blond blue eyed person. I am 1/8 African American and 1/8 Native American and 3/4 German. So therefore genetically I am probably more related to the AA and NA than I am the German because I have brown eyes. Even worse than Opus Dei. An Opus Dei member, Father Maciel started Regnum Christi. Father Maciel ran Regnum Christi for many years, and several times was being investigated for pedophilia. The Pope backed him up and said, "He says he does not do this." So they would drop these investigations, only to bring them back up over and over. Father Maciel was finally kicked out of Regnum Christi and Opus Dei several years ago, and he died a few years ago, leaving behind several illegitimate children and a whole bunch of damaged youth. Santorum and Mel Gibson are both Opus Dei and Regnum Christi. makes you wonder about their hidden agenda. People had better wake up to the distinction between Catholic and the hateful evil sick insidious murderous enslaving Opus Dei Cult which already controls our corrupt Supreme Court Majority...! We nearly saw 2 of our branches of government fall under Opus Dei Cult influence as Santorum is an Opus Dei Cult fanatic as is Paul Ryan... It only takes 6 individuals to control 2 Branches of Our Government and change and ruin America forever.. 5 corrupt perverted Judges and the Chief Executive... Wake up America before you wake up on the 13th Century..! Santorum and Mel Gibson are also Opus Dei and also Regnum Christi. Unknown the agendas of these groups. I wonder if Paul Ryan is Regnum Christi also? I know Santorum and Ryan had connections to C STreet. It is so much easier here in Canada where Church is something some do on Sunday morning while the non religious do their grocery shopping, and politics is a duty relegated to the left side of the brain where logic, math, science and a few other absolutes that baffle the GOP take place. I spent quite a bit of time this past year explaining our crazy politics and idiot system to my Canadian, Australian, New Zealander and British friends. And reassuring them that the batshhit crazy ones weren't going to win (with my fingers crossed). I agree, TC. In the last election in the UK, the radical fundamentalists got less than 1% of the votes. In Nevada in 2010, Sharron Angle got over 45% of the votes. Stranger things have happened. When I realized that the unknowledgeable voters vote for a single wedge issue, and don't consider all the facts, it makes me really nervous to let the voters decide. Thankfully they pulled it together this year. but if the radicals continue to gain political power, someday its going to make a big mess. Until the GOP wakes up and realizes that they are no longer relevant and that they have to start over with values more in line with the values of America they are going toward the ditch with two wheel off. I think that it is most important that they stop trying to limit American Freedoms, for example, Abortion, voting, and civil rights. When one of their colleagues goes off in the ditch (Akin, Mourdock, Brown) they need to replace or disavow them and then stay with it. This election the GOP was quick to chastise Akin but in the end they all rallied to his side. They say they want smaller government but then they want to control what decisions I make for my body. TOO MANY MIXED MESSAGES - GOP! And they want smaller government, even going so far as to say they want to starve the government. Yet they have the military spending AND they want morals police watching us through the bedroom window, and keeping a "Big Brother" eye on our health care decisions and contraception. they want to be involved in what we do with our vaginas. No abortion, no hormonal birth control (doesn't allow the fetus to attach to the wall of the uterus) those fat old white men want to control everything with a pro life ideal. But after that baby is born, they don't want to ensure that child lives decently, with WIC, food stamps, day care, education, etc. So they aren't prolife, they are actually probirth. So God doesn't listen to the prayers of Evangelicals and Mormons. Perhaps someone should do a scientific study on the outcome of praying to God, Jesus, a rock or a tree. I'd predict a 50/50 split but that is just a guess. There has actually been a couple of studies done on the efficacy of prayer in affecting medical outcomes (specifically speed of recovery and incident of setbacks after surgery). And the results are quite interesting. Where people didn't know, there was no difference between the prayer and control group. Where people did know they were being prayed for, they did slightly worse than the control group! Not a huge difference, but just enough to be statistically significant. Actually, as Obama won, it would appear that God did come through for at least a handful of Evangelicals and Mormons... and maybe for more than we'd suspect (or they'd perhaps realize) if any number of them were praying for things like "the best leader for America" or the like... :) And it's interesting regarding the prayer thing, dwestler, as I know I've read something (some things, actually) that could seem opposite of these findings, at least when it comes to how well people have healed from major illnesses when they have faith (in some form of a higher power) vs. not (definitely not necessarily corresponding to having any sort of religious affiliation). And, of course, faith in your doctors, treatments, medications (even placebos), etc., as well as personal attitudes and personality attributes, etc., can definitely influence things, too... I mean, if someone believes they won't make it through because a doctor says so, they also still actually have some version of faith... it's just being linked to the proposed negative outcome. So, I would think/guess/suspect that the thing you saw regarding the impacts of prayer would actually be just one component of something that's likely more complex than whether or not prayer alone is effective in influencing anything, and would actually be comprised of some number of these other things, as well. Guessing it would be very difficult to manage to take all of these things into account, though I'd be very impressed if they somehow did incorporate them into their study. :) Quantum physics has the best studies on how objects change behavior when being observed...so any "observed" study can now be said to be 'tainted'. It's our expectations of God, prayer. spirituality etc. that prevent us from seeing or knowing what actually is and how it operates. The "observer" influence should also be applied to out thinking. We are not the thinker or that voice in our heads. We are the observer of that voice or of the thinker...and the observer cannot be identified because it does not label or judge or do anything except observe... it has no other identifying qualities ...yet it is who we all are. Amazing. I saw the study that dwestler brought up, and the reason that people did worse when told that they were being prayed for, was because they thought, that with all those people praying for them, they must be in worse shape than they thought. Blind studies on prayer have shown no effect at all. But kassr, I agree that placebos, personal prayer (not public), can affect someone in a positive manner, just as knowing that people are praying for you can do the opposite. bjobotts, your comment is fascinating. And from a real world standpoint, I can definitely come up with examples that show how expectations can either help or hinder people, depending on how they choose to interpret situations or stimuli. So, it makes tons of sense to me that observed studies would all be 'tainted,' at least to some degree. rwsgate's comment re. the prayers in the study seemingly not helping because they were interpreted by the patients as an indicator of poorer than imagined health now seems to fall on that list (potentially undone by the patients' own negative assumptions - here credited to their own 'observers' - as to the motivation behind the prayers), as might also be things like those times when someone is trying to say something 'right' in front of someone whom they feel or believe they can't please, etc. (perhaps vs. the way someone can otherwise step up to meet the expectations of a teacher, parent or coach who demands tons but who also makes it clear that they believe a person can meet the challenges). In these ways, it would seem we can each at least have an impact on our own 'observer' - and potentially on others' 'observers,' too, for better or worse, whenever they give us that opportunity (or to whatever degree). And I'm tempted to say that the quality and care of the interactions we have with our own observers, and that we try sharing with others, is what influences whether the essence behind our individual observers lends us a feeling of internal contentedness... or else one of dissonance... And do you think the essence behind our individual observers could be linked to our feelings and emotions? It seems to me we can also influence our emotions through what we think and do while either consciously or unconsciously in our 'observer' mode, but then that behind whatever we do as 'observers' our feelings and emotions just surface as a sort of organic consequence... I mean... in some way... they're just present (coming as a result of whatever our 'observers' have been up to, and/or who they've been hanging out with, and/or how we choose to deal with whatever ends up coming our way as a result). :) Hoping that makes sense... :) It just occurred to me that it's actually maybe our conscience I was speaking of as a component of the 'essence' that's behind our observers... not so apparent, perhaps, when our observers are on their better behavior. :) Though, as with everything above (and where this whole thing for me began), it also wouldn't surprise me if there were more that needed to be taken into consideration. :) Very cool, though, to be given the opportunity to ponder... will continue processing. :)	eng	e53eea5e-b161-4c33-a415-7800652a1629	http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/11/10/15073187-this-week-in-god
Resource Title: Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren: What to Consider and Where to Find Help Price: Free Description: An online resource for grandparents who are sole caregivers for grandchildren. Resource Title: Parenting Grandchildren: A Voice for Grandparents Price: Free Description: A newsletter written to meet the needs of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren and professionals who serve them. Resource Title: Support Groups for Raising Grandchildren Price: Free Description: A web page dedicated to helping grandparents who are sole caregivers for their grandchildren join and form support groups. Resource Title: The School Community Journal Description: The School Community Journal includes research and field reports related to the school as a community of teachers, students, parents, and staff. Family-school relations, site-based management, sociology of education, systems theory, the classroom community, and other topics are covered. The school can function as a thriving community! Resource Title: Bridging the Gap: A Rationale for Enhancing the Role of Community Organizations in Promoting Youth Development Price: Free Author: Karen J. Pittman and Marlene Wright Description: February, 1991. An examination of the reasons to include community organizations in the pursuit of the goals of self-esteem building and opportunity development for youth. Resource Title: Parent Guides Price: Free Author: AKPIRC Description: AKPIRC has a assortment of guides that share information with families on ESEA, state accountability, why parent involvement is important, and how parents can be more involved. Most guides are written at two levels, in-depth and an overview. Resource Title: PowerPoint trainings for families Price: Free Author: AKPIRC Description: AKPIRC offers an assortment of ready to use PowerPoint presentations that school staff and communities can use to share with families. Topics include: understanding Alaska's statewide tests, helping children develop language skills, and more. Resource Title: Families in Society Description: Bi-monthly. This peer-reviewed professional journal serves as a forum for addressing the interests, activities, and concerns of professionals in direct practice as well as associates in supervision, administration, policy and planning, research, and education. Formerly known as Social Casework. Resource Title: Various Publications about Education Description: AACTE maintains an extensive list of publications on a variety of topics related to education, including Research and Reference, Standards and Assessment, Teaching and Learning, Diversity Issues, Education Reform Issues, Federal and State Issues, Leadership Issues and Professional Development. Resource Title: Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences Price: Non-Members 1/Yr $140 Individual $173 Institution Author: Part of the AAFCS membership benefit. Description: Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences (JFCS) The Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences: From Research to Practice (JFCS), the official publication of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS), contains peer-reviewed articles, practical information that promotes the well-being of individuals and families, and AAFCS news. Articles published in JFCS are indexed by Family Index Databse, Family and Society Studies World Wide, and the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). The JFCS is published four times a year: January, March, September, and November. Resource Title: How Parents & Families Can Communicate Better With Teachers and School Staff Price: Free Description: Helping Your Child Succeed: The third in the Helping your Child Succeed series, this covers communications between parents and school staff. Resource Title: Helping Your Child Succeed: How Parents Can Work with Schools and Communities to Help their Children Meet High Standards Price: Free Description: The second in the Helping your Child Succeed series, this covers relations between the family and the community, with topics about monitoring your child's part time job, supporting zero tolerance for violence, etc. Resource Title: Helping Your Child Succeed: What Parents & Families Can Do at Home to Help their Children Meet High Standards Price: Free Description: The first in the Helping your Child Succeed pamphlet series, this offers tips to use at home to help children achieve success at school. Resource Title: Educational Research and Dissemination Program: Partnerships Supporting Student Learning Price: Free Description: One of many courses included as part of the AFT's ongoing professional development program, this focuses on enabling parents to better support their children as learners and achievers. Strategies include helping classroom practitioners develop learning partnerships with parents by assigning more productive and inclusive homework, explaining classroom work and grading systems, correcting student work, and providing timely feedback to students and parents. Available to union members only. Resource Title: Communities of Promise Toolkit: "How to Become a Community of Promise" Price: Free Description: This toolkit contains information and resources on how to make your community a Community of Promise by increasing resources and opportunities for young people. The following guides are available: "Becoming a Community of Promise: Proven Strategies That Are Working," "Guide to Conducting a Needs Assessment," "Community of Promise Implementation Pack," "Neighborhood Planning Guide" and "City/County Planning Guide." Resource Title: Keeping America's Promise Television Special Price: $12.00 Description: Video of the one-hour television special that aired on the FOX highlighting the efforts being made to help youth throughout the United States. Includes remarks by Presidents Clinton, Bush, Carter, Ford and Former First Lady Nancy Reagan. America's Promise Chairman, General Colin L. Powell, narrates the program. Length: Approx. 40 Minutes. Resource Title: Community Organizing for School Improvement in the South Bronx Price: Free Description: This case study tells the story of how low-income parents organized, with help from the community group that redeveloped their housing project, to improve a poor-performing school in district 9. The paper focuses on community organizing as a new form of parent and community engagement, and analyzes the political situation in low-income neighborhoods. Resource Title: Demystifying the Data Price: Free Description: This information sheet is aimed at making NYC school data accessible and understandable. Each sheet is devoted to one issue (such as performance budgeting) and explains it in a jargon-free manner. Included in School Watch. Resource Title: School Watch Price: Free Description: This newsletter provides community groups with information on NYC public school performance and examples of school reform strategies in action. It purpose is to encourage more groups to become involved in school improvement. Published quarterly. Resource Title: Various Reports and Evaluation Studies Price: Free Description: Published evaluation studies on programs such as the cost-effectiveness of small schools, reorganizing NYC special education programs, and privatizing public schools. Resource Title: The APEX Workshop Series Manual and Facilitators Guide Price: $85.00 Description: The APEX Workshop series has 10 workshops which address parent training. They promote parent engagement in their children's education and in the leaderhip structure of their schools. Also included is a Facilitator's guide available in both English or Spanish. Resource Title: Making the Most of Your Child's Education: A Guide for Parents Price: $5.00 each Description: An easy to read introductory curriculum on parent involvement written specificcaly for Hispanic parents. Resource Title: The Brain and Learning Price: $590.00 (Members $490.00). Author: Marian Diamond, Pat Wolfe, Eric Jensen, Geoffrey Caine, Robert Sylvester Description: Video Series. includes the videotape What Parents Need to Know. (ASCD video, 1998) Four 20- to 30-minute videotapes and a Facilitator's Guide. This video series explains how the brain functions and shows examples of elementary through high school classrooms where teachers are applying brain-based principles to enhance learning. It also encourages parents to become full partners in the effort to make education more brain friendly. Resource Title: Classroom Leadership and Classroom Leadership Online Price: Free online. Paper copies $3.00 each. Description: Classroom Leadership Online is the online sister publication of Classroom Leadership. It is published 9 times a year (monthly except January, June, and July) and is linked thematically to Educational Leadership, ASCD's magazine. Classroom Leadership Online is a free publication that helps readers explore education topics, as seen through teachers' eyes and heard through teachers' voices. Resource Title: Communicating with the Public: A Guide for School Leaders Price: $22.95 (Members $18.95). Author: Anne Meek Description: (ASCD book, 1999) 8" x 10", 144 pages. This book helps educators gain the knowledge and confidence they need to create and implement an effective communication program. It provides strategies for cultivating the ongoing relationships necessary for long-term support of schools, including the communication roles of educators working in schools and those working in central offices. Basics include: Strategic communications planning; analysis; teamwork between schools and central offices; coordination with community relations offices; and program evaluation. Resources include a school climate checklist; tips for working with the news media; guidelines for conducting focus groups; and help with creating news releases, Web sites, and videos. Resource Title: Curriculum Update Price: Additional copies are $3 each (prepaid only). Description: Reports trends, research findings, exemplary programs, and available resources in a specific curriculum area. It is published four times per year as a supplement to Education Update, the official newsletter of ASCD. Subscriptions to Curriculum Update are included in ASCD membership. Resource Title: Education Update Newsletter Price: Additional copies are $3 each (prepaid only). Description: Education Update is the official newsletter of ASCD and is published 8 times a year (monthly except February, April, July, and October). Subscriptions to Education Update are included in ASCD membership. Resource Title: How to Coordinate Services for Students and Families Price: $8.95 (Members $6.95). Author: Larry Guthrie Description: (ASCD book, 1996) 6" x 9", 61 pages. This book proposes an integrated services collaboration for students in crisis, as an alternative to the traditional social services now offered. A nine-step plan outlines how to get an integrated services collaborative started, where it should be located, and how to get funding. Resource Title: How to Create Successful Parent-Student Conferences Price: $95 (Members $79). Description: (Video, 1998) This 15-minute videotape is part of ASCD's How-to video series. Watch actual teachers demonstrate ways to create "win-win-win" situations for students, parents, and teachers. Topics include: the first step to take when planning every conference, how to deal with an irate parent, examples of "door-opening statements" that encourage conversation, how to use portfolios of student work in conferences, and what to do after a conference. Also available in closed-captioned format. Resource Title: How to Form Networks for School Renewal Price: $8.95 (Members $6.95). Description: (ASCD book, 1995) 6" x 9", 57 pages. This book provides practical guidelines for establishing practitioner-driven networks for increasing professional knowledge, motivation, self-esteem, and effectiveness in efforts with students. Includes sample formats and activities for meetings, with numerous suggestions for ways to keep networks infused with information and resources. Resource Title: How to Make Homework More Meaningful by Involving Parents Price: $95 (Members $79). Author: Joyce Epstein Description: (Video, 2001) This 15-minute videotape is part of ASCD's How-To video series. It demonstrates how to use homework to strengthen students' skills and make learning more meaningful. This video features assignments that help students establish regular schedules, and demonstrate and discuss what they've learned, strategies for initiating and encouraging family participation, and ways to follow-up assignments with class discussion and demonstration. Resource Title: InfoBrief Price: Individual copies are $4.50 each. Description: Published four times per year, ASCD Infobrief provides concise information on current education issues to administrators, teachers, families, policymakers, journalists, and others. Subscription is included in ASCD Premium membership. Resource Title: Managing Today's Classroom Price: Set of three is $580 (Members $480). Individual tapes $210 each (Members $180). Author: Rheta DeVries Description: The Managing Today's Classroom video series shows how teachers are creating positive learning environments where students behave well because they want to. Two videotapes, a Facilitator's Guide, and a special tape, A Parent's Guide, explain and demonstrate how teachers can instill a commitment to good behavior in all students by: fostering mutual respect among students and teachers, promoting self-regulation and autonomy, creating a sense of community in the classroom, and motivating students through an engaging curriculum. These videos feature teachers explaining why traditional approaches that use rewards and punishments often don't work, and also show elementary and secondary schools classrooms where effective management practices are being used. The accompanying Facilitator's Guide shows how to create a powerful in-service course for new and experienced teachers in all grade levels. Plus, a 25-minute video tape explains this new classroom management approach to parents so that they can support the strategies and use them at home. Three videotapes: Tape 1: Managing Today's Classroom: Elementary Schools and Facilitator's Guide, Tape 2: Managing Today's Classroom: Secondary Schools and Facilitator's Guide, Tape 3: Managing Today's Classroom: A Parent's Guide and Facilitator's Guide are available as a set or individually. Also available in closed-captioned format. Resource Title: Mentoring the New Teacher Price: Complete set $785 (Members $685.00), individual tapes $115.00 (Members $95.00). Author: Developed and produced by James B. Rowley and Patricia M. Hart of the University of Dayton School of Education, Dayton, Ohio Description: (Video, 1994) Available exclusively through ASCD, this set of videotapes and Facilitator's Guide presents case studies of the most common problems faced by beginning teachers: dealing with students' personal problems; handling classroom discipline; planning lessons and homework; coping with a lack of instructional resources; relating to parents; motivating students; dealing with students' individual differences; and evaluating student work. Based on extensive research, this series offers a candid, realistic approach to how experienced teacher mentors can help new teachers through their first years in the profession. Complete set includes: Eight 17- to 20-minute case study videotapes, one 6-minute Overview tape, and 170-page Facilitator's Guide. The following tapes are also available individually: Tape 1: Dealing with Students' Personal Problems, Tape 2: Classroom Discipline, Tape 3: Dealing with Individual Differences, Tape 4: Motivating Students, Tape 5: Planning Classwork, Tape 6: Lack of Instructional Resources, Tape 7: Parent Relations, Tape 8: Evaluating Student Work. Resource Title: Parents As Partners in Schooling Price: $34.95 Description: ASCD's PD Online course is designed to help educators and parents understand they are equal partners in schooling and to provide resources that support effective parent involvement programs. The interactive, multimedia format allows you flexibility to develop your knowledge and skills at a time that fits your schedule. Course includes interactive lessons that have been specially designed for Web-based training. Each lesson is supplemented with extensive reading material and access to discussion groups. Resource Title: The Principal Series Price: Single tape prices from $140; series cost is $1,130 (Members $930.00). Author: Richard DuFour and Karen Dyer Description: (Video, 1998-1999) Seven 15- to 45-minute videotapes and two Facilitator's Guides. An excellent tool for principal leadership training, The Principal Series brings school leaders up-to-date on the newest research-based methods for improving student performance. Hear from experts Richard DuFour and Karen Dyer, and see principals demonstrate effective leadership, communication, and management skills These videos are also designed to help principals involve parents in the school community. Specifically, Principal as Culture Shaper shows how to help parents contribute to the school's mission and success; and Principal as Ambassador discusses ways to involve parents and build alliances within the community. The following single tapes are available: Tape 1: The Evolving Role of the Principal, Tape 2: Creating a Collaborative Learning Community, Tape 3: Survival Tips, Tape 4: Principal as Culture Shaper, Tape 5: Principal as Manager, Tape 6: Principal as Instructional Leader, Tape 7: Principal as Ambassador. Resource Title: Schools as Communities Price: $466.00 ($396.00 Members). Description: (Video) The video series focuses on successful schools in which educators create a sense of belonging for their students and include teachers, parents, and the community. 2 videos with facilitator's guide. Resource Title: Beyond the Bake Sale: An Educator's Guide to Working With Families (1986) Price: $10.95 Author: Anne T. Henderson, Carl Marburger and Theodora Ooms Description: 160 pp. This classic guide explains how to build partnerships that go beyond boosterism to effective schooling, with attention to high school families, and single, low-income and working parents. Often used for staff development and other teacher training. Resource Title: The Family is Critical to Student Achievement: A New Generation of Evidence Price: $14.95 Author: Anne T. Henderson and Nancy Berla, editors Description: 176pp. Softcover. (1994) Reviews 66 studies that document the positive effects of parent involvement on student achievement. A short introduction reviews the studies, major findings, and trends in the research. "Taken together, the studies summarized in this report strongly suggest that when schools support families to be involved, children from low-income families and diverse cultural backgrounds approach the grades and test scores expected for middle class children." Resource Title: Parents are Powerful Price: $2. Bulk orders available for as low as $1 per copy. Description: 32 pages. 1997. A full-color guide written for a general parent audience, it gives parents practical advice to guide their children from preschool through high school. It also informs them of their rights and what to expect from key federal programs like Title I, IDEA, and Vocational Education. Available in Spanish. Resource Title: Powerful Schools Handbook: Starting and Running a Collaborative School Improvement Program Price: $19.95 Description: 148 pp. This is a true grassroots guide to organizing in neighborhoods to make schools and communities stronger. It is based on the experience of four public elementary schools and several community groups in Seattle, Wash., but its message is universal. The Powerful Schools Handbook tells how to start an effort to improve student performance while building stronger communities; outlines fundraising and managing volunteers; describes family involvement and community involvement; and explains the role of community schools and their adult education programs in improving outcomes for children. It also includes samples of all the materials used by Powerful Schools. Published by One Court Street Press. Resource Title: Urgent Message for Parents Price: $3 single copy. See order form for discounts on multiple copies. Author: Anne Henderson, Anne Lewis, Kathy Boundy, Paul Weckstein, Larry Searcy Description: 16 pp. In English. 2000. This guide answers parents' questions about standards -- what do they mean for my child, what if my child didn't pass the test, how can I help my children learn what they need to know? It gives examples of high and low level student work, explains the difference between the new and the old tests, and tells how families can improve student achievement. This is an excellent resource for staff development, parent training and conferences. Responding to the growing need for increased parent and teacher communication, the Center for Parent Leadership has created a workshop and trainer's guide that enable parent leaders, community organizers and educators to fortify relationships between parents and teachers through focused discussions on how they can work together to improve education in their community. Parents and Teachers Talking Together encourages communication by addressing two important questions: What do we want for our students? What do we need to do to get what we want for our students? The guide takes users through a four-hour meeting where these issues are discussed. And it shows how groups are using the exercise to identify shared concerns and priorities and set in motion the solutions required to make a real difference for students. Resource Title: No Child Left Behind: What's In It For Parents Price: $15 Author: Anne Henderson Description: CPL's guide, No Child Left Behind: What's in it for Parents, spotlights six key leverage points in the law that parents can use to: get information about school and student performance; use the information to influence education policies and programs; and hold schools more accountable for results. In easy-to-understand terms, parents will learn which schools are affected by the law — plus how, when, and what they can do to advocate for better schools and quality teaching. "As a parent leader, you want to be at the table when your school is addressing such issues as closing the achievement gaps between different groups of students, recruiting and keeping highly-qualified teachers, or school safety," said the guide's author, Anne Henderson, an expert on parent engagement and community organizing. Resource Title: Working with Families and Communities Price: varies Author: Anne Bouie, Ph.D. Description: This is a structured professional development program for teachers and administrators who wish to design and implement positive change that can secure the endorsement of families and create positive experiences for parents, family networks, and community members. Resource Title: Exploring Your Community Price: 15.00 per copy Author: Anne Bouie, Ph.D. Description: This workbook presents a process and experiences that help school staff to learn about, and connect with resources in the immediate community surrounding the school. It is interactive and will help school staff utilize this information to increase their ability to work with and engage families and community members in the life of classrooms and the school. Resource Title: How to Help Your Child Succeed in School Price: varies Author: Anne Bouie, Ph.D. Description: This is a learning experience designed for parents and families. The work includes interactive sessions that help families learn how to support their children, work with teachers and become involved in the life of the school. Resource Title: School Program and Process Assessment Price: 20.00 per copy Author: Anne Bouie, Ph.D. Description: This tool helps school staff assess what they do and how they implement programs in seven key areas, including parental and community engagement. Resource Title: Building A Community School Description: A description of the Children's Aid Society community school model and a workbook/guide on to how to start a community school in your own community. Resource Title: Children's News Price: Free Description: Quarterly newspaper with news about San Francisco child care and other community resources, information on policy and advocacy and special features. In English and Spanish. Resource Title: Communities In Schools and the Model of Integrated Student Services: A Proven Solution to America's Dropout Epidemic Author: Communities In Schools, Inc. Description: A summary of high-quality, independent research on the beneficial impact of the CIS Model of integrated student services Resource Title: The ADD/ADHD Checklist: An Easy Reference for Parents & Teachers Price: $17.75 (CEC Members $16.00) Author: Sandra Rief Description: This upbeat and encouraging book presents the latest on ADD/ADHD in a fast-paced, concise format. Through a series of checklists the author first distills basic information on the condition-traits, diagnosis, treatment schemes, medication-then gives special information and advice to parents and teachers, presents academic and behavioral strategies, and explains resources available. A section on ADD/ADHD and the law (IDEA and 504) will be especially useful in explaining where a student with ADD/ADHD stands in terms of special education services. Resource Title: College Planning for Gifted Students, Second Edition, Revised Price: $24.00 (CEC Members $16.80) Author: Sandra L. Berger Description: Use this step-by-step guide for discovering the right fit between student and college. Helps students examine personal goals, values, and learning styles. Describes how to figure out what a college is really like. Revised edition includes information on how to get college planning information from the Internet. Resource Title: Kids with Special Needs: Information and Activities to Promote Awareness and Understanding Price: $16.95 Author: Veronica Getskow and Dee Konczal Description: A great sourcebook designed to help children-and adults-develop an understanding and empathy for individuals with disabilities. Pages of reproducible material provide simulations, games, and activities. Gives background on communicative, developmental, physical, and learning disabilities. Ideal for parents and teachers who want to understand more about inclusive classrooms, planning an IEP, and meeting their child's needs. Resource Title: Practical Ideas for Addressing Challenging Behaviors Price: $12.00 Description: This monograph shows how you can more effectively prevent, identify, and address challenging behaviors by taking a positive behavioral approach. Research-based strategies written in accessible language are accompanied by examples of how strategies are implemented in real-life situations in early childhood programs at home. Resource Title: Secrets of Discipline for Parents and Teachers: 12 Keys for Raising Responsible Children Price: Book (#S5285) is $12.95, Video (#S5286) is $18.95. Set (#S5290) is $29.95 Author: Ronald G. Morrish Description: Find out why behavior management alone fails. Learn about teaching compliance, setting limits, developing good habits and encouraging good decision making. Learn the importance of planning and commitment. Especially helpful in working with children who have ADHD. Video features popular speaker Ron Morrish. Resource Title: Successfully Parenting Your Baby with Special Needs Price: $49.95 Description: This new video will both educate and encourage parents who are expecting or have given birth to a baby with special needs. Both parents and experts in the field of pediatrics explain early intervention. Compassionate testimonials from parents, grandparents, and professionals underscore the need to teach parents in utilizing the early intervention approach. The success stories of babies with special needs who are thriving as a result of early intervention offer inspiration and guidance. Resource Title: Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete Authoritative Guide for Parents Price: $17.75 (CEC Members $16.00) Author: Russell A. Barkley Description: A wise and compassionate book for parents and professionals that points the way toward a positive approach for managing children and youth with ADHD. Presents pioneering research that provides insight into preventing the disorder from becoming a major problem for family life. Provides suggestions on how to manage ADHD behavior in everyday situations. Presents information on a variety of medications. With All Due Respect: Keys for Building Effective School Discipline Price: $16.95 Author: Ronald G. Morrish Description: Exceptional children often do not receive the direct instruction and positive practice required for the development of respectful, responsible behaviors. This book lets you learn how to increase time for teaching, improve standards for student work, put the authority back in the teacher role and decrease reliance on punishment and suspension. Resource Title: Ensuring the Education Rights of All Children, 2001 Description: This report reflects the priority actions for CCSSO in 2001. These priority actions reflect the leadership direction of CCSSO's current Board Chair, Dr. Peter McWalters, Commissioner of the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The priority actions encompass: 1) providing for the needs of all children; 2) implementing all elements of standard-based systems; 3) adjusting speed and scope of education reform implementation; 4) helping public and policy leaders understand the scope and boldness of reform and expect rates of progress in education; and 5) committing to strategic partnerships among community, business, faith institutions and education as essential to overcoming poverty and deprivation and assuring success in education. Resource Title: Gaining the Arts Advantage: More Lessons From School Districts that Value Arts Education Description: This brief report summarizes the October 2000 meeting of the Arts Education Partnership, during which 32 school districts from 19 states discussed the current status of arts education in their districts. These districts were profiled in a 1999 report from the Partnership, which identified 13 critical success factors to create and sustain arts education. The new report highlights how these districts have enhanced financial support, program quality, and community support for their arts partnerships. 2001. Resource Title: Gaining Ground Description: Monthly newsletter published under the auspices of CCSSO's High Poverty Schools Initiative. Features articles on the latest research, policy, and practice developments related to improving the achievement of students in low-performing, high poverty school districts Students Continually Learning: A Report of Presentations, Student Voices and State Actions Description: This report reflects the proceedings of CCSSO's 1999 Summer Institute. The Institute and proceedings were done in partnership with the Forum for Youth Investment (formerly the IYF-US). The Institute and accompanying report examined three issues: early development so every child enters school ready to learn; extended time to learn to assure all students achieve standards; and charging the student battery to stimulate motivation for success. 2001. Resource Title: Beating the Odds Price: $20 each plus $5 shipping and handling per copy for 1-10 copies. $15 each plus $5 shipping and handling per copy for more than 11 copies. Description: A study of the performance of inner-city schools with regard to academic goals and standards in math and reading.Have urban schools made progress with the reforms of the last several years? Which districts have made the most progress, and how have they done it? Resource Title: What Works in Urban Education Price: Free Description: Resource Title: For Now and Forever Price: $24.95 for 20 (Spanish and English available) Author: Derry Koralek Description: This booklet for parents is designed to explain the concepts of resilience, protective factors, as well as offering strategies for parents to use that will promote social/emotional growth. Resource Title: Devereux Early Childhood Assessment Price: $39.95 for 40 (English and Spanish available) Author: Paul LeBuffe and Jack Naglieri Description: The assessment tool is a standardized, norm-referenced, strength-based assessment of protective factors and resilience in preschool agend children. Parents and teachers both complete this assessment in order to better help each individualize and plan to help the child develop strong social/emotional skills. Resource Title: Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA) Program Kit Price: $199.95 Description: The DECA Kit contains assessments, parent guides, a teacher strategy guide, an observation journal of reproducible planning forms, a user's manual and a technical manual. The Kit is designed to help classroom teachers assess and plan to build children's resilience. District Community Voices Organized and Informed for Change in Education (DC Voice) Resource Title: The Demand for Information for Educational Decision Making in the District of Columbia: A Public Discourse Price: Free on request; on Web site Author: Michele Moser, Heath Brown, Barbara Frank, George Washington University; Tahi Reynolds, Ph.D., Erika Landberg, Alyssa Alston, Samuel Rosaldo, DC VOICE Description: This report on the education information study conducted by DC VOICE and the Public Education Research Consortium (PERC) contains three sections: 1. Major findings from other states and districts with exemplary information systems 2. Washington DC survey and focus group results 3. Implications and recommendations. Both the full report and the abridged version, Information Please!, are available on the DC VOICE Web site. Resource Title: Youth Voices Front and Center: D.C. Youth Speak Up About Their Education Price: Free on request; on Web site Author: Erika Landberg and Corae Briscoe Description: This report is based on seven discussion groups conducted with more than 60 youth ages 14-20 during December 2003-January 2004. Students daid they want their class wrok to: - be connected to their present and future lives, and - meet individual student needs by addressing different learning styles and giving special attention to those who have fallen behind. Resource Title: New Teacher Survey Price: Free on request; on Web site Author: Tahi Mottl Reynolds, Ph.D. Description: The most comprehensive feedback from DCPS teachers now available, particularly from new teachers, this survey was conducted at the end of the 2002-2003 school year and contains teacher views on: - professional develoment - new teacher supports such as orientation and mentoring - the general classroom conditions needed to promote quality teaching for every child. Resource Title: Elsie Whitlow Stokes: A Place to Call School -- Parent Handbook Price: Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School Author: Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School Description: This handbook is guide for parents, providing information on the school's history, mission and goals, admission process, policies, support services, code of conduct and parent compact. Resource Title: Debunking the Middle-Class Myth: Why diverse schools are good for all kids Price: $29.95 Author: Eileen Gale Kugler Description: In this award-winning book, Eileen Kugler highlights how diversity in schools stimulates and deepens education for each child, an advantage lost to homogenous schools. She challenges each stakeholder to take part in strengthening our diverse schools. Resource Title: Partnering with Parents and Families to Support Immigrant and Refugee Children at School Description: Immigrant students face unique mental health challenges, often unidentified and untreated, that impact their academic success. Building a partnership with their families can be a key to supporting mental health of the students and their entire family Resource Title: Building Partnerships with Immigrant Parents Description: Highlights lessons learned from a unique parent partnership program created in a high school where half of the parent population was born outside the United States Families and Schools Together: An experimental analysis of a parent-mediated multi-family group program for American Indian children Price: Free Author: Kratochwill, McDonald, Levin, Young Bear-Tibbetts, Demaray Description: Prevention of school failure with the Families and Schools Together (FAST) Resource Title: Families and Schools Together: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Multi-Family Support Groups for Children At Risk Price: Free Author: Kratochwill, McDonald, Levin, Scalia, Coover Description: Prevention of Special Education Referrals with the Families and Schools Together (FAST) Program Resource Title: Ask the Children Price: Paperback - Pub. #V99-01P $14.00, Hardcover - Pub. #V99-01 $25.00 Author: Ellen Galinsky Description: 1999. This study reveals surprising new facts and comprehensive practical ideas for the millions of mothers and fathers struggling to manage work and family life. Ask the Children is the first book to ask children what they really think about work, family, and many other topics. Parents will hear children's perceptions and opinions - both reassuring and insightful. Ellen Galinsky proposes a new conceptual model for understanding how work and family affect our lives. Resource Title: Community Mobilization: Strategies to Support Children and Their Families Price: $22.00 Pub. #C96-01. Author: Amy Laura Dombro, Nina Sazer O'Donnell, Ellen Galinsky, Sarah Gilkeson Melcher, and Abby Farber Description: 1996. 372 pages. This comprehensive guide will lead you through the practical steps needed to turn your vision for community-based action for children and families into reality. The book includes detailed descriptions of successful community collaborations around the country, as well as tips from the service providers, businesses, policy-makers and parents involved. A must for anyone working to create systemic change to improve the quality of services in his or her community. Resource Title: The Seven Lessons of Early Childhood Public Engagement Price: $10.00, #C20-01 Author: Nina Sazer O'Donnell and Ellen Galinsky Description: May, 2000. This brief describes recent early childhood public engagement efforts and outlines lessons for public engagement leaders. Part I defines public engagement and describes how national, state and local leaders have stimulated public engagement in early childhood issues. Part II outlines seven key lessons that informed these efforts. Part III offers concrete tips for how a wide variety of community members-from architects to youth-can take action to promote the healthy development of our nation's youngest children. Resource Title: Making Your School Family Friendly Price: $8.00 Author: Constantino, Steven M Description: Making Your School Family Friendly is specifically designed for high schools to understand the processess necessary to implement explicit family engagement programs to support the academic achievement of high school students. Resource Title: Take This Job and Love It! Price: $15.00 Author: King, Jerry Description: As a highly successful speaker, educator and author, Jerry King is known to educators as the "Attitude Doctor". Jerry utilizes his unique and effective speaking style to motivate, inspire, and enrich the careers of educators around the country. His experience as a classroom teacher and school administrator enables him to effectively connect with his audience. He had been identified as one of "America's Training Experts for Educators." Jerry's most requested seminars are based on his wildly successful book: Take this Job and Love It: The 6 Dynamic Strategies of Successful Teaching. Resource Title: Engaging All Families Price: $21.95 Author: Constantino, Steven M Description: Dr. Constantino's book "Engaging All Families" is designed to help schools and districts design and implement family engagement programs that support the academic and educational lives of children. Resource Title: First Day Newsletter Price: Free Description: A quarterly newsletter that chronicles the first hand First Day stories of schools and communities that have participated in creative ways in the First Day of School America campaign. Resource Title: First Day of School Activity Guide Price: Free Description: A 36-page guide to assist schools and communities in planning and implementing First Day Celebrations for parents. The Guide contains suggestions for First Day activities at the elementary, middle and high school levels, sample letters to parents, employers and the media, and lists of national resources for family and community involvement. George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education Resource Title: Promoting Excellence Series Price: $8 for set Author: CEEE Description: This series of publications is designed to provide tools for those seeking sound, research-based models and strategies for the design or evaluation of services for English Language Learners. Resource Title: State Assessment Policy and Practice for English Language Learners: A National Perspective Author: Charlene Rivera and Eric Collum (Eds.) Description: CEEE research around assessment policies for English language learners has resulted in several major national studies designed to build an understanding of states' strategies for including this student group. This volume contains 3 studies: 1. Analysis of State Assessment Policies Regarding Accommodations for ELLs 2. A Survey and Description of Test Translation Practices 3. Examination of State Practices for Reporting Participation and Performance of English Language Learners in State Assessment Resource Title: An Analysis of State Policies for the Inclusion and Accommodation of English Language Learners in State Assessment Programs during 1998-1999 Price: $10 Author: Charlene Rivera, Charles Stansfield, Lewis Scialdone, and Margaret Sharkey (Eds.) Description: In addition, the 2001 report is supplemented by an online database that includes the following three search online engines at 1. Search State Policies - This search presents a list of general policy items such as "State has a policy regarding inclusion/exemption." Selecting policy items from the list and pressing the search button returns a list of states that address the policy items selected. 2. Search Inclusion and Accommodation Decision and Criteria - This search presents a list of decision makers such as students, parents, and teachers as well as a list of criteria such as time in U.S. and time in state's schools. The decision and criteria items can be applied to either inclusion/exemption policy or accommodation policy. 3. Search Accommodation Policies - This search presents a list of accommodations and allows the user to specify whether a certain accommodation is allowed on some components, all components, or not at all. This section also allows the user to specify whether or not state policy indicates that scores are reported when different accommodations are used. Resource Title: Brokering External Policies to Raise Student Achievement: The Case of Plainfield, New Jersey School District Price: free Author: Marilyn Muirhead Description: This report examines the actions taken by Plainfield Public School District (PPS) -- one of the districts affected by the 1998 New Jersey State Supreme Court Abbott decision -- to implement the Abbott policy. Plainfield provides an example of a district that has adopted a CSR model and experienced a significant increase in language arts literacy achievement results across all its elementary schools. Resource Title: Technical Assistance Briefs: Literacy Tutor-Training Manual Price: free Author: Judy Blankenship Cheatham Description: This accessible, jargon-free tutor-training manual can help any motivated adult make a difference in the life of a child who needs help improving his or her reading skills. The manual addresses: * Best practices for tutoring children; * Appropriate children's books; * Assessment and instruction; * Working with the classroom teacher; * Adaptation of content-area materials to tutoring situations; * Age appropriateness and its relationship to tutoring; * Working with the English language learner; * Emerging literacy; * Responsibilities and legal issues; and * Documentation Resource Title: Beyond the Parent-Teacher Conference Price: Free Author: Heather B. Weiss, Holly Kreider, Eliot Levine, Ellen Mayer, Jenny Sadler and Peggy Vaughan Description: AERA Presentation, 1998. Discussions about home-school communication generally focus on formal, scheduled school activities offered to all parents, such as parent-teacher conferences or back-to-school nights. In contrast, this paper examines a variety of alternative communication patterns that are important mechanisms for parents and teachers to gain information and make decisions about children. Resource Title: Early Childhood Digest: Families and Teachers as Partners Price: Free Author: Holly Kreider Description: March, 1998. Early Childhood Digest is a quarterly report on ways that families and schools can work together to help young children learn and grow. This issue provides information on what parents and teachers can do to work together more effectively. Resource Title: Early Childhood Digest: Family Involvement in Early Childhood Programs: How to choose the right program for your child Price: Free Author: Priscilla M.D. Little Description: May, 1998. This issue looks at what parent involvement is and how families and schools can choose early childhood programs that encourage family involvement. Resource Title: Evaluating School-Linked Services: Considerations and Best Practices Price: $8 Author: Karen Horsch Description: 1998. 31 pages. Nine evaluators of school-linked services programs identify considerations and best practices related to evaluating outcomes, sustainability, and collaboration to help determine how school-linked service programs work, what their impact is, and whether they should be expanded. Resource Title: Generating Family-School Partnerships Through Social Marketing Price: Free Author: Sylvia Sensiper Description: 1999. The outgrowth of a meeting of six national organizations promoting family-school partnerships, this article discusses methods to enhance family involvement through social marketing. By arguing that schools should view parents as "customers," teachers and administrators can reach out to parents in effective and successful ways. Resource Title: New Skills for New Schools: Preparing Teachers in Parent Involvement Price: Free Author: Angela M. Shartrand, Heather B. Weiss, Holly M. Kreider, and M. Elena Lopez Description: 1997. This report reviews teacher certification requirements of all 50 states and the District of Columbia and examines 60 teacher-education programs that mention family involvement. The report also identifies nine teacher-education programs that focus on family involvement as an important concept, engage students in hands-on activities, and promote a broad concept of family involvement that recognizes the value of home-school collaboration. Resource Title: Queridos padres, en los Estados Unidos la escuela es nuestra tambien Description: Parent booklets that contain empathetic messages in Spanish to U.S. Hispanic families explaining the importance of families in education and how families can work with the schools their children attend. Resource Title: Together is Better: Building Strong Partnerships Between Schools and Hispanic Parents Description: This publication presents information, strategies and techniques for teachers, principals, and school districts derived from parent-school partnership projects developed to encourage cooperation between Hispanic families and the schools their children attend. Resource Title: You're a Parent . . . You're a Teacher, Too. Join the Education Team. Description: Parent booklets that contain empathetic messages in English to U.S. Hispanic families explaining the importance of families in education and how families can work with the schools their children attend. Resource Title: Parent Leadership Starter Kit Price: $7.50 Author: Misc. Description: Everything a parent leader needs to know to become a more effective advocate and decision-maker, including quizzes, checklists and lots of useful advice about making use of the No Child Left Behind law. Resource Title: 12 Things Parents Should Know and Expect Price: free PDF download from web site Author: Adam Kernan-Schloss Description: As a parent, here are 12 things you should know about and expect from your schools ... and yourself. Resource Title: The Case for Parent Leadership Price: free PDF download from web site Author: Misc. Description: The publication features a number of useful resources: checklists and mini-quizzes to help you judge how parent-friendly your schools are; practical advice for parents, educators and policymakers on what they can do — right now — to promote the kind of parent involvement that will have a sustained impact on student learning; and examples of successful parent leadership programs from New York to California. Resource Title: Using Data as an Advocacy Tool Price: $5 Author: Adam Kernan-Schloss Description: An 8-page guide that looks at how parents leaders can get smart about their school's data... identify which students are being well-served and which students are not ... and be able to ask the kinds of questions that lead to school improvement. Resource Title: No Child Left Behind: What's in It for Parents Price: $7.50 Author: Anne Henderson Description: This guide takes a closer look at how the new federal law requires schools and districts to involve parents in the hard work of school improvement. Readers also will learn about the six leverage points that parents and community members can use to ensure every child receives a high-quality education. For each leverage point, the guide suggests specific steps parents can take to ensure that their schools are doing what the federal law requires of them. English and Spanish versions. Resource Title: Improving Student Achievement Through MegaSkills Price: $79 per video with accompanying print materials Author: Dorothy Rich Description: Instructional videos for staff development and parent involvement: age/grade differentiated as above for minibooks: Each Video/DVD (40 min. presentation) has consistent set of features: including new Adult MegaSkills and Family Place. Resource Title: MegaSkills Staff and Family Libraries Author: Institute staff Description: Institute school and family libraries include: MegaSkills: 3rd and 2nd Editions Spanish/English Handbook What Do We Say? What Do We Do? Nurturing the Educational Leader Within You Survival Guide for Today's Parents and related titles Resource Title: MegaSkills Leader Training for Parent Involvement Price: Training Fees Author: Dorothy Rich and Harriett Stonehill Description: MegaSkills Leader Training for Parent Involvement provides training and complete content for a comprehensive series of workshops for parents. The instruction focuses on how MegaSkills can help parents support children's learning at home in partnership with school programs and provides grade coded home, academic learning for parents to do with children. Trainer of trainer is available. Resource Title: MegaSkills Essentials for the Classroom Price: Training Fees Author: Dorothy Rich and Harriett Stonehill Description: MegaSkills Classroom Essentials trains classroom teachers and staff in how to teach MegaSkills directly to students. The instructional program provides a complete curriculum and integrates into the regular work of the classroom in subjects including reading, social studies, science and math Community Classrooms Price: Varies on Quantity Author: Jane P. Boykin & Betty Trotti Description: Community Classrooms is a community development approach to early childhood education. Produced by the Mississippi Forum on Children and Families with the initial development supported in part by the Bell South Foundation, Community Classrooms affirms the important role a community plays in supporting parents and preparing children for school success. Community Classrooms has a parent guide that is 32 pages in an easy to read format that assists parents in identifying the teachable moments of everyday life. There are 13 community classrooms in the parent guide. Each classroom is detailed with a description, eight "Words to Know", and five "Lessons to Learn". The guides are splashed with bright colors and simple artwork that parents and children will enjoy. Preparing children for school success is not a difficult job- it's a joyful job! Teachers in Community Classrooms use three simple curriculum principals: Look, Talk, Listen. Because of the bel! ief that Children are Born to Learn and their Communities are full of teachers, Community Classrooms is designed to use the environment children grow in. Resource Title: MPIRC Online Newsletter Price: Free Description: This newsletter, sent regularly by the MPRIC office, is full of resources for parents, teachers and administrators, and it's delivered straight to your email inbox. To subscribe to the newsletter, send a blank email to info@montanapirc.org with "Subscribe" in the subject line. Resource Title: Training: Parents as Teachers (PAT) Description: This research-based, nationally recognized, home-based program provides parents with information on child development from birth to age 5, and models learning opportunities that encourage language and intellectual growth, physical and social skills. There are various sessions based on different ages of children Length: 2-5 days Audience: Head Start/Even Start/Early Head Start, home-visiting programs, teen parent program providers Call 1-800-914-1927 or email us at info@montanapirc.org. Resource Title: Training - Families and Schools Together (FAST) Description: FAST is an innovative prevention and parent involvement program that promotes child resilience and preventing school failure, delinquency and substance abuse. Participants will learn how to lead these FAST sessions in their communities. Length: 1-2 days Audience: school staff, parents and community members Call 1-800-914-1927 or email us at info@montanapirc.org. Resource Title: Just the Facts for Montana Parents Price: Free Description: MPIRC is pleased to offer information to parents and educators about roles & responsibilities involved with No Child Left Behind. Contact us for free information, publications & trainings. Resource Title: Family Resource Center Description: Literacy Support Specialist AmeriCorps members coordinate day-to-day operations of school-based Family Resource Centers in western Montana communities. They outreach to parents, providing information and tools for parents to empower themselves in support of children's education. They facilitate literacy-based, parent-child learning activities appropriate for each grade level. And they recruit volunteers from within the school population and the surrounding community to partner with them in planning and facilitating programs for parents and students through the Family Resource Centers they all help create and sustain. Resource Title: Meeting the Challenge: Effective Strategies for Challenging Behaviors in Early Childhood Environments Price: $9.00 Author: Barbara Kaiser, Judy Sklar Rasminsky Description: This reader-friendly book offers easily understandable ideas and strategies proven to work for children with the most challenging behaviors and to benefit every child in your early childhood setting. Resource Title: Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs, Revised Edition Price: $15.00 Author: Carol Copple, Sue Bredekamp Description offers an overview of each period of development and extensive examples of practices appropriate and inappropriate with children in that age group. Resource Title: Family-Friendly Communication for Early Childhood Programs Price: $10.00 Author: D. Diffily, K. Morrison Description: This practical book puts into your hands engaging messages on topics ranging from biting to the role of play. Tailor these to your program or use them as-is in newsletters, handouts, or other family communiques. Plus, dozens of strategies for bringing parents on board as full, knowledgeable partners in your program. Resource Title: Raising a Reader, Raising a Writer: How Parents Can Help (brochure) Price: $0.50/ $12.00 (100 or more) Description: This appealing brochure is designed to raise parents' awareness of the many enjoyable, no-pressure ways they can contribute to their children's earliest literacy experiences. Resource Title: Principals in the Public Engaging Community Support Price: NAESP Member: $19.95; Non-member (N/M): $25.95 Description: All the tools and techniques you'll need to ensure positive engagement of families and the broader community in the life of your school are here. Use this comprehensive resource to: Resource Title: Report to Parents: A Complete Set - All in English AND Spanish Price: $70.95 Description: Enlist the help of your school's parents! Regular communication will enhance parents' awareness of the issues affecting their children. More than 80 appealing, easy-to-read bulletins make it easy to stay in touch. Topics include safety, homework, discipline, testing, report cards, stress, and much more. Ready to reproduce, these 80 parent bulletins offer a complete selection of sound information to pass along to the parents in your learning community. Resource Title: Success Starts at Home - Booklet Price: NAESP Member: $10.00; Non-member (N/M): $14.50 Author: NAESP and World Book, Inc. Description: All parents want the best for their youngsters. Most are doing their best. But all parents can use concrete suggestions on how to better support education at home. This bright new 15-page brochure outlines five effective steps to help children do their best. Parents are given many suggestions as they are reminded to: Ask their children about their school work, feelings, and activities often Boost your school's success by furnishing parents with the friendly, practical information in this brochure. Sold in packs of 25. Resource Title: Raising a Reader: Advice to Parents of Young Readers Price: NAESP member: $12.00; non-member: $16.00. Sold in packages of 25. Description: National Association of Elementary School Principals and World Book Educational Products Answers to the questions parents ask educators. Reading is the tool a child needs most at school, and it is essential for success in nearly every job or career. This practical booklet offers good ideas and encouragement to parents who want to make reading a priority. Topics include: when to start reading to your child ways to boost a child's reading abilities identifying reading problems that parents can help solve at home helping children enjoy reading and more Strengthening the Connection between School and Home Price: $26.95 Author: NAESP in cooperation with Educational Research Service Description: Principals play a key role in promoting a strong partnership between a school and its families and in the empowerment of parents to positively affect the education of their children. This book tells you how to give parents that power, as you strengthen the connection between home and school. Resource Title: Raising Tweens: A parent`s guide to understanding your 9- to 12-year old Price: $16.00 Author: by NAESP and Family Circle Description: This brochure helps parents of pre-teens understand the physical, neurological, and emotional changes that occur during the tween (9-12) years. Practical tips on how parents can build their children's self esteem by teaching valuable life skills are also included. Sold in packs of 25. Resource Title: Handbook of Parent Training: Parents as Co-Therapists For Children's Behavior Problems, 2nd Edition Price: $85.95 Author: Edited by James M. Briesmeister and Charles E. Schaefer Description: John Wiley & Sons, 1998, 594 pages. The second edition of this book offers a unique opportunity to learn about the latest empirical findings and clinical developments in parent training from more than 30 leading innovators in the field. It provides complete updated information on behavior problems such as non-compliance, ADHD, and bladder control. Includes new chapters on childhood disorders such as separation anxiety, failure to thrive, eating problems, poor sleep habits and developmental disabilities. There are also chapters on helping children deal effectively with divorce and helping parents handle temperamental and antisocial children. Resource Title: Helping Children at Home and School: Handouts From Your School Psychologist Price: $70.00, $60.00 (Members), 7 or More, $51.00. Author: Edited by Andrea S. Canter and Servio A. Carroll Description: 1998, 630 pages . This collection of the parent/teacher handouts published each month in Communique has quickly become one of NASPs most popular items. This amazingly useful resource from NASP contains over 150 reproducible handouts, in a sturdy three-ring binder, usable when working with students, parents, teachers and other colleagues. Annotated bibliographies are listed on topics such as parenting and Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual issues, What is a School Psychologist? in English and Spanish, and a selection of NASPs positions statements. This is the ideal tool for all your professional and home-school collaborative purposes. Resource Title: The Unmotivated Child: Helping Your Underachiever Become a Successful Student Price: $13.00 Author: Natalie Rathvon Description: Simon and Schuster, 1997, 224 pages. Do you know a bright child who consistently fails to achieve in school? This book offers solutions that can help him or her make a rapid and lasting improvement. Learn the warning signals to watch for in elementary, middle and high school students. Find out how to look beneath surface behavior for the beliefs that influence an underachievers attitude and actions. Includes: five methods for communicating constructively with an underachiever, seven strategies for overcoming the homework trap, seven practical techniques for working with teachers, guidelines for supporting the student through the change process, including dealing with setbacks. This is an ideal tool for working with parents and teachers to help any child live up to his or her potential. It is also a good, low-cost addition to your schools or community's parenting resource center. Resource Title: Home-School Collaboration: Enhancing Children's Academic and Social Competence Price: $85.95 Author: Edited by Sandra L. Christenson and Jane Close Conoley Description: NASP Publication, 1992, 531 pages. Learn how to enhance the possibilities for students success by fostering collaboration between the school and the home/parents. This comprehensive volume provides conceptual and empirical bases for home-school collaboration, exemplary programs and models for contemporary ethnic issues, and competence enhancement for emotional and behavioral problems. It gives you proven approaches for enhancing home-school collaboration, behavioral interventions, homework, and handling specific populations, such as abused children and children of divorce. Resource Title: All Kids Can Learn Toolkit Price: $45.00 Author: Produced by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and Collaborative Communications Group Description: Use this toolkit at faculty meetings, during professional development workshops, at district meetings, and with parent groups to start a dialogue about school improvement and how high standards can improve student achievement and teacher and principal performance. Includes: (2) Schools That Learn: High Standards for Teacher and Principal Performance. A 28-minute videotape that paints a picture of what effective standards-based classrooms, instruction, and schools look like. Schools That Learn documents good practice in three diverse school districts in Texas, California, and Kentucky. The accompanying discussion guide can open up discussions among educators about how they can get all students achieving at high levels. (3) Expecting Success: How Standards Raise Student Performance. This 14-minute videotape helps parents understand what standards really mean to their child's education and explains, through the voices of parents, commonly used terms like "standards" and "rubric." The videotape and the accompanying discussion guide are excellent tools for building the relationship between home and school. (4) Figuring It Out: Standards-Based Reforms in Urban Middle Grades. Anne C. Lewis describes how six very different urban districts tackled standards-based reform in their middle schools. She concludes by outlining what standards based reforms need to continue. Resource Title: The Cornucopia Kids -- Revised Edition Price: $1.75 (members), $2.75 (non-members). Author: Bruce A. Baldwin Description: 1996, 20 pp. Baldwin expands on his popular earlier work with more common sense and thought-provoking suggestions for turning today's teenagers into productive and happy adults. A must for every parent, teacher, and principal. Resource Title: Creating Our Future: Parents as Partners in Education Price: $54.95 (members), $59.95 (non-members). Description: High School Magazine, March 1995. Establishing strong school-home partnerships, preparing students for college success, updating the secondary school business curriculum, evaluating support staff members. Resource Title: From Information to Interaction: Involving Parents in the Literacy Development of Their Adolescent Price: $12 (members), $15 (non-members). Author: James A. Rycik Description: Bulletin. October 1998. Resource Title: Gold Files Selected Articles on Parenting Price: $35.00 each Description: Each Gold File, assembled by the Bureau of Educational Research and Services at Arizona State University's College of Education, contains approximately 60-100 pages of selected articles that are systematically updated to reflect the most current thinking on the subjects. Topics available include: Parent Participation #336.1 Parent Participation - High School #336.4 Parent participation - Multicultural #336.3 Parent Participation - Special Education #336.2 Parent-Teacher Conferences #337.1 Parents as Teachers #335.1 Family Literacy #864.1 Reading - Parent Participation #663.1 Intergenerational Programs #899.1 Advisory Committees #107.1 Early Childhood Education #675.1 Early Intervention #713.1 Emergent Literacy #369.1 Resource Title: Helping Students Develop Self-Motivation: A Sourcebook for Parents and Educators Price: $9.00 Author: Donald R. Grossnickle Description: 1989. 32 pp. Parents and educators must work together to provide opportunities for students to develop self-motivation and self-management skills. This book is a blueprint for working with students. Resource Title: Helping Your Kid Make The Grade Price: $2.50 Author: Sandy Dornbusch Description: 1986. 12 pp. A university professor teamed up with high school principals to find out how family life affects school performance. This booklet describes their conclusions and suggests how educators and parents can help students make the grade. Resource Title: How Parents and Students Can Enrich the Work of a Community of Learners Price: $12 (members), $15 (non-members). Author: Anne Wescott-Dodd Description: Bulletin. February 1999. Resource Title: How To Improve Parent-Teacher Conferences: A Guide for Parents from the Principal Price: $2 (members), $3 (non-members). Author: Les Potter Description: From Tips for Principals, March 1996. Resource Title: Schools in the Middle Price: Each issue is $5.00 (Members), $7.00 (Non-members). Description: Publication of the NASSP. Some issues specific to parent involvement include "Parental Involvement." September/October 1997. "Parent, Family, and Community Involvement in the Middle Grades." Schools in the Middle. March 1999. "Families Play a Role.". May/June 1999. Resource Title: Caring Communities: Report of the National Task Force on School Readiness Price: $10.00 Description: 1991, 56 pp. This report redefines school readiness and presents a vision for what schools, communities, families, and federal and state governments must do if the nation is to meet the important national goal of ensuring that every child comes to school ready to learn. The Task Force was chaired by then-governor Bill Clinton. Resource Title: Creating Good Schools for Young Children: Right from the Start Price: $12.00 Description: 1995, 48 pp. This is a study of 11 developmentally appropriate elementary school programs based on the principles set out in Right from the Start. It provides detailed descriptions of the programs, looks at how they were developed, gives results in terms of student achievement and other indicators, and reviews the lessons learned. Resource Title: Online Reports and Policy Briefs on Family Involvement Price: Free Description: NASBE has published the following reports and policy briefs concerning family involvement: Resource Title: Right from the Start Price: $8.50 Description: 1988, 55 pp. This is a report of NASBE's Early Childhood Education Task Force, which held hearings and visited schools in four cities to gather information on the status of early childhood learning. Now in its sixth printing, this seminal work calls for developmentally appropriate, ungraded elementary school units to serve children 4-8 and for new partnerships between schools and early childhood programs and community agencies. Resource Title: Winning Ways: Creating Inclusive Schools, Classrooms, and Communities Price: $12.00 Description: 1995, 48 pp. This follow-up report to Winners All takes an in-depth look at the roles a variety of groups and organizations (including teachers, parents, board members, administrators, and higher education) can play in promoting inclusive education. Based on individual interviews and focus group discussions with people actually involved in creating inclusive educational settings, Winning Ways provides each group with recommendations, strategies for action, and pitfalls to be avoided. Resource Title: For Our Children: A Parent's Guide to New Standards Price: Free Description: Most Americans, particularly parents, believe that the expectations, or standards, that schools hold for our children are too low. Research, common sense and experience show us that raising expectations -- setting higher standards -- helps our children learn more. Research shows that students learn more when expectations are higher. The following pages illustrate how New Standards taps that desire to learn and helps children like yours live up to their academic promise New Standards(TM) Student Performance Standards Price: Complete set (Elementary, Middle School, High School, Video) $120.00, any individual volume plus video is $45.00. Video only, $8.00. Description: The performance standards are the result of a two-year effort to make standards operational. They not only provide clear expectations for student achievement, but also include numerous examples of student work that show what work that meets standards looks like. These standards are the basis of the New Standards assessment system. Published in three volumes – elementary, middle, and high school, each volume contains performance standards for English language arts, mathematics, science, and applied learning. A unique feature of the standards is a video showing standard setting work for the "speaking and listening" standard. The video shows how each student performance is linked to the standards and why that performance counts as standard-setting. Resource Title: America's Choice Curriculum and Instruction Materials for New Standards(TM) Price: $8.00 each Description: "How will the adoption of the New Standards Performance Standards or other state and local standards change my instruction and curriculum?" Classroom teachers with this query find that much is written about standards reform in general, but very little of it deals with how standards impact a classroom, its rituals, routines, procedures, artifacts, and the instructional strategies that enable students to progress toward achieving standards. These booklets describe a composite of "best practices" from successful standards-based classrooms at the elementary and secondary levels. Resource Title: Ramping-Up: Secondary Students as Writers Price: $25.00 Description: Ramping-Up exercises are designed for use with secondary school students who have no history as writers and little, if any, interest in writing. The aim of Ramping-Up is simple: accelerate the students to the point where they can merge with the flow of their regular standards-based classroom and successfully handle demanding curriculum at their grade level. Ramping-Up is a cumulative sequence of five sets of writing exercises that are organized in such a way that the skills developed in previous exercises are reinforced and synthesized with new skills worked out in later activities. Th final assignment is not simply another exercise – it is a synthesis of all of the exercises and the culminating event of a series of exercises that work together to create a particular kind of writing experience. It is an experience aimed at generating confidence, fluency and skill in student writers who up to this point have had difficulty writing in the classroom. Resource Title: Thinking for a Living – Education and the Wealth of Nations Author: Ray Marshall and Marc Tucker Description: You'll immediately understand how this groundbreaking book found its way to the top of the most influential American policymaker's reading lists - including President Bill Clinton's, who recommended the book to his entire staff. Why the widespread popularity? Because authors Ray Marshall and National Center on Education and the Economy President Marc Tucker present the most timely and compelling report available on the current state of our education system, and the enormous chasm that needs to be crossed between our students' preparedness and their abilities to function in a new economy. The need for education reform is real, the timeline is urgent, and the necessity for families, communities, and businesses to maximize the skills of future workers will never have a greater impact on our quality of life. National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools at the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory Resource Title: Emerging Issues in School, Family, and Community Connections Price: $14 Author: Catherine Jordan, Amy Averett, Deborah Donnelly, Marilyn Fowler, Margaret Myers, Evangelina Orozco, Lacy Wood Description: This research synthesis is the first in a series that will examine key issues in the field of family and community connections with schools. The issues highlighted in this synthesis represent critical areas of work in family and community connections with schools where clarification, agreement, and further development are needed, as well as promising new directions that are emerging. It is based on a review of over 160 publications. Resource Title: National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools Annotated Bibliography 2001 Price: Free Description: This publication is an annotated bibliography of recent journal articles, books, reports, conference papers and proceedings, and literature reviews related to school, family, and community connections. Researchers and practitioners can use this bibliography as a tool for accessing current research-based information, theory, and practice. This bibliography is also available as a searchable database on the Center's website. Resource Title: Creating Collaborative Action Teams Price: Masters $225.00; CD-ROM of all materials (English only) $39.95; Print and CD-ROM package $250.00 Author: Catherine Jordan, Amy Averett, Jerry Elder, Evangelina Orozco, Zena Rudo Description: This guide and toolkit consist of activities and resources that individuals, school districts, and other organizations can use to build partnerships between home, school, community, and students. Developed and tested with 22 different local sites over five years, these materials guide participants through a five-stage Collaborative Action Team development process. Materials are available in English, Spanish, and on CD-ROM Resource Title: Resource Guide for Planning and Operating After-School Programs Price: $18.00 for printed version, available online free. Description: This guide provides a description of timely, inexpensive resources to support after-school programs for school-aged children. Many of the materials in the guide also represent resources for before-school, summer programs and community learning centers. Resource Title: Thriving Together: Connecting Rural School Improvement and Community Development Price: $39.95 (Print materials, English or Spanish), $29.95 CD-ROM (English only) Author: Martha Boethel Description: Thriving Together is designed to give practitioners the background information and basic tools needed to get started with a joint school-community development effort. It includes worksheets to help you get started with your project and an extensive resources section to link you to other organizations and publications. Available in English, Spanish, and on CD-ROM. Pathways: A Primer for Family Literacy Program Design and Development Price: $21 Description: This practical guide traces the steps for starting and maintaining a quality family literacy program, from initial community assessment to strategies for success that include evaluation, recruitment and retention, and raising public awareness. The book offers insights to program planning based on 10 years experience in family literacy implementation and training. Resource Title: Stories of Impact: Improving Parent Involvement Through Family Literacy in the Elementary School Price: $14 Description: This inspiring and practical book examines how famiy literacy impacts children's outcomes by increasing parent involvement and helping parents improve their own skills. The book also provides real program examples of blended funding opportunities and success stories from the Toyota Families in Schools program implemented in 45 Title I schools across the nation. Resource Title: Recruitment and Retention for Family Literacy Programs Kit Price: $55 Description: Tools, resources and guidance that every literacy program needs. This kit includes a guidebook filled with straightforward ideas for engaging adult students and keeping them motivated. Resource Title: Catalog of School Reform Models Price: Free Description: Last spring, NCCSR and the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory formed a partnership to update the Catalog of School Reform Models. Over the past several months we have added new models to the Catalog, updated all of the contact and cost information, and created a sorting mechanism. To help educators find the right model to meet their school's needs, users can now search by: Special populations: English language learners, special education, rural, urban, or high poverty Resource Title: School Reform Issue Briefs Price: Free Description: Occasional papers covering a wide array of trends and issues in CSR, NCCSR Issue Briefs are designed to be of interest to CSR researchers, policymakers and practitioners. Recent briefs include: A Brief for Practitioners on Turning Around Low-Performing Schools: Implications at the School, District, and State. April 2001 A CSR Agenda: Emerging Themes for Research, Policy and Practice April 2001. Resource Title: Step by Step Price: Free Description: A part of the NCCSR web site designed to help people who are thinking about school change with their planning and research. School change is a multi-faceted process involving many steps, and this collection of tools is for educators to use during the multiple stages of the change process. This site presents a suggested progression for the reform process. Resource Title: Unlocking the Nine Components of CSRD Price: Free Description: CSRD, the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration program funded by the U.S. Department of Education, requires that participating schools develop and implement school improvement plans with the following nine components: goals, supportive staff members, research-based methods, external assistance, parental and community involvement, staff development, coordination of resources, evaluation and comprehensive approach. This publication provides dozens of online resources on these components to help educators create effective schoolwide improvement plans. Resource Title: Grantseeking: How to Find a Funder and Write a Winning Proposal Price: Single copy: $14.95, 2–9 copies: $12.95, 10 or more: $9.95 Author: Larry E. Decker and Virginia A. Decker Description: Here, in plain English, is a detailed road map of the sequential activities followed by successful grantseekers. The entire grantseeking process — from generating a good idea through identifying the right funder, writing a winning proposal, and administering the grant — is laid out in detail, with models and examples. Both novice and experienced grantseekers find this volume Resource Title: The "Hard-to-Reach" Parent: Old Challenges, New Insights Price: Single copy: $11.95, 2–9 copies: $9.95, 10 or more: $7.95 Author: Renee White-Clark and Larry Decker Description: The popular stereotype of "at risk" families is that the adults are unemployed and the family is on welfare. The truth is that two-thirds of the people on welfare are working: 38 percent of poor families receive no public cash assistance at all. Some poor parents do experience unspeakable hardships, but the faith and determination of many have enabled them to overcome enormous obstacles to achievement. This monograph provides a realistic view of the "hard-to-reach" and gives insights for getting parents involved in the education of their children. Resource Title: Home, School, and Community Partnerships Price: Single copy: $28.95, 10 or more: $24.95 Author: Larry E. and Virginia A. Decker Description: Many Americans worry about what they see as a growing gulf between the American public and its public schools. Troubling trends seem to indicate a fraying relationship among families, schools and communities. Though there is agreement that change needs to occur, there is no agreement on the best way to make that change. This book will help educators weave some of the best ideas for creating and sustaining family and community engagement into a comprehensive home-school-community partnership program tailored to their own communities. Please see NCEA's Publications and Products page for details and ordering information. Resource Title: Transforming Schools into Community Learning Centers Price: $29.95 per copy Author: Steve Parson Description: This practical new book with a vision of the future of education is by long-time NCEA member Steve Parson. Steve is Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Virginia Tech. He also is a consultant and trainer in the fields of community education, educational partnerships, and education reform. Transforming Schools into Community Learning Centers demonstrates how your school can: Provide services to the entire community, not just to school-age children; and Develop community resources as an integral part of the school's instructional program. Further, the book profiles sites at which various components of the vision have already been set in motion. And it provides guidelines for implementation developed from real experiences at real schools. Resource Title: Reforming Public Schools through Community Education Price: 1–9 copies: $24.95, 10+ copies: $19.96 Author: Jack D. Minzey and Clyde E. LeTarte Description: Authors Jack Minzey and Clyde LeTarte offer an up-to-date analysis of the status of education today, with a prescription for hope and a method for action through community education. Minzey and LeTarte clearly explain community education in practice and philosophy and show how community education is the framework for creating learning communities called for in virtually every reform effort. Resource Title: Academia del Pueblo: Math and Science Price: $45.00 Description: 600 pp. Part of the Project EXCEL series, ADP-MAS aims to increase and strengthen informal math and science education opportunities for Hispanic elementary school students. ADP-MAS is designed to be implemented by community-based teachers and para-educators in collaboration with neighborhood schools. Curriculum highlights include Nuestro Mundo Creativo (Our Creative World) work stations, which feature connections between the lessons presented and the arts. Literature Links connect math and science to stories, poetry and picture books, and Parent Links tie home experiences to classroom learning. Available in English with English and Spanish student handouts. Resource Title: Job Readiness Tool Kit Price: $15 Description: 240 pp. The Job Readiness Tool Kit is a unique resource for community-based job readiness programs serving Latino youth and adults. Lesson plans guide instructors through culturally-relevant, interactive exercises for job training workshops or entire courses. Lessons use worksheets, discussions, research, interviews with peers or mentors, role-plays, group projects, presentations, self-assessment exercises, and games. The Tool Kit addresses: Getting Started and Motivated; Self-Assessment and Promotion; Job Search and Selection; Applying for the Job; Getting Ahead in the Workplace; Problem-Solving At Work; and Career Planning. The Tool Kit was made possible by a grant from the Coors Brewing Company. Available in both English and Spanish. Resource Title: Project Success Price: $65.00 Description: 870 pp. Part of the Project EXCEL series, Project Success is an after-school academic enrichment curriculum for at-risk adolescents. Law-related education (LRE), in the context of citizenship in a constitutional democracy, is the central focus of this curriculum. Students will be exposed to constitutional, consumer, and housing law, as well as some aspects of criminal law. Available in English with English and Spanish student handouts. Resource Title: Sabemos y Podemos: Learning for Social Action Price: $15 Description: 220 pp. In the Sabemos y Podemos: Learning for Social Action curriculum, "power" means using language and literacy skills, not as ends in themselves, but as a means to social action. A resource for ESL, Literacy, or Adult Basic Education programs, Sabemos y Podemos explores: school success for Latino children, expanding work options and improving working conditions for Latinos, and identifying community issues that might range from tenant concerns to police harassment. It provides guidelines for organizing for change, and for forming alliances with youth, parents, teachers, co-workers, and community members. Funded by Western Union, as part of their Aprender Es Poder education program. Available in both English and Spanish. Resource Title: Be Safe and Sound - School Safety Resources Price: Free Description: NCPC's Be Safe & Sound campaign is an effort to get parents and caregivers involved in increasing the safety and security of their children's schools. To that end, NCPC has produced two resources: "Caregivers' Guide to School Safety and Security," and "School Safety and Security Toolkit: A Guide for Parents, Schools, and Communities." Visit for more information and to sign up for our newsletter. Resource Title: Teens, Crime, and the Community Price: Varies Description: Teens, Crime, and the Community (TCC) is NCPC's national initiative to get teens involved in crime prevention to make themselves safer and their communities stronger. "Community Works", the TCC curriculum, uses education and action to teach youth about their chances of victimization and what they can do about it. Youth Safety Corps, the TCC club model, mobilizes students to improve the learning environment of their schools by designing and running projects to prevent youth crime, violence, and drug abuse. Visit for more information administrators coordination among the criminal justice, social, economic, family, and other systems that make up a community. Visit to check it out. Resource Title: Developing Your Child's IEP Price: Free Author: Theresa Rebhorn Description: Written expressly for parents by a parent, this 28-pager gets to the heart and soul of the IEP. It looks at every component of this all-important document. Find it online at: Resource Title: Building The Legacy: A Training Curriculum On IDEA 2004 Price: Free Description: The curriculum is intended to help all those involved with children with disabilities understand and implement the IDEA 2004, the nation's special education law. Available online at Resource Title: Categories of Disability Under IDEA Resource Price: Free Description: If you want to find out how IDEA defines the disability categories under which a child may be found eligible for services, this publication will tell you. Posted online at: Resource Title: Your Child's Evaluation Price: Free Description: How schools determine if a student has a disability and is eligible for special education? This 4 pager describes IDEA's requirements for evaluation. Posted online at: Resource Title: Questions Often Asked by Parents about Special Education Services Price: Free Description: Here is a comprehensive but brief look at the special education process from start to finish, beginning with the question "Why is my child struggling in school?" Posted online at: Resource Title: Family Literacy Strategies Resource Price: $8 Author: D.A. Stegelin Description: This publication is a follow-up to Early Literacy Education and focuses on family strategies to encourage literacy. Resource Title: Solutions to the Dropout Crisis Price: Free Author: NDPC Staff Description: This is a live radio webcast that is archived each month on different dropout prevention strategies. Go to Resource Title: The 10 Greatest Gifts I Give My Children: Parenting from the Heart Price: $12.00 Author: Steven W. Vannoy, Fireside Press Description: The 10 Greatest Gifts project is dedicated to taking the struggle out of parenting and putting the joy back in. Its goal is to help families create their own unique family vision along with a working, proactive plan to nurture and fulfill this vision. Resource Title: The Fatherhood Movement: A Call to Action Price: $60.00 Author: Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., David Blankenthorn, and Mitch Perlstein, Lexington Books Description: The fatherhood movement has established itself as the most innovative and effective response to the most daunting crisis facing American families. Written by the movement's founders, The Fatherhood Movement illustrates methods for reconnecting men with their children and restoring the fragile bonds that hold our society together. This book provides valuable insights into the historical, social, economic and spiritual dimensions of the "disappearance" of fathers from society. Reflecting the complex nature of this problem, the contributors include activists, politicians, public intellectuals, and academics from a broad range of disciplines. They not only identify the root causes of the widespread withdrawal of fathers from their family life, but also offer specific remedies on individual, local, and national levels. This book is a timely and important contribution to a topic of growing concern to all Americans. Resource Title: Fatherhood Today Price: Free Description: Fatherhood Today, the National Fatherhood Initiative's quarterly newsletter, updates members and friends about the activities and progress of NFI in addition to providing informed discussion on a wide range of issues dealing with fathers, fatherhood, and the fatherhood renewal movement. Resource Title: Father Involvement: For Such a Time as This Price: $7.50 Author: Ron J. Clark, MPP Description: Filled with valuable lessons and tips for individual fathers and for professionals who work with them, this book offers an effective tool in today's quest to improve father involvement. A happily married, proud father of two sons, Clark is the Director of the Virginia Fatherhood Campaign and has worked as a consultant to several private and public youth and family service agencies across the nation. Resource Title: Multicultural Counseling With Teenage Fathers Price: $29.95 Author: Mark S. Kiselica, Sage Publications Description: An up-to-date and in-depth guide for dealing with teenage fathers, this volume provides a framework for responding to not only the general but also the culturally specific needs of any given unwed teen father. Offering perceptive solutions, the author significantly contributes to the existing literature on how to help teenage men who face unplanned, out-of-wedlock fatherhood by providing clear and concise guidance within the web of legal, family and personal issues surrounding teenage fatherhood. The book examines the role of the teenage father's relationships - to his parents, his child, the mother of his child and her parents, and his peers - as they relate to his adjustment and changing worldview. While sensitive to cultural considerations, Multicultural Counseling with Teenage Fathers illuminates ways in which to encourage teenage fathers to take control of their lives and act responsibly regardless of cultural background. Resource Title: Parents as Mentors Price: $14.00 Author: Sandra Burt & Linda Perlis Description: An exciting new way to approach parenting that will make a magical difference in a child's life. Parents as Mentors is not just another parenting book. It is a book that will help every mother and father succeed in the most important undertaking of their lives: shaping the life of their child. This positive and reassuring guide answers many common parenting questions with sensitivity and authority, drawing from the most enduring concepts in research and theory as well as the authors' 27 years of practical parenting. In this hectic age, this book illustrates the most effective ways parents and children can maximize their limited time. The authors provide a plan on how to develop a child's full potential simply by learning to identify, affirm, and develop his or her natural talents and abilities. Resource Title: Playing to Learn Brochures: Activities for Parents and Children Price: $4.00 Description: These offer a collection of creative, colorful child development brochures packed with activities and ideas that promote the joys of parent-child interaction. The brochures are written and organized in a clear, respectful, approachable style, and suggest creative playthings that are easily located and cost little or nothing. They are useful for parents with varied reading abilities, resources and backgrounds. Set of 4 brochures (Birth to Six Months, Six to Twelve Months, One to Three Years, Three to Five Years). Also available in Spanish. Resource Title: Responsible Men, Responsible Fathers: Curriculum Price: The curriculum is available in two formats: a two-day train-the-trainer workshop for up to 25 professionals ($1000 plus expenses); or purchase the curriculum alone for $35.00. Author: Randell D. Turner, Ph.D. & Neil Tift Description: This is a 12-module parent education curriculum for fathers and men with limited literacy skills. Resource Title: The Better Homes and Gardens New Father Book: What Every Father Needs to Know to be a Good Dad Price: $9.95 Author: Wade F. Horn, Ph.D, and Jeffrey Rosenberg Description: Meredith Books and the National Fatherhood Initiative have teamed up to create the state-of-the-art fathering book for new dads. It offers practical tips on everything from what to expect from a new baby to how to effectively discipline older children. The book is based on the authors' personal and professional experiences. An indispensable guide that every new father — and even more experienced fathers — can turn to for answers about such matters as: How a father's role differs from that of a mother's How to help your wife through pregnancy How to enhance your children's physical, cognitive and psychological health How to childproof your marriage How to find the time to be a good dad How to function as a single dad or step-dad Includes a special appendix, "For Mom's Eyes Only," that features five myths about fathering to help moms understand the differences in the ways moms and dads approach parenting. Resource Title: Coaching for Fatherhood Price: $13.95 Author: Lewis Epstein, New Horizon Press Description: Coaching for Fatherhood outlines a step by step method to revitalize fatherhood, utilizing family histories and participants. It expands men's visions of themselves and the families that formed them. Through it, men can learn to actively participate in their present families, develop a stronger sense of themselves, and become truly involved in their children's lives. Resource Title: Complete Smart Dads Toolkit Price: $39.95 Author: Paul Lewis, Family University Description: Fathers in the 90s are waking up ... to their unique contributions to child development ... to the rewards of being much more than banker and disciplinarian! This Complete Smart Dads Toolkit provides the balanced mix of practical strategies, tools and creative techniques to give your child a powerful legacy of love and support. Seven items included in the convenient storage case are: Terrific Tips for Dads, day to day ways to instill fifteen important skills, attitudes and values in toddlers through teenagers; Dad Plan Quick Reference Playbook, 64 pages of planning sheets, resources for effective family meetings, chores, action plans and more; Five Key Habits Key Ring; "Quick Talk" Conversation-Starter Cards, 45 quick reference guides to launch a great conversation at mealtimes, bedtimes or drive-times with your child; Climb and Repel, a game to build the dad/child relationship; Dad Trax, a cassette of ten segments of fathering tips for "drive-time" listening; and, Five Key Habits of Smart Dads cassette (see description later in the While Supplies Last section). Resource Title: Parent Involvement: A Training Manual for Head Start Staff Price: Free Description: This new staff-focused training manual includes exercises to use in your staff development and training workshops and instructions on how to conduct an ongoing peer group for social services and parent involvement staffs. Resource Title: Parent's Guide After Head Start: Success in Public School Price: $4 for non-members, $2 for members. Discounts available if you buy in bulk. Description: This guide offers easy, practical, common sense steps to help parents and students make the transition from Head Start to public schools . Checklists guide parents through the multiple steps of transition, from meeting the new teacher to becoming involved with the parent-teacher association. In English and Spanish. Resource Title: The V2K Tool Kit for Voter Participation: A Voter Participation and Lobbying Guide for Head Start Parents, Staff, and Friends Price: Free Description: With nearly 18 million former Head Start children and their families nationwide, and more than 835,000 children in the Program today, the Head Start community stands to make a major impact in the upcoming elections. This user-friendly guide shows you how to make your voice heard. Resource Title: This We Believe: Successful Schools for Young Adolescents Author: National Middle School Association Description: This new, expanded edition of our association's position paper must be read thoughtfully by every middle level educator, policymaker, parent, and anyone interested in the best thinking about Successful Schools for Young Adolescents, the very apt sub-title. Presenting a vision of a developmentally responsive middle school, this resource opens with a section on the importance of middle level education from the point of view of young adolescents and our changing society. This is followed by the heart of the document, an elaboration of the 14 characteristics of successful middle schools. A Call to Action then provides specific suggestions for using this document as a tool to improve middle level schools. An important concluding feature of This We Believe is a completely rewritten section of the characteristics of young adolescents, prepared by noted scholar, Dr. Peter Scales of the Search Institute. The new This We Believe is truly a significant document that should be read and studies widely and used in every middle school. Resource Title: Keys to Reengaging Families in the Education of Young Adolescents Price: $20.00 (NMSA members: $16.00) Author: Hazel Loucks and Jan Waggoner Description: This comprehensive resource includes abundant suggestions and materials to help answer a critical need documented by decades of research and the experiences of educators nationwide. Every middle school should have this tool available as efforts to increase communication with families are implemented. Pull-out sections may be used as stand-alone handouts, communication enhancers for newsletters, supplements for parent-teacher conferences, or as general information for community organizations. Spiral bound to facilitate reproduction. Resource Title: H.E.L.P. Price: $20.00 for 50 brochures (NMSA members: $16.00) Author: Judith Baenen Description: Parents of young adolescents are worried. But now there's H.E.L.P. Beginning with the exhortation, "get ready for changes!" H.E.L.P. tells parents what to expect of young adolescents and why, offering compassionate, practical solutions to common problems: forgetting, irritability, power plays, friendships, chores, and more. Sold in packets of 50 for distribution to parents, this affordable pamphlet can make a real difference in students' lives outside the classroom. Also available in Spanish. Resource Title: What is a Middle School? Price: $15.00 for 50 brochures (NMSA Members: $12.00) Description: Order online at or by calling 1-800-528-NMSA (6672) ResourceDescription4: This attractive and informative brochure for parents, school boards, and the community helps to build understanding and gain support for the modern middle school. It defines early adolescence as a time of rapid growth and change, explaining how the middle school supports adolescent development through active learning, teaming, integrated instruction, and exploratory learning. Resource Title: Promoting Harmony: Young Adolescent Development and School Practices Price: $12.00 (NMSA Members: $9.60) Description: The premise of Promoting Harmony is deceptively simple, "the process of becoming a successful school begins with an understanding of young adolescents and an appreciation of their unique needs." This book shows how teachers, students, and parents can work together in harmony and gives many examples of successful school practices. With chapters on physical, sexual, intellectual, social development, and personal characteristics of young adolescents, this book offers an intimate glimpse into the development of 10- to 15-year-olds and provides essential insights into what their behavior means. Resource Title: Reprints of Research and Practice Recommendations Price: Prices range from $.50 to $8. Description: The Center makes available a large number of articles and reprints from other magazines and publications on topics ranging from research on partnership development to surveys of existing practices. Resource Title: Building Successful Partnerships: National PTA's Parent Involvement Initiative Price: $18.95 Description: Schools with strong parent involvement programs experience profound benefits for students, parents, teachers, and administrators. Research shows that when parents are involved in students' education, those students generally have higher grades and test scores, better attendance, and more consistently completed homework. Building Successful Partnerships is a multifaceted program focused on increasing awareness and implementation of the National Standards for Parent /Family Involvement Programs. This implementation guidebook is a comprehensive resource for parents, educators, communities, schools, designed to provide the foundation for developing a quality parent involvement program. Resource Title: National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Booklet Description: Voluntary guidelines to strengthen parent and family involvement on behalf of children in schools and other programs. The six standards and their quality indicators provide PTAs, schools, and communities with the components that are needed for highly effective parent/family involvement programs. Resource Title: Our Children Price: $10 (Members), $20 (Non-Members) Description: The official magazine of National PTA. Published bimonthly, it provides information and ideas on how to make households, neighborhoods, schools, and communities better places for children. Our Children offers a variety of exciting new features and columns, including "Our PTA," a special center section devoted entirely to the work of parents and PTAs across the country, "What's Happening in Washington," information on how to help adults advocate on behalf of children, "Chalkboard," stories told from the perspective of educators, and "Frontlines," the latest news, facts, and people affecting children and youth. Resource Title: Parents Guide to the Information Superhighway Price: $5.00 Description: Offers a simple step-by-step introduction to parenting in the online world. This guide is a starter "tool kit" to introduce parents to technology in an online world and provide some tools and rules for use with children at home, at school, and in the community. Developed in conjunction with National PTA and the National Urban League, with advisors including the American Library Association. Resource Title: American School Board Journal Description: The American School Board Journal is an award-winning, editorially independent education magazine published monthly by the National School Boards Association. Founded in 1891, American School Board Journal chronicles change, interprets issues, and offers readers practical advice on a broad range of topics pertinent to school governance and management, policy making, student achievement, and the art of school leadership. Resource Title: Communities Count: A School Board Guide to Public Engagement Price: $20.00 Author: Michael A. Resnick Description: This publication guides school board members through the community engagement process and includes help in understanding the rationale, the benefits, and the concerns that are part of the process of convening the community. Although the specifics of community engagement will be unique for every community, experience shows that success is based on some common principles, a good plan, and continous work. Resource Title: Safe Schools, Safe Communities Price: $25.00 Author: Julie E. Lewis, Dean Pickett, Janet L. Pulliam, Richard A. Schwartz, Anne-Marie St. Germaine, Julie Underwood, and Jay Worona Description: Emphasizing the need for cooperation to prevent and respond to violence at school, this book examines how schools and communities can work together to make our schools safe. Among the topics discussed are the need to balance school safety needs and the rights of individual students, how to deal with threats of violence, the role of the school attorney in response to violence, and how to work with the media in times of crisis. Resource Title: The Educated Student: Defining and Advancing Student Achievement Price: $20.00 Author: Michael A. Resnick Description: In succinct language, this unique publication presents key ideas from education's best thinkers and examines future trends and other factors influencing education today. It presents recent policy developments in the areas of standards and assessments through a jargon-free discussion of the basic concepts needed for effective decision-making. The goals of "The Educated Student" are to offer school board members a wide-angle lense through which to view student achievement, to suggest the right questions to bring to their policy deliberations, and to provide a working knowledge that will inspire dynamic board leadership to raise student achievement. Resource Title: The Key Work of School Boards Guidebook Price: $20.00 Author: Katheryn W. Gemberling, Carl W. Smith, and Joseph S. Villani Description: This guidebook provides information for understanding and implementing the Key Work of School Boards. It is intended as a support to help school boards understand and achieve the essential elements of their work. The guidebook provides a framework of eight 'key' action areas that successful boards have focused their attention on: vision, standards, assessment, accountability, resource alignment, climate, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Resource Title: Read & Rise: Preparing Our Children For A Lifetime of Success Price: FREE - While Supplies Last Author: NUL & Scholastic Description: Read and Rise is a resource guide that offers research-based information and practical tips to help you engage your child in reading and literacy-building activities. The guide is divided by age and grade. Each section includes: An Introduction, where you will find brief, research-based information on the common literacy behaviors by age and grade. A list of Milestones, important literacy goals that your child should be able to achieve at each age and by the end of each grade. Try This!, ideas and activities that can help you help your child gain the skills needed to become a successful reader. And Book Nook, which presents five basic features to look for when choosing books for your child. Resource Title: Read & Rise Magazine Price: FREE - While Supplies Last Author: NUL & Scholastic Description: As a publication, the magazine is primarily targeted to African-American children, ages 3-5 and promotes a pride of heritage while introducing young children to basic concepts that are important tools for reading and literacy development. Through a variety of stories, poems and other activities, parents and caregivers have the opportunity to explore concepts of print with young children, helping them to develop phonemic and phonological awareness and gain a fundamental understanding of the alphabet. It also provides research-based information on the range of practical ways parents can foster their children's reading and literacy development, in easy-to-understand language, while providing them with ideas for games and activities that they can do with their children. Designed to be fun as well as educational, the magazine also offers an introduction to the world at large, from stories about nature and science, to whimsical pieces about people in the neighborhood. Resource Title: Read & Rise: Parent Circles Author: Suzanne C. Carothers, Ph.D. Description: The Parent Facilitators' Guide is designed to serve as a resource to Urban League affiliate staff as they work with parents/caregivers in communities across the country. This guide is structured so that parents work in Read and Rise Parent Circles and the circles are based on carrying forward the legacy of the Reading Circles in which African American slaves found a way to teach each other how to read. Suzanne C. Carothers, author of the Parent Facilitators' Guide, envisions the circles "as contemporary Reading Circles in which the facilitator not only leads the particular series of circles to help parents support their children's learning, but acts as a trainer of trainers to create Circles of Training that continue the process". The guide also contains information about the process of reading, how young children develop as readers, and how parents can support their children's early steps to reading in a five session workshop series. Resource Title: Tips to Prevent Sexting Price: Free Description: As trusted adults with a mission to protect children online, engage your communities on the issue of sexting. Share these tips with young people so that they are better informed. Read through the parent Q & A for more information about the issue. Resource Title: Back to School Toolkit Price: no cost Author: staff Description: Information for parents and schools about how to get started on the "right foot" for the return to school. Suggestions about homework, developing a study area, preaparing for teacher conference, reading, saety tips, handling frustation, and grade level activities. Resource Title: Empowering Parents and Communities Price: no cost -- prior training Author: staff Description: This is a 24-hour parent leadership training curriculum that enavles caregivers/parents to increase their involvement and sharpen their skills for effective leadership. EPC promotes the development of parents and caregivers to understand the needs of children and the issues that challenge parents as well as other community leaders. Resource Title: Parents As Partners Price: no cost Author: staff Description: Provides information on identifying the type of school in regard to parental involvement; covers barriers of, strategies to increase, and benefits of parental involvement and collaboration. Resource Title: Reaching all families: Creating family friendly schools Author: Oliver Moles, editor Description: A collection of best practices for schools to welcome and involve families produced by the U.S. Department of Education in 1996, and now available only on the web. Eighteen practices cover introducing school policies and programs, personal contacts, ongoing communications, special practices and programs, and special groups. Resource Title: Strong Families, Strong Schools (Oliver Moles) Author: Jennifer Ballen and Oliver Moles Description: A review of 30 years of research on family involvement in children's education as well as programs with research evidence based in schools, communities, businesses, and state and federal initiatives. Produced by the U.S. Department of Education in 1994 as the opening rationale for its Partnership for Family Involvement in Education, now only available on the web. Resource Title: 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Act Amendments Increase Access to Technology for Students Families and Advocates Partnership for Education (FAPE) Price: Free Description: 2 pages. An overview of the implications of the 1997 IDEA for students, particularly as they relate to the availability of Assistive Technology. Resource Title: NEXT STEPS Transition Program Price: Free Author: PEATC Description: PEATC is launching a multifaceted NEXT STEPS Transition Program designed to help families, youth with disabilities, and professionals develop effective partnerships while learning how to tap into valuable community resources. Resource Title: Reading and Literacy Price: Free Author: PEATC Description: PEATC is developing ways to enable parents and professionals to teach reading skills that incorporate strategies and 'how-to' information. In the area of assessment, we are looking to offer critically needed information Booklets, QuickTips, & StudentTips Price: Price is based on a sliding scale, please call for more information. Description: Resource Title: Booklets Description: These 16 page booklets, available in English and Spanish, help parents with various aspects of parent-child relations and aid parents in supporting their children's academic success. Series titles include: Reading, Academic Achievement, Discipline, Homework & Study Skills, Parenting, Raising Responsible Children, School Readiness, and Skills for School Success. Resource Title: QuickTips Description: Each tri-fold brochure informs busy parents about an important topic in an easy-to-read-and-keep format. Available in English and Spanish. Series titles include: Building Student Responsibility, Facts About Exceptional Children, Motivating Parents, Reinforcing Learning at Home, Motivating Students, Student Stress, Substance Abuse and Tough Issues. Resource Title: Student Tips Description: These simply written tri-fold brochures, available in English and Spanish, give practical, proven ideas and strategies to give directly to students. Topics include: Study Skills, How to do Better on Tests, Dealing with Peer Pressure, Dealing with Bullies, and many more. Resource Title: Videos Price: Price is based on a sliding scale, please call for more information. Description: The Parent Institute videos let educators show parents how they can help their children learn. Included are various titles under the topics of: Discipline, Parenting, Parent-Teacher Conferences, and Motivating Parents. Resource Title: School Success Web Content Service Description: Our Web Content Service provides parent involvement ideas and articles automatically delivered to a school's website for parents to read 365 days a year. Available in Elementary and Secondary editions. The service comes personalized with the principal's name and the school's name. If a school doesn't have a website, we'll provide a basic web page that contains the Web Content Service. Also available in Spanish. Resource Title: Evaluations of PAT Child Outcomes: Kindergarten Readiness and Beyond Price: Free Description: The Missouri School Entry Assessment Project is a comprehensive early childhood assessment effort designed to gather information about what young children who enter Missouri's public kindergartens know and can do and to relate this information to their prekindergarten school experiences. Findings from the 1998 school readiness assessment project involving 3,500 kindergarteners in Missouri show that Parents as Teachers achieves its goal of preparing children for success in school. Resource Title: Parenting Tips to Promote Intellectual Development Price: Free Description: A series of tips about ways to raise your children that will promote neural and intellectual development, from pre-natal till pre-school age. The basic assumption is that the learning that takes place in the first years of a child's life will make a significant difference in the child's development later. Resource Title: Statewide Implementation of PAT in Missouri: Outcomes at Age Three and in Early Elementary School Price: Free Description: Results of the a study that followed 380 Missouri families involved in the Parents as Teachers curriculum, and found that these children tested above average in language, problem-solving and other intellectual abilities, and social development than comparison children. Resource Title: Parents for Public Schools E-Newsletter Price: Free Description: A free monthly newsletter describing the work of PPS on behalf of strong public schools and all students. Resource Title: Parents for Public Schools Clearinghouse Price: Free Description: A free weekly update on the latest developments on improving public schools, national education issues, and parental involvement. Resource Title: PPS Chapter Manual: A comprehensive and practical guide to organizing and sustaining a community-based organization Price: Free Description: The manual includes successful activity ideas and samples from PPS chapters across the country, i.e. publicity, school governance, school tours, site-based management, special events, business networks, and recruitment for enrollment. Resource Title: Parent Survioral Guide Price: $20.00 Author: Parent-U-Turn Description: Parents Survioral Guide is recommend for parents of children k-12 grades. The booklet is a mapp for parents on the school structure and how to get their children "Beyond High School to University. Parent Survioral Guide cover such topics, college preparation, scholarhips/grants available for undocument immigrants and Afro-American students. Others topics include ABC"S for students success, Special Education, How to work within the school structure and what each department roles in students acheivement. Parents Survioral Guide is translate in both English and Spanish. Resource Title: Scholarships/Grants Available for Immigrant Students Price: $15.00 Author: Parent-U-Turn Description: Information of organization that looking for children of Immigrants and Afro-American students that need assisting to help first generation to attend college. Scholarships guide lists the organizations contact person, address, telephone number and requirement for the scholarships. Many of the scholarships organizations doesn't require students to have a social security. Resource Title: Poverty & Race Newsletter Price: Print subscriptions are $25 per year, $45 for two years. Author: Chester Hartman, Editor Description: This 20-28 page bi-monthly newsletter journal is designed as a forum for communicating news and ideas within the network of researchers and advocates working on race and poverty issues. Reports the results of PRRAC-sponsored research, the advocacy work that research has assisted and other relevant news. Each issue lists in the Resources Section 100-200 recent reports and studies on race/poverty issues. Resource Title: Professional Development and Parent Education Description: Human Resources: Director and Coordinators who work on-site with schools as well as systemically to provide comprehensive coordination and training for school and central office staff and the larger parent community. Training Modules offered by DFCS Staff include: Comer SDP Orientation; Comer SDP 5-Day MSDE-approved CPD Course; Team Leader Facilitative Leadership Training; Support Staff Skill Development Training; Workshops in Effective Engagement and Collaboration With Parents for Parent Teams, Central Office and School Administrators, Teachers and Support Staff; Child Adolescent Growth and Development; School Improvement Planning; School and Systems Change; Culture and Diversity; Team and Community Building; Effective Communication Skills; Classroom Management; Cooperative Discipline; Cooperative Learning; Student Leadership; Student Motivation; Peer Coaching and Collaboration; etc. Resource Title: Title 1 Mobile Activities Center Van Description: The department serves as a centralized location and dissemination source for the deployment of the Title 1 Mobile Activity Center Van to communit events to share information and resources regarding research-based best practices for parent and family engagement. Resource Title: Strengthening Partnerships with Parents, Families & Community Author: PGCPS Staff Description: This resource document has been assembled through collaborative efforts of members of the Prince George's County Public Schools' Task Force on Parent, Family, Community and Business Outreach Initiatives, under the direction of Dr. Wesley Boykin, Chief Administrator, Division of Strategic Planning and School Support, and with facilitation by Sheila Jackson, Director, Department of Family and Community Outreach Services. Additional resources and materials, as well as trained facilitators for on-site assistance in implementing partnership strategies, are available and can be obtained by calling (301) 552-4294 or e-mailing sjackson@pgcps.org. Included in this manual are documents adapted, with permission, from the work of a variety of researchers in the field of education and parent, family, and community involvement, to whom we are deeply grateful. Dr. James P. Comer, Founder of the Yale University Child Study Center's School Development Program has a long-established relationship with Prince George's County Public Schools. His work has had an enormous impact upon our district's efforts in engaging stakeholders in positive ways to support student achievement. Research and work in schools by Dr. Joyce Epstein Director, Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and the National Network of Partnership Schools, Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Anne Henderson of the National Committee for Citizens in Education/Center for Law and Education and Dr. Dorothy Rich all have helped to operationalize the our thinking to provide the following: Definitions of effective partnerships in order to help schools create a vision of what school staff and the total community of parents, families, community and business partners want their involvement and partnership programs to be. Specific research-based strategies that, when faithfully replicated, create the school culture that is conducive to developing and sustaining effective partnerships. Tools for building the capacity of all school staff towards full engagement in the process for developing and sustaining effective partnerships. Tools for motivation of staff members and recruitment of volunteers. Resource linkages for evaluating partnership programs. Bibliography of principal-centered literature, web sites, and institutions focused upon building effective partnerships. Resource Title: Including Every Parent: A How-To Guide for Engaging and Empowering Parents at Your School Price: $22.95 Author: collectively written by teachers and parents from the school Description: In the 2002-03 school year, PSI worked with a team of teachers and parents from the Patrick O'Hearn School in Dorchester, Massachusetts to explore and document the school's effective parent involvement practices--close to 100% of parents are involved at the O'Hearn in some way. In the how-to book, "Including Every Parent," teachers, administrators, and parents can find a variety of specific strategies for encouraging parents to be present at school, participating in school events, partnering in their children's education, and empowered to lead their own initiatives for school improvement. Resource Title: Customized trainings, consultations, & workshops Price: consulting rates negotiated with PSI for each project Author: collectively written by teachers and parents from the school Description: O'Hearn teachers and parents who worked with PSI to develop the how-to book, "Including Every Parent" are also available to provide schools, districts, and education conferences with customized trainings, consultations, and workshops to share effective parent-involvement practices from the O'Hearn school. Resource Title: Brownbag Discussion Series Description: These documents examine the implications for minorities of proposed educational reform; current and pending relevant legislation; and promising educational strategies and research findings. Resource Title: QEM's Major Reports Description: QEM seeks to bring clarity and focus to issues of public policy as they affect children and youth who have been historically underserved by the educational system. These reports provide background information and current thinking on educational issues and their implications for minorities, highlight exemplary models that demonstrate quality education at work; keep focus on critical issues affecting public policy. Currently available: Education that Works: An Action Plan for the Education of Minorities (January 1990). Together We Can Make It Work: A National Agenda to Provide Quality Education for Minorities in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering (April 1992). Opening Unlocked Doors: A National Agenda for Ensuring Quality Education for Children and Youth in Low-income Public Housing and Other Low-income Residential Communities (May 1993). Laying A Foundation for Tomorrow: A Report on the QEM Initial Years (January 1994). Empower the Educator: Enabling Current and Future Mathematics and Science Teachers of Minority Students to Offer More Challenging Courses to their Students - An Action Plan (February 1996). Weaving the Web of MSE Success for Minorities: Top Ten Colleges and Universities Report (June 1997). Meeting the Challenge in North Carolina: An Action Plan to Increase Minority Participation in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering (February 1998). Weaving the Web of MSE Success for Minorities: Update of Tables in QEM's 1997 Top Ten Colleges and Universities Report (February 2000). Resource Title: Becoming A Family of Readers Description: This video features parents and their children modeling book sharing and encouraging viewers to become involved in family literacy programs. Co-produced by RIF® and Literacy Volunteers of America. Resource Title: Helping Your Children Become Readers Description: This flyer features ten reading tips in easy-to-read language. Available in English and Spanish. Purchase includes RIF's permission to duplicate and distribute unlimited copies, so long as they are free of charge. Resource Title: Parent Brochures from Reading is Fundamental, Inc. Description: These pocket-size items are for parents who want their children to grow up reading. Titles include Choosing Good Books For Children; Family Storytelling; Reading Aloud to your Children and Summertime Reading. Resource Title: 7 Themes: Parent, Family, and Community Involvement in the Middle Grades Price: Free Description: Parent, family, and community involvement in the middle grades is changing due to educational restructuring and reform. Read about some promising practices and successful models in this booklet. Resource Title: How Families Teach, Support, Learn and Make Decisions Price: Free Description: Parents are the central contributor to their children's education. Every parent wants their children to be successful in school but often doesn't have the time or the understanding given recent changes in education. Consider these ideas for using the many talents families have to give children the chance to do the best they can in school. Resource Title: Parents Ask About... Price: Free Description: Not sure what to ask about when you visit your child's Title I or classroom teacher? You're not alone. Title I can be a complicated subject. Reading through these five parent brochures will help you better understand Title I and what it means to be a parent of a Title I student. Resource Title: PTO Today Magazine Price: $20/year Author: Craig Bystrynski, Editor Description: A six-issues-per-year magazine focused exclusively on helping parent-teacher group leaders do their work well. Practical features, inspiration, best practices, community -- all on the work of these often under-appreciated school volunteer organizations. Resource Title: Handbook for Effective School Improvement Councils in South Carolina, "The Basics" Price: Free to SIC members in SC; available on website Author: Jean M. Norman, Ed.D. Description: "The Basics" outlines the roles and responsibilities of School Improvement Councils in South Carolina as a participant in the state's improvement and accountability process. Statute requirements and effective practices accompany the organizational structure and the functions of monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the school improvement plan. Resource Title: Handbook for Effective School Improvement Councils in South Carolina - Creating and Education Foundation for Your School Price: Free to SIC members in SC; available on website Author: Betsy Wolff, MPH Description: Creating an Education Foundation for Your School gives step by step actions for setting up a school education foundation in South Carolina. Resource Title: Council NEWS Price: Free to SIC members in SC; available on website Author: Cassie Barber, Editor Description: Free to SC School Improvement Councils, available on website ResourceDescription3: A 6-page newsletter sent four times a year to all SIC members with information about current council activities, legislative actions, training opportunities, current education research, web links, and effective practices. Resource Title: ImPACT Newsletter Price: 2.00 Description: The ImPACT newsletter is published two times yearly and includes information of interest to parents of children with disabilities, special education teachers and others. Resource Title: Parent Press Description: The Parent Press is published twice yearly and mailed to all Title One schools for distribution to students and families. Included in this publication is information about state assessments, homework requirements and helpful tips for parents to assist their students with schoolwork and homework. Resource Title: Where a diverse community comes together to make schools better for all Price: $1.50 print copy Description: In a school district of more than 140,000 students with 160 nationalities represented, study circles provide a bridge for Montgomery County Public Schools to reach out to people of all backgrounds, and a way for schools and community to work together to improve education for all students. (2006) Resource Title: Montgomery County, Md., Public School Study Circles (DVD) Price: $5.00 Description: A video highlighting the efforts of Montgomery County Public Schools (Md.) Study Circles Program to address racism and student achievement in the district's schools and community. (6 minutes) DVD Resource Title: Education: How can Schools and Communities Work Together to Meet the Challenge? Price: $5.00 print copy Description: A multiple-session discussion guide including recommendations for tailoring the discussion to a particular community or organization's concerns (1997) Resource Title: Helping Every Student Succeed: Schools and Communities Working Together Price: $5.00 print copy Description: A four-session discussion guide to help schools and communities improve academic achievement for all students. (2002) Resource Title: Building Strong Neighborhoods: A Study Guide for Public Dialogue and Community Problem Solving Price: $5.00 print copy Description: A four-session discussion guide on many important neighborhood issues including: race and other kinds of differences; young people and families; safety and community-police relations; homes, housing and beautification; jobs and neighborhood economy; and schools. (1998) Resource Title: Changing Faces, Changing Communities: Immigration & race, jobs, schools, and language differences Price: $5.00 print copy Description: A multi-session discussion guide designed to help communities face the challenges and meet the opportunities raised by the arrival of newcomers; includes pointers on how to involve public officials. (1998) Resource Title: Confronting Violence in Our Communities: A Guide for Involving Citizens in Public Dialogue and Problem Solving Price: $5.00 print copy Description: A four-session discussion guide examining how violence affects our lives, what causes violence, and what can be done in neighborhoods and in schools. (1994) Resource Title: Youth Issues, Youth Voices: A Guide for Engaging Youth and Adults in Public Dialogue and Problem Solving Price: $5.00 print copy Description: A multiple-session discussion guide to help young people and adults address the community issues which involve and impact them. (1996) Resource Title: Parent and Professional Collaboration: A Cultural Perspective Author: Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers Description: This curriculum addresses the development of meaningful parent/professional collaboration. Through a focus on how cultural differences affect how persons understand and relate to one another, the curriculum provides strategies that address barriers to effective cross-cultural communication. Includes: 28 color transparencies in covers, 34-page curriculum for trainers, all in a 1 1/2" D-ring binder. Resource Title: Positive Behavioral Interventions Author: Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers Description: This curriculum introduces families to a new way of thinking about their child's behaviors and about the need to advocate for behavioral instruction. Professionals find very useful. Approved by the U.S. Department of Education. 1999. Each set contains: 37 color transparencies in covers, 37-page curriculum for trainers, all in a 1 1/2" D-ring binder. Resource Title: IDEA '97 Workshop For Families Author: Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers Description: Approved by U.S. Office of Special Education Programs. This curriculum contains the IDEA '97 training and transparencies that are of key interest to parents of children with disabilities. 1999. Each set contains: 89 color transparencies in covers (available in Spanish, or with Native American graphics at a separate cost), 102-page curriculum for trainers (also available in Braille), all in a 4" D-ring binder. Resource Title: Understanding ADHD: A Workshop Curriculum Author: Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers Description: This curriculum provides information for parents, teachers and others about ADHD including behavior management, strategies for parents, and instructional strategies for teachers. It can be used in total as a 3 hour workshop, or as a series of shorter trainings for community education purposes. The curriculum consists of four units that can be used as short workshops or as the foundation for discussion groups related to each topic area. Each set contains: 59 color transparencies in covers, 64-page curriculum for trainers, all in a 1 1/2" D-ring binder. Resource Title: Is Your Child a Target of Bullying? Intervention Strategies for Parents of Children with Disabilities Author: Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers Description: A new, one-of-a-kind curriculum developed for parent audiences has just been released by the ALLIANCE. The appealing design and easy-to-understand, common-sense suggestions are sure to inform and encourage families as they address bullying issues. The curriculum covers: defining disability harassment, common views about bullying, how to talk to your child about bullying, using the IEP to react to bullying behavior, federal laws that apply to disability harassment, and the role of school policy to respond/prevent disability harassment. Resource Title: Between Families and Schools: Creating Meaningful Relationships Price: $10.00 Description: 60 pp. A user-friendly, action-oriented guide to meaningful family involvement Offers practical suggestions for those intent on improving family-school relationships, challenging readers to rethink traditional notions of "parent involvement" and supporting them to collaborate with other key stakeholders for change. This 60-page booklet is the result of a year-long action research project conducted by parents, teachers and a student in Washington D.C. Resource Title: Life Treasures from the Heart of a Child Description: Student stories from the diverse community of Bruce-Monroe Elementary School in Washington, D.C. Resource Title: Teaching for Change Catalog Price: Free Description: Multicultural resources that suggest ways that educators can address the lessons or "hidden curriculum" about race, class and gender that students learn from school. Resource Title: Research Brief on Family Engagement Price: Free Author: Indiana PIRC and Center for Excellence in Leadership of Learning Description: Summary of research on Family, School and Community Partnership in a family-friendly format for interested administrators, teachers, community partners and parent leaders. Resource Title: Books on Board Price: $50.00 Author: Indiana Parent Information and Resource Center Description: Compilation of activities in Spanish and English for families to learn the five components of literacy and implement activities at home to support: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Comprehension. Includes chapter on Writing. Resource Title: Guide to Developing Family Resource Centers Price: $3.00 Author: Indiana Parent Information and Resource Center Description: Colorful and family-friendly guide to creating a physical space in a school for parents. Includes the purpose of centers, examples of centers, steps to develop a center. Resource Title: College Pathways Research Brief Price: No charge for one/ $1.00 for additional copies Author: Indiana Parent Information and Resource Center Description: 4 page research brief that highlights several schools districts nationally who have successful initiatives to help students graduate on time and are prepared for college and other post secondary experiences. Resource Title: A Call to Action: Transforming High School for All Youth Description: The Call to Action provides leaders at the national, state, district, school, and community levels with a common framework for building public will, developing supportive policies, and actually implementing the practices needed to radically change the traditional, factory-model high school that tracks and sorts students. Resource Title: Bowdoin Method I Description: Nationally validated curriculum for parenting children 3-7 years. Games, videos and activities reinforce the parenting skills of "at risk" families in a fun and effective manner. Ten subjects prepare parents for their children's success in school and in life. Researched and developed for parents with a second/third grade reading level, this basic skills approach is also available in SpanishResource Title: Parent Involvement Resource Manual Description: Developed by a national recognized Title I Director and parent education advocate, this manual provides enjoyable ideas for parent activities, handouts and workshops. A must for Title I programs, it comes complete with Federal Guidelines for Parent Education Programs and effective strategies for encouraging parent participation. This simple and easy-to-use manual is a practical source of information for all parenting programs. Resource Title: Your Baby Talks To You Description: Parenting infants birth to 3 years. This Interactive curriculum includes "hands-on" games, video and activities for fun and informative classes, and is especially successful with teen parents. This basic skills curriculum is multicultural and developed for "at risk" parents to meet their child's social, emotional, physical and intellectual needs. * indicates individuals actively participating in NCPIE whose organizations are not members	eng	547a2bb5-f2f0-4c8c-9d1b-2160cbb50dee	http://www.ncpie.org/Resources/all_resources.cfm
The Colorado Plateau has created monuments to the passing millennia, places shaped by winter snows, rain and geological upheaval over a span of time eluding human comprehension. Even with an understanding of geology, the multi-hued amphitheaters and hoodoos of Bryce, the cathedral canyons of Zion and the lush North Rim of the Grand Canyon seem improbable — inspiring wonder and defying imagination. Venture into these breathtaking national parks to discover their evolution through geologic time and the natural history and human stories that also color this country. Highlights • Hike in Zion National Park's main canyon as a naturalist provides trailside insights. • Spend a day among the hoodoos and other rock formations of Bryce Canyon National Park. • Witness sunrise and sunset at the Grand Canyon's North Rim and enjoy a meditative hike below the rim on the North Kaibab Trail. Activity Particulars Date Specific Information 8-20-2013, 8-22-2013 Please note: This start date offers exclusive accommodations inside all three national parks. Enjoy the ability to experience the parks on your schedule during program down time. All three lodges are part of the historic Grand Circle loop tour, pioneered by the Union Pacific Railway and showcased in the PBS documentary "Great Lodges Of The National Parks." Coordinated by ExploreWest. Las Vegas (Nevada) Located in the Mojave Desert, Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Between the world-class entertainment and gambling on "The Strip" and the region's amazing natural resources including beautiful Red Rock Canyon it is clear why people love this desert community. Zion National Park True to its name, which means "refuge" or "sanctuary" in ancient Hebrew, Zion is an oasis at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin and Mojave Desert provinces, encompassing sandstone canyons and colorful, high plateaus. Grand Canyon North Rim Sitting atop the Kaibab Plateau 9,000 feet above sea level with lush green meadows surrounded by a mixed conifer forest sprinkled with aspen, the North Rim is an oasis in the desert. Although only ten miles as the crow flies from the South Rim, the North Rim offers solitude and awe-inspiring views. Bryce Canyon National Park Bryce Canyon, famous for its unique geology, consists of a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters carved from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah. Erosion and rainwater have shaped the colorful limestone rock into bizarre shapes including slot canyons, windows, fins and spires called "hoodoos." These instructors are participating on at least one date of this program. Please note that changes may occurDavid Best David Best was born in Cardiff, Wales, and immigrated to North Carolina with his parents in the late 1940s. He has been a geology department professor and administrator at Northern Arizona University for 30 years, and strives to enhance the learning process of non-science majors in general education science courses. In his spare time, David is currently working on two books and enjoys gourmet cooking, woodworking, traveling, and reading. Stanley Beus From his early days growing up on a dairy farm in Idaho, Dr. Stanley Beus quickly became fascinated with nature. He earned a doctorate in geology from UCLA before beginning a career as an exploration geologist and later became the first head of the geology department at Northern Arizona University. Dr. Beus has been both a field and class instructor for Road Scholar programs for more than 20 years and has enjoyed bringing geology to life for literally thousands of participants. Joanna Joseph Daughter of a Montana saddle maker, Joanna Joseph is an artist, musician and interpreter of human history. At the University of Montana, she studied art, drama and classical Greek. Joanna was also program supervisor at Glen Canyon Dam, developing an appreciation for the importance of water in the Southwest. A resident of Big Water, Utah, she has worked with Road Scholar since 1994. Jeff Strang Jeff Strang's knowledge of the environment stems from his education at the University of Oregon and Lewis and Clark Law School, as well as from his extensive experience as a naturalistDan Magleby Born and raised on a farm in Monroe, Utah, Dan Magleby joined the U.S. Army after graduating from high school and served with the occupation forces in South Korea. He later graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in geology, and began his first job as a uranium prospector with the Atomic Energy Commission. Dan also worked with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on water development projects in the Northwest. He has been a geology instructor for Road Scholar for the past seven years. Darrell McMahon Darrell McMahon has worked in natural resource management for more than three decades and has extensive experience as a wildlife biologist, entomologist and habitat biologist. In addition to teaching college courses in geology and natural history, Darrell has taught at Dixie State University and Southern Utah University the past seven years and has knowledge of natural history, forest ecology and wildlife. Our. $85 p/night subject to change Based on availability for 3 nights before program starts and 3 nights after program ends. Majestic View Lodge Type: Lodge Description: This new 70 room lodge is constructed of large pine logs. Beuatifully decorated making it a warm inviting atmosphere. Swimming pool, Jacuzzi, room service, data ports, great views, restaurant and wild life museum. Ruby's Inn is the closest accommodation to Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah and is the perfect base for your exploration of scenic Southern Utah. We offer the finest Accommodations, RV Park/Campground and amenities in the Bryce Canyon National Park region. Ruby's Inn at Bryce Canyon is a destination in and of itself and is the perfect base for area exploration. We offer the finest accommodations and amenities in the Bryce Canyon National Park region. Ruby's Inn at Bryce Canyon has been serving travelers since 1916 and is a destination in and of itself. The historic North Rim Lodge is made of split log timber and native rock and has been carved into the Grand Canyon's rocky rim. The lodge and cabins are the only accommodations available along the northern edge of the Grand Canyon. Enjoy eating at the Lodge fine dining restaurant where the large windows provide stunning views and add special atmosphere. Accommodations are in the cabins on the same grounds set among the trees. The cabins are within walking distance of the lodge, shops and visitor center. Travel Details Start of Program: Welcome, Arrive and Check into room between 3-5 PM then meet your Dixie State College Program Coordinator and Geology Instructor. You will be staying at Homewood Suites by Hilton that night. Travel Details Las Vegas, NV To Airport Service: Commercial Van/Shuttle DSC Road Scholar Bus phone: 800-545-4653 Per Person/One Way: Complementary Prices are subject to change. Our Road Scholar Bus will deliver you to the airport or arrival hotel on the final day. Las Vegas, NV From Airport Service: Hotel Shuttle Homewood Suites by Hilton Shuttle phone: 702-450-1045 Per Person/One Way: Complementary Prices are subject to change. Travel Time: 15 minutes Distance: 8 miles Upon retrieving your baggage, call the hotel to request the Shuttle. Driving Directions I 215 in Las Vegas From Las Vegas Strip - Take Las Vegas Blvd. South to I-215 East. Take the Eastern Avenue Exit off of I-215 and turn right at the light. Once through the light at Coronado Center Drive turn left into shopping center between Jiffy Lube and KFC. From Salt Lake City - Take I-15 South to I-215 towards McCarran Int'l Airport. Exit onto Eastern Avenue, and make a right at the light. Once through the light at Coronado Center Drive turn left into shopping center between Jiffy Lube and KFC. From Los Angeles - Take I-15 North towards Las Vegas. Take the St. Rose Pkwy exit towards Henderson-Lake Mead for five miles. Turn right onto South Eastern Avenue. Once through the light at Coronado Center Drive turn left into shopping center between Jiffy Lube and KFC. Cross Streets - Eastern between Coronado Center Drive and Horizon Ridge Parkway. Elevation Note: >8000 ft in places. Those with heart/lung conditions should consult physician before attending. Equipment Requirements: Walking shoes or hiking boots with good traction, water bottle, rain gear, sunhat, sunscreen, sunglasses, flashlight, old tennis shoes or river sandals and hiking stick for those who hike up the stream. National Park Pass or Golden Age Pass (if you have one), for entrance into the National ParksIntroductions and orientation in the hotel meeting room (Tuesday, May 29) Arrive To: Welcome, Arrive and Check into room between 3-5 PM. Dinner: Dinner at hotel. Evening: After dinner, your Dixie State College coordinator will lead introductions and program orientation in the hotel meeting room. Travel with geologist to the Valley of Fire. Enjoy exploring the colorful rock formations and view large panels of petroglyphs. Continue to St. George for lunch. Lunch: Lunch included. Afternoon: Enjoy a scenic drive to Springdale, Utah. Begin your exploration of Zion National park with the geologist. Check into the hotel and get settled into your rooms. The towering cliffs of Zion create a beautiful backdrop. Enjoy a geologist led field trip in Zion National Park's main canyon! Walk on groomed trails, receive trail side insights and learning about the fascinating features of this amazing national park. Go on the River Walk trail to view where the canyon narrows to the width of the river and provides access to the Zion Narrows as well as Weeping Rock trail to enjoy the hanging gardens of Zion. Following breakfast, travel to Bryce Canyon National Park. This is a scenic drive and the geologist will point out fascinating features as we travel. Lunch: Lunch included. Afternoon: Geology field trip and walk along the rim at Bryce Canyon National Park. Travel and check in at Ruby's Inn. Have a little free time to get settled in before dinner. Dinner: Dinner included. Evening: After dinner is a class followed by an option to attend a NPS ranger presentation on Bryce Canyon National Park. They also offer fascinating lectures about the night sky and some night hikes under a full moon. Bryce is protected from light pollution so star gazing is spectacular! Geology excursion to learn about the Grand Canyon/Ranger Campfire Program (Monday, June 4) Breakfast: Breakfast included. Morning: You can walk from your cabin to view sunrise on the North Rim before breakfast. After breakfast, we have a group geology excursion to learn about the Grand Canyon. Enjoy the vast beauty from a variety of view points and points of interest. The geologist will share commentary and insights. Lunch: Box lunch Afternoon: Return for a little free time for activities of your choice. Options to hike down into the canyon on the North Kaibab Trail, walk the Transept trail to Native American Ruins, seasonal option to ride a mule on a rim trail, or enjoy other activities at the North Rim Lodge, Visitor Center and shops. . Dinner: Dinner at the Grand Canyon Lodge. Fine dinning in an incredible setting, enjoy! 8:00 AM - Depart and travel to St. George for a closing lunch. Following lunch we will travel to Las Vegas for departures. Lunch: Enjoy lunch in St. George then on to Las Vegas airport for departures. Arrive the airport by 1:30 PST. After dropping off at the airport we will take any stay overs to arrival hotel. Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch Free Time Opportunities Las Vegas, NV A Chamber of Commerce, Las Vegas(Following Free Time Info is helpful if you spend extra time here) This is a great resource for accurate information about Las Vegas. You will find details about activities and a calendar of events. There are so many options and variety of things to do in Las Vegas that we could not list all of the items here under free time so please use the Chamber of Commerce as an additional resource. Thanks! :-) The items we have listed below indicate where they are located. We have also made a note telling you which monorail stops to get off on. Hopefully this will make it easier for you to get there on your own. For additional information, visit Museums in Las Vegas ~~~The Wynn Collection of Fine Art The private art collection of Steve and Elaine Wynn. The Wynn Collection consists of 19th and 20th century European and American masterpieces. Displayed are more than a dozen works from eight legendary masters, including Paul Gauguin, Édouard Manet, and Pablo Picasso It is accessible via the monorail then get off at Harrah's / Imperial Palace Station ~~~The Tomb and Museum of King Tut (Luxor Hotel and Casino) View an exact replication of the tomb of Egypt's most famous king. This is accessible by taking the monorail and get off at the MGM Grand Station. Continue to Excalibur Hotel and take tram, exit at Luxor. ~~~Imperial Palace Auto Collection (Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino) Home of the world-famous Imperial Palace Auto Collection which has over 150 antique, classic and special-interest automobiles on diplay and for sale daily. You can get there by taking the monorail to Harrah's / Imperial Palace Station. ~~~Guinness World Records Museum The wacky, weird and wonderful museum brings the Guinness Book of Records to life with color videos, hands-on displays and assorted oddities. Open daily. You can get there by taking the monorail to the Sahara Station. ~~~Casino Legends Hall of Fame (Tropicana Resort and Casino) Offers the largest collection of Nevada casino and entertainment memorabilia ever assembled. You can get there by taking the monorail and get off at the MGM Grand Station. ~~~Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art (Bellagio) Home to touring exhibitions of fine art from around the world. One example of works they have displayed is "Claude Monet: Masterworks from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston." Check to see what is currently on display. You can get there by taking the monorail and get off at the Bally's & Paris Las Vegas Station. NEW! Las Vegas Monorail A monorail system launched operations in July 2004. Linking seven stations over four miles to eight resorts and the Las Vegas Convention Center, the sleek monorail provides a quick and comfortable ride through the heart of the resort corridor and offers a great way to explore Las Vegas! Access their web site for a route map and all of the exciting options available at each monorail stop. One ride is $3 or you can purchase multiple ride passes. This is the fast and easy way to see Las Vegas highlights without the walking or the traffic. For additional information, visit Recreation and Tours The Las Vegas area is a paradise for all kinds of recreational and sightseeing activities. Golf courses beckon the golfer twelve months a year. Lake Mead's deep blue waters and 550 miles of shorelines. The Colorado River offers unforgettable white water rafting. For hiking, rock climbing and outdoor photography there's Red Rock Canyon and Mt. Charleston. Skiers love Mt. Charleston. Day tours to the Grand Canyon, Valley of Fire, Death Valley and Hoover Dam. ~~~Las Vegas is home to Nellis Air Force Base and the mighty Thunderbirds precision flying team. ~The finest motor sports facility in the world: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, home to NASCAR's "Las Vegas 400" and a host of other world class motor racing events. ~Sports fans, there's AAA baseball with the Las Vegas Stars, PGA and LPGA tournaments, and the always-popular UNLV Rebels!" ~~~More resources availbale by calling the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce at (702) 735-1616. Sightseeing Attractions #2 ~~~Stratosphere Observation Decks (Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower) From ground level you'll arrive at the observation decks in less than 30 seconds. Double-decker elevators travel at speeds of 1,800 feet per minute. Indoor and outdoor decks. Also includes High Roller Coaster and Big Shot. The High Roller Coaster, the highest coaster in the world, wraps itself around the crown of the Stratosphere the tallest building west of the Mississippi. The Big Shot takes off at the base of the Stratosphere needle and shoots 160 feet in the air and freefalls back down. Monorail accessible via: Sahara Station ~~~IMAX Theatre (Luxor Hotel and Casino) Watch movies shown on a 68 foot tall screen - NASCAR 3D, Ocean Wonderland 3D, Adrenaline Rush, Haunted Castle 3D. Monorail accessible via: MGM Grand Station. Continue to Excalibur Hotel and take tram, exit at Luxor. ~~~In Search of the Obelisk (Luxor Hotel and Casino) A motion simulator ride through an ancient, newly discovered pyramid. Discover the mysteries and powers of the ancient world in a motion film made exclusively for Luxor. Accessible via: MGM Grand Station. Continue to Excalibur Hotel and take tram, exit at Luxor. ~~~Lion Habitat (MGM Grand Hotel and Casino) This one-of-a-kind lion habitat is home to several African lions and cubs. 35- foot glass walls offer guests maximum viewing capabilities. Accessible via: MGM Grand Station ~~~Shark Reef (Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino) Takes visitors on a journey to an undersea ocean. Features more than 2,000 dangerous and unusual animals representing 100 different species from the world's most tropical waters. Accessible via: MGM Grand Station. Continue to Excalibur Hotel and take tram, exit at Mandalay Bay. Sightseeing Attractions #3 ~~~The Siegfried & Roy Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat (The Mirage) The Secret Garden is home to six rare animal breeds including the royal white tigers, white lions and a four-ton elephant. The Dolphin Habitat adjacent to the garden offers an educational tour of Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphins. Monorail accessible via: Harrah's / Imperial Palace Station ~~~Star Trek: The Experience (Las Vegas Hilton Hotel and Casino) Interact with live actors on U.S.S. Enterprise re-creation, battling aliens in space in a motion simulator. Accessible via: Las Vegas Hilton Station ~~~The Volcano at the Mirage (The Mirage) In the center of a lagoon filled with waterfalls and palm trees, the 54-foot volcano at the resort's entrance erupts every few minutes after dusk, spewing smoke and fire 100 feet above the water. Accessible via: Harrah's / Imperial Palace Station ~~~Wet 'N Wild Water Park Over 16 acres with more than a dozen rides, including flumes, slides and floats for all ages. Open daily May through September. Accessible via: Sahara Station ~~~White Tiger Habitat (The Mirage) Siegfried & Roy's rare and exotic white tigers can be viewed free of charge. Accessible via: Harrah's / Imperial Palace Station Various Places to Shop ~~~Desert Passage located behind the Aladin Hotel Casino Here, you can visit 140 unigue and specialty shops and 14 restaurants including Commander's Palace. The Monorail takes you there and is accessible via: MGM Grand Station. ~~~Fashion Show Mall Over 200 stores including a new Nordstrom and a new Bloomingdale's Home, as well as expanded stores from Neiman Marcus, Macy's and Robinsons-May, Saks Fifth Avenue and Dillard's. Located across from Treasure Island on the Strip at Spring Mountain Rd. The Monorail takes you there and is accessible via: Harrah's / Imperial Palace Station ~~~Forum Shops at Caesars (Caesars Palace) More than 100 specialty shops and restaurants including Versace, Gucci, Escada, Valentino, FAO Schwarz, The Palm, Wolfgang Puck's Spago, and The Cheesecake Factory. The Monorail takes you there and is accessible via: Flamingo / Caesars Palace Station ~~~M&M'S Academy (Showcase Mall) M&M's World is a four story interactive shopping and retail complex that features thousands of original M&M's Brand merchandise. The Monorail takes you there and is accessible via: MGM Grand Station ~~~Showcase Mall A specialty retail and entertainment center with a movie theater, M&M's World/Ethel M's Chocolates store, and Everything Coca-Cola store. The Monorail takes you there and is accessible via: MGM Grand Station Zion National Park Bicycling in Zion In the past most cyclists found the automobile congestion along Zion Canyon Scenic Drive to be too hazardous for riding. Thanks to the Zion Canyon Shuttle System the park is now more bicycle friendly. One may ride the Pa' rus trail from the lower canyon and connect to Zion Canyon Scenic Drive at Canyon Junction. The shuttle buses are equipped with bike racks for those wishing to ride only part of the way. Many cyclists enjoy riding the shuttle to the Temple of Sinawava and cycling back down. Bicycles are permitted only on established roads and the Pa'rus Trail. Cyclists must obey traffic laws. Bicycles are not allowed on hiking trails or off-trail. Ride defensively; automobile traffic is often heavy and drivers may be distracted by the scenery. Riding through the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel is prohibited. Bicycles must be transported through the tunnel by motor vehicle. Bikes can be rented at Springdale Cycles 932 Zion Park Blvd., Springdale, UT 84767, (435) 772-0575, Fax (435) 772-0576, E-mail: info@springdalecycles.com For additional information, visit General Information The below web site offers a good resource for information. This is the National Parks website and is a good resource also. For additional information, visit Horseback Riding Guided trips are available with Canyon Trail Rides, March through October. Reservations are advised. Call (435) 772-3810 or inquire in person at the Zion Lodge trail rides desk. Off season call (435) 679-8665. For additional information, visit Shuttle Transportation shuttle system includes two loops—one serving the park and one operating in the town of Springdale. The Springdale shuttle loop stops at six locations in the town, and the Zion Canyon shuttle loop stops at eight locations in the park. The transfer point between loops is made at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center in the park. The shuttle system operates from April through October. During those months, visitors may not drive their private vehicles on the scenic drive in upper Zion Canyon unless they are guests at the Zion Canyon Lodge. All other roads in the park are open to private vehicles. At other times of the year, private vehicles may be driven into upper Zion Canyon. The shuttle system provides convenient and frequent access to numerous hiking trails, scenic points, picnicking, horseback riding and the Zion Canyon Lodge. During the summer months, buses run at six-minute intervals during the middle of the day, so there is no need to rush to catch a bus. During the summer months, shuttles operate from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily. Shuttle schedules and frequencies change with the season and with the time of day. Shuttle schedules are posted at each shuttle stop. The system has allowed visitors to easily access the main canyon in an improved atmosphere of peace and tranquility. Shuttle stops are conveniently located throughout Springdale. The town shuttle takes visitors to the parking lot of the Zion Canyon Giant Screen Theater. Here you must disembark and walk across the footbridge into the park. A park entrance fee is charged at the walk-in entrance station. Proceed to the visitor center where there are exhibits, AV programs, a backcountry permit desk, an information desk, and numerous books, maps and other publications to assist you in planning your visit. Adjacent to the visitor center is a shuttle bus stop where you may board a shuttle bus to the upper Zion Canyon. You can get on and off the shuttle as often as you want. For additional information, visit Trails in Zion National Park Trails you can walk in ONE HOUR OR LESS ROUND TRIP •Lower Emerald Pool Easy walk to a waterfall. Shuttle stop: Zion Lodge or The Grotto •Weeping Rock Self-guiding walk to a spring and ''hanging garden.'' Shuttle stop: Weeping Rock •Canyon Overlook Self-guiding walk to a canyon viewpoint. Very hot by late morning. Shuttle stop: Not on shuttle loop •LONGER WALKS •Middle Emerald Pool Moderate walk to pools and waterfalls. Shuttle stop: Zion Lodge or The Grotto •Riverside Walk Easy walk along the Virgin River. Shuttle stop: Temple of Sinawava •Watchman Moderate walk to a viewpoint of lower Zion Canyon. Very hot by late morning. Three to four hours-round trip. Shuttle stop: Zion Canyon Visitors Center •Hidden Canyon Fairly strenuous hike to a hanging canyon. This trail is not recommended for anyone fearful of heights. Shuttle stop: Weeping Rock •Angels Landing Strenuous hike to a panoramic viewpoint. This trail is not recommended for anyone fearful of heights. Shuttle stop: The Grotto For additional information, visit Zion Canyon IMAX Zion Canyon IMAX Open 7 days a week 11am-8pm (summer hours) Call for winter hours. Hollywood films are up to 9 times the size of the regular screen! View the IMAX film 'Zion Canyon Treasure of the Gods'. The theatre's giant IMAX screen is the largest IMAX theater in Utah and one of the largest in the world measuring 60 feet high and 82 feet across. Sound is delivered through an eight track digital Surround Sound system capable of 22,000 watts. The giant IMAX screen is a great addition to the adventure of Zion National Park. Treasure of the God's Movie offers aerial and ground views of Zion and surrounding areas and sights difficult to see on your own and captures Zion legends in a dramatic way. Experience the myth, magic, and drama of Zion Canyon, with scenes from southwest National Parks and Native American Lands. The Zion Canyon Giant Screen Theatre offers one of the most spectacular film experiences available anywhere. Zion Canyon Treasure of the Gods is a 40-minute film that stretches across time and seasons, exploring the hidden depths and legends of Zion Canyon. Shown throughout the day on a screen six-stories high. Also showing Hollywood Favorites at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available at the theatre complex near the entrance to the park. Call (435) 772-2400 or (888) 256-FILM for more information For additional information, visit North Rim, Grand Canyon General Overview of Grand Canyon North Rim Free Time Options With your program, you have a limited amount of free time. This information is helpful if you plan to spend extra time here on your own. The north rim lodge area offers easy access to walk to incredible view points, explore the Visitor Center, gift shops and places to soak in all of the sights and sounds of this "Grand" place! For additional information, visit Grand Canyon Mule Trips North Rim mule trips do not go to the river. One-hour rides along the rim and ½ day rim or inner canyon trips are usually available on a daily basis. Full-day trips into the canyon include lunch. Register in the lobby of the Grand Canyon Lodge at the Grand Canyon Trail Rides desk; open 7am-5pm daily. For reservations call Grand Canyon Trail Rides, (435) 679-8665, or write to PO Box 128, Tropic, Utah, 84776, or visit them at North Rim mule trips are offered from mid May to mid October only. For additional information, visit Grand Canyon North Rim Ranger Lectures ~~~National Park Service rangers offer a wide variety of interpretive programs seasonally on the North Rim. All ranger programs are free and open to the public. The location and subject varies, check at the North Rim Visitor Center upon arrival or view a list on the website. For additional information, visit Hike on your own The hiking trails vary in distance and physical demand. Get a guide from the visitor center or at the entrance gate for complete details. Visit the website to decide prior to arrival. For additional information, visit Bryce Canyon National Park ATV Rides and Tours PLEASE NOTE: There is very little free time during this program. The free time options noted here are helpful if you plan to spend additional time before or after the program. Adventure with guided tours or on your own ATV (All Terrain Vehicles or 4-wheelers) Call for details on ATV Riding in Bryce Canyon area. Toll Free: 1-800-444-6689 o (435) 676-1160 o Fax: (435) 676-8239. Or contact the National Forest service for more details at (435) 676-9300. Also can call Ruby's Inn 1-866-866-6616 for info and reservations. For additional information, visit Hikes/walks The scenery, beauty and hiking options abound! You can get out and enjoy some on your own. When you arrive the Bryce Park guide has a complete list, description and map of the trails. You can utilize the Bryce Shuttle Red Line May 15-Sept 30 to get to and from the trails. For additional information, visit Shopping Ruby's Inn General Store Open daily from 7:00am to 10:30pm You can also visit Bryce Photo Shop, and The Old Bryce Town Shops where you walk the the wooden sidewalks and enjoy feeling as though you have traveled back in time to a western towns shops. Includes the Canyon Rock Shop featuring rocks, fossils, and petrified wood. For additional information, visit Shuttle You can use the shuttle to explore on your own or you can take the Green Line Shuttle for a TOUR of the Southern view points. Call for info (435) 834-5290. For additional information, visit Visitor Center The Visitor Center offers information, exhibits, and a 22-minute award-winning film which plays on the hour and half-hour. Publications and maps are available for purchase through our Bryce Canyon Natural History Association. We generally go to the visitor center as part of your Road Scholar program. You may want to spend additional time here. Transportation on the Bryce Shuttle is availble May 15-Sept 30Geology Author: See List Below Description: Geology – a Golden Guide, by Frank H.T. Rhodes, 1991, St. Martin's Press, N.Y., ISBN 1-58238-143-7. $6.95 Geology of Utah's Parks and Monuments, Sprinkel et. al. Utah Geological Association , 2000. Contains geology papers on 25 parks and monuments of Utah (644 pages). Written for a geologist. Softbound $34.99 Utah's Spectacular Geology, Lehi Hintze, 2005 The geologic story of Utah's landscapes and how they came to be. $29.95 The Colorado Plateau, Don Baars A comprehensive guide to the Colorado Plateau. $19.95 The Practical Geologist, Dougal Dixon, Raymond Bernor, 1992 This book is a great introductory guide to the basics of geology. Great diagrams, pictures and is well written. $16.00 Geology Underfoot in Southern Utah, R. Orndorff, R. Wieder, D. Futey, 2006 A hands on book about getting out among the rocks. Explores 33 sites in Southern Utah. Tells of ancient eruptions, deserts, seas, swamps and movements of massive rock units over eons. $18.00 Beyond the Visible Landscape, W. Kenneth Hamblin, 2004. A unique book that consists of a series of panoramic photographs taken from the air. Focuses on the fundamental features of the landscape. Contains excellent diagrams & descriptions of the geology in the photographs. Hardbound $65.00 Geology (Specific) Author: See List Below Description: Ron Kay's Guide to Zion National Park, Ron Kay, 1995 A complete guide of Zion National Park by one of Road Scholar's own instructors. $14.95 Shadows of Time: The Geology of Bryce Canyon National Park, Frank Decourten, 1994 A book with breathtaking photographs, well written on the geology of Bryce Canyon N. P. and surrounding high plateaus. $9.95 Water, Rock, & Time: The Geologic Story of Zion National Park, Robert Eves, 2005 This book is Zion's newest masterpiece. It is well written. It is so nice you may want to leave it on the coffee table. $19.95 Zion National Park – Towers of Stone; by J.L. Crawford; Zion Natural History Association, Springdale, Utah, Fourth Edition 2002. ISBN 0-915630-00-1 $9.50 (Available online at Carving Grand Canyon, Wayne Ranney. 2005. A synopsis of ideas and theories that geologists have developed over time about the carving of the Grand Canyon. This story is told in an engaging style that non-scientists will find inviting. $14.95 Canyonlands Country, Donald Baars, 1993. Geology of Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. $15.95 General Reference Author: See List Below Description: A Naturalists Guide to the Canyon Country, David B. Williams. 2000. A wonderful Falcon Guide that uses fine artwork and pictures to introduce the geology, flora, fauna and history of the Canyon Country. $22.95. Four Corners: History, Land and People of the Desert Southwest, Kenneth A. Brown. Great information about the region. $26.00 Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey. 1968. A season in the wilderness is a celebration of the beauty of living in a harsh and hostile land. Edward Abbey was a seasonal Park ranger in Arches National Monument. $10.75 Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner. 1986. The story of the American West is the story of a relentless quest for a precious resource: water. The definitive work on the West's water crisis. $17.00 Books About Native Americans Author: See List Below Description: Sacred Images: A Vision of Native American Rock Art, by Leslie Kelen & David Sucec 1996. Publication that features rock art and ruins of the native cultures of the southwest. $18.00 Those Who Came Before, Robert and Florence Lister. 1993. Southwestern archeology in the National Parks. $17.00 Book About History Author: See List Below Description: Heart of the Desert Wild, Greer Chesser. 2000. Award winning book about the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument (GSENM). It covers a variety of topics from geology to history. The photography and design of this book are outstanding and remains the definitive book on the GSENM. Softbound. $24.95 A Roadside History of Utah, Cynthia L. Bennett. 1999. Compelling stories of Utah's exceptional people. $18.00 Utah's History, Richard D. Poll. 1989. A more in-depth and statewide focus on history. Soft bound text heavy. Hole-in-the-Rock, David E. Miller. 1966. If you want to learn more about one of the epic pioneer journeys in American History this is the book. It is area related and is a good read for those interested in history. $16.00 Highway 12, Christian Probasco. 2005. Popular with travelers along Highway 12. It features a unique look at the history, people and their perspectives on this very special corridor. Softbound $16.95. Outlaw Tales of Utah, Michael Rutter. True stores of Utah's most famous robbers, rustlers and bandits. $10.95 Books About Southwest Flora Author: See List Below Description: Wildflowers of Southwestern Utah, Hayle Buchanan. 1992. Text covers flowers, shrubs and trees in their various life zones from Zion, Bryce and Cedar Breaks. $7.95 Canyon Country Wildflowers, Damian Fagan. 1998. A field guide to common wildflowers, shrubs and trees. $19.95 Sagebrush Country a Wildflower Sanctuary, Ronald Taylor. 1992. A field guide to common wildflowers, grasses and shrubs of the Great Basin. $14.00 Great Basin Wildflowers, Laird R. Blackwell. 2006. A guide to common wildflowers of the High Deserts of Nevada, Utah and Oregon. $22.95 Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the Four Corners, William Dunmire & Gail Tierney. 1997. A valuable book for anyone interested in plants, people, and cultures of the Colorado Plateau. $22.50 Wildflowers of the Mountain Southwest, . Meg Quinn 2000. A field guide to common upland wildflowers. $12.95 Wildflowers of the Desert Southwest, Meg Quinn. 2000. A field guide to common desert wildflowers. $9.9521 meals: 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 7Walk to view a sunrise/sunset over the Grand Canyon's North Rim. Bus to Bryce Point, the best place to see the sun rise on Bryce Canyon's Hoodoos. Optional hikes in each park, including, N Kaibab Tr into Grand Canyon, The Queen's Garden Trail among the Hoodoos in Bryce, and Zion's Emerald Pools.	eng	361ee562-ef5d-4de1-9827-b3306c1e6a55	http://www.roadscholar.org/programs/pd_printFull.asp?DId=1-5P6V09
Posts Tagged 'healthcare' You have probably already seen countless negative political ads informing the voters that one candidate or another voted to take money away from Medicare, some ads even say they stole money from Medicare. And, where did this stolen money go? According to the ads, it went to pay for Obamacare which no one wants. You were all warned that this was coming. The lies are coming so fast and furious that they can't even be debunked fast enough. No one voted to take money out of Medicare to pay for Obamacare. In fact, if you still have a few brain cells left, you will remember that we all wanted to fix our broken health care system. Well, now it's on the path to being fixed and the ads are all telling us that no one wanted this. Say what? Are they really expecting all of us to be so gosh-darned ignorant that we won't remember what a mess Obamacare is cleaning up? Do they really believe that we want the old broken health care system back? They're flat out wrong. We remember and we're glad for the benefits that Obamacare brings and we're not stupid. So, where does this lie come from? Obama did, in fact, save seven hundred billion dollars in Medicare by cutting the middle man, for profit corporations, out of the system. Obama also cut deals with the health care providers to help reduce costs. So, there is no loss incurred by Medicare, only a savings. And that savings is being used to help cover other people who wouldn't otherwise have insurance. In other words, we're getting more in return for our investment. Got that? We're saving money and the Republicans are lying trying to make it look like someone voted to take money away from Medicare services. The Republican Lie Machine is just getting geared up. Get ready. And, when you're sick and tired of these ads expecting you to be stupid enough to believe them, then consider donating a couple bucks to the candidate that is being lied about. I went to Google and searched for a list of benefits of Obamacare. The only things I could find in the first five pages (before I gave up) were right-wing think tank pages full of lies and distortions.Have they no morals left on the right? In other words, there's no way for the average American to get an honest list of their benefits from Obamacare. No wonder! Every single American should be overjoyed about the fact that we have finally started to get a handle on our out-of-control medical insurance industry. Yeah for us, America! But, the majority of sites that Google shows are all about how Obama's commin' for yur guns and you gramma. I'm surprised every American doesn't believe this garbage, these lies, from the party of low morals. So, I decided to try to compile a list of my own that people can read so they can make a fair and unbiased decision on how best to benefit from Obamacare. Before I start, though, I want to let the ambitious amongst us know that you can download the whole 1,000 pages of the bill and read it for yourself. Also, there is a very nice interactive tool that can help walk you through the parts of the law that benefit you specifically. One last point, due to opposition from the Republican party, much of the law couldn't go into effect immediately, so when you read the list of benefits, remember that some don't take effect right away. So, let's get to the list of benefits: Benefits of ObamaCare New tax credits are helping small business owners with the cost of providing health insurance for employees, Young adults can now stay on their parents' insurance until age 26, Parents whose child is born with birth defects and childhood diseases won't have to fight to keep their kids healthy because insurance companies are now prohibited from denying coverage for children with pre-existing conditions or placing lifetime limits on care Seniors are getting help with the cost of their medications, giving them peace of mind and putting more money in their pockets An additional 2.5 million young adults have gained coverage since September 2010 Nearly 54 million Americans with private health insurance, including approximately 20.4 million women have received preventive health services such as cancer screenings and immunizations at no additional cost (learn more about the health care law and preventive services and health care law and women) The average senior on Medicare will save $4,200 on their health care by 2021, and more than 5.1 million people on Medicare have already saved an average of $635 each on prescription drug costs (read more on the health care law, seniors, and Medicare) Families and small business are saving money on health care, and families who purchase private health insurance through exchanges that begin in 2014 could save up to $2,300 on their health care each year (learn more on the health care law and cost control) No more insurance cancellations when people get sick. Benefits for Women: Being a woman is no longer a "pre-existing condition." Insurance companies can't charge you more for being a woman either Having a pap smear still sucks, but at least you don't have to shell out a co-pay for it It's interesting to look at the effects that religion has on society. Below, you will be able to visualize the effects of different social trends, including religiosity, health, teen pregnancy, education, and income disparity. This data was compiled from multiple sources, mostly being from the census data. Each graph shows two social issues on a state-by-state basis. Look to see how many peaks in one line match peaks in the other line. This indicates that both the social indicators are high in that state. Look for the number of valleys that line up as well. All the states are in alphabetic order so you can find your own state by counting the number of tick marks. Let's get started… The above graph shows that states with highly religious people contains the most unhealthy people. Do sick people become more religious or are more religious states under served in the health industry? Let's look at teen pregnancies in religious states: Teen Pregnancies and Religion The two lines don't match up nearly as closely as the unhealthy religious graph but the number of peak and valleys that match is well above 50%. It should appear obvious to anyone reading this that the religious communities have a problem with their youth being unprepared for their sexual inclinations. Abstinence education doesn't stop sex, it stops intelligent decisions regarding sex. Okay, let's look at education and religion: Religion and Lack of Education This graph tracks almost as closely as the first one. There is an obvious correlation between how uneducated a community is and how religious they are. There are endless psychological studies proving that the typical Republican is way below the average IQ of a Democrat, but this data seems to prove that there is also this same marriage of religiosity and duh. The real question is, which is cause and which is effect? Does being dumb make you more susceptible to religion or does religion discourage knowledge? Let's look at Religiousness and Income Disparity: Religiosity and Income Disparity There isn't much correlation at all between these two. In other words, income disparity isn't any more prevalent in religious communities than anywhere else. But, if we compare income disparity and lack of education: Education and Income Disparity These two data sets track each other very closely. It is quite obvious that communities with low educations are exploited by the wealthy. It also indicates that in communities where the mega-wealthy control the community, there is little chance of the people getting out from under their thumb. Education is the best solution to income disparity. Nevada's senator voted for the Blunt amendment, today, you know, the law that would have allowed employers to restrict you from any medical procedures just because he didn't agree with them. You know, like paying for a witch-doctor but not for lab work. Or not paying for birth control because all women should be barefoot and pregnant. The amendment almost passed. It lost by a 51/48 margin. And, you know what, Nevada? Your representative, Dean Heller, sold you down the river. Lucky for us, the rest of the nation's senators came to their senses. It's time to replace or recall Dean Heller. Bad for Nevada. Bad for America. Update: The Blunt Amendment would allow an employer to enact Shira law in his workplace. The blatant Republican ignorance has supported the Shira laws they so pretend to fear and loath. This idiot, Heller, seems too ignorant for even Nevada voters to support. If you were to create an organization that was the opposite of Christian, what would it look like? One easy approach is to look at all the things that were important to Jesus and oppose them. Jesus spent most of his life helping the poor, feeding the poor, clothing the poor, or today would be housing the poor, healing the poor and the sick. He was against mixing church and state. He told his people not to show boast about their faith. He showed humanity and justice for the imprisoned. He opposed wealth and lived a life free of greed. What other things can you come up with that were important to Jesus? He mentioned gays hardly ever so it's not something worth associating with Jesus. There was no such thing as abortion in those days so you can interpret anything you want but if it was important to Jesus it would be obvious to all. But, he never talks of abortion. Go ahead and think up any more things that were important enough to Jesus that he spoke of them often. So, now we can outline the things that would make an organization anti-Christian. With all the talk from the Republican candidates about how superior their own personal religious strengths are, it should remind all of us what it really means to be a Christian. Do you consider yourself a Christian? What are your most important Christian principles? Considering how Jesus taught and how he lived his life, here are some Christian principles many consider important. How do you rate on these Christian principles? Works of Mercy: Do you support and vote for a political party that is for providing material needs of the weak, sick, and poor? Or do you vote for a party that is against health care for all? Does your political party seek to take away rights from others, such as gays, or illegal aliens, or Muslims? Or does your political party show mercy for all, regardless of their differences? Salt and Light: Do you shine like a lamp and show your political party that you believe in "do unto others as you would have done unto you?" Or, do you support a political party that wants tax breaks for the rich while deserting the needs of the poor? Does your political party want to cut expenses by taking away benefits and services for the poor to help the wealthy? Or does your political party want the wealthy to share in order to feed the hungry, and heal the sick? Are you sure that your political party shines with the light that you want illuminating you and your family and you community and your country? If you are a Christian, these are some difficult questions and hopefully will make you stop and think, regardless of your political party. Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me. [Matthew 25.40] What does it mean to be pro-life? Answer some simple questions and rate yourself. Should the sick be cared for even if they can't afford health care? Should the elderly be cared for even if they can't afford health care? Should the poor be cared for even if they can't afford health care? How about if they have to chose between heat and medicine? Should the homeless be cared for? Should illegal aliens be cared for even if they can't afford our hospitals? Should the minimum wage be high enough to provide a meaningful way of life for everyone, one that includes medical and retirement? Are you against the death penalty? Are you against abortions? Count up all your "yes" votes. If you have only one "yes" vote, some strange folks would say you're pro-life. But anyone with even the slightest grasp on reality would say that anyone with less than 90% "yes" vote is just mediocre. Anyone with less than 50% "yes" has a serious problem. If you are below the 50% mark, I strongly suggest you read the Constitution of the United States and start with the introduction, or preamble. Just in case you can't find it, here is how it starts should be pretty obvious to even the most uneducated in our society that the purpose of our government is so we can provide for the wellbeing of ourselves and our neighbors. The entire introduction to our constitution lays it out in black and white. The latest US budget designed and approved by almost every single Republican in the House of Representatives takes food right out of the mouths of the starving and gives it to the millionaires and billionaires. This action has horrified America enough that we are beginning to realize that we are voting for the party that is as opposite our religious and moral values as possible. How could we have voted for this immoral party? How could we have been made into such suckers that we have voted against all that we know to be right and voted for those intent on giving our country away to the greedy and the rich? If we don't stop and figure out how we got here, we'll never be able to avoid it in the future. What went so wrong that we got the party of the greedy running our government? I can't speak for everyone who has accidentally voted for the party of the greedy, but I can speak for those I know and I can be pretty sure that this is the same mistake made by almost all of those voting for the Republicans. Wedge Issues The easiest way to get people to vote against their own best interests and against the best interests of the country is to get them to vote primarily on wedge issues. A wedge issue is an issue that can be used to drive as a wedge between political parties. The Republicans can't run on providing for the poor, because it would be a a lie, so they need to find something that will get people riled up enough to go and vote for a lousy candidate if he would just address the wedge issue. The Republican voter is typically a single issue voter. This means that they are the most susceptible to being used as tools in wedge issues. Effective Marketing The Republican party has become experts at marketing destructive policies to the American people. Why else would you have a Tea Party out there chanting for more rights and lower taxes on the multinational corporations and billionaires? The Tea Party was created with money from the billionaires and is sponsored by billionaire dollars and marketed with billionaire money all for the purpose of getting Tea Party candidates elected who vote against the interests of Americans and all for the corporations. Few people even realize that the original Tea Party was a revolution against multinational corporate power and now they're out there chanting for more power and more money for the multinational corporations. You can't tell me that's not pretty darned impressive marketing. Lies and Deceipt The percentage of people who are foolish enough to be Tea Baggers is low enough that the Republican party needs more. Hence, the need to lie about what they are and what they plan to do for the billionaires. This is not a problem limited to the Republican party. There are a few Democrats who run on Progressive principles and then vote straight ticket with the Republicans. But, this isn't really all about how bad the Republicans are. This essay is about how some unethical politicians and greedy billionaires can corrupt our political system. It's not all about Republicans or Democrats. It happens to be the Republican party they have infected, but it could have just as well been the Democratic party. In fact, they're spending billions of dollars right now, trying to corrupt that party as well. Taking Back our Country How on Earth are we ever going to fix this mess with so much money lines up against the American voters? How will we wrestle the media away from big money? How can we change the campaign finance laws when the Supreme Court is so obviously pro-billionaire? This almost looks like a perfect storm. It may be too late for us to take back the country peacefully, but hopefully we will at least try before it's too late. The Real Issues As I've pointed out, political parties don't run on real moral issues, they run on wedge issues. This means that we voters are stuck without real issues upon which to vote. What are the most important moral issue to you? Think about it before reading further. What is really important to you morally? Do these moral issue matter enough to affect your voting? In other words, do your morals affect your "real" life or are they just something to talk about at church? For the vast majority of Americans, moral issues affect their daily lives. Most people try to keep morals in their lives. Here is a short list of my moral issues. I have a much longer list but it's not important what mine are, what matters is what your moral list looks like. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, curing the sick. You know, those things Jesus says need to be part of our lives. Turn the other cheek. This includes reducing the steel heel of oppressive laws in America and reducing the oppressive governments of other lands. This means no wars. Fix the system where the vast majority of those in our prisons are minorities and poor. You know, the things Jesus said we should keep in our lives. Discouraging greed. Wow! There's no end to where this could go. It's time to get the money changers out of our religions and out of our politics. There are plenty more, but this is a good start for discussion. Do yourself a favor and come up with your own personal list of important moral issues. Now ask yourself, how many of those issues on your list are things you actually vote on? How can there be such a great disconnect between what you think is moral and how you vote? Now, here is a list of wedge issues that are important but are not anywhere near the top of my list and I bet they're not at the top of yours either: Abortion. This is not a moral issue. Nowhere in the Bible does it say we need to vote on abortion. Abortions are horrible but if they're at the top of your morals list, you might want to stop and take a second look at your morals. Hate the Gay. How many times does your religious book refer to defending the downtrodden compared to the number of times it says we need to disenfranchise gays? This is a big wedge issue but is also a big moral issue as well. Should we be taking rights away from gays? What would your common sense tell you? Religion in schools and in government. This wedge issue really as no place in a Christian's political view. Christianity is opposed to the combination of politics and religion. So are our country's founding documents. So, why would you vote based on this issue? Don't get me wrong. There are some religions that think that politics and religions should be the same. But most Americans opposed to Muslim laws regarding this. What are your most important wedge issues and is it wise to vote based on them while excluding the most important moral issues on your list? So what has the Republican House of Representatives done since they were elected last November? If you voted for them you should be paying close attention. After the election is when your real work begins. You have to pay attention to what your representatives do so you can have half a clue if you want to re-elect them come next election. So, what have they done for America? There are endless polls out there saying what is most important for the average American. The first thing on every poll is the economy. So, what have the Republicans brought us to address the economy? Nothing! Zip, Nada! In fact, they did the one thing that would have a tremendous negative impact on our economy, reversing the health care reform that almost every American, including all the Republicans, has been trying to do for over a half a century. Fix the health care system. They want to repeal it even though by impartial non-partisan analysis, is to save our economy hundreds of billions of dollars. They have even taken the word, Labor, out of the labor commission. Okay, so they haven't done anything for the A-number-one-most-important thing. So how about other important things? Have they fixed the Free Trade disaster sending all our jobs over seas? No, I guess not. The second most important thing to most all Americans is unemployment. What have they done for the unemployed? You guessed it. NOTHING! How about corruption in government? Nothing! In fact, they're making it harder to expose the Republican corruption. The next most important thing to most all Americans is the broken health care system. Have they done anything, anything at all to fix it? No. They have absolutely no ideas or plans for anything. Okay, so they haven't done anything at all that the average American needs done. But what have they done? Well, they have done two things. They spent hundreds of millions of our tax dollars playing politics with the Health Care Reform bill. And, their second most wonderful accomplishment — they have spit in the faces of all American women by marginalizing the crime of rape. They have spent our tax dollars and wasted precious time redefining Rape while failing to address anything that matters. I have to admit, if I was a Republican voter, I'd feel pretty darned stupid by now. Hey Republicans, is it time to wake up yet? Is it time to come to your senses? It's too late to take back your party. Your party is toast. It represents no one but the crazies and the billionaires. Imagine for a moment that everyone in America was college educated and everyone was a doctor. How much would it cost to go to the doctor? Since there would be more doctors than were needed, the supply & demand would make the value of doctor services almost worthless. In every non-American developed country, doctors make a reasonably good living but are not paid like gods. In America, supply & demand has been interfered with and there are fewer doctors than the demand. Therefore, doctors in America are prohibitively expensive. Now, let's imagine for a moment that America becomes a first-world country again and provided free education, all the way up to doctorates. Everyone who wanted to be a doctor and had the ability (not just the money) could be a doctor. What would happen to the cost of our medical care? That's right, it would go way down. So, why do you suppose America has this problem that the rest of the developed world doesn't? What has been messing with our supply & demand? There are two things that distort the supply & demand for medical care in America: 1) The American Medical Association and 2) America's failure to provide free education to the gifted, not just the wealthy. 1) The American Medical Association actively limits the number of new doctors entering the field. This sort of interference with our free markets should be outlawed and people caught manipulating our markets for profit should go to jail. People are dying because our medical system is so broken and some people are making money off this broken system. Send them to jail. Murder is murder even if you don't see the faces of the victims and their families. 2) Americans are saving a few dollars in their taxes by not providing better education for everyone but are then paying thousands of dollars more in medical expenses. Americans are smarter than that. Yet, we still hear the Tea Baggers and the Republicans say how we need to lower our taxes even further. Not too bright, now, huh? The solution should now be quite obvious. We should join the rest of the developed world in the 21st century and extend free education through doctorate degrees. We should even include a small stipend to help students to pay their expenses while going to college. And, secondly, we should send to prison those people caught interfering with our supply of doctors. Remember, when it comes to markets, the system of supply & demand explains a lot. "An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will." Thomas Jefferson We have multiple posts regarding the emergency caused by the Republicans on the Supreme Court in their attempt to rewrite the constitution (activists judges, they're called) in the Citizens United v. FEC case. They have made it so that businesses, international corporations, and foreign entities like al Qaeda and the Taliban can spend unlimited money to pollute our elections. The last election was just an example. It was by far the most expensive mid term election in our history and hundreds of millions of dollars was spent on false propaganda (lies) by corporations around the world and we have no idea who. All this money slanted the election as money always does. The University of Maryland has a project that is researching the disinformation in this past election and it is exactly as one would expect. The voters were tragically misinformed. From their research, the following disgusting ignorances were reported. 1. Perceptions of Misleading and False Information – An overwhelming majority of voters said that they encountered misleading or false information in the last election, with a majority saying that this occurred frequently and occurred more frequently than usual. 2. Evidence of Misinformation Among Voters – The poll found strong evidence that voters were substantially misinformed on many of the issues prominent in the election campaign, including the stimulus legislation, the healthcare reform law, TARP, the state of the economy, climate change, campaign contributions by the US Chamber of Commerce and President Obama's birthplace. In particular, voters had perceptions about the expert opinion of economists and other scientists that were quite different from actual expert opinion. 3. Variations in Misinformation By Voting Behavior – There were significant differences between those who voted Democratic and Republican in the level of misinformation on various issues that were prominent in the campaign and that respondents said were important in shaping their votes. 4. Variations in Misinformation by Exposure to News Sources Consumers misinformation. There is more findings and plenty of detail in the actual document so don't take my word for it; go out there and find out for yourself. We Americans need to respect the integrity of our information and start demanding that corporations and so called "think tanks" and so called Fox "news" quit lying to us. We can't expect our Democracy to survive if we voters don't know our hats from a hole in the ground. I'm quite surprised by the Republican Party for all the things they oppose. One would think that they oppose anything the Democrats want, even if such opposition hurts America. Then, again, maybe there really is reason to oppose these things Democrats are trying to pass thinking it's for the benefit of America. Let's take a look at what the GOP hates. The list of things the GOP opposes is huge and grows every day so deciding where to start leaves countless possibilities. So, I'll start with things that the GOP has expressed the most opposition to, namely fixing our broken health care system. The GOP has promised repeatedly that if they get back into power they'll repeal the health care reform bill. They've pledged to, "Repeal the Costly Health Care Takeover of 2010." It sickens me to see a major political party in America so steeped in lies. I would have said, "what moron would ever believe that the tax bill is taking over the health care" but seeing all the people who sadly believed the lies about the death panels and believe that Obama's coming for their guns, I sadly realize that a large number of Americans are successfully deceived by these lies over and over again. If you are one of the many Republicans who visit this site, please stop and drop me a comment and let me what's going on inside your head when it comes to this stuff. Why does anyone believe the lies when it's proven that the party is lying over and over? Is it easily forgotten each time or does your news media neglect to correct the lies? America has been trying for many decades to fix our broken health care system. We've known it's broken since the early 1900s. Republican administrations and Democratic administrations have tried repeatedly to fix this mess only to be beaten down by the medical and health care industries. Now, after all these failed attempts, America has succeeded in a first step at fixing the problem and the same health care and medical industries have convinced many of us how it's not in our best interests to see this fixed. So, Republicans, please enlighten me. Why are you so opposed to America fixing our broken health care system? We're the last industrialized nation to fix the death by greed problems. So, what, exactly, are you so opposed to? The lie of death panels has been cleared up, the lie of it costing more than it saves over the next few years has been debunked. Exactly what is remaining that makes the GOP want to repeal this? Is the problem really just the fact that the Democrats were successful in helping America and the GOP don't want it to stick? Is it possible that the Republican voters really don't want America to fix our broken health care system? I just refuse to believe that. Now that the health care bill is in effect, how much have your taxes gone up? None? In fact isn't Obama trying to get the middle class tax cuts to continue? How many death panels have you seen? How much is your health care rationed? None? Well, then, really, what is the GOP opposed to when it comes to fixing our health care system? I got this in my inbox today. It's so sad to see the extent of the lies coming out of the right and the millionaires and billionaires. They're making more and more money while the rest of us do with less and less and they lie to keep it coming. We are all being lied to and many of us are believing the swill. Check out this email and help stop the lies about national health insurance reform. As you know, the insurance companies spent over $700 million to try and kill health care. Now, the insurers and their allies are spending millions on ads filled with lies to try and buy a Republican anti-health care majority hell-bent on repealing the new law. These ads are designed to trick and scare voters especially seniors. Just last week, the conservative 60 Plus Association (an astro turf, insurance industry front-group claiming to represent seniors) launched its latest round of misleading ads that falsely attack the Members of Congress who stood on our side against the insurance companies. These next few weeks are crucial in the fight to protect consumer and end the insurance companies' stranglehold on our health care. It was your work, your one-on-one conversations, your phone calls, and your e-mails that defeated the insurance lobbyists. We beat the insurance industry before and we will do it again. The insurance companies and their mouthpieces will continue to take every opportunity to prevent the new law from fulfilling its promise. Their tactics are getting more brazen by the day. Several insurance companies are refusing to issue child-only policies because the new law prohibits their practice of denying coverage to children with "pre-existing conditions." They continue to blame these indefensible actions on the new law. Shall Nevada dump Harry Reid? If you are certain we should dump him but can't quite put your finger on the reason why, watch out, you just might be getting caught up in the anti-Reid advertising. If you actually have some reasons, please post a comment with your reasons. Anyone making a decision as important as selecting the representatives for our government will certainly want to evaluate the pros and cons of Reid's accomplishments before making a decision for or against. So, here is my quick list of the pros and cons. Please feel free to add any of your own that might not be listed here. Pros: He's the majority Senate leader, ensuring that Nevada has a voice in our government, and a big voice it is being the majority leader. Dumping Harry Reid will mean Nevada will not have another Senate majority leader for many decades. Cutting taxes for Nevada's working families. Well, I'm not real sure if I want to put this as a pro or a con. American's taxes are so low right now (the lowest they've been in over 50 years) that the country is going broke. Cutting taxes is one of the primary reasons we're in the financial mess we're in. Still, he has tried to get more money into the hands of the average American and that's the only fix for this mess. Helping to keep Nevadans in their homes Creating jobs by investing in Nevada's clean energy industry Killing the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump. For me, this is a big BIG deal! Passing landmark health insurance reform legislation to help cover more than 600,000 uninsured Nevadans. Remember a year ago? Two years ago? 10 years ago? America has been trying to pass comprehensive health care reform for many decades and only with Harry Reid has it been passed. Could it have been better? Absolutely! But, it's a wonderful start. Cons: He allowed more tax breaks for the billionaires and multi-national corporations as part of the stimulus. That only makes things worse, Harry. The Republican party has been as obstructionist as ever before in this country's history. They have tried to prevent anything good from coming through. Harry has been playing nice with them and letting them block legislation after legislation and appointment after appointment. Harry, stand up to the anti-American tactics from the Republicans and call them what they are. Force a filibuster if they threaten one. Health care reform could have been so much better if Harry had stood up to the obstructionists. Harry let the Republicans strip the Buy-American provision of the stimulus which required the stimulus money go to American businesses. Over half of the stimulus went to stimulate China's economy and Harry let the Republicans do it. The Lies: Following are some of the lies that we're beginning to see coming out of the Republican lie machine. The stimulus didn't work. This is just so obvious a lie that even the Republicans don't believe it. We were losing millions of jobs before we passed the stimulus and now we're starting to get our jobs back and the unemployment rate is going down. It can't be more obvious, even to the people trying to peddle this lie. The second lie is that Harry Reid is responsible for Nevada not getting more stimulus money. This lie is usually uttered in the same breath that lies that the stimulus didn't work. However, Harry Reid has nothing to do with the stimulus money getting to Nevada. That is something that the governor does and if you remember, our governor, Gibbons, at first refused the stimulus money and later lost out because he fell asleep and failed to request any. In order to fix what we think is broken, we should try to understand how we got in this mess. The problem with our out-of-control medical costs exemplifies this handily. Knowing how we got in this mess will usually help us figure out how to get out of it and at the very least can help us avoid stepping in the same hole again once it's fixed. If you only have one power company, they can charge whatever they want for electricity and you can either pay through the nose or freeze to death. This is an example of supply and demand. There is a large demand and only a single supplier. That is why most of our power providers are tightly regulated — to prevent this type of abuse. Computers were expensive at the beginning. I remember when my first desktop computer cost me $1300 for a run-of-the-mill computer. Now you can buy a computer for $300. Why the difference? Supply and demand, obviously. Now there are numerous companies trying to sell you a computer. So let's think back about 30 years. Medical care was expensive. You paid almost $30 for a doctor visit. No, not for the co-pay, not for the deductible. That was the cost of the visit. Sure, that was expensive then, but nothing like what we're paying today. What has changed since then? What has caused the prices to sky rocket? Do you think that it might possibly have something to do with supply and demand? You're right on the money. We have a higher demand for medical care now than we did back then. There were more doctors available per patient than we have now. Considerably more. And, why is that? The reason is two fold. 1. The AMA restricts how many doctors get through a medical degree. They control the supply. The AMA should be terminated. It is not benefiting society, but causing the deaths of many Americans due to unavailable affordable health care. 2. The second reason is along the same line. What else changed 30 years ago? What changed that affects how many people graduate from medical school? You're probably way ahead of me on this one. Yes, it's because the cost of education has gone through the roof. 30 years ago many colleges were free or close to free. Today, only the elite can afford to send their kids to medical school. If we all paid $10 per year to provide free medical education to anyone interested and capable of graduating, we would save hundreds of dollars a year in medical costs. But, no, we don't want to pay an extra dime on our taxes and see what this stingy attitude has done to our once great nation? Congratulations America! You have done something America has been trying to do for the past 70 years. We've passed Health Insurance Reform. America, YOU ROCK! For the past 70 years, while the rest of the world has created health care systems for all their people, Republican have fought with all their might against America's efforts at reforming our broken system. And you finally did it! This is such an important milestone that it's hard to even put it in perspective. One day, many decades ago, America decided we would not allow our poor and old to die on street corners. Against the cries of Socialism from the Republicans, we became a better country, a country following the course defined in our constitution and America's forefathers. Today, we passed health care reform and it is just as momentous and has been against as much pressures and lies from the Right Wing Nutsville. But, America, this is just the start. If we just sit back and feel good about what we did, and nothing more, then you know the followers of the hate and fear party will be out in force, trying to undo every good thing that makes this country great. We can't let that happen. Stay active. Feel GREAT about our wonderful first step but know that it's just a single step in helping America recover from the damages wrought by our brothers on the Right. Stay active. Talk to your neighbors, write letters to the papers and magazine and to our representatives. Donate! And let's set our sights on the next big success for America. Ah, Jim Gibbons. You make a tea bagger proud. Too bad that you disgrace the rest of the state of Nevada. I've seen five year olds act more mature and sensible than you. Gibbons doesn't think that we're wasting enough of our bankrupt state's money. He wants to cancel education and any investment in Nevada's future but he certainly has some money to jump on the Republican Crazy Train and file yet another frivolous lawsuit against health insurance reform like one more lawsuit is going to make a difference. Just how stupid is it for Nevadans to pay our scarce Nevada tax dollars pursuing lawsuits that we will have to spend our federal tax dollars to defend. I know that this sounds awfully immature by anyone's standards, but at a time like this, it has to make a tea bagger proud. It's really no surprise that the majority of Nevadans have been against Gibbons from the start, but this an obvious example of Nevadan tax payers getting what we deserve for not getting out there and voting. Now it's costing every Nevadan cold hard cash because of this man-child. I wrote a letter to Nevada's Dean Heller explaining the need to support Pelosi's Health Care Legislation HR3962, oppose the Stupak amendment, and how important it is that safe abortions be part of America's healthcare. To this, Heller responds. To begin with, I want you to know that I share your concerns and deeply respect your advocacy on behalf of the unborn. You will be pleased to learn that I joined my colleagues in supporting the Sutpak-Pitts amendment. Not only is the man a moron for voting for this woman killing legislation, but he obviously doesn't even have a staff that can read. Or, then again, maybe that's just his way of getting more votes. Nevada! Wake up! The Republicans you've elected are destroying this country and dividing the people. Pretty soon, we'll all be as smart as Heller.	eng	0bf6b9a0-b4f7-4c94-b7c9-2d4081a77cd7	http://www.just-say-why.com/blog/index.php/tag/healthcare/
Posts Tagged '1874' The Legislature having made the 21st of April a holiday, in commemoration of the Battle of San Jacinto — a day forever sacred with all Texans — it is but proper this morning to publish a brief review of the glorious day's work; not only that the children of those who participated in it may know the inheritance of honor to which they have fallen heirs, but also those who are now, for the first time, seeking homes in the Lone Star State, may learn to respect its moments, and cherish the honor of its founders. BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO. The battle of San Jacinto was fought between the volunteer and regular forces comprising the army of Texas — General Sam Houston, Commander-in-Chief; John A. Wharton, Adjutant and Inspector General; George W. Hockley, William T. Austin, Aides-deCamp; M. Austin Bryan, Secretary, And the Mexican army, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana, in command, on the 21st day of April, 1836. The military operations, which finally terminated on this occasion, commenced in Texas in September, 1835, by the volunteer army of Texas, General Stephen F. Austin, commander-in-chief, besieging the town and Mexican garrison of San Antonio, and after more than two months' siege, on the morning of the 4th of December, the Texans attacked the town, which was then the garrison, and after an incessant action, the town and Alamo were surrendered to the Texans by General Martin Profacio de Cos, commanding the Mexican forces. Whereupon, General Santa Anna took the field and crossed the Rio Grande into Texas, at the head of a Mexican army, 10,000 strong. He retook San Antonio and Goliad, and then continued his march into Texas. GEN. SAM HOUSTON was just at that time elected Commander-in Chief of the army of Texas. Hearing of the invasion by Santa Anna, he went promptly to the front with the intention of organizing his army at Gonzales. The rapid movements, however, of Santa Anna compelled Gen. Houston to fall back before completing the organization of his army, numbering only four hundred men. He made his first halt at the Colorado, thence he crossed the Brazos and on-camped at Groce's Retreat for some three weeks, keeping out scouting parties around and before the enemy as he advanced. Before going to the field, Gen. Houston had made an agreement with Gens. Quitman and Felix Huston, of Mississippi, to join him with a large force of cavalry, artillery and infantry, and he it is said, designed avoiding giving battle until reinforced by Gens. Quitman and Huston. The rapid movements of Santa Anna forced Gen. Houston to march to San Jacinto. The two armies occupied positions on the San Jacinto, about two miles apart, Santa Anna's forces fourteen hundred and Houston's seven hundred strong. Houston's scouts, under Deef Smith, intercepted a courier, by which the fact was disclosed that Santa Anna's army of invasion was in three divisions, one under the command of Santa Anna, then before him; another under Gen. Filisola, and another under Gen. Urea. The two later divisions were marching forward to reinforce Santa Anna. Under these circumstances, Gen. Houston decided to make the attack on Santa Anna before his reinforcements could arrive. Our cavalry were constantly employed in skirmishing and making demonstrations before the enemy. This was easily accomplished, as the country is an open prairie at that point. About noon on 21st of April, 1836, Gen. Houston called A COUNCIL OF WAR, the result of which was a decision to attack the enemy; and shortly before 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the troops were ordered to parade, which, it is needless to say, they did with alacrity. Burleson's regiment was placed in the center, Sherman's on the left, and Lamar's cavalry, Millard's infantry and Hockley's artillery on the right in the order named. The enemy's cavalry was on his left wing; his center, which was fortified, was composed of infantry, with artillery in an opening in the center of the breastworks. The Mexican commander had extended the extreme right of his forces to the river, so as to occupy a skirt of timber projecting out from it. THE ASSAULT. The Texan cavalry was dispatched to the front of the enemy's horse to draw their attention, while the remainder of the column was deploying into line. This evolution was quickly performed and the whole force advanced rapidly and in good order. The two small cannon, the "Twin Sisters," now advanced to within two hundred yards of the enemy's breastworks and opened a destructive fire with grape and canister. The whole line advancing in double-quick time cried: "Remember the Alamo!" "Remember Goliad!" and while approaching the enemy's works received their fire, but withheld their own until within pistol shot. The effect of this fire on the enemy was terrible. But the Texans made no halt — onward they went. THE ROUT. In a few moments after the charge the Mexicans gave way at all points and the panic became general. At dark the pursuit of the fugitives ceased. The prisoners taken were conducted to the Texan camp, placed under guard and supplied with provisions. THE FORCES ENGAGED. The aggregate force of the Texan army in battle was 788; that of the enemy about double that number. The Mexicans lost 630 killed, 206 wounded and 780 prisoners, besides a large number of arms, horses and mules, together with their camp equipage and a military chest containing $13,000. The Texan loss is set down at eight killed and twenty-five wounded. Santa Anna was captured in the prairie the following day and brought to Gen. Houston's headquarters, where he was treated as a prisoner of war. General Houston having received a severe and painful wound, was compelled to go to New Orleans for medical treatment, leaving Gen. Thomas J. Rusk in command. END OF THE REVOLUTION. Santa Anna sent orders to Generals Filisola and Urea to return with their troops to Mexico, which were very promptly obeyed by those officers. The Texan army was then marched to the Guadalupe river and encamped near Victoria. No further hostility occurring, the volunteers were disbanded in October, 1836. Sitting Bull, the Great Chief of the Sioux, His Peculiar Character. [Special Correspondence] ST PAUL, Sept. 18 — Probably when the facts are all known it will be discovered that Sitting Bull had more to do in influencing the Indians against signing the treaty at Standing Rock than any other man. Bull is an Indian of large brain, as the writer ascertained while traveling with him for three months in the east. He is diplomatic in his nature, not a great warrior, but rather a safe counselor, and as such he has great influence with the Indians. He is a thoughtful savage, and his travels in New York, Philadelphia and Brooklyn, in 1884, taught him the ways of the whites to such an extent that he is now well able to cope with them. He is especially good in making a bargain. Indeed, the writer considers him intellectually one of the most powerful Indians on the American continent. That he has had much to do in shaping the opinions of the tribe there can be no doubt. Sitting Bull's Indian name is Ta-ton Ka-i-o-ton Ka, and he was born on the banks of Grand river within the boundaries of the great Sioux reservation and about forty five miles southwest from the present Standing Rock agency in Dakota. He is 55 years of age, has a very large head, is cool and thoughtful, very decided in his ways, and yet will listen to argument and will answer with argument. His original name was Wa-Kan-you na gin, or Standing Holy, which name he retained until he was 14 years old, when his father, whose name was Sitting Bull, took him along with him on the warpath into the Crow country (the inveterate enemies of the Sioux), and he, the 14-year-old boy, counted his first victory by killing a Crow Indian. After returning to their home his father "threw away" three ponies, i.e. killed them in honor of his brave son's achievement, at the same time announcing that he had changed the name of his son from Standing Holy to that of Sitting Bull, bestowing his own name upon him. In person, Sitting Bull is a solidly built Indian, not quite so tall as an ordinary savage, yet heavier in many respects. His features are strong, and when he walks he turns his toes inward, strikes the ground with a heavy, jarring tread, and moves rapidly like a man of business. His general look is heavy, while that of Little Crow, the leader of the great Indian outbreak in Minnesota in 1861, and Hole-in-the-Day, the great Chippewa chief, were more refined, but none the less true Indians. The Dakotas believe that they must imitate Hay-o-Kah, or the undemonstrative god, who inculcates the idea that it is not dignified, or manly, or great to evince lively emotions of grief or joy, but under all circumstances, even of torture and death itself, the Indian must show a stoical, impassive face, and hence the immovable features of Sitting Bull, or any other Indian who lays claim to power among his tribe. The principal characteristic of this great medicine man — for he is known among his tribe as such — is his stubbornness of character, the same element which made Grant the greatest warrior of modern times. With judicious management Bull could, no doubt, be won over to the whites, but you can't drive him. Roll on oh! cruel time; close up the year, That marks the rounding of a century, Since first our forefathers rejoic'd to hear, The declaration, that all men are free. We honor the names of the minute-men, Who fought in the revolutionary strife, And fell, at Lexington and Concord then, To give the nation liberty and life. But now the last battle-field comes in sight, And casts its shadow o'er our peaceful land, Like the death-angel who took his swift flight, The clouds of war had been thickening fast, And Sitting Bull with his wild Sioux bands, Were gath'ring for war, for a fortnight past, In the Maucaises terres or Bad Lands. And the came the first bloody fray, With the Sioux, who swept down like a sea, How Custer's and Reno's command that day, Had fought as they did at Thermopyke. How Custer, surrounded on every side, Like Leonidas still cheered his men, Who fought 'till swept away by the fierce tide, That roll'd over them again and again. Three hundred strong they were before the fight, Three hundred they follow'd the new-made trail, Three hundred they fell to the left and to the right, And not a man returned to tell the tale. Close up the grave of the heroic dead, Question not, till the resurrection morn'. The last patriot's blood was freely shed, At the battle of Little Big Horn. Strengthen the sacred ties of our nation. Stand shoulder to shoulder in every fight, Against the foes of civilization. The enemies of true freedom and Right. Decatur Republican (Decatur, Illinois) Jul 20, 1876 SITTING BULL has given his version of the Custer massacre. He states that the battle lasted only thirty minutes, and that Custer with a few men and officers had cut through the Indian line when he turned and charged back. The Indians were bewildered by this unlooked-for desperate charge, but closed in on the few men and killed them all. Custer, it is said, shot five Indians, and went down beating another with the butt of his revolver. This account corresponds with others coming from Indian sources. THE celebrated prescription formulated by Gen. Dix, "If any man attempt to tear down the American flag, shoot him on spot," was not attempted at the Red Cloud Agency a few days ago for certain reasons, whereof the particulars are interesting. Dr. Saville, the Government Agent at the Red Cloud Agency, with a sudden and unaccountable gush of patriotism, hoisted the American flag at his agency, — a custom, we are informed, prevailing since the agencies have been established in this country. The sight of the star-spangled had the same effect upon the Sioux that the traditional scarlet rag has upon the bull, for at noon the braves rushed upon the agency buildings, tore down the American flag, and ornamented their handsome persons with portions of the bunting. Dr. Saville sent to Red Cloud to stop the outrage, but no answer was given, it being rumored that this pleasant gentleman was enjoying his Indian summer vacation. There was every prospect of a severe fight before the respectable Agent, when he received unexpected aid from Camp Robinson. Between the honeyed words of Sitting Bull, a Sioux renegade, and the sabres of United States cavalry, the Agency buildings were rid of their visitors; but the man who hauled down the American flag lives to boast of his feat in Indian gibberish, in defiance of Gen. Dix. How dear to my heart is the "Comfort Hip" Corset, A well moulded figure 'twas made to adorn, I'm sure, as an elegant, close fitting corset, It lays over all makes I ever have worn. Oh, my! with delight it is driving me crazy, The feelings that thrill me no language can tell; Just look at its shape, — oh, ain't it a daisy! The "Comfort Hip" corset that fits me so well. The close fitting corset – the "Lock Clasp" corset – The "Comfort Hip" corset that fits me so well. It clings to my waist so tightly and neatly, Its fair rounded shape shows no wrinkle or fold; It fits this plump figure of mine as completely As if I'd been melted and poured in its mould. How fertile the mind that was moved to design it, Such comfort pervades each depression and swell, The waist would entice a strong arm to entwine it, – The waist of this corset that fits me so will. The close fitting corset, — the "Lock Clasp" corset – The "Comfort Hip" corset that fits me so well. Of course I will wear it to parties and dances, And gentlemen there will my figure admire! The ladies will throw me envious glances, And that's just the state of affairs I desire; For feminine envy and male admiration Proclaim that their object's considered a belle. Oh, thou art of beauty – the fair consummation – My "comfort Hip" corset that fits me so well. The Five-Hook corset – the "Lock Clasp" corset – The "Comfort Hip" corset that fits me so well. The News (Frederick, Maryland) Dec 19, 1885 Saved By a Corset Steel. Missouri Republican Last Saturday Mrs. Lucy Moore, aged twenty-one years, and a Mrs. Miller were among the passengers on the Santa Fe train coming to El Paso. About seventy miles north of El Paso, the train stopped in the open prairie on account of a hot journal. Mrs. Miller has a revolver that she had loaded for some time, and as she had tried in vain to pick out the cartridges, she thought it a good time to fire them off to empty the chambers. She fired several shots just at random, and then snapped the pistol three times. After the last shot she thought it was empty and went to picking out the shells when the weapon went off, the bullet striking Mrs. Moore in the pit of the stomach. The wounded woman was brought to El Paso. A medical examination showed that the corset had acted as a chain armor. The bullet struck a corset steel and was turned to the right, apparently causing only a flesh wound. The Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) Jan 6, 1888 Mrs. Robert Hintze, of 3606 Vincence avenue, Chicago, formerly Miss Jennie Gillet, of Fond du Lac, was badly injured by the bursting of one of the pipes of her kitchen range. The explosion resulted in badly lacerating her face, and she is in great danger of losing one of her eyes. A piece of iron struck her over the stomach, and would have probably caused fatal injury but for the resistance of a corset steel. The Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) Jan 5, 1888 Saved by Her Corset. CHICAGO, Aug. 14 — Lillie Vale, who was shot by her lover, George Slosson in a Washington street saloon Sunday night, will not die. The ball struck a whalebone in her corset and glanced off, inflicting a serious but not fatal wound. The Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) Aug 14, 1888 Her Corset Saved Her. New York, Jul 6 00 John Billses, out of pure patriotic devilment fired a loaded revolver into a crowd on James street yesterday. A bullet struck Mrs. Oliver Fairly in the waist but glanced off without doing her any injury. Her steel corset saved her life. John is held for trial. The Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) Jul 6, 1888 Bright Bits Motto for a corset factory — "We have come to stay." The Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) Dec 20 1886 FRIVOLITIES. No woman ever went to a corset shop for a stay of proceedings. The Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) Jun 4, 1886 A New York lady has invented a corset which will squeeze a woman to death in five minutes if she feels like suicide. The Fitchburg Sentinel (Ftichburg, Massachusetts) Oct 11, 1873 Why does a widow feel her bereavement less when she wears corsets? Because then she's solaced. The Fitchburg Sentinel (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) May 4, 1872 COMICAL CUTS. The corset cannot be abolished; it is woman's main-stay. The Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) May 15, 1888 How to Put on a Corset. The San Francisco Chronicle is responsible for the following amusing description of an examination by a coroner's jury, where the coroner desired to show the course taken by the ball, and for this purpose produced the corsets worn by Mrs. Burkhart, at the time of the tragedy: "You see," said he — and here he drew the corsets around his waist lacings in front — "the ball must have gone here from behind. No, that can't be either, for the doctor says the ball went in front. Confound it, I've got in on wrong. Ah! this way." (Here the coroner put them on upside down.) "Now you see," pointing to the hole in the garment, which rested directly over his hip, "the ball must have gone in here. No, that can't be either, for" – Here Mr. Mather, the handsomest man on the jury broke in – "Dr. Stillman," said he, "you've got the corset on wrong." Here Dr. Stillman blushed like a puppy. "Well," said he, "I've been married twice, and ought to know how to rig a corset." "Yes," said Mr. Mather, "but you don't. You had it right in the first place. The strings go in front, and the ladies clasp them together in the back. Don't I know, I think I ought to; I've been married. If you doubt it, look here, (pointing to the fullness at the top.) How do you suppose that's going to be filled up unless you put it on as I suggest?" At this a pale faced young man with a voice like a robin, and a note book under his arm, said he thought the ladies always clasped their corsets on the side. The pale faced young man said this very innocently, as if he wished to convey the impression that he knew nothing whatever of the matter. The jury laughed the pale faced young man to scorn, and one of them intimated that he thought the young man was not half so green about women's dress as he tried to appear. The young man was a reporter, and it is, therefore, exceedingly probable that this knowledge was fully as limited as was apparent from his suggestion, the jury to the contrary notwithstanding. Here another juryman discovered that Dr. Stillman had the corset on bottom side up. "Doctor," said he, "put it on the other way." Then the doctor put it on in reverse order, with the lacings in front. This brought the bullet holes directly over the tails of his coat. "I don't think," said Mr. Mather, "that the bullet went in there, doctor." "No, I don't think it did," was the reply. "Confound it. It's mighty funny — six married men in this room and not one that knows how to put on a woman's corset." Here the Chronicles reporter, who has several sisters and always keeps his eyes open, advanced and convinced Dr. Stillman and Mr. Mather, after much argument, that the lacings of the corsage go behind, and that the garment is clasped in front. After this explanation the course of the bullet was readily traced, and found to bear out the explanation afforded by the two physicians. The Fitchburg Sentinel (Fitchburg, Massachuetts) Jun 12, 1874 Corsets for Men. The corset is becoming more and more a necessity of the ultra-fashionable man's toilet, says a New York paper. The latest style of corsets for men look more than anything else like a large-sized belt curved for the hips, and are about ten inches wide. They are made of the same material as a woman's corset, but whalebones are used instead of steel for the purpose of giving shape to them. They are usually laced at the back and are faced in front by means of eleven small elastic bands. The elastic is used so as to give perfect freedom of motion. "How much do these corsets cost?" was asked of a manufacturer. "The corset-wearers pay all the way from $2.50 to $20 a pair, and they are very particular not to say cranky, about the fit of them." "What class of men wear them?" "The men who wear them are, in the first place, the fashionable young fellows around town, who are intent on being known for their handsome figures, and who do everything they can to increase the size of their shoulders and diminish the size of their waist. Outside of these the wearers of them are military men and stout men who find themselves growing too corpulent for gracefulness. Actors often wear them, and among the actors who are addicted to this sort of thing Kyrle Bellow and Herbert Kelsey are most frequently quoted. These men, it's said, "secure corsets from a theatrical costumer instead of the fashionable furnishing-goods men on Broadway." The Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) May 10, 1890 Now they are talking of corsets for men. Some people will go any length to get tight. Modesto Evening News (Modesto, California) Feb 13, 1923 Not content with one external revolt, there are those devotees to style who are advocating (no fooling) corsets for men. "What's this country coming to, anyway?" the writer heard one man asking another in conversation. "There's no dispute on the point that 'co-worked' form would be the corset wearer's, but the real mission of the corset would be to shape the wearer's career." And all this climaxes an announcement at the Mercantile Exposition (in the broadest sense) that corsets practically are going to be taboo with "madame who wishes to be right in style," figuratively speaking. And, in the words of the gentleman quoted above, there is cause to wonder "if man really is to become the unwitting victim of the law of compensation, because somebody [has] to wear the darn things." Modesto Evening News (Modesto, California) Aug 10, 1923 An Electric Corset. Paris is laughing over a joke about an American inventor who is said to have patented an electric corset that is to bring about the reign of morality at once. If one of these articles is pressed by a lover's arm it at once emits a shriek like the whistle of a railway engine; and the inventor claims that he has already married three of his daughters, owing to the publicity thus thrust upon a backward lover. Daily Nevada State Journal (Reno, Nevada) Jul 16, 1891 A Few Words About Electric Appliances. ALBERT LEA, May 28th, 1886 — W.S. Jackson — DEAR SIR: Previous to wearing Dr. Scott's Electric corset I was troubled with severe pains in my back and shoulders, and after using one for only two weeks the pain has entirely disappeared. I would not part with it for four times its cost. MISS BERTHA REIMER Freeborn County Standard (Albert Lea, Minnesota) Jun 16, 1886 Every Mail brings us Testimonials like the following: Memphis, Tenn., November 28. Dr. Scott's Electric Corsets have given me much relief, I suffered four years with breast trouble, without finding any benefit from other remedies. They are invaluable. MRS. JAS. CAMPBELL. *** De Witt, N.Y., June 11. I have an invalid sister who has not been dressed for a year. She has worn Dr. Scott's Electric Corsets for two weeks, and is now able to be dressed and sit up most of the time. MELVA J. DOE. Daily Democratic Times (Lima, Ohio) Sep 29, 1886 Even children should wear corsets! Be a sensible mother — get your child a corset so she can be beautiful. Hon. James H. Knowlton, one of our most eminent Western advocates, met with the following perplexing adventure in his early practice in Wisconsin: A stranger came into his office and abruptly informed his that his wife had deserted him, and wished to have her replevined at once. Knowlton told him that that remedy would not meet his case exactly, and went on to inform him that if he would be patient until the desertion had continued one year, he could obtain a divorce. – The stranger said he did not know that he wanted a divorce. What he mostly feared was that his wife would run him in debt all over the country. "In that case," said Knowlton, "you had better post her." What his client understood him to mean by posting, remains a mystery to this day. He said, in a meditative way the he didn't know where she had gone, and beside, that she was fully as strong as he was, and he didn't believe he could post her, even if he knew where to find her. Knowlton hastened to inform him that by posting his wife he meant puting a notice in a newspaper, saying: "Whereas my wife Helen has left my bed and board without any just -" "But that ain't true," interrupted the client — "that ain't true. she didn't leave my bed — she took it away with her." The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) Sep 25, 1861 CAUTION. WHEREAS my wife Anne, late widow of David Risher, had left my bed and board without just cause, on the 26th inst. — This is therefore to caution all persons, from trusting or harboring her on my account, as I am determined to pay no debts of her contracting after this date. BALTZER KOONTZ,Son. Bethlehem tp. July 27. The Ohio Repository (Canton, Ohio) Aug 19, 1824 NOTICE. — WHEREAS MY WIFE, Anna Rolland, has left my bed and board I shall pay no more bills of her contracting from this date. LEVI (his X mark) ROLLAND, Fitchburg, Jan. 23, 1874. The Fitchburg Sentinel (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) Jan 29, 1874 Caution. NOTICE is hereby given to all persons, that my wife Hannah Fosdick has left my bed and board, and has taken one of my children with her, John H. Fosdick. I hereby forbid all persons harboring or trusting her on my account, or in behalf of the child, as I will pay no debts of her contracting after this date; as I will support the child when returned to me at Norwalk. JOHN M. FOSDICK. Norwalk, Sept. 4, 1844 Huron Reflector (Norwalk, Ohio) Sep 24, 1844 NOTICE. I, the undersigned, caution the Public against trusting my Wife LYDIA M'WHIRTER — she having left my bed and board last October, without any provocation and against my consent. I will not pay any debts of her contracting from this date. JOHN M'WHIRTER Baltimore July 17, 1841. The Adams Sentinel (Gettsyburg, Pennsylvania) Aug 2, 1841 CAUTION AND NOTICE. WHEREAS my wife Elvira Bridges, without any good cause or reasonable excuse there for, has left my bed and board and absconded with my two children this is to caution all persons from harboring her or them and to give notice that I shall pay no debts of her contracting or pay any expense for their or either of their support having suitably provided for them at my house in Bucksport. EPHRAIM BRIDGES, Jr. Bucksport Oct 12 1841 Bangor Daily Whig and Courier (Bangor, Maine) Oct 26, 1841 NOTICE. MY wife, REBECCA, left my bed and board, and refuses to live with me under any consideration whatever, after intercessions and propositions of every kind, that an affectionate husband could make. I, therefore, hereby warn all persons not to harbor or trust her on my account, as I have arrangements made for her board, and by calling on me, or on Messrs. Wareing & Benson, or C. & J. Culp, she can have information, and be conducted to the house. MATHEW M'KELVEY. Plymouth, Huron County, Nov. 16, 1842. Huron Reflector (Norwalk, Ohio) Nov 29, 1842 Pass Him Round. — Mrs. Elizabeth Peterman, of Rochester, Fulton county, Indiana, thus notices her absconding husband: "Left my bed and board, last August, thereby making my expenses lighter, my dearly beloved companion, David Peterman, without any just cause or provocation. All the old maids and young girls are hereby forewarned against harboring or trusting him on my account, as I am determined not to be accountable for his debts, or, more especially, for his conduct. Papers will please copy, and oblige a female who is rejoicing at her happy riddance." — Indiana Blade. The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) Apr 13, 1846 Dennis O'Shanessy advertises as follows in the Columbus Republican: "I hereby give notice that my wife Bridget has left my bed and board and that I will not pay her debts, as we are not married." The Ohio Democrat (New Philadelphia, Ohio) Apr 12, 1872 Poetry Against Prose. The following notices appear as advertisements in the Ticonderoga Sentinal of recent date: NOTICE. Whereas my wife Josephine has left my bed and board without just cause or provocation, all persons are hereby forbidden to trust or harbor her on my account, as I shall pay no debts of her contracting hereafter. W.O. MEASECK. _________ NOTICE. No bed or board as yet we've had From William O. or William's dad. Since last September, when we were wed, Have furnished him both board and bed; And for just cause and provocation Have sent him home to his relation. MRS. JOSIE MEASECK. Josie has the best of it in wit if nothing else. The Ohio Democrat (New Philadelphia, Ohio) Oct 5, 1893 NOTICE. To whom it may concern: All persons are hereby notified that Joseph Leipert has left my bed and board without any cause or reason therefor, and that hereafter I will not be responsible for any board, lodging, clothing, food, expenses, or other article furnished him. Dated at Corning, Iowa, February 26, 1898. ANNA LEIPERT Adams County Free Press (Corning, Iowa) Mar 10, 1898 NOTICE. My husband, John S. Sanders, having left my bed and board, notice is hereby given the public not to sell him anything in my name as I will not be responsible for debts or bills contracted by him. MRS. ANNA M. SANDERS, New Oxford, Pa. New Oxford Item (New Oxford, Pennsylvania) Sep 5, 1918 To all Whom it may Concern. My wife, Francis Catching, having separated from me, and having left my bed and board without any just cause or provocation, I hereby notify all persons not to trust or give her credit on my account, as I will pay no bills, debts, or obligations contracted by her from and after this date, of any nature or kind whatever. JOEL P. CATCHING. Missoula, M.T., Feb. 23, 1883. The Daily Miner (Butte, Montana) Mar 4, 1883 MY WIFE, Mrs. I.H. Tupen, having left my bed and board, I will not be responsible for any debts contracted by her after this date, December 11, 1919. Irving H. Tupen. Note 1, the object at which they are aiming, viz, the removal of a nuisance, — the total overthrow of the rum casks. All the parties engaged seem to have this object in view, and all are laboring in their respective ways to accomplish it. Note 2, the different kinds of instruments used for the purpose. Every one must be struck with the admirable adaptedness of the Teetotalers' fixtures to accomplish the object. Here is a fulcrum with a broad base, immovably fixed at a suitable distance, upon a solid foundation; lever of suitable size and length is nicely adjusted under the nuisance, and rests upon this fulcrum. Our teetotal men throw their weight upon the extreme end of the lever, and it would seem as certain as the laws of mechanics that the whole range of rum casks must tilt over. But just as they begin to exult in the prospect of certain success by their admirable contrivance, one of them hastily cries out, "Hold, hold, neighbors, not too fast. You fulcrum is too near; I am afraid you will do injury to our cause by this precipitate measure. Let me place my moderation fulcrum under the lever, a little further back. We must be cautious, gentlemen, that we don't injure the cause. Bear away upon my fulcrum while I hold on and steady it." These honest and zealous neighbors, ever ready to do any thing to remove the evil, again throw their whole weight upon the lever. They pull, and tug, and sweat, till they almost break the lever itself. But the rum casks stand firm; they budge not an inch. The moderation man persists in holding on to his fulcrum, and insists upon it that his plan is the only one that can succeed. Now is it not perfectly apparent that all efforts upon "moderation" are utterly useless, and that the strength expended by it is lost. Is it not then perfectly evident, that Mr. Moderation, however well meant his efforts, is in reality standing in the way of more effectual measures, and doing more hurt than good to the cause. Is it not also as clear as noonday, that if we would succeed, "moderation" should be laid aside, and all our efforts concentrated upon the "teetotal pledge." We commend the above illustration to the consideration of our moderate friends. It certainly contains matter for their serious reflection. The Temperance dinner and celebration was held at the Marlboro' hotel, which was opened on that day, by Mr. Rogers. Mr. Fletcher, member of Congress from this district, presided. We were much gratified to find such an array of talent and influence at a tee-total dinner, on the 4th of July, and at the opening of a tee-total hotel. It augurs well to the cause. Among others, were the editors of the Advocate and Mercantile Journal, Mr. Hallett and Mr. Sleeper; of the Clergy, Rev. Dr. Pierce, Mr. Pierpont, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Stow, Mr. N. Adams, Mr. Colman, Mr. Clough, &c.; and of other distinguished citizens, John Tappan, Moses Grant, Stephen Fairbanks, Dr. Walter Channing, &c.; and Mr. Snelling and others of the legal profession. There was a degree of hilarity suited to the occasion; and we did not see but that the inspiration of wit and poetry was as well excited by cold water as it usually is by wine. At the close of the dinner, the following appropriate old composed for the occasion by Rev. Mr. Pierpont, was sung: In Eden's green retreats, A water-brook, that played Between soft, mossy seats Beneath a plane-tree's shade, Whose rustling leaves Danced o'er its brink, – Was Adam's drink, and also Eve's. Beside the parent spring Of that young brook, the pair Their morning chant would sing; And Eve, to dress her hair, Kneel on the grass That fringed its side, And make its tide Her looking glass. And when the man of God From Egypt led his flock, They thirsted, and his rod Smote the Arabian rock And forth a rill Of water gushed, And on they rushed, And drank their fill. Would Eden thus have smiled Had wine to Eden come? Would Horeb's parching wild Have been refreshed with rum? and had Eve's hair Been dressed in gin, Would she have been Reflected fair? Had Moses built a still, And dealt out to that host, To every man his gill, And pledged him in a toast, How large a band, Of Israel's sons Had laid their bones In Canaan's land? "Sweet fields, beyond" death's flood "Stands dressed in living green;" For, from the throne of God, To freshen all the scene. A river rolls, Where all who will May come and fill Their crystal bowls. If Eden's strength and bloom COLD WATER thus hath given, If, even beyond the tomb, It is the drink of Heaven, Are not good wells, And chrystal springs The very things, For our HOTELS? "A frog," says Professor Pump, "is an amphibious animal, as vat likers on cold water, consequently he inwented the teetotal society. He always walks with a jump he does; and ven he sits down he has to stand up. Being a lover of native melodoes, he gives free concerts every night, he does himself. He perwides music for the millyon which he has been so called because it is usually heard in the mill pond. He is a varmint wot aint so bad when broiled on a griddle. No sir ree." It is worthy of note that a large proportion of the Tee-totalers when they go a journey, leave their tee-total principles at home and become temperance men, and take a little wine or brandy occasionally for the stomach's saxe and their many infirmities. Again it is asserted that a large majority of the people in the State are in favor of the Maine Law. – Democratic State Register (Watertown, Wisconsin) Mar 15, 1852 MARCH OF MIND. – An honest farmer in this State married a Miss from a fashionable boarding-school, for his second wife. He was struck dumb with her eloquence, and gaped with wonder at his wife's learning. "You may, said he, bore a hole through the solid airth, and chuck in a mill-stone, and she will tell you to a shavin' how long the stone will be going clean threw. She has kimistery and cockneylogy, and talks a heap about ox hides and chimical affinities. I used to think that it was air I sucked in every time I expired, howsomever, she telled me that she knew better — she telled me that I had been sucking in two kinds of gin! ox gin and high gin! I'm a tumble town tee total temperance man, and yet have been drinking ox gin, and high gin all my life." 'Twas in the days of mowing With honest arm and scythe; When neighbors helped in neighbors' fields And harvest hands were blithe. For me, I grew a stripling – They called me half a hand – Among the stalwart, sun-browned men Who tilled the clover-land. The rhythmic swing of sinews Was regular and strong; The even-measured mowing stroke First set my soul to song. Sweet music of the whetstones, Like morning bells in chime, Toned soothingly life's harsher sounds – My heart's still beating time. Right bravely marched the mowers Knee-deep in flowering grass; They ranged according to their skill Like school boys in a class. And strength was brought to trial, And strove with wrestler's wroth – Who could the smoothest stubble cut, And who the widest swath! How proudly strove the leader – The swiftest and the best! He held his place a cut or two Ahead of all the rest; Allowed no one to lead him The breadth of brawny hand; – A master of the mowing-craft, He ruled the clover-land. The morning beams came glancing The fluttering tree-tops thro', Like golden bills of birds that bent To sip the sparkling dew. And then, in soft mid-morning, Began the harvest-day, And all hands — girls and boys and men – Were merry making hay. There came a choice of partners Who could the best agree, And lots were drawn by glances quick – Kate always, fell to me! Now turn thy glass, O Mem'ry, Upon that harvest day, Which poured its sunshine over me And Katie making hay. The morning call of luncheon To grassy table laid, Assembled all the haymakers Beneath a lone tree's shade; A bliss of rest and breathing By leafy fingers fanned – And then another haying-heat Raced o'er the clover-land. We spread the swaths commingling In beds of rusting brown, And rich field-odors floated up On wings of feathery down. Then rolled the ridgy windrows – The triumphs of the day; I dreamed o'er triumphs of a life With Katie raking hay. She looked all-over-bonnet Of gingham — blue and white – Her face's roses in the shade Glanced out their own sweet light. Her rake would get entangled Sometimes, by locking mine, and when she said: "Provoking thing" E'en quarreling was divine! A spring of bubbling waters Welled up in woodside cool, And ever at the field's-end hedge Both thirsted for the pool. She drunk from out a goblet I made her of my hands, And, kneeling at her feet, I quathed From cup of golden sands. the last load in the twilight Dragged slowly towards the stack– So like a great brown burly beast With children on its back; And flocky clouds hung over, Of softest creamy hue, Like handfuls plucked from cotton bales and dashed against the blue. I'm dreaming now of hay-time, The fields and skies are bright; I see among the harvesters A bonnet — blue and white – And Katie's face is in it, A shade, it may be, tanned, But 'tis the fairest face of all That grace the clover-land. The clover-crop was gathered In harvests long ago; Another partner Katie chose For life's up-hill windrow. But O, of all the sunshine That ever blest a day – The crown still shimmers over me and Katie raking hay. So let's skip the cake and presents, and celebrate Noah Webster's birthday (Oct .16th) with words from the past: A Philadelphia paper has ascertained that Noah Webster used to play euchre and steal eggs. Nevada State Journal (Reno, Nevada) Jan 31, 1874 The ghost of Noah Webster came to a spiritual medium in Alabama not long since, and wrote on a slip of paper: "It is tite times." Noah is right, but we are sorry to see he has gone back on his dictionary. Nevada State Journal (Reno, Nevada) Apr 17, 1875 THE HARM THAT WEBSTER HAS DONE THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. In the estimation of many, the next book in the world to the Bible is Webster's unabridged Dictionary! It is found everywhere, and has done much good and we think much evil. It is not generally known that Dr. Webster's great work was in its inception a conspiracy against the English language. The first issue of his system, more than half a century since, was received with hoots and laughter. But the Doctor, having the capital of great learning, industry and obstinacy to back him, kept hammering on the public until his revised and less offensive later editions were received with favor. all this can be abundantly proved. Webster started out with the idea to spell by sound as nearly as possible, as h-a-z for has and w-o-o-d for would, and was only induced to withdraw such radical changes, because he perceived that they never would be received. He then compromised with the difficulty and made all the changes he dared in the orthography and orthoepy of the language. His dictionaries, even as thus revised called forth immediate and persistent denunciation from the most able scholars in the Union and the jeers of the English people. But the Doctor subsidized a power which is more powerful than learning orthodoxy and pride of race — he advertised largely in the newspapers, and canvassed the entire Union by well paid and able agents. He succeeded. By degrees familiarity with the unauthorized liberties he had taken with the language grew into the usages of life and the education of the young, and now we find ourselves face to face with the strange anomaly of professing to speak and write the English language, and chiefly using as a standard a work which is utterly repudiated by the entire English people and the best portion of our own scholars, as subversive of etymology, as revolutionary, as partisan and unauthorized by the masters of the English tongue. Webster's dictionary was a bold and clever commercial adventure, and a successful one; but that should not blind every lover of the integrity and history of his language to its arrogant mutilation of that which we should most carefully conserve. Again, we have been depended so long upon the North for our books and our literature that it took all the terrible lessons of "the war" to open our eyes to the criminal supineness, and to inaugurate measures looking to a purer, truer and more local publication of educational works. And just here we affirm that we are under shackles to Noah Webster and his successes, in so far as we receive the palpable alterations his later editions give in the meaning of important words bearing on politics and governmental relations. The dictionary as left by Dr. Webster, was bad enough, but since his death it has been deliberately "doctored" by his literary executors until now it stands forth as radicalized, not only in literature, but in politics. This can easily be proved. Why, then, do we submit to this imposition? Is it because there is no peer of Webster to be found in our book stores? By no means. In the official declaration of Harvard University; of the University of Virginia, of Washington and Lee College, and and many other first-class institutions, Dr. Worcester's dictionary is preferred, and is stated to be equal in every respect, and superior in its adhesion to English purity, and in its entire freedom from sectarian bias. With this opinion thousands of our most enlightened and influential scholars coinside, and we hope soon to see the day when we will find a Worcester in the place of the Webster now so common on the editor's table, the merchant's desk, by the teacher's elbow and in the hands of our children. Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Mar 30, 1873 Noah Webster made a voyage to England, before the days of steam in ocean navigation, to hear how the best educated men in that country pronounced their own language; but found neither greater uniformity nor perfection on the other side of the water than on this, and so gave up the idea of a pronouncing dictionary. He found it equally hard, though he made the attempt, to introduce uniformity in spelling. The Dictionary which he spent a long life in preparing, gives a list of more than a thousand words, in the pronunciation of which such high authorities as Perry, Walker, Knowles, Smart, Worcester, Cooley, and Cull differ, in some cases to such a degree as would scarcely enable the hearer to recognize the identity of the same word pronounced by the different standards. In a free country like this, every man is supposed to have the right to spell and pronounce according to his own notions. The principal trouble is to keep the peace between the ambitious young sophmore, when he begins to write for the press, the intelligent printer, the methodical proof reader, and that scapegoat of the whole, the printer's devil. Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Mar 16, 1877 Noah Webster Franklin as a Writer. His pen was as ready as his purse in the service of all human kindness. And what a pen it was! It could discourse metaphysics so clearly and lucidly as to make them seem plain moralizing. It could tear a sophism to pieces by a mere query. It could make a simple tale read like a subtle argument. He could be grave and he could be gay in a breath. He could spend as much wit and humor on a "Craven Street Gazette" — which was meant only to amuse an old landlady, away from home, and probably out of joint before her return from Rochester — as on a State paper designed to fire America and sting England. In another tone, he translates into human language, for the amusement of a court lady, the reflections, in the garden of her house, of a gray-headed ephemera, full seven hours old, on the vanity of all things. His "Petition of the Left Hand," might have been composed by Addison. In it, the left hand bewails the partiality which educated the right hand exclusively. Some of Franklin's fables and tales have been so absorbed into the thought of the world that their source is absolutely forgotten. Only in this way can we account for what was doubtless an unconscious plagiarism by an eminent sanitary authority, last year, of Franklin's "Economical project for Diminishing the cost of Light." The economy consisted simply in rising at six o'clock instead of nine or ten. Ideas such as Franklin's never become superanuated. Not every one who uses the expression, "to pay dear for one's whistle," knows that the dear whistle was a purchase made by Franklin, when seven years old, with a pocketful of pence. Franklin's store was too abundant for him to mind, though some of his fame went astray. "You know," he tells his daughter, "everything makes me recollect some story." But it was not recollection so much as fancy. His fancy clothed every idea in circumstances. When the illustration had served its turn, he was indifferent what became of it. Franklin did injustice to himself when he fancied he wanted any such mechanical aid. His English had been learned from the "Pilgrim's Progress," and the "Spectator." It had the force of Bunyon without his ruggedness. It had the serene light of Addison with tenfold his raciness and vigor. It sparkled with sarcasms as cutting as Voltaire's, but all sweetened with humanity. Many of his inventions or adaptions — such as "colonize" — have been stamped, long since, as current English. But he did not covet the fame of an inventor, whether in language, in morals, or in politics. In language, he was even declared a foe to innovation. Writing to Noah Webster, in 1789, he protests against the new verbs "notice," "advocate," and "progress." He had as little ambition to be classic as to be an innovator in English. He wrote because he had something at the moment to say, with a view to procuring that something should at that moment be done. –Edinburgh Review. The Daily News (Frederick, Maryland) Nov 20, 1883 The Thorp Springs Christian is a critic. It says: In a primer, which is common in the schools of our country, is a picture of a sow and six pigs, and under it is this reading: "A big pig and six little pigs." What language is this? It is not good English, and yet it is in a school book. As well say of a woman and children, a big child and six little children; of a goose and goslings, a big gosling and six little goslings; of a large fish and minnows, a big minnow and six little minnows. The Christian knows more than Noah Webster. He says: "Pig, the young of swine, a hog." The former is regarded as the more elegant term. The writer once heard a little boy say "give me some hog," when he wanted to be helped to roast pig. It did not sound well. John Clark Ridpath, the historian, in an interview on the financial question says: "According to my way of thinking our Government has been steadily drifting away from the people and getting into the power of special interests. The circle of government has narrowed and narrowed until it appears to me the height of absurdity to call it any longer a Government of the people, for the people and by the people. I want to see this process completely reversed. I want to see the Government restored to the people. I believe precisely what Webster and Theodore Parker and Lincoln said, viz" 'That our republic is, or ought to be, a government of the people, for the people and by them.' RIGHT TO GOVERN THEMSELVES. "How can there be any harm in such a doctrine? In the name of common sense has it come to pass that patriotic citizens of the United States of American cannot advocate the right of the people to govern themselves? Has it come to that when we have, sure enough, a lot of self-constituted masters who shall tell us what is good for us and how to obtain it? Are we Americans a lot of younglings who are unable to lead ourselves, but must be led rather with a string and fed on porridge as with a spoon? "Among the methods as it seems to me by which the Government is to be recovered by the people is, first of all, as the matter now stands, the restoration of our currency. We want our currency system put back precisely where it was under the statutes and constitution for the first eighty-one years of our existence as a nation. Our statutory bimetallic system of currency was taken from us [in 1873] by a process which I do not care to characterize in fitting terms. Now we propose to have it back again. The restoration of our silver money to the place it held before is the people's cause, and the people in this contest are going to triumph. They are going to triumph in the open light of day in the clear gleam of light and truth. "The silver dollar was of old the unit of money and account in the United States. That dollar to this hour has never been altered by the fraction of a grain in the quantity of pure metal composing it. Every other coin, whether of gold or silver, has been altered time and time again, but the silver unit never. The silver dollar was the dollar of the law and the contract. It is to this day the dollar of the law and the contract. To the silver unit all the rest, both gold and silver, have been conformed from our first statutes of 1792 to that ill-starred date when the conspiracy against our old constitution order first declared itself. The gold eagle of the original statute, and of all subsequent statutes, was not made to the $10, but to be of the value of $10. The half-eagle was not made to be $5, but of the value of $5. The quarter-eagle was of the value of $2.50, and the double-eagle was of the value of $20. Even the gold dollar of 1849, marvelous to relate, was not $1, but was made to be of the value of $1. The subsidiary coins were all fractions of the dollar and the dollar was of silver. NEW MEANING FOR "DOLLAR." "Not a single dictionary or encyclopedia in the English language before 1878 ever defined dollar in any terms other than of silver. In that year the administrators of the estate of Noah Webster, deceased, cut the plates of our standard lexicon and inserted a new definition that had become necessary in order to throw a penumbra of rationality around the international gold conspiracy. "The way to obviate the further disastrous effects of this international gold conspiracy is to stop it. We want the system of bimetallism restored in this country. Bimetallism means the option of the debtor to pay in either of two statutory coins, according to the contract. This option freely granted, the commercial parity of the two money metals will be speedily reached, nor can such parity ever be seriously disturbed again as long as the unimpeded option of the debtor to pay in one metal or the other shall be conceded by law and the terms of the contract. The present commercial disparity of the two metals has been produced by the pernicious legislation which began twenty-three years ago and which has not yet satisfied itself with the monstrous results that have flamed therefrom. "What do we propose to accomplish by free coinage? We propose to do just this thing — viz: to break the corner on gold and reduce the exaggerated purchasing power of that metal to its normal standard. Be assured there will be no further talk of a 50-cent dollar when the commercial parity of the two money metals shall have been reached. Every well-informed person must know that the present disparity of the two money metals is bu the index of the extent to which gold has been bulled in the markets of the world. It is not an index to the extent to which raw silver has declined in its purchasing power as compared with the average of other commodities in any civilized market place of the whole globe. No man shall say the contrary and speak the truth. This question is hot upon us. It can be kept back no longer. It is a tremendous economic question that ought to be decided in court of right, reason and of fact. My judgement is that the American people, in spite of all opposition, are going to reclaim the right of transacting their business, and in particular of paying their debts according to a standard unit worth 100 cents to the dollar, neither more nor less, and that they will not accept the intolerable program which declares in fact if not in words that they shall henceforth transact their business and in particular discharge their debts with a cornered gold dollar worth almost two for one." Nevada State Journal (Reno, Nevada) Aug 8, 1896 Title: The American Spelling Book: containing the rudiments of the English language : for use of schools in the United States Author: Noah Webster Edition: 90 Publisher: Johnson & Warner, 1816 A Great Book. There is in Utica an old man of unusual intelligence who is known to have graduated from no college, and yet whose perfect English, including syntax, orthography and pronunciation, would stamp him as an educated man in any company. One night this old man was seated in the rooms of the Cogburn club, when he consented to be interviewed as follows: "From whom did you get the foundation of your education?" "From Webster." "Daniel Webster?" "No, but Noah Webster, through his spelling book. When I was 12, I could spell every word in that book correctly. I had learned all the reading lessons it contains, including that one about the old man who found some rude boys in his fruit trees one day, and who, after trying kind words and grass, finally pelted them with stones, until the young scapegraces were glad to come down and bet the old man's pardon." "Webster's spelling book must have been wonderfully popular." "Yes." And a genial smile lighted up the ancient face. "There were more copies of it sold than of any other work ever written in America. Twenty-four millions is the number up to 1847, and that had increased to 36,000,000 in 1860, since which time I have seen no account of its sale. Yes, I owe my education to the spelling book." — Utica Observer. Lima News (Lima, Ohio) May 27, 1898 * * * This image comes from the Eightface website. He has an interesting video (about 8 minutes long) of how he made this book. It even shows him using an old printing press. From his website: Pictorial Webster's features over four hundred original woodcut and copper engravings from 19th century editions of the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The fine press edition features a letterpress interior, leather binding and a hand-tooled cover. A trade edition of the book is now available from Chronicle Books. This video offers a behind-the-scenes peek at the making of the book. You get a good sense of what's involved with production and the amount of effort that goes into it. * NOTE: I provided definition links to a few words in the articles above, and would have used the Merriam-Webster dictionary website as the link source, but their site seems to take forever to load. A San Domingo dispatch says that the remains of Christopher Columbus have been found there. It is proposed to erect a monument over them, and the American Governments are asked to contribute. Certainly Columbus should have a monument. Reno Evening Gazette (Reno, Nevada) Nov 18, 1880 The Eureka papers are indulging in local sobs and hysterical jottings over the death of Christopher Columbus 375 years ago. Reno Evening Gazette (Reno, Nevada) May 23, 1881 Mr. Garfield wrote a letter in October, 1880, recommending that the 12th day of October be made a national holiday, in honor of Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America. The Oshkosh Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) Jun 1, 1882 Calvi, Corsica FOREIGN DISPATCHES. Born at Calvi. PARIS, April 28. Abbe Casanova, a Corsican archaeologist, has discovered archives which show that Christoper Columbus was born in the town of Calvi, in Corsica, and emigrated to Genoa. President Grevy, having examined the evidence and being satisfied of its authenticity, has authorized the authorities of Calvi to celebrate by an official holiday, the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America. The inhabitants of Calvi will hold a fete on May 23d, when the commemorative inscription will be placed on the house in which Columbus was born. Reno Evening Gazette (Reno, Nevada) Apr 28, 1886 Where Was Columbus Born? While statesmen and patriots are busy making history, the citizens of the little town of Calvi have been industriously upsetting biography. Every one knows that Christopher Columbus was born at Genoa. The intelligent schoolboy has read it in the geography books. The hard-working tourist has noted it in his Baedeker. The statue to the great navigator has been set up just outside the railway station, regardless alike of expense and (the critics say) of nature. No one an come in or out of the city without being impressed by the fact that he has seen it. The citizens of Calvi have endured this for years. But the inhabitants of an island which produced Bonaparte were not to be silenced by stationary and guide books. They revolted and claimed their rights. Such festivities were held in honor of Columbus that all Corsica must regard his birthplace as settled. A marble tablet has been let into the front of the house where he was born, and Calvi claims, henceforth, an indefensible honor. Unfortunately, some sixteen miles out of Genoa the frontage of a little mean tavern in the village of Cogoleto also exhibits a remarkable plaque. This is the inscription engraved upon it: "Stop, traveller. Here Columbus first saw light. This too straitened house was the home of a man greater than the world. There had been but one world. 'Let there be two,' said Columbus, and two there were." Till Calvi can rival this Cogoleto is safe. Reno Evening Gazette (Reno, Nevada) Sep 3, 1889 1. Silver label on the outside of he case in which Columbus' remains were found. 2. The disputed label on the casket. 3. Lead sarcophagus containing body. 4. Famous old Spanish prison and fort at Santo Domingo. 5. The little case of solid gold which contains the remains. 6. Oldest house in the New World built and occupied by Columbus. Lima News (Lima, Ohio) Oct 4, 1898 Something humorous mentioning Christopher Columbus: UNCLE PETE ADVISES A YOUNG MAN. We yesterday afternoon observed "Uncle Pete" propped at ease against his favorite lamp-post, and overheard him holding forth as follows to a young man of the genus hoodlum: "Young man, don't you go to strivin' for a big name or frettin' yourself to make a mark in the world. It's all wanity and wexation of spirit. You just turn philosopher. That's the lay I'm on. Say to yourself the world owes me a livin' and I'm bound to have it. That's a motto to live up to. To live without care is my philosophy. All else is wanity. What does a man get for doing anything, makin' inwentions and the like? Nuthin. Look at Christopher Columbus, young man, and let his fate be a warnin' to you. What does he get for the trouble he had in discoverin' of America? He gits called a swindler and a imposture. He had all his trouble for nuthin', for they have found out that he wasn't the feller that discovered America, after all. It was some Laplander or one of the feller up north. What does William H. Shakespeare git for the trouble he had writin' them plays o' his? He gets busted out entirely. They now say there never was no such man as William H. Shakespeare, and I believe 'em. No one man could a-done it. What was the use of William Tell shootin' old Geyser? He run a big risk of passin' in his own checks and now they say thar never was no sich man. He'd better a-bin a philosopher and staid up in the mountains. See the life ole Robinson Crusoe led in that air solitary island! and now they say there never was no Crusoe. Young man, don't you never try to discover America, nor the steam engine, nor the telegraft — like old Moss did — cause you'll find out when it's too late, and you've had all the trouble; that it wasn't you, but some other jackass that is dead and don't know whether he ever done anything or not. Now here's the latest instance: Supposin' you to be Vasquez when you've gone and got up a reputation as Vasquez they find out you ain't Vasquez, but are somebody else. Take my advice, young man, and lead the life of a philosopher; get all you can out of the world and never do nothin' for the world; then you beat the world and are a true philosopher. The Flag of Castile and Leon Hauled Down From the Last American Possession — Once Floated Over Most of the Western Hemisphere. More than four centuries of Spanish rule in both the Americas ended when the American flag was hoisted over Havana, Cuba. The Spanish flag is swept from the western continent, north and south. The Stars and Stripes now flies in its place wherever the flag of some republic or one of the humane European monarchies did not already fly. Spanish rule in America began in 1492, when Christopher Columbus, an Italian, discovered San Salvador Island. One voyage followed another — all South America and and a good share of North America, to say nothing of Central America, were once claimed by Spain. Columbus died in chains, but Spain was only too eager to profit by his discoveries, and ships and men followed wherever he had set his foot. Cuba was discovered October 27, 1492, and named Juana by Columbus himself. This name didn't suit, nor did several others. The natives called the beautiful island Cuba, and that name finally became its legal title. Pinzon explored, thinking the island to be a part of India, but soon found out that it was an entirely new land. He found the Cubans a mild, hard-working race. It was easy to fasten on the Spanish yoke. With but a slight interruption it has endured ever since, the British capturing the island in 1762 with great loss and restoring it in 1763 under a treaty of peace. The island was so fertile and tis climate so salubrious that it was soon well populated, despite the never-ending cruelties and impositions practiced by the Spaniards. The revenue was enormous — $25,000,000 a year — and Spain took it all. Spanish soldiers took care of the inhabitants when they protested. They ruled all the neighboring islands, too, and put their unfortunate inhabitants under the same cruel yoke– imprisoning, executing, torturing them upon the slightest pretext, and allowing slavery to flourish. Cuba is now free. So are all its 1,750,000 people. Porto Rico is also free. It passed under Spanish rule soon after Cuba, but never even had the single year of humane British rule that Cuba enjoyed. It is known as the healthiest of the Antilles, and but for Spanish oppression would have been the garden spot of the world. Its 800,000 inhabitants will hereafter see nothing but the Star and Stripes from the flagstaffs. Jamaica was the first of the Spanish possessions to get rid of the Spanish yoke. The British captured it in 1855 and have held it ever since. As a result Jamaica has outstripped all the West Indies. It is a beautiful island, rich in mineral wealth and fertile. When Cortes invaded South America in 1521 he laid claim to all South America, Central America and North America. Spain claimed all the Pacific Coast from Cape Horn to Alaska, all the Atlantic Coast from Cape Horn to Georgia, Central America and South America, as well as Mexico. No other European nation could well dispute that claim, and Spain promised to be the greatest nation on earth. Now not a foot of earth on either side of he continent owns the Spanish flag. After Jamaica, Florida was the first North American province to be free. The United States bought Florida from Spain in 1821. In 1822 it became a territory and a few years later a State. In 1810 began the revolt in South America which ended in Spain's being forced out from every possession in that continent, though it took a quarter of a century to do it. Spanish cruelties and impositions had been too terrible. One State after another revolted. The great Bolivar led the revolt. In nine years he drove Spain out of what is now Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Freedom got such a hold that other oppressed provinces took heart. Peru and Bolivia fought for and gained their independence in 1825, after suffering Spanish rule for more than three centuries. Argentine, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile all cast off the yoke in bloodshed. Spain was cast out of South America forever. Mexico and Central America resolved to be free or die 1821. It took these Spain-ridden countries till 1835 to be free. Then the United States absorbed Texas and took California and all the rest of the Pacific Coast. Spanish influence was still further confined. When the late war with Spain was declared the Spaniards ruled less than 3,000,000 people in the Western Hemisphere, and but two large islands, Cuba and Porto Rico. Mexico was gone, Central America, all South America and Jamaica. Now these last two remaining islands have become free, and the Spaniards have betaken themselves back to Europe, whence they came! Lima News (Lima, Ohio) Jan 26, 1899 *** I stumbled across the following while searching for the real Christopher Columbus – Christopher Columbus + Powning: Nevada State Journal - Jun 27, 1896 EDITORIAL NOTES The next time the editor of the Gold Hill News goes by here he had better get out of the cars and walk around the town instead of coming through it. His life won't be safe after publishing such an article as the following: "Christopher Columbus Powning, the eminent statesman of Washoe county is in Washington City, and the other day interviewed himself in the Critic of that place. The 'interview' bears the marks of Mr. Powning's best style of composition. The advertising rate of the Critic are no doubt reasonable, which will account for the thrifty Senator's selection of that paper as a medium of giving his foggy ideas to the world." Reno Evening Gazette (Reno, Nevada) Jan 19, 1882 Christopher Columbus Powning came to Nevada in 1868 and located permanently at Reno in 1870, filling the position of "devil" on the Nevada State Journal, which paper was started at that time. In 1872, before he was twenty-one years of age, he became editor and in 1874 became sole proprietor of the paper. He was elected state senator from Washoe County in 1878, and in the early '80s was a candidate for congress but was defeated by G.W. Cassidy. He was one of the most energetic men that ever located in Reno, filling many responsible positions, and passed from this life many years ago, while he was yet a comparatively young man. that year that West county credited	eng	f227fc12-6489-456b-83e7-a36dc5e3ccac	http://yesteryearsnews.wordpress.com/tag/1874/
Search the Site National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Posted: Aug 31, 2010 The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is the nation's basic environmental law that applies to almost all actions taken by — or approved by — federal agencies. The first part of NEPA (section 101) establishes broad environmental goals for the nation. The second part (section 102) contains the statute's requirements for agency actions. Its principle is that federal agencies should "look before they leap." Thus, NEPA requires that before federal agencies take a major action, they must disclose the environmental impacts of their proposed action and evaluate alternatives that would have fewer environmental costs. NEPA requirements apply to all agencies of the federal government, but not to Congress, the courts, or the President. Key Concepts NEPA Process Section 102 of NEPA requires that agencies evaluate and disclose the environmental impacts of their proposed actions. Agencies can start by doing an environmental assessment (EA), which is supposed to be a brief document that allows the agency to decide if its proposal would have significant impacts. If the agency decides that the proposal will not have significant impacts, then the agency can end the process by issuing a "finding of no significant impact" (FONSI). If the agency finds that a proposed action might have significant impacts, then it must do a full environmental impact statement (EIS). The full NEPA process can be lengthy and complex, and requires the agency to seek public comment at many points in the EIS process. But the federal courts have ruled that NEPA is a purely procedural statute. Even after preparation of a full EIS, NEPA does not require any particular decision. It just requires that the agency do the analysis and reporting required by law. NEPA Reality In practice, agencies usually will go straight to preparation of a full EIS when they are considering major projects. Agencies also identify whole categories of actions that do not cause significant environmental impacts. For these actions "categorically excluded" from the requirements of NEPA, agencies can skip preparation of either an EIS or an EA. See Process Essentials: Categorical Exclusions (CEs)for more detail on CEs. Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is a federal body established by NEPA and located within the executive office of the president. CEQ's responsibility is to coordinate, direct, and advise on federal environmental practices. That responsibility includes defining the procedures for complying with NEPA. CEQ's regulations apply to all federal agencies, although some agencies have issued their own NEPA procedures. The chairman of the CEQ is the President's lead advisor on environmental policies. The CEQ's NEPA website contains a great deal of helpful information on the statute and its implementation. For a start, see the Citizen's Guide to the National Environmental Policy Act (2007). Early in 2010, the CEQ issued draft guidance on implementing NEPA, including new guidelines for using categorical exclusions and addressing mitigation and monitoring. After reviewing public comments, the CEQ finalized this guidance in January 2011. Additional guidance released in December 2011 promotes "efficient and timely" environmental reviews. Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) An EIS is the often-lengthy document that a federal agency uses to explain the environmental impacts of its proposed major projects. The process begins with "scoping," where the agency seeks public comment on what impacts the EIS should cover and what alternatives should be considered. A team of experts (including experts from other federal and state agencies) prepares a Draft EIS (DEIS) that includes: A description of the proposed action and why it is necessary; The environment that would be affected; and A comparison of alternatives to the proposal. When the agency publishes a DEIS, it requests comments from the public. At the end of that comment period, the agency evaluates the comments and revises the EIS in response to issues raised by the comments. The agency then issues a final EIS (FEIS), followed by a "record of decision" (ROD) in which the agency notifies the public of its decision. The CEQ provides detailed regulations and reports to guide agencies and the public through the NEPA process. The environmental assessment (EA) process is much less formal than the EIS process. CEQ regulations do not provide much guidance for preparing an EA, except that it must include: Brief discussions of the need for the proposed action; Alternatives to the proposed action; Environmental impacts of the proposed action and alternatives. NEPA does not require the agency to involve the public in preparing an EA. But in practice, agencies often circulate draft EAs and solicit comments or hold public meetings. If an agency determines that the proposal will not have significant impacts, it prepares a document called a "finding of no significant impact" (FONSI), which ends the NEPA process. If the proposed project will have a significant impact, it can either: Prepare an EIS to evaluate and disclose the impacts; or Change the project to avoid significant impacts ("mitigate the project") and then prepare a FONSI for the revised project. Record of Decision (ROD) After completing an environmental impact statement, an agency issues a "Record of Decision" (ROD): Stating the decisions it has made; Identifying all the alternatives considered in making the decision; Identifying which alternative it considers to be "environmentally preferable," even if it has not chosen that particular alternative; Discussing the factors it balanced in making its decision; and Discussing whether it has adopted all practical mitigation measures — actions to minimize environmental impacts — for the alternative that it selected. A formal ROD is not required for an EA. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) prepares a Decision Record and the U.S. Forest Service prepares a Decision Notice to notify the public of their EA decisions. Administrative Appeals The Forest Service, the BLM, and several other agencies provide for formal appeals of many of their EIS and EA decisions. In some cases, the agency requires that an objector appeal to the agency — pursue an administrative remedy — before going to court. Federal courts insist on exhaustion of these administrative remedies if statutes or agency rules Require them. For example, Forest Service rules requires that individuals dissatisfied with the agency's NEPA decision must appeal the decision to the next higher level of authority within the agency. A forest supervisor's decision must be appealed to a regional forester; that decision is appealed to the Chief of the Forest Service and then to the Secretary of Agriculture. New Bush administration limitations on the appeals process mean that: Only individuals who have submitted substantive comments during the comment period on the NEPA document (30-day period for EAs and 45-day period for EISs) may appeal the decision; Decisions on projects categorically excluded from the NEPA process cannot be appealed; All appeals must be filed within 45 days of the published notice of the NEPA decision. The Forest Service and the appellant may meet informally to resolve the issues raised in the appeal. But if this does not resolve the issues, the Forest Service conducts a formal review and then issues a written appeal decision within 45 days. A NEPA decision is not subject to judicial review until this internal appeals process is completed. Process Essentials: When is an EIS Required? NEPA only requires federal agencies to prepare an EIS to thoroughly assess the environmental impacts of "major federal actions that could significantly affect the human environment." Whether or not something fits that requirement is spelled out in regulations issued by the CEQ and through court decisions. Federal Agency NEPA applies to all agencies of the federal government, for example, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service. However, it does not include Congress, the courts, or the President, since they are not technically "agencies." Federal Action A wide variety of projects and activities involve "federal actions" that can trigger NEPA: A project proposed and carried out on federal land — a Forest Service proposal to build a road or a visitor's center; An agency's adoption of official policies or plans — the National Park Service proposing a new regulation that will determine how public lands are used, such as the new snowmobile regulations for Yellowstone National Park; and "Continuing activities" — a decision about how an existing federal hydropower dam will be operated for the next year. Less straightforward examples of federal agency actions: Approval of a project proposed by someone else (the project proponent) — development of a mine, oil and gas field or ski area; or Providing project funding unless the agency has no real control over use of the funds (e.g., if the project is built with general revenue sharing funds). For example, a proposal to build a federally funded highway through a privately owned wetland would need a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. In this case, both issuing the permit and providing federal funds would be federal actions that must be evaluated under NEPA. In another example, a federal judge ruled in November 2009 that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation should have studied environmental impacts under NEPA before implementing a biological opinion rendered under the Endangered Species Act by reducing water flows in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect the threatened delta smelt. The Schedule of Proposed Actions (SOPA) is a list of Forest Service proposals that will require or are undergoing environmental analysis and documentation. The SOPA includes proposals whose decisions are expected to be documented in a Decision Memo, Decision Notice, or Record of Decision. The SOPA is available in hard copy or on the Forest Service web site at Major action, significantly affecting Requirements for oil and gas NEPA documents: Two 2004 decisions of the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) require the BLM to prepare NEPA documents before issuing leases for both traditional oil and gas resources (in Utah) and coalbed methane development (in Wyoming.). There is often disagreement about whether a proposed federal action can fairly be described as either "major" or "significant." The CEQ regulations help in deciding those issues. Basically, the CEQ regulations tell agencies to look at two things: Context (whether the action is important at a local, regional or national level) and Intensity (How severe are the impacts? Will they affect human health or endangered species? Will the action set a precedent?). Finally, it is important to understand that "major," and "significant" are treated together — even if an action appears to be "minor," it requires NEPA analysis if it could significantly affect the environment. A proposal for a coalbed methane field development would require an EIS, while approval of in-fill drilling or one exploratory well might only require an EA. Expanding a ski area might require and EIS or an EA depending on the resources that could be affected during expansion. Human Environment "Emergency circumstances" can release an agency from the requirement to complete a NEPA analysis, but this exemption is only available when there is an irreconcilable and fundamental conflict between NEPA's requirements and that of another statute. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Navy did not have such an emergency regarding its use of sonar for training. Agencies only need to prepare an EIS if their actions will affect the "human environment." "Human environment" includes the natural and physical environment as it relates to people. Consequently, if an agency action has only economic or social effects (effects on people), but does not affect the natural or physical world, it would not need to be analyzed in an EIS or EA. For example, a National Park Service decision to use qualified, contract archaeologists rather than full-time government employees for cultural surveys in the national parks would not require a NEPA analysis. While the action might have economic and social impacts, it would not affect the physical or natural world - assuming the contract archaeologists are qualified to do the job. Process Essentials: Preparing an EIS Preparation of an EIS begins with the agency filing a notice of intent to prepare an EIS. The agency then begins the formal public participation process with a process called "scoping." An interdisciplinary team (ID team) of the lead agency and cooperating agencies prepares a Draft EIS (DEIS). The lead agency publishes the DEIS and requests comments on the document from the public, cooperating agencies, and other agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Following review and consideration of the comments, the lead agency prepares a Final EIS (FEIS) and a Record of Decision (ROD). Notice of Intent An agency must publish a "notice of intent" in the Federal Register when it decides to prepare an EIS. The notice describes the proposed action and reasonable alternatives, as well as the agency's proposed scoping process. The notice must name an agency contact person for the EIS process. Scoping "Scoping" is a public process to determine the scope of issues that need to be covered in the EIS. As part of this process, the agency must: Invite other agencies, tribes, and interested parties to participate; Identify which issues will and will not be covered in the EIS, based primarily on which issues are significant or have been treated elsewhere; and Make assignments for preparing the EIS to the lead and cooperating agencies. Lead Agency The "lead agency" prepares, or takes primary responsibility for preparing, an EIS. A lead agency is necessary when more than one agency is involved in the same proposed action or in a group of related actions being assessed in the NEPA process. Federal, state, and local agencies can work together cooperatively as "joint lead agencies" to prepare one environmental document that satisfies the requirements of all these levels of government. Cooperating Agency "Cooperating agencies" are usually federal agencies, other than the lead agency, that have a special legal requirement or special expertise regarding the impacts that will be analyzed in the NEPA process. A state or local agency or an Indian tribe may become a cooperating agency. DOI plans to work more with Federal and State agencies and Tribal and local governments Changes to the DOI manual will: Require bureaus to invite eligible governmental entities to participate as cooperating agencies when the bureau is developing an EIS; Require bureaus to consider any requests by governmental entities to participate as a cooperating agency with respect to a particular EIS; and Ensure that throughout the development of an EIS, the bureau will collaborate with all cooperating agencies, to the fullest extent practicable. The revised manual emphasizes the types of cooperation envisioned in the Cooperative Conservation Executive Order (EO 13352). Interdisciplinary Team (ID Team) NEPA requires that agencies use an interdisciplinary approach in their analysis of impacts. An ID Team, including personnel from both lead and cooperating agencies, is usually formed for preparation of an EIS. The size of the team and the disciplines and skills of the group depend on the scope of the action and the issues identified in the scoping process. For less complicated proposals, the agencies may select one or more persons rather than a full team to conduct the required analysis. The team or individual identifies the environmental issues related to the proposed action, develops alternatives to be analyzed, and prepares environmental documents. EPA Review of Draft EIS (DEIS) The EPA has a special duty, required by section 309 of the Clean Air Act, to review and comment on the possible environmental impact of federal actions. After review, the Administrator of EPA has to make his or her comments public. If he finds the proposal to be environmentally "unsatisfactory," the Administrator has to publish this finding and "refer" the matter to the CEQ for further action. For example, EPA recently gave an "Environmentally Unsatisfactory - Insufficient Information (EU-3)" rating to the Wyoming BLM's Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Powder River Basin Oil and Gas Development (DEIS). However, because BLM addressed many of EPA's concerns about the DEIS in its FEIS and additional mitigation measures could be addressed in the record of decision and through state and federal environmental programs, EPA did not elevate the FEIS to the CEQ for further action. EPA found similar problems with BLM's Pinedale Anticline Plan review in 2008. Process Essentials: NEPA Document Content Federal agencies can prepare a number of different documents to describe the impacts of their proposed actions and to officially convey their decisions to the public. EISs and EAs are written to describe proposed actions and evaluate the impacts. EISs have to discuss several topics, including: Proposed action; Purpose and need for the action; Affected environment; Alternatives to the proposed action; and Cumulative impacts. In many cases, environmental assessments will cover the same subjects. Proposed Action The "proposed action" is the project or program that the agency is planning to take or to approve, permit, or fund. The "proposed action" is the starting point for the EIS analysis, but it is not necessarily the final action that the agency will decide to take. The NEPA process requires the agency to develop environmental information at the proposal stage —before a decision is made or an action is taken — so that the agency will use the information to make an informed decision. Purpose and Need An EIS must clearly state the "underlying purpose and need" for its proposed action. How this purpose and need is framed is important because it governs what alternatives must be considered in the document. For example, in analyzing the impacts of a proposed coal-bed methane development, a broad statement of purpose (e.g., to provide for reasonable energy development within a national forest) is likely to lead to a broader range of alternatives being considered in the EIS than if the stated purpose of the proposal were narrow (e.g., to efficiently develop a particular gas field). Affected Environment The EIS must describe the area affected by all the alternatives being considered in the document. This section is supposed to provide enough information so that the public can understand and compare the effects of the alternatives. Alternatives An EIS must consider all reasonable alternatives and analyze them in detail. "All reasonable alternatives" includes the proposed action and the "no action" alternative plus other alternatives, even if they are outside the lead agency's jurisdiction. "Reasonable alternatives" does not simply mean what is desirable from the standpoint of whoever is proposing the project. It also includes other common-sense alternatives that are technically and economically practical or feasible. In its discussion of alternatives, the agency must identify its "preferred" alternative. Early in 2010, the CEQ issued draft guidance on how mitigation and monitoring must be assessed in this process. "No surface occupancy" Alternative NEPA does not require an agency to explicitly consider every possible alternative to a proposed action, but it must explain its reasoning for eliminating a viable alternative. In TWS v Wisely (BLM) the BLM was arbitrary and capricious in not considering a "no surface occupancy" lease alternative for South Shale Ridge oil and gas leasing EA. "No Action" Alternative Federal agencies must analyze the "no action" alternative — the consequences of doing nothing different — in each EIS. If the proposed action is to permit or construct a particular project, then taking "no action" would mean denying the permit (for example approval to drill a well) or not constructing the project (for example, a visitor center or campground). If the proposed action is an agency's land management plan, then "no action" means "no change" from current management. The impacts of this "no action" or "no change" alternative would be whatever is expected to be the effects of continuing with current management activities. Cumulative Impacts In an EIS, the agency must examine the impacts its proposed action could have in combination with other past and future projects. They must analyze these impacts regardless of who might be undertaking the other projects and regardless of whether those other projects are on federal lands. For example, the impacts of a Forest Service timber sale on wildlife might have to be examined in combination with other federal timber sales and timber cutting on nearby private lands. Cumulative impacts must be evaluated to prevent a lot of seemingly disconnected projects from avoiding NEPA analysis and eventually adding up to be a significant problem. There has been a lot of controversy over what needs to be included in cumulative impacts analyses. Both agency reports and court cases help provide guidance. In early 2010, the Obama administration announced plans to require analysis of the proposed action's relation to climate change, along with impacts on land use, biological diversity, and air and water quality. Thus, for example, an agency would have to analyze whether a proposed new road near the coast might be impacted by projected rising sea levels, or whether a proposed clearcut might result in different species of plants replacing the harvested trees. This change would be formalized in an executive order issued by the President. See "Federal agencies may have to consider climate before they act," LA Times, 1/1/10. The White House released its draft guidance on climate change analysis and NEPA on February 18, 2010. For a copy of the draft guidance document, click here. In November 2009 a federal court judge ruled that a faulty impacts analysis in a NEPA process may subject the government to financial liability later. In a case interpreting the liability of the U.S. Corps of Engineers for flooding related to the Katrina Hurricane, Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. found the Corps was guilty of "gross negligence" for failing to maintain the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet shipping channel, and concluded that the agency failed to adequately consider a range of environmental impacts the agency knew to be likely in a 1976 EIS prepared for the project. The federal government is expected to appeal the decision. In March 2010, a federal court judge ruled a NEPA analysis inadequate for failing to consider potential transboundary effects as part of the cumulative impact analysis. The EIS considered impacts of a proposed water pipeline that would have moved water over the continental divide, but failed to consider adequately the possiiblity of biota transfer (invasive species introduction) to the Hudson Bay if the pipeine were to breach after construction. Court Requires Better Cumulative Impact Analysis for Nevada Gold Mines: Great Basin Mine Watch v. USDOI/BLM In August 2006, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that BLM could analyze impacts of two mines in separate EISs, but that they had to do a better job. BLM's vague and conclusory statements, without any supporting data, did not constitute a "hard look" at the environmental consequences of the action as required by NEPA. A cumulative impact is "the impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions." "Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor but collectively significant actions taking place over a period of time." "[P]roper consideration of the cumulative impacts of a project requires some quantified or detailed information; general statements about possible effects and some risk do not constitute a hard look absent a justification regarding why more definitive information could not be provided." "[T]he Environmental Impact Statement must give a sufficiently detailed catalogue of past, present, and future projects, and provide adequate analysis about how these projects, and difference between the projects, are thought to have impacted the environment." Seeking a similar result, environmental groups filed a suit in August 2011 against the BLM, claiming that it has inadequately assessed the cumulative impacts of coal leasing in the Powder River Basin. See story here. Process Essentials: Categorical Exclusions (CE) Agencies can decide that an entire category of their actions will not, either alone or in combination with other activities, have a significant impact on the environment and will not, therefore, require an EIS or an EA. Each federal agency can develop its own procedures for determining what type of actions should be "categorically excluded." The CEQ published draft guidance on categorical exclusions on February 23, 2010, which it finalized in November 2010 in final guidance on "Establishing, Applying, and Revising Categorical Exclusions under NEPA." The guidance is designed to more effectively incorporate best practices, evolving technologies, and public stakeholder participation to ensure a transparent and fully informed process when considering the use of categorical exclusions. In the wake of the Gulf oil spill in 2010, many called for the end of categorical exclusions for offshore and onshore oil and gas developments. In August 2010, Rep. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) called on the Obama Administration to end the practice of granting such exclusions for exploratory work related to hardrock mining, expressing particular concerns about uranium deposits near Grand Canyon National Park. The Department of the Interior indicated no intention of changing the rules related to hardrock mining. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Categorical Exclusions BLM proposes additional CEs for: Emergency Stabilization Forestry Geophysical Exploration Geophysical Operations Geophysical Utilization Grazing Recreation Sample Tree Falling Vegetation Management The BLM maintains a list of categorical exclusions and a companion list of 10 exceptions that identify specific circumstances in which the categorical exclusions do not apply. If a proposed action fits into one of the exclusions and no exceptions apply, the agency can proceed with its proposed action without preparing an EIS or an EA. If a proposed action fits one of the exclusions, but one of the exceptions applies, the agency has two choices: It can either prepare an EIS or an EA (whichever seems appropriate), or It can modify the project (e.g., moving it out of a unique area) to avoid the exception. In its handbook, the BLM encourages managers to apply categorical exclusions, because they reduce paperwork and speed the decision-making process. For a report criticizing the BLM's interpretation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to apply categorical exclusions that effectively fast-track oil and gas activity on public lands where development is already occurring, see "Greater Clarity Needed to Address Concerns with Categorical Exclusions for Oil and Gas Development under Section 390 of the Act," GAO-09-872, 9/16/09. In response to the GAO report, conservation groups requested the agency to stop using categorical exclusions to streamline oil and gas development, while the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States released a position paper objecting to the report's analysis. See "Groups ask BLM to suspend streamlined drilling reviews," Grand Junction Sentinel, 10/6/09. Several environmental groups filed a lawsuit challenging application of the policy in Utah, which the administration settled in March 2010. Under the settlement agreement, the BLM agreed to: adopt a national policy of not using categorial exclusions when "extraordinary circumstances" occur; not use categorical exclusions in the West Tavaputs natural gas field in Utah until a new environmental assessment or EIS on the impact of gas development is completed; and after completing the West Tavaputs EIS, conduct a study of the impact ofdust and chemicals on cultural resources in the area. In May 2010, the Department of the Interior released new policies aimed at reforming onshore oil and gas leasing, including restrictions on the applicaiton of categorical exclusions. See "Feds tighten leasing rules," Casper Star-Tribune, 5/18/10. In August 2011, however, Federal Judge Nancy Freudenthal granted a nationwide injunction against implementation of the 2010 policy and thus reinstated the expedited review process, concluding that the agency's new position was an "about face" from former practices, and thus necessitates formal rulemaking. See story here. At a congressional hearing in September 2011, the BLM indicated that it is commencing this rulemaking process. In October 2011, the Department of Energy announced its own new rules adding 20 new exclusions related to energy development, including small-scale renewable energy projects, wind turbines, electric-car recharging stations, lead-based paint removal, and solar photovoltaic systems. The GAO issued an updated analysis of the use of categorical exclusions for oil and gas development in September 2011. Forest Service Categorical Exclusions The Forest Service has detailed procedures for categorical exclusions from the NEPA process. They include: A detailed process for determining whether an exclusion applies; Requirements for documenting use of the exclusion; A list of exclusions; and A list of exceptions or extraordinary circumstances in which the categorical exclusion may apply. Examples of actions that the Forest Service categorically excludes from the NEPA process are closing of roads to protect bighorn sheep during lambing season and approval of minor special uses like one-time events. Examples of extraordinary circumstances that may trigger a NEPA analysis — even though a proposed action may fit within a general exclusion — include: the presence of steep slopes or highly erosive soils; threatened and endangered species or their critical habitat; flood plains, wetlands, or municipal watersheds; and, special areas like wilderness or Native American cultural sites. Whether or not the extraordinary circumstance triggers a NEPA analysis depends on the agency's evaluation of the circumstance and its impact on potential environmental effects of the proposed action. Controversies Forest Plans and Categorical Exclusions The Forest Service is required by the National Forest Management Act to prepare plans that outline how it intends to manage each national forest. Those plans are routinely amended and then are supposed to be rewritten every 10 to 15 years in plan revisions. Plans and plan revisions can run into many hundreds of pages and are very complex. Plan amendments can be simple or complex. The Forest Service has to comply with NEPA in its planning for the national forests, but when and how it does so has changed. In the past, the Forest Service has treated development of forest plans and plan revisions as the kind of action that required a full EIS. The Bush Administration's 2008 planning rules eliminated the requirement that the agency prepare an EIS for all forest plans. Instead, the Forest Supervisor can decide whether an EIS is needed or whether a categorical exclusion applies. The administration argues that forest plans are only zoning documents — frameworks for future on-the-ground management decisions — that normally do not authorize any ground-disturbing actions or commit funding or resources. It contends that only later, site-specific activities — proposed and developed within the constraints of the plan — should be subject to NEPA analysis. Based on this reasoning, a plan that revises or amends a national forest's goals and objectives for oil and gas leasing or grazing could be categorically excluded from NEPA analysis. However, decisions that directly affect how resources will be managed — for example, stipulations for oil and gas leases, or changes in grazing levels — would still require a NEPA analysis. Critics of the new procedures for NEPA analysis argue that full NEPA analysis is important because forest plans make critically important choices about overall management direction and environmental safeguards, and that categorically excluding forest plans from NEPA will deprive citizens of their right to understand and comment knowledgeably on forest plan alternatives and their environmental consequences. Expediting NEPA Reviews Agency implementation of NEPA has evolved over three decades through trial, error, administrative decisions, and court battles. Recent years have seen increasing controversy over how and even whether NEPA should apply to certain activities. A bill sponsored by Rep. Ross (R-Fla.) in the 112th Congress, for example, attempted to streamline NEPA review by setting hard deadlines for completing the process and limit opportunities for legal challenges. For its part, the Council on Environmental Quality has encouraged consolidated reviews in order to streamline the NEPA process. See, for example, the CEQ guidelines released in March 2013 for integrating NEPA and National Historic Preservation Act reviews. While NEPA itself has not changed, Congress and several presidential administrations instituted process changes and categorical exclusions to expedite or avoid NEPA review on specific types of projects. For example, in June 2012, the Forest Service announced plans to promulgate three new categories of categorical exclusions for forest restoration activities. Indian Energy Development Project Exemptions The Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 allows Tribes to forego NEPA if the Interior Department approves a "tribal energy resource agreement" for the Tribe. The Energy Policy Act establishes criteria for approving the agreements, agreement components and provisions for oversight. To approve an agreement, the Secretary of Interior must determine that the Tribe has sufficient capacity to regulate the development of its energy resources. Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA) The main purpose of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) was to help the Forest Service and BLM plan and conduct hazardous fuels reduction projects on federal lands. The bill was also aimed at helping the agencies deal with insect infestations. To help accomplish these purposes, HFRA expedited the NEPA review process in two ways. First, HFRA authorizes the agencies to implement hazardous fuels reduction projects on federal lands, including urban-wildland interface lands near communities and lands with altered fire regimes. While HFRA requires the agencies to prepare an EIS or an EA for these projects, the law limits the number of alternatives that the agencies can analyze in their evaluation of project impacts. For most projects, the agencies will have to analyze the proposed action, the "no action" alternative, and one additional action alternative. If the project is in the wildland-urban interface, the agencies can ignore the "no action" alternative. If a local community has a community wildfire protection plan, the agency must analyze the plan as either its proposed action or as an alternative. HFRA also authorizes the agencies to use "applied silvicultural assessments" — forest treatments such as thinning, prescribed burns, and insecticide spraying — that might help the agency in gathering information on problem insects and how to deal with them. The law creates a categorical exclusion from NEPA for up to 250,000 total acres of these assessments. Each individual assessment project is limited to 1,000 acres and the agency planning the projects has to notify the public and ask for comments. The agencies do not, however, have to evaluate whether the projects, either individually or cumulatively, will have a significant effect on the environment. For more information on the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, click here. Categorical Exclusions for Fire Projects In June 2003, the Forest Service and BLM created two new categorical exclusions (CEs) from NEPA: Hazardous fuels reduction activities identified through a collaborative framework; and Rehabilitation activities for lands and infrastructure impacted by wildfires or wildfire suppression. There are acreage limitations on both categories of activities and neither can use herbicides or pesticides as part of their land treatments. In creating these CEs, the agencies concluded — after a review of 2,500 hazardous fuel reduction and rehabilitation projects and peer-reviewed scientific literature identifying the effects of hazardous fuels reduction activities — that these activities would not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment. Like other CEs, neither new category can be used to avoid NEPA analysis where there are extraordinary circumstances, such as adverse effects on threatened and endangered species or their designated critical habitat, wilderness areas, inventoried roadless areas, wetlands, impaired waters, or archaeological, cultural, or historic sites. Collaboration in Action Collaborative Groups Grappling with NEPA Three collaborative groups featured in the RLCH Collaborative Stories are currently grappling with NEPA: Northwest Colorado Stewardship is working with the Keystone Center to develop a scope of work and to outline where and how the group will engage with the BLM in the NEPA process. The "major federal action" which requires NEPA analysis is the development of the Resource Management Plan for the local BLM area. Partnership participants just completed a Place Based NEPA workshop, provided by The Partnership Resource Center, to prepare them for this groundbreaking task. The Lakeview Stewardship Group (LSG) of Lake County Oregon has been considering how the group wants to deal with the Healthy Forests Restoration Act's (HFRA) attempts to expedite NEPA. (For more information, go to Controversies: Expediting NEPA Review.). While HFRA allows the Forest Service to do a restoration project after analyzing only one alternative in the NEPA process, the group has decided not to pursue that opportunity. Some of the members of the group object to limiting the NEPA analysis in this way and the Forest Service has determined that adding analysis of another alternative would not add to the cost of the analysis. Wallowa Resources of northeastern Oregon is doing pre-NEPA work with the Forest Service on a collaborative watershed assessment. Following the assessment, the Forest Service will use a variety of NEPA procedures including CEs, EAs and an EIS to plan the implementation of specific watershed restoration projects. Wallowa Resources and the Wallowa County Government are exploring opportunities to assist the Forest Service with NEPA through third-party contracting. NEPA Studies In the fall of 2000, U.S. Senators Max Baucus, Mike Crapo, Harry Reid, and Craig Thomas asked the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution of the Morris K. Udall Foundation to study the use of pilot projects to explore ways to improve the implementation of NEPA.. The study looked at increased collaboration, consensus building, and appropriate dispute resolution processes in NEPA. The report recommends moving forward with pilot projects to, among other things, improve NEPA implementation through collaborative decision-making and consensus building. The Institute recommends that a pilot project initiative goals include: Demonstrating, evaluating, and providing guidance on innovative and practical collaborative approaches to NEPA implementation problems; and Building public understanding of the appropriate uses and standards for collaboration within the NEPA context. The Institute's "Report and Recommendations on a NEPA Pilot Projects Initiative" is available here. NEPA Task Force In May 2002, the CEQ formed a NEPA Task Force to review current NEPA implementing practices and procedures in several key areas, including federal and intergovernmental collaboration, adaptive management, and categorical exclusions. The NEPA Task Force recommended the following actions regarding collaboration: Identify, develop and share methods of engaging federal, state, local and tribal partners in training on NEPA principles, agency missions and collaboration skills; Develop guidance on the components of successful collaborative agreements and provide templates applicable to various situations and stages of the NEPA process; and Explore the use of a facilitated, collaborative process to develop and refine alternatives and outline how agencies can document the process of refining a proposal and conforming to CEQ regulations. NEPA Task Force II In July 2006, a NEPA task force, chaired by Rep. McMorris (R-WA),issued its final report. The report followed several field hearings across the country and analysis of comments from the public on a range of issues. The report includes 20 recommendations grouped into the following categories: Addressing delays in the process Enhancing public participation Better involvement for stakeholders Addressing litigation issues Clarifying alternative analysis under NEPA Better Federal agency coordination Additional authority for the Council on Environmental Quality Clarifying the meaning of "cummulative impacts" Studies. According to the task force, their recommendations are a starting point for improving NEPA for the benefit of all stakeholders. Their near-term next steps include: Holding a hearing on the recommendations before the full Committee on Resources, Additional dialogue with CEQ to understand how the recommendations would be implemented, and Additional consultation with stakeholders to assess the impact of the recommendations. In its report, the task force also suggested that legislation be prepared and introduced to facilitate implementation of the recommendations. For more information on the task force and its reports, see the task force web page. Federal Agencies Council on Environmental Quality NEPAnet This web site links the user to a variety of valuable resources pertaining to NEPA, including the text of NEPA, federal agency and international web sites, and several federal and state guidelines and resources for implementation. The site provides two CEQ studies, one about cumulative effects and the other about the effectiveness of NEPA. CEQ reports and environmental statistics are available, as well as digital forms and EISs that can be viewed. The site includes summaries of important NEPA court cases and a listing of NEPA training options. READ MORE >> CEQ's 40 Frequently Asked Questions about NEPA This web site contains links to 40 different topics that are sources of frequent confusion to those who wish to use, comment upon, implement, or change NEPA actions and decisions. The topics span a broad range of areas, from commenting upon NEPA actions, alternatives (such as "preferred," "no action," and "environmentally preferable") to FONSIs, and many more. READ MORE >> USDA Forest Service NEPA website This web site contains links to Forest Service NEPA policy and implementation procedures, including agency handbooks and manuals, Forest Service actions under NEPA, and information on categorical exclusions from NEPA. READ MORE >>	eng	3f29baeb-1481-406a-96a1-f8c1b1d21fd1	http://rlch.org/content/national-environmental-policy-act-nepa
Quantum Mechanics In science, one tries to tell people something that no one ever knew before, in such a way as to be understood by everyone. But in poetry, it's the exact opposite. Paul A.M. Dirac (1902-1984; Nobel 1933) First, let's consider how probabilities are ordinarily computed: When an event consists of two mutually exclusive events, its probability is the sum of the probabilities of those two events. Similarly, when an event is the conjunction of two statistically independent events, its probability is the product of the probabilities of those two events. For example, if you roll a fair die, the probability of obtaining a multiple of 3 is 1/3 = 1/6+1/6; it's the sum of the probabilities (1/6 each) of the two mutually exclusive events "3" and "6". You add probabilities when the component events can't happen together (the outcome of the roll cannot be both "3" and "6"). On the other hand, the probability of rolling two fair dice without obtaining a 6 is 25/36 = (5/6)(5/6); it's the product of the probabilities (5/6 each) of two independent events, each consisting of not rolling a 6 with each throw. Quantum Logic and [Complex] Probability Amplitudes : In the quantum realm, as long as two logical possibilities are not actually observed, they can be neither exclusive nor independent and the above does not apply. Instead, quantum mechanical probability amplitudes are defined as complex numbers whose absolute values squared correspond to ordinary probabilities. The phases (the angular directions) of such complex numbers have no classical equivalents (although they happen to provide a deep explanation for the existence of the conserved classical quantity known as electric charge). To obtain the amplitude of an event with two unobserved logical components: For EITHER-OR (exclusive) components, the amplitudes are added. For AND (independent) components, the amplitudes are multiplied. In practice, "AND components" are successive steps that could logically lead to the desired outcome, forming what's called an acceptable history for that outcome. The "EITHER-OR components", whose amplitudes are to be added, are thus all the possible histories logically leading up to the same outcome. Following Richard Feynman, the whole thing is therefore called a "sum over histories". These algebraic manipulations are a mind-boggling substitute for statistical logic, but that's the way the physical universe appears to work. The above quantum logic normally applies only at the microscopic level, where "observation" of individual components is either impossible or would introduce an unacceptable disturbance. At the macroscopic level, the observation of a combined outcome usually implies that all relevant components are somehow "observed" as well (and the ordinary algebra of probabilities applies). For example, in our examples involving dice, you cannot tell if the outcome of a throw is a multiple of 3 unless you actually observe the precise outcome and will thus know if it's a "3" or a "6", or something else. Similarly, to know that you haven't obtained a "6" in a double throw, you must observe separately the outcome of each throw. Surprisingly enough, when the logical components of an event are only imperfectly observed (with some remaining uncertainty), the probability of the outcome is somewhere between what the quantum rules say and what the classical rules would predict. (2007-07-19) On the "Statistics" of Elementary Particles A direct consequence of quantum logic: Pauli's Exclusion Principle In very general terms, you may call "particle" some part of a quantum system. Swapping (or switching) a pair of particles is making one particle take the place of the other and vice versa, while leaving everything else unchanged. Although swapping particles may deeply affect a quantum system, swapping twice will certainly not change anything since, by definition, this is like doing nothing at all. "Swapping" can be defined as something that does nothing if you do it twice. Particles are defined to be "identical" if they can be swapped. So, according to the abovequantum logic, the amplitude associated with one swapping must have a square of 1. Therefore (assuming that amplitudes are ordinary complex numbers) the swapping amplitude is either +1 or -1. In the mathematical description of quantum states, swapping is well-defined only for particles of the same "nature". Whether swapping involves a multiplicative factor of +1 or -1 depends on that "nature". Particles for which swapping leaves the quantum state unchanged are called bosons, those for which swapping negates the quantum state are called fermions. A deep consequence of Special relativity is that spin determines which "statistics" a given type of particles obeys (Bose-Eintein statistics for bosons, Fermi-Dirac statistics for fermion). Part of the angular momentum of a fermion cannot be explained in classical terms (it must include a nonorbital "pointlike" component). The spin of a boson is a whole multiple of the quantum of angular momentum h/2p, whereas the spin of a fermion is an odd multiple of the "half quantum" h/4p. With the concepts so defined, let's consider a quantum state where two fermions would be absolutely undistinguishable. Not only would they be particles of the same kind (e.g., two electrons) but they would have the same position, the same state of motion, etc. So, the quantum state is clearly unchanged by swapping. Yet, swapping fermions must negate the quantum state... Therefore, it's equal to its own opposite and can only be zero ! The probability associated to a zero quantum state is zero; this corresponds to something impossible. In other words, two different fermions can't "occupy" the exact same state. This result is called Pauli's exclusion principle. It's the reason why all the electrons around a nucleus don't collapse to the single state of lowest energy. Instead, they occupy successively different "orbitals", according to rules which explain the entire periodic table of chemical elements. (2002-11-01) The Infamous Measurement Problem What does a quantum observation entail? This is arguably the most fundamental unsolved question in quantum mechanics. According to the above, one should deal strictly with amplitudes between observations (or measurements), but another recipe holds when measurements are made. That would be fine if we knew exactly what a measurement entails, but we don't... Should we really assume that a system can only be measured by some outside agency (the observer)? If we do, nothing prevents us from considering a larger system that includes this observer as well, and that system's evolution would involve only measurement-free quantum rules. If we don't assume that, we can't avoid the conclusion that a system can observe itself, in some obscure sense. Either way, the simple quantum rules outlined above would have to be smoothly modified to account for a behavior which can be nearly classical for a large enough system. In other words, current quantum ideas must be incomplete, because they fail to describe any bridge between a quantum system waiting only to be observed, and an entity capable of observation. Our current quantum description of the world has proven its worth and reigns supreme, just like Newtonian mechanics reigned supreme before the advent of Relativity Theory. Relativity consistently bridged the gap between the slow and the fast, the massive and the massless (while retaining the full applicability of Newtonian theories to the domain of ordinary speeds). Likewise, the gap must ultimately be bridged between observer and observed, between the large and the small, between the classical world and the quantum realm, for there is but one single physical reality in which everything is immersed... This bothers, or should bother, everybody who deals with quantum mechanics: The so-called Schrödinger's Cat theme is often used to discuss the problem, in the guise of a system that includes a cat (a "qualified" observer) in the presence of a quantum device which could trigger a lethal device. It seems silly to view the whole thing as a single quantum system, which would only exist (until observed) in some superposition of states, where the cat would be neither dead nor alive, but both at once. Something must exist which collapses the quantum state of a large enough system frequently enough to make it appear "classical". It stands to reason that Schrödinger's Cat must be dead very shortly after being killed... Doesn't it? If the measurement of a physical quantity would disturb the measurement of the other, then a noncommutative circumstance exists which disallows even the possibility of two separate sets of experiments yielding the values of these two quantities with arbitrary precision (read this again). This delicate connection between noncommutativity and uncertainty is now known as Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. In particular, the position and momentum of a particle can only be measured with respective uncertainties (i.e., standard deviations in repeated experiments) Dx and Dpx satisfying the following inequality : The early development of Heisenberg's Matrix Mechanics was undertaken by M. Born and P. Jordan. In March 1926, Erwin Schrödinger showed that Heisenberg's viewpoint was equivalent to his own "undulatory" approach (Wave Mechanics, January 1926) for which he would share the 1933 Nobel prize with Paul Dirac, who gave basic Quantum Theory its current form. Heisenberg's Viewpoint [skip on first reading] Here is a terse summary of Heisenberg's approach in terms of the Schrödinger viewpoint which we adopt here, following Dirac and almost all modern scholars: In the modern Schrödinger-Dirac perspective, a ket \|y> is introduced which describes a quantum state varying with time. Since it remains of unit length, its value at time t is obtained from its value at time 0 via a unitary operator Û. \| yt > = Û (t,0) \| y0 > The unitary operator Û so defined is called the evolution operator. Heisenberg's viewpoint consists in considering that a given system is represented by the constant ket Û* \|y>. Operators are modified accordingly... A physical quantity which is associated with the operator Â in the Schrödinger viewpoint (possibly constant with time) is then associated with the following time-dependent operator in the Heisenberg viewpoint. Û* Â Û = Û-1 (t,0) Â Û (t,0) (2002-11-02) The Schrödinger Equation (1926) The dance of a single nonrelativistic particle in a classical force field. The Schrödinger equation governs the probability amplitudey of a particle of mass m and energy E in a space-dependent potential energy V. Strictly speaking, E is the total relativistic mechanical energy (starting at mc2 for the particle at rest). However, the final stationary Schrödinger equation (below) features only the difference E-V with respect to the potential V, which may thus be shifted to incorporate the rest energy of a single particle. For several particles, the issue cannot be skirted so easily (in fact, it's partially unresolved) and it's one of several reasons why the quantum study of multiple particles takes the form of an inherently relativistic theory (Quantum Field Theory) which also accounts for the creation and anihilation of particles. In 1926, when the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961; Nobel 1933) worked out the equation now named after him, he thought that the relevant quantity y was something like a density of electric charge... Instead, y is now understood to be a probability amplitude, as defined in the above article, namely a complex number whose squared length is proportional to the probability of actually finding the electron at a particular position in space. That interpretation of y was proposed by Max Born (1882-1970; Nobel 1954) the very person who actually coined the term quantum mechanics (Max Born also happens to be the maternal grandfather of Olivia Newton-John). The controversy about the meaning of y hindered neither the early development of Schrödinger's theory of "Wave Mechanics", nor the derivation of the nonrelativistic equation at its core: Now, the general 3-dimensional wave equation of some quantity j propagating at celerity u&nbsp is: 1 ¶ 2 j = ¶ 2 j + ¶ 2 j + ¶ 2 j u 2 ¶ t 2 ¶ x 2 ¶ y 2 ¶ z 2 = Dj [D is the Laplacian operator] The standard way to solve this (mathematically) is to first obtain solutions j which are products of a time-independent space function y by a sinusoidal function of the time (t) alone. The general solution is simply a linear superposition of these stationary waves : j = y exp ( -2pin t ) For a frequency n, the stationary amplitude y thus defined must satisfy: Dy + ( 4pn2 / u2 ) y = 0 Using n = E/h (Planck's formula) and the above for u = E/p we obtain... The Schrödinger Equation : Dy + (8 p2 m / h2 ) (E - V) y = 0 This equation is best kept in its nonrelativistic context, where it determines allowed levels of energy up to an additive constant. A frequency may only be associated with a Schrödinger solution at energy E if E is the total relativistic energy (including rest energy) and V has been ajusted accordingly, against the usual nonrelativistic freedom, as discussed in this article's introduction. In the above particular stationary case, we have: E j = ( i h / 2p ) ¶j/¶t This relation turns the previous equation into a more general linear equation : Formally, a reversal of the direction of time turns one equation into the other. We may also allow negative energies and/or frequencies in Planck's formula E = hn and observe that a particle may be described by the same wave function whether it carries energy E in one direction of time, or energy -E in the other. To retain only one version of the Schrödinger equation and one arrow of time (the term was coined by Eddington) we must formally allow particles to carry a signed energy (typically, E = ± mc2 ). If the wave function j is a solution of one version of the Schrödinger equation, then its conjugate j* is a solution of the other. However, time-reversal and conjugation need not result in the same wave function whenever Schrödinger's equation has more than one solution at a given energy. Principle of Superposition : The linearity of Schrödinger's equation means that any sum of satisfactory solutions is also a solution. This principle of superposition is the basis for the general Hilbert space formalism introduced by Dirac: Until it is actually measured, a quantum state may contain (as a linear superposition) several acceptable realities at once. This is, of course, mind-boggling. Schrödinger and many others have argued that this cannot beentirely true: Something in the ultimate quantum rules must escape any linear description to defeat this principle of superposition, which is unacceptable as an overall rule for everything observed and anything observing. (2003-05-26) Noether's Theorem (1915) The German mathematician Emmy Noether (1882-1935) established this deep result (Noether's Theorem) in 1915: For every continuous symmetry of the laws of physics, there's a conservation law, and vice versa. This result was first established in the context of classical rational mechanics but it remains true (and even more meaningful) in the quantum realm. The standard vocabulary for the Hilbert spaces used in quantum mechanics started out as a pun: P.A.M. Dirac (1902-1984; Nobel 1933) decided to call < j \| a bra and \| y > a ket, because < j \| y > is clearly a bracket... Hilbert Space and "Hilbertian Basis" : A Hilbert space is a vector space over the field of complex numbers (its elements are called kets ) endowed with an inner hermitian product (Dirac's "bracket", of which the left half is a "bra"). That's to say that the following properties hold (z* being the complex conjugate of z): A Hilbert space is also required to be separable and complete, which implies that its dimension is either finite or countably infinite. It's customary to use raw indices for the kets of an agreed-upon Hilbertian basis : \| 1 >, \| 2 >, \| 3 >, \| 4 > ... Such a "basis" is a maximal set of unit kets which are pairwise orthogonal : < i \| i > = 1 and < i \| j > = 0 if i ¹ j The so-called closure relationÎ = å \| n > < n \| is a nice way to state that any ket is a generalized linear combination of kets from the "basis": \| y > = Î \| y > = å \| n > < n \| y > = å < n \| y > \| n > This need not be a proper linear combination, since infinitely many of the coefficients < n \| y > could be nonzero: An Hilbertian basis is not a properlinear basis unless it's finite (cf. Hamel basis). Operators : A linear operator is a square matrix = [ a ij ] which we may express as: = åa ij \| i > < j \| alternately, a ij = < i \| Â \| j > To the left of a ket or the right of a bra, Â yields another like vector. Hermitian Conjugation (Conjugates, Duals, Adjoints) : Hermitian conjugation generalizes to vectors and operators the complex conjugation of scalars. We prefer to use the same notation X* for the hermitian conjugate of any object X, regardless of its dimension. We use interchangeably the terms which other authors prefer to use for specific dimensions, namely "conjugate" for scalars, "dual" for vectors (bras and kets) and "adjoint" for operators (the adjugate of a matrix is something entirely different). Many authors (especially in quantum theory) use an overbar for the conjugate of a scalar and an obelisk ("dagger") for the adjointA of an operator A. In other words, AºA* Loosely speaking, conjugation consists in replacing all coordinates by their complex conjugates and transposing (i.e., flipping about the main diagonal). The conjugate transpose is also called adjoint, Hermitian adjoint, Hermitian transpose, Hermitian conjugate, etc. The word conjugate can also be used by itself, since conjugation of the complex coordinates of a vector or matrix is rarely used, if ever, without a simultaneous transposition. \| y >* = < y \| and < y \|* = \| y > < j \| Â* \| y > = ( < y \| Â \| j > )* The adjoint of a product is the product of the adjoints in reverse order. For an inner product, this restates the axiomatic hermitian symmetry. ( X Y )* = Y* X* < y \| j >* = < j \| y > An operator is self-adjoint or hermitian if = Â. All eigenvalues of an hermitian operator are real. That key theorem was established in 1855 by Charles Hermite (1822-1901, X1842) when he introduced the relevant concepts now named after him: hermitian conjugation, hermitian symmetry, etc. Two eigenvectors of an hermitian operator for distinct eigenvalues are necessarily orthogonal (see proof below). In finitely many dimensions, such operators are diagonalizable. An hermitian operator multiplied by a real scalar is hermitian. So is a sum of hermitian operators, or the product of two commuting hermitian operators. The following combinations of two hermitian operators are always hermitian: For an infinitesimal e, Û = Î + ieÊ is unitary (only) when Ê is hermitian. State Vectors, Observables and the Measurement Postulate : A quantum state, state vector, or microstate is a ket \| y > of unit length : < y \| y > = 1 Such a ket \| y > is associated with the density operator \| y > < y \| (whose entropy is zero) which determines it back, within some physically irrelevant phase factor exp(iq). An observable physical quantity corresponds to an hermitian operator whose eigenvalues are the possible values of a measurement. The average value of a measurement of from a pure microstate \| y > is: < y \| Â \| y > This is a corollary of the following measurement postulate (von Neumann's projection postulate) which states the consequence of a measurement, in terms of the eigenspace projector matching each possible outcome (necessarily an eigenvalue a of = åaaPa ). \| y > becomes Pa \| y > \|\| Pa \| y > \|\| with probability < y \| Pa \| y > The above is also often called the principle of spectral decomposition. Note that, since P2 = P = P, we have: \|\| P \| y > \|\| 2 = < y \| P \| y > Vocabulary: The principle of quantization limits the observed values of a physical quantity to the eigenvalues of its associated operator. The principle of superposition asserts that a pure quantum state is represented by a ket... A quantum state represented by an eigenvector of an observable is called an eigenstate. It always yields the same measurement of that observable. Two kets \|y> and \|j> that are eigenstates of an hermitian operator associated with distinct eigenvalues a and b are necessarily orthogonal. Nonrelativistic Postulate of Evolution with Time : In nonrelativistic quantum theory, time (t) is not an observable in the above sense, but a parameter with which things evolve between measurements, according to the following substitute for Schrödinger's equation, involving the hamiltonian operatorH (associated with the system's total energy) : (2005-07-03) Operators Corresponding to Physical Quantities Building on 6 operators for the coordinates of position and momentum. Only scalar physical quantities correspond to basic observables (hermitian square matrices) within the relevant Hilbert spaceL. Physical vectors may also be considered, which correspond to operators mapping a ket into a vector of kets (an element of some cartesian power of L ). The following table embodies the so-called principle of correspondence, for those physical quantities which have a classical equivalent... The orbital angular momentum of a pointlike particle does; its spin doesn't. For the 3-component column operator Â associated with the ("orbital") angular momentum L, this can be summarized thusly: ´ = ( i h / 2p ) Â Algebraic Rules for Commutators : A few general relations hold about commutators, which are easily verified : [B,A] = - [A,B] [A,B]* = [B, A] [A,B+C] = [A,B] + [A,C] [A,BC] = [A,B]C + B[A,C] Ô = [A,[B,C]] + [B,[C,A]] + [C,[A,B]] This last relation is known as the Jacobi identity. It's one of two relations a bilinear map must satisfy to be called a Lie bracket (the other, which is also satisfied here, is simply: [A,A] = Ô ). The commutator bracket thus endows the vector space of quantum operators with the structure of a Lie algebra. The following relation holds for two operators whose commutator is a scalar times Î (or, at least, if that commutator commutes with the operator B ). [ A, f (B) ] = [A,B] f ' (B) Proof:As usual, f is an analytic function, of derivative f '. The relation being linear with respect to f, it holds generally if it holds for f (z) = z n... The case n = 0 is trivial (zero on both sides) and an induction on n completes the proof: [A,Bn+1] = [A,Bn]B + Bn[A,B] = [A,B]nBn + [A,B]Bn = [A,B](n+1)Bn (2005-07-03) Noncommutativity and Uncertainty Relations The link between commutators and expected standard deviations. When two observables A and B are repeatedly measured from the same quantum state \| y > the expected standard deviations are Da and Db. The following inequality then holds ( Heisenberg's uncertainty relation ). DaDb³ ½ \| < y \| [A,B] \| y > \| Proof: Assuming, without loss of generality, that both observables have zero averages (so the trailing terms vanish in the above defining equations) this may be identified as a type of Schwartz inequality, which may be proved with the remark that the following quantity is nonnegative for any real number x : \|\| ( A + i x B ) \| y > \|\| 2 = < y \| ( A- i x B ) ( A + i x B ) \| y > = < y \| ( x 2B 2 + i x AB- i x BA + A2 ) \| y > = x 2 ( Db )2 + x < y \| i[A,B] \| y > + ( Da )2 So, the discriminant of this real quadratic function of x can't be positive. As we have established that the observables for the position and momentum along the same axis yield a commutator equal to ( i h / 2p ) Î, we have: Dx Dpx³h/4p Contrary to popular belief, the above doesn't simply state that two quantities can't be pinpointed simultaneously (supposedly because "measuring one would disturb the other"). Instead, it expounds that no experiments can be made on identically prepared systems to determine separately both quantities with arbitrary precision... At least whenever the following noncommutative condition holds: < y \| AB \| y > ¹ < y \| BA \| y > For a given quantum state, the uncertainty in the measurement of the momentum along x always has some definite nonzero value. No experiment can be devised which could achieve a better precision, even if the experimenter does not care at all about estimating the position along x. Conversely, for that same quantum state, there's a definite limit on the precision with which the position x can be determined, even if we do not care at all about the momentum along x. What Heisenberg's uncertainty relation specifies is that no quantum states exists for which the product of those two separate uncertainties is below h/4p. This has absolutely nothing to do with one type of measurement "disturbing" the other... It's true that several measurements disturb each other, but it's a completely different issue (e.g., a precise momentum measurement may leave the system in a new quantum state where the inherent uncertainty in position may very well be much greater than originally). The uncertainty principle goes much deeper than that. In particular, it says that there's no way to create a perfectly focused beam of identical particles with the same lateral velocity. Even if you measure only either the lateral position or the lateral momentum of any given particle from the beam, your many measurements of both quantities will feature standard deviations which cannot be better than what's imposed by the above uncertainty relation. That's the way it is. (2012-07-10) Transverse Certainties Physical quantities whose commutator is a scalar (i.e., the identity operator multiplied into some complex number) are said to be conjugate of each other and the dispersion in the measurement of one is inversely proportional to the dispersion in the measurement of the other. This is illustrated by the position and the momentum of a particle along the same axis. Conversely, when the observables commute, the eigenstate of one is an eigenstate of the other and the two physical quatities can always be measured simulatenously without any dispersion for all possible values of either quantity. Otherwise, there may be some quantum states that are eigenstates for both obserblae and other states that are eigenstates of one but not the other. For example, the magnitude of the impulsion (but not its direction) can be measured with zero dispersion if the particule is found to be at a location where the magnitude \|y\| of the wave function is either zero or maximum: y* ¶y/¶x = y* ¶y/¶y = y* ¶y/¶z = 0 That's because the commutator between the operators associated to the coordinate position x and \|\| p2 \|\| vanish at such positions (the same being true for other coodinates): (2007-07-16) Orbital Angular Momentum and Spin Spin is a form of angular momentum without a classical equivalent. The following argument was essentially fully developed by Elie Cartan (1869-1951) in 1913 from a purely geometrical standpoint (not involving Planck's constant as such) as he investigated the Lie algebra of the group of three-dimensional rotations. Cartan thus demonstrated, ahead of his time, how the idea of quantified spin is a deep consequence of three-dimensional geometry. The pioneers of quantum mechanics rediscovered those things in the 1920's. In 1935, Cartan himself published a remarkable textbook on his Theory of Spinors. Let's investigate the properties of a vectorial observable which satisfies the fundamental property previously established in the case of the quantum operator associated with a classical (or orbital) angular momentum, namely: ´ = ( i h / 2p ) Â This pretty equation is merely a mnemonic for 3 commutation relations: Therefore, those two things add up to zero and we obtain: [ Â2 , Âz ] = 0 The above definition of Â2 ensures that < y \| Â2 \| y > is nonnegative for any ket \|y> (HINT: this is the sum of 3 real squares). Therefore, this operator can only have nonnegative eigenvalues, which (for the sake of future simplicity) we may as well put in the following form, for some nonnegative number j. j (j+1) (h/2p)2 The punch line will be that j is restricted to integer or half-integer values. For now however, we may just accept this expression because it spans all nonnegative values once and only once when j goes from zero to infinity. So, we may use j as an index to denote each eigenvalue of Â2. Similarly, we may use another index m to identify the eigenvalue m (h/2p) of Âz . For now, nothing special is assumed about m (we'll show later that 2m is an integer). Since those two observables commute, there's an orthonormal Hilbertian basis consisting entirely of eigenvectors common to both of them. We may specify it by introducing a third index n (needed to distinguish between kets having identical eigenvalues for each of our two observables). Those conventions are summarized by the following relations, which clarify the notation used for base kets: Â2 \| n, j, m > = j (j+1) (h/2p)2 \| n, j, m > Âz \| n, j, m > = m (h/2p) \| n, j, m > To determine the restrictions that j and m must obey, we introduce the following two non-hermitian operators, which are conjugate of each other. They are collectively known as ladder operators; and are respectively called lowering operator (or anihilation operator) and raising operator (or creation operator) because it turns out that each transforms an eigenvector into another eigenvector corresponding to a lesser or greater eigenvalue, respectively. Â- = Âx- i Ây and Â+ = Âx + i Ây Both commute with Â2 (because Âx and Ây do). The following holds: \|\| Â+ \| n, j, m > \|\| 2 = < n, j, m \| Â-Â+ \| n, j, m > Where Â-Â+ = Âx Âx + Ây Ây + i [ Âx , Ây ] = Â2-Âz Âz- ( h / 2p ) Âz So, \|\| Â+ \| n, j, m > \|\| 2 = [ j(j+1) - m2- m ] ( h / 2p )2 As the nonnegative square bracket is equal to j (j+1) - m(m+1) we see that m cannot exceed j. We would find that (-m) cannot exceed j by performing the same computation for \|\| Â- \| n, j, m > \|\|. Therefore, all told: So, if \| y > is an eigenvector of Âz associated with the value m (h/2p), then: ÂzÂ+ \| y > = (m+1) (h/2p) Â+ \| y > Thus, the ket Â+ \| y > is either zero or an eigenvector of Âz associated with the value (m+1) (h/2p). The same is true of Â- \| y > with (m-1) (h/2p). Since we know that m is between -j and +j , we see that both j-m and j+m must be integers (or else iterating one of the two constructions above would yield a nonzero eigenvector with a value of m outside of the allowed range). Thus, 2j and 2m must be integers (they are the sum and the difference of the integers j+m and j-m). If j is an integer, so is m. If j is an half-integer, so is m (by definition, an "half-integer" is half the value of an odd integer). The above demonstration is quite remarkable: It shows how a 3-component observable is quantized whenever it obeys the same commutation relation as an orbital angular momentum. Although half-integer values of the numbers j and m are allowed, those do not correspond to an orbital momentum. Indeed, let's show that orbital momenta can only lead to whole values of j and m. In 1927, Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958) introduced three matrices for use in the theory of electron spin. Their eigenvalues are +1 and -1. sx = 0 1 1 0 sy = 0 i -i 0 sz = 1 0 0 -1 They combine into a 3-vector of matrices verifying the crucial equation: s ´ s = 2i s Therefore, they provide an explicit representation of the above type of "angular momentum" observables in the simplest case of only two values (eigenvalues). This is meant to describe a lone fermion of spin ½, of which the electron is the primary example. The above discussion and notations apply directly to: = (h/4p) s (i.e., Âx = (h/4p) sx , etc. ) In this simple case, we have Â2 = Âx2 + Ây2 + Âz2 = 3 (h/4p)2Î The square of the spin of any electron; is thus always equal to 3 (h/4p)2. The observable corresponding to the projection of the electron spin along the direction of the unit vector u of cartesian coordinates (x,y,z) is Note that any Hermitian matrix with such opposite eigenvalues can be put in this form. Thus, any quantum state is associated with an observable which will confirm its orientation with certainty (probability 1). In 1924, Pauli had identified a "two-valued quantum degree of freedom" associated, in particular, with the valence electron of an alkali metal. The introduction of this new quantum number allowed him to state his famous exclusion principle (i.e., two electrons orbiting the same atom have different quantum numbers). However, he strongly rejected the idea of the young Ralph Kronig (1904-1995) that this might be due to some intrinsic rotation of the electron. Pauli discouraged Kronig from pursuing a "clever" idea which he pronounced to have "nothing to do with reality". Instead, the proposal was duly published by Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit, who thus got the credit for the concept of electron spin. Indeed, no classical rotation of something as small as an electron could produce the required magnetic moment unless the "surface of the electron" [sic] moved faster than light (this objection was raised by H.A. Lorentz). However, a pointlike object can be endowed with something similar to rotation. One should simply refrain from dubious explanations relying on moving subparts... (2008-08-26) Quantum Entanglement The singlet and triplet states of two entangled electrons. According to the previous article, a pure quantum state for the spin of a lone electron is represented by a ket which is a linear combination of the two eigenvectors of sz which we shall henceforth call "up" and "down": \| u > = 1 0 \| d > = 0 1 This involves a priori two complex coefficients. However, two kets that are complex multiples of each other represent the same quantum state, so the specification of a state actually depends on just two real numbers. Another way to look at this is to remark that such a quantum state is represented by a normalized ket of unit length corresponding to either of two diametrically opposed points on a unit sphere. Such a thing is indeed specified by two real numbers: latitude and longitude (although the global topology is not that of a sphere because diametrically opposite points are considered to be equivalent). The juxtaposition of two such spins is represented by a linear combination of four pairwise orthogonal unit kets in a 4-dimensional Hilbert space : \| u,u > \| u,d > \| d,u > \| d,d > In that space, a quantum state is described by 6 independent real numbers (4 complex coefficients modulo one complex scalar) which is 2 more "degrees of freedom" than what might be expected for the separate description of two spins. The extra possibilities are called entangled states. Consider the same observables as before for the measurement of the first spin only. Those operators do not change at all the components of the ket which describe the second spin. With a single spin, we saw that any given pure quantum state was always a +1 eigenstate of a certain linear combination of sx, sy and sz. In particular, as all measurements of the corresponding quantity were always equal to +1 so was their average. Surprisingly, this no longer holds for the measurement of a single spin in a two-spin system. In particular, the following two states both yield a zero average for the measurement of the first spin along any direction : ( \| u,d > - \| d,u > ) / Ö2 = \| s > (Singlet State) ( \| u,d > + \| d,u > ) / Ö2 = \| t > (Triplet State) Similarly, in either of those two quantum states, the average measurement of the second spin along any direction is also zero. We may also consider a combined observable which gives the sum of the two spins along some direction. The result can only be +2, 0 or -2 and the average is zero for both the singlet and triplet states. However, much more is true for the singlet state, since any measurement of the sum of the spins along any direction always gives zero for the singlet state. Not just a zero average but an actual zero measurement every time ! Thus, if you measure the spin of one of the two electrons entangled in a singlet state, you will know for sure that a measurement of the spin of the other electron along the same direction will give the opposite result. Always. Classically, the probabilities of events can be broken down as sums of mutually exclusive events. Such a decomposition implies the following inequality between various joint probabilities of three events A, B and C: P ( A & [not B] ) + P ( B & [not C] ) ≥ P ( A & [not C] ) The picture shows that the event of the right-hand-side is composed of the two mutually exclusive events shaded in red, which also appear as components of the two events from the left-hand-side. So, their probabilities add up to something no greater than the left-hand-side sum. This is known as Bell's Inequality. In quantum mechanics, there are no such things as mutually exclusive events (unless actual observations take place which turn the quantum logic of virtual possibilities into the more familiar statistics of observed realities). Thus, there's no reason why Bell's inequality should apply to the calculus of virtual quantum possibilities. Indeed, it doesn't in the above case of a singlet state. A particle of spin j is something which allows a measurement of its spin along any direction to have 2j+1 values (according to Cartan's argument). Two measurement values are allowed for j=1/2, 3 values for j=1, 4 values for j=3/2, 5 values for j=2. The relativistic case of massless particles is beyond the scope of this discussion: The measured spin of a massless particle can only be clockwise or counterclockwise, at full magnitude, in the direction of motion (that would translate into only two possible measurement results, for any nonzero value of j ). The relevant Hilbert space has dimension 2j+1 and the observables for the three projections of angular momentum on three orthogonal directions (in a right-handed configuration) can be expressed as in the above special case (j=½) using the counterparts of Pauli matrices in a Hilbert space of 2j+1 dimensions, namely three 2j+1 by 2j+1 matrices which combine into a "vector" verifying the following compact commutation relation: s ´ s = 2i s Actual observables of angular momentum are simply obtained by multiplying such matrices into the half-quantum of spin (h/4p). Here's how we may construct such a thing: First we impose wlg that sz is diagonal (that simply means we decide to use eigenvectors of sz to form a basis for our Hilbert space). We do know the eigenvalues of sz from Cartan's argument, so sz is entirely specified up to the ordering of the (real) elements in the diagonal. We choose (arbitrarily) to order our base kets so that those (distinct) eigenvalues appear in decreasing order on the diagonal of sz. So, sz is simply the diagonal matrix whose 2j+1 elements are (2j, 2j-2, 2j-4, ... -2j). We are looking for the hermitian matrix sx in terms of (j+1)(2j+1) scalar unknowns (including 2j+1 real ones). In the case j = 3/2 this would mean a total of 10 unknowns (6 complex and 4 real ones) in a 4 by 4 matrix: sx = a b* c* d* b e f* g* c f h k* d g k m The reader is encouraged to use that explicit example, with index-free notations, to embody the following outline of a general derivation. Now, sy is obtained directly from the equation: [ sz , sx ] = 2 i sy This yields an expression of sy where each entry is proportional to the corresponding (unknown) entry of sx. Next, we may use the relation: [ sy , sz ] = 2 i sx This tells us that all terms of sx (and, therefore, also those of sy ) must vanish except at positions adjacent to the main diagonal. Now, we're faced with only 2j unknown complex coefficients (which are unconstrained, at this point) and just one more commutation relation to satisfy, namely: [ sx , sy ] = 2 i sz It turns out that this final equation gives us the squares of the absolute values of the aforementioned remaining 2j unknowns. Each of them is thus determined up to an arbitrary phase factor (for a total of 2j arbitrary multipliers of unit length). In the following tabulation, we have chosen a "standard" convention for those phase factors which makes all the coefficients of sx real and positive. Spin j = 1/2 : sx = 0 1 1 0 sy = 0 i -i 0 sz = 1 0 0 -1 Spin j = 1 : sx = Ö2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 sy = Ö2 0 i 0 -i 0 i 0 -i 0 sz = 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -2 Spin j = 3/2 : sx = 0 Ö3 0 0 Ö3 0 2 0 0 2 0 Ö3 0 0 Ö3 0 sy = 0 iÖ3 0 0 -iÖ3 0 2i 0 0 -2i 0 iÖ3 0 0 -iÖ3 0 sz = 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 -3 Spin j = 2 : 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 Ö6 0 0 0 Ö6 0 Ö6 0 0 0 Ö6 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 2i 0 0 0 -2i 0 iÖ6 0 0 0 -iÖ6 0 iÖ6 0 0 0 -iÖ6 0 2i 0 0 0 -2i 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 -4 Relativistic arguments (beyond the scope of this discussion) do not allow elementary particles beyond spin 2. Composite objects with higher spins do not have a fixed value of j. However, if their possible decay into things of lower spin is ignored, they would behave like fictional high-spin objects, starting with: The same pattern holds for any spin j : The nth coefficient down the upper subdiagonal of sx for spin j is simply given by the expression: (sx )n,n+1 = Ö n ( 2j + 1 - n ) exp ( i jn ) [ e.g., jn = 0 ] If used, each phase factor applies to two matching elements in sx and sy which are above the diagonal. The conjugate phase applies to the transposed elements (below the diagonal). This would turn the ordinary (2x2) Pauli matrices into: sx = 0 e-ij eij 0 sy = 0 i e-ij -i eij 0 sz = 1 0 0 -1 The eigenvectors of those three matrices are respectively proportional to: 1 e-ij and -1 e-ij 1 i e-ij and -1 i e-ij 1 0 and 0 1 We may call twists the 2j such phase factors which are part of sx and sy. For spin ½, the single twist can be eliminated by redefining which axis (perpendicular to the z-axis) is associated with the twist-free version of sx. This works for a single spin but cannot be done simultaneously for several spins... It's as if a spin possessed an internal phase which indicates, so to speak, the actual angular position in a "rotation" around a given axis. The same trick can always be used to make the sum of the twists vanish in a single higher spin, but what is the physical significance of the 2j-1 remaining degrees of freedom? They seem to determine, in a nontrivial way, the relative positional phases in the "rotations" around each direction of space. In particular, what does j mean in the following observables for spin 1 ? sx = Ö2 0 e-ij 0 eij 0 eij 0 e-ij 0 sy = Ö2 0 i e-ij 0 -i eij 0 i eij 0 -i e-ij 0 sz = 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -2 The columns in the following [unitary and hermitian] matrices are eigenvectors: A microstate (or pure quantum state) is represented by a normed ket from the relevant Hilbert space, up to an irrelevant phase factor. A more realistic macrostate is a statistical mixture (called mixed state or Gemischt) which can be represented by a unique [hermitian] density operatorr with positive eigenvalues that add up to 1. r = å pn \| n > < n \| In particular, the unique density operator representing the pure quantum state associated with the normed ket \| y > is given by the following expression, which is unaffected by phase factors (since multiplying \| y > by a complex number of unit norm will nultiply < y \| by the reciprocal). r = \| y > < y \| A statistical mixture consisting of a proportion u of the macrostate represented by r1 and a proportion 1-u of the macrostate represented by r2 is represented by the following density operator: r = u r1 + (1-u) r2 The trace of an operator is the sum of the elements in its main diagonal (this doesn't depend on the base). All density operators have a trace equal to 1. Conversely, all operators of trace 1 can be construed as density operators. Tr ( Â ) = ån &lt n \| Â \| n > The measurement of any observableÂ yields the eigenvalue a with the following probability, involving the projector onto the relevant eigenspace: p ( a ) = Tr ( r Pa ) Thus, systems are experimentally different if and only if they have different density operators. We may as well talk about r as being a macrostate. This is known as "Lüder's rule" or Lüders' projection postulate. It was first discussed in 1951 by Gerhart Lüders, in "Über die Zustandsanderung durch den Messprozess" (On the state-change due to the measurement process) which appeared in Annalen der Physik, 8 (6) 322-328. An [analytic] function of an operator, like the logarithm of an operator, is defined in a standard way: In a base where the operator is diagonal, its image is the diagonal operator whose eigenvalues are the images of its eigenvalues.	eng	74c72822-b93a-4791-ae28-c7073a361398	http://www.numericana.com/answer/quantum.htm
Well, I'd concede Artoo has the Force if it weren't for that danged Phantom Menace! Can a non-organic being have midichlorians? Or should we discount Ep. 1-3 and just go by 4-6? Whack-a-Mole 10-16-2007, 01:42 PM Well, if we go with the horrendous addition of Mitichlorians to the Star Wars universe then there is no way R2 could have force powers. I was always kind of unsure of robots' status in the Star Wars universe. On the one hand they are dealt with like any other mechanical device and no one cares much. So your toaster got blasted...who cares? On the other the characters occasionally express a lot of concern for their robot companions. Either way though no force for the robots. R2 was just wired particularly well. Zebra 10-16-2007, 01:51 PM He does seem very lucky and Obi Wan doesn't believe in 'luck'. But I don't think he ever sort of 'predicts' what is coming. He just responds to what's happening. Plus, he didn't vaporize when hit in ANH. So, I don't see it has having force powers. garygnu 10-16-2007, 02:00 PM The exact nature of those stupid mitochlorians wasn't explained very well. The Force is first described as an energy field created by all living things, yet non-organic things can still be mainpulated with it. R2, the X-Wing, and many lightsabers were all moved about using the Force. R2 could possibly be able to manipulate the Force without having command and control, just enough to increase his luck. Bosstone 10-16-2007, 02:02 PM I think they're treated more like cars than small appliances, Whack-a-Mole. There's more than a few people who treat their car like it's a member of the family and take pride in caring for it, while lots of people just use their car as a conveyance and don't give it much thought beyond that. strongly doubt it's a Force-sensitive thing. If he's smarter than most astromech droids, it's possible all Naboolean droids are like that, and we just don't see it because the only Nabooboo droids we see other than R2 were blown away in Ep 1. It's entirely possible that had the ship's position been a meter to the left, R2 would've been vaporized and C-3PO's life partner would be R3-J9 or some such Elendil's Heir 10-16-2007, 02:11 PM Say what you will about those $&%^#(@! midichlorians, R2D2 just doesn't have Force powers. No droid does, as far as we know. If Artoo did, he (it?) could have better protected himself against those pesky Jawa scavengers. Hell, he could have beeped, "We're not the droids you're looking for" to those stormtroopers in Mos Eisley. Plus, Luke and Yoda would have sensed something in the droid when Artoo was poking around Dagobah. RTFirefly 10-16-2007, 02:18 PM Lucas wasn't just a royalist (IMHO, Return of the Jedi should be scrapped along with Episodes 1-3), but was also a carbon-based chauvinist. R2 kept his cool no matter what. When whichever of Obi-Wan or Yoda said, "No, there is another," that other should damned well have been R2D2, not Princess Leia. garygnu 10-16-2007, 02:25 pinkfreud 10-16-2007, 02:27 PM If R2-D2 had it, would it be called the 4ce? Bobotheoptimist 10-16-2007, 02:35That's the coolest (or nerdiest) thing I've read all day, thanks! I'm in San Jose next month, maybe I can buy you a beer. Voyager 10-16-2007, 02:36 PM remember that also. Did R2 get a memory wipe after RotS? C3P0 did, but R2 claimed to remember being owned by Obi-wan, which he was in a sense before being parked after Padme's deathDidn't work that way for C3PO, did it? AnyPush You Down 10-16-2007, 02:36Troy McClure SF 10-16-2007, 02:37 PM If R2-D2 had it, would it be called the 4ce? ... Go over to FARK and sit there. We'll let you know when you can return. Bosstone 10-16-2007, 02:43 PM Didn't work that way for C3PO, did it?Hey, I'd like to see you try to implement 6 million forms of communication in a fully-functioning if naive and prissy AI at the age of 9. :D DrFidelius 10-16-2007, 03:20 PM AnyUncle Owen almost bought a different R2 unit, but it blew its circuits at a very convenient time. Coincidence? I think not. (If R2 has ninja, um I mean Jedi powers, he is not trained in the use of the Force but is just an instinctual User.) RTFirefly 10-16-2007, 03:24 PM I can't think of any instance of R2 doing anything that seemed to involve the force. Hell garygnu 10-16-2007, 03:46 PM Uncle Owen almost bought a different R2 unit, but it blew its circuits at a very convenient time. Coincidence? I think not... That's what got me thinking about this in the first place. R2 was kinda freaking out at the time, too. He was also able to con Luke into taking off the restraining bolt. Ike Witt 10-16-2007, 03:49 PM Hell, I don't recall Luke doing anything involving the Force until Obi-Wan took Luke under his wing. Wasn't his ability to bullseye a whomprat in his T16 indicative of his force sensitivity? OneCentStamp 10-16-2007, 03:52How the fuck did midi-chlorians get in his oil? :dubious: :confused: This whole thing is just bizarre. Captain Amazing 10-16-2007, 03:52 PM He was also able to con Luke into taking off the restraining bolt. To be fair, it's really not that hard to con Luke. OneCentStamp 10-16-2007, 03:56 PM To be fair, it's really not that hard to con Luke.Ah, yes, the many sides of Luke in Episode IV: "You know about the rebellion against the Empire??" [/childish doofus] It's better if you imagine him waving his little gripper arm around mystically while beeping. Danalan 10-16-2007, 04:10Then again, I can't believe I've been sucked into a discussion about imaginary robots in an impossible universe. Clearly, the force is not strong in me. :smack: Terrifel 10-16-2007, 04:19Clearly, somebody needs to track down Kenny Baker at a con and ask for a blood sample. I always imagined that if you opened R2 up, right in the middle there'd be a wired-up, disembodied human head. It's probably his resemblance to a Dalek that suggested that to me. H3Knuckles 10-16-2007, 04:30OneCentStamp, you've either been whooshed, or it's wikivandalism. It's pretty well established that Force control is only for organic beings (see C'Baoth in Zahn's Dark Force Rising trilogy, for one). ItR2-D2 is unusually lucky. Probability still exists, even in SW's universe. Add to that the fact that the R2- series is known for independent thinking, creativity, and above-average intelligence. Lastly, he hasn't had his mind wiped in something like forever, as far as we know (I highly doubt the Naboo got memory wipes for their droids, not if they hold special awards ceremonies for them whenever they do something right), which would give him a remarkable degree of insight. Unlike poor C-3PO, who's probably had his mind wiped so many times it's a wonder he can walk and speak at the same time. :p And no, it's pretty thoroughly established (such as in the Essential Guide to Robots) that the droids of Star Wars are purely mechanical. Anything more is still considered a Cyborg. Hell, Guri (Shadows of the Empire; Xizor's assassin/attendant/mistress/spy) is considered a cyborg and everything about her was created in a lab. For those who don't know, she's like a terminator. Droid innards with an artificially made organic exterior (plus, she's got some sort of cloaking or sheath that conceals her artificiality even under a direct scan, IIRC). Dumbest SW scene ever. Nothing Jar-Jar does compares to the "Thanks for being the sole survivor and doing your job, please give him an extra-thorough oil bath!" moment. :rolleyes: H3Knuckles 10-16-2007, 04:36 PM Oops, make that "See C'Baoth's comments about R2 in..." Darn edit window. Bobotheoptimist 10-16-2007, 04:37 PM I have long believed that, due to the extended period without a memory wipe, R2 has gone from a standard AI to true sentience. I seem to recall that it's implied in AotC that droids are not mass-produced by machinery. Thus, although an assembly line could produce a fairly uniform production run, anomalies like R2 would not be difficult to justify. A demo or beta model with enhanced features that proved to be too expensive or complicated for the factory to make many, or maybe they were prone to develop individuality that was considered undesirable and redesigned. Naboo would then have bought returns and floor models, being rather unwarlike in disposition. But no Force, I'd say. Bosstone 10-16-2007, 04:39 PM Dumbest SW scene ever. Nothing Jar-Jar does compares to the "Thanks for being the sole survivor and doing your job, please give him an extra-thorough oil bath!" moment. :rolleyes:Concur. I'm not even sure what the purpose of that scene was, except perhaps to emphasize that this is THE R2-D2 and he's now a Player Character, to use an RPG term. [/geek] Push You Down 10-16-2007, 04:40 PM OneCentStamp, you've either been whooshed, or it's wikivandalism. mlees 10-16-2007, 04:58Then again, I can't believe I've been sucked into a discussion about imaginary robots in an impossible universe. Clearly, the force is not strong in me. :smack: How do we know it wasn't Luke's Force powers that blew up the other droid, not R2D2's? Shawn1767 10-16-2007, 05:08 PM I don't know if this has been contradicted, but the way I keep midichlorians in line with my belief in how the force works is this: Midichlorians do not "cause" the force. They are merely a sign of having good force skills. For this analogy: Charisma=the force, friends=midichlorians. Someone who has a lot of charisma would have a lot of friends. Therefore, if you saw someone and saw they had a lot of friends you could infer that he had a lot of charisma. So, people are drawn to people with lots of charisma just as midichlorians are drawn to individuals with the force. Therefore a high midi count would indicate someone stronger in the force than someone with a low midi count. That's how I keep it straight in my head without contradicting the hope that anyone could become strong in the force. Now if anyone could point me where this idea might be contradicted... I would not appreciate it... ;) Revenant Threshold 10-16-2007, 05:23 PM Yep. I have the comic in question, actually (well, I say "have", it's in the attic somewhere). They basically took the droid that Owen initially picks and built up a backstory for it. He also levitates things. MJinks 10-16-2007, 05:27 PMI think they were called the Ysalamari. Didn't that series also introduce the idea of Kortosis metal being immune to lightsabers, or was that established earlier? I always liked the Zahn books, I love the Talon Karrde character. KneadToKnow 10-16-2007, 05:47 PM How the fuck did midi-chlorians get in his [I]oil? Project Mayhem: Tatooine Branch. You should always say, "Clean oil, please." Taber 10-16-2007, 05:49 PM How the fuck did midi-chlorians get in his oil? :dubious: :confused: This whole thing is just bizarre. Well, millions of years ago, there was this jedi dinosaur... garygnu 10-16-2007, 05:54 PM Well, millions of years ago, there was this jedi dinosaur... ...named Quigonosaurus. Voyager 10-16-2007, 05:55 PM HellThey didn't show it, but I bet that him hitting wamp rats (or whatever) in Beggar's Canyon was possible due to him using the force. I can see the droid blowing out as an example. Convincing Luke, no. R2 could be clever without needing the Force to explain it. He is clearly a droid genius, due, I think, to him never being memory wiped, having lots of time to think between episodes, and not resenting it like Marvin. Voyager 10-16-2007, 06:00 PM How do we know it wasn't Luke's Force powers that blew up the other droid, not R2D2's? Maybe Obiwan was crouching on the other side of a hill or something. He did turn up rather conveniently the next day. Der Trihs 10-16-2007, 06:18 PM The closest is walking across the corridor at the beginning of ANH without getting hit, but C3PO did that also, and Jedi don't seem to be able to halt blaster bolts without a light saber.Ranchoth 10-16-2007, 06:29 PM I should probably bring up the Iron Knights ( Though, technically, they're not droids, they're an exotic form of cyborg...part machine, part silicon based crystaline lifeform ( (I don't even know if there's a proper term for that. Cycrys? Cybicon?) If they can be force sensitive, it doesn't seem entirely impossible that a droid couldn't be, depending on what SW droids' brains are composed of. It might have to do with relative complexity—like if, by analogy, a vat-grown organic brain was capable of accessing the force, but a collection of vat-grown ganglion couldn't. Or, like others have said, if even an organic brain was damaged, brainwashed, or raised in severe isolation, maybe it couldn't access the force—not unlike a typical droid who might be built with a low IQ, used as a slave, and/or had it's brain reset on a regular basis. So maybe if most droids couldn't use the force, it just means Kasper Hauser, a fresh Nexus 6, or Randal McMurphy couldn't do it, either. E-Sabbath 10-16-2007, 06:43 Whack-a-Mole 10-16-2007, 07:01 PM ItAmp 10-16-2007, 07:53R2 is Chuck Norris... in the future!!! :eek: The Understander 10-16-2007, 09:19 PM R2 is Chuck Norris... in the future!!! :eek: :eek: -50 geek points, nerf herder! Revenant Threshold 10-16-2007, 09:51 PM Well, millions of years ago, there was this jedi dinosaur... ... named Desann ( Amp 10-16-2007, 09:57 PM :eek: -50 geek points, nerf herder! Fine, fine, R2 is Chuck Norris in a galaxy far, far away. (Which may or may not be in the future) garygnu 10-16-2007, 11:22 PM That's the coolest (or nerdiest) thing I've read all day, thanks! I'm in San Jose next month, maybe I can buy you a beer. I somehow missed this earlier. Thank you. I'm going to try and be at the Dopefest in San Fran on Nov 3rd, which is technically next month. Elendil's Heir 10-17-2007, 12:03 AM Fine, fine, R2 is Chuck Norris in a galaxy far, far away. (Which may or may not be in the future) What part of "A long time ago" don't you understand? :dubious: :) Sleel 10-17-2007, 01:12 AM To back this up and flesh it out, this was mentioned in the novelization of The Empire Strikes Back. If I remember right, the writer explicitly said that he didn't use his mechanical arm to just take the damage, but that he actually absorbed the energy through the Force. Foreshadowing the encounter between Luke and the Emperor in Jedi when Luke tries to deal with the Force lightning. There's also stuff from a comic book series that a friend of mine has. It's set after the Battle of Endor, and Luke has started sliding toward the Dark Side. His powers are shown as being demi-godish. At one point, he blocks a blast from an AT-AT cannon with the Force. I think that R2-D2 is just really good at analysis, is more creative than a 'droid has any right to be, and he's got more experience than every single character in the story — with the exception of Yoda — since he's never been wiped during the course of something like 70–80 years, and has been involved in crisis after crisis. He's mastered being in the right place at the right time and has always been good at figuring out what to do to get things working again. devilsknew 10-17-2007, 02:05 AM well, the first mistake is believing that the force is a purely biological force. It is a reactive force and permeates as a field. It is residual, and there is no beginning or ending point. I prefer to think of R2 as Luke, Obi, and Lea's familiar. garygnu 10-17-2007, 08:37 AM ...I prefer to think of R2 as Luke, Obi, and Lea's familiar. That sounds like an appropriate analogy to fantasy magic. Face it, that's what the Force is anyway, magic in a high-tech universe. Pushkin 10-17-2007, 08:55 AM I always imagined that if you opened R2 up, right in the middle there'd be a wired-up, disembodied human head. It's probably his resemblance to a Dalek that suggested that to me. Ah, I saw him as akin to one of the intelligent Mind machines in Ian Banks' "Culture" universe that had organic components to back up their pico-circuitry. Terrifel 10-17-2007, 09:12 AM Ah, I saw him as akin to one of the intelligent Mind machines in Ian Banks' "Culture" universe that had organic components to back up their pico-circuitry.Quite apart from the Force debate, this also raises the fascinating question of whether R2-D2 can poo. Elendil's Heir 10-17-2007, 02:44 PM ...since [R2-D2]'s never been wiped during the course of something like 70–80 years.... I thought both Threepio and Artoo got their memory banks wiped at the end of Ep III, on Bail Organa's orders? garygnu 10-17-2007, 02:47 PM I thought both Threepio and Artoo got their memory banks wiped at the end of Ep III, on Bail Organa's orders? He specified only the protocol droid, that being C-3PO, to have a memory wipe. R2 used the force to make Bail forget to include R2 in the order. Miller 10-17-2007, 02:53 PM What part of "A long time ago" don't you understand? :dubious: :) Ha! Shows what you know. The events of Star Wars are in our future, but the opening title crawl is even further in the future. Luke blows up the Death Star 20,000 years from now. 25,000 years from now, the movie starts, and talks about things that happened 5,000 years previous. +50 geek points to me for a ridiculously convoluted fanwank! Yumblie 10-17-2007, 07:04 Revenant Threshold 10-17-2007, 07:32 Pulling out to a frantically typing guy on a computer. robardin 10-17-2007, 07:33 PM The way I see it, R2-D2 was actually a disguise for the nimble, Sith-fighting badass Yoda we saw at the end of Episode III. When he went into exile he set up a dummy Muppet-like puppet as a decoy, which he could control remotely, and spent much of the rest of his life encased in a droid's casing. It completely fooled the Emperor and Vader and even Luke, who he could not risk showing his true self to just in case he went over to the Dark Side. Come on, doesn't this explain a LOT? Even the ghostly image of Obi-Wan, Yoda and an Anakin-in-Jedi-robes at the end of RotJ was a holo projected by Droid-Yoda. It's also the surprise ending to Episode 9, when R2 cracks like an eggshell to reveal Yoda inside. silenus 10-17-2007, 07:44 PM So when R2 launched Luke's light saber in RotJ, it was just Yoda farting? H3Knuckles 10-18-2007, 04:36 AMBoth of them still had organics. As I established, the question remains if it's naturally alive, or purely artifice. Grievous was mostly a head and some internal organs, right? Vader still had an intact torso, at least. Anyway, even the Iron Knights were naturally alive creatures who became cyborgs. It's not even limited to carbon based life. 40Lom was a droid, and in the short story (which might not even be cannon anymore, but I'm not sure either way) he thought he might be able to come to know the force, but the author intentionally left it ambiguous whether he was sensing the force, or just developing some aptitude for predicting the future (which could simply be a self-deluding prgnostication program for all we know). AFAIK there is no cannonical instance of a droid being able to use the force. My bringing up Nichos Marr was to illustrate how a soul of a living being could be bound to an artificial form, and it still wouldn't be enough to grant force-use. H3Knuckles 10-18-2007, 04:52 AM F*! Missed the edit window. That first line should read: "Both of them still had organics, and were thus cyborgs." Add the following to the end of my first paragraph: But it has to be a living thing, not something that's made, in other words, Star Wars is reinforcing the notion of life as something special, something unique. It would be interesting if a Frankenstein monster in the SW universe would qualify or not. Add this right after my mention of Nichos Marr: "(a soul in a true machine, rather than a cyborg)" And lastly, I'd like to add this: R2 didn't have the Force, and there is no Force Ex Machina. R2 was just preternaturally intelligent and perceptive because he managed to avoid getting memory wipes for who knows how long. Someone else in this thread said they thought droids became fully sentient if they didn't get their memories wiped after a long enough period; I think I remember that being explicitly stated somewhere (in cannon). If so, then we can say that R2 is no mere droid, but he is still a machine, and thus without the ability to control the Force. Again, Zahn's trilogy states it explicitly when Joruus C'Baoth forbids Luke to bring R2 with him to their training, because they are blind to the Force. Luke has to leave him behind with the X-Wing. *Honestly, this is probably better in the long run; would you leave your only guaranteed way off-planet unwatched? Especially an X-Wing. Whack-a-Mole 10-18-2007, 07:25 AM Again, Zahn's trilogy states it explicitly when Joruus C'Baoth forbids Luke to bring R2 with him to their training, because they are blind to the Force. Luke has to leave him behind with the X-Wing.H3Knuckles 10-18-2007, 07:44 AMIt's serving three purposes: 1.) It's the set-up for Zahn to have Luke think about how he views droids. 2.) Zahn's playing around with the grey area droids occupy in people's perspective in Star Wars. As commented elsewhere in the thread, even in the movies it's apparent that different people view droids differently; like pets, beloved cars, simple objects, or people. Some people treat them differently at different times. It's one of the more interesting things about the SW universe imho that there isn't some universally held standard attitude about droids. I think it's pretty realistic. 3.) It's story-telling short-hand for C'Baoth being a bad dude. Just like when Luke enters the Cantina and the bartender yells at him that "their kind" aren't allowed. It let you know the bar was a bad place. An alternative would've been to show C'Baoth kicking a puppy, or kicking R2 for that matter. Terrifel 10-18-2007, 09:18 AM An alternative would've been to show C'Baoth kicking a puppy, or kicking R2 for that matter.Hey, didn't C-3P0 kick R2 at one point? Come to think of it, C-3P0 was built by Darth Vader, and was (however tangentially) instrumental in his downfall. Does that mean that C-3P0 is the next Sith Lord? Elendil's Heir 10-18-2007, 09:42 AM ...Does that mean that C-3P0 is the next Sith Lord? He's already been worshipped as a god by the Ewoks, so that's not too great a leap of the imagination, esp. for Lucas. ::shudder:: Terrifel 10-18-2007, 11:45 AM "Goodness gracious me! I'm dreadfully sorry, but I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your Rebel friends arrive. And-- if I may say so, Master Jedi-- give in to your anger! The odds that you will strike me down with all of your hate are 3,725 to 1!" Just kidding, of course. I like C-3P0. It wasn't his fault that Lucas decided to amp up the Komedy Antics. Little Nemo 10-18-2007, 12:00 PM The Force is first described as an energy field created by all living things, yet non-organic things can still be manipulated with it. R2, the X-Wing, and many lightsabers were all moved about using the Force.I think this is the key. R2D2, as a non-living droid, cannot have mitochlorians or generate the Force. But he can be the focus of the Force. He and C3P0 were closely associated with some of the most powerful users of the Force in the galaxy. Guys like Vader and Yoda and Obi-Wan and Luke and Leia were just dripping with the Force - so much so that they were sometimes using it without even being aware. So when they said something simple like "R2D2, go scout that corridor" they also gave a little push with the Force to their command. The droids were on site and they were the minds that saw what the situation was. But it was the Force from other people that was altering reality. Over the decades this connection built up and became more solid and more powerful. Miller 10-18-2007, 12:03 PMIIRC, that was C'Baoth's point. Droids can think and reason, but can't use the force, which makes them an abomination. It doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, but then, C'Baoth was crazy. Of course, most of Zahn's books are no longer canon, thanks to the prequel trilogy. garygnu 10-18-2007, 02:55 PM I found this set of observations ( via reddit. Relevant commentary: What a coincidence that Anakin's astromech droid is R2D2, who later becomes Luke's droid. Since 3PO was the only droid who's memory was wiped, you'd think that sooner or later R2 would just tell Luke "Dude, I flew with your dad back in the day. Yeah, he was a badass. He killed many people. Oh, he's also Darth fucking Vader. Search your feelings, you know it to be true. Now shut the fuck up, go down to Toschi station and get me some power converters. I got sand in my ball bearings. Bitch." - H3Knuckles 10-18-2007, 03:00 PM Of course, most of Zahn's books are no longer canon, thanks to the prequel trilogy. I've seen comments like this made about the EU being discounted by the prequels a few times, but I don't really recall much that gets changed, so... How so? I'd like to see it elaborated on. The biggest thing I'd see is the Jedi being portrayed as not having marriage/families in the prequels, but often having long lines of Jedi in the EU. But there's a lot of room for fans to weasel around that. Also, some cannon books tended to portray Imperialists as coming from a well-established culture of pro-imperial sentiment, but I always disregarded that stuff anyway because it clashes with the original trilogy. Right there in the old stuff we knew that the current emperor created the empire, and that Darth Vader, a student of Obi-Wan, personally executed the Jedi thereby bringing an end to the Old Republic. So just based on dialogue from SW/Episode IV/ANH you can infer that at most there's 40 years history to the Empire? So what exactly doesn't work now? Miller 10-18-2007, 03:26 PM Zahn invented a lot of backstory about the Clone Wars for his trilogy, most of which is flatly incompatible with the prequels. For example, in his books, the Clone Wars were started by someone called the Clone Masters. Or possibly Clone Lords? At any rate, they fought against the Republic and lost. As the prequels show us, it was the Republic itself that employed a clone army, and they used it to successfully prosecute a war against the separtists. When Luke and the others discover that Thrawn has been cloning Stormtroopers, they're shocked. But the Imperial army was originally entirely cloned, so this shouldn't be particularly shocking, even if the service had been opened up to non-clones after the war ended. Lastly, the Clone War, as described in hints and offhand references by Timothy Zahn, sounded really cool. We know from the prequel trilogy that it was, in fact, stupid and boring. So that's another major discrepency. garygnu 10-18-2007, 03:41 PM ...... The Emperor outlawed cloning to prevent anyone from possibly raising an army to defeat him. It was probably one of the "benevolent" things he did towards the beginning of his reign to keep people in line.The standard rate of clone growth was twice normal aging. The Ysalamiri made it much faster than that. 10x or something. We're getting off topic. Miller 10-18-2007, 04:02 PM The standard rate of clone growth was twice normal aging. The Ysalamiri made it much faster than that. 10x or something. I remember that now, but wasn't that tied into the insanity thing? Something like, the faster you grew a clone, the crazier it would be? You could get a perfectly sane clone if you grew it at exactly the same speed as a normal human, but that sort of cancelled out the whole point of making a clone in the first place. The more time you shaved off the growing process, the more unstable the result. With the ysalamiri isolating the growing clones from the Force, they could crank the growth speed all the way up. Man, I haven't read those books since high school. I wonder if they hold up? mlees 10-18-2007, 04:36 PM So when R2 launched Luke's light saber in RotJ, it was just Yoda farting? Nah. R2 just lobbed it out there. Luke pulls it outta the sky with his force powers. Yoda was on Dagoba looking at muppet porn. Miller 10-18-2007, 04:39 PM Nah. R2 just lobbed it out there. Luke pulls it outta the sky with his force powers. Yoda was on Dagoba looking at muppet porn. "A naughty fraggle, you are! Punished, you must be!" mlees 10-18-2007, 04:44 PM "A naughty fraggle, you are! Punished, you must be!" Heh. We can go on for days, making funny porn comments in Yoda-speak. :) Heh. We can go on for days, making funny porn comments in Yoda-speak. :) Or simply quoting out of context. "Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not." Pushkin 10-19-2007, 08:32 AM R2 isn't just a badass, talking a machine into self destruction makes him on a par with Captain Kirk! Terrifel 10-19-2007, 11:23 AM R2 isn't just a badass, talking a machine into self destruction makes him on a par with Captain Kirk!And, much like Kirk, he gets to bask in all the praise and glory, even though it was really his pragmatic, probability-quoting associate who actually solved the problem. "Excuse me, sir, but that R2 unit is in prime condition! A real bargain!" Oh wasn't it a striking coincidence that R2-D2 was chosen as a replacement? Surely the only possible answer is that R2 must have Force powers. Obviously the very laws of the universe were shaping themselves to enable R2 to fulfill his destiny. One thing's for certain, though; it couldn't possibly have had anything to do with that gold fellow standing over there. Who is he, anyway? I'm sorry, I forgot that the film saga is actually The R2-D2 Show.	eng	e9a69b19-e87f-41b3-ab38-b5a4e0bb8625	http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-440435.html
Micronutrient Information Center Vitamin D Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is essential for maintaining normal calcium metabolism (1). Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) can be synthesized by humans in the skin upon exposure to ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation from sunlight, or it can be obtained from the diet. Plants synthesize ergosterol, which is converted to vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) by ultraviolet light (2). When exposure to UVB radiation is insufficient for the synthesis of adequate amounts of vitamin D3 in the skin, adequate intake of vitamin D from the diet is essential for health. Function Activation of Vitamin D Vitamin D itself is biologically inactive, and it must be metabolized to its biologically active forms. After it is consumed in the diet or synthesized in the epidermis of skin, vitamin D enters the circulation and is transported to the liver. In the liver, vitamin D is hydroxylated to form 25-hydroxyvitamin D (calcidiol; 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the major circulating form of vitamin D. Increased exposure to sunlight or increased dietary intake of vitamin D increases serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, making the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration a useful indicator of vitamin D nutritional status. In the kidney, the 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1-hydroxylase enzyme catalyzes a second hydroxylation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, resulting in the formation of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (calcitriol, 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D]—the most potent form of vitamin D. Most of the physiological effects of vitamin D in the body are related to the activity of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (2). The various forms of vitamin D are illustrated in the figure. Mechanisms of Action Most if not all actions of vitamin D are mediated through a nuclear transcription factor known as the vitamin D receptor (VDR) (3). Upon entering the nucleus of a cell, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D associates with the VDR and promotes its association with the retinoic acid X receptor (RXR). In the presence of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D the VDR/RXR complex binds small sequences of DNA known as vitamin D response elements (VDREs) and initiates a cascade of molecular interactions that modulate the transcription of specific genes. More than 50 genes in tissues throughout the body are known to be regulated by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (4). Calcium Balance Maintenance of serum calcium levels within a narrow range is vital for normal functioning of the nervous system, as well as for bone growth and maintenance of bone density. Vitamin D is essential for the efficient utilization of calcium by the body (1). The parathyroid glands sense serum calcium levels and secrete parathyroid hormone (PTH) if calcium levels drop too low (diagram). Elevations in PTH increase the activity of the 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1-hydroxylase enzyme in the kidney, resulting in increased production of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. Increasing 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D production results in changes in gene expression that normalize serum calcium by (1) increasing the intestinal absorption of dietary calcium, (2) increasing the reabsorption of calcium filtered by the kidneys, and (3) mobilizing calcium from bone when there is insufficient dietary calcium to maintain normal serum calcium levels. Parathyroid hormone and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D are required for these latter two effects (5). Cell Differentiation Cells that are dividing rapidly are said to be proliferating. Differentiation results in the specialization of cells for specific functions. In general, differentiation of cells leads to a decrease in proliferation. While cellular proliferation is essential for growth and wound healing, uncontrolled proliferation of cells with certain mutations may lead to diseases like cancer. The active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, inhibits proliferation and stimulates the differentiation of cells (1). Immunity Vitamin D in the form of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D is a potent immune system modulator. The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is expressed by most cells of the immune system, including T cells and antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells and macrophages (6). Under some circumstances, macrophages also produce the 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1-hydroxylase enzyme that converts 25-hydroxyvitamin D to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (7). There is considerable scientific evidence that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D has a variety of effects on immune system function, which may enhance innate immunity and inhibit the development of autoimmunity(8). Insulin Secretion The VDR is expressed by insulin-secreting cells of the pancreas, and the results of animal studies suggest that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D plays a role in insulin secretion under conditions of increased insulin demand (9). Limited data in humans suggest that insufficient vitamin D levels may have an adverse effect on insulin secretion and glucose tolerance in type 2 diabetes (noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; NIDDM) (10-12). Blood Pressure Regulation The renin-angiotensin system plays an important role in the regulation of blood pressure (13). Renin is an enzyme that catalyzes the cleavage (splitting) of a small peptide (Angiotensin I) from a larger protein (angiotensinogen) produced in the liver. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) catalyzes the cleavage of angiotensin I to form angiotensin II, a peptide that can increase blood pressure by inducing the constriction of small arteries and by increasing sodium and water retention. The rate of angiotensin II synthesis is dependent on renin (14). Research in mice lacking the gene encoding the VDR indicates that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D decreases the expression of the gene encoding renin through its interaction with the VDR (15). Since inappropriate activation of the renin-angiotensin system is thought to play a role in some forms of human hypertension, adequate vitamin D levels may be important for decreasing the risk of high blood pressure. Deficiency In vitamin D deficiency, calcium absorption cannot be increased enough to satisfy the body's calcium needs (2). Consequently, PTH production by the parathyroid glands is increased and calcium is mobilized from the skeleton to maintain normal serum calcium levels—a condition known as secondary hyperparathyroidism. Although it has long been known that severe vitamin D deficiency has serious consequences for bone health, recent research suggests that less obvious states of vitamin D deficiency are common and increase the risk of osteoporosis and other health problems (16, 17). Severe Vitamin D Deficiency Rickets In infants and children, severe vitamin D deficiency results in the failure of bone to mineralize. Rapidly growing bones are most severely affected by rickets. The growth plates of bones continue to enlarge, but in the absence of adequate mineralization, weight-bearing limbs (arms and legs) become bowed. In infants, rickets may result in delayed closure of the fontanels (soft spots) in the skull, and the rib cage may become deformed due to the pulling action of the diaphragm. In severe cases, low serum calcium levels (hypocalcemia) may cause seizures. Although fortification of foods has led to complacency regarding vitamin D deficiency, nutritional rickets is still being reported in cities throughout the world (18, 19). Osteomalacia Although adult bones are no longer growing, they are in a constant state of turnover, or "remodeling." In adults with severe vitamin D deficiency, the collagenous bone matrix is preserved but bone mineral is progressively lost, resulting in bone pain and osteomalacia (soft bones). Muscle Weakness and Pain Vitamin D deficiency causes muscle weakness and pain in children and adults. Muscle pain and weakness were a prominent symptoms of vitamin D deficiency in a study of Arab and Danish Moslem women living in Denmark (20). In a cross-sectional study of 150 consecutive patients referred to a clinic in Minnesota for the evaluation of persistent, nonspecific musculoskeletal pain, 93% had serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels indicative of vitamin D deficiency (21). A randomized controlled trial found that supplementation of elderly women with 800 IU/day of vitamin D and 1,200 mg/day of calcium for three months increased muscle strength and decreased the risk of falling by almost 50% compared to supplementation with calcium alone (22). More recently, a randomized controlled trial in 124 nursing home residents (average age, 89 years) found that those taking 800 IU/day of supplemental vitamin D had a 72% lower fall rate than those taking a placebo (23). Risk Factors for Vitamin D Deficiency Exclusively breast-fed infants: Infants who are exclusively breast-fed and do not receive vitamin D supplementation are at high risk of vitamin D deficiency, particularly if they have dark skin and/or receive little sun exposure (19). Human milk generally provides 25 IU of vitamin D per liter, which is not enough for an infant if it is the sole source of vitamin D. Older infants and toddlers exclusively fed milk substitutes and weaning foods that are not vitamin D fortified are also at risk of vitamin D deficiency (18). The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all breast-fed and partially breast-fed infants be given a vitamin D supplement of 400 IU/day (19). Dark skin: People with dark-colored skin synthesize less vitamin D on exposure to sunlight than those with light-colored skin (1). The risk of vitamin D deficiency is particularly high in dark-skinned people who live far from the equator. One U.S. study reported that 42% of African American women between 15 and 49 years of age were vitamin D deficient compared to 4% of White women (24). Aging: The elderly have reduced capacity to synthesize vitamin D in skin when exposed to UVB radiation, and the elderly are more likely to stay indoors or use sunscreen, which blocks vitamin D synthesis. Institutionalized adults who are not supplemented with vitamin D are at extremely high risk of vitamin D deficiency (25, 26). Covering all exposed skin or using sunscreen whenever outside: Osteomalacia has been documented in women who cover all of their skin whenever they are outside for religious or cultural reasons (27, 28). The application of sunscreen with an SPF factor of 8 reduces production of vitamin D by 95% (1). Inflammatory bowel disease: People with inflammatory bowel disease like Crohn's disease appear to be at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency, especially those who have had small bowel resections (30). Obesity: Obesity increases the risk of vitamin D deficiency (31). Once vitamin D is synthesized in the skin or ingested, it is deposited in body fat stores, making it less bioavailable to people with large stores of body fat. Assessing Vitamin D Nutritional Status Growing awareness that vitamin D insufficiency has serious health consequences beyond rickets and osteomalacia highlights the need for accurate assessment of vitamin D nutritional status. Although there is general agreement that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level is the best indicator of vitamin D deficiency and sufficiency, the cutoff values have not been clearly defined (18). While laboratory reference ranges for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are often based on average values from populations of healthy individuals, recent research suggests that health-based cutoff values aimed at preventing secondary hyperparathyroidism and bone loss should be considerably higher. In general, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D values less than 20-25 nmol/L (8-10 ng/mL) indicate severe deficiency associated with rickets and osteomalacia (16, 18). Although 50 nmol/L (20 ng/mL) has been suggested as the low end of the normal range (32), more recent research suggests that PTH levels (33, 34) and calcium absorption (35) are not optimized until serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels reach approximately 80 nmol/L (32 ng/mL). Thus, at least one vitamin D expert has argued that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D values less than 80 nmol/L should be considered deficient (17), while another suggests that a healthy serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D value is between 75 nmol/L and 125 nmol/L (30 ng/mL and 50 ng/mL) (36). With this latter cutoff value for insufficiency (i.e., 75 nmol/L or 30 ng/mL), it is estimated that one billion people in the world are currently vitamin D deficient (37). Data from supplementation studies indicate that vitamin D intakes of at least 800-1,000 IU/day are required by adults living in temperate latitudes to achieve serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of at least 80 nmol/L (38, 39). The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) In 2010, the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) of the Institute of Medicine set a Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) based on the amount of vitamin D needed for bone health. While the recommended intake was increased from the adequate intake level (AI) set in 1997, some experts feel that this level is still too low to result in sufficient 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (40-43). The RDA for vitamin D is listed in the table below by life stage and gender. Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for Vitamin D Set by the Institute of Medicine Although osteoporosis is a multifactorial disease, vitamin D insufficiency can be an important contributing factor. A multinational (18 different countries with latitudes ranging from 64 degrees north to 38 degrees south) survey of more than 2,600 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis revealed that 64% of subjects had 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels lower than 75 nmol/L (30 ng/mL) (44). Without sufficient vitamin D from sun exposure or dietary intake, intestinal calcium absorption cannot be maximized. This causes PTH secretion by the parathyroid glands; elevated PTH results in increased bone resorption, which may lead to osteoporotic fracture (45). A prospective cohort study that followed more than 72,000 postmenopausal women in the U.S. for 18 years found that those who consumed at least 600 IU/day of vitamin D from diet and supplements had a 37% lower risk of osteoporotic hip fracture than women who consumed less than 140 IU/day of vitamin D (46). The results of most clinical trials suggest that vitamin D supplementation can slow bone density losses or decrease the risk of osteoporotic fracture in men and women who are unlikely to be getting enough vitamin D. However, recent analyses indicate that there is a threshold of vitamin D intake that is necessary to observe reductions in fracture risk. For instance, a recent meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in older adults found that supplementation with 700 to 800 IU vitamin D daily had a 26% and 23% lower risk of hip fracture and nonvertebral fracture, respectively. In contrast, supplementation with 400 IU of vitamin D daily did not decrease risk of either hip or nonvertebral fracture (47). Additionally, recent results from the Women's Health Initiative trial in 36,282 postmenopausal women showed that daily supplementation with 400 IU of vitamin D3, in combination with 1,000 mg calcium, did not significantly reduce risk of hip fracture compared to a placebo (48). Bischoff-Ferrari et al. suggest that daily intakes of greater than 700 IU of vitamin D may be necessary to optimize serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and thus reduce fracture risk (40). Support for such a threshold effect of vitamin D on bone health also comes from previous studies. One study in 247 postmenopausal U.S. women reported that supplementation with 500 mg/day of calcium and either 100 IU/day or 700 IU/day of vitamin D3 for two years slowed bone density losses at the hip only in the group taking 700 IU/day (49). Another study found that daily supplementation of elderly men and women with 500 mg/day of calcium and 700 IU/day of vitamin D3 for three years reduced bone density losses at the hip and spine and also reduced the frequency of nonvertebral fractures (50). A subsequent analysis of this cohort revealed that when the calcium and vitamin D3 supplements were discontinued, the bone density benefits were lost within two years (51). Another study found that oral supplementation with 800 IU/day of vitamin D3 and 1,200 mg/day of calcium for three years decreased the incidence of hip fracture in elderly French women (52). Further, oral supplementation of elderly adults in the UK with 100,000 IU of vitamin D3 once every four months (equivalent to about 800 IU/day) for five years reduced the risk of osteoporotic fracture by 33% compared to placebo (53). However, oral supplementation with 400 IU/day of vitamin D3 for more than three years did not affect the incidence of fracture in a study of elderly Dutch men and women (54). All of these studies indicate that at least 700 IU of vitamin D3 daily may be required to observe a beneficial effect on fracture incidence. However, the Randomised Evaluation of Calcium Or vitamin D (RECORD) trial reported that oral supplemental vitamin D3 (800 IU/day) alone, or in combination with calcium (1,000 mg/day), did not prevent the occurrence of osteoporotic fractures in elderly adults who had already experienced a low-trauma, osteoporotic fracture (55). A lack of an effect could be possibly due to a low compliance in this study or the fact that vitamin D supplementation did not raise serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels to a level that would protect against fractures (40). To date, clinical trials have generally found that vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) is not effective at preventing fractures (56). Overall, the current evidence suggests that vitamin D3 supplements of at least 800 IU/day may be helpful in reducing bone loss and fracture rates in the elderly. In order for vitamin D supplementation to be effective in preserving bone health, adequate dietary calcium (1,000 to 1,200 mg/day) should also be consumed (see the article on Calcium). Cancer Two characteristics of cancer cells are lack of differentiation (specialization) and rapid growth or proliferation. Many malignant tumors have been found to contain vitamin D receptors (VDR), including breast, lung, skin (melanoma), colon, and bone. Biologically active forms of vitamin D, such as 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and its analogs, have been found to induce cell differentiation and/or inhibit proliferation of a number of cancerous and noncancerous cell types maintained in cell culture (57). Results of some, but not all, human epidemiological studies suggest that vitamin D may protect against various cancers. However, it is important to note that epidemiological studies cannot prove such associations. Colorectal Cancer The geographic distribution of colon cancer mortality resembles the historical geographic distribution of rickets (58), providing circumstantial evidence that decreased sunlight exposure and diminished vitamin D nutritional status may be related to an increased risk of colon cancer. However, prospective cohort studies have not generally found total vitamin D intake to be associated with significant reductions in risk of colorectal cancer when other risk factors are taken into account (59-62). However, some more recent studies have reported that higher vitamin D intakes and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are associated with reductions in colorectal cancer risk. One five-year study of more than 120,000 people found that men with the highest vitamin D intakes had a risk of colorectal cancer that was 29% lower than men with the lowest vitamin D intakes (63). Vitamin D intake in this study was not significantly associated with colorectal cancer risk in women. Moreover, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level, which reflects vitamin D intake and vitamin D synthesis, was inversely associated with the risk of potentially precancerous colorectal polyps (64) and indices of colonic epithelial cell proliferation (65), two biomarkers for colon cancer risk. More recently, a case-control analysis from the Nurses' Health Study cohort reported that plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were inversely associated with colorectal cancer (66). A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 36,282 postmenopausal women participating in the Women's Health Initiative study found that a combination of supplemental vitamin D (400 IU/day) and calcium (1,000 mg/day) did not lower incidence of colorectal cancer (67). However, it has been suggested that the daily vitamin D dose, 400 IU, was too low to detect any effect on cancer incidence (68). In fact, a recent dose-response analysis estimated that 1,000 IU of oral vitamin D daily would lower one's risk of colorectal cancer by 50% (69). Breast Cancer Although breast cancer mortality follows a similar geographic distribution to that of colon cancer (58,70), direct evidence of an association between vitamin D nutritional status and breast cancer risk is limited. A prospective study of women who participated in the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) found that several measures of sunlight exposure and dietary vitamin D intake were associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer 20 years later (71). More recently, a 16-year study of more than 88,000 women found that higher intakes of vitamin D were associated with significantly lower breast cancer risk in premenopausal women but not postmenopausal women (72). Garland et al. conducted a pooled, dose-response analysis of two case-control studies in which women with breast cancer had significantly lower plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels compared to controls (73, 74). These authors reported that women with a 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of 52 ng/ml (130 nmol/L) experienced a 50% lower risk of developing breast cancer compared to women with 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels lower than 13 ng/mL (32.5 nmol/L) (75). The authors state that to obtain a 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of 52 ng/mL, around 4,000 IU of vitamin D3 would need to be consumed daily, or 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily plus very moderate sun exposure (75). The current tolerable upper limit of intake (UL) for adults, set by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, is 4,000 IU/day (see Safety). Prostate Cancer Epidemiological studies show correlations between risk factors for prostate cancer and conditions that can result in decreased vitamin D levels (57). Increased age is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, as well as with decreased sun exposure and decreased capacity to synthesize vitamin D. The incidence of prostate cancer is higher in African American men than in white American men, and the high melanin content of dark skin is known to reduce the efficiency of vitamin D synthesis. Geographically, mortality from prostate cancer is inversely associated with the availability of sunlight. Findings that prostate cells in culture can synthesize the 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1-hydroxylase enzyme and that, unlike the renal enzyme, its synthesis is not influenced by PTH or calcium levels also provide support for the idea that increasing 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels may be useful in preventing prostate cancer (76). In contrast, prospective studies have not generally found significant relationships between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and subsequent risk of developing prostate cancer (77-80). Although a prospective study of Finnish men found that low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were associated with earlier and more aggressive prostate cancer development (81), another prospective study of men from Finland, Norway and Sweden found a U-shaped relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and prostate cancer risk. In that study serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of 19 nmol/L or lower and 80 nmol/L or higher were associated with higher prostate cancer risk (82). Further research is needed to determine the nature of the relationship between vitamin D nutritional status and prostate cancer risk. Autoimmune Diseases Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM; type 1 diabetes mellitus), multiple sclerosis (MS), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are examples of autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune diseases occur when the body mounts an immune response against its own tissue, rather than a foreign pathogen. In IDDM, insulin-producing beta-cells of the pancreas are the target of the inappropriate immune response. In MS, the targets are the myelin-producing cells of the central nervous system, and in RA, the targets are the collagen-producing cells of the joints (83). Autoimmune responses are mediated by immune cells called T cells. The biologically active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, has been found to modulate T cell responses, such that the autoimmune responses are diminished. Epidemiological studies have found that the prevalence of IDDM, MS, and RA increases as latitude increases, suggesting that lower exposure to UVB radiation and associated decreases in endogenous vitamin D synthesis may play a role in the pathology of these diseases. The results of several prospective cohort studies also suggest that adequate vitamin D intake could possibly decrease the risk of autoimmune diseases. A prospective cohort study of children born in Finland during the year 1966 and followed for thirty years found that those who received supplemental vitamin D during the first year of life had a significantly lower risk of developing IDDM, while children suspected of developing rickets (severe vitamin D deficiency) during the first year of life had a significantly higher risk of developing IDDM (84). Vitamin D deficiency has also been implicated in MS. A recent case-control study in U.S. military personnel, including 257 cases of diagnosed MS, found that white subjects in the highest quintile of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (>99.1 nmol/L) had a 62% lower risk of developing MS (85). A relationship between this indicator of vitamin D status and MS was not observed in blacks or Hispanics, but the power to detect such an association was limited by small sample sizes and overall low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations (85). In two large cohorts of U.S. women followed for at least ten years, vitamin D supplement use was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of developing MS (86). Similarly, postmenopausal women with the highest total vitamin D intakes were at significantly lower risk of developing RA after 11 years of follow-up than those with the lowest intakes (87). Thus, evidence from both animal model studies and human epidemiological studies suggests that maintaining sufficient vitamin D levels could possibly help decrease the risk of several autoimmune diseases. Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) The results of epidemiological and clinical studies suggest an inverse relationship between serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels and blood pressure, which may be explained by recent findings that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D decreases the expression of the gene encoding renin (see Function). Data from epidemiological studies suggest that conditions that decrease vitamin D synthesis in the skin, such as having dark-colored skin or living in temperate latitudes, are associated with increased prevalence of hypertension(88). A controlled clinical trial in 18 hypertensive men and women living in the Netherlands found that exposure to UVB radiation three times weekly for six weeks during the winter increased serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and significantly decreased 24-hour ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements by an average of 6 mm Hg(89). In randomized controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation, a combination of 1,600 IU/day of vitamin D and 800 mg/day of calcium for eight weeks significantly decreased systolic blood pressure in elderly women by 9% compared to calcium alone (90), but supplementation with 400 IU of vitamin D daily or a single dose of 100,000 IU of vitamin D did not significantly lower blood pressure in elderly men and women over a two-month period (91, 92). At present, data from controlled clinical trials are too limited to determine whether vitamin D supplementation will be effective in lowering blood pressure or preventing hypertension. Sources Sunlight Solar ultraviolet-B radiation (UVB; wavelengths of 290 to 315 nanometers) stimulates the production of vitamin D3 in the epidermis of the skin (93). Sunlight exposure can provide most people with their entire vitamin D requirement. Children and young adults who spend a short time outside two or three times a week will generally synthesize all the vitamin D they need to prevent deficiency. One study reported that serum vitamin D concentrations following exposure to 1 minimal erythemal dose of simulated sunlight (the amount required to cause a slight pinkness of the skin) was equivalent to ingesting approximately 20,000 IU of vitamin D2(94). People with dark-colored skin synthesize markedly less vitamin D on exposure to sunlight than those with light-colored skin (1). Additionally, the elderly have diminished capacity to synthesize vitamin D from sunlight exposure and frequently use sunscreen or protective clothing in order to prevent skin cancer and sun damage. The application of sunscreen with an SPF factor of 8 reduces production of vitamin D by 95%. In latitudes around 40 degrees north or 40 degrees south (Boston is 42 degrees north), there is insufficient UVB radiation available for vitamin D synthesis from November to early March. Ten degrees farther north or south (Edmonton, Canada) the "vitamin D winter" extends from mid-October to mid-March. According to Dr. Michael Holick, as little as 5-10 minutes of sun exposure on arms and legs or face and arms three times weekly between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm during the spring, summer, and fall at 42 degrees latitude should provide a light-skinned individual with adequate vitamin D and allow for storage of any excess for use during the winter with minimal risk of skin damage (36). Food sources Vitamin D is found naturally in very few foods. Foods containing vitamin D include some fatty fish (mackerel, salmon, sardines), fish liver oils, and eggs from hens that have been fed vitamin D. In the U.S., milk and infant formula are fortified with vitamin D so that they contain 400 IU (10 mcg) per quart. However, other dairy products, such as cheese and yogurt, are not always fortified with vitamin D. Some cereals and breads are also fortified with vitamin D. Recently, orange juice fortified with vitamin D has been made available in the U.S. Accurate estimates of average dietary intakes of vitamin D are difficult because of the high variability of the vitamin D content of fortified foods (29). Vitamin D contents of some vitamin D-rich foods are listed in the table below in both international units (IU) and micrograms (mcg). For more information on the nutrient content of specific foods, search the USDA food composition database. Food Serving Vitamin D (IU) Vitamin D (mcg) Pink salmon, canned 3 ounces 530 13.3 Sardines, canned 3 ounces 231 5.8 Mackerel, canned 3 ounces 213 5.3 Quaker Nutrition for Women Instant Oatmeal 1 packet 154 3.9 Cow's milk, fortified with vitamin D 8 ounces 98 2.5 Soy milk, fortified with vitamin D 8 ounces 100 2.5 Orange juice, fortified with vitamin D 8 ounces 100 2.5 Cereal, fortified 1 serving (usually 1 cup) 40-50 1.0-1.3 Egg yolk 1 large 21 0.53 Supplements Most vitamin D supplements available without a prescription contain cholecalciferol (vitamin D3). Multivitamin supplements generally provide 400 IU (10 mcg) of vitamin D. Single ingredient vitamin D supplements may provide 400 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D, but 400 IU is the most commonly available dose. A number of calcium supplements may also provide vitamin D. Safety Toxicity Vitamin D toxicity (hypervitaminosis D) induces abnormally high serum calcium levels (hypercalcemia), which could result in bone loss, kidney stones, and calcification of organs like the heart and kidneys if untreated over a long period of time. Hypercalcemia has been observed following daily doses of greater than 50,000 IU of vitamin D (37). Overall, research suggests that vitamin D toxicity is very unlikely in healthy people at intake levels lower than 10,000 IU/day (38, 95, 96). However, the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine conservatively set a tolerable upper intake level (UL) of 4,000 IU/day (100 mcg/day) for all adults (see table below). Vitamin D toxicity has not been observed to result from sun exposure (37). Certain medical conditions can increase the risk of hypercalcemia in response to vitamin D, including primary hyperparathyroidism, sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, and lymphoma (38). People with these conditions may develop hypercalcemia in response to any increase in vitamin D nutrition and should thus consult a qualified health care provider regarding any increase in vitamin D intake. Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for Vitamin D Set by the Institute of Medicine Age Group mcg/day (IU/day) Infants 0-6 months 25 mcg (1,000 IU) Infants 6-12 months 37.5 mcg (1,500 IU) Children 1-3 years 62.5 mcg (2,500 IU) Children 4-8 years 75 mcg (3,000 IU) Children 9-13 years 100 mcg (4,000 IU) Adolescents 14-18 years 100 mcg (4,000 IU) Adults 19 years and older 100 mcg (4,000 IU) Drug interactions The following medications increase the metabolism of vitamin D and may decrease serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels: phenytoin (Dilantin), fosphenytoin (Cerebyx), phenobarbital (Luminal), carbamazepine (Tegretol), and rifampin (Rimactane). The following medications should not be taken at the same time as vitamin D because they can decrease the intestinal absorption of vitamin D: cholestyramine (Questran), colestipol (Colestid), orlistat (Xenical), mineral oil, and the fat substitute Olestra. The oral anti-fungal medication, ketoconazole, inhibits the 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1-hydroxylase enzyme and has been found to reduce serum levels of 1,25-hydroxyvitamin D in healthy men. The induction of hypercalcemia by toxic levels of vitamin D may precipitate cardiac arrhythmia in patients on digitalis (Digoxin) (97, 98). Infants should have a daily intake of 400 to 1,000 IU (10 to 25 mcg) of vitamin D, and children and adolescents should have a daily intake of 600 to 1,000 IU (15 to 25 mcg) of vitamin D, consistent with the recommendations of The Endocrine Society (99). Given the average vitamin D content of breast milk, infant formula, and the diets of children and adolescents, supplementation may be necessary to meet these recommendations. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently suggests that all infants, children, and adolescents receive 400 IU of supplemental vitamin D daily (19). Older adults (> 50 years) Daily supplementation with 2,000 IU (50 mcg) of vitamin D is especially important for older adults because aging is associated with a reduced capacity to synthesize vitamin D in the skin upon sun exposure. Reviewed in January 2008 by: Hector F. DeLuca, Ph.D. Steenbock Research Professor Department of Biochemistry University of Wisconsin-Madison Last updated 6/22/11 Copyright 2000	eng	76a479b7-5b7b-43d6-9888-48b142241a26	http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminD/
A History of the Nebraska Literary Heritage Association Ted Kooser, founding president of the NLHA, at an early NLHA Spelling Bee, a yearly event that raises funds for the organization. Introduction Ethel Jane Maurer, reference librarian for the Lincoln City Libraries, started a card file of works by Nebraska authors in the late 1940s, setting aside a shelf for their books at the reference desk, and with this, the concept of collecting works of Nebraska authors began. In the late 1950s, at the direction of Charles E. Dalrymple, Director of Lincoln City Libraries, Ms. Maurer started the "Nebraska Author Collection" and began collecting books by prominent Nebraska authors, using out-of-print catalogs and visiting used-book stores. Then, as now, first editions and autographed copies were most desired. Earlier a circulating "Nebraska Collection" had been located in the reading room with "Nebraska" stamped on the card and pocket of each book. The new collection, however, was to be an exhibit collection only, and the books were not to circulate. When the Old Main Library was torn down in the 1960s, the Nebraska Author Collection was moved into the new Bennett Martin Public Library's "Treasure Room," located near the director's office on the second floor. When the 1968 addition to the Bennett Martin Public Library (Unit II) was built, the collection was moved to the second floor McKelvie Room, named for Sam and Martha McKelvie. Sam McKelvie was a Sandhills rancher and former governor of Nebraska (1919-1923), and Martha McKelvie was an author best known for Sandhills Essie. Dorothy Martin helped furnish the room with items donated by the McKelvie family, including furniture, an Oriental rug, Bohemian glass, and a grandfather clock. When Unit Three was added to Bennett Martin Public Library in 1978, the collection, now consisting of about 3,000 items, was moved to the southeast corner of the third floor, to The Heritage Room, a name suggested by Jane Pope Geske. The Heritage Room was supported through the Lincoln City Libraries budget until 1981, after which it was closed for several months. 1. Junior League to the Rescue After the Heritage Room closure, Curator Kay Stenton decided to call for help. Lorraine Pallesen and Martha Greer, members of the Lincoln City Library Foundation and Junior League Sustainers, proposed asking the Junior League of Lincoln to support the Heritage Room until permanent funding could be established. The three met in Kay's living room to lament the possibility of losing the Heritage Room and to sort out ideas on saving the collection. Martha and Lorraine felt the Junior League was the best group to help. With the generous financial grant and volunteers of the Junior League, the Heritage Room survived, and volunteers organized community members, authors, and readers to build strong support for the room. Through their Nebraska Authors Project, the Junior League of Lincoln took over the maintenance of this unique collection, and provided funds and general help, paid the salaries of the curator and assistant, and purchased materials with the help of twenty-one volunteers. After completing the commitment, the Junior League then trained members of the NLHA Board of Directors and its volunteers to support the Heritage Room. They returned with some additional program assistance in 1985, and continued endorsement of the effort with generous donations for funding operations for an additional two years. Junior League members continue to be involved with the work. The Nebraska Authors Project covered three years, 1981-1984. The project chairmen were Anne Senkbeil, Laurie Confer, and Judy Keetle. Each year many volunteers worked on the project, promoting public awareness, sponsoring special events, assisting with programming, and creating displays. Several special programs were presented: project volunteers wrote and produced a slide show and helped with a seminar on Loren Eiseley; presented a day of programs to Beatrice High School English classes about their native son, Weldon Kees; researched, wrote, and supervised production of a videotape of Ruth Rosekrans Hoffman discussing her art and her career; and organized programs featuring mystery writer Mignon Eberhart and ornithologist Paul Johnsgard. They organized Nebraska Humor Month, which featured several lectures by Nebraska authors, as well as a standup comedy night at Barrymore's. During this time Junior League volunteers presented many, many programs about the Nebraska Authors Collection throughout the community. Seven League members presented programs about Nebraska authors to more than 2,000 Nebraskans in school and community groups. 2. NLHA Is Formed Foreseeing the end of the Junior League support for the Heritage Room, Martha Greer and Lorraine Pallesen, co-chairmen of the Lincoln City Library Foundation's Heritage Room Committee, invited fifty community leaders to attend a July 8, 1982, luncheon at the Nebraska Club. The letter of invitation stated that the Junior League's grant has made it possible for the library to continue to provide the service and give the library time to develop and find long-range funding for the unique and significant service, with the goal of providing the community with access to a collection of books and related materials written or created by Nebraskans which illustrates the rich literary heritage of the state. Twenty-four people attended the meeting, at which it was decided to develop a Heritage Room support group and to identify in its bylaws the relationship between the library, the new support group, and the Library Foundation. Suggestions for the name of the new organization included several involving the words Heritage Room. After discussion, it was decided to include the concepts of Nebraska, heritage, and arts and letters in the new organization's name, but not the word room. The Nebraska Literary Heritage Association (NLHA) was formed on December 2, 1982, with Ted Kooser as President of the Board of Directors; Martha Greer, Vice President; Lorraine Pallesen, Treasurer; Laurie Confer, Secretary. The founding board included Mrs. Rick Akin, Mrs. John Ames, Mrs. Victor Anderson, Maurice Baker, Penny Berger, Patty Beutler, Laurie Confer, Kit Dimon, Mrs. David Dow, Jane Pope Geske, Martha Greer, Jack Hart, Judy Keetle, JoAnn Kimball, William Kloefkorn, Dr. Robert Knoll, Ted Kooser, Lorraine Pallesen, Mrs. Dave Pierson, Mrs. Joe R. Seacrest, Kay Stenten, Sidney Sweet, Morrie Tuttle, Bess Walt, and Dale Young. The first newsletter editor was Ruthann Young, and the first issue of the NLHA newsletter included: a feature story about Ruth Rosekrans Hoffman written by Patty Beutler; the story of the Junior League of Lincoln and their critical help for the Heritage Room by Laurie Confer; notes about literary events by Ted Kooser; a list of the NLHA board members; and a definition of a 'Nebraska author' as someone who was born in or spent his/her childhood in Nebraska, or received the greater part of his/her education, or produced something of literary significance while living in the state. As the Heritage Room situation stabilized in 1983, Ruth Rosekrans Hoffman began donating her original art to the Heritage Room. The NLHA board began discussions about making the Heritage Room a statewide resource; however, Jane Pope Geske commented that every library in Nebraska collects items about Nebraska. She suggested the NLHA cooperate with other libraries and authors' organizations in the state, and offered to take the lead on this. While discussion about the purpose and goals of the organization continued on a regular basis, Jane cautioned that the board must constantly stress the function of NLHA as a support group for the Heritage Room, suggesting it should identify what the organization does and what the Heritage Room's role is in relationship to the Nebraska State Historical Society archives and library, the Center for Great Plains Studies, the Lincoln Public Schools and other organizations with similar goals. She also noted the ongoing importance of clarifying the relationship of the NLHA to the Lincoln City Libraries and to the LCL Foundation. 3. NEH Grant Provides Endowment Funds (How the Match Was Won) CAN WE WIN THE MATCHING GAME? was a headline in the Winter, 1984, News from the Heritage Room. In 1983 the Lincoln City Library Foundation, with the newly formed Nebraska Literary Heritage Association, had sent a proposal to the National Endowment for the Humanities for a matching grant on behalf of the Heritage Room at Bennett Martin Public Library. Had the newsletter editor looked into the future, the metaphor might have been in terms of war rather than games, for it was a prolonged engagement of forces that finally decided the matching grant campaign. When that effort began, the Heritage Room was already home to a growing collection of books, manuscripts, art works, audio- and videotapes, photographs, maps, and other objects by and related to Nebraska authors--approximately four thousand items and six hundred Nebraska authors. The Library Foundation and the NLHA applied to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for funds on the following terms: that over a period of three years, local efforts would raise three dollars to benefit the Heritage Room for every dollar provided by the NEH, with Carol Connor, Library Director, Lincoln City Libraries, and the Project Director. In 1984 the NEH advised the Foundation and the NLHA that the grant application effort had been successful, and an amount of up to $100,000 would be available for match. The NEH thus recognized the significance of the Heritage Room, for the award was one of only seven such grants given that year. The NLHA then set out to raise the $300,000, which was to establish, with the NEH grant, a $400,000 endowment fund. Income from the endowment fund was to maintain the Heritage Room as a repository of Nebraska literary materials, staffed and open to the public, free of charge, five afternoons a week, without requiring city tax support or other funding sources. The Lincoln City Library Foundation authorized hired Tom Holland and Sarah Rosenberg to write grants for further NEH funding. The NLHA then began planning a series of fundraising events and activities to raise matching dollars and community awareness for the Heritage Room. The NEH Challenge Grant funds could be matched with: NLHA membership moneys Proceeds from special events Memorials and other gifts to the Foundation in support of the Heritage Room Profits on sales from the Heritage Room gift shop Contributions from corporate sources, foundations, and individuals Gifts to the collection, such as books and art objects As plans for the fund drive were formulated, the NLHA named Dale and Norma Young, Betty Anderson, John and Jean Ames, and E.J. Faulkner as Honorary Chairmen of the Fund Drive. Kit Dimon and Judy Wilcox were selected in May 1984, to co-chair the Endowment Fundraising Drive. Members of their committee were Paul Ess, Breta Dow, Jean Ames, Martha Greer, Joyce Lundstrom, Laurie Confer, and Ann Myers. In charge of the Corporations Fund Drive were Dick Ellingson and Ross McCown, co-chairs; Sid Sweet chaired the Foundations Fund Drive; and Jack Hart, the Individuals Fund Drive. A donor recognition program was formed to define the various categories of giving. The program maintained a record of the names of individuals, corporations, and foundation donors who then became members of NLHA and received newsletters and invitations to events. Major Donors to Operations and Endowment Funds: Woods Charitable Fund Mr. and Mrs. John H. Ames The Cooper Foundation FirsTier Bank, N.A. Rogers Foundation Cliff's Notes The Junior League of Lincoln Prof. and Mrs. Wilbur Gaffney The Lincoln Foundation SmithKline Beecham Mr. and Mrs. J. Taylor Greer Woodmen Accident & Life Insurance Company Kropp Charitable Foundation Mrs. R.S. Dickinson Norman and Jane Geske Campbell's Nurseries First Federal Lincoln Bank Information Technology, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. E.N. Thompson Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hoffman As a festive first event, the NLHA celebrated Ruth Rosekrans Hoffman's contributions to Nebraska and national literature at a gala dinner held in the Capitol rotunda, July 23, 1984. JoAnn Kimball suggested a series of 100 fund-raising dinners, inspired by the New York Public Library's 'Night of a Hundred Dinners.' Nebraska authors, poets, and critics appeared at these parties hosted by Lincolnites. The first of the Adult Spelling Bees to benefit the Heritage Room was held at Lincoln's Zoo Bar in May 1984. Featuring local celebrities as judges and contestants, the Bee has become a popular annual event. Prizes are given to the winner, the first person to be eliminated, and to the best cheering section for one of the contestants. Scott Young, who volunteered for many years, proved to be a popular Master of Ceremonies. He was replaced by Leta Powell Drake, who appeared as the Queen Bee emcee for several years and was joined by Beth Muehling as her Worker Bee in 2003. John Baylor served as emcee in 2004. Also in 1984, the Woods Charitable Fund granted $60,000 to be spread over three years, which was to be matched by other gifts during the period. This assured that the Heritage Room would have a full-time curator and allowed expansion of the hours the room was open to the public during the endowment fund drive. This grant was independent of and did not apply to the endowment fund drive. The first-year interim goal for the NEH grant was surpassed, and success was heralded in the Summer 1984 newsletter, News from the HeritageRoom, after the first grant report was submitted. In fall the NEH validated the first report, and income exceeding the first year's goal was applied to the second year's goal. December 1, 1984, brought the Holiday House Tour and Quilt Raffle. Several homes, decorated for the holidays, were opened to the public. The quilt was designed by Carol Dunklau, and Nancy Pierce's sister Judy Stokes, drew the illustrations for the Nebraska Author Quilt blocks. Liz Wanamaker donated funds to purchase materials; Ann Gohde pieced the blocks; and NLHA friends did the quilting. The finished quilt was displayed at various banks, stores, and shopping centers before it was raffled. Carol Connor won the quilt. Tom Holland also wrote a concurrent grant to the National Endowment for the Humanities for $27,327, which was issued for programming 'Frontier Heritage in Nebraska Literature and Arts', a year-long informal series of monthly sessions that told about frontier settlers--how they changed the frontier and were changed by it. Various forms of creative expression--literature, music, painting, and architecture--have transmitted the frontier heritage through the generations, according to the Winter 1985 newsletter. Director of Libraries Carol Connor, said, The grant...enables us to continue to provide dynamic and interesting programs which demonstrate the usefulness of the services of the Heritage Room. Heritage Room Curator Jo Casullo attributed the success of the grant request to Sarah Rosenberg and Tom Holland, who wrote the application, and to the high caliber of programs held in the Heritage Room--programs which became available to the public through videotapes, and special programs for children and adults, as well as the John H. Ames Reading Series of poetry and fiction. In 1984 Scandinavian traditions were explored during a six-week fall lecture series funded by a Nebraska Committee for the Humanities grant. Breta Dow then chaired a Scandinavian Heritage Traditional Christmas party for NLHA members. A Readathon was held in spring 1985. Lee Ridge created a three-foot soft sculpture of a four-dip ice cream cone; each dip, a separate piece, was a different color to symbolize the stages of the NLHA Fund Drive. This became the focus for the summer's Ice Cream Promotion, led by Jane Geske. The local department store Miller & Paine, Lincoln's Dairy Queens, and Ted & Wally's Ice Cream each pledged a percentage of their ice cream sales to the Heritage Room. The sponsors were listed on the 'Let's All Scream for Ice Cream' poster and in the publicity releases encouraging the public to visit those stores. Kicking off the promotion, the NLHA members brought homemade ice cream to the home of Jean and Jack Ames for a lawn party and ice cream social in June 1985. Professor and author Paul Johnsgard presented a carved owl to the NLHA "to be used in any way you wish," perhaps as a silent auction item, which became the inspiration for an arts auction. The Nebraska Authors Benefit Auction was held in December. Paul Johnsgard was named honorary chairman, with committee members Robert Knoll and Frederick Luebke. Jane Geske provided the leadership, with Norman Geske serving as the consultant. Nebraska writers and artists received letters requesting contributions of signed or limited editions of their works to be auctioned, and in response donated 165 works. In addition, individuals and local bookstore contributed materials from their own collections. The printed catalog for the event was sold during November, and silent bids were sought in advance of the auction to increase the bids accepted at the auction. Materials to be sold were displayed in the Heritage Room during September, and at selected sites during October and November and up to December 5, 1985. Items for sale were valued between $10 and $1500, and included such things as inscribed books and art works. The auction took place in the NBC executive dining room following a "walking buffet." By the end of the second year the drive had produced $147,600 raised locally toward the $300,000 objective. Necessary operations money to match the Woods grant was also raised. Although $170,000 had been raised by 1986, another $63,000 was needed by July. This shortfall threatened the closure of the Heritage Room and transfer of staff to other work in the library. The Summer 1986 newsletter headline read, SOME HURDLES STILL STANDING IN RACE FOR GRANT MATCH. Extra fundraising time was gained when the NEH approved a one-year extension to the original three-year grant period to help the NLHA reach the $300,000 challenge portion. Funds then raised were held in escrow until the full amount was reached, according to the Winter 1987 newsletter. But the Heritage Room hours had to be cut; Curator Jo Casullo accepted work elsewhere, and Jim Gulick moved to another position in the library system while working reduced hours in the Heritage Room. The final steps in fundraising for the grant began. The empty J. C. Penney building downtown was transformed into a Holiday House on the day of Lincoln's Star City Parade, December 6, 1986. Young-in-heart visitors of all ages found sandwiches and cider, magicians, dancers, musical groups, films and storytelling, art activities, craft areas, a bakeshop, the Heritage Room Gift Shop, and pets from the Humane Society at the Holiday House. Local children decorated the building's windows earlier, and the performers, who donated their services, came from local schools and colleges. Stephenson School Supply donated crafts, and the use of the building was donated as well, so funds from entrance fees and any goods sold were added to the grant moneys. A preview party was held the night before the parade, featuring music, refreshments, a children's fashion show, and Virginia Opocensky's reading of The Christmas of the Phonograph Records by Mari Sandoz. Twelve winners were named for raffle items, which included a Keith Jacobshagen oil painting, two handcrafted dolls from Ruth Rosekrans Hoffman, a Dwight Kirsch signed print, a Roger Bruhn signed and framed poster, books by Karl Bodmer and Wright Morris, and autographed books by Mari Sandoz, Paul Johnsgard, John E. Carter, Roger Welsch, and Robert Hanna. By fall of 1987, under the leadership of the NLHA Board of Directors, another extension for the $300,000 Challenge Grant was approved, making the original three-year challenge a five-year effort. The extension until June 1989, required $43,000 by July 1988, and the balance of $47,000 the following year. NLHA Board members expressed relief at the extension and pledged to pursue the remaining amounts needed. Martha Greer's new cookbook/commentary, Never Appear To Choose, but with a Quick Eye--Select the Best became the incentive for a dinner and a cocktail party to raise funds for the challenge grant. A cocktail buffet honoring coaches Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne was based on a menu from Select the Best in April 1988. Proceeds from cookbooks Martha sold at an earlier party were donated to NLHA. The 1988 Lincoln City Library Book Sale included books from the estate of Wilbur Gaffney, which were sold for the benefit of the challenge grant. Elizabeth Gaffney, his widow, donated several rare books directly to the Heritage Room, including L'Art et la Philosophie des Indiens de l'Amerique du Nord, a 1926 French edition of the 1916 book, North American [Indian Mythology] by Hartley Burr Alexander. The Adult Spelling Bee continued each year; a giant garage sale, which generated over $700, was held in the Westminster Church parking lot; and the Mayor's Arts Awards included an NLHA-sponsored award for the first time, with the directive that the organization's goals be given as part of the award presentation: The Literary Heritage Award. This award will be presented to one who is from this area, who writes of it, and who is directly involved through the fostering of writing of excellence in the area. Two well known Nebraska writers, Hilda Raz and John Janovy, shared the first award. NLHA continues to participate in the Mayor's Arts Awards, which is sponsored by the Lincoln Arts Council. By now NLHA had raised $233,000, and needed $45,116, plus $8,400 for pledges that would not be paid by the end of June 1989. Fundraisers, needing more than $53,000, began the "Last Ditch Blitz" to raise the final amounts before the final grant period ended June 30, 1989. On April 8, "Murder in the Stacks," a mystery party in the library, raised funds. The evil deed happened near the fiction shelves where the mysteries are shelved and posed a mystery to be solved by those participating. Another garage sale was held at Judy Keetle's house in the spring. Campbell's Nursery then helped sponsor a garden tour of eight homes in June 1989. Ruth Rosekrans Hoffman produced an original artwork to be raffled during the garden tour. Garden tours continued biennially with tremendous support from Campbell's Nursery and original artwork by Nebraska artists. Several gardens are opened to the public following a gala Preview Party, the first of which took place in 1992 and raised $9,000 plus additional and substantial in-kind donations. The total raised for the Challenge Grant was $285,100; 87% of all donations were received from individuals, with over 100 businesses and corporations contributing along with twelve foundations. Although the fundraising effort fell somewhat short of the goal, the all-important NEH matching grant served to start the endowment fund and provided leverage for future grants. That grant gave the endowment fundraising effort credibility, and the various fundraising events held helped to heighten awareness in the community of the wonderful Nebraska author resource housed at the library. So many new, creative and dedicated volunteers joined the effort as a result and provide an ongoing base for the NLHA today. From then on, the establishment of the endowment fund has enabled the Heritage Room to operate with at least a part-time staff. The NLHA continues to provide support for the room. The holdings of the Heritage Room have grown, attracting national and international visitors using the collection for research on Nebraska authors and publications. In a special-edition newsletter, Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors: The Nebraska Literary Heritage Association, August 1997, the NLHA recognized the grant's success, thanking supporters, giving a brief history, and listing the largest donors. The publication also highlighted programs available through NLHA in the Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors, as renamed in 1996. Recognition went to the opportunities for students, and to the Adult Outreach possibilities available in the daytime and evenings. The Heritage Room collects materials and information by Nebraska authors and makes them available to the public. The growing amount of material housed in the Heritage Room is available for research, so the emphasis now is on adding to and preserving the collection, and making it available to everyone interested in Nebraska and its writers. 4. Looking To The Future In 1990, after completing fund-raising for the NEH grant, the NLHA board began to plan for the future. The board had a strategic planning session that asked, "What does the Nebraska Literary Heritage Association do next?" Led by Milan Wall, the group focused on a discussion of the threats, opportunities, strengths, weaknesses, and program ideas for NLHA. A planning task force consisting of Kit Dimon, Sue Smith, Ruth Ann Lyness, Ann Myers, Nancy Pierce, Penny Berger, Judy Keetle, Susan Perlman, Lonnie Pierson, Ruthann Young, and Judy Wilcox was formed as a result of this meeting to summarize its results and develop a timeline for accomplishing a plan. The committee agreed on the strengths and weaknesses of NLHA as defined in the planning session. Strengths included a committed board and leadership, excellent collection, strong support from the library staff, strong community support, and a stabilized funding source. Weaknesses included lack of broad-based membership, a relatively unknown facility, need for conservation of materials in collection, need to keep room open more, and need for a permanent curator. From this, the board adopted a set of goals and objectives: a) collect and preserve books and related materials that are representative of Nebraska authors and Nebraska subjects; b) promote a center for Nebraska literary heritage through programs and educational support; and c) support a facility commensurate with the unique and priceless Heritage Room collection. Programs and educational support include using the room as an informal setting for poetry readings, author and book talks, and lecture series; providing outreach programs, providing outreach programs to young people, continuing education with other agencies and organizations that share common goals; and fostering original research. Facility support includes developing and maintaining a docent program for the Heritage Room and providing staff and service hours to promote use of the room. The board then developed a list of program ideas, including developing a creative writing program for junior and senior high students, encouraging adult creative writing programs, holding writing workshops, organizing school tours and programs, developing a Midday Brown Bag program, and other ideas designed to raise the profile of the room and collection. (A full list of the 1990 program ideas and the goals and objectives are included as an appendix to this history.) The board also decided to continue to hold the Spelling Bee and the Garden Tour (still in collaboration with Campbell's Nurseries) as fundraisers, adding the money from the Garden Tour to the Endowment Fund and using the proceeds from the Spelling Bee, combined with membership dues, for ongoing programming. Following the plan, NLHA continued to support the Heritage Room with fundraising efforts as well as focusing on the two main goals of helping with preservation of materials and promotion of Nebraska authors. During this time, work also began on the NLHA Website, which was completed in 2002, and a Vision Statement to guide the NLHA for its next steps, adopted by the board in 2000. And in 2000, the NLHA received an Upper Midwest Conservation Association grant. 5. NLHA Reaches Citizens Of All Ages: Programs Inform the Public Today the Nebraska Literary Heritage Association sponsors the Read to Me project in which board members read to school children, the Writers Write program led by five established writers for eighth-grade students, and the Lunch at the Library luncheon series. In 1992, NLHA celebrated its10th anniversary with book sales, off-site reading, a humor night, and a commemorative issue of the newsletter, News from the Heritage Room. Allison Petersen chaired a Patron Party for the 89 donors who had given more than $500 to the NEH fund drive. That was also the year of the first Writers Write workshop with Bill Kloefkorn, Nebraska State Poet and Wesleyan professor; Nancy McCleery, poet and Arts in the Schools coordinator; Marjorie Saiser, poet and Lincoln schoolteacher; and Margrethe Ahlschwede, writer and English instructor at UNL, as leaders. Twyla Hansen, Fran Reinehr, Shelly Clark, Karen Shoemaker, Sandra Mathews, and Rex Walton also have served as workshop leaders. Lincoln teachers identify eighth-graders to take part in a daylong workshop held in the Heritage Room. Students are prompted to write, read, and discuss their work. Occasionally the work of the students has been published, and the young authors have been recognized in various ways. The event, which meets the NLHA goal of working with children, is a cooperative effort with the Lincoln Public Schools. In charge of this workshop have been: NLHA committee chairs, Leah Magee and Judy Keetle & Nancy O'Brien, co-chairs; LPS liaisons, Pat Friesen and David Smith. 1992 was also the year of an environmental writing project for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in Lincoln and Lancaster County in celebration of Arbor Day, a contest called 'In Praise of Trees,' sponsored by the NLHA and the Lincoln City Library Foundation. Bess Walt was chairperson of the environmental committee, and Judy Wilcox chaired the creative writing committee, which judged the entries of more than 600 elementary students. Winners, who were students at Meadow Lane, Sheridan, Park, Huntington, St. Patrick's, and May Morley, received cash prizes on Arbor Day. The contest on 'Our Feathered Friends' was repeated the next year on Earth Day, April 22. Volunteers from the Lincoln Area Retired Teachers Association helped with the judging of the entries on 'Our Wild and Furry Friends' in 1994, the last year of the writing project for elementary students. A Student Programs Committee was formed in 1993 to present panel discussions for local high school students about the six best-known Nebraska authors: Bess Streeter Aldrich, Willa Cather, Loren Eiseley, Wright Morris, John Neihardt, and Mari Sandoz. Each committee member researched the life and works of one of these writers and spoke for the author in the panel discussion. NLHA members involved were Chairperson Mary Commers, Lonnie Barney, Elizabeth Bentley, Patty Beutler, Jean Grainger, Judy Keetle, Ann Myers, Nancy Pierce, Mary Solari, Morrie Tuttle, and Dorothy Young. Curator Joanne Ferguson worked with Judy Wilcox in January 1994 on mini-grant and creative writing workshop programming ideas for Young Adults. At the same time, the NLHA received a $2,000 mini-grant from the Lincoln Public Schools Foundation's Library Power Program for a pilot project to bring Mari Sandoz to fourth and seventh grade students in two Lincoln schools. Mary Commers and the NLHA Library Power Mini-grant Committee decided to focus on providing two Mari Sandoz books plus developing a curriculum guide and programming for one of the schools. The study of Sandoz's Winter Thunder emphasized history at Sheridan Elementary School, and The Horsecatcher study focused on Native American culture at Millard Lefler Middle School. The grant enabled the purchase of classroom sets of books, and the development of teaching materials and special performances, one of which was a readers' theater performance of selections from Old Jules. Each classroom visited the Heritage Room to explore the Sandoz materials, as well as those of other authors, and to hear the Sandoz story, 'Christmas of the Phonograph Records.' Another example of the NLHA outreach effort was the sponsorship of state poet Bill Kloefkorn as poet-in-residence on the Nebraska Public Radio network during the 1994-5 season. Kloefkorn read and discussed poetry; his own as well as that of other poets, in eight- to ten-minute programs on all nine stations of NPRN. The series lasted a year as part of the Monday evening program, 'Soundstage,' and brought information about the Heritage Room to the entire state. A hygrothermograph, a machine that monitors the temperature and humidity levels to help meet conservation needs in the Heritage Room, was purchased in June 1995 with the proceeds of the Bread and Book Fair held at the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery that spring. The Fair was sponsored by the Nebraska Art Association, the Nebraska Literary Heritage Association, and Friends of the Libraries - UNL. The day's activities included readings by Nebraska authors, a silent auction, and judging of the bread-baking contest with a $100 prize. Featured for sale were breads and gourmet edibles, new and used books, and specialty books on food and art. Co-chairs were Katherine Endacott from NLHA, Eva Sartori from Friends of the Libraries-UNL, and Nancy Smith from the Nebraska Art Association. Judy Keetle and Dotty Kuester met with Assistant Curator Laura Lacy in January 1996 to discuss needs of the room and to determine how the Docent Committee could be of use. They developed a self-guided tour that the public could use for informal tours and information about the Heritage Room if staff were unavailable. The possibility of NLHA volunteers helping to cover public service hours in the room during a staff shortage was also discussed. The board began the sponsorship of the Lunch at the Library series in 1996, filling another outreach goal. Begun under the direction of Charlotte Miller and Marjorie Gloe, the committee has scheduled monthly lectures at Bennett Martin Public Library by authors and people concerned with the Nebraska Literary climate. The same year, the Garden Tour went biennial while the Spelling Bee remained an annual event. The room was closed November 25 to December 10 for renovations. The NLHA, along with the Heritage Room staff, hosted an open house to celebrate the renovation. On January 15, 1997, Curator Vicki Clarke and Laura Lacy presented a program about the Heritage Room to an audience of authors, NLHA, and Lincoln City Library Board members, Library staff and representatives of the Nebraska State Historical Society. A video promoting the Heritage Room was developed in 1996 and 1997 under the direction of Milan Wall. By April the final video script was approved, and videotaping began in May. Segments included Ruthann Young leading a tour of the Heritage Room, Susan Rosowski doing research, scenes from the Writers Write workshop, and Bill Kloefkorn at Nine-Mile Prairie. A rough copy of the program was put together for the NLHA annual meeting held May 19, 1997. The 14-minute video, 'Writers on the Plains,' premiered at a preview party, held Sunday, February 15, 1998, at the Wagon Train Project. The party featured Roy Scheele's premiere reading from his book, Keeping the Horses that was produced by Ted Kooser for the benefit of the Heritage Room. Ted also served as the Master of Ceremonies. The evening also honored past NLHA presidents. Nebraska products were used for the party: wine from James Arthur Vineyards, cheese from the UNL Dairy store, and chocolates from Baker's candy in Greenwood. The video, narrated by Jim Hewitt and producer/director Deborah Burns, is available to libraries across the state. In November 1997, the NLHA sponsored a tree at the Holiday of Trees, the Heritage League event held at the Unitarian Church. The theme, 'Journey into Christmas,' featured author ornaments and ornaments made from reduced color copies of Nebraska books published by the University of Nebraska Press. The tree was then on display in the Heritage Room from December 9 to January 7, 1998. The Heritage League has since invited NLHA to contribute decorated trees, the last of which, in 2001, held winter and holiday poems reproduced on separate sheets of paper, a poet-tree. Gary Moulton presented a program in April 1998, on the Lewis and Clark Journals, which he edited. The event, co-sponsored with Friends of Love Library, was held in the Christlieb Room at the Center for Great Plains Studies. 6. NLHA Grows Stronger: Annual Meetings The first annual NLHA meeting was held in 1991 as a donor recognition program, with Kit Dimon and Judy Wilcox recognizing the people and organizations that helped NLHA with the NEH Challenge Grant. Later Annual Meetings included State Poet William Kloefkorn reading from his poetry in 1993; Marlene Snyder portraying Clara Colby, founder of the Beatrice Public Library and an early and controversial suffragist, in 1994; and Christine Lesiak, who wrote, produced, and directed the television documentary, 'Reflections of a Bonehunter,' presenting a 1995 program on Loren Eiseley. In 1996, Burns Smith Davis presented 'An American Salon,' an NLHA Annual Meeting program of music that had inspired Willa Cather. The May 1998 NLHA Annual Meeting was held in conjunction with Friends of Love Library at Architecture Hall. This first joint meeting highlighted several Willa Cather projects that were currently under way in conjunction with Cather's 125th birthday. Several books were donated to the Heritage Room in honor of deceased members and past officers, and the NLHA board recognized the winners of Lee Booksellers story writing contest for Lincoln elementary school children. The Lincoln Mayor's office issued a certificate of commendation to the winners, and Bill Kloefkorn agreed to read the winning stories and honorable mentions on his NPR program. The three winning entries were bound in marbleized boards and were displayed at the Heritage Room in late March. Each winner was entered into the library catalog individually, and the honorable mentions were cataloged together in one record. 'The Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors' became the official name of the room under the direction of Barb Sommer with the help of Nancy Pierce and Judy Keetle. At the Annual Meeting held at the Lincoln Country Club in January 2000, President Mel Krutz publicly acknowledged the new title. At the same time, Norman Geske donated a Bob Weaver portrait of Jane Geske to the Heritage Room. The portrait is accompanied by Ted Kooser's tribute to Jane. At the following year's Annual Meeting, Christine Pappas portrayed Dorothy Thomas, whose short stories collection Christine edited. Her presentation was 'Through the Eyes of Dorothy Thomas: A Different Look at Mabel and Loren Eiseley.' Ed Zimmer was the speaker at the 2002 Annual Meeting in the Loren Corey Eiseley Branch Library, marking the completion of two new city libraries. With the aid of a slide presentation, he told the stories of early Lincoln libraries. Nebraska musician and storyteller Dan Cox performed for the Annual Meeting in 1997. He was called again to present a birthday program for the twentieth anniversary in 2003. NLHA members were treated to a birthday cake, balloons, party hats and noisemakers. President Ann Billesbach spoke of the NLHA history, the problems with funding and housing the Heritage Room, and the metamorphosis to the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors, its final name honoring the many and lasting contributions of Jane Pope Geske, premier volunteer, fundraising instigator, and lasting inspiration. 7. Additional Projects A design, style, and color were selected for a new Heritage Room mug in August 1998. The cup's design was updated in 2004. It has been given to both Ames Series readers and Lunch at the Library readers and has been available for sale in the gift shop, which also provides books, posters, and note cards for sale to the public. In September 1998, NLHA members went to Omaha's Rose Theater to see the opera Eric Hermannson's Soul, based on Willa Cather's short story. The newly produced 'Writers on the Plains' video was mailed to libraries with a 'How to Use This Video' brochure. The video was showcased at the 1998 Nebraska Literature Festival in Wayne, Nebraska. In December, 2000, two documents were approved by the Board of Directors: the Bylaws revised by Caryl Greathouse's committee and the Vision Statement written by Gerry Cox's committee. Four years later, under the direction of President Kay Walter, co-chairs Barbara Sommer and Laureen Riedesel, Molly Fisher, and Carol Connor (ex officio), updated the mission and goals statement for NLHA in light of the new relationship with the Lincoln City Libraries Foundation. Milan Wall is the LCLF liaison for NLHA. The web site, < was developed under the direction of Milan Wall, Barb Sommer, and Gerry Cox in 2002. Throughout NLHA history, volunteers have been essential to the growth of the Heritage Room. Two outstanding people are examples: Dorothy Young, who clips newspaper stories of Nebraska authors, and the late Breta Dow, who came in to keep the room open on Sundays. Members of the Spelling Bee Committee have contributed hundreds of hours compiling word lists and organizing the traditional evening of fun. Garden Tour Committee members, along with employees of Campbell's Nursery, have spent hours in hot summer afternoons seeing to it that the public can enjoy, admire, and get ideas from local gardens. The Preservation Committee continues to help with the conservation of Heritage Room treasures by checking shelves, straightening books, replacing labels, photocopying vertical file material, and creating booklists. The committee on the Write Stuff has expanded the number of writing workshops for adults with poets Lucy Adkins and Marge Saiser leading sessions. The Read to Me program organizing adults reading to students has been led by Carol Zink and Veronica Rathman. After President Barb Sommer reinstated Board orientations, Anne Senkbeil took over that task and regularly introduces new board members to the NLHA. She and Kay Walter also organize Board members' excursions to learn more about Nebraska authors. The newsletter, News from the Jane PopeGeske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors, is published three times a year under the direction of Tami Works, who followed Mary M. Sweeney. Her predecessor was Ruthann Young, the founding newsletter editor. Mindful of the legacy of the people listed here and the great number of people who have been indispensable to the preservation of this unique collection who are not mentioned here, the NLHA dedicates this 25th anniversary publication to the visionaries--its original members and all those who have followed. Today the Nebraska Literary Heritage Association continues to support the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors, which now holds more than 12,000 volumes by more than 3,350 authors. Appendix I Timeline of the Nebraska Authors Collection 1948: Card file of works by Nebraska authors set up in Reference Dept. 1949: Shelf for books by Nebraska authors set aside in Reference Dept. 1961: McKelvie furniture donated--located in the "Treasure Room" (in the SW corner of the second floor of the Bennett Martin Library). (This project was supported in part by the United States Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered through the Nebraska Library Commission.) A Michigan State University professor visited the HR during an NLHA meeting; he came to Lincoln for a conference, but his main purpose was to find Loren Eiseley's The Immense Journey in Urdu; he is writing about the translator. Sheridan Elementary's 3rd graders visited the HR during their walking tour; in all, 92 students and 32 adults heard about HR history, about items of interest to young people, including Rajean Shepherd's C is for Cornhusker which is part of the NLHA Book Suitcase. Appendix II Mission, Vision, and Goals Statements The Nebraska Literary Heritage Association (NLHA) is an unincorporated, non-profit association affiliated with the Foundation for Lincoln City Libraries acting as a friend's group that supports Lincoln City Libraries Heritage Room program and services. The Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors is a Lincoln City Libraries special collection and is owned by Lincoln City Libraries, City of Lincoln. The mission of the Nebraska Literary Heritage Association is to encourage the collection, preservation, and promotion of work by and about Nebraska authors through support of the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors and to foster the creation and appreciation of this literature through programs, collaborative partnerships, and the use of technology. Vision Statement: Recognizing the significance of this collection, the Nebraska Literary Heritage Association (NLHA) envisions a Jane Pope Geske Heritage Center of Nebraska Authors that would provide convenient public access. The Center would be a climate-controlled, space-appropriate facility within the Lincoln City Libraries System designed specifically to house the library's permanent treasury of works by and about Nebraska authors, past, present, and future. The Center will provide access to: Meeting rooms and theatre-like settings for programs such as readings by Nebraska authors, writers workshops, book discussions, film and/or video viewing for the promotion and support of reading and writing in Nebraska. NLHA programs highlighting Nebraska authors and the resources of the collection. Goals Statement: The Goals of the Nebraska Literary Heritage Association for the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors shall be to: 5. Use the NLHA budget resources when responding to special funding requests from Lincoln City Libraries related to the operation of the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors. 6. Develop partnerships with other groups and organizations to encourage and maintain statewide collaborations. 7. Cooperate with Lincoln City Libraries in its facility planning as it relates to the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors 8. Coordinate with the Foundation for Lincoln City Libraries, the 501 (c) 3 organized for the purpose of soliciting and receiving gifts, bequests, grants and devises of property for use and benefit of Lincoln City Libraries, in the development of a fund-raising plan to increase the Heritage Room Endowment, the funds through which the Nebraska Literary Heritage Association provides support to the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors. Adopted April 21, 2004 Appendix III Presidents of the Board of Directors Dec. 1982 – Dec. 1983 Ted Kooser Jan. 1984 – Dec. 1984 Jane Geske Jan. 1985 – Dec. 1985 Jane Geske Jan. 1986 – Dec. 1986 Nancy Pierce Jan. 1987 – Sep. 1987 Nancy Pierce Oct. 1987 – April 1989 Lonnie Pierson May 1989 – May 1990 Judy Wilcox June 1990 – May 1991 Allison Petersen June 1991 – May 1992 Ann Myers June 1992 – May 1993 Judy Keetle June 1993 – May 1994 Katherine Endacott June 1994 – May 1995 Morrie Tuttle June 1995 – May 1996 Ruthann Young June 1996 – May 1997 Anne Senkbeil June 1997 – May 1998 Barb Hoppe June 1998 – May 1999 Rod Confer June 1999 – May 2000 Mel Krutz June 2000 – May 2001 Barb Sommer June 2001 – May 2002 Gerry Cox June 2002 – May 2003 Ann Billesbach June 2003 – May 2004 Katherine Walter June 2004 – May 2005 Katherine Walter June 2005 – May 2006 Mary Jo Ryan June 2006 – May 2007 Carol Zink June 2007 – May 2008 Kit Keller June 2008 – May 2009 Kathy Johnson June 2009 – May 2010 Gretchen Garcia June 2010 – May 2011 Gloria Strope June 2011 - May 2012 Nancy Swetland June 2012 - May 2013 Mike Page Appendix IV Honorary Author Members 1983-1984 Catherine Kidwell 1984-1985 Paul Johnsgard 1985-1986 none 1986-1987 Ruth Rosekrans Hoffman 1987-1988 Ruth Rosekrans Hoffman 1988-1989 Hilda Raz 1989-1990 John Janovy, Jr. 1990-1991 Kent Haruf 1991-1992 Don Welch 1992-1993 Ivy Ruckman 1993-1994 Paul Johnsgard 1994-1995 William Kloefkorn 1995-1996 Sue Rosowski 1996-1997 Marly Swick 1997-1998 Twyla Hansen 1998-1999 Marge Saiser 1999-2000 Jim McKee 2000-2001 Jonis Agee 2001-2002 Roy Scheele 2002-2003 Marge Saiser 2003-2004 Karen Shoemaker 2004-2005 Ladette Randolph 2005-2006 Timothy Schaffert 2006-2007 Sandra Mathews 2007-2008 Sean Doolittle 2008-2009 Kelly Madigan Erlandson 2009-2010 Stephanie Grace Whitson 2010-2011 Marilyn Dorf 2011-2012 Lois Lewandowski 2012-2013 John Wunder Appendix V Literary Heritage Award Winners The Nebraska Literary Heritage Association began sponsoring the Literary Heritage Award in 1988 as part of the Mayor's Arts Awards. The Literary Heritage Award recognizes persons who promote excellence in writing in Nebraska.	eng	32317ade-b9c6-42ca-9e30-caecc7fd27bd	http://www.foundationforlcl.org/historyofthenlha.htm
Sign up to receive free email alerts when patent applications with chosen keywords are publishedSIGN UP Abstract: Memory and methods of operating a memory adjusting an output voltage of an analog storage device, such as a data cache capacitor holding a voltage level representative of data, in response to an estimated charge loss are useful for compensating for the effects of charge leakage from the analog storage devices. Claims: 1. A method of operating a memory, comprising:estimating a charge loss of an analog storage device of the memory; andadjusting an output voltage of the analog storage device in response to the estimated charge loss. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the analog storage device is a capacitor. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating the charge loss of the analog storage device comprises charging a reference capacitor to a known voltage level. 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising applying a voltage output of the reference capacitor to a differential amplifier. 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising charging the reference capacitor to the known voltage level at a time selected from the group consisting of a time when data transfer to the data cache is started and a time when data transfer to the data cache is completed. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating the charge loss of the analog storage device comprises utilizing a look-up table and a timer or utilizing a leakage estimation calculation circuit and a timer. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting an output voltage of the analog storage device comprises applying a positive potential to a reference node of the analog storage device at a level determined in response to the estimated charge loss. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the output voltage of the analog storage device comprises adjusting an amplified version of a voltage stored by the analog storage device. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein adjusting the amplified version of the voltage stored by the analog storage device comprises adjusting an offset or a gain of a differential amplifier associated with the analog storage device. 10. A method of operating a memory, comprising:transferring a plurality of voltage levels to a plurality of analog storage devices of the memory;estimating charge loss of the plurality of analog storage devices; andadjusting output voltages of the plurality of analog storage devices in response to the estimated charge loss. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting output voltages of the plurality of analog storage devices comprises accounting for an order in which the plurality of voltage levels were transferred to the plurality of analog storage devices. 12. The method of claim 10, wherein estimating the charge loss of the plurality of analog storage devices comprises estimating non-uniform charge loss of the plurality of analog storage devices. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein estimating the non-uniform charge loss of the plurality of analog storage devices comprises charging a reference capacitor to a known voltage level at a start of transferring the plurality of voltage levels to the plurality of analog storage devices. 14. The method of claim 10, wherein estimating the charge loss of the plurality of analog storage devices comprises estimating uniform charge loss of the plurality of analog storage devices. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein estimating the uniform charge loss of the plurality of analog storage devices comprises charging a reference capacitor to a known voltage level at a start of transferring the plurality of voltage levels to the plurality of analog storage devices. 16. A memory, comprising:a memory array having a plurality of memory cells;a plurality of analog storage devices for storing voltage levels representative of data read from or written to memory cells of the memory array;means for estimating a charge loss of the plurality of analog storage devices; andmeans for adjusting output voltages of the plurality of analog storage devices in response to the estimated charge loss of the plurality of analog storage devices. 17. The memory of claim 16, wherein the plurality of analog storage devices comprise a plurality of capacitors. 18. The memory of claim 16, wherein the means for estimating the charge loss of the plurality of analog storage devices comprises a reference capacitor. 19. The memory of claim 18, wherein the means for estimating the charge loss of the plurality of analog storage devices further comprises a differential amplifier having a first input coupled to the reference capacitor and a second input coupled to a reference voltage. 20. The memory of claim 16, wherein the means for estimating the charge loss of the plurality of analog storage devices comprises a look-up table and a timer or a leakage estimation calculation circuit and a timer. Description: RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001]This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/108,148, titled "LEAKAGE COMPENSATION DURING PROGRAM AND READ OPERATIONS," filed Apr. 23, 2008( ) which is commonly assigned and incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD [0002]The present disclosure relates generally to semiconductor memory, and in particular, the present disclosure relates to solid state non-volatile memory devices and systems utilizing analog signals to communicate data values of two or more bits of information. BACKGROUND [0003]Electronic devices commonly have some type of bulk storage device available to them. A common example is a hard disk drive (HDD). HDDs are capable of large amounts of storage at relatively low cost, with current consumer HDDs available with over one terabyte of capacity. [0004]HDDs generally store data on rotating magnetic media or platters. Data is typically stored as a pattern of magnetic flux reversals on the platters. To write data to a typical HDD, the platter is rotated at high speed while a write head floating above the platter generates a series of magnetic pulses to align magnetic particles on the platter to represent the data. To read data from a typical HDD, resistance changes are induced in a magnetoresistive read head as it floats above the platter rotated at high speed. In practice, the resulting data signal is an analog signal whose peaks and valleys are the result of the magnetic flux reversals of the data pattern. Digital signal processing techniques called partial response maximum likelihood (PRML) are then used to sample the analog data signal to determine the likely data pattern responsible for generating the data signal. [0005]HDDs have certain drawbacks due to their mechanical nature. HDDs are susceptible to damage or excessive read/write errors due to shock, vibration or strong magnetic fields. In addition, they are relatively large users of power in portable electronic devices. [0006]Another example of a bulk storage device is a solid state drive (SSD). Instead of storing data on rotating media, SSDs utilize semiconductor memory devices to store their data, but include an interface and form factor making them appear to their host system as if they are a typical HDD. The memory devices of SSDs are typically non-volatile flash memory devices. [0007]Flash memory devices have developed into a popular source of non-volatile memory for a wide range of electronic applications. Flash memory devices typically use a one-transistor memory cell that allows for high memory densities, high reliability, and low power consumption. Changes in threshold voltage of the cells, through programming of charge storage or trapping layers or other physical phenomena, determine the data value of each cell. Common uses for flash memory and other non-volatile memory include personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, digital media players, digital recorders, games, appliances, vehicles, wireless devices, mobile telephones, and removable memory modules, and the uses for non-volatile memory continue to expand. [0008]Unlike HDDs, the operation of SSDs is generally not subject to vibration, shock or magnetic field concerns due to their solid state nature. Similarly, without moving parts, SSDs have lower power requirements than HDDs. However, SSDs currently have much lower storage capacities compared to HDDs of the same form factor and a significantly higher cost per bit. [0009]For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for alternative bulk storage options. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0010]FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a memory device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. [0011]FIG. 2 is a schematic of a portion of an example NAND memory array as might be found in the memory device of FIG. 1. [0012]FIG. 3 is a block schematic of a solid state bulk storage device in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. [0013]FIG. 4 is a depiction of a wave form showing conceptually a data signal as might be received from the memory device by a read/write channel in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. [0014]FIG. 5 is a block schematic of an electronic system in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. [0015]FIG. 6 show a simplified diagram detailing an electronic system having a memory device with a data cache in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. [0016]FIGS. 7A-7C show diagrams detailing data caches and leakage adjustment in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. [0017]FIG. 8 show a diagram detailing another data cache with leakage adjustment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0018]In the following detailed description of the present embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the embodiments may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that process, electrical or mechanical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. [0019]Traditional solid-state memory devices pass data in the form of binary signals. Typically, a ground potential represents a first logic level of a bit of data, e.g., a `0` data value, while a supply potential represents a second logic level of a bit of data, e.g., a `1` data value. A multi-level cell (MLC) may be assigned, for example, four different threshold voltage (Vt) ranges of 200 mV for each range, with each range corresponding to a distinct data state, thereby representing four data values or bit patterns. Typically, a dead space or margin of 0.2V to 0.4V is between each range to keep the Vt distributions from overlapping. If the Vt of the cell is within the first range, the cell may be deemed to store a logical 11 state and is typically considered the erased state of the cell. If the Vt is within the second range, the cell may be deemed to store a logical 10 state. If the Vt is within the third range, the cell may be deemed to store a logical 00 state. And if the Vt is within the fourth range, the cell may be deemed to store a logical 01 state. [0020]When programming a traditional MLC device as described above, cells are generally first erased, as a block, to correspond to the erased state. Following erasure of a block of cells, the least-significant bit (LSB) of each cell is first programmed, if necessary. For example, if the LSB is a 1, then no programming is necessary, but if the LSB is a 0, then the Vt of the target memory cell is moved from the Vt range corresponding to the 11 logic state to the Vt range corresponding to the 10 logic state. Following programming of the LSBs, the most-significant bit (MSB) of each cell is programmed in a similar manner, shifting the Vt where necessary. When reading an MLC of a traditional memory device, one or more read operations determine generally into which of the ranges the Vt of the cell voltage falls. For example, a first read operation may determine whether the Vt of the target memory cell is indicative of the MSB being a 1 or a 0 while a second read operation may determine whether the Vt of the target memory cell in indicative of the LSB being a 1 or a 0. In each case, however, a single bit is returned from a read operation of a target memory cell, regardless of how many bits are stored on each cell. This problem of multiple program and read operations becomes increasingly troublesome as more bits are stored on each MLC. Because each such program or read operation is a binary operation, i.e., each programs or returns a single bit of information per cell, storing more bits on each MLC leads to longer operation times. [0021]The memory devices of an illustrative embodiment store data as Vt ranges on the memory cells. In contrast to traditional memory devices, however, program and read operations are capable of utilizing data signals not as discrete bits of MLC data values, but as full representations of MLC data values, such as their complete bit patterns. For example, in a two-bit MLC device, instead of programming a cell's LSB and subsequently programming that cell's MSB, a target threshold voltage may be programmed representing the bit pattern of those two bits. That is, a series of program and verify operations would be applied to a memory cell until that memory cell obtained its target threshold voltage rather than programming to a first threshold voltage for a first bit, shifting to a second threshold voltage for a second bit, etc. Similarly, instead of utilizing multiple read operations to determine each bit stored on a cell, the threshold voltage of the cell may be determined and passed as a single signal representing the complete data value or bit pattern of the cell. The memory devices of the various embodiments do not merely look to whether a memory cell has a threshold voltage above or below some nominal threshold voltage as is done in traditional memory devices. Instead, a voltage signal is generated that is representative of the actual threshold voltage of that memory cell across the continuum of possible threshold voltages. An advantage of this approach becomes more significant as the bits per cell count is increased. For example, if the memory cell were to store eight bits of information, a single read operation would return a single analog data signal representative of eight bits of information. [0022]FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a memory device 101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Memory device 101 includes an array of memory cells 104 arranged in rows and columns. Although the various embodiments will be described primarily with reference to NAND memory arrays, the various embodiments are not limited to a specific architecture of the memory array 104. Some examples of other array architectures suitable for the present embodiments include NOR arrays, AND arrays, and virtual ground arrays. In general, however, the embodiments described herein are adaptable to any array architecture permitting generation of a data signal indicative of the threshold voltage of each memory cell. [0023]A row decode circuitry 108 and a column decode circuitry 110 are provided to decode address signals provided to the memory device 101. Address signals are received and decoded to access memory array 104. Memory device 101 also includes input/output (I/O) control circuitry 112 to manage input of commands, addresses and data to the memory device 101 as well as output of data and status information from the memory device 101. An address register 114 is coupled between I/O control circuitry 112 and row decode circuitry 108 and column decode circuitry 110 to latch the address signals prior to decoding. A command register 124 is coupled between I/O control circuitry 112 and control logic 116 to latch incoming commands. Control logic 116 controls access to the memory array 104 in response to the commands and generates status information for the external processor 130. The control logic 116 is coupled to row decode circuitry 108 and column decode circuitry 110 to control the row decode circuitry 108 and column decode circuitry 110 in response to the addresses. [0024]Control logic 116 is also coupled to a sample and hold circuitry 118. The sample and hold circuitry 118 latches data, either incoming or outgoing, in the form of analog voltage levels. For example, the sample and hold circuitry could contain capacitors or other analog storage devices for sampling either an incoming voltage signal representing data to be written to a memory cell or an outgoing voltage signal indicative of the threshold voltage sensed from a memory cell. The sample and hold circuitry 118 may further provide for amplification and/or buffering of the sampled voltage to provide a stronger data signal to an external device. [0025]The handling of analog voltage signals may take an approach similar to an approach well known in the area of CMOS imager technology, where charge levels generated at pixels of the imager in response to incident illumination are stored on capacitors. These charge levels are then converted to voltage signals using a differential amplifier with a reference capacitor as a second input to the differential amplifier. The output of the differential amplifier is then passed to analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) devices to obtain a digital value representative of an intensity of the illumination. In the present embodiments, a charge may be stored on a capacitor in response to subjecting it to a voltage level indicative of an actual or target threshold voltage of a memory cell for reading or programming, respectively, the memory cell. This charge could then be converted to an analog voltage using a differential amplifier having a grounded input or other reference signal as a second input. The output of the differential amplifier could then be passed to the I/O control circuitry 112 for output from the memory device, in the case of a read operation, or used for comparison during one or more verify operations in programming the memory device. It is noted that the I/O control circuitry 112 could optionally include analog-to-digital conversion functionality and digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) functionality to convert read data from an analog signal to a digital bit pattern and to convert write data from a digital bit pattern to an analog signal such that the memory device 101 could be adapted for communication with either an analog or digital data interface. [0026]During a write operation, target memory cells of the memory array 104 are programmed until voltages indicative of their Vt levels match the levels held in the sample and hold circuitry 118. This can be accomplished, as one example, using differential sensing devices to compare the held voltage level to a threshold voltage of the target memory cell. Much like traditional memory programming, programming pulses could be applied to a target memory cell to increase its threshold voltage until reaching or exceeding the desired value. In a read operation, the Vt levels of the target memory cells are passed to the sample and hold circuitry 118 for transfer to an external processor (not shown in FIG. 1) either directly as analog signals or as digitized representations of the analog signals depending upon whether ADC/DAC functionality is provided external to, or within, the memory device. [0027]Threshold voltages of cells may be determined in a variety of manners. For example, a word line voltage could be sampled at the point when the target memory cell becomes activated. Alternatively, a boosted voltage could be applied to a first source/drain side of a target memory cell, and the threshold voltage could be taken as a difference between its control gate voltage and the voltage at its other source/drain side. By coupling the voltage to a capacitor, charge would be shared with the capacitor to store the sampled voltage. Note that the sampled voltage need not be equal to the threshold voltage, but merely indicative of that voltage. For example, in the case of applying a boosted voltage to a first source/drain side of the memory cell and a known voltage to its control gate, the voltage developed at the second source/drain side of the memory cell could be taken as the data signal as the developed voltage is indicative of the threshold voltage of the memory cell. [0028]Sample and hold circuitry 118 may include caching, i.e., multiple storage locations for each data value, such that the memory device 101 may be reading a next data value while passing a first data value to the external processor, or receiving a next data value while writing a first data value to the memory array 104. A status register 122 is coupled between I/O control circuitry 112 and control logic 116 to latch the status information for output to the external processor. [0029]Memory device 101 receives control signals at control logic 116 over a control link 132. The control signals may include a chip enable CE#, a command latch enable CLE, an address latch enable ALE, and a write enable WE#. Memory device 101 may receive commands (in the form of command signals), addresses (in the form of address signals), and data (in the form of data signals) from an external processor over a multiplexed input/output (I/O) bus 134 and output data to the external processor over I/O bus 134. [0030]In a specific example, commands are received over input/output (I/O) pins [7:0] of I/O bus 134 at I/O control circuitry 112 and are written into command register 124. The addresses are received over input/output (I/O) pins [7:0] of bus 134 at I/O control circuitry 112 and are written into address register 114. The data may be received over input/output (I/O) pins [7:0] for a device capable of receiving eight parallel signals, or input/output (I/O) pins [15:0] for a device capable of receiving sixteen parallel signals, at I/O control circuitry 112 and are transferred to sample and hold circuitry 118. Data also may be output over input/output (I/O) pins [7:0] for a device capable of transmitting eight parallel signals or input/output (I/O) pins [15:0] for a device capable of transmitting sixteen parallel signals. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that additional circuitry and signals can be provided, and that the memory device of FIG. 1 has been simplified to help focus on the embodiments of the disclosure. Additionally, while the memory device of FIG. 1 has been described in accordance with popular conventions for receipt and output of the various signals, it is noted that the various embodiments are not limited by the specific signals and I/O configurations described unless expressly noted herein. For example, command and address signals could be received at inputs separate from those receiving the data signals, or data signals could be transmitted serially over a single I/O line of I/O bus 134. Because the data signals represent bit patterns instead of individual bits, serial communication of an 8-bit data signal could be as efficient as parallel communication of eight signals representing individual bits. [0031]FIG. 2 is a schematic of a portion of an example NAND memory array 200 as might be found in the memory array 104 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the memory array 200 includes word lines 2021 to 202N and intersecting bit lines 2041 to 204M. For ease of addressing in the digital environment, the number of word lines 202 and the number of bit lines 204 are generally each some power of two. [0032]Memory array 200 includes NAND strings 2061 to 206M. Each NAND string includes transistors 2081 to 208N, each located at an intersection of a word line 202 and a bit line 204. The transistors 208, depicted as floating-gate transistors in FIG. 2, represent non-volatile memory cells for storage of data. The floating-gate transistors 208 of each NAND string 206 are connected in series source to drain between one or more source select gates 210, e.g., a field-effect transistor (FET), and one or more drain select gates 212, e.g., an FET. Each source select gate 210 is located at an intersection of a local bit line 204 and a source select line 214, while each drain select gate 212 is located at an intersection of a local bit line 204 and a drain select line 215. [0033]A source of each source select gate 210 is connected to a common source line 216. The drain of each source select gate 210 is connected to the source of the first floating-gate transistor 208 of the corresponding NAND string 206. For example, the drain of source select gate 2101 is connected to the source of floating-gate transistor 2081 of the corresponding NAND string 2061. A control gate of each source select gate 210 is connected to source select line 214. If multiple source select gates 210 are utilized for a given NAND string 206, they would be coupled in series between the common source line 216 and the first floating-gate transistor 208 of that NAND string 206. [0034]The drain of each drain select gate 212 is connected to a local bit line 204 for the corresponding NAND string at a drain contact. For example, the drain of drain select gate 2121 is connected to the local bit line 2041 for the corresponding NAND string 2061 at a drain contact. The source of each drain select gate 212 is connected to the drain of the last floating-gate transistor 208 of the corresponding NAND string 206. For example, the source of drain select gate 2121 is connected to the drain of floating-gate transistor 208N of the corresponding NAND string 2061. If multiple drain select gates 212 are utilized for a given NAND string 206, they would be coupled in series between the corresponding bit line 204 and the last floating-gate transistor 208N of that NAND string 206. [0035]Typical construction of floating-gate transistors 208 includes a source 230 and a drain 232, a floating gate 234, and a control gate 236, as shown in FIG. 2. Floating-gate transistors 208 have their control gates 236 coupled to a word line 202. A column of the floating-gate transistors 208 are those NAND strings 206 coupled to a given local bit line 204. A row of the floating-gate transistors 208 are those transistors commonly coupled to a given word line 202. Other forms of transistors 208 may also be utilized with embodiments of the disclosure, such as NROM, magnetic or ferroelectric transistors and other transistors capable of being programmed to assume one of two or more threshold voltage ranges. [0036]Memory devices of the various embodiments may be advantageously used in bulk storage devices. For various embodiments, these bulk storage devices may take on the same form factor and communication bus interface of traditional HDDs, thus allowing them to replace such drives in a variety of applications. Some common form factors for HDDs include the 3.5'', 2.5'' and PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) form factors commonly used with current personal computers and larger digital media recorders, as well as 1.8'' and 1'' form factors commonly used in smaller personal appliances, such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and digital media players. Some common bus interfaces include universal serial bus (USB), AT attachment interface (ATA) [also known as integrated drive electronics or IDE], serial ATA (SATA), small computer systems interface (SCSI) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 standard. While a variety of form factors and communication interfaces were listed, the embodiments are not limited to a specific form factor or communication standard. Furthermore, the embodiments need not conform to a HDD form factor or communication interface. FIG. 3 is a block schematic of a solid state bulk storage device 300 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. [0037]The bulk storage device 300 includes a memory device 301 in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, a read/write channel 305 and a controller 310. The read/write channel 305 provides for analog-to-digital conversion of data signals received from the memory device 301 as well as digital-to-analog conversion of data signals received from the controller 310. The controller 310 provides for communication between the bulk storage device 300 and an external processor (not shown in FIG. 3) through bus interface 315. It is noted that the read/write channel 305 could service one or more additional memory devices, as depicted by memory device 301' in dashed lines. Selection of a single memory device 301 for communication can be handled through a multi-bit chip enable signal or other multiplexing scheme. [0038]The memory device 301 is coupled to a read/write channel 305 through an analog interface 320 and a digital interface 325. The analog interface 320 provides for the passage of analog data signals between the memory device 301 and the read/write channel 305 while the digital interface 325 provides for the passage of control signals, command signals and address signals from the read/write channel 305 to the memory device 301. The digital interface 325 may further provide for the passage of status signals from the memory device 301 to the read/write channel 305. The analog interface 320 and the digital interface 325 may share signal lines as noted with respect to the memory device 101 of FIG. 1. Although the embodiment of FIG. 3 depicts a dual analog/digital interface to the memory device, functionality of the read/write channel 305 could optionally be incorporated into the memory device 301 as discussed with respect to FIG. 1 such that the memory device 301 communicates directly with the controller 310 using only a digital interface for passage of control signals, command signals, status signals, address signals and data signals. [0039]The read/write channel 305 is coupled to the controller 310 through one or more interfaces, such as a data interface 330 and a control interface 335. The data interface 330 provides for the passage of digital data signals between the read/write channel 305 and the controller 310. The control interface 335 provides for the passage of control signals, command signals and address signals from the controller 310 to the read/write channel 305. The control interface 335 may further provide for the passage of status signals from the read/write channel 305 to the controller 310. Status and command/control signals may also be passed directly between the controller 310 and the memory device 301 as depicted by the dashed line connecting the control interface 335 to the digital interface 325. [0040]Although depicted as two distinct devices in FIG. 3, the functionality of the read/write channel 305 and the controller 310 could alternatively be performed by a single integrated circuit device. And while maintaining the memory device 301 as a separate device would provide more flexibility in adapting the embodiments to different form factors and communication interfaces, because it is also an integrated circuit device, the entire bulk storage device 300 could be fabricated as a single integrated circuit device. [0041]The read/write channel 305 is a signal processor adapted to at least provide for conversion of a digital data stream to an analog data stream and vice versa. A digital data stream provides data signals in the form of binary voltage levels, i.e., a first voltage level indicative of a bit having a first binary data value, e.g., 0, and a second voltage level indicative of a bit having a second binary data value, e.g., 1. An analog data stream provides data signals in the form of analog voltages having more than two levels, with different voltage levels or ranges corresponding to different bit patterns of two or more bits. For example, in a system adapted to store two bits per memory cell, a first voltage level or range of voltage levels of an analog data stream could correspond to a bit pattern of 11, a second voltage level or range of voltage levels of an analog data stream could correspond to a bit pattern of 10, a third voltage level or range of voltage levels of an analog data stream could correspond to a bit pattern of 00 and a fourth voltage level or range of voltage levels of an analog data stream could correspond to a bit pattern of 01. Thus, one analog data signal in accordance with the various embodiments would be converted to two or more digital data signals, and vice versa. [0042]In practice, control and command signals are received at the bus interface 315 for access of the memory device 301 through the controller 310. Addresses and data values may also be received at the bus interface 315 depending upon what type of access is desired, e.g., write, read, format, etc. In a shared bus system, the bus interface 315 would be coupled to a bus along with a variety of other devices. To direct communications to a specific device, an identification value may be placed on the bus indicating which device on the bus is to act upon a subsequent command. If the identification value matches the value taken on by the bulk storage device 300, the controller 310 would then accept the subsequent command at the bus interface 315. If the identification value did not match, the controller 310 would ignore the subsequent communication. Similarly, to avoid collisions on the bus, the various devices on a shared bus may instruct other devices to cease outbound communication while they individually take control of the bus. Protocols for bus sharing and collision avoidance are well known and will not be detailed herein. The controller 310 then passes the command, address and data signals on to the read/write channel 305 for processing. Note that the command, address and data signals passed from the controller 310 to the read/write channel 305 need not be the same signals received at the bus interface 315. For example, the communication standard for the bus interface 315 may differ from the communication standard of the read/write channel 305 or the memory device 301. In this situation, the controller 310 may translate the commands and/or addressing scheme prior to accessing the memory device 301. In addition, the controller 310 may provide for load leveling within the one or more memory devices 301, such that physical addresses of the memory devices 301 may change over time for a given logical address. Thus, the controller 310 would map the logical address from the external device to a physical address of a target memory device 301. [0043]For write requests, in addition to the command and address signals, the controller 310 would pass digital data signals to the read/write channel 305. For example, for a 16-bit data word, the controller 310 would pass 16 individual signals having a first or second binary logic level. The read/write channel 305 would then convert the digital data signals to an analog data signal representative of the bit pattern of the digital data signals. To continue with the foregoing example, the read/write channel 305 would use a digital-to-analog conversion to convert the 16 individual digital data signals to a single analog signal having a potential level indicative of the desired 16-bit data pattern. For one embodiment, the analog data signal representative of the bit pattern of the digital data signals is indicative of a desired threshold voltage of the target memory cell. However, in programming of a one-transistor memory cells, it is often the case that programming of neighboring memory cells will increase the threshold voltage of previously programmed memory cells. Thus, for another embodiment, the read/write channel 305 can take into account these types of expected changes in the threshold voltage, and adjust the analog data signal to be indicative of a threshold voltage lower than the final desired threshold voltage. After conversion of the digital data signals from the controller 310, the read/write channel 305 would then pass the write command and address signals to the memory device 301 along with the analog data signals for use in programming the individual memory cells. Programming can occur on a cell-by-cell basis, but is generally performed for a page of data per operation. For a typical memory array architecture, a page of data includes every other memory cell coupled to a word line. [0044]For read requests, the controller would pass command and address signals to the read/write channel 305. The read/write channel 305 would pass the read command and address signals to the memory device 301. In response, after performing the read operation, the memory device 301 would return the analog data signals indicative of the threshold voltages of the memory cells defined by the address signals and the read command. The memory device 301 may transfer its analog data signals in parallel or serial fashion. [0045]The analog data signals may also be transferred not as discrete voltage pulses, but as a substantially continuous stream of analog signals. In this situation, the read/write channel 305 may employ signal processing similar to that used in HDD accessing called PRML or partial response, maximum likelihood. In PRML processing of a traditional HDD, the read head of the HDD outputs a stream of analog signals representative of flux reversals encountered during a read operation of the HDD platter. Rather than attempting to capture the true peaks and valleys of this analog signal generated in response to flux reversals encountered by the read head, the signal is periodically sampled to create a digital representation of the signal pattern. This digital representation can then be analyzed to determine the likely pattern of flux reversals responsible for generation of the analog signal pattern. This same type of processing can be utilized with embodiments of the present disclosure. By sampling the analog signal from the memory device 301, PRML processing can be employed to determine the likely pattern of threshold voltages responsible for generation of the analog signal. [0046]FIG. 4 is a depiction of a wave form showing conceptually a data signal 450 as might be received from the memory device 301 by the read/write channel 305 in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. The data signal 450 could be periodically sampled and a digital representation of the data signal 450 can be created from the amplitudes of the sampled voltage levels. For one embodiment, the sampling could be synchronized to the data output such that sampling occurs during the steady-state portions of the data signal 450. Such an embodiment is depicted by the sampling as indicated by the dashed lines at times t1, t2, t3 and t4. However, if synchronized sampling becomes misaligned, values of the data samples may be significantly different than the steady-state values. In an alternate embodiment, sampling rates could be increased to allow determination of where steady-state values likely occurred, such as by observing slope changes indicated by the data samples. Such an embodiment is depicted by the sampling as indicated by the dashed lines at times t5, t6, t7 and t8, where a slope between data samples at times t6 and t7 may indicate a steady-state condition. In such an embodiment, a trade-off is made between sampling rate and accuracy of the representation. Higher sampling rates lead to more accurate representations, but also increase processing time. Regardless of whether sampling is synchronized to the data output or more frequent sampling is used, the digital representation can then be used to predict what incoming voltage levels were likely responsible for generating the analog signal pattern. In turn, the likely data values of the individual memory cells being read can be predicted from this expected pattern of incoming voltage levels. [0047]Recognizing that errors will occur in the reading of data values from the memory device 301, the read/write channel 305 may include error correction. Error correction is commonly used in memory devices, as well as HDDs, to recover from expected errors. Typically, a memory device will store user data in a first set of locations and error correction code (ECC) in a second set of locations. During a read operation, both the user data and the ECC are read in response to a read request of the user data. Using known algorithms, the user data returned from the read operation is compared to the ECC. If the errors are within the limits of the ECC, the errors will be corrected. [0048]FIG. 5 is a block schematic of an electronic system in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. Example electronic systems may include personal computers, PDAs, digital cameras, digital media players, digital recorders, electronic games, appliances, vehicles, wireless devices, mobile telephones and the like. [0049]The electronic system includes a host processor 500 that may include cache memory 502 to increase the efficiency of the processor 500. The processor 500 is coupled to a communication bus 504. A variety of other devices may be coupled to the communication bus 504 under control of the processor 500. For example, the electronic system may include random access memory (RAM) 506; one or more input devices 508 such as keyboards, touch pads, pointing devices, etc.; an audio controller 510; a video controller 512; and one or more bulk storage devices 514. At least one bulk storage device 514 includes a digital bus interface 515 for communication with the bus 504, one or more memory devices in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure having an analog interface for transfer of data signals representative of data patterns of two or more bits of data, and a signal processor adapted to perform digital-to-analog conversion of digital data signals received from the bus interface 515 and analog-to-digital conversion of analog data signals received from its memory device(s). [0050]As stated above, when data is transferred to memory device embodiment or read from the internal array the data is often temporarily held in a data cache, such as a sample and hold circuit. This data transfer can be either to or from an external device and the data cache in the memory or to or from the internal array and can occur during various memory operations including, but not limited to, programming data into the non-volatile memory array, verifying programmed data, internal data move and/or masking operations, and data comparison operations. It is noted that memory operations can be initiated in a memory device in response to either an externally received command or by local (e.g., internal to the memory device or memory system) control, such as automatic housekeeping tasks under the initiative of the control logic or memory controller. [0051]In one or more memory embodiments of the present invention the sample and hold circuitry can temporarily latch this data in the form of voltage levels while internal memory operations or external data transfer take place. For example, the sample and hold circuitry could contain capacitors or other analog storage devices for sampling either an incoming voltage signal representing data to be written to a memory cell or an outgoing voltage signal indicative of the threshold voltage sensed from a memory cell of the array. The sample and hold circuitry may also provide for amplification and/or buffering of the sampled voltage to provide a stronger data signal for further data operations, such as data transfer to an external device, data comparison, or array programming. [0052]Unfortunately, while the data is being held in the data cache the voltage levels can deteriorate, even in the short time it will be held in the data cache. This is particularly the case with data cache circuits utilizing capacitor-based sample and hold circuits, primarily due to charge leakage from the sample and hold capacitors of the data cache. Charge leakage in the holding capacitors can be due to a variety of factors and can be related to feature sizes, materials and environmental factors. These factors can include, but are not limited to, insulator materials, insulator thinness in and around the capacitors, reduced feature sizes in modern integrated circuit processes, operating temperature and voltage, thermal emission, and leakage to the substrate. [0053]The data cache leakage effects (also known as leakage errors) are generally of two differing forms; leakage effects that are uniform across the holding capacitors of the data cache holding circuits, and leakage effects that are non-uniform across the data cache. Uniform charge leakage typically occurs as charge leaks in a uniform manner from each holding capacitor in the data cache as the data is held during an extended time period. This typically can occur during a memory operation, such as a programming operation, read operation or verify/comparison operation and can affect results or, e.g., induce errors. Non-uniform charge leakage typically occurs while data is being transferred sequentially to the data cache or sections of the data in the data cache are masked or replaced in-situ during a data move operation and, as such, the leakage induced error effects are unevenly spread across the holding capacitors of the data cache. Because of the increasingly large data sizes of modern non-volatile memory data caches as the data is sequentially transferred to the memory the data cache will have leaked stored charge and have altered the initially held data before the data is fully transferred into the data cache. Conversely, as the data is sequentially transferred from the data cache and memory the final voltage data read from the data cache will have been altered relative to the first transferred voltage data before they are transferred from the data cache because of leaked charge. It is noted that the voltages of the data pattern can also affect the rate of charge leakage, with higher voltages decaying at increased rates as compared to lower voltage levels. [0054]It is noted that although the various embodiments will be described primarily with reference to NAND memory arrays, the various embodiments are not limited to a specific architecture of the memory array. Some examples of other array architectures suitable for the present embodiments include NOR arrays, AND arrays, and virtual ground arrays. In general, however, the embodiments described herein are adaptable to any array architecture permitting generation of a data signal indicative of the threshold voltage of each memory cell. [0055]It is also noted, as detailed above, that various embodiments of the present invention include memory devices adapted to process and generate analog data signals representative of the stored bits of data in each cell. This is facilitated by storing data values as threshold voltages on a non-volatile memory cell. Unlike the bit-by-bit programming operations of traditional multi-level cell technology, the various embodiments may program directly to a target threshold voltage for the desired data. Similarly, instead of reading individual bits, the various embodiments generate a data signal indicative of the threshold voltage of the target memory cell, and thus indicative of the bits of data read from each cell. However, it is further noted that, while various embodiments may receive and transmit the data signals as one or more analog signals (i.e., serial or parallel bus transmissions) representative of bit patterns of two or more bits, digital embodiments are also possible that provide conversion internal to the memory device to an analog signal or selected threshold voltage range/state to permit receiving and transmitting digital signals representative of individual bits. It is also noted that in utilizing analog data signals, because a single analog data signal could represent two, four or more bits of information, data transfer rates may be increased along with memory density as each program or read operation is concurrently processing multiple bits per memory cell. [0056]As stated above, data cache leakage effects are generally of two differing forms resulting from two differing types of time delay and data operation on the memory's data cache. In the first, the voltage data (e.g., charge) held in the data cache is held statically as a reference, is stored to or from in the array, or utilized in internal memory operations. As such, charge leakage uniformly affects the voltage data held in the data cache. This typically occurs as data is being held during ongoing internal execution of operations in the memory. Such memory operations include, but are not limited to, program cycles, verify operations, data moves operations, read operations, and data comparisons) [0057]In the second, data is typically being transferred into the data cache from an external device and the charge leakage non-uniformly affects the voltage data held in the data cache as voltage data is written to the data cache. These sequential data transfer operations typically occur during the initial portion of programming operations, data comparison operations, or operations requiring data masking (such as data moves) as data is transferred to the data cache in advance of internal execution of the operation. As the capacitors in the data cache are sequentially charged in accordance with voltage data, prior charged capacitors will exhibit higher levels of leakage than subsequently-charged capacitors. [0058]In uniform effect charge leakage situations, a reference capacitor can be charged using a known voltage level for use as a charge leakage estimation model as soon as data has been completely loaded into the data cache, such as in a parallel transfer or at the start of internal operations on data held in the data cache. It is noted that other charge leakage estimation models are possible, including, but not limited to initiating a timer and utilizing a look-up table or leakage estimation calculation circuit with the current timer value. The held data value charges are then compensated for the uniform charge leakage, such as by adjusting a common reference (e.g., a ground) node coupled to the data capacitors by an error effect amount to compensate for the charge leakage. Alternatively, an offset of buffering differential amplifiers (or a gain of the amplifiers) associated with each individual data capacitor in the data cache can be adjusted over time at least partially based on the leakage model (e.g., on the reference capacitor). [0059]Non-uniform effect charge leakage in the data cache can be compensated for by initiating the charge leakage model (e.g., charging the reference capacitor) upon initiating sequential data transfer to the data cache. A ground node associated with each separate data holding capacitor can then be adjusted by a selected (e.g., scaled) effect amount in relation to the leakage model in the sequential order in which the data was transferred into the data cache. As prior charged capacitors will exhibit higher levels of leakage than subsequently-charged capacitors due to the sequential charging, by applying reducing voltages to ground nodes of the subsequently-charged capacitors, observed voltage differences between capacitors thus more accurately represent the intended differences. In one embodiment, this is accomplished by applying a positive potential to the ground nodes through a graduated resistance path or other voltage divider, such that subsequently charged capacitors receive ever higher resistance levels from the positive potential and thus see a ground potential closer to that of the nominal ground potential. Alternatively, an offset or gain of buffering differential amplifiers associated with each individual data capacitor in the data cache can be adjusted at least partially based on the leakage model and the sequential data transfer pattern. It is noted that it is not necessary for the data transfer be sequential, only that a predictable data transfer pattern exist and that leakage compensation be selected according to that data transfer pattern. [0060]It is also noted that external data transfers that occur out of the data cache are also typically sequentially transferred. However, the leakage effects on the data charge held in the capacitors of the data cache in this operation are actually uniform across the data cache. The leakage effect is only perceived externally as being non-uniform in nature due to data being sequentially read from the data cache while the uniform leakage occurs. Thus sequential data transfers out of the data cache and memory can be compensated for by utilizing a uniform effect data cache charge leakage compensation as disclosed above. [0061]As also stated above, during a write operation, target memory cells of the memory array are programmed until voltages indicative of their Vt levels match the data levels held in the data cache. This can be accomplished, as one example, using differential sensing devices to compare the voltage level held by the data cache to a threshold voltage of the target memory cell. Much like traditional memory programming, programming pulses could be applied to a target memory cell to increase its threshold voltage until reaching or exceeding the desired value. [0062]In a read operation, the Vt levels of the target memory cells are passed to the data cache for transfer to an external device, such as a processor or memory controller, either directly as analog signals or as digitized representations of the analog signals depending upon whether ADC/DAC functionality is provided external to, or within, the memory device. As also stated above, during a read operation in memory device embodiments the threshold voltages of cells may be determined in a variety of manners. For example, a word line voltage could be sampled by the data cache at the point when the target memory cell becomes activated. Alternatively, a boosted voltage could be applied to a first source/drain side of a target memory cell, and the threshold voltage could be taken as a difference between its control gate voltage and the voltage at its other source/drain side. By coupling the voltage to the data cache, charge would be shared with the capacitor to "store" the sampled voltage in the data cache. Note that, as stated above, the sampled voltage need not be equal to the threshold voltage, but only representative of that voltage. [0063]In FIG. 6, a simplified diagram of a system 600 is illustrated having a non-volatile memory device 602 coupled to a host 604, such as a processor or memory controller. It is noted that the host can be external to the memory device as an external device or the memory device can be an internal component of a larger device that also incorporates the host. The non-volatile memory device 602 includes an array of memory cells 606 arranged in rows and columns. A row decode circuit 608 and a column decode circuit 610 are provided to decode address signals provided to the memory device 602 by the host 604. Address signals are received and decoded to access memory array 606. Memory device 602 also includes input/output (I/O) control circuitry 612 to manage input of commands, addresses and data to the memory device 602 as well as output of data and status information from the memory device 602. Control logic 614 controls access to the memory array 606 in response to commands and generates status information for the external host 604. The control logic 614 is coupled to row decode circuit 608 and column decode circuit 610 to control the row decode circuit 608 and column decode circuit 610 in response to the addresses. The control logic 614 is also coupled to a data cache 616, which latches data, either incoming or outgoing, in the form of voltage levels and is coupled to the memory array 606 and the I/O control circuit 612. The data cache can contain capacitors for sampling either an incoming voltage signal representing data to be written to a memory cell or an outgoing voltage signal indicative of the threshold voltage sensed from a memory cell. Additionally, the data cache holding capacitors (or other alternative storage devices) are subject to charge leakage that introduces errors in the sampled and stored data. The data cache 616 can further provide for amplification and/or buffering of the sampled voltage to provide a stronger data signal. Additionally, a charge leakage model, such as a reference capacitor, 620 and a leakage adjustment circuit 618 are coupled to the I/O circuit 612. The leakage adjustment circuit 618 is also coupled to the individual holding capacitors and/or amplifiers of the data cache 616 and allows for adjustment of the voltage level charges stored in the data holding capacitors of the data cache 616 to compensate for charge leakage. [0064]As noted above, the charge leakage model 620 is typically initiated (e.g., charged) at the start of a sequential data transfer to the data cache 616 (such as data transferred from the host 602 in a program or mask operation) to estimate the non-uniform charge loss of data transferred to the memory 602. Alternatively, the charge leakage model 620 is initiated as soon as data is fully stored in the data cache 616 to estimate uniform charge loss, such as occurs during internal memory operations or after data is read from the array 606 in parallel and stored in the data cache 616 for transfer from the memory device 602. It is noted that in various embodiments an adjustment signal can be generated off the charge leakage model 620 using a differential amplifier with a voltage output of the charge leakage model 620 and a stable voltage reference as a second input to the differential amplifier for use by the I/O circuit 612 and leakage adjustment circuit 618 in compensating for lost charge. [0065]Once the charge leakage effect is estimated by action of the charge leakage model 620, the individual data cache data voltages are adjusted utilizing the leakage adjustment circuit 618. Held data values can then be compensated for in uniform charge leakage by adjusting a common ground node coupled to the data capacitors by the effect amount to compensate for the charge leakage. Alternatively, an offset or gain of the differential amplifiers associated with each individual data capacitor in the data cache can be adjusted over time at least partially in relation to the leakage model. [0066]In non-uniform, a ground node associated with each data holding capacitors can be adjusted by a scaled amount at least partially in relation to the leakage model by the sequential order in which the data was transferred into the data cache. Alternatively, an offset or gain of the buffering differential amplifiers associated with each individual data capacitor in the data cache can be adjusted at least partially based on the leakage model and the sequential data transfer pattern. [0067]FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C detail various data caches and associated leakage adjustment circuits 700, 730, 750 of embodiments of the present invention. In FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C, as noted above, the data cache 616 latches voltage levels and is coupled to data lines (e.g., bit lines) of the memory array 606 via the column decoder 610. Data is externally coupled to and from the data cache 616 of the memory 602 utilizing an I/O bus 704 from the I/O control circuit 612. Each data cell 702 of the data cache 616 is coupled to the I/O bus 704 to transmit or receive a single voltage value 716. Internal to each data cell 702 a differential buffer amplifier 708 is coupled under control of switches 710 and 712 to buffer the sampled voltage level of a coupled bit line and/or the voltage level corresponding to the charge stored in the sample and hold capacitor 706, or to couple the input data value on the I/O bus 704 to charge the sample and hold capacitor 706, or to output the sampled data value during a programming operation. [0068]In FIG. 7A, the sample and hold capacitor 706 of each data cell 702 of the data cache 616, 700 had its second terminal (its "ground node") coupled to the leakage adjustment circuit 618 allowing for the perceived stored voltage to be adjusted to compensate for uniform or non-uniform charge leakage in the data cache 616. One embodiment of a leakage adjustment circuit 618 is shown in FIG. 7B. In FIG. 7B, the leakage adjustment circuit utilizes a resistive ladder 720 as a voltage divider to set the charge leakage compensation on the ground node 714 of the cells 702 of the data cache to compensate for non-uniform data input leakage effect. An adjustment signal generated from the leakage model applies a positive potential to the ground reference nodes through a graduated resistance path 718, with each subsequently charged capacitor seeing a higher resistance level and thus a ground reference potential closer to the nominal ground potential. [0069]In FIG. 7C, a data cache 616, 750 is illustrated in which each data cell 702 is adjusted for charge leakage via an input offset or gain adjustment 722 from the leakage adjustment circuit 618 that is coupled to the differential amplifier 708 associated with each individual data capacitor 706 in the data cache 616, 750, allowing the output of the amplifier in relation to the data held by the capacitor 706 to be adjusted in relation to the leakage model by adjusting the amplified version of the voltage stored in the data cell 702 by the amplifier 708. [0070]FIG. 8 details a cell of another data cache 118 of a NAND architecture memory embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the data cache circuit 118 is coupled to a bit line 204 through the column multiplexer (also known as a column mux) of the column decode circuit 110. The data cache 118 is also connected to I/O Bus 802. Internal to the data cache 118, a bit line sample capacitor C2 806 is coupled to the bit line 204 selected by the column multiplexer 110 by switch S3 816 (typically a FET transistor that is operated as a pass gate or switch). In addition, the data cache 118 also contains an incoming data sample capacitor C1 804, that can be coupled to the I/O Bus 802 through switch S1 812 to sample incoming data, typically input as an analog signal having a voltage level. The incoming data sample capacitor C1 804 is adjustable by a leakage adjustment circuit 618 by changing the voltage on the ground reference node 714. An amplifier (such as an operational amplifier 808) can also be incorporated in the data cache 118 and has an input offset or gain adjustment 722 allowing adjustment by a leakage adjustment circuit 618. The operational amplifier 808, depending on the mode of operation of the memory, can be configured and operated as either a comparator to compare the voltages of capacitors C1 804 and C2 806, or as a unity amplifier/output buffer to output the sampled bit line voltage from capacitor C2 806 on to the I/O bus 802. To operate as a comparator, capacitor C1 804 is coupled to an input of the operational amplifier 808 through switch S2 814, while switch S4 818 is opened to disable the feedback path of the amplifier 808. The voltage of capacitor C1 804 is then compared against the voltage of capacitor C2 806 (which is coupled to the other input of the operational amplifier 808) by an internal differential amplifier and the high open circuit gain of the operational amplifier 808 with the results expressed on the output. To operate as an output buffer, the switch S2 814 is opened to disconnect capacitor C1 804 and switch S4 818 is closed to enable the feedback path and allow the operation amplifier 808 to act as a unity gain amplifier, buffering the voltage on capacitor C2 806 and expressing it on the amplifier's 808 output. [0071]In a sense operation in the memory of FIG. 8, bias conditions are applied to the NAND string by applying an elevated read pass voltage (Vpass) to the word lines of the unselected memory cells (20831-208N+1, 208N-1-2080), allowing them to pass current in a manner that is unrestricted by their stored data values. An elevated voltage, Vsource (such as Vcc or higher), is applied to the source line 216, while select gate voltages (VSGD and VSGS) are also applied to the gates of the select gate FETs, coupling the NAND string to the source line 216 and bit line 204, respectively. A read gate voltage (Vgate) is applied to the word line 202N connected to the selected memory cell 208N to operate it in an active mode. Current (B/L current) then flows through the NAND string from the source line 216 to the bit line 204 through the selected memory cell 208N, raising the In preparation for sensing, the sample and hold circuit 118 turns off switches S1 802 and S2 814 to isolate capacitor C1 804, capacitor C2 806 is also isolated from the bit line 204 by turning off switch S3 816. In addition, switch S5 820 is also turned off to isolate the bit line inhibit circuit 810, while switch S4 818 is turned on to couple the operational amplifier 808 as an output buffer/unity gain amplifier. Once the voltage (Vsense or Vout) on the selected bit line 204 has, is buffered by the operational amplifier 808 and can then be coupled to the I/O Bus 802 for output by closing switch Col_Sel 822. It is noted that once the bit line voltage (Vsense) has been sampled by capacitor C2 806, switch S3 816 can be turned off to isolate the capacitor from the bit line 204, allowing the array to begin the next sensing cycle while the sampled voltage is read out of the memory. It is also noted that the selected memory cell threshold voltage can be determined from the sampled bit line voltage (Vsense) by subtracting the gate voltage (Vgate) from the sampled bit line voltage (Vsense). E.g., Cell Vt=Vgate-Vsense. [0072]In a program and verify operation in the data cache of FIG. 8, an incoming data voltage is first sampled and held in capacitor C1 804 as a target or desired threshold voltage by turning on switch S1 812 to couple capacitor C1 804 to the I/O Bus 802. Switch S2 814 is typically turned off during this process. After the capacitor C1 804 has charged the voltage expressed on the I/O Bus 802, switch 51 812 is then turned off to capture the desired incoming data voltage. A memory cell 208N is then selected and programmed by applying a programming voltage pulse to its control gate 202N and applying a ground or low voltage to the channel to place charge onto its floating gate and alter the threshold voltage. The threshold voltage of the selected memory cell 208N is then verified by re-selecting and sensing the selected memory cell 208N and comparing the sensed threshold voltage against the target voltage stored in capacitor C1 804 in a verify operation. [0073]To accomplish the verify operation, switch S4 818 is turned off to configure the operational amplifier 808 as a comparator and coupling the output of the operational amplifier 808 to the bit line inhibit circuit 810 by turning on switch S5 820 and confirming that the "Col_Sel" switch 822 is off (to disconnect the output of the operational amplifier 808 from the I/O Bus 802). In addition, switch S1 812 is left in an off state, while switch S2 814 is turned on to couple target voltage stored on the capacitor C1804 to an input of the operational amplifier 808. Sensing bias conditions are applied to the NAND string by applying an elevated read pass voltage (Vpass) to the word lines of the unselected memory cells (20831-208N+1, 208N-1-2080), while select gate voltages (VSGD and VSGS) are also applied to the gates of the select gate FETs to couple the NAND string to the source line 216 and bit line 204, respectively. An elevated voltage, Vsource, is applied to the source line 216 and a read gate voltage (Vgate) is applied to the word line 202N connected to the selected memory cell 208N to operate it in an active mode. Current (B/L current) flowing through the NAND string from the source line 216 to the bit line 204, raises the Once the voltage (Vsense or Vout) on the selected bit line 204 has. The operational amplifier, configured as a comparator, then compares the target voltage and the sensed bit line voltages coupled to its inputs from capacitors C1 804 and C2 806, respectively. If the sensed voltage of the selected memory cell 208N (as sampled and held on capacitor C2 806) is lower than that of the target voltage (as sampled and held in capacitor C1 804), the operational amplifier 808 output is high and the output of the inverter of the coupled bit line program inhibit circuit 810 is thus low, indicating further programming pulses are required. If the sensed voltage of the selected memory cell 208N, sampled and held on capacitor C2 806, is higher than that of the target voltage held in capacitor C1 804, the operational amplifier 808 output is low and the output of the inverter of the coupled bit line program inhibit circuit 810 is high, indicating that no further programming pulses are required. In one embodiment, this output from the bit line program inhibit circuit 810 is utilized to set the voltage coupled to the channel of the selected memory cell, setting it at a low or ground potential voltage (program) or high voltage (program-inhibit, such as Vcc), depending on if the output of the bit line program inhibit circuit 810 is low or high, respectively. This program and verify cycle can be repeated until the target voltages are successfully programmed or repeated until a selected number of iterations have passed without all the target voltages being successfully verified and the programming operation is deemed to have failed. It is also noted that in one embodiment, the target voltage is represented as the desired Vsense to be sensed and not the direct memory cell threshold voltage (e.g., Cell Vt=Vgate-Vsense, thus Vtarget=Vsense=Vgate-Cell Vt). It is also noted that in another embodiment Vsense, sampled and stored in capacitor C2 806, can be first converted to the sensed threshold voltage of the selected memory cell 208N by subtracting Vgate from it before comparison with the target threshold voltage stored in capacitor C1 804. [0074 Many adaptations of the disclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the disclosure. CONCLUSION [0075]A non-volatile memory device and process has been described that should reduce the effects of charge leakage from data cache sample and hold circuit capacitors, maintaining stored voltage levels as data is utilized in memory operations or transferred into or out of the memory. In particular, in one embodiment of the present invention, the held data values are compensated for charge leakage effects that are uniform across the data holding capacitors of the data cache by writing a reference capacitor or initiating some other leakage model and either uniformly adjusting a ground node of the data capacitors by the effect amount or by adjusting an amplifier offset or gain of an amplifier associated with each individual data capacitor in the data cache in relation to the leakage model at a given time. In another embodiment of the present invention, the held data values are compensated for charge leakage effects that are non-uniform due to the data values being sequentially transferred to the holding capacitors of the data cache by initiating a leakage model at the start of data transfer and then scaling the adjustment of each ground node of the data capacitors by an effect amount or by adjusting an amplifier offset or gain of an amplifier associated with each individual data capacitor in the data cache in relation to the leakage model and the sequential order in which the data was transferred into the data cache. [0076]Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. Many adaptations of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the invention. It is manifestly intended that this invention be limited only by the following claims and equivalents thereof. Patent applications by Frankie F. Roohparvar, Monte Sereno, CA US Patent applications in class With volatile signal storage device Patent applications in all subclasses With volatile signal storage device	eng	aa4bd1bd-6143-443b-be1c-2b78d9e07804	http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20100202202
Monday, July 31, 2006 Who is Melvin Bubble? Well, it depends on who you ask. His dad might say he's a chip off the ol' block, and his mom might notice he's possibly the messiest boy in the world. His dog might say wood woof arf woof woof bark. A three-eyed monster might say he is dear, sweet, tender and delicious. The meanest man in the world might say he has a silly name. How about a talking rock? Santa Claus? His best friend Jimmy? A zebra? This hilarious book well-matched with cartoonish, coloful illustrations is a belly-shaker as well as an invaluable tool for teaching kids about point of view. By the end, you'll have your own idea about who is Melvin Bubble. And if anyone asks you "who is Nick Bruel?" you'll be able to say: my new favorite author for reluctant readers...and writers! (7 and up) And if you're not tired out by laughing and want another round with this author, check out BAD KITTY(Roaring Brook). Oh dear, did Mommy forget to buy food for the kitty? No worries, there should be plenty of things in the cupboard for kitty to eat. Asparagus, perhaps? Fennel? Rhubarb? An alphabet of food that sends kitty gagging on hairballs also sends him into an alphabet of bad behavior involving curtains, neckties and a vet's arm. Don't worry, a trip to the store for more suitable cuisine, worthy of Wacky Packages noteriety and a child's taste (lizard lasagne or turtle turnovers, anyone?) should send kitty into a redemptive fervor. That's four, count 'em, four hilarious alphabets in one book. Zany, never dull, and full of a suprising amount of fresh vocabulary and a chance for letter recognition, this book is a hoot for lively, irreverent preschoolers and their older siblings. It reads like catnip for fans of all things feline, but cat-haters can enjoy it, too, as kitty's true nature is revealed. (4 and up) Also of interest: Since I know some of you teachers out there are already getting itchy and jotting down notes for great new lessons come fall, another great book to use for teaching point of view is TALKIN' ABOUT BESSIE: THE STORY OF AVIATOR ELIZABETH COLEMAN by Nikki Grimes, with beautiful watercolor illustrations by E.B. Lewis (Scholastic). Twenty fictionalized eulogies from a diverse collection of people touched by the world's first licensed female African-American pilot creates a resonating portrait. This inspiring and creative teaching tool for point of view can also be a fresh format for kids to report on famous people in history. (7 and up) Friday, July 28, 2006 After reading HOW I BECAME A PIRATE by Melinda Long and David Shannon, (Harcourt) (5 and up) and ROGER THE JOLLY PIRATE by Brett Helquist (famous illustrator of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events (HarperCollins) (5 and up), divide the kids up into groups and give them each a small box to put something "valuable" in. Then crumple up butcher paper and let each group create their own "treasure map" as they find a hiding place for their booty. Let the groups exchange maps, and let the search begin! If the interest in treasure hunting is piqued, be sure to recommend Betsy Byars' realistic fiction THE SEVEN TREASURE HUNTS (HarperTrophy) (all ages). And if it's treasure ye seek, Walter Wick's eye-candy seek-and-find book I SPY TREAURE HUNT by Jean Marzollo, illustrated by Walter Wick (Cartwheel) (7 and up), which has enough baubles and bangles to tantalize a whole shipload of treasure-seekers! If you would like a gentle wind-down after piratical adventures, try THE MAGGIE B. by Irene Haas (Margaret McElderry), a classic cruise through the imagination of a little girl (ages 4 and up). Also of interest: More pirate-themed books to shanghai your child's imagination! DO PIRATES TAKE BATHS? by Kathy Tucker, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott (Whitman) (4 and up) PIRATE TREASURE by Loretta Krupinski (Dutton) (5 and up) OLIVE'S PIRATE PARTY by Roberta Baker, illustrated by Debbie Tilley (Little, Brown) (5 and up) THE GREAT PIRATE ACTIVITY BOOK by Deri Robins, illustrated by George Buchanan(Kingfisher) (9 and up) EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT PIRATES by Tom Lichtenheld (Simon and Schuster) (6 and up) HENRY AND THE BUCCANEER BUNNIES by Carolyn Crimi, illustrated by John Manders (Candlewick) (5 and up) And many will be happy to know that the latest in the popular "ology" series has been released, PIRATEOLOGY edited by Dugald A. Steer (Candlewick), a work of nonfiction that holds kid-treasure better than gold: working compass, pocket sundial, jewels and gems, and maps leading to what else but more treasure? If you enjoy this book, you will also enjoy the scrapbook style PIRATES by John Matthews (Atheneum), full of even more maps, historical facts, and a wanted poster for none other than Blackbeard himself. Both are best suited for children ages 9 and up. You can knock the sand out of your shoes...this concludes our week at the beach at PlanetEsme! Hope you had a sunny time, and found reading treasures to boot. We will return next week to our regularly scheduled program: reviews of the best brand new books! On a personal note I was a little later than usual posting for Book-a-Day today, because I had to prioritize going over the final, final, FINAL proofs of my new novel, VIVE LA PARIS, with my editor. It occured to me that it felt like little bit like working under a car for a very important customer, making sure every nut and bolt and spring is tightened and oiled, that the fenders are gleaming...so many miniscule adjustments! I am so excited, and hopeful that this book is the very best it can be. I have come to really love my main character Paris and her family, and I hope you will, too! I also hope this will be a useful tool for discussions about peace and bullying...but more on that later! Many of you have gotten a sneak preview with the Round Robin promotion that was announced last month. I have my fingers crossed that you liked what you read, and thank you with all my heart to those who have spread the word! If you signed up for the Round Robin and have not yet recieved the book, please let me know via my e-mail, esmeatripcodotcom. Merci beaucoup! Thursday, July 27, 2006 Back to the beach! Today let's celebrate the not-so-chicken of the sea: mermaids! If you have real sand to play with, half bury the children and let them form fishtails from the waist down; let them decorate in patterns using shells and stones. If you happen to be on an imaginary beach, from the waist down, wrap the child's legs loosely in blue or green cellophane (Saran Wrap comes in pretty colors these days). Once the form is made, if you are generous enough with the cellophane,the child should be able to slip in and out of their "tails." Fashion fins at the bottom out of a fan, a plastic plate or more cellophane. Let thechildren decorate the tail by attaching seaworthy decorations, like strings of deep-sea pearls, glitter-covered shells and leafy seaweed. Are mermaids extinct? They are definitely at least endangered in the world of picture books and folklore collections. My own favorite mermaid story is the unusual japanese legend "The Kingdom Under the Sea" retold in MAGICAL TALES FROM MANY LANDS by Margaret Mayo, illustrated by Jane Ray (Dutton), which is crazily out of print, as is Mary Pope Osbourne's MERMAID TALES FROM AROUND THE WORLD illustrated by Troy Howell (Scholastic), Kate Spohn's glittery THE MERMAIDS' LULLABY(Random House), the rare mer-man story NICHOLAS PIPE by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by David Shannon (Dial), THE MERMAID OF CAFUR by Evelyn Foster, ilustrated by Olwyn Whelan (Barefoot) and Shirley Climo's TREASURY OF MERMAIDS, luminously illustrated by Jean and Mou-Sien Tseng. All out of print! Isn't that fishy? Luckily, all good mermaids carry library cards, and hard-core collectors can get copies at AmazonZshops. For something meatier (and, uh, in print), try the multicultural mermaid story SUKEY AND THE MERMAID by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Brian Pinkney (Simon and Schuster). And yes, yes, you can of course read Hans Andersen's sorrowful saga of THE LITTLE MERMAID, (just get a beautiful version like Lizbeth Zwerger's; please avoid the Disney version, which I always felt made her look like such a little sea-hussy instead of the complicated young woman that she was). Your intermediate mer-children may enjoy some time to loll about in their tails and dipping into chapter books that all feature half-fish, such as the following: ISLAND OF THE AUNTS by Eva Ibbotson (Penguin)(9 and up) THE TALE OF EMILY WINDSNAP by Liz Kessler (Candlewick)(8 and up) THE FISH IN ROOM 11 by Heather Dyer (Scholastic) (8 and up) (A nice modern fish tale in an apartment building that will appeal to boys as well) THE FOLK KEEPER by Franny Billingsley (Simon and Schuster) (All right, the main character is more like a Selkie, but that's close, right?) (11 and up) THE SEARCH FOR DELICIOUS by Natalie Babbitt (Farrar Straus Giroux) (9 and up, but you really must read this one aloud to your whole family!) THE ANIMAL FAMILY by Randall Jarrell, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (Harper) (10 and up; I read this haunting love story between a hunter, a mermaid and a bear when I was a child, and it has stayed with me my whole life. Luckily, this is one mermaid story that stayed in print.) And, perfect timing, MERMAID SUMMER by Mollie Hunter (Harper) (10 and up, featuring one mighty fresh half-fish). Wednesday, July 26, 2006 The sun continues to shine high and hot in the sky, and here at PlanetEsme, we are still on the beach! Read fishy stories like the magnificent BIG AL by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Yoshi (Simon and Schuster) about the biggest, scariest fish in the sea who would like nothing better than to make friends (4 and up, and boy how they scream if you say "The End!" after Big Al is caught in the net), SWIMMY by Leo Lionni (Knopf), the classic tale of undersea cooperation (4 and up), THE RAINBOW FISH by Marcus Pfister (North-South) about a vain and selfish little flipper who gets the zen-like (or is it Trump-like?) message from an octopus that you have to give in order to get (4 and up) and/or the brand-spanking new DEAR FISHby Chris Gall (Little, Brown) (6 and up). Uniquely and boldly illustrated with digitized clay engravings, it shows a world in which undersea creatures join us on land after recieving a message in a bottle from a little boy. The surreal imagination is akin to David Wiesner, and with nonfiction notes on the endpapers for reference and a hunt for ten fishy puns within these pages, there are plenty of hooks to catch young readers. There are plenty of wonderful, water-ful crafts you can do with a fishy theme; an easy favorite of mine is a brightly crayoned seascape, painted over with turquoise watercolors. Never fails to get an "oooh-ahhh!" from the kids! Or, collage an under-the-sea-scene in a clean styrofoam meat tray, and then cover it with blue cellophane. For a fun game, let children design their own fish on posterboard. Cut them out and stick a little piece of magnet tape (sold at craft and office supply stores) on the back of each of them, along with a number from one to ten of the child's choice. Then, with a long stick with a string an magnet attached, let the children go "fishing." Who can score the most points after three tries? If you secure the fish in zip-lock bags, you can let kids "fish" in a wading pool! When the game is done, attach straws or craft sticks to the back of the fish with some tape, and they can double as puppets so children can make up their own fish tales. Also of interest: Okay, okay, I know some people are allergic to THE RAINBOW FISH, but if you cut out prismatic paper fins to pass out at the end of the story, it might help ease the discomfort. Also, check out the provocative article by Heidi Estrin about secular books that teach sectarian values, "Is the Rainbow Fish Jewish"? (Also available as a PDF if you search the title on Google). Thanks to those who have been adding their own recommendations to these posts in the comments section, you know they are always welcome and appreciated! Tuesday, July 25, 2006 Today we continue our week's worth of seaside fun by playing in the sand! Seaside Scavenger Hunt After reading PLATYPUS by Chris Riddell (Harcourt), in which our little hero goes beachcombing to find just the right addition to his collection, go on a scavenger hunt for items like a rock with a fossil on it, a bird feather, a shovel, a shell no bigger than a fingernail, or, any of the items from my very favorite piece of summery non-fiction, THE BEACH PATROL by John O'Brien and Max Bilkins (Henry Holt) (also a great choice for aspiring lifeguards ages 6 and up). If you're at home scavenging, try things like a slotted spoon, a penny from 1974, a book with a title starting with the letter B, or a yellow ponytail holder. Also of interest: BEACH DAY by Karen Roosa, illustrated by Maggie Smith (Clarion) (3 and up) ALL YOU NEED FOR A BEACH by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Barbara Lavallee (Silver Whistle)(3 and up) UMBRELLA PARTY by Janet Louise Swoboda Lunn, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton (Groundwood) (4 and up) LOTTIE'S NEW BEACH TOWEL by Petra Mathers (Atheneum) (5 and up) Castles in the Sand...and in the Jar After reading SAND CASTLE by Brenda S. Yee, illustrated by Thea Kliros (Greenwillow) or SUPER SAND CASTLE SATURDAY by Stuart Murphy, illustrated by Julia Gorton (HarperTrophy), children can create their own sand art using craft sand, available through Oriental Trading Company (search keyword "sand") and craft stores. Using empty baby food jars or other clear containers, children can layer the colored sand to make beautiful sunset-like creations. If you have extra jars, you can make an "ocean in a bottle" by filling the jar halfway with water, adding blue food coloring, and filling it almost to the top with vegetable oil or mineral oil. After screwing the lid on tightly, move the jar back and forth to see the waves! If this floats your boat, there are tons of simple and delightful science activity tie-ins at Perpetualpreschool.com. Another fun sand activity is sand painting, instructions courtesy of one of my all-time favorite links, Thebestkidsbooksite.com. Beach Ball Book Call Play a literary game of toss: whoever catches the ball calls out the name of a book, and then throws it to someone else, who has to either name that book and another book, or the name of the author or illustrator that matches the book that was last called. Example: "The Hobbit!" (throws ball) "The Hobbit, Judy Moody Saves the World!" (throws ball) "The Hobbit, Judy Moody Saves the World, Captain Underpants!" (throws ball) "The Hobbit, Judy Moody Saves the World, Captain Underpants, Dav Pilkey!" (throws ball) "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing!" Since someone named the author of Captain Underpants, the list starts anew. How long can the list grow? How many authors or illustrators do the children know? You can also try to call out all books by one author; how many of Dr. Seuss's books can the children name? Lemony Snicket's? Beverly Cleary's? Beach Mancala Mancala is an ancient game from Africa that is fun and easy to play on the beach using clamshells or small stones, and digging the "playing board" into the sand, using shells or stones as pieces, or by making your own board at home; they are also available relatively inexpensively at toy stores. Rules for playing mancala may be found here or here. Once you know how, it's absolutely addictive; you'll never play checkers again! You may want to include a reading from Verna Aardema's retelling of the African folktale set at the beach, BIMWILI AND THE ZIMWI (Penguin) (which may be a bit scary for younger children, but suspenseful for some; read it yourself and decide!). In the brilliant storytime resource book I'M A LITTLE TEAPOT! by Jane Cobb (Black Sheep Press), the author suggests taking a conch shell after reading Bimwili and letting all the children listen to it, and then using the story as a springboard for examining all different kinds of shells (a great chance to incorporate guide books!). Footprint in the Sand Bookmark For a keepsake of this sunny, funny day, let each child trace a foot on a piece of thin sandpaper (available in sheets or rolls at hardware and home improvement stores) and cut it out. Punch a hole and tie on some raffia and a seashell with a hole in it to complete a beachy bookmark! Monday, July 24, 2006 PICTURE BOOK BEACH by Elisha Cooper (Orchard) "Away to the beach! Away to sand and salt water, to rolling dunes and pounding waves. Away to swimsuits and sunscreen, to lying on towels and listening to the sound of the ocean. As the day begins, the beach is empty waiting to be filled." So this wonderful book welcomes us, and we feel the white, waiting blank page behind every quick-sketch watercolor, a sketchbook lovingly, urgently filled in, trying to capture every small shell and crab claw, every splash and cloud, the bend of every sunbather's knee and wrap of towel. Fast, faceless but form-filled studies against vast white backgrounds create focus, and this illustration style is a great tool for art teachers to teach children (and aspiring illustrators) how to look, really look at something. I enjoyed Cooper's droll ode to a lazy cat, MAGIC THINKS BIG (Greenwillow) published in 2004, but this latest offering really kicks it up a notch. This book was so hot it made me want to put on sunscreen. I hope it will not be overlooked for Caldecott consideration. (5 and up) Also of interest: With a heat wave sweeping across the country, I think it's time we hit the beach (bikinis optional, thank goodness)! All week long we're going to get wet and wild in bibliophile-style via recommendations and crafts suitable to the season. For those of us lucky to live close to an ocean or lake, reading can be held along the shoreline, but folks without such a luxury can still enjoy reading without the harmful UV rays! Break out the beach blankets, big umbrellas and sunglasses to create a big splash, even if it's just spread out across the living room floor or alongside a wading pool in a backyard. Remember, if you do take books to the beach, you may want to put them in gallon-size ziplock bags to keep them in good condition. Friday, July 21, 2006 I have a question! I've recently started working in a suburban public library. The branches are staffed mostly by associates - no librarians trained in or dedicated to helping children. My concern: Our customers, young and old, are really culturally diverse - but one thing most have in common is that they don't know how to browse. How do I teach them to find "something that looks good" on a shelf? I've come up with several possibilities for the inhibition (they're polite, afraid to touch, or overwhelmed by choice) as well as several impossibilities (they're ignorant, bookphobic, or hopeless). Solutions? 1) I've considered creating a brief scavenger hunt. Like, "Let's find the biggest book on this shelf. The smallest. The prettiest/ugliest. A book for a boy/girl. A book with pictures/no pictures inside. A red/blue/green book." SOMETHING that would get them looking at the trees instead of the forest and encourage them to interact with the books. Unfortunately, though, I don't usually have the luxury of spending enough one-on-one time to do this. 2) In a pinch, I've also tried the quick-and-dirty option often recommended for feeding or dressing toddlers. I pick up 2 books, smile big, and say, "Which of these would you rather read?" But this is more coercive than reader's advisory is probably supposed to be, and I've only done it when Mom/Dad requires a choice and the clock is ticking. SO: Is there a 30-second solution? How can I encourage a roving reader? Everybody has preferences - how do these translate into considering books? Thanks! EJ, Atlanta P.S. I'm really enjoying your blog! Dear Gentle Reader, First of all, kudos to you for the work you do and the efforts you have made. In all walks and strata of life, people are largely unenlightened in regard to the riches of reading, and uninformed as to the protocol that would allow them to make the most of this amazing resource that is the library, creating the special challenge that you describe. I describe a motivation theory, a five-finger test, how to keep book-leveling in perpsective and other things of interest in HOW TO GET YOUR CHILD TO LOVE READING (available at your local library! And will turn your associates into experts), but today I'll focus on a more immediate solution that speaks directly to your needs. I think your possibilities are insightful, especially the feeling of being overwhelmed. I have often compared being faced with a wall of unfamiliar books as similar to being handed an extensive menu of some exotic, foreign cuisine. You know something on that menu is good, possibly delicious. But how can you choose when you aren't even sure what you're choosing? Maybe you'll order something divine, a delicacy that suits your unique palate! Or, just maybe, you'll unsuspectingly pick something from a part of the animal that shall go unnamed. It's enough to stop anyone in their tracks. A patron may be set back in motion when they are reminded that they don't have to be so invested in any one choice. I think one approach that you, as professional book-sharer may find helpful is to remember that these are not just patrons but consumers, and, if they are American, they are likely very fervent consumers in other areas of life. I suggest you play into that role, where they may have more confidence. If at all possible, acquire tote baskets from a library supply company like Demco (search using the word "basket," and you'll find browsing baskets, tote baskets and better baskets, all of which are suitable). What this does is suggest to the patron, "take all that you can carry!" Since there are many other "shopping" situations in which the patron may be more familiar or comfortable, they may naturally get the idea that taking more than one book is the norm (children certainly get the hint!), and this is extremely important if they are ever to become avid consumers of books. By choosing books with abandon, they will encounter titles that they might not like as much as they thought they would. This is a good and natural thing: they can develop their own criteria and also see that it's okay, we don't have to choose the perfect book every time, and that indeed they are not expected to judge a book completely by its cover. Choosing more books also means they have a higher chance of encountering books that they do enjoy, and that, of course, will keep them coming back. The other thing you can subtly (or not so subtly) suggest to the patron is that the shopping spree scanario: if you could go into a store and you could choose anything you'd like, would you really just choose one single thing, or would you go crazy? At the library, hey, it's an endless spree! A library card is like a credit card with no interest rate except maybe overdue fines, and no annual fee, and everything you get with it is free, free, free...as long as you bring it back after a week or two. Work it, patron! Though it may feel gauche at first making such avaricious comparisons, just remember: for a number of people, books were encountered first (and sometimes only) through the formality of schools. It takes a lot to move folks out of the mindset of books as props in an intellectual setting (to paraphrase from Auntie Mame, "books are sooo decorative!") into reading as part of a lifestyle with which they can identify. Love, Esme Does anyone have other ideas and suggestions for the author of this letter? I know there are more. Please do share in our comments section. And if you have a question, please e-mail it with the subject heading "Ask Esme" to esmeatripcodotcom. Though I may not answer every question, you know that over time, I'll try! And for our book-of-the-day, run to the library and check out PICTURE BOOK CHARLIE COOK'S FAVORITE BOOK by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler (Dial), a story within a story within a story, in which the choices made by an enthusiastic reader are revealed through samples of stories (pirates, dragons, fairy tales, nonfiction, joke books, science fiction, mystery...) seamlessly interlocked with the turning of every page, and brought together in the endpapers, where we see all of the volumes lined up on the shelf. A cheerful book that does offer a dynamic sampling of what adventures may be found as an armchair traveler. (5 and up) Thursday, July 20, 2006 Rather than revolving around the Parisian artist Auguste Rodin, the author cleverly focuses the story on the Cambodian country girl who joins the King's dance troupe in order to give her family a better status in their village. Her training, homesickness, artistic development and ultimate meeting with the artist who would immortalize her in his sketches make for a very compelling framework and well-developed character. A delightful pick for young ballet students who might be interested in this unique form of dance in which girls mimic the forms of the ancient Khmer Asparas, or "heavenly dancers." Don't let the spare text or illustrations fool you; this is a very accomplished coming of age story. (7 and up) And take a closer look: MASTERPIECES UP CLOSE by Claire D'Harcourt (Chronicle) Over twenty paintings are reproduced in oversized format, with an invitation to scavenger-hunt for details; kind of an epicurean Where's Waldo that will inspire close inspection of great works of art. Wednesday, July 19, 2006Tuesday, July 18, 2006 POETRY THE FRIENDLY FOUR by Eloise Greenfield, illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist (HarperCollins) If I could choose just one adjective to describe this book, it would be "playful." Here, the spirit of children is celebrated: the ability to find each other, to make friends, to invent worlds. The story of a summer spent together is told in four voices, color-coded for read-aloud, so each emergent reader in a small group can take a part (though it can also be read by a single talented adult). Though these children clearly have big things going on at home (it is suggested that one lives with her grandmother, one is in foster care, and one is in the neighborhood while her mother recovers from an illness), they are upbeat and undeterred from their imaginative lives, filled with tall tales, playground days and adventures in the town of "Goodsummer," an idyllic place invented out of paper and paint. In snapshots, we see their days both languid and lively, such as an afternoon covering eyes at a scary monster movie: "That was a great movie./That monster was mean!/That was the best movie/I have ever not seen." Or perhaps a punishment for going out of bounds: "The grown-ups had told us not to travel/beyond the corner tree./ When they looked, they couldn't find us,/now we're punished to remind us/not to forget to remember/where we're supposed to be." Though I know this book is classified as "poetry," it really does read more like poetic prose to me, as the rhymes are often internal or incidental. What is consistent is the jouncy, hopeful tone, full of eagerness to make a perfect summer day and friendships that last, well matched by colorful, ebullient illustrations. Though Ms. Greenfield would be hard-pressed to beat her collection of poems HONEY I LOVE (illustrated by the absolutely inimitable Leo and Diane Dillon), this book is a fresh pleasure from a classic talent. (6 and up) Also of interest: Check out the master of poetry for many voices, Paul Fleischman!: BIG TALK illustrated by Beppe Giacobbe (Candlewick) (7 and up), Newbery award winning JOYFUL NOISE illustrated by Eric Beddows (Harper) (8 and up), and ZAP: A PLAY (Candlewick)(12 and up). Monday, July 17, 2006 LIBRARY LION by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes(Candlewick) There are some books you like and some books you just love, L-O-V-E, the kind of book that makes a school librarian's heart beat faster and count the days until September...and this is one of them. This wonderful story is the account of a lion who wanders into the library and is actually an ideal patron, once he learns that loud roaring is against the rules. When uber-librarian Miss Merriweather takes a tumble from her step-stool and all demure Lassie-like attempts to get help by the lion fail, he resorts to rule-breaking, offending an anti-lion administrator who has been waiting for just such an occasion to banish our hero. Will he ever be invited to the library again? Miss Merriweather steals the show with her unrelenting references to the library rules even in the most dire circumstances. Hawkes' gentle pencil and watercolor illustrations are sweet perfection, funny and expressive. Not since Maurice Sendak's PIERRE have we encountered a more forgivable feline! And if you have ever wondered why there are lions in front of libraries, this book offers a fine (albeit fictional) answer (more info about the lions in front of the New York Public Library by clicking here). Teachers and librarians can use this book as a tool for discussing and developing rules at the start of the school year, and anyone can use this book as an example of delightful storytelling and what a children's book should be. (5 and up) For a full-fledged storytime, combine with DANDELION by Don Freeman (author also of the classic CORDUROY, both published by Penguin), about the lion who learns the hard way that he need only be himself to recieve an invitation to an exclusive tea-and-taffy party (4 and up), and the Caldecott-honor winning ANDY AND THE LION by James Daugherty (Penguin), a down-home spin on Androlocles in which a boy removes a thorn from a lion's paw and saves the day at the circus, all thanks to a library book about lions. (This book is special in my heart, because I remember a particular fifth grade boy who loved my copy of this book so much that he carried it around until it was literally ragged and I had to get him his own copy to love.) (5 and up) Also of interest: I have felt for a long time that Kevin Hawkes was due for some Caldecott attention, and if he doesn't get a nod this year between LIBRARY LION and the charming WHEN GIANTS COME TO PLAY by first-time author Andrea Beaty (Abrams)(4 and up), I just don't know what! By the way, if you read this book aloud, for a treat you can serve tea and giant rings (doughnuts) afterwards. It is also a great picture-book preface to Roald Dahl's THE BFG or Julia Donaldson's THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES (which I strongly recommended a few blog entries back, I certainly hope you listened to me). Friday, July 14, 2006 PICTURE BOOK/NONFICTION HOW WE ARE SMART by W. Nikola-Lisa, illustrated by Sean Qualls (Lee and Low) Being smart can be about more than doing well in school. Using Dr. Howard Gardener's multiple intelligence theory, the author celebrates the many ways that people can be smart: body smart, logic smart, music smart, nature smart, people smart, picture smart, self smart and word smart. Each kind of smart is exemplified in a short biographical portrait containing a quote from a notable individual , a poem, and a paragraph-long description of the subject's life and accomplishments. At the end of each passage, the author invites the reader to ask, "Are you like...?" and they will be eager to compare themselves to this decidedly multicultural "who's who," containing such effervescent talents as scientist Ynés Mexia, architect I.M. Pei, Explorer Matthew Henson, musician Tito Puente, among others, a shining dozen all together. Besides serving as a very nifty book of biographical introductions, it will do so much to help children value whatever kind of smart that they are, and will remind adults of the special and varied gifts every child has, just waiting to be unwrapped. Be book smart and add this inspiring addition to your collection, and the excellent backmatter including resources and activities make this a must-have for progressive teachers and homeschoolers. (8 and up) Speaking of must-have, if your school has a budget for guest authors you must have this author, W. Nikola-Lisa! I will never forget the rainy afternoon he spent at the PlanetEsme Bookroom, in which he entranced a roomful of people for a timeless hour, reading not only his own books but the books of many others. He played music and cast everyone under such a charismatic, magical bookloving spell that we had to wonder, "television? What's that?" Truly, for his special gifts of not only writing fine books but getting folks to love reading, this man is a national treasure. Thursday, July 13, 2006 Dear Madame Esme, My 10-yr-old son is very particular about the books he loves. Since his favorite genre is fantasy and I don't read much of that at all, I'm of little use in recommending books to him. All fantasy looks alike to me. But my son is more discerning. He likes fantasies that happen in the real world. Is there a word or category for that? He loves the idea that magic or fantasy can happen to real people, like him! His favorites are Harry Potter and the Animorphs. He also already read all the Narnia books. He has also read and enjoyed Edward Eager and some of Bruce Coville. And to explain further, a book he couldn't get into (no matter how good it is) was THE WALL AND THE WING because the whole book is fantasy. There isn't a real world that bridges to the fantastical world. What should I recommend for him next? Thanks for your advice! Love your blog! And love you, too! Signed, A Madame Esme Groupie Dear Gentle Reader, The closest term that some might use for what you desribe is one borne of a more cinematic origin, "magical realism," in which a realistic story has surprising, surreal elements; but even that label suggests a kind of acceptance of magic as part of the way things are. It sounds like your son likes books in which the characters are just as surprised as he would be about a magical turn of events! It's only natural, as intermediate children conquer so much of the concrete world, they hold fast to the hope that something amazing...unexpected...impossible can happen. Luckily, this hope is often embraced and celebrated in children's literature. So you have the kind of kid who climbs into wardrobes or tries to feel his way through to the other side of a looking glass, check out these oldies but goodies (9 and up): THE WISH GIVER by Bill Brittain (HarperTrophy) When a strange little man sets up a tent at a county fair, four everyday folks spend fifty cents to make their wishes come true, exactly as they ask for them...and irrevocably. This cliffhanging fantasy is one of my very favorite read-alouds of all time! THE LAST OF THE REALLY GREAT WHANGDOODLES by Julie Andrews Edwards (HarperTrophy) A professor leads children to Whangdoodleland in search of an endangered species. Fans of Narnia will get a kick out of this imaginative offering, written by the famous actress before celebrity books were the norm (and before they were so dadgum awful). JEREMY THATCHER, DRAGON HATCHERby Bruce Coville (Harcourt) Though you mentioned your son already liked Bruce Coville, I wanted to make sure you are acquainted with this prolific talent's "Magic Shop" series. In this book, a strange egg bought at a magic shop produces unusual offspring. The first book in the series, THE MONSTER'S RING, is a bit spooky, so for some, JEREMY THATCHER is a more subtle, magical entryway. Coville has a knack for the goosebump as well as the funny bone, and has female protagonists in his casts; check out JULIET DOVE, QUEEN OF LOVE. MOLLY MOON'S INCREDIBLE BOOK OF HYPNOTISMby Georgia Byng (HarperTrophy) A homely, unpopular orphan gets her hands on a powerful library book, and then, look out world! Unfortunately, a criminal genius is hot on her heels, looking to do more than borrow the precious tome. Snarky voice and breakneck action will make the reader anything but sleeeeepy. THE CASTLE IN THE ATTIC by Elizabeth Winthrop (Holiday House) A boy uses a magical playset in his attic as a means to try and keep his beloved nanny in the family, whether she wants to be or not. With carefully drawn and often powerful characterization, this is a contemporary to Lynne Reid Bank's popular INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD, also about toys that come to life. UNEXPECTED MAGIC: COLLECTED STORIES by Diana Wynne Jones (Greenwillow) Fifteen stories about people who encounter magic in everyday situations provide an introduction to the work of this widely loved fantasy author. (11 and up) Of course, there are many more wonderful titles... Andrew Clements' THINGS NOT SEEN, Jane Langton's THE FLEDGLING, or Natalie Babbit's immortal TUCK EVERLASTING...readers, chime in with your favorites in the "comments" section! Hope these titles help your son, and many other children, have a magical summer of reading. Love, Madame Esme Also of interest: If you enjoyed this "Ask Esme" feature, you'll find many more examples of the reading advice column in HOW TO GET YOUR CHILD TO LOVE READING. I'll try to answer about a question a week here on the blog; please submit your stumpers to esmeatripcodotcom, with the subject heading "Ask Esme". Though I can't promise to answer every question, you know I'll try! I was adopted from a shelter. I love the couch. It is mine. The chairs and bed are mine, too. And the house. At night I sleep between my owners. They gave me a pillow of my own. Mine. As was the case in the author's Newbery winner, SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL, she does an awful lot with a little, making every word count, and the text is further accentuated by varied typefaces. Live canine models served as the muses for the oil paintings that capture each dog's unique personality, and stand boldly out from stark white backgrounds. All in all, this is one sweet doggy treat. Pair with TEN DOGS IN A WINDOW by Claire Masurel, illustrated by Pamela Paparone (NorthSouth) for a storytime that will have listeners picking their favorites from the litter. (5 and up) Also of interest Ummmm, you're kind of cheating if you read the above book and don't also check out the original charming canine confessional, LITTLE DOG POEMS by Kristine O'Connell George, illustrated by June Otani (Clarion). Did you know that this author also has one of the best poetry websites around?	eng	1487fb71-1cd4-4c68-9fbc-0c5359694b56	http://planetesme.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_archive.html
For the controversy about who invented radio, see Invention of radio. This article covers the main arguments about who had what part in the early development of radio For the programming of early radio stations, see Old-time radio. Old-Time Radio (OTR and the Golden Age of Radio refer to a period of Radio programming lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until The pre-history and early history of radio is the history of technology that produced instruments that use radio waves. Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light.Technology is a broad concept that deals with a Species ' usage and knowledge of Tools and Crafts and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt Later radio history increasingly involves matters of programming and content. The timeline of radio lists within the History of radio, the Technology and events that produced instruments that use Radio waves and activities that people Various scientists proposed that electricity and magnetism, both capable of causing attraction and repulsion of objects, were linked. Electromagnetism is the Physics of the Electromagnetic field: a field which exerts a Force on particles that possess the property of In 1802 Gian Domenico Romagnosi suggested the relationship between electric current and magnetism, but his reports went unnoticed. Gian Domenico Romagnosi ( December 11, 1761 &ndash June 8, 1835) was an Italian Philosopher, Economist and In 1820 Hans Christian Ørsted performed a widely known experiment on man-made electric current and magnetism. He demonstrated that a wire carrying a current could deflect a magnetized compass needle. A compass, magnetic compass or mariner's compass is a navigational instrument for determining direction relative to the earth's Magnetic poles It consists Ørsted's experiments discovered the relationship between electricity and magnetism in a very simple experiment. In Physics, magnetism is one of the Phenomena by which Materials exert attractive or repulsive Forces on other Materials.In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, &quotto try out&quot is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or Ørsted's work influenced André-Marie Ampère to produce a theory of electromagnetism. André-Marie Ampère (20 January 1775 &ndash 10 June 1836 was a French Physicist and Mathematician who is generally credited as one of the main discoverers In the history of radio and development of "wireless telegraphy", several people are claimed to have "invented the radio". The term Wireless Telegraphy is a historic term used today as applied to early Radio Telegraph communications techniques and practices The most commonly accepted claims are: Nikola Tesla, who developed means to reliably produce radio frequencycurrents, publicly demonstrated the principles of radio, and transmitted long distance signals. SirThere have already been discussions about Tesla's ethnicity on the talk pageRadio frequency ( RF) is a Frequency or rate of Oscillation within the range of about 3 Hz to 300 GHzIn Telecommunications transmission is the process of sending propagating and receiving an analogue or digital information signal over a physical point-to-point or In 1943 the US Supreme Court upheld Tesla's patent number U. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. S. Patent 645,576 in effect recognizing him as the inventor of radio. This article covers the main arguments about who had what part in the early development of radio Guglielmo Marconi, who equipped ships with life-saving wireless communications, conducted a reported transatlantic radio communications experiments in 1901 and established the first commercial transatlantic radio service in 1907. Marchese Guglielmo Marconi mar'koni (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937 was an Italian inventor best known for his development of a Radiotelegraph systemWireless communication is the transfer of information over a distance without the use of electrical conductors or &quot Wires quot Wireless prehistory (19th century) In the late 19th century it was clear to various scientists and experimenters that wireless communication was possible. Various theoretical and experimental innovations led to the development of radio and the communication system we know today. Some early work was done by local effects and experiments of electromagnetic induction. The near field and far field of an antenna or other isolated source of Electromagnetic radiation are regions around the source where different parts of the fieldIn scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, &quotto try out&quot is a method of investigating particular types of research questions orFaraday's law of induction describes an important basic law of electromagnetism which is involved in the working of Transformers Inductors and many forms of Many understood that there was nothing similar to the "ethereal telegraphy" [1][2] and telegraphy by induction; the phenomena being wholly distinct. According to ancient and medieval science, aether (Greek grc αἰθήρ aithēr) also spelled æther or ether, is the material that fillsFor the common use of RF induction process of heating a metal object by electromagnetic induction see Induction heating Radio-frequency induction Wireless telegraphy was beginning to take hold and the practice of transmitting messages without wires was being developed. Many people worked on developing the devices and improvements. Faraday In 1831, Michael Faraday began a series of experiments in which he The relation was mathematically modelled by Faraday's law, which subsequently became one of the four Maxwell equations. Faraday's law of induction describes an important basic law of electromagnetism which is involved in the working of Transformers Inductors and many forms of In Classical electromagnetism, Maxwell's equations are a set of four Partial differential equations that describe the properties of the electric Faraday proposed that electromagnetic forces extended into the empty space around the conductor, but did not complete his work involving that proposal. James Clerk Maxwell was an experimenter with electromagnetic waves and developed the Maxwell equations. James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 &ndash 5 November 1879 was a Scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist. William Henry Ward Maxwell Between 1861 and 1865, James Clerk Maxwell made experiments with electromagnetic waves. James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 &ndash 5 November 1879 was a Scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist. In 1873, as a result of experiments, Maxwell first described the theoretical basis of the propagation of electromagnetic waves in his paper to the Royal Society, "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field. The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field which was written in the year 1864 is the third of James Clerk Maxwell 's papers concerned with Electromagnetism " Mahlon Loomis Mahlon Loomis of West Virginia has the oldest and most documented claim of inventing radio. Mahon Loomis ( 26 jylu 1826 Oppenhem - 13 october 1886 was an early Wireless Experimenter born in Oppenheim New York Biography LoomisWest Virginia ( is a state in the Appalachian Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Loomis received U.S. Patent 129,971 for a "wireless telegraph" in July 1872. This patent utilizes atmospheric electricity to eliminate the overhead wire used by the existing telegraph systems. Atmospheric electricity is the regular diurnal variations of the Earth 's atmospheric electromagnetic network (or more broadly any It did not contain diagrams or specific methods. It is substantially similar to William Henry Ward's patent. Edison (1875) Towards the end of 1875, while experimenting with the telegraph, Thomas Edison noted a phenomenon that he termed "etheric force", announcing it to the press on November 28. For the town in Argentina, see 28 de Noviembre. Events He abandoned this research when Elihu Thomson, among others, ridiculed the idea. Elihu Thomson ( March 29, 1853 &nbsp– March 13, 1937) was an engineer and Inventor who was instrumental in the founding David E. Hughes In 1878, David E. Hughes was the first to transmit and receive radio waves when he noticed that his induction balance caused noise in the receiver of his homemade telephone. David Edward Hughes ( 16 May 1831 &ndash 22 January 1900) coinventor of the Microphone, and an accomplished Welsh musicianMetal detectors use Electromagnetic induction to detect Metal.Basic principle A traditional landline telephone system also known as &quotplain old telephone service&quot (POTS, commonly handles both signaling and audio information He demonstrated his discovery to the Royal Society in 1880 but was told it was merely induction. Faraday's law of induction describes an important basic law of electromagnetism which is involved in the working of Transformers Inductors and many forms of Calzecchi-Onesti In 1884, Temistocle Calzecchi-Onesti at Fermo in Italy invented a primitive device that responded to radio waves. Temistocle Calzecchi Onesti ( December 14, 1853 &ndash November 25, 1922) was an Italian Physicist and inventor born atFermo (ancient Firmum Picenum) is a town and Comune of the Marche, Italy, previously in the Province of Ascoli It consisted of a tube filled with iron filings, called a "coherer". Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26coherer was a primitive form of radio signal detector used in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries consisting of a capsule of metal filings in the space between This device was a critical discovery because it would later be developed to become the first practical radio detector. A detector is a device that recovers Information of interest contained in a Modulated wave Edouard Branly Between 1884 and 1886, Edouard Branly of France produced an improved version of the coherer. coherer was a primitive form of radio signal detector used in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries consisting of a capsule of metal filings in the space between Edison (1885) In 1885, Edison took out U.S. Patent 465,971 on a system of radio communication between ships (which later he sold to Marconi). Marchese Guglielmo Marconi mar'koni (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937 was an Italian inventor best known for his development of a Radiotelegraph system Hertz Between 1886 and 1888, Heinrich Rudolf Hertz validated Maxwell's theory through experiment. Heinrich Rudolf Hertz ( February 22, 1857 – January 1, 1894) was a German physicist who clarified and expanded the electromagnetic theory He demonstrated that radio radiation had all the properties of waves (now called Hertzian waves), and discovered that the electromagnetic equations could be reformulated into a partial differential equation called the wave equation. A transverse wave is a moving Wave that consists of oscillations occurring perpendicular to the direction of energy transferIn Mathematics, partial differential equations ( PDE) are a type of Differential equation, iThe wave equation is an important second-order linear Partial differential equation that describes the propagation of a variety of Waves such as Sound waves But he saw no practical use for his discovery. For more information see Hertz's radio work. This article covers the main arguments about who had what part in the early development of radio Stubblefield Claims have been made that Murray, Kentucky farmer Nathan Stubblefield invented radio between 1885 and 1892, before either Tesla or Marconi, but his devices seemed to have worked by induction transmission rather than radio transmission. Murray is a city in Calloway County, Kentucky, United States.Nathan B Stubblefield ( November 22, 1860 - March 28, 1928) was an American Inventor and Kentucky melon farmerFaraday's law of induction describes an important basic law of electromagnetism which is involved in the working of Transformers Inductors and many forms of Radio propagation is a term used to explain how Radio waves behave when they are Transmitted, or are propagated from one point on the Earth Landell de Moura Between 1893 and 1894, Roberto Landell de Moura, a Brazilian priest and scientist, conducted experiments in wireless transmissions. Father Roberto Landell de Moura ( January 21, 1861 – June 30, 1928) was a Brazilian Roman Catholic priest and inventor who He did not publicize his achievement until 1900, when he held a public demonstration of a wireless transmission of voice in São Paulo, Brazil on June 3. Beginnings of radio There are varying disputed claims about who invented radio, which in the beginning was called "wireless telegraphy". This article covers the main arguments about who had what part in the early development of radioThe term Wireless Telegraphy is a historic term used today as applied to early Radio Telegraph communications techniques and practices The key invention for the beginning of "wireless transmission of data using the entire frequency spectrum", known as the spark-gap transmitter, has been attributed to various men. A spark-gap transmitter is a device for generating Radio frequency electromagnetic waves. Marconi equipped ships with lifesaving wireless communications and established the first transatlantic radio service. Tesla developed means to reliably produce radio frequency electrical currents, publicly demonstrated the principles of radio, and transmitted long distance signals. Nikola Tesla developed means to reliably produce radio frequencies, publicly demonstrated the principles of radio, and transmitted long distant signals. There have already been discussions about Tesla's ethnicity on the talk page He holds the US patent for the invention of the radio, as defined as "wireless transmission of data". Nikola Tesla In 1891 Tesla began his research into radio. He later published an article, "The True Wireless", concerning this research. [3] In 1892 he gave a lecture called "Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency", in London (Available at Project Gutenberg). [4] In 1893, at St. Louis, Missouri, Tesla gave a public demonstration of "wireless" radio communication. Wireless communication is the transfer of information over a distance without the use of electrical conductors or &quot Wires quot Addressing the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and the National Electric Light Association, he described in detail the principles of radio communication. This article is about the science museum in Philadelphia For the Boston school see Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology.Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiəThe National Electric Light Association ( NELA) was a national United States trade association including the Operators of central Power generation [5] The apparatus that Tesla used contained all the elements that were incorporated into radio systems before the development of the "oscillation valve", the early vacuum tube. This article is about the electronic device not an evacuated pipe used for experiments in Free-fall. Tesla was the first to apply the mechanism of electrical conduction to wireless practices. A mechanism is some technical aspect of a larger process or mechanical device or combination of parts designed to perform a particular functionElectrical conduction is the movement of electrically charged particles through a Transmission medium ( Electrical conductor) Also, he initially used sensitive electromagnetic receivers,[6] that were unlike the less responsive coherers later used by Marconi and other early experimenters. Electromagnetism is the Physics of the Electromagnetic field: a field which exerts a Force on particles that possess the property ofcoherer was a primitive form of radio signal detector used in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries consisting of a capsule of metal filings in the space between Afterwards, the principle of radio communication (sending signals through space to receivers) was publicized widely. This article is about a radio receiver for other uses see Radio (disambiguation. Various scientists, inventors, and experimenters began to investigate wireless methods. He was re-awarded the patent rights, after holding them initially, for radio by the United States Supreme Court after his death in 1943. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. For more information see Tesla's wireless work. This article covers the main arguments about who had what part in the early development of radio Oliver Lodge Oliver Lodge transmitted radio signals on August 14, 1894 (one year after Tesla, five years after Heinrich Hertz and one year before Marconi) at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford University. Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge, FRS ( June 12, 1851 - August 22, 1940) born at Penkhull in Stoke-on-Trent and educatedEvents 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a CommonHeinrich Rudolf Hertz ( February 22, 1857 – January 1, 1894) was a German physicist who clarified and expanded the electromagnetic theoryThe University of Oxford (informally &quotOxford University&quot or simply &quotOxford&quot located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the [7] (In 1995, the Royal Society recognized this scientific breakthrough at a special ceremony at Oxford University. The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 For more information, see Past Years: An Autobiography, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p231. ) On 19 August1894 Lodge demonstrated the reception of Morse code signalling via radio waves using a "coherer". Events 43 BC - Octavian, later known as Augustus compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul.Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a CommonMorse code is a Character encoding for transmitting telegraphic information using standardized sequences of short and long elements to represent the letters numeralscoherer was a primitive form of radio signal detector used in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries consisting of a capsule of metal filings in the space between He improved Edouard Branly's coherer radio wave detector by adding a "trembler" which dislodged clumped filings, thus restoring the device's sensitivity. [8] In August 1898 he got U.S. Patent 609,154, "Electric Telegraphy", that made wireless signals using Ruhmkorff coils or Tesla coils for the transmitter and a Branly coherer for the detector. An induction coil or &quotspark coil&quot ( archaically known as a Ruhmkorff coil) is a type of Disruptive discharge Coil.A Tesla coil is a type of resonant transformer circuit invented by Serbian-American scientist Nikola Tesla around 1891 This was key to the "syntonic" tuning concept. Syntonic is the second album by Kon Kan, released in 1990 Track listing "Liberty!&quot 459 "I Told You So&quot 407 In 1912 Lodge sold the patent to Marconi. Jagdish Chandra Bose In November 1894, the BengaliIndian physicist, Jagdish Chandra Bose, demonstrated publicly the use of radio waves in Calcutta, but he was not interested in patenting his work. The Bengali people are the ethnic community from Bengal (divided between Bangladesh and India) on the Indian subcontinent with a history datingIndia has several socio-political historical and geographical meanings [9] Bose ignited gunpowder and rang a bell at a distance using electromagnetic waves, proving that communication signals can be sent without using wires. The 1895 public demonstration by Bose in Calcutta was before Marconi's wireless signalling experiment on Salisbury Plain in England in May 1897. Salisbury Plain is a Chalk Plateau in central southern England covering.[10][11] In 1896, the Daily Chronicle of England reported on his UHF experiments: "The inventor (J. The Daily Chronicle was a London Newspaper company in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1872 C. Bose) has transmitted signals to a distance of nearly a mile and herein lies the first and obvious and exceedingly valuable application of this new theoretical marvel. " Alexander Popov Popov was the first man to demonstrate the practical applications of radio waves. In 1895, the Russian physicist Alexander Popov built a coherercoherer was a primitive form of radio signal detector used in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries consisting of a capsule of metal filings in the space between On May 7, 1895, Popov performed a public demonstration of transmission and reception of radio waves used for communication at the Russian Physical and Chemical Society, using his coherer:[12] this day has since been celebrated in Russia as "Radio Day". Events 558 - In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapsesYear 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common yearRussia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extendingRadio Day ( Russian: День радио Den' Radio) Communications Workers' Day (as it is officially known in Russia) or Radio and Television He did not apply for a patent for this invention. Popov's early experiments were transmissions of only 600 yards. Popov was the first to develop a practical communication system based on the coherer, and is usually considered by the Russians to have been the inventor of radio. [13][14] Around March 1896 Popov demonstrated in public the transmission of radio waves, between different campus buildings, to the Saint Petersburg Physical Society. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River (This was before the public demonstration of the Marconi system around September 1896). Per other accounts, however, Popov achieved these results only in December, 1897; that is, after publication of Marconi's patent. [15] In 1898 his signal was received 6 miles away, and in 1899 30 miles away. In 1900, Popov stated at the Congress of Russian Electrical Engineers that, "the emission and reception of signals by Marconi by means of electric oscillations was nothing new, as in America Nikola Tesla did the same experiments in 1893. There have already been discussions about Tesla's ethnicity on the talk page "[16][17] Later Popov experimented with ship-to-shore communication. Popov died in 1905 and his claim was not pressed by the Russian government until 1945. Around 1895: 3-way near photofinish for first use of radio In February 1893, Tesla delivers "On Light and Other High Frequency Phenomena" before the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. In 1895, Marconi receives a telegraph message without wires a short distance (below a mile), but he did not send his voice over the airwaves. In March 1895, Popov transmitted radio waves between campus buildings in Saint Petersburg, but did not apply for a patent. A campus is traditionally the land on which a College or University and related institutional buildings are situatedSaint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River A patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an In 1896, Tesla detected transmissions from his New York lab of low frequency (50,000 cycle per second) undamped waves with a receiver located at West Point, "a distance of about 30 miles. Low Frequency or LF refers to Radio Frequencies (RF in the range of 30 kHz&ndash300 kHzThe hertz (symbol Hz) is a measure of Frequency, informally defined as the number of events occurring per Second.A continuous wave or continuous waveform ( CW) is an Electromagnetic wave of constant Amplitude and Frequency; and in Mathematical&quotUSMA&quot redirects here For other uses see USMA (disambiguation The United States Military Academy (also known as USMA, " [18] Ernest Rutherford The New Zealander Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson was instrumental in the development of radio. Ernest Rutherford 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, OM, PC, FRS (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937 was a New Zealand Physicist In 1895 he was awarded an Exhibition of 1851 Science Research Scholarship to Cambridge. The Great Exhibition, also known as Crystal Palace, was an international exhibition that was held in Hyde Park, London, England, from 1 He arrived in England with a reputation as an innovator and inventor, and distinguished himself in several fields, initially by working out the electrical properties of solids and then using wireless waves as a method of signalling. Rutherford was encouraged in his work by Sir Robert Ball, who had been scientific adviser to the body maintaining lighthouses on the Irish coast; he wished to solve the difficult problem of a ship's inability to detect a lighthouse in fog. Sir Robert Stawell Ball ( July 1, 1840 – November 25, 1913) was an Irish astronomer.A lighthouse is a Tower, building or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or in older times from a fire and used as an Sensing fame and fortune, Rutherford increased the sensitivity of his apparatus until he could detect electromagnetic waves over a distance of several hundred meters. The commercial development, though, of wireless technology was left for others, as Rutherford continued purely scientific research. Thomson quickly realised that Rutherford was a researcher of exceptional ability and invited him to join in a study of the electrical conduction of gases. Marconi Guglielmo Marconi was an electrical engineer and Nobel laureate known for the development of a practical wireless telegraphy system. Marchese Guglielmo Marconi mar'koni (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937 was an Italian inventor best known for his development of a Radiotelegraph system In 1896, Guglielmo Marconi was awarded a patent for radio with BritishPatent 12039, Improvements in Transmitting Electrical Impulses and Signals and in Apparatus There-for. Marchese Guglielmo Marconi mar'koni (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937 was an Italian inventor best known for his development of a Radiotelegraph systemThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state locatedA patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an This was the initial patent for the radio, though it used various earlier techniques of various other experimenters (primarily Tesla) and resembled the instrument demonstrated by others (including Popov). During this time spark-gap wireless telegraphy was widely researched. In 1896, Bose went to London on a lecture tour and met Marconi, who was conducting wireless experiments for the British post office. In 1897, Marconi established the radio station at Niton, Isle of Wight, England. Niton is a village on the Isle of Wight, near Ventnor with a thriving population of approximately 3000 supporting two pubs, several Churches,England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland In 1897, Tesla applied for two key radio patents in the USA. Those two patents were issued in early 1900. In 1898, Marconi opened a radio factory in Hall Street, Chelmsford, England, employing around 50 people. Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. In 1899, Bose announced his invention of the "iron-mercury-iron coherer with telephone detector" in a paper presented at Royal Society, London. Julio Cervera Baviera Julio Cervera Baviera Recent studies in Spain credit Julio Cervera Baviera as the inventor of the radio (in 1902). Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.Julio Cervera Baviera ( January 26, 1854 —ca 1929 was a Spanish Engineer, pioneer in the development of Radio, educator explorer[19][20] Cervera Baviera obtained patents in England, Germany, Belgium, and Spain. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland In May-June 1899, Cervera had, with the blessing of the Spanish Army, visited Marconi's radiotelegraphic installations on the English Channel, and worked to develop his own system. The Spanish Army ( Ejército de Tierra in Spanish; literally &quotLand Army&quot is one of oldest active armies in the world and a branch of the Spanish He began collaborating with Marconi on resolving the problem of a wireless communication system, obtaining some patents by the end of 1899. A patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an Year 1899 ( MDCCCXCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common. [21 Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year startingYear 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year startingTarifa is a small town on the southernmost coast of the Iberian Peninsula.Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain located on the Mediterranean, on the North African side of the Strait of Gibraltar, whichCap de la Nau, Cabo de la Nao in Spanish literally Cape of the Ship, is a headland Ibiza (Eivissa is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea about 80 km off the coast of Spain This is after Marconi established the radiotelegraphic service between the Isle of Wight and Bournemouth in 1898. The Isle of Wight is an English Island and county in the English Channel between three and five miles (8 km from the south coast of theBournemouth ( is a large coastal resort town in the Borough of Bournemouth in Dorset, England.Year 1898 ( MDCCCXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common In 1906, Domenico Mazzotto wrote: "In Spain the Minister of War has applied the system perfected by the commander of military engineering, Julio Cervera Baviera (English patent No. Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year startingA defence minister (or defense minister) is a Cabinet position which regulates the Armed forces in some sovereign nations 20084 (1899)). "[22] Cervera thus achieved some success in this field, but his radiotelegraphic activities ceased suddenly, the reasons for which are unclear to this day. [23] Turn of the century Around the turn of the century, the Slaby-Arco wireless system was developed by Adolf Slaby and Georg von Arco (later incorporated into Telefunken). Turn of the Century is a Novel by Kurt Andersen It was published in 1999 by Random House.Adolf Karl Heinrich Slaby ( April 18 1849 &mdash April 6 1913) was a German Wireless pioneer and the firstGeorg Wilhelm Alexander Hans Graf von Arco ( August 30, 1869 &ndash May 5, 1940) was a German Physicist, RadioTelefunken is a German radio and television company founded in 1903 in Berlin, as a joint venture of two large companies Siemens & Halske (S & H and In 1900, Reginald Fessenden made a weak transmission of voice over the airwaves. Reginald Aubrey Fessenden ( October 6, 1866 &ndash July 22, 1932) born in East Bolton, Quebec, Canada, was Around 1900, Tesla opened the Wardenclyffe Tower facility and advertised services. Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar Wardenclyffe Tower (1901 &ndash 1917 also known as the Tesla Tower, was an early Wireless Telecommunications Aerial tower designed by In 1901, Marconi conducted the first successful transatlantic experimental radio communications. In 1903, Wardenclyffe Tower neared completion. Various theories exist on how Tesla intended to achieve the goals of this wireless system (reportedly, a 200 kW system). Tesla claimed that Wardenclyffe, as part of a World System of transmitters, would have allowed secure multichannel transceiving of information, universal navigation, time synchronization, and a global location system. In 1904, The U.S. Patent Office reversed its decision, awarding Marconi a patent for the invention of radio, possibly influenced by Marconi's financial backers in the States, who included Thomas Edison and Andrew Carnegie. The United States Patent and Trademark Office ( PTO or USPTO) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues Patents to This also allowed the U. S. government (among others) to avoid having to pay the royalties that were being claimed by Tesla for use of his patents. For more information see Marconi's radio work. This article covers the main arguments about who had what part in the early development of radio In 1907, Marconi established the first commercial transatlantic radio communications service, between Clifden, Ireland and Glace Bay, Newfoundland. Clifden (An Clochán meaning &quotbee-hive cell&quot is a town on the coast of County Galway, Ireland and being Connemara 's largest town it is oftenIreland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the worldGlace Bay (2001 pop 16984 is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British dominion from 1907 (before which the territory had the status of a British colony to 1949 Early radio telegraphy and telephony Donald Manson working as an employee of the Marconi Company (England, 1906) British Marconi Using various patents, the company called British Marconi was established and began communication between coast radio stations and ships at sea. A patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an The Marconi Company Ltd was founded by Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 as The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company (sometimes presented as WirelessCoast radio station is a maritime Radio station situated on shore which monitors radio Distress frequencies and relays ship-to-ship and ship-to-land This company along with its subsidiary American Marconi, had a stranglehold on ship to shore communication. It operated much the way American Telephone and Telegraph operated until 1983, owning all of its equipment and refusing to communicate with non-Marconi equipped ships. Before proposing a merge request please see Talk and see if the merger you propose has recently been made and Many inventions improved the quality of radio, and amateurs experimented with uses of radio, thus the first seeds of broadcasting were planted. Reginald Fessenden The invention of amplitude-modulated (AM) radio, so that more than one station can send signals (as opposed to spark-gap radio, where one transmitter covers the entire bandwidth of the spectrum) is attributed to Reginald Fessenden and Lee de Forest. Reginald Aubrey Fessenden ( October 6, 1866 &ndash July 22, 1932) born in East Bolton, Quebec, Canada, wasLee De Forest, ( August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American Inventor with over 300 patents to his credit On Christmas Eve 1906, Reginald Fessenden used an Alexanderson alternator and rotary spark-gap transmitter to make the first radio audio broadcast, from Brant Rock, Massachusetts. Christmas Eve, December 24, is the day before Christmas Day, the celebrated birthday of Jesus.Reginald Aubrey Fessenden ( October 6, 1866 &ndash July 22, 1932) born in East Bolton, Quebec, Canada, wasAn Alexanderson alternator is a rotating machine invented by Ernst Alexanderson for the generation of high frequency Alternating current up to 100 kHzA spark-gap transmitter is a device for generating Radio frequency electromagnetic waves.Ocean Bluff and Brant Rock are two villages in the town of Marshfield in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States Ships at sea heard a broadcast that included Fessenden playing O Holy Night on the violin and reading a passage from the Bible. &quot O Holy Night &quot (&quot Cantique de Noël &quot is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poemThe violin is a bowed String instrument with four strings usually tuned in Perfect fifths It is the smallest and highest-pitched memberEtymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Karl Braun In 1909, Marconi and Karl Ferdinand Braun were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for "contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy". Karl Ferdinand Braun ( 6 June 1850 in Fulda, Germany &ndash 20 April 1918 in New York City, UThe Nobel Prize in Physics (Nobelpriset i fysik is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Charles David Herrold In April 1909 Charles David Herrold, an electronics instructor in San Jose, California constructed a broadcasting station. Charles David 'Doc' Herrold, ( November 16, 1875 – July 1, 1948) was an American Radio broadcasting It used spark gap technology, but modulated the carrier frequency with the human voice, and later music. A spark gap consists of an arrangement of two conducting Electrodes separated by a gap usually filled with a Gas such as Air See Silicon Valley for a discussion of the technological aspects of the Santa Clara Valley (The term "broadcasting" had been used in farming to define the tossing of seed in all directions. ) An omnidirectional antenna is an antenna system which radiates power uniformly in one plane with a directive pattern shape in a perpendicular plane Herrold also claims to be the first broadcaster to accept advertising (he exchanged publicity for a local record store for records to play on his station), though this dubious honour usually is foisted on WEAF (1922). Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular BrandWEAF (1130 AM) is a Gospel music formatted Radio station in Camden South Carolina. RMS Titanic (April 2, 1912). In 1912, the RMS Titanic sank in the northern Atlantic Ocean. Construction The Titanic was a White Star Line ocean liner built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland The Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS is the most important treaty protecting the safety of merchant ships A typical high-power spark gap was a rotating commutator with six to twelve contacts per wheel, nine inches to a foot wide, driven by about 2000 volts DC. The volt (symbol V) is the SI derived unit of electric Potential difference or Electromotive force. As the gaps made and broke contact, the radio wave was audible as a tone in a crystal set. The telegraph key often directly made and broke the 2000 volt supply. One side of the spark gap was directly connected to the antenna. Receivers with thermionic valves became commonplace before spark-gap transmitters were replaced by continuous wave transmitters. This article is about the electronic device not an evacuated pipe used for experiments in Free-fall Events 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion.Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year The company later became the first to broadcast on a daily schedule, and the first to broadcast radio dance programs, university professor lectures, the weather, and bedtime stories [24]. Other innovators Many scientists and inventors contributed to the invention of wireless telegraphy and telephony. An inventor is a person who creates or discovers a new method form device or other useful means Individuals that helped to further the science include, among others: Michael Faraday: Joseph Henry: transmitted radiant energy from a capacitor through a coil and detected it 100 feet away, December 1840. Joseph Henry ( December 17 1797 &ndash May 13 1878) was an American scientist who served as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Charles Herrold: advanced radio broadcasting. Charles David 'Doc' Herrold, ( November 16, 1875 – July 1, 1948) was an American Radio broadcasting David E. Hughes: early experiments with transmission and reception. David Edward Hughes ( 16 May 1831 &ndash 22 January 1900) coinventor of the Microphone, and an accomplished Welsh musician Mahlon Loomis: first to use the combination of an aerial wire and ground connection. Mahon Loomis ( 26 jylu 1826 Oppenhem - 13 october 1886 was an early Wireless Experimenter born in Oppenheim New York Biography Loomis Guglielmo Marconi: commercialized radio. Marchese Guglielmo Marconi mar'koni (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937 was an Italian inventor best known for his development of a Radiotelegraph system Jozef Murgaš: extensive work in the late 1890s. Jozef Murgaš ( English Joseph Murgas) ( 17 February 1864 &ndash 11 May 1929) was a Slovak Inventor G. W. Pierce: circuits for crystal oscillators for fixed-frequency operation. George Washington Pierce ( January 11, 1872 - August 25, 1956) was an American Physicist.A crystal oscillator is an Electronic circuit that uses the mechanical Resonance of a vibrating Crystal of piezoelectric material to create an William Henry Preece: early experiments in electromagnetism and wireless telephony. Sir William Henry Preece ( February 15[[ 834]]- November 6 1913) was a Welsh Electrical engineer and Inventor. Augusto Righi: continued Hertz's experiments. Augusto Righi ( 27 August 1850 – 8 June 1920) was an Italian Physicist and pioneer of the study of Electromagnetism Harry Shoemaker: 1901 to 1905; 40 patents. Adolphus Slaby: European pioneer. Adolf Karl Heinrich Slaby ( April 18 1849 &mdash April 6 1913) was a German Wireless pioneer and the first John Stone Stone: 1901 to 1904; 70 patents. John Stone Stone ( September 24, 1869 &ndash May 20, 1943) was an American mathematician, Physicist Audio broadcasting (1919 to 1950s) Crystal sets The most common type of receiver before vacuum tubes was the crystal set, although some early radios used some type of amplification through electric current or battery. Old-Time Radio (OTR and the Golden Age of Radio refer to a period of Radio programming lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until Inventions of the triode amplifier, motor-generator, and detector enabled audio radio. This article is about the electronic device not an evacuated pipe used for experiments in Free-fall.A motor-generator (an M-G set or a dynamotor for Dynamo -motor is a device for converting electrical power to another formA detector is a device that recovers Information of interest contained in a Modulated wave Amplitude modulation ( AM) is a technique used in electronic communication most commonly for transmitting information via a Radio Carrier wave Lee De Forest, ( August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American Inventor with over 300 patents to his creditThe first vacuum tubes During the mid 1920s, amplifying vacuum tubes (or thermionic valves in the UK) revolutionized radio receivers and transmitters. ThisJohn Ambrose Fleming developed an earlier tube known as an "oscillation valve" (it was a diode). Sir John Ambrose Fleming ( November 29, 1849 - April 18, 1945) was an English Electrical engineer and PhysicistDioden2jpg\|thumb\|right\|150px\|Figure 2 Various semiconductor diodesLee De Forest placed a screen, the "grid" electrode, between the filament and plate electrode. Lee De Forest, ( August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American Inventor with over 300 patents to his credit The Dutch engineer Hanso Schotanus à Steringa Idzerda made the first regular wireless broadcast for entertainment from his home in The Hague on 6 November1919. Events 355 - Roman Emperor Constantius II promotes his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him withYear 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common He broadcast his popular program four nights per week until 1924 when he ran into financial troubles. On 27 August1920, regular wireless broadcasts for entertainment began in Argentina, pioneered by the group around Enrique Telémaco Susini, and spark gap telegraphy stopped. Events 479 BC - Greco-Persian Wars: Persian forces led by Mardonius are routed by Pausanias, the Spartan Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendarFor a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics.Enrique Telémaco Susini ( January 31, 1891 - July 4, 1972) was an Argentine Entrepreneur and media pioneerA spark gap consists of an arrangement of two conducting Electrodes separated by a gap usually filled with a Gas such as Air. On 31 August1920 the first known radio news program was broadcast by station 8MK, the unlicensed predecessor of WWJ (AM) in Detroit, Michigan. Events 1056 - Byzantine Empress Theodora becomes ill dying suddenly a few days later without children to succeed the Throne Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendarWWJ (Newsradio 950 is Detroit, Michigan 's only 24-hour All-news radio station In 1922 regular wireless broadcasts for entertainment began in the UK from the Marconi Research Centre 2MT at Writtle near Chelmsford, England. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state locatedMarchese Guglielmo Marconi mar'koni (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937 was an Italian inventor best known for his development of a Radiotelegraph system2MT was the first British Radio station to make regular entertainment broadcastsThe village of Writtle lies in Essex England, just two miles to the west of Chelmsford.Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. Early radios ran the entire power of the transmitter through a carbon microphone. The carbon Microphone, also known as a carbon button microphone (or sometimes just a button microphone) or a carbon transmitter, is a sound-to-electrical In the 1920s, the Westinghouse company bought Lee De Forest's and Edwin Armstrong's patent. Founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse.Lee De Forest, ( August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American Inventor with over 300 patents to his creditEdwin Howard Armstrong ( December 18, 1890 &ndash January 31, 1954) was an American Electrical engineer and Inventor During the mid 1920s, Amplifying vacuum tubes (US)/thermionic valves (UK) revolutionized radio receivers and transmitters. This article is about the electronic device not an evacuated pipe used for experiments in Free-fall.This Westinghouse engineers developed a more modern vacuum tube. Licensed commercial public radio stations The question of the 'first' publicly-targeted licensed radio station in the U. S KDKA (1020 AM) is a Radio station in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and is often said to be the oldest commercial radio station in the United States (Their engineer Frank Conrad had been broadcasting from his own station since 1916. Frank Conrad (1874 &ndash 1941 was a Radio Broadcasting pioneer who worked as the Assistant Chief Engineer for the Westinghouse Electric Company in ) Technically, KDKA was the first of several already-extant stations to receive a 'limited commercial' license. On February 17, 1919, station 9XM at the University of Wisconsin in Madison had already broadcast the first human speech to the public at large. Events 1500 - Battle of Hemmingstedt. 1600 - Philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive at Campo de' FioriYear 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common That station is still on the air today as WHA. WHA (970 AM) is the oldest continually-operating Radio station in the United States. 9XM sent music over the air two years earlier, was originally licensed in 1914 and sent its first transmission in 1916. On August 20, 1920, at least two months before KDKA, E.W. Scripps's WBL (now WWJ) in Detroit started broadcasting. Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and PalestineYear 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendarEdward Willis Scripps ( June 18, 1854 &ndash March 12, 1926) was an American Newspaper Publisher and founderWWJ (Newsradio 950 is Detroit, Michigan 's only 24-hour All-news radio station It has carried a regular schedule of programming to the present. There is the history noted above of Charles David Herrold's radio services (eventually KCBS) going back to 1909. Charles David 'Doc' Herrold, ( November 16, 1875 – July 1, 1948) was an American Radio broadcasting Broadcasting was not yet supported by advertising or listener sponsorship. Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand The stations owned by manufacturers and department stores were established to sell radios and those owned by newspapers to sell newspapers and express the opinions of the owners. In the 1920s, Radio was first used to transmit pictures visible as television. During the early 1930s, single sideband (SSB) and frequency modulation (FM) were invented by amateur radio operators. Single-sideband modulation ( SSB) is a refinement of Amplitude modulation that more efficiently uses electrical power and bandwidth. By 1940, they were established commercial modes. Westinghouse was brought into the patent allies group, General Electric, American Telephone and Telegraph, and Radio Corporation of America, and became a part owner of RCA. Before proposing a merge request please see Talk and see if the merger you propose has recently been made andRCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986 All radios made by GE and Westinghouse were sold under the RCA label 60% GE and 40% Westinghouse. ATT's Western Electric would build radio transmitters. Western Electric Company (sometimes abbreviated WE and WECo) was an American Electrical engineering company the manufacturing armDates of first radio stations This is a listing of radio stations in broadcast networks. The United States of America —commonly referred to as theThe Federal Radio Commission ( FRC) was a government body that regulated Radio use in the United States from its creation in 1927 until its replacementA soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio.This article is about radio broadcasting for other uses see Radio (disambiguation. The earliest radio stations were simply radio telegraph systems which did not carry audio are not listed. The included first radio station encompass AM and FM stations; these Charles Herrold started broadcasting from a station in California in 1909 and was carrying audio by 1910. Note Some of the dates listed here may not be accurate. Feel free to make corrections to either of the lists. USA and Canadian territory This list includes the United States of America, the republic composed of 50 states, one federal district, and several insular territories, and the Canadian provinces, which consists of ten provinces with three territories. The United States of America —commonly referred to as theThe provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second largest country in total area. Other countries This list includes countries outside of the United States of America and the Canadian provinces. Alabama (formally the State of Alabama;) is a State located in the southern region of the United States of America.The Alaska Territory was an incorporated territory of the United States from 1912 to 1959Alberta (ælˈbɝtə is one of Canada's prairie provinces. It became a province on September 1 1905The State of Arizona ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States.Arkansas ( is a state located in the southern region of the United States.British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique CGuam ( Chamorro: cha Guåhån) officially the Territory of Guam, is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized unincorporatedThe Territory of Hawaii, abbreviated officially as TH, was established on July 7, 1898 and dissolved on August 21, 1959 when Nevada ( is a state located in the western region of the United States of America.New Brunswick ( French: Nouveau-Brunswick /nuvobʁɔnzwik/ is one of Canada 's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionallyNorth Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United StatesNorth Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern and Western regions of the United States of America. Nova Scotia (ˌnəʊvəˈskəʊʃə ( Latin for New Scotland; Alba Nuadh Nouvelle-Écosse is a Canadian province located on Canada 'sOhio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroadsOklahoma ( is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America.Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.The Panama Canal Zone (Zona del Canal de Panamá was a 553 square mile (1432 km² territory inside of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generallyThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the NortheasternThe Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP Prince Edward Island (ˌprɪns ˌɛdwɚd ˈaɪlɨnd ( PEI or PPQuebec (kwɨˈbɛkRhode Island ( officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United StatesSaskatchewan (səˈskætʃəwən) is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of 588276 (Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D populated state in the western region of the United States.Yukon (ˈjuːkɒn is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three territories.In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity FM and television start In 1933, FM radio was patented by inventor Edwin H. Armstrong. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the NetherlandsFor a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics.British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula that were colonized by the British from the 18th and the 19th until the 20th centuryUruguay.(official full name in República Oriental del Uruguay;, Oriental Republic of Uruguay) is a country located in the southeastern part of South AmericaSri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an IslandThis article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islandsGermany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia.China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as thoseItaly (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largestSee http//enwikipediaorg/wiki/WikipediaFootnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the tags and the template belowAustria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia ( Eesti or Eesti Vabariik) is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region LithuaniaPoland (Polska officially the Republic of PolandNorway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics.For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic JapanLatvia ( Latvija officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republika is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region.Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America.Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula.RomaniaThe Netherlands Antilles ( Dutch:) previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of the Lesser Antilles British Guiana was the name of the British Colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The Free City of Danzig ( German: Freie Stadt Danzig; Polish: Wolne Miasto Gdańsk) was an autonomous Baltic Sea port andGuatemala (República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west the Pacific Ocean to the southwest Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in theLesotho (lɪˈsuːtuː &mdash had been populated by Khoi Khoi (Qhuaique for possibly as long as 40000 yearsThe Belgian Congo ( Dutch: Belgisch Kongo French: Congo Belge German: Belgisch Kongo was the formal title of present-day Democratic RepublicThe Republic of Bolivia (República de Bolivia) named after Simón Bolívar, is a Landlocked country in central South America.Netherlands New Guinea was the official name of Western New Guinea while it was a colonial possession of the Netherlands.Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat meaning &quotLand of the Greenlanders&quot Grønland is a self-governing Danish Province located between the Haiti ( English: ˈheɪ·tiː or haɪ·ˈjiː·tiː French Haïti a·i·ti Haitian Creole: Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the southLiberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d'IvoireSaint Helena (pronounced saint he-LEE-na) named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin and a British overseas territory Singapore Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam byTurkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretchesFirst French interventions See also France-Vietnam relations France-Vietnam relations started as early as the 17th century with the mission of the Jesuit Honduras in Spanish, República de Honduras) is a democratic republic in Central America.Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and bordersMorocco (المغرب &quotal-Maghrib&quot officially the Kingdom of Morocco (المملكة المغربية is a country located in North Africa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa, is a country governing the western part of the Samoan Islands Archipelago in the South Pacific OceanThe state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First BulgarianNorth Yemen is a term currently used to designate both the Yemen Arab Republic (1962–1990 and its predecessor the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of YemenBritish Honduras was the former name of what is now the independent nation of Belize and was a British colony on the east coast of CentralBa (officially The Bermuda Islands or The Somers Isles) is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean.Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland (For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics.Tunisia (تونس Tūnis officially the Tunisian Republic ( is a country located in North Africa.Vatican City, officially the State of the Vatican City (Stato della Città del Vaticano is a Landlocked sovereign City-state whose territoryNOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk pageMadagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeasternFor a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Ecuador topics.The British Leeward Islands was a British colony existing between 1833 and 1960 and consisting of Antigua, Barbuda, the British Virgin IslandsFrench West Africa ( Afrique occidentale française, AOF) was a Federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic MacauSouthern Rhodesia was the name of the British Colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa, and known today as ZimbabweThe British Windward Islands was a British colony existing between 1833 and 1960 and consisting of the islands of Grenada, St Lucia, Saint VincentMongolia (mɒŋˈɡoʊliə, literally Mongol country/nation,) is a Landlocked Country in East Papua New Guinea (or ˈpæpjuːə in Tok Pisin: Papua Niugini) officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in OceaniaSierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa.Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( Catalan: Principat d'Andorra) is a small Landlocked country in western Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Repubblika ta' Malta is a European Microstate, comprising an Archipelago of three islandsParaguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay ( Spanish: República del Paraguay; Guaraní: Tetã Paraguái) is one of the onlyThe Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an independent sovereign English -speaking country consisting of two thousand Cays andFor a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics.The Gilbert and Ellice Islands were a British Protectorate from 1892 and colony from 1916 until 1 January 1976 when the islands were dividedThis article is about the country in southern Europe For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic AlbaniaFrench Equatorial Africa ( Afrique équatoriale française, AEF) was the federation of French colonial possessions in Middle Africa, extendingLibya ( ليبيا ar-Latn Lībiyā; Libyan vernacular: Lībya; Amazigh:) officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Aden (ˈeɪdən Arabic: عدن) is a city in Yemen, 170 kilometers east of Bab-el-Mandeb.The Bechuanaland Protectorate (BP was a protectorate established on March 31, 1885, by the United Kingdom in Southern Africa.British Somaliland was a British Protectorate in the north part of the Horn of Africa.For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics.Anglo-Egyptian Sudan referred to the manner by which Sudan was administered between 1899 and 1956, when it was a condominium of Egypt The Kingdom of Bahrain (in مملكة البحرين,, literally Kingdom of the Two Seas) is an Island country in the Persian GulfNorthern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 bySyria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السوريةSpanish Guinea was an African Colony of Spain that became the independent nation of Equatorial Guinea.The Emirate of Transjordan ( Arabic: ar إمارة شرق الأردن) was a former Ottoman territory incorporated into the British Mandate of PalestineNepal (नेपाल) is a Landlocked country in South Asia.São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an Island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorialThe Republic of Cape Verde ( Portuguese: Cabo Verde, 'kabu 'veɾdɨ is a Republic located on an Archipelago in the Macaronesia The State of Kuwait ( دولة الكويت IPA [dawlatt̪ alkuwajt̪]) is a sovereign Arab Emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosedTanganyika is the name of an East African territory lying between the largest of the African great lakes Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake TanganyikaPortuguese Timor was the name of East Timor when it was under Portuguese controlThe Maldives ( or, or Maldive Islands) officially the Republic of Maldives, is an Island nation consisting of a group of atolls stretchingNauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, is an Island nation in the Micronesian South Pacific.Qatar ( قطر; ˈqɑtˁɑr local pronunciation giṭar officially the State of Qatar (Arabic دولة قطر transliteratedSouth-West Africa (Afrikaans Suidwes-Afrika; German Südwestafrika) was the name of what is today the Republic of Namibia.Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman ( Arabic: سلطنة عُمان) is an Arab Country in Southwest Asia on the southeastThe Kingdom of Bhutan (buːˈtɑːn is a Landlocked nation in South Asia.See also Frequency modulation, FM band FM broadcasting is a broadcast Technology invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong thatEdwin Howard Armstrong ( December 18, 1890 &ndash January 31, 1954) was an American Electrical engineer and Inventor FM uses frequency modulation of the radio wave to minimize static and interference from electrical equipment and the atmosphere, in the audio program. White noise is a random signal (or process with a flat Power spectral density. In 1937, W1XOJ, the first experimental FM radio station, was granted a construction permit by the FCC. In the 1930s, standard analog television transmissions started in Europe, and then in the 1940s in North America. Marconi/Tesla priority dispute In 1943, Tesla's patent (number 645576) was reinstated as holding priority in the "invention" of modern radio by the U.S. Supreme Court shortly after Tesla's death. This article covers the main arguments about who had what part in the early development of radioBelow is a list of Tesla patents. Dr Nikola Tesla was an Inventor who obtained around 300 Patents ref>Snezana Sarbo Tesla's Patents, SixthThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. The validity of the patent was never in question in the case. This decision was based on the fact that prior art existed before the establishment of Marconi's patent. Ignoring Tesla's prior art, the decision may have enabled the U. Prior art (also known as or State of the art, which also has other meanings in most systems of Patent law constitutes all Information that S. government to avoid having to pay damages that were being claimed by the Marconi Company for use of its patents during World War I (as, it is speculated, the government's initial reversal to grant Marconi the patent right in order to nullify any claims Tesla had for compensation). World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All FM in Europe After World War II, the FM radio broadcast was introduced in Germany. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, includingSee also Frequency modulation, FM band FM broadcasting is a broadcast Technology invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong thatGermany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. In 1948, a new wavelength plan was set up for Europe at a meeting Because of the recent war, Germany (which did not exist as a state and so was not invited) was only given a small number of medium-wave frequencies, which are not very good for broadcasting. Medium Wave (MW is a part of the Medium frequency (MF radio band used mainly for AM broadcasting. For this reason Germany began broadcasting on UKW ("Ultrakurzwelle", i. e. ultra short wave, nowadays called VHF) which was not covered by the Copenhagen plan. Very high frequency (VHF is the Radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. After some amplitude modulation experience with VHF, it was realized that FM radio was a much better alternative for VHF radio than AM. Amplitude modulation ( AM) is a technique used in electronic communication most commonly for transmitting information via a Radio Carrier wave In Electronics, a transistor is a Semiconductor device commonly used to amplify or switch electronic signalsThe Regency TR-1, announced on October 18, 1954 by the Regency Division of I 5V Battery". In the early 1960s, VOR systems finally became widespread for aircraft navigation; before that, aircraft used commercial AM radio stations for navigation. This article is about the radio navigation aid see VOR for other uses (AM stations are still marked on U. S. aviation charts). Aviation refers to activities involving man-made flying devices ( Aircraft) including the people organizations and regulatory bodies involved with them In 1960 Sony introduced their first transistorized radio, small enough to fit in a vest pocket, and able to be powered by a small battery. is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest Media conglomerates with It was durable, because there were no tubes to burn out. Over the next twenty years, transistors displaced tubes almost completely except for very high power, or very high frequency, uses. Color television and digital 1963: Color television was commercially transmitted, and the first (radio) communication satellite, Telstar, was launched. A communications satellite (sometimes abbreviated to comsat) is an artificial Satellite stationed in space for the purposes of Telecommunications.Telstar was the first active Communications satellite (launched in 1962 and the first Satellite designed to transmit telephone and high-speed data communications Late 1960s: The USA long-distance telephone network began to convert to a digital network, employing digital radios for many of its links. Digital radio describes Radio technologies which carry Information as a Digital signal, by means of a Digital modulation method 1970s: LORAN became the premier radio navigation system. LORAN ( LO ng R ange A id to N avigation is a terrestrial Radio navigation system using Low frequency Radio transmitters Soon, the U. S. Navy experimented with satellite navigation. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS is the standard generic term for satellite navigation systems that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage 1987: The GPS constellation of satellites was launched. Basic concept of GPS operation A GPS receiver calculates its position by carefully timing the signals sent by the constellation of GPS Satellites high above the Earth Early 1990s: amateur radio experimenters began to use personal computers with audio cards to process radio signals. Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a Hobby and a service in which participants called &quothams&quot use various types of Radio communications 1994: The U. S. Army and DARPA launched an aggressive successful project to construct a software radio that could become a different radio on the fly by changing software. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new TechnologyA Software-Defined Radio (SDR system is a Radio communication system where components that have typically been implemented in hardware (i Late 1990s: Digital transmissions began to be applied to broadcasting. For the band see Broadcast (band Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or Video signals which transmit Telex on radio Telegraphy did not go away on radio. Instead, the degree of automation increased. On land-lines in the 1930s, Teletypewriters automated encoding, and were adapted to pulse-code dialing to automate routing, a service called telex. A teleprinter (A teleprinter ( Single-sideband modulation ( SSB) is a refinement of Amplitude modulation that more efficiently uses electrical power and bandwidth.CCITT R. The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector ( ITU-T) coordinates standards for telecommunications on behalf of the International Telecommunication 4421st century development Internet radio Internet radio consists of sending radio-style audio programming over streaming Internet connections: no radio transmitters need be involved at any point in the process. Internet radio (also known as web radio, net radio, streaming radio and e-radio) is an audio Broadcasting service transmitted viaThe Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks Early technology wars: Push or pull, streaming media or multicast Digital audio broadcasting Digital audio broadcasting (DAB): appears to be set to grow in importance relative to FM radio for airborne broadcasts in several countries. Digital Audio Broadcasting ( DAB) also known as Eureka 147, is a Digital radio technology for Broadcasting Radio stations used in Related articles Legal issues with radio When radio was first introduced in the 1930's many predicted the end of records. Digital Audio Broadcasting ( DAB) also known as Eureka 147, is a Digital radio technology for Broadcasting Radio stations used inA wireless LAN or WLAN is a Wireless Local area network, which is the linking of two or more computers or devices without using wiresA personal area network ( PAN) is a Computer network used for Communication among Computer devices (including Telephones and PersonalDigital Radio Mondiale ( DRM) is a set of digital audio broadcasting technologies designed to work over the bands currently used for AM broadcasting, particularly Radio was a free medium for the public to hear music for which they would normally pay. While some companies saw radio as a new avenue for promotion, other feared it would cut into profits from record sales and live performances. Many companies had their major stars sign agreements that they would not appear on radio. [25][26] Indeed, the music recording industry had a severe drop in profits after the introduction of the radio. For a while, it appeared as though radio was a definite threat to the record industry. Radio ownership grew from 2 out of 5 homes in 1931 to 4 out of 5 homes in 1938. Meanwhile record sales fell from $75 million in 1929 to $26 million in 1938 (with a low point of $5 million in 1933). Although it should be noted that the economics of the situation were also affected by the fact this took place during the Great Depression. [27. '. , One of America's Great Stores, Newark, New Jersey. " American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers ( ASCAP) is a non-profit Performance rights organization that protects its-$. [28] Exotic technologies See also Notes and Citations Broadcasts had also been available from Louisiana and Alabama since 1922. Meteor burst communications, or MBC for short is a radio Propagation mode that exploits the ionized trails of Meteors during AtmosphericCommunication Moon Relay project (also known as simply Moon Relay, or alternately Operation Moon Bounce) was a Telecommunication project carried out byRadio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light.Throughout the history of amateur radio, Amateur radio enthusiasts have made significant contributions to Science, Engineering, Industry, andThe history of science and technology ( HST) is a field of History which examines how humanity's understanding of the natural world ( Science The Television Technology can be divided along two lines those developments that depended upon both mechanical and electronic Principles andThe timeline of radio lists within the History of radio, the Technology and events that produced instruments that use Radio waves and activities that peopleA spark-gap transmitter is a device for generating Radio frequency electromagnetic waves. Broadcasts were also available from North Carolina and Georgia. Broadcasts were also available from Colorado since 1921. Radio broadcasting in Java briefly ceased after a station was destroyed by lightning. Broadcasts from Argentina had also been available as is the case today. Radio broadcasting had also been received from Italy, since Vatican City lies within the vicinity of Rome as is the case today. Radio broadcasts did exist in the Bahamas prior to 1936. Before then, they were received from the United States. Also received radio broadcasts from nearby Yugoslavia. Broadcasting in Aden ceased in 1946-1947 and again from 1948-1955. Andorra also received radio broadcasts from Spain. Radio broadcasts from the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands had also been available. Broadcasts had also been received from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Broadcasts had previously been received from South Africa Malta had also received radio broadcasts from Italy. The British adopted a radio service on the island to counter Fascist propaganda. Footnotes ^ "Wireless telegraphy". Scientific American, June 19, 1897, page 386. Events 1179 - The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros.Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Uses the term to connote "aether's conduction". Electrical conduction is the movement of electrically charged particles through a Transmission medium ( Electrical conductor) ^ "The Slaby system of wireless duplex telegraphy". Scientific American, March 9, 1901, pages 146-147. Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia.Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Uses the term to connote "aether's conduction". Electrical conduction is the movement of electrically charged particles through a Transmission medium ( Electrical conductor) ^Early Radio Transmission Recognized as Milestone. IEEE. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE (read eye-triple-e) is an international Non-profit, professional organization Retrieved on July 16, 2006. Events 622 - The beginning of the Islamic calendar. 1054 - Three Roman legates fractured relations between the Western andYear 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^ "Nikola Tesla On His Work with Alternating Currents and Their Application to wireless Telegraphy, Telephony, and Transmission of Power", Leland I. Anderson, Twenty First Century Books, 2002, pp. 25-29. Secondary sources Anderson, Leland.Anderson, Leland I. Priority in the Invention of Radio — Tesla vs. Marconi, Antique Wireless Association monograph, 1980, examining the 1943 decision by the US Supreme Court holding the key Marconi patent invalid (9 pages). The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. (21st Century Books) Archer, Gleason L. Big Business and Radio (The American Historical Society, Inc. , 1939) Archer, Gleason L. History of Radio to 1926 (The American Historical Society, Inc. , 1938). Garratt, G. R. M. ,. , Marconi International Marine Communication Co. , 1950. LCCN 51040529 /L Sterling, Christopher, and Kittross John M. Stay Tuned: A Concise History of American Broadcasting (Wadsworth, 1978). Stone, John Stone. John Stone Stone ( September 24, 1869 &ndash May 20, 1943) was an American mathematician, Physicist "John Stone Stone on Nikola Tesla's Priority in Radio and Continuous-Wave Radiofrequency Apparatus". Twenty First Century Books, 2005. "Presentation of the Edison Medal to Nikola Tesla". Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Held at the Engineering Society Building, New York City, Friday evening, May 18, 1917. Events 1152 - Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine.Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year	eng	56e0ada4-a094-4416-a07b-22cf5a6054fd	http://www.citizendia.org/History_of_radio
The Saturday Evening Post » Home Home of The Saturday Evening PostTue, 21 May 2013 12:00:16 +0000en-UShourly1From the shape of the nautilus shell to the arrangement of seeds in the heart of a sunflower, the spiral form is much used in nature. Gardeners can take advantage of this natural shape to create optimal growing conditions for herbs of all kinds. Some Like It Hot In an herb spiral, climate varies from arid Mediterranean at the top to moist and subtropical at its base. Heat-loving herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, and sage, bask in the dry, sunny upper region that is 2 or 3 feet above ground. Bricks or stones placed along the spiral capture the noonday heat, storing it to keep herbs toasty at night. In a "trickle-down" effect, water drains down into the lower levels, leaving the arid-loving plants high and dry, while the middle and lower levels stay progressively more moist. The varied environments provide an ideal growing medium for tansies, chives, garlic, parsley, and chamomile in the middle level, and lemon balm, coriander, and moisture-loving mints at the base. Some gardeners place a small pond at the lowest level for watercress and other water plants. An Upward Spiral Start with a sunny spot in your yard or garden within an accessible range of your kitchen. Clear an area about 6 feet in diameter. (If grass is present, use a spade to remove any sod.) Find the middle of the plot, then drive in a stake. Using a 2 ½-foot string with a loop placed around the stake, mark out the desired diameter of your circle with a pointed stick or screwdriver. Using bricks or rock, lay out the spiral either from the center out or from the outside in. Position the bottom end of the spiral on the south side. You can "eyeball" the spiral, but for more accuracy, place a two-gallon plastic pail upside down in the center. Tie a 4-foot string around the base of the pail and secure with duct tape. Place a weight on top of the bucket, then measure out the desired radius. Hold a pointed stick or screwdriver at that point on the string and mark the ground as you go around the pail. Keep the line taut. You will end up at the pail with a nice spiral. Build the spiral until it is 2 to 3 feet high at its top. Fill the middle with stones, sand, or brick pieces, leaving about 8 inches at the top to fill with soil. Mediterranean herbs that will thrive at the top level prefer poor soil. As you descend the spiral, add more compost for herbs planted in the middle and base. Consider the growing habits of each herb when planting. Shade-tolerant plants will grow best on the east, west, and north sides of the spiral. Rosemary can become large, so place it at the top. Creeping plants such marjoram and thyme may be planted so they can cascade over the edge. Situate herbs from 1 to 2 feet apart. To fill gaps, plant parsley, kale, calendula, or nasturtium throughout your spiral. ]]> the Clutter Epidemic 26 Jul 2010 14:29:15 +0000Kathleen Parrish Americans have so much stuff, and how we can learn to hold on to what really matters. ]]>We live in a world of things, of junk, of stuff. This fact was brought home to me—literally—when I left my job after 17 years. I carted the contents of my office home in three garbage bags that sat around the house for the next six months. Every time I tried to sort through those bags and commit to getting rid of any of it, I became paralyzed by fear (Would I need this later? Would I miss that once it was gone?) and overwhelmed by the task at hand. And that was just three bags—most of it paper! How would I ever sort through all the other stuff cluttering up my home and my life? It's a question many Americans ask themselves every day. Thanks to an abundance of cheap goods, instant credit, and constant exposure to the persuasive powers of advertising, acquiring has in itself become a national pastime. And a national problem, as our closets, attics, and lives become overwhelmed in an epidemic of uncontrolled clutter. "We've begun to buy and hold on to so many items that we're now having to acquire more and more space to accommodate our clutter," says Dr. David Kantra, a psychologist in Fairhope, Alabama who studies the clutter problem. Birth of an Obsession Paper Chase One of the biggest sources of clutter in our lives is paper—bills, receipts, or the instruction manuals from all the stuff we've bought. Here's how to tame it: • Gather supplies. You'll need a recycling bin, garbage bags, file folders, a pen, and a shredder. • Establish a sorting area. Set up a folding table or quadrant of the floor—you'll need room to spread out. • Ditch the obvious. Long-expired coupons or instructions for products you no longer have can lurk in a desk for years. Pitch 'em. • Create four paper management systems for: 1. Action items—bills, timely paperwork 2. Essential paperwork not needed on a daily basis, such as bank or insurance statements 3. Vital records—birth certificates, Social Security information, various account numbers 4. Archives for tax returns, legal papers, and/or family memorabilia • Maintain the system by scheduling time to file papers. Organization is an ongoing process. The ready availability of merchandise of every stripe was something that didn't exist throughout most of American history, but the problem of clutter traces its origins back further than you might think—all the way to the 19th century. The rise of industrialization and the mass production of products created a cult of desire that has survived the decades, through economic booms and busts, where accumulating goods was viewed as the road to happiness. That idea became more pronounced in the 20th century, as the power of advertising linked products to a lifestyle. "The message became 'you are what you own,' " says Dr. Lorrin Koran, professor emeritus of psychiatry at Stanford University Center. Retailers responded to that insatiable desire for ownership. Remember the general store? It used to stock about 1,000 items in three or four aisles with one lane for checkout: That was all we needed. Today, you could fit almost the entire contents of that old store into one aisle of a huge discount chain that sells everything from hamburger meat to motor oil to flat-screen TVs. The average super retail center carries more than 100,000 products in mega-stores that stretch the equivalent of nearly five football fields. Shopping malls have become veritable mini cities containing hundreds of stores, food courts, ice skating rinks, movie theaters, even hotels. And there's always the Internet. Last year, online shoppers spent $204 billion on merchandise: The auction site eBay alone reported sales of $59.7 billion on merchandise ranging from brand-new cars and homes to vintage collectibles and antiques. Retailers aren't the only ones who have catered to this acquisitional trend; the housing industry has, too. In the past 30 years, the size of the average American home has grown 53 percent, from 1,500 square feet to a little more than 2,300 square feet. That's an extra 800 square feet for stuff. But instead of becoming more organized with this space, homeowners have filled it up, rather than outsource to storage facilities. "We're at a point where people don't know how to make decisions about quantities of things and whether items serve a purpose," says Laura Leist, president of the 4,200-member National Association of Professional Organizers and the voice of a service industry that has sprung up to help people clear the chaos from their homes. They aren't the only ones: More than 20 states have chapters of Clutterers Anonymous for clutterers in crisis. Back to Basics I wasn't ready for a 12-step program yet, but it was clear I needed some help. So I consulted a local professional organizer, who helped me sort through my junk and discard what no longer had value. One of the first rules many organizers instill in chronic clutterers is: make the time. Just as someone trying to lose weight needs to set aside time for exercise, someone trying to shed stuff needs to commit to at least 30 to 60 minutes a week sorting through closets, files, and storage areas. Mark the time on your calendar and treat it as a standing appointment. I learned other tips to help whittle away the clutter in my house and control what I brought in so that new junk wasn't replacing the old. I'm still working on the rest of the house, but I eventually got rid of that stuff I'd brought home from the office. Now, the only garbage bags on my floor are the ones that are on their way to the trash. Cash for Clutter a professional organizer and author of Organize Your Garage in No Time. Here's your checklist: 1: A few weeks before the sale, give everyone in your family a box to fill with items they no longer want or use. If you're not sure what to toss, Izsak offers three ways to decide: "If you don't love it; it's not useful; and you haven't used it in several years, turn it into cash," he says. 2: Schedule your sale of a Saturday near the first or 15th of the month, when most people get paid. 3: Scrub, wash, or polish your stuff. Make sure toys or electronics have all the pieces attached. Hang clothes on a rack. Use plastic bags to group children's puzzles or hold hardware nuts and bolts. 4: Put price tags on everything. "People don't want to ask you how much stuff is," says Izsak. For small items, create a nickel-and-dime box. 5: Display your wares on a table or a board between two saw horses. Don't make people bend down to look at your stuff. 6: Have an extension cord handy to show that appliances and electrical gadgets work. 7: Be flexible when it comes to price. "If someone picks up something you're selling, be willing to deal with them right then and drop your price," says Izsak. "They may be the only person all day who wants that item." 8: Get rid of what's left. It's already out of the house, so keep it that way. Put unsold stuff by the curb, or cart it off for donation as soon as your sale is over. Here comes summer, and with it, your garden's biggest growth spurt. Get ahead of those extra inches by pinching back new growth on annuals and perennials to encourage more branching and blooms. Use your garden shears or thumb and forefinger to remove the plant's tips just above the uppermost pair of leaves. Tall, bushy, and vining plants (e.g., delphinium, peony, or clematis) benefit from support, so get plant cages, bamboo stakes, and trellises into the soil now. Old fence posts, shovel handles, or sections of snow fence make economical plant reinforcements. Amend garden soil while there's space to work around your plants. Add in 2 to 4 inches of compost, aged manure, or peat moss to the top 8 inches of soil and follow up with a fresh layer of mulch. Fallen pine needles, grass clippings, or even shredded leaves will do the trick in a pinch. Primp the Patio Spruce up outdoor furniture for spring with a quick clean up. Whisk away dirt and cobwebs with a broom or soft-bristle brush, then sponge down chairs, tables, and cushions with a solution of 1/4 cup mild dishwashing detergent and 1 gallon of warm water and wipe dry with a clean rag. Use fine grit sandpaper to remove peeling paint, mold, rust, or even bird droppings and follow up with touch-up paint as needed. Treat wood furniture with a coat of water repelling wood sealer, metal furniture with liquid or paste auto wax, and aluminum furniture with a one-to-one mixture of vinegar and water. (Check the manufacturer's care instructions.) ]]>Water has the power to calm the senses with an extra dimension of sound and movement. It also brings in the element of surprise, turning your yard into a magnetic habitat for birds, dragonflies, and other wildlife. And the aquatic plants and lush greenery surrounding the water's edge introduce an entirely new ornamental element to your yard. Today homeowners are rediscovering the advantages of a backyard pool. While a pool can cost anywhere from $100 to $3,500 or more depending on materials and plants, a small water garden can still come in under $100. Follow these 10 simple steps and create your own sensory experience that only water can bestow. 1 – Decide on the type of water garden you want With flexible liners, you choose the dimensions that suit your needs, then cut the liner to fit. Liners made of PVC or EPDM rubber are more durable than polyethylene. You can find them at home-improvement stores and garden centers. 2 – Determine the location and size: The best spot is one that is fairly level, somewhat open, and receives at least five hours of direct sun. Choose an area away from trees and any runoff from rain that might affect the pool's ecosystem. Select a site near the house for easy access to an electrical outlet equipped with a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). Most backyard pools range in depth from 8 inches to 3 feet. Plan on 3 to 4 feet deep in colder regions of the country. Deeper pools also stand up to summer heat and winter freezes. 3 – Dig in: Using a garden hose or rope, mark the outline of your pond on the ground, then excavate the site to the desired shape. Slightly slope the sides inward to the desired depth, or dig a shelf (about 12 inches wide by 8 to 12 inches deep) around the inside perimeter to accommodate potted water plants. Check to confirm that the outer edges are level. 4 – Prep the space: Remove any rocks or tree roots from the sides and bottom of the hole so they won't puncture the liner, then rake the area smooth and tamp the soil firmly in place. Cover the bottom and sides of the excavated area with an underlayment such as a commercial underliner or 2 to 3 inches of damp sand. This will help cushion and further protect the pond liner. 5 – Install the pond liner: To determine the size liner you'll need, measure the pool's length and width, then add twice the maximum depth plus 2 feet. For example, a pool that is 10 feet long by 7 feet wide and 2 feet deep will need a 16 x 13-foot liner (length is 10 + 4 + 2 = 16; width is 7 + 4 + 2 = 13). This will allow for a 12-inch overlap around the pool's perimeter. Center your liner loosely over the hole and unfold it, leaving an even overlap around the pool's perimeter. Stretch out and smooth the liner into place so that it fits snugly on the bottom and up the sides. Minimize the wrinkles, but leave a few folds where the sides curve to allow for slack. 6 – Cover up: Cover the pond liner with a 2- to 3-inch layer of pea gravel, or use smooth rocks with pea gravel poured in-between. This will lengthen the life of the liner and give your water garden a more natural appearance. 7 – Finish edges: Place stones or boulders around the outer edge to hold the liner in place. For a more natural appearance, strategically graduate the stones up to and over the rim of the pool. Trim any excess liner around the edge so that a 12-inch overlap remains. 8 – Fill with water: Place a garden hose in the center of the pool and fill with water to within a few inches from the top. As water flows in, smooth out the liner by folding and pleating portions of the material. 9 – Add plants: Tuck in moisture-loving plants (see sidebar for suggestions) around the outer edges to soften the rocks, then add any aquatic plants to help filter the water and keep algae under control. Water lilies and other floating aquatic blooms should ideally cover 50 percent to 65 percent of the pool surface. Want to add a little life to your project? Goldfish are most suited to a small pool. A koi pool, however, needs to be larger in size—at least 10 feet by 10 feet and ideally 3 to 4 feet deep. 10 – Create a balance: Maintenance is minimal if you establish a balance of plants, fish, and other aquatic life. In addition to floating plants, each square foot of water surface should support one bunch of submerged (oxygenating) plants, small fish (about two inches in length), and one pond scavenger, such as snails and tadpoles. Add water during summer as needed to maintain the proper level. Don't have the time or space to build an outdoor water feature? Bring it indoors with a tabletop fountain. These self-contained fountains come in a variety of soothing designs, and many include space for plants. Prices start at under $100. Available at home-improvement and garden-supply centers or online at sites such as amazon.com or simplyfountains.com. Plant Options A combination of submerged plants (grown in pots underwater), floating plants, and marginals (grown in shallow water at the edge) will help keep your water garden ecologically balanced and clear. Submerged oxygenators: Canadian Pondweed, Eelgrass, Fanwort, Hornwort, Water Moss, and Water Violet. ]]>1: Planning makes perfect. Like any performance, a four-season outdoor show must be carefully thought out before the stars take the stage. Consider all four seasons when planning a garden that shines 365 days a year. Phlox, pansies, and bulbs like tulips and daffodils are sure bets for spring. Annuals like zinnia, cosmos, and moss rose and heat-tolerant perennials—blanket flower, coreopsis—are standouts in summer. In fall, try purple aster, ornamental kale, and sedum. And don't forget about winter, when there are a plethora of show-stoppers, including Harry Lauder's walking stick, hellebore, evergreens, and berry-producing shrubs (which bring colorful birds flocking). 2: Look beyond the living. Garden structures and ornaments are critical to a garden that sparkles year-round. Gazing globes, statuary, and other garden décor work wonders in adding color and interest in dark or sparse parts of the landscape. 3: Containers are key. Express your creative side with planters that celebrate the seasons. Stick to pastel palettes and cold-tolerant plants in spring. In summer, take inspiration from the tropics and switch out tulips and pansies with lush, colorful foliage like canna, tufted hairgrass, and Persian shield. Maple Sugar hibiscus, strawflower, and dwarf grasses are fall favorites, while dogwood twigs and evergreen boughs ring in the holidays. 4: Plant annuals. Most gardens experience lean months, when the landscape transitions from one season to the next. Achieve continuous color with annuals. For the biggest impact, plant en masse. Large, thickly planted beds of annuals provide swaths of color that everyone will notice. 5: Evergreens and conifers are critical. Evergreens, such as boxwood, holly, arborvitae, and junipers look great throughout the year. During the growing season, they provide a backdrop for colorful annuals and perennials. But when the garden quiets in winter, they provide both structure and color. The same goes for conifers. Who can resist the graceful, snow-laden branches of a pine or spruce? And with so many colorful cultivars and dwarf varieties available today, there's one for any yard. 7: Provide good care. Continue to keep plants pest- and disease-free for a colorful show well past the growing season. Cut back spent foliage and deadhead spent blooms. The flush of color that most often follows is well worth it. ]]> Town that Rebuilt Itself 02 Jun 2010 17:00:08 +0000Theresa Sullivan Barger a Kansas community vowed to turn their tornado-leveled town into a model for "green" living. "The homes were all gone," she says. "Our big church was just gone. You could see from one side of town to the other." "Mom, I think your house is gone," Morgan said. It was, along with about 95 percent of the homes and buildings in the rural town of 1,400 people. On May 4, 2007, a 2-mile-wide, EF5 tornado—the highest level—swept through Greensburg. Eleven people died, and nearly everyone lost their homes. Yet, in the wake of the destruction and disaster, city leaders saw an opportunity. "We had a clean slate, so why not do things right?" says former City Council President John Janssen. City officials envisioned a model for other communities. Like rural towns across the country, Greensburg's population had been shrinking. Starting from scratch allowed them to design for the future. To attract people and jobs and induce young adults to return, they reasoned they had to be sustainable, reducing water and energy use and getting power from renewable sources such as wind or sun. Slowly, painfully, the town became more than another tale of disaster and death; it became a story of hope. Green Glossary Tankless water heaters Unlike conventional water heaters that keep water heated around the clock, tankless water heaters are designed to heat water on demand, saving up to 40 percent of energy use. LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, a body of architects, engineers, designers, builders, and government agencies, that establishes standards of measuring what makes a building green. Green roof A roof covered with plants that absorb rainwater and reduce the roof's heat absorption. Geothermal heating and cooling Also known as ground-source heat pumps, geothermal systems use the earth's constant temperature of about 55 degrees to heat and cool a building, potentially saving homeowners 40 percent to 70 percent in heating costs and 30 percent to 50 percent in cooling costs. Unlikely Ambassadors Before the tornado, most Greensburg residents had never heard of photovoltaic solar panels, tankless water heaters, and geothermal heating and cooling systems (see sidebar). "We weren't tree-huggers by any stretch," Janssen says. "There was a lot of pressure to build the town back just the way it was." Instead, the city council voted unanimously to build municipal structures to meet the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certification, the highest designation. To meet LEED standards, buildings are given points for each environmentally sustainable feature, such as using daylight rather than artificial light, installing water-saving systems, and using reclaimed materials like wood or bricks. The more points earned, the higher the rating. Both the up-front costs and long-term savings are usually greater with higher sustainability ratings. "Everybody was pretty skeptical," says Stacy Barnes, 27, who works as the executive director of the 5.4.7 Arts Center and director of the town's historic tourist attraction, the Big Well, the world's largest hand-dug well. But today, about 80 percent of the community supports the decision to go green. The Estes brothers rebuilt their BTI John Deere dealership facility to LEED platinum specifications, and Iowa-based John Deere Renewable Energy is building a wind farm to meet the city's power needs. In addition, the Dwane Shank Motors GM dealership that was rebuilt to green standards has become a corporate beacon. General Motors unveiled its electric Chevrolet Volt at the Greensburg dealership. About 900 people now live in Greensburg, some from outside the area. The disaster got so much attention, including a reality show on Discovery Network's Planet Green, that cash donations, volunteers, and materials poured in. "There's going to be a higher concentration of energy- efficient buildings in this small Kansas town than anywhere," says resident Farrell Allison. Nearly all the homes were circa 1950 or earlier, so most new homes are more energy efficient and contain more insulation and better windows. Faith in the Future Greensburg is a deeply religious community. When the tornado struck, "I know God's name was on everyone's lips. We don't have a basement. I believe God placed us where we were," says Schmidt. "The toll could have been hundreds of deaths." The fire chief ordered 300 body bags. Losing everything changed priorities. "You learn that your family is more important than things," says Alexsis Fleener, 17, a high school senior. But people also saw this as an opportunity to "change the world," says Taylor Schmidt, who, like Alexsis, was a co-founder of the high school's green club. "We're all part of the same environment. We all breathe the same air and drink the same water," says Daniel Wallach, executive director of GreenTown, a nonprofit organization created to help Greensburg rebuild sustainably. "We can agree that we are concerned about the future for our children." Darin Headrick, the school superintendent, certainly felt that way. He promised school would open 88 days after the tornado struck. Classes met in temporary buildings at first, and nearly 75 percent of the students returned. Headrick's commitment played a pivotal role in bringing people back. If children had to be educated in other towns, more families would have left permanently. The new school building will open this fall. The students themselves have helped with construction of the school, which will be a place of learning for kids and visitors alike. "The mechanical stuff inside the building will have glass windows so you can see how everything works," Alexsis says. She wanted to be a veterinarian, but now plans to study sustainability and community planning in college. "The green movement changed me and what I wanted to do." Hewitt and his staff still face struggles and conflicts. "The jury is still out on us," Hewitt says. "I think we've come an amazing way in two and a half years." The city's leaders, such as Hewitt, are routinely asked to speak and educate others about the greening of Greensburg. "We're the new pioneers of the 21st century. In Greensburg, Kansas, everybody is doing what they can, at whatever level they can. We've all got to start making a difference." People made a difference for Sharon Schmidt after she and her son Taylor lost their home. Volunteers from a Mennonite group built Schmidt's new home using energy-efficient, tornado-resistant Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) blocks. "If you're going to come back in western Kansas, you've got to have something going for you," adds Schmidt. "I think it's going to be a model city 10 years down the road. I feel excited for Taylor's generation." ]]>From the Little Shop of Horrors to the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, carnivorous plants have always captured our imagination. However, beyond Venus flytraps (which I knew existed thanks to an eccentric kindergarten teacher who once fed one in front of class), I always thought the imagination was the only place they actually existed. Turns out I was wrong. Several botanical gardens have extensive collections of these hungry plants, which are so bizarrely fascinating, the Post just had to investigate further. They typically live in tough habitats. For survival, they capture scarce nutrients not through soil, but through bugs and, sometimes, larger prey. Carnivorous plants vary greatly in size, shape, and "hunting" method. Below are several examples from the wild world of carnivorous plants. If you would rather skip the info and just watch plants eat stuff, feel free to click on the videos or pictures above each one. Venus Flytrap Fortunately for us, no variety of Venus Flytrap is actually big enough to eat people. They are, however, big enough to eat things larger than you would think (see video). Flytraps produce appendages at the end of their leaves that look like a cross between a flower and a butterfly, with eyelash-like things protruding from the sides. Like many carnivorous plants, they attract prey by producing sweet sap. When animals take the bait, they activate small hairs on the appendage that trigger it to snap shut like a bear trap. The "eyelash" projections interlock so that the unfortunate creature is locked in. The snapping mechanism of the flytrap is an example of one of the most unusual plant features in all of nature–rapid plant movement. Unlike slow plant movement, which many plants exhibit (for example, when they turn leaves with the path of the sun), rapid movement is highly specialized and rare. It is also impressive, considering plants have no muscles. Nepenthes Star Wars fans might find the Nepenthes interesting, because it reminds one of the Sarlacc, Jabba the Hutt's favorite means of disposing those who didn't pay up. Certain species are among the biggest carnivorous plants. For example, the rare Nepenthes attenboroughii (named for British botanist Sir David Attenborough) has, over thousands of years of isolation, become large enough to eat rats!Although there is debate as to whether the plant is designed to eat them or if it happens by accident, the fact that it is big enough to do so is extraordinary. A Nepenthes captures prey by growing large cylindrical "pitcher" leaves that hold sweet smelling fluid. Unfortunately for anything attracted to it, this liquid is not nectar but full of digestive juices. There is little chance for escape, as the interior is coated with smooth wax, making it nearly impossible to gain footing. The motion of struggling animals activates glands that release more digestive enzymes, some of which are so powerful that small insects completely dissolve within hours. Sundew Quite possibly the strangest plant I have ever seen, the Sundew, seems like it should be from some strange region of outer space rather than almost every continent on Earth. The plant captures prey with specialized tentacles sticking out of leaves that produce sticky mucilage. Insects attracted to the sweet mucilage soon become hopelessly entangled. Then, the weird stuff happens. The tentacles twist shut, grabbing the animal in a manner that reminds one of an octopus grabbing something out of the sea. This movement is among the fastest examples of thigmotropism, the same behavior exhibited by vines grasping to a host plant. (Note: the videos in this article are embedded directly from YouTube, so we at the Post cannot control the spelling. Obviously, "cornivorous" is not correct.) Sarracenia This plant is similar to the Nepenthes in that it can grow quite large and uses a "pitcher" trapping method. However, instead of growing only in the Pacific islands, it can be found across North America (I did not find it reassuring to find that Sarracenia could be growing in my backyard). In all seriousness, I am not really concerned about it in my yard. I am much more concerned that it is becoming less and less likely to be there, because it is a threatened species. Carnivorous plants in general are especially in jeopardy because, in addition to challenges like habitat loss that many endangered species face, they have unique problems because of their specialized nature. They thrive in areas of low nutrients, and the heavy use of fertilizer is completely changing their environments. Algae blooms and farm runoff have changed the composition of the soil and water that Sarracenia is accustomed to, while other plants, that would have otherwise never been able to survive near Sarracenia, are now crowding them out, and unfortunately, the Sarracenia can not eat them. Cobra Lily This California native is essentially an upside down pitcher plant with some unique twists (literally). It is aptly named, as its winding stalk and top strongly resemble the venomous snake. Bugs are drawn to the "head" of the plant, which is shaped slightly like a mushroom with a hole in the bottom. As they crawl in, they become disoriented by what appears to be exits but are really just translucent spots at the top where the sun shines through. Eventually, the bug works its way back to the "neck" of the plant, where inward pointing hairs make a one-way street for the creature (think of the spiked strip at car lots that lets vehicles in but not out). Finally, at the bottom of the neck, there is the "stomach" which has digestive enzymes. Cephalotus Although this plant is similar in many ways to other pitcher plants, it is also quite unique. Rather than a swamp or bog, where most carnivorous plants live, it lives in a sandy land of droughts and floods. Rather than large pitchers with pools of water, it has small pitchers designed to keep water out. It lives in one of the most unique habitats in the world – the southwestern tip of Australia, where everything must be adaptable to survive — and it changes its look entirely though the different seasons of the year. It stays dormant in winter, when frosts and floods can occur. When it comes back to life in spring, it has normal photosynthesizing leaves. However, as the dry summer approaches, it produces a second type of leaf – a pitcher leaf. When insects fall in, they are forced down by inward pointing hairs, like in the neck of a Cobra Lily. The Cephalotus, Nepenthes, Sarracenia and Cobra Lily are all unrelated plants that developed a similar method of survival in very different places, a fact that makes one appreciate how effective the pitcher trap is. Bladderwort One of the most common and adaptable types of carnivorous plants, the Bladderwort can live underwater or above ground. It works by creating a bean-shaped trap that maintains a pressurized vacuum, with small hairs at the mouth of the trap acting as triggers. When prey touch the hairs, it opens the trap, destroys the vacuum, and is sucked in. Some varieties of Bladderwort are known to live inside of pitcher plants, creating the hungriest symbiosis in the plant kingdom. The video above shows a Cane Toad tadpole with its tale stuck in the Bladderwort's trap. According to the person who posted the video, the whole tadpole was eventually drawn in and ingested, and that plant singlehandedly captured hundreds of them over just a few days. A few other notable Carnivorous plants Butterwort (Wikipedia Commons) Butterwort: Also known as the flypaper plant, the Butterwort uses sticky leaves to trap fruit flies and other small insects. Buying one of these plants may be a better alternative to using flypaper in your home, because it ingests the bugs and cleans up after itself, rather than flypaper, which retains its collection of dead flies. Waterwheel (Wikipedia Commons) Waterwheel: The Waterwheel plant is the aquatic equivalent of the Venus flytrap. It is believed that they are closely related. It uses the same bear-trap mechanism to catch prey, except that it targets tadpoles and larvae rather than fully-grown insects. And you thought the flytrap was weird. If you click on the image to enlarge, you can see the flytrap-like traps arranged in a wheel around the plant stem. Painting Is Worth How Much?" 05 Apr 2010 16:21:30 +0000Joan Heywood an unknown treasure hung on one woman's wall for 30 years. Joan Heywood wasn't planning to take her favorite watercolor in for appraisal until her daughter insisted. I've spent my life in Chattanooga, a beautiful city that's located in a bend of the Tennessee River and provides a beautiful riverfront walkway. Chattanooga has a deep appreciation for the arts, and our Hunter Museum of American Art is located on a bluff overlooking the river. Every year, the museum hosts a fund-raising gala and auction, which I've attended for many years. This particular year, sometime in the 1970s, a local man who was active with the museum had donated a piece for the auction. I don't remember exactly what made me raise my hand to bid on the little ink-and-watercolor picture. I knew it was by an American artist … and that I liked the boat and river he had drawn. I've always found water to be therapeutic, and I've gone on riverboat excursions before. I think the people who operate those boats have the most interesting stories to tell, much like the river itself. The sepia tone coupled with the seemingly excellent technique appealed to me. Once the auctioneer opened the bidding, a woman with an art collection—and plenty of money—started bidding on it. I waited, never thinking that I stood a chance at winning. I raised the bid one time, to $500, after she stopped bidding, and in that moment, I unknowingly became an owner of a piece of fine art. At the time, I was a stay-at-home mother, and my husband was early in his career as an orthopedic surgeon. We had always been careful with our spending and, although I had saved some money, $500 was a lot to spend on artwork. I hung it in the breakfast room so I could glance at it often. As the kids grew older, we'd often have what seemed like 90 kids and their mothers over to eat. Every time I went back and forth to the kitchen, that boat would still be paddling its way along the river. Many years later, in the summer of 2008, Antiques Roadshow visited Chattanooga. This was a big deal for our little city. On this PBS show, people bring in their collectibles and antiques, and experts give the owners an appraisal on how much the items are worth. My daughter, Johanna, had some friends who couldn't go, so they gave her their tickets, and she suggested that we go. We gathered up some items that seemed like they'd be worth something: a Tiffany vase and two big solid silver spoons that were passed down from my mother's side of the family in Alabama. Carpetbaggers had burned their place down, but somehow these spoons had escaped. I wasn't even planning to bring the riverboat picture, but my daughter insisted, so I took it along too, almost as an afterthought. To read what happens, see the Mar/Apr 2010 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. You can order a copy online here, or subscribe here. ]]> Acts 05 Apr 2010 16:18:43 +0000Ellen Michaud millions, stamps inspire a lifelong passion, sometimes with unexpected benefits. When 8-year-old Amanda Morgenstern visited her great-grandmother, she discovered a hobby that inspires the line, color, and feeling of the work she creates today as a professional artist. ]]>When 8-year-old Amanda Morgenstern visited her great-grandmother in Southern Illinois, rather than going to a mall or a movie theater as some families did, she and Great-Grandma headed for the kitchen. They sat down at the table, pulled out a stack of old Fleishmann's margarine tubs (carefully washed and saved), placed some paper towels beside them, and added a stack of stamped envelopes from the previous weeks' mail. "She'd put water in the tubs, and we'd soak the stamps off three or four envelopes at a time," Amanda remembers. "We laid them on the paper towels to dry and pasted them in a book." The two sat side by side in the kitchen organizing stamps—and Amanda discovered a passion that inspires the line, color, and feeling of the work she creates today as a professional artist. Bathtubs and Nickels Around 97 percent of those who collect stamps today began, like Amanda, somewhere between the ages of 7 and 14, according to a survey by the American Philatelic Society, says Wade Saadi, president of the group. But what first ignites the passion for stamps and sends collectors hurtling through life on a hunt for colored bits of paper is a happy mystery—as is the "why." Some experts suggest that people collect simply to immerse themselves in the beauty of stamps, while others collect to expand social networks and make friends. Others seem to collect because, in the middle of a stressful life in a chaotic world, it gives them a sense that at least one part of their lives is organized and under control. Still, others collect for a sense of accomplishment, as an investment, or as a way to connect with history. In Amanda's case, it was the visual appeal of the stamps that first caught her attention as she worked with her great-grandmother. But it wasn't until Amanda had soaked the stamps off 3,000 envelopes in the family bathtub one day that her family realized how serious she was. That little incident led her father to take her to a meeting of the Southern Illinois Stamp Club. Amanda was in heaven. She saw stamps featuring images by Degas, Renoir, Picasso, and other great artists. "I suddenly realized I was in a whole new world," she says. She began attending meetings of a local club and getting to know experienced collectors. "Our club had some magnificent characters in it," says Amanda. "They were always educating me—whether it was about stamp facts or the history represented on the stamps. And they had boxes, called 'nickel boxes.' I could sit there at meetings with them, dig through their boxes, and buy a stamp for a nickel!" She laughs. "It was a fabulous way to build a collection, and a fabulous way to build relationships." For the full story, see the Mar/Apr 2010 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, available on newsstands. You can order the issue online here, or subscribe here. Lick 'Em and Stick 'Em! Do you have an interesting collection you'd like to share with our readers? Send your stories to letters@saturdayeveningpost.com. Want to give stamp collecting a whirl or get back into it? • Check out the new stamps from the U.S. Postal Service at your local post office or online at shop.usps.com. There, you'll also find practical answers to most questions—including how to tell what a stamp is worth. • Smithsonian's National Postal Museum at postalmuseum.si.edu offers all you need to get started, including a video on the history of stamps. • Visit the American Philatelic Society Web site at stamps.org for clubs and shows across the nation. ]]>The concept of "urban homesteads" is gaining popularity in recent years. To put it simply, modern-day pioneers are living as self-sufficiently as possible to protect the earth. They live in the midst of all of the contemporary amenities, but choose not to participate in them, or at least as little as possible. They practice gardening and grow most, if not all of their own foods. They keep animals to give them milk and eggs. Some even convert their vehicles to diesel engines and brew their own bio-diesel fuels. In an effort to unearth the appeal of urban homesteads, we caught up with the founder of the Urban Homestead movement, Jules Dervaes. We were reminded of a very important message: Each and every one of us can help make one aspect of our life more earth-friendly with minimal effort. All it takes is the decision to make a difference! —————————————————————————————————– Before he founded the The Path to Freedom movement in Pasadena in 2000, Jules Dervaes homesteaded in the New Zealand outback and rural Florida, where he had lots of land to work with. Coming to Pasadena with his family, he had to shrink his operation from 10 acres to an area that, if you subtracted the house, was one-tenth of an acre. In the beginning, the Dervaes family goal was simple: to survive. And within a few years, they realized their plan was working. They also saw potential to turn their homestead into an outreach program so others could benefit. They began a Web site, which expanded to include a daily blog. A revolutionary idea at the time, the blog chronicled the family's day-to-day experiences. Annually they produce around 3 tons of fruits and vegetables, 1,780 chicken and duck eggs and 25 pounds of honey. Additionally they have produced 1,500 gallons of bio-diesel fuel since 2004 and over 11,500 kwh of solar power produced since 2003. Not too bad for one-fifth of an acre. When the Web site began to grow, they realized the value of a social networking site just for gardeners, and was born. The site has over 6,000 members from around the world and provides a forum where gardeners can help each other. Post: What costs are involved in getting started? Dervaes: We were on a budget and things were expensive here, so we went on the cheap. We'd collect bed frames and turn them in to trellises, and turn river rock and glass bottles into edging. I wanted to show that every family could do this, without having to be rich. We were always trying to find the least expensive way to have things done. You don't have to be rich to take care of the environment. Post: How can people educate themselves on gardening? Dervaes: Pepper your local nurserymen with questions: What grows in your neighborhood? What are they selling? They're making a business out of it. They know what works, or else you wouldn't come back. Look around your neighborhood (to your neighbors and see what works for them.) He also encouraged people to join the networking site. He described as "a facebook for gardeners only." Post: You refer to the practice of "being neighbors." What do you mean by that? Dervaes: I try to think of the spirit of neighborliness, like the Amish do. Your neighbors are your extended family, and they're there for you like you are there for them, and you can't charge for that. We didn't want to be a business of neighbors. We wanted to be really, truly neighbors. He talked about modern life and its fast pace. While we can be driven by the need for instant gratification, he observed, gardening is, in many ways, the opposite of this lifestyle. It takes patience and time, but the rewards are worth it, and the changes in life it encourages are also valuable. "Unfortunately, in America, we think you have to be big, fast," Dervaes notes. "An instant makeover. But nature works in a different way. It takes 500 years for nature to make an inch of soil. So you have to look at it in a slower perspective; we have to slow it down. Slow food. Some of my food takes 30-60 days to get to the table. You have to reduce your expectations." Post: What do you hope your children will learn from gardening, homesteading, and the Path to Freedom? Dervaes: What I'm doing here gives me hope. I couldn't take the bad news in the newspapers and the Internet and everywhere, unless I could do something about it, and growing a garden gives me hope, and it gives my children hope. They have something to do. Because it's the hopelessness and helplessness when they give you bad news and you throw up your hands and say "What can I do about it?" This gives you a direction, and with that direction comes hope. Who couldn't use a little hope in this modern world? For Jules Dervaes, gardening is a first step towards a greater step, and his life is an example of that. PS: The Post would like to thank Jules Dervaes and everyone at Path to Freedom (including Janice and Anais) for making this such a positive experience! We truly enjoyed our interview and follow up. Many of us (at the Post)—who haven't already—are going to try a hand at gardening. It may be a small step, but it is a step inspired by you! ]]> Dreams And Garden Plans 02 Mar 2010 14:00:08 +0000Kelsey Roan down that snow shovel and pick up your notepad and seed catalog. It's time to get started on your 2010 garden. ]]>"A garden is half-made when it is well planned. The best gardener is the one who does the most gardening by the winter fire." -Liberty Hyde Bailey It may be hard to imagine your future garden as you look out the window and see endless piles of dirty slush, but March is the best time to plan out your garden and start seeds. Maybe it will help you if we paint you a picture. Look out your window, and instead of seeing bare branches and muddy snow, imagine bright green buds on the trees and songbirds trilling happily. Now, imagine your vegetable garden. Is it a sprawling affair, like a miniature farm in your backyard, with plowed rows? Is it a cottage-style herb garden with a few vegetables here and there, fragrant and floral? Maybe it's just a few sunny pots of tomatoes and peppers on your patio. Perhaps it's an efficient high-density raised garden, where every vegetable gets a square foot to grow and produce pounds and pounds of food. There is no wrong answer. Every garden is good. Select the dimensions of your garden and drag the vegetables onto the grid. Screenshot courtesy of Gardener's Supply. Now's the time to grab a pad of paper and draw out your ideal garden plan. Don't worry if your garden never turns out like the plan. (If ours did, it would be a mess of scribbles and codes.) If you are considering the square foot method, Gardener's Supply has a great tool on their website for planning a square foot vegetable garden. It even tells you how many plants to put in each section, and, in their pre-planned gardens, you can even see what kinds of supports you will need. As you plan, make a list of the kinds of plants you would like to grow. Then check seed-selling websites like Burpee, Park seeds or Gurney's, or you could drop into a brick-and-mortar hardware or garden store for seeds and seed-starting trays. Of course, you could wait until spring and buy seedlings, but that costs more money, and seed-starting gives you a jump start on the growing season. Now is also a good time to get compost going if you don't have a compost pit already underway (and if you're not completely snowed under.) Of course, you could forego compost completely, but we recommend you do not. After all, compost reduces your food waste into rich soil, allowing you to grow more fantastic vegetables. You can choose a high-tech composter that is specially designed made from recycled plastic or metal, or a simple, homemade pit framed by scrap lumber or metal. Gardeners will swear by one method or another, but as long as you have a cool, dark place in your backyard, you can compost. You can buy a composter from several suppliers, like Gardener's Supply, or build a square out of pallets or cinder blocks. Then start throwing in garden waste, kitchen scraps and old newspapers, close up your composter, or cover your compost pit (plastic or treated canvas tarps work best), and wait for your gardener's gold to develop. Believe it or not, now is the start of the growing season. Whistling winter winds can't get to your seedlings on a sunny table in your home (substitute a grow light if you don't get much sun in your house). There are many seed starting trays to choose from, in different sizes, shapes and materials. We prefer the ones with the deeper wells, so the plants can grow more robust root systems. Some even come with self-watering mats, which take the guesswork out of watering sensitive seedlings. As time goes by, you will need larger transplant pots to put your healthiest seedlings into. By the time the last frost of winter reluctantly melts away, you will have healthy young vegetable plants ready for your garden, and you'll be that much closer to seeing results in your yard. ]]>Grandma's favorite vegetables are making a comeback in the garden, and showing up in trendy restaurants and farmers' markets alike. And antique flowers are flourishing far away from the gates of English cottages. Here's a look at how these vintage seeds might fit into your garden this year. What's an heirloom? The title applies to any seeds of plants that have been in cultivation for at least 50 years and which are open-pollinated. That means Mother Nature did all the work, untouched by the agricultural science of hybridization. Instead, gardeners saved seeds to regrow year after year, as opposed to purchasing new commercial seeds every season. That's why heirlooms have survived for so many generations: Somebody's landscape-loving ancestor tucked a few favorite seeds into cold storage for another season, another gardener. Now it's your turn. What's so special about heirlooms? "People who love their heirlooms want to grow the same plants that have been grown for hundreds of years," says Peter Hatch, director of gardens and grounds at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. "There's a nostalgia factor. They like that connection with our forefathers and a real tangible link to our past." Hatch should know: At Monticello, his staff grows hundreds of historic flowers and vegetables in the estate gardens. But when discussing heirlooms, vegetables tend to get the spotlight. Take heirloom tomatoes, which generally have thinner skins and are juicier and more flavorful than anything you buy at the store. They can be wonderfully diverse, growing in all shapes, sizes, and colors—yellow, orange, pink, purple-black, and even green with stripes. When you compare them to the red, perfectly round variety typically found in a produce bin, there is no question as to which is superior. How are heirlooms different from hybrids? In some gardening circles, there's a bit of a backlash against hybrid plants, which are artificially created by crossing two parent plants with desirable traits—superior disease resistance and early maturity, for example. Die-hard heirloom lovers tend to look at hybrids as being unnaturally uniform and lacking in diversity, but there's no reason you can't have both in your garden. How can I get started? If you've never planted or saved heirloom seeds before, it's easy to get growing. There are resources that now specialize in saving and selling heirlooms, such as Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com), which offers an extensive collection of vegetables and flowers. Seed Savers Exchange (seedsavers.org), with its thousands of varieties of heirloom seeds, is the largest nongovernmental seed bank in America and is particularly known for its heirloom vegetable collection. After your garden comes in this year, save and dry seeds from your best plants, store them in a labeled envelope, put the envelopes in an airtight container, such as a canning jar, and store the seeds in a cool, dry place until you're ready to plant your own heirlooms next season. A Revolutionary Gardener When it comes to historic plants, Thomas Jefferson literally wrote the book. In his famed journal Garden Book, he tracked all of his trials in his quest to find the very best plants for his garden. It's also what made him one of the most revolutionary gardeners in American history, notes Peter Hatch. Jefferson was a true epicurean and spent a lot of his time trying to find the best-performing and tastiest vegetables, according to Hatch. Take peas, for example, one of Jefferson's very favorites. He grew 22 different types in his gardening lifetime and was known to challenge fellow country gentlemen to be the first to bring their peas to the table each spring, adds Hatch. Jefferson's last, or retirement, garden was a testament to all of the varieties he loved best. Today, the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants saves and shares seeds from the estate gardens—Jefferson favorites (including 'Tennis Ball' lettuce and 'Marrowfat' peas), plus many other historic plants. The Center produces about 70,000 packages of these seeds every year. You will find some of them and more at monticello.org. Nothing lifts a winter-weary spirit like thriving, green houseplants, which help purify and improve air quality inside your home. However, even seemingly fuss-free plants can get the winter blues if not cared for properly. Here are some tips to keep them happy and healthy this time of year. Set them up for success. Match your houseplants' growing needs with their indoor environment. Most plants thrive in sun, so place them in a well-lit area, such as a windowsill, for a few hours a day. Flowering plants usually require even more light because the sun is less intense in winter months. Set plants with high-light requirements in bright windows, usually south- or west-facing. Let them rest. Most indoor plants' growth slows in the winter. It's natural and means less work for you, since such plants require less care. Skip the fertilizer, and water only when the first inch of soil feels dry (roughly every two weeks). If your house suffers from low humidity in winter, lightly (and occasionally) spritz leaves with a spray bottle filled with lukewarm water. Lastly, don't use any plant shine products. They can impair a leaf's ability to absorb light—critical to their overall health. Proper Pruning Advice Pruning deciduous shrubs keeps them looking tidy and encourages good plant health. But did you know that the best time to prune may be during the colder months? Horticulture expert and author Melinda Myers explains: Save major rejuvenation pruning for late-winter or early-spring: Late-flourishing plants will recover and fill out quickly. "Summer- and fall-blooming shrubs flower on new growth, so prune anytime during the dormant season—I prefer late winter," says Myers. "That way, I can clean up any winter damage while pruning." "Spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs, bridal wreath spirea, forsythia, and the summer-blooming blue and pink hydrangeas bloom on old wood," explains Myers. "They set their flower buds the summer before blooming that next spring or summer." So, pruning too early can harvest disappointing results. Amazing Asparagus Hailed for its medicinal properties and considered a delicacy, asparagus is a well-known harbinger of spring. The perennial vegetable takes up to 3 years to produce its delectable, edible shoots. It's worth the wait: Not only is the plant productive, producing up to 15 years or more of quality produce, but asparagus is packed with vitamins K, A, and C, and a powerhouse of folate and potassium. Lucky for us, green asparagus can be found at most food markets. Less common varieties, in white and purple hues, might be more expensive and difficult to track down: Look for these rarities in upscale grocers or farmers' markets. Perhaps the most attractive trait of asparagus is just how easy it is to prepare. Sautéed, roasted, blanched, grilled, steamed, or stir-fried, this early-season favorite is lovely by itself or when added to omelets, pasta, or salads.	eng	1e9e9bd7-e6c3-4c56-a2d4-5cccae91654c	http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/sections/health-and-family/home-decorating/feed
Sign up to receive free email alerts when patent applications with chosen keywords are publishedSIGN UP Abstract: Systems and methods, including computer software products, for processing gray colors in a conversion between color spaces involve identifying a non-pure gray color value in a color space that represents a substantially gray color. The methods further include converting the non-pure gray color value to a corresponding pure gray color value in the color space. The methods also include determining a first difference vector between the non-pure gray color value and the corresponding pure gray color value. The methods further include determining a distance between the corresponding pure gray color value and a selected color value. The corresponding pure gray color value represents a nearest pure gray color value to the selected color value. The methods also includes determining a correction factor based on the first difference vector and the distance and applying the correction factor to the selected color value to produce a corrected color value. Claims: 1-20. (canceled) 21. A method comprising:identifying a non-pure gray color value in a color space, wherein the non-pure gray color value includes a plurality of color components and represents a substantially gray color;converting the non-pure gray color value to a corresponding pure gray color value in the color space by modifying the plurality of color component values to substantially remove non-gray color components; andmodifying a selected color value having a plurality of color component values in the color space to at least partially reduce one or more non-gray color component values for the selected color value, wherein the amount of reduction in the non-gray color component values is determined based on at least:a difference between the non-pure gray color value and the corresponding pure gray color value; anda difference between the selected color value and the non-pure gray color value. 22. The method of claim 21 wherein the color space comprises a target color space defined by a lookup table for converting from a source color space to the target color space, and the non-pure gray color value in the target color space corresponding to a pure gray color value in the source color space, the method further comprising generating a modified lookup table by:converting a plurality of non-pure gray color values representing substantially gray colors in the target color space to corresponding pure gray color values in the modified lookup table; andmodifying a plurality of color values to at least partially reduce one or more non-gray color component values for each color value of the plurality of color values, wherein the amount of reduction in the non-gray color component values is determined based on at least:a difference between a particular one of the plurality of non-pure gray color values and the corresponding pure gray color value; anda difference between the respective color value and the particular non-pure gray color value. 23. The method of claim 22 wherein the plurality of non-pure gray color values representing substantially gray colors define a substantially pure gray color axis in the target color space and the amount of reduction for each of the plurality of color values increases as the difference between a respective color value and the corresponding particular non-pure gray color value increases. 24. The method of claim 23 wherein the amount of reduction in the non-gray color component values corresponds to a scaled difference between a particular one of the plurality of non-pure gray color values and the corresponding pure gray color value, wherein an amount of scaling is based on the difference between the respective color value and the particular non-pure gray color value. 25. The method of claim 24 wherein the amount of reduction in the non-gray color component values is selected to avoid a rate of change in the color component values in excess of a predetermined threshold as the difference between a respective color value and the corresponding particular non-pure gray color value increases. 26. The method of claim 25 further comprising converting color values in the source color space to color values in the target color space using the modified lookup table. 27. The method of claim 21 further comprising:converting a plurality of non-pure gray color values representing substantially gray colors in the color space to corresponding pure gray color values; andmodifying a plurality of color values to at least partially reduce one or more non-gray color component values for each color value of the plurality of color values, wherein the amount of reduction in the non-gray color component values is determined based on at least:a difference between a particular one of the plurality of non-pure gray color values and the corresponding pure gray color value; anda difference between the respective color value and the particular non-pure gray color value. 28. The method of claim 27 wherein the amount of reduction in the non-gray color component values is selected to smooth a transition between the pure gray color values in the color space and substantially non-gray color values in the color space. 29. The method of claim 27 wherein the amount of reduction in the non-gray color component values is selected to reduce banding effects in images produced using the color space. 30. The method of claim 27 wherein the amount of reduction in the non-gray color component values is selected to avoid a rate of change in color component values within the color space in excess of a predetermined threshold. 31. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:identifying a non-pure gray color value in a color space, wherein the non-pure gray color value includes a plurality of color components and represents a substantially gray color;determining a first difference vector between values of the color components for the non-pure gray color value and a corresponding pure gray color value in the color space; andmodifying a selected color value in the color space based on the first difference vector and a second difference vector between the corresponding pure gray color value and a selected color value in the color space. 33. The storage medium of claim 31 wherein the plurality of color components for the non-pure gray color value combine to produce the substantially gray color. 34. The storage medium of claim 31 wherein the color space comprises a target color space and the selected color value comprises a selected color value in the target color space, the operations further comprising generating a lookup table for converting from a source color space to the target color space, wherein each color value in the target color space corresponds to a color value in the source color space. 35. The storage medium of claim 34 wherein the non-pure gray color value is identified based on a correspondence to a pure gray color value in the source color space. 36. The storage medium of claim 31 wherein the selected color value is modified by an amount determined by scaling the first difference vector, and a degree of scaling is determined according to the second difference vector. 37. The storage medium of claim 36 wherein the degree of scaling increases as the second difference vector increases. 38. A system comprising:one or more processors; andat least one storage device storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:identify a non-pure gray color value in a color space, wherein the non-pure gray color value represents a substantially gray color;determine a corresponding pure gray color value that is perceptually equivalent to the non-pure gray color value;identify a modified color value for a selected color value in the color space, wherein the modified color value includes an increased gray component contribution and a reduced contribution for other color components relative to the selected color value, and an amount of the reduced contribution for the other color components is determined according to a difference between the non-pure gray color value and the corresponding pure gray color value and a difference between the non-pure gray color value the selected color value. 39. The system of claim 38 wherein the at least one storage device further store instructions that cause the one or more processors to generate a lookup table including the modified color value for converting from a source color space to the color space. 40. The system of claim 38 wherein the instructions are adapted to identify the modified color value to smooth a transition between the corresponding pure gray color value and a substantially non-gray color value. Description: CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001]This application is a continuation of, and therefore claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC 20 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/014,668 filed on Jan. 15, 2008, entitled "Smoothly Changing Gray Levels in Color Transforms", which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND [0002]The present disclosure relates to the field of data processing, and more specifically to smoothly changing the gray levels in color transforms. [0003]Digital devices that create (e.g., scanners and digital cameras), display (e.g. CRT and LCD monitors), or print (e.g. ink jet and laser printers) colors typically define color data using color spaces. Generally, a color space is a combination of a color model and a gamut. A color model defines each color within the model using primary color components, such as, in the case of a Red, Green, Blue (RGB) color model, the levels of red, green, and blue light components needed to create each color, or in the case of a Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (CMYK) color model, the levels of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink needed to create each color. Levels of each component the color models typically range from 0 to 100 percent of full intensity. By varying the levels or intensities of the components, each color in the color model may be created. However, as a practical matter a device is often limited in its ability to create pure red, green, or blue light, which limits its range of colors or color gamut. A gamut is simply the range of colors that may be displayed on, rendered by, or captured by a particular device. [0004]The differences in device gamuts and primary color definitions lead to differences in color spaces between devices. For example, two devices that use RGB may show different colors when each displays its most intense red. The most intense red on a first device may have an intensity of 1 for the R component and 0 for the G and B components. However, the color that looks the same as the most intense red of the first device may have a red intensity of 0.85 on a second device. Moreover, the G and B component intensities may even be 0.05 on the second device. In other words, the same perceived "red" color has different RGB component values depending on the device, on the first device it may be (1, 0, 0) and on the second device that same "red" may be (0.85, 0.05, 0.05). This means that an image file containing only RGB values, if displayed directly by both devices, would appear differently on the two devices. [0005]To solve this problem of the same component values appearing differently on different devices, color spaces are defined in relation to device-independent color spaces, which define colors in more absolute terms. Some examples of device-independent color spaces include the CIE XYZ and CIE Lab* color spaces. The relationship of a device's native color space with a device-independent color space typically is described by some combination of formulas, transfer functions, matrices, and look up tables. This relationship may be stored in an International Color Consortium (ICC) profile for the device. The device-independent color space may be used as an intermediate when converting from one device-dependent color space to another. [0006]The conversion from one color space to another may be done through a series of conventional processing steps. Some processing steps may be more computationally intensive than others. Some processing steps may require interpolation. Generally, there is a tradeoff between the number of steps, the complexity of each step, speed, and accuracy. In some applications, speed is of the essence and accuracy is sacrificed by reducing the number of steps and/or the complexity of the individual steps. Often to increase speed, a look up table (LUT) is used either alone or with another simple processing step. A LUT maps points in one color space to corresponding points in another color space. For example, a color in a first RGB color space may have the color component values of (0, 45, 82) which, when converted to a second RGB color space, the color may have the color component values (5, 51, 76). This is because the ICC profile for each color space defines pure R, G, and B components differently. A LUT may be constructed by transforming a regularly spaced grid of colors in a first color space to a second color space using the most accurate processing steps, such as using the ICC profiles for example. Each grid point and its corresponding transform point in the second color space may be stored in the LUT. Converting colors that do not correspond to the grid points would involve interpolation, therefore, the more grid points the more accurate the conversion. However, increasing the number of the grid points complicates the LUT and may result in an increase in processing time. [0007]Gray colors are often specified using the K channel of a CMYK color space. When colors are converted from one CMYK color space to another CMYK color space, such as in the case of going from editing to printing, source colors having only a K component value (e.g., (0, 0, 0, 50)) may be converted to a four channel CMYK color (e.g., (21, 22, 33, 34)), which may result in an undesirable image or wasted ink. Similarly, converting from a gray RGB color value to the CMYK space may result in a four channel CMYK color value. [0009]Systems and methods, including computer software products, for processing gray colors in a conversion between color spaces involve identifying a non-pure gray color value in a color space. The non-pure gray color value represents a substantially gray color. The systems and methods further include converting the non-pure gray color value to a corresponding pure gray color value in the color space. The method also includes determining a first difference vector based on a difference between the non-pure gray color value and the corresponding pure gray color value. The method further includes determining a distance between the corresponding pure gray color value and a selected color value in the color space. The corresponding pure gray color value represents a nearest pure gray color value to the selected color value in the color space. The method also includes determining a correction factor based on the first difference vector and the distance and applying the correction factor to the selected color value to produce a corrected color value. [0010]These and other embodiments can optionally include one or more of the following features. Each color value in the color space can include a plurality of non-gray color component values and a gray color component value. The non-pure gray color value can include non-gray color component values having non-zero values and the pure gray color value comprises non-gray color component values having a zero value. The color space can include a target color space and the selected color value comprises a selected color value in the target color space, and the embodiments can further include determining a lookup table for converting from a source color space to the target color space, where each color value in the target color space corresponds to a color value in the source color space. The non-pure gray color value can be identified based on a correspondence to a pure gray color value in the source color space. The distance can be determined based on a proximity between the selected color value and the pure gray color value in the look up table. The source color space can include a Red, Green, Blue (RGB) color space; each pure gray color value in the source color space can include Red, Green, and Blue component values that are equal to one another; and each non-pure gray color value can include Red, Green, and Blue component values that are not equal to one another. [0011]The distance can be determined based on a comparison of the first difference vector between the selected color value and the corresponding pure gray color value with difference vectors between other color values in the color space and the corresponding pure gray color value. The embodiments can further involve converting a plurality of non-pure gray color values to a plurality of corresponding pure gray color values in the color space, where the distance between the corresponding pure gray color value and the selected color value in the color space is less than a distance between the selected color value and each of the plurality of corresponding pure gray color values. Determining the correction factor can include: determining a maximum change amount between the selected color value and the corresponding pure gray color value based on the distance; and determining the correction factor by scaling the first difference vector by an amount such that a difference between the scaled first difference vector added to the selected color value and the corresponding pure gray color value is not greater than the maximum change amount. The maximum change amount can be determined by multiplying the distance by a correction gradient associated with a rate that a color component changes from adjacent color values in the color space. [0012]The embodiments can also involve determining a second difference vector based on a difference between the non-pure gray color value and the selected color value. The correction factor can be based on the first and second difference vectors and the determined distance. Determining the correction factor can include determining a maximum change amount between the selected color value and the corresponding pure gray color value based on the distance; replacing a gray component value of the second difference vector with zero; subtracting from each of a plurality of non-gray component values of the second difference vector a mean of the plurality of non-gray component values of the second difference vector; replacing negative component values of the second difference vector with zero; scaling the second difference vector using optimization factors and a maximum of absolute values of component values of the first difference vector; adding the first and second difference vectors to obtain a third difference vector; and determining the correction factor by scaling the third difference vector by an amount such that a difference between the scaled third difference vector added to the selected color value and the corresponding pure gray color value is not greater than the maximum change amount. The second color space can include a Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (CMYK) color space, and the optimization factors can be approximately 2, 1, and 0.5 for the Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow components respectively. [0013]Particular embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented to realize one or more of the following advantages. The print quality for pure gray colors may be increased. The print quality for other colors may be unchanged or decreased negligibly. Banding and other color artifacts, such as halos, also may be significantly reduced. The modified conversion transform may be created quickly, which enables certain embodiments to be used in a variety of situations. [0014]The0015]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a color conversion system. [0016]FIG. 2 illustrates an example a processing machine that can be used with the system of FIG. 1. [0017]FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a process for creating a LUT to transform color values from a source to a destination color space while preserving K-only values. [0018]FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a process for smoothing non-gray colors in a transform where the values of gray colors were replace by K-only values. [0019]FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a process for converting color data using a LUT to transform color values from a source to a destination color space while preserving K-only values. [0020]FIG. 6 is a table of example CMYK inputs of a source color space to be converted to CMYK outputs of a destination color space. [0021]FIG. 7 is a table of example CMYK outputs of a destination color space determined by transforming the example inputs of FIG. 6 using conventional methods. [0022]FIG. 8 is a table of example smoothed CMYK outputs of a destination color space determined by transforming the example inputs of FIG. 6 using an embodiment of the subject matter described herein. [0023]FIG. 9 is a table of the differences in the magnitudes of each component as determined between the conventional CMYK outputs and the smoothed CMYK outputs. [0024]Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0025]Image processing work flows often require the conversion of files from one color space to another, even if the color spaces are based on the same color model, such as the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (CMYK) color model. For example, a desktop publishing file may be created and edited using a desktop publishing software program that consistently used a source CMYK color space defined by a first International Color Consortium (ICC) profile. That file may then be sent to a printing press that uses destination CMYK color space defined by a second ICC profile. In order to print the desktop publishing file in a way that preserves the intended color, the printing press would convert the file from the source color space to the destination color space using the ICC profiles, or a look up table (LUT) created from the profiles. In doing so, however, a source pixel with a color value that is "pure gray" may be converted to a destination color value that is not pure gray. "Pure gray" color values may differ depending on the color space. For example, "pure gray" color values in a CMYK color space are defined as color values whose non-gray component values (C, M, and Y components) are zero and whose gray component value (K component) is usually non-zero. In a Red, Green, Blue (RGB) color space, "pure gray" color values are defined as color values whose component values (R, G, and B) are all equal. Because of the way many printers render colors, gray colors that have pure gray values (using only K ink) may appear crisp when rendered, while gray colors that have non-zero C, M, and Y component values may appear fuzzy or muddled. Also, less ink may be used to render a gray color using pure gray values than with using the other (usually more expensive) color inks to render the gray color. Thus, it may be desirable to preserve the pure gray nature of gray colors when converting from a source color space to a destination color space. Some conventional methods create a LUT using conventional processing steps and then substitute non-pure gray destination values corresponding to pure gray values with pure gray destination values. Without more, this substitution may result in large interpolation errors, banding, and color artifacts, which reduces the overall print quality. Thus, it may also be desirable to reduce the effects of substituting pure gray destination colors by modifying destination color values that are near the pure gray colors. [0026]As shown in FIG. 1, a color conversion system 100 includes a processing machine 120 that receives an input file 110 having colors expressed in a source color space and transmits a converted file 130 having colors expressed in a destination color space. The processing machine 120 includes conversion software 122 and conversion data 124 that stores ICC profiles 126 and a conversion transform 128 that preserves the pure gray nature of the color values. Generally, the color conversion system 100 creates the conversion transform 128 using the conversion software 122 and the ICC profiles 126. The conversion transform 128 may be a modified version of a conventional LUT, where the conventional LUT's destination gray color values are replaced with pure gray color values and destination color values near the gray colors (near gray colors) are modified to smooth the transition from the replaced values to the original values. In some embodiments, the smoothing may reduce the interpolation errors, and thus reduce artifacts such as banding, when converting and rendering near gray colors. Other advantages of some embodiments include rendering gray colors with less ink and increasing the quality (e.g., crispness) of rendered gray colors. [0027]The input file 110a and converted file 110b (collectively, files 110) each may be any collection of electronic data that includes color data defined in a particular color space. The input file 110a generally includes color data in a source color space and the converted file 130 generally includes color data in a destination color space. The files 110 may also include other data, such as text, embedded fonts, images and 2D vector graphics data (data in addition to related color data), digital rights management information, and other types of non-color data. The files 110 may adhere to a given specification or format, including, for example, Extensible Markup Language Paper Specification (XPS), portable document format (PDF), Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), and Portable Network Graphics (PNG) file formats. The source color space may be based on any of a variety of color models, such as RGB, CMYK, YCrCb, and many others. The destination color space may be based on any of a variety of color models and color spaces that include a gray component, such as, for example, CMYK, and CcMmYK. The input file 110 may also include an ICC profile that defines the color space used within the file. [0028]The processing machine 120 is any apparatus, device, or machines for processing data, including, for example, a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers. The processing machine 120 can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them. The processing machine includes color conversion software 122 and conversion data 124. [0029]Generally, the color conversion software 122 may be a computer program that is executed by the processor 110 to facilitate color conversion. A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one processing machine 120 or on multiple processing machines 120 that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network. [0030]The conversion data 124 facilitates the transformation of color data from the source color space of the input file 110 to destination color space of the converted file 130. The conversion data 124 may be described in a table, a matrix, a formula, a flat file, a computer program, or any combination of these. The conversion data 124 may describe or embody any type of processing that is usually associated with color conversion. The processing may be a single step or a series of steps that may utilize any combination of formulas, matrices, or look up tables. The conversion data 124 may include one or more ICC profiles 126 and conversion transforms 128. Generally, an ICC profile 126, associated with a particular color space, is a file that contains information on converting color values in the particular color space to color values in another, usually device-independent, color space. [0031]A conversion transform 128 is a data structure that facilitates the conversion from the source color space to the destination color space. The conversion transform 128 may be implemented as a LUT. A LUT is essentially a multi-dimensional table that maps discrete input points, as given by their multi-dimensional coordinates, to discrete output points. The number of coordinates in the input need not match the number of coordinates of the output. For example, a source color space based on a three-dimensional color model, such as RGB, may be mapped to a destination color space based on a four-dimensional color model, such as CMYK. For instance, an input point having RGB coordinates or component values (19, 19, 19) may be mapped to an output point having CMYK coordinates or components values (0, 0, 0, 27). A LUT for converting between color spaces may be created using data obtained from experimentation or obtained mathematically using known processing steps, such as those that may be defined in ICC profiles 126. [0032]In operation, the processing machine 110 executes the color conversion software 122. In so doing, system 100 may create a conversion transform 128 using the ICC profiles 126. The conversion transform 128 can be implemented as a multi-dimensional LUT. A four-dimensional LUT may be used to map a source CMYK color space to a destination CMYK color space. A conventional LUT may be constructed by transforming a regularly spaced grid of colors in the source color space to the destination color space using conventional processing steps, such as using the ICC profiles 126 for example. Each source color space grid point and its corresponding transform point in the destination color space may be stored in the LUT. Converting colors that do not correspond to the grid points would involve interpolation, therefore, the more grid points the more accurate the conversion, but increasing the number of the grid points complicates the LUT and may result in an increase in processing time. A LUT may contain any number of grid points, for example a 16×16×16×16 LUT may be used to implement the conversion transform 128. Due to the nature of the conventional conversion process, a CMYK to CMYK conventional LUT may contain mappings from a K-only source color to a non-K-only destination color. For example, a source CMYK value (0, 0, 0, 100) may be mapped to (85, 79, 79, 87). In such an instance, the K-only nature of the color is not preserved. [0033]The conventional LUT may be modified to preserve the pure gray nature of the gray colors and to smooth the conversions of colors near the gray colors. The K-only source values may be mapped to corresponding K-only destination using a ramp or other mapping that takes into account the source and destination black ink characteristics such as dot gain and the maximum black (K) ink of the destination color space. A conversion ramp maps varying source values of K going from 0 to 100% in a predetermined number of steps to destination values. The maximum K of the destination color space may be determined by converting the darkest possible color, such as CIE Lab* color value of (0, 0, 0), to the destination color space and using the resulting K as the maximum K ink. The conversion ramp may be constructed using the ICC profiles to map the range of K-only values in both the source and destination color spaces to the luminance value in an independent color space, such as the Y component in the CIE XYZ color space. The Y values may then be matched in order to create the conversion ramp. A similar process may be performed to map pure gray colors in a source RGB color space to pure gray colors in a destination CMYK color space. [0034]The pure gray color preservation modification may be made by replacing with a K-only color value each original destination value in the LUT that corresponds to a source grid point having a K-only value. As mentioned before, these original destination color values that correspond to pure gray source colors may have non-zero values for their non-gray color components (e.g., C, M, Y do not equal zero in a CMYK destination color space). The destination pure gray values may be determined by converting the source pure gray values using the conversion ramp described above. After replacing the destination color values with pure gray values, there may be large differences in color component values between the gray colors and those non-gray colors that are closest to the gray colors. For example, a gray destination color that was originally (80, 70, 65, 80) may be replaced with a pure gray value of (0, 0, 0, 100). This new pure gray value, however, may be immediately adjacent to a color having a value of (71, 61, 59, 73), which would be a large difference in the C, M, and Y component values. [0035]The modification to smooth transitions may be accomplished by correcting various destination color values in the LUT. In general, destination color values for the non-gray colors may be corrected using a modified gray component replacement (GCR) method where some of the gray content of the non-gray color is moved from the C, M, and Y channels and placed in the K channel. The extent of the removal of gray content may be adjusted depending on how far away a non-gray color is from the pure gray colors. In some embodiments, adjusting the extent of the GCR may result in a reduction of banding and color artifacts. [0036]The non-gray colors may be corrected by reducing the amount of C, M, and Y component inks (CMY reduction) in the color and replacing them with a comparable amount of K ink. As the distance from the pure gray colors increases, the amount of C, M, and Y reduction may fade to no correction. At a high level, correction is related to the amount that the original destination value for a gray source color shifted when it was replaced by the pure gray destination color value. This correction could be expressed in a difference vector. Destination color values that were proximate to the original destination value for the gray source color become separated even further by the difference vector. This vector could be applied, albeit to a lesser degree, to the proximate destination color values to lessen the gap. The modified GCR may help bring the proximate destination color values closer to the replaced pure gray destination color values. The modified GCR may be implemented using a correction factor, which may be based in part on the difference vector and the distance that the color is away from the gray colors. Other factors may be used with or included in the correction factor. For example, a maximum gain may be established to cap the slope of the lines connecting adjacent grid points, such that large changes are spread over more grid points. The number of grid points changed by the correction factor, in some embodiments, is not predefined. For example, the correction factor may apply to some non-gray color values that are separated from the gray axis or plane by 3 grid points and not applied to some non-gray color values that are separated by a distance of 7 grid points. The correction factor may be affected by the amount of gray content contained in the CMY components. Luminance related content in the corrected non-gray colors may be preserved by adding a K value that is proportionate to the reduced amount of CMY. Color related content in the corrected non-gray colors may be preserved by adding a small amount of gray-free CMY. This gray-free CMY may be based in part on the difference between the CMY component values of the original transform of the non-gray color and the CMY component values of the original transform of the nearest gray color. [0037]After the LUT has been modified, system 100 may receive color data in the input color file 110 and create the converted file 130 from the input file 110 using the LUT. [0038]FIG. 2 illustrates an example a processing machine 120. In general, the processing machine 120 includes a processor 210, memory 220, storage device 230, input/output devices 240, and communications bus 250, which allows the other devices to communicate with one another. Input and output devices 240 include any device that may interact with a processing machine 120, such as printers, monitors, keyboards, trackballs, mice, networks, etc. [0039]A processor 210 may be suitable for the execution of a computer program, and includes, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Moreover, the processor 210 may be embedded in another device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio player, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, or a server, to name just a few possible examples. Generally, a processor will be operatively coupled to receive data and/or instructions from, or transfer data to, a memory 220. [0040]The memory 220 and storage device 230 are computer readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data. The memory 220 may be any form of volatile or non-volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices. The storage device 230 may be any form of non-volatile memory, such as magnetic disk drives, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto optical disk drives; and CD ROM and DVD-ROM disk drives. The processor 210 and the memory 220 can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry. [0041]FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a process 300 for creating a LUT to transform color values from a source to a destination color space while preserving K-only values. Generally, process 300 involves modifying a conventional LUT using a conversion ramp for pure gray colors and a correction factor for non-gray colors. At 310, a convention LUT transform is created. The conventional LUT may be a four-dimensional LUT that maps a source CMYK color space to a destination CMYK color space. A conventional LUT may be constructed by transforming a regularly spaced grid of colors in the source color space to the destination color space using the ICC profiles of the source and destination color spaces. Each source color space grid point and its corresponding transform point in the destination color space may be stored in the LUT. A LUT may contain any number of grid points, for example a 16×16×16×16 LUT may be created. [0042]At 320, the destination color values in the LUT that correspond to K-only source grid points are modified using a conversion ramp. The conversion ramp is applied to each K-only source grid-point to determine a corresponding K-only value in the destination color space. Each corresponding K-only value is used to modify the LUT by replacing the destination color component values that correspond to the K-only source grid point with zero values for the C, M, and Y components and the corresponding K-only value for the K component. The difference between the original destination color component value and the new K-only value may be calculated, at 330, to determine a difference vector for each. At 340, the remaining original non-gray color values may be modified to smooth the transition between the new K-only values and the non-gray colors. A correction factor may be used to implement the correction for each of the non-gray colors. The correction factors may be determined based on the difference vector and the distance between the non-gray color and the gray axis or plane. The distance may be determined by using the nearest pure gray color as a reference for the gray axis or plane. The correction factor may be zero as the distance of the color from the gray axis increases. The correction factor may also be based on a maximum slope of change, which limits the slope of a line connecting a corrected non-gray color value and the nearest gray color value. [0043]FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a process for smoothing non-gray colors in a transform where the values of gray colors were replaced by K-only values. In general, a correction factor is determined for and added to each non-gray color in the transform whose corresponding input color is near a pure gray color. The correction factor differs for each non-gray color depending on the non-gray color components and its distance from the gray axis. For some non-gray colors, the correction factor may be determined to be zero or may not be applied or calculated. FIG. 6 is a table of example CMYK inputs of a source color space to be converted to CMYK outputs of a destination color space. The first column 602, contains pure gray grid points, where for each of the sets of four coordinates the first three (CMY) are zero and the fourth increases with increasing intensity of the black level. For example, grid point 606 contains C, M, and Y values of 0 and a K value of 0.8. Within each row, such as row 604, the amount of gray stays the same, but the color value changes, specifically the C component value in this case, as demonstrated by the difference between points 606, 608, and 610, which all have the same K value of 0.8 and varying C values (0, 0.3, and 0.8 respectively). FIG. 7 is a table of example CMYK outputs of a destination color space determined by transforming the example inputs of FIG. 6 using conventional methods. FIG. 8 is a table of example smoothed CMYK outputs of a destination color space determined by transforming the example inputs of FIG. 6 using an embodiment of the subject matter herein described. The rows and columns of FIG. 6 correspond to the rows and columns of FIGS. 7 and 8, such that grid points 706, 708, and 710 are the transforms of grid points 606, 608, and 610 respectively using conventional methods. Likewise, grid points 806, 808, and 810 are the transforms of grid points 606, 608, and 610 respectively using an embodiment of the subject matter herein described. [0044]Turning back to FIG. 4, at 410, the relative distance of the non-gray color from the gray axis or plane is calculated. The distance may be based on the maximum of the color component values (e.g., CMY in a CMYK color space) or may be proportional to a true distance based on the combined distances of each of the color components. For example, referring to FIG. 6, the relative distance between point 608 and point 606 could be calculated as 0.3, which is the distance from the gray axis divided by the maximum distance from the gray axis, where distance in this case is measured by columns. [0045]At 420, a maximum desired output change amount is determined for the non-gray color by multiplying the distance by a desired rate of change for color values. The rate of change may be a factor, such as 1.5, that controls the smoothing gradient. The rate of change may be adjusted to increase or decrease the number of grid points that are corrected with the smoothing. A distance of three grid points, for example, would yield a maximum output change amount of 0.45. [0046]At 430, a first difference vector is calculated between the original and modified output color for the nearest gray input color. This first correction vector may minimize luminance changes. This difference represents the amount that the original transformed gray color in the destination space was shifted to obtain the modified pure gray color in the destination color space, where the modified pure gray color was obtained by setting the C, M, and Y component values to zero and setting the K value to the transform of the K value of the input color space. Here, the nearest gray color to the points 608 and 610 is grid point 606. The difference vector between points 706 (i.e., the original output color value) and 806 (i.e., the modified pure gray output color value), for example, would be (-0.628, -0.56, -0.531, 0.519). In this example, the K only values in the source (at 606) and destination (at 806) match, but this is not necessarily always the case. [0047]At 440, a second difference vector, referred to as a color difference vector, between the original output color for the non-gray color and original output color for nearest gray input color may be calculated. The difference represents the amount that the color shifted from the gray color to the non-gray color. The color components of the color values (e.g., C, M, and Y in a CMYK color space) may be used to calculate the vector. For example, the color difference vector for non-gray grid point 608 and its corresponding output value is found by subtracting output point 706 from 708, which results in a color difference vector of (0.161, 0.032, -0.035). [0048]At 450, the color difference vector may be refined and scaled to be used to determine the amount that the output color values need to be corrected. Once refined and scaled the color difference vector may provide an optional second-order correction that minimizes local color changes. Color errors may be reduced by 50% or more. The gray component difference may be set to zero, and the mean of the remaining color components may be subtracted from each of the remaining components to determine a pure color difference that removes gray levels. For example, the second difference vector determined above would be transformed to (0.1083, -0.02066, -0.08766, 0). Next, negative component values may be clipped to zero to determine a peak color difference. In this example, the result would be the vector (0.1083, 0, 0, 0). This result may then be scaled using optimization factors, which are scale factors associated with each component, and using the maximum of the magnitudes (i.e., absolute value) of the components of the first difference vector. Scale factors optimized over a large set of transforms to generate smallest average color error may be used. For example, a set of scale factors {2, 1, 0.5} may be applied to the C, M, and Y components respectively for optimization purposes. Here, the maximum magnitude in the first difference vector is 0.628. Using the example optimization factors and the maximum magnitude, a modified color vector of (0.1565, 0, 0, 0) is produced. [0049]At 460, a third vector is created by adding the first and modified color difference vectors. Here, the first difference vector (-0.628, -0.56, -0.531, 0.519) added to the modified second vector (0.1565, 0, 0, 0) results in a third vector (-0.4715, -0.56, -0.531, 0.519). [0050]At 470, the third vector may be scaled by a factor large enough to make the difference between the corrected non-gray output and the pure gray output within the maximum desired output change, which in this example is 0.45. That is, the third vector may be multiplied by a positive amount and added to the original output color for original non-gray color, such that the maximum magnitude difference between the modified output color for original non-gray color and modified output color for nearest pure gray color is equal to the maximum desired output change. This scaling may reduce banding artifacts in print. If the positive or a negative amount of the third vector is near zero, an additional small amount (up to 0.1) may be added to avoid further a banding artifact or halo near the amount of zero. In this example, a factor of 0.71895 may be multiplied to properly scale the third vector, which in this case results in (-0.339, -0.4026, -0.3818, 0.3731). Once a suitable multiple of the third vector is obtained, the scaled third vector may be added, at step 480, to the original non-gray output color values to determine the corrected non-gray output color. In this example, point 708 is smoothed by adding the scaled third vector resulting in point 808. FIG. 9 is a table of the differences in the magnitudes of each component as determined between the conventional CMYK outputs and the smoothed CMYK outputs. These values also correspond to the scaled third vectors described above. As can be seen in FIG. 9 (e.g., at 906, 908, and 910), as the non-gray colors become farther from the pure gray axis, the magnitude of correction also decreases. When the non-gray color is sufficiently far enough away from the pure gray axis, no correction may be applied as is demonstrated at 910. [0051]FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a process 500 for converting color data using a LUT to transform color values from a source to a destination color space while preserving K-only values. At 510, an input file containing color data in a source color space is received. The input file may conform to any of a variety of standards or formats. The color data is read from the input file. At 520, the color data is transformed to a destination color space. The processes described in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 may be applied to perform the conversion. At 530, the converted data is placed in an output file. The output file may have the same format as the input file or it may be different. The input file may be modified to create the output file. [0052]Embodiments of the subject matter Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as one or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer-readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus. The computer-readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter affecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more of them. The term "data processing apparatus" encompasses all apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers. The apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them. A propagated signal is an artificially generated signal, e.g., a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus. [005354]To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube55]Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front-end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described in this specification, or any combination of one or more such back-end, middleware, or005657]While this specification contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments of the invention58]Similarly59]Thus, particular embodiments of the invention have been described. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.	eng	f79ef9fb-0d5e-4b30-a79f-603915d8c5e0	http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20110075222
FIRST NASAL VACCINE APPROVED FOR USE: On June 17, 2003, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of FluMist, an influenza vaccine that is the first nasally administered vaccine to be marketed in the United States. It is also the first live virus influenza vaccine approved in the U.S. FluMist is approved to prevent influenza illness due to influenza A and B viruses in healthy children and adolescents, ages 5-17 years, and healthy adults, ages 18-49. In clinical trials, FluMist was evaluated in 20,228 individuals, including over 10,000 healthy children 5-17 years old. The efficacy of the vaccine in preventing influenza was approximately 87 percent among children included in the trial. In healthy adults ages 18-49 years, FluMist was effective in reducing severe illnesses with fever, and upper respiratory problems which may be caused by influenza infection. As with any live virus vaccines, FluMist should not be given for any reason to people with immune suppression, including those with immune deficiency diseases, such as AIDS or cancer, and people who are being treated with drugs that cause immunosuppression. The safety of FluMist in people with asthma or other reactive airway diseases has not been established; FluMist should not be given to people with a history of these problems. In a large safety study, children under five years of age were found to have increased rate of asthma and wheezing within 42 days of vaccination compared to placebo recipients, and thus FluMist is not recommended for young children. For people age 50 years and over, the safe and effective use of FluMist has also not been established. The vaccine should also not be administered to those with therapies including aspirin, a history of Guillain-Barre syndrome, chronic diseases, allergies to eggs or those who are pregnant. The most common adverse events associated with the vaccine were nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, and cough. FluMist is produced by MedImmune Vaccines and will be distributed by Wyeth. Both companies will market the product. For more information visit or Radioactive uranium that is inhaled by soldiers on the battlefield and by workers in factories may bypass the brain's protective barrier by following nerves from the nose directly to the brain. Nerves can act as a unique conduit, carrying inhaled uranium from the nose directly to the brain, finds a study with rats. Once in the brain, the uranium may affect task and decision-related types of thinking. This study provides yet another example of how some substances can use the olfactory system – bypassing the brain's protective blood barrier – to go directly to the brain. Titanium nanoparticles and the metals manganese, nickel, and thallium have been shown to reach the brian using the same route. Military personnel and people who work in uranium processing plants are exposed to the weak radioactive element via wounds or by breathing. Exposure may affect brain function; cognitive skills are lowered in soldiers who carry uranium-laced shrapnel. Uranium has various industrial and military uses. A form of uranium called depleted uranium is very dense and is used in armor-piercing ammunition and military vehicle armor. Battlefield exposure can occur through wounds – such as with some US military personnel who were injured during the Gulf War. These exposures can be higher than with civilians who work with the element. A study of Gulf War veterans who have uranium shrapnel in their bodies showed that they perform more poorly on general brain cognitive tests of performance efficiency and accuracy. Uranium can also be inhaled. Soldiers in vehicles hit by uranium rounds and workers in uranium-processing facilities can breathe it in. The researchers – taking advantage of the fact that uranium can exist in different forms, or isotopes – used rats to compare how the element travels through the body if it is inhaled or injected into the blood. The animals breathed in one isotope at levels similar to those encountered on a battlefield where depleted uranium weapons are used. They were also injected with a different isotope. Researchers compared the levels of the two isotopes in different regions of the brain. The inhaled isotope accumulated at 2 to 3 times higher levels than the injected isotope in the olfactory (smell) paths from the nose to the brain and in the frontal cortex and hypothalamus of the brain. This is concerning because the front part of the brain controls executive function, which is the broad ability to gather information, make decisions and initiate action. The scientists then chemically damaged the olfactory nerves in the nose. The rats with the damaged nerves had three times less uranium in the olfactory system than the rats with intact olfactory nerves. These finding suggests that inhaled uranium can travel directly from the nose along the olfactory nerves to the front of the brain. The olfactory pathway, then, plays an important role in inhaled uranium reaching the brain. It is not known from this study if soldiers and civilian workers that breathe uranium could be at an even higher risk for cognitive effects or if inhaled uranium may affect brain function in similar ways as when it is carried through the blood. It is also unclear if these findings would hold true for the human brain since the rat brain is much more developed for smelling than the human brain. Assessing these possible risks and determining if people's relatively underdeveloped sense of smell could protect the brain would require further studies of people exposed to uranium through inhalation A study with rats suggests that radioactive uranium inhaled by soldiers on the battlefield and by workers in factories may bypass the brain's protective barrier by following nerves from the nose directly to the brain. This study provides yet another example of how some substances can use the olfactory system to bypass the brain's protective blood barrier and go directly to the brain. Titanium nanoparticles and the metals manganese, nickel, and thallium use the same route. FluMist is approved to prevent influenza illness due to influenza A and B viruses in healthy children and adolescents, ages 5-17 years, and healthy adults, ages 18-49 years. What is the difference between live attenuated influenza virus (LAIV) and the flu shot that is made from inactivated viruses? LAIV and inactivated influenza vaccine contain strains of influenza viruses that are matched to protect against influenza strains that are likely to circulate each year. Viruses for both vaccines are grown in eggs. Both vaccines are administered annually to provide optimal protection against influenza infection. Inactivated vaccines are produced by killing the flu viruses. The killed viruses cannot cause influenza. LAIV contains attenuated (or weakened) viruses. These weakened strains usually do not cause illness because they have lost virulence (disease-causing properties). There is, however, a possibility that they can still reproduce and cause disease, especially in persons with weakened immune systems. FluMist (LAIV) is administered intranasally by sprayer, whereas inactivated influenza vaccine is administered intramuscularly by injection. FluMist (LAIV) is approved for use only among healthy persons aged 5-49 years; inactivated influenza vaccine is approved for use among persons aged >6 months, including those who are healthy and those with medical conditions. Since the flu shot is recommended for many people over the age of 49, why isn't FluMist recommended for individuals 50 years of age and older? Studies with FluMist did not include enough patients over the age of 49 to determine if they respond differently than younger individuals. Therefore, the safe and effective use of FluMist in persons 50 years and older has not been established. How many doses are recommended per season? Children 5-8 years old need two doses at least 6 weeks apart in their first year of vaccination with FluMist. Individuals 9-49 years old need only one dose. How well does this vaccine work? The vaccine prevented influenza associated illness in approximately 87% of the children included in the trial. Adults (ages 18-49 years) who received FluMist experienced significantly fewer episodes of severe febrile illness (SFI) when compared to those who received placebo. Severe febrile illness was defined as having at least three days of symptoms (runny nose, sore throat, cough, muscle aches, tiredness/weakness) and one day of fever. Adults who received FluMist did not experience a significant reduction in any febrile illness (AFI). Adults were characterized as having AFI if they had symptoms for at least two consecutive days, with fever on at least one day. As with any vaccine, FluMist may not protect 100% of individuals receiving the vaccine. However, a vaccine, like any medicine, is capable of causing serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. The risk of a vaccine causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small, and serious problems from flu vaccine are rare. Are there certain people who should not receive FluMist? As with any medication, individuals should check with their health care provider before receiving any flu vaccines. According to the approved package insert, the following people should not get the intranasal influenza vaccine: Adults 50 years of age or older, or children younger than 5 should not receive FluMist. FluMist should not be given for any reason to people with immune suppression, including those with immune deficiency diseases, such as AIDS or cancer, and people who are being treated with drugs that cause immunosuppression. The safety of FluMist in people with asthma or other reactive airway diseases has not been established, and therefore, is not recommended for use in patients with a history of reactive airway problems. Additionally, FluMist should not be given to people with chronic underlying medical conditions that may predispose them to severe flu infections. For these people, the injected vaccine is indicated. Individuals with egg allergies should not receive this or any other flu vaccine. People who have health problems associated with heart disease, kidney disease, lung disease, or metabolic diseases such as diabetes, anemia and other blood disorders should not receive FluMist. Because Reye syndrome in children has been associated with administration of aspirin during influenza virus infections, FluMist is not recommended in children and adolescents 5-17 years of age if they are receiving aspirin or aspirin-containing therapy. Pregnant women (in their second or third trimesters during influenza season) should not receive FluMist. Anyone with a history of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) should not receive FluMist. Physicians, nurses, family members, or anyone else coming in close contact with anyone with a weakened immune system should not receive FluMist. If I receive FluMist, is it possible that I will get the flu from the vaccine? Yes, although strains of attenuated vaccines are weakened, there is a possibility that they can still reproduce and cause disease, particularly in people with weakened or compromised immune systems. Can I get the flu from the inactivated vaccine? No. Components in the inactivated influenza vaccine are made from killed influenza viruses, and they cannot cause influenza infection. What is the best time of year to receive the flu vaccine? Flu vaccines should be administered prior to exposure to influenza. The peak of influenza activity varies from year to year, but generally occurs in the U.S. between late December and early March. Influenza vaccines usually become available in early October, but contact your healthcare provider for additional information. Will I need to receive a vaccine every year? Because yearly variation in the influenza strains is possible, annual revaccination with FluMist, as well as with the inactivated vaccine, is recommended. If I would like to obtain additional information where can I find it? We recommend that that you talk to your health care provider when you have any questions related to the medication(s) you receive. He or she can also suggest other sources of information. Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 1 of 19 Influenza Virus Vaccine Live, Intranasal FluMistTM 2003-2004 Formula FOR NASAL ADMINISTRATION ONLY Rx only DESCRIPTION Influenza Virus Vaccine Live, Intranasal (FluMist™) is a live trivalent nasally administered vaccine intended for active immunization for the prevention of influenza. Each 0.5 mL dose is formulated to contain 106.5-7.5 TCID50 (median tissue culture infectious dose) of live attenuated influenza virus reassortants of the strains recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) for the 2003-2004 season: A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1), A/Panama/2007/99 (H3N2) (A/Moscow/10/99-like), and B/Hong Kong/330/2001 [1]. These strains are (a) antigenically representative of influenza viruses that may circulate in humans during the 2003-2004 influenza season; (b) cold-adapted (ca) (i.e., they replicate efficiently at 25oC, a temperature that is restrictive for replication of many wild-type viruses); (c) temperaturesensitive (ts) (i.e., they are restricted in replication at 37oC (Type B strains) or 39oC (Type A strains), temperatures at which many wild-type influenza viruses grow efficiently); and (d) attenuated (att) so as not to produce classic influenza-like illness in the ferret model of human influenza infection. The cumulative effect of the antigenic properties and the ca, ts, and att phenotype is that the vaccine viruses replicate in the nasopharynx to produce protective immunity. Each of the three influenza virus strains contained in FluMist is a genetic reassortant of a Master Donor Virus (MDV) and a wild-type influenza virus. The MDVs (A/Ann Arbor/6/60 and B/Ann Arbor/1/66) were developed by serial passage at sequentially lower temperatures in specific pathogen-free (SPF) primary chick kidney cells [2]. During this process, the MDVs acquired the ca, ts and att phenotype and multiple mutations in the gene segments that encode viral proteins other than the surface glycoproteins. The individual contribution of the genetic sequences of the six non-glycoprotein MDV genes ("internal gene segments") to the ca, ts, and att phenotype is not completely understood. However, at least five genetic loci in three different internal gene segments of the Type A MDV and at least three genetic loci in two different internal gene segments of the Type B MDV contribute to the ts property [3, 4]. For each of the three strains in FluMist, the six internal gene segments responsible for ca, ts, and att phenotypes are derived from the MDV, and the two segments that encode the two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 2 of 19 (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), are derived from the corresponding antigenically relevant wild-type influenza viruses that have been recommended by the USPHS for inclusion in the annual vaccine formulation. Thus, the three viruses contained in FluMist maintain the replication characteristics and phenotypic properties of the MDV and express the HA and NA of wild-type viruses that are related to strains expected to circulate during the 2003-2004 influenza season. Viral harvests used in the production of FluMist are produced by inoculating each of the three reassortant viruses into specific pathogen-free (SPF) eggs that are incubated to allow for vaccine virus replication. The allantoic fluid of these eggs is harvested, clarified by centrifugation, and stabilized with buffer containing sucrose, potassium phosphate, and monosodium glutamate (0.47 mg/dose). Viral harvests from the three strains (H1N1, H3N2, and B) are subsequently blended and diluted to desired potency with allantoic fluid derived from uninfected SPF eggs to produce trivalent bulk vaccine. Each lot of viral harvest is tested for ca, ts, and att and is also tested extensively by in vitro and in vivo methods to detect adventitious agents. The bulk vaccine is then filled directly into individual sprayers for nasal administration. These sprayers are labeled and stored at ≤-15oC. Gentamicin sulfate is added early in the manufacturing process during preparation of reassortant viruses at a calculated concentration of approximately 1 µg/mL. Later steps of the manufacturing process do not use gentamicin, resulting in a diluted residual concentration in the final product of <0.015 µg/mL (limit of detection of the assay). FluMist does not contain any preservatives. Each pre-filled FluMist sprayer contains a single 0.5 mL dose. The teflon tip attached to the sprayer is equipped with a one-way valve that produces a fine mist that is primarily deposited in the nose and nasopharynx. When thawed for administration, FluMist is a colorless to pale yellow liquid and is clear to slightly cloudy (see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION). CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY Influenza is a highly infectious respiratory viral infection that causes recurrent winter epidemics of acute disease in persons of all ages. Highest rates of illness are generally reported among 5-14 year-olds [5, 6]. Among healthy individuals 15-44 years of age, the average rate of excess hospitalizations attributable to influenza is 20-25 per 100,000 per year [7], with an annual influenza-associated mortality rate of 0.2-1.5 per 100,000 person-years [8]. Types A and B influenza viruses are the principal causes of influenza in humans. Type A influenza viruses are divided into subtypes on the basis of the two surface antigens, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), while influenza virus B is classified as a single subtype. Continuous mutation of the influenza virus genome leads to an accumulation of genetic and accompanying antigenic changes that result in the evolution of viruses into recognizable antigenic lineages or strains within a subtype. Protective immune responses following natural Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 3 of 19 infection result in population-based immunity to circulating strains. However, this immune barrier eventually results in the emergence of strains that have undergone antigenic change, or "drift." Because these "drifted" strains can escape immunity to HA and NA antigens of previously circulating strains, experience with inactivated influenza vaccines suggests that vaccines may require annual updating to match the contemporary strains. Vaccination is the principal means of prevention of influenza and influenza-associated complications [1]. Mechanism of Action Immune mechanisms conferring protection against influenza following receipt of FluMist vaccine are not fully understood. Likewise, naturally acquired immunity to wild-type influenza has not been completely elucidated. Serum antibodies, mucosal antibodies and influenza-specific T cells may play a role in prevention and recovery from infection [9, 10]. Vaccination with FluMist has been demonstrated to induce influenza strain-specific serum antibodies [11, 12]. Clinical Studies FluMist was administered to 20,228 subjects in clinical studies. The population evaluated included 10,297 healthy children 5-17 years of age (14,058 doses of FluMist received) and 3297 healthy adults 18-49 years of age (3335 doses of FluMist received) who received at least one dose of vaccine. Second and third annual doses have been given to 1766 and 128 children 5-17 years of age, respectively. In randomized, placebo-controlled trials, 4719 healthy children 5-17 years of age and 2864 healthy adults 18-49 years of age received FluMist. The efficacy of FluMist against culture-confirmed influenza disease for Types A/H3N2 and B was assessed in a field trial in children. The effectiveness of FluMist against Types A/H3N2 and B, defined as a reduction in influenza-like illness and illness-associated health care utilization, was assessed in a field trial in adults. Type A/H1N1 did not circulate during either trial, and no field efficacy data against this strain are available. Pediatric Study The Pediatric Efficacy Study was a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial performed in healthy U.S. children to evaluate the efficacy of FluMist against cultureconfirmed influenza over two successive seasons [13, 14]. The primary endpoint for the first year of the trial was the prevention of culture-confirmed influenza illness due to antigenically matched wild-type influenza in healthy children who received two doses of vaccine. During the first year of the study a subset of 312 children 60-71 months of age were randomized 2:1 (vaccine:placebo). All children with culture-confirmed influenza experienced respiratory symptoms (cough, runny Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 4 of 19 nose, or sore throat) and most experienced fever (68%), health care provider visits (68%), and missed school days (74%). As shown in Table 1, when compared with placebo recipients, FluMist recipients 60-71 months of age who received two doses of vaccine (n=238) experienced a significant reduction in the incidence of culture-confirmed influenza (efficacy 87.4%, 95% CI: 59.4, 97.9). In the 60-71 month old age group, children who received one dose of FluMist when compared to one dose of placebo experienced a significant reduction in the incidence of culture-confirmed influenza (0 of 54 FluMist recipients vs 3 of 20 placebo recipients; efficacy 100%, 95% CI: 47.0, 100). Approximately 85% of the participants in the first year returned for the second year of the Pediatric Efficacy Study, including a subset of 544 children 60-84 months of age [4]. During the second year of the trial, the H3N2 strain included in the vaccine was A/Wuhan/359/95. However, the H3N2 strain that primarily circulated was A/Sydney/05/97, which differed antigenically from A/Wuhan/359/95. Type A/Wuhan/359/95 (H3N2) also circulated as did Type B strains. Children remained in the same treatment group as in year one and received a single dose of FluMist or placebo. The primary endpoint of the trial was the prevention of culture-confirmed influenza illness due to antigenically matched wild-type influenza after a single annual revaccination dose of FluMist. In the subset of 544 children 60-84 months of age, illness associated with culture-confirmed illness in the second year was similar in scope and severity to that in the first year. The overall efficacy of FluMist against culture-confirmed wild-type influenza, regardless of antigenic match, was 86.9% (95% CI: 70.8, 94.1). Table 1 Efficacy of FluMist Against Culture-Confirmed Influenza in Children ≥ 60 Months of Age Endpoint Cases Efficacy (%) (95% CI) FluMist Placebo Year One (60 – 71 mo of age) N=163 n (%) N= 75 n (%) Culture-confirmed influenzaa 3 (1.8) 11 (14.7) 87.4 (59.4, 97.9)* Year Two (60 – 84 mo of age) N=375 n (%) N=169 n (%) Culture-confirmed influenzaa,b 7 (1.9) 24 (14.2) 86.9 (70.8, 94.1)* * Denotes statistically significant, p≤0.05. a Overall efficacy against Type A (H3N2) and Type B wild-type viruses. Field efficacy against wild Type A (H1N1) viruses could not be determined because those strains did not circulate during the study period. b Includes illness caused by A/Sydney/05/97 (H3N2), an antigenic variant not included in the vaccine. Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 5 of 19 Studies in Adults The Adult Effectiveness Study was a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which healthy adults were enrolled, including 3920 adults 18-49 years of age (2150 women and 1770 men). Participants were randomized 2:1, vaccine:placebo. The trial was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of FluMist in the reduction of influenza-like illness during the peak influenza outbreak period at each site, based on community surveillance [15]. Cultures for influenza virus were not obtained from subjects in the trial, so that the efficacy against cultureconfirmed influenza was not assessed. The predominant circulating strain of influenza virus during the trial period was A/Sydney/05/97 (H3N2), a strain that differed antigenically from the A/Wuhan/359/95 (H3N2) strain contained in FluMist. Type A/Wuhan (H3N2) and Type B strains also circulated in the U.S. during the study period. The primary endpoint of the trial was the reduction in the proportion of participants with one or more episodes of any febrile illness (AFI). Two other, more specific febrile influenza-like illness definitions were also prospectively assessed: severe febrile illness (SFI), and febrile upper respiratory illness (FURI). Adults were characterized as having AFI if they had symptoms for at least two consecutive days with fever on at least one day and if they had two or more symptoms (fever, chills, headache, runny nose, sore throat, cough, muscle aches, tiredness/weakness) on at least one day. SFI was defined as having at least three consecutive days of symptoms, at least one day of fever, and two or more symptoms on at least three days. FURI was defined as at least two consecutive days of upper respiratory infection (URI) symptoms (runny nose, sore throat, or cough), fever on at least one day, and at least two URI symptoms on at least one day. Adults meeting the three illness definitions often had associated health care provider visits (25-31%), used antibiotics (28-32%), and missed at least one day of work (51-58%). During the seven-week site-specific outbreak period, in the subset of subjects age 18-49 years, FluMist recipients did not experience a significant reduction in AFI; significant reductions were observed for SFI and FURI (Table 2). An additional measure of the severity of disease was illness associated days of health care provider visits; FluMist recipients experienced significant reductions in days of health care provider visits associated with SFI (17.8%, 95% CI: 2.0, 31.0), and FURI (36.9%, 95% CI: 24.4, 47.3) when compared to placebo recipients. However, no significant reduction in days of health care provider visits associated with AFI was observed among FluMist recipients when compared to placebo recipients. Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 6 of 19 Table 2 Effectiveness of FluMist in Adults 18–49 Years of Age During the 7-week Site-Specific Outbreak Period Endpoint FluMist N=2411a n (%) Placebo N=1226a n (%) Percent Reduction (95% CI) Participants with one or more events of:b Any febrile illness 331 (13.73) 189 (15.42) 10.9 (-5.1, 24.4) Severe febrile illness 250 (10.37) 158 (12.89) 19.5 (3.0, 33.2)* Febrile upper respiratory illness 213 ( 8.83) 142 (11.58) 23.7 (6.7, 37.5)* * Denotes p-value ≤0.05. Note: The proportion of participants with any febrile illness (AFI) was the primary study endpoint; effectiveness was not demonstrated for this endpoint (p-value >0.05). a Number of evaluable subjects (92.7% and 93.0% of FluMist and placebo recipients, respectively). b The predominantly circulating virus during the trial period was A/Syndey/05/97 (H3N2), an antigenic variant not included in the vaccine. Challenge Study The ability of FluMist to protect adults from influenza illness after challenge with wild-type influenza was assessed in a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in healthy adults 18-41 years of age who were serosusceptible to at least one strain included in the vaccine [12]. Adults were randomized to receive FluMist (n=29) or placebo (n=31). Each subject was challenged intranasally with only a single strain of wild-type virus (Type A/H3N2, Type A/H1N1 or Type B) to which he/she was serosusceptible, and the results were pooled for all three strains combined within each treatment group. Laboratory-documented influenza illness due to all three strains combined was reduced compared to placebo by 85% (95% CI: 28, 100) in FluMist recipients. Transmission FluMist contains live attenuated influenza viruses that replicate in the nasopharynx of the recipient and are shed in respiratory secretions. Assessing the probability that these shed vaccine viruses will be transmitted from a vaccinated individual to a non-vaccinated individual was the primary objective of a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in a daycare setting in Finland [16]. Children enrolled in the study attended daycare at least three days per week for four hours per day, and were in a playroom with at least four children, at least one of whom was vaccinated with FluMist. A total of 197 children 8-36 months of age were randomized to receive one dose of FluMist (n=98) or placebo (n=99). Virus shedding was evaluated for 21 days by culture of nasal swabs obtained from each subject approximately three times per week. Wild-type A (H3N2) influenza virus was documented to have circulated in the Package Insert (Circular) Now, having read this sheds for 21 days, read this article and find out how to cause a pandemic. 16 June 2003 Page 7 of 19 community and in the study population during the trial, whereas Type A (H1N1) and Type B strains did not. Eighty percent of FluMist recipients shed at least one vaccine strain, with a mean duration of shedding of 7.6 days (range 1-21 days). The cold-adapted (ca) and temperature-sensitive (ts) phenotypes were preserved in all shed viruses tested (n=135 tested of 250 strains isolated at the local laboratory). A total of seven placebo subjects shed 10 influenza isolates. One placebo subject shed a Type B virus confirmed to be a vaccine strain. This Type B isolate retained the ca, ts, and att phenotypes of the vaccine strain, and had the same genetic sequence when compared to a Type B virus shed by a vaccine recipient within the same playgroup. Six placebo subjects shed nine isolates identified as Type A, two of these subjects had two cultures that grew Type A strains (four isolates) confirmed as wild-type A/Panama (H3N2). The remaining four placebo subjects shed Type A isolates that could not be further characterized, and thus vaccine strains could not be excluded. Assuming that a single transmission event occurred (isolation of the Type B vaccine strain), the probability of a young child acquiring vaccine virus following close contact with a single FluMist vaccinee in this daycare setting was 0.58% (95% CI: 0, 1.7) based on the Reed Frost model [17]. With documented transmission of one Type B in one placebo subject and possible transmission of Type A viruses in four placebo subjects, the probability of acquiring a transmitted vaccine virus was estimated to be 2.4% (95% CI: 0.13, 4.6), using the Reed Frost model. The frequency and duration of shedding FluMist viral strains by individuals 5-49 years of age has not been established. INDICATIONS AND USAGE FOR NASAL ADMINISTRATION ONLY FluMist is indicated for active immunization for the prevention of disease caused by influenza A and B viruses in healthy children and adolescents, 5-17 years of age, and healthy adults, 18-49 years of age. FluMist is not indicated for immunization of individuals less than 5 years of age, or 50 years of age and older, or for therapy of influenza, nor will it protect against infections and illness caused by infectious agents other than influenza A or B viruses. CONTRAINDICATIONS Under no circumstances should FluMist be administered parenterally. Individuals with a history of hypersensitivity, especially anaphylactic reactions, to any component of FluMist, including eggs or egg products, should not receive FluMist (see DESCRIPTION). Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 8 of 19 FluMist is contraindicated in children and adolescents (5-17 years of age) receiving aspirin therapy or aspirin-containing therapy, because of the association of Reye syndrome with aspirin and wild-type influenza infection. FluMist should not be administered to individuals who have a history of Guillain-Barré syndrome. As with other live virus vaccines, FluMist should not be administered to individuals with known or suspected immune deficiency diseases such as combined immunodeficiency, agammaglobulinemia, and thymic abnormalities and conditions such as human immunodeficiency virus infection, malignancy, leukemia, or lymphoma. FluMist is also contraindicated in patients who may be immunosuppressed or have altered or compromised immune status as a consequence of treatment with systemic corticosteroids, alkylating drugs, antimetabolites, radiation, or other immunosuppressive therapies. WARNINGS The safety of FluMist in individuals with asthma or reactive airways disease has not been established. In a large safety study in children 1-17 years of age, children <5 years of age who received FluMist were found to have an increased rate of asthma within 42 days of vaccination when compared to placebo recipients (see ADVERSE REACTIONS). FluMist should not be administered to individuals with a history of asthma or reactive airways disease. The safety of FluMist in individuals with underlying medical conditions that may predispose them to severe disease following wild-type influenza infection has not been established. FluMist is not indicated for these individuals. According to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), such individuals include, but are not limited to, adults and children with chronic disorders of the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, including asthma; pregnant women who will be in their second or third trimesters during influenza season; adults and children who required regular medical follow-up or hospitalization during the preceding year because of chronic metabolic diseases (including diabetes), renal dysfunction, or hemoglobinopathies; and adults and children with congenital or acquired immunosuppression caused by underlying disease or immunosuppressive therapy (see CONTRAINDICATIONS). Intramuscularly administered inactivated influenza vaccines are available to immunize high-risk individuals [1]. As with any vaccine, FluMist may not protect 100% of individuals receiving the vaccine. PRECAUTIONS General CARE IS TO BE TAKEN BY THE HEALTH CARE PROVIDER FOR THE SAFE AND EFFECTIVE USE OF THIS PRODUCT. Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 9 of 19 Prior to administration of FluMist, individuals or their parent/guardian should be asked about their current health status, their personal medical history and the medical history of household and close contacts, including immune status, to determine the existence of any contraindications (see CONTRAINDICATIONS and WARNINGS) to immunization with FluMist. FluMist recipients should avoid close contact (e.g., within the same household) with immunocompromised individuals for at least 21 days. EPINEPHRINE INJECTION (1:1000) OR COMPARABLE TREATMENT MUST BE READILY AVAILABLE IN THE EVENT OF AN ACUTE ANAPHYLACTIC REACTION FOLLOWING VACCINATION. The health care provider should ensure prevention of any allergic or other adverse reactions by reviewing the individual's history for possible sensitivity to influenza vaccine components, including eggs and egg products. Administration of FluMist should be postponed until after the acute phase (at least 72 hours) of febrile and/or respiratory illnesses. Information for Vaccine Recipients or Parents/Guardians Vaccine recipients or their parents/guardians should be informed by the health care provider of the potential benefits and risks of FluMist, and the need for two doses for the first use of FluMist in 5-8 year olds. Due to the possible transmission of vaccine virus, vaccine recipients or their parents/guardians should be advised to avoid close contact (e.g., within the same household) with immunocompromised individuals for at least 21 days. The vaccine recipient or the parent/guardian accompanying the vaccine recipient should be told to report any suspected adverse events to the physician or clinic where the vaccine was administered (see ADVERSE EVENT REPORTING). Drug Interactions Children or adolescents who are receiving aspirin therapy or aspirin-containing therapy should not receive FluMist (see CONTRAINDICATIONS). FluMist should not be administered to persons on immunosuppressive therapy. The concurrent use of FluMist with antiviral compounds that are active against influenza A and/or B viruses has not been evaluated. However, based upon the potential for interference between such compounds and FluMist, it is advisable not to administer FluMist until 48 hours after the cessation of antiviral therapy and that antiviral agents not be administered until two weeks after administration of FluMist unless medically indicated. There are no data regarding co-administration of FluMist with other intranasal preparations, including steroids. Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 10 of 19 Concurrent Administration with Other Vaccines The safety and immunogenicity of FluMist when administered concurrently with other vaccines have not been determined. Therefore, FluMist should not be administered concurrently with other vaccines. Studies of FluMist in healthy individuals excluded subjects who received any live virus vaccine within one month of enrollment and any inactivated or subunit vaccine within two weeks of enrollment; therefore, health care providers should adhere to these intervals when administering FluMist. Laboratory Interactions Data related to shedding of FluMist in children and adults are limited. Nasopharyngeal secretions or swabs collected from vaccinees may test positive for influenza virus for up to three weeks. Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility FluMist has not been evaluated for its carcinogenic or mutagenic potential or its potential to impair fertility. Pregnancy (Category C) Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with FluMist. It is also not known whether FluMist can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or affect reproduction capacity. Therefore, FluMist should not be administered to pregnant women. Nursing Mothers It is not known whether FluMist is excreted in human milk. Therefore, as some viruses are excreted in human milk and additionally, because of the possibility of shedding of vaccine virus and the close proximity of a nursing infant and mother, caution should be exercised if FluMist is administered to nursing mothers. Pediatric Use The safety of FluMist in infants and children <60 months of age has not been established (see CLINICAL STUDIES, INDICATIONS AND USAGE, and ADVERSE REACTIONS). Geriatric Use Clinical studies with FluMist did not include sufficient numbers of adults age 65 years and older to determine if they respond differently from younger individuals. The safe use of FluMist in persons 65 years and older has not been established (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION). Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 11 of 19 ADVERSE REACTIONS See CLINICAL STUDIES for a description of the number of participants in clinical trials. Serious Adverse Events Across all clinical trials, serious adverse events (SAEs) were monitored after vaccination for 42 days in children and for 28 days in adults. SAEs occurred at a similar rate (<1%) in FluMist and placebo recipients for both healthy children and healthy adults. Overall, across the placebo-controlled trials in adults and children, the incidence of selected adverse reactions that may be complications of influenza (such as pneumonia, bronchitis, bronchiolitis, or central nervous system events) was similar in FluMist and placebo groups. Adverse Events in Placebo-Controlled Trials In all placebo-controlled studies, allantoic fluid from uninfected eggs was used as the placebo. In randomized, placebo-controlled trials, 4719 healthy children 5-17 years of age and 2864 healthy adults 18-49 years of age received FluMist and 2327 healthy children and 1454 healthy adults received the placebo. In placebo-controlled clinical trials conducted in healthy populations, solicited adverse events and daily temperatures were collected on diary cards. These solicited events included runny nose/nasal congestion, sore throat, cough, irritability, headache, chills, vomiting, muscle aches, and decreased activity and a feeling of tiredness/weakness. Solicited Adverse Events in Children Table 3 shows an analysis of solicited events for the Pediatric Efficacy Study in the subset of healthy children 60-71 months of age. The largest absolute differences between FluMist and placebo after Dose One were observed in the incidences of headache and runny nose/nasal congestion. No differences were observed for fever (>100°F oral). Following Dose Two, the largest absolute differences between FluMist and placebo were runny nose/nasal congestion and cough. Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 12 of 19 Table 3 Summary of Solicited Events Observed within 10 Days after Each Dose for Vaccine and Placebo Recipients; Healthy Children 60–71 Months of Age Post-Dose One Post-Dose Two FluMist Placebo FluMist Placebo 214a 95a 161a 75a Event % % % % Any event 65.4 61.4 66.5 53.3 Cough 26.8 32.7 38.5 30.7 Runny Nose/ Nasal Congestion 48.1 44.2 46.0 32.0 Sore Throat 12.6 19.8 9.3 16.0 Irritability 19.5 16.8 9.9 9.3 Headache 17.8 11.6 6.8 16.0 Chills 6.1 5.3 2.5 4.0 Vomiting 4.7 3.2 5.6 12.0 Muscle Aches 6.1 4.2 5.0 4.0 Decreased Activity 14.0 12.6 10.6 13.3 Feverb Temp 1 9.5 9.9 4.3 4.0 Temp 2 2.2 2.0 0.6 1.3 Temp 3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Note: There were no statistically significant differences in any of these events (p-value >0.05); Fisher's Exact method. a Number of evaluable subjects (those who returned diary cards) for each event. b Fever Temp 1: Oral >100°F, rectal or aural >100.6°F, or axillary >99.6°F. Temp 2: Oral >102°F, rectal or aural >102.6°F, or axillary >101.6°F. Temp 3: Oral >104°F, rectal or aural >104.6°F, or axillary >103.6°F. For the cohort of 128 children who received FluMist across three consecutive years, rates of solicited adverse events were not significantly increased when compared to placebo recipients [4]. Other Adverse Events in Children In addition to the solicited events, parents also reported other adverse events that occurred during the course of the clinical trials. Among healthy children age 60-71 months in the Pediatric Efficacy Study, the events that occurred in at least 1% of FluMist recipients and at a higher rate compared to placebo were: abdominal pain (3.7% FluMist vs 0% placebo), otitis media (1.4% FluMist vs 0% placebo), Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 13 of 19 accidental injury (2.3% FluMist vs 2.1% placebo), diarrhea (3.7% FluMist vs 1.1% placebo),following Dose One and otitis media (3.1% FluMist vs 1.3% placebo) following Dose Two. None of these differences were statistically significant. Medically Attended Events in Children and Adolescents A large randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in healthy children 1 through 17 years of age was conducted at 31 clinics in the Northern California Kaiser-Permanente Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) to assess the rate of medically attended events (MAEs) within 42 days of vaccination. Participants were randomized 2:1 (vaccine:placebo). A total of 6657 evaluable children 5-17 years of age were enrolled, including 3244 boys and 3413 girls. Of these 6657 children, 2606 were 5-8 years of age and 4051 were 9-17 years of age. Dose Two for children less than nine years of age was to be administered 28 to 42 days after Dose One. Data regarding MAEs were obtained from the Kaiser-Permanente computerized health care utilization databases for hospitalizations, emergency department visits and clinical visits. MAEs were analyzed individually and within four pre-specified grouped diagnoses: acute respiratory tract events, systemic bacterial infections, acute gastrointestinal tract events, and rare events potentially related to influenza. For these four pre-specified grouped diagnoses, no significant increase in risk for FluMist recipients was seen in the combined analyses across all utilization settings, doses, and age groups. Selected respiratory tract illnesses of special interest (pneumonia, bronchitis, bronchiolitis, and croup) were included in acute respiratory tract events and were not associated with increased risk for FluMist recipients in any protocol-specified analysis. No systemic bacterial infection occurred. In FluMist recipients, an increased risk was not observed for rare events that have been reported with naturally occurring influenza virus infection, including seizures(s), febrile seizures, and epilepsy. No cases of encephalitis, acute idiopathic polyneuritis (Guillain-Barré syndrome), Reye syndrome, or myocarditis (influenzaassociated rare disorders) were reported in this study. In this study, in individuals 5-17 years of age, four individual MAEs were significantly increased and 11 were significantly decreased. Of the four individual MAEs associated with increased risk, a biological association with FluMist is plausible for one: abdominal pain. Of the 11 individual MAEs associated with decreased risk, a biologically plausible association with FluMist exists for seven: asthma, bronchitis, conjunctivitis, cough, viral syndrome, otitis media, and wheezing/shortness of breath. However, in the same study, a statistically significant increase in asthma or reactive airways disease was observed for children 12-59 months of age following Dose One (Relative Risk 3.53, 90% CI: 1.1,15.7). As a result of this finding, FluMist is not indicated for children <60 months of age. Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 14 of 19 Solicited Adverse Events in Adults In the placebo-controlled Adult Effectiveness Study, the rate of solicited adverse events in the subset of healthy adults 18-49 years of age are shown in Table 4. Statistically significant differences were observed for any event, cough, runny nose, sore throat, chills, and tiredness/weakness. Fever >100° F was similar in FluMist and placebo recipients after a single dose. Table 4 Summary of Solicited Events Observed within 7 Days after Each Dose for Vaccine and Placebo Recipients; Healthy Adults 18–49 Years of Age FluMist Placebo N=2548a N=1290a Event (%) (%) Any event 71.9* 62.6 Cough 13.9* 10.8 Runny Nose 44.5* 27.1 Sore Throat 27.8* 17.1 Headache 40.4 38.4 Chills 8.6* 6.0 Muscle Aches 16.7 14.6 Tiredness/Weakness 25.7* 21.6 Fever Oral Temp >100°F 1.5 1.3 Oral Temp >101°F 0.5 0.7 Oral Temp >102°F 0.1 0.2 Oral Temp >103°F 0.0 0.0 * Denotes statistically significant p-value ≤0.05; no adjustments for multiple comparisons; Fisher's Exact Method. a Number of evaluable subjects (those who returned diary cards). [97.9% of FluMist recipients and 97.9% of placebo recipients.] Other Adverse Events in Adults In addition to the solicited events, participants also reported other adverse events that occurred during the course of the clinical trials. For adults 18-49 years of age in the Adult Effectiveness Study, nasal congestion (9.2% FluMist vs 2.2% placebo), rhinitis (6.3% FluMist vs 3.1% placebo), and sinusitis (4.1% FluMist vs 2.2% placebo) were reported significantly more often by FluMist recipients compared to placebo recipients. Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 15 of 19 ADVERSE EVENT REPORTING Reporting by vaccine recipients or the parents/guardians of vaccinees and health care providers of all adverse events occurring after vaccine administration is encouraged. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has established a Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) to accept all reports of suspected adverse events after the administration of any vaccine. The VAERS toll-free number is 1-800-822-7967. Reporting forms may also be obtained at the FDA web site at: http// DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION FOR NASAL USE ONLY. DO NOT ADMINISTER PARENTERALLY. FluMist should be administered according to the following schedule: Age Group Vaccination Status Dosage Schedule Children age 5 years through 8 years Not previously vaccinated with FluMist 2 doses (0.5 mL each, 60 days apart ± 14 days) for initial season Children age 5 years through 8 years Previously vaccinated with FluMist 1 dose (0.5 mL) per season Children and Adults age 9 through 49 years Not applicable 1 dose (0.5 mL) per season For healthy children age 5 years through 8 years who have not previously received FluMist vaccine, the recommended dosage schedule for nasal administration is one 0.5 mL dose followed by a second 0.5 mL dose given at least 6 weeks later. Only limited data are available on the degree of protection in children who receive one dose (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY). For all other healthy individuals, including children age 5-8 years who have previously received at least one dose of FluMist, the recommended schedule is one dose. FluMist should be administered prior to exposure to influenza. The peak of influenza activity is variable from year to year, but generally occurs in the U.S. between late December and early March. Because the duration of protection induced by FluMist is not known and yearly antigenic variation in the influenza strains is possible, annual revaccination may increase the likelihood of protection. FluMist must be thawed prior to administration. FluMist may be thawed by holding the sprayer in the palm of the hand and supporting the plunger rod with the thumb (see ADMINISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS); the vaccine should be administered immediately thereafter. Alternatively, FluMist may be thawed in a refrigerator and stored at 2-8oC (36-46oF) for no more than 24 hours prior to use. When thawed for administration, FluMist is a colorless to pale yellow liquid and is Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 16 of 19 clear to slightly cloudy; some proteinaceous particulates may be present but do not affect the use of the product. Approximately 0.25 mL (i.e., half of the dose from a single FluMist sprayer) is administered into each nostril while the recipient is in an upright position. Insert the tip of the sprayer just inside the nose and depress the plunger to spray. The dose-divider clip is removed from the sprayer to administer the second half of the dose (approximately 0.25 mL) into the other nostril. Once FluMist has been administered, the used sprayer should be disposed of according to the standard procedures for biohazardous waste products. ADD PDF PICTORIAL HERE (see pictorial, page 19). HOW SUPPLIED FluMist is supplied for intranasal delivery in a package of 10 pre-filled, single-use sprayers (NDC 66019-100-01). STORAGE STORE AT OR BELOW -15°C (5°F). DO NOT REFREEZE AFTER THAWING. UPON RECEIPT, FluMist SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY STORED AT -15°C (5°F) OR BELOW. FluMist may be stored in a non-frost-free freezer to be maintained continuously at –15oC (5oF) or below. Storage of FluMist in a frost-free freezer should be avoided because the temperature could cycle above –15oC (5oF) and can therefore negatively impact the stability of the product. FluMist may be thawed in a refrigerator and stored at 2-8oC (36-46oF) for no more than 24 hours prior to use. For information regarding product storage and stability under conditions other than those recommended, call 1-800-411-0086. REFERENCES 1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prevention and control of Influenza: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR 2003; 52 (No.RR-8):1-34. 2. Murphy BR, Coelingh KC. Principles underlying the development and use of live attenuated cold-adapted influenza A and influenza B virus vaccines. Viral Immunol. 2002;15:295-323. Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 17 of 19 3. Jin H, et al. Multiple amino acid residues confer temperature sensitivity to human influenza virus vaccine strains (FluMist) derived from cold-adapted A/Ann Arbor/6/60. Virology. 2003;306:18-24. 4. MedImmune data on file. 5. Monto AS, Sullivan KM. Acute respiratory illness in the community. Frequency of illness and the agents involved. Epidemiol Infect. 1993;110:145-160. 6. Sullivan KM. Health impact of influenza in the United States. Pharmacoeconomics. 1996;9 Suppl. 3:26-33. 7. Barker WH, Mullooly JP. Impact of epidemic Type A influenza in a defined adult population. Am J Epi. 1980; 112:798-811. 8. Thompson WW, et al. Mortality associated with influenza and respiratory syncytial virus in the United States. JAMA. 2003;289:179-186. 9. Murphy BR, Clements ML. The systemic and mucosal immune response of humans to influenza A virus. Curr Topics in Micro Immun. 1989;146:107-116. 10. McMichael AJ, et al. Cytotoxic T-cell immunity to influenza. N Engl J Med. 1983;309: 13-17. 11. Belshe RB, et al. Correlates of immune protection induced by live, attenuated, coldadapted,trivalent, intranasal influenza virus vaccine. J Infect Dis. 2000a;181:1133-1137. 12. Treanor JJ, et al. Evaluation of trivalent, live, cold-adapted (CAIV-T) and inactivated (TIV) influenza vaccines in prevention of virus infection and illness following challenge of adults with wild-type influenza A (H1N1), A (H3N2), and B viruses. Vaccine. 2000;18:899-906. 13. Belshe RB, et al. The efficacy of live attenuated, cold-adapted, trivalent, intranasal influenza virus vaccine in children. N Engl J Med. 1998;338:1405-1412. 14. Belshe RB, et al. Efficacy of vaccination with live attenuated, cold-adapted, trivalent, intranasal influenza virus vaccine against a variant (A/Sydney) not contained in the vaccine. J Peds. 2000b;136:168-175. 15. Nichol KL, et al. Effectiveness of live, attenuated intranasal influenza virus vaccine in healthy, working adults. JAMA. 1999;282:137-144. 16. Vesikari T, et al. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the safety, transmissibility and phenotypic stability of a live, attenuated, cold-adapted influenza virus vaccine (CAIV-T) in children attending day care. Presented at the 41st Annual Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 18 of 19 Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, (Chicago, IL). 2001. 17. Longini IM, et al. Estimating household and community transmission parameters for influenza. Am J Epidemiol. 1982;115:736-751. Manufactured by: MedImmune Vaccines, Inc. Gaithersburg, MD 20878 Marketed by: MedImmune Vaccines, Inc. Gaithersburg, MD 20878 and Wyeth Vaccines Philadelphia, PA 19101 Component No. Issue Date: U.S. Government License No. 1652 Package Insert (Circular) 16 June 2003 Page 19 of 19 ADMINISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS Needle-phobics wishing to fend off the flu have a new, injection-free option this season. But they may have to look hard to find it and pay through the nose for it. Five months after the Food and Drug Administration approved FluMist, the nation's first nasal vaccine, few local clinics are offering it, and despite a $25 million TV and print advertising blitz, few patients are asking for it. "When it first came out, people were like 'Oh wow. This is going to be a great thing. But the practicality is, it is not that appealing financially and there are more risks,'" said Louisville physician David Nuhfer, one of the few Boulder County doctors offering the vaccine. While a traditional influenza shot costs around $15 and is often covered by insurance, FluMist costs $65 or more and must typically be paid for out-of-pocket. Because the nasal vaccine is made from a weakened live vaccine rather than a dead one, like the shot, there is some risk that a person with a compromised immune system could get sick from it, or a healthy person could get the shot and pass the virus on to a sick loved one. The vaccine is only recommended for healthy people age 5 to 49. "Potentially, you could pass it on to grandma who has cancer," said Nuhfer, who plans to carefully screen anyone inquiring about the nasal vaccine. The upside of the shot, doctors say, is that it may lure shot-averse adults and kids who might otherwise skip their influenza vaccine altogether. "There are a lot of people who don't get a flu shot at all because they are petrified of needles," said Jennifer Freeman, of Boulder-based Passport Health, a traveling clinic that is offering the shot. There are, however, other problems with the vaccine. On Friday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced that the company was backing out of plans to offer the vaccines at 1,000 of its stores because several state pharmacy boards have been raising questions about whether it is legal or not for pharmacists to administer it. The Colorado Board of Pharmacy is currently considering the matter. The new vaccine must also be stored frozen and shipped directly to the point of delivery, which can make it difficult to offer at mass immunization clinics. Despite the drug's seemingly rocky start, and the tumble its stock took — from about $33.50 per share Wednesday to $28.64 per share Monday — at the news of Wal Mart's change of heart, officials at Maryland-based MedImmune Inc., which makes FluMist, say they are still optimistic. Recent television ads and full-page ads in Newsweek and other publications are expected to spike interest. "It is still very early in the season," said MedImmune spokesperson Jamie Lacey, noting that more than 14,000 outlets nationwide are offering the vaccine. Ned Cologne, chief medical officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment sees FluMist is an intriguing new breakthrough that could someday change the way vaccines are administered. "It will be interesting to watch," he says. If it will help more people get immunized, that's great, he says. DENVER - If you've got your mind set on the needle-less flu vaccine, you might be disappointed at some flu clinics because the new nasal flu mist is hard to come by in Colorado. It's expensive, needs to stay frozen and isn't recommended for everyone. Unlike the conventional flu shot where the virus is killed, the nasal flu mist contains live virus. The live virus has been attenuated, meaning it's genetically altered so it won't make you sick, but there have been some reports of what's called viral shedding. In viral shedding, some of the virus can escape into the air if you sneeze or blow your nose. And some people can have a reaction to it. The nasal vaccine's greatest obstacle though is that it's recommended only for healthy people ages 5 to 49. Pregnant women can't use it, and neither can people with chronic diseases like asthma and diabetes. Plus, it has to be frozen right up until you use it. "That's why you're not going to be seeing it in mass immunization clinics because the vaccine needs to be frozen and continuously frozen because it is a live-virus vaccine," said Roberta Smith of Immunization Coalition. Cost is also an issue. While a traditional flu shot costs around $15 and is often covered by insurance, FluMist costs $65 or more and must typically be paid for out-of-pocket. There are other problems with the vaccine. Last week, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said the company was backing out of plans to offer the vaccines at 1,000 of its stores because of questions about whether it is legal for pharmacists to administer it. The Colorado Board of Pharmacy is currently considering the matter. The makers of the nasal spray FluMist say they are still optimistic. "It is still very early in the season," said MedImmune Inc. spokesperson Jamie Lacey, noting that more than 14,000 outlets nationwide are offering the vaccine. Ned Cologne, chief medical officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said FluMist could someday change the way vaccines are administered. "It will be interesting to watch," he said. "But my feeling as a patient is: The shot is quick. It's safe. It's effective." The government approved the nation's first nasal flu vaccine five months ago. Safety concerns were also an issue. FluMist is a live vaccine, made from attenuated flu viruses. It can theoretically give people, especially those with weakened immune systems, a mild case of the flu. MedImmune executives said the chances of this were extremely low but that somehow consumers and doctors had gotten misperceptions about the vaccine's safety. Maryland biotechnology company MedImmune decreased its sales forecast for its new, needle-free flu vaccine FluMist from up to $140 million to just $55 million. The company has hired a consultant to determine why the product failed to generate sales this fall. Since FluMist involves a live vaccine while injected flu vaccines involve a dead flu virus, some doctors are advising against its use due to fears that it could cause the flu. MedImmune will reintroduce FluMist next fall with a lower price and with an emphasis on the product's safety and convenience. Another detrimental fact keeping sales of FluMist below expectations is a lack of approval for the product to treat children under the age of five years or adults over the age of 49 years; MedImmune expects approval for these segments of the market, who are most vulnerable to the flu, by 2006. I wanted to take some pictures to the one hour photo in Krogers today, but remembered they are listed as giving the Flu Mist vax. So, I called them and was transferred to the pharmacy. I spoke with a pharmacist and asked her what precautions the store was taking to protect the immunocompromised from the live flu vaccine being shed by Flumist recipients. She says, (get this!), "The manufacturer has provided us with a wall barrier to put up." Stifling my laugh I said, "What happens when those people go out into the store and are sneezing on the groceries?" She pauses and asks me to hold on. I'm on hold for several minutes when she comes back and says "The manufacturer tells us that even when a person sneezes after getting the flumist, it has already been absorbed and won't be spread." I say, "Then why does the package insert say under Precautions that 'Flumist recipients should avoid close contact with immunocompromised individuals for at least 21 days'?" She again pauses and says, "Hold on, I'll check into that." I'm on hold for at least 5 minutes then get disconnected. So I call back and get a different pharmacist who won't let me speak to the original one. So I ask her the same question. I told her I am concerned for myself (asthma) and those of us who shouldn't be in contact with flumist recipients. She again spouts about the wall barrier. I say, "But this is an airborne virus." (Double DUH!!) She says the manufacturer has assured them that even if someone sneezes on them when they give the vaccine, that it has already been absorbed (in nanoseconds I assume!) and that they themselves shouldn't be concerned. HA! They may be fools, but I'm not! : ) She tries to tell me that only those who live in close contact 24/7 need be concerned (why though, if it isn't spread after it's given?) They're contradicting themselves coming and going! I asked her what the difference was with me being in a store where people are sneezing all over the produce that I may be purchasing and living with someone who is doing the same?? She said it's no different than going into a doctor's office where it's been given (excuse me, but even if I did go to one, I don't buy my groceries at the doctor's office!) She had no answers. All she had to offer was what the "manufacturer" had assured them was ok and she said "Long term studies show it is safe to the population." But in right before that she says they haven't even given any flumist there at Krogers and she doesn't know anyplace that has actually given it because it is so expensive and because it's brand new no one expects it to be used anyway!!!!! Idiots... they have no idea what they are doing and when questioned they babble on and spout what the "manufacturer" has told them to say without truly knowing the facts! Kay I forgot to add the kicker to my last post... After talking with the 2nd pharmacist ad nauseum about the risks to the immunocompromised, she says, "Well, the worst thing that could happen to you is you would get the flu." It was then I realized I was up against a genius, thanked her for her time and hung up! Does This Smell Bad? Health Sciences Institute e-Alert December 10, 2003 Dear Reader, You've probably heard the news by now: Doctors are running low on flu vaccines and are expected to run out completely before the flu season winds down. In one of the TV reports I saw, the commentator asked, "How could this happen?" And I had to laugh. How could it happen? Hmmm... let's put on our thinking caps and try real hard to figure it out. Could it possibly be because nearly every TV news broadcast for the past month has been saying that this will be the worst flu season in years and everyone needs to drop what they're doing - RIGHT NOW! - and go get a flu shot? Making this news all the more dire is the fact that the final drop of flu vaccine has already been shipped out, so once the vaccine supply is used up, no more vaccine can be produced until next year. But before you barricade yourself in your home, vowing to stay safe inside until the flu season has passed, rest assured that there JUST HAPPENS to be an alternative to the dwindling vaccine supplies. -------------------------------------------------------------- Come and get it! -------------------------------------------------------------- Remember FluMist? It's the nasal-spray flu vaccine I first told you about in the e-Alert "Nose Candy" (7/8/03). Unlike the conventional flu shot, which contains inactivated flu strains, FluMist contains three living flu strains. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) calls FluMist "live attenuated influenza vaccine" or LAIV. In other words, the three strains are diluted. They're alive as you or me, but watered down. Now - a show of hands - how many would feel comfortable inhaling not one, not two, but THREE LIVING flu strains? Not too many, is my guess. Which is probably one of the main reasons why ABC News has described sales of FluMist as "disappointing." Disappointing so far, anyway. According to the Washington Post, the CDC gave FluMist a nice little boost last week when a statement was released "reminding" the public that FluMist is an appropriate alternative to the flu shot for those who are both healthy and between the ages of 5 and 49. Then on Monday, CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding made appearances on several national news broadcasts (including ABC and CNN) and mentioned that a large supply of FluMist is still available. Now is it just me and my cynical streak, or does it seem somehow to be a very, let's say "interesting," coincidence that the country has been plunged into this supposedly dire emergency of vaccine shortage in the same year that a major new vaccine product is launched? No one I know has said they haven't been able to get a flu shot. And I haven't read about any doctors turning away patients who have requested a shot. But if the CDC says the supply is low, then I suppose the supply is low. And if the CDC says that the supply of FluMist is high, then I'm sure the supply is high. What Dr. Gerberding didn't mention is that FluMist costs more than twice the amount of the flu shot. And because of this much steeper cost, many insurance companies won't offer coverage for FluMist. But that's only part of the FluMist problem. -------------------------------------------------------------- Pig in a poke -------------------------------------------------------------- As I stated in the July e-Alert, there's a long list of potential problems with FluMist, but one of the key problems is the fact that those who decide to sniff living viruses into their heads instantly become infected by the flu. The immune system then responds by creating more antibodies that, in theory, will fight off any full-strength flu strains that might come along. But in the meantime, there's a possibility that those who are recently FluMisted could be (I'll bet you already guessed it) contagious! Nice. Just what we need in the middle of a supposed flu epidemic: more contagious people running around. Of course, the makers of FluMist (MedImmune, a subsidiary of the drug giant Wyeth) play down the possibility of their product spreading the flu, stating that only a very small percentage of FluMist users will actually transmit a virus. Nevertheless, according to a report in Knight-Ridder Newspapers, the CDC cautions those who get a FluMist vaccine to stay away from people with vulnerable immune systems, such as the elderly or those struggling with diseases, for one week. But is one week long enough? Some hospitals are telling their personnel to allow three full weeks between their FluMist vaccine and contact with hospital patients. Why the discrepancy? My guess is that this is such a new vaccine that no one really knows the parameters yet. Nevertheless, the CDC seems to be going out of their way to help MedImmune move their struggling product. Add to that; the CDC web site states: "The optimal time to receive influenza vaccine is usually in October or November." So if they're using the same calendar I'm using, we're already 10 days past the optimal usage period. And add to that; the people who supposedly need a flu vaccine the most - the elderly, and those with immune system diseases - shouldn't be taking FluMist at all. The FDA hasn't approved it for them. So the CDC is pressing those who are least vulnerable to the flu to run out and get a snootful of this expensive and relatively untested product, even though it's almost two weeks past the optimal timing for the vaccine to even work! The true cost of the influenza vaccine nasal spray FluMist is becoming clearer, as Wyeth has announced that it took a $20 million charge to write off the FluMist doses it produced with MedImmune but was unable to sell in 2003. Though the flu season was unusually early and relatively severe, Wyeth and MedImmune were only able to sell one-fourth of the FluMist they had originally expected to sell, resulting in 2003 sales of just $15.3 million, which analysts say corresponds to fewer than 1 million doses sold. The poor sales underline the difficulty facing vaccine makers in producing a big seller, even under positive conditions for the product, especially as FluMist was much more expensive than the injected version of the vaccine. Wyeth said on Thursday that it is working with MedImmune to develop a new marketing and sales strategy for FluMist in 2004, with analysts suggesting that they may agree to cut the price for the nasal spray vaccine to a losing figure in order to build demand for future flu seasons. WEDNESDAY, Feb. 25 (HealthDayNews) -- When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave approval last year to a new nasal spray flu vaccine called FluMist, some analysts predicted it could become a blockbuster. Instead, sales sank like a stone. Appearing before a federal health panel on Tuesday, officials from Maryland-based MedImmune Inc., the maker of FluMist, said sales have been dismal. Only one million of five million doses have been sold, despite a flu season marked by an usually early and harsh start, The New York Times reports. "Our initial launch was very disappointing," Dr. Peter A. Patriarca, of MedImmune, told the panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The 15-person panel is appointed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to guide the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on recommendations for influenza and a number of other immunizations, according to the Times. Not even a shortage of traditional flu vaccines could boost sales of FluMist, approved for healthy people ages 5 to 49. The drug companies that make traditional vaccines produced 87 million flu doses for this season. But because the season began in October, leading to high demand for flu shots, the manufacturers said they had sold all their supplies to distributors by December. Patriarca attributed FluMist's sagging sales to a series of factors, including price. Doctors charged their patients up to $150 for FluMist, he said. Not even a rebate program offered by MedImmune could jumpstart sales, the Times reports. A new study finds a possible link between a different nasal flu vaccine and Bell's palsy, a temporary paralysis of the facial muscles. Researchers who were looking into the cause of an unusual number of cases of Bell's palsy in Switzerland began noticing a connection with people who had used a nasal vaccine called Nasalflu. Bell's palsy is a neurological paralysis of one side of the face that can last from weeks to months, but doesn't normally have any permanent effects. The study concludes that Nasalflu, which was used only in Switzerland but was pulled from the market several years ago, could be a possible cause of Bell's palsy. "At this point these are hypothetical conclusions -- no cause has been determined as to the reason why these people contracted Bell's palsy," says Dr. Robert Steffen, of the University of Zurich's Collaborating Centre for Traveller's Health, and one of the study's authors. "What we were able to do is prove a strong association between the flu vaccine and Bell's palsy, but we cannot demonstrate why at this point." The study appears in the Feb. 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Health experts, however, don't see a link between the potential problems associated with Nasalflu, and FluMist. "It would be hard to see an association," says Ira M. Longini Jr., of Emory University. "I just don't know where it would be. These are completely different vaccines: one [FluMist] is a live attenuated and cold-adapted virus and one [Nasalflu] is deactivated -- totally different." Nasalflu was manufactured by the Swiss company Berna Biotech AG, and was used in Switzerland in the 2000-2001 flu season. It was pulled by the company when reports of possible Bell's palsy cases began surfacing. Until June 2003, when the FDA approved the first live virus flu vaccine, FluMist, the only flu vaccine that was used in the US was the killed or inactivated flu vaccine injected into the arm. FluMist manufactured by MedImmune was the first vaccine designed to be squirted up the nose and given to healthy children and adults. Generally, Americans have not been enthusiastic about squirting live virus flu vaccine up their noses. Call it irrational. Call it the "yuck" factor. Call it instinct. FluMist has largely remained a non-starter. The fact that the FDA had to recently slap MedImmune on the hands after inspectors reportedly found excessive amounts of mold and bacteria during early stages of the production process of FluMist doesn't help. A September 10, 2007 Washington Post article said the company was cited for "significant deviations for current good manufacturing practice." 612.html?nav=rss_business In pre-licensure clinical trials of FluMist, there was an increased risk of asthma, upper respiratory infections, musculoskeletal pain, otitis media and croup for some children and an increased risk for upper respiratory symptoms in adults after inhaling the live vaccine. FluMist contains attenuated live flu viruses and poses a risk of transmission of live flu virus from the recently vaccinated to close contacts. When I was sitting on the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee in 2002, I voted "no" when asked if safety had been proven. Among other things, I said "The fact that live vaccine flu virus is shed in 80 percent of recipients poses an additional risk for our population at large, particularly for immune compromised individuals across all age groups. The outstanding questions about the true rate of transmission of vaccine strain viruses among children needs to be clarified as does the retention of the attenuation of shed viruses and the high frequency of nucleotide changes. Because this live virus nasal vaccine is not indicated for high risk health groups, which have historically been the targeted populations to receive flu vaccine, it's a very serious step to move to the use of a live virus vaccine for the majority of healthy individuals, and a standard for proof of safety must be very high. I don't think that standard has yet been met by the data which have been presented so far." Initially, the FDA approved the vaccine for healthy children over 5 and adults under 49. Both MedImmune and vaccine distributor, Wyeth, thought they had a blockbuster on their hands. In the summer and fall of 2003, the companies launched a $100 million ad campaign that featured Wal Marts offering to squirt the vaccine up the noses of shoppers.(MedImmune, Inc. [Investors] News Releases. September 10, 2003 "FluMist Available in Pharmacies This Fall."). At a cost of between $46 and $150 a dose, the companies were projecting between $120 million and $140 million in sales. But by late October 2003, it became apparent that few of the four million doses of FluMist that MedImmune had produced were being purchased. By January 2004, the company was trying to give it away. MedImmune has been trying to capture market share for FluMist ever since the disastrous FluMist debut in the 2003-2004 flu season. Now, the FDA has given MedImmune (recently acquired by British drug firm Astra Zeneca) another chance by approving FluMist for healthy children over two years. But still, the warning remains about not giving FluMist to anyone with asthma or children under five with a history of wheezing. What healthy adults and parents of healthy children need to ask themselves is: why do healthy people need to deliberately inhale live flu viruses when the majority of healthy people don't get that sick from the flu and recover without any complications? Keep reading NVIC's E-News for further reports on the Flu and You as the flu season approaches and the Flu Patrol gears up to scare the living daylights out of you so you inhale deeply or roll up your sleeve without giving it a second thought. In the News: "The FDA sent the Gaithersburg firm a lengthy warning letter in May, citing "significant deviations from current good manufacturing practice." Agency officials were concerned that MedImmune had not properly followed up after excessive levels of mold and bacteria were found during early stages of the production process. The FDA said the vaccine had not been contaminated. The FDA's warning letter has held up shipments of FluMist. It also put on hold MedImmune's efforts to win regulatory approval for use of the vaccine by children under 5. Expanding the vaccine's use in that important market has been a cornerstone of the firm's efforts to boost the prospects for FluMist, which has not been a hit in the marketplace. It is now approved only for people ages 5 to 49. FDA and MedImmune officials said the process to win approval for use by younger children could now continue. Less than two weeks before the warning letter was issued, an FDA advisory panel unanimously agreed that FluMist worked in children under 5. The panel was mixed on whether FluMist was safe enough for children younger than 2." - Michael Rosenwald, Washington Post (September 10, 2007) "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved expanding the population for use of the nasal influenza vaccine FluMist to include children between the ages of 2 and 5. Approval for the vaccine, which contains a weakened form of the live virus and is sprayed in the nose, was previously limited to healthy children 5 years of age and older and to adults up to age 49.......Children under the age of 2 should not receive FluMist because there was an increased risk of hospitalization and wheezing for this age group during the clinical trials. Commonly observed adverse events from the vaccine were generally mild and most often included runny nose and/or nasal congestion, as well as a slight fever in children 2 to 6 years of age. FluMist should not be administered to anyone with asthma or to children under the age of 5 years with recurrent wheezing because of the potential for increased wheezing after receiving the vaccine. People who are allergic to any of FluMist's components, including eggs or egg products, should also not receive the vaccine....." - FDA Press Release (September 19, 2007) MedImmune Says FluMist Problems	eng	50cf813b-ea92-4ced-8939-c67eaf7bb5e1	http://www.vaccinetruth.org/new_flu_mist.htm
Arcanabound OOC Thread NO ENTRY AVAILABLE In another time, another place, the 12 and 4 come together once again. New faces, new worlds, new adventures. But one thing is certain, if they wish to see it to the end, they will need each other, even when they would wish each other death throughout the entire session. One game that would bring these two races, of man and troll, together. This is... Arcanabound. PLOT What're you talking about, this game is driven by the players, and has no clear path of which it will follow. Rules First, I will only allow, because it's rare to get a full hemospectrum, TWO trolls of any given shade. I'll accept, for example, Two Jades and two greens. Second, you must make sure you roleplay atleast once a week. Otherwise, you slow others down, as we rely on each other. Especially the humans. You must have your land, and lusus thought up before applying. Your Sprites can be discovered through the game. The roleplay will begin before the "Game" is given out. So that roleplayers can experience the entire roleplay from the start. Most importantly, if attempting to ship, ensure that you keep it IC. All applications as usual, You must RP at least once a week, and keep shipping IC. Trolls Miadey Derjes--effervescentAegis--Ceets ===> BE THE PROTECTIVE LASS You are Miadey Derjes You are a little older than six sweeps of age. You like to think of yourself as CARING and NICE, but your LUSUS would beg to differ. You call her your TORTOISEMOM, and love her VERY MUCH. Or at least that's what you tell her. In reality, you think she's a BRUTALLY HONEST BITCH. You would rather tell a COMFORTING LIE than reveal an UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH. You suspect this is in rebellion to your BITCH TORTOISEMOM, but you don't want to dwell too much on that. You spend a DISPROPORTIONAL amount of time catering to the needs of others. You insist this is because your life is fine, and therefore should spend time helping those who's lives are filled with UNENDING SHITINESS. When a friend of yours is in MORTAL PERIL, or MILD STRESS, you tend to attempt to BRUTALLY MURDER the aggressor (Or at the very least, yell at them until their ears bleed). But when you do spend time on yourself, you enjoy SINGING, DANCING, and other ACTIVITIES OF MUSICAL FRIVOLOUSITY. Like many who share your DREADFULLY LOW position on the HEMOSPECTRUM, you were born with PSYCHIC POWERS. You are able to CONJURE BARRIERS to protect you from HARM. Or at least you would, if you were any good at it. The longest you have been able to maintain a barrier is FOUR MINUTES FIFTEEN SECONDS, and can't seem to maintain it under ANY SORT OF STRESS. You suspect you would be able to improve your abilities, should you ever find the motivation to MEDITATE and PRACTICE. Your trolltag is effervescentAegis, and you (type really casual, with a bit of protection) tl;dr Name: Miadey Derjes Species: Troll Gender: Female Age: 6 Sweeps Blood: Burgundy Trollhandle: effervescentAegis Strife deck: Stickkind Captchalogue: Category Modus. Items are arranged into one of six categories, each containing four cards. Categories are initially unnamed, but receive a label when an item is inventoried. Items much correspond to a category to be picked up. Empty categories become unnamed, and can receive a new label. Duplicate categories cannot exist, but similar categories can. (There can't be two TOYS categories, but there can be a TOYS category and a PLUSHIES category) Lusus: Tortoisemom Title: Maid of Hope Land: Land of Silence and Darkness Furest Cormot--squanderedExplorer--Boogeyman5870 Name: Furest Cormot Species: Troll Gender: Male Age: 8 Sweeps Blood: Bronze Psychic Power: Dowsing (ability to find things) Trollhandle: squanderedExplorer Symbol: Four arrows reminscent of a compass rose. Quirk: =->You type with arrows surrounding your text to show the less gifted where it is. <-= Strife Specibus: Axekind Captchalogue: Compass Modus: Is stored at a certain point on a compass. The item at any given point is unlabeled. Lusus: Aratnid (A large rodent with eight legs) Title: I'm the last in so I don't mind whatever is left. Land: Will be named when I get my title since I want to partially base it off that. You are FUREST CORMOT, you are 8 sweeps old, and not to be too modest but you are FREAKING AMAZING. Unfortunately you are a fudgeblood so most people don't see it. Yeah thats right you said FUDGEBLOOD. You are EDGY as SHIT. Your special ability makes it all worth it though. You can FIND anything. Seriously, think of something right now. Got it? Yeah, you know EXACTLY where to find that sumbitch. Ok, well not always exactly. You can definitely get a GENERAL DIRECTION all the time though. Due to this you love to EXPLORE. It's pretty much the best thing ever. Your hive is even at the edge of a bunch of uninhabited wilderness. You love to just go out and WANDER. It's a great way to train up your psychic powers, which are AMAZING by the way. You also get lots of help from your DAMN LUSUS. It's an Aratnid so not only is it all kinds of creepy looking, but it loves to STEAL your crap and HIDE it out in the woods. If you weren't convinced the thing were so DUMB you would think it enjoyed messing with you. You are training to become an EXPLORECUTIONER when you finally come of age. With your ability, and your LEGENDARY axe skills you are going to be a natural. You have TONS of friends. Mostly because you are so AMAZING. Ok, well not tons. You definitely have a few though. They tell you that you exaggerate a lot, but you are basically a PRECISION machine. They are good trolls, but sometimes they need to STEP UP their game to keep up with you. Neluma Castal--casualTimpanist--tawnyPort Your name is Neluma Castal. You are roughly six sweeps of age but you like to think you have a OLD SOUL, or at least this what your LUSUS tells you, but it feels TRUE so you GO WITH IT. This is kind of a GOVERNING PRINCIPLE for you: you rely as much as possible on your PERCEPTIONS to determine TRUTH in your world because you often find EMOTIONS to be just too OVERWHELMING and CONFUSING. This is partly because you possess an enhanced ability for EMPATHY thanks to your LOW position on the HEMOSPECTRUM, and when you are around emotional people you are HEAVILY AFFECTED by their emotions. You generally try to AVOID them as much as possible, which sometimes makes you seem COLD and DISTANT. You have a variety of INTERESTS, including all manner of PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS. You are absolutely TONE DEAF but you have impeccable RHYTHM and are a VERY GOOD DRUMMER. You are hoping to use this to be able to avoid the usual fate of your blood caste and to gain a position among the EXTIRPERCUSSIONISTS, the Empress's ceremonial drum corps. You enjoy DANCING but rarely engage in it. You also frequently MEDITATE, both because it helps rid you of those troubling EMOTIONS and because it allows you greater INSIGHT into and, you hope some day, CONTROL over your ability to sense the emotions of others. Your trolltag is casualTimpanist and you type with a \|<ind of shield up to prote\|<t yourself from the pes\|<y emotions of others. Name: Neluma Castal Trollhandle: casualTimpanist Age: 6 sweeps Hemo: Yellow (shading closer to brown/bronze than green) Strife Specibus: chainkind (like a whip, but steelier) Fetchmodus: beatkind (each item has a particular rhythm you have to play to get it out) Title: unknown but I'd really like to see her be a class of Heart Land: Land of Smoke and Thunder Lusus: A deer. For want of a better term, she is your DEERMOTHER even though she is clearly a stag. Marlef Pachak--temperedBoots--Pillbug ==> Be the outlaw >>hat i'm not an outla>> i'm a f>giti<e ==> Fine. Be the fugitive. that's a better explanation AlterniaBound: (Somehow I can't figure out how to make the white parts transparent) Your name is MARLEF PACHAK. Your Trolltag is temperedBoot and you don't ha<e m>ch time to talk You are currently ON THE RUN. An IMPERIAL DRONE came to your hive when you were 7 sweeps old (you are 8 now), demanding that its PAILS be filled. Not being the smoothest guy around, and the fact that it came about three sweeps before it should, you had no contribution, and BARELY ESCAPED ALIVE. However, the LAW is still after you, and all you have is your Hookkind STRIFE SPECIBUS. In order not to be found, you CUT OFF YOUR OWN HORNS, hid your BLOOD COLOR, and tore off the SIGN on your plain black T-shirt, and patched it up with some grey fabric. The bottoms of your dark grey pants are tattered from all the running. In fact, the only thing distinguishable on you is a DUSTY TATTERED SCARF that's so long that it touches the ground when you wear it. It's so old and dirty, it's impossible to discern it's color. You wear it covering your mouth so your teeth won't show as well. Your hair is short and messy, but it mostly grows backwards, what with all of your running. As other's could have guessed, you are a little PARANOID and a little JITTERY. However, when feeling slightly safe, you sometimes try to find a MATESPRIT or KISMESIS to possibly redeem yourself with the law, though you half-doubt that would work anyways. Your FETCH MODUS is the Fingersnap modus. Each finger on each hand corresponds to a card. If you snap that finger, you can select it. You can hold up to ten. Don't ask about the thumbs. Your LUSUS was kangaroo with flying squirrel-like wings, though it was instantly killed when the drone attacked. You are 7 sweeps old and you are quite fine with that. You tend to value your intelligence as your greatest trait, although you sometimes overestimate it. You are far more interested in endeavors of the mind than more physical or social pursuits. Due to this, you are not very skilled in combat. You are extremely cautious when faced with a new situation and often act a bit cowardly. However, you are extremely loyal and would do anything to protect your friends. You aren't very romantic, seeing as you only act through direct reasoning and you find romance to be a bit unpredictable. Your position on the hemospectrum places you smack dab in the middle of the high bloods and the low bloods, but you find this to be an optimal postion, although you do lack the psychic powers of a low blood and the rank of a high blood Your lusus looks like a jackal. It generally just lets you do your own thing as long as you're not endangering your life. You refer to him as your JACKALFATHER Name: Quinad Theros Species: Troll Gender: Male Age: 7 Sweeps Blood: Green/Olive Trollhandle: philosophicSanity Strife deck: Stickkind Captchalogue: Abdurd lock Modus- Every card placed in the modus is given its own 7 digit code that must be entered before it can be used. The combination is created by the user, but must be unique for each card. Lusus: Jackalfather Title: Seer of Mind Land: Land of Sky and Dread Quirk: FOllowing capital letters with a second capitalized one. SOrta like this. Background: Agouti has spent his life on a hill with his lusus, near a troll city. He spends most of his time online but often goes out to the city to buy stuff and talk with people. His life has been pretty uneventful, which is unsurprising for a lower member of the aristocracy. Personality: Agouti is generally social, good-natured and intelligent. However, he is not very loyal and will abandon his friends and allies for personal gain. If he forms an extra powerful bond with someone, he will instead ferociously protect that troll. Agouti is a very eloquent speaker, good at convincing others of what he wants them to believe. He usually flees when forced to make a choice between fight or flight. He loves eating and has a stomach capacity as large as Ace Dick. He has no real future goal and plans to just wander, finding odd jobs. He is not very interested in romance, although he has many platonic friends. When he becomes excited or angry his voice greatly rises and he becomes highly aggressive. He is crafty, although not very useful when it comes to strength or handicrafts. He is fast at running, but not extraordinarily so, and an extremely good climber. Sprite: Don't have one, so I'll just describe. Agouti has hair that is a bit fluffy and wavy. He keeps it cut short and keeps it orderly to the best of his ability. His hair rises up when he gets agitated. He has two goat horns that stick out about 45º back from being straight up, and they curve moderately for about 8 inches at about the curve of a parenthesis ( . His horns are therefore useful for headbutting. He wears a Prussian Krasseur helmet (ironically) on special occasions, although normally he doesn't wear anything on his head. He has rectangular pupils which give him wider horizontal view, and he generally has a slight smile and a runny nose. His teeth are very blunt for a troll and his body has a tolerance for plant material. Although he is embarrassed by it, he still prefers it because it allows him a much larger palate of foods he can eat than just meat and grubs. He wears a simple black t-shirt with his symbol on it and a teal jacket made of wool. he has normal grey jeans and thick, though not too heavy, boots with a thin layer of industrial aluminum covering the toes and bottoms of his boots. His high metabolism lets him eat a lot without getting very far above average regarding weight. He is taller than normal, although not a ridiculous amount. Pondus Lithra--ultimateJuror--myto_alkoreath ==> Be the justice nut Your name is Pondus Lithra You are 6 cycles of age. Already, you have immersed yourself in reading material of the ages concerning true justice. Your personal hero is Troll Socrates, whom through the writing of Troll Plato you have learned so much about. Through the use of questions, he challenged the beliefs of all around him, especially of those concerning justice. Unfortunately, he was brutally culled for his humilliation of the empress in a verbal debate, an event you find very contrary to justice. Mostly, you keep your views to yourself, since emulating Troll Socrates in his downfall is not something that sounds pleasant to you. When you are not debating the meaning of justice with yourself, you enjoy sitting back and relaxing in your hive with a good book (on justice), or practicing your crossbow skills. You also enjoy trolling your friends online. You cannot do much else, as the Land of Balance and Change is not a place you should move rashly around in. Your hive is... well it is rather a mess. With books strewn everywhere, it is hard to move around. Your lusus, a large Lizard, attempts to keep things in order, but your voracious reading habits and crossbow practice leave the place looking even worse than when he started. A Teal Blood, you are not in the higher echelons the spectrum, but at least higher than most. You prefer this, as it allows you to avoid most discrimination while not having to deal with all that aristocratic crap (A bane on justice if there ever was one). Mind you, you miss out on the crazy psychic powers of the lower castes and the influence of the higher ones, but you take these losses in stride. You are 7 cycles of age. You are a natural born warrior. You spend your days engaging in fights with imagined hordes of enemies. You suspect your lusus thinks you look ridiculous. But you know you look like a total bad-ass. When you aren't training with your variety of awesome weapons, your actually putting them to use in elaborate raids. You aren't that into the role playing scene, but you just can't pass up an opportunity to gather some sweet loot with your friends (they aren't nearly as awesome as you, but they get the job done). You are a borderline blue blood. A high jade blood, and you like this status very much. You tend to disprove of blue bloods who act don't take their role seriously. Appearances are very important, yet some of those higher on the hemospectrum tend to act just plain ridiculous. You have sometimes been referred to as a hopeless romantic. You wan't few things in life more than a proper kismesis. You wouldn't even bother looking for a matesprit if it weren't for the fact that the imperial drones would tear you to shreds. As far as your concerned, people who focus to much on the other three quadrants just don't have what it takes to commit to a proper rivalry. Your lusus looks like a bear. Or at least he would look like a bear, if a bear was a thing that existed. Which it clearly does not. He often insists that you follow him to the forest and explore. Maybe he thinks you don't get enough fresh air that doesn't reek of the blood of your fallen enemies? He can be ridiculous like that sometimes. Your troll tag is gildedReflection and you Alv\|vays try to keep up appearances. Taking pride in your symbol (V\|V) and role. Name: Talrok Varnel Trollhandle: gildedReflection Age: 7 Cycles Hemo: Teal Kind: Duel kind (must wield two weapons of the same king eg. Two knives, two hammers) Fetchmodus: Mirror (every time you pick something up, you must pick up something similar to that object eg. pick up a belt, you must also pick up a rope) Title: Unknown Land: Land of sand and lightning Octava Pintar--inklessKraken--inklessOctopi ==> BE THE AMATEUR CHEMIST Your name is OCTAVA PINTAR, and you're pretty damn good at chemistry. Well, in your eyes at least. You are 8.5 SWEEPS OLD, and you enjoy creating different REMEDIES for all kinds of ailments and needs, including your own need for RELAXATION, and you can usually be found smoking some kind of mix in your trusted PIPE. Why do you feel the need to be relaxed all the time? Well for a while now you have had TROUBLE SLEEPING. For some reason you just can't fall asleep, which used to make you grumpy and prone to LOSING YOUR TEMPER with others. You thus started smoking to try and calm yourself, which has helped a lot and you can now sleep easy! Another thing you can't live without are your GLASSES! Without your glasses, you can barely see your hand in front of your own face. Your STRIFE SPECIBUS is your BLOWDARTKIND. Making medicinal blends isn't your only talent; you also have a talent for making poisons when you feel like it, which is perfect for making poison covered darts to fire at anyone who wants to intrude on any of your experiments. However, there have been numerous times where you have accidently mixed your poisons up with your smoking herbs and either smoked some poisons or tried to protect yourself with relaxation herbs. You have been very lucky with the effects of these mishaps; if the poisons you smoked were a little stronger the end result could have been a lot more dangerous, but luckily you got off with a few days of sickness and some nasty pains. It's a good reminder to make you take more care of what you're putting in your pipe. Your HIVE is situated on the edge of a very lush forest. This provides you with a healthy amount of materials for your experiments and a home for your much loved LUSUS. The lake in the centre of this forest provides her with the perfect home; a large lake for a large CEPHALOPOD. Unfortunately, she never really had much time for you, so you had to find your own ways to entertain and look after yourself. One hobby you took up was SEWING. unfortunately, you're PRETTY BAD AT IT. You insist that this is due to your terrible sight, but the most probable reason is that you're too high to do it right. It's difficult to make intricate stitches in that state of mind. You specialize in creating PLUSH TOYS. This is one of your creations. It's your lusus. You made it while she was busy so it was just like she was there with you! It may not be the best, but you're working on improving every time you make something new! When you're not smoking or making rubbish dolls, you can usually be found MEDITATING in your respiteblock or reading a variety of LITERATURE. You especially enjoy books on MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURES, such as THE KRAKEN. Although everyone says it's a myth, you're pretty sure they exist somewhere! On occasion you also like to watch MOVIES, though you think it'd be better if you actually had someone to watch them with you. For now the only audience you have are your collection of homemade dolls, who unfortunately don't give the same emotional response as another troll would. One day you would love to have a MOIRAIL or MATESPRITE to do these things with you. Modus wise, you use a CROSS-STITCH modus! It works by having to CROSS STITCH A PICTURE of the item you want to captchalogue. It will then IDENTIFY AND CAPTCHALOGUE IT for you! Unfortunately since your skills in sewing aren't the best a lot of the time it CAN'T IDENTIFY what you want to pick up and you end up spending quite a while getting it to work. Your trolltag is inklessKraken, and <コ:彡 < you have a 6it of a drawling tone to your vooooooice. TLDR: Name: Octava Pintar Title: Monk of Blood Age: 8.5 sweeps Handle: inklessKraken Quirk: Starts with a squid (<コ:彡< ) , replaces all 'b's with 6s and elongates the last word's first vowel to 6 times (so hello would be heeeeeello). Also uses squid-like emoticons (<コ) Blood: Teal (#295F64) Lusus: A large squid (SquidMom) Hive: A large cottage like hive, next to a lush forest. Strife Specibus: Blowdartkind Fetch Modus: Cross-stitch: User has to CROSS STITCH A PICTURE of the item they wish to captchalogue and it will then IDENTIFY THAT ITEM AND CAPTCHALOGUE IT However if the picture is unidentifiable the item won't be captchalogued and they will have to try again until it works. Derse or Prospit?: Prospit Planet: Land of History and Blossom Esulta Guerre--superciliousMinstrel--Capric Monarchy Your name is Esulta Guerre. You are Six Cycles/Sweeps of Age. Your interests include salvaging PROSPECTING for junk AMAZING STUFF, and RAIDING everything. Or, at least raiding anything that doesn't call it home. Or do call it home. Either way, all this stuff's yours now. Nothing beats getting out there, making enemies and beating the crap out of anything and everything, which gives you the interest of always loving to fight anything because it enables you to disperse pain. Which is always fun to do, but it gets boring eventually, so you settle for a day-off in the form of classical Alternian music. Quite comfy it gets. You are a Blue blood, bounded by a made up set of codes and morals you've set for yourself and an instinctive way of life, that includes and not limited to: Take everything, deny duels, suddenly accept duels without warning when they have their back turned, beat up anything that looks at you funny, take everything that's shiny, kill when it's beneficial (which is always), and finally, cuddle with anything that's less than three feet tall minus wrigglers. This kind of lifestyle has led to many social opportunities and potential quadrant filling (in your opinion), unlike all the dorky shut-ins with dark pasts. Thankfully, this has also led to another opportunity in the form of a video game! But we'll get back to that later. You tend to get angry at everything, unusually. A lot of things make you irritated. Or you're just a jerk spoiling for a fight or wanting to intimidate someone. You also have an extreme flushed feeling for sickeningly sweet things, but your definition of sweet does not always conform to the norm. By Troll standards, anyway. Your Lusus is a WhiteLuster Ccalras, or in 'human' terms, a 'sandworm' scorpion. A creature of power and death! The perfect lusus for someone like you! How lucky is that? Something that partakes in the best of brodowns with you. Your Trolltag is superciliousMinstrel And you are excited for everything!!! >>;B] you talk using a variety of ffing AMAZING variety of acronyms fsho >>;BD Though you occasionally get irritated at fucking everything bulge ripping nook face god damn fuck shit go away plebian >>;Bc. Name: Sorius Abydos Species: Troll Gender: Female Age: 7 Sweeps Blood: Purple Trollhandle: impulseTerminator Strife deck: ScytheKind Captchalogue: Balance Modus. Items are arranged on two sides and balanced, based on weight and value. If the scale tips too far to one side, everything is dumped. Lusus: Giant sea snake (Snakemom) Title: Witch of Rage (don't know if this was allowed or not, most of the trolls didn't have a title or just said 'Unknown') Land: Land of Rivers and Sandstorms. You are now SORIUS ABYDOS, a 7 SWEEP old, purple-blooded troll. You have several interests, one of which is GARDENING. That would really explain why your entire hive is COVERED in a variety of plants, vines, trees and the like. The area surrounding your hive has several ORCHARDS and small GARDENS that you tend to on a regular basis. Despite the original impression that your hive is an OVERGROWN MESS, though, you actually keep things VERY ORGANIZED, with your plants only being only a slight exception to the rule. In your respiteblock, everything is arranged accordingly. Your bookshelf is arranged in ALPHABETICAL ORDER, first by author then by title, with 16 books on each shelf. Your games are kept in a SIMILAR FASHION near your husktop. Your floor in always SPOTLESS, and any trash you have is always thrown into the proper waste receptacle. The only times your respiteblock has been a mess…. well, YOU'D RATHER NOT TALK ABOUT IT. Continuing on, your books belong mostly to the MYSTERY, CRIME SOLVING GENRES. You just can't get enough of them. The puzzling mind games, the harrowing investigation, and then when the degenerate scum they'd been chasing after finally GETS WHAT THEY DESERVE. Your walls have several POSTERS of the movie and TV adaptations of these books, all arranged at equal heights and distanced equally from one another, of course. There are also a few FLARP posters up as well. You used to love EXTREME ROLEPLAYING, but… not anymore. You suppose this would be a good opportunity to explain your… PROBLEM. You have a very SHORT TEMPER, to say the least. You tend to FLIP THE FUCK OUT over things some would consider MINOR, and when you flip out, things have a tendency to BREAK. And if the person responsible is nearby, the things breaking tend to be BONES. It doesn't help that you really DON'T KNOW YOUR OWN STRENGTH. This of course led to problems whenever you would FLARP with friends. You would often get caught up in the heat of the moment and… well, lets just say you DON'T REALLY HAVE too many friends left anymore. Nowadays, you try and stay away from anything that may SET YOU OFF, and you stick to activities that you find calming. Apparently is been working, and so far you haven't had an incident in WEEKS! Your hive is located on a cliff side, which leads straight down into the ocean. It's actually quite far from the rest of troll civilization, so you don't really have that many opportunities to interact much with your own kind. The only times you have were through FLARP, and the latter didn't end too well. Your lusus is a giant sea snake. She lives in the ocean just outside your hive, so you don't see her too often, but you love her all the same. You always wield your trusty ScytheKind, whether it's to get rid of pesky weeds or to disembowel-- no wait, you don't do that anymore. Disregard that please. Your trolltag is impulseTerminator, and you ςρεακ ωιτh α ςlιϑhτ αccεητ. Joathi Saluta--divineRighteousness--Steilos You are JOATHI SALUTA and you have already killed three people today. It's just REBELLIONS, man. REBELLIONS and ASSASSINS as far as the eye can glubbing see. You live in a above-sea hive that more resembles a FORTRESS than anything else. It has to, for what else can keep yourself and HIPPOMOM alive and safe during these troubled times? But enough about the area around your little PLAY-PALACE being a TOTAL SHITHOLE that maay have been stirred up by you seizing everyone's hives and incorporating them into yours. The subject just depresses you, really. Being a PSYCHOPATHIC TYRANT is incredibly fun and all, but looking back on your formative sweeps you realise that you were being the FISHBITCH to end all FISHBITCHES. You've spent most of the last two sweeps trying to make amends, and judging by the fact you're down to just the HARDLINE CRAZIES attacking you you're doing something right. Either than or you've just KILLED ALL THE ANGRY MOBS and they're the only ones left alive, but that thought just DEPRESSES THE SHIT OUT OF YOU. You tried to be a good little empress, you really did, but it just feels like everything you try ends in blood. When not agonizing over your DOOMED AND BLOODY PRETEND-REIGN, you like to DRAW. Your current art style focuses on PORTRAITURE, and you have painted several pictures of yourself. You have tried to keep it as regal as possible, but you can't help but incorporate your current SELF-ESTEEM and PRIDE levels on your work. The result is a series of paintings that have documented your CRUMBLING SELF-IMAGE - starting with you standing triumphant on top of your royal hive right down to staring out of a window as everything you worked for burns. It slightly bothers you that you can't even look yourself in the eye when you paint a portrait, and the string of MYSTERIOUS ACCIDENTS that have SMASHED your MIRRORS have you thinking that maybe... nah. You're REASONABLY SURE YOU DON'T HATE YOURSELF. You are also a BAD LIAR. Your other INTERESTS include ROMANCE NOVELS, FISHING and STANDUP COMEDY. Nothing like a dose of TROLL JIMMY CARR to get you through a tough day stamping innocent faces into the ground. Well, few trolls are by definition 'innocent' but you're reasonably sure you're ruined the lives of a few because that's the sort of thing a HEARTLESS BITCH like you would - Damn, you keep FORGETTING YOU DON'T HATE YOURSELF. Your memory is KIND OF SUSPECT too. Your trolltag is divineRighteousness and you START each message with capitals, emphasise your words like =this=. You also hate those glubbing fish puns and when you accidentally glub you beat yourself the =fuck= up about it. Name: Joathri Salulta Species: Troll Gender: Female Age: 7 Sweeps Appearance: Joathri has long, well-combed hair going down to her waist and two little horns that basically don't do much other than poke upwards out of her hairdo like useless pieces of shit. For someone with such blatant self-esteem issues - I beg your =pardon=? - she really hates to let herself go, maintaining her tyrian makeup and eye shadow no matter what. She always wears her little 2x3dent earrings and golden necklace, and her royal tyrian cloth wristbands match her tyrian Jupiter symbol on her black shirt. Her clothing comes from the greatest of designers as do her accessories, although she prefers the simple jeans, shirt and trainers getup to most of the other royal crap. Blood: Tyrian Trollhandle: divineRighteousness Strife deck: 2x3dentkind. She's not too enamoured of it, but it's apparently an unbreakable tradition or something. Captchalogue: COURT MODUS. Her captchalogue cards take the form of a royal court, with a Empress, Empress Consort and Courtiers. There are also the heads of the different branches - such as the LEGISLACERATORS. She can place any card she wants amongst the courtiers, but only the most valuable cards can be placed into the highest ranking positions. Problem is, who the hell determines value? Not Joathri, that's for certain. She has no idea what'll be dethroned and ejected at high speed by the modus' CIVIL STRIFE functionality when she picks up something new. Have you ever tried to comb your hair when the COMB's amassed an army of HAIRBANDS and led a rebellion against EMPRESS SECRET PICTURE OF- Lusus: The lusus of a prospective empress must be regal and proud! It must carry itself with- oh for fucks sakes it's a HIPPOMOM. Title: Heir of Doom Land: Land of Democracy and Crystals Humans Lora Campos--vivaciousAchates--Sir Vex Your name is LORA CAMPOS, and you are a 15-year old girl who lives in Brazil. You live smack dab in the middle of fucking nowhere in a very small village in the Brazilian countryside in a small wooden shack. Sure, it's not pretty, it's not a mansion, but it's home! You wouldn't want to live anywhere but here. You live with both of your parents, a couple of hardworking farmers who earn a living by selling products at the local convenience store (which, in reality, looks more like one of the lemonade stands you'd see outside a small child's house, but hey! They make a lot of money (at least by the village's standards. You're one of the richest families going!), so you're not going to complain). Due to your family's overabundant wealth, of which there is assuredly plenty, they were able to scrape up enough cash to buy you a second-hand laptop! Compared to other, newer computers, it's actually exceptionally shitty, but you're just grateful for what you've got. As such, your laptop is your most cherished possession. It's got all of your friends in it, after all! Speaking of friends, you haven't got any outside of the internet. Everyone in the village is too old! You would be lonely, if it wasn't for your pet cat Fofo. You think he is about the same age as you, because he's been in the house.. er.. shack for as long as you can remember. You and he are an inseparable pair of friends that are always together, whether it be playing with him or just having him sleeping on top of you when you're lying on your bed chatting to your friends. Overall, you are a very optimistic and cheerful person. Sometimes you think you can get a bit too clingy or a bit too excited, and even though you are generally a positive person, you tend to sometimes overthink your own actions. You don't want to ruin any of your well-built friendships now, do you? Even so, you like to always crack jokes and make people smile! If your friends are happy, you are happy too. That's just how it works. Returning to the subject of your parents, as has already been mentioned they are a couple of 'famous' (if that counts for anything in this village) farmers who love you dearly, but have an odd way of showing it by being out all day tending to the farm. You don't see them very much because of your late waking hours and relatively early sleeping hours. You've never really been that big into the whole farming thing. It sounds like way too much work for a girl like you! But they seem very insistent on having you continue their legacy, and who are you to refuse? In regards to weaponry, you've ever really needed to defend yourself, except from the odd stray fox that might want to eat a few chickens, though you've never actually killed one. In any case, your chosen strife specibus is pitchforkKind, because there's a lot of those lying around. Great for poking! You don't really understand the concept of strife specibi, but who cares? It's probably best to have at least something in it. Your chosen fetch modus is the Minesweeper modus - the items are stored on a Minesweeper board, and if you pick the square with the item in it, that item is released. If you pick a mine, however, all the items are decaptchalogued and sent flying in random directions. How inconvenient! Your chumhandle is vivaciousAchates and your speech is not always perfect, but nobody is! o: You frequently look around yourself and see there is NOBODY THERE. Your outlook on the universe VARIES GREATLY from time to time. You claim that there is NO BLACK AND WHITE but that there are also COLORS on the scale, and take FOREVER AND A DAY to decide because you say that NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS and you don't want to make the wrong decision. When you aren't busy HIDING FROM THE LIGHT, you are usually inside your TREEHOUSE, doing some shit like WRITING POETRY or PLAYING FLASH GAMES on your SHITTY ASS COMPUTER. Unless of course on that particular day you have had a run in with your AUNTY. On those days, you SLEEP UPSIDE DOWN, HANGING FROM A TREE BRANCH, and are let go at night, armed with only the ROPE that tied you to the branch, and your TRUSTY IRON GAUNTLETS. These days always coincide with that time of the month when the WOLVES HUNT, and you've naturally learned to find your way back home, and SURVIVE IN THE WILD. Otherwise, you have few friends, the ONLY TWO friends you have are HUGO THE FOX, a little fox you made friends with when you GAVE IT SOME LEFTOVER WOLF MEAT, and HENRY THE HAMSTER. Why you call it that is beyond you. HENRY is a HAT WITH A FACE DRAWN ON, that you happen to WEAR EVERYWHERE. You also claim that HENRY TAUGHT YOU HOW TO SPEAK AND USE THE COMPUTER. But that's just nonsense, right? Not right. You love your friends. You love them a lot, and do ALL THAT YOU CAN to PROTECT THEM. But for the most part, you live in DARKNESS, and oddly enough, you LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT. And on the off chance that you do TALK TO SOMEONE, whether they are HUMAN, ANIMAL, ALIVE, OR NOT, you tend to NEVER SWEAR EVER, and always apply the shift key when necessary, but only then. You don't want to insult anybody, do you? Trick question. You never want to insult anyone. Your Sylladex is unusual. In order to captchalogue anything you must captchalogue three objects at a time, and then the entire group is saved for later, and randomized completely with the other groups as to which ones you will receive when you uncaptchalogue anything. Well, as far as you know they are. There might be a pattern. You can't seem to tell that though. As your computer is AWFUL AS HELL you've taken up trying to learn to make it better. Your computer would be AMAZING if it had any ram. So, you've taken PROGRAMMING as an ONLINE JOB, and make very good pay by the hour. About $40. You've just earned enough money to get a BETTER COMPUTER just in time to play this NEW GAME EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT. But Aunty has taken up arms as usual, and BLEW THE MESSENGER DRONE OUT OF THE SKY. Luckily, you planned for this, and requested that the computer be in a 3 INCH THICK STEEL SAFE. But, sadly this plan seems to have backfired, as THE PLANE HAS CRASHLANDED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF AUNTY'S TRENCH AND ELECTRIC FENCE. But you so want to play. You'll DO ANYTHING to GET THAT COMPUTER BACK. A basic map of his forest. Jeremy Pucket--conspiratorialRant--obduratelyPalatable Holy fuck what is that shirt ==> Oh my gog, forget about the stupid shirt. If it's such a problem you can go and put on another one. Now get on with it. Your name is JEREMY PUCKET, and you are the epitome of NERD. You barely ever leave your room, since almost everything you need is just sitting in there. And by everything you need you basically mean your COMPUTER. You love your computer. Every bit of your cash goes to buying more electronic junk for it, and you take care of it like it was your own FLESH AND BLOOD. Which is good, because the kind of shit you do on it would make any normal one melt into slag, namely your obsession with HACKING. You call it a hobby. You're only lying to yourself. That isn't to say that you do highly illegal things, like hacking into weapon systems for the US military like most people believe hacking entails. That's the stuff of legends. You don't have the clout or the balls to do such a thing; mostly you just spend a lot of your computer time hacking into security cameras, and your favorite prey by far is WEATHER SATELLITES. You love the zoom some of those things can get. Of course, you still get tracked and counter-hacked for your efforts when you're not being careful, which you constantly aren't. It's not like it's a big deal though. Usually they just cut off your connection and attempt to overload your system. You lose more money on RAM that way. As has been already said, you rarely ever leave your room. Occasionally, you sneak into the kitchen to get some food from your OBSCENELY LARGE REFRIGERATOR while attempting to avoid your FATHER. He's not bad or anything, but he just never pays attention to you, and you feel extremely awkward when you and he lock eyes. You don't hold it against him though. His job catering for half the damn town keeps him really busy. You've come to terms with it... You think. Besides hacking, you have a couple of other hobbies, which are almost as nerdy. You have a soft spot for FANTASTICAL LITERATURE, especially of the more THRILLING GENRES. You have a thing for horrorterrors. You keep telling yourself it's not because of the tentacles... but sometimes you wonder. And then abruptly you stop wondering because it weirds you out. Anyway, there's a sizeable pile of COOL SQUIDDLES in your closet owing to this love of horror. You'll be damned if anyone ever finds their awesome, cuddly goodness. Your other hobby is the production of low-grade FIREWORKS, for which your incredibly bare and roomy basement has been turned into a workshop for. You are still scratching your head as to why your dad hasn't said a thing about this practice. After all, you've only set the basement on fire about, oh, four times? Enough about your interests. Let's talk about YOU. You are widely known as a horrible delinquent, and not just because you hack things for fun. You have a KNACK for getting into trouble and getting right back out, and you've developed a hell of a set of legs for running from the law. Be it spraypainting peoples' houses, throwing firecrackers into paddle boats down by the bay, or pulling any number of PRACTICAL JOKES, you've never been caught, and you aim to keep it that way. It's not like you hurt anyone, really. You think everyone's just overreacting. Besides, no one really likes you besides this fact, so who do you have to impress? You're generally a bad person to be around, with your SHORT TEMPER and CONDESCENDING ATTITUDE. You try to be nice sometimes but... You dunno. It's probably just a habit. Your Chumhandle, when you deign to talk to people, is conspiratorialRant and "You speak with an impeccably educated vocabulary, despite getting CONSIDERABLY LESS FANCY WHEN YOU'RE UPSET." Your name is LILA FIELDS, and you are a PRETTY RAD GAL, with TOTALLY ILL HAIR. You love the hair dye. And you're really sweet for someone who grew up in the middle of the FREAKING DESERT. Even though you love to playfully TEASE PEOPLE, you usually don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. You're not unflappable though, I mean really who is? So when people annoy you, you can get REALLY SNAPPISH. You've made some friends, if by friends you mean your tank of TROPICAL FISH, which totally, totally count. They even have names. The only other friends you have are the ones you met on pesterchum. Your guardian was your Pap, but he disappeared in the desert doing his mysterious research. He's probably ok, you think. Most likely he just got really, really lost. The man never could read a map. Because of the whole grew up in the desert deal, you've had to entertain yourself a lot, and with this gigantic desert landscape, what could possibly be better to do than RUN AROUND AND JUMP OFF ROCKS. That shit is fun. Some people might call it PARKOUR, but you're pretty sure jumping off rocks is a more apt description. When you're not acting like a reckless, rock-jumping DAREDEVIL, you like to stay in, BAKE SOMETHING DELICIOUS and enjoy your impressive collection of SCIENCE FICTION DVDS, your favorite of which can only tenuously be classified as part of the genre: the complete series of the X-FILES. It's your favorite because you really, really WANT TO BELIEVE. You don't care, and probably don't notice, when your friends laugh at your firm belief in EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE, and PARANORMAL PHENOMENA, including, but not limited to, PSYCHIC ABILITIES, CRYPOZOOLOGY, SPECTRAL ACTIVITY, TAROT CARD READING, LIFE AFTER DEATH, AND FORTUNE COOKIES. To explain why they're so hard to prove, you like to come up with ELABORATE CONSPIRACY THEORIES. Sometimes at night you will even sit on your roof and watch the sky for UFOs. You're sure you will see one someday. Perhaps they will even take you away and show you other awesome planets. But you're not counting on that. Especially if they're the evil kind of aliens that just kill people for really no reason. Because if that's the case, you will just have to get out your FLASHLIGHTKIND and LAY DOWN THE LAW on those space invaders. And then you will say something ill like "WELCOME TO EARTH" or "HASTA LA VISTA BABY", because man you love CATCHPHRASES. Especially in the event of leading the resistance against the alien invasion. And, wait... what were you thinking about? Oh, right. You have a tendency to GO OFF TRACK with your thoughts. Your chumhandle is temerariousXenomorph, and your fetch modus is of the TAROT DECK variety, requiring you to do a reading with your captchalogue cards, and use the items in the order and way the reading dictates. This is a continuation of a previous setup created by Takeshishin, who, contradictory to his own rules, went afk for two weeks. The concept initially belongs to him, and as such there will always be a space reserved for him in the RP, regardless of whether or not the numbers are full, and should he return, there will be no penalty or removal of characters. Re: Arcanabound OOC Thread[3/4] [5/12] Under New Management How is the RP going to go about? I'd like a few more details on whether it'll be over Pesterchum, on the forum, what is expected of your posts and if there is some manner of order to post in. Like, just gimme the deets. Re: Arcanabound OOC Thread[3/4] [5/12] Under New Management Posts should at least be Homestuck-esque with a command and then the following occurrences are described beneath it. There is no need to order posts, but let's try and not flood the thread with posts before others have posted. Re: Arcanabound OOC Thread[3/4] [5/12] Under New Management Oh, and seeing as I just noticed, technically Agouti Caprin is turquoise blooded, but nonetheless, this is a little disconcerting. Now, seeing as Krubby volunteered, I'll make the necessary adjustments so that Agouti is Jade blooded instead. Also, I'm going to edit the list so that it also denotes the character's player within the tl;dr. Re: Arcanabound OOC Thread[4/4] [6/12] Under New Management I dunno if we've discussed the logistics enough yet to start with the trolls. Are they in contact with the humans? If not when will they? How do all these characters know each other? I guess we should discuss that in here as soon as possible before the IC get's very far. Also, thanks for doing all this after we lost the previous GM, Digizaruk, I really appreciate it. sig-quooooootes. "When I asked Hutch how bad the hurricane hit him in Jersey, he just spammed 'HONK HONK ITS THE DICK TRUCK. REPOST IF YOU LIKE TRUCKS FULL OF DICKS' at me for 10 minutes" - _Pipeline Re: Arcanabound OOC Thread[4/4] [6/12] Under New ManagementRe: Arcanabound OOC Thread[4/4] [6/12] Under New Management It's no big deal, really. I've yet to join or be a part of an RP that really got off the ground to begin with, so this is a nice way of taking charge and keeping us on track. As for the logistics of the situation, I'd say that we can leave that open for all of you to decide as a poll. How do you want the trolls to be? Option 1: The Trolls can communicate with the humans and vice-versa, but neither of them really know that the other is different race (except for special situations). Option 2: The Trolls can contact the humans but the humans can't contact the trolls, similar situation with race. Option 3: Option 2, but switched around. Option 4: Neither race can contact the other. Option 5: They can communicate with the humans and vice-versa, and know of the other's race but choose not to believe it. Option 6: There is no option six, but one can be created by request. Originally Posted by RaptarionI'm not going to say no. In fact it is absolutely fine with me. Any objections? Re: Arcanabound OOC Thread[4/4] [6/12] Under New Management I think a combination of option 1 and option 5, where if the trolls reveal their race it just isn't credible. Also, as the player who was looking to be the heart class I'm fine with not being the heart class, too. There are plenty of ways to explore what I'm hoping to with my character, so go nuts. Re: Arcanabound OOC Thread[4/4] [6/12] Under New Management Sweet. Here is how I thought the humans and trolls would contact each other. After entry into the game, the most technologically advanced/ inept of species X manages to get into contact with species Y via elite hacking/ screwing around with their respective chat clients until something interesting happens. Species Y is unable to contact species X until their most technologically inept/ advanced player does the same in reverse. (Ideally one inept person and one advanced for the sake of comedic contrast)	eng	3ec0d3f6-a127-464c-b718-278fd16395f0	http://www.mspaforums.com/showthread.php?50776-Arcanabound-OOC-Thread-4-4-6-12-Under-New-Management&p=6792609
Neurobiology and Behavior, Spring, 2009 Welcome to the home page of Biology 202 at Bryn Mawr College. Pleased to have you here. I'm looking forward to an interesting,enjoyable, productive semester of "getting it less wrong[13]", and hope you are too. Let's have some fun[14], and see what we can all make out of it together. Students (and visitors) should be aware that this is a "non-traditional" science course in several respects (see below, and Science as Story Telling in Action[15] for further background) Literary and historical starting points The Brain - is wider than the Sky - For - put them side by side - The one the other will contain With ease - and You - beside- The Brain is deeper than the sea - For - hold them - Blue to Bue - The one the other will absorb - As sponges - Buckets - do The Brain is just the weight of God - For - Heft them - Pound for Pound - And they will differ - if they do - As syllable from Sound - The course is organized in relation to the following general presumptions (see syllabus[18] for specifics): Neurobiology, like all science, is an ongoing process of trying to make sense of the world and one's relation to it by a recursive and unending process of making observations, summarizing the observations, and using the summaries to motivate new observations. Neurobiology is of interest and is accessible to everyone, and is an essential tool in the repertoire of anyone who is themself trying to make sense of who they are and how they relate to the world around them. Neurobiology, like all science, is best assimilated by a process in which students themselves work through in their own minds and in relation to their own experiences and understandings relevant observations and the summaries of those observations suggested by others. Education, like science, should be an ongoing process of making observations, summarizing the observations, and using the summaries to motivate new observations. Neurobiology, like all science, is a social process, one in which the observations and tentative summaries are shared among individuals, so that each can benefit from the ongoing inquiries of others. For this reason, students (like faculty) will be expected to actively engage in all aspects of the course, including making thoughts in progress available not only to other students in the course but to the world at large by way of an on-line forum and web papers. What distinctive experiences/characteristics do you bring to the conversation this semester? List three questions that you'd like to see explored during the semester. Browse around. Get a sense of what's here, and how it does (or doesn't) relate to things you might be interested in. Look for things that surprise you, cause you to think differently (rather than things that are what you expect, support the ways you already think). Think about what you think you know about brain and behavior, and why, and what puzzles you, and why (what IS "thinking"? and what's it good for?). And expect to be wrong, over and over again. That's the best starting place ... for any kind of scientific inquiry. And the best way starting place for the productive sharing of ideas with others as well. Third web paper and book commentary both due for seniors by 5 pm, Saturday, May 9, for all others by noon, Friday, May 15. Submit on line ("text only") as well as in box outside my office (by email with special care). 28 April Third web paper and book commentary both due for seniors by 5 pm, Saturday, May 9, for all others by noon, Friday, May 15. Submit on line ("text only") as well as in box outside my office (by email with special care). Visit the course forum area[49] once more (at least) and leave thoughts about where you started, where you've gotten to. Comments If all my memories and the enviorment has played role in were I am today . if I was able to have those erased and artifical ones put in for example the years of drug abuse and the gukt and shame takin away what would happen ? would I be a new person if so to what degree would eraseing th ese memories effect me Hi I'm Sophie Balis-Harris and I am a sophomore Political Science major at Bryn Mawr. I don't really know exactly how much experience with related fields I can bring to this class, but I am excited about the material. I suppose that in Political Science we learn a lot about what motivates groups of people to act in certain ways, which relates to this course. 1. I was recently reading an article in the NY times that discussed how without the use of calendars or natural indicators of time our "internal clock" is very skewed, and how the brain can skew time based on emotions- meaningful or painful experiences can often seem more recent than they actually are simply because they are important parts of our recent memory. I thought the article was an interesting addition to our class discussion of how time is a social construction, and it made me wonder exactly how much of the world around us is a construction of the brain? 2. One of my concentrations within poli sci is peace and conflict studies, and we often discuss the ways that average people can be driven to commit horrific acts of violence in times of conflict. I often wonder if this capacity for violence is hidden within us all, and simply switched on during conditions of extreme duress or if there is something more to it. In short, I suppose I would like to learn a little bit more about the role of the brain in violent behavior. 3. I also find pyschosomatic illnesses very interesting- how is it that our emotions can dictate our physical well being, and why is our mental health linked so heavily to our physical health? Hi I am Malli, a freshman at BMC. At this point I am toying with the idea of chemistry major with a creative writing minor. I live in Bombay, India and I am a Bengali. My family's moved around within India and I have been to six different schools. Among the things I love are Indian food, beaches, sleep, my cat, plane rides (any journey actually) and discounts. In my senior year I had to write a paper about the extent we agree with Chomsky's quote - "... we will always learn more about human life and human personality from novels than from scientific psychology." I love reading and it has always fascinated me how novelists portray human characters and thus behaviour. I remember the dreams the protagonist has in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and thinking about how much that says about his psychology. In any case, my love for reading developed in me a fascination for human behaviour and my interest in neurobiology. I feel that the brain has very many interesting things to teach us and part of the reason it is so fascinating is that it is after all, just a bunch of neurons! Just a bunch of neurons controlling the world, our world. Questions If Brain = behavior, my question is how can other external factors be corporated into this equation? What of individual culture, class, family upbringing, education and so forth? Are we what our brains are, or what our brains make of these factors? Also, what about two people who grew up in exactly the same external environment, but have completely different identities? How is it that their individual brains respond differently to the same external factors? I saw in a movie recently that a pregnant lady was listening to Spanish tapes because she'd read that the child can start grasping language inside the fetus. Given that she wasn't entirely making this up, how does the brain begin to grasp and comprehend language at such early stages? I am fascinated by repressed memories. How does the brain decide which memories to repress and lock away? What makes some childhood memories extremely vivid? I heard that out of the eight hours that a normal human adult needs to sleep, two hours is deep sleep and the remaining six are just REM. What does the brain do at this time? On a slightly different note, is it possible to do away with dreaming – what is its significance in our lives? Hi everyone, my name is Vivian Cruz Pena and I am a junior at Bryn Mawr with a Political Science major. I was born and raised in El Salvador and moved to MA when I was 13. I still miss the tropical weather of my country very much, but also love all the different weather seasons that I now experience here. Science has never been my strength, so I really love the "loopy" kind of science that we'll be learning this semester, I love the idea of having no definite answers or outcomes because that way we feel more free to dig deeper in our analyasis and discussions. One of the places that I love the most is the beach and I wonder how is the combination of that tranquility, beautiful sight, and soothing sounds work in our brain to cause a sense of peace and relaxation? I also would like to know what are the chemical reactions that are released (or not?) when we laugh that cause us to feel better and changes our mood? Like others, I also wonder how the dreams work in our mind? I dream a lot, especially when I'm worried or too anxious about something, so I'm intrigued about how the brain processes my thoughts and makes them (or combines them, or something like that?) into a dream?? I'm Sandra Gandarez and I am a sophomore biology major/education minor. I am the first generation in my family born in America, and the rest of my family still has a very Portuguese oriented belief system. I am also the first in my family to come to college. My family, especially my grandmother, is also incredibly religious and me and my brothers joke that if she doesn't get into heaven we're all doomed. Questions: 1. What happens to people who are "brain-dead"? 2. What mental and chemical reactions are the causes of love? 3. How we make decisions and how they are influenced internally and externally? My name is Kira Dillard. I am a junior Anthropology major from Scottsdale, Arizona. I am an only child although I had many, many pets growing up. I am very interested in the overlap between Anthropology and Biology, specifically the evolution of the brain and behavior and the role their development played in the course of human evolution. Questions: -What is conscience/morality? Is it innate? Is it taught? Can a person exist without it? -If behavior is not simply the result of chemical reactions, what other options are there that can explain behavior and the mind? - How can the ego be explained scientifically? Evolutionarily, what is the significance/purpose of the ego? What part does it play in the survival and success of homo sapiens ? Hello my name is Anna Dela Cruz, but please call me DC. I am a junior biology major with an insatiable fascination with art and fashion. Just recently, I serendipitiously encountered an emerging field in science that aims to understand beauty from a biological standpoint-- bioaesthetics. Finally, a subject that combines both of my loves! The field of aesthetics is more closely associated with philosophy than with biology. Descartes believed beauty lies in symmetry. But what drove him to such conclusion? So question 1: What is the physiological basis for determining if something we see is beautiful? To me, art is very much driven by emotion--to harness that intense feeling and pictorially, and consciously recreate it, even using symbols/objects to represent intangible subjects. Which leads me to question 2: What allows the human brain to form associations between emotion and objects to therefore utilize such objects to represent the emotion? Of all the artistic movements, Surrealism is what intrigues me the most. It was a very multifaceted movement driven by intense emotions such as paranoia as well as dreams. So question 3: What are the biological mechanisms that allow humans to dream? Do dreams mean anything? Are there universal symbols in our dreams or are the symbols in our dreams purely personal and it is solely up to the individual to infer the meaning behind them? Max Scherrer here. I am a single child from an upper middle class family in severe debt. Neither of my parents have college degrees and I will be one of the few in my entire extended family to receive one. I was born and raised in Los Angeles (Hollywood) California and have been accordingly influenced by the attendent culture (s), elitism(s), and can certainly imagine that it has affected my behavior. Questions: 1. Acquisitiveness - When is an extreme cocern for accumulating more money an indicator of fitness, or respectively, a detrimental pathology? 2. Altruism/Selflessness - To what extent can "selflessness" be explained or reconciled with the standard biological imperatives recognized. Is there such a thing as pure altruism, seperate or extricable from darwinian advantage/incentive? if so what are the implications? 3. Sociability - How would one discuss the distinction between intro- and extroverts from a neurobiological standpoint? What can one say about the development, psyche, or general nature of one or the other? Are there significant socio-biological implications for one type over the other or is such a distinction fundamentally unscientific? Is one capable of a more fundamental egotism? My name is Hanna Lee. I love almost all tropical fruits, and I think my love for them comes from eating a lot of tropical fruits as a toddler in the Solomon Islands. I've lived most of my life in the suburbs of New Jersey. I grew up going to church with my parents every Sunday. While I am a Christian with some conservative views, I am politically liberal. Like a couple of people in the class, I have multiple identities that wrestle with one another; and, therefore my values and views are constantly shifting. I find parts of me in the Korean culture, American culture, Christian community, and Bryn Mawr communtiy. Questions: Do soul mates exist? I learned in my intro Bio class that pheromones control/work with attraction, and birth control pills and perfumes can mask peoples' pheromones and thus alter people's attraction to one another. The brain controls our bodily functions including pheromone production, so how does the brain work to find one's soul mate? Also, can the brain find one's soul mate despite the use of birth control pills and perfumes? If pheromones mainly work in finding one's counterpart, then can we make drugs to make people fall in love? In North Korea, the government advocates early education in worshipping their dictator so that there are less revolts/oppositions. This sort of brainwashing is a core part of the North Korean government. How does brainwashing work and can drugs be developed to model it? Some people are steadfast in their beliefs and some are not. Is there a neurological difference that causes this difference in people? There is a period when people can learn language, however when that period has passed, people cannot learn any language at all. Why is this when they have all the brain capacity to do so? Supposedly, most people use 10% of their brains. What does the other 90% do? My name is Nafisa. Like many others in the class, I grew up with two cultures. My parents are from Nigeria, and I was born in the U.S. Because of this I have always been concerned with how I "behave" within each setting, and have been conscious of following the "rules" of each culture. I tend to look at issues pertaining to behavior from a rigid scientific standpoint, as this usually helps me to unify ideas and make sense of things in a comprehensive manner. Some questions I have: 1. What types of biases occur when determining "good" or "bad" behavior? 2. How have innate urges evolved over time? 3. What chemical changes occur in the brain after trauma, and what determines if these changes occur for a long or short period of time? My name is Sarah Tabi, and I am a senior premed Chemistry major at Bryn Mawr. My family is from Ghana, but many of my family members live in London. Sadly, I do not speak the language. I am also the President of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. As a devout Christian and a Chemistry major, I am able to strengthen and balance my faith through science. I am interested in the areas of the human mind that science has not completely been able to satisfactorily explain. I'm a little late posting an introduction. I'm a senior Biology major (BMC) and Geology minor. I pursued molecular biology and geology originally in college because I liked how both revealed stories of the natural world. I went to the MBL at Woods Hole last fall to study environmental science for a semester, at which point I decided I was more interested in the things that lived in an environment, why they lived where they did, and how they managed to survive, physiologically and behaviorally. So, I was fortunate to study microbial ecology on the West Coast this summer and took Greg Davis' great course in Developmental Biology last semester. Some of the most perplexing issues in development emerge from studying how the brain and nervous system develops and its plasticity to a changing environment. As a result, I think neurobiology and behavior are interesting because of the many 'black boxes' in our current understanding of the processes and am excited to explore issues in the discipline this semester. Some specific questions I want to explore: 1. Are their universal characteristics of language in all life? What form does this language take (e.g. sound waves, cell signals, action potentials)? How has this language changed (or not changed) over natural history and evolution? How do we think it will change in the future? 2. At what point should we (or do we) draw the line on sentient and/or cognitive life? Why? I think this issue has a lot to do with what we 'define' as alive or not? For instance, do viruses think? Why or why not? That's all in my cranium at the moment. I'd be interested to hear what others think about this. I'm Shikha, a senior Biology and Computer Science double major at Bryn Mawr. Due to my computer science background, I often think of the brain as a type of computer. I was born in India, but I have grown up in 6 countries. As I learned how to adapt to and respect different cultures and societies, my mind became more receptive to various ways of thinking and learning. My experiences in different countries have added a rich cultural diversity to my life, which I hope to bring to our discussions. I have spent most of my life in Europe and have constantly struggled to balance the Western values I learned at school and saw outside my home in general, and the Indian values I was taught and expected to follow by my parents. My eldest brother is mentally handicapped and despite being 9 years older, he has almost always been mentally younger than me. I'm sure my interest in the brain stems from trying to understand his condition as well as wanting to explore ways to help him. I hope to get a Phd in Neuroscience and spend most of my life studying and researching some aspect of the brain. In the past two summers, I have worked in two computational neuroscience labs. In one I studied cognitive-motor behavior in Parkinson's disease patients to develop rehabilitative strategies for patients in early stages of Parkinson's disease. In the other one I worked on a neuroeconomics study which uses functional MRI of subjects engaged in economic behavioral tasks. I also currently work in Dr. Greif's lab in which we are studying the expression of synaptotagmin, a transport protein, during early neurite development in vitro using rat sympathetic neurons. All this research is extremely interesting and I can bring my experiences from working in these labs and doing empirical research to the discussion. I have been thinking about a lot of brian-related questions simply because I have been reading a lot about the research going on at graduates schools I have applied to. Questions: 1. What are the neural correlates of consciousness? 2. Why do some people experience phantom limbs? 3. How do social factors affect the decisions (especially economic decisions) people make? I have lived in some very different environments and I like to seek new experiences with people from different cultures. I have experienced some very diverse people and ways of life. I speak English as a second language. I am more aware of the typical American habits than others since they are unfamiliar to me. In my old school we had a strong focus on questioning the knowledge that you gain in life and I hope that this class will force me to continue questioning my knowledge and beliefs. Questions: Good an evil; what is our conscious? Where is it? Are there specific parts of our brain that make us act according to our moral code? Are some people more moral than others? Free will; is there a difference between the human brain and the brain of other animals in terms of instincts? To what extent can we choose how to respond and act? Evolution: to what extend is the human body capable of keeping up with the changes in society and the rapid development of human intelligence? My name is Leah and I am a sophomore biology major. For almost all of my life I've lived in suburban Boston with my younger brother, twin sister, and parents. Some random facts about me that have shaped who I am: My mother is a Korean immigrant and my father is Caucasian, so I can easily relate to the dual identity Dr. Grobstein mentioned in class. I was not raised with a religious background and consider myself an outsider to religion in general. I have an extremely close relationship with my twin sister. Questions: 1.) Is it society or brain chemistry that causes teens, particularly troubled teens to act out/ struggle? If both are factors then how does one untangle outside influences from more inner influences? 2.) I'm interested in phantom limbs and what ramifications they have in our understanding of the brain. If we are able to perceive limbs that don't exist, then how much of what we perceive is made up by the brain? 3.) Scientists are currently looking for the "gay" gene. On a moral level, is this something scientists should be looking for? I just finished reading Divided Minds: Twin Sisters and Their Journey Through Schizophrenia. Very interesting in re "outside" and "inside" influences. And perceiving things that "don't exist," and twinness, and "dual identities." I'm Kevin. I merely stumbled upon this great avenue for learning science. I'm not really a science buff here, but I do want to learn some real science bits. While I may have simply forgotten everything my biology teacher taught me, here are the top three questions that popped up instantly. 1. How does the placebo effect really work? Does it do any good at all? 2. Is it possible that from a scientific standpoint, religious prayers are actually psychological therapy? Or maybe prayers = energy? 3. Is there a scientific basis for mental telepathy? Is it even possible? The first 6 years of my life, I grew up in Bangladesh, which can be considered the complete opposite of the US. My family tries to follow the traditional bengali culture's ways, but I kind of try to mix them both. As such, I can add a cultural perspective to this course. Also, I am a pre-med student, and I have very personal experience with diabetes, heart problems, and mental disorders, such as depression. As such, I can also add a medical and psychoanalytic POV to the course. I am coming into this course thinking mainly about the mental/psychological components of neurobiology, and thus, I am constantly thinking about treatments that do not necessarily include drugs. My name is Kerlyne and I am a Sophmore at Bryn Mawr. I grew up in the great city of BOSTON, MA where I attended Boston Latin School which sought to "ground me in a contemporary classical education in preparation for successful college study, responsible and engaged citizenship, and a rewarding life." They definitely wouldn't go for the "loopy science" way of life. This may have been a major reason for my choice of a Liberal Arts education! Currently I am Pre-Health and deciding whether to go with a major of Anthropology or Biology. This summer I interned at Blue Cross Blue Shield in their Behavioral Health department and was lucky enough to create a complete database of resources for their new Outcomes project which sought to seek out and accurately treat potential high risk cases before they could be hospitalized. They did this by using survey scores and graphing patterns generated by a computer. This was really interesting and of course designed to save the insurance company money. At times it felt like Big Brother. This is what led to my interest in continuing my exploration of the mind. Borin Kim, and I am a junior pyschology major/NBS concentrator at Haverford College. I was born in Korea and moved to the States when I was six months old. I lived in and around the Washington DC area until fifth grade when my family moved back to Korea. Having spent ten years in America where I was labled as a "Korean" and ten years in Korea where I was labeled as an "American", I have always been part of the minority and am therefore used to seeing things from a different, uncommon perspective. Frequently going between the two cultures has also made me flexible in my thinking and open to new ideas. My Christian faith also greatly influences how I see and understand things. I think humans are the most fascinating subject of study--especially in terms of how their physical brains give rise to conscious thought and emotions. I am especially intrigued by the differences in thought that exist in different communities (cultural, religious, etc.) and whether these differences can also be linked to biological/physical differences in brain structure. While the questions in the area of neurobiology and behavior are endless...here are a few that come to mind: 1. What are dreams? How are they linked to our consciousness? 2. Does stress cause headaches? If so, how does a mental state like stress, manifest in a physical condition? 3. How does consciousness arise from physical matter (the brain)? I know this is like one of those big questions the course will explore...but it just really fascinates me. If our thoughts and temperaments differ, does that also mean that our brain structures/chemistry also differ? Yep, "dual consciousness" can indeed make one more "flexible ... and open to new ideas," and "differences in thought exist in different communities" creates interesting challenges/opportunities for thinking about the brain. Have a look at I have discovered that I have a cross-disciplinary mind and enjoy thinking about things from various perspectives, simultaneously incorporating scientific, literary, psychological, economic, and medical lenses, among others. My training as an English major and premed student has cultivated this inter-disciplinary approach, discouraging me for settling for a single theory, rule, or formulation. Questions 1. To what degree are interpersonal relationships grounded in biology? Are humans hardwired to be dependent upon each other? 2. Why does a single individual use different methods of decision making for different decisions? Why do different individuals make decisions differently? For more on interdisciplinarity, and "rationality," see The Humanities and the Sciences: Learning from Each Other. For more on why "a single individual uses different methods of decision making for different decisions," see Making Sense of Understanding[96] and Marin Minsky's The Society of Mind. I am one of four children with an older sister and a younger sister plus a younger brother. Neither of my parents graduated from college and I am the first in our family to consider going to graduate school. I grew up in Fairfax, Virginia a wealthy, predominately white subarb that would rather consider itself to be a part of DC than Virginia. My parents are divorced but out of economic necessity they still live in the same house. Over the course of my life, I have had a managerie of pets including dogs, cats, parrots, fish, hamsters, guinea pigs and a handful of tomagotchi's. Although I have lived in the same room of the same house all my life, I have traveled to Northern Ireland and The Philippines to stay with friends in both countries. I love watching horror movies in order to make fun of them. I am a devout protestant who wants to major in anthropology. My questions for this class are: How is behavior reflected on anatomy and vice versus? Why do we feel compelled to believe in the imporbable even when there is little to no empirical evidence backing it up? My name is Crystal Leonard and I'm a sophmore at Bryn Mawr. Several people in my immediate and extended family have various neurological disorders. As a result, I am aware of how the brain can cause unusual and/or disruptive behaviors in an individual, despite their consious desire to act "normally". I'm also knowledgeable of the current ways in which doctors use chemistry to attempt to alter the brains, and thus the behaviors, of these individuals. 3 questions that I would like to see explored this semester are: 1. What is the internal voice and how is it formed? 2. How do the chemical interactions in the brain lead to a person's "inner being/soul,etc"? 3. How does positive touching affect a person's brain chemistry/behavior? A really nice, possibly relevant book is Daniel Smith's Muses, Madmen, and Prophets: Hearing Voices and the Border's of Sanity. See also some of the on-line discussion of Hypnagogia: A Bridge to Other Realities. My name is Brielle. My parents were driving about in New Jersey while my mother was seven months pregnant and passed a billboard to the beach city of Brielle, NJ -- and it stuck. I grew up in New Jersey but for the past 8 years I've lived in rural Ohio on a small horse farm. I have experienced both the culturally diverse east and attended high school in an area where two people of color were all that showed diversity in the entire school. I work at Recreation Unlimited, an adventure camp in rural Ohio for people with disabilities. My passions are developmental disorders, seizures, and traumatic brain injury. I have worked with people, mostly children, with disabilities for seven years. I like to think I have a unique outlook concerning the way people with disabilities perceive the world and how they feel that they are perceived because of the close interactions that I have had, including personal care, overcoming recreational challenges and growing socially. I am always looking for opinions from other people to help increase my knowledge of this subject. 1. How does perception and the role of thinking warp/change after receiving significant trauma? What physical changes in the brain cause behavior changes? 2. How do people labelled as mindblind, like those with autism, perceive the behaviors, emotions and ambitions of surrounding people? Is this a behavior that can be learned over time or is there an inhibitor (like a chemical) preventing the learning? 3. What causes the response of choosing to isolate another person? Is this a chemical balance that we are born with or a behavior that we have learned socially? Hi my name is Dean Laganosky and I am a senior from Wilmington, DE. I am a very analytical thinker, and as a Pre-Med Biology Major, have been exposed to an education primarily dictated by scientific fact and what is typically perceived as irrefutable truth. This academic background, however, has fueled a distinct curiosity in how the beliefs that a certain individual may have don't necessarily have to be incorrect if they oppose these specified 'universal truths'. As far as other aspects that make me a unique contributor to this class, I am a collegiate baseball player for Haverford College who was drafted professionally in 2008 by the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball Organization. Also, I lived on a dairy farm this past summer for three months, which has provided me with a unique perspective on the ways in which some people live. Three questions that I would like to explore during this course: -the limitations/size of the physical and mental universe -perceiving in higher dimensions -the reason for life and sense-based perception and the role/existence of an afterlife. I was made in the U.S. and born in Canada, and then I lived in China with my grandparents for two years. The rest of my life was spent mostly in North Jersey, where I moved from town to town almost every year until fifth grade. I am a frosh at BMC, and I plan on majoring in either Biology or Psychology. What I'd like to explore: 1. Dreams: how our brains form them, if/how recurring themes/dreams represent our subconscious thoughts. 2. Mental "illnesses": are they chemical, how do they form/occur. 3. Personalities: what makes each of us think and react differently to the same idea/topic? I am a local girl who chose to stay close to her horse(s). We are so close that my horse and I sleep under the same roof, her in a stall with straw, me in bedroom and bed. This setup has made it possible for me to spend a significant time observing the behavior of horses. However, I have spent almost no time studying their brains. Hopefully this class will add some breadth to my experience with behavior, brains, and the relationship between the two. I have also spent some time thinking about human brain, mind, and behavior. I took a course last semester on mental health and the brain, spent some time in therapy, experienced or forgot six concussions with post-traumatic amnesia, and observed the progression of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. I would like to learn more about the differences between humans and animals. Specifically, how it relates to differences between their brains. The neurobiology of gender and sex interest me. Beyond the role of hormones… I have a really great story about the behavior of two mares and some hormones gone wrong. I am curious about the connection between behavior and the unconscious. Or perhaps our lack of conscious awareness of our behavior? I think this plays some part in therapy. Hi, my name is Collette Pullion, I'm from South Jersey and am a senior psychology major at Bryn Mawr. I also am a Pre-Medical student and am hoping to matriculate into Medical School next year. I am a collegiate soccer athlete and have been for all 4 years. In terms of what I can bring to the table for this class...I am a devout Roman Catholic and am continually trying to become more & more self-aware. Thus, I chose psychology as my major in order to better understand the mind, people, & the behavior associated with mankind. In addition, I constantly struggle with scientific faith versus my faith. This involves both faith in mankind & facts about science. Because I am a collegiate athlete I appreciate other people's points of view on topics and really try to absorb any beneficial characteristics or behaviors that others embody. Three Questions: 1) Do our dreams have meaning? 2) Are conditions like fibromyalgia real? 3) How much of our genetics (the family we are born into) affect who we grow up to be? Maybe there isn't any necessary "faith" in science and so less conflict with religion than one might think? Interesting set of issues. See No Need for Drawing Lines in the Sand and The Life of Faith is Not a Life Without Doubt[113]. My name is Lisa and I am a junior biology major at Bryn Mawr. I always had a curiosity in biology, but a major in biology was not always my first choice. Because most books I read as a child had a historical theme, I dreamed of becoming a history professor. Then my opinion changed in the summer of 2003 while dissecting a shark in my neuroscience and neurology course at Yale University. At first I was disgusted at the handful of overachieving high school students tearing apart the shark's flesh, but then my mentality suddenly changed. When they tore open the stomach to find a baby crab I became fascinated with the dissection. My summer at Yale, combined with other biology related experiences, drew me to major in biology and enroll in neurobiology and behavior at BMC. During the course of the semester I would like to explore these three topics: (1) What have studies shown about a possible association between artificial sweeteners and cancer? (2) How was phrenology used to determine an individual's psychological attributes? (3) What are some experimental intervention research methods used to understand the human brain? Hi, I'm Becca and I'm a Haverford psychology major. I have been juggling pediatric medicine (primary care or neurology), child psychology and elementary school education as possible career venues for many years. Neurobiology has implications within each of these domains, as does it's application to human behavior. In pursuing my pre-med and psychology aspirations, I have taken courses in cell biology, neuroanatomy, organic chemistry, and cognition. I hope that my experiences learning about the workings of the human body and mind from within many different scientific contexts will allow me to bring integrated and distinctly developed thoughts on neorobiology and behavior, especially where development is concerned. I have spent many summers and semesters working in various labs that study Autism from a range of viewpoints. I've been exposed to, and hope to bring to this class, neurological, genetic, cognitive and diagnostic perspectives on pervasive developmental disorders. My questions are: 1. To what extent does language development follow a strict neurological pattern? To what extent is socialization a contributor? Does exposure to language from social contexts/the human environment affect the neural development of language centers (aside from atrophy of structures involved in differentiating between certain sounds after the critical period)? 2. What neurological structures are implicated in theory of mind? How does theory of mind dictate behavior from a neurobiology standpoint? 3. I'd like to talk about what sort of neurological research is out there about fight or flight response thresholds. I'm a sophomore at Bryn Mawr. I plan on being a bio major with an NBS concentration. I took the Brain and Mental Health last semester, along with Experimental Psychology, so I have a brief background with the brain but would like to learn as much as possible. The brain fascinates me; I don't know if there is one thing I like best about it. Its power continually amazes me. I like learning about mental "illnesses" and trying to remove the stigma surrounding them. I have some experience with a few mental "illnesses" which left me curious about their origins and effects. Some questions.... - can we strengthen our muscles in our sleep through lucid dreaming? - can the brain be connected directly to the internet? (I realize that it will take a few years for this to happen, if it is possible) - can someone become a better mind-reader simply by practicing reading body language? My name is Katie and I am a junior Psych major/Education minor at Haverford. I spent the summer teaching English to children with little to no prior understanding of the language. This experience has led me to examine how we communicate with individuals, especially when language becomes more of a hindrance than a helpful tool. In relation to this class, I expect that we will be able to communicate effectively, but the variety of backgrounds and disciplines will also present challenges. However, by working through these issues and looking at problems through different perspectives, I think we will ultimately benefit from the diversity within the class. Questions: 1) What happens in the brain when we have "Aha!" moments? (reach epiphanies, have breakthrough or novel ideas, solve complex problems) 2) Do other species (besides humans) actively and purposefully deceive others? My name is Samantha (Sam) Beebout. I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa and that has given me some perspective on feeling like I'm from the middle of nowhere, but also feeling like I can escape the rest of the world when I go home, especially when I'm out in the country. I'm analytical and like to turn things over and over in my mind. I like to make leaps of faith, and I can be stubborn and open-minded at the same time. I'm really interested in my position in life right now about to graduate and trying to figure out what I want to do, where I want to do it, and who I want to do it with. I'm fascinated with this phase in particular because its so tied into me deciding who I am and who I want to be as an individual, and my sense of self is always in flux. I'm also interested in how the body effects ones sense of self. This can go several ways. I'm interested in body image, but also the literal experience of being in ones body and the way senses, or limitations of one's senses, influence one's identity. Finally, I'm interested in understanding where creativity comes from and the whole nature versus nurture pull behind talented people. I don't really have one thing in mind, I'm thinking artistic/musical talent, but I'm also interested in people's strengths and interests. Hi. I'm Adam Zakheim. Born and raised in South Philadelphia, I had the unique opportunity to live in a culturally diverse city, replete with pride and history. My life at home, which stands on a foundation of torah and Jewish law, instilled in me a desire to co-exist peacefully and with sensitivity. Prior to Haverford, I attended the William Penn Charter School in East Falls, which exposed me to the Quaker sense of law, consensus and community. These experiences led me to Haverford, where I have grown to understand the value of individual consciousness and communal responsibility. I am an avid sports fan, who enjoys watching and playing most any sport (except for cricket). I am not discriminating when it comes to music and will listen to pretty much anything. My scholastic interests are not limited either, although I am majoring in classical history and chemistry. Otherwise, my interests include reading, going to the gym, traveling and learning how to make the perfect cup of coffee. Questions I've always wondered... 1) What is sleep? And how does sleep deprivation affect the brain? 2) What is the physiological basis for road rage? 3) What affect does prolonged spaceflight have on astronauts? How do astronauts cope with the stress of space flight (such as being confined to a small capsule or space station and eating freeze-dried hot dogs for several weeks)? Check out The Brain and Social Organization / Culture? How compatible are "individual consciousness" and "communal responsibility"? What about the observations that "A significant number of mental health problems either derive directly or are significantly exacerbated by interpersonal and social/cultural variables (The Brain and Mental Health: PG Reflections[134])? I'm a twenty year old sophomore at Bryn Mawr. I've lived in four different states and two other countries. I have met all kinds of people and have heard their various life stories, ideas, and opinions. This is my personal proof that people are diverse. It has always fascinated me that the human race is rich in variety of thoughts, perceptions, opinions, interests, and much more, despite the fact that all of these come from an organ that pretty much looks the same in each person; that organ being the human brain. I'm interested in knowing how the brain can function in not only accomplishing its basic tasks (getting one's hands off the lit stove) but also, how it functions to cause one person to be different from the next (nature versus nurture; how do interests develop?; how are men and women different via their brain science?). Here are three questions that randomly popped in my head during class: 1)What is the brain's activity during hypnosis and how does it differ from person to person? 2)How does the brain fall in love? (I personally don't think it's all about the heart) 1. For the last couple years my 65-year-old grandmother has been living with us for the majority of the year. During these years she has become decidedly more impaired and has lost much of her memory and her ability to complete even basic tasks such as cooking and turning on the television without constant supervision and guidance. Because of her stubbornness she has not seen a proper doctor in many years but our family believes that she has developed a form of dementia or possibly Alzheimer's. The experience I had with my grandmother was both devastating and intriguing because I literally saw her deteriorate before my eyes; I saw the breakdown on her memory and the slow death of her brain. Seeing my grandmother age has made me interested in the mechanisms that determine when and to what extent a person's brain will chemically deteriorate as they age. I am interested in understanding the structural and chemical differences between the brains of children, adults, and older adults. 2. I also have a lot of experience with individuals that have developmental delays, especially Downs Syndrome. I have family members and several close family friends who suffer from the disorder and I have learned many things about the causes and defining features of the syndrome. I know the current treatments and I intimately understand the adverse effects that Downs Syndrome can have across a lifetime from infancy through adulthood. What I don't understand is how the thought process of an individual with Downs Syndrome differs from my own thought process. For instance, when my family member with the disorder tells me he loves me, does he experience the same feelings that I experience when I tell him that I love him? 3. As we discovered in class on Tuesday, most of the class feels that they have some kind of split identity. I also feel that I have a split identity because of the vast differences in the socio-economic status of my parents. My mother grew up in an upper middle class home while my father grew up in a poor single family home. The differences in my parent's upbringing have had an obvious effect on their personalities as adults. I have found that most individuals tend to interact and marry individuals that have relatively similar economic backgrounds and I would like to find some research on marriages and families that come from mixed economic backgrounds. Questions: 1. Are there any significant chemical and structural differences between the brains of individuals that have been identified as extroverts and individuals who have been identified as introverts? Are these terms both culturally and biologically significant? 2. Are there differences in the brains of individuals who consider themselves extremely religiously devout and individuals who identify themselves as stanch atheists? Does religious belief produce a very specific response, or is the same chemical reaction observed in individuals who have strong beliefs about anything such as animal welfare or abortion rights. In other words, does passion produce the same chemical response independent of the context? 3. This answer has probably already been explored many times, but I am interested in the similarities in brain activity between individuals that are dreaming and individuals who are experiencing a seizure. From my basic understanding, both situations occurs when the brain begins to fire at random, although in dreaming, the mind is able to function enough to string these firings together and form a semblance of meaning. If Emily Dickinson et al are right, then there MUST be differences between brains of any two people who behave differently, no? See, for example, Extroversion, Introversion, and the Brain. If brain differences were in fact found for any given comparison, what would the significance be? My name is Menda Olufemi Francois and I am a Brooklyn native but currently reside in the conservative, high-brow city of BOSTON! How appropriate, yes? I am a poet/spoken word artist, Mistress of Ceremony, and teacher, and dreamer. I am a feminist interested in hip hop scholarship(again, how perfect!), particularly the culture's music, i.e. rap music, and the ways in which this musical genre's use of the spoken word manipulates the voice to convey as well as elicit certain emotions and behavioral responses. In rap music, because it is an oral art form, the aural is key, so how does the speaker's accent(regional, like Midwest rapper Nelly or Southern rapper T.I.), delivery(fast like Bone Thugz and Harmony vs. slow and syrupy like Ma$se), vocal registers (high/low pitch)(among various other aesthetic and poetic elements) impact the listener's reception of what the speaker is saying? Does any of this criteria impact how we "hear" the music? Hearing someone coo an expletive in a slow and flirtatious fashion versus hearing the expletive shouted in an angry manner, does this affect the psyche? And if so, how does it impact our behavior, both internal and external? This is say(ask) how would the two separate experiences inform our understandings and conceptualizations around the word and its usage and how does this translate into a consequent/subsequent embrace or rejection of the word? Interesting set of issues. There is in fact pretty good evidence that linguist content and "style" are processed in distinct locations in the brain before being combined into .... what we hear/experience. Cf The Soul in the Brain: The Cerebral Basis of Language, Art, and Belief.	eng	c85b9672-bc6c-40f8-a324-49221a105fa3	http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/print/3726
Month How Much Thorium would it Take to Power the Whole World I have claimed on here that thorium, if efficiently utilized in a liquid-fluoride reactor, is an energy source of such magnitude that it is not difficult to conceive of an entire planet powered by thorium. The Calculation So let me lay out the calculations upon which I base my argument. In a fission reaction, thorium-232 (having been transmuted to uranium-233) will release roughly 190 MeV of energy per fission reaction. Assuming that the original thorium had a mass of 232 atomic units (u), then that is equivalent to 190 MeV/232 u = 820 keV/u. How much energy is that? If converted to electricity at 50% efficiency (which can be achieved through the use of a helium gas turbine power conversion system), 820 keV/u is equivalent to 11 billion kilowatt-hours per metric ton of thorium. (Note that a billion kilowatt-hours [BKWH] is equivalent to a terawatt-hour [TWH].) In 2003, it was estimated that the world produced 16.5 trllion kilowatt-hours of electricity. If this had all been produced by liquid-fluoride thorium reactors, this would have required 1500 metric tonnes of thorium. Future energy projections foresee electrical production reaching 21.4 trillion kilowatt-hours by 2015. To bring the entire world's population up to the level of the average American's electrical consumption would require 80 trillion kilowatt-hours. Is 1500 metric tonnes a lot? Well, consider that until recently, the United States had 3216 metric tonnes of thorium nitrate in storage. Recently, this thorium was deemed worthless by the government and buried at the Nevada Test Site. Thorium is a very dense material, and 1500 metric tonnes of thorium metal would only occupy 130 cubic meters of volume, or about the volume of a room 23 ft on a side and 9 feet high. How does Uranium Compare? How does this compare to conventional (solid-core uranium) nuclear? In 2002, the world's nuclear reactors produced 2.56 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity and consumed 67,000 metric tonnes of uranium to do it. That is equivalent to only 0.038 billion kilowatt-hours per metric tonne of uranium. Why such a disparity between thorium at 11 TWH/MT and uranium at 0.038 TWH/MT? Because today's nuclear only utilizes the small (0.7%) amount of uranium that is fissile (U-235), and only ends up using about half of that. Light-water reactors burning scarce U-235 and converting it to electricity at 33% efficiency are just less efficient than liquid-fluoride thorium reactors at 50% efficiency. It is worth considering for a moment that the thorium required to fuel the entire world's electrical needs would fit in a reasonably sized room, and the thorium required would only be about 2% of the mass of uranium mined today. Does Reprocessing Nuclear Waste Make Sense? Recent statements at the federal level indicate that the concept of "reprocessing" nuclear fuel is ready to be looked at again. This controversial decision was originally made by President Ford in the twilight days of his administation in October 1976, and then reiterated by President Carter shortly thereafter–that civilian reprocessing of nuclear fuel was to be ended. A recent article about controversies over reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. The favored technique for reprocessing spent solid uranium oxide fuel is called PUREX (plutonium-uranium-extraction) and flowcharts of this process can be found here, here, here, and an image of the PUREX plant at Hanford, Washington. On one hand, advocates of reprocessing will point to the fact that there is still significant amounts of unburned U-235 and Pu-239 remaining in spent fuel, and reprocessing could extract these unburned actinides and use them again. They also often point to a future of fast-breeder reactors where the U-238 could even be consumed (by conversion to Pu-239). Lately, another driving factor for reprocessing advocates has been the dim prospect of another federal repository beyond Yucca Mountain, based on the difficulties with opening that site. Japanese women holding a sign that says "No more Fukushima" The Foes of Nuclear Energy Foes of reprocessing come in a lot of stripes. Some are simply against nuclear power in all forms, others do not think reprocessing makes economic sense. One of the basic arguments against reprocessing (that holds some water, in my opinion) is the fact that reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel involves conversion of the solid fuel rod into a liquid stream. The fuel must be chopped up, declad, dissolved by nitric acid, and then go through a complicated series of steps to separate actinides (uranium, neptunium, plutonium) from fission products. Then further steps separate the actinides from one another. At the end of this separation, the liquid stream must be reconverted back to solid fuel again. But that solid fuel is significantly less desirable to a reactor operator because it is much more radioactive than fresh, unirradiated fuel.So none of the reactors in our country utilized recycled fuel. And as I learned when I studied reactor theory, using recycled fuel is more difficult from an analytical prediction perspective because it consists of a melange of different isotopes (U-235, U-236, Np-237, U-238, Pu-238, Pu-239, Pu-240, Pu-241, Am-241, etc.) that each have a different nuclear response (especially in resolving absorption resonances). Contrast that with fresh fuel which consists of only two isotopes (U-235 and U-238). It is not a great surprise to me that this "mixed oxide" fuel is not widely used. And even if it was, to what end? Pu-239 cannot sustain conversion of U-238 in a thermal specturm reactor, so using recycled fuel in thermal reactors doesn't get you very far. It might take three reactors to create enough fuel to be recycled to fuel one reactor, and less and less each generation. It's a losing game (which is why the nuclear industry is always trying to tell you about the brave new world of fast-spectrum reactors). Liquid-fluoride reactors running on thorium are something else entirely–they can sustain conversion of thorium to fissile U-233 in a thermal-spectrum reactor. They are already in liquid form, and reprocessing of fuel consists of two easy steps (fluorination and distillation) that are done right there near the reactor, during normal reactor operation. And the waste stream, rather than being inflated as in typical reprocessing by dissolution in acid, is actually deflated through distillation, to a concentrated mass of liquid fission-product fluorides (no actinides). Transportation of Nuclear Waste Trucks hauling Nuclear Waste in Japan Another very real concern of conventional reprocessing is the need to transport spent fuel from the reactors to the reprocessing plant, transfer separated fuel from the reprocessing plant to the fuel fabrication plant, and transfer "recycled" fuel (which is significantly more radioactive than fresh fuel) back to the reactors. This problem absolutely bedeviled early efforts at civilian reprocessing (the facilities at West Valley, NY, Morris, IL, and Barnwell, SC). This problem would be exacerbated if the reprocessing facility was located in a state that had no nuclear plants of its own, because politics and NIMBYism would inevitably get involved. LFTR's Make Sense! Reprocessing liquid-fluoride fuel is so simple that it would easily be located at the plant site and operate while the reactor was online. No need to transport fuel and no need to fabricate new fuel. Further, since fluorination and distillation are essentially impervious to radiation, there is no need to "cool" spent fuel like in the PUREX process (where high gamma radiation can disrupt the organic solvents used in the dissolution/separation). Personally, I think reprocessing of conventional solid spent nuclear fuel doesn't buy you much and will cost you a lot–money that would be far better spent getting liquid-fluoride reactor technology fielded. What's the difference between a "Thermal Spectrum Reactor" and a "Fast Spectrum Reactor"? When talking to folks about thorium, I often mention as one of the basic advantages the fact that you can "burn" thorium in a thermal spectrum reactor, and don't need a fast spectrum reactor. Which usually elicits the question, "What the heck is a "thermal spectrum reactor" and why should I care that you can burn thorium in one?" It's a good question, and worth taking a little time to explain. The basic idea behind nuclear fission is that you can use an electrically neutral particle, the neutron, to destabilize a nucleus and cause it to split. This is a big deal because it's very difficult to get charged particles, like protons and electrons, anywhere near the nucleus–they're repelled by electrical forces. That's the basic reason why nuclear fusion is so difficult. But with the neutron, it's a different story. It just waltzes right up to a nucleus and hits it, and the nucleus never saw it coming. Now the speed of the neutron when it hits the nucleus has a lot to do with how likely a fission is to occur. One might think, intuitively, that if the neutron is going really fast that it has a better chance of "shattering" the nucleus, but that's not really how it works. Actually, for the fissile nuclei (such as U-233, U-235, and Pu-239) the SLOWER the neutron is going, the more probable fission is. So you want slowed-down neutrons to maximize fission. And then from fission comes more neutrons, which continue the reaction. Well, mostly right. Actually, the neutrons borne from fission are going really fast. Really, really fast. And they have to slow down to have a good chance of causing fission. That's where the moderator comes in. The moderator in a nuclear reactor is the material whose job it is to slow down neutrons without absorbing them. This slowing-down is done by neutrons bouncing off the nuclei of the atoms in the moderating material. For most reactors, moderation takes place in the water that also cools the reactor. For a high-temperature reactor like the liquid-fluoride reactor, graphite (carbon) is used as the moderator. The neutrons are born from a fission reaction, bounce around in the moderator, slow down, and then cause another fission reaction. This "bouncing-around" process is also called "thermalizing" the neutrons, because by bouncing around in the moderator, the neutrons are brought to the point where they have the same thermal energy as the surrounding material. This graph shows how likely a fission reaction is based on the speed (kinetic energy) of the neutron that strikes the nucleus is. Cross-section is a concept that corresponds to the probability of interaction–the larger the cross-section, the more the probability of interaction. The energy of the thermalized neutron corresponds to temperature. If a neutron were at the same temperature as the room you're in (~300 K), it would have an average energy of 0.025 eV. Not very much. If the neutron instead were at the same temperature as the hot fluoride salt in the center of a liquid-fluoride reactor (~1000 K) its average energy would be 0.086 eV. Not much more. When neutrons are born from the fission reaction, they have energies around 2,000,000 eV, which corresponds to a temperature of 20 billion degrees! That's much hotter than the center of the Sun! But like hot water poured into snow, when neutrons are that much hotter than their surroundings, they lose energy fast. And most all of that energy is lost through collisions with the nuclei of the moderating material. So a "thermal-spectrum" reactor is a reactor that has been arranged in such a way so as to optimally "cool" the neutrons so they can cause fission. And as can be seen from the graph, fission is hundreds of times more likely when neutrons are "cooled" down by thermalization/moderation than when they're "fast". So it's logical to ask at this point, why would anyone want to build anything but a thermal-spectrum reactor? It would seem to have the minimum amount of fuel requirement for a reactor, and it would seem to maximize your chances of getting nuclear reactions. And indeed it does. But there is more to the story. Uranium is an interesting substance, consisting overwhelmingly (99.3%) of an isotope, uranium-238, that is not fissile. But if uranium-238 captures a neutron it becomes plutonium-239, which is fissile. One more neutron into the plutonium and you get a fission reaction and energy. So you can imagine that it takes two neutrons to "burn" uranium-238. But there is a very small amount of uranium (0.7%) that consists of the isotope uranium-235, which is fissile and only requires one neutron to fission. Despite constituting such a small fraction of uranium, this U-235 is where nearly all of our nuclear energy comes from today. And the fact that we are burning up this small resource is one of the basic reasons that our nuclear infrastructure is not sustainable. It's also one of the basic reasons that today's reactors make so much nuclear waste. So couldn't we just burn up the U-238 after the U-235 is gone? Well, to do that, we need to make sure that the fission of Pu-239 (which is what U-238 turns into after it absorbs a neutron) gives off at least two neutrons–one to convert a new U-238 into Pu-239, and another to fission that Pu-239. So how many neutrons does the fission of Pu-239 give off? Well, it all depends on the energy of the neutron that the Pu-239 absorbs. Here's a graph showing the relationship. Now this graph shows two lines. One is the line in purple that shows how many neutrons are given off from a fission in Pu-239. As you can see, it's pretty constant across energies–nearly three neutrons emitted per fission. That seems to indicate there will be plenty of neutrons for fission, conversion, and even some to spare. But the blue line tells a different story. The blue line is the number of neutrons given off per absorption in Pu-239. Why are they different? Because Pu-239 has the unpleasant habit of sometimes just absorbing the neutron that struck it, and not fissioning. This happens more often when the neutron it absorbs is at the slowed-down, thermal energies. The fact that plutonium-239 likes to eat thermal neutrons and not fission has tremendous implications for our energy future. At thermal neutron energies, the effective number of neutrons given off per absorption isn't enough to sustain "burning" of U-238. You can see the line dip and weave around the magic 2.0 number at thermal energies (the energies at the left-hand side of the plot). When you account for neutron losses and a number of other things that real reactors must deal with, there's just not enough neutrons to go around. Here is the point where the road forks, where two paths present themselves, and one was taken, and the other effectively ignored. One path is thorium, the other path is the plutonium fast-breeder. The path that was taken, or at the very least, the path that the nuclear community has wanted to take for the last sixty years, is the path to the plutonium fast-breeder. Confr onted with the data that you can't get enough neutrons from a thermal-spectrum reactor to "burn" U-238, they began to investigate what happens if you use a "fast-spectrum" reactor. At "fast" energies (the energies on the right-hand side of the plot) things start to look a lot better for plutonium. It makes significantly more neutrons per absorption than 2, and so the "burning" of U-238 looks to be quite feasible. But now you have a different problem, that of building a fast-spectrum reactor. But before I go too far, let's talk about the path not taken–thorium. Thorium is about three times more common than uranium and consists of only one isotope, thorium-232. It has no naturally fissile isotope like U-235, and thorium is not fissile in and of itself. But like U-238, it can be converted into a fissile isotope (U-233) by absorbing a neutron. One more neutron absorption in U-233 causes fission. So again, we ask the question, how many neutrons does the fission of U-233 give off? Is it more than 2? More to the point, is it more than 2 per absorption? Yes, U-233 not only gives off more than two neutrons per absorption at thermal energies, it gives off significantly more than 2, which is enough to account for the inevitable losses that will occur in a real reactor. This means that a thermal-spectrum reactor can "burn" thorium in a sustained manner and doesn't need to go to a fast-neutron spectrum. And that has tremendous advantages for safety, economy, and nuclear proliferation. Chernobyl, Nuclear Safety, and the Central Role of the Temperature Coefficient Chernobyl Disaster 20 Years Ago Twenty years ago, the worst nuclear power accident in history took place in the Ukraine at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station. The details of the accident are described extensively on a number of different websites, and I will not go through them here. But I will take the opportunity to talk about nuclear safety. One of the basic differences between the energy in a coal or gas-fired power plant and the energy in a conventional nuclear power plant is that the nuclear power plant contains all the energy in its core that it will liberate over its lifetime. In fact, the core of a nuclear reactor contains considerably more energy than it will liberate over its operation. It is very important that the rate of this energy release be carefully controlled, or an accident can result, as was the case at Chernobyl. The amazing and terrifying thing about the nuclear reaction is its capability to multiply exponentially in a fraction of a second. That is the basic principle of the nuclear weapon. You start with a chunk of fissile material, and you configure it and detonate it in such a way that in a fraction of a second the fissile material is consumed and liberates its stored nuclear energy. Now we imagine a nuclear reactor—a unit that carries a vast amount of fissile material and we imagine and wonder if it could explode like a bomb. The quick answer is no—-at least most kinds of reactors can't. The reason is in the design. All reactors in the United States are designed to have a "negative temperature coefficient of reactivity", which is a complicated way to explain a simple principle. When the temperature in the reactor increases, the rate of nuclear fission in the reactor must always decrease. Conversely, when the temperature decreases, the rate of fission can increase, under the right conditions. But in all conditions, no matter what, if the temperature increases, the fission rate must decrease. This is the basis for the safe design of all nuclear reactors. The Coefficient of Reactivity Permit me to spend a little time talking about the temperature coefficient of reactivity, and why it must always be negative. It is the single most important quantity in any reactor design, and the reason why can be understood from a thought experiment. Let us imagine, for a moment, that instead of being negative, the temperature coefficient of reactivity were positive. This would mean that if the temperature in the reactor were to increase, then the fission rate would increase. If the fission rate increased, then the reactor would generate more power and heat, which in turn would lead the temperature to rise, which in turn would lead to more fission, until boom! The reactor would either explode, like a nuclear bomb, or explosively disassemble itself. This of course is not acceptable. So reactors must be built where the temperature coefficient of reactivity is negative. But how do we do this? Actually, it's much easier than you think. In a convetional light-water reactor, the water both cools the nuclear fuel and moderates (slows) the neutrons, increasing the probability of fission. The temperature coefficient in these reactors is negative, because if the temperature increases, the water heats up and expands. If it expands, there's less water in the core, which means there's less hydrogen (bound in the water) to moderate the neutrons. The energy of the neutrons increases, and fission becomes less likely (as we can see from the earlier chart that shows the probability of fission as a function of neutron energy). Hence, the temperature coefficient controls the temperature of the reactor—too high and it brings it down, too low and it brings it up. It is a very nice operational feature—a built-in natural throttle. What about LFTR? What about a LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor)? How does it maintain a negative temperature coefficient? There's no water to moderate the neutrons, so how does it work? Well, assuming that the liquid-fluorides are circulating through a lattice of solid graphite (graphite is chosen as a moderator material because it is stable at high temperatures whereas water is not, although it is an inferior moderator to water), then fission will only take place when the neutrons generated from fission are moderated in the graphite. The negative temperature coefficient comes about because as the salt heats, it expands, and as it expands, there is less of it in the core. That means that the neutrons generated from fission tend to "leak" out of the core more when the salt gets hotter, which has a strong influence on the fission rate, causing it to fall, and reducing the rate of fission. So unlike the light-water reactor, which depends upon the thermal expansion of the moderator to reduce fission rate, the liquid-fluoride reactor depends upon the expansion of the fuel itself. This actually gives the liquid-fluoride reactor a significant advantage over the light-water reactor in nuclear response. Even though the water expansion is very effective in generating a negative temperature coefficient, there is a time dependence built into using moderator expansion instead of fuel expansion—it takes time for heat generated in an "excursion" to conduct through the fuel, gas gap, and clad, to heat the moderator (water) and cause the restoring effect. In some classes of nuclear accidents, it is possible to melt the fuel so quickly that the heat hasn't even made it outside of the fuel element to the moderator to stop the accident from occurring. Nevertheless, in general, water-cooled and moderated reactors can rather easily achieve negative temperature coefficients of reactivity, and reactors with fluid fuels (such as the liquid-fluoride reactor) can achieve VERY strong negative temperature coefficients due to fuel expansion. But a basic assumption in both cases is that the reactor is in its most reactive configuration during operation. Conclusions: At Chernobyl, through a combination of bad design, bad operation, and bad understanding of the response, the reactor got into a situation where it briefly had a positive temperature coefficient. And in a few seconds, the power generated by the reactor exponentially increased to many times its design rating, the water coolant flashed to steam, and the reactor disassembled itself in a steam explosion. Without a containment building, there was nothing to hold the force of the explosion in, and then the core began burning from unremoved decay heat. It didn't have to happen, and shouldn't have, but it will always stand as a lesson of why the temperature coefficient of reactivity must always be strongly, strongly negative in a reactor. Dual Fluid LFTR's are easy to Reprocess The nuclear materials of a properly-designed, two-fluid (LFTR) Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor are extremely easy to process. This is because the fuel (one-fluid) and the fertile blanket (the other fluid) are already liquids. This immediately eliminates the first step in typical solid-fuel reprocessing, which is converting the fuel to a liquid. This process is well-described in a document prepared by ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) scientists and engineers in 1967: Fuel and Blanket Processing Development for Molten-Salt Breeder Reactors (ORNL-TM-1852, PDF, 4.1M). "One of the most attractive features of a two-region, [liquid-fluoride] reactor is the ease with which the fuel and fertile streams can be processed for removal of fission products and recovery of bred material. The fluid streams are easily removed from and returned to the reactor without disturbing operations, and the processing methods are relatively simple and straightforward. On-site processing is a primary requirement of a [thorium] reactor, which would be at an extreme disadvantage if a sizable inventory of fissile material were held up in decay cooling and transit. "Four major operations are needed to sufficiently decontaminate the fuel stream of an [LFTR]. These are fluorination, sorption of UF6, vacuum distillation, and salt reconstitution. The fertile stream requires fluorination, sorption of UF6, and for maximum effectiveness includes protactinium removal. These operations represent the most straightforward processing for achieving a high-performance [liquid-fluoride thorium reactor]. The technology for fluorination and sorption is well-developed (through the operation of the fluoride volatility pilot plant at ORNL); the other operations have been demonstrated in small engineering experiments and/or in the laboratory. The process for each stream is capable of economically recovering more than 99.9% of the uranium, 94% or more of the LiF-BeF2 in the fuel carrier, and more than 99% of the LiF in the fertile stream." Two simple processes, fluorination and distillation, are capable of processing the fluids of a two-fluid liquid-fluoride reactor. Fluorination is a very simple process and does not require the fuel salt to be cooled for any length of time before treatment. In fact, fluorination of uranium is done extensively in enrichment facilities. Distillation is also unique in that it actually reduces the volume of treated fuel, unlike conventional solid-fuel reprocessing which inflates the volume of the fuel tremendously through dissolution. When I first was studying nuclear energy, it didn't take me long to realize that what was really needed was a breakthrough in reprocessing so that thorium fuel could be used. What I didn't realize at the time was that solid nuclear fuel would never be as easy to reprocess as liquid-fluoride fuel. I truly believe that the liquid-fluoride reactor is the reactor that makes the thorium option not only viable, but compelling. Don't throw away U233! When I learned that the entire National Defense Stockpile of thorium (3216 metric tonnes) was slated for burial in the Nevada desert, that was bad enough. But the destruction of our U233 really breaks my heart and hurts so much worse. Uranium-233 is the ideal fuel to start a liquid-fluoride reactor, and there is a very little bit in the world, left over from different attempts to get a thorium-powered future going. Now the DOE is taking great pride in the fact they are going to throw it away. I can only comfort myself with the idea that if they knew how valuable this material is for starting a liquid-fluoride reactor, they would never do this. It gets even worse–the $128 million that they plan to spend to "blend" down this little bit of U-233 could be used to progress liquid-fluoride reactors, which currently get about $40K a year under the DOE Gen-4 program. The fellow that gets the money tells me it's enough to "answer the phone". And once blended with U-238, the U-233 will be unrecoverable (I'm sure this is what they want). We could not isotopically separate it like natural uranium, since it will be far, far too radioactive to introduce into a diffusion plant. So it's gone–thrown away when it could have started a thorium reactor. How to waste a LOT of Thorium to make very little energy Another semi-recent story concerns the use of thorium as a "fuel" in typical, light-water reactors. I put "fuel" in quotations because the only way to truly utilize the thorium resources of the world is to follow the three-step process I have outlined. First, convert the thorium to protactinium-233, isolate the protactinium until it decays to uranium-233, then introduce the uranium-233 back into the reactor to fission and produce the neutrons to convert additional thorium. As has been mentioned, this process is not only possible in thermal-neutron reactors, but attractive. However, there are more and less attractive ways to do this, and a recent article Thorium Fuel for Nuclear Energy certainly falls in what I would call the latter category. Thorium as a Solid fuel Like all other plans that involve using Thorium in a solid form, this plan misses the crucial step where protactinium is isolated from neutrons. Protactinium-233 has a large "cross-section" for thermal neutrons, meaning that it really wants to gobble one up. And if it does, it becomes protactinium-234 and then decays to uranium-234, which is not fissile and can't continue the process. Some solid-fueled reactors have attempted to beat this problem by reducing the neutron flux levels in the reactor to the point where Pa-233 has a chance to decay to U-233, rather than gobble up a neutron. But by reducing neutron flux, you're also reducing the fission rate and the amount of thermal power that the reactor can generate. This means less electricity and less reason to have the reactor in the first place. But the proposal discussed in this article doesn't even get that far. The proposers say they want to burn weapons-grade nuclear fuel in thorium, so that as the plutonium burns, additional plutonium isn't formed. Seemingly admirable, until you realize that again the goal isn't sustained nuclear energy production but just the destruction of this material that we labored so hard to produce in the first place–material that could be utilized in the right reactor to produce much much more energy. So rather than taking the short-sighted view and mixing a little thorium with your plutonium, let's get to work on the liquid-fluoride and chloride reactors, so we can destroy the plutonium, make the U-233, and get our thorium reactors running as soon as possible. Getting out from between "MOX" and a "Hard Place" In 2003, an article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Between MOX and a Hard Place, described the difficulty of disposing of the vast amounts of weapons-grade plutonium and uranium left over from the Cold War. "Weapons-grade" material generally means plutonium that consists predominantly of the isotope plutonium-239, and uranium that consists predominantly of the isotope uranium-235. The plan is to "blend" these materials with standard uranium, and form what is called in the nuclear industry "MOX", for "mixed oxides of uranium". Then the MOX fuel would be introduced into typical light-water nuclear reactors as a fuel. In the course of power production, the Pu-239 and U-235 would fission and release neutrons, but due to the poor performance of Pu-239 at thermal (slowed-down) neutron energies, in about a third of the instances when Pu-239 absorbed a neutron, it would not fission and rather become Pu-240, whose characteristics make it much less desirable for nuclear weapons. This contamination of the original weapons-grade plutonium with other isotopes of plutonium is considered attractive in today's strange nuclear world, where the goal of sustainable and expanding energy from fission is considered a distant memory. Rather, the prime goal of those executing the MOX program seems to be to eliminate the weapons-value of this material as quickly as possible, even if that means foregoing far more valuable uses of the material. A Better Choice While I am no fan of the uranium-plutonium fuel cycle, I recognize that there are some far better, and ironically, easier options to dispose of the plutonium fuel. If a liquid-chloride reactor, with its very fast neutron spectrum, were constructed, the plutonium could be completely consumed and the neutrons generated could be captured in a blanket of thorium tetrafluoride, leading to the production of large amounts of uranium-233, which would easily be removed from the blanket by fluorination to uranium hexafluoride. This 233UF6 could then be reduced to 233UF4, which could be used as the "start charge" for many, many liquid-fluoride reactors. Once started, these reactors would not require additional U233, but would be able to sustain themselves solely on thorium, which is abundant and inexpensive. Much like seeds that could either be eaten and provide a moment's nutrition, or planted and yield so much more, this Cold War plutonium, purchased at such great cost from the reactors at Hanford and Savannah River, could be used to create the U233 to start many, many liquid-fluoride reactors. LFTR Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor Development of an Innovative Thorium Reactor The LFTR is an innovative design for a thermal breeder reactor that was developed from the 1950s through the 1970s at ORNL Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The reactor utilized a fluid-fuel form, with uranium and thorium fluoride salts dissolved in a matrix of lithium and beryllium fluoride salts. The melted salt was pumped throughout the reactor vessel and generated energy in an interesting manner. As the salt passed through the "core" region of the reactor, moderation provided by solid graphite elements led to neutron thermalization and fission reactions that produced heat. Then as the salt accumulated in a plenum and was pumped out of the core, fission ended and the salt passed through an external heat exchanger where it was cooled and transferred its heat to a secondary salt, and ultimately to a working fluid. In 1970s, a steam-Rankine cycle was the basic power conversion technique considered for the liquid-fluoride reactor. However, there were a number of problems with this approach, mainly stemming from the fact that the natural temperature range of the fluoride salt was significantly above the typical operating temperatures of steam systems used for nuclear reactors. More recent work on the liquid-fluoride reactor has focused on using the helium-Brayton (gas-turbine) power conversion cycle for electrical generation. This cycle would offer higher conversion efficiencies (~50% efficiency) through the salt's unique abilities to take advantage of multiple reheating steps in the Brayton cycle. The high-temperature attributes of the salt also enable other unique applications, such as the thermochemical generation of hydrogen directly from nuclear heat. The unique attributes of the liquid-fluoride reactor are a consequence of its fuel form. Salts of fluorine and alkali metals are exceptionally stable since they are formed from the most electronegative of elements (fluorine) and the most electropositive (lithium, beryllium, sodium). Due to their exceptional chemical stability, these fluoride salts have low vapor pressures at high temperature (enabling high temperature operation at low pressure) and they do not react with air or water, unlike molten metal coolants such as sodium. The favored combination for a neutronically-efficient liquid-fluoride reactor is a combination of lithium fluoride (highly enriched in the lithium-7 isotope) and beryllium fluoride. Through a proper ratio of these two salts, a solvent with a low melting point can be constructed. The minimum melting temperature of these salts is achieved when a composition of 52 mole % LiF and 48 mole % BeF2 is used. This combination will melt at 356°C. Typical compositions of base salts that have been used in liquid-fluoride reactors are 66 mole % LiF and 34 mole % BeF2. In the late 1940s, excitement and enthusiasm about all things "atomic" was common among military planners. Having "harnessed" the energy of the atom for nuclear weapons, naturally they began to imagine how this energy could be used to drive other military activities. About this time a young Navy captain, Hyman Rickover, was beginning to think about the possibilities of nuclear energy (reactor) for powering submarines, and the Air Force, not to be left behind, was imagining long-range bombers that could fly indefinitely, powered only by nuclear energy. The difficulties of building a nuclear aircraft were vastly greater than building a nuclear submarine. Central among them was the need to build a reactor that could reliably provide heat at the high-temperatures needed to drive a turbojet. In a conventional turbojet engine, cold ambient air is drawn in the intake, compressed to high pressures in the compressor, and then heated to high temperature in the burner by mixing and combusting a small amount of jet fuel. The hot gas then expands through a turbine, generating the shaft power to drive the compressor, and is exhausted through the nozzle, creating thrust. To build a nuclear-powered aircraft, the heat generated by combustion had to be replaced with heat generated by a nuclear reactor. But the typical water-cooled reactors favored for submarine proplusion could not provide heat at nearly the temperatures needed for aircraft propulsion. Beyond the high temperature requirements, the reactor needed to be extremely simple and easy to operate, since most of the crew would be occupied in flying the aircraft. Even since the days of the Manhattan Project, some nuclear engineers had wondered if a low-melting point liquid might be a better form for nuclear fuel than a high-melting point solid. Their reasoning had mostly been centered around the ease of reprocessing a liquid-fuel form, but there were other important advantages as well. A liquid-fuel would expand when heated, creating a strong negative temperature coefficient. It could be easily drained in the event of a loss-of-coolant into a passively-cooled form. And the fuel concentration in the liquid could be altered much more readily than a solid fuel form. Different fluid-fuels had been considered, most of them based on uranium compounds that could be dissolved in water, such as uranyl sulphate. But water-based reactors couldn't reach the temperatures needed for aircraft propulsion, even under extreme pressure. A fluid that was stable at high temperatures was needed, and stability at high temperatures implied chemical stability. Thought was given to using hydroxides as a solvent fluid, but hydroxides had limited stability at high-temperatures and were extremely corrosive to most metal structures. In 1951, Ray Briant was a chemist working on nuclear aircraft propulsion at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. At that time, a beryllium-oxide moderated, sodium-cooled reactor with solid fuel elements was favored, but temperatures that would be attained in the reactor (1600°F) made it difficult to conceive that the fuel elements would survive long. Briant believed that such a reactor would have fuel elements that would look like "a bunch of spaghetti". He tried to conceive of a reactor that could operate stably at such temperatures and naturally began to think about a fluid fuel form. Briant's colleagues, Vince Calkins and Ed Bettis, proposed the fluorides of the alkali- and alkaline-earth metals as solvents, but the behavior of uranium fluoride in these salts was unknown. At first blush, however, the fluoride salts had many advantages. They were extremely chemically stable, and thus could attain very high temperature operation. But could they be used in a reactor? The possibility of a high-temperature, high-power density reactor was very tempting, and so an effort to prove the concept of the liquid-fluoride reactor began. A small research reactor that was being designed for the Aircraft Nuclear Program was modified to serve as a testbed for the liquid-fluoride concept. Since blocks of beryllium oxide had already been ordered for the previously-favored concept, the decision was made to use them and flow the fluoride salt through Inconel tubes in and out of the beryllium oxide block to simulate reactor performance. Thus the Aircraft Reactor Experiment was born. The ARE went critical for the first time on November 3, 1954 using a mixture of sodium fluoride, zirconium fluoride, and uranium tetrafluoride. It operated for a total of 100 hours at a maximum temperature of 1600°F and a maximum power of 2.5 MW (thermal). Heat generated in the fluoride salt was removed by a liquid sodium coolant loop and then dumped in an air-cooled heat exchanger. The ARE showed that not only was the UF4 chemically stable in the solvent, but also that the fission products generated by fission formed stable fluorides in the salt mixture and did not plate out on surfaces. Another surprise was that gaseous fission products were removed essentially automatically by the pumping action of the reactor, accumulating in the pump bowl above the reactor. The fluid fuel had a very strong negative temperature coefficient, and the reactor could easily be started and stopped by changing the power demand on the reactor, without control rods. Despite its success, the engineers were not anxious to run the reactor for an extended period, since the "in-and-out" tubular configuration could not drain the salt from the core in the event of an accident. After 8 days the reactor was shut down. Flushed with success from the ARE, ORNL engineers proposed the liquid-fluoride reactor as the baseline for the Aircraft Reactor Program and it was selected. Plans were made to build a "real" liquid-fluoride reactor that would operate at 60 MWt and would be of a flight-like configuration. This reactor was to be called the Aircraft Reactor Test, but the engineers referred to it as the "Fireball" . The Fireball was a reflector-moderated design that used the NaF-ZrF4-UF4 fuel of the ARE, but was moderated by beryllium metal and cooled by liquid sodium-potassium eutectic (NaK). The NaK was planned to carry the fission heat to the turbojet engines that would provide thrust to the aircraft in flight. Despite the technical triumph of the liquid-fluoride reactor, the Aircraft Nuclear Program faced severe technical difficulties from the weight of radiation shielding (necessary to protect the pilot and crew) and the advent of alternative forms of nuclear weapons delivery, such as the intercontinental ballistic missile. After Kennedy took office in 1960, the ANP was quietly discontinued after the expenditure of $880 million. ORNL interest in the liquid-fluoride reactor did not wane, however. The high-temperature performance of the reactor coupled with its neutron economy and operational stability led ORNL engineers to propose the LFR as a civilian power reactor. At first, the LFR as a converter reactor was the proposed application, but further investigation of the properties of uranium-233 led engineers to propose the LFR as a thermal breeder reactor. As a breeder, the LFR had some distinct advantages over other breeder concepts. 1. U-233 has the highest ? (neutrons emitted per neutron absorbed) at thermal energies of any nuclide; but it was significantly less than the ? expected from Pu-239 at fast energies. Thus, exceptional neutron economy was very important, and the lack of internal components in the graphite-moderated LFR led to very high neutron economy. 2. Xe-135 could be removed continuously from the LFR, significantly improving neutron economy and eliminating the issues with xenon transients that dogged reactor startup and shutdown. 3. After Th-232 absorbs a neutron, it becomes Th-233 and then decays (with a half-life of 22.3 min) to protactinium-233, which has a half-life of 27.0 days and a sizeable thermal neutron cross-section. Once formed, Pa-233 should be sequestered from the reactor and allowed to decay to U-233; otherwise it will absorb a neutron and form Pa-234 then U-234, which is not fissile. The fluid fuel nature of the LFR allows newly formed Pa-233 to be isolated from the fuel (or blanket), allowed to decay, and then reinserted into the fuel. This remarkable process is simply not possible in a solid-fueled thorium reactor—they must rely on low neutron flux to avoid protactinium destruction, which severely penalizes performance. 4. The low breeding margin for thorium-uranium means that breeders cannot afford to waste neutrons on control rods and burnable poisons. The strong negative temperature coefficient of the LFR allows stable operation at a large variety of power settings with very little absorptive-type control. 5. Thorium forms a tetrafluoride that is stable and dissolves high concentrations in the lithium-beryllium fluoride mixtures used. The Molten-Salt Reactor Program (MSRP) was begun at ORNL under H.G. "Mac" MacPherson in 1958 and came to include many of those who had worked on the ARE. The MSRP won permission from the AEC to build a small reactor on the condition that it have less than 10 MW of thermal power. Design and construction of the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) began in 1961. It was a "true" liquid-fluoride power reactor. It utilized a lithium7-beryllium fluoride solvent into which was dissolved zirconium and uranium tetrafluorides. The goal of thorium breeding was deferred since the favored design at the time was a two-region liquid-fluoride breeder. The MSRE was designed to simulate the "core" of that future reactor. The MSRE went critical on June 1, 1965 and operated for 4.5 years until it was shut down in December 1969. The MSRE was the first (and probably only) reactor to operate on all three fissile fuels: U-233, U-235, and Pu-239. During its operation, uranium was completely removed from the salt through fluorination by bubbling gaseous fluorine through the salt. The fluorine caused the uranium tetrafluoride to convert to uranium hexafluoride, which is gaseous, and could then be removed. In 4 days, 218 kg of uranium was separated from the intensely radioactive fission products and its activity was reduced by a billionfold. The reactor was then loaded with U-233 that had been made by early runs of thorium fuel at the Indian Point reactor in New York. When restarted, the MSRE was operating on U-233 and the Pu-239 that remained from the previous operation on 20% enriched uranium. Despite its success, the AEC was heavily committed to the sodium-cooled fast breeder and the military was very interested in the high-quality, weapons-grade plutonium that would be generated by future fast breeders. The thermal-breeder operating on thorium simply could not compete on this count, and the AEC moved to cancel the MSRP in 1972. They commissioned a report (WASH-1222) that was highly critical of the liquid-fluoride reactor concept and praised the liquid-metal fast breeder. Ironically, this report omitted nearly all of the inherent safety of the liquid-fluoride reactor, its fast response to transients, its neutron economy, proliferation-resistance, and reprocessability. Instead, it focused on a few minor issues that had cropped up during MSRE operation, such as tritium generation, tellurium cracking, and graphite replacement. The program was subsequently cancelled in January 1973. It 1974, the program was briefly restarted and solutions were pursued to tellurium-cracking and tritium isolation. These were basically solved to the satisfaction of the engineers, but a follow-on the MSRE was not approved by the AEC and the program was terminated again in 1976. The AEC's heavy commitment to LMFBRs ended up being a great failure, with the cancellation of the Clinch River LMFBR and the subsequent end of most LMFBR research programs around the world over the last 30 years. In retrospect, many of the reasons that the LFR was originally terminated would be selling points for the reactor today. 1. Inherent safety. The strong negative temperature coefficient of the fluid fuel, its response to transients, the stability of fission products in the salt, and the ability to drain the core into a passively-cooled configuration have led many to conclude that the liquid-fluoride reactor is probably the safest reactor ever designed. Such issues of passive safety were not of primary concern when the LFR was compared to the LMFBR in the early 1970s. Typical passively-safe nuclear reactor designs usually involve drastic performance reductions to the reactor, such the PIUS concept where the reactor is isolated in a pool of highly borated water. The LFR does not compromise performance for safety since the safety is inherent in the fuel form. 2. High performance. The LFR can operate at the high-temperatures and low pressures needed for high-efficiency electrical production from gas turbines or high-temperature thermochemical hydrogen production. Such high temperatures were almost considered a nuisance when the LFR was coupled to a steam system in the old ORNL designs. 3. Fuel cycle. The neutron economy of the LFR allows it to breed thorium to uranium and essentially run forever. Thorium is plentiful and the resources available would fuel planetary energy production for thousands of years. The DOE recently disposed of a stockpile of 3216 metric tonnes of thorium nitrate that if burned in liquid-fluoride reactors would provide all US energy (electricity and transportation) needs for five years. Fission products can be isolated from the salt and disposed in a geological repository, where their activity would drop below background levels in ~300 years. Actinides would be retained in the core and not end up in the geological repository. The generation of trans-uranic nuclides from the thorium-uranium cycle is essentially zero. 4. Operability and reliability. The LFR can be refueled continuously and easily while online, which would improve the competitiveness of utilities by eliminating refueling shutdowns. The composition of the salt is continuously re-homogenized by pumping the salt through the core. There are no "hot channels" or local burnup in a liquid-fluoride core due to this action, and not need for fuel reshuffling. Fuel can be removed easily by draining the core. The strong negative temperature coefficient allows the reactor to "follow the load" without operator intervention, and to reduce power generation extremely rapidly in response to "loss of load" accidents. 5. Response to accidents or sabotage. A properly-designed LFR can withstand accidents of tremendous magnitude such as a breach of vessel and containment, whether intentional or accidental. If the fuel salt were inadvertently exposed to the outside environment through a combined breach of containment and vessel, the salt would freeze and occlude fission products in the salt as stable fluorides. Gaseous fission products are removed from the salt in normal operation and would not comprise much of the fission product inventory. In the event of complete power loss and no backup power or cooling, the reactor would melt a plug of frozen salt in the bottom of the reactor and drain into a passively-cooled, noncritical configuration. Thus reactor operators could conceivably turn off all power and walk away from a full-power reactor and it would passively "safe" itself without incident.	eng	4078ce5a-a867-407f-ab57-0ca21e52b770	http://energyfromthorium.com/2006/04/
Eric Golub The NFL (National Football League) began playing in the 1920s. In 1960 an upstart league known as the AFL (American Football League) came into existence. A war broke out between the two leagues, and the teams agreed in 1966 to start playing a game at the end of the year between the best team in each league. That game would eventually be known as the Superbowl. The leagues merged in 1970, forming the modern NFL. The NFL teams formed the NFC (National Football Conference), and the AFL formed the AFC (American Football Conference). Below is the history of football in the modern era. 1966–The Green Bay Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Title game 34-27, when the Packers intercepted a pass in the end zone as time ran out. The Kansas City Chiefs were the AFL champions, and they and the Packers met in Super Bowl I. The Packers were heavy favorites, and their Coach Vince Lombardi did not want to lose to what he considered a Mickey Mouse League. Although the Packers only led 14-10 at the half, a key interception broke the game open, and the Packers crushed Kansas City in the second half. 35-10 Packers 1967–The Packers again defeated the Cowboys in the NFL Title Game. The game was known as the Ice Bowl, since the game was played in 13 degrees below zero weather. Down 17-14, on the last play of the game, from the one yard line, the Packers went for the win instead of the tie, partly due to the cold. Bart Starr followed Jerry Kramer's block, and the Packers won 21-17. They played the Raiders in Superbowl II. The game was only 13-7 in the second quarter, but a fumbled punt set up a Green Bay field goal before the half. Like the previous year, the Packers romped in the second half, including Herb Adderly's interception return for a touchdown. It was the 5th Packer championship in 7 years, and their second Superbowl win. Vince Lombardi, who the trophy is now named for, retired after the game. 33-14 Packers 1968–With Lombardi retired, the Packers were done. The Baltimore Colts represented the NFL. The New York Jets, led by Broadway Joe Namath, defeated the Raiders 27-23 in the AFL Title game for the right to play in Superbowl III. The Colts were 18 point favorites, and Joe Namath angered the Colts and his own teammates by saying, "We're going to win. I guarantee it." The world laughed, but on the second play of the game, Colts defensive star Rick Volk went out with an injury. Running back Matt Snell carried 30 times following left tackle Winston Hill. Colts quarterback Earl Morrall was intercepted four times. The Jets led 16-0 in the fourth quarter, when injured legend Johnny Unitas replaced Morrall. It was too little, too late. The Jets had shocked the world. The AFL was no longer an inferior league. 16-7 Jets 1969–The Minnesota Vikings represented the NFL. The Chiefs were the best AFL team. Although the Vikings were favored in Superbowl IV, The Chiefs smothered them. Len Dawson was calm at quarterback, and the Kansas City defense was relentless. Kicker Jan Stenerud added three field goals, as the Chiefs raced to a 16-0 lead and never looked back. The AFL had tied the NFL at two Superbowls apiece. The leagues merged the next year. 23-7 Chiefs 1970–The Cowboys finally got to the Superbowl, representing the NFC. The AFC team was represented by the old NFL team the Colts from two years earlier. Superbowl V was known as the Blunder Bowl, with the teams combining for 11 turnovers. Dallas led 13-6, and were one yard away from a 14 point lead. They fumbled the ball away. Still leading 13-6, an intercepted pass set up the tying touchdown late in the game. Another interception set up Jim Obrien for a 32 yard field goal to win the game. Rookie kicker Obrien had an extra point blocked earlier, but his kick was good, and the Colts had won at the buzzer. This was the only Superbowl where the MVP played for the losing team, that being defensive player Chuck Howley. 16-13 Colts 1971–The Cowboys got back again, and the AFC was represented by the Miami Dolphins. The Cowboys were heavy favorites, and Superbowl VI was the only game where the losing team failed to score a single touchdown. Miami Coach Don Shula was also the coach for the Colts in their shocking loss to the Jets three years earlier. Tom Landry had yet to become a Dallas legend. The game was uneventful, as Dallas coasted. 24-3 Cowboys 1972–Superbowl VII had the Washington Redskins representing the NFC, with the Dolphins again representing the AFC. The Dolphins were unbeaten, and looking to make history. The Dolphins led 14-0 late in the game, when a field goal attempt to lock up the game went awry. The kick was blocked, and kicker Garo Yopremian tried to pick it up and throw it. It was picked out of the air by Mike Bass, who returned it 49 yards for a touchdown for the Redskins. They did get the ball back, but went nowhere. This was the first Superbowl where the offense for the losing team did not score at all. The Miami Dolphins remain the only team in the history of the NFL to get through a season unbeaten, finishing 17-0. Every year when the last team to lose a game does so, members of the 1972 Dolphins pop champagne corks. 14-7 Dolphins 1973–Superbowl VIII featured the defending Superbowl champion Dolphins against the NFC champion Vikings. The game was a blowout, as the Dolphins ran 20 first quarter plays to only three for Minnesota. Miami led 14-0 at that point, and due to the running of Mercury Morris, Larry Csonka, and Jim Kiick, Miami only threw the ball seven times. Miami won back to back titles, and the Vikings became the first team to lose two of them. 24-7 Dolphins 1974–Superbowl IX had the Minnesota Vikings in their 3rd Superbowl. The Dolphins were finally knocked out in an epic game with the Raiders 28-26 in the "Sea of Hands" game. For three straight years, the AFC Title game between the Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers was more epic than the Superbowl. In 1972, the Steelers defeated the Raiders in the "Immaculate Reception" game. In 1973 the Raiders throttled the Steelers. Both teams lost to the Dolphins. This year they were the big dogs. In Oakland, after 3 quarters, the Raiders led 10-3. They collapsed in the 4th quarter, as Pittsburgh exploded for 21 points and a 24-13 win. The Superbowl had the Purple People Eaters vs the Steel Curtain. It was all defense. The first half features only a safety and a 2-0 Steelers lead. A fumbled kickoff return to start the second half produced a Pittsburgh touchdown run by Franco Harris. Minnesota's only touchdown came on a blocked punt. The extra point was no good. Pittsburgh led 9-6. Terry Bradshaw led the Steelers on the only real drive for either team of the entire game. 70 yards and much clock led to the final touchdown and Pittsburgh's first title. The Vikings had lost their 3rd. 16-6 Steelers 1975–The Cowboys defeated the Vikings 17-14 in a very controversial NFC Title game. The AFC Title Game again featured the Raiders and Steelers. In ice cold Pittsburgh, the Steelers led 3-0 after 3 quarters. The offenses did get going, but the Raiders had their final drive end at the 5 yard line as the clock ran out. Pittsburgh prevailed 16-10. Superbowl X had the Cowboys leading 10-7 after 3 quarters. Early in the 4th, a blocked punt for a safety cut the gap to 10-9. Momentum swung, and Pittsburgh led 21-10 with time running out. Roger Staubach led the Cowboys to within 4 points, but his Hail Mary on the final play of the game was intercepted in the end zone. 21-17 Steelers 1976–The Vikings reached their 4th Superbowl. For the third straight year, the Raiders and Steelers met in the AFC Title game. The Raiders had the best record in the NFL at 13-1. The last week of the season, with home field advantage locked up, they could have lost their final game, rested their team, and eliminated Pittsburgh from playoff contention. By winning, Pittsburgh would be in. Many speculated the Raiders would lose to avoid Pittsburgh. This enraged the team, who throttled their final opponent, and demanded to face Pittsburgh. Oakland defeated New England 24-21, with 10 seconds remaining, to avenge their only loss of the season. They then finally beat Pittsburgh, destroying them 24-7. Superbowl XI was not close, with the image of cornerback Willie Brown returning an interception 75 yards for Oakland's final touchdown. Minnesota lost their fourth Superbowl, and Oakland won their first. Owner Al Davis and coach John Madden finally reached the top. 32-14 Raiders 1977–The Raiders got back to the AFC Title Game for the 5th straight year, the only team to ever do so. They faced their archrival Denver Broncos, and the Broncos came out on top 20-17. The Cowboys represented the NFC in Superbowl XII. Bronco quarterback Craig Morton was the losing quarterback for Dallas in the 5th Superbowl. Roger Staubach led Dallas in their win the year later. Staubach won again, as Dallas cruised. It was their 4th Superbowl, and they had won and lost twice. 27-10 Cowboys 1978–Superbowl XIII had the Steelers back after a two year absence, against defending champion Dallas. This was the rematch of the Superbowl 3 years earlier. Pittsburgh led 21-14 when a short pass to a wide open Jackie Smith was dropped when he slipped and fell. Instead of the tying touchdown, a field goal cut the gap to 21-17, which was the score of their previous encounter. A pair of touchdowns 18 seconds apart put Pittsburgh up 35-17, and they hung on for a 4 point win for their 3rd Superbowl win. Dallas lost their 3rd Superbowl. Terry Bradshaw throwing bombs to Lynn Swann led to 4 catches for 164 yards. 35-31 Steelers. 1979–In the AFC Title game, Pittsburgh played the Houston Oilers for the second straight year. The previous year Pittsburgh won in a blowout, but this year it was a closer game. Houston thought they scored the tying touchdown, but it was ruled out of bounds. Pittsburgh won 27-13. The Los Angeles Rams, only 9-7 in the regular season, had won their division for the 7th straight year. In previous years they dominated, but could not get past Minnesota and Dallas. Superbowl XIV was supposed to be a Pittsburgh blowout, but the Rams led 19-17 after 3 quarters. Nevertheless, the Steelers took the lead, and sealed the game when Pat Haden was intercepted. The Steelers had their 4th Superbowl win in 6 years. 31-19 Steelers 1980–The AFC had all 5 playoff teams exactly at 11-5. The Oakland Raiders beat the Houston Oilers indoors, the Cleveland Browns 14-12 in the snow, and the San Diego Chargers in the rain, which slowed down the passing attack of "Air" Coryell and quarterback Dan Fouts. The Raiders were led by Jim Plunkett, who only a couple years ago was thought to be washed up. The owners of Oakland and San Diego hated each other, and Charger owner Gene Klein blamed Raider owner Al Davis for the rain, insisting that Davis hired a cropduster to seed the clouds. Davis has never denied this ludicrous assertion, because it burnishes his outlaw image. The NFC had 3 teams at 12-4, and the Cowboys defeated the Atlanta Falcons before falling to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles defeated the Raiders 10-7 in the regular season, but Superbowl XV was revenge. Rod Martin had 3 interceptions, and Jim Plunkett showed his talent. A swing pass to Kenny King went for 80 yards and a touchdown, and the special teams blocked a field goal. The Raiders won their second Superbowl, and coach Tom Flores, who had replaced the retired Madden a year earlier, reached the top. From a cultural standpoint, it was the first win with a Mexican head coach and quarterback. 27-10 Raiders 1981–The NFC Title game was an epic battle between the Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers, led by coach Bill Walsh and quarterback Joe Montana. In the final minute, Montana's touchdown pass to Dwight Clark would forever be known as "The Catch." The 49ers won 28-27 despite 6 turnovers. They played the Cincinnati Bengals in Superbowl XVI. The 49ers led 20-0 at the half. The Bengals cut the gap to 20-7 and then drove to the 49er one yard line. The 49ers then mounted an inspired goal line stand, with 4 plays gaining nothing. The Bengals did eventually cut the gap to 20-14, but a couple field goals by the 49ers put the game out of reach. The Bengals scored again with 17 seconds left, but could not recover the onsides kick. 26-21 Bengals 1982–A strike shortened season had the Cowboys reaching the NFC Title game for the 3rd straight year, with Danny White leading the team all three times. He was the team leader when Staubach retired. This year they played their hated rivals, the Redskins. For the 3rd straight year, the Cowboys lost. The Redskins faced the Miami Dolphins in Superbowl XVII in a rematch of the Superbowl 10 years earlier. With the Redskins trailing 17-13, Joe Theisman had his pass tipped, with a certain interception to put the Dolphins up by 11. At the last second, Theismann knocked the ball from the Miami "Killer Bs" defense for an incompletion. This kept the game within reach, and the Redskins took a 20-17 lead. Facing a 4th and 1 at the Miami 44, "The Diesel" John Riggins burst through and rumbled all the way for a touchdown to ice the game. It was the first Superbowl win for the Redskins, and the second loss for the Dolphins to even out their two wins. 27-17 Redskins 1983–The Redskins returned, and faced the Raiders, who were now located in Los Angeles. Earlier in the year, the Redskins defeated the Raiders 37-35 in a game for the ages. That game had a 99 yard touchdown pass from Plunkett to Cliff Branch, and a 97 yard punt return for a touchdown by Greg Pruitt. The Redskins led 20-7, and then the Raiders exploded for four touchdowns and a 35-20 lead. The Redskins then came back with a touchdown, a perfectly executed onsides kick, a field goal, and a final touchdown by Theismann to Joe Washington with 20 seconds remaining for the win. Only a missed field goal and a missed extra point during the season separated the Redskins from a 16-0 season. Superbowl XVIII was not close. Marcus Allen rushed for 191 yards, Plunkett threw a pair of touchdowns, and the Raiders scored on a blocked punt by Derrick Jensen, and an interception for a touchdown by Jack Squirek. The Redskins only touchdown was followed by the extra point being blocked. To quote Joe Theismann, "They handed us our @ss on the tray, and the tray was bent." The Raiders won their 3rd Superbowl in 8 years, and the Redskins lost their second one. 38-9 Raiders. 1984–Dan Marino Shredded the NFL for 5084 yards in leading the Dolphins to a 14-2 record and the team's second appearance in 3 years. Joe Montana led the 49ers to a 15-1 record and their second appearance. The Dolphins led Superbowl XIX 10-7 early on, but the 49ers took the game over. They led 28-10 when the Dolphins kicked a field goal before the half, recovered a fumble on the kickoff, and added another field goal before halftime. The second half was uneventful, as the 49ers shut down the Dolphins and extended their lead. San Francisco won their second Superbowl, and Miami lost their third Superbowl in 5 appearances. 38-16 49ers 1985–The Chicago Bears did their Super Bowl Shuffle, and their defense, led by Mike Singletary and Richard Dent, destroyed the league. Fiery coach Mike Ditka, with intense defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, were unrelenting. Maverick quarterback Jim McMahon led the offense, with legendary running back Walter Payton leading the running game. William "The Refrigerator" Perry provided the entertainment. The New England Patriots won three road games, starting out by beating the Jets. They then shocked the Raiders and the Dolphins, who were both considered superior. The Dolphins were the only team to beat the 15-1 Bears that year. Perhaps neither the Raiders or Dolphins would have won the Superbowl that year, but they would not have been intimidated. The Patriots opened and closed the scoring in Superbowl XX, but the Bears had an avalanche of points inbetween. 46-10 Bears 1986–The New York Giants won an NFL Championship in 1956, and in 1958 lost "the greatest game ever played," to the Colts. This was their first Superbowl. They played the Broncos, led by John Elway. The Broncos led Superbowl XXI 10-7, but a safety cut the gap to 10-9. Denver kicker Rich Karlis missed field goals of 23 and 34 yards, deflating the team. The Giants defense poured it on in the second half, led by Harry Carson, George Martin, and Lawrence Taylor. Phil Simms had a Superbowl record for accuracy, completing 22 of 25 passes. Head coach Bill Parcells became the victim of a new ritual that season that is now cliche. Harry Carson was guy behind the idea of dumping the Gatorade bucket on the coach's head. It was a way of getting back at the often irascible Parcells. During the Superbowl, he nervously looked around for the bucket, but was ambushed anyway. This was also the first year that the MVP, in this case Simms, announced that he was going to Disneyland. 39-20 Giants 1987–In another strike season, the Redskins prevailed in the NFC, while the Broncos returned for the second straight year. Denver's first play from scrimmage was a touchdown bomb, and at the end of the first quarter, the Broncos led 10-0. A blowout was shaping up in Superbowl XXII. It was a blowout, but not for Denver. Washington had the best quarter in Superbowl history, scoring 5 touchdowns, including 4 touchdown passes by Doug Williams. He was the first black quarterback to play in the Superbowl, and he flourished. Unheralded running back Timmy Smith, who only lasted 3 years in the league, rushed for 204 yards, a current record. A 10-0 deficit became a 35-10 Redskins lead at the half. The second half was uneventful, as Denver lost for the 3rd time, and Washington won their second Superbowl in 4 appearances. 42-10 Redskins 1988–After 11 games, the 49ers were only 6-5, having just taken a beating to the Raiders. Montana was sacked 8 times in the 9-3 loss. The 49ers regrouped, finished 10-6, reached the NFC Title Game, and shocked the heavily favored Bears 28-3. They faced the Bengals, who defeated the Bills in the AFC Title Game. This was a rematch of the Superbowl 7 years earlier. Superbowl XXIII had different leader, with Sam Wyche instead of Forrest Gregg as coach, and Boomer Anderson at quarterback instead of Ken Anderson. The 49ers still had Walsh and Montana. They also now had a receiver that would become a legend, Jerry Rice. The game was 3-3 at the half, and with 3 minutes left, the Bengals led 16-13. The 49ers were 92 yards away, and Joe Montana earned his icy cool reputation by relaxing his teammates. With all the pressure on him, he said to his team, "Hey, is that John Candy in the stands? Cool." The team relaxed, and Montana threw a touchdown pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds left to win the game. Bill Walsh retired after the game, and the 49ers had their 3rd Superbowl win. The Bengals had lost their second one. Montana's legacy was not done. 20-16 49ers 1989–The 49ers returned for their 4th appearance in 9 years, this time with a dominating 14-2 record. The Broncos returned for their 3rd appearance in 4 years. All 3 times they defeated the Cleveland Browns in the AFC Title Game. In 1986, John Elway led "the drive," going 98 yards in the final minutes to tie the game and win in overtime 23-20. In 1987 they won 38-33 in the game know as "the fumble," when Ernest Byner coughed it up near the goal line when it appeared he was about to tie the game. In 1989 the game was a blowout, with Denver downing Cleveland 37-21. Yet Denver was mauled in Superbowls, each time by a larger margin, losing by 17, 19, and 32 points. Superbowl XXIV was worse, the biggest blowout in history. A 45 point shellacking earned the 49ers their 4th Superbowl win, and the Broncos their 4th loss. 55-10 49ers 1990–The 49ers had the repeat, and were going for the "3-peat," but fell short. They were 14-2, including a thrilling 7-3 defensive win over the Giants. Both of those teams started 10-0, and they met again in the NFC Title Game. It was another defensive thriller, and the Giants kicked five field goals. The fourth one cut their deficit to 13-12, but in trying to run out the clock, Roger Craig fumbled. The Giants recovered, and Matt Bahr's 5th kick on the final play gave the Giants the 15-13 win and the trip to Superbowl XXV. The Giants were 13-3, with one of their other losses being to the Buffalo Bills. The Bills only won 17-13, but they had one of the greatest offenses of all time. The Giants held the ball for over 40 minutes to keep Buffalo off of the field. A safety by Buffalo seemed to be the difference, since their final drive had them down by one point instead of three. Jeff Hostetler had taken over when Simms was injured, and had played smartly. Yet he could only watch as Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas threw and ran the ball within field goal range. A 47 yard attempt by Scott Norwood on the final play had the world watching. The kick was wide right. The Giants had their second Superbowl win. Bill Parcells retired for the first of many times after the game. 20-19 Giants 1991–Superbowl XXVI Had the Bills and Redskins both getting back. The Redskins were 14-2, losing one game on a Hail Mary and another game on the last play in the final game when they had rested their starters anyway. So again they flirted with 16-0. After a scoreless first quarter, the Redskins proceeded to dominate, leading 17-0 at the half, and cruising to a 37-10 lead. Buffalo scored late to make the score close, and quarterback Mark Rypien was the MVP. The Redskins won their 3rd Superbowl in 10 years, and what made it more amazing was that coach Joe Gibbs did it with three different quarterbacks. 37-24 Redskins 1992–In the 70s it was the Raiders and Steelers. In the 1990s it was the Cowboys and 49ers. The AFC was an afterthought, with the Bills reaching the game for the third straight year. In the NFC Title game, after a 10-10 tie at the half, Dallas took over, and beat San Francisco 30-20. This was revenge for "The Catch" in the 1981 season, although that could have been revenge for Dallas defeating San Francisco in consecutive seasons in the early 1970s. Superbowl XXVII was a blowout, as Buffalo turned the ball over 9 times after taking an early 7-0 lead. down 14-7, an interception in the end zone prevented a tie. Dallas won by 35 points, and would have scored a record for points had Leon Lett not showboated and fumbled near the goal line. Jimmy Johnson yelled, "How 'bout them Cowboys!" The Gatorade bucket gained a new wrinkle when the players messed up his perfect hair, and owner Jerry Jones showed up on the sidelines with a comb to fix it. 52-17 Cowboys 1993–Superbowl XVIII was a rematch of the year before. The Bills reached the Superbowl for the fourth straight year. The Cowboys and 49ers met again in the NFC Title Game, which was an easy 38-21 Dallas win. Buffalo actually led 13-6 at the half, but on the second play of the second half, Thurman Thomas was hit and fumbled. The ball was returned for a touchdown to tie the game, and Dallas never looked back. They only led 20-13 after three, but put the game away in the fourth quarter. Troy Aikman and MVP Emmitt Smith brought Dallas its 4th Super Bowl win, and gave Buffalo their 4th loss. No other team has ever lost 4 straight. Despite the back to back titles, a feud between Jerry Jones and coach Jimmy Johnson led to Jones firing Johnson and replacing him with his friend Barry Switzer. 30-13 Cowboys 1994–Superbowl XXIX was considered over before it began. For the third straight year, the Cowboys and 49ers battled in the NFC, and this time the 49ers triumphed 38-21. The AFC had an overachieving San Diego Chargers team in their first Superbowl. Head coach Bobby Ross worked miracles, and quarterback Stan Humphries was tough. They defeated superior opponents in Miami and Pittsburgh, and seemed happy to just be in their first Superbowl. Steve Young, desperate to escape the legacy of Joe Montana, threw 6 touchdown passes and zero interceptions, and had the highest quarterback rating ever for a Superbowl. As expected, it was a blowout, and Coach George Siefert escaped the shadow of his predecessor Bill Wash, since the win 5 years ago was considered Walsh's team. The 49ers became the first team to win 5 Superbowls, with zero losses. 49-26 49ers 1995–The Cowboys and 49ers were expected to meet for the 4th straight year in the NFC Title Game, but a Green Bay Packers team led by Coach Mike Holmgren, aka "The Walrus," and a young maverick quarterback named Brett Favre, upset the matchup. Favre was the league MVP, and Green Bay shocked the 49ers in the playoffs. In the NFC Title Game, they led Dallas after 3 quarters as well, before Dallas took over. In the AFC, The Steelers survived a Hail Mary attempt on the final play to survive against the Colts, to go to the game they felt they should have been in a year earlier. For the third time, Dallas and Pittsburgh met. Dallas was the better team in Superbowl XXX, but the Steelers kept hanging around. Dallas led 13-0 and 20-7, but Pittsburgh closed to within 20-17. The key play was when Neil Odonnell threw his second interception to Larry Brown, whose gift in his breadbasket led to the 10 point finale. Dallas had their 5th Superbowl title in 8 appearances, and 3rd in 4 years, and Pittsburgh had their first loss in 5 trips. Jerry Jones and Barry Switzer won without Jimmy Johnson. 27-17 Cowboys 1996–Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers got back to the Superbowl for the first time in 29 years, and the New England Patriots reached the game for the first time in 11 years. Again, they benefitted from better teams being knocked out. The first quarter was the highest scoring in history, with New England leading 14-10. Yet by halftime, the Packers led 27-14. After the Patriots closed to 27-21, Superbowl XXXI MVP Desmond Howard returned the kickoff 99 yards for the final points of the game. Bill Parcells took his second team to the Superbowl, but did not prevail. 35-21 Packers 1997–Superbowl XXXII had the Packers getting back with relative ease. The AFC featured the Broncos. The previous year the Broncos were favored in the AFC, and were shocked in the playoffs. The players even cried afterwards, saying they let John Elway down. He had three Superbowl losses, but this time the Broncos had running back Terrell Davis. The game was tied 24-24 in the 4th quarter when Elway made a leaping run for a first down. He spun like a pinwheel in the air, but made the yardage. The Broncos took the lead, and Brett Favre's final drive stalled around midfield. Bronco Owner Pat Bowlen held the trophy and exclaimed "This one's for John!" The Packers lost their first Superbowl, and the Broncos finally won one. 31-24 Broncos 1998–The Minnesota Vikings smashed the league and coasted to a 15-1 record with rookie receiver Randy Moss. They were practically a lock to finally win the big one when they collapsed in the NFC Title game. The Atlanta Falcons trailed 20-7, but fought back. With time running out, Minnesota still led 27-20, with Gary Anderson attempting a 40 yard field goal to lock up the game. He had not missed a kick all year, going 40 for 40, an NFL record. He missed this one, stunning the crowd. Yet The Vikings still led. Atlanta tied the game, and even though Minnesota got the ball first in overtime, it was Morton Anderson that kicked the winning field goal. Coach Dan Reeves was taking his second team to the Superbowl with a 30-27 overtime shocker. It was the first trip for the Falcons. In the AFC, The Broncos cruised during the regular season, but faced a tough Jets team led by Bill Parcells in the AFC Title game. He was trying to take a 3rd team to the Superbowl. The Jets blocked a punt and led 10-0 in the 3rd quarter, but the Jets could not overcome 6 turnovers, as the Broncos won 23-10. Superbowl XXXIII was not close, as the Broncos coasted to their second straight win. Broncos Coach Mike Shanahan took delight in beating the man who fired him in Denver, Reeves. John Elway retired after the game. 34-19 Broncos 1999–The St. Louis Rams had been a terrible team for a decade, but when Trent Green went down in the preseason with a knee injury, former supermarket checkout clerk Kurt Warner became a legend. For the next 3 years, the Rams offense was the "Greatest Show on Turf." The Rams had relocated from Los Angeles several years earlier. Dick Vermeil had returned to the Superbowl after a 19 year absence, retiring form the Eagles in 1982, citing burnout, only to return to the league with the Rams in 1997. Marshal Faulk was the star running back, and offensive coordinator Mike Martz was a mad scientist calling plays. The Rams struggled in the NFC Title Game, but a late touchdown defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11-6. 20 years earlier they had defeated the Bucs in the NFC Title Game 9-0. The Tennessee Titans, led by Buddy Ryan disciple Jeff Fisher, represented the AFC. The Titans were the former Houston Oilers. The Rams led 16-0, but the Titans fought back. tying the game at 16-16 with 2 minutes left. One play later, Super Bowl XXXIV MVP Kurt Warner threw a 73 yard touchdown bomb for the go ahead touchdown. He passed for 414 yards on the day. Steve McNair led the Titans back to within striking distance with 5 seconds left. His pass to Kevin Dyson fell one yard short when Mike Jones made "The tackle." Vermeil retired after the game. The Rams avenged a 24-21 regular season loss to the Titans in a thriller. 23-16 Rams 2000–The Minnesota Vikings were again cruising towards a Superbowl when they collapsed at the end of the season. They did make it to the NFC Title Game, but were throttled by the Giants 41-0. The Giants were 7-4, and reeling from back to back home losses, when Coach Jim Fassell made a bold prediction. He was considered laid back, but he told the press that "this team is going to the playoffs." The AFC featured a shocking Baltimore Ravens team with one of the greatest defenses in history. Cocky coach Brian Billick, defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis, and fearsome defensive standout Ray Lewis backed up the talk. They knocked out Tennessee's Steve McNair from the divisional game en route to defeating the favored Titans. They then knocked out Rich Gannon from the AFC Title Game, eliminating the Raiders. The Ravens had almost no offense, going 5 straight games during the season without a touchdown, winning two of them. Trent Dilfer was considered a stiff by many at quarterback. Dilfer did throw an interception to Jason Sehorn for a touchdown, but it was called back by a penalty. The Ravens led 10-0 at the half. An interception return put the Ravens up 17-0, followed by a kickoff return for a touchdown by the Giants. The Ravens then took the next kickoff for a touchdown. Three touchdowns in less than a minute had the Ravens up 24-7. Superbowl XXXV was a blowout, and the Giants had lost their first Superbowl. The Ravens were the former Cleveland Browns, and Art Modell ignored the death threats, moved his team, and had his first trophy. Due to controversy surrounding Ray Lewis, Trent Dilfer got the Disneyland commercial. It did not matter, as Dilfer became the first winning Superbowl quarterback to be traded before the next season. 34-7 Ravens 2001–The Rams returned for the second time in three years, coasting to a 14-2 record. They were facing a Patriots team that had started the season with Drew Bledsoe and finished with Tom Brady. The Patriots had defeated the Oakland Raiders in overtime in a blizzard in a controversial game that would forever be known as the "Tuck Rule" game. The Rams were led by Mike Martz, and the Patriots were led by Bill Bellichick, who was determined to escape the shadow of his mentor Bill Parcells. The Rams had defeated the Patriots 24-17 in Foxboro during the regular season in a game that was not that close. Yet Superbowl XXXVI featured a Rams team that perhaps was overconfident. They were leading 3-0 when Ty Law returned an interception for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead. The Patriots led 17-3 in the fourth quarter, when the Rams finally woke up. With under 2 minutes left, the Rams had tied the game 17-17. The Patriots defense was out of gas, but Tom Brady had 90 seconds to work with. He had only 75 yards passing up to that point, but on the last play of the game, a 48 yard field goal attempt by Adam Vinatieri was dead center. Perhaps the biggest upset since the Jets in the third Superbowl had taken place. 20-17 Patriots 2002–The Raiders, who had relocated back to Oakland several years earlier, were seeking to avenge their disputed playoff heartache of a year earlier. They had difficult playoff wins over the Jets and Titans. The Raiders started 4-0, fell to 4-4, and then finished 11-5. Rookie head coach Bill Callahan led the team, replacing John Gruden, who left to coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Speaking of the Buccaneers, the entire 2002 NFC was full of shockers. The 12-4 Packers had never lost a playoff game at home, but were stunned by the Atlanta Falcons, led by young sensation Michael Vick. The Buccaneers played the NFC Title game against the heavily favored Eagles, who had beaten them six straight times. The Eagles led 7-0 one minute into the game, but this time the Bucs shocked the Eagles. Ronde Barber's 92 yard interception returned sealed the 27-10 win, and sent John Gruden to face his old team. The Raiders intercepted a pass on the 3rd play of the game, setting up a field goal and a 3-0 lead. The Bucs then crushed them, with a 34-3 lead. The Raiders did fight back, with a blocked punt for a touchdown, and were within 34-21 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. However, NFL MVP Rich Gannon was intercepted for a touchdown. On the very last play of the game, another interception was returned for a touchdown. The Bucs intercepted 5 passes, returning 3 for scores. Jon Gruden exclaimed, "How bout those Tampa Bay Buccaneers!" The team that started 0-26 and wore orange pants were now pewter wearing champions. They won the battle of pirates. "Chucky," the nickname for Gruden based on his scowls, knew the entire Raider playbook in advance. As John Lynch said, "we saw these plays in practice." Lynch, Derrick Brooks, and Warren Sapp delivered the Superbowl XXXVII win. 48-21 Buccaneers 2003–The Patriots finished 14-2, and faced the 15-1 Pittsburgh Steelers, who were led by Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben was 14-0 as a starter. The Steelers had crushed the Patriots during the regular season, but the Patriots had injuries at the time. The Patriots were favored in the rematch, and they won handily 41-27 in the AFC Title Game. In the NFC, the Eagles were in their 3rd straight NFC Title Game, determined to avenge their shocker from the previous year. They were at home against the Carolina Panthers, a team that entered the league in 1995, and reached the NFC Title Game in 1996. The Panthers injured Philly quarterback Donovan McNabb in the game, although he played. Carolina won 14-3, and Philly had lost again. Superbowl XXXVIII was a thriller. The first quarter was scoreless, the Patriots led 14-10 at the half, and the third quarter was scoreless. The 4th quarter was an aerial show. Tom Brady and Jake Delhomme rained bombs, and Delhomme tied the game at 29-29 with little time left. They would have been ahead by three, but they failed on three two point conversion attempts. Coach Jon Fox regretted calling them afterwards. The kickoff after the tying touchdown went out of bounds, allowing the Patriots to start at their own 40 yard line. Again, for the second time in 3 years, Adam Vinatieri nailed a 48 yard line on the final play of the game. 32-29 Patriots 2004–Superbowl XXXIX again brought the Patriots back to the big dance. In the NFC, in their 4th straight NFC Title game, and 3rd one at home, the Eagles and head coach Andy Reid had finally made it over the top, defeating Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons. The game was tied 7-7 and 14-14, but the Patriots had a 24-14 lead late in the game. McNabb launched a furious rally, cutting the gap to 3 points. The Eagles did get the ball back, but ran out of time well short of field goal range. For the 3rd time in four years, the Patriots had won the Superbowl, each time by 3 points. 24-21 Patriots 2005–The Indianapolis Colts, led by calm coach Tony Dungy and megastar quarterback Peyton Manning, had been torching the league on offense for several years. They just could not beat the Patriots, who had eliminated them in several straight games, often by one play. A missed field goal or a fumble at the goal line or a goal line stand would vex them. This year the Colts started 13-0, and were on their way. The Patriots had been eliminated, but the Colts were stunned at home by the Steelers. The Steelers jumped to a 21-3 lead. the Colts closed to 21-18, when Jerome Bettis, aka "The Bus," was rumbling near the goal line for the final touchdown. He was hit, and fumbled. The Colts picked up the ball and were racing down the field for what appeared to be a miracle touchdown of their own. Ben Roethlisberger made the touchdown saving tackle at midfield. On the final play, Mike Vanderjagt missed the tying field goal. He simply choked, saving Bettis from becoming the goat. The game was also perspective for Dungy, who tragically lost his son a few months earlier. The football world felt bad for him. The Steelers played in Superbowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks, who were in their first one. They were led by Mike Holmgren, trying to win with his second team. The game itself had several controversial calls, and with the Steelers leading 14-10, Willie Parker ran for a 75 yard touchdown to ice the game. Coach Bill Cowher, after 15 seasons, finally had his ring. The Steelers had their 5th in six tries. Cowher would retire a year later. 21-10 Steelers 2006–The Indianapolis Colts finally got rid of the demons, throttling the Patriots in the regular season, and defeating them in one of the greatest AFC Title Games in history. From Raiders and Steelers to Cowboys and 49ers, the league was now Colts vs Patriots. The Chargers were 14-2 that year, but like previous Marty Schottenheimer coached teams, they melted down in the playoffs against the Patriots. An interception for a touchdown had the Patriots up 21-3 against the Colts, and it looked like the Colts were collapsing again. Manning throwing the ball was not getting it done, but Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes on the ground were chewing up yardage. Time consuming drives wore down the New England defense. The game was tied at 21-21, 28-28, and 31-31. The Patriots took the lead 34-31, but this time Peyton Manning finally lived up to his legacy. Keeping the ball on the ground, Addai ran it in for a touchdown with exactly one minute left. Tom Brady led the final drive, as Manning watched. Brady had won all their playoff games. Not this time. He was intercepted, and the Colts won 38-34. They played the Bears in Superbowl XLI. The NFC was awful that year, and any of the top four AFC Teams would have been favored. Bears quarterback Rex Grossman was the most criticized at his position since Dilfer. The Bears did have the most electrifying return man in the history of the game in Devon Hester. Not since Billy "White Shoes" Johnson had a return man been so celebrated. He returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and the Bears led 7-0 seconds into the game. Yet Dungy and Manning stayed patient, and led 22-17 in the fourth quarter. Rex Grossman had critical interceptions in the fourth quarter, with the last one being returned for a touchdown to ice the game. It was played in the rain in Miami, but mud did not stain the fact that Dungy and Manning had their ring. From a cultural standpoint, Dungy and Bears Coach Lovie Smith gave us the first Superbowl with two black head coaches. The men embraced after the game. 29-17 Colts 2007–The preordained AFC Title Game was again supposed to be the Patriots and Colts. The Patriots felt they had the upper hand by obtaining Randy Moss to go with an already potent offense. In the regular season, the Colts led 20-10, but the Patriots fought back and won the game 24-20. In the playoffs, the Colts were shocked by the San Diego Chargers. Led by Norvelous Norv Turner and backup quarterback Billy Volek, the Chargers stunned the Colts 28-24. The Chargers then lost to the Patriots. The NFC featured even bigger shocks, as the New York Giants, led by no nonsense coach Tom Coughlin and Peyton's brother Eli Manning, stunned superior opponents. First the Giants defeated the 13-3 Cowboys 21-17, intercepting Tony Romo with seconds left. Then they defeated the Green Bay Packers in overtime, 23-20. Brett Favre and the Packers were also 13-3, and Favre was favored to get back to the Superbowl for the first time in over a decade, perhaps going out on top the way John Elway did. Yet it was much maligned Eli Manning and the Giants that made Superbowl XLII. It was also sweet for defensive star Michael Strahan, who contemplated retirement before the season. Yet these teams played in the final regular season game in New York. Manning played well, but the Patriots won a thriller 38-35. The Giants finished 10-6. More shockingly, the Patriots finished 16-0. Owner Bob Kraft, personnel guru Scott Pioli, coach Bellichick, Brady, and Moss, looked to make history. The 1972 Dolphins nervously held their champagne bottles, knowing that their status as the only undefeated team in history was tenuous. That Dolphin team was 17-0. The Patriots, thanks to a schedule lengthened in 1978, were shooting for 19-0. The Giants were looking to shock the world. A game expected to be an offensive shootout was a defensive slugfest. If anybody knew David Tyree before this game, they did not tell me about him. He was the Giants fourth receiver. Yet he entered the record books when Manning found him over the middle for a five yard touchdown pass. The Giants led 10-7 with 11 minutes remaining in the game. New England's dynasty was now teetering. Yet despite the fact that Brady was getting hit on every play, he showed his championship toughness that champions exhibit when it matters most. He led the Patriots 89 yards, eating up over 8 minutes of clock. On 3rd down and goal, the Giants needed one more stop to force the tying field goal. They had stopped the Patriots the entire game. They could not stop them this time. Neither could the rest of the league. A touchdown pass to Randy Moss, who had been held in check the entire game, put the Patriots up 14-10 with 2:42 remaining. The Giants started at their own 17 yard line. They had all three timeouts plus the two minute warning. At the two minute warning, the Giants faced third and 10 at their own 28. Manning completed the pass to Amani Toomer, but Toomer had to come back for the short throw, leaving him less than a yard short. On 4th and 1, with everything on the line, the Giants were granted a measurement, allowing the clock to temporarily stop. This allowed the Giants to get up to the line. They could have punted, given that they had all three timeouts, but going for it was the right call with 1:40 remaining. Battering ram Brandon Jacobs picked up the first down, and the Giants called their first timeout with 1:28 left. They were still at their own 38 yard line. The next play had Eli get caught after a five yard scramble, forcing the Giants to burn their second timeout with 1:20 left. Manning was almost intercepted on the next play, but the ball was just high enough. It bounced off the outstretched fingertips of Asanti Samuels. On 3rd and 5, a play occurred that will be in NFL history forever. One of the craziest plays I have ever seen occurred, and I saw it live. I still could not believe what I witnessed. Eli Manning stepped back to pass, and was caught in the pocket for what appeared to be a certain sack. There were two or three Patriots with a shot, and one had him by the Jersey. He spun out, and heaved the ball before being hit. This was only half the miracle play that should forever be known as "The Scramble." His Fran Tarkenton impersonation was fabulous, but the reception was even more spectacular. David Tyree, with Rodney Harrison defending him perfectly, caught the ball against his helmet one handed. Harrison tried to pry it loose, but somehow Tyree kept the ball lodged between his hand and his helmet. Going to the ground, the ball never touched the ground or came loose. That catch could not be made in the circus. David Tyree made it as Harrison and the rest of the world remained stunned. One minute remained, and the Giants were at the New England 25. Manning lobbed an end zone pass to Plaxico Burress. Burress had been silent the entire game, but he faked out Ellis Hobbs, who had intercepted Manning earlier. The 14 yard touchdown pass put the Giants up with only 35 seconds remaining. History had been smashed, obliterated, and poured upside down. 17-14 Giants 2008–This was one of the least sensible seasons in NFL history. Records, seedings, and momentum meant nothing. The Colts and Patriots were again expected to be the two best teams, but the entire league was turned upside down when Tom Brady went down for the season in Week 1 with a knee injury. Matt Cassel took over, and the Patriots went 11-5, becoming only the second team to miss the playoffs with that good a record. The Colts began 3-4, won 9 straight, and at 12-4 lost their wild card game to the 8-8 Chargers. The top 3 seeds in the NFC, the 12-4 Giants, 11-5 Panthers, and 10-6 Vikings all lost. The top AFC seed, the 13-3 Titans, were led by Kerry Collins, who took over in Week 1 from an injured Vince Young and never looked back. 3 teams reached the playoffs with rookie head coaches, with the Falcons and Ravens also possessing rookie quarterbacks as well. The 1-15 Dolphins of 2007 became the 11-5 Dolphins of 2008, with Bill Parcells in the front office. Nobody went 16-0, but the Lions became the first team to go 0-16. The AFC Title game saw a brutal defensive bonelock between the # 2 seed Pittsburgh Steelers and their archnemesis Ravens, who had knocked off Tennessee in a head-crusher 13-10 The Steelers led 16-14 late when Troy Palomalu ran an interception back 40 yards to ice the game. The NFC Title Game featured a pair of teams that each won only 9 games. The 9-7 Cardinals finished 2-4 down the stretch before shocking the Falcons at home and the Panthers on the road. The Eagles were 5-5-1 before winning down the stretch and going 9-6-1. They beat the Vikings and then stunned the Giants, both on the road. In the NFC Title Game, the Cardinals led 24-6, the Eagles came back to lead 25-24, and the Cardinals finished the scoring for a gritty 32-25 win. The Cardinals had Matt Leinart, who stayed on the bench as Kurt Warner turned back time. He had the Greatest Show in the Desert, and Coach Ken Whisenhunt was passed over for the Pittsburgh job in favor of the current coach Mike Tomlin. The Cardinals made their first Super Bowl appearance, and the Steelers wanted to be the first team to win six rings. The game itself was a thriller. On the last play of the half, with the Cardinals going in for a touchdown, Warner had a pass intercepted and returned 100 yards for a touchdown. Late in the game Warner rallied the cardinals, and a slant pass to Larry Fitzgerald went for a 64 yard touchdown. Fitzgerald looked at himself on the jumbotron as the Cardinals had the lead 23-20 with under 3 minutes to play. Big Ben Roethlisberger rallied the Steelers. With about a minute to go, Roethlisberger fired to the corner to the end zone. Santonio Holmes made a ridiculous ballet catch where he somehow got both of his feet down in bounds. The Cardinals had one final shot, but Warner was hit and fumbled. The Steelers won win their 6th ring. Mike Tomlin became the youngest head coach to win a ring at age 34. 27-23 Steelers 2009–This was the first year since 1993 where both top seeds made it to the show. It was also the first time where 2 teams started 13-0. In an even bigger surprise, both of these teams then began losing. In the NFC, the 13-0 Saints lost their final 3 to finish 13-3. The Colts got to 14-0 before benching players and finishing 14-2. The team deliberately decided not to chase 16-0, preferring to ignore history and get players healthy. In the AFC, the 9-7 New York Jets under Rex Ryan shocked the 13-3 San Diego Chargers and Norv Turner 17-14. The Jets led the Colts 17-6 before Peyton manning and the offense got going and won the AFC Title Game 30-17. The NFC featured some legends. Kurt Warner and the Cardinals beat the Packers 51-45 in an OT thriller. The Saints dispatched the Cardinals 45-14 and then faced off against Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Title Game. The Gunslinger and his offense outplayed the Saints, but costly turnovers killed the Vikings. In overtime, the Saints won 31-28 after some very controversial calls. The Saints and Drew Brees were a feel good story, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Sean Payton was coaching in his first Super Bowl. As for the Colts, they were a corporate machine. Jim Caldwell was a rookie head coach sticking with the successful Tony Dungy model. Peyton Manning was looking to be the greatest quarterback of all time. The Colts made it look easy early on, taking a 10-0 first quarter lead. The Saints held the ball for 12 1/2 minutes in the second quarter and got to within 10-6 at halftime. Sean Payton called for an onsides kick to start the second half. It was the first time an onsides kick had ever been called in a Super Bowl before the fourth quarter. Payton was rewarded for his balls of steel move as the kick bounced off Indy's Hank Baskett's helmet and led to a scrum that took over 2 minutes to unpile. Had it failed the Colts would have had the short field. Yet the Saints had the ball, as a stunned Colts defense had to go back on the field again. From the Saints 42, Brees quickly got it done. From the Colts 16, Brees hit Colston for the touchdown as the Saints led 13-10. Despite not being in the game for what seemed like forever, Manning turned the offensive ignition right back on. From the Saints 4, Addai finished the 10 play, 5 1/2 minute drive as Colts retook the lead 17-13 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter. The Saints would make a field goal to get to within 17-16 and momentum changed for good when the Colts missed a very long field goal. Brees then threw 5 straight short passes to 5 different receivers. Between hitting Thomas, Henderson, Bush, Colston, and finally Robert Meacham, the Saints were at the Colts 14. Then Brees hit Shockey for the 2 yard touchdown to put the Saints up 22-17. Brees found another different name on the 2 point conversion. Initially it looked like the pass to Moore was dropped. Sean Payton challenged the incomplete ruling. Again, Payton was rewarded, as the call was overturned and ruled a catch. The Saints had retaken the lead 24-17. With 3 1/2 minutes to go, the Colts faced 3rd and 5 from the Saints 31. Manning was destined to tie the game 24-24, with the only question being which kicker would win a thriller in regulation. Perhaps the Super Bowl would go to overtime for the very first time. Every Super Bowl has memories to last forever, and Peyton Manning was abut to create one. Unfortunately for him and Colts fans everywhere, it was a bitter memory. Manning threw his billionth slant pass, this one meant for Reggie Wayne. this was after having earlier nearly had one intercepted, and for completing a pass across the field that 2 weeks earlier allowed the Saints to intercept another icon and win the NFC Title Game. Manning went to the well once too often, and this pass was intercepted by Tracy Porter. Manning tried to make the tackle, but unlike a 2 time Super Bowl winner who made one in 2005 to preserve a win and beat the Colts, Manning is not a tackler. Porter was off to the races, pumping his fists as the French Quarter erupted in celebration. The Saints led by 14 points, and the only turnover of the game had the Colts needing a miracle. On 4th and goal from the 5, Manning hit Wayne at the goal line. Wayne dropped it. Despite going 31 for 45 for 333 yards, Manning could not get the Colts a win. A stunned Colts team watched the Saints erupt in celebration. Brees, who finished a ridiculous 32 for 39 for 288 yards, was the MVP. The 32 completions tied a Super Bowl record. The Saints victory was their first championship, and it lifted up an entire region of the country. 31-17 Saints 2010–Early preseason favorites Dallas and Minnesota collapsed to a combined 4-12, as both coaches got fired. Brett Favre did not repeat the magic carpet ride of the previous year as his 20th season was a tough one. His understudy Aaron Rodgers flourished in Green Bay. Despite being devastated by injuries, the Packers closed the season strong to finish 10-6 and make the playoffs as the # 6 seed. The Seattle Seahawks won their division with a 7-9 record, the first time a losing team made the playoffs. They even won their opening playoff game, eliminating defending champion New Orleans before falling to Chicago. Green Bay became the first ever NFC # 6 seed to win 3 road games. They went into Philadelphia and beat a resurgent Michael Vick and the Eagles 20-16. Then they went to Atlanta and throttled the # 1 seed 48-21. They went into Chicago and beat their archrivals 21-14 in a game that was not as close as the score indicated. In the AFC, New England continued their winning tradition in the regular season by finishing 14-2. Indianapolis struggled throughout the season, but finished strong to barely make the playoffs at 10-6. The Steelers and the Ravens split a pair of defensive headknockers, both finishing 12-4 with Pittsburgh winning the tie-breaker. Yet the # 6 seed for the second straight season was the New York Jets, and Rex Ryan insisted they would run the table on the road. The Jets backed up their talk, stunning the Colts in Indy on the final play 17-16. Then the Jets went to New England, where several weeks earlier they had lost 45-3. They shocked the Patriots 28-21. For the second straight year they were in the AFC Title Game. They were at Pittsburgh, who won another tough one over the Ravens 31-24. Several weeks earlier the Jets went into Pittsburgh and won 22-17. This time the Steelers jumped to a 24-0 lead and withstood a furious Jets comeback to hang on for a gritty 24-19 win. With Vince Lombardi and Art Rooney in heaven, a pair of the most storied NFL franchises competed against each other. The Packers were the team of the 1960s, winning 5 NFL Championships including 2 Super Bowls. The Steelers of the 1970s won 4 Super Bowls. Since then each of these teams faded in the 1980s, but came back. In the 1990s the Packers won one Super Bowl in 1996 and lost one in 1997. The Steelers lost one in 1995, then won it in 2005 and 2008. The Packers jumped to a 21-3 lead but had closed to within 21-10 at halftime and 21-17 after three quarters. It was turnovers including an interception of Ben Roethisberger that made the difference in the first half. With the Steelers driving for the lead, the second half again saw a critical turnover. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Rashaard Mendenhall was blasted by Clay Matthews, resulting in a fumble that led to a 28-17 Packers lead. The Steelers closed to 28-25 and Aaron Rodgers tried to lead a drive to run out the clock. The Pittsburgh defense held Green Bay to a field goal. Roethlisberger would have one final chance to be the Super Bowl hero. He led the winning drive 3 years earlier, but this time it was not to be. The 2 minute drill went nowhere, and the Packers held on defense. Mike McCarthy joined Mike Holmgren and Vince Lombardi and had a street named after him. MVP Aaron Rodgers escaped the shadow of Brett Favre and etched his own legacy. Charles Woodson played in the Super Bowl 8 years earlier with a broken leg in a loss. This time he broke his collarbone in the first half and watched the second half from the sidelines. Yet his fiery halftime speech was one part of a game that led him after 13 years to finally being a champion. He promised that the Packers would go to the White House to visit the president, a Bears fan. With the win, the Packers got their trip to the Oval Office. 31-25 Packers 2011—This looks like 2007 all over again. The New York Giants were 7-7 and Tom Coughlin was on the hot seat. The last week of the season they defeated archrival Dallas to win the division and eke into the playoffs at 9-7. They crushed 10-6 Atlanta 24-2. Then they shocked 15-1 defending champion Green Bay 37-20. They won a defensive overtime slugfest against 13-3 San Francisco 20-17 in the NFC Title Game. San Francisco return man Kyle Williams fumbled one punt in the fourth quarter and another in overtime that allowed the Giants to survive. New England was 13-3 and the top seed for the second straight year. They crushed 8-8 Denver and ended Tebowmania for the year. The Broncos, Raiders, and Chargers all finished 8-8, but Denver won the tie-breaker as the Tim Tebow story cast aside the story of the death of Al Davis. In the AFC Title Game, New England and the Baltimore Ravens played a thriller. The Patriots trailed 20-16 and faced 4th and goal at the 1. Tom Brady leapt over the top to put the Patriots in front. With seconds left in the game, the Ravens thought they had the winning touchdown pass. Lee Evans had it in is hands. At the last moment Patriots defender Sterling Moore chopped it out. Moore began the year on the Raiders practice squad. Now he was a hero on his way to the Super Bowl. The Ravens still could have tied the game, but Billy Cundiff missed a 32 yard field goal. Ray Lewis and Ed Reed saw their trip to the Super Bowl wash away as the Patriots 23-20 victory was yet another 3 point win in a decade of 3 point victories. Eli Manning is looking to win his second Super Bowl ring and surpass older brother Peyton in the house that Peyton built, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Tom Coughlin with a second ring could go in several weeks from the verge of the unemployment line to a legitimate contender for the Hall of Fame. He would be tied with his former boss Bill "The Tuna" Parcells. Bill Bellichick is also a Parcells protege, and he and longtime Peyton Manning rival Tom Brady already have 3 Super Bowl rings together. Brady can tie Joe Montana with a fourth win in the big game. Emotions will be heavy for both sides as the Giants try to win for longtime owners Mara and Tisch, while the patriots desperately want to honor Robert Kraft, who lost his wife and beloved team matriarch Myra Kraft before the start of this season. Four years ago the Giants were 10-6 and the Patriots were 16-0 in the regular season. The Giants shocked the world. This year they met in the regular season in New England. A 0-0 game at the half became a quarterback thriller late. Tom Brady put the Patriots ahead by 3 points with only 1:36 remaining. That was enough for Eli Manning. Rather than play for the tie, he passed the Giants to a 24-20 win in front of a stunned home crowd. So in this Super Bowl, the Giants will not have the element of surprise. Both teams are confident going in, and neither side is giving the other one bulletin board material. Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw and Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski are both key players battling foot injuries who will be ready by game time. Super Bowl XLVI (46) is set. New York Giants vs New England Patriots. Are you ready for some football!!!!!!!!! Let's get it on!!!!!!!!!!	eng	bc6001cd-3661-4723-8892-ee87061a7fd1	http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/tygrrrr-express/2012/feb/2/super-bowl-history-i-1-xlvi-46/
songwriting enSongcraft: Becoming Your Own Producer, Part 5 looks to dissect, simplify and offer insight into the (sometimes daunting) process and art of DIY music production.</p> <p>(In case you missed the previous installments of this series, check out parts one through four under RELATED CONTENT to the left.)</p> <p><strong>Mixing (Cont.)</strong></p> <p>Picking up where we left off in the last post, we now continue discussing the mix phase of our production process.</p> <p>• <strong>Compression</strong>. A compressor (or limiter — a compressor on steroids) is a processor the primary function of which is to electronically control spikes in volume (transients) present in an audio signal. It can, for example, automatically tame peaks in level on a vocal track and reduce those peaks by an adjustable amount. Once those spikes in volume have been controlled by a compressor, you are now free to raise the new, more consistent, overall level of said vocal in your mix without the danger of signal overload. </p> <p>In addition to its main leveling function, compression can be used as an effect. Two hundred blog posts could probably be written on the subject of compression. Educate yourself on the topic; <a href=" by watching this great tutorial on compression basics</a>, and don't be afraid to experiment. That said, if you're confused about compression (and if you are, you're not alone), refrain from using it on that "mission critical" demo until you get a handle on the ins and outs.</p> <p>• <strong>De-essing</strong>. A de-esser is a processing tool used to remove excess sibilance from an audio signal. If, say, you find your recorded vocal track sounds a little harsh when your vocalist sings a word with an "s," "t" or "c" sound (or similar) in it, try using a de-esser on the track to electronically lessen those sibilant frequencies. Be sure to educate yourself (<a href=" a de-essing tutorial</a>) and experiment before using this tool on an important vocal track. Misuse of a de-esser can give your singer a serious speech impediment.</p> <p>• <strong>Effects</strong>. Effects processors — <a href=" <a href=" chorus, distortion, wideners, etc. — are tools used to add sonic depth, color and texture to a mix. There are a myriad of different effects and many applications for each. As such, the topic of effects usage is, unfortunately, too vast to explore in detail within the confines of this space. As always, education and experimentation is key. Jump on the web and look up each effect mentioned above as a start (highlighted effects link to tutorials), then find those effects in your DAW software and begin to investigate.</p> <p>• <strong>Panning</strong>. Panning refers to the practice of placing instruments/tracks left, center or right (and all points in between) across the stereo field in efforts to create the perception of space within a mix. Note: While panning covers left to right placement, adding the aforementioned effects of reverb or delay to instruments can help place those elements back to front in the soundscape.</p> <p>• <strong>Balancing act</strong>. With some/all of the above processing and panning in effect, use your DAW's virtual console faders to balance the volume level of each instrument (relative to the others) in your song to taste. You should already be close to a semi-decent blend if you've been "rough mixing" each individual element in as recorded (suggested in our recording rundown) to assess if said parts were working from a production standpoint.</p> <p>While balancing, realize that one set volume level placement of a track may not always sound right for the entire duration of a song. That track's instrument may have to move up or down in level several times over the course of a mix. Program you DAW software's automation function to perform these adjustments for you.</p> <p>Also, when balancing, monitor your mix at varied volume levels (loud, soft) to get different perspectives on instrument placement and remember to take frequent breaks from all the heavy listening. Ear fatigue can send you down some undesirable mix roads.</p> <p>• <strong>Reference</strong>. Use a professionally produced, stylistically similar, favorite song as a sonic reference. Compare your mix to the "pro" tune and see how close or far off you are in terms of the overall picture; does your mix have too much or too little bottom-end compared to your reference track? Is the model track brighter than your mix or are the top-ends similar? Adjust your work accordingly. Warning: At first it will be fairly discouraging (to say the least) when comparing your mixes to pro cuts, but the knowledge derived from these exercises will help you grow and shape your work for the better.</p> <p>Next, check out your mix on different playback systems to get a sense of how it's translating outside of your workspace. Listening on boom boxes, in cars, on computer speakers and ear buds will lend you some valuable perspective. Obviously, your mix will never sound the same on each of these systems (mastering, the next step in the production process, will help with that) but if you've done a good job with your mix, your track should sound fairly balanced in terms of levels and frequencies wherever you play it. If an element of your mix is calling attention to itself when you're listening on speakers other than the ones you mixed on, you might need to revisit that instrument again and adjust.</p> <p>Lastly, once you've got your mix sounding the way you want it, bounce/render a stereo file of the tune (This will become your 2-track "master") and save both your mix program file and your newly created stereo master file across numerous hard drives or DVDs for save keeping/future reference.</p> <p>If you have any questions in regard to mixing, leave a comment below. </p> <p><strong>Next up, "Becoming Your Own Producer" goes to "11" as we enter the mastering phase of our production process 03 Dec 2012 16:25:27 +0000Mark Bacino Becoming Your Own Producer, Part 4 series will look to dissect, simplify and offer insight into the (sometimes daunting) process and art of DIY music production.</p> <p>(In case you missed the previous installments of this series, check out parts one, two and three under RELATED CONTENT to the left.)</p> <p><strong>Mixing</strong></p> <p>With your song now fully recorded, we're ready to move into the next phase of the production process, mixing.</p> <p>• Disclaimer. Not unlike recording, mixing is a subject/art so vast, with approaches so varied, one could never hope to cover the topic properly within the confines of a blog post. There are many great mixing tutorials on the web (<a href=" of the best/straightforward can be found here</a>), educate yourself and begin learning the basics. In the meantime, here are some rudimentary thoughts to get you going.</p> <p>• Monitoring. As was the case with recording, it's very important that you become sonically familiar with the speakers you'll be listening through while mixing. You don't necessarily need expensive studio monitors (although owning a pair couldn't hurt), just make sure to listen to a lot of music on whatever speakers you'll be working with before starting to mix so you'll know what things are "supposed" to sound like in terms of lower, middle and upper frequencies when evaluating your own work.</p> <p>Truth be told, there are many factors that come into play with monitoring; the amplifier you pair your speakers with, the placement of your speakers in the room, the use or lack of acoustic treatment in the space, etc. Educate yourself on the aforementioned when you can, but for now, intimately knowing how other music sounds on your speakers in your space will, at least, give you a solid chance at crafting mixes that will translate decently out in the real world.</p> <p>• Clean house. Before beginning your mix, take some time to go through each of your recorded tracks (Use the "solo" function in your DAW software) and remove any stray pops, clicks, noises, etc that may have accumulated during the recording process. The rustling of a lyric sheet, the clearing of a throat; it's best to address these problems now so they won't interrupt your creative flow once you get down to mixing.</p> <p>• Adjust recorded volume levels. While tending to your house cleaning duties, also listen to your tracks for any glaringly obvious, internal volume inconsistencies they may have acquired during the record process. If your singer's vocal gets quiet on the bridge because the dynamics of the song call for that, great, but if one line of the chorus sounds a lot louder than its surrounding phrases, go in and tweak said line down in volume at the waveform level to make it consistent with its neighbors. There are tools/processors that can make these adjustments for you electronically, but you should always try and remedy the larger, more overt problems manually.</p> <p>• EQ. Equalization, or the process of adjusting the balance between frequency components within an audio signal, is a deep topic worthy (and the subject) of many books, blogs, etc. Do your research, educate yourself (<a href=" this tutorial</a>). But first, here are a few EQ basics to prime the pump:</p> <p>Try cutting frequencies before boosting them; If, say, an instrument in your mix sounds dark/muddy to your ears, don't immediately add top end, first try to remove some bottom or low-mid from the signal by either lowering the volume level of those frequencies or by utilizing a high-pass filter to gain the clarity you're looking for. Boost frequencies only when cutting fails to achieve your desired result. Cutting rather than boosting will keep your mixes phase coherent.</p> <p>Lastly, think of the sonic space in a mix as real estate. In order for instruments to be heard clearly, they must be assigned their own frequency-based parcel of land, so to speak. If too many instruments try to occupy the same space in the frequency spectrum, they'll sound muddled and loose their definition. Attempt to carve out unique, frequency homes for as many elements of your mix as possible. </p> <p>Again, education is key. Try to learn as much as you can about EQ and the fascinating world of frequency that exists between 20Hz and 20KHz.</p> <p><strong>Next time, "Becoming Your Own Producer" keeps tweaking with the continuation of our mix rundown 19 Nov 2012 17:25:12 +0000Mark Bacino Delivering the Song <!--paging_filter--><p>As you read along this week, please excuse any typos or grammatical sloppiness you may encounter, as I've given myself a limit on the time allotted for the creation of this piece. </p> <p>In efforts to, hopefully, illustrate a point (if only to myself), in exactly T minus 20 minutes I will, despite all completest urges, stop writing.</p> <p>As composers, our activities tend to hold to a ratio of one-part inspiration and one-part perspiration. While the creative side of the equation is generally the fun, freewheeling part of the endeavor, the nose-to-the-grindstone aspect can most times be, well … work, plain and simple. </p> <p>But as we put in that necessary hard time, crafting and molding our raw ideas into something ear-worthy, we must always try and remember to not get too caught up in, or hide inside, the mechanics and minutia of the process. We must always keep in mind the main objective: Finish our tune and deliver it to the world. </p> <p>Naturally, one could argue that our focus should err toward creating a great song rather than merely completing the task, a point certainly hard to disagree with, but one I'd like to challenge slightly by offering this: What good is an amazing song if no one other than yourself (and OK, maybe your cat) ever gets to hear it?</p> <p>Now, of course, I'm by no means suggesting we should shortchange our songs for the sole sake of finishing them in a timely fashion, but I do think all too often many of us (myself included) find ourselves obsessively tweaking our work ad infinitum. </p> <p>When such is the case, we need to ask some internal questions: In efforts to get things just right or a little better, do our ends always justify our means? Did that one hour, one word change really make the chorus any more "killer" or by endlessly polishing are we just limiting our output in the aggregate and ourselves as writers? </p> <p>OCD, procrastination, perfectionism, call it what you will, but part of me thinks it might more honestly be labeled as plain, old fear. Maybe if we can just acknowledge this completion anxiety for what it truly is, ultimately we can make a conscious effort to keep it in check, do the work, deliver more and move on. As I will now.</p> <p>Pencils downFri, 21 Sep 2012 20:26:37 +0000Mark Bacino Exploring "Chorus First" Song Structuring <!--paging_filter--><p>With this installment of Songcraft, I thought I'd discuss an option sadly underutilized in contemporary composition: "chorus first" song structuring. </p> <p>Before taking in The Beatles' "She Loves You" (below) as a stellar example of the form, let's have a closer look at this classic structure.</p> <p>The "chorus first" construct (not an official title, just my label), simply put, begins a song not with a typical intro or verse, but with what would traditionally be considered a tune's chorus or refrain. </p> <p>Conventional composition generally dictates that we view the chorus, usually the richest and most memorable part of the song, as a sacred section best introduced later in the timeline; a section that should be grown into, with the writer organically ratcheting up a song's intensity and the listener's interest through the gradual addition of "lesser" structural elements (the aforementioned intro, verses, etc.). </p> <p>"Chorus first" challenges this slow-burn approach by alternately offering a fully formed refrain straight out of the gate, grabbing the audience and pulling them in from the get-go.</p> <p>Let's listen to "chorus first" in action and follow along with the break-out below.</p> <p><iframe width="620" height="480" src=" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>CHORUS<br /> VERSE<br /> PRE-CHORUS<br /> VERSE<br /> PRE-CHORUS<br /> CHORUS<br /> VERSE<br /> PRE-CHORUS<br /> CHORUS (w/turnaround)<br /> CODA</p> <p>As masterfully illustrated by The Beatles above, "chorus first" structuring is most definitely a powerful device and one worth exploring within one's own writing. It offers your listener the catchiest, most lyrically concise part of your song, right from the start, as a statement of both topical intent and super-melodic invitation. As they say, you only get one chance at making a first impression; why not make it a great one by using the "chorus first" form.</p> <p>As always, build it (well) and they will comeWed, 12 Sep 2012 11:42:44 +0000Mark Bacino Add Some Music to Your Day <!--paging_filter--><p>With this post, I'd like to discuss a somewhat disturbing condition I've observed over the years, one that seems to afflict a lot of my songwriting compadres. Believe it or not, sadly I've noticed … (He whispers) …many don't actually listen to all that much music.</p> <p>Now I fully realize, after obsessively tweaking the chord changes to our latest masterpiece or enduring a marathon studio session, the last thing any of us want to do is listen to more music. I get it. But as time goes on and this work cycle repeats itself, sometimes our musical "disinterest" can begin to extend beyond the normal confines of post-session burnout, proving destructive to our musical powers in the long-term.</p> <p>As creatives, we're fueled by inspiration. Our output is directly correlated to our input. As such, absorbing, internalizing and interpreting art made by others is an extremely important part of the creative process, one that must be maintained and nurtured. So how do we do this as sometimes musically self-saturated songwriters and musicians? Simple. As Mr. Wilson so eloquently put it, "Add some music to your day."</p> <p>What? <em>Mas</em> music?</p> <p>Sounds like more sonic overload, I know, but hear me out.</p> <p>When not writing and recording, stuck at your day gig, rather than eating up those precious, lunchtime minutes on Bookface, make a conscious, daily effort to feed your musical soul instead. Crack open iTunes, Spotify, etc. and take in an album — old, new, left-field — one you've never listened to before. Or maybe try going retro. Shun the TV one night a week, pull that piece of vinyl from the milk crate, throw it on the turntable and park yourself between the speakers for the evening. </p> <p>In our mobile, iPod world, there's something to be said for revisiting the stationary, focused listening experience enjoyed by previous generations. Listening to music used to be, in and of itself, an activity, not something you did while doing something else.</p> <p>Now, of course, there's nothing revelatory about the suggested listening time-outs listed above. Fitting more musical inspiration into our lives is certainly a no-brainer if we make the smallest of efforts. But just as a friend hips you to the missing glasses hiding atop your head, sometimes the obvious needs to be stated. As musicians, we should be listening 28 Aug 2012 11:02:40 +0000Mark Bacino The Sonic Sketchbook <!--paging_filter--><p>Much has been said amongst songwriters regarding the merits of keeping a lyric notebook, i.e. a stream of consciousness record of any and all lyrical ideas/stanzas that spring to mind, but to my knowledge little has been said in regard to keeping the musical equivalent.</p> <p><strong>The Sonic Sketchbook</strong></p> <p>If your lyrical snippets and song title ideas are worth getting down, shouldn't your random musical ideas, riffs and chord patterns be worthy of the same treatment? Why not keep a sonic sketchbook? As discussed in <a href=" previous Songcraft post</a>, today's technology can make capturing song ideas easier than ever.</p> <p>Here are some thoughts on harnessing that science for the purpose of sketching sound:</p> <p>• Create a new folder on your laptop or home computer's desktop and name it "Music Sketchbook 2012" (or some similar nomenclature that makes sense to you).</p> <p>• Whether we like it or not, the one item we always seem to have on our person these days is our cell phone. Most phones, smart or standard, come equipped with some type of audio/voice memo recorder and a means by which to transmit an audio clip via email or a text-to-email type function. When the muses visit, play or sing your riff for that cellular audience of one and promptly send that musical thought to yourself in a email (an important step as phones die, get lost, run over by buses, etc).</p> <p>• Later, when next at your laptop or home computer, download you emailed musical idea and save the audio file to the aforementioned "Music Sketchbook" folder.</p> <p>No different from jotting down lyrical seeds, if you continue the practice of recording, shipping and saving your musical fragments you'll probably be pleasantly surprised, over time, by the amount of quality ideas you'll amass without really thinking too much about it. Ideas fresh for expanding and pairing with those from your lyric notebook, ideas that will hopefully transform into great songs when you sit down to write 14 Aug 2012 11:51:02 +0000Mark Bacino Take Me to the Bridge <!--paging_filter--><p>OK, so your song has a catchy verse and a killer hook of a chorus. Now what? Throw in a solo section and call it a day? Maybe, but how about adding a bridge?</p> <p><strong>What is This Confounded Bridge?</strong></p> <p>Revered by experienced tunesmiths but often overlooked by novice writers, the bridge, or the middle eight as some call it (derived from its typical, but not set in stone, 8-bar length), is a songwriting device/song section that's traditionally used to change things up mid-tune, breathing new life into the structure of a song.</p> <p><strong>Why Should I Take Anyone There?</strong></p> <p>After having given your listeners a few healthy doses of your song's verse and chorus sections, your bridge provides you, the writer, with an opportunity to introduce your audience to a totally new chord progression, top-line melody and/or lyrical slant. This fresh, left-field addition to your tune's architecture serves to recapture your listener's attention while also giving them a bit of a break from your song's main motifs. </p> <p>Thanks to the bridge, your audience's ears are now refreshed, their sonic palates are cleansed and they're ready for one last go-around as you serve up that final helping of your tune's verse, refrain, etc.</p> <p><strong>Many Bridges to Cross</strong></p> <p>In addition to changing up your chord structure, melody line or lyrical content, there are many other ways one can craft a bridge; How about switching time signatures or keys? What if you used a solely instrumental passage as a bridge in a song with lyrics? The possibilities are endless and limited only by your imagination. </p> <p><strong>Try It, It's Easy</strong></p> <p>So, new writers, if you haven't as of yet, try adding a bridge section to one of your latest tunes and see if it has a positive effect on your composition. Also, check out this example of a classic bridge in action, courtesy of the retro-tastic Commodores (Bridge section begins at 2:16 in. Lyrics listed below).</p> <p>As always, build it (well) and they will come …</p> <p><iframe width="620" height="380" src=" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>Bridge lyrics:</p> <p>I wanna be high, so high<br /> I wanna be free to know the things I do are right<br /> I wanna be free, just me 31 Jul 2012 16:00:44 +0000Mark Bacino The Value of Listening <!--paging_filter--><p>In this post, I thought I'd touch on the simple act of listening and the value it holds for us as songwriters.</p> <p>With all the amazing tools of communication available to us today making it easier than ever to share and get our thoughts out into the world, there seems to be, sadly, a definitive shift toward "talking" rather than listening.</p> <p>As songwriters (and human beings) we all want to be heard, but we also need to remember that our output is only as good as our input. Our creative engines need the fuel of inspiration, and that inspiration can only be absorbed when we're listening and open to receiving it.</p> <p>So today, in the spirit of radio silence, fight the urge to post that 20th tweet and try listening to the birds (or <a href=" instead.</p> <p>Enough said 10 Jul 2012 18:57:28 +0000Mark Bacino Found Sound Songwriting <!--paging_filter--><p>When I first began writing songs, I pretty much felt new musical ideas could only be discovered with guitar in hand, sitting at the piano or, if lucky, via a melody I might have found myself absentmindedly humming.</p> <p>As time went on, I started to realize that little bits of sonic inspiration were actually everywhere, waiting for me to scoop them up, if I just kept my mind open to the prospect. I found by implementing that small mental adjustment, I could make a sizable increase in the amount of source material available to me as a songwriter. </p> <p>Now the rhythmic clicking of my car's turn signal was no longer background noise but a makeshift percussion loop I could vocally riff over while waiting at a light. </p> <p>Suddenly the beeping tones generated by that delivery truck as it backed up my street weren't merely part of the urban cacophony but repeating musical figures waiting to be harmonized and expanded upon.</p> <p>Harry Nilsson, the great singer/songwriter of '60s and '70s fame, once confided that his hit song <a href=" with its opening repetitive electric piano chord, was inspired by none other than (and sorry if this reference is lost on the children of voice mail), a telephone busy signal. Pretty cool, right?</p> <p>As mentioned earlier and illustrated above, song ideas or the seeds of such are, indeed, all around us if we choose to acknowledge and absorb them. By simply cleansing ourselves of preconceived notions and redefining what we categorize as legitimate musical inspiration, we allow ourselves access to a veritable treasure trove of new and interesting audible opportunities.</p> <p>And with that very thought in mind, I'd like to leave you with a silly, impromptu jam my young son and I worked up the other day with, and inspired by, a little-known artist by the name of Maytag.</p> <p><iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src=" 25 Jun 2012 16:17:23 +0000Mark Bacino Rhythmically Inspired Songwriting <!--paging_filter--><p>From its earliest uses as a primitive means of communication, to the party-down rave-ups of the modern dance club, it seems rhythm is as instinctual and natural to human beings as the pounding of arguably the world's first beat box; our hearts.</p> <p>Harnessing that innate power of rhythm/beat as catalyst for inspiration can be very useful to us as writers (and a lot of fun, too). Here are a few ideas for using rhythm as a tool to help get your songwriting groove on:</p> <p>• As band rehearsal winds down for the evening, ask your drummer if he/she can hang a bit longer. Have him lay down a beat, any pattern of his choosing. Without thinking too much about it, let your instrument of choice follow rhythm's lead and play whatever the beat inspires your hands to play. Do that for half an hour and you might just walk away with the bones of a song you probably never would have written strumming a guitar at home alone.</p> <p>• If you own a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), fire it up and search within your recording software for its stock, virtual drum machine. Most DAW programs such as Pro Tools and the like include a virtual instrument (VI) that offers the capability of sequencing single-hit drum samples or prerecorded drum loops via MIDI. Using your particular drum VI, set up a simple, repeating pattern that strikes your fancy (if you're unsure how to do this there are plenty of tutorials on the web), grab your instrument and play along; play anything. Again, as mentioned earlier, don't think too much about it, let the rhythm and your hands lead you toward a new and unexpected song idea.</p> <p>Beat challenged and stuck for a drum pattern to program? Pull up a song in iTunes that features one of your all-time favorite grooves. Try to recreate the basic pattern of said groove with your drum VI, then play your own chord changes over top to render a jam that's totally unique to you.</p> <p>• If you're feeling adventurous, scan eBay or Craigslist for an affordable, vintage drum machine. Tons were mass manufactured in the '80s and onward so they're usually easy to find. Given the technological limitations of many early models, a lot of these machines have their own wonderfully quirky sounds and personalities. Pick one up if you dare, plug it in and see what kind of inspiration its cheesy muse may provide.</p> <p>Hope you find these tips of help and hope they encourage you to try your hand at rhythmically inspired songwriting.</p> <p>Go ahead, give the drummer some wonderfully elusive activity known as songwriting. Visit Mark on <a href=" or follow him on <a href=" BacinoSongcraftsongwritingMon, 11 Jun 2012 18:09:17 +0000Mark Bacino Want to Write? Stop Writing <!--paging_filter--><p>"A writer writes," as the old saying goes, but I'm here today to tell you to stop. </p> <p>Odd thing to say, I know, since this is a songwriting blog -- but I mean it.</p> <p><strong>Go Do The Laundry</strong></p> <p>If you're one of many disciplined writers who keeps to a daily schedule, great, hold to it. But if you find yourself hitting a wall, rather than trying to muscle through for schedule's sake, forget it, go do the laundry. </p> <p>Now you may ask, why the laundry? It kind of smells bad. Can I do my bills instead? The answer is no. Your bills will make you think too much. Never underestimate the head-cleansing power of performing mundane, household tasks such as doing the wash. After you've fluffed and folded, go back to the piano, see if that wall you hit earlier got whisked away in the spin cycle. </p> <p><strong>Go to Bed</strong></p> <p>Just as you should never underestimate the mind-clearing power of performing menial tasks, never dismiss the power of the nap.</p> <p>When little kids get cranky, what do they do? They take a nap. When they wake, they're usually refreshed, happy and raring to go knock down that table lamp. As adults we tend to devalue the concept of sleep. Next time your writing session comes to an impasse, stop and lie down for 15 minutes. Even if you're too wired to drift off, closing your eyes and lying in silence for a few might just be enough to clear the cobwebs and get you back to knocking down that creative barricade (table lamp optional). </p> <p>So, of course, I don't really want you to stop writing; quite the opposite, actually. But I do hope you'll incorporate the above rejuvenation techniques into your writing process and see if they help stop "the block." Hopefully they'll make a positive difference in the quality of your output as well. </p> <p>Do you have any hacks that help you push the creative reset button? Leave a commentThu, 31 May 2012 12:16:30 +0000Mark Bacino Capturing Your Song Ideas <!--paging_filter--><p>In this piece, I thought I'd share some thoughts on a few really simple tools I use on a regular basis to capture my song ideas. </p> <p>Let's face it, inspiration doesn't always strike when we're sitting at home in front of the piano. The muse may call in the car, the plane or the Laundromat. As such, I find myself relying more and more on the only tool I always seem to have in pocket; my smartphone. </p> <p>These days the iPhone has become my default songwriting assistant of sorts. If a new melody comes to mind, rather than hoping I'll remember it when I get to a guitar, I'll quickly pop open the "voice memo" app that comes stock with iPhone and hum my idea into the phone for posterity. </p> <p>I have to say it's a pretty effective way of remembering song ideas and really, you don't need an iPhone to do this. Almost all smartphones and even basic cell phones have some sort of voice recorder built in. You might look insane singing into your phone on the street, but hey, people think musicians are crazy anyway. </p> <p>Another smartphone tool I find myself using is a free app called <a href=" Dictation</a>. If a song title or lyrical idea comes to me out of the blue, I'll pop open Dragon and just dictate a verse or chorus out loud while the app transcribes everything I say, instantly converting it to text on screen. </p> <p>From there, Dragon allows me to send my (already typed up!) new lyrics to my home computer via email or even share them via text to a collaborator I might be working with. Pretty neat.</p> <p>Do you have any hacks that help you get your ideas down when inspiration calls? 21 May 2012 15:18:53 +0000Mark Bacino Performance Rights Organizations Explained <!--paging_filter--><p>In this post, I thought I'd touch on the subject of performance rights organizations (PROs), what they do and why they're important to us as songwriters. </p> <p>(I realize this topic might be a bit old hat for the seasoned songwriters among, us but stick around, fogies; there's something for you at post's end.)</p> <p><strong>PROs: The What and Why</strong></p> <p>Basically, PROs collect monies/royalties due songwriters and publishers earned from the "public performance" of a writer's music. If one of your tunes is played (live or recorded) on radio, internet, used in a TV show or even performed in a live venue, as a writer you're entitled to a royalty for that use. It's the job of the PRO you're personally affiliated with to discover that performance, collect the royalty on your behalf and pass it on to you, the writer, and your publisher if you have one. </p> <p>Most new writers don't have publishers so in that case, the writer is considered the publisher as well and all royalties earned are paid to the songwriter in total (Publishing is a whole other can of worms best saved for another post).</p> <p>Now if you're a songwriter starting out and your music has yet to be played on radio, TV, etc., you don't really need to affiliate yourself with a PRO but, honestly, it couldn't hurt. With most, sign up is free (Some charge a nominal fee), they usually offer tons of resources for writers and hey, why not be ready when <em>Jersey Shore</em> wants to use one of your tunes behind that pivotal bar fight scene?</p> <p><strong>Which One?</strong></p> <p>Deciding which PRO to affiliate yourself with is usually (but not exclusively) dependent upon where you live. Almost every country has at least one PRO. Some have several. In the US there's <a href=" <a href=" and <a href=" In Canada there's <a href=" in Japan there's <a href=" and so on. </p> <p><a href=" a more extensive, geographical listing to get you going</a>.</p> <p>Ultimately, whatever PRO you decide to join is really up to you. They all basically do the same thing but are different in what they offer, their approach, etc. Best to do a little research to see what PRO best fits your needs as a writer before you leap. </p> <p>Now, as promised, here's one for all you experienced writers who've stuck it out thus far: Did you know in addition to whatever PRO you're already affiliated with, there's a relatively new, additional one (in the US) with which you should register as well? It's called <A href=" and what it does is collect royalties on behalf of sound recording copyright owners and artists for non-interactive digital transmissions, like internet and satellite radio. So if you're a writer/recording artist, seasoned or beginner, remember to check out SoundExchange.</p> <p>Whew. Hope this post helps in demystifying PROs and why, as songwriters, we need them. If I missed anything or you have something to add, please post a comment. Feedback is always welcome.</p> <p>P.S.: New writers, don't forget to copyright your tunes too! <a href=" about that here</a>advertising 14 May 2012 16:07:27 +0000Mark Bacino Demystifying Song Structure <!--paging_filter--><p>This week's blog marks my first post about song structure, a recurring topic going forward here on Songcraft.</p> <p>These pieces will attempt to demystify song construction by dismantling popular tunes in various styles, taking a peak under the hood, so to speak, to see what makes them tick.</p> <p>Song structure (or lack thereof) can definitely prove to be a source of considerable frustration, especially for new writers. You might have a great collection of hooks or parts, but how you string them together can really make or break a tune. </p> <p>While there are certainly no "rules" as to how a writer should structure their tunes, there are some tried-and-true classic structures (especially in the pop tradition) and variations on the like that just plain work, building excitement and keeping the listener's attention. Why not look at these workhorse structures from songs past and incorporate them into our own work -- or at least use them as a springboard for our own variations on the theme?</p> <p>For our first song, I thought it apropos to kick things off with something from the masters. Check out this iconic Beatles' cut for one example of classic pop song structure. As you listen, follow along with the break-out below. </p> <p>On the surface, this may seem like a simple song with a seemingly simple structure, but don't be fooled; there's a lot going on within its streamlined frame:</p> <p><iframe width="620" height="380" src=" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>INTRO<br /> The tune kicks off with an instrumental melodic figure for an intro that eases us into the song but piques our interest.<br /> VERSE<br /> CHORUS<br /> Vocals make their first entrance in the verse, slightly upping the ante, then a powerful, building first chorus grabs us and seals the deal.<br /> INTRO<br /> This is where things get a little sneaky. The instrumental intro is brought back into play to bring the dynamics down a hair from the high of the chorus and to help set up verse two -- BUT, notice this intro is half the length of the original at the head of the song. It's like they want to take things down and vent off a little steam from that chorus, but not for too long so as to not lose our attention.<br /> VERSE<br /> CHORUS<br /> INTRO<br /> The previous three-section pattern repeats itself to really reinforce the hooks. Then, just when you think you know all there is to know about this jam …</p> <p>BRIDGE<br /> A totally fresh, palate-cleansing musical section makes its entrance into the song, giving us a bit of a sonic vacation before sending us back to the main motifs.<br /> INTRO<br /> VERSE<br /> CHORUS<br /> OUTRO<br /> The tune barrels its way home here with a chorus that turns around on its tail as the original intro figure weaves itself back into the picture, raising the excitement level before morphing into a totally unique little coda.</p> <p>Two minutes and five seconds of lean, mean pop song structure perfection.</p> <p>So, the next time you finish a new tune, take a few minutes and really zero in on its structure. Try listing the sections down on paper like above. Sometimes this simple visualization of your construct will lend you some perspective. Ask yourself if the structure you've created is helping to build the song in a concise and exciting way -- or are some sections just weighing things down?</p> <p>Build it (well) and they will come BacinoSongcraftsongwritingThe BeatlesTue, 08 May 2012 18:55:49 +0000Mark Bacino A Cappella Songwriting <!--paging_filter--><p>As songwriters, we settle into our own individual writing processes. </p> <p>Sitting at that piano late at night. Strumming that guitar, TV on mute and so on -- every process as unique and personal as the musical results they yield. </p> <p>Yet the one thing these exercises hold in common is they all usually center around the use of an instrument. What if, just to change things up, we took that instrument out of the equation?</p> <p><strong>The McFerrin Method</strong></p> <p>Next time you decide to write, if only for experiment's sake, leave the guitar in the case (I know, I know …this is <em>Guitar World</em>) and attempt to create something fresh, solely <em>a cappella</em>. Don't worry, be happy; try embracing the fun and the freedom humming a melody or singing nonsensical words can provide. </p> <p>If you think about it, <em>a cappella</em> composing (arguably the first form of songwriting) makes a lot of sense. When writing, as per usual, on your given instrument(s), you're basically confined by the physical limits of that instrument and your skill level. </p> <p>As such, in reality then, our voices and our brains are actually the most powerful/versatile instruments we possess. Think; if someone sang a melody line and asked you to repeat it, you could almost instantaneous sing it right back, even if you don't consider yourself "a singer." </p> <p>Conversely, if you were asked to repeat same using your guitar, I'd bet most of us non-virtuoso types might take a beat or two transcribing said melody and getting it out from under our fingers. When it's head vs. shred, the noggins trump every time. Why not harness some of that amazing, primordial brain power for songwriting?</p> <p><strong>Reverse Engineering</strong></p> <p>Once you've created some <em>a cappella</em> jams, take them back to your respective instruments. See where your scat singing journeys have taken you. Maybe you'll find they've pushed you down some musical roads less traveled; an angular melody your fingers would never have played here or a cool change that feels foreign to your hands there. Hopefully <em>a cappella</em> writing will help you cultivate some interesting and surprising results 30 Apr 2012 14:53:26 +0000Mark Bacino	eng	9980fc6f-f829-4373-9495-bf0d8739b2d3	http://www.guitarworld.com/taxonomy/term/2318/all/feed
75 Comments homedelete(October 7, 2010, 10:14 am) I love this neighborhood. History says that Edgebrook was an old railroad town and Old Edgebrook was the enclave where the management lived. There are only a handful of homes in this neighborhood and you can access the area only off central road. The neighborhood is surrounded by forest preserve and a golf course. It's pretty much car only to get anywhere except that you can commute to work via the Metra. You can access the north branch trail across Devon and ride your bike all the way to the Botanic Gardens. The Pucinski family home used to be in the neighborhood until it burned down and unfortunately took the life of his son. The house has since been torn down and is now a vacant lot next to the sidewalk through the forest preserve that leads to the Metra. As a side note, I was riding my bike on that sidewalk a few months ago and I saw what must have been a 30 point buck just chillin out, eating some leaves, not a fear in the world. It's a cool area over there, the neighborhood it's more akin to living in Long Grove or something yet still being in the city and close enough to downtown. Very very pricey. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) roscoevillager(October 7, 2010, 10:19 am) gorgeous. I Want. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Bob(October 7, 2010, 10:23 am) When I think of $1MM homes its homes and locations like this. The only thing I don't like about this place is the name of the park. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Blackberry(October 7, 2010, 10:33 am) Nice neighborhood, but seems very overpriced. Larger and more modern homes within walking distance (though not in the forest preserve) are closing in the low to mid $700s. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) anon (tfo)(October 7, 2010, 10:35 am)? VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) clio(October 7, 2010, 10:35 am)). VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) homedelete(October 7, 2010, 10:39 am) Both. and a third option – million dollars homes tended to not appreciate much during that time period. a lawyer is my office sold her parent's million dollar estate in cook county in 05 or 06 and it sold for not much more than the purchase price from the 1980′s. that's just my anedotal example, but those who bought million dollar homes during the boom thought they would appreciate to $2,000,000; but the fact is that a million dollar home is exacty that, a million dollar home. Too many $600k homes became million dollar homes during the boom yet the million dollar homes stayed a million dollars. A million is a lot of money you know. "anon (tfo) on October 7th, 2010 at 10:35 am?" VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Groove77(October 7, 2010, 10:40 am) this is the place me and DZ talk about all the time. it wifeys dream home. and your about a 2 minute drive to 94 and you can walk to starbucks, happy foods, a few great restaurants, a great bike shop, an awesome ice cream shop, i irish pub with good food. ALL WALKING DISTANCE. and metra is a 2 block walk. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) DZ(October 7, 2010, 10:43 am) "this is the place me and DZ talk about all the time." 6203 Lundy is place I bring up. The location seems better than 6239 but I haven't driven through there in a while. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) anon (tfo)(October 7, 2010, 10:50 am) "Both." If it has even $100k in deferred maintenance, it isn't worth this much. (of course, that was just a joke for JMM) I have no doubt they overpaid, and the listing indicates they put a bunch of money into it, but, based on CPI, if they sell for ask, they will have "lost" $400k in 1989 dollars, plus their cost of improvements, which is a ton. "those who bought million dollar homes during the boom thought they would appreciate to $2,000,000″ Not the people I know who bought them to live in them, but there certainly were a lot of people with that attitude. 7-figures is a big psycho-barrier.If I worked closer to union station I'd think really seriously about this neighborhood. Edgebrook schools as well. I think I'm lazier than Groove, or shorter legs as if that were possible, but walkability is just ok here, especially when thinking about walking with a recalcitrant toddler (I love you little guy, if future little DZ stumbles on this thread, but you do have a mind of your own). VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) djiddy(October 7, 2010, 11:12 am) "The houses in the district are on larger lots and this one is on a 108×163×65×158 lot." Ok. Stupid question but I could not find it on google. Why does the lot dimension have 4 numbers? Is this simply a way of showing the area of an irregularly sized lot? thanks groove for the infor. that is the same amount of time for the express train from hinsdale. Even so, this location is unique and really cool. I wonder why more people haven't bought up these houses, torn them down and built mansions (not that I'm advocating that) but it seems that the houses that are there are really ole (and most don't seem that historically significant). Any thoughts?? VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) djiddy(October 7, 2010, 11:15 am) Ok. That was a really stupid question. I found the answer. I feel dumb now. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) anon (tfo)(October 7, 2010, 11:21 am) clio: "I wonder why more people haven't bought up these houses, torn them down and built mansions" From the post: "The Old Edgebrook historic district was created in 1894 and designed to be houses of various styles. It was designated a landmark district in 1988." Perfect example of why I mock your reading comp. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Groove77(October 7, 2010, 11:24 am) "(not that I'm advocating that) but it seems that the houses that are there are really ole (and most don't seem that historically significant). Any thoughts??" zoning isnt corrupt over here, plus go one mile north and lincolnwood had the market for tear down and build huge mcmansions. a quick drive around there and any person can tell which town had corrupt zoning going on. this area of chicago (ward) was blessed with a decent alderman and didnt sell off zoning rights for cash/contributions/get his wife a job during the bubble. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Groove77(October 7, 2010, 11:26 am) "Perfect example of why I mock your reading comp." mock mine cause i didnt even read that either and never knew about it, given i assumed so but there is a brick home circa 1960 there that i question the historicalness VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Sonies(October 7, 2010, 11:28 am) Sorry but I hate this place, antiquated and difficult room dimensions that would just not work for me. I will never understand what everyone's infatuation with living in an old haunted looking house is, but to each their own I guess VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) clio(October 7, 2010, 11:30 am) yeah – sorry about the historical designation thing – but I feel the same as groove. some of those houses don't look very historically significant. But I thought of another question – what if one of the houses in a historic district burned down? I am assuming that you could rebuild but it would have to be in the character of the neighborhood. With so many different housing styles in this community, could you build almost anything you wanted? VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Groove77(October 7, 2010, 11:34 am) "6203 Lundy is place I bring up." DZ oooppppss, again my reading (and writing) comprehension is bad. but 6203 is on the corner of the inlet street which would see all the traffic in and out of here (not that there is a lot of traffic) given i like 6203 better but the location to me is worse (relative to the area) VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) anon (tfo)(October 7, 2010, 11:41 am) "I am assuming that you could rebuild but it would have to be in the character of the neighborhood. " Depends on the city's historic district rules and whether the place actually burns to the ground (eg, if it's brick and the facade survives, you're likely stuck with the facade). Usually, you're going to be able to build anything that zoning/building code allow. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) DZ(October 7, 2010, 11:49 am) "6203 is on the corner of the inlet street which would see all the traffic in and out of here (not that there is a lot of traffic) given i like 6203 better but the location to me is worse (relative to the area)" As you say, I don't think there's really much traffic. They also have it fenced off. I think it's the kinda corner lot I can get behind. Not quite as secluded as your house w/o a front street. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Groove77(October 7, 2010, 11:52 am) "6203 better but the location to me is worse (relative to the area" oh and plus 6203′s kitchen opens to its dining room, a huge no no in queen anne's . Anon, hit it on the head with the historical thang, and that 60′s brick place wouldnt matter as the historicalness wasnt in place until 1988. side note, why would you wan to tear down a home that has performed greatly for over 100 years when as we see the recent homes built cant last 2 years without major problems. give me a updated old home any day of the week. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) anon (tfo)(October 7, 2010, 11:56 am) "side note, why would you wan to tear down a home that has performed greatly for over 100 years when as we see the recent homes built cant last 2 years without major problems. give me a updated old home any day of the week." It's a real pita to add home automation (or ac, or enough electric, or updated plumbing) to an old house. Don't ask how I know. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Groove77(October 7, 2010, 12:00 pm) i wonder if flooding is an issue over here cause i know i can never play a full 18 as the 1st 2nd and 18th hole are always underwater. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Groove77(October 7, 2010, 12:00 pm) "It's a real pita to add home automation (or ac, or enough electric, or updated plumbing) to an old house. Don't ask how I know" good call. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) anon (tfo)(October 7, 2010, 12:04 pm) "i wonder if flooding is an issue over here cause i know i can never play a full 18 as the 1st 2nd and 18th hole are always underwater." This one notes "overhead sewer", and 6203 has an unfinished basement, so I'd bet they have/have had sewer back-up issues. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) homedelete(October 7, 2010, 12:26 pm) The ajacent wooded area to the east is always flooded out. I saw ducks swimming in it a few weeks ago. Its practically a swamp. Bn The neighbor with the green house in the hood has a rooster as a pet. I heard him and I saw a rooster and asked why they had a rooster and they said it was a pet. I bike through this neighborhood quite regularly on my way to the north branch trail. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) T.S.(October 7, 2010, 12:33 pm) 6203!!! Oh my god. LOVE it! That kitchen wall shouldn't be too difficult to put back up. Such a pity they removed it though, I bet there were gorgeous old pocket doors between the kitchen/dining. Where is Laura to drool over this? "I saw a rooster and asked why they had a rooster and they said it was a pet." Was it named Big Red? VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Barry(October 7, 2010, 1:30 pm) "Shit I live at Addison and the Lake and it takes me 30 minutes to get downtown, better move to the burbs! VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Groove77(October 7, 2010, 1:34 pm) "it takes me 30 minutes to get downtown, better move to the burbs!" but you just came from there last year, dont tell me you miss it already VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Sonies(October 7, 2010, 1:38 pm) the burbs are fricking terrible please don't even mention that crap I had the pleasure of dining in downtown naperville over the weekend and let me tell you, the "naperville versions" of the chicago restaurants are terrible. Awful service coupled with somehow worse (yet the same) food at the same prices = faildinner VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) anon (tfo)(October 7, 2010, 1:48 pm) "the "naperville versions" of the chicago restaurants are terrible. Awful service coupled with somehow worse (yet the same) food at the same prices = faildinner" You drove all the way to N'ville to eat at Potbelly? VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Sonies(October 7, 2010, 1:56 pm) no.. Hugo's VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) T.S.(October 7, 2010, 2:22 pm) . VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Barry(October 7, 2010, 2:32 pm) "." Hi-diddly-ho, neighborino! I walked past them the other day and agree that they completely lack in curb appeal, but that's not that big of a strike to me. Other than that, haven't looked at the any of the listings or know anything about them otherwise, sorry! VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) jw(October 7, 2010, 5:19 pm) clio, a lot of the people who live over here are well paid city workers…fire chiefs,boss cops,city managers etc,and moving to the suburbs isn't an option due to residency rules. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) jp(October 7, 2010, 5:28 pm) There's a turret in the garage! VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) jw(October 7, 2010, 5:47 pm) i noticed that,i'm suprised it doesn't have a moat,too. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) homedelete(October 7, 2010, 5:57 pm) The owner of the sears catalog norwood house is somebody with a great job and probably a great pension at the CPD. There are a couple of retired firefighters in my neighborhood and they own some of the nicest homes. One lucky pension lottery winner parks his boat named "Put It Out" all summer long on grace street (which is one of the few entrances to the 'hood). I am hundreds of other residents see it every day during the summer as we enter the neighborhood. All the neighbors comment on what an ass you have to be to keep a boat on the street all summer long in Chicago. "jw on October 7th, 2010 at 5:19 pm clio, a lot of the people who live over here are well paid city workers…fire chiefs,boss cops,city managers etc,and moving to the suburbs isn't an option due to residency rules." VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) clio(October 7, 2010, 6:02 pm) thanks jw for the information – that makes a lot of sense. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) clio(October 7, 2010, 6:05 pm) ? VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) jw(October 7, 2010, 6:29 pm). VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) TomB(October 7, 2010, 7:13 pm) CPS teachers have to live in the city also VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) homedelete(October 7, 2010, 7:23 pm) You have to keep that rule in context of what was happening during Daley 1. Residents started fleeing urban neighborhoods in Chicago in the late 1940′s to early 1950′s as GIs returned from WWII and moved to tract housing in the, at the time, outer suburbs, which roughly corresponds to the time the interstate was built. Entire neighborhoods of the city were being gutted and the residents were being replaced with new, lower class residents. The riots of 1968 were the turning point and those who hadn't left quickly fled. In some areas, the residents with jobs stayed and the residents who were too poor to move (or too obstinate) stayed. For example Old Irving Park became an entire neigbhrohood of run down shacks, slop houses and old people. Logan square was much of the same. My great grandparents remained in Logan until the mid-90′s when they passed away, long after their children moved to the suburbs. Even Roscoe Village / Lakeview / Lincoln Park had the 'hillbilly' image (rightly or wrongly) that anon(tfo) got censored for mentioning once a long time ago. You still see remnants of this today in neighborhoods where there are new million dollar brick homes next door to an older house, usually with a pine tree or two in the front yard, with the old nasty gray siding, and residents that are so old you never see them. If you keep your eye out you will see them. They are the people who didn't leave for the suburbs in teh 40′s and 50′s and the neighborhoods looked like that for many years until the gentrification that started in LP in the 70′s, LV in the 80′s, WP/bucktown in the 90′s and Logan/Old Irving in the 2000′s. Hizzonor created that rule to try and prevent residents from leaving for Orland or Mt. Prospect and consequently, the city workers who were forced to stay moved to the out edges of the city limits. the pucinski family home was literally as far as the edge as you could g; cross Devon Ave and it became Niles. Beverly, Edison Park, Hedgewisch, west rogers park, Norwood, Edgebrook, Wildwood, Mt. Greenwood, all became places for city workers who wanted to flee the city but couldn't. Over time of course some of these neighborhods have changed and now are more exclusive than they were previously but they are still nicer areas, while some of the gutted areas like Austin, Lawndale, etc, have never recovered. There is a retiree who rents in my building and it's interesting to hear her stories of growing up in Roseland before it was gutted and all the residents fled in literally just a matter of years; now she lives near me and has never returned to the southside of her childhood, which is completely unrecognizable to her today. "#jw on October 7th, 2010 at 6:29 pm." VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) homedelete(October 7, 2010, 7:36 pm) Which again, explains why a Queen Anne in the far NW corner of Chicago sold for nearly a millions dollars in 1989 and has remained nice and beautiful all these years. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) jp3chicago(October 7, 2010, 7:41 pm) Yes as others noted CPS teachers are required to be residents. I think that it is a fair rule. If their money is going from the city tax revenue into their pockets why should it not be pumped back into the city? It also stabilized some neighborhoods. Although many live in pockets others are scattered across the whole city adding an extra layer of security. Growing up in Edison Park my whole street was cops/fire/teachers. It was safe, quiet, dull, and the lawns were well kept. Can you blame those folks from fleeing bad areas to live in better areas of the city.? I say no! The Daley Sr. rule just kept them from moving further out to the distant burbs chasing a better life for their kids. The joke is that if you are a cop or fireman in Kenilworth, Glencoe, or Lake Forest I'd bet that the residents would be offended if one of them were to actually live in their hood. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Bob(October 7, 2010, 7:45 pm) Its unAmerican to suggest restrictions on where someone can live. While your argument makes economic sense for the city, it infringes on these people's individual liberties and it's not right. Maybe instead if our city's government actually focused it's attention on making the city a desirable place to live in for all residents, then things would improve. You should ask yourself jp3chicago why other areas don't have or need these residency requirements and it will become abundantly clear. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) jw(October 7, 2010, 8:12 pm) good post HD.spot on VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Sabrina(October 7, 2010, 9:17 pm) "?" Librarians who work at the Chicago Public Library also have to live within the city limits. There are a whole host of city jobs where you have to live in the city. VN:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Barry(October 7, 2010, 9:27 pm) "Its unAmerican to suggest restrictions on where someone can live. While your argument makes economic sense for the city, it infringes on these people's individual liberties and it's not right." I feel for the people it was originally thrust upon, and somewhat feel for current Chicago employees, but it's not like it's a secret that people didn't know about going in. Maybe we can abolish residency requirements for politicians as well? I sure look forward to somebody with more money than sense from another state buying my local election! VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) SquareD(October 7, 2010, 9:47 pm) "Its unAmerican to suggest restrictions on where someone can live. While your argument makes economic sense for the city, it infringes on these people's individual liberties and it's not right." So is that people have a right to a job working for the city? Or is that a liberty? Although this is an incredibly unique neighborhood, the fact that its quality and property values are driven in large part by residency requirements for certain jobs makes it like approximately a billion other neighborhoods in the U.S. Good neighborhoods like these are not "unAmerican." (The pensions that enable the street-side boats, may be, but that's another subject.) VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Bob(October 7, 2010, 9:53 pm) "So is that people have a right to a job working for the city? Or is that a liberty?" You shouldn't tie where someone lives as a requirement to perform their job function or requirement to hold it. Their area of residence has no impact on their ability to perform their job functions. Just because it isn't one of the officially recognized illegal discrimination forms (ie: race, religion, etc) doesn't make it right. "Maybe we can abolish residency requirements for politicians as well?" You probably could but I doubt you'd have many winning elections. This might be one logical exception though as they are supposed to be representatives of the people of a geographic area. You can't properly represent people of a certain geographic area if you don't reside there. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) jp3chicago(October 7, 2010, 10:04 pm) I fail to see the issue Bob as many municipalities across our great "free" country have these rules. There is no one forcing a new police, fire or CPS teacher to join the workforce in Chicago. They do so out of free will with certain crystal clear strings attached. I also believe that the system should reward and favor individuals that want to be a part of the community that they reside in 24/7. Does that also mean that an airline can not have a requirement in place that an individual must be available on XX minutes notice and obviously live close enough to O'Hare or Midway to make that happen? sounds like their rights are being infringed on as well. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Bob(October 7, 2010, 10:16 pm) "sounds like their rights are being infringed on as well." No they aren't. The difference is this could potentially interfere with them performing their job function and its not a geographic/municipal limitation. If they want to live far enough away but have the means to get their expeditiously (ie: private chopper) then that's fine. "I fail to see the issue Bob as many municipalities across our great "free" country have these rules. " Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't make it right. "I also believe that the system should reward and favor individuals that want to be a part of the community that they reside in 24/7. " Yeah I bet those CPD that live in Edison Park and patrol in East Garfield Park really feel a part of that "community". Give me a break. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Madeline(October 7, 2010, 10:40 pm) "You shouldn't tie where someone lives as a requirement to perform their job function or requirement to hold it. Their area of residence has no impact on their ability to perform their job functions." Who shouldn't? Municipalities only, or does this apply to private employers as well? VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) jw(October 7, 2010, 10:45 pm) hd now that you mention it,Old Irving did used to have some dumpy areas,my aunt used to live on 3600 on tripp right behind Schurz HS,back in the seventies,and there were some pretty run-down homes there. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Bob(October 7, 2010, 11:07 pm) "Who shouldn't? Municipalities only, or does this apply to private employers as well?" Most people don't see or understand the distinction– government only. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Architect(October 8, 2010, 7:01 am) If Daley didn't have the residency requirement for city workers, the non-ethnic/non-immigrant white population would have disappeared from Chicago's middle-class (non Green Zone) neighborhoods years ago. If next mayor allows suburban residency for teachers, cops, firemen, and mid-level administrators, many if not most city workers would leave Chicago for suburbs. I read the Second City Cop blog regularly; cops regular bemoan the residency requirement. Despite the griping by employees, that residency requirement is one of the best city policies in place from "blue-collar/white-collar middle-income" neighborhood stability viewpoint. Regarding Old Edgebrook location of this house, we looked at several OE houses a decade ago. First of all, the houses always had several fatal flaws, whether poor floor plan, need for total rehab, or less desirable adjoining houses. Secondly, location in forest preserve puts these residents at #1 risk for mosquito/tick-related diseases of West Nile and Lyme. If you thought mosquitos were bad this summer, imagine being surrounded by woods, standing water, and overcrowded deer preserve. I guess you can enjoy your woodsy view from the comfort of your house interior, but your kids can't really play outside without an insect-repellant sheep-dip. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Jp3chicago(October 8, 2010, 10:17 pm) Bob sometimes you just miss the point entirely while trying to sound important and intelligent. While you are correct that the cop who patrols the ghetto does not necessecarialy feel a part of that community it was not the point. The point being made was that they are still living somewhere in the Chicago city limits and are a strong influence on that community! If there was no residency requirement then they would be taking that stability and income to another community. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) homedelete(October 8, 2010, 11:37 pm) Architect, mosqiutos were everywhere this summer. Hard to avoid them. Same could be said for any neighborhood with woods and trees. Imagine living in long grove or kildeer. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Bob(October 9, 2010, 8:36 am) "The point being made was that they are still living somewhere in the Chicago city limits and are a strong influence on that community!" I am a libertarian and against statist views such as yours. If you need to resort to the "its better for the city so it's necessary to deprive them of their housing options" I've already won. Its a very unAmerican way to try to preserve these pockets of decency in the city. If they want to live elsewhere let them. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Jp3chicago(October 9, 2010, 10:14 am) They are not being deprived of anything. They WILLINGLY took a job that has a policy in place setting a residency expectation. While I appreciate many lib policies and theories I fail to understand how you suggest that they have been deprived. They also are paid entirely by TAXES and the tax benefit of having them live in the same tax municipality is a fair tradeoff for their employer "aka local government" If they feel deprived then go work for the Cook County Sheriff, private security company, or many other law enforcement agencies that could care less where they live. I am small business owner and employ several people. While there is some slight benefit for my business to have them scattered around the city I do not have a "residency requirement" that makes the individual live in the territory they cover. The tradeoff is that they can live anywhere they want as long as they are committed to the extra drive time it will require to serve their customers. As a result four of my five employees choose to live downtown….. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) anon (tfo)(October 11, 2010, 8:12 am) "If they want to live elsewhere let them." They can. They can quit their job and move. Or do you think they are entitled to keep their job forever, no matter what they do? 6203 Lundy sold for $765K. Seems like an attractive price to me. 6239 still listed at $899K. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Groove77(March 24, 2011, 8:48 am) shoot if i knew it would go for 765 i might have…….yeah who am i kidding. that sale must sting to 6239 peeps. VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) DZ(March 24, 2011, 9:01 am) Yeah, I like a lot about this location, don't ultimately want to live there, but this price made me go hmmmm. Seems like it would have been better to lower list a bit on 6203. It's a full 20 percent off list. Why not go down 5 or 8 percent and see if you get more interest? VA:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Groove77(March 24, 2011, 9:09 am) I love both lundy houses, both way out of my entrance fee (price range) and way out of my level of upkeep (cost wise). the groove family would need the lotto digits to come in to afford the upkeep on a old wooden Victorian.	eng	ee87c695-051b-4dbe-806b-1692c99b15e3	http://cribchatter.com/?p=9384
Phoney "War on Women" Rhetoric The democrats really need to think about their rhetoric before they publicly announce it. This "war on women" garbage that Obama and the democrats are trying to push, just doesn't add up. First off, women are significantly more likely than men to identify as Democrats, and this gap is evident across all ages, from 18 to 85, and within all major racial, ethnic, and marital-status segments of society. If democrats were more pro-women than republicans, how did Obama win the nomination over Hillary Clinton? Also, how do the dems think they are going to paint Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney as women-haters or engaging a "war on women", when: Mitt and Ann Romney just celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary. Are we expected to believe that Romney only respects his wife, but is waging war on all other women? Rick and Karen Santorum have been married for 21 years and have seven children. Does Rick only respect his sons? They need to come up with something else, because even liberal women aren't buying this one. Comments: 155 So do you think ALL women are pro-abortion, because PP performs more than 350,000 abortions a year and most women do not want to be held accountable for them. Our tax dollars shouldn't be going to Planned Parenthood. Does that mean I'M waging a war on women? What women had their rights removed? They want to run their own lives, they should learn to say no every once in a while. If they want someone else to pay for their abortions, they aren't running their own lives. Well, Roryann, you, for example. If contraceptives are made illegal, that might affect your life (depending on your age). You might also note that pregnancy and birth are rather dangerous for women. For some women, a matter of life and death. You would restrict their choices to a huge risk of death or no sex until after they are sure they are sterile due to age? What real man would marry such a woman? Yet you would demand that their health insurance not cover paying to protect their lives and allow them to marry. Do you see any reason why health insurance should cover prescriptions to help men get and maintain an erection? Is there any GOP platform plank to eliminate that from health insurance on moral grounds? Your protection from fire and crime is also your responsibility, right? So you should not expect the local government to provide you with that protection unless you buy it. Thus, poor people should not expect police or fire protection from the state. Only those who pay should be able to call on those services. That is your position, right? Because you are saying that women who cannot pay must be celibate even if they are married or risk pregnancy. If I recall correctly you are opposed to abortion as well. I would guess that you do not want to be taxed for childcare for those poor women either. You don't want to be taxed to feed, house, clothe, heal, or educate those children, right? Well if you deny those poor women contraceptives and the rest of your wishes are granted in law, there will be lots of children suffering and starving. Isn't it more humane and less expensive to provide contraceptives to all women upon request? Because women will have sex relations (rape, temptation, religious law) and they will become pregnant as a result if they lack contraception and some will die due to those unwanted pregnancies. First off the Catholic Church is trying to outlaw contraceptives. One of the Republican candidates for President is a staunch Catholic. The tax money that you and I pay to the governments in whose jurisdiction we live spend our money on all sorts of things we would rather they not. The health bill is the MORAL equivalent of tax in its requirements. Paying for contraceptives is not paying for sexual pleasure. I am told that many people find certain types of contraceptive takes away from pleasure in sex. Your argument could be, "if you don't want to pay for medical bills don't get sick or injured." Sex relations are a normal and expected part of life for the great majority of our population. Women who have unwanted pregnancies are a problem for the society as a whole. Pregnancies have consequences as you may have noticed. It is to the benefit of society at large (that includes you and me) to prevent unwanted pregnancies. First off, if you go to a Catholic University, chances are, even thought Fluke doesn't seem to be one of the brightest bulbs in the bunch, you would already know about the Catholic Church's stance on birth control. The whole fluke was a set up from the get-go because Obama tried to violate the Catholic Church's freedom of religion, he tried to force them to go against their core beliefs. This was NEVER about birth control or trying to take it away. Take it away? It even sounds ridiculous. This fiasco blew up in their faces like every other stunt they've pulled. The only people they've convinced are those who are his ardent supporters anyway. Taking my taxes to pay for girls to have sex whenever they get the urge is NOT the same thing as my taxes going to the police and fire departments, that help people when they need it. Scott, I don't think even THEY believe. They repeat what Obama and others are saying. The only way government could take away birth control would be to stop making birth control pills, condoms, and other methods of contraception. If a woman's smart enough, she knows there are other ways to prevent pregnancy. Hey, I know...how about you keep your legs closed sometimes. I know that concept is foreign to Sandra Fluke-types. I mean if liberals believe this "war on women" is real, then they have to believe that Fluke is the most sex-crazed woman on the planet, right? And they shouldn't have complained when Limbaugh said a word out loud that the majority of people in the country were thinking, when it came to Fluke. Don't put words in my mouth. Nothing I have written has advocated taking the rights of any human being. Remember that I'm the guy who says that the Constitution and the Law do not protect us from oppression. That includes oppression by government of all sorts of things, both human beings and organizations. The Catholic Church should not be ably to deny anyone their rights. That is my contention. I think that Church should have to "play by the same rules" that other organizations do. I do believe that the Catholic Church and some politicians would take contraception rights from women. I have heard all sorts of things about Margaret Sanger. I also know something about Lincoln's ideas about blacks. The freeing of the slaves was a good thing. The starting of Planned Parenthood was a good thing. I don't care what the beliefs or objectives were in either case because the result was a good thing. I judge actions and consequences. I am no God. I cannot see what's in people's hearts. If you say that the Catholic Church should go against their core beliefs and buy medical insurance for women to buy birth control with, that IS taking away their freedom of religion and their right, by prohibiting, as stated in the Bill of Rights to: "the free exercise thereof". I can't even imagine how there could be any unwanted children. Margaret Sanger wanted to wipe out minority children and feeble-minded children. She was heartless. Read up about her and you'll find out what she was all about. Sanger started the contraception movement. She had some racist beliefs and favored sterialization of the 'feeble-minded' but was opposed to abortion and euthanasia. Her planned parenthood organization changed its position on abortion after her death. But I don't say the Catholic Church should go against their core beliefs because the Catholic Church is not a person. It's an organization. It has no beliefs. The members of the Catholic Church have core beliefs. They are not required to go against their core beliefs. They are not required to use contraceptives even if their insurance would cover such. There is no attempt by anyone to take away the freedom of religion of Catholics. They may freely exercise their religion so long as that exercise does not deny anyone else their rights. ----------- I am sorry to hear that you cannot imagine how there could be unwanted children. There are millions of them in case you had not noticed. There are many thousands in the U.S. Have you heard of foster children? Have you heard of orphanages? Have you heard of children taken from their homes due to abuse and neglect by their parents? Have you heard of people opposed to having their tax money used to feed and house poor children. Oh, there are lots of unwanted children. I don't care about Margaret Sanger. She's long dead. What's your hangup with somebody who died many years ago? Yes, the Catholic Church has core beliefs. One of them is against the use of birth control, always has been. Forcing them to pay for birth control violates their freedom of religion. I doubt the Pope, the Bishops and Cardinals, and anyone else connected with the Catholic Church who wrote letters to this administration telling them they will not comply, are wrong about the contraception mandate. The government cannot force the Catholic Church to go against their core belief that birth control is a sin. He overstepped and messed with the largest denomination of Christians in the US. He won't get his way on this one. He'll be back up against the SC again if he tries. The Catholic Church has dogma but the Church is not a person so it cannot believe anything. The Church prohibits the use of contraceptives. The only means of birth control it approves is abstinence. The Church is not a person except to the SCOTUS, I suppose. The Church does not have to pay for contraceptives, they only have to pay for insurance. Insurance may pay for contraceptives but the insurance company is not the Catholic Church. I see you either did not read or did not understand my previous comment. Larry, what's your gripe that she brought Margaret Sanger into it? She's credited for starting Planned Parenhood, though there is another woman I believe named Dennet, who started another organization from which Planned Parenthood evolved and she is also credited. Yeah, they're both dead but you cited Lincoln, and I haven't seen him around lately. Maybe he just hasn't joined Gather yet, though. If the members are the Church then the Church practices contraception in an overwhelming proportion of cases, even in Italy. So to practice contraception yet balk at paying for others to practice contraception is hypocrisy. The Church also has many and diverse beliefs on most matters of theology if the members are the Church. For example some believe women should be allowed to be priests and that the clergy should be allowed to marry. The Church is all the believers living and in Heaven. Also contrception is not a dogma of the Catholic Church. The Church currently opposes it but has not made an infallible declaration so it could be changed in the future. Since its not a dogma it's not a required belief. That's right, Scott. Contraception is not a dogma, of course. And you're also right that the Church is the people, not the building or the hierarchy, though it's common among non-believers to understand only those definitions. "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church." He wasn't talking about a physical structure, but about the people to Peter who was the fisher of men to Christ. Larry "Tell that to the women harmed by removal of their rights to run their own lives." We would LIKE them to run their own lives and quit living off the system. Nobody, nobody has told them they can't get birth control or have abortions. Who removed their rights? They are free to run their own lives. They can buy birth control, or have the man in their life do so, They can have all the abortions they want. No one has messed with their life. You and the Government are messing with my life however, when you take my freedom away and tell me I have to pay for it. Just curious, the government pays for their abortions; Just like I heard from a # of sources that they payed for breast enhancement For girls in the service. I didn't owe that to them either. The freedom to use my own money is partly taken from me to pay for these things and I don't want to pay. The Democrats are downing me. Larry; "The Catholic Church should not be ably to deny anyone their rights. That is my contention." 1. I'm glad we go by a constitution and not what others think. 2. The C.Church doesn't deny anyone the right to commit murder or use birth control, or sleep around or disobey they're parents. They teach what they believe God said in the Bible. People are free to do what they want. Also, they shouldn't have to participate in that which they've deemed sin. That's constitutional. The government running much of my private business is unconstitutional. I'll tell you the truth. I think men hide behind women and keep telling them they deserve wonderful things because they are cowardly. Nothing else explains it. They even say, "It's her body ... she gets to kill my child if she wants to." Which is a cowardly deed of the highest degree. They should be in the courts fighting for the life of their child. I'm thinking if enough men cared enough to fight for their children there are thoughts and ways that attorneys could fight with new reasoning's. But the men won't try so . . . ? Larry, it just makes me mad for men to hide behind women. You didn't pay for any of my decisions on birth control and I didn't pay for your wife. Why all of a sudden the men are in tears because I don't want to pay for other women's decisions. Families are struggling to make it out there. Older folks are struggling to make it. We resent the fact that you all can't say no to unreasonable requests of women. We rest of us are trying to do the right thing and want the women to take care of themselves. Then why should men's insurance provided by the same institution pay for drugs to help men have sex? There is no medical reason why they have to have those drugs for their health. There are medical reasons why some contraceptives are helpful for women's health. Sauce for the gander should be sauce for the goose. The Catholic Church has had considerable influence on the laws of nations. Some of those laws have prohibited contraceptives. That is the Church using government to impose restrictions on the public. If. . In this case, you are refusing to pay for something which benefits you and yours and which reduces your costs in other areas of life. And yet you complain. Larry "Then why should men's insurance provided by the same institution pay for drugs to help men have sex?" What institution? The government pays for it? That's another whole story. I'd have to research it a little. If his body is malfunctioning I think it should be on the insurance policy. On the other hand, at least he couldn't get anybody pregnant and make me pay for her abortion so he isn't bothered by his son. I think medicaid, medicare and other programs should pay for for men and women's birth control due to many on welfare are energetic in their entertainment and I would rather pay for pills than abortions. If women were malfunctioning sexually I would expect insurance and Medical programs to cover that. Larry "Some of those laws have prohibited contraceptives. That is the Church using government to impose restrictions on the public." What do you mean? How is the Church imposing restrictions on gov't? You mean the gov't wants to butt into the church business and decide how their contract should read for anyone they wish to employ. Shame on gov.t. Then if I were a young woman with an appetite for variety I would not work for the Catholic Conglomerate. " Larry "f." That doesn't get it Larry. That's like the insurance company saying they're going to limit sexual service to only penises. In the human world that would be out of the question the same as your example. If men wanted to protect his child nobody would ask him to carry it. Larry "." Of course. What does any of that do about a man trying to protect his child? We make rules to try to control what we can and live with the others. But if we tried to say "It will now take the signature of Mother AND Father to , kill their unborn child, I believe almost every Democratic man in America would rise with a roar and try to force the decision back over to the woman. Larry "In this case, you are refusing to pay for something which benefits you and yours and which reduces your costs in other areas of life. And yet you complain." The institution was the hospital or other establishment which is reluctant to pay for insurance that covers contraceptives. I don't know the names of those institutions. By the Church "using government" I refer to the Catholic Church, using its great influence with governments, to arrange to have laws against contraception. I assume you will not attempt to make the case that the Catholic Church has no influence with governments. But it isn't the man's body that is at risk of pregnancies. Therefore he has no right (it seems to me) to make demands on the mother concerning that pregnancy. What does it have to do with human rights if a man can demand that a woman risk death and serious injury. Glome, no offense taken. You are right I was talking about preventing pregnancy. No, I have no problem with the government having to regulate the population according to the laws of the constitution at all. I will defend the right of every religion to retain their freedom of belief. Larry "I assume you will not attempt to make the case that the Catholic Church has no influence with governments." Well Larry, every single one of us has the power over the government to force them to give us freedom of religion. How is it taking unfair advantage of the government? should be the question. It isn't. Those are natural rules of the Church that no President has ever tried to force on a Church. It is not something the C Church is doing new. It is a change in government by the President and the Democrats. The other change is the President and the Democrats poking into other private lives and forcing us to pay for the desires of other people. We had a lot of children and never asked others to pay for it. Now the Democrats have decided women are too ??? simple minded or cute :) to have to manage their own lives. That was the stupidest decision you men ever made. Although you now have support of a lot of the selfish women because they know they can control you. And that is not something they respect in a man. And now you are telling women conservatives are having a war with women because most of us refuse to pay for their abortions. And the Catholic Church won't pay for birth control unless it is given for reason other than birth control because they evaluated birth control when the means became available and determined that was a decision God should make in the marriage and now the Democratic men would rather go against the constitution than make those helpless women pay for their own pills. GAG! I'm sorry but I am disgusted with men that sell out to make the women happy whether it means killing their own child or making non constitutional demands or treating others unfairly just to make the women happy. Larry "using its great influence with governments, to arrange to have laws against contraception. I assume you will not attempt to make the case that the Catholic Church has no influence with governments." The Church arranged for who to have laws against contraception? The state? How so? Larry "But it isn't the man's body that is at risk of pregnancies. Therefore he has no right (it seems to me) to make demands on the mother concerning that pregnancy." No right to prevent the killing of his own child? That was one of the most outrageous laws ever made by the government. Taking the Father's child away from him and allowing the woman to kill it without giving him any say. Quit pitying the women because she doesn't like the cards that have been dealt out to mankind. She needs to be man enough to live up to her responsibility to share ownership. She needs to take preventative care if she doesn't want a real child to be conceived when she has sex. Their big girls now. The life of the child and the man's shared ownership have been thrown out the window just so you all can pamper the women. Their thrilled with the fact that the men have voluntarily given up all rights to their child. Larry, we are at risk for death in a thousand situations in life. Why do you think men owe women the right to kill their child just so the women doesn't get hurt? Please!! It's only because you are saying "My lady, you are more important than any child I may have caused to be conceived and I, therefore, give up all rights to my little boy. Kill him if you choose." Larry, I know that it seems like I'm making this sound as bad as possible. Actually, it is exactly the truth and you guys have just never thought it out. I am hoping my harsh speech will jangle something in your brains to say, "Hey, what child that God gives have I given up my power over? And for what reason? What you all have done is unthinkable. & I think, if you ever really took in the truth you'd be sick. I think you giving up rights to your child to the woman was done in an effort to be fair. But you've believed a lie. The Catholic Church is rich and it has lots of influence with large blocks of voters. Look at the history of the Church. Has it influenced governments? Has it influenced the laws of those governments? Has the Catholic Church influenced governments in the U.S.? If your answer to these questions is "NO." then I drop the subject. If "Yes." then the heads of the Church do have influence over laws that all of us live with including laws related to contraception. --------------- I contend that it is not "his own child." People are not property. To contend that they are is to approve slavery. Is the fetus a result of the man's sperm? Yes. But that gives the man no property rights. Does the man have the right to lock up a woman in a cage, force feed her food of his choosing, deliver the child on a date selected by astrologers by an operation because it's "his child"? No he does not. Because his rights may not deny her rights. His rights do not trump her rights. It's her body, her health, her mind, and her choice. Otherwise, it's slavery. ----------------- I will pity those I choose to pity. ------------------- You have a strange idea of pampering if you thing abortion is pampering. ------------------- A fetus is not a child. It is not a person. It has no mind. It has no self concept. It is not yet a being. --------------- You are trying to make it sound as bad as possible. That I don't mind. What I mind is your selecting misleading (lying) words. Also, I am agnostic so I would never claim that children (pregnancies) are gifts of God. I would never sacrifice someone else in the name of God. I would never tell someone else what they must do with their body and justify that by an appeal to religion. Point 1: "shouldn't you be telling women who are in no position to have a child, that they should learn that there are only certain times of the month, in most cases, when a woman can become pregnant." That's the "rhythm method" which has a high failure rate even when practiced by those well suited psychologically to apply it. Point 2: "Should women always say YES to a man's request for sex, even when it is at those times of the month when a woman is more likely to become pregnant?" A woman should say YES to a man's request for sex when it is A) appropriate and B) when she also wants sex. A woman should always be able to say NO for any reason at all. Point 3) "Shouldn't they have control of their bodies at that point and just say no?" We are dealing with the real world here. What should be is not always what is. Only a tiny fraction of human beings are able to resist temptation again and again with no lapses. It is completely unreasonable to expect (predict) that human beings will do that. It simply won't happen. It's foolish to make policy on the expectation or the demand that people will be able to practice the rhythm method successfully. Point 4) "Abortions of convenience are performed more often than abortions from a rape or from incest, or for when the mother is at risk." There is nothing "convenient" about an abortion. There's nothing casual about an abortion. Women don't have abortions because they enjoy them. Point 5) "I think teaching young women how to respect themselves and their bodies and that they have the right to say NO if they feel SO strongly about not wanting to bring a child into the world." You can teach them that. I hope we do. I have certainly taught my daughter that she always has the right to refuse sex of any kind from simple touching of hands to any other contact. But that's hardly enough, is it. Men don't necessarily accept "No!" for an answer. There are many means used, some coercive, some drugs, some deceptive, and so forth. Married women are subject to psychological and physical abuse not to mention other forms of coercion. That's just the way it is. It may be against the law. It may be condemned from the pulpit. But it's happening every day. And after a woman becomes pregnant when she does not want to be pregnant or when she is not able to properly care for a child or when it threatens her health (and giving birth is dangerous) you would say to her, "You no longer are in control of your body." "You must do this thing, like it or not and no matter the consequences." It is MY OPINION that it should be her decision and her decision alone as to whether to have an abortion. Larry "It is MY OPINION that it should be her decision and her decision alone as to whether to have an abortion." I just read through your last comment to me and then your comment to Roryann The truth is, nothing I said changed the mind of the baby's Dads probably. They're going to continue to cowtow to women and that's their choice. It's too harsh a discossion for me to discuss if no minds have chnged. I'm done :)But thanks for putting up with me so that I had a chance to say it all. Will see you on a different subject :) I have found that many women do not favor other women as political leaders! No conservative I know of on here for instance preferred Michelle Bachmann or even Sarah Palin over their favorite male Republican possibility. But the main thing is that the "War on Women" just sounds so great if you are a Democrat. They have been trying so hard for so long to convince their base that Republicans hate women and women's rights that (to paraphrase Lenin) it's a case where they said it enough that eventually it was believed to be true. It's mind boggling how the MSM and Democratic party leaders can put out any charge and a substantial part of their rank and file will accept it without question, because they've been told over and over and over for decades that REPUBLICANS ARE EVIL so any bad charge against them must be true! ... Instead of saving resources, money and getting ready to fight the real opposition, Romney, Santorum and Gingrich are still in the race, damaging themselves every day they open their mouths... Evil no, not smart is a better qualification. Obama campaign will not even have to dig up dirt. All they have to do is to use the dirt that the Republican candidates used against each other. A big advantage this situation will present is that what was once dirt, will be just a point made and bought by one of their own... Anybody realizes how many jobs would have been created using the money wasted in those campaigns??? You speak as if everyone with conservative values is a Republican, Crin. Did you know there is also a Conservative Party? They're not Republicans either. Did you know that there are liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats? "Anybody realizes how many jobs would have been created using the money wasted in those campaigns???" My goodness, Crin! I'm so impressed with such an original thought. You must be one o' dem smart, deep thinkin' libs. You would think no woman would every vote for a republican the way the liberals talk. The best part of this is, that they fabricated this war on women while talking about the government paying for their abortions or their birth control. How are they running their own lives if they are dependent on the government, in other words, other peoples' money, to determine their sex lives? One week it's the war on women, the next it's a race war. What WILL they come up with next? As far as who the candidate will be, when one is determined, he'll be the one we vote for. Anybody but Obama. The only people believing these supposed 'wars' is the liberal base anyway. Crin, all anyone has to do is look at Obama's record and his dismal failures: The economy, unemployment, his foreign policy, and on and on and on. He can't run on his record, so this campaign will be all about republicans and wars on whatever is popular one week to the next. CRIN ... way up there. ".." I appreciate your well thought out post Crin. But you overlook that we have so much talent in the Republican party that it is very hard to judge between them :) We just want to hang on to every good man as long as we can. As for intellect, I know what you mean, my 14 & 15 yr olds didn't think I was very smart at that time either. You know how that is, shallow intellect and lack of experience at that age. Some people grow out of it and some don't. I'm just proud of you for hanging in there and making an effort to understand us :) Glome, and on that subject, the left claims to love strong powerful women, but as soon as a nobody came on the scene to challenge Clinton in the race for presidential candidate, they dropped Hillary like a hot potato, without knowing a THING about Obama. So much for being the party that stands up for women, huh? You are right Roryann. Hey, do people call you the full name or Roryann or do they short cut it to a nick name? I think our men on the left will see eventually that they've been taken for a ride by the 'weak' manipulative women that specialize in feeling sorry for themselves. I actually really like strong women. I like honest ones that respect others as much as themselves. :) I think the main problem is that these women have never taken responsibility for anything they've done, let alone been responsible for someone else, like a child. While pregnant with my kids, I always felt it was a gift from God, not a punishment for something I did wrong. Yes, Mark-John, it certainly is. I still blame Marlo Thomas for her "Free to be You and Me" garbage. The second part of it was lost on most. Be what you want to be, but also take responsibility for yourself. The trash talk started with the left announcing the Republicans are waging a "War on Women." How forking absurd. We're just playing with that because it does not deserve serious consideration and we refuse to further participate in this latest ridiculous attempt to put us on the defensive so Socialists' can cover their gimme gimme butts. Governor Bob "Vaginal Ultrasound" McDonnell of Virginia and his states laws are not phony. They are very real and result in conservatives mandating a medically unnecessary procedure that actually penetrates women's bodies at the direction of the state. Governor Scott Walker's signature on a law that actually repeals equal pay for equal work for women in the state of Wisconsin is not phony. It is very real and will have serious consequences for women, families, and children in the state. Roy Blunt and Marco Rubio's attempt to pass a law allowing employers to refuse insurance coverage to their employees on any moral objection was not phony either. Women are aware of these and other insults and injuries coming from conservatives and the Republican party. They have already moved away from Romney. You can be sure they will remember in November. I think if a woman lets a doctor penetrate her uterus with a sharp medical instrument so they can then suck the contents out with a vacuum, as is done with an abortion, an ultrasound is not going to be very intrusive. I don't know what newfangled equipment you think they use, but I had an ultrasound wiht two of my kids and they squirted cold gel on my pregnant belly and ran a blunt instrument over it until I could see my baby in my womb. There are no insults or injuries coming from anyone. This is just so ridiculous. As I said, the only ones buying this garbage are those who defend anything and everything this president does. They'll go along with anything this administration tells them to go along with. This isn't working any better than the " all bankers and oil companies and corporations are evil" garbage. This president has nothing in his dismal record to run on and he's desperate. If you want to volunteer to be penetrated by the state, go ahead, knock yourself out. The pertinent part of my objection is this fragment; "...mandating a medically unnecessary procedure that actually penetrates women's bodies at the direction of the state." This is not a conservative principle. Nor is it "small government." This is a "handmaiden's tale." This is oppression from the state. Just like being strip-searched for having a faulty auto muffler—which can happen now thanks to the "conservative" justices of the Supreme Court. Handmaiden? Come on, William, be serious. The reason people are railing against the ultrasound is because they know they'll see the living breathing human being they are carrying around inside of them and they don't want that on their conscience. Abortion should be put to a vote in ALL states. Let's see how it does then. My guess is, it won't fare well. I think most states would keep (at least some) abortions legal. more restrictions would be imposed like the ultrasound viewing, long waiting periods, 1st trimester only. 1 or 2 might ban abortion altogether. I don't buy this oppression argument at all. I also think women seem more opposed to abortion than men. From reading the Virginia law there is nothing about penetrating the women's bodies. All it says is an ultrasound is performed to determine the age and another test is given to measure the heart rate. The women is also allowed to view the ultrasound if she desires. Exactly right, William. No matter how much they try to deny it, the actions by Republicans that are being collectively described as their "war on women" are all very real. And no matter how much they insist that it's all about women wanting the taxpayers to pay for their contraception, it's clear that it's not. Laws severely restricting abortions. Laws banning private insurance companies from covering abortions. Laws granting legal "personhood" to embryos for the purpose of banning abortions, contraception, IVF, embryonic stem cell research, etc. Cuts or elimination of government funding to Planned Parenthood and other health care services with large proportions of female clients. Attempting to redefine rape. Attempting to define alleged rape victims as "accusers". Legalizing the killing of doctors who perform abortions. The list goes on and on. Well, that's just insane to call killing an abortion doctor, justifiable homicide when abortions are legal. Although, this doesn't fall under the "war on women" category, I wouldn't say that all republicans would be okay with this bill. Transabdominal ultrasounds don't involve penetration, but transvaginal ultrasounds do. Both types of ultrasound involve the use of a transducer. In the case of a transvaginal ultrasound, that transducer is inserted into the vagina. Republicans have passed, and are trying to pass more, laws that require doctors to insert ultrasound probes into women's vaginas, even when neither the doctor nor the woman wants the procedure done, and when there is no medical justification for doing so. "Although, this doesn't fall under the "war on women" category, I wouldn't say that all republicans would be okay with this bill." It definitely falls in the "war on women" category. I'm sure that not all Republicans would be okay with those bills. I'm also sure that not all Republicans are okay with the Republican's "war on women". Not even all Republican legislators. "It makes no sense to make this attack on women. If you don't feel this is an attack, you need to go home and talk to your wife and your daughters." "Well, that's just insane to call killing an abortion doctor, justifiable homicide when abortions are legal." I agree. I also think it's insane to call killing an "abortion doctor" justifiable homicide if the abortion is consensual, whether it's legal or not. But I think this is the sort of thing you can expect when people insist on referred to abortion as "murder". That's ridiculous, wil. You don't expect any murder justified unless it's self-defense (or unless you're nuts) and then it's not really murder; it's self-defense. I'm not making any statements about whether I think it is or isn't murder because that's not the point. The point is that whether or not someone calls it murder does not make it an expectation that anyone should consider murdering an abortion doctor justified. That's just your way of saying you don't think abortion should be called murder and giving a silly reason to justify your silly thoughts. I agree with him about the transvaginal ultrasound, though. I mean, I wouldn't call any of it a war on women. I just think that's the usual liberal histrionics displaying itself this time in a meme to benevolently contribute an added thought fragment to the otherwise hollow chambers of the thoughtless so they can have more brain farts to blow the next time they make a comment. However, that is an invasive procedure that I think is unnecessary and may do more harm than good. I didn't say anything about any "murder" being justified, Sue. As you point out, if a killing is legal, then by definition it isn't murder. "The point is that whether or not someone calls it murder does not make it an expectation that anyone should consider murdering an abortion doctor justified." I think whether or not someone considers abortion to be murder definitely impacts on whether or not they might consider killing an "abortion doctor" justified. I think legislative measures such as HB 1171 make that clear. I think the statements of people who kill "abortion doctors" and bomb "abortion clinics" also make it clear. Scott Roeder said that he shot and killed George Tiller because "preborn children's lives were in imminent danger". Francis Grady said that he tried to firebomb a Planned Parenhood clinic in Wisconsin "[b]ecause they're killing babies there". Eric Rudolph said, after pleading guilty to four bombings (two women's health clinics, a gay nightclub, and at 1996 Olympics in Atlanta), said (among many other things), "Abortion is murder. And when the regime in Washington legalized, sanctioned and legitimized this practice, they forfeited their legitimacy and moral authority to govern" and "The object was to target the doctor-killer, but because the device was prematurely discovered by the security guard, it had to be detonated with only the assistant-killers in the target area." Wil, I know what you said, and I responded to what you said. You just said the exact same thing again in different words. "I think whether or not someone considers abortion to be murder definitely impacts on whether or not they might consider killing an 'abortion doctor' justified." Well, as I said, they'd have to be nuts to think that and I don't think there's much anything short of psychiatric help can do to make someone who's nuts think any differently but nuts. (Case in point, Eric Rudolf who may not be criminally insane, but he's a flippin' nutcase) So, once again, the reason you think or want to make anyone else think calling abortion murder impacts any rational person to justify murder of an abortion doctor is just your way of saying you don't like abortion to be called murder and you're using that as an excuse to justify imposing your thoughts on others. It's the same tripe you people use every single time some nut case plays out what he would have done anyway because he's a nutcase. So instead of focusing on the problems of people who are mentally disturbed, you want everyone to become enablers of their psychoses by treating them with kid gloves so they won't have to face their psychoses. Instead, you people want to blame average, sane people for expressing their honest thoughts. That's nuts too. And as I said, there certainly seem to be lots of people who think that. Including legislators who try to pass laws to make the killing of "abortion doctors" justifiable homicide, people who take it upon themselves to kill "abortion doctors", people who agree that "abortion doctors" should be killed, but disagree on how they should be killed and by whom, etc. You'd better be down on your ever lovin' knees a prayin' no one does that now, Berf. Don't worry. I'll take up a collection on Gather to bail you out of the slammer while the other side writes posts about how this poor, misled psychopath would never have done such a thing if you hadn't said that. Obama has no problem with late term abortions. If the child survives, they leave it in a room and do not give it any medical attention, and they just let it die. I think any medical personnel who alllow that to happen should go to jail. Wil B, The women in VA who would have a problem with the transvaginal ultrasound might want to know how abortions are performed. Same procedure except with the abortion, after the probe comes the vacuum that sucks out the life the woman is carrying inside. Which is more invtrusive? I guess it depends on whether the woman feels a baby would be too intrusive on their lives, but they don't think about how they feel afterwards and some will carry that guilt for the rest of their lives. Roryann, I'm sure there are many women who, when contemplating abortion, think also about the pain of childbirth. It may not be their reason for not wanting to go ahead with the pregnancy and birth, but because it is an intrusive procedure, I think it serves to remind them of the discomfort and parhaps even the pain that goes along with childbirth, further confirming, especially in what might also be a confused state of mind, the decision to go ahead with the abortion. That's why I said I think it can do more harm than good. Sue B, I can't even begin to understand what goes on in the minds of women who contemplate aborting the life they are carrying inside of them. And I'm talking about abortions of convenience, not those that are the result of incest or rape, or those which are medically necessary to save the mother's life. Well, I know it's difficult to understand what goes on in anyone's mind, but because it is so difficult doesn't mean that you can't try to put yourself in that position and think about how you might feel in at least one scenario. Imagine yourself a young girl about to go off to college, and instead you get pregnant. We're talking now about the position she finds herself in. She knows she made a terrible mistake,; she knows what she is about to do is wrong; she also suddenly faces an entirely different life than what she had been planning. All I am saying is that an intrusive procedure like a transvaginal ultrasound that reminds her of the discomfort of what she is about to endure in pregnancy and the pain of chilbirth is a procedure that may work in favor of her making the wrong decision more than it will the right one. Abortion is murder in my eyes Sue, not an invasive procedure. No one asks the child the woman is carrying if they object to the invasiveness of a sharp instrument piercing their skull, or a vacuum suckng them out of the womb. To me, the ultrasound and abortion is the difference between a hangnail and a stab wound. I understand what you're saying and I agree that abortion is murder. I happen to be pro-choice, and the reason I am pro-choice is because I believe that the great majority of people with sound moral character will make the right decisions most of the time. Those are the same lines that will reproduce what you want to generate to populate the earth. However, when as in a situation as the one I presented above, even those with sound moral character can be persuaded to make a decision that they would not have made if it were not for a procedure that was the tilting point because it reminded them that this is just the beginning of the negative aspects they may already have thought of about carrying a child to term and childbirth. This may impact a decision that might have gone otherwise to a decision to abort. The abortion itself, although invasive, is quick and done with to a confused mind that is grappling with the thoughts I presented above. It may be unpleasant, but it doesn't require the extended discomfort and pain. It allows one to proceed with one's life as planned. To you, who is not as I asked you to, putting yourself in the position so you might be able to see if from another's perspective who is not in the same state of an unagitated mind, it might be only the difference between a hangnail and a stab wound. That's your mind, though. You have your children and it isn't you whose child's life is in danger so you have to put yourself in the woman's position whose child is in danger and realize that this invasive procedure may cause more women to decide to abort or murder, opposite of what we want. "Wil B, The women in VA who would have a problem with the transvaginal ultrasound might want to know how abortions are performed.... Which is more intrusive? The woman is choosing to have the abortion procedure, but not the transvaginal ultrasound. The reason the ultrasound is intrusive is because politicians are requiring that the procedure be done, even if both the patient and the physician don't want to do it. I think that how people feel about this not only depends on how they feel about abortion, but how they feel about politicians demanding that women have probes inserted into their vaginas. People who think it's okay for politicians to demand that women have probes inserted into their vaginas before they can get an abortion (a legal medical procedure) might also think about whether it's okay for politicians to demand that women have probes inserted into their vaginas before they can get a hysterectomy, or mammoplasty, or chemotherapy. And whether or not it's okay for politicians to demand that women have probes inserted into their vaginas before they can vote, get a driver's license, apply for a job, etc. Women need to be in control of their reproduction. Not politicians. Not the state. Not people who will have nothing to do with caring, feeding, clothing, sheltering, or educating any resultant offspring. Only the women themselves in consultation with their physicians. Let's not forget about the emotional aspects of abortion on women. Having an abortion can have long-term effects on women physically and emotionally.The lives of babies could be saved if woman do decide they do not want the ultrasound. William, we're not living in some God-forsaken country where women can't do anything before getting permission. Women are in control of their own bodies. Unfortunately, the control should be self-control. And I'm with you there, if you cannot afford to have children without the government stepping in, you shouldn't have them. Am I sensing a small patch of middle ground here? My point is that we are moving toward a country (God-forsaken or not) where women cannot make decisions about their own health and/or reproductive choices with interference and/or "permission" from the state. No one wants the number of abortions to increase. Close Planned Parenthood and they will. Restrict access to contraceptives and they will. Criminalize safe legal abortions and more women will die and the children they leave behind will suffer. Leave the decision between women and their physicians. If you want to advocate for the immorality of abortions and persuade people to your beliefs, fine, but when you attempt to impose your beliefs upon the rest of society, who may not subscribe to them, or intimidate or even kill abortion providers or women seeking their services, consider how you would feel if someone was trying to do the same to you. There is a difference between advocates and terrorists. And yes, the word terrorists applies. You write: "And I'm with you there, if you cannot afford to have children without the government stepping in, you shouldn't have them." Just how are they to accomplish that, realistically? Want less abortions? Don't restrict contraceptives. All women are not in the same circumstances. In this country currently, women, depending on where they live, are neither in control of their bodies, their economic equity, their political/democratic lives, or the limits placed on their career advancement. All currently because of policies, laws and decrees authored mostly by Republican legislatures and governors. Taken as a whole, the assault on women's lives certainly seems to me to be a "war on women." I've never advocated for killing anyone. Abortions are legal and so is contraception. They will never be banned or outlawed. The call for defunding Planned Parenthood happened a while back when there was a report out on them, done by undercover video. I can't remember the specifics, but I can look it up. I would much rather see women have their healthcare needs met at reputable hospitals, clinics, and doctors' offices that have no scandal attached. Wm, "Taken as a whole, the assault on women's lives certainly seems to me to be a "war on women." Who is assaulting them? If they want to kill their baby, they can, I'm sure the Daddy won't stand up for the child. But asking me to pay for it is a war on this woman. Btw, Your hair is darling :) but I think it's pulling on your brain a little. Wm. " . . .but when you attempt to impose your beliefs upon the rest of society, who may not subscribe to them, or intimidate or even kill abortion providers or women seeking their services, consider how you would feel if someone was trying to do the same to you". I believe the woman is committing murder William. But, the gov't has given her the OK. So, I agree it is no longer against the law. And you and other Democrats are forcing me to pay for it. And it makes me feel very bad. It's not fighting a war against women to say I don't want to pay for your preventive needs. I don't think it's wrong to use them but if you want them buy them for yourself. What is happening to Americans that are quite happy to be on the dole all the time. I don't want to pay for it!!! Roryann writes: "I would much rather see women have their healthcare needs met at reputable hospitals, clinics, and doctors' offices that have no scandal attached." Oh really? Then you are for Obamacare, I take it. Since many of the previous uninsured and uninsurable were women and children. Last year 1100 anti-women measure were introduced in state legislatures around the country. Eight states are trying to defund Planned Parenthood. Thirteen states are pushing for mandatory medically unnecessary ultrasound bills. Anti-abortion folks always claim they don't advocate killing anyone, but when clinics are bombed or doctors are murdered the perps are always from the anti-abortion community. These are your people, not progressives. Glome, I don't want to pay for corporate welfare, or subsidies to oil companies that are part of the wealthiest industry to ever occupy the planet, but I don't get to pick and choose who gets my tax dollars except by representative government. Why should you be any different? I'm curious, William...as a liberal male, what makes you think you know more about what women, liberal or conservative, need or want? I have 3 kids, so obviously I've had healthcare services geared toward women. For the uninsured in this country, there is medicaid. For those who work who cannot afford to pay the full price of healthcare, there are insurance programs that charge people based on what they can afford. No, I do not believe that kids should be covered under their parents' healthcare plans unless they are a full time college student. I worked beginning at the age of 17 and paid for my own healthcare. With the growing number of people becoming dependent on the government, what happens when the government runs out of other people's money. I live by the rule that you should work for what you want, and you should not get what you didn't work for. You act as though people who are poor do not work. There are millions of people working to support their family who can be labeled poor. But poor doesn't mean the government should take care of them for the rest of their lives. I didn't know I had people, unless you mean women. But you seem to know what women want and need, even though I've been a woman for over 50 years, since birth. First, I might be liberal compared to you, but my friends might not view me that way. Second, I don't claim to know more than anyone else, but I do keep up with policies, politics and trends. I am around and in conversation with many women in my profession, I've lived in two rather conservative states, worked in a bunch of others. I listen. Even some Republican women (and men) are repulsed by what is happening and how clueless their leaders are on these issues. Just today, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was on the radio making stuff up about the level of support his particular view enjoys among the women of his own party. Check it out. William, I know you're right about us all being required to pay for different things that we don't want to. However ... killing the unborn child was such a huge law to change, so strongly felt to be murder by so many, the government continued to promise tax payers money would not be used. I think that was a necessity to prevent a rebelliion :) Every president has continue to promise we wouldn't have to put our tax money into killing the babies. Even President Obama promised us that a number of times. They all know Americans that are for protecting the babies is very serious & they kept protecting the tax payer toward being forced to involve himself in the or killing. President Obama Promised us even while he was writing his medical bill. Wm, even if you're liberal, you have to acknowledge that President Obama has trouble recognizing the importance of telling the truth. The problem comes in when the president announces there is a "war on women" and anyone who supports Obama will take that to me ALL women in the world should believe that contraception should be free for ALL women. That's simply not true. I can't imagine I'm the only woman who believes this is what Obama is making up to secure the female vote. He would never get the conservative womens' vote and he already has the liberal womens' vote, so I don't know what this made up War on Women is supposed to accomplish, except divide us further apart. That's one thing Obama's good at. I think that the Dems again at their best handing out other peoples money and forcing their views onto everyone else... They are in our business enough... They need to stay out of the Church's business.... I for one, dont want any of my tax paying dollars going toward paying for someone's abortion... Let them pay for it themselves... There is many different ways to prevent unwanted or untimely pregnancies, but not on my dime... I dont see any attack on planned parenthood.. Actually, most clinics give away free birth control to those that need it.. I am guessing that some of the taxpayers money does go to fund this program... Now, I never complained about that BUT when I found out about funding abortions, now I take issue... How do they get pregnant if they are taking the pill or using contraceptives as instructed? The Dems always want to make a mountain out of a molehill anyway...There is no Republican war on woman as the Dems try to once again, make the public look stupid.... I hope that these people research the libs/Dems/progressives and get a backbone, develop a brain, and start thinking for themselves and not need a Dem to do the thinking for them... Research Dems... While you Obama supporters are at it... Research who the real racists are... Go back to the Civil Rights Movement, check out how the politians voted... Check out Al Gores daddy and Billy boy Clintons mentor.... You might learn something... Stop showing your stupidity and READ, as the Dems/Libs on here claim to be so darn smart... Cant prove it by me... They need to read... War on women continues —> Walmart, ATT, State Farm —>ALEC —> Voter restriction laws —> Stand your ground laws = Shoot first justify later laws —> people waking up as new SC decisions affect even the 1% and the dominant culture —> re-election of president Obama November 2012 and possible gains in both houses of congress as well. What have the other organizations done and what do they have to do with the made-up "war on women", which is basically a tool to get women to re-elect Obama. I hate to break it to you and to him, but conservative women probably didn't vote for him the first time around, and Catholic and Jewish women most likely won't this time either. War on Women! Come on...that's comical, really. And by the way, I'm not sure you can prove that Walmart, ATT and State Farm are ALL republicans or conservatives...and... I'm glad I live in an open carry state with self-defense laws in place. Anyone attacks ME or tries to attack my family or invade my home, yeah, I would most definitely shoot first and ask questions later. Nope. I mean voter restriction laws. That is what they are designed to do. If there were no physical or economic barriers to voters introduced by these laws, then they would be voter verification laws. Most of the measures introduced are designed to disenfranchise certain segments of people, primarily because Republican only want their own constituency to vote. The incidence of documented voter fraud is something like .0003%. There is no problem with voter fraud. Voter registration is different, but most all of those are caught before voting takes place. You talk about the "lawless left," but it is Republicans who has summarily suspended democracy in Benton Harbor, Michigan and it is Republicans who are embroiled in fudging the vote counts in the Michigan House of Representatives. Looks to me that its the "lawless right" you need to be checking out. What about the Black Panthers with the batons outside of polling places? Do you think they restricted some voters rights? Apparently Holder didn't. But suddenly they're concerned about restricting people from voting. If you don't have an ID to prove you're a citizen and have voting rights, you shouldn't be voting. Oh for God's sake! Two full time and 10 more part-time idiots with a pilfered name that are really a local PD matter, and white folks are scared to death. Try being a minority walking around with scared white people carrying concealed weapons and knowing that you will be the last priority of local police, and the scales of justice are stacked against you before you're even charged. These idiots happened in one location for one election. Weigh that against Republican legislatures in states across the country trying to do exactly what I mentioned above. Don't even think you're talking an equivalent threat to democracy. Please. Educate yourselves and we'll talk. Until then, this conversation (such as it is) is just a waste of time. Later. Well, PA is an open carry state like mine is, so I don't know how scared the white people were. Just because they weren't intimidated doesn't mean they shouldn't have been investigated. Holder chose not to do so. So first you call white people scared and then you say they're carrying concealed weapons. The point of buying a gun to use to protect yourself and your family, is to remove that fear. I know it's done that for me. How can a US citizen NOT have an ID? How is that even possible? Educate myself? You're given an opinion, and a bitter biased one at that. This white person never did anything to you, so insulting my intelligence shows me you don't know how to debate an issue.	eng	eb4ab8a2-3161-492f-b955-e7b5d247b5f1	http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981246722
Landfill Timeline 1934-1944: Beginning of purchases and creation of Oneida County Reforestation under the leadership of Superintendent Wallace Brown; 798 acres of farm land straddling both sides of what it now State Route 294 in the Town of Ava, between Boonville and West Leyden, New York 1950: Theodore Woolslager, a forester and World War I veteran, involved with the creation of the Oneida County Reforestation, promotes the idea of creating a Veterans' Memorial Forest in Ava, NY 1952: Local organizations and businesses from the towns of Boonville and West Leyden donate materials and labor to create the Veterans' Memorial Forest May 30, 1953: Dedication of the Veterans' Memorial Forest takes place with Dr. Foster Brown, President of Oswego College, and son of Wallace Brown, giving the main address. A bronze marker is dedicated in memory of all veterans who have served their country. Summer 1953: North County Life publishes article by T.P. Woolschlager entitled, "Oneida County's Veterans' Memorial Forest" A living memorial – nearly 800 acres of waving green trees near Boonville in Oneida County – was dedicated last spring to the veterans who have fought and won our wars so that freedom and democracy might live … Oneida County is justly proud of this living memorial, one of the finest Veterans' Memorials in New York State, or perhaps the whole Northeast. 1952-1960's: Byron Trainor of West Leyden makes sure the flag is raised and lowered every day while keeping up the appearance of the area surrounding the marker. 1987: Oneida-Herkimer County landfill effort was initiated 1988: Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority (OHSWA) was created and approved by Governor Mario Cuomo and issued $50 million in bonds for "start-up costs" July 10, 1989: OHSWA executive director Hans Arnold acknowledges county owned reforestation cannot be used for a landfill in a letter to Joseph Dziedzic, Secretary, Herkimer County Conservation Alliance July 16, 1991: OHSWA writes letter to Assemblyman Dave Townsend with regard to using public lands for a landfill. Townsend responds by stating Oneida County Law 219 prohibits use of reforestation land for anything but reforestation. January 1992: OHSWA selected as lead agency for purpose of siting and constructing a long-term full service landfill for Oneida-Herkimer counties March 1992: OHSWA Draft Environmental Impact Statement eliminates the use of public lands (Veterans' Memorial Forest) as a potential landfill site 1992: OHSWA asks Oneida county executive Ray Meier if the Veterans' Memorial Forest can be used for the landfill contrary to previous OHSWA communications and statements acknowledging County Law 219 April 14, 1992: Letter from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation director of solid waste John Kenna to Steven Wood - to protect Frankfort, Newport, Norway from being identified as potential landfill sites Isn't the DEC supposed to be objective in siting potential landfill sites? Why would the DEC want to protect Herkimer County sites? May 1992: OHSWA newsletter claims 40 willing sellers offer private land for the potential landfill; OHSWA refuses to publish sellers' names in violation of the Freedom of Information Law June 1992: Landfill siting methodology from OHSWA Environmental Impact Statement is modified by OHSWA for the first time February 1993: County Executive Ray Meier authorizes testing (digging) in County Reforestation land (Veterans' Memorial Forest) in violation to County Law 219 and without the permission from Oneida County Legislature. February 1993: Ava resident Alex Stempien discovers OHSWA digging between Krupp and Pohl Road on GBF Corporation land (2 miles south of the Veterans' Memorial Forest); excavators refuse to answer Stempiens' questions – OHSWA quickly abandons Pohl Road site and targets the Veterans' Memorial Forest as the ideal place to construct a 104 landfill. OHSWA sites the preference for using public land (violating County Law 219) and claims that the "marker" located on Rt. 294 is the entire Veterans' Memorial Forest March 1993: AVAL formed - Ava Voices Against the Landfill March 5, 1993: Rome Daily Sentinel - OHSWA says landfill has to be located on at least 200 acres, 40-60 acres footprint, 170,000 tons of garbage per year, 20 years, 36-45 million dollars cost March 24,1993: To NYSDEC Staff from Region 6 Director Thomas E. Brown – purpose to designate Michael Barylski, Project Coordinator OHSWA Landfill Siting Effort – memo states "The success of this project is extremely important and will require that all DEC staff work together as a team. Please give Mike your fullest cooperation on this important project." May 1993: Meetings held by OHSWA at Adirondack Central High School bring hundreds of local citizens protesting a proposed landfill on the Veterans' Memorial Forest May 1993: OHSWA publishes top 10 landfill sites in order of OHSWA ranking 1. Ava (Veterans' Memorial Forest), Oneida County 2. Fairfield - Norway, Herkimer County 3. Verona, Oneida County – Oneida Indian Land Claim Area 4. Verona, Oneida County – Oneida Indian Land Claim Area 5. Fairfield - Newport, Herkimer County 6. Deerfield, Oneida County 7. Fairfield - Little Falls, Herkimer County 8. Verona, Oneida County- Oneida Indian Land Claim Area 9. Verona, Oneida County – Oneida Indian Land Claim Area 10. Verona, Oneida County – Oneida Indian Claim Area Important Note: Joe Paluck's farm in Ava (present landfill site) did not make the top 10 potential landfill sites, nor the list of 79 possible landfill sites in Oneida and Herkimer Counties. May 1993: OHSWA proposes to build a bypass road as a part of the landfill project @ a cost of $2.7-3.3 million or build a railroad bypass option for $13 million for 4-5 miles of track May 1993: Local veterans are outraged when Veterans' Memorial Forest is selected as future landfill site; Veterans Defending Memorial Forest organization is formed June 1993: Utica Observer-Dispatch - OHSWA estimates testing costs for Ava site(s) to be $60,000 but approximately one year later, actual cost was over one million dollars June 1993: Oneida County American Legion Posts unanimously pass resolution against OHSWA's selection of Veterans' Memorial Forest in Ava as a landfill site June 23, 1993: Boonville Herald - Letter from Town of Lewis Board indicates an underground lake exists in West Leyden and supplies drinking water for entire town; located only 1 mile from landfill site Town of Lewis did not have representation at the vote to confirm the Ava landfill site because they were not from Oneida County June 1993: Adirondack Communities Advisory League (ACAL) is formed to protect the land, air, water, and wildlife in this region June 1993: ACAL hires environmental attorney Michael Gerrard from Berle – Kass & Case Law Firm, New York City July 7, 1993: Boonville Herald - 200 local residents go to Oneida County office building with 2,583 signatures against landfill – over 3 times the population of Town of Ava (725) July 13, 1993: Boonville Herald - ACAL files lawsuit with regards to County Law 219; OHSWA maintains that "… the New York Public Authorities Law empowers the Authority to acquire [the] county land." ACAL argues that the law creating the Authority does not supersede County Law 219 July 20, 1993: Daily Sentinel - OHSWA insists the Veterans' Memorial Forest is their only choice for a landfill. They claim the Memorial is public land and a county reforestation area, and viewed as being a favorable landfill site despite opposing views from area citizens and veterans August 16, 1993: OHSWA files lawsuit against 22 Ava landowners to test on their properties August 30, 1993: Oneida County Judge Tenney fails to rule on ACAL's lawsuit regarding 5 landowners and County Law 219 August 1993: Ava fights to have eligible landowners included in Agricultural District for farmland protection; agencies involved in decision-making process were: Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority, Oneida County Environmental Management Council, Oneida County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board, Oneida County Department of Planning, Oneida County Board of Legislators See Report to the Oneida County Legislature on Landfill Siting, p.8-12 SEE AG DISTRICT NOTES – APPENDIX A September 1993: Judge Tenney gives permission for "walk-overs" on property of 22 land owners; Joseph Paluck's farm, represented as unfavorable hydrogeology and not included in OHSWA's original top 10 list, was selected for further testing - OHSWA walks on Paluck farm accompanied by 8 State Police officers September 1993: Judge John R. Tenney threatens to hold landowners in contempt of court should they decide to write letters to local newspapers expressing their opinions of court proceedings September 1993: 7/20/93 DEC letter to OHSWA recommends they delineate federal and state wetlands before testing; OHSWA Attorney Rayhill countered w/ letter from Army Corp of Engineers authorizing testing w/ heavy equipment; Army Corps of Engineers issued OHSWA a permit to cross wetlands with strict provisions to mitigate against extensive environmental damage; published photographs provide evidence OHSWA was in violation of said provisions outlined in permit; Judge Tenney denied application for the court to require wetland delineation to be conducted before testing September 1993: OHSWA violates agreement with Oneida County Executive Ray Meier stating landfill site testing must be conducted in the presence of the County Conservation Officer September 15, 1993: Boonville Herald - Member of Boonville VFW Hennessey Post and Disabled American Veterans (Korean War) New York State Senator William R. Sears is adamant in his objection to use the Veterans' Memorial Forest as a landfill – "I cannot emphasize this enough, I have been against this right from the start." Sept. 93- Oct. 94: Testing on Paluck farm took over 1 year September 1993: Arnold writes 8/24/93 letter to Chairman of Oneida County Farmland Protection Board Neil Angell demanding OHSWA become involved in the Ava Ag District issue October 1993: At the request of members of the Gleasman family, OHSWA begins to search for local cemeteries on landfill site December 1993: All Ava parcels in close proximity to the landfill were ALL denied Ag District approval except Joe Paluck's farm - first approved Oct. 15, 1993 and removed from the list on Nov. 10, 1993 SEE APPENDIX A December 23, 1993: OHSWA offers to buy Paluck farm for $239,850 December 1993: Testimony from President John Mondrick of Oneida County Farmers Union to Oneida County Legislators - Paluck's farm should have been permanently accepted based on Ag District criteria, not because OHSWA wanted the farm for their landfill December 1993: OHSWA estimated cost to build the landfill was $50-80 million January 1994: OHSWA offers to buy Paluck farm for $239, 850 including 369 acres, older house and barns - assessed at $12,388 - full value @ $100,388 - OHSWA offers a $40,000 option to purchase; OHSWA later purchases Paluck farm for over four times full market value @ $444,760 March 1994: OHSWA claims landfill will be 105 years, 125 feet high, and receive 500 tons of garbage per day March 3, 1994: Letter to all town supervisors in New York State from State Low-Level Radioactive Waste Siting Commission seeking volunteer communities to host a low-level radioactive waste site – later became a dead issue when there were no "takers" As of 2005, NYS has not resolved the issue of where to put radioactive waste. May 1994: Paluck says "NO" to OHSWA land offer May 1994: Ava/Boonville residents begin to lobby Oneida County Legislature on a monthly basis in protest against the Ava landfill May 1994: OHSWA charging $88 per ton (audit) May 1994: Journal & Republican - Clarkstown, Rockland County vs. Carbone deemed flow control illegal in U.S. Supreme Court – the court ruled that local governments cannot require all trash within their borders be sent to a designated facility June 4, 1994: Daily Sentinel – The Authority's charter leaves the counties responsible for their debt (Oneida 75%, Herkimer 25%) should landfill fail financially; OHSWA is currently about $50 million in debt August 24, 1994: Letter from Hans Arnold indicates preparation and application of landfill siting methodology, including on-site testing costs from 1989-1994 were just over $2 million – Original OHSWA estimate was $60,000 September 1994: Oneida County Legislature refuses to help transfer ownership of the Veterans' Memorial Forest to OHSWA September 1994: SWA to test WLE-5 East and West, Ava and Tannery Rd., Rome for landfill site feasibility Sept. 26, 1994: Boonville Herald - Site Suitability Study of WLE-5 East and West (Veterans' Memorial Forest), Ava and Tannery Road, Rome - shows Ava site to be more costly Sept. 27, 1994: Michael J. Bean, Chairman Wildlife Program, Environmental Defense Fund, sends letter to Mr. Westley A. Ford, Department of the Army, Buffalo District Corps of Engineers regarding OHSWA proposed landfill site WLE-5 in the Town of Ava. He urges the Corps to carefully consider 3 issues in their review of the site. 1) The landfill is "simply not necessary" considering excess landfill capacity in New York State; the use of recycling, reusing, and composting; predicted decrease in population of both Oneida and Herkimer Counties. 2) Proposed site possesses diverse habitats. Fifteen species that under state or federal law are considered endangered, threatened, rare, or special concern have been observed in or near the site including immature and adult bald eagles, bog turtles, peregrine falcons, Northern harriers, and ospreys. "Destruction of this habitat by the construction of a landfill will detrimentally impact the area's unique wildlife, some of which is protected by state and federal laws." 3) Negative impacts the proposed landfill will have on the area's water supply and wetlands should be carefully considered. WLE-5 contains NYSDEC Conservation Class II Wetlands, and approximately 40% of WLE-5 consists of potential federal wetlands. "The site is bordered on three sides by aquifers and on the east side by the Boonville reservoir, and is a recharge area for both the Black River and Tug Hill aquifer. Considering that almost the entire area relies on private wells, the proposed landfill is a significant potential threat to the area's water supply." October 5, 1994: NYS Senator William R. Sears and Assemblyman David R. Townsend said that they refuse to introduce, sponsor or co-sponsor legislation in Albany that would allow the taking of county reforestation land, including the Veterans' Memorial Forest in Ava for a landfill. "We are making a firm commitment to Veterans, and our friends in the North Country, to ensure this sacred living memorial will not be desecrated," said Senator Sears. Assemblyman Townsend stated, "Our promise to the community is that we will not support any such proposals. The Veterans' Memorial Forest was established through promises which should be upheld, not broken." October 27, 1994: Initial assessment of wetland delineation by Hudsonia (a non-profit institute); Botanist Gretchen Stevens completed study on WLE-5 East SEE APPENDIX B for details on this important study November 1994: Mohawk Valley Community College, Utica, NY - OHSWA announces proposed landfill site in Ava is to be moved just east of the Veterans' Memorial Forest. Local veterans and residents are unhappy with the new location of the proposed site, less than 1,000 feet from the Memorial Forest. Ned Ross, chairman of ACAL, vehemently vows to continue the fight against the landfill. November 1994: Local veterans hold annual Veterans' Day Ceremony at the Memorial Forest November 8, 1994: Acting Field Supervisor of U. S. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife David A. Stilwell letter to OHSWA Chairman David Link expressing concern that Ava landfill site will "adversely impact about 40.5 acres of primarily palustrine emergent wetlands which is about twice the previous projection of about 20 acres. This doubling is cause for concern." The service suggested the alternatives be re-evaluated "to see if less damaging alternatives can be found, particularly with respect to fish and wildlife resources."This letter was discovered by ACAL attorney Michael Gerrard after inspecting U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' files through the Freedom of Information Act. Oneida County Legislator Pam Mandryck stated in a 4-19-95 Rome Sentinel article: [The authority] "buried information that definitely has the potential of changing the site decision." November 8, 1994: NYSDEC Thomas E. Brown letter to OHSWA Chairman David Link encourages OHSWA to continue their efforts to site a 2-county landfill "this office believes there is a pressing need for in-county waste disposal within the two counties." December 11, 1994: Watertown Daily Times – Development Authority of the North Country (DANC) officials report a drop in tonnage of garbage at their facility and are concerned if this trend continues, tax payers of the 3 counties would have to pay any deficit – In 1998 DANC expands Rodman facility to include garbage from 100 mile radius - OHSWA ignores offer; In 2004, DANC offers to accept Oneida-Herkimer garbage for 50 years – OHSWA declines offer February 1995: Seneca Meadows offers to take Oneida-Herkimer garbage in a letter to OHSWA executive director Hans Arnold – Distance from Utica to Seneca Falls is 96 miles, and distance from Utica to Taylor , PA is 151 miles (where OHSWA was shipping garbage) March 28, 1995: Letter to Hans Arnold from Conservation Chair of Old Erie Audubon Bruce R. Carpenter, raising questions with regards to future population in Oneida-Herkimer countries and whether a large landfill is needed; recommends looking into other alternatives as suggested by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife recommendation (see 11/08/1994 letter) including transporting Oneida-Herkimer garbage to the Rodman landfill April 1995: NYSDEC Commissioner Michael Zagata letter to Hans Arnold in response to Arnold's claims that the "Seneca Meadows' liner system is obsolete" – Zagata clarifies Seneca Meadows is NOT operating under outdated standards as Arnold implied April 14, 1995: Letter to Hans Arnold from Joseph Homberger concerning the presence of a "buried sand unit" (principle aquifer) on the Ava landfill site April 24, 1995: OHSWA authorized agreement with Joseph Paluck for access in testing and contingent purchase of approx. 381 acres for $444, 760 (including drilling and testing compensation); The agreement authorizes the purchase ONLY if all required permits are granted by the state and other governmental agencies. April 25, 1995: Daily Sentinel – Arnold said the authority will not move to exercise the purchase option on Paluck property until it has completed testing and the site has been permitted for a landfill by NYSDEC June 23, 1995: NYSDEC Commissioner Michael Zagata letter to Hans Arnold regarding Arnold's request to obtain over 2,600 pages of Seneca Meadows monitoring documents … "While we [DEC] are mindful of the difficulties you are experiencing due to competition for waste with the Seneca Meadows Landfill, we have no basis at present to take any action against that facility that would stop this competition." August 22, 1995: Rome Sentinel - Archeological dig initiated by Gleasman descendants to search for ancient burial ground located on Gleasman Farm in 1830's (still identifiable by family members in 1939-40) and for 2 Gleasman infants buried on Ava landfill site in the 1800's January 10, 1996: Observe-Dispatch – OHSWA states Ava landfill will be 128-acres within a 1,590-acre site, will cost $38-42 million and open in August 1998 February 25, 1996: Syracuse Herald American – Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority claim they will move graves to another location should they be found; Gleasman family insists the gravesites exist and are concerned the archeological dig went down only 6 inches May 29, 1996: Boonville Herald – Dedication of historic marker for an early cemetery on Germanski (Gleasman) Road which is located on the banks of the Moose Creek, Town of Ava Right-of-Way September 19, 1996: Request by Ava town officials to meet with NYSDEC to hold discussions, questions and answers concerning landfill November 1996: OHSWA states cost of landfill will be $36-39 million [OHSWA figures decreased from $38-42 million in January 1996] May and Nov.1996: Local veterans continue to hold special ceremonies at the Veterans' Memorial Forest, including Memorial Day and Veterans' Day November 25, 1996: Observer-Dispatch – Ava landfill construction is behind schedule, could be 2000 or later before garbage is accepted December 16, 1996: Scoping Session held at Adirondack High School, 400-500 people attended (Boonville Herald), 3 ½ hours – Authority stated in a prepared document the Ava landfill will be full service and can accept solid waste by households, commercial establishments and industries, construction and demo debris, sludge and any residues from recycling, composting, incineration or other processing technologies. According to SWA only trash from Oneida and Herkimer counties will be accepted and "no portion of the county reforestation area is proposed for landfill development." January 17, 1997: Daily Sentinel – Consulting firm Geraghty and Miller, working for the NYSDEC, ruled that there is no principal aquifer on the Ava landsite – However, Dr. Andrew Michalski, hydrogeologist, hired by ACAL, stated that conditions at the surface strongly suggest the site is a principal aquifer and that the Solid Waste Authority's Site Investigation Plan ignored the principal aquifer issue January 20, 1997: In a letter to Attorney Michael Gerrard from OHSWA executive director Hans Arnold in response to concerns over New York City waste importation, Arnold states, "I can assure you that the Authority's position on waste importation remains unchanged. We haven't done it, we don't do it now, and we don't plan to do it in the future." March 1997: NYSDEC Acting Commissioner John P. Cahill testimony before U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works presented the state's viewpoint on flow control and interstate waste issues. "We believe that our waste exports should be sent only to those communities willing to receive it and, are willing to work with interested municipalities to develop these agreements. To exemplify this commitment, NY City and the State have made the commitment to require any facility accepting residential solid waste exported by the city to have a host community benefit agreement in place." As of August 2005, the Town of Ava officials have refused to negotiate any host community benefits. July 14, 1997: Ava Town Board resolution declines OHSWA offer to discuss "host community benefits" and encourages waste authority to "select one of the many viable waste management alternatives available to you in the market place." August 8, 1997: Daily Sentinel – In response to the landfill's financial status, Hans Arnold states on the issue of halting the landfill process, [it]"would cause the loss of the $5-6 million investment". September 1997: ACAL purchases 50 acres from the estate of Rudolph Olesen for $5,000 – land borders Ava landfill site and contains wetlands December 1997: OHSWA claims the landfill will cost $33-36 million – down from $38-42 million in 1996 January 13, 1998: Daily Sentinel - Article states two-county landfill in Ava will cost more than $137 million upon completion January 1998: Draft Environmental Impact Statement p. 28, 39, 229 states Ava landfill will accept 797 tons of garbage per day, height to be 138 feet high, length of landfill is 67 years on 150 acres January 27, 1998: Daily Sentinel – Legal Notices – "Although it is not part of the proposed transportation plan, OHSWA continues to be interested in working with town and village of Boonville officials on the potential future development of a bypass road. If a permit to construct a landfill is obtained for site WLE-5 East and local officials request a bypass route, the SWA would be willing to provide all of the financing and to conduct all of the necessary environmental and engineering studies for that route. Selection of any bypass route would reflect the mutual agreement of local officials and the SWA." March 2, 1998: Daily Sentinel - Veterans and citizens continue to speak our against the Ava landfill at a 2/28/98 public hearing in Boonville; ACAL attorney Michael Gerrard challenges the lack of non-transfer ability in OHSWA's landfill permit – Hans Arnold states, "This is the only waste authority (OHSWA) in New York with a statutory requirement it can't import trash." April 14, 1998: Daily Sentinel – OHSWA's director of engineering Michael Wolak stated, "The landfill is in the Black River drainage basin so any possible flow (from the landfill) would be to the Sugar River to the Black River, up north." May 20, 1998: Boonville Herald – Ornithologist Robert Andrle, PhD reports there are 51 species of birds recorded on the proposed Ava landfill site June 17, 1998: Boonville Herald – Hydogeologist Dr. Andrew Michalski, states "The authority and I have reached two totally different conclusions on the hydrogeology of the proposed landfill site … I stake my reputation on what I'm saying, an aquifer exists under the site, the authority data proves that it does." July 21, 1998: Daily Sentinel – OHSWA claims landfill site is 532 acres, tipping fees are currently $44 per ton at Rodman, $79 per ton that contract haulers pay to OHSWA, and $93 per ton paid by Rome September 1998: Hans Arnold files for DEC permit and requests 1,000 tons of garbage per day, 150 acres (footprint), 184 feet +/- high and included a groundwater separation variance – These figures are in conflict with figures presented one month earlier in the Final Environmental Impact Statement. September 1998: DANC expands Rodman facility to include garbage from 100 mile radius - OHSWA ignores offer – OHSWA transfer station in Utica is approx. 85 miles from Rodman September 1998: Lewis County Legislators pass resolution to oppose the Ava Landfill September 19, 1998: OHSWA purchases 389.63 acres for $371,200 from Joseph PaluckOHSWA violated" The agreement [which] authorizes the purchase ONLY if all required permits are granted by the state and other governmental agencies. (See April 1995) October 1998: Waste Dynamics Northeast – "Where Will the Garbage Go" – annual study of the legislative commission on solid waste management – Assemblymen Steve Englebright, Chairman of the Commission, states with regard to landfills, "Sort of a stone age technology of throwing your garbage into a big heap and sprinkling some sand across the top of it to keep the rats down." December 30, 1998: OHSWA submitted its permit application for the proposed landfill on Sept. 17, 1998 while local municipalities continue to oppose the landfill - $108,000 was appropriated by the Towns of Ava, Boonville, Lewis and Village of Boonville to retain environmental attorney Michael Gerrard of the New York City Law Firm of Arnold and Porter. January 7, 1999: Comments from Botanist Gretchen Stevenson on OHSWA Final Environmental Impact Statement for WLE-5 East SEE APPENDIX B March 9, 1999: Daily Sentinel - Major dispute between Waste Systems International accusing the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority of "predatory" practices. OHSWA charges contracted haulers $79 per ton tipping fees as compared to WSI's $40 per ton tipping fee – In a Jan. 13, 1999 article in the Canastota Bee-Journal, Madison County dropped tipping fees by $18 per ton when they signed a contract with WSI December 25, 1999: Observer-Dispatch - OHSWA purchases 45 acres from Ava land owners, making OHSWA's total property acquired: 575 of the 640 acres it desires to own Hans Arnold was quoted as saying there would be a need for a landfill over the next 50 years – "I'm looking to next year as the year we will have the landfill permit in hand." OHSWA continues to purchase property without the necessary legal landfill permits. March 22, 2000: Daily Sentinel – Hans Arnold states in reply to citizens' concern of the emission of a foul odor at the [landfill] location, "First of all, all of the waste that is brought into the landfill is covered each and every day so that odors that might be generated are stopped at the beginning." In addition, methane gas which is produced by solid waste, whether stored in a garbage can or a landfill, l will be collected and transported to a central location within the landfill and ultimately, according to Arnold, could power an electric generator in the future. Arnold also states, "We have very, very, deep tight soils so if all the technology was to fail, which is highly unlikely, but you still contain contamination in a way that it can be cleaned up decades before it reaches drinking water." "I would not be involved in this if I had any belief that this kind of facility would have a negative impact on the environment. This is the most environmentally sound way to handle solid waste." " … State and federal regulations require new landfills to be built in locations where the ground water won't be jeopardized or put at risk, particularly where people's drinking water will not be put at risk. Right from the start, our approach in following those regulations was to find the best possible site from the objective of protecting drinking water." May 3, 2000: Daily Sentinel – Greenbrier Management Corp., a solid waste disposal company, met privately with Rome Mayor Joe Griffo and offered to build a landfill in West Rome that would accept New York City garbage. Greenbrier offered the City of Rome $5 million per year in annual payments. This offer came as a result of Fresh Kills landfill closing in Staten Island. June 15, 2000: Daily Sentinel – OHSWA Director of Engineering Michael Wolak states, "The high quality wetlands such as beaver ponds in open water areas surrounding the site will not be altered. In addition, methane gas which is produced by solid waste whether it is stored in a garbage can or a landfill, will be collected and transported to a location where it will go through a combustion process." June 20, 2000: Daily Sentinel - OHSWA states cost of the proposed Ava landfill will be $33-36 million July 20, 2000: Atlantic Chapter of Sierra Club's letter to Lewis County Board of Legislators Planning Committee Chairman Bruce Krug strongly opposes the siting of the OHSWA landfill in federally protected wetlands, near an aquifer, in close proximity to schools, and are concerned about the increased cancer rates in people who live near landfills. August 2000: Veterans Reclaim Memorial Forest; Veterans Defending Our Memorial Forest (VDOMF) occupy the Memorial Forest with an encampment to protest the proposed landfill site, located feet from the Veterans' Memorial Forest - Photograph of Vietnam Veteran Bob Willson makes Associated Press wire photo and is seen all over the United States. He was quoted as saying, "In Vietnam, I didn't know what I was fighting for. Here, I do." August 10, 2000: In a letter to a constituent from Congressman Sherwood Boehlert regarding the Ava landfill, Boehlert states, "In order for the Ava project to move forward, the Corps must determine that there are no reasonable alternatives to eliminating wetlands, that wetland elimination is kept to a minimum, that no serious adverse effects will result from eliminating wetlands, and that any wetland loss is mitigated." August 11, 2000: ACAL organizes caravan to DEC public hearing Daily Sentinel (2-2-01) "Speakers against the project easily outnumbered those in favor, especially in the evening session, which featured an organized protest by project opponents. A caravan of about 90 vehicles, including 3 school buses, traveled from Boonville to the SUNY campus in Marcy for the evening session, the vehicles bearing anti-dump balloons." August 11, 2000: Observer-Dispatch – In a DEC public hearing held at SUNY Institute of Technology in Utica, NYSDEC Deputy Regional Permit Administrator for Region 6 Joe Homburger states, "We believe the draft permit is issuable as prepared for this hearing and that this project should proceed." August 18, 2000: Daily Sentinel – OHSWA executive director Hans Arnold states,"The liner of the landfill is not going to leak."Even if the landfill does leak, Town of Lee water supplies would not be affected."It's (landfill) not in the Mohawk basin (watershed), it's in the Black River basin." Note: According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), all landfill liners will eventually weaken and leak, polluting ground water even after the landfill is closed. (Federal Register, August 20, 1988) August 18, 2000: Daily Sentinel – Town of Lee votes unanimously to oppose Ava landfill in a board resolution. September 16, 2000: Observer-Dispatch - Miss America 2000, Heather Renee French, pledges her support to the Veterans Defending Our Memorial Forest. She is horrified that a memorial site could be a neighbor to a waste site. February 1, 2001: Observer-Dispatch - New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Administrative Law Judge Edward Buhrmaster dismisses Veterans' Memorial Forest as being an irrelevant issue to be adjudicated with regards to the Ava landfill. March 16, 2001: OHSWA files appeal to NYSDEC Commissioner to have Judge Buhrmaster's ruling on the 4 adjudicated issues overruled. March 23, 2001: Daily Sentinel – Senator Ray Meier refuses to introduce a bill proposed by Assemblyman David Townsend that would prohibit the issuance of a landfill permit within 10 miles of any public or private school. Meier comments, "Bad public policy. I'm not going to introduce it. Why just schools? Why are we picking on just schools? If this is such a risk, why is it a risk only to kids?" June 2001: Section 404 Federal Wetlands Permit issued to OHSWA by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District – 10-year term June 14, 2001: Letter to Hans G. Arnold from Assemblyman David R. Townsend of 115th District – states opposition to the Ava landfill, his concern about the close proximity of the Veterans' Memorial Forest, and the issue of the Developmental Authority of the North Country (DANC) landfill options. July 30, 2001: Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision by a Federal District Court Judge regarding the local solid waste management laws of Oneida and Herkimer Counties, allowing flow control to continue in the 2-county region. March 6, 2002: Daily Sentinel – Arnold states the authority has spent more than $7 million on the project including environmental studies, engineering fees, installation of monitoring wells, legal fees and the land purchases. The authority's total indebtedness is $41.3 million. March 14, 2002: Observer-Dispatch – OHSWA filed a claim in state Supreme Court against the town of Ava to protect its plans to construct a landfill. April 5, 2002: Daily Sentinel – DEC Commissioner Erin Crotty ruled on 3 issues (from 2001 adjudicatory hearing/Burhmaster) that did not merit further study: 1. Need for a landfill, 2. Wetlands, 3. Traffic impact The authority has long maintained it has no interest in a permit sale. Any transfer of the permit would require the prior written approval of the DEC. April 29, 2002: Waste Authority extends boundary in SW portion of landfill site by purchasing more property September 19, 2002: New York State DEC adjudicatory hearing to discuss air and water issues with regards to Ava landfill September 20, 2002: Boonville Herald – DEC Division of Solid and Hazardous Materials Robert J. Bazarnick was surprised when ACAL attorney Michael Gerrard produced several handwritten documents in Barzarnick's handwriting that the Authority and DEC were unaware of. In a brief skirmish, both sides argued the merits of whether the documents should or should not be admitted as evidence. Attorney H.D. Heberlig Jr., representing the Authority, and Attorney Randall Young of the DEC, vigorously opposed the admittance of the potentially damaging documents. Judge Buhrmaster ruled that some of the pertinent documents were admissible. "The cat's out of the bag," Buhrmaster said. September 25-27, 2002: Volume II transcript from adjudicatory hearing by Nancy L. Freddoso, RPR, pg. 1965-1992 regarding the determination of a principal aquifer on the landfill site October 10, 2002: DEC internal memo to Mark Craig from Patricia Riexinger regarding use of plants and vulnerable species in classifying wetlands – "Because no hearings were ever held nor amendments to Part 664 conducted for the purpose of establishing either an endangered plant list or a vulnerable species list, these criteria cannot be used in classifying or reclassifying wetlands." October 11, 2002: DEC response to Heidi Wendel of Arnold & Porter representing ACAL re: Request for reclassification freshwater wetland WL-2 in Ava. While DEC concedes WL-2 is located adjacent to or contiguous to a protected stream, that it is one of the three largest wetlands within the town of Ava, and is located within a publicly owned recreation area, it would require existence of certain plant and animal species to meet requirements for upgrade from Class II to Class I. Request was also made to consider whether WL-2 was hydraulically connected to an aquifer. DEC determined the request failed to supply evidence pursuant to 6 NYCRR 664.4(g) to consider the request. "The regulatory definitions of vulnerable plant and animal species are contained in 6 NYCRR 664.6(c) 4 and 5. Program staff have determined that the plant and animal species sited in your request have not been included in the definitions because there have been no public hearings conducted to include these species." October 21, 2002: Letter from Hans Arnold stating: "Building a local landfill will not increase cost to local residents. The proposed landfill facility will keep local money in the local economy. The authority has purchased 527 acres. The authority has invested, on the public's behalf, $10 million. The need for a local landfill is compelling." October 23, 2002: Boonville Herald – Testimony given by hydrogeologist Dr. Andrew Michalski with regard to presence of aquifer under footprint, stated, "The proof is in the pudding, if they would only drill in the right location the matter would finally be resolved." DEC senior geologist Dr. Donald Seigel maintains the $250,000 investment (cost to drill well) would be a waste of time and money. Michael Gerrard raises opponents' long-standing request of drilling test well to settle aquifer issue once and for all; OHSWA refused to drill well. February 18, 2003: Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus County – DEC Commissioner Erin Crotty approved the permit for Waste Management to build and operate a new regional landfill in Albion, Orleans County, that will dispose over one half million tons per year of municipal waste or 7.35 million tons over the life of the dump, about 1,000 feet from the banks of the Erie Canal. The footprint is adjacent to two closed landfills that are currently leaking pollutants into ground water. Half of the 750 truck trips per day will transport garbage over the Albion Central School crosswalk. May 28, 2003: Albany Times Union – Nearly 100 veterans gathered at the Veterans' Memorial Forest on Memorial Day to honor their fallen comrades and to reaffirm they haven't given up the fight against a controversial landfill. "They say they're not really going to build it [landfill] in our forest, that they're going to use the forest as a green belt to catch the stuff that blows out," said Mark Shoemaker, a former helicopter pilot who was shot down three times in Vietnam. "Well, that's not what this was for. I don't want to say next year that the directions to the Memorial Day services are easy to find because they're right next door to the county dump." June 2003: Daily Sentinel – Photograph of a sign showing the distance in miles from Veterans' Memorial Forest, Ava, NY to various battle sites throughout U.S. history. In large letters, the sign reads, "OHSWA Dump – adjacent." June 17, 2003: Daily Sentinel – OHSWA appeals a State boards' appeal to allow further consideration of an application to upgrade wetland classification on the proposed landfill site. June 18, 2003: Daily Sentinel – Supreme Court Justice Anthony F. Shaheen, in a decision announced earlier this month, ruled, "The authority's right to acquire the approximately 42 acre parcel (through eminent domain) is prior to and predominant to any rights the town has to create a town park [in Ava] on the parcel." July 2, 2003: Boonville Herald – In 170 page report concerning the adjudicatory hearing held last fall, Judge Buhrmaster acknowledged there is a buried valley aquifer in Ava, "The deep sand/till unit contains a buried aquifer that exists within a valley or a depression the bedrock surface. While additional testing as proposed by the objectors would provide relevant information bearing on factors affecting a principal aquifer determination such testing is not reasonably necessary to determine that no principal aquifer exists. For that reason no further testing should be required of the authority." July 5, 2003: Observer-Dispatch – On June 26, DEC Judge Buhrmaster recommends DEC Commissioner Crotty to grant OHSWA landfill permit; ACAL Vice President Alex Stempien said Buhrmaster just ignored the need for additional drilling to test the aquifer and said that Ava was the victim of political intrigue with the Oneida County Board of Legislators because it is the smallest town within the county with 725 residents. Rome Mayor John Mazzaferro raised concerns about Rome's water source that lies within 7 miles of the landfill (Lake Tagasoke) and the issue of trash trucks going through the city of Rome. July 10, 2003: ACAL Board of Directors letter requested a meeting with Commissioner Erin Crotty regarding issuance of the Ava landfill permit - It was their opinion that OHSWA and DEC "overlooked, down played and at times ignored critical facts that would have made it unfeasible and illegal to site a landfill on the proposed property." Observer-Dispatch – OHSWA filed a lawsuit on July 3 in state Supreme Court in Oneida County against the State Freshwater Wetlands Appeals Board to nullify the boards' decision that the DEC should consider upgrading the classification of wetlands at the [Ava] landfill site. October 22, 2003: Boonville Herald – Democratic candidate for Oneida County Executive Daniel P. Sullivan publicly stated his opposition to the landfill citing cheaper disposal rates at other facilities and newer technologies, and that siting a landfill in Ava is an insult to Veterans. November 19, 2003: Daily Sentinel – OHSWA is using the power of eminent domain to acquire 10 acres from ACAL for their landfill; ACAL President Ned Ross describes it (eminent domain) as a "bullying tactic." December 10, 2003: Representing the Freshwater Wetlands Appeals Board Attorney Michelle Stefanucci, along with ACAL legal representative James O'Rourke, argued against the authority and a DEC representative from the Attorney General's Office to reclassify wetlands in the Town of Ava based on the presence of the American Bittern. Attorney Heberlig for OHSWA said in court that there never was a public hearing and no list was created by DEC. January 5, 2004: Town of Ava Resolution -1 opposing the OHSWA landfill … "the Authority has held the town and its residents hostage since 1993 by continuing this pursuit" … "the Authority commissioned a study that found that waste disposed at its very own landfill would cost $57 per ton – the Authority now pays $47 per ton for disposal of waste" " … be it resolved that Ava Town Board for the above reasons and more remain adamantly opposed to the Authority's plan to locate a landfill in the town of Ava." March 5, 2004: Daily Sentinel – State Supreme Court Judge Joseph D. McGuire dismisses the Solid Waste Authority's lawsuit challenging the State Freshwater Wetland Appeals Board decision, that the State DEC should reconsider the wetlands classification. OHSWA Executive Director Hans Arnold said, "The Authority is hopeful that in the near future the DEC Commissioner will grant that landfill permit and deny the request for reclassification." March 19, 2004: DEC Commissioner Erin Crotty denies ACAL's request to reclassify Oneida County Wetland WL-2 from a Class II wetland to a Class I wetland. March 19, 2004: New York State DEC Commission Erin Crotty grants OHSWA a landfill permit while ignoring facts relating to the landfill, including wetlands issues and the Veterans' Memorial Forest. April 7, 2004: Daily Sentinel – Oneida County was placed on Moody's Credit Watch because of dwindling reserves in the last 4 years. Standard and Poor's report the county's financial position presently remains adequate despite consecutive general fund reductions. Moody's also put the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority on its credit watch because Oneida and Herkimer counties are required to subsidize authority operating shortfalls even though the authority's rates could cover the operations in debt service. April 15, 2004: ACAL files an appeal against Freshwater Wetlands Board of Appeals decision not to upgrade Ava landfill wetlands from Class II to Class I April 22, 2004: Daily Sentinel – Hans Arnold states, "There is no intent to sell the [landfill] permit." Important to note from the Issues Conference August 28 – September 2, 2000, pages 27-28, "Objectors have requested that OHSWA incorporate permit conditions that guarantee its proposed landfill will accept no waste from outside Herkimer and Oneida counties and prevent the sale or transfer of the facility to private parties." According to Exhibit T, OHSWA claimed: " … all plans and designs for the proposed landfill are based only on projections of waste from Oneida and Herkimer counties ..." May 25, 2004: Observer-Dispatch – Arnold said that if all goes according to plan the landfill should be ready for operation by 2006. He also said that such compensation could include a payment per ton of waste brought to the landfill, payment in lieu of taxes paid to local schools or contributions to the emergency service providers. Arnold also said the Authority could pay for a road to carry landfill traffic around the Village of Boonville or possibly a 10-year property value stabilization program. Arnold said that such compensation plans would be worked out during meetings in June. June 16, 2004: Boonville Herald – Town boards from Ava, Boonville, Lewis and Village of Boonville met jointly for the first time to discuss a plan of action with regards to the proposed dump in Ava. Nearly 100 local residents, business owners and clergy attended the first joint town board meeting in the history of the North Country. June 17, 2004: State of New York Freshwater Wetlands Appeal Board – Brief in Support of Appeal of Adirondack Communities Advisory League: BRIEF BACKGROUND – On Oct. 3, 2002, ACAL submitted a written request supported by an affidavit of an expert wetlands biologists to upgrade wetlands WL-2 in the Town of Ava, NY from a Class II to a Class I wetland. On Oct. 11, 2002, DEC through its Region 6 council issued a written denial of the ACAL request. ACAL subsequently filed a notice of appeal with the New York State Freshwater Wetlands Appeals Board on Oct. 23, 2002. The Board reversed the Region 6 DEC decision that the request was insufficient to warrant consideration and remanded the matter to the commissioner for further proceedings on June 3, 2003. On July 3, 2003 the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority brought an Article 78 against the ward. On Feb. 26, 2004, Supreme Court Joseph D. McGuire sustained the Board's order of June 3, 2003. DEC Commissioner Crotty considered ACAL's request for a reclassification for the wetlands as ordered by the Board. On March 19, 2004, Commissioner denied ACAL's reclassification request and concomitantly issued a decision directing the issuance of a permit for a landfill in the wetland. June 21, 2004: Letter from Assistant Comptroller Steven Hancox states OHSWA had a consecutive deficit of $9,560,687 in Dec. 31, 2002 and $7,613,057 in Dec. 31, 2003 June 30, 2004: Daily Sentinel – CCI was issued a contract with OHSWA for $1.213 million to build an access road 3300 feet from State Rt. 294. Arnold states, "CCI companies will also construct 2,000 feet of turning lanes on Rt. 294. The design of these turning lanes has been approved by the State Dept. of Transportation for traffic safety August 1, 2004: New York Post – "Landfill's Ills – Lawsuit raps Fresh Kills "Cancers" – Area residents living in close proximity to the Fresh Kills landfill have become sick and many have died of cancer. Studies found high levels of benzene, lead, mercury and other toxins in the ground and in fluid leaking from the landfills. August 4, 2004: Boonville Town Council unanimously adopted the Joint Board Resolution opposing the Ava landfill August 6, 2004: DANC offers to accept Oneida-Herkimer garbage for 50 years; offer is not even considered by Executive Director Hans Arnold August 11, 2004: Letter to Lewis County Chairman Bruce Krug from OHSWA Executive Director Hans Arnold regarding offer from the Development Authority of the North Country (DANC) to accept Oneida-Herkimer garbage for 50 years: Arnold states, "What you have characterized as disinterest is more accurately characterized as a reaction to a concept that would be more expensive, is legally questionable, presents higher risks and is speculative based on the serious regulatory issues facing the DANC landfill expansion." August 2004: Representatives from Towns of Ava, Boonville, Lewis and Village of Boonville meet to draft a joint resolution to oppose the Ava landfill and not to discuss host community compensation. August 17, 2004: 100 residents, media and local legislators attended a press conference called by Lewis County Legislators' Chairman Bruce Krug at the West Leyden Fire Hall for the purpose of presenting DANC's offer to accept solid waste from OHSWA at an initial tipping fee of $28 per ton for 50 years. August 19, 2004: Boonville Herald – Beaver pond and wetland mitigation destroyed on landfill site – Town of Lewis Councilman Ian Klingbail discovered raging water in Moose Creek when a 15 acre beaver pond was breached by unknown causes sending millions of gallons of water, sediment and debris into nearby Moose Creek which flows in the federally protected Sugar and Black Rivers in Lewis County. Native brook trout were found dead along the banks of Moose Creek. [See website for photo ] August 26, 2004: Letter from Assemblymen David R. Townsend and Darrel J. Aubertine requesting New York State Comptroller's Office to audit the Solid Waste Authority. Townsend states, "I believe that it is imperative that we as legislators make sure we provide services to our constituents at a high quality level with a low price tag." September 1, 2004: Boonville Herald – On Aug. 19, sometime between 6 and 7PM (after construction crews had left the site and before the OHSWA paid Oneida County Sheriff's patrol came on duty), the beaver dam on the landfill site washed out destroying a 15 acre beaver pond. As a result excessive amounts of water, mud contaminant and debris were sent into nearby Moose Creek, Sugar and Black Rivers, killing many native brook trout. Wildlife experts are confident a dam would not wash away on its own unless during spring thaw or if the dam had been abandoned for a number of years. Neither scenario fits this situation. Evidence indicating construction crews were working in close proximity to the active beaver dam can be found in a photo at Further evidence show activity of beavers rebuilding the dam thus indicating the former pond was active. [See photos on website September 15, 2004: Observer-Dispatch – Authority's lawyer Peter Rayhill said state and federal regulations pertaining to landfills and wetlands supersede local laws. "I know it sounds ugly and heavy handed but we can't let local governments frustrate a state agency from fulfilling its duties," Rayhill said. September 16, 2004: Daily Sentinel – State Supreme Court Justice Samuel Hester heard arguments that OHSWA has been violating local zoning, wetlands and landfill regulations in the Town of Ava. September 22, 2004: Boonville Herald - From a letter dated Sept. 7 from DEC Region 6 Director Sandra LeBarron, states that the cause of the beaver dam breaking is "unclear." DEC Public Affairs Spokesman Steve Littweiler said, "No specific investigation is being done" with regards to contaminated streams, dead fish found along the banks of Moose Creek, and the fact there was a section missing from the new dam the beaver are rebuilding on the proposed site. September 24, 2004: Daily Sentinel – OHSWA is granted a preliminary injunction restraining the Town of Ava, its officers and employees from taking any action to enforce its local law regulating the operation of sanitary landfill within the Town of Ava September 25, 2004: Daily Sentinel - Boonville and West Leyden Fire Departments were on the scene at a local residence (Fey's) on Rt. 294 near the landfill site when OHSWA construction crews pulled a wire out of the house, causing the family's TV to catch on fire and damaged most major appliances September 29, 2004: Boonville Herald – OHSWA construction crews pulled a power line out of a nearby home causing a TV to catch on fire. According to Mrs. Fey, Arnold was apologetic and urged them not to contact their insurance company but rather to allow him to pay for their loss. Arnold personally handled replaced the family's television, VCR, refrigerator, stove, washer, dryer, computer, land line telephone and cell phones plugged into their charges. October 7, 2004: Office of the New York City Comptroller – New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson press release – Thompson issues report, No room to move: NYC impending solid waste crisis – PA and VA combined absorb greater than 70% of the city's total waste. By 2007, PA landfills will run out of capacity to accept NYC waste. States that receive waste are taking measures to reduce the impact of importation. Thompson states, "NYC must immediately determine the viability of creating landfills either in state or out of state that are in the city's control." His first recommendation is NYC should consider purchasing access to, or the development rights of, existing landfills in upstate NY to increase in-state disposal capacity." Another recommendation is "NYC should evaluate purchasing permitted but underutilized landfills in other parts of the country near rail or water transportation to provide long term disposal capacity for its waste." Finally, "NYC should aggressively pursue the development of publicly controlled disposal capacity." November 5, 2004: Daily Sentinel – ACAL invites Governor Pataki to visit Ava landfill site –"We urge you to visit Boonville and personally view the natural resources which are in danger of being destroyed. We also strongly suggest you visit the proposed landfill site and witness the destruction of freshwater wetlands and beaver ponds all located within feet of the only living Veterans' Memorial Forest in New York State. As Governor of New York, it is your responsibility to protect the civil rights of your constituents while protecting the undisturbed natural resources within New York's borders. The rural citizens of northern Oneida and southern Lewis Counties do not want to be a host community for a landfill that will destroy the historic Village of Boonville and pollute the air, water and land of this beautiful and unspoiled region of New York." November 2004: Daily Sentinel - OHSWA gets approval for $15 million in financing for Ava landfill project. The State Environmental Facilities Corporation approved the money through its Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which targets projects that protect groundwater and service water. According to OHSWA, estimated cost of the facility is $26 million November 29, 2004: Daily Sentinel – Senator Ray Meier opposes alternative to Ava landfill by dismissing DANC's invitation to accept Oneida- Herkimer garbage for 50 years. In a response to a letter from DANC Executive Director Robert Juravich, Meier states, "You have added fuel to the fire set by a bunch of political demagogues. People like them get to take cheap political shots. People like me, and the people at the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority get to try to figure out how we handle our community's garbage. We expected and think we deserved better from you and DANC." December 30, 2004: Daily Sentinel – A lawsuit brought by ACAL to nullify a state permit allowing the construction of a landfill in Ava has been dismissed by State Supreme Court Judge Edward J. Sheridan on Dec. 22 due to a technicality of not filing the suit within the time allowed. January 4, 2005: Daily Sentinel - Ex-County Legislator and former member of Oneida County Ag District Board Neil Angell is re-appointed to the board of the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority January 15, 2005: Daily Sentinel - DEC Commissioner Erin Crotty steps down after nearly four years of service February 13, 2005: Post Standard – Federal court in Kentucky strikes down a flow control law that could affect flow control in Oneida-Herkimer counties April 5, 2005: Daily Sentinel – The county solid waste management flow control laws have been upheld in a March 24, 2005 decision by United States District Court Judge Norman R. Mordue. The judge concurred and found distinction in the treatment of in state vs. out- of-state businesses. He went on to say that the public nature of the authority was determinative and that the public benefits must be considered. April 17, 2005: - Moose Creek, the Class C trout stream that normally runs clear, is filled with muddy water the week of April 17, 2005 after nearly 2 weeks of no rain. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority construction crews, working in close proximity to Moose Creek, violated the DEC permit by not providing the proper siltation fencing thus causing the stream to fill with silt June 16-17, 2005: - Town of Lewis Councilman Ian Klingbail discovered the section of Moose Creek located at the intersection of Gleasman Road and Rt. 294 was muddy in appearance once again. According to DEC Field Investigator Gary McCullouch, the cause of the mud in the Moose Creek was the result of slope failure of a newly constructed berm in the landfill site. Barton & Logeudice construction crews attempted to fix the problem, but the following day it was discovered their preventive measures of creating a stone-lined ditch had failed. The construction crew is presently setting up a system that will pump water through a silt bag and away from the creek. According to the DEC permit, the responsibility to keep loose soil and debris within the parameters of landfill site construction and away from nearby tributaries and streams is the responsibility of the Oneida- Herkimer Solid Waste Authority. This incident is the third violation of the DEC permit since August 2004. June 20, 2005: Observer-Dispatch – Officials from Ava question the Authority's environmental efforts to protect streams near the landfill site. The DEC response made by Gabrielle Done, defended them (OHSWA) when a breach in the storm water retention fence filled the Moose Creek with silt. The DEC said that they were working with OHSWA to remedy the situation. July 14, 2005: - ACAL Press Release: AVA, NY - A recently constructed storm detention pond located on the Ava landfill site failed yesterday afternoon (July 14) after a heavy rainstorm filled the pond in minutes and sent the excessive rain water and silt into the nearby Moose Creek for the third time in 4 months. The Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority's construction crews worked for over 4 hours pumping water and operating bulldozers in the mud attempting to redirect runoff into a makeshift pond. Adirondack Communities Advisory League members discovered mud in the Moose Creek around 6:00PM following a heavy rainstorm, which measured 2.62 inches of precipitation at the Jackson Hill Weather Station, an amount likely to occur in this excessively wet area of the Tug Hill Region. Town of Lewis Councilman Ian Klingbail attempted to reach DEC representative Gary McCullouch by phone but was unsuccessful. Mr. Klingbail and Town Supervisor David Mathis were extremely upset over this third breech on the landfill site since April and referred to Item 16 of the DEC permit which clearly states the nearby streams must be protected from landfill construction. Witnesses described the breech as the Niagara Falls of Ava. Muddy water was gushing over the banks of the storm retention pond and into Moose Creek for nearly 3 hours before construction crews could successfully pump enough water out of the pond. Over 15 members from ACAL were on the site, taking pictures as the breech occurred. WKTV Channel 2 News was also on the site recording live footage and interviewing ACAL members. ACAL has been fighting to stop the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority from building a 600-acre landfill in the small town of Ava for 12 years. The Moose Creek, a Class C trout-spawning stream flows into the Sugar and Black Rivers north to Watertown. ACAL and Lewis County Legislator Chairman Bruce Krug have repeatedly asked the DEC to investigate the local rivers and streams for evidence of contamination. No action has been taken. July 17, 2005: - Just THREE days after the storm detention pond overflowed into Moose Creek, yet another breach on the landfill site (same location as the one on 7-14-05) filled Moose Creek with muddy water for the FOURTH time in 3 months! No construction crews were on the site to pump water and the gushing water overflowed for many hours. WKTV News Channel 2 was on the scene and interviewed ACAL Chairman Ned Ross who called for an end to the ongoing OHSWA violations of their DEC permit causing excessive pollution into Ava's streams. The storm water detention pond, located on the landfill site, filled to capacity in a matter of minutes and overflowed into Moose Creek for many hours. July 19, 2005: Daily Sentinel – Resolution adopted by the Ava Town Board on July 18 instructed the town attorney to file a complaint with the state agency claiming that OHSWA is violating its state permit by allowing water containing silt to flow off the location. A condition of the permit is that nearby streams be protected during the construction. July 21, 2005: The Lewis County Legislature passed a resolution opposing the construction of the Ava landfill and also "protests to OHSWA their seemingly inability to prevent the pollution of Lewis County streams and rivers" and "demands that the NYSDEC take action." August 2005: OHSWA construction crews continue to work on proposed landfill site with no repercussions, warnings, or violations from the NYDEC despite repeated polluting of Moose Creek, a trout- spawning stream, which flows into the Black River to the St. Lawrence waterways – a violation of the Clean Water Act August 6, 2005: Complaint letter sent to NYSDEC Region 6 Director Sandra LeBarron from Town of Lewis Councilman Ian Klingbail regarding repeated contamination of Moose Creek and violating the NYDEC and Army Corps of Engineers permits. Klingbail requested, "Therefore in light of all these violations, I urge the NYSDEC and ACOE to investigate and take action as is stated in General Condition #4 of the DEC permit - to revoke or suspend permit … the grounds for modification, suspension, or revocation include b) failure by the permittee to comply with any terms or conditions of the permit. See for complete letter. August 16, 2005:Daily Sentinel – During public comment of the Oneida County Board of Legislators meeting, Adirondack Central School Board Member Dave Bird "outlined concerns of about how storm water runoff was handled at the [landfill] site during recent severe rains and then proceeded to ask if the leachate handling and pollution monitoring features will be correctly designed and operated. He expressed fear they would not be adequate. He also said the design of the retention basin during the construction phase should have been adequate to handle the runoff.He said the overflow was in direct violation of state and federal permits." August 23, 2005:2:00PM meeting with representatives from NYSDEC at Region 6 Office in Watertown, NY to show video documentation and overhead transparencies of Ian Klingbail's original August 6 complaint letter regarding stream contamination (Moose Creek) due to uncontrolled landfill site runoff. Attending the August 23 meeting with Councilman Klingbailwere: Town of Ava Councilman Alex Stempien, ACAL President Ned Ross, Town of Lewis Resident Kermit Klingbail, and Lewis County Chairman Bruce Krug. September 2, 2005:Report from NYSDEC Environmental Engineer Gary McCullouch to Ava Town Councilman Alex Stempien regarding violations of water quality to Moose Creek in June and July 2005, including communications between DEC and OHSWA, and copy of response from Barton & Loguidice to DEC. Weather data, including rainfall amounts, was collected at an OHSWA trailer parked on the landfill site.The information collected and used for the report does not constitute official weather data used by the National Weather Service, nor does Barton & Loguidice qualify as experts in determining 2, 10, 50 or 100-year storm events. September 16, 2005: ACAL begins its thirteenth year to preserve and protect the land, water, air and wildlife in the Northern Oneida/Southern Lewis counties of the Tug Hill Plateau. October 7, 2005:Daily Sentinel -"On several occasions, tons of stormwater ran off from the landfill site as a result of severe storms because the temporary retention system to hold back runoff during construction was inadequate due to the sudden volume of water." OHSWAExecutive Director Hans Arnold stated, "It's been an outstanding year construction wise … we've moved over 1 million cubic yards of soil this year." What the Sentinel failed to report was the storm water management system was having difficulty handing weather of any kind during the summer and fall of 2005.Video and photographic proof show excessive runoff and silt entering Moose Creek on fourteen different occasions, including periods of time when there was no rainfall officially recorded.The problems OHSWA is experiencing with their retention ponds is, in part, due to stripping excessive amounts of topsoil from the site – the very item above Hans Arnold reported as contributing to his so-called "outstanding year construction wise". ACAL is extremely concerned that if OHSWA is having problems with their storm water management system during the construction phase of the landfill, what will happen to Moose Creek, Sugar River, Black River, and local drinking water when leachate, toxins and contaminants enter the streams when the landfill is up and running? October 7, 2005:Daily Sentinel - Moody's Credit Rating of Oneida County went from A2 to A3.A statement issued by Moody's quotes, "Today's assignment to Watch List for potential downgrade reflects further diminishing of reserves in fiscal 2004 and aggressive budgeting of fiscal 2005 revenues.Comptroller Joseph J. Timpano states, "We're still investment grade.The thing is you still don't; like to see it."Generally the better the rating [A1] the lower the interest rate on bonds.Currently the County has about $84 million in long term debt. October 7, 2005:Letter to United State Fish and Wildlife Service David Stilwell from Town of Lewis Councilman Ian Klingbail regarding the environmental destruction to Moose Creek "and my lack of any formal response from my August 23, 2005 meeting, I feel the DEC has not taken my complaint seriously." November 4, 2005:Daily Sentinel – OHSWA purchases a 167-acre farm from Matilda Biro in Ava for $212,000.OHSWA has offered life tenancy for Mrs. Biro, but they will have access to all farm acreage. OHSWA claims the newly acquired property will be used as a buffer zone and be for possible wetland mitigation.OHSWA claims the landfill will be completed by the end of 2006. The Biro Farm is located across from the landfill to the east on Gleasman Rd. According to OHSWA, the Town of Ava refuses to discuss their option for host community compensation benefits.Items listed in this Daily Sentinel article written by Dan Guzewich from information obtained from OHSWA, however, do not constitute a benefit package for Ava aside frompayment per ton.Items such as OHSWA providing new specialized emergency equipment to the West Leyden Fire Department (Town of Lewis), funding for a full time level 3 EMT (Town of Lewis), and additional funding for a bypass road (Town of Boonville) offer benefits to other townships, not Ava.Other items such as programs for monitoring neighboring wells for drinking water, property value protection plans, and programs for environmental reporting to local municipalities are not considered a "benefit" but should be a necessary requirement of constructing an 848-acre landfill. November 8, 2005: Candidates for Ava town supervisor and 2 council members running on a platform of not negotiating with OHSWA were elected by a majority of the area electorate.Based upon the election results, it seems clear a majority of Ava residents oppose negotiating with OHSWA. "Town of Boonville, Supervisor Harkey Bellinger, the Village of Boonville, and Mayor Dave Ernst, vote to hold negotiations with the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority (OHSWA) regarding [host] community compensation for the Ava landfill. In August 2004, the Town of Boonville agreed to a Joint Board Resolution refusing to negotiate with the Solid Waste Authority, unless, at such time, the neighboring towns of Ava, Boonville, and Lewis agreed to do so as a united coalition of boards. The town of Boonville is presently acting in violation of this joint resolution. Boonville officials are poising themselves to relinquish one of the most powerful rights they have, the right to regulate a landfill within their community.In New York State (NYS), municipalities have the legal authority to refuse to allow a landfill into their community.Unless, of course, the landfill is being forced on the community by a NYS public authority that claims their power preempts all local laws." November 18, 2005:Daily Sentinel – Boonville town and village boards voted to begin discussions with OHSWA regarding community compensation.Town of Ava, where the landfill is being constructed, continues to show no interest is receiving benefits.Oneida County's smallest town, population 725, has been steadfast in fighting the dump for more than a decade.Authority Executive Director Hans Arnold, comments, "It does make it difficult to talk with the town and village of Boonville and not the community where the landfill is located." December 1, 2005:Watertown Daily Times - The Development Authority of the North Country (DANC) requested the Town of Rodman to amend their host community agreement that currently prohibits importing trash from out of the state and the NY City metro area.As a result of Casella Waste Systems proposal to bring in up to 50,000 tons of trash from outside New York, "a vocal group at Tuesdays special town meeting said taking trash from New England to appease Casella, the landfill's largest customer, amounts to blackmail". December 15, 2005: Watertown Daily Times – "Rodman - the town council on Wednesday rejected a proposal that would have allowed trash from New England to be dumped at the DANC's landfill here." November 27, 2005:Letter to Administrator Steve Johnson of the Environmental Protection Agency from ACAL requesting the EPA "investigate Clean Water Act (33 USC, Section 1365) violations that have occurred as a result of constructing a 860-acre landfill site in our town (Ava); a landfill we have opposed for over 12 years.We are requesting this under Section 505 of the Act, which authorizes citizen suits to enforce violations of effluent standards or limitations." "We request that you ask for this investigation only after exhausting regulatory and legal avenues on the State level.After numerous attempts, including August 23 meeting, the NYSDEC has failed to deal with the turbidity issues in Moose Creek as it pertains to monitoring and enforcing 6 N.Y.C.R.R. Part 360 landfill regulations.Unfortunately, the environmental impacts of placing a mega landfill at this site were not thoroughly investigated or considered. OHSWA ignored recommendations to choose a less damaging site, or alternative, from highly respected environmental groups/agencies, including Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club, and United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Under Section 505 of 33 USC 1365, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Clean Water Act, we request that the EPA investigate these serious violations and determine appropriate corrective action before any further damage is done to these valuable natural resources and wildlife habitat." December 12, 2005:Town of Lewis, Lewis County, NY sends letter to EPA requesting investigation into the violations of the Clean Water Act regarding Moose Creek (Oneida County), which flows into the rivers of Sugar and Black (Lewis County). December 13, 2005: Region 2 EPA response letter from Doughlas McKenna, Chief, Water Compliance Branch. The Ava landfill site will be added to the agenda of the next Significant Non-Compliance Action Program (SNAP) meeting. They will continue to follow-up on this matter with NYSDEC to ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act. December 22, 2005:Letter to NYS Comptroller Alan Hevesi from Assemblyman Dave Townsend regarding OHSWA audit requested by Mr. Townsend in August 2004.Townsend, once again, expresses concern over constructing a landfill in the Town of Ava and the methodology used by OHSWA to determine a landfill was "the cheapest way to go" [versus taking Oneida-Herkimer garbage to Rodman] December 2005:RECAP OF THE FACTS … FACT:THE PRESENT AVA LANDFILL SITE WAS NOT CONSIDERED IN OHSWA'S TOP TEN SITES, NOR DID IT MAKE THEIR LIST AT ALL. FACT:THE AVA LANDFILL SITE IS LOCATED FEET FROM THE 800-ACRE VETERANS' MEMORIAL FOREST AND IS LOCATED IN UNFAVORABLE HYDROGEOLOGY. FACT:OHSWA INITIALLY SELECTED THE VETERANS' MEMORIAL FOREST AS THEIR NUMBER 1 CHOICE FOR A LANDFILL.WHO WOULD WANT TO DECSECRATE THE MEMORY OF UNITED STATES VETERANS BY BUILDING A LANDFILL ON A SITE DEDICATED TO THEM? FACT:SENATOR RAY MEIER, THEN ONEIDA COUNTY EXECUTIVE, TRIED TO CHANGE COUNTY LAW 219 SO OHSWA COULD BUILD A LANDFILL IN THE VETERANS' FOREST. FACT:SENATOR MEIER CONTINUES TO BE A DRIVING FORCE IN SUPPORTING THE OPENING OF THE AVA LANDFILL, DESPITE SEVERE OPPOSITION TO THE LANDFILL FROM HIS CONSTITUENTS. "An audit report released in December 2005 by the New York State Comptroller's Office entitled Oneida Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority Estimated Disposal Costs for a Proposed Regional Landfill Report of Examination, April 21, 2004 – June 30, 2005 has answered the question:Were cost estimates used to assess the economic benefits of the proposed regional landfill project based on complete, objective and verifiable information and analysis?" … the report does not identify in its 33-page document is whether or not constructing a landfill in the rural town of Ava is more cost efficient than transporting Oneida-Herkimer garbage to the Development Authority of the North Country (DANC) landfill in Rodman, NY – a landfill looking for garbage." "Aside from the fact that the audit did not perform the requested financial comparison and evaluation, OHSWA and local news media are propagating misleading statements to the public." "Although the audit reports local communities do not wish to negotiate with OHSWA for host community compensation, what it doesn't say is that the Town of Ava has adamantly opposed the siting and construction of this landfill for 13 years.Where other communities throughout the State can stop landfills from being constructed in their towns, Ava has been stripped of the right to protect itself and its citizens have been denied their civil liberties.New York State appointed Authorities supersede local town laws, have been granted the power of eminent domain, and are only held accountable by the laws that created them." January 12, 2006:Letter to Comptroller Alan Hevesi's Office from Assemblyman Dave Townsend expressing his disappointment that the OHSWA audit did not address the "Rodman issue" as discussed in his August 26, 2004 letter requesting an audit of OHSWA when they refused to consider a proposal by the Development Authority of the North Country (DANC) to accept Oneida and Herkimer county garbage for 50 years.Townsend asks reasons from the Comptroller's Office why the "Rodman issue" was excluded from the report. "Due to the fact OHSWA has excessive powers granted them by the State, the rights of rural citizens are being wrongfully denied, with no repercussions or support from State and National government.What is occurring in the small Town of Ava is a violation of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which states Board of Directors and members of Adirondack Communities Advisory League (ACAL), and local residents were shocked and sickened by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's (NYSDEC) February 13, 2006 Consent Order giving the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority (OHSWA) permission to pollute Moose Creek, a trout spawning stream. "This is just another example of a corrupt DEC", commented ACAL President Ned Ross, after reading the consent order. "The DEC is giving OHSWA permission to pollute." During the effective period of this Order, so long as the Authority and Rifenburg adhere to the terms, conditions, and stipulations of this Order, discharges fromthe Authority's storm water management system that cause a substantial visible contrast from the natural stream condition will not constitute a violation to this Order, nor result in institution of additional actions or proceedings by the Department. If any provision in this Order is breached, the Department may Institute appropriate proceedings as allowed by law. These vulnerable habitats are easily damaged. Certain human activities can degrade, even destroy the delicate ecological balance of these important areas. Unregulated, many of these activities would impair the uses of our water and diminish fish and wildlife populations through habitat destruction and degradation. Fish and wildlife belong to the people of the State. Stewardship of these public resources is charged to the DEC. March 22, 2006 - ACAL Files Citizens' Lawsuit Against Waste Authority & Rifenburg: A Notice of Intent to Sue Pursuant to the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. Section 1365(b)(1)(A): Ava Landfill, Town of Ava, Oneida County was filed yesterday by Christopher A. Amato, of Counsel with Dreyer Boyajian LLP Law Firm in Albany, NY against the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority (OHSWA) and Rifenburg Construction, Inc. (Rifenburg) on behalf of Adirondack Communities Advisory League (ACAL). The action against OHSWA and Rifenburg is being filed "for past and ongoing discharges of sediment and other pollutants from the Authority's solid waste management facility located adjacent to State Route 294 and Gleasman Road in the Town of Ava." Commencing in or about April 2005, the Authority and Rifenburg have caused and permitted discharges of sediments and debris to enter the waters of the United States through the South Branch of Moose Creek, a Class C trout spawning stream, which flow to the Sugar and Black Rivers; all of which are "navigable waters" within the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. Section 1362(7) June 8, 2006 - Under the citizens' suit provisions of the federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., ACAL files suit against the Oneida Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, for past and continuing Clean Water Act violations at the Authority's regional solid waste landfill site located in the Town of Ava, Oneida County, New York. October 24, 2006 - The Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority's controversial landfill opened and began accepting garbage in the Town of Ava. Despite strong opposition from the small rural township and ACAL, the landfill was forced into the Ava community by a New York State Public Authority (OHSWA) and supported by a New York State Regulatory Agency (Department of Environmental Conservation). OHSWA has stated they, as a New York Public Authority, can supersede local town laws. If this is true, then EVERY town in New York is a potential target for injustice through the crippling of town's rights to protect its citizens and natural resources. August 2007 - OHSWA agrees to settle lawsuit with ACAL in the presense of Northern District Court Judge David Peebles February 2010 - Update: OHSWA has NOT settled the lawsuit; ACAL's Clean Water Act citizens' suit against OHSWA continues ... The 1993 Ag District issue was extremely relevant in the siting of the Ava Landfill. Unable to protect their farms from the powerful Waste Authority, the Paluck Farm became the first Ava farm to fall into the hands of OHSWA. Botanist Gretchen Stevens of Hudsonia predicted the risk of sediment entering Moose Creek back in 1994. "The failure of this system (sedimentation basins) could have devastating consequences to the stream ecosystem." Ms. Stevens' comments regarding OHSWA's Final Environmental Impact Statement are alarming. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Internal Memos 1993-1996 are extremely telling of the DEC's relationship with OHSWA and the siting of the Ava Landfill (except for those memos that have sections missing or blacked out.) The 1998 report Where Will the Garbage Go? focuses on New York City's impending municipal solid waste crisis that will occur after the planned closure of New York City's Fresh Kills Landfill in 2002. The report states only 4 landfills will be open in New York State by 2038. With a life expectancy of 62 years, that makes the Ava Landfill one of the four.	eng	02825a3b-0f37-4e15-8521-765cf3fffde6	http://www.acalnews.org/didyouknow.php
United States Office of Research and EPA/640/K-93/001 Environmental Protection Development April 1993 Agency Washington, DC 20460 Preventing Waterborne Disease A Focus on EPA's Research EPA's Office of Research and Development The Office of Research and Development (ORD) conducts an integrated program of scientific research and development on the sources, transport and fate processes, monitoring, control, and assessment of risk and effects of environmental pollutants. These activi- ties are implemented through its headquarters offices and National Research Laboratories and Centers. The research focuses on key scientific and technical is- sues to generate knowledge supporting sound deci- sions today, and to anticipate the complex challenges of tomorrow. With a strong, forward-looking re- search program, less expensive more effective solu- tions can be pursued and irreversible damage to the environment can be prevented. Front cover photo by Lang Photography. "The reported case total for the epidemic nears three-quarters of a million. Since the beginning of the epidemic in January 1991, the total number of reported cases is 746,968 with 6,448 deaths." (Cholera Epidemic in the Americas, CDC Update, February 11, 1993) Although the above-listed statis- prevent water contamination by tics are alarming, the risk that exten- harmful microorganisms. From sive outbreaks of waterborne cholera monitoring our nation's ground will occur in the United States is water systems for viral pathogens...to minimal. Effective treatment of developing more effective technol- drinking water and sewage, coupled ogy for large and small systems...to with adequate personal hygiene providing other nations with critical habits, has contributed to a success- technical assistance, ORD scientists ful line of defense against the spread and engineers continue their mission of cholera in the U.S. Still, the ease to ensure safe waters. As the focus of Researcher isolating of international travel has guaran- our efforts adjusts to deal with infectious bacteria in teed the import of a wide variety of emerging challenges, past and cur- one of ORD's diseases not generally considered to rent successes add to our scientific pathogen be native to North America. Addi- arsenal against disease. containment suites. tionally, although fatalities caused by waterborne diseases have de- clined dramatically in the U.S. during this century, annual reports of water-related, microorganism- induced disease continue to number in the thousands. Just one water- borne outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in western Georgia (1987), for example, affected an estimated 13,000 people. In the "colonias" (poor settlements along the Texas- Mexico border), high levels of disease have been associated with the lack of public water supplies and inadequate waste treatment. While the words "typhoid fever" fade from our vocabulary, such terms as "Giar- dia," "Legionella," and "Norwalk virus" are becoming more familiar. The United States Environmen- tal Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), through its Office of Research and Development (ORD), is conducting research to better understand and Printed on Recycled Paper Microorganisms Associated with Waterborne Disease The following groups of microorganisms have been linked with the occurrence of waterborne disease. As each pathogen is isolated and identified as a threat to water quality, ORD researchers try to discover the most effective combination of barriers and disinfection methods to minimize risk of human exposure. Bacteria. Bacteria are the most widely distributed life forms. Pathogenic bacteria range in length from approximately 0.4 to 14 µm (a µm or "micrometer" equals one one-thousandth of a millimeter) and 0.2 to 1.2 µm in width. Key bacterial pathogens responsible for waterborne disease include Legionella, Salmonella typhi, Shigella, and Vibrio cholerae. Viruses. Viruses are inactive when outside of a living host cell. Viruses linked to waterborne disease have protein coats that provide protection from environ- mental hazards and range in size from 0.02 to 0.09 µm. Unlike bacteria and protozoa, they contain only one type of nucleic acid (RNA or DNA). Key pathogens include hepatitis A and Norwalk virus. Protozoa. Protozoa, common in bodies of water, are much larger than bacteria and viruses. To survive harsh environmental conditions, some species can secrete a protective covering and form a resting stage called a "cyst." Encystment can protect protozoa from drinking water disinfection efforts and facilitate the spread of disease. Key protozoa being studied as agents of waterborne disease include Giardia and Cryptosporidium. 2 Why Can't Waterborne waterborne outbreaks is recognized, Pathogens Be Eliminated? reported and investigated. Of these, It is estimated the pathogenic agent is identified that swimmers Microorganisms are present and waders may everywhere in our environment. only half of the time. Additionally, ingest from 0.3 to Invisible to the naked eye, vast experts believe that some food- 1.7 ounces of numbers of these microbes can be related disease outbreaks may origi- water per outing. found in soil, air, food and water. nate with an initial infection (e.g., of Although humans are essentially a restaurant worker) caused by free of microorganisms before birth, contaminated drinking water. constant circumstances of exposure Bacteria, viruses and protozoa (e.g., breathing, eating, and drink- are the microorganism groups con- ing) quickly allow the establishment taining pathogens of primary concern of harmless microbial flora in our in the study of waterborne diseases. bodies. To eliminate these pathogens from Microbial pathogens (microor- our water, especially from our drink- ganisms capable of causing disease), ing water, seems theoretically however, can and often do harm straightforward. Simply mix in a those who become infected. More- disinfectant, allow adequate contact over, diseases that healthy individu- time to assure inactivation (rendering als "weather" well may prove fatal the microbes unable to produce to individuals with compromised disease), and pump the water into the Cl Cl immune systems. In some cases, an distribution lines. infection can persist to create a In reality, many conditions "carrier state" where a disease- render the above scenario unwork- causing agent is harbored by the able. The physical characteristics of the water, primarily represented by B P body (and spread) without any apparent symptoms. dissolved and suspended solids B content, can affect the disinfection V S Waterborne diseases are typi- cally considered to be those diseases process. The chemical content, both resulting from ingestion of contami- naturally occurring and anthropo- nated water. Additional pathways of genic (i.e., generated by humans), infection being studied by EPA can also interfere with the chemical reactions desired during treatment Cl include inhalation of water vapors as well as body contact during bathing and disinfection. Finally, pathogens (opportunistic pathogens) in the associated (i.e., imbedded in or To kill or inactivate hospital environment. clumped) with higher organisms drinking water Since voluntary water ingestion (e.g., algae, rotifers, worms) may be contaminants such (drinking water) and bathing are protected from the action of disinfec- as bacteria (B), universal practices and accidental tants. protozoa (P), and ingestion during recreational activi- To overcome these obstacles to viruses (V), ties (e.g., swimming, water skiing, disinfection, successful treatment of adequate contact drinking and waste water generally time with the wading) is common, inadequate includes a series of steps. The flow- disinfectant protection of water integrity could (chlorine or Cl in lead to widespread outbreaks (the charts in Figures 1 and 2 depict the this representation) Centers for Disease Control defines steps involved in typical drinking must be allowed. an outbreak to be two or more cases and waste water treatment processes. Adsorption to and of illness that can be traced to a In the case of drinking water clumping of solid common source). Because symp- disinfection, once the impurities have particles (S) can toms can be mild and short-lived, it been removed, enough disinfectant is inhibit the disinfec- is estimated that only a fraction of added to inactivate pathogens. Addi- tion process. 3 tionally, a residual level of disinfec- upon by other communities presents Raw tant must be maintained throughout a significant health risk. Source Water the distribution system to guard waters heavily loaded with disease- against potential problems (e.g., causing microorganisms can reduce microorganisms entering through the effectiveness of "downstream" breaks in distribution lines or re- drinking water treatment processes. Screening growth). Such advances as ultraviolet light Proper distribution system opera- disinfection systems, initially inves- tion and maintenance practices are tigated as a wastewater disinfection essential deterrents of pathogen option several years ago, are pres- Coagulation/ entry, recovery and survival. These ently becoming more widely ac- Rapid Mixing practices (according to Geldreich et cepted and reliable with recent al., 1992) include: design enhancements. This technol- ogy has been demonstrated to be • Systematic flushing of the entire capable of meeting existing disinfec- Flocculation distribution system "to get more tion criteria without the release of movement of the chlorine residual dangerous disinfection by-products. into all parts of the pipe network...to remove static water What Progress Has Been from slow-flow sections, deadends Sediment- Made? and stratified water in storage tanks ation on a periodic basis;" Early in this century, the water- borne diseases of chief concern in • Effecting repairs and replacement the U.S. were typhoid fever and of distribution line components amebiasis. Of the 1,087 deaths (e.g., broken mains and service associated with waterborne out- Filtration meters) in a sanitary manner (i.e., breaks between 1920 and 1991, 943 soil-free replacement parts, were attributed to typhoid fever disinfection and flushing of while 102 were caused by amebiasis. repaired lines, valves and fittings); Overall, 83% of the deaths occurred Disinfection prior to 1936 and less than 1% • Preventing pathogens from being occurred after 1970. Additionally, drawn into the distribution system the number of outbreaks in commu- by maintaining continuous positive nity water systems since 1945 is Clear pressure and preserving barriers be- about half as great as the number Holding tween public water supplies and documented during the first half of Tank sewage or storm water drainage; this century. The reduction in fatali- • Varying the sample sites during ties and number of outbreaks indi- routine monitoring to produce data cates that progress has been made in more representative of the entire the prevention of certain waterborne To Distribution system. diseases. Much of the progress has System been the result of increased imple- While the importance of source mentation of important treatment water treatment to ensure safe drink- practices (e.g., filtration, disinfec- ing water seems obvious, the need to tion, sewage treatment). Although devote equal effort to pathogen progress has been significant, the Figure 1. Simplified reduction in wastewater is not al- nation's water continues to be a flowchart of drinking ways recognized. The release of source of disease. It must be rigor- water treatment untreated or inadequately treated ously monitored for indicators of processes. wastewater into source waters drawn fecal contamination. 4 Some Waterborne Diseases of Concern in the United States Disease Microbial General Symptoms Agent Amebiasis Protozoan Abdominal discomfort, fatigue, (Entamoeba histolytica) diarrhea, flatulence, weight loss Campylo- Bacterium Fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea bacteriosis (Campylobacter jejuni) Cholera Bacterium Watery diarrhea, vomiting, occasional (Vibrio cholerae) muscle cramps Cryptospor- Protozoan Diarrhea, abdominal discomfort idiosis (Cryptosporidium parvum) Giardiasis Protozoan Diarrhea, abdominal discomfort (Giardia lamblia) Hepatitis Virus Fever, chills, abdominal discomfort, (hepatitis A) jaundice, dark urine Shigellosis Bacterium Fever, diarrhea, bloody stool (Shigella species) Typhoid fever Bacterium Fever, headache, constipation, appetite (Salmonella typhi) loss, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, appearance of an abdominal rash Viral Viruses Fever, headache, gastrointestinal Gastroenteritis (Norwalk, rotavirus and discomfort, vomiting, diarrhea other types) 5 proper drinking water quality Raw through monitoring, and provide Wastewater public notification of contamination problems. Relating to prevention of water- borne disease, the SDWA required Grit Pretreatment Primary Treatment EPA to: 1) set numerical standards, referred to as Maximum Con- taminant Levels (MCLs — the Primary Sediment- highest allowable contaminant Sludge ation concentrations in drinking water) or treatment technique require- ments for contaminants in public water supplies; 2) issue regulations requiring monitoring of all regulated and Biological Secondary Treatment certain unregulated contami- Treatment nants, depending on the number of people served by the system, the source of the water supply, and the contaminants likely to be found; Secondary Sediment- Sludge ation 3) set criteria under which sys- tems are obligated to filter water from surface water sources; it must also develop procedures for states to determine which sys- tems have to filter; To further treatment or 4) develop disinfection rules for discharge all public water supplies; and Figure 2. In 1974, Congress passed the 5) require all states to develop Simplified flowchart Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Wellhead Protection Programs of typical setting up a regulatory program designed to protect from sources wastewater among local, state, and federal agen- of contamination areas around treatment wells that supply public drinking cies to help ensure the provision of processes. safe drinking water in the U.S. The water systems. states are expected to administer and enforce these regulations for public Through the Surface Water water systems (systems that either Treatment Rule (SWTR), EPA has have 15 or more service connections set treatment requirements to control or regularly serve an average of 25 or microbiological contaminants in more people daily for at least 60 days public water systems using surface each year). Public water systems water sources (and ground-water must provide water treatment, ensure sources under the direct influence of 6 surface water). These requirements Assimilable organic carbon include the following: (AOC) is the portion of the total Currently, it is organic carbon (TOC) dissolved in estimated that 1) treatment must remove or water that is easily used by microor- there will be over inactivate at least 99.9% of ganisms as a carbon source (i.e., 100,000 Giardia lamblia cysts and nutrients). ORD researchers are violations of the 99.99% of viruses; currently investigating treatment SDWA annually. processes to control AOC. One Nearly half of 2) all systems must disinfect, and these will be for promising process is biologically are required to filter if certain MCL violations. active filtration wherein bacterial source water quality criteria and Of these, the communities are intentionally estab- site-specific criteria are not met; majority will be lished in the filters to use up, or biodegrade, the AOC as it passes microbiological 3) the regulations set criteria for violations by determining if treatment, includ- through. This treatment process must be employed before final disinfection small systems. ing turbidity (suspended particu- late matter) removal and disin- so that bacteria escaping from the fection requirements, is adequate filter can be properly controlled. As for filtered systems; and described in Figure 1, most water utilities do not disinfect with chlorine 4) all systems must be operated until late in the treatment train. This by qualified operators as deter- limits the formation of disinfection mined by the states. by-products (i.e., those compounds like chloroform produced when chlorine reacts with naturally occur- Current EPA Research – ring organic carbon). Barriers to Contamination To accomplish disinfection earlier in treatment, some water Single step Although water treatment and utilities employ ozonation. While membrane filter disinfection techniques are quite procedure for effective at microbe reduction, ozone is a very strong disinfectant, it enumerating E. coli finished drinking water is not sterile. also converts a portion of the TOC in recreational Survival and regrowth of microor- into AOC. ORD researchers are waters. The yellow ganisms in drinking water distribu- examining the advantages (e.g., colonies are E. coli tion systems can lead to the deterio- disinfection of bacteria, viruses and while the blue, red ration of water quality and even non- protozoan cysts, control of color, and purple colonies compliance of a supply. Regrowth control of taste and odor, enhance- are other coliforms. has largely been associated with heterotrophic bacteria (i.e., those bacteria – including pathogens – that require preformed organic com- pounds as carbon and energy sources). Bacterial growth occurs on the walls of the distribution system (referred to as "biofilms") and in the water either as free living cells or cells attached to suspended solids. A multi-faceted phenomenon, bacterial regrowth is influenced primarily by temperature, residence time in mains and storage units, the efficacy of disinfection, and nutrients. 7 drinking water exposure risk assess- ments, and calibrating network hydraulic models. It can provide insight into how changes in water source utilization, pumping water storage levels, use of satellite treat- ment, and targeted pipe cleaning and replacement would affect drinking water quality. In support of small community and non-community (less than 3300 people) drinking water treatment systems, ORD researchers are de- signing, modifying and testing In situ cytotoxicity test for heterotrophic bacteria found in "Hybrid Drinking Water Treatment drinking water. Heterotrophs recovered from drinking water Package Plants." These package form individual yellow colonies (left) that can be transferred to a plants are factory-built, skid- tissue cell culture (right). Formation of plaques (i.e., clear areas mounted, and ready to be operated in caused by destruction of infected cells) in the tissue culture can the field with minimal site prepara- indicate virulence and signal the need for further action. tion. They exhibit lower capital cost than custom designed facilities built ment of coagulation, and partial onsite and can incorporate any oxidation of the naturally occurring drinking water treatment process. organic carbon that reacts with Promising technologies being con- chlorine) and disadvantages of ozone sidered for incorporation include (e.g., enhancement of AOC, conver- membranes, advanced oxidation, bag sion of bromide to bromate, and filters, and photocatalytic oxidation. formation of its own disinfection by- By merging, modifying, and adapt- products like formaldehyde). ing conventional treatment trains The project entitled "EPANET" with innovative treatment technolo- involves the development and testing gies, a broader variety of contami- of a water quality model for drinking nants (including pathogens) can be water distribution systems. The removed and SDWA compliance can In the lesser EPANET model is a computer be facilitated. developed program that performs extended Concern has recently mounted countries, period simulation of hydraulic and over the ability of certain pathogenic waterborne water quality behavior within water protozoan (Cryptosporidium) cysts disease is still a distribution networks. It tracks the to survive treatment processes and major problem. flow of water in each pipe, the pres- enter the distribution system. ORD, The World sure at each pipe junction, the height in its project entitled "Evaluation of Health of water in each tank, and the con- Particulate Removal Processes," is Organization has centration of a contaminant through- designing and testing the most effec- estimated that out the network during a multiple tive filtration techniques to physi- more people die time period simulation. Water age cally remove the cysts. Being studied annually of and source tracing can also be simu- are slow sand (see Figure 3), diatom- water-related lated. aceous earth, and coagulation/rapid diarrheal EPANET can be useful for sand filtration processes. Results of illnesses than of analyzing the loss of disinfectant this research will build upon earlier cancer or AIDs. residual, designing water quality work with filtration of Giardia sampling programs, performing lamblia. 8 Flow Overflow Control Supernatant Water Raw Ventilation Water Active Biological Layer V-Notch Weir Sand Filterbed Underdrains Filter Effluent Flow Measurement Current EPA Research — parts of the country. Seasonal and Figure 3. Basic Pathogenic Intestinal geographic differences have been elements of a slow Protozoa recognized and data on concentra- sand filter. During the last 20 years, signifi- tions in various waters have been cant improvements have been made collected. in the quantitative methods for Work on cross-species infectiv- detecting pathogenic intestinal ity of animal and human cysts has protozoa (particularly Giardia and established that beavers and musk- Cryptosporidium) in water. Addi- rats may at least be secondary reser- tionally, there has been progress in voirs for giardiasis. Also, while it standardizing these methods. Current appears that avian cysts are not methods, however, are still time- infective for mammals, we cannot In Minnesota, 100% consuming and skill-intensive (re- now distinguish avian and mamma- of the muskrats and quiring highly trained analysts), and lian cysts in a water sample. The 7% of the beavers lack the ability to indicate viability goal of an ORD project entitled examined were (whether the cyst is dead or alive) or "Development of Gene Probes for positive for Giardia. Speciation of Giardia" is to develop In four infectivity. The latter item has and test the application of genetic Northeastern states clouded the development of quantita- and molecular probe methods to (Maine, New tive risk assessments. allow classification of detected Hampshire, New The cosmopolitan nature of Giardia species. York, and intestinal protozoa, and the certainty Gene sequences have been Vermont), the that all surface water supplies must mapped in species of Giardia shed corresponding be contaminated with these organ- by animals (e.g., herons and mice) figures were 94% isms, has been established through and compared with corresponding for muskrats and studies in animals (beavers, musk- gene sequences in human-hosted 17% for beavers. rats, and birds) and by occurrence Giardia. Preliminary results indicate Erlandsen et al., 1990. studies in sewage throughout all that through these mapped se- 9 would allow assessing the signifi- cance of positive reports and may allow establishment of numerical standards under the SDWA. The objectives of the projects "Molecular Probes for the Detection of Proto- zoan Parasites" and "Induction of Stress Proteins as a Measure of Giardia Cyst Viability" are to dis- cover, separate and amplify specific genetic sequences (DNA or RNA) associated with viable Giardia cysts. If these specific sequences can be identified, probes can be developed Trophozoite to allow testing for viable cysts only. Practical methods for isolation, identification and quantification of waterborne pathogens such as Giar- dia are not yet available. Isolation and identification methods are needed before control methods can be evaluated and regulatory deci- sions can be made regarding required treatment processes and MCLs. The goal of ORD's project entitled "Im- munological Methods for Detection of Etiological Agents of Waterborne Disease" is to develop innovative immunologic methods for the detec- tion, identification and enumeration of pathogenic microorganisms. Immunologic methods may provide Cyst the sensitivity and specificity needed for detection since low numbers of Two-stage life cycle quences, once labelled with a detect- target organisms may be present in of Giardia lamblia: able probe, human type Giardia can large volumes of water along with the active be differentiated from bird and high numbers of the normal flora and trophozoite stage mouse Giardia. Probes have been fauna. and the synthesized and experiments show To accomplish this, the patho- environmentally- that one reacts with 10 different G. genic agents will be isolated and resistant, resting cyst stage. Cellular lamblia human isolates but not with their antigens (proteins that stimulate components shown G. psittaci (associated with birds) or the body to produce antibodies) will above include G. muris (associated with mice). It is be used to produce specific antisera nuclei (blue), hoped that progress in speciation of for immunologic tests (e.g., immun- axonemes (red), Giardia can be applied to the study ofluorescent assay, enzyme immuno- and median bodies of Cryptosporidium. assay, radioimmunoassay). (green). Current Giardia detection meth- Because standardized procedures ods are unable to distinguish viable for detecting pathogenic protozoa do from nonviable cysts. A practical not now exist, confusion in the detection method for viable cysts interpretation of results obtained by 10 different laboratories occurs. The collected. Through the goal of the project entitled "Stan- project entitled "Cyst and Cell dardized Methods for Detecting Oöcyst Levels in the Ohio Pathogenic Protozoa in Water" is to River," ORD is monitor- develop standardized methods for ing monthly one raw Chromosome detecting Giardia and Cryptospo- water sample (collected ridium in water. These methods will from the river) plus also assist EPA in assessing research samples from five differ- findings relevant to regulatory activi- ent points in the drinking ties under the SDWA. water treatment process. Cryptosporidium is the only Although current meth- microorganism on the Office of ods are based on micro- Gene (Linear stretch of DNA) Ground Water and Drinking Water's scopic examination of list of contaminants to be addressed concentrated samples obtained from in the next round of regulations. large volumes of water, immunofluo- Quantitative risk assessment for this rescence membrane assays and gene organism is hampered by the un- probe techniques are being used for availability of any human infectious this project. Findings from this dose data and by the scarcity of project will also be used in a nation- animal dose data. Additionally, very wide survey for occurrence of these little is known of the longevity and organisms in water supplies. protective ability of the body's In the early 1980s, a waterborne immune response to Cryptospo- disease study in Washington State ridium infection. suggested that certain elements were The objective of the project required for a good waterborne entitled "Cryptosporidium Infectious disease surveillance and investiga- Dose and Immune Response" is to tion program. Since that time, com- determine Cryptosporidium infec- puter hardware and software have tious dose and the associated im- been introduced which may increase mune response in human volunteers. the potential for improved efficiency Organisms known to of disease reporting. Although be infectious for cryptosporidiosis humans will be out- obtained from infected calves From 1986 through 1990, and administered 20 waterborne outbreaks due to in drinking water intestinal protozoa were reported in the U.S.; to the volunteers. these outbreaks occurred in 10 states and Conclusions drawn affected more than 15,000 people. from this project could help shape future maximum contami- nant level regulations. In preparation for development breaks of disinfection and disinfection by- have been associated product rules, information on the with drinking water, the relative occurrence of Giardia cysts and significance of drinking water in the Cryptosporidium oöcysts in source transmission of this disease is un- waters and throughout the drinking known. The project entitled "Surveil- water treatment process must be lance of Waterborne Disease/ 11 Cryptosporidiosis Epidemiological more information on the nature and An epidemiological Feasibility Study" is underway to: 1) extent of viral contamination in our investigation systematically evaluate waterborne nation's waters. The objective of involves the study disease strategies, computer software ORD's project entitled "Practical and occurrence of and educational programs in local Methods for Monitoring Viral Patho- disease within a and state health departments, and 2) gens in Surface and Groundwater population. In the design an epidemiological study to Source Waters to Define Level of study of address the significance of drinking Treatment" is to develop improved waterborne water in the transmission of methods for detection of waterborne disease, cryptosporidiosis. Products from viruses. In addition to supporting epidemiological these efforts could shed light on the EPA's risk assessment efforts relat- data can indicate a understanding and tracking of water- ing to water quality, these methods need for additional borne disease outbreaks throughout will provide the means to support the drinking water the world. establishment of new virological treatment (e.g., standards and to permit the formation filtration). of effective options for regulatory Current EPA Research — decisions. Viruses This project will focus on the Traditionally, methods for detect- development of biotechnology meth- ing and identifying viruses have ods based on recognition of viral- relied on slow cell culture methods. specific nucleic acids within infected Existing methods may underestimate cell systems. The use of a biotechnol- the quantity of viruses present or ogy approach that employs DNA alternatively produce false negatives probes to detect the presence of when viruses are actually present in viruses is faster, less expensive and sampled water. Some viruses (e.g., easier to perform than traditional hepatitis A and Norwalk) simply plaque assay methods. cannot be detected by the commonly The Science Advisory Board's used cell culture/plaque assay meth- (SAB) Reducing Risk report to EPA ods. Given the health risks presented describes pollutants in drinking water by viruses, it is essential to develop as one of the four highest risks to Percentage of State Populations Served by Ground Water for Domestic Supply LEGEND Percent of Population 75-100 50-74 25-49 0-24 Source: 1990 State Section 305(b) Water Quality Reports 12 human health. With over 50% of the Once virus particles U.S. population relying on ground infect cells in a water as their primary source of single layer tissue drinking water, the need for ground- culture, cellular damage (clear areas water resource protection, including or "plaque-forming protection from pathogens, is clear. units" in the brown "Monitoring of Ground Water agar depicted at left) for Human Enteric Viruses" is a becomes apparent. current project to address the man- The plaque assay is date of the SDWA that EPA estab- used for lish treatment requirements and identification, criteria for ground water systems. A counting, and virus occurrence survey of vulner- purification of able ground water systems is being viruses. performed to support requirements for minimum levels of virus inactiva- material of the Norwalk virus par- tion and ultimately a ground water ticle must currently be amplified disinfection rule. A number of public using a biotechnology approach ground water systems will be identi- called polymerase chain reaction fied and ranked according to vulner- (PCR). ability to fecal contamination. Of Although known to be highly these, 25 systems will be monitored infectious, the infectious dose for for the presence of viruses through Norwalk virus is unknown. The only tissue culture methods and gene safety-tested virus inoculum (a probe techniques. microorganism-containing specimen Hybridized probe (in Norwalk and Norwalk-like that has been shown to be free of blue) binds with viruses cause viral gastroenteritis other pathogens) available cannot be target genetic (the second leading cause of illness used for infectious dose studies sequence (in red) to in the U.S.) in consumers of con- because it is not possible to deter- make it detectable taminated water and food. Since mine the virus concentration. The by radiation or these viruses cannot be grown and project entitled "Develop a Dose- color. identified in tissue cultures, they cannot be detected in water samples by current monitoring techniques. A small amount of Norwalk virus is available for studies. This virus preparation has been isolated from Labelled stool samples of infected individuals genetic and used in an enzyme immunoassay probe for the detection of Norwalk virus. Because immunologic methods require a high virus concentration, the etiologic agent responsible for most waterborne outbreaks of gastro- enteritis usually is not determined. Since the viral density in environ- mental samples is normally too low Target DNA sequence for direct immunologic detection and since there is no known cell culture method for this virus, the genetic 13 during feeding. Since shellfish are often eaten raw or insufficiently cooked, subjecting shellfish waters to human wastes constitutes a public health risk. Because there are more than 100 waterborne virus types that may cause clinical outbreaks in humans, monitoring efforts are essential to ensure the virological safety of waters and particularly the reliability of water and wastewater treatment practices. This information can only be provided through increased moni- toring and assessment programs of each major pathway leading to the deposition of human enteric viruses into the nation's waters. These vi- ruses are responsible for serious illnesses ranging from hepatitis to myocarditis to central nervous sys- Preparing stock Response Curve for Norwalk Virus" tem disorders to acute gastroenteritis. tissue cell cultures is approaching this problem in four The general recommendation has for isolation and phases: 1) cell cultures capable of been that drinking water should be identification of growing the Norwalk virus will be free of human enteric viruses and that viruses in water developed; 2) Norwalk viruses will recreational water viral limits be set. samples. be grown in cell culture, purified and The goal of the project entitled safety-tested for use in volunteer "National Monitoring and Assess- studies; 3) a measure of the number ment Program: Status and Long- of total and infectious virus particles Term Trends in Human Enteric Virus in the purified sample will be estab- Pollutants in the Aquatic Ecosys- lished; and 4) a human volunteer tems" is to establish a national viral study will be initiated to determine survey program focusing on the the amount of virus particles re- following five factors: 1) selection of quired to cause disease. monitoring sites based on those most Although the rate of The Clean Water Act stipulates likely to have broad public health water transport that the nation's rivers, lakes, and importance; 2) field sampling that through their gills coastal waters be swimmable and will result in the collection of ad- varies greatly, fishable. Water quality standards equate and representative sample oysters have been based on established criteria to volumes to safeguard against false found to filter as achieve this goal must be developed. negatives; 3) concentration proce- many as 154 The project entitled "Shellfish Meth- dures to increase the density of gallons per day. In ods and Exposure Response Assess- viruses so that they can be effectively waters exposed to ment/Viruses" is being conducted to assayed; 4) standard protocols for human sewage, develop methods for detecting and viral detection using both gene probe these shellfish can enumerating contamination of shell- and classical plaque assay tech- filter out and fish and shellfish growing waters by niques; and 5) parallel biological and concentrate human enteric viruses. Shellfish chemical analysis that will serve to pathogens as well growing in polluted waters are determine the quality of the water as food. known to concentrate these viruses source. 14 Current EPA Research — samples for either fecal coliforms or Bacteria E. coli is new. Data from available In the U.S., the methods for detecting chlorine- presence of The new National Primary coliform bacteria Drinking Water Regulations require damaged E. coli in drinking water are limited. The objective of the in drinking water that all drinking water samples is used as an testing positive for total coliforms be project entitled "Detection of Low Numbers of Chlorine-Stressed E. indicator of further tested for the presence of possible either fecal coliforms or E. coli. coli in Drinking Water" is to evalu- ate and compare the abilities of a microbiological There is a method currently available contamination. that allows the simultaneous detec- commercial method (Colilert) and a standard coliform method (EC- When total tion of total coliforms and E. coli in coliforms are a broth medium in 24 hours; how- MUG) to recover low numbers of chlorine-stressed E. coli from po- detected, fecal ever, there is no equivalent method coliform or E. coli for use with membrane filters. De- table water. Pure cultures of E. coli will be washed, nutrient-stressed in analysis must be velopment of such a method will performed. allow those who prefer to obtain finished drinking water, and treated counts of these organisms in their with chlorine. The chlorine-stressed distribution systems to use a mem- E. coli will then be enumerated, brane filter method and to have diluted to levels that would be found results within the 24-hour time in marginally unsafe drinking water frame. Through the project "Devel- and opment of a Membrane Filter Me- assayed dium for the Simultaneous Detection in mul- The golden metallic of Total Coliforms and E. coli," a tiple sheen of the membrane filter medium on which tubes by colonies at left both total coliforms and E. coli can the three indicate the be distinguished from noncoliforms methods. presence of total will be developed and patented. These coliforms and the E. coli are fecal organisms that experi- possibility that the ments sampled water when present in drinking water are supply is indicative of fecal pollution. Logisti- will be repeated contaminated. cal concerns in sample handling and holding require evaluation of condi- using tions for optimizing sample stability naturally and longevity. No current regulations occurring E. coli from diluted human exist for handling samples for analy- fecal specimens, contaminated sis of E. coli. Through the project source waters and effluents. entitled "Optimal Sample Holding The infectious bacterial agent Conditions for Analysis of Fecal E. identified from the stools of cholera coli in Drinking Water," sample victims is Vibrio cholerae. The temperature and holding time will be epidemic in Latin America has determined for E. coli or fecal colif- prompted a renewed interest in orm analysis methods (i.e., Colilert control measures for this disease. and M-FC agar). Relative recovery Through the project entitled "Inacti- of methods and storage conditions vation of Vibrio cholerae Biotype El will be assessed for optimal E. coli Tor and Biotype Classical by Chlori- recovery. nation," it has been determined that The requirement (through the the strain responsible for the epi- SDWA amendments) to test all demic in Peru is capable of reverting coliform-positive drinking water to a variant which is more resistant 15 nia are usually spread via finished drinking water. Certain free living amoebae (protozoa) support the multiplication of L. pneumophila in drinking water systems. These amoe- bae may also be responsible for enhancing the virulence (capacity of a microorganism to cause disease) of the Legionellae and for protecting them from adverse environmental factors such as high temperature and chlorine disinfection. The project entitled "Multiplication of Legionellae in Amoebae and Assess- ment of Virulence" will determine the effect of intracellular growth of Legionella in amoebae on virulence and as protection against chlorine and high temperature. To accomplish A rugose (rough- to chlorination than the typical this, a method will be established to surfaced) variant smooth variety of Vibrio cholerae. study the ability of various types of (above left) of Vibrio Cells of the variant appear to be amoebae to provide a protective cholerae 01 is able imbedded in a gelatinous mucoid niche for the multiplication of to form aggregates. Legionellae under adverse environ- material, facilitating the formation of ORD studies have aggregates, which renders them more mental conditions. Combinations of indicated that this variant is more resistant to disinfection. Although Legionella isolates and specific resistant to the variant is more resistant, studies amoebae that result in high yields of disinfection than the have indicated that all strains are Legionella after intracellular growth smooth strain readily inactivated through adequate will be used to study the effects of (above right). chlorination. intracellular growth on virulence. The Legionella pneumophila Preliminary studies on the ability of bacterial strains that cause commu- amoebae to supply iron to nity- and hospital-acquired pneumo- Legionellae growing intracellularly showed no obvious associations between growth and iron concentra- tion. EPA is required by the SDWA to establish appropriate controls and regulations for potable water. ORD's This one step method project entitled "Develop Methods (developed by for Identifying Potential Bacterial ORD) allows Pathogens in Drinking Water" will enterococci (blue develop a data base on potential colonies) health hazards (i.e., pathogenicity) enumeration in just associated with bacteria commonly 24 hours. found in water distribution systems. To accomplish this, three rodent species will be compromised using nitrous oxides or immunosuppressive agents, and the animals subsequently 16 will be chal- lenged via the gastroi- ntestinal route. Although virulence is usually measured in vivo (animal research), the need for extensive (a) (b) (c) animal testing can be significantly reduced by the develop- ing) water treatment in small com- Two step, 48 hour ment of a battery of in vitro (cell munities where the treatment system membrane filter test culture) tests for traits known to be has been overwhelmed by organic for enumerating virulence-related. This battery can be substances that may be harmful to enterococci in used to predict the potential an human health. EPA's Office of recreational waters. (a) and (b) Two organism has for causing disease in Ground Water and Drinking Water perspectives of exposed populations. Through the (OGWDW), however, does not want colonies (red) project entitled "Develop In Vitro to recommend the use of these filters present at 24 hours. Methods for Identifying Potential if the possibility exists that their use (c) At 48 hours, Bacterial Pathogens in Drinking poses an acute disease risk due to colonies with black Water," model systems will be bacteria that grow on the filters. The halos are identified developed that can be used to deter- health significance of the bacteria as enterococci. mine the potential pathogenicity of known to adsorb and grow on GAC bacteria found in potable water filters used in the home will be distribution systems. Additionally, evaluated. The OGWDW will use gene probe and other assays to this information to develop appropri- identify known opportunistic patho- ate controls and regulations for this gens will be developed and evalu- type of drinking water treatment as ated. required by the SDWA. Bacteria common to drinking The objective of ORD's project water distribution systems colonize entitled "Health Effects Associated point-of-entry, granular activated with Point-of-Entry GAC Filters" is carbon (GAC) filters where they are to determine if a significant health able to grow to very high densities. hazard is associated with the use of Subsequent to reaching the high granular activated carbon, point-of- densities the bacteria begin slough- entry, whole house filters. To accom- ing off the GAC filters. The number plish this, a suitable study site will be of bacteria in the filter effluent (i.e., selected based on the following water flowing out of the filter) is criteria: 1) the water in the delivery significantly higher than in the system must meet EPA and local influent water. This amplification of drinking water standards; and 2) the bacteria in drinking water is of water distribution system should concern to EPA because GAC filters contain a bacterial population whose are being considered as a substitute density is as high as possible and still for central potable (i.e., fit for drink- acceptable under local regulations. 17 After a distribution system Some believe that exposure to Analysis of meeting the above criteria has been fecal pollution through recreational potable water or found, a volunteer population of waters or ingestion of contaminated cooling tower appropriate size will be selected shellfish causes greater health risks if water for from among the water system cus- the pollution is of human rather than Legionella tomers. The selected population will animal origin. Before the relative pneumophila be randomly divided into GAC user risks of human versus animal fecal requires and non-user groups. Point-of-entry, pollution can be assessed, it is neces- approximately GAC filters will be installed in the sary to develop a microbiological five to seven homes of the randomly selected user method for distinguishing human days for growth of group. The health status of both from animal pollution. Current the organisms on groups will be monitored over a methods detect fecal pollution but do the initial isolation predetermined period of time and not reveal the source. The objective medium and during this time interval the bacterial of the project entitled "Method to another five to population in the water system and Distinguish Non-Human Fecal seven days to the filter effluent will be monitored Pollution from Human Fecal Pollu- confirm the on a routine basis. In the event of an tion" is to develop a gene probe identity of these illness where a bacterial agent is specific for E. coli that inhabit the organisms. Gene diagnosed as the cause, the GAC human intestine for use as an indica- probe techniques filter will be removed and examined tor of the presence of human fecal could reduce for the presence of the organism contamination in water. The probe analysis time to determined to be the agent of the will be field tested at several sites in one day. disease in that household unit. If an which fecal pollution is exclusively association between illness or dis- from human sources, exclusively ease and the use of GAC filters is from animal sources and from mixed observed, health advisory guidelines sources. will be established or processes that Shigella species are among the will eliminate the causative organ- most common and significant patho- isms will be developed. gens associated with wastewater and EPA researcher using the transmission electron microscope to detect pathogens unable to be detected by other methods. 18 sludge. Because of their low infec- mental Protection Agency. The tive doses, these organisms may be Office of Research and Development hazardous even if present in low is committed, through the extensive numbers in wastewaters that are waterborne disease research efforts recycled for potable use or sludges earlier described, to ensure that the that are applied to agricultural land. most effective and efficient methods Shigellae are very difficult to detect are developed to identify, detect, and in environmental samples by conven- inactivate/remove pathogens that tional methods because of their may be present in our drinking water biochemical similarities to E. coli. supplies. The use of current gene probe tech- Life cycles, mechanisms of nology in the project entitled "Detec- infection, protective or dormant tion of Enteroinvasive Shigella in states, emergence of disinfection- Wastewaters and Sludges" should resistant variants, optimal pathogen enable us to detect Shigellae in removal techniques, regrowth in sludges and wastewaters that would distribution lines…all are areas that appear to be free of these pathogens must be investigated and understood if analyzed by conventional methods. to afford the water quality safeguards that are so often taken for granted. The successes and failures of these Conclusion research efforts, relayed to the public Human enteric The protection and enhancement and appropriate federal, state, and bacteria being of our nation's water quality remains local agencies, have helped to ensure subcultured in an a chief concern of the U.S. Environ- safe drinking water. anaerobic hood. 19 EPA Publications The EPA publications listed below may provide more detailed information on the subjects discussed in this document. These references and additional copies of this bro- chure can be requested at no charge (while supplies are available) from EPA's Center for Environmental Research Information (CERI). Once the CERI inventory is exhausted, clients will be directed to the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) where docu- ments can be purchased. Environmental Pollution Control Alternatives: Drinking Water Treatment for Small Commu- nities, EPA/625/5-90/025. Methods for the Investigation and Prevention of Waterborne Disease Outbreaks, EPA/ 600/1-90/005a. Microbiological Methods for Monitoring the Environment — Water and Wastes, EPA/600/ 8-78/017. Seminar Publication: Control of Biofilm Growth in Drinking Water Distribution Systems, EPA/625/R-92/001. Test Methods for Escherichia coli and Enterococci in Water by the Membrane Filter Procedure, EPA/600/4-85/076. USEPA Manual of Methods for Virology, EPA/600/4-84/013 and updates. Waterborne Disease Outbreaks - Selected Reprints of Articles on Epidemiology, Surveil- lance, Investigation, and Laboratory Analysis, EPA/600/1-90/005b. Center for Environmental Research Information (CERI) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 26 W. Martin Luther King Drive Cincinnati, OH 45268 Phone: (513) 569-7562 FAX: (513) 569-7566 Cited Literature Erlandsen, S.L., L.A. Sherlock, W.J. Bemrick, H. Ghobrial and W. Jakubowski. 1990. Prevalence of Giardia spp. in beaver and muskrat populations in northeastern states and Minnesota. Appl. & Envir. Micro., 56: 31-36. Geldreich, E.E., K.R. Fox, J.A. Goodrich, E.W. Rice, R.M. Clark, and D.L. Swerdlow. 1992. Searching for a water supply connection in the Cabool, Missouri disease outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7. Wat. Res., 26: 1127-1137. 20 This publication was prepared by Patrick Burke of ORD's National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, Ohio. Contribu- tors and reviewers include Alfred Dufour, Walter Jakubowski, Robert Safferman, Shay Fout, Gerard Stelma and Terry Covert of the National Exposure Research Laboratory - Cincinnati, and Robert Clark, Kim Fox, Edwin Geldreich, Richard Miltner, Donald Reasoner, and Eugene Rice of the National Risk Management Research Laboratory. Thanks to Al Lang and Jim O'Dell for photographic support.	eng	99980e7e-07ed-4aee-a93e-a3224076d480	http://www.docstoc.com/docs/46193366/Preventing-Waterborne-Disease-A-Focus-on-EPAs
A Lisp object is a piece of data used and manipulated by Lisp programs. For our purposes, a type or data type is a set of possible objects. Every object belongs to at least one type. Objects of the same type have similar structures and may usually be used in the same contexts. Types can overlap, and objects can belong to two or more types. Consequently, we can ask whether an object belongs to a particular type, but not for "the" type of an object. A few fundamental object types are built into Emacs. These, from which all other types are constructed, are called primitive types. Each object belongs to one and only one primitive type. These types include integer, float, cons, symbol, string, vector, subr, byte-code function, and several special types, such as buffer, that are related to editing. (See section Editing Types.) Each primitive type has a corresponding Lisp function that checks whether an object is a member of that type. Note that Lisp is unlike many other languages in that Lisp objects are self-typing: the primitive type of the object is implicit in the object itself. For example, if an object is a vector, it cannot be treated as a number because Lisp knows it is a vector, not a number. In most languages, the programmer must declare the data type of each variable, and the type is known by the compiler but not represented in the data. Such type declarations do not exist in Emacs Lisp. A Lisp variable can have any type of value, and remembers the type of any value you store in it. This chapter describes the purpose, printed representation, and read syntax of each of the standard types in GNU Emacs Lisp. Details on how to use these types can be found in later chapters. The printed representation of an object is the format of the output generated by the Lisp printer (the function print) for that object. The read syntax of an object is the format of the input accepted by the Lisp reader (the function read) for that object. Most objects have more than one possible read syntax. Some types of object have no read syntax; except for these cases, the printed representation of an object is also a read syntax for it. In other languages, an expression is text; it has no other form. In Lisp, an expression is primarily a Lisp object and only secondarily the text that is the object's read syntax. Often there is no need to emphasize this distinction, but you must keep it in the back of your mind, or you will occasionally be very confused. Every type has a printed representation. Some types have no read syntax, since it may not make sense to enter objects of these types directly in a Lisp program. For example, the buffer type does not have a read syntax. Objects of these types are printed in hash notation: the characters `#<' followed by a descriptive string (typically the type name followed by the name of the object), and closed with a matching `>'. Hash notation cannot be read at all, so the Lisp reader signals the error invalid-read-syntax whenever a `#<' is encountered. (current-buffer) => #<buffer objects.texi> When you evaluate an expression interactively, the Lisp interpreter first reads the textual representation of it, producing a Lisp object, and then evaluates that object (see section Evaluation). However, evaluation and reading are separate activities. Reading returns the Lisp object represented by the text that is read; the object may or may not be evaluated later. See section Input Functions, for a description of read, the basic function for reading objects. A comment is text that is written in a program only for the sake of humans that read the program, and that has no effect on the meaning of the program. In Lisp, a comment starts with a semicolon (`;') if it is not within a string or character constant, and continues to the end of line. Comments are discarded by the Lisp reader, and do not become part of the Lisp objects which represent the program within the Lisp system. There are two general categories of types in Emacs Lisp: those having to do with Lisp programming, and those having to do with editing. The former are provided in many Lisp implementations, in one form or another. The latter are unique to Emacs Lisp. Integers are the only kind of number in GNU Emacs Lisp, version 18. The range of values for integers is -8388608 to 8388607 (24 bits; i.e., to on most machines, but is 25 or 26 bits on some systems. It is important to note that the Emacs Lisp arithmetic functions do not check for overflow. Thus (1+ 8388607) is -8388608 on 24-bit implementations. The read syntax for numbers is a sequence of (base ten) digits with an optional sign. The printed representation produced by the Lisp interpreter never has a leading `+'. Emacs version 19 supports floating point numbers, if compiled with the macro LISP_FLOAT_TYPE defined. The precise range of floating point numbers is machine-specific. The printed representation for floating point numbers requires either a decimal point (with at least one digit following), an exponent, or both. For example, `1500.0', `15e2', `15.0e2', `1.5e3', and `.15e4' are five ways of writing a floating point number whose value is 1500. They are all equivalent. A character in Emacs Lisp is nothing more than an integer. In other words, characters are represented by their character codes. For example, the character A is represented as the integer 65. Individual characters are not often used in programs. It is far more common to work with strings, which are sequences composed of characters. See section String Type. Characters in strings, buffers, and files are currently limited to the range of 0 to 255. If an arbitrary integer is used as a character for those purposes, only the lower eight bits are significant. Characters that represent keyboard input have a much wider range. Since characters are really integers, the printed representation of a character is a decimal number. This is also a possible read syntax for a character, but writing characters that way in Lisp programs is a very bad idea. You should always use the special read syntax formats that Emacs Lisp provides for characters. These syntax formats start with a question mark. The usual read syntax for alphanumeric characters is a question mark followed by the character; thus, `?A' for the character A, `?B' for the character B, and `?a' for the character a. For example: ?Q => 81 ?q => 113 You can use the same syntax for punctuation characters, but it is often a good idea to add a `\' to prevent Lisp mode from getting confused. For example, `?\ ' is the way to write the space character. If the character is `\', you must use a second `\' to quote it: `?\\'. These sequences which start with backslash are also known as escape sequences, because backslash plays the role of an escape character, but they have nothing to do with the character ESC. Control characters may be represented using yet another read syntax. This consists of a question mark followed by a backslash, caret, and the corresponding non-control character, in either upper or lower case. For example, either `?\^I' or `?\^i' may be used as the read syntax for the character C-i, the character whose value is 9. Instead of the `^', you can use `C-'; thus, `?\C-i' is equivalent to `?\^I' and to `?\^i': ?\^I => 9 ?\C-I => 9 For use in strings and buffers, you are limited to the control characters that exist in ASCII, but for keyboard input purposes, you can turn any character into a control character with `C-'. The character codes for these characters include the 222 bit as well as the code for the non-control character. Ordinary terminals have no way of generating non-ASCII control characters, but you can generate them straightforwardly using an X terminal. The DEL key can be considered and written as Control-?: ?\^? => 127 ?\C-? => 127 When you represent control characters to be found in files or strings, we recommend the `^' syntax; but when you refer to keyboard input, we prefer the `C-' syntax. This does not affect the meaning of the program, but may guide the understanding of people who read it. A meta character is a character typed with the META key. The integer that represents such a character has the 223 bit set (which on most machines makes it a negative number). We use high bits for this and other modifiers to make possible a wide range of basic character codes. In a string, the 27 bit indicates a meta character, so the meta characters that can fit in a string have codes in the range from 128 to 255, and are the meta versions of the ordinary ASCII characters. (In Emacs versions 18 and older, this convention was used for characters outside of strings as well.) The read syntax for meta characters uses `\M-'. For example, `?\M-A' stands for M-A. You can use `\M-' together with octal codes, `\C-', or any other syntax for a character. Thus, you can write M-A as `?\M-A', or as `?\M-\101'. Likewise, you can write C-M-b as `?\M-\C-b', `?\C-\M-b', or `?\M-\002'. The shift modifier is used in indicating the case of a character in special circumstances. The case of an ordinary letter is indicated by its character code as part of ASCII, but ASCII has no way to represent whether a control character is upper case or lower case. Emacs uses the 221 bit to indicate that the shift key was used for typing a control character. This distinction is possible only when you use X terminals or other special terminals; ordinary terminals do not indicate the distinction to the computer in any way. The X Window system defines three other modifier bits that can be set in a character: hyper, super and alt. The syntaxes for these bits are `\H-', `\s-' and `\A-'. Thus, `?\H-\M-\A-x' represents Alt-Hyper-Meta-x. Numerically, the bit values are 218 for alt, 219 for super and 220 for hyper. Finally, the most general read syntax consists of a question mark followed by a backslash and the character code in octal (up to three octal digits); thus, `?\101' for the character A, `?\001' for the character C-a, and ?\002 for the character C-b. Although this syntax can represent any ASCII character, it is preferred only when the precise octal value is more important than the ASCII representation. ?\012 => 10 ?\n => 10 ?\C-j => 10 ?\101 => 65 ?A => 65 A backslash is allowed, and harmless, preceding any character without a special escape meaning; thus, `?\A' is equivalent to `?A'. There is no reason to use a backslash before most such characters. However, any of the characters `()\\|;'`"#.,' should be preceded by a backslash to avoid confusing the Emacs commands for editing Lisp code. Whitespace characters such as space, tab, newline and formfeed should also be preceded by a backslash. However, it is cleaner to use one of the easily readable escape sequences, such as `\t', instead of an actual control character such as a tab. A sequence is a Lisp object that represents an ordered set of elements. There are two kinds of sequence in Emacs Lisp, lists and arrays. Thus, an object of type list or of type array is also considered a sequence. Arrays are further subdivided into strings and vectors. Vectors can hold elements of any type, but string elements must be characters in the range from 0 to 255. However, the characters in a string can have text properties; vectors do not support text properties even when their elements happen to be characters. Lists, strings and vectors are different, but they have important similarities. For example, all have a length l, and all have elements which can be indexed from zero to l minus one. Also, several functions, called sequence functions, accept any kind of sequence. For example, the function elt can be used to extract an element of a sequence, given its index. See section Sequences, Arrays, and Vectors. It is impossible to read the same sequence twice, in the sense of eq (see section Equality Predicates), since sequences are always created anew upon reading. There is one exception: the empty list () always stands for the same object, nil. A list is a series of cons cells, linked together. A cons cell is an object comprising two pointers named the CAR and the CDR. Each of them can point to any Lisp object, but when the cons cell is part of a list, the CDR points either to another cons cell or to the empty list. See section Lists, for functions that work on lists. The names CAR and CDR have only historical meaning now. The original Lisp implementation ran on an IBM 704 computer which divided words into two parts, called the "address" part and the "decrement"; CAR was an instruction to extract the contents of the address part of a register, and CDR an instruction to extract the contents of the decrement. By contrast, "cons cells" are named for the function cons that creates them, which in turn is named for its purpose, the construction of cells. Because cons cells are so central to Lisp, we also have a word for "an object which is not a cons cell". These objects are called atoms. The read syntax and printed representation for lists are identical, and consist of a left parenthesis, an arbitrary number of elements, and a right parenthesis. Upon reading, any object inside the parentheses is made into an element of the list. That is, a cons cell is made for each element. The CAR of the cons cell points to the element, and its CDR points to the next cons cell which holds the next element in the list. The CDR of the last cons cell is set to point to nil. A list can be illustrated by a diagram in which the cons cells are shown as pairs of boxes. (The Lisp reader cannot read such an illustration; unlike the textual notation, which can be understood both humans and computers, the box illustrations can only be understood by humans.) The following represents the three-element list (rose violet buttercup): In the diagram, each box represents a slot that can refer to any Lisp object. Each pair of boxes represents a cons cell. Each arrow is a reference to a Lisp object, either an atom or another cons cell. In this example, the first box, the CAR of the first cons cell, refers to or "contains" rose (a symbol). The second box, the CDR of the first cons cell, refers to the next pair of boxes, the second cons cell. The CAR of the second cons cell refers to violet and the CDR refers to the third cons cell. The CDR of the third (and last) cons cell refers to nil. Here is another diagram of the same list, (rose violet buttercup), sketched in a different manner: A list with no elements in it is the empty list; it is identical to the symbol nil. In other words, nil is both a symbol and a list. Here are examples of lists written in Lisp syntax: (A 2 "A") ; A list of three elements. () ; A list of no elements (the empty list). nil ; A list of no elements (the empty list). ("A ()") ; A list of one element: the string "A ()". (A ()) ; A list of two elements: A and the empty list. (A nil) ; Equivalent to the previous. ((A B C)) ; A list of one element ; (which is a list of three elements). Here is the list (A ()), or equivalently (A nil), depicted with boxes and arrows: Dotted pair notation is an alternative syntax for cons cells that represents the CAR and CDR explicitly. In this syntax, (a . b) stands for a cons cell whose CAR is the object a, and whose CDR is the object b. Dotted pair notation is therefore more general than list syntax. In the dotted pair notation, the list `(1 2 3)' is written as `(1 . (2 . (3 . nil)))'. For nil-terminated lists, the two notations produce the same result, but list notation is usually clearer and more convenient when it is applicable. When printing a list, the dotted pair notation is only used if the CDR of a cell is not a list. Box notation can also be used to illustrate what dotted pairs look like. For example, (rose . violet) is diagrammed as follows: ___ ___ \|___\|___\|--> violet \| \| --> rose Dotted pair notation can be combined with list notation to represent a chain of cons cells with a non-nil final CDR. For example, (rose violet . buttercup) is equivalent to (rose . (violet . buttercup)). The object looks like this: An association list or alist is a specially-constructed list whose elements are cons cells. In each element, the CAR is considered a key, and the CDR is considered an associated value. (In some cases, the associated value is stored in the CAR of the CDR.) Association lists are often used to implement stacks, since new associations may easily be added to or removed from the front of the list. An array is composed of an arbitrary number of other Lisp objects, arranged in a contiguous block of memory. Any element of an array may be accessed in constant time. In contrast, accessing an element of a list requires time proportional to the position of the element in the list. (Elements at the end of a list take longer to access than elements at the beginning of a list.) Emacs defines two types of array, strings and vectors. A string is an array of characters and a vector is an array of arbitrary objects. Both are one-dimensional. (Most other programming languages support multidimensional arrays, but we don't think they are essential in Emacs Lisp.) Each type of array has its own read syntax; see section String Type, and section Vector Type. An array may have any length up to the largest integer; but once created, it has a fixed size. The first element of an array has index zero, the second element has index 1, and so on. This is called zero-origin indexing. For example, an array of four elements has indices 0, 1, 2, and 3. The array type is contained in the sequence type and contains both strings and vectors. A string is an array of characters. Strings are used for many purposes in Emacs, as can be expected in a text editor; for example, as the names of Lisp symbols, as messages for the user, and to represent text extracted from buffers. Strings in Lisp are constants; evaluation of a string returns the same string. The read syntax for strings is a double-quote, an arbitrary number of characters, and another double-quote, "like this". The Lisp reader accepts the same formats for reading the characters of a string as it does for reading single characters (without the question mark that begins a character literal). You can enter a nonprinting character such as tab, C-a or M-C-A using the convenient escape sequences, like this: "\t, \C-a, \M-\C-a". You can include a double-quote in a string by preceding it with a backslash; thus, "\"" is a string containing just a single double-quote character. (See section Character Type, for a description of the read syntax for characters.) If you use the `\M-' syntax to indicate a meta character in a string constant, this sets the 27 bit of the character in the string. This is not the same representation that the meta modifier has in a character regarded as a simple integer. See section Character Type. Strings cannot hold characters that have the hyper, super or alt modifiers; they can hold ASCII control characters, but no others. They do not distinguish case in ASCII control characters. In contrast with the C programming language, Emacs Lisp allows newlines in string literals. But an escaped newline--one that is preceded by `\'---does not become part of the string; i.e., the Lisp reader ignores an escaped newline in a string literal. "It is useful to include newlines in documentation strings, but the newline is \ ignored if escaped." => "It is useful to include newlines in documentation strings, but the newline is ignored if escaped." The printed representation of a string consists of a double-quote, the characters it contains, and another double-quote. However, any backslash or double-quote characters in the string are preceded with a backslash like this: "this \" is an embedded quote". A string can hold properties of the text it contains, in addition to the characters themselves. This enables programs that copy text between strings and buffers to preserve the properties with no special effort. See section Text Properties. Strings with text properties have a special read and print syntax: #("characters" property-data...) where property-data is zero or more elements in groups of three as follows: begendplist The elements beg and end are integers, and together specify a portion of the string; plist is the property list for that portion. A vector is a one-dimensional array of elements of any type. It takes a constant amount of time to access any element of a vector. (In a list, the access time of an element is proportional to the distance of the element from the beginning of the list.) The printed representation of a vector consists of a left square bracket, the elements, and a right square bracket. This is also the read syntax. Like numbers and strings, vectors are considered constants for evaluation. A symbol in GNU Emacs Lisp is an object with a name. The symbol name serves as the printed representation of the symbol. In ordinary use, the name is unique--no two symbols have the same name. A symbol may be used in programs as a variable, as a function name, or to hold a list of properties. Or it may serve only to be distinct from all other Lisp objects, so that its presence in a data structure may be recognized reliably. In a given context, usually only one of these uses is intended. A symbol name can contain any characters whatever. Most symbol names are written with letters, digits, and the punctuation characters `-+=/'. Such names require no special punctuation; the characters of the name suffice as long as the name does not look like a number. (If it does, write a `\' at the beginning of the name to force interpretation as a symbol.) The characters `_~!@$%^&:<>12' are less often used but also require no special punctuation. Any other characters may be included in a symbol's name by escaping them with a backslash. In contrast to its use in strings, however, a backslash in the name of a symbol quotes the single character that follows the backslash, without conversion. For example, in a string, `\t' represents a tab character; in the name of a symbol, however, `\t' merely quotes the letter t. To have a symbol with a tab character in its name, you must actually type an tab (preceded with a backslash). But you would hardly ever do such a thing. Common Lisp note: in Common Lisp, lower case letters are always "folded" to upper case, unless they are explicitly escaped. This is in contrast to Emacs Lisp, in which upper case and lower case letters are distinct. Here are several examples of symbol names. Note that the `+' in the fifth example is escaped to prevent it from being read as a number. This is not necessary in the last example because the rest of the name makes it invalid as a number. foo ; A symbol named `foo'. FOO ; A symbol named `FOO', different from `foo'. char-to-string ; A symbol named `char-to-string'. 1+ ; A symbol named `1+' ; (not `+1', which is an integer). \+1 ; A symbol named `+1' ; (not a very readable name). $\ 1\ 2$ ; A symbol named `(* 1 2)' (a worse name). +-/_~!@$%^&=:<>12 ; A symbol named `+-/_~!@$%^&=:<>12'. ; These characters need not be escaped. Just as functions in other programming languages are executable, Lisp function objects are pieces of executable code. However, functions in Lisp are primarily Lisp objects, and only secondarily the text which represents them. These Lisp objects are lambda expressions: lists whose first element is the symbol lambda (see section Lambda Expressions). In most programming languages, it is impossible to have a function without a name. In Lisp, a function has no intrinsic name. A lambda expression is also called an anonymous function (see section Anonymous Functions). A named function in Lisp is actually a symbol with a valid function in its function cell (see section Defining Named Functions). Most of the time, functions are called when their names are written in Lisp expressions in Lisp programs. However, a function object found or constructed at run time can be called and passed arguments with the primitive functions funcall and apply. See section Calling Functions. A Lisp macro is a user-defined construct that extends the Lisp language. It is represented as an object much like a function, but with different parameter-passing semantics. A Lisp macro has the form of a list whose first element is the symbol macro and whose CDR is a Lisp function object, including the lambda symbol. Lisp macro objects are usually defined with the built-in defmacro function, but any list that begins with macro is a macro as far as Emacs is concerned. See section Macros, for an explanation of how to write a macro. A primitive function is a function callable from Lisp but written in the C programming language. Primitive functions are also called subrs or built-in functions. (The word "subr" is derived from "subroutine".) Most primitive functions evaluate all their arguments when they are called. A primitive function that does not evaluate all its arguments is called a special form (see section Special Forms). It does not matter to the caller of a function whether the function is primitive. However, this does matter if you are trying to substitute a function written in Lisp for a primitive of the same name. The reason is that the primitive function may be called directly from C code. When the redefined function is called from Lisp, the new definition will be used; but calls from C code may still use the old definition. The term function is used to refer to all Emacs functions, whether written in Lisp or C. See section Lisp Function Type, for information about the functions written in Lisp. Primitive functions have no read syntax and print in hash notation with the name of the subroutine. The byte compiler produces byte-code function objects. Internally, a byte-code function object is much like a vector; however, the evaluator handles this data type specially when it appears as a function to be called. See section Byte Compilation, for information about the byte compiler. The printed representation for a byte-code function object is like that for a vector, with an additional `#' before the opening `['. An autoload object is a list whose first element is the symbol autoload. It is stored as the function definition of a symbol to say that a file of Lisp code should be loaded when necessary to find the true definition of that symbol. The autoload object contains the name of the file, plus some other information about the real definition. After the file has been loaded, the symbol should have a new function definition that is not an autoload object. The new definition is then called as if it had been there to begin with. From the user's point of view, the function call works as expected, using the function definition in the loaded file. An autoload object is usually created with the function autoload, which stores the object in the function cell of a symbol. See section Autoload, for more details. A buffer is an object that holds text that can be edited (see section Buffers). Most buffers hold the contents of a disk file (see section Files) so they can be edited, but some are used for other purposes. Most buffers are also meant to be seen by the user, and therefore displayed, at some time, in a window (see section Windows). But a buffer need not be displayed in a window. The contents of a buffer are much like a string, but buffers are not used like strings in Emacs Lisp, and the available operations are different. For example, text can be inserted into a buffer very quickly, while "inserting" text into a string is accomplished by concatenation and the result is an entirely new string object. Each buffer has a designated position called point (see section Positions). And one buffer is the current buffer. Most editing commands act on the contents of the current buffer in the neighborhood of point. Many other functions manipulate or test the characters in the current buffer and much of this manual is devoted to describing these functions (see section Text). The local keymap and variable list contain entries which individually override global bindings or values. These are used to customize the behavior of programs in different buffers, without actually changing the programs. Buffers have no read syntax. They print in hash notation with the buffer name. A window describes the portion of the terminal screen that Emacs uses to display a buffer. Every window has one associated buffer, whose contents appear in the window. By contrast, a given buffer may appear in one window, no window, or several windows. Though many windows may exist simultaneously, one window is designated the selected window. This is the window where the cursor is (usually) displayed when Emacs is ready for a command. The selected window usually displays the current buffer, but this is not necessarily the case. Windows are grouped on the screen into frames; each window belongs to one and only one frame. See section Frame Type. Windows have no read syntax. They print in hash notation, giving the window number and the name of the buffer being displayed. The window numbers exist to identify windows uniquely, since the buffer displayed in any given window can change frequently. (selected-window) => #<window 1 on objects.texi> See section Windows, for a description of the functions that work on windows. A frame is a rectangle on the screen that contains one or more Emacs windows. A frame initially contains a single main window (plus perhaps a minibuffer window) which you can subdivide vertically or horizontally into smaller windows. Frames have no read syntax. They print in hash notation, giving the frame's title, plus its address in core (useful to identify the frame uniquely). (selected-frame) => #<frame xemacs@mole.gnu.ai.mit.edu 0xdac80> See section Frames, for a description of the functions that work on frames. A marker denotes a position in a specific buffer. Markers therefore have two components: one for the buffer, and one for the position. The position value is changed automatically as necessary as text is inserted into or deleted from the buffer. This is to ensure that the marker always points between the same two characters in the buffer. Markers have no read syntax. They print in hash notation, giving the current character position and the name of the buffer. (point-marker) => #<marker at 10779 in objects.texi> See section Markers, for information on how to test, create, copy, and move markers. The word process means a running program. Emacs itself runs in a process of this sort. However, in Emacs Lisp, a process is a Lisp object that designates a subprocess created by Emacs process. External subprocesses, such as shells, GDB, ftp, and compilers, may be used to extend the processing capability of Emacs. A process takes input from Emacs and returns output to Emacs for further manipulation. Both text and signals can be communicated between Emacs and a subprocess. Processes have no read syntax. They print in hash notation, giving the name of the process: (process-list) => (#<process shell>) See section Processes, for information about functions that create, delete, return information about, send input or signals to, and receive output from processes. A stream is an object that can be used as a source or sink for characters--either to supply characters for input or to accept them as output. Many different types can be used this way: markers, buffers, strings, and functions. Most often, input streams (character sources) obtain characters from the keyboard, a buffer, or a file, and output streams (character sinks) send characters to a buffer, such as a `Help' buffer, or to the echo area. The object nil, in addition to its other meanings, may be used as a stream. It stands for the value of the variable standard-input or standard-output. Also, the object t as a stream specifies input using the minibuffer (see section Minibuffers) or output in the echo area (see section The Echo Area). Streams have no special printed representation or read syntax, and print as whatever primitive type they are. A syntax table is a vector of 256 integers. Each element of the vector defines how one character is interpreted when it appears in a buffer. For example, in C mode (see section Major Modes), the `+' character is punctuation, but in Lisp mode it is a valid character in a symbol. These different interpretations are effected by changing the syntax table entry for `+', i.e., at index 43. Syntax tables are only used for scanning text in buffers, not for reading Lisp expressions. The table the Lisp interpreter uses to read expressions is built into the Emacs source code and cannot be changed; thus, to change the list delimiters to be `{' and `2' instead of `(' and `)' would be impossible. See section Syntax Tables, for details about syntax classes and how to make and modify syntax tables. A display table specifies how to display each character code. Each buffer and each window can have its own display table. A display table is actually a vector of length 261. See section Display Tables. An overlay specifies temporary alteration of the display appearance of a part of a buffer. It contains markers delimiting a range of the buffer, plus a property list (a list whose elements are alternating property names and values). Overlays are used to present parts of the buffer temporarily in a different display style. The Emacs Lisp interpreter itself does not perform type checking on the actual arguments passed to functions when they are called. It could not do otherwise, since variables in Lisp are not declared to be of a certain type, as they are in other programming languages. It is therefore up to the individual function to test whether each actual argument belongs to a type that can be used by the function. All built-in functions do check the types of their actual arguments when appropriate and signal a wrong-type-argument error if an argument is of the wrong type. For example, here is what happens if you pass an argument to + which it cannot handle: (+ 2 'a) error--> Wrong type argument: integer-or-marker-p, a Many functions, called type predicates, are provided to test whether an object is a member of a given type. (Following a convention of long standing, the names of most Emacs Lisp predicates end in `p'.) Here is a table of predefined type predicates, in alphabetical order, with references to further information. Here we describe two functions that test for equality between any two objects. Other functions test equality between objects of specific types, e.g., strings. See the appropriate chapter describing the data type for these predicates. {Function} eqobject1 object2 This function returns t if object1 and object2 are the same object, nil otherwise. The "same object" means that a change in one will be reflected by the same change in the other. eq returns t if object1 and object2 are integers with the same value. Also, since symbol names are normally unique, if the arguments are symbols with the same name, they are eq. For other types (e.g., lists, vectors, strings), two arguments with the same contents or elements are not necessarily eq to each other: they are eq only if they are the same object. (The make-symbol function returns an uninterned symbol that is not interned in the standard obarray. When uninterned symbols are in use, symbol names are no longer unique. Distinct symbols with the same name are not eq. See section Creating and Interning Symbols.) This function returns t if object1 and object2 have equal components, nil otherwise. Whereas eq tests if its arguments are the same object, equal looks inside nonidentical arguments to see if their elements are the same. So, if two objects are eq, they are equal, but the converse is not always true.	eng	1f0ed828-55bf-4f7c-81c5-b70215d14021	http://www.linuxjunkies.org/programming/IDE/emacs/manual/elisp_3.html
Physicalism: A False View of the World Physicalism is the philosophical claim that only what is physical is real, where physical means: To be found or inferred by measurement and reason as existing in the world observable by the outer senses (mainly sight, hearing and touch). Physicalism is distinct from physics. Physics is (a) an activity based upon observing the world (by means of the outer senses), theorizing, experimenting and testing and (b) a body of knowledge which consists of truths established by this activity. This essay does not deny the truth of any established proposition of physics. Physicalism, on the other hand, is the ontological position which asserts that only that which is the subject of physics can be held to be real, or in other words, that reality consist only of what can be observed by means of the outer senses or can be shown to exist by the investigations of physicists. If physical reality does not comprise the whole of what is real then it is possible to accept the truths of physics while asserting the falsity of physicalism. There is no generally accepted accurate ism-word to describe the dominant, modern, secular (non-religious) view of the world. "Materialism" comes close but "matter" as understood in modern physics is far less "material" than was previously thought. Materialism in the strict sense is the view that only what is material is real, where material means: composed of matter. But what is matter? Even if we equate matter with the totality of all the atoms and subatomic particles existing in the universe this still leaves electromagnetic radiation (x-rays, gamma rays, light, etc.), which has observable effects, and thus is real but is not material. Thus it is clear that materialism in the strict sense is false. When mention is made of the "materialist" view prevalent in the modern world what is being referred to is the physicalist view as defined in the preceding paragraph. But most people are unaware of the distinction between material and non-material physical reality, and for such people there is no difference between physicalism and materialism. For them the only reality is what they can see and touch (with hearing and smell indicating the presence of something to be seen or touched), and if they think further about this they generally accept (if they are not believers in some religious view of the world) what they are told by the scientific establishment: that there is no reality other than atoms (and subatomic particles) and radiation. A major objection to physicalism is that it cannot explain the existence of consciousness. Since consciousness indisputably exists (as shown by the fact that you are now conscious of reading this) physicalists can only assert that somehow consciousness "emerges" in "sufficiently complex" physical systems from the atoms, subatomic particles and electromagnetic radiation which is all that a physicalist allows to be real. In the words of Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion), "Human thoughts and emotions emerge from exceedingly complex interconnections of physical entities within the brain." (Italics in the original.) Physicalists thus label consciousness as an "emergent property" of complex physical systems (they have to italicize "emergent" so as to slip this past one's critical faculties). But to label it in this way is not to explain how this "emergence" could possibly occur. Physicalists can talk as much as they like about neural structures, resonant patterns of brain activity and the like, but in fact they have no explanation for the "emergence" of consciousness from "complex interconnections of physical entities within the brain." This is actually an article of faith, comparable to Christians' faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A Christian who understands their faith says, "I have chosen to believe in Jesus resurrected from the dead." A physicalist also chooses to believe, that consciousness "emerges" from complex networks of neurons, but is usually not aware that they have chosen to believe. Attempts by physicalists to explain consciousness are actually attempts to explain it away. "Consciousness explained" by a physicalist is really "consciousness denied". Physicalists must accept the dilemma that either consciousness does not "really" exist or that the existence of consciousness is inexplicable. Neither horn of the dilemma is satisfactory. If, however, consciousness is a fundamental and irreducible quality of reality (so that a form of consciousness goes all the way down, even to molecules and atoms) then the existence of conscious beings such as ourselves is not a total mystery. But if a physicalist allows the possibility that physical reality is inherently conscious (which idea most physicalists would reject) then the way is open to the idea that there is some reality beyond physical reality (that is, beyond the existence of atoms, subatomic particles and electromagnetic radiation), and to move in this direction is to abandon physicalism. No-one who follows a religion in their idea of how the world is is a physicalist. Religious people always believe in something which is not part of physical reality, often a "supreme being" which they call "God", "Allah", "Ishvara", etc. But it does not follow that someone who has a view of the world other than physicalism must have a religious view of the world. The falsity of physicalism does not imply the truth of any religious doctrine. It is entirely possible to deny physicalism without being in any sense religious. The antithesis of physicalism (the view that physicalism is false) might be called spiritualism, but unfortunately this term is often used to refer to the 19th C. fascination with "spirits", in particular, with the invocation of them in seances. So we shall have to use the term "spiritual view of the world", or "spiritual view" for short. The spiritual view is that there is a reality (or there are realities) which can be experienced and known which is (or are) not within the world observable by the outer senses. This view does not in itself state what exists within spiritual reality, and thus it does not entail the existence of "God" or of gods. What exists in spiritual reality is something to be discovered by experience, and which can be so discovered. Science is not incompatible with the spiritual view if by science is understood a quest for knowledge of what is real. If there is a non-physical reality then a true scientist will wish to know about it. Modern natural scientists often assume that physicalism is true, and thereby exclude the possibility of knowledge of a spiritual reality. Such natural scientists are thus not true scientists. A natural scientist may state that only physical reality is of interest to him, but he is not justified in claiming that science can properly concern itself only with physical reality. In order to show that physicalism is false we need only show that we may experience and know something which is not found or inferred by measurement and reason as existing in the world observable by the outer senses. This must be something which can be experienced and known by many people. It is not enough for someone to say, "I know God exists because He speaks to me." Such experience may be convincing to the person who has the experience but it does not prove that "God" exists. There is no largest prime number; this has been known since the time of Euclid (who provided a proof). We know this to be true, but prime numbers do not exist in the physical world, therefore physicalism is false. If it be objected that there are many instances of three apples, five oranges, etc., it can be replied that there is a finite number of objects within physical reality and, whatever this number is, there is a larger prime number. I am not suggesting that prime numbers exist in some kind of Platonic heaven. I do suggest, however, that the mental ability of humans to conceive of prime numbers (and of infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces and the like) cannot be explained by Darwinian natural selection, and is evidence that a higher intelligence is expressed in humans (or at least, in some of them). Consider also the case of beauty in music. The music of J.S. Bach has universal appeal. Much of Bach's music is not just pleasant to listen to, it is beautiful, sometimes profoundly so. The same is true of the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler and Puccini - there is no need to give examples; millions of people know the beauty to be found in their music. But this beauty does not exist in the physical world. There is no system of atoms, molecules, electromagnetic radiation, etc., however complex, which is the beauty which can be observed in, say, a Bach cantata, the slow movement of a Mozart piano concerto, Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony or a Puccini aria. This beauty is not perceived by the ear, but by the mind; we are conscious of it; we perceive it not by any outer sense but by an inner sense. And, on this planet, it is only humans whose consciousness is sufficiently developed to be able to perceive beauty at this level. The properties of our bodies can be explained by Darwinian natural selection but not the properties of our minds. Human consciousness can have as its objects of awareness what is beyond the physical world. Since the physical world is the world in which our bodies move, and that in which we interact bodily, consciousness of objects in non-physical reality tends to be private. But if enough people can agree on the details of an experience of something which is obviously not an object in the physical world, then that something acquires an intersubjective reality, or in other words, an objectivity. For example, a rainbow does not exist as a system of atoms, molecules, etc., yet a group of people (hundreds even) may all see the same rainbow. Of course, the rainbow can be "explained" in terms of sunlight being refracted by millions of water droplets, but this simply explains the pattern of electromagnetic radiation striking the retinas of the people seeing the rainbow - it does not explain their experience of the rainbow (because physicalism cannot explain consciousness). People observing a rainbow can agree on the order of the colors (from indigo through green to red), whether it is a double rainbow, etc. Rainbows, of course, are intangible, and do not occupy any specific volume of 3-dimensional physical space, even though they can be observed as occurring in physical space. Thus we tend to think of them more as illusions, and rainbows do not themselves show that physicalism is false. But they do illustrate the principle that reality is what is intersubjectively verifiable. Rainbows are real, but are not physical objects. Thus there may be other things which are real, because they are (or can be) experienced by many people, but which are not physical. In order to experience these other things a change in brain chemistry is required. The human brain normally functions in a biochemically standard manner which is oriented toward survival in the physical world. This mode of functioning emphasizes the contributions of the outer senses (particularly sight) and motor coordination and ability (when a monkey, dashing along a path, runs into an object it must very quickly decide whether or not this is another monkey, and in either case what to do about it). Human brains, however, have some strange abilities, which are triggered by a change in brain chemistry. A human brain exposed to LSD, psilocybin, mescaline or some such substance, functions in a way which allows forms of consciousness to arise which are radically different to everyday consciousness. Someone who has not directly experienced these alternative forms of consciousness can have only a very vague idea of them, however much they read about them. In these altered states an expanded consciousness is possible - an expansion beyond the everyday consciousness which is focussed on (and largely constrained by) input from the outer bodily senses. One's mind can wander into strange realms. Shamans are trained to do this; they do not so much "wander" as travel purposely. And in their travels they meet and communicate with spirits, which often appear to them in the form of animals. Shamans have for many millennia used psychoactive plants (peyote, datura, Amanita mushrooms, etc.) to induce states of consciousness which allow them to enter this non-ordinary reality and communicate with spirits, who impart information to them (when and where to hunt, where lost objects may be found, which plants are good for which purposes, etc.). Despite the evidence collected by anthropologists who have studied shamanic cultures, physicalists tend to deny that shamans enter a non-ordinary reality, simply because it is inconsistent with their physicalist assumptions. In this denial they are betraying their vocation as scientists, because a true scientist seeks to know all of reality, and to know it by experience and observation (supplemented by reason). To discount anthropological data because it is inconsistent with one's assumptions is clearly unscientific. Physicalists may, if they wish, enter the same non-ordinary states that shamans do, and by the same means (although lacking in the experience and training that a shaman possesses). Despite benighted, draconian, pernicious and contemptible laws criminalizing the use of psychoactive substances, it is still possible to partake of the ayahuasca brew, to find psilocybin mushrooms sprouting from cow pies, and to obtain by discreet means a variety of psychedelics (since there are many people who know the value of these substances and risk their liberty in order to assist others to gain the experience of non-ordinary reality). The most powerful psychedelic (at least, in my experience) is N,N-dimethyltryptamine (or DMT for short), a substance which allows anyone to prove to themselves the complete falsity of the physicalist assumption that all reality consists of systems of atoms, sub-atomic particles and electromagnetic radiation. DMT provides access to a realm which is so totally weird that it is inconceivable that it could be part of the physicalist's limited reality. It also allows experience of a realm inhabited by discarnate entities who are self-evidently independently existing intelligent beings, but whose place of existence clearly cannot be this physical world. These beings have been reported by many people. It is not a matter of a few "wild-eyed crazies" muttering about "self-transforming machine-elves". By now hundreds, probably thousands, of people have experienced these entities (first brought to public attention by Terence McKenna; see here, here, here and here for reports), and all agree that they, and the space they inhabit, are totally weird (and the further you go the weirder it gets). Thus these entities have intersubjective validity - lots of people agree about them, or at least, that they exist. And lots more would be able to report that they exist if DMT were legal. It is mainly because psychedelic experience exposes the falsity of the mainstream definition of reality that the use of psychedelics is prohibited by those who benefit from keeping the mass of people in a state of spiritual ignorance (thereby making it easier to keep them in a state of involuntary servitude). The idea of the simultaneous coexistence of an alien dimension all around us is as strange an idea in the context of modern society as it must have been to the first shamans, whose experiments with psychoactive plants would have soon brought them to the same tryptamine doorway. What is the nature of the invisible landscape beyond that doorway? ... If the world beyond the doorway can be given consensual validation of the sort extended to the electron and the black hole ... then our own circumscribed historical struggle will be subject to whole new worlds of possibility. Here's an extract from one of the reports linked to above: I am outside in a very futuristic patterned garden with bright coloured, very small, dots over everything, which are all flowing in certain directions. No plants as such but garden nonetheless. There is a corridor with a very tangible ambience, one can feel the space around. It now appears to be a temple structure of some futuristic sort, like some space age Hindu/Mayan temple with the walls displaying architecture similiar to the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan except the walls are inverted to angle outward with the terraces reversed. It seems very real but also very fleeting, changing rapidly. There are beings that are here the whole time from the very moment I entered the trip right to the moments of trying to get out of it. They seemed to have been waiting for me. ... They were very colourful, had strange relentless grins, very slender and could move their arms around at strange angles. Despite the high-frequency quantised pulsing in which they moved, there was still a very fluid flow to it. ... These beings just kept on grinning. They knew that I knew that this was the price paid to enter their "special" world. They were very keen to show me their magic. I would try to look away but each time I tried, they would stop my breath and do some amazing transformational magic which I simply can't describe and [which] was so amazing that I was prevented by awe from looking away. Sorry, I can't even hold it in thought for more than a fleeting moment. It was very beautiful and totally bizarre. It was as though the strength of magic taking place was way too much. Solid forms of colour and shape, way beyond the geometric forms. In your face. They kept on fanning out this magic like opening one of those decorated hand fans. They knew that this was the only place that I could experience it. Not even in memory could I see this stuff. I couldn't take it back with me. They were going for it big time. It was a really solid reality but constantly changing. For over 200 cases of DMT users reporting encounters with intelligent entities see 340 DMT Trip Reports. These reports show that these entities are experienced as existing in some kind of space, but it is clearly not the space of ordinary experience. It has been compared to 4-dimensional space, and has been called hyperspace for lack of a better word. Hyperspace, and the DMT entities found within it, constitute a fundamental challenge to those philosophers who espouse physicalism in any form. There are three positions which a philosopher can take with regard to hyperspace and the DMT entities: Hyperspace is no more real than the space experienced in dreams, and the so-called entities within it are no more real than people experienced in dreams (regarded as merely subjective mental phenomena). Hyperspace is real and is not part of physical space; thus its inhabitants are non-physical. Hyperspace is real and is fundamentally of the same stuff as the physical world; both are physical but are experienced in very different ways. Given the (presumed) near-total lack of experience of the DMT state among contemporary philosophers, it is almost certain that #1 would be their overwhelming response. But this is, basically, an argument from ignorance (since these philosophers have no direct knowledge of the DMT state), and it rules out a priori a body of evidence (namely, the testimony of many people who have experienced the DMT entities) simply because that evidence is inconsistent with commonly held assumptions. Actually it is impossible for anyone who has not experienced Level III of the DMT experience to imagine it, however much they have read about it or talked to those who have had the experience. This level of the experience is of a nature which is radically different from everyday experience, dream experience and even most other psychedelic experience (having taken a few LSD trips does not enable one to imagine a full-on DMT experience). Thus no-one who has not experienced DMT hyperspace is qualified to say anything about it, except to discuss its philosophical implications based on the reports of those others who actually know what they are talking about. #3 is possible for a physicalist (albeit an unconventional one), but requires an explanation of how the DMT entities can be claimed to be composed of the same stuff (atoms, molecules, etc.) as the entities within the ordinary physical world. Perhaps (since, for a physicalist, 'energy' is the only alternative to quarks, mesons, protons, atoms, etc.) they are not composed of anything 'material' but are 'energy beings' of some kind? It is likely, however, that the nature of those entities is, in our present state of intellectual development, totally incomprehensible by us. In the words of the renowned British biologist J.B.S. Haldane (himself a great psychonaut), they are "not only queerer than we suppose but queerer than we can suppose." If #1 is rejected as being based on ignorance and prejudice, and if #3 is not a defensible position, that leaves #2. It makes sense if we consider the hypothesis that what we perceive as the physical world is actually a part of a larger reality (or more exactly is a bubble within a larger reality, with our ordinary experience of physical reality being an experience entirely within that bubble and subject to limitations imposed by it), and that it is the non-physical part of that larger reality which we experience directly in the DMT state. It is possible that this physical world is actually an incubator of souls, in the sense that, just as the womb is an incubator of our physical body, our life in this world enables the development of a mental body which can persist beyond the dissolution of the physical one; and that just as birth is a transition from the womb to a higher-dimensional and vastly more complex world, so death (if the mental body is sufficiently developed) is a transition from the world of physical life to the higher-dimensional and vastly more complex world of the DMT entities. Or it may be that this physical world is constructed and maintained by the entities inhabiting that hyperdimensional and vastly more complex world, and that our souls (our hyperdimensional selves) pre-exist in that world and incarnate in physical bodies, returning at the death of the body to the hyperspatial world from which they came. Or perhaps both are true. Galileo pioneered the foundation of physics upon observation, and he developed an early form of the telescope to view the mountains of the Moon and the moons of Jupiter, whose existence was denied a priori by the Aristotelian philosophers of his time. In this dispute two of these philosophers, Cesare Cremonini and Giulio Libri, refused even to look through Galileo's telescope. Similarly, most if not all contemporary philosophers refuse to look through the lens provided by psychedelic substances so as to perceive a reality which physicalists deny exists (just as the philosophers of Galileo's time denied the existence of the moons of Jupiter). Observations resulting from the use of DMT absolutely refute the conventional physicalist view of the world, but at present this is known only by a relatively small number people - who are the true gnostics of this age. Comments James Trefil notes that "it is the only major question in the sciences that we don't even know how to ask." There's something special about consciousness that doesn't apply to anything else we know about. Consciousness is the faculty by which we comprehend consciousness. The best analogy I can come up with is the eye. Your eye cannot look at itself directly. Without the aid of a mirror or camera, no amount of willing the eye to look at itself can occur. It may be that we simply haven't found the right mirror for the mind yet. I'm not completely satisfied with the dismissal of emergence here. Here are some examples of other emergent structures in nature. Take the murmuration of Starlings. No single starling is aware of, or in control of, the entire formation or direction. So too, no single brain cell is aware of, or in control of, the direction of consciousness that emerges from the whole. If you were to study the Starling murmuration, you wouldn't be able to explain it by dissecting a single bird. So too we can't find consciousness in the dissection of neurons. I'm sure the murmuration exists in physical reality, but I can't do much better than show a representation of it. So I'm not too troubled by the fact that we haven't answered the hard question of consciousness yet. I don't know if there are non-physical realities, and while I am open to the possibility I remain skeptical because the evidence is anecdotal at best. It's quite possible that people hallucinate in similar ways. I believe I evolved in a physical world with senses that are primarily useful to perceive physical phenomena. I also know that my brain can hallucinate. I've had plenty of psychedelic experiences (LSD, psilocybin and peyote) but very few actual hallucinations. If/when the opportunity arises I'll try DMT again (I did smoke a small amount of extract from Bufo alvarius once, but it had no significant effect for me). A problem with belief in a non-physical "reality" is that it often leads to murdering alleged witches. So I'm biased against such beliefs because they aren't objectively verifiable, and because they are too often used as excuses to harm and kill other human beings. Thanks to Oroboros for the link to the page on "the hard problem of consciousness". My article, however, is not primarily about explaining consciousness (which I doubt can be done, since consciousness is irreducible). My article is not concerned with a "theory of consciousness", but rather with the truth or falsity of physicalism, and I simply mention the inability of that philosophical position to explain consciousness as one reason (though a major one) for rejecting it. The main point of my article is that physicalism is false because it is now possible to directly observe a non-physical reality. It is not necessary to "prove" the existence of a non-physical reality because there is one which can be observed directly. Oroboros said: A problem with belief in a non-physical "reality" is that it often leads to murdering alleged witches. Like, I suppose, smoking a reefer "often leads" to madness and drug-crazed criminality, right? A "belief in a non-physical reality" has never led to "murdering alleged witches". Alleged witches were murdered for various reasons, one of which is that some people believed they had the ability to cause harm, or had truck with the devil, or some other false belief. I really doubt that people who have acquired knowledge of a non-physical reality as a result of smoking DMT have any desire to murder anyone. Oroboros believes that "such beliefs ... aren't objectively verifiable". But we are not dealing here with "beliefs", but rather with observations and what might or might not be derivable from them. An essential part of my argument against physicalism, which Oroboros apparently overlooked, is that what is revealed by smoking DMT is a world which is objectively real because 'objective' means 'intersubjectively verifiable'. Physicalists may claim that 'objective' means 'observable by the outer senses', but this is obviously false, because atoms are objective entities but cannot be seen, heard or touched. They are 'objective' because many people who have been trained as physicists have made observations and inferences therefrom which lead to the conclusion that atoms exist independently of them and their observations. In other words, the existence of atoms is verifiable by anyone with the required experimental skills, which is to say, their existence is intersubjectively verifiable, and that is what it means to be objective. Until recently there were just scattered reports of "apparently independently-existing intelligent entities" which could be observed if one smoked DMT at the required dose level. These could be dismissed as 'merely subjective'. But if enough people who perform the experiment of smoking DMT observe apparently independently-existing intelligent entities then the existence of those entities becomes intersubjectively verifiable, that is, objective. Based on earlier sources I compiled 340 DMT trip reports, and in over 200 of these there are reports of encounters with intelligent entities (who frequently appear to be be paying close and often very disconcerting attention to the observer). 200 reports affirming the existence of the DMT entities might not be considered a sufficient number to establish the objectivity of those entities, but this is just a beginning -- in time there will be thousands of such reports (though whether they will be published for all to read is another question). Taken together they will be sufficient to establish that the world experienced with the help of DMT is as real as your back yard (and maybe even more so). Some readers may regard the question of the truth or falsity of physicalism as merely another locus of philosophical controversy, perhaps amusing or interesting but of no great importance. In a later comment I shall show why this is not so, and why physicalism is at the root of the psychological, social and economic problems of our time. there isn't anything here that suggests anything other than physics, a physical universe. while no other view can be proven certainly all other views could be false. we endow the universe with qualities like spirit, while we come closer to recognizing that it may have come from nothing. who is to say that what you think consciousness is...is consciousness? until stars explode there is not the chemistry necessary for consciousness or any other organic compound. time/gravity and randomness have done the rest. There is absolutely no objective physical explanation for our entirely subjective experience of "free will", but try getting an atheist to admit it! Oh well, we all open our eyes at the rate that we do, can't force anyone to go faster. i admit that free will is complicated. it is one of the oldest questions in philosophical thought. as the subjective experiencer of my own awareness it is difficult to tease these things out. that doesn't mean there is a metaphysical reason, or deity. my eyes are very open indeed. have you read any metzinger? philosopher dan dennett? ramachandran? cosmologist lawrence krauss? i don't describe myself as an atheist however i am not looking for a creator or reason for being. there is no free will but an experience of free will. 'i' chose that. the 'i' itself is illusion. it works for our environment. i think i understand what you're saying, at some level of course that is correct. however saying that the unobserved universe doesn't exist is a philosophical point, not a realistic one. ultimately we are manifestations of a non-physical state. to say that this is spirit or indicates some universal purpose or meaning is what i have trouble with. i remain deeply curious, without belief. belief is a brain state which leads to simplistic answers imho. they say that neurologically 2+2=4 and any other belief look the same. thus belief is powerful, and blindingly so. //There is no generally accepted accurate ism-word to describe the dominant, modern, secular (non-religious) view of the world. // I would say reductionism would be the "ism" comes closest to defining that world-view. On to other things - The spectrum of human consciousness is extremely wide, this width includes: - Dreaming - Lucid dreaming - Awake (not in the Buddhist sense) - Meditation - Multiple types of entheogens which all have a distinct state The "little r reality" which is synonymous with our waking state is that which is a subset of "big R Reality," a subset which is advantageous to our continuation of a species by mechanism of spreading our biological material. For example, I saw on a (serious) documentary that the human brain receives over 11 million bits of information per second, but the conscious mind can only interpret 200 and I would venture to say that those 200 have survival value for us (ie. color perception, pattern recognition, depth perception). What is outside those 200, but still within the subset of the 11 million? Well, things like the ability to experience infrared spectrum. Is that where the "other realities" are hiding though? I jive with the theory of cognitive gating, which basically sees conscious as a limiting mechanism, a valve which only lets through that which confers us survival advantage. And certain substances, like psilocybin, work in two main ways: 1) they remove and/or open wider some of those "filters" / "valves" 2) they allow us to process the "more unfiltered" information in a different way (which do have physical analogs by the way), for example: ["Under psilocybin you see a relative decrease in 'talk' between the hippocampus and these cortical hub regions," says Carhart-Harris. "Changes in function in the posterior cingulate in particular are associated with changes in consciousness."] A true theory of consciousness would have to take into account all possible experiences a human can have, quite the undertaking, and I would say impossible for those who are not "experienced" ... which is why if you can find someone who is a pschyconaut, a cognitive scientist, and a theoretical philosopher, you should read their book =) So I would check out the book, "The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self" by Thomas Metzinger This is a very refreshing and rational commentary on the dialogue between physical/materialism and non materialism! The good news though, and something that I find even stranger than strange, is that the physical model of consciousness also reaches/finds it's own transcendent in computers that can either create or store consciousness. 'Consciousness' is, in the physical model, simply a flow of information that is not medium specific, meaning even the physicalists believe that a proper computer could become conscious. Now, let's look at the physical model of the universe, and the declaration by physical cosmologists that the universe simply IS a quantum computer. And to be clear, not a quantum computer as a metaphor, the universe IS a giant information processing computer at the quantum level. So if at the micro level a brain can produce enough complexity for consciousness to emerge, what would the macro complexity of the entire universe (including the 10^500 multiverses permanently outside of physical measurement) produce, even if by random chance and no design? Even the physical model allows for a transcending consciousness, and at this level - the distinction between a physical model or a non material model is meaningless, as they both share a transcendent in common which is BOTH material and non material, at once. This is a ted talk i gave which subtly touches on much of this. I think people confuse reality with materiality. Reality is everything - material and non-material. Non-material experiences are also real, because they happen. All that is happening is real. Not all of it is 'material' though. However, when we investigate 'material' we discover it's made of 'light' and 'waves'. But what is a wave? Or energy? Or momentum? Every 'obvious' physics term is mysterious. No one knows where 'all' is coming from. All 'is', and that's the limit of our 'knowledge'. But experience is much more than knowledge. There is no limit to experience. I've not tried DMT, but I'm wondering if people who did have it, had any lucid dreaming experiences? During lucid dreaming my mind leaves body and enters a world that is AS REAL, in the most profound sense. Some theories say that endogenous DMT could be responsible for this, a theory I find very interesting, because I find many similarities between DMT trip and true lucid dreaming. 'True' as in not the 5 second fleeting realisation 'wow I'm dreaming!' but unchanging 'physical' reality during proper lucid dream. I wish I could have DMT just to compare two states. Maybe they're just aspects of one, who knows? i watched your video, a very interesting idea/take on the web and what it is/could be. i still think a disembodied consciousness is not possible, perhaps they are inseparable. our brains and their complexity are in relationship to surviving in a 3d environment full of change and chaos. and what is 'transcending consciousness?' just as an aside for any next presentation...i found the ipads distracting and your speech didn't flow as nicely as it might because you are often reading. ..I should have wrote '..allows for a transcendent' in consciousness' instead of 'transcedning consciousness'. the words 'emerging' and 'transcending' share similiar principles. in the talk, both models of consciousness share a metaphor in common, Google. My point is that to choose one model of consciousness over another model when both lead to a transcendent regardless is ultimately a meaningless philosophical quest. oh - yeah the ipad thing, weil i'll do better next time. happy new year no machine can be conscious by definition. no matter how large the network. there is a difference between a brain and other collections of connections. google is a golem. the universe is certainly not a quantum computer. the universe cannot be simplified down to a mechanism. computers are and will remain mechanistic. i think about something a machine cannot do that no matter how much i infuse it with my own intelligence and logic. it is timeless in inference, and i, i on the other hand am time itself! there is nothing in the definition of 'machine' that prevents it from becoming conscious. your assumption that the universe is not a quantum computer is based on what? according to a few quantum scientists, the universe IS a quantum computer and is NOT deterministic - you're assuming that a quantum computer holds mechanical properties. at this level, the only distinction between quantum computer as universe and universal spirit is simply one of semantics. the universe is both material, and non material, at once. the point is both material and non material models lead us to the same conclusion. The replies above seem to have missed the main point of the article, though at the time I wrote it (over three years ago) the implications of the widespread acceptance of the physicalist position were not clear to me, and so may not be clear to readers. Before I comment further, I think the following quotation from Erwin Schroedinger's essay "Why not talk Physics?" will provide a helpful hint: The and bad, God and eternity. Science sometimes pretends to answer questions in these domains, but the answers are very often so silly that we're not inclined to take them seriously ... The scientific world-picture vouchsafes a very complete understanding of all that happens — it makes it just a little too understandable. It allows you to imagine the total display as that of a mechanical clockwork which, for all that science knows, could go on just the same as it does, without there being consciousness, will, endeavor, pain and delight and responsibility connected with it — though they actually are. And the reason for this disconcerting situation is just this: that, for the purpose of constructing the picture of the external world, we have used the greatly simplifying device of cutting our own personality out, removing it; hence it is gone, it has evaporated, it is ostensibly not needed ... Whence come I, and whither go I? That is the great unfathomable question, the same for every one of us. Science has no answer to it. Although physicalism has permeated the public consciousness only since modern science has been part of public education, it has its historical roots in the Copernican Revolution, some 500 years ago, when it was first espoused publicly by Kepler and Galileo. Until the 17th C. humans lived in a world where the Earth was at the center of the cosmos, a cosmos in which they themselves were fully embedded, and which spoke to them via meaningful signs both above and below. With the acceptance of the Copernican view of the solar system, the way was open to seeing the cosmos as we do today, as a void containing an uncountable number of celestial objects moving in ways which can be investigated and understood by observation and reasoning. The cosmos thus ceased to be a source of meaning and became an object of investigation, along with all that it contained. As modern science developed following Isaac Newton's discoveries, the mode of this investigation increasingly distinguished between 'facts' and 'values'. Facts were descriptive of the physical world — the world perceivable by the outer senses, whereas 'values' were regarded as being of human origin, having their source in human consciousness, in the human mentality, or in human minds (though then, as now, physical science does not know what the term 'human mind' means or could refer to). 'Facts' were for modern scientists 'objective' whereas 'values' were 'subjective'. A good description of this historical development, and of its psychological consequences, can be found in pages 16-36 of Richard Tarnas's book Cosmos and Psyche, where we read that the modern mind experiences a fundamental division between a subjective human self and an objective external world. Apart from the human being, the cosmos is seen as entirely impersonal and unconscious. Whatever beauty and value that human beings may perceive in the universe, that universe is in itself mere matter in motion, mechanistic and purposeless, ruled by chance and necessity. It is altogether indifferent to human consciousness and values. The world outside the human being lacks conscious intelligence, it lacks interiority, and it lacks intrinsic meaning and purpose. As Erwin Schroedinger said (in the passage I quoted above), in its pursuit of 'objectivity' modern science has "for the purpose of constructing the picture of the external world ... [cut] our own personality out". According to modern science, the cosmos in which we live is simply a random collection of objects which move within a vacuum, have properties such as 'mass' and 'charge', and interact with other objects. These objects have no color (since color does not exist outside of consciousness), no history (that is a human construct), no value or worth (except within human minds), cannot possess beauty, cannot act with courage or integrity, and in no way can be worthy of admiration or disdain. And humans are, according to the physicalist view, simply a subset of these objects. It follows that humans can be treated just like any other objects within the physical world, just like the minerals to be mined, like the trees to be converted to lumber, like the animals to be reared in factory farms — that is, they can be treated as something to be exploited, primarily for profit. Physicalism is at the root of the modern psychological disease of alienation, in which we perceive ourselves as beings who value art, beauty, love, kindness, etc., existing in a cosmos in which, according to the physicalist position, none of these things exist, except perhaps as a delusion — a delusion within consciousness, which itself has no place in the physicalist world and cannot be explained within physicalism and so must be 'explained away'. This 'alienation' is not simply a psychological condition, it has given rise to a form of mass insanity. Richard Tarnas writes: Since the encompassing cosmological context in which all human activity takes place has eliminated any enduring ground of transcendent values — spiritual, moral, aesthetic — the resulting vacuum has empowered the reductive values of the market and the mass media to colonize the collective human imagination and drain it of all depth. If the cosmology is disenchanted [as it is in the physicalist view of the world], the world is logically seen in predominantly utilitiarian ways, and the utilitarian mind-set begins to shape all human motivation at the collective level. ... The disenchanted cosmos impoverishes the collective psyche in the most global way, vitiating its spiritual and moral imagination ... For quite literally, in a disenchanted cosmos, nothing is sacred. The widespread acceptance of the physicalist view thus accounts for the total lack of wisdom in the modern world and the unrestrained rise and triumph of individual and corporate greed and the desire for control over others (so as to exploit them more efficiently and for greater profit), culminating in a ruthless drive for world domination in which humans are regarded as of no value (and may even be killed simply on the order of the commander-in-chief) except insofar as they can be used to maintain a global corporate/financial elite in the condition it desires. This drive for world domination may well result in the extinction of the human species before long, in which case the question of the truth or falsity of physicalism will be moot. But there is a possibility that this will be avoided (stranger things have happened), and while there is still a chance we should use any available means to demonstrate the falsity of the physicalist view of the world. ------------------------------------- BTW this article was previously published in 2008 on my website Serendipity, where it received almost no attention; thanks to the editors of Reality Sandwich for republishing it. Those wishing to read more of what I have to say on DMT and other subjects may care to visit my website. In Magnum Force Harry says "a man has to know his limitations". I have a smart dog and she knows many things, but I can never teach her calculus. Likewise, the human brain can never comprehend a vast set of facts, but these facts are no less true than the fact-set we can know. This debate is probably beyond our capacity, so humility would be a correct place to begin any discussion. If we can accept this position - of humility - then skepticism is the correct philosophy. Within the scope of skepticism, the new study of consciousness can make great strides without resort to dogmatism on the one hand or the slide into cynicism on the other. As I have tried to make clear above (apparently without success), this article is not about consciousness, it is about a view of reality which is widely accepted (as a result of mental conditioning within the Western educational system) and which has produced a state of collective insanity which is facilitating the ruination of the Earth. In this context "humility" and "skepticism" amount to cowardice: a fearful reluctance to recognize, confront and oppose a view of the world (and the social, psychological and economic consequences of the widespread acceptance of that view) which threatens the extinction of the human species (and lots of other species) — perhaps (in the case of the human species) not necessarily a bad thing, considering the incredible stupidity which its members are currently exhibiting. Sheep are stupid, so the implication is that humility and skepticism are stupid. The social pathologies of humanity include belligerance. I could define the militancy of your comment as the rant of a belligerant primate, and feel smug in the truth of such denunciation; however, this is where humility is the correct virtue. As to the dichotomy upon which your main position depends, this is where skepticism is the correct philosophy. The physicalist view of the world is not merely a subject of philosophical debate, with no psychosocial consequences. As Richard Tarnas has eloquently revealed in the introductory section of his book Cosmos and Psyche, this view of the world is actually a cosmology according to which nothing in the universe is really alive or is really conscious (because only sub-atomic particles and energy really exist), so when we experience ourselves as alive and conscious we are really deceiving ourselves, basically deluded. And when we experience beauty, love, a sense of work well done, etc., we are also deceiving ourselves, because (according to this cosmology) all meaning is basically a projection upon a lifeless universe. So the modern human mind is afflicted by a schizophrenic contrast between what we know by experience and what 'science' tells us is really real. But since 'science' is perceived as an authority (just as, in the West, the church once was) it defines what is 'public' reality. And this 'really' consists only of objects, possessing no value in themselves, but of value only to the extent that they can be used, manipulated and exploited. Thus according to the modern worldview might is right, greed is good, and life is only about getting, spending and 'consuming' until you die. Obviously this is insane. If humans persist in this view of the world then they have no future, except perhaps as ignorant slaves in a world controlled by a psychopathic elite. Philosophers can debate the truth or falsity of physicalism for the next 500 years and they will still manage to avoid coming to a conclusion. What's needed is incontrovertible evidence that physicalism is false. As I stated in my article, this evidence is available to anyone who has the courage to smoke DMT at the required dose level. Terence McKenna was aware that a way out of our modern predicament is possible only via the widespread use of psychedelics. In 1993 in a public talk he said: The reason I'm a psychedelic advocate is not because I think it's easy, or because I think it's a sure thing — I don't think it's easy or a sure thing. It's simply that it's the only game in town. Nothing else can change your mind on a dime like we are going to have to change our minds on a dime. If we had 500 years to sort this out, we could maybe have a fighting chance without radical pharmacological intervention. As it is, if we don't awaken, we are going to let it [the possibiity of escape from "the dominator culture, based on monotheism, hatred of nature, suppression of the female," etc.] slip through our fingers. — Live at the Fez 'So I would check out the book, "The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self" by Thomas Metzinger ' Just started reading it and I think RAW would have fallen on his back seeing that his ideas were being taken seriously by academics.R.I.P..... I Usually have a problem with science that tells me that conscious 'evolved' from some primate ancestor but I'll read on. How can we prove that all we see and experience are not simply perceptions and that 'out there' really exists?Materialistic philosophy is then again false. James Kent in PIT describes the Universe as being non -linear and conscious being linear.With the aid of psychedelics you bypass your natural filters which allows you to experience the universe in non-linear.So the valve thing makes sense. I wonder if it is still Heretical to oppose evolution as a valid theory for the origin of life and without being called a Creationist as well.Some of the tactics I have picked up reading evolutionist propaganda. 1)SLAPPING SCIENCE LIPSTICK ON THE NO-EVIDENCE PIG 2)DISGUISED TAUTOLOGY 3)AUTHORITATIVE REPETITIVE FALSE AFFIRMATION Empty reasoning systems by definition have no substance, and therefore must rely upon various techniques of seduction to make them seem legitimate. Those readers (perhaps a minority) who do not unthinkingly put their trust in 'Science' to tell them what is real, and who want a better understanding of how the modern 'scientific' worldview developed, and why it is so harmful, should read Part I, "The Transformation of the Cosmos", in Richard Tarnas's book Cosmos and Psyche. Writer, Speaker, Awakener and Abundance Revealer Some very interesting, ideas here, Peter Would you like to discuss the possibility of being on my radio show on Wednesdays at 9 PM EST? Michael 386-847-7846 Jonathan Zap of zaporacle.com Peter, I couldn't agree more that physicalism is not only demonstrably wrong, but that it is a pathologizing notion that creates much individual and collective sickness in its wake. Related to your symphony example there is an Einstein quote (but you should verify, since so many ersatz Einstein quotes abound) where he was asked if he would could eventually explain everything in terms of physics and he replied, "Yes, but it would be like explaining a Beethoven symphony in terms of variations of air pressure." For a physicalist, nothing could be more "unreal" than an ephemeral fantasy or thought that flickers through my mind. But it is a fact that I had that particularly fantasy or thought at that moment and no other. As Whitehead might put it, "It had the formality of actually existing." The whole record of the unfolding of the universe is altered because it is different than a universe in which I did not have that thought or fantasy at that time. Physicalists are often fundamentalists and they become very agitated if you question their central tenet and especially if you are a nonreligious (and therefore not so easy to dismiss) questioner. Just yesterday I wrote this based on yet another vain effort to reason with a rationalistic (but not reasonable or reasoning) physicalist/atheist. I tried to use some of the findings from NDE research which I think are the strongest evidence I've encountered for refuting physicalism (see the link within the link). One of physicalisms many pathologies is that it causes people to have a painful, extreme identification with their physical bodies as if their entire existence were reducible to same. These leads to the depressed view of themselves and others as "meat puppets." See: PHYSICALISM: the source of world wide financial meltdown 1. The only thing we know with certainty, in our direct experience, is a world of unbroken, pervading Consciousness, which appears as an infinite variety of forms. (this limitation of knowledge is from the point of view of physicalism; many contemplatives believe that - or assert that - our knowledge actually extends far beyond this, but I am bracketing non physicalist epistemology for now) 2. The description of whatever exists beyond our immediate experience, which makes use of the least or fewest assumptions, is that it too can be characterized as unbroken, pervading Consciousness appearing as an infinite variety of forms. 3. I am bracketing any non physicalist metaphysic here as well - I am not advocating for any position, and am not claiming (here) that physicalism is wrong. BUT - extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Since we do not know - and can never have any scientific, empirical evidence of even one iota of "reality" independent of Consciousness, it seems reasonable to say the burden of proof regarding the faith based belief in matter or something "physical" existing entirely independent of all pervading Consciousness - should be on the physicalist. 4. Physicalism is an extraordinary claim because it makes our experience impossible. Most neuroscientists continue to admit that not only do they not have a clue, but have no idea even to think about how the "vibrations" - purely physical - which are alleged to exist independent of Consciousness - become our experience of sights, sounds, sensations, in sum, all the variegated colorful, acoustic world which we experience as the universe. Physicalism also - as physicist Steven Weinberg admits in his New Yorker essay, "Does Science Explain Anything" - has no explanation for the "laws of nature". Since all scientific explanation depends on the laws of nature, physicalism makes utter nonsense of all science, and essentially vaporizes the actual world as we experience it, in the only way we can ever know it. So physicalism ends up being one of the most bizarre, semi autistic, almost psychotic ideas humanity has ever come up with. Since it can never be tested, and makes all expeirence and all science incomprehensible, the burden of proof for such an irrational claim, such an extraordinary claim, is on the physicalist. IN a universe pervaded by intelligent (far beyond the intelligence of humans) Consciousness, the patterns of nature that we foolishly call "laws" are the most obvious result of an infinite, unbounded Consciousness manifesting in a world of form. Our experience (beginning with a consciousness apparently "asleep" in matter and slowly "awakening" over billions of years) is exactly what one expects. Everything in science makes perfect sense, whereas in the physicalist view nothing in science makes any snese and all explanation becomes impossible. From my inner Spiritual point of view, beauty can be measured through patterns representing order from chaos... order and unity... and purpose. Patterns exist in 3 dimensional light and sound... and true beauty exists when the purpose of the human Spirit is expressed physically and transferred around our Human Species... as a standard that can be broadcast and shared. Good Spiritual standards create values that precede labels and broadcasts. Great art and great monuments as well as great books... share qualities of beauty... of purpose. In communication, we use light and sound... structured to serve the Human Spirit. Our problem is that there is too much noise, and there is no standard for Humanity that has absolutely been set. However, as a species, I feel we will tend towards... especially in this cyberspace / hyperspace age... a Spiritual Singularity expressed as visual binary information traveling through hyperspace to serve the one Human Spirit... one consciousness from many. Black Holes explain something esoterically about the consolidation of wealth and power through the use of the information economy. Wealth serves our power to create... and power to create comes from the Spiritual realm... from the God within the Gods. Friendship between God and the Gods may be established by standards such as the Friendship Cube. With great standards comes great ability to broadcast. Standards create an Alliance and Broadcast is an Enterprise for God. God will inherit all wealth and power, through the work of His Holy Spirit; His Alliance Enterprise. And God has a plan for the chosen sons of light here on Earth.	eng	93506e08-8c8a-495c-a842-8a0358a3016c	http://www.realitysandwich.com/physicalism_false_view_world
User carl mummert - MathOverflowmost recent 30 from by Carl Mummert for Reverse mathematics below RCACarl Mummert2013-03-30T13:13:30Z2013-03-30T13:13:30Z<p>There is a large family of systems that go by names such as $\text{E-}\widehat{\text{PRA}}^\omega$. These are all somewhat related to the "System T" introduced by Gödel as part of this <em>Dialectica</em> interpretation. These systems are function-based, rather than set-based, and they are typically axiomatized in all finite types, although it would be easy enough to limit the collection of types. But they have a "feel" very much like PRA, in that the rules for creating functions of higher types by recursion are generalizations of the primitive recursion scheme in PRA. Comprehension is usually replaced, in these function-based settings, by fragments of the axiom of choice. </p> <p>One aspect of this area is that, unlike reverse mathematics where there are five big systems that are each robust against minor changes, in the context of proof theory there are many different systems (e.g. $\text{PA}^\omega$, $\text{E-PA}^{\omega}$, $\text{E-}\widehat{\text{PA}}^{\omega}$, $\text{E-}\widehat{\text{PA}}^{\omega} \mathord{\upharpoonright}$ are different systems) and the fine details make a difference in the strengths. Moreover, different authors may use different notation for the same system. </p> <p>The best references I know of for these systems are the books <em>Applied Proof Theory</em> by Kohlenbach and <em>Metamathematical Investigation</em> by Troelstra. Kohlenbach's book, in particular, has one of the most clear developments I have seen. There are a few papers online that have some information, such as</p> <ul> <li><p>"Foundational and Mathematical Uses of Higher Types", Kohlenbach, <a href=" rel="nofollow"> </p></li> <li><p>"Gödel's functional Interpretation", Avigad and Feferman, <a href=" rel="nofollow"> </ul> by Carl Mummert for First-order vs second-order provabilityCarl Mummert2013-01-24T12:54:15Z2013-01-24T12:54:15Z<p>I assume that you mean the second-order system with both second-order induction and the full second-order comprehension scheme. There are many "second order variations" of Peano Arithmetic, with different strengths, so care is required to specify which one is intended. The second-order induction axiom on its own does not allow you to prove any new sentences of first-order arithmetic, compared to Peano Arithmetic, because every model of Peano Arithmetic extends to a model of $\mathsf{ACA}_0$, and that extended model satisfies the second-order induction axiom. </p> <p>Regardless, there are not going to be any completely elementary principles of number theory that are provable in full second order arithmetic ($Z_2$) but not in PA, because of the well-known phenomenon that all elementary principles are already provable in PA. It is very difficult to find "natural" true mathematical statements that can be expressed in the language of PA but cannot be proved in PA. The Paris--Harrington principle is, in some sense, as good as it gets, which is the main reason the Paris--Harrington theorem is of interest. </ by Carl Mummert for Subscript 0 in Reverse MathematicsCarl Mummert2012-11-18T20:43:33Z2012-11-18T20:43:33Z<p>As the other answer points out, the subscript 0 means restricted induction. However, without the subscript 0, there are two conventions:</p> <ul> <li><p>The older convention was that the systems without the subscript 0 have the full second-order induction scheme. Thus $\mathsf{ACA}$ is the system consisting of $\mathsf{ACA}_0$ plus the full induction scheme, and the same for e.g. $\mathsf{WKL}$ vs. $\mathsf{WKL}_0$. Historically, the systems with full induction were studied first (as in Feferman's article in the <em>Handbook of Mathematical Logic</em>), and the systems with restricted induction were of secondary interest. The restricted systems drew more interest once it was apparent how many mathematical results they can prove, so that in the context of reverse mathematics the systems with full induction seem less natural. </p></li> <li><p>Some authors, however, use ACA to mean "Arithmetical Comprehension Axiom" and WKL to mean "Weak König's Lemma". For these authors, $\mathsf{ACA}_0$ is $\mathsf{RCA}_0$ plus "ACA". Similarly $\mathsf{WKL}_0$ means $\mathsf{RCA}_0$ plus "WKL". This terminology appears in various papers, even some published by respected proof theorists, and so you have to watch for it. Note that ACA here can be taken to be a single sentence "for all $X$ the Turing jump of $X$ exists" and similarly WKL is a single sentence. </p></li> </ul> <p>For higher-order analogues, it is still a question whether restricted induction or full induction is included. Kohlenbach [1] has used notation such as $\mathsf{ACA}_0^\omega$ to refer to the analogue of <code>$\mathsf{ACA}_0 $</code> formalized in arithmetic in all finite types. In this context, though, there are many different ways in which induction can be restricted. So notation like <code>$\widehat{\mathsf{E\text{-}HA}}^\omega_\upharpoonright $</code> is used in the literature, where the hat and the harpoon refer to different sorts of restrictions. These notations are explained in Kohlenbach's <em>Applied Proof Theory</em> or in Troelstra's <em>Metamathematical Investigations</em>. </p> <p>1: Ulrich Kohlenbach, "Higher Order Reverse Mathematics", <em>Reverse Mathematics 2001</em>, Lecture Notes in Logic, 2005, <a href="ftp://ftp.daimi.au.dk/BRICS/RS/00/49/BRICS-RS-00-49.pdf" rel="nofollow">ftp://ftp.daimi.au.dk/BRICS/RS/00/49/BRICS-RS-00-49.pdf</a></p> by Carl Mummert for Is there a general setting for self-reference?Carl Mummert2012-10-10T15:40:38Z2012-10-10T15:40:38Z<p>You might also be interested in Graham Priest's article "The Structure of the Paradoxes of Self-Reference", <em>Mind</em> 103 (1994) pp. 25-34. (<a href=" rel="nofollow">Journal page</a> ; <a href=" rel="nofollow">JStor</a>) and similar work by Priest. He has a general framework that he argues captures the various self-referential paradoxes. I believe he also discusses this in some of his other work and monographs. </p> by Carl Mummert for Second-order term in first-order logic?Carl Mummert2012-08-22T18:12:13Z2012-08-22T18:12:13Z<p>I think that the spirit of this question, combined with the clarifications in comments, is:</p> <blockquote> <p>What is it that makes first-order logic "first order"? </p> </blockquote> <p>Unfortunately, the terms "first order" and "second order" get used to mean various things. </p> <p>A formal but unsatisfying answer would say that first-order logic is a specific logic defined in, say, Mendelson's textbook, and any other logic is not "first order logic" strictly speaking. This is unsatisfying because we know there are many inessential variations of first-order logic - really there are many first-order <em>logics</em> that share a certain core. The question I quoted asks for a characterization of that core. </p> <p>One common answer is that any logic in which we intend to have quantifiers over "functions" or "sets" is higher order. This is unsatisfying because, as Andrej Bauer points out, such theories can be <em>syntactically</em> expressed in multi-sorted first-order logic. There are many theories of "second order arithmetic", for example, which allow us to express set and function quantification but which are treated as first-order theories. Unfortunately, the terminology "second order" is established for these theories and cannot be avoided. </p> <p>Recall that a logic consists of both a syntax and a semantics. <em>The truly defining feature of a first-order logic is the semantics.</em> First-order semantics begins with the notion of a structure (also called a model), as defined in every introductory textbook on first-order logic. </p> <p>Consider how we would express function quantification in (multi-sorted) first-order logic, as in Andrej's answer. Each structure must interpret two sorts. It uses a set of individuals for the quantifiers over individuals and a separate set of functions for the quantifiers over functions. This set of functions, in an arbitrary structure, might be a proper subset of the collection of <em>all</em> functions on the set of individuals; nothing in the definition of a structure requires otherwise. Indeed some structures will have an infinite set of individuals but a finite set of functions. </p> <p><em>Full second order semantics</em> changes the class of allowable structures so that only those whose function set includes <em>all</em> the functions are allowed. This does not affect the syntax in any way, but it deeply changes the semantics. Because fewer structures are being considered, more formulas will be logically valid, and fewer will be satisfiable. Thus there are more categorical theories in these semantics, such as the well known categorical second-order axiomatizations of the natural numbers. Those same axiomatizations are syntactically fine in first-order logic, where the simple difference is that they are no longer categorical. </p> <p>Thus the key difference between function quantification in multi-sorted first order logic (or type theory) and function quantification in full second-order semantics is not the existence of syntactic quantifier symbols that allow quantification over functions. The difference is in the <em>meaning</em> of those quantifiers, which derives from the way the semantics are defined. In the first-order case, we have little control over the range of quantifiers. In full second-order semantics, once the set of individuals is fixed, the range of the function quantifiers is also fixed. This distinction is only visible at the meta level, when we are studying the logic from the outside and can specify which interpretations are permissible. Nothing in the syntax of the logic tells us what collection of structures will be used to interpret it. </p> by Carl Mummert for Does higher order arithmetic interpret the axiom of choice?Carl Mummert2012-08-03T03:49:03Z2012-08-03T03:49:03Z<p>There is quite a bit of this in Simpson's book <em>Subsystems of Second Order Arithmetic</em> in the specific context of second-order arithmetic. Here are three relevant results:</p> <blockquote> <p>Corollary VII.5.11 (conservation theorems). Let $T_0$ be any one of the $L_2$-theories $\Pi^1_\infty\text{-CA}_0$, <code>$\Pi^1_{k+1}\text{-CA}_0$,</code> <code>$\Delta^1_{k+2}\text{-CA}_0$,</code> $0 ≤ k < \infty$. Let $\phi$ be any $\Pi^1_4$ sentence. Suppose that $\phi$ is provable from $T_0$ plus $\exists X \forall Y (Y ∈ L(X ))$. Then $\phi$ is provable from $T_0$ alone.</p> </blockquote> <p>Here <code>$\Pi^1_\infty\text{-CA}_0$</code> has the full comprehension scheme for second order arithmetic, and hence also the full induction scheme. </p> <blockquote> <p>Theorem VII.6.16 ($\Sigma^1_{k+3}$ choice schemes). The following is provable in $\text{ATR}_0$. Assume $\exists X \forall Y (Y ∈ L(X ))$. Then: </p> <ol> <li><code>$\Sigma^1_{k+3}\text{-AC}_0$</code> is equivalent to <code>$\Delta^1_{k+3}\text{-CA}_0$</code>.</li> <li><code>$\Sigma^1_{k+3}\text{-DC}_0$</code> is equivalent to <code>$\Delta^1_{k+3}\text{-CA}_0$</code> plus <code>$\Sigma^1_{k+3}\text{-IND}$</code>. </li> <li>Strong <code>$\Sigma^1_{k+3}\text{-DC}_0$</code> is equivalent to <code>$\Pi^1_{k+3}\text{-CA}_0$</code>.</li> <li><code>$\Sigma^1_\infty \text{-DC}_0$</code> (<code>$=\bigcup_{k < \omega} \Sigma^1_k\text{-DC}_0$</code> ) is equivalent to <code>$\Pi^1_\infty\text{-CA}_0$</code>.</li> </ol> </blockquote> <p>and</p> <blockquote> <p>Corollary IX.4.12 (conservation theorem). For all $k <\omega$, $\Sigma^1_{k+3}\text{-AC}_0$ (hence also <code>$\Delta^1_{k+3}\text{-AC}_0$</code> ) is conservative over <code>$\Pi^1_{k+2}\text{-CA}_0$</code> for $\Pi^1_4$ sentences.</p> </blockquote> by Carl Mummert for Z_2 versus second-order PACarl Mummert2012-05-16T02:44:36Z2012-05-16T03:05:04Z<p>$Z_2$ as it is usually viewed is a first-order theory with two sorts, and as such is not categorical. The difference (apart from terminological issues) is entirely in the semantics that are used. In "full" second-order semantics, the set variables quantify over all subsets of the domain, while in first-order "Henkin" semantics each model has a domain for number variables and a second domain for set quantifiers to range over. </p> <p>There are two things that you might mean by $PA_2$ (I realized this after writing the answer, so I have expanded it). The first option is to have $PA_2$ include the entire second-order induction <em>scheme</em>; let's call that $PA^s_2$. $PA^s_2$ and $ACA$ are indeed equiconsistent. Every model of $ACA$ is already a model of $PA^s_2$, and every model of $PA^2_2$ extends to a model of $ACA$ by just throwing in the definable sets. In fact, this extends any model of $PA^s_2$ to a model of $Z_2$, so these theories are equiconsistent. There is an issue that this could mean "equiconsistent in full second order semantics" or "equiconsistent in first-order semantics", but either way they are pairwise equiconsistent as long as the same semantics is used for both theories. </p> <p>The other option is that $PA_2$ might just have the single second-order induction <em>axiom</em> $$ (\forall x)[0 \in X \land (\forall n)[n \in X \to n+1\in X] \to (\forall n) n \in X]. $$ Let's call that version $PA^i_2$. Now the semantics matters. In full second-order semantics, any model of $PA^i_2$ is a model of $PA^s_2$, so it extends to a model of $Z_2$. In first-order semantics, $PA^i_2$ is very weak, because without any comprehension axioms the single second-order induction axiom is not very strong in first-order semantics. $PA^i_2$ is (syntactically) a subtheory of $\mathsf{RCA}_0$, one of the weak systems of arithmetic considered in reverse mathematics, and so $PA^i_2$ has a much lower consistency strength than $Z_2$ in the first-order setting. </p> by Carl Mummert for What is "Seetapun Enigma"?Carl Mummert2012-03-25T17:50:26Z2012-03-25T17:57:56Z<p>The question seems to be about the following special form of Ramsey's Theorem:</p> <blockquote> <p>$\mathsf{RT}^2_2$: for every $2$-coloring of the unordered pairs from $\mathbb{N}$ there is an infinite subset of $\mathbb{N}$ for which all unordered pairs receive the same color.</p> </blockquote> <p>which is a special case of</p> <blockquote> <p>$\mathsf{RT}^n_k$: for every $k$-coloring of the unordered $n$-tuples from $\mathbb{N}$ there is an infinite subset of $\mathbb{N}$ for which all unordered $n$-tuples receive the same color.</p> </blockquote> <p>The computability strength of infinite Ramsey's theorem was first studied by Jockusch (1972). When interpreted in modern terminology that didn't exist then, Jockusch's result is that $\mathsf{RT}^n_k$ is equivalent to $\mathsf{ACA}_0$ whenever $n \geq 3$ and $k \geq 2$. The equivalence is over the standard base system $\mathsf{RCA}_0$ which is assumed in the rest of this post. As a corollary, $\mathsf{ACA}_0$ proves $\mathsf{RT}^2_k$ for all $k \geq 2$. </p> <p>Later, Hirst (1987) characterized the strength of principles of the form $\mathsf{RT}^1_k$. The separate results of Jockusch and Hirst leave a gap for exponent $2$, and in particular for $\mathsf{RT}^2_2$. The exact reverse mathematics strength of $\mathsf{RT}^2_2$ is somewhat mysterious, although I don't know that anyone calls it an "enigma". It has proven to be a particularly difficult open problem. </p> <p>The first result was due to Seetapun (published as Seetapun and Slaman (1995)), who showed that $\mathsf{RT}^2_2$ does not imply $\mathsf{ACA}_0$. The fact that this seemingly weak result was all that could be obtained hints at the difficulty of finding the exact strength of $\mathsf{RT}^2_2$ with known methods. Seetapun's proof used an intricate forcing argument. The ideas behind this argument have been progressively clarified and extended, and are now well understood; the most recent paper on this is by Dzhafarov and Jockusch (2009).</p> <p>The principle $\mathsf{WKL}_0$ says that every infinite subtree of $2^{<\mathbb{N}}$ has an infinite path. $\mathsf{WKL}_0$ is one of the "big five" systems of reverse mathematics, and is the natural comparison point for principles weaker than $\mathsf{ACA}_0$ such as $\mathsf{RT}^2_2$.</p> <p>Cholak, Jockusch, and Slaman (2001) made the next significant progress on $\mathsf{RT}^2_2$. Among many other new results they showed that $\mathsf{RT}^2_2$ is not provable in $\mathsf{WKL}_0$, because $\mathsf{WKL}_0$ does not prove the principle $\mathsf{COH}$ which is provable from $\mathsf{RT}^2_2$. The principle $\mathsf{COH}$ is a formalized statement of a theorem from recursion theory about the existence of $r$-cohesive sets. </p> <p>The results I have mentioned left the question open whether $\mathsf{RT}^2_2$ implies $\mathsf{WKL}_0$. This was recently solved by Liu in 2011. Liu showed in a still-unpublished paper that $\mathsf{RT}^2_2$ does not imply $\mathsf{WWKL}_0$, which is the restriction of $\mathsf{WKL}_0$ to trees of positive measure, and which is strictly weaker than $\mathsf{WKL}_0$. Thus, combining results, $\mathsf{RT}^2_2$ and $\mathsf{WKL}_0$ are mutually independent. </p> <p>As I understand it, Liu proved this independently while a student at Central South University (China), without an advisor in logic or any graduate training in logic. Liu presented his result at the <a href=" rel="nofollow">Reverse Mathematics workshop</a> at University of Chicago in September 2011. The <a href=" rel="nofollow">slides from that talk</a> are available online, but they are quite technical. The proof uses another intricate forcing argument. </p> <p>As I understand it, Liu's paper was submitted to a journal some time before the workshop, the results have been verified by referees, and the paper will be published once it is in final form. </p> <p><strong>Citations</strong></p> <ul> <li><p>Cholak, Peter A.; Jockusch, Carl G.; Slaman, Theodore A. <em>On the strength of Ramsey's theorem for pairs</em>. J. Symbolic Logic 66 (2001), no. 1, 1–55. MR1825173 (2002c:03094) </p></li> <li><p>Dzhafarov, Damir D.; Jockusch, Carl G., Jr. <em>Ramsey's theorem and cone avoidance</em>. J. Symbolic Logic 74 (2009), no. 2, 557–578. MR2518811 (2010e:03052)</p></li> <li><p>Hirst, Jeffry Lynn. <em>Combinatorics in subsystems of second-order arithmetic</em>. PhD Thesis, The Pennsylvania State University. 1987. 153 pp. </p></li> <li><p>Jockusch, Carl G., Jr. <em>Ramsey's theorem and recursion theory</em>. J. Symbolic Logic 37 (1972), 268–280. MR0376319 (51 #12495) </p></li> <li><p>Seetapun, David; Slaman, Theodore A. <em>On the strength of Ramsey's theorem</em>. Special Issue: Models of arithmetic. Notre Dame J. Formal Logic 36 (1995), no. 4, 570–582. MR1368468 (96k:03136) </p></li> </ul> by Carl Mummert for Can infinity shorten proofs a lot?Carl Mummert2012-02-01T13:07:19Z2012-02-01T13:17:39Z<p> </p> <p>The advantage of working in $\text{WKL}_0$ is that the proofs can be much shorter. I think this was always suspected, but Caldon and Ignjatovic recently established (<a href=" rel="nofollow">pdf</a>) </p> <p>In their paper, the set of formulas for the lower bound is explicitly laid out. These may not be particularly concrete, because they relate to consistency statements.</p> <p>If we expand PRA to allow for existential quantification, we can get a slightly larger theory in which $\Pi^0_2$ statements can be expressed. It is known that $\text{WKL}_0$ is still conservative over this larger theory for $\Pi^0_2$ statements. In 1994, Kikuchi and Tanaka (<a href=" rel="nofollow">pdf</a>) gave a nice example of how this could be used to show that the second incompleteness theorem is provable in PRA, by using model-theoretic, infinitary methods in $\text{WKL}_0$ and relying on the conservation result. </p> by Carl Mummert for Explicit expression for recursively defined functionsCarl Mummert2011-12-16T17:36:56Z2011-12-16T17:36:56Z<p>To follow up on Joel Hamkins' answer, the fundamental obstruction here is totality. Explicit definitions are always going to give total functions. The reason that recursion is so powerful for defining functions is that it is possible to make partial functions, e.g. $$ f(0) := 0 \qquad f(2n+2) := f(2n) \qquad f(2n+1) := f(2n+3) $$</p> <p>The following is a standard theorem.</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>Theorem.</strong> Let $C$ be a countable system of total computable functions $\mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$ with the property</p> <ul> <li>There is a numbering $\phi_i\colon \mathbb{N} \to C$ such that every $f \in C$ is of the form $\phi_i$ for at least one $i$, and there is a uniform way to compute $\phi_i(j)$ given just $i$ and $j$. </li> </ul> <p>Then $C$ does not include all total computable functions from $\mathbb{N}$ to $\mathbb{N}$.</p> <p><em>Proof.</em> Diagonalization. </p> </blockquote> <p>In the context of this question, the philosophical meaning of this theorem is that it is not possible to come up with a completely explicit form for every computable function, in some fixed signature, because then by enumerating all possible forms we would get a numbering $\phi$ as in the theorem.</p> <p>The closest we can hope for in terms of an explicit form for all total computable functions is something like Kleene normal form, but this still includes an unbounded search. Kleene's normal form theorem says that there is a primitive recursive function $U$ and a primitive recursive relation $T$ such that for every computable function $f$ there is an $e$ such that for all $i$, $$ f(i) \simeq U(\mu s . T(e,i,s)). $$ where $\mu$ is the <a href=" rel="nofollow">unbounded search operator</a>.</p> by Carl Mummert for Undecidability [sic] in set theory [per se]Carl Mummert2011-12-15T01:26:41Z2011-12-15T01:26:41Z<p>If you look at "families" in a more general sense there are many examples. For example, the set of $x \in 2^\omega$ that are the graph of a well ordering of $\omega$. This set is well known to be $\Pi^1_1$ complete, and in particular is not decidable (i.e. lightface $\Delta^0_1$). I think that being well ordered is a purely set-theoretic problem. </p> <p>This can also be put into a countable setting by replacing the set above with a slightly less natural set, Kleene's $\mathcal{O}$, of all natural numbers that are indices of computable well-orderings of $\omega$. </p> <p>There are many similar examples in descriptive set theory. </p> by Carl Mummert for Up-to-date version of Principia Mathematica?Carl Mummert2011-11-29T03:34:52Z2011-11-29T03:34:52Z<p>In his Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article "<a href=" rel="nofollow">The Notation of Principia Mathematica</a>", Bernard Linsky makes the following claim:</p> <blockquote> <p>This translation is offered as an aid to learning the original notation, which itself is a subject of scholarly dispute, and embodies substantive logical doctrines so that it cannot simply be replaced by contemporary symbolism. Learning the notation, then, is a first step to learning the distinctive logical doctrines of Principia Mathematica. </p> </blockquote> <p>The point is that Principia was not intended simply to be a development of mathematics in type theory: it was intended to make a philosophical argument that mathematics could be carried out using only "logic". Thus translating PM so that the underlying mathematical principles are more clearly described would miss the point that there are not supposed to be any underlying mathematical principles, only "logical" ones. This differs sharply from Gödel's paper, which was intended to be mathematical (the result can be viewed as just a particular type of combinatorics or number theory) rather than philosophical. </p> by Carl Mummert for "local variables" in first-order formulasCarl Mummert2011-10-11T19:18:15Z2011-10-11T19:18:15Z<p>One elegant solution is to apply the following theorem from Enderton's logic book (Theorem 24I):</p> <blockquote> <p>$.</p> </blockquote> <p> </p> by Carl Mummert for Formalizing Euclid's proof of the infinitude of primesCarl Mummert2011-09-21T01:10:32Z2011-09-21T01:10:32Z<p>Two points. The first is that one theory that is sufficient for the task is PRA - <a href=" rel="nofollow">primitive recursive arithmetic</a> - or any theory that interprets it. The definition in the question works fine in that setting. There are weaker theories where you can code things, as well. The key point is that in PRA there is a definable unary function Set($n)$ which says $n$ codes a "finite" set, and a definable binary relation Element($n$,$k)$ which says that $n$ is an element of the set coded by $k$. These have the property that for every $l$ in any model of PRA there is a $k$ which codes the "finite" set of numbers $n < l$ that are prime. </p> <p>This sort of coding requires quite a bit of work to set up, but it is viewed as completely routine unless you try to really plumb the depths of the weakest possible theory. PRA is already an extremely weak theory. </p> <p>Second, there is some benefit to rephrasing things before formalizing them. Rather than proving "no finite set of primes includes all the primes", it is more natural in arithmetic to prove "the set of primes is not bounded". These are equivalent in the real world, but the latter entirely avoids the issue of coding finite sets. We still have to prove, by induction, that for every $k$ there is an $n$ that is a multiple of every prime less than $k$ (using the method from the question to define $k!$); that if $a \| n$ then $a \not \| n+1$; and that every number has a prime factor. None of these requires coding finite sets. </p> by Carl Mummert for Variant of the usual proof method for undecidability of the halting problemCarl Mummert2011-09-19T11:58:46Z2011-09-19T11:58:46Z<p>The proof sketch on Wikipedia uses a very common method (the same as in Proposition 4.4 of Soare's book) that relies only on universality of the computation system and on closure properties of the class of computable functions. It won't make any mention of Turing machines directly, or any other specific model of computation. This is what I think of as the "usual" approach, which could be only half-jokingly described a "get away from Turing machines as fast as possible". The motivation is that computability theory is the study of computable function, not Turing machines. </p> of being an integerCarl Mummert2011-09-09T23:04:38Z2011-09-10T15:36:08Z <p>In <a href=" rel="nofollow">this MO question</a>, the OP asked for an example of a statement which was known not to be independent of ZFC, but for which the truth value was unknown. I immediately thought of <a href=" rel="nofollow">a question I asked on math.SE</a>: is $e^{e^{e^{79}}}$ an integer? This is apparently an open question, but I realized after some thought that I don't know how to prove it is decidable in ZFC.</p> <p>If the number is not an integer, this can be proved in ZFC, because that fact could be expressed by an arithmetical sentence saying there is an integer $n$ such that the sum of a certain definable series is greater than $n$ and less than $n+1$. This sentence can be seen to be $\Sigma^0_1$ by standard techniques, and any true $\Sigma^0_1$ sentence is provable in ZFC. </p> <p>But if the sum is an integer, it does not seem obvious that this must be provable in ZFC. In general, only $\Sigma^0_1$ statements have to be provable if they are true, and the claim that a certain definable series sums to an integer is $\Sigma^0_2$ rather than $\Sigma^0_1$. </p> <p>Moreover, it's not hard to see that there are definitions of sequences $(a_n)$ in ZFC such that ZFC proves that $\sum a_n$ converges but ZFC doesn't prove this sum is an integer and ZFC doesn't prove it is not an integer. These sequences can be constructed using the incompleteness theorem in the usual way. In fact, we can make $0 \leq a_n \leq 2^{-n}$ for all $n$, so there is no issue with the rate of convergence. </p> <p>But there must be something special about $e^{e^{e^{79}}}$ that means either ZFC can prove it's an integer, or can prove it's not an integer - right? </p> by Carl Mummert for What's a magical theorem in logic?Carl Mummert2011-08-30T13:01:10Z2011-08-30T13:01:10Z<p><strong><a href=" rel="nofollow">Kleene's recursion theorem</a></strong> says, informally, that when we write a program for a computable function we may assume that the program already has access to its own source code.</p> <p>More formally, the theorem says that if $f\colon \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$ is a total computable function (which we view as a method that constructs a program $f(e)$ from a program $e$) there is some program $e_0$ such that the computable function with program $e_0$ is the same function as the function with program $f(e_0)$. </p> <p>A trivial application: if $f(e)$ is a program that simply outputs $e$ and stops, the program $e_0$ outputs its own source code. </p> <p>One of the magical applications of the recursion theorem is the lemma on effective transfinite recursion in hyperarithmetical theory, which is one of the key tools in that setting.</p> by Carl Mummert for What's a magical theorem in logic?Carl Mummert2011-08-30T12:09:01Z2011-08-30T12:09:01Z<p><strong>Cut elimination</strong> shows that if a sentence is provable in first-order logic, it is provable with a particularly nice type of proof in a natural deduction system without the "cut" rule, which is essentially <em>modus ponens</em> in that system. In particular these proofs have the subformula property – every formula in the entire proof is a subformula of the formula being proved. </p> <p>The cut elimination theorem and its generalizations are key tools in proof theory. Gentzen proved cut elimination in 1934 and used it as part of his consistency proof of Peano arithmetic; there is a nice survey article "<a href=" rel="nofollow">The art of ordinal analysis</a>" by Michael Rathjen in <em>Proc. ICM</em> 2006. </p> <p>The cut elimination theorem can be used to give nice proofs of the Craig interpolation theorem and other theorems from logic; one exposition is <a href=" rel="nofollow">Chapter 6</a> of "Logic for Computer Science" by Jean Gallier. </p> by Carl Mummert for True by accident (and therefore not amenable to proof)Carl Mummert2011-08-25T12:26:00Z2011-08-25T14:50:20Z<p>The statement in question can be formalized in the language of Peano Arithmetic, and I will treat it as a statement in that language. A similar analysis works for any effective theory stronger than PA, such as ZFC. </p> <p>Consider the set of all sentences in the language of PA; define an order relation $R$ so that $\phi \mathbin{R} \psi$ if $\phi \to \psi$ is provable in PA. This gives a pre-order; if we perform the usual equivalence class construction then the resulting algebra is a partial order called a Lindenbaum algebra ().</p> <p>Because the graph reconstruction conjecture corresponds to a sentence $G$ in PA, it corresponds to a particular node in this algebra. </p> <ul> <li>If $G$ is provable in PA, then $G$ corresponds to the bottom element of the algebra</li> <li>If $G$ is false, it corresponds to the top node of the algebra, but in this case we're not very worried about its provability</li> <li>Otherwise, $G$ corresponds to some intermediate node of the algebra. In that case, we cannot prove $G$ from PA, but we can prove $G$ by assuming PA plus any axiom either in the equivalence class of sentences that forms $G$'s node or in the equivalence class of any node higher than $G$'s node.</li> </ul> <p>In every case, unless $G$ is false, $G$ is amenable to proof, but the proof will have to assume axioms that are strong enough to prove the desired conclusion. There is no sentence which could "never actually be proved", although there are plenty of sentences that cannot be proved in PA, and false sentences can only be proved from false axioms. The question is simply which axioms are required to prove a particular sentence. </p> <hr> <p>: Traditionally, a "Lindenbaum algebra" or "Lindenbaum–Tarski algebra" should be defined with the dual ordering of the ordering I use. But the ordering in which $0=1$ corresponds to the top of the algebra matches better with the diagrams we create to illustrate relationships between different axiom systems, such as <a href=" rel="nofollow">1</a>. People also use the reverse ordering in the context of set theory, where large cardinal axioms are sorted by consistency strength, e.g. <a href=" rel="nofollow">2</a>. </p> by Carl Mummert for Notion of Truth and AxiomsCarl Mummert2011-08-21T12:01:35Z2011-08-21T12:01:35Z<p>The proof of the incompleteness theorem can already be done syntactically, ignoring truth, if we remove the conclusion that the Gödel sentence is <em>true</em> and leave only that it is neither provable nor disprovable. In particular, the "usual" proof of the incompleteness theorem is syntactic once we move to Rosser's version. For Gödel's version, there is an extra hypothesis of $\omega$-consistency, which is directly about truth in the metatheory: $\omega$-consistency corresponds to the reflection scheme $\operatorname{Pvbl}_T((\exists x)\psi) \to (\exists x)\psi$ where $\psi$ is quantifier-free. The explicit use of this assumption was elided in the question, but it become more obvious if we write the formalized provability predicate $\operatorname{Pvbl}_T$ instead of "is provable". </p> <p>If we start asking what axioms are used in the metatheory, we need to move to a formal metatheory. One good reference for this and everything in the question is Smorynski's article in the <em>Handbook of Mathematical Logic</em>. He covers in detail the question of what metatheory is sufficient. The short version is that for an effectively axiomatized theory $T$ that meets the hypotheses of the incompleteness theorems (with Rosser's trick), PRA will prove $\operatorname{Con}(T) \to \operatorname{Con}(T + \lnot \operatorname{Con}(T))$. There is no notion of "truth" in the language of PRA to begin with, and this proof is just syntactic. </p> <p>In general, axiom schemes in the metatheory containing sentences of the form $\operatorname{Pvbl}_T(\phi) \to \phi$ are called "reflection" schemes in the context of arithmetic. They have been studied in detail, and Smorynski spends several pages on them in his article. Another reference, which I have been meaning to read but haven't had the chance yet, is <em>Axiomatic Theories of Truth</em> by Halbach. I think Halbach's book should be very related to the topics in this question. </p> by Carl Mummert for ZFC, set membership and FOLCarl Mummert2011-08-12T11:16:34Z2011-08-13T00:21:58Z<p>Properly speaking, the signature of ZFC includes a binary relation <em>symbol</em> rather than a binary relation. In set theory this symbol is usually denoted $\in$ but it could be denoted equally well as $R$ or $\prec$. In an arbitrary model of set theory, the "sets" might actually be any objects: cats, books, chairs, etc. But if we're are only interested in the elements <em>qua</em> elements of that model, we would likely call them "sets" anyway, and call the relation "membership", in the context of that model. </p> <p>It is very common, when talking about a first-order theory, to conflate the symbols in the theory with their intended interpretations. For example, when we define Peano arithmetic in the signature of ordered rings, we might say that the signature has a single binary addition function $+$. Of course we already know what the "addition" function is on natural numbers, but the interpretation of the $+$ function in an arbitrary model of PA may have very little to do with addition on natural numbers. Nevertheless we usually call the elements of an arbitrary model of PA the "numbers" of the model, and we call the interpretation of the $+$ symbol the "addition" on those numbers. It's simply too cumbersome to say "The objects in the model which are intended to be numbers" or "the function in the model which is intended to be addition". </p> <p>Similarly, even though the elements of an arbitrary model of ZFC might not "really" be sets, or the interpretation of the $\in$ symbol may not really be set membership, we often speak as if they are. The key observation is that, if someone "lived inside" the model, and only had access to the $\in$ relation, that person would have no way to tell that the things they see are not sets. One way of making this observation precise is the following lemma, which is proved from "outside" a model $(X, R)$ of set theory. </p> <blockquote> <p><strong>Mostowski Collapsing Lemma.</strong> Suppose that $R$ is a binary relation in an arbitrary class $X$ (of arbitrary objects) such that:</p> <ul> <li>For each $y \in X$, the collection $\{ x \in X : xRy\}$ is a set</li> <li>The model $(X,R)$ is well founded – every subset of $X$ has an $R$-minimal element</li> <li>The model $(X,R)$ satisfies the axiom of extensionality</li> </ul> <p>Then there is a transitive class $C$ (of sets) such that the structure $(C, \in)$ is isomorphic to $(X, R)$, and both $C$ and the isomorphism are uniquely determined by $X$ and $R$. </p> </blockquote> <p>This lemma says that if we look from the outside at a model that looks even vaguely like a (well-founded) model of ZFC, we can replace it with an isomorphic model whose elements are actually sets and whose binary relation is actually set membership. This doesn't work formally for non-well-founded models, because the actual set membership relation is well founded. But "from the inside" we wont be able to tell that any model of ZFC is not well founded. </p> by Carl Mummert for What sets are "decidable from competing provers"?Carl Mummert2011-07-29T01:06:16Z2011-07-29T01:22:04Z<p>A partial answer is that the class includes all arithmetical sets, as follows. Suppose $S$ is defined by a formula $\psi(n) \equiv (\exists a)(\forall b)(\exists c)(\forall d) \cdots \phi(n, a, b, c, d, ...)$ where $\phi$ is quantifier free. By adding dummy quantifiers we can require that the quantifiers all occur in blocks of two like that, exists followed by forall. A function to decide $S$ from competing provers is as follows. First it asks $Y$ for a value of $a$. Then it asks $N$ for a value of $b$ given $a$. Then it asks $Y$ for a value of $c$ given $a$ and $b$, and so on. Once it has values for all the variables in $\phi$, it checks whether $\phi$ holds with those values plugged in. If so, it accepts $n$, and if not it rejects $n$. </p> <p>If $n \in S$ then $Y$ has a winning strategy, because $\psi(n)$ is true. All $Y$ has to do is pick appropriate values for each existential quantifier, which have to exist if $\psi(n)$ holds. Otherwise, $\lnot \psi(n)$ is true, so $N$ has a winning strategy using the same technique of picking witnesses for the existential quantifiers in $\lnot \psi$.</p> <p>Not every set in $S$ is arithmetical, though. As usual let $0^{a}$ be the $a$-th iterated Turing jump of the empty set. Consider <code>$$S = 0^{(\omega)} = \{ 2^a3^b : b \in 0^{a}\}.$$</code> This is not an arithmetical set, but it can be accepted from competing provers as follows. First the machine looks at the input $n$ and decodes it into $2^a3^b$. If the number is not of that form the machine can just reject out of hand. If it is of that form, the machine pretends that it was given input $b$ and checks whether that number is in $0^{a}$ using $Y$ and $N$. Because an arithmetical formula for $0^{a}$ is uniformly recoverable from $a$, this can be done effectively, and $Y$ and $N$ will have the appropriate strategies because $0^{a}$ is arithmetical.</p> <p>Note all the machines in this answer so far will halt on all strategies, and in fact we can give a bound on how many queries the machine will make as a function of $n$. </p> by Carl Mummert for The Reverse Mathematics of writing a set as a union?Carl Mummert2011-07-27T21:32:02Z2011-07-28T01:49:03Z<p>Due to my own confusion, I had a hard time reading Ricky Demer's proof, but I think it is correct. I couldn't fit this remark in a comment so this is a community wiki post where I will try to rephrase the proof in a way that I can grasp more quickly. Maybe it will help others as well. </p> <p>We work in $RCA_0$. To establish $ACA_0$ it is sufficient to prove that the range of each injective function exists. Let $f\colon \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$ be injective. </p> <p>For each $i$ define <code>$$ S_{(i,j)} = \{2i\} \cup \{ 2k+1 : j < k \land f(k) < i\} $$</code> The sequence <code>$\{ S_{(i,j)} : i,j \in \mathbb{N}\}$</code> is uniformly definable with a bounded-quantifier formula relative to $f$ so it can be formed in $RCA_0$.</p> <p>Because $f$ is injective, for each $i$ the set <code>$\{ k : f(k) < i\}$</code> is bounded, and so for each $i$ there is a $j$ such that <code>$S_{(i,j)} = \{2i\}$</code>. To prove that the set is bounded seems to require an argument using bounded $\Sigma^0_1$ comprehension to form the set of elements less than $i$ in the range, then using quantifier-free bounding to show the range of this is bounded. (Is there an easier way?) In general, the "bounding principle" for a class of formulas $\Gamma$ says that the image of a bounded set of numbers under a $\Gamma$-definable function is bounded. </p> <p>Let $E$ be the set of even numbers. By the Union Principle, there is a set $I$ such that $E = \bigcup_{(i,j) \in I} S_{(i,j)}$. Note that if $(i,j) \in I$ then $S_{(i,j)} = \{2i\}$. Also note that for every $i$ there is at least one $j$ such that $(i,j) \in I$. Given $i$, let $h(i)$ be the first $j$ such that $(i,j) \in I$. Since $$(\exists k)(f(k) = \ell) \iff (\exists k < h(\ell+1))(f(k) = \ell)$$ we can define the range of $f$ using only bounded quantifiers. Thus we can form the range of $f$ in $RCA_0$. </p> by Carl Mummert for truth vs. provability for ordered fieldsCarl Mummert2011-07-27T12:20:08Z2011-07-27T12:20:08Z<p>In general, the way that people approach these things is to look at provable equivalences over some fixed theory. So, for example, you could prove results of the following form:</p> <blockquote> <p>Theory $T$ proves that any object satisfying the ordered field axioms will satisfy property $P$ if and only if it satisfies property $P'$. </p> </blockquote> <p>The theory $T$ could be ZFC set theory, or it could be a weaker theory such as second-order arithmetic. The main point of the theory is to give some syntactical tools for manipulating the ordered field axioms and the statements of $P$ and $P'$. For example, if $P$ is the axiom of completeness (every nonempty bonded set has an supremum), the theory $T$ needs to guarantee some sets exist. </p> <p>To establish positive results of the quoted form, you simply write a proof in $T$ of the desired result. The more difficult thing is to establish negative results, and this is the first time you have to think about semantics. To prove the negation of the quoted statement, it suffices to have:</p> <ul> <li><p>A class of interpretations of $T$ such that a statement is provable in $T$ if and only if it is true in every one of these interpretations</p></li> <li><p>And an example of one of these interpretations in which there is an ordered field satisfying $P$ but not $P'$, or vice versa. </p></li> </ul> <p>It's clear on a moment's thought that the class of structures we want only really depends on the proof rules we have in $T$, not on our intended interpretation of $T$. In the case that the proof rules are the usual ones, we have a general theorem that the set of all "first-order stuctures" is a sufficient class of interpretations to achieve the first bullet. This works not only for first-order logic, but also higher-order logic and set theory, which have the same sort of proof system. </p> <p>Finally, let me point out a trivial exercise that underscores the need to look at provability rather than truth. For any effective, consistent theory $T$ that is sufficiently strong, and any statement $\phi$ provable in $T$, there is a statement $\phi'$ that is equivalent to $\phi$ but so that $T$ does not prove $\phi \leftrightarrow \phi'$. Namely, $\phi'$ says "$\phi$ and $T$ is consistent". This sort of method shows that the question in the third paragraph of the question has a negative answer, and this would be true no matter what effective consistent proof system we choose. </p> by Carl Mummert for Most 'unintuitive' application of the Axiom of Choice?Carl Mummert2011-07-15T03:01:43Z2011-07-15T03:01:43Z<p>One counterintuitive aspect of the axiom of choice is a theorem of Diaconescu and independently Goodman and Myhill that, in some constructive set theories that don't begin with the law of the excluded middle, the axiom of choice implies the law of the excluded middle. But in other systems such as Martin-Löf type theory, the corresponding form of the axiom of choice is completely constructive and does not imply the law of the excluded middle. </p> by Carl Mummert for Undecidable theories easier than $Q$Carl Mummert2011-07-05T18:04:26Z2011-07-05T18:35:39Z<p>When I was looking around trying to find some inspiration to answer your question, I found the following result of Feferman from 1957:</p> <blockquote> <p>For any set $X$ of natural numbers there is a theory $T(X)$ such that:</p> <ul> <li><p>The set $X$ and the set of Gödel numbers of consequences of $T(X)$ have the same degree of unsolvability.</p></li> <li><p>If $X$ is r.e. then $T(X)$ is effectively axiomatizable.</p></li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>Because there are nonzero r.e. Turing degrees strictly weaker than $K$, I think this may answer the question. </p> <p>The result is in the paper "Degrees of Unsolvability Associated with Classes of Formalized Theories", Solomon Feferman, <em>The Journal of Symbolic Logic</em>, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Jun., 1957), pp. 161-175. <a href=" rel="nofollow"> by Carl Mummert for Completeness vs Compactness in logicCarl Mummert2011-06-26T03:12:39Z2011-06-26T03:12:39Z<p>This is a side comment. There are several answers that explain why compactness is so important in model theory, and I agree with what they say. But I want to point out that the "in model theory" part is key here. In the overall study of logic, not restricted to model theory, both compactness and completeness are important, and each of those has areas of logic that favor it. Model theory, being a semantic field, naturally identifies more with semantic notions. </p> <p>In mathematics outside logic, I think there is more implicit use of completeness than of compactness. Every time I prove that an identify is derivable from the the axioms of a group by working semantically and showing that the identity holds in every group, I am implicitly using the completeness theorem. It is easy to miss this or take it for granted, because the completeness theorem is so well known.</p> <p>There are systems that do not have complete deduction systems; one example is second-order logic with full second-order semantics. In this system it is perfectly possible for something to be true in every model without being provable in our usual proof system. Therefore, when we study this system in logic, we have to keep a close watch on whether we have shown something is provable, or just shown that it is logically valid. </p> <p>Imagine the difficulties in an alternate world where mathematicians have to distinguish between "true in all groups" and "provable from the axioms of a group". The completeness theorem is what lets us ignore this. By comparison, it's more difficult to see reflections of the compactness theorem in everyday mathematics.</p> by Carl Mummert for Going to graduate school for mathematics next year, need some adviceCarl Mummert2011-06-17T23:09:57Z2011-06-17T23:09:57Z<p>(1) Many graduate programs have a relatively fixed curriculum for first year students. Some require courses to prepare you to pass exams, others require courses for exams you don't do well enough on when you arrive. So you may not have complete freedom when you arrive, and only an advisor at the school you are going to can help you with that.</p> <p>(2) If you are going into a PhD program, you should keep in mind that you will need to transition relatively quickly into a specialization (within a couple years at the longest). You have to write a dissertation for a PhD, and that means finding a thesis advisor and taking specialized courses to prepare. How quickly this transition happens depends, again, on what school you are going to. </p> by Carl Mummert for Models of computation with decidable halting problem?Carl Mummert2011-06-16T14:23:39Z2011-06-16T14:23:39Z<p>Joel Hamkins points out that the decision procedure for any reasonable notion of "computability" is not going to be solvable by a function that is "computable" within that notion. </p> <p>Here is a contrasting example of a nontrivial model of computation in which the halting problem is solvable <em>in the usual sense of computation</em>. An index $e$ in our new system is a pair $(e_1, p)$ where $e_1$ is an index for a Turing machine and $p$ is a code for a polynomial over $\mathbb{N}$. In our new system, program $e$ is said to compute output $o$ on input $n$ (write $P_e(n) = o$) if and only if Turing machine $e_1$ computes $o$ on input $n$ in less than $p(\|n\|)$ steps. If $e_1$ runs for more then $p(\|n\|)$ steps then we say the computation of $P_e(n)$ is undefined (i.e. does not halt). Here we assume the Turing machine uses binary coding for numbers and we let $\|n\|$ be the number of bits required to express $n$ in binary notation. </p> <p>This restricted model of computation is relatively common in the study of polynomial-time computability, where an index of the form $e = (e_1, p)$ is called a "polynomially clocked Turing machine". It's immediate from the definitions that a function is computable in the restricted model if and only if it is computable in polynomial time. Thus the model includes a very wide class of functions. However, because the time bound for index $e$ is already included in $e$, we can solve the halting problem for this model of computation with a normal Turing machine. (We cannot solve it with any polynomially clocked machine, of course.)</p> by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-05-19T17:27:17Z2013-05-19T17:27:17ZThis is one of those situations where it would be possible to replace an axiom with a weaker rule of inference. We could consider a comprehension rule of inference which says that when we <i>prove</i> that $(\forall n)[\phi(n) \leftrightarrow \psi(n)]$ then we can assert the existence of $\{n : \phi(n)\}$. That would give a significantly weaker theory than $\mathsf{RCA}_0$. by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-04-24T17:32:26Z2013-04-24T17:32:26ZIt's also necessary to be very specific about what you mean by a Dedekind real. The original definition, due to Dedekind, is that a Dedekind real is a certain kind of partition of $\mathbb{Q}$, but that is not the definition typically used in constructive mathematics. This difference in terminology can cause significant confusion when trying to compare different results about "Dedekind reals". by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-02-21T03:11:22Z2013-02-21T03:11:22ZSurely Cohen's original model is an $\omega$ model, which will satisfy Con(ZF)? by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-02-18T00:24:21Z2013-02-18T00:24:21ZBecause every compact metric space is separable, the theorem can be formalized in second-order arithmetic, where it is provable in $\mathsf{WKL}_0$. by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-01-27T19:43:19Z2013-01-27T19:43:19Z@François I read the question as looking for natural examples of statements provable in $Z_2$ but not FPA. Of course there are many such statements: "addition is total". To try to exclude this type of example, we restrict to statements that are true in all full models of FPA. Of course we can't assume the statements are true in all Henkin models of FPA, because they would be provable. So we want statements that are true in all Henkin models of $Z_2$, not true in all Henkin models of FPA, but true in all full models of FPA. There are still examples, e.g. $G_{FPA}$, but are there natural ones? by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-01-27T19:20:03Z2013-01-27T19:20:03ZThe answer to the question near the bottom is "no": the Gödel sentence for FPA, $G_{FPA}$, is true in all standard models of FPA, and is provable in $Z_2$ (because $Z_2$ can verify that the one-element model $\{0\}$ satisfies all the axioms of FPA, hence that FPA is consistent, and thus $Z_2$ is able to prove $G_{FPA}$). But $G_{FPA}$ cannot be provable in FPA (it does not matter whether FPA is "sufficiently strong" as long as it is true). The more interesting question is whether there is a more natural counterexample. I think that is an interesting question but I have no example in mind. by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-01-26T15:46:20Z2013-01-26T15:46:20ZThe signature for second-order arithmetic ($Z_2$) has function symbols for successor, addition, and multiplication. In a model, these must be interpreted as total functions. So we cannot literally "remove the assumption about the totality of the successor relationship" by just removing the successor axiom. There isn't any such successor axiom in $Z_2$ to remove. The most likely option is to replace the signature of $Z_2$ with an entirely relational signature, which is fine, but it is not as straightforward as simply removing an axiom from $Z_2$ (and what about addition and multiplication?) by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-01-24T23:20:06Z2013-01-24T23:20:06ZThe issue is that the "second-order arithmetic" in which Con(PA) is provable is a two-sorted first-order theory, and the provability is still first-order provability in that theory. The real difference between first-order logic and second-order logic is only in semantics, not in derivability. Similarly, to talk about provability in MA2 we must write down a set of axioms for MA2, in which case, for the purposes of studying provability, we will want to view MA2 as a two-sorted first order theory with those axioms (because provability is equivalent to validity in first-order semantics). by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-01-24T23:18:59Z2013-01-24T23:18:59ZOf course, these are the only models in full semantics. In Henkin semantics MA2 will have infinite models as well, by the compactness theorem, and so it is not immediately clear to me that it proves the four-squares theorem. After all the collection of elements that are the sum of four squares is already definable in MA1 and so the induction principle holds for it there. by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-01-24T14:32:42Z2013-01-24T14:32:42ZI think this question is a better fit for math.stackexchange.com . This site is primarily aimed at research-level questions, but this question is a more elementary question about computability. by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-01-24T13:43:03Z2013-01-24T13:43:03Z@Adam Epstein: no, it just doesn't give an example at all; I could have phrased my comment more clearly. The underlying issue is that there is not really such as thing as "second order provability" because there is no effective deduction system that is sound and complete for full second-order semantics. When we want to talk about "provability in ZFC2" we end up working with Henkin (first-order) semantics for ZFC2, basically treating ZFC2 as a two-sorted first-order theory. by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-01-24T13:11:58Z2013-01-24T13:11:58ZWe have to be somewhat careful about something. The result states that if $V_k$ is a model of ZFC2 in full-second order semantics, from the point of view of the metatheory, then $V_k$ is inaccessible, also from the point of view of the metatheory. However, this proof is not itself carried out in ZFC2, it is carried out in the metatheory, and so it does not directly give a statement that is provable in ZFC2 but not in ZFC. In fact the result in the first sentence is a theorem of ZFC, which happens to be a theorem <i>about</i> sets $V_k$ that satisfy ZFC2. by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-01-24T13:07:14Z2013-01-24T13:07:14ZI am not sure that this really adds any interest to the other result mentioned in the question. We know that the theory of rings is "very incomplete", so it is not particularly surprising to find an incompleteness in it that is resolved by adding more axioms. The interest in Peano Arithmetic is that, while it is still incomplete, it does prove virtually every "natural" true statement about elementary number theory, which is what makes it interesting to find anything even half-natural that PA cannot prove. by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-01-07T13:15:54Z2013-01-07T13:15:54ZIsabelle/HOL is a concrete example of a proof assistant using type theory. I completely agree that ETCS is easier to understand as variety of type theory, in the sense that ETCS regards each set as its own type, and the "element" relation as a fact about the type of the element. However, I'm not yet convinced that learning to do mathematics in ETCS specifically is likely to help with proof assistant use. Natural-language math is done in a complex type theory already, so most mathematicians are accustomed to thinking this way. Learning formal type theory might be a better preparation. by Carl MummertCarl Mummert2013-01-07T13:05:15Z2013-01-07T13:05:15ZI believe the issue arsmath and Asaf are addressing is that even though the real number 2 is a different set in ZFC than the natural number 2, if we take a subset of the natural numbers (e.g. the even numbers), the elements of that subset are still natural numbers, and if we take a subset of the reals, the elements of the subset are still real numbers. ETCS avoids this by changing the meaning of "subset", as it must because of its changed meaning of "element". Venn diagrams seems to be much more complex to explain in ETCS.	eng	b2c71dda-c3fa-445b-999a-98085731576e	http://mathoverflow.net/feeds/user/5442
From the Mayan calendar and a runaway planet called "Nibiru," from killer asteroids and theories about galactic alignments: The internet is full of talk about the world ending on December 21. NASA scientists recently addressed some of the most pervasive of these rumors around the dubious date. Take a look: Mayan calendar The Mayan calendar began somewhere around 3,114 years before the current era, and is set to end on December 21 or 23 (depending on the translation). NASA scientist Mitzi Adams describes what the Mayans would have done had their civilization lasted and why there is no cause for alarm. Solar apocalypse Like any other star, the sun will eventually use up its hydrogen core, expand and engulf the Earth. But don't rush out to buy Red Giant insurance for your home by December 21 - you have about 5 BILLION years to prepare. Two NASA scientists explain. Killer asteroid There is a real, long-term concern about possible asteroid impacts, and that's why NASA has been scanning the heavens, cataloging them for nearly 20 years. And as two NASA scientists will tell you, not a single object has been found that's on a collision course with Earth. Polar shift One internet rumor about the world ending on December 21 is that the Earth will shift on its axis. Astronomer Andrew Fraknoi explains how it's just not possible to change the way our planet rotates in a single day. We recommend From around the web soundoff(402 Responses) Jack Interesting and Unexpected 12/21/2012 Scenario ..... No solar flares or meteors for NASA to laugh about .. just unanticipated waves of multiple massive Earthquakes that rock the West Coast .....with California, Oregon & Washington State sliding into the gurgling maw of the Pacific ... with Idaho, Nevada, parts of Utah and Arizona now bordering the Pacific Ocean ..... At the very same time .. A Massive New Madrid earthquake takes out Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio leaving a 200 miles watery gap which would now be known as the really wide Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico .. and lastly .... another unexpected series of massive earthquakes occur around the Central Virginia Seismic Zone .... which completely destroys Washington, DC .... then runs straight up to Philadelphia ... takes them out ..... then unexpectedly turns towards New York City and levels it and then, again unexpectedly .... heads straight up North ....and drives throughout all of New England ..... being particularly devastating in what is left of Massachusetts ..... The New Capital of the Western United States is located in Utah ... The New Capital of the Eastern United States is in Georgia .. Blue States now only remain in history books .... Camera ... Action ! The man is obviously Making a joke..lighten up! If it's the end of the world we cannot do anything anyway...if its the end of Civilization that's different, and it's always good to have emergency stores of food and water And to be prepared. Your argument might be sound if Mayan civilization was on the other side of the world, but it wasn't, it was smack Dab in the central time Zone..not that I a imagine anything scary will happen come midnight tonight...but learn before Making such statements December 20, 2012 at 1:25 pm \| Brian It doesn't matter where in the world you are, the winter solstice occurs at 5:21 am gmt on the 21st. December 20, 2012 at 4:02 pm \| John Wagner Yes then they must also have the answer to how the stones of Puma Punku Bolivia, were made in 14,000 BC. December 20, 2012 at 6:50 pm \| Tony @Brian: The winter solstice (summer solstice in southern hemisphere) for 2012 occurs at 1112 zulu time (0612 EST) on 21 December. As I write this it is 2130 EST (0230 ZT) on 20 December. The solstice has not occurred yet. December 20, 2012 at 9:31 pm \| Pppa He got all of his Mayan Apocalypse information watching History Channel, which now must find an entire new library of shows, because everything they've been broadcasting for the past 3 years is now obsolete. December 21, 2012 at 11:39 am \| Jesse F. Roc NY Jesse Moran is my best friends name, is this you? The info you seek is linked below. What worries me is the nuclear power plants in the same map. Red outlines quake zones yellow the plants. Even worse is the countries that do not have our guidlines and build on fultlines. Scary thoughts not of if but of when..... Well at least until the next election then we will see how long it takes for them to count all the chads again.... December 20, 2012 at 1:47 pm \| David Kind of makes you wonder what other written stories are a bunch of nonesense, think about it! December 21, 2012 at 10:17 am \| Pppa "a runaway planet called "Nibiru colliding with Earth..." Here again is a prime example of Fareed Zacharia spewing erroneous information. If one takes the time to properly research what one is being paid by CNN to spew about (I thought they hired Zacharia to make us all feel warm and cozy about the Middle East), one would know that Nibiru, referenced in the Sumerian creation myth, never collided with Earth. According to the Sumerians, Nibiru is on a highly elliptical orbit that brings it near Earth every 7500 years or so, and the inhabitants of Nibiru, the Ananacki, use that opportunity to come to Earth to mine gold. In fact, the Sumerians believed that the human race was cloned by Ananacki to mine the gold for them. Zacharia should read Zecharia Sitchin's "The Twelfth Planet" before dabbling in ancient myths of which he obviously knows nothing... December 21, 2012 at 11:53 am \| WASP @papa: if their were any other planets beyond pluto it couldn't support life, so no aliens coming for your gold. lmfao second: if there was any planet out there of enough size to impact the earth we would see a shift in our stars wabble as it moved toward the inner planets along with the effects it's mass would have on other planets orbits. third: as massive as jupiter is, anything large enough to harm earth from the outer regions of out solar system would be drawn into jupiter and crushed. "Jack" is the perfect exemplar of what is wrong with our country. His is a blatant dismissal of science, logic, and basic good sense backed, no doubt, by a religious and political extremism that rejects reality completely. He and his type are destroying America. He and his ilk are the reason that we are failing and falling in the world. May God have mercy on America for we are doomed because of "Jack" and his like. No, we are doomed as a nation because of dumb red state theists and a über greedy 1%. December 20, 2012 at 1:35 pm \| Paulie You made yourself sound a little silly because he was saying that the apocalypse would only wipe out blue states. December 20, 2012 at 1:51 pm \| TaylorB He is clearly making a joke. Is there no such thing as humor anymore? Maybe you are whats wrong with america. You make it so depressing and serious. I think im going to curl in a ball and cry now.......alot. December 20, 2012 at 3:58 pm \| N. Unya Bbwaqs I guess that about covers everything. Good eye, sperry23. Check-plus, smiley face. And, Jack? I hope you're proud of yourself – destroying the whole continent of America like that! If there were any justice in the world someone would send you straight to bed without dessert, young man! Continents aren't toys you know! December 20, 2012 at 5:56 pm \| summero Someone grab his gun, and his professors teaching degree if he has one. Jeeze man, check with Walgreens – I think your prescription needs refilling. Thanks for researching that one for us, geeworker! I hope you didn't hurt anything. December 21, 2012 at 12:28 am \| PeriSoft "just unanticipated waves of multiple massive Earthquakes that rock the West Coast" But they can't -be- unanticipated! You're anticipating them right now! How can you anticipate something being unanticipated? You can't, that's how! Now they're just boring anticipated earthquakes, and you've ruined it for everyone! I hope you're happy, anticipation-ruiner! Now when the earthquakes strike I'm just gonna be like, "Welp, saw that coming" and then a big beam will fall on my head or something and my last moments will have been ones of boredom instead of shock and terror! Did you consider that before you started in on your reckless anticipation? What ELSE are you anticipating, anyway? Want to clue us in on that so you can ruin even MORE things for us? Stock crash? Camry actually got good crash test results? Morgan Freeman and Spike Lee to co-star in a romantic comedy? Why not get it all over with now, you – you – ANTICIPATION KILLER! As a child I agree with misty besides my birthday is tomorrow and I really want to turn 12!!!!! December 21, 2012 at 11:07 pm \| icy While intriguing and thought out, if not particularly well, earthquakes of that magnitude would devastate the entire continent, not just select US states. So if you want Georgia and Utah to become the new capitals of the US then I'd suggest praying it doesn't happen. Why do so many nutbars write like this ... their comments always look like an ellipses bomb exploded ... I don't know why they punctuate like this ... but they do ... now, now all nutbars do this ... SOME DO THIS INSTEAD ... and some MIX ... ELLIPSES BOMBS ... WITH ALL-CAPS ... but my point here is ... every time I see something written like this ... it's always insane gibberish ... not all nutbars write like this, but all people who write like this are nutbars. (Except for me, just now.) What? Are you...talking about?!!?!!?! I'm an author...and I write like that all the time. And, yes...I ALSO like nutbars. I did not realize before...that there was some kind of CONNECTION! HOLY CRAP! ...DO ELLIPSES MEAN YOU LIKE TO EAT NUTBARS??!?!!!?!?!...or is there something in nutbars that chemically induces the use of ELLIPSES??!!???!!???! (you forgot the extensive use of exclamations and question marks...I love to do that too!!!!!!!!!!!!??) December 20, 2012 at 2:41 pm \| bill I thought you were nuts until I got to that sentence. Brilliant!!!!!!!!!! Yeah sure buddy! Keep dreaming! Obviously a GOP election sore loser still hoping till the end of days that somehow a catastrophic event of unheard of magnitude will somehow help the GOP and r3dn3cks to win an election in the near future because of some 180 degree flip flop of the north American continent so that blue states turn red ? Your psychosis is getting the better of you my low-foreheaded friend! Get over it slacker GOP sore loser! The world will not end, so don't quit your job so you can keep paying your bills ! FOUR MORE YEARS AND THE WORLD CONTINUES TO TURN ROUND AND ROUND! THANK YOU GOD! GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GOD BLESS OBAMA! GOP LOST THE ELECTION BECAUSE THEY LOST AMERICAN FAITH. GOOD JOB L0SERS! Wow, intelligent reply...Oh, I guess I should add, NOT. If you're so damn smart how can you not recognize sarcasm at it's most blatant? Do people have to add, "Just kidding" to the most simplistic of smart ass remarks? Oops, you also might not think that I mean what I say BECAUSE IT'S NOT IN ALL CAPS WITH A BUNCH OF !!!!!!!!!!!'S. If the world is indeed ending then why not laugh a little...I'd much rather go out with a smile on my face. December 20, 2012 at 10:03 pm \| Mary1972 Some right winger's wish list, may be. Sorry, you will be disappointed. LOL. WoW super like the Washington part ...a lot ...will there be a Sequel ? like no IRS , no Government ...keep up the good work ...and have the prop boys move the sun a little ...gets too hot here in Florida Sadly – You Americans arent the only ones stupid enough to "buy into" this cap – I have 3 frightened children who dont want to go to school this morning because some stupid "childrens" TV scared the sit out of them last night.. And I said "its all bull**it, just like god and hell and santa and baby J and.. the the other dozen end-f-th-worlds there have been in your short lifetimes – and the solstice is passed anyway.." And they said "yes.. but they say it might be tomrrow.." - Well, thats ok then – says I .. No reason not to go to school today! December 21, 2012 at 3:40 am \| jambo First, it is quit obviously a joke. those off you who took this seriously and insulted the OP because of this should now hang your heads in shame. second, my IQ has just been decreased alot by reading the amount of pure crap that is in some of your comments. this is a news website is it not. and news is for what? thats right, news is to let you know what is going on around the rest of the world. and news thereby increases your knowledge base. but along come you lot and write your thoughtless comments and instead of increasing my knowlegde ive found it to be decreasing. third, OP im sure if i was american i would find this joke good, but as i am not im just not getting it. 5pm 21 Dec in New Zealand and all is well. Lovely sunny day of 25 degrees Celcius with humidity nearing 80-90% in Auckland. Nice typical summers day. No transcendental enlightenment and no hell fire and brimstone, no massive earthquakes or asteroid. Ok we still have 7 hours of the day left. See you all tomorrow. Interesting, ALL based on major fault lines in America; the question is when. I am more worried about the years 2013 -2015; why? Jesus said in Matthew 24 of the bible about the end of days and signs to watch for "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.". NASA has confirmed four lunar eclipses (moon becomes red) will occur on God's annual Holy Days during Passover and Sukkot in the years 2014 and 2015, and two solar eclipses (sun will be darkened) on Nisan 1 and the Feast of Trumpets in those years! There's a problem with your little story line! I believe I have been hearing earthquakes here in Georgia. For all we know it might just be a stock market crash or a bunch of babies may be born! Did you ever think of that?!?!?! @ Jack, you sir, are disguisitng, you want to half the people die in the country just because they DARE to think just little different than you. They are still americans even if they think differently that you and your circle of hate. How about Jack's statement: "Blue States now only remain in history books .... Camera ... Action !" Doesn't that give you a hint that it is Jack's hidden desire in his sub-conscience that all Dems disappear from the face of the earth? If that doesn't demonstrate hate I do not know what does. December 20, 2012 at 11:01 am \| petercha Marita and Hugh, just because someone thinks that blue states will be wiped out by NATURAL disasters, doesn't mean that they hate blue states. If Jack hated liberals, he wouldn't give them any warning at all and just let them perish. But I DO think that those who see hate under every rock and behind every tree may well be closet haters themselves. By the way, I don't think that anything unusual is going to happen on 12/21/12. December 20, 2012 at 11:45 am \| Sunflower Marita, give it up... You clearly missed the boat.... December 20, 2012 at 11:51 am \| Canada man, republicans really do want total control or a civil war eh. they just deny their hatred. guess what... Obama is black.... yea, it's true. December 20, 2012 at 12:07 pm \| Finally, a good reply Um...Marita? Jack was just proposing a draft of "2012 2/The Day After Tomorrow 2: What If It Happened Like This" that will be directed by Roland Emmerich. (If you make the movie you can kill off whomever you wish, or make any political statement subtle or otherwise and it's art.) December 20, 2012 at 2:48 pm \| MacInBlack1970 Jeff are you Jack's boyfriend or somthing? I'm thinking so.... Better hurry up and get married before the world ends so u two can enjoy your honeymoon at the end of the world! Congrats h0m0s! Not that there's anyhting wrong with that, for you guys. Not for me! December 20, 2012 at 3:55 pm \| Lil One MacInBlack1970 You are so mature that I think I might be in Love! Barf... How dumb are you? haha Cause he think different you think he can't spell. It's called "misspelling". I hate Republicans, you're the worst kind of people. You guys don't like to help people, you're to damn selfish. You don't like to give rights to people that doesn't affect your life or anyone around them such as gay marriage and abortion. Yes, because your name and comments are just the type of endearing solidarity that allows us all to express our thoughts and opinions without prejudice December 20, 2012 at 9:58 am \| Oh the Humanity it's too, brainiac. December 20, 2012 at 10:13 am \| summero Oh god you are such a 'tard. When your tagline is "FU Republicans" you lose all credibility. I for one (as a republican) only tend to take people seriously (regardless of political affiliation) when they can 1) state a problem clearly, 2) concede that there is an opposing view, and 3) convince me that their view is better. Moron. December 20, 2012 at 11:35 am \| southpaw1953 I'm a Rrepublican and I give to others. I also support ALL the rights every person has in this country. you must have very low self esteem to have such hatered for others.you should get some therapy since you dems already have us paying for it. December 20, 2012 at 11:41 am \| Republican FU, you are an idiot!!!! I am a republican and give to people all the time. What I am tired of is helping people that will not help themselves..Tthis has to be one of the most ignorant statements I have seen in a while. December 20, 2012 at 11:42 am \| petercha If that is so, then why do conservatives give more to charity than liberals do? Don't believe me? Look it up in the far left-of-center New York Times for yourself! Google "New York Times Bleeding Heart Tightwads". December 20, 2012 at 11:48 am \| Canada yeaaa, A church and the NRA is not a Charity. December 20, 2012 at 12:14 pm \| Finally, a good reply Does poor grammar, missing words, and incorrect pronoun usage also indicate a Democrat? Because if so...FU nailed it. Dude...what a total Democrat. December 20, 2012 at 2:53 pm \| CD @summero As a democrat I offer my apologies for FU, it seems though that more and more people people like FU, b real and whoever b real was responding to do not know that politics do not belong in every single thread. So, just because you're a Republican, you think you're better than Democrats? Just because he misspelled ONE word? You are obviously a very ignorant man. And a very stupid one, if you back the Republicans. I could say the same thing about those that back the dems. When are you dems going to stop spewing hatred and calling everyone that doesn't believe in unicorns and rainbows a moron. Signed a Republican that does not believe in any god, supports gay rights, is pro-choice but hates the concept of wealth redistribution via excessive taxation and the out of control government spending. Well... they never predicted the end of the world. Some dumb scientist thought the world was going to end after the calendar ended. He probably thought the world end every Jan. 1st. Beginning of a new year. No "dumb scientists" involved. Only people who are need to fantasize about the end of the world. December 20, 2012 at 11:26 am \| summero Sorry "FU Republicans" (I HATE your tagline btw) but I do agree with your post. ANyone running out to buy guns or water is a moron. Even die hard Christians should know that according to the Bible, none of us are going to know when the end of the world will come – period. This whole thing is so stupid. I can't believe that people are worried about a rogue planet or asteroid or nuclear war. COme one! We would all see that coming. At least use something credible like a gamma ray burst pointed at earth to fall back on to support your paranoia. This is getting stupid. I agree with you little bird, there are already big changes going on all over the globe and that makes me greatly greatful to be here right now to experience this spectacular change. I am excited for the future of humankind and have hope we will make radical changes for the best of everyone. May love fill everyone's hearts. My biggest hope, prayer, wish..whatever anyone wants to call it, is that your sentiments will infect the rest of our population. I too feel positive about our future and refuse to give in to the hate and negativity. Every single day is a chance to show someone else (by example) that life truly does get better with positive thoughts, actions and energy. Keep spreading that joy! It's my main goal in life. December 20, 2012 at 10:21 pm \| General Mukua Well said Little Bird, 2012-21-12 will be a new beginning for all of us. Its just another day. the only thing special about it is that it is the winter solstice. Red or blue, if you believe the world is going to end tomorrow, you're either nuts or gullible beyond all reason. The most paranoid doomsters of all are the governments, because they have been building underground cities, bases inside mountains, and seed vaults (like the one in Norway) round the clock for decades. Not to mention implementing emergency response systems fit for an apocalypse. If there was nothing to any of these rumors and we are safe for future centuries, why are they even bothering? People get laughed at for prepping with a couple months worth of food, yet here you have the mots elite of our military and non-elected officials prepping to survive decades underground? Ha. A bad thing that could naturally happen to our planet is an asteroid hit. If it does happen, obviously the folks within the blast radius are dead. The rest of the planet will be fine ... except for the loss of the sun for a minimum of 2 months to as long as two years. Unfortunately during this time a chain reaction will take place – the plants will die -> the animals that eat the plants will die -> the animals that eat the animals will die. Obviously humans will be fine since we can easily store enough food to last however long. But get used to being a Vegetarian for a while You have all been lied to. Every conspiracy theory about 2012 is false. So here is what will really happen. On 12/21/2012 at precisely 11:11 PM a huge rift will open up in between dimensions. When this rift opens out of it will step every imaginary character every concieved from brave Odysseus to Superman. Now before you think this is "cool" let's not forget the other side of the coin. Humanity will continue to exist for approximately 58 minutes after the Imaginary Universe comes into existence. At the stroke of Midnight USest Mickey Mouse will storm the Magic Kingdom with his terrible facist army of Stormtroopers, Pac Men, and Klingons. The minute Dictator Mouse sits on the Disney throne all of humanity will immediately vanish from the face of the Earth. Humankind will become entirely imaginary and the Imaginary Characters will become fully real. Humanity will then proceed to be written about and used in movies and video games which will get worse and worse as years go by and the Imaginary People develop better special effects. As special effects become more important with each passing decade Humanity now turned imaginary will begin to lose its plot and purpose gradually until it becomes entirely pointless and stupid. Nothing can be done to stop this, so you cannot prepare for it. The government has known about this for year and in exchange for keeping us in the dark will be the subject of future blockbusters. I thought the rumor was that the "grays" that the mayan, ancient egyptians, vikings, cavemen, etc all wrote about and depicted in drawings were supposed to be coming back to claim the Earth tomorrow? IF this crap doesn't happen... Well i just don't know how i'm supposed to pay back the 3 month $50k loan i took out last week with that really nice italian guy in Vegas. Congress is currently in negotiations on legislation that would modify the Mayan Calendar to postpone the end of the world by one year. Dems and Republicans feel sure they can come to a compromise before the deadline. I am laughing so hard at these comments, omfg. On another note, I personally don't believe any of this crap, but I am wary that there will be mass rioting throughout the world. You know how crazy some people can get, especially if they believe this doomsday stuff. Every year I look at my desk calender and it ends on Dec 31... I panic, I freak out, then I remember that I have a new calender for the next year.. all works out and we are all saved, because I started to use a new calender. I don't believe tomorrow will be the end but I do believe I figured out the Earth is routinely struck by orbital dark matter particles expelled from the Sun that are orbiting through and around the Earth triggering our weather, sinkholes and seismic activity. No joke. We tend to believe they are meteorites because they glow hot coming in then disappear. That's it, Tom, lead with your best material. Once you've got 'em laughing, then you can trot out the low-brow stuff. December 20, 2012 at 11:24 pm \| Chuck Actually, planets ARE aligning on December 21, and a NASA spacecraft is poised to witness it from Saturn. See for rare alignment to be recorded by astronomers. It's not the end of time, just the end of another calendar. It's just great to see some people who are so desperate to be seen as special. They make up things wholesale, turning themselves in to rather inept liars. Jack is such a cutie, with spewing the usual revenge fantasy of many conservative Christians. Alas, if it's the end of the world they are seeking to support their religious nonsense, they'll be so sadly disappointed. They'll of course change their minds on what date it will be and make more and more excuses why they failed, just like Pat Robertson and the presidential election. It's rather like watching cranky three year olds when all of the "end times" nonsense comes out and some Christians get off on threatening anyone who dares disagree with them. You don't seem to be able to tell the difference between a threat and a warning, Club. I don't believe that anything unusual will happen on 12/21/12, but what Jack said was clearly meant to be a warning, not a threat. A warning is based on reality. A threat, especially in this case, is the mental masturbation of someone who thinks that a magical god wil do their bidding and who has no scrap of evidence for his pathetic wishful thinking. December 20, 2012 at 12:31 pm \| Michael Do you not recognize SATIRE when you see it? Some of the responses, equally satirical, have been outrageous. This thread has made my day, albeit, sadly, my last. [Satire Filter Off] Sorry, claiming that one is a poe and that one should magically know when "satire" is used is just sad . What an excuse when there are plenty of people who are quite serious about such garbage. Try again. December 21, 2012 at 10:16 am \| Michael @club ... again I ask: can you not recognize satire when you see it? Jack was mocking all of the doomsayers with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. Granted recognition of satire usually requires an education greater than kindergarten so maybe that is what is holding you up. To quote an earlier poster, take the blue pill and release your mind. What else can we educated people of the planet do when faced with all of the fear about the Mayan calendar? I think that mocking it in a way quite satirical epitomizes the foolishness of the whole thing. But that's just my opinion; yours may vary, regardless of how misinformed it may be. December 21, 2012 at 12:05 pm \| J Ho If, and I mean a BIG if, something happens, it will be man-made. You have millions/billions of people of all faiths believing doomsday is approaching. That we are entering "End Times". Some of these people are in positions of power and control. They want "End Times"; their 'savior' will come back. What better way to bring Him back than light the fuse that brings about doomsday? If not this made-up date, another one will follow. Too many people who believes this stuff for it to not someday happen... First off, the "polar shift" you refer to is actually a swap of the MAGNETIC poles, not the AXIS. Magnetic shifts do happen fairly regularly, the 77,000 years you state sounds about right. However, the shift does not happen as quickly as you state and is proceeded by an extended period of magnetic field lines "snapping" ... which we have not seen. So I think we're safe ... One thing that isn't mentioned in this article is what would happen if we got hit by a massive solar flare? It probably won't happen tomorrow but it is something that we should be very concerned about. It will happen eventually (and not in the far, far future). We have no protection from such an event. We could lose our satellites and most of the electrical grid which would take months to years to fix due to critical components not being available. This would result in mass starvation, riots and chaos. Christians who know the Bible should know not to try to predict the end of the world..we were never given a timeline and it says not to try to guess. Im neither a Donkey or Elephant and both sides have their issues. People should be free to make their own choices which has been a Republican issue, but not handed every single little thing like the Democrats do. I dont like paying taxes so other people live off of me. I like the medical program, wish it was more intensive. Maybe take a page off the Canadians for a change. There is too much venom on both sides and if it keeps going the posioning of our society will have no antidote. God Bless everyone even those who dont believe Congress is currently in negotiations on legislation that would modify the Mayan Calendar to postpone the end of the world by one year. Dems and Republicans feel sure they can come to a compromise before the deadline. Even it is WERE to happen, the media (which is controlled by 5 corporations worldwide) would NEVER tell us that it would because that would induce worldwide panic and their job is to keep all the sheep in check. Believe what you want, but to all those people who routinely believe everything the "news" tells them, well then I feel real sorry for you! You have to be a complete freaking idiot to believe this clown. I mean come on. Reading the article about the Mayan descents in Mexico feel that it is a begining of a new era. That may be true, I don't know. I think if the "end" was happening we would not be given a date. But only a sign. So that's all think realistic now, please. Whether the world ends on Dec 21st, during or after Armageddon, or finally with the death of our star should not affect how we live our lives today. If you want to spend today fighting, laughing, loving, hating, stealing or giving then thats what you should do. But with each of those actions are consequences, sometimes those consequences are from the people around you and sometimes they are from within. Choose actions that provide consequences you desire. The Mayan calendar does not predict the end of the world. The Mayan elders speak of a new era based on love and compassion rather than violence, power and greed. Most people are gathering with the desire and intention of creating this future, which I think is what most people want for themselves and their children. It would be nice if the news media would report on this rather than the ridiculous. I dont know about the mayans or any calendar, but i am certain that JESUS of Nazareth is LORD and is coming, but as the scriptures record : NO ONE KNOWS THE DAY NOR HOUR, not even the angels or the son, let them who have ears prepare for the Glorious coming of the MESSIAH. SHALOM. Its probably not the end of the world. The universe is larger and vaster than we can even comprehend. I have a theory that the universe is like a giant globe but we live on the inside of it and its inside edges are like mirrors. The distances are so vast (light years) that we will never be able to travel them due to laws of physics as yet uncovered. So when we look at galaxies and stars and planets in other systems what we really see is our own galaxy stars and planets in stages of development. This is why there are no extra terrestrials or signals. We are looking at a finite number of celestial bodies (within our reach) and their reflections of past light? What lies beyond my sphere of influence universe? God? The Forbidden Zone? An alternate universe? Antimatter? We may never know. Imagine you are watching the guys make the calender from a round stone. One looks at the other and says, "What do you think will happen when this is found many centuries from now and they are able to read this?" The other guy says, ":Oh, they'll think the end is near and sacrifice a virgin to satisfy the Gods and make a new calender!" It would be funny if the mayans were off by a few days or months and we were too stupid to figure it out. Wouldnt that be the ultimate slap in the face from God? Even worse than electing Obama a 2nd time? There is something worse than electing Obama to a 2nd term? End of the world? Bring it on! I am still stuck on this Obama getting re-elected problem, and probably won't get over it. There are just no drugs strong enough to stop the pain I will be feeling after this nightmare comes to full fruition. Read the bible and stop looking towards man for answers to questions we have no place on answering nor holding the knowledge towards. Dare refute this fact and you shall surely forever burn in hell without your repent of your foul and accursed mind. Dang, dude! Now this segment has hit EVERY possible Roland Emmerich scenario. You just had to bring up Aliens when he's thinking about making an ID4 2, didn't you? Now he'll get all worked up and try to make it some sort of statement about global warming or nuclear weapons that attracts the aliens and then we'll all be disappointed again like the last few end-of-the-world-Emmerich films. Its not as if we can leave the world we are too selfish to even make the travel arrangements. Lately I am a firm believer than any intelligent God would want to imprison us here on Earth on purpose to prevent us from corrupting the other unspoiled races and beings of the universe with our evil and greed. Let us assume Jacks 'Earthquake [fantasy] Hypothesis' is true, the blue states are all gone (also most of Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri) fast forward just one generation... The entire US collapses due to massive inbreeding, religious wars, and moonshine still explosions! Ohnoes!! My refrigerator died yesterday. I say there is no greater indicator of an apocalypse than that. In truth, real truth, some aspect of our current reality will end tomorrow. Some particle, a pion, K+, boson, who knows what, maybe a whole whopper of protons will annihilate themselves and we won't even be aware of it. Although, Sarah Palin will probably consider it a liberal opportunity to ignore her, the universe has its own plans. There are many dimensions postulated that we may not be considering that will be destroyed tomorrow, so be optimistic. At least for my refrigerator, the end of the world is tomorrow; sometime between 8 and 12 when a new one gets delivered. Unfortunately it is not for me, as I am stuck in this freakin' wheelchair until... Just so funny that NASA's best answer to make us feel better and more secure is that since we cannot see any new asteroid or new planet coming toward earth, that they are none existing what a joke, just like when driving a car, its not because you don't see a car coming that it wont hit you... what about an asteroid coming out from a black hole ? or what about a new black hole that will through out stellar gargabes such as asteroids and etc... I think its pretty stupid to make people believe that just because you dont see it coming toward us, that it wont come. maybe it will come so fast at such speed that it could take only 30min to hit the earth... An asteroid out of a Black Hole? Are you nucking futz? Only Romulan starships can come out of a Black Hole. Everyone knows that! But seriously, it is apparent that you know the term but not the physics. The Black Hole, per se, is a singularity, a point of infinite mass (hence, gravity); it is the EVENT HORIZON that many think of as the Black Hole. The Event Horizon is that radius about the singularity where the gravity well is so steep that not even light, travelling at 186,000 miles PER SECOND, cannot escape. Tip: If you start all the videos, mute the commercial, pause the videos once the commercial is over you can watch them all uninterrupted. I know CNN has to pay the bills somehow, but a commercial before EVERY video? And usually the SAME video. funny how an asteroid just streaked between the Earth and the Moon without NASA noticing until almost the last minute...just a few days ago...and also the three large active volcanos right now, but I think the end of the 13th baktun just leads to the beginning of the 14th ion the Mayan long count calendar it was just a joke, ease up on jack... if u take such a blatently fictious story that someone threw in as absurdity ontop off absurdity as truth and get this angry... my friends u need help!! joke away jack joke away... and by the way, very few true christians beleive in any of this garbage because the bible plainly states that when the end of this time comes the Lord will wake us all up and we will know at the same time... dont remember receving that wake up call yet... and no i dont go to church, but im literate so i read, stupid liberals, enjoy spending your welfare checks on supplies to "survive the end of the world" cuz that makes sense Mart. Dont you think the ultra powerful and rich and influential would want a plan in case something ever happened. Of course there are multiple underground sites setup for such people. But that does not mean tomorrow is the end of the world. such places have been around for a long time. Just not as well setup.... If you truly believe that please feel free to send me some stuff for christmas. We have absolutely nothing to give each other and i have been looking for work for over a year. Lets see how many people believe what they say and get rid of the things they normally wouldnt. Ha. Bestwowgoldmakingguide yahoo What has to be understood about those who believe in a doomsday is that they want to believe in a doomsday. They will always rationalize why it did not happen and then make another prediction that it will happen. Perhaps they are the perennial optimists. Monument 6 at Torturego explains that how, on Dec 21 2012, the Mayan god Bolon Yokte descends to the earth. What that means and if its physical, I don't know. But the god Bolon Yokte is present during world creation events, and was recorded to be there on the last creation which was in 3114 bc. Other theories point to a 3 days of darkness period beginning on the 21st. One of my favorite prediction styles is when people pick a time for the end. it seems to be that they believe the only time zone that is important is the one they live in... Until the majority of people on this planet are able to get away from the me or i mentality we will face our own doomsday issues like the one faced in the sixties where we were close to creating a very bad scenario. I don't know how these comments got all politically oriented...we all know the world isn't gonna end tomorrow...we don't know when or IF it even will. Other than that, stop politicizing this whole hoax and move on with your lives. @Really, i like what you have to say however id like to point out that the world will definately burn out someday. although i suppose a few billion years may not be worth discussing at this point also although paying bills next month worries me more than if the world will end this year i would like to point out that something such as an eight plus earthquake could happen at any time in california and it could be regarded as the beggining of end and the nuts that tought knowing all would feel rightous at that point. Normally I just read and don't comment, but I'm pretty sure Jack just described the movie 2012. Which, by the way, is hilarious to watch if you know ANYTHING about continental shifts, or other geographical phenomenon. I'm sure you guys wouldn't even think of politics if he hadn't mentioned a color, and this entire argument is as laughable as the rumors themselves. If the world IS going to end, it's because people won't ever get over themselves and stop thinking in color. So please, for the world's sake, knock it off. I'm tired of seeing every article I read have a political debate in the comments, related to the topic or not. We're all human, and that's all that matters. Everyone makes stupid choices. An asteroid passed between the earth and the moon the size of the one that crushed 800 square miles in russia in the early 1900's. Nobody saw it until a day before it happened. Thats scary. Who is to say another is not behind it? I find it amusing that scientists think that just because they can "measure" certain things in the cosmos that it means to them that somehow the events are going to unfold as they predict. Science ends up being wrong 99% of the time anyway. They are just really good at covering up the mistakes and promoting the events they think they have correct (which later end up being wrong most of the time anyway.) In short, scientists are just as ignorant as everyone else. They are just better at covering up their ignorance through Greek and Latin based words. Their description of what the significance of the galactic alignment is inaccurate. What the mayans based the long count calendar on happens on every 26000 years. It has to do with the way the earth wobbles and the effect of how you see the starts in the sky. Personally I don't think anything is going to happen, but give the Mayans props for looking at the stars more accurately than CNN's experts. @Archyle The Mayans NEVER predict the world would end. The calendar only resets. NO ONE (You sound like the Mayans have complete control) can ever predict the exact time the world would end since every time zone is different. Even if there is an exact time the world will end, the time has to be by the International Date Line. I dont think anything wil happen the 21st. but i do think that we are in for a bad year. i beleive the weatheer is gonna get worse and worse and that is what will eventually do us under. provided the goverment dont release a bug on us. or a plague of some sort. which is what i do beleive will happen There were a lot of different different prediction about the end the world but none of those prediction come true so far. why ? most of the prediction were technically baseless like Nibiru. But it has very bad impact to the people who are not well educated enough to understand about it. @Alexgallant, items that are sucked into a black hole stay there including light. I think you would have slightly better luck suggesting that a theoretical worm hole will appear and out will come something with a trajectory of earth. Well, that totally sucks! I was going to get my hair did and canceled a few weeks ago for this "event". That's the last time I believe anything on the Internet. Oh, what's this? I can increase my erection by 4"? For the doomsdayers again i a small donation of what you wont need anymore would be well received. if the world does this year wouldn you like to know you made a family happy by having done something good before the end. if something does not happen then you still have done something and given to a family that would not have anything this reason otherwise so it would still be a good deed that would be very well received. Well I say look up Maria Divine Mercy on They said to look out for false prophets but who am I to say her messages from Jesus are not real I trust in him and strive to be a good person everyday If something happens tomorrow in the sky and you see a cross know that was a sign from him say your prayers and repent he told us not to be afraid No offense to the Mayans, of course, but I've always preferred the "glass half full" philosophy and adhered to the future=why not. However, I didn't fully understand the last part of your sentence, so I might have missed something. I really dont want to get into the middle of religion here but for eveyone sighting scripture and people portraying direct spiritual knowledge of a very soon to be event are there not seven seals and a false prophet amoong other things such as no man shall know the time of their demise otherwise are we not skipping things to feed our own fears? Im starting to think my posts are not getting or just are worded lamely? Happy holidays however long it lasts Since people are so fascinated by the "End of the World" and try to figure it will end by every myth, ancient culture, Nostradamus, religious, computer programs or whatever else they can to explain the "End of Times"-someone really needs to educate the masses! The simple truth is 'yes' it will end; however, not tomorrow. Try 4.5 to 5 Billion years down the road from now. Our Sun will consume all of its remaining fuel...(BTW: the Sun is mostly composed of Hydrogen and Helium.) at that point in time, our Sun will start to expand and slowly start to heat up and burn our poor planet Earth into a ball of embers. It is for our future ancestors to come up with a plan to 'pack up and move' from our dearly beloved planet Earth to find new accommodations. With the nearest Star 'Proxima Centauri' being 4.2 light-years away from our Sun; our future ancestors challenge to find a hospitable new home will be as immense as the Universe! (BTW: Light travels at 186,000 miles per second; 671 million miles per hour!) With light taking 8 minutes, 19 seconds to travel from our Sun to Earth. The challenge would be to build the ultimate 'Noah's Ark' which could withstand contingencies travelling at the speed of light-(ie travelling at such speeds, a grain of sand would tear completely through our future ancestors 'Noah's Ark') ;however, with the rate of technological advances over the past twentieth (20th) Century and going from grounded on Earth to flying in the air and with other awesome steps forward for 'Humankind' one can only remain very hopeful and very optimistic about our future ancestor's travel plans! So do not worry my friends about the end of the World tomorrow for I expect fair winds and Sunlight coming up over that Mountain in the morning! `jo~ Dear all, why we human argue about "The Story End of the world" just a story lines by people whose days and is not happen anyway by today or even thousand years to come...as long our world live in peace, we had nothing to worry about it. Sin will not save you when the end is,many people plan to party thinking that dec 21,2012 it is the end of the world! Very selfish people! Focus on helping others instead of your! self! BE GOOD AND KIND! Help those whom need help! Please get over yourself. I don't need yr sin bs. U want to know wat a sin is. Religion. More people have died trying to prove that their way is right than any other so called sin . But do you know what, your going to die some day. I don't need an excuse to fear death. I know it's coming someday and I welcome it. Focus on the today and tomorrow not the has and has been. Grow up and realize that you are an animal. You have some kind of superiority complex over everything why? Because you can use a toilet, remember yr just as I am a nuckel dragging ape that can wipe its own but. Clap clap My friends there is infinite possibility to how and when this Planet will end, 2012 is just another year of number and has no effect on phenomenon. It is with great scientific research to conclude that today, December 21 2012, Jesus will rise again. Like every December, the moon, the Earth and the Milky Way Galaxies will line up and create a doorway between our worlds and all the others out there and Jesus will walk through the door and make himself known. Tomorrow the Year will be 0001 again and the worst will happen on the 13th of days of the 13th month. Beware evil eas born January 13 1983. My best way to describe this is that i personally have been informed that the mayan calender simply restarts evry 5 sum thousand years. maybe this is a new age to be at the most severe. i dont get how this DoomsDay 2012 got conjured up... maybe to save someones career of horrible movies. like 2012 was a pretty bad movie without doubt. end of opinion iIf you have the guts to survive .. why give up ? other hand we have no exit on this...but it is only a story of the Maya that shock on this time .. be positive of what we are .. and think for the way to do survive if its true..a very lucky person stand on last day ..be the one of them .people.. if theirs a small time that lift .. share the good day and serve a special serving of what we had ..smile lough .. and enjoy living, party . drink the finest wine that you have and share to everyone of this planet. i wonder if they predicted the magnetic poles switching which has happened multiple times in the earths history. The proof is on the Atlantic Ocean sea bed where areas of rock have different magnetic alignment the adjacent areas. Do not be disappointed doomsdayers if the world does not end today, Climate change and resource depletion are looking real good (or bad depending) so you may not have spent all that bunker money for nothing. Okay, first of all it's always good to plain ahead. Expect the unexpected, get ready for the worse, even if the world don't end today something might happen to put us back, like the electrical grid stopping. I have plenty of coffee to keep me through lol. See drinking some now. Lets just say some type of new sickness goes around. Do you have the medical training or supplies to keep you through? Do you have enough food, if the grid goes out? WHAT IF!? Theirs nothing anybody can do if China decides to send out a nuclear bomb. Only a great few of us actuality plain ahead and have a back up plain if that fails. I am a believer of Jesus Christ I am a Christian and a god lover. He gave us knowledge and power to figure everything out, if their wasn't a reason for it he wouldn't have gave us none of that. If their wasn't for a reason of how we are good at survival, if their was nothing to survive about I love the world we live in, but I'm just saying it's always good to plain ahead! Some of these thing are true, however what scientist can say the world roation cant shift in a day. Who ever even said it would be a day, and also you cant say it cant happen if it never happened, and if this alignment happens every year why didnt i ever see it. And please explain persesion It is utterly amazing to me that people will get all wound up over this so called prophecy which means absolutely nothing and yet ignore or make fun of the real and devastating prophecies about to take place! The horror about to hit this planet and every living thing on it will happen the morning you all wake up and millions of people all over the globe are mysteriously missing! You want to talk about cataclysmic events? A leader in Europe will rise and create world peace. He will be loved by everyone, yet no one will know him! Kind of like Obama. He will be a master Orator. The moment he signs a 7 year peace agreement with Israel, you have 7 years left in human history! Most people have no clue this is going to take place or refuse to believe it, but, it's going to happen, and happen soon. You can laugh and make fun of all you want, just remember, when the TV, Internet, Radio and every other communication devise is panic stricken with the news about these millions of missing people and you are still here? You won't be laughing any longer! You may even have your own family members missing. The chances of you surviving the next 7 years, especially the last 3 1/2 years? 99% you won't. It's going to be that bad. If the unnatural "natural" disasters don't kill you, the new wicked world power and its disguised demon hosts will. You might want to think about what you should do to escape this horrible time that is coming, because yes, there is a way out, a way in which you don't have to die or be tortured and then beheaded this way. The answer is in the bible, the book of John, chapter 3 verses 16 thru 18. Read it. Once you read it, you have no excuse; you need to make a decision. Yes or no, it's your choice. You choose to live or die, it's all on you and only you. Think about it, but don't wait too long, we never know when the door is going to close, but it will be sooner than you might think! How do we know this? Because of the bible prophecies in one hand and a newspaper in the other. It cant get more plain, even to the unbeliever. Look for yourself, read for yourself, we dont have much longer, dont wait. Ask God to open your eyes and reveal the real truth, He will. To say that obama has made the world a better place or is peaceful is just fallacy. The guy has not done anything....Thats the problem! Im not a fan of Obama. For many reasons though, but hey with all his issues that he is having to go through maybe that is alimently stopping him from doing something stupid. Also there are many interpeatations of where the Anti is suposto come. Some Say Syria. Check out the Dead Sea Scrolls. Or Revalations. But frankly all people who want power, or athorative posistions and do not use it for the service of sacred holy understandings in other words God. Are technically all potentail Anti Christ. If you actually read scipture God is very explainitory of what he believes as rightous. Or serving Gods will and alitmently doing Good. Hate violience, distruction. Aragonce , Ingorance, Pocrastination, Lieing , Deciving and so much more are elements of the ANTI. Because technically its opiset of God. The devil has always wanted us to Avoid worship. Avoid holyness. So too must we aovid Him in reply. In scipture/ Bible you understand exactly were to find Jesus and to indentfy him. And how to Identfy the oppiset We can see the characteristic of the devil. aka EVIL as the name shows In the Gospels. When Jesus was being tempted shortly after baptism. This is greate because it gives un an understanding of what the Devil is looking for. And how we should avoid him. But alitmently you too are the factor of FEAR.....Because alitmently you are saying the world is coming to end and how there is no hope afterwords. What a load of crock! If you are truely someone whom has been educated in the bible and a believer of that path. Then you should also have realized that alitmently GOD will not stand for it. And that Jesus will return. There will be 1000 years of peace. The tribes of israel will return, however you believe that to be. And that Gods truth will rule always. That is the main goal! In other words there is most certainly a happy ending to the story. Apprently you decided to leave that out! Read revalation The last three paragraphs. The end of the world means the day "you" die marks the end of "Your" world . . .You don't need prophesy, a Book, a PC or a religious nut case to tell you the world is going to end and the Rapture is here. When you die then that is "the day" your world ends plan and simple. How many times have we supposed to have died by now? 10 that I can think of and that goes back to when the Spacelab back in the 80's was to fall out of the sky and dive into the ocean, the Y2K Bug, The Rapture, Mayan it's all Bull... OMG We are going to die,, BS, when you pass, that is the day "your world ends" for all those who went out and stocked up on food, battery's, water, GAS MASKs and bullets for that "Just in case " happening happens, so to have wasted all that money, but think of it this way, you can use all the Batteries on your kids gifts from Santa (Thank goodness you didn't die, think of all the money you have lost if you did) and the extra food and water put it all out for your guest that come over for the holidays. Thats not true, the day "YOU" die, the day you take YOUR last breath on this earth is the day you take your first breath in eternity! You will spend that eternity in one of two places, Heaven or Hell. God did not create hell for people, He created it for the devil and his angels or demons. Why do you think Jesus left heaven and came to this earth to ultimately pay the price YOU and I owe for our sin problem? To save you from ending up in hell. God loves you so much that Jesus was willing to lay down His life so you wouldnt have to. Im talking about the second death not the first. The first is the natural death, the death of our natural bodies. The second death is the death of your soul. Your soul never dies. God is eternal and he created each one of us eternal and uniquely different. When He talks about life and death, He is talking about our eternal life and death. Life being in heaven and eternal death being in hell. You will be fully conscious and your senses at a much higher state in both places. The book of Revelation was written because its a fortelling of future events. Why would God be concerned with telling us about future events? As a warning. We tell our kids "dont touch that its hot!" Why? Because we are mean parents? No, because we are waring them of impending danger. You have a chioce right now while you are alive, a choice to spend your eternity in one of these two places. Just from a human common sense approach, which would you choose? Heaven or Hell? My puppy could mew if it were a kitten. The economy could be great, if it weren't so bad. "Bob" could be a different word, if it had different letters in it. But then I guess we could "if" this thing all day and the Earth's rotation would still be the same as it is now. This hoax and others like it come along every year or so, people that didn't pay attention in science classes in school and those with weak minds are susceptible to these hoaxes, unfortunately the History channel and news organizations sensationalize this nonsense to increase their ratings, those that believe this stuff deserve the worry they generate for themselves. We better know God is great! all these years of people predicting the end of the world over time and we are still here. I am listening to Prophet Jesus p.b.u.h. " No man no not even the angels know when the world will end" Actually they do Gary, they dont know when Jesus will call His people up in the Rapture. Once the Rapture takes place, it will probably take months for the world to somewhat stabilize. Its when Antichrist signs the peace treaty with Israel, you can count the days till the end at that point, exactly 7 years. Thing is, you dont want to be left behind! SLY, Its not my opinion, I didnt come up with this. Its what God Himself said. If He said it, you better count on the fact that its going to come to pass! People over millenia have been saying, "You have been saying Jesus is coming back soon! where is he?" The bible says that God is long suffering that no one should perish. He is waiting for the time when people just dont want anything to do with Him. Sound familiar? We have kicked Him out of our schools, our government, our families and our homes, we want to take "In God We Trust" off of our money, you cant put up a cross anywhere, cities across the nation wont even let you put up a Nativity scene? You cant even say MERRY CHRISTMAS anymore! You can get arrested for preaching the Word of God in public, but you can scream Islam from the roof tops and thats ok? The time is coming very soon when God will say, "Ok, you dont want me around anymore? See ya" Then the Rapture will take place and all those on earth will experience what its like not to have God around at all. You think evil is running rampant now? You think what happend in Conn. is a rare incident? Boy are you gonna be shocked! Look! Up in the sky there are pyramid shaped flying machines descending to the earth. Oh no, volcanoes are erupting! Why did all the electronics just die? Where have all the bees gone. What?? Is that an extra moon?..... Why are those men green?? Seems to me that there a lot of disappointed people out there now that the world has not come to a fiery end. Let me say something to all of you "believers" er i mean fanatics. If you were looking forward to the end of the world, you need to check yourself. Fear leads to hate and hate leads to death. If you are afraid, you are really just making an internal excuse to alienate and hate everyone else who does not have the same system of beliefs. It is why we have war. it is why we have terrorism and it is why things happen like NewTown. Its all about fear first. You know what cures fear? Love. God is love. Jesus is love. Buddha is love. Allah is love. Whatever you believe in, you should believe in the message of Love. And I pity those who do not, but I do not fear them. Ask yourself this as you stand up on your self-righteous pedastal preaching Fear and Judgement and Death to whoever will listen. "Am I preaching the word of God?" Chances are you are not. And you are committing one or more of the 7 deadly sins according to the Bible. Talk about hypcritical. More people have died on this planet in the name of religion than all natural disasters, diseases, plane crashes, or auto accidents combined. Think about that as well. Merry Christmas. No matter your faith, your stance or your ignorance. God still loves you all. And I do too. Peace. Alas, alas. The world didn't end. What am I going to do with all of the end of the world supplies I have stacked in every room of my house. I have enough toilet paper stockfiled to last twenty years now. I myself was a little suprized that nothing has taken place today. I wasn't a believer that the world was going to end, but I did think something strange would take place today. I also was suprized to see all the false preditions that have been made in the past about the world ending that never took place. I found this today that shows a whole bunch of them. look here I will fully admit that I thought "something" might happen today, but that was just my overly active imagination at work. My cat didn't even start speaking English... darn it all! There is still a lot of pain and sorrow and death out there, but no more than usual. Thoughts and prayers to those in need. You dare question me, the almighty Jebus Christ. Repent or you will face the wrath of Jeeeeeeeebuuuuuuus! December 21, 2012 at 5:12 pm \| Tech993 Where is our spelling bee champ now? You are afraid to spell correctly because you know whats going to happen dont you? Good thing your blasphemous joke was not aimed at Alla! You'd have people looking for you, but being it wasnt, the one whom you did aim at is watching you and worse yet, He knows the intent of your blaspemy! There is no where you can hide! Multiple mass shootings: check. Famine throughout Africa: check. Civil and religious wars in multiple countries: check. The usual weather events (earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes/typhoons): check. I predict these will happen on or about Dec 21, 2012, and as long as people are around. until 2012 doomsday stories began I never thought so called developed world where they cliaim to be precise in their predictions and scientific achievements could be stupid and make a mockery out of the whole thing and prove how a story teller can fool the west to this extent. thats the price they pay for shutting down their hearts for God. the day you rejected God whom you introduced to the East as if you found him put you to utter shame for your ignorance. come back to yourselves and cooperate with life. world will end for you the day you die if you have no hope in the one who is Risen. God save the fools. The world is not just going to end. Get that out of your head! You will have 7 years of tribulation and absolute horror before it ends. What you will not see coming is the Rapture. That will happen in the twinkling of an eye and could happen any day. No one knows the day or hour but we will know the general time period. How will we know this? Jesus told his deciples in matthew 24:3-14. It says, Signs of the End of the Age 3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" 4 And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away[a] and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Wow what is it with people. If the world does not end there is an excuse and another date is set. It must be nice to keep saying things that cant be disproven cause it is some undetermined time in the future. Just wait youll see. How dense are the people that write this dribble. why in the world are you so easily led into the belief that you are so special that something special is going to happen in your lifetime? Ive heard and seen this dribble for many decades now and if you would look at history it has been a mentality that has gone on for much more than my lifetime. as for the people that tought happiness you can suck it. I was desperate to find work and put a while back money into a couple online companies that never did anything but try to get more money out of me. Now i see everything i worked for deteriorating and not able to do anything about it. Begged people for work even if its around town and nothing. I see the lying people with the signs on the street doing better than me. Its almost at the ...point where i want to ask one of the so called homeless people for some change. I almost feel at my wits end and having people make a mockery like smile today and feel better and tomorrow things will be better would sing a different tune if they were in my shoes for a while. why cant people actually help people. All ive wanted to do was find work if not physical then on the net but instead i get taken for money and receive spam. I can type, Spell decently and love to help people. But you think people will put back up what they typed here about helping others. I think it will be proven one way or another when i dont receive one message or email for suggestions or work! It is amazing to me how many people fall for this end-of-the-world nonsense. These pseudo-scientific "theories" have no more foundation or credibility than the Jesus-is-coming hoaxes that pop up every couple of years. The movie was fun, but really, people, get a grip. Who ever said a pole reversal would be instantanious. It is taking about a hundred years,Norway will be the next North Pole. Read my book available on Kindle and Amazon. I wrote this book, formally called THE DIVINE PLAN, 33 years ago, when I was contacted by Godhead, and instructed to inform Earth what we are going through. Good luck. Be prepared.hey there and thank you for your info – I have definitely picekd up anything new from right here. I did however expertise some technical points Well I'm adding this RSS to my email and can look out for a lot more of your respective intriguing content. Make sure you update this again very soon.. Would it be at all possible that the Mayans refered to the World as what they saw around them ONLY and not the whole planet? Surely doomsday has passed for their civilization. Also with the power of finance and economy we may not need a violent physical phenomenon to destroy our civilization	eng	409a81d4-1424-434a-8918-19f1feb30e8e	http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/19/debunking-doomsday-6-rumors-dispelled/?hpt=hp_t4
Music, Mind & Brain @ Goldsmiths Blogging on Music Psychology and the Brain.Sun, 27 Jan 2013 11:30:25 +0000enhourly1 Mind & Brain @ Goldsmiths Music Informatics: A Modern Approach to Studying Music 27 Jan 2013 11:30:24 +0000music-mind-brain reading →]]>As the relationship between music and technology grows stronger, researchers are finding new and innovative ways of interacting with music. Matthias Mauch, a researcher in music informatics at Queen Mary University of London, has explored a number of these complexities at great length. As daunting as it sounds, music informatics simply involves research in areas such as the automatic transcription of music, chords, and chord progressions; key detection; and music classification. Since completing his PhD on audio chord transcription (Mauch, 2010), Mauch has been involved in projects like Songle (a lyrics-to-audio alignment program, Driver's Seat (an application with Last.fm that allows users to search for songs based on a variety of different musical factors, currently not publicly available) and DarwinTunes (an interactive program that uses the concept of evolution in music, While at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan, Mauch helped in creating a program (Song Prompter) that aligns chords and lyrics from just audio input and a text file containing the lyrics and chords (Mauch, Fujihara, & Goto, 2010; Mauch, Fujihara, & Goto, 2011). Once the audio is received by the program, it generates a visual display of the chords and lyrics of the audio input. This program was further modified to be used on a web interface called Songle. Songle allows users to listen to the songs and correct the Song Prompter output if there is, for example, an incorrect chord change (Goto, Yoshii, & Fujihara, 2011). His next major project, Driver's Seat, was a Spotify application for Last.fm. Driver's Seat enables users to search for music by musical factors, as opposed to just by genre or similarity. For example, listeners can set the application to search for music that has a specific tempo, loudness, energy, percussiveness, 'danceability', and various other musical parameters. The application then provides a playlist that meets the requirements set out by the user. Driver's Seat also includes specific presets, allowing users the option of listening to music with specific characteristics (e.g. music in A minor or music with complex rhythms). In contrast to earlier projects, Mauch was also involved in the development of DarwinTunes, a model of evolution using music (MacCallum, Mauch, Burt, & Leroi, 2012). Sinusoidal wave forms undergo a process of evolution carried out by genetic algorithms and voter selection to create new music. The web interface of this project allows users to vote for their preferred sinusoidal wave forms on a 1-5 scale. Subsequently, the most popular wave forms "have sex" with each other creating "baby-loops", while the least popular wave forms are filtered out. This is the process of a musical model of sexual reproduction with low level mutation. After only 150 generations, a steady rhythm could be identified. After 500 generations, the sound became more pleasant, with simple major chord harmonies. After about one thousand generations, very simple melodies began to emerge as the sound textures got more complex. Although 2000 generations didn't produce much change in musicality, there were new sounds and short melodies. At 3000 generations, the loops had developed into complex, intertwining melodies with rhythmic accompaniment. As a musical model of evolution, DarwinTunes has provided us with a scientific application of music informatics research. This model demonstrates the evolution of culture in the absence of human creativity, solely based on listen selection. Now at Queen Mary, Mauch has focused on the phenomenon of intonation drift; more specifically, the accuracy of pitch in singing. How and why do people sing out of tune, or even in tune? How do solo singers drift in intonation over a piece of music? Mauch's latest research project explored the rate and the extent of which peoples' pitch accuracy shifted while singing happy birthday (without words) three times. So far, the research has shown that most people drift very little in the overall pitch level (most people fall within half a semi-tone up or down over all 75 notes of the 3 repetitions of Happy Birthday). But interestingly, Mauch and his collaborators found that pitch error per note is quite large, especially in comparison to overall intonation drift. This is surprising because intuition would suggest that if pitch error per note is large, that would lead the overall intonation to shift as well. Despite this intuition, it appears that singers are somehow compensating for errors they make on individual pitch intervals. Mauch and his colleagues are still working on models that will explain these results. Mauch's presentation showed us some of the research currently being carried out in music informatics. He demonstrated how music can be used as a unique approach to investigate areas typically not considered to be of a musical nature, such as evolution. Mauch's recent singing research brought us hope, suggesting that we may sing better than we think. However, we still don't know why this disconnect between actual singing and our judgment of our singing occurs and how it can be connected to specific cognitive processes. As Mauch suggests, perhaps through collaboration with musicians, psychologists, and ethnomusicologists, we will soon be able to answer these questions while discovering even more practical applications of music informatics. Goto, M., Yoshii, K., & Fujihara, H. (2011). Songle: a web service for active music listening improved by user contributions. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Music Information Retrieval, 311-316. MacCallum, R. M., Mauch, M., Burt, A., & Leroi, A. M. (2012). Evolution of music by public choice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA , 109(30), 12081-12086. ]]> SeatDarwinTunesDoing the (Musical) Time Warp with Michelle Phillips 26 Jan 2013 15:32:10 +0000music-mind-brain reading →]]>Sit down and think of your favourite song. Could you approximate the duration of that song in your head? As easy as this may sound, Michelle Phillips' research has pointed out that we may be significantly worse at estimating the length of a song or piece than we think. It is astounding how time is so fleeting. Before madness takes its toll, however, listen closely for just a bit longer to how guest speaker Michelle talks us through the Musical Time Warp. Michelle Phillips, not to be confused with singer/songwriter of the Mamas and the Papas, came along to Goldsmiths, University of London, on 15th November, to give us an overview on her latest work. Michelle currently studies with Dr. Ian Cross for a PhD at Cambridge University's prestigious Centre for Music and Science and she completed a residency at London's Science Museum in 2011 in order to collect data for her study on the phenomenon of musical time. The question that she sought to answer in obtaining this data was: what factors affect retrospective estimates of the time it takes to listen to a novel piece of music? Was it age, formal musical training, gratification from listening to music, or some combination of those factors? Do some of these factors affect the estimate more than others? This study had 237 participants with ages ranging from 8 years old to over 80 years old. This great range of participants illustrates the fantastic opportunities for data collection that the Science Museum residency presents to researchers. All participants listened to a 37-second piece of music specifically written for this study by music researcher, Matthew Woolhouse, alongside a self-report questionnaire in which participants were asked to rate their experience of the music in terms of enjoyment, familiarity, valence, arousal, and finishedness on a scale of 1-7. In addition to this, some participants performed either a reference or a working memory task during the listening period: some experienced the same piece of music segmented into phrases by fading in and out to silence, and some experienced the piece at a different speed or with an increased level of dissonance. Michelle then instructed them to estimate how long it took them to listen to the musical piece from start to finish; the participants were not aware that she would ask them this question, so this experiment utilised a retrospective paradigm (estimating time of past experiences) and a verbal estimation method. The majority of previous research (Block, 1997; Grondin, 2010) has largely focused on prospective estimate time (i.e. time as we are aware of it), so Michelle's research offers a new viewpoint of musical time. Based on this previous research, she made four predictions about this experiment: firstly, that time estimates will be larger with age, especially in adults and teens; that children in the 5-8 year old age group will give more broad estimates of time because their concept of time at this age has not fully formed yet; that those who enjoy the music more will give longer estimates and that musically trained individuals will be more accurate in their estimations. Michelle found that children in the aforementioned age group did, indeed, give much higher time estimates as compared to children in their early teens; furthermore, estimates of time increased from age 14 and up. The hypothesis regarding enjoyment and extended time estimates was also supported. She also found that musically trained individuals did give significantly shorter estimations, concluding that the contextual change model could explain these findings (Block & Zakay, 1997). The contextual change model suggests that the perception of elapsed time seems longer if there are more changes in the environmental context, and because musicians are able to segment music in a more holistic (phrases or bars) rather than specific (notes) way, their perception of time is reduced because there seem to be less event changes to them. However, Michelle suggests a more attention-oriented explanation to account for the first three hypotheses (see Brown, 2008). She suggests that individuals who appreciated the stimulus the most gave the piece more attention than the others. Brown (2008) hypothesises that increased focused attention leads to longer time estimates, which would certainly account for this finding. Furthermore, the older participants in the samples were more likely to have allocated their attention to the piece; this again explains the findings concerning age. Finally, quantitative data confirmed anecdotal evidence suggesting that teachers' estimations were somewhat decreased as compared to other professions. Michelle's research showed that the perception of time duration when listening to music is flexible, and is affected by non-musical and musical factors, including enjoyment, finishedness, age and musical training, in addition to whether working memory is being utilised whilst listening. Her work is comprehensive and thorough, while maintaining a very broad scope, laying the foundation for more detailed future investigations into particular effects, such as the impact of different emotional states upon estimates and possible interactions between factors such as age and tempo. It is clear from her results that music, as a complex, hierarchically structured stimulus, influences time perception in ways not satisfactorily accounted for by current cognitive models, and there is much exciting work to be done towards the construction of more suitable models. ]]> PhillipsSing for your life! 05 Dec 2012 11:31:06 +0000music-mind-brain reading →]]>Is singing good for you? Can it contribute to your sense of well being? These are the questions being asked by Professor Stephen Clift, who presented his talk to the Music, Mind and Brain students at Goldsmiths College on the 1st November 2012. Clift has a 25-year history in public health and has been involved in many projects persuading people to actively avoid risk-taking behaviours. Within the last 10 years he has been involved in a number of research projects at the Sidney de Haan Centre in Kent, each of which is concerned with developing a better understanding of the psychological and physical benefits of singing. Originally inspired by an article written by Susan Digby about promoting singing in primary schools, Clift has become increasingly interested in gathering evidence for the real and measurable impact of singing on health and well being. His research has looked at community singing groups set up in the east Kent area for people with a range of health issues including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Parkinson's disease, Dementia and other mental health problems. Clift began his presentation by demonstrating how singing engages different systems within the body. He encouraged the audience to join him in a few simple vocal exercises, and used these examples to introduce the idea that singing is an activity that is powered by the lungs, and regular singing might have the ability to act as a kind of speech therapy for the voice. This can be especially important for older people with chronic health diseases such as Parkinson's, a motor-coordination disease that can result in voice impairments, and COPD, a progressive lung disease in which lung capacity is significantly reduced. The basis of Clift's research has to do with the fact that despite the chronic health problems experienced by people suffering from these diseases, they still manage to engage with music in a positive way. When Clift began his research in 2000, there was very little published on singing and well being, but in 2010 he completed a systematic mapping of research in the area which included 40 empirical reports, indicating a growth of interest in the field (Clift, Nicol, Raisbeck, Whitemore & Morrison, 2010). The research at the Sydney De Haan Centre has continued to build on this knowledge base with qualitative evaluations for different populations, including a randomised control trial in the Silver Song Clubs study (Skingley, Clift, Coulton & Rodriguez, 2011). This project investigated measures of physical and mental health for older singing groups within the community, and in doing so, proposed that group-singing interventions for elderly people could be a cost-effective strategy for the NHS. The Silver Song Clubs study (Skingley et al., 2011) investigated two groups of people: those who took part in a 12-week group singing program (the experimental condition), and those who carried on with life as normal, (the control condition). Participants completed the York SF-12 quality of life measure at the start of the project (baseline), at three months (at the end) and at six months (post). Results suggested a significantly greater improvement in mental health quality of life for individuals who participated in the group singing condition compared with those continuing with normal activities. The effect was greatest immediately following the intervention, but still apparent three months after discontinuation. There were limitations to the study, such as the short duration of the program, and the small geographical area in which the study took place, but the key findings indicate that singing groups for older people are likely to be cost effective as a health promotion strategy (Skingley et al., 2011). Clift's research has found the effects of singing to be beneficial regardless of age, gender, nationality or wellbeing status (Livesey, Morrison, Clift & Camic, 2012). A cross-cultural study spanning 1,000 choral singers in Australia, England and Germany has shed light on four areas that seem to hold a significant benefit; body control and posture, effects on breathing and lung function, energy and physical activity, and relaxation and stress relief (Clift, Hancox, Morrison, Hess, Kreutz & Stewart, 2009). Although most of Clift's research uses self-report questionnaires assessing participants' mental well being, these measures are relatively accurate, as they give subjects the chance to reflect on themselves and evaluate the way they feel. However, for those more convinced by quantitative than qualitative data, Clift has also studied the effects of singing on individuals with COPD by measuring their lung capacity. His most recent piece of research has found a significant increase in both the volume exhaled in one second, Forced Expiratory Volume, and the maximum amount of air exhaled in one go, Forced Vital Capacity, within COPD patients that spent 10 months in a weekly singing group (in press). These are dramatic implications for beneficial effects on physical well being in a group of patients with a progressive and irreversible disease. The study ran across a period of 10 months spanning from early autumn to late spring, seasons in which COPD sufferers are most affected due to the icy cold wind and weather. However, participants' feedback was filled with a heart-warming surprise, with some noting this to be the first winter in which they were not admitted to A&E with severe breathing problems. This is not only a relief for sufferers, but also has a huge impact on the NHS, as COPD is in fact the second most common cause of admissions to A&E in hospitals in the UK (British Lung Foundation, 2007). Decreasing the number of patients admitted to hospital will effectively save millions of pounds, with current costs spent on treatment of COPD, by the NHS, lying at £810 – £930 million per year (Department of Health, 2010). In conclusion, Clift's research has contributed significantly by investigating the potential value of music and the arts in healthcare and health promotion. He captivated the students at Goldsmiths with his interactive presentation, as he discussed the effects of group singing on physical and psychological health, and the implications that the results of his studies have in terms of healthcare interventions. ]]> Case of Repetition in Music 07 May 2012 13:31:37 +0000music-mind-brain reading →]]>Musical repetition is a powerful tool. Repetition has been thought of as a musical universal by Nettl (Roseman, 1984) and has been present in a diverse range of cultures. In western music, there is even a sign within musical scores to denote repetition of bars of music. It is not nearly as common in other forms of art, which was found by Ferdinand Praeger (1958). Praeger greatly criticised the presence of repetition, stating that poets do not fall prey to this device on writing, and yet it is present in music. Some would call repetition childish and regressive and that it is shameful to have in a piece of art. However, this argument has two sides, as any good argument should. Fitch (2006) thought that repetition is a great design device in music that greatly separates music from language. In recent empirical research, Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis from University of Arkansas is at the forefront of this understudied and yet important aspect of music. Repetition in music, when put quite simply, is when sounds or sequences are used more than once during a piece. A famous case of repetition occurs in the Daft Punk song 'Around the World,' depicted in the image above. It contains only one lyric and a repeating bass line, thus being a song made entirely out of repetition of simple elements, and yet is a very popular song. There is something powerful about repetition, and when the loop contains something pleasurable to a listener, it can be enjoyed for hours and seem to change as our attention drifts away and returns. Margulis proposed that we not only enjoy repetition, but also need it. Repetition allows for simple pieces of music to take on new semantic meanings. It also allows for listeners to participate by following the beat or even singing or playing an instrument along with a performer. Many different things can affect the occurrence of repetition, and that can in turn affect its influence. Although the notation can be the same in a measure, the timing, the outcome, nuances in playing, semantic satiation or levels of attending can all greatly vary, playing a part in how listeners perceives repetition. Deutsch (2008) found an interesting illusion, whereby repeating a spoken phrase multiple times can sound suddenly musical to the listener, which outlines how powerful repetition is in providing both structure and pleasure to listeners. Recent studies (in progress) Margulis conducted looked at both elements of structure and listening pleasure by testing the average person's ability to recognize repetition across repeated listenings and to enjoy repetition in unfamiliar types of music (both of these studies are forthcoming). The first study involved people who were not musical experts listening to classical piano pieces and identifying when they heard a repetition of a segment. The scored repetitions were 'music-theory ignorant,' only considering identical notes with identical values as repetitions and not similar motifs or contour patterns. Over repeated listenings, participants moved from recognizing shorter repetitions to longer repetitions (for example, from 1s repeated phrases to 5s repeated phrases). Margulis concluded that attention for repeated phrases moved from small-scale to large-scale, helping listeners to 'zoom out' to higher levels of musical structure. A visual example of this 'zoom out' ability is demonstrated in the picture below. What is actually just a set of black splotches can be seen as a Dalmatian sniffing the ground in the centre of the image when viewed on the global level. This complements the claim that repetitions aids in shifting focus of attention, serving as a guide for listening to the piece. The second study looked at hedonic value vs. novelty, which was first proposed by Wundt in 1874. Participants were exposed to original and modified melodies based upon melodies from modern composers Luciano Berio and Elliott Carter. The created melodies had either direct repetition or delayed repetition of melodic material, and participants were asked to listen and rate the perceived enjoyability, interest, and artistry of each melody on 7-point Likert-like scales. These non-expert listeners found the melodies with immediate repetition most enjoyable and most artistic, and the melodies with delayed repetition were found to be most interesting. This study seems to suggest that there is an element of pleasure that comes from recognizing repetition, making novel or complex melodies easier to grasp and thus easier to enjoy. Margulis presented her talk on repetition with great passion. She put forth a compelling and interesting argument outlining the importance of research into repetition and used excellent examples and literature to show why it is central to music. With her upcoming book, Repetition, Music and Mind, there will hopefully be more study and interest sparked in this area, not only for why it occurs but also how it can be used to help understanding and enjoyment of music. Fitch, W. (2006). On the biology and evolution of music. Music Perception, 24(1), 85-88. DOI: 10.1525/mp.2006.24.1.85 Praeger, F. A. (1958). The Praeger picture encyclopedia of art: A comprehensive survey of painting, sculpture, architecture and crafts, their methods, styles and technical terms, from the earliest times to the present day. New York: F.A. Praeger. ]]> as a Route to Lifelong Well-Being 16 Mar 2012 16:08:56 +0000music-mind-brain reading →]]>Why do you enjoy music? Do you find it intensely pleasurable and addicting? Do you find yourself lost in the flow of the music? Does music connect you to other people and ideas beyond yourself? According to Keele University professor Alexandra Lamont, each of these approaches contribute to musical enjoyment and general well-being, with the maximal experience being achieved when all of these elements are combined. Dr. Lamont, the current editor of Psychology of Music, spoke to the students of the Music, Mind, and Brain course at Goldsmiths, University of London on the 26th of January, 2012. Lamont's research builds upon general concepts within the field of positive psychology to investigate how involvement in music contributes to well-being. Before discussing Lamont's specific research, we will explain some basic terminology within the positive psychology field. Positive psychology is a relatively new branch of psychology which looks at human activities which encourage pleasure, strength, and engagement. Positive psychologists delineate three critical components which are necessary to achieve a state of well-being (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure. Hedonism involves the maximization of positive affect and minimization of negative affect. Engagement is the "pursuit of gratification through absorption in a given task or activity" (Lamont, 2011b, p. 230). This is related to a state of "flow," which is characterized by intense concentration and loss of self-awareness and sense of time (Csikszentmihalyi, 1988). Meaning is involvement in something which is larger than oneself. According to Lamont, music listening and performance create strong positive responses by capitalizing on any or all of these three routes to happiness. The first of three studies discussed in Lamont's talk was related to strong emotional experiences in music, which expands on the work of Gabrielsson (2001). Lamont asked 46 undergraduates to describe their strongest remembered experiences in music listening. Lamont analyzed the responses using a qualitative approach, which is an in-depth analysis of specific narratives on a case-by-case basis to extract recurrent commonalities and themes. She adopted an idiographic analysis, which emphasizes each individual case as a distinct unit of analysis. This is in contrast to the approach employed in Gabrielsson's (2001) research of content analysis, which tallies the number of times a certain response or theme recurs in the total sample. Lamont found that the majority of strong listening responses were positive in nature and were experienced in live music settings (e.g. concerts and festivals) along with other people. Most involved familiar music, indicating that many participants were intentionally priming themselves toward an expected positive response. Interestingly, several experiences were also in unexpected settings, such as funerals or weddings, or in response to unfamiliar music. A variety of genres were represented, from classical through rock to hip-hop, with the majority focused on pop music. The following account details a strong listening experience which tapped into all three of the paths to well-being (hedonism, engagement, and meaning): "A few years ago, I got on stage with a ska band called Lightyear. I was quite drunk and so were my friends who were with me. I was dancing with the singer and everyone was going crazy. I just remember thinking to myself no matter what life throws at you, you will always have music and it will always make you feel good." (Lamont, 2011b, p. 236) Lamont went on to discuss her soon to be published paper on strong emotional experiences in music performance (forthcoming in Psychology of Music). 35 student performers completed the task of describing their strongest emotional responses to music, in the same manner as the listeners in the aforementioned study. A main difference between performers and listeners was that performing can more often lead to negative emotional responses and anxiety. As in the listening responses, the majority of accounts were positive and involved other people (fellow performers and/or audience). The overall range of responses, however, was more varied across the sample. The most typical profile included mixed emotions, with anxious, self-centred feelings before and/or during the performance but positive post-concert appraisals which involved interpersonal relationships. Lamont found clear references throughout to the three paths to well-being. Hedonism was accessed through pleasure in the success of the performance. Engagement and meaning were often attained through connection with other performers and the audience. The final study Lamont discussed was related to lifetime involvement in music. Through an online questionnaire, Lamont acquired responses from amateur adult musicians across the world detailing their involvement in music from childhood to the present. Participants ranged in age from 21 to 83. A striking finding was the discontinuity of music making across the lifespan. Many participants were musically active in childhood, quit performing for a long period (due to familial and career obligations) and showed a renewed interest in music many years later, often by taking up a new instrument. As described by Linda (age 68): "I sang as a teenager and I haven't done anything since… It's given me a new life, I mean a totally new life. 18 months ago, I was doing very little and was quite lonely. Now I'm in 4 different choirs, I've got some good friends and I'm very busy… It's given me a whole new life again." (Lamont, 2011a, p. 380) Lamont related this return to musical involvement at a later age to Erikson's model of stages of identity. According to Erikson (1959), each life stage has a potential crisis. Lamont explained that "music provides a way to negotiate many life transitions and identity crises, from leaving school through to retirement. For many middle-aged adults, involvement in music provides a way of exercising the need for generativity and care" (Lamont, 2011a, p. 381). Many older adults use music as a source of motivation and means of achieving integrity as part of their "end of life review," the last phase in Erikson's model. Erikson's Stages of Identity All three studies discussed here lead to the conclusion that music is a major theme across the lifespan. They show that music is not only a means of short-term gratification, but a route to complete absorption in an activity which can provide a sense of connection to other people and ideas. Given the omnipresence of music throughout life demonstrated by this research, future implications may include the implementation of a wider range of musical activities for all stages of life. This could be achieved by providing diverse opportunities for musical activities in a community setting, such as in amateur choirs, adult music classes, and nursing home concert series. Lamont shows that even if you're not a musician, music has the ability to touch you in an emotional and meaningful way. For those of you who have quit music or never played, it's never too late to find music engaging and gratifying. The Mozart effect was first described by Dr Tomatis and investigated by Rauscher, Shaw and Ky (1993) in terms of the positive effects of listening to Mozart music on spatial-temporal reasoning. This was quickly misinterpreted by the masses as evidence that listening to Mozart music increases IQ. Since then, on-going debate and research has been focused on examining whether music plays a significant role in one's health and wellbeing. As part of the 2011-2012 MMB invited speaker series, we had the pleasure of having the passionate Professor Raymond MacDonald share with us his thoughts and recent research on this topic. His discussion stemmed from the premise that everyone is musical and suggested ten aspects of music which make it conducive to improving wellness: Music is ubiquitous Music is emotional Music is engaging Music is distracting Music is physical Music is ambiguous Music is social Music is communicative Music affects behaviour Music plays a key role in identity MacDonald gave evidence for the usefulness of each of these aspects. For example, music as distracting was illustrated in a study in which pain tolerance increased when listening to favourite music compared to doing a diverting cognitive task (Mitchell, MacDonald & Brodie, 2006). It was argued that each of these aspects is important for musical improvisation, which MacDonald described as having great potential to be involved in the improvement of health and wellbeing. He contested the idea that improvisation is the preserve of elite jazz musicians. The majority of research in this area has been focused on this musical genre, yet it has been suggested that we all participate in improvisatory dialogues from infancy (Trevarthen, 2008), which would imply that improvisation is not restricted to a specific style of music. MacDonald affirmed this view by playing video clips of very young children engaging in musical improvisation. Music – An Intersection of Life MacDonald provided us with an inclusive view of music across many aspects of life and how musical activity in each of these domains can increase the wellbeing and quality of life. 'Conceptualising music health and wellbeing as a field of study' diagram used by Professor MacDonald * Music Education The positive influence that music instruction can have on cognitive skills was discussed. Research has shown that music instruction can promote brain neuroplasticity at both the structural and functional level (Pantev & Herholz, 2011). In addition, modest to significant associations between music training and cognition have been reported in domains such as speech and language (Manuela, 2009), reading (Moreno et al., 2009), spatial-temporal reasoning (Rauscher & Hinton, 2011) and arithmetic (Rauscher & Hinton, 2011). For example, reading and pitch discrimination abilities in speech were enhanced after 6 months of music training in 8 year-old non-musician children (Moreno et al., 2009). With regards to the mechanisms supporting transfer effects, recent evidence suggests that executive functions may play a mediatory role between music instruction and IQ (Dege, Kubicek & Schwarzer, 2011). However, whilst the value of music training shouldn't be taken lightly, MacDonald cautioned against using it as a magical substitute for additional tuition in weaker academic subjects. * Music Therapy This discipline seeks to establish music as a clinical tool in affecting positive change in the health and wellbeing of individuals. Improvisation is a key technique used in music therapy. MacDonald elaborated on a study that interviewed cancer patients attending group music therapy. The findings demonstrated that the improvisatory nature of the sessions enabled participants to expressively communicate and connect with others through music, providing a sense of control over their illness and a shared bond with fellow patients (Pothoulaki, Flowers & MacDonald, in press). * Community Music MacDonald commented on the recent growth both in public singing and in papers published on this topic which emphasise its benefits. For example, participating in live music has been shown to relieve apathy in elderly people suffering from dementia (Holmes, Knights, Dean, Hodkinson & Hopkins, 2006). Studies in this area seem to reveal more consistently positive results with the older generation as compared to the younger population (Hampshire & Matthijsse, 2010). The growth of a musical identity and social bonding is evident in choirs and musical ensembles, supporting the view that music can aid health and wellbeing. *Everyday Uses of Music The great accessibility to music has led to music being an essential part of everyday life. Music impacts on many aspects of life: mood, psychological state, self-esteem, social grouping and concentration. MacDonald highlighted the use of music as self-medication, through mood regulations and stress relief. Music is used by the masses as a free therapy within their control, governed by personal playlists, (Saarikallio & Erkkilä, 2011). Music can act as a form of company, or silence filler. The musical identities of the individuals and social networks provide support, improved confidence, feeling of control and even distraction from symptoms of illness, (Gallagher, Lagman, Walsh, Davis & LeGrand, 2009). Future Musical Dialogues MacDonald presented an inspiring talk on the uses of music in health and wellbeing incorporating many aspects we could all relate to, for example using music for mood regulation. Describing the four uses of music within psychology and education as being interrelated was an interesting way to represent the field in conjunction with other areas. It is clear to see that from the studies cited in this blog; this subsection of music psychology is still in its infancy with large scope for further research. Longitudinal studies could provide a more substantial long-term effect of music's role in health and wellbeing. Through the use of observational studies and experimental paradigms, causal evidence could be obtained. If such findings could be obtained, application to music therapy and education could be better informed and improved. The role of improvisation was a key feature in MacDonald's lecture. Improvisation has links to all four aspects of the music, health and wellbeing diagram. MacDonald described how improvisation brings a freedom to the individual allowing for self-expression, not available in many other forms of expression. It is from this that improvisation should be encouraged and developed across all areas of music. The everyday uses of music within wider society are at the forefront of research at the moment with growing choirs, media interest and a need for community in times of austerity. The role of music in individual lives beyond singing could be investigated further and be used to inform new approaches in music therapy and education. MacDonald is a leading force in music, health and wellbeing and his passion for the subject truly came across. Definitely whet the research appetite! When watching the countless YouTube videos of the often extraordinary talents of blind and autistic children, many of us cannot imagine having these exceptional musical skills at such a young age. But why, with their social and perceptual impairments and difficulties communicating, would blind and autistic children develop such impressive musicianship? Adam Ockelford spoke on this topic on 24th November 2011 to the Music, Mind and Brain students at Goldsmiths' College. Well-known as teacher to Derek Paravicini, a blind, autistic musical savant, Ockelford has worked with many children with such developmental differences, and he has developed a theory for their musical development based on their exceptional early cognitive environments (EECEs). Autism, present in about 1% of children, is characterised by impaired social interaction, impaired communication, and stereotyped behaviours. These obstacles often manifest in difficulties in social reciprocation as in conversation or peer relationships (Boomsma, et al., 2008). Similarly, blind children may also have difficulties with shared attention because of lack of visual input. Ockelford cites that these differences cause blind and autistic children to experience the world differently in following ways: an early fascination with everyday sounds that have musical qualities (like the vacuum cleaner), the tendency to flick and strike objects like glasses and bowls to produce sounds, and difficulties understanding the representational quality of language. This different understanding of the world leads Ockelford to posit his first hypothesis about the consequences of EECEs: all sounds are processed in musical terms. A blind or autistic child may not be interested in the function of the vacuum cleaner or a water glass, but they will attend to the pure tones produced by the objects. Adam Ockelford Perhaps resulting from this fascination with pure tones, there is a higher prevalence of absolute pitch in blind and autistic individuals (4 in 10 for blind and 1 in 20 for autistic, compared to 1 in 10,000 in Western cultures). Absolute pitch, according to Deutsch, Henthorn, and Dolson (2004), is "the ability to name or produce a note of particular pitch in the absence of a reference note" (p. 339). Deutsch, et al. (2004) propose that absolute pitch is a trait with which everyone is born, but to be exhibited, it must be cultivated through language development. Ockelford challenges, however, that absolute pitch could develop outside of language; for blind and autistic children, absolute pitch seems to precede the ability to name notes. Ockelford expanded this argument by showing a video of Freddie, age 10, an autistic student who pretends to "play" notes on the piano not by hovering his fingers over the keys while he sings the pitch. Ockelford joked that Freddie had no reason to play the notes because he could hear them in his head, and wasn't that just redundant? Ockelford also proposes, based on case studies from his blind and autistic students, that absolute pitch is acquired. For one child, Nick, age 4, Ockelford noticed a change from reproducing simple pieces in C to reproducing simple pieces in their 'correct' key. Ockelford then moved on to his second EECE theory that declares that blind and autistic children process sounds in music-structural terms. Because language is full of complex syntax and semantics and its development is mostly visually driven, it is hard for autistic or blind children to achieve language skills. Music, however, does not require external symbols but rather consists of non-semantic patterns that often repeat or imitate each other. This self-referential nature of music allows blind and autistic children to use it as communication. Ockelford underlines his arguments with a brilliant example of the very common and popular song, 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". As shown in the figure below, the song is characterised by a very simple pattern (two repeated crotchets) that is copied and imitated throughout the song. Overall the song is 80% repetitive and it can be understood because the 'notes point to each other' instead of relating to an external meaning. Because music is repetitive and self-referential, autistic and blind children may use music as a proxy language and use musical structures to express themselves. A common phenomenon is that autistic and blind children have echolalia, a "disordered speech in which an individual persistently repeats what it hears" (Zapor, Murphy & Enzenauer, 2001, p. 70). By repeating words, the children attempt to process language at a simple, repetitive level, more like music processing (for more information about echolalia, see Saad & Goldfeld, 2009). To summarise the two theories, EECE1 states that autistic and blind children process all sounds in musical terms, and EECE2 predicts that these children process sounds in musical structural terms. What, therefore, are the consequences of EECE1 and EECE2? Ockelford predicts three outcomes resulting from the exceptional early cognitive environment theories, as shown in the graph below: exceptional musicality, self-taught instrumental skills, and using music as an expressive, proxy language. Possible outcomes for the consequences of exceptional early cognitive environments: processing all sounds as musical sounds and processing sounds in terms of musical-structures. As blind and autistic children process everyday sounds as music and use musical structures to express themselves, they often develop exceptional musicality or self-taught instrumental skills. Music also becomes a tool to communicate and sometimes they even create a proxy language. Ockelford demonstrated this by presenting a video of little Theo, age 2, who has invented a proxy language made of music-like sounds and hummed musical fragments, which enable him to communicate with his mother who has learned to understand him. The expansion of these skills can be even more extreme if a child is both blind and autistic. An outstanding example of this brings us back to Derek Paravicini. Derek's ability to remember and recreate pieces he has heard only once seems unparalleled. While Ockelford's theories are rooted mainly in case studies and personal experiences, his line of reasoning was very impressive and empirical studies could be used to validate his hypotheses. One study that bolsters Ockelford's argument was conducted by Daweson, Warrenburg, and Fuller (1982) who found greater right hemisphere activation in autistic participants during a language task. Normally, during a linguistic task, the left hemisphere is dominant, whereas the right hemisphere would be expected to be dominant in a music listening task (Altenmüller, 2001). With Ockelford's behavioural evidence that language and music are not as separated in autistic individuals, this physiological evidence makes sense. As an extension of the Daweson, et al. (1982) study, additional insight might be gained from an EEG study of the lateralization of auditory evoked potentials (AEP), specifically comparing linguistic processing with musical processing in blind and autistic children and adults. The study could be performed while the children are sleeping by presenting two types of stimuli: short stories and melodies. This study could confirm Ockelford's argument that music processing happens differently in blind and autistic individuals. Overall, Ockelford's hypotheses allow us insight into the ways autistic and blind people may understand the world. As Trisha Van Berkel writes, "It is about finding a way to survive in an overwhelming, confusing world…It is about developing differently, in a different pace with different leaps." Ruth Reveal & Nora Schaal References: Altenmüller, E.O. (2001). How many music centres are in the brain? Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 930, 273-280 Can music-generating technology be deployed to promote a greater sense of social inclusion amongst children? This was the question Professor Graham Welch sought to address as a guest speaker for the Music, Mind and Brain students of 2011. It can be argued that musical training develops skills not limited to the musical context per se, for example skills which have an impact on physical and cognitive development (Welch 2011). Our 'bodymind' exploits a neurologically unique combination of endocrine, limbic and nervous systems when it is exposed to music (Thurman & Welch, 2000). Anatomical evidence for the potential benefits of music training include the observation of structural differences of the brain such as increased size of corpus callosum (Schlaug, Jancke, Huang, Staiger, & Steinmetz, 1995); suggesting improved communication between left and right hemispheres, balance and attention. In addition thicker areas of the cortex have been observed (Bermudez, Lerch, Evans, & Zattore, 2009), suggesting music links to executive functions and memory. These differences in the frontal cortex might also be linked to emotional intelligence, a distinct characteristic of well-adjusted individuals (Goleman, 1995). In addition to this potential to improve physical and cognitive development (Hyde, Lerch, Norton, Forgeard, Winner, Evans and Schlaug, 2009) through the engagement with music, Welch argued that music can also support social development, given that humans are designed to be musical and social creatures. Supporting the concept of music being neurologically multi-sited, he argued that musical training has the potential to assist in many areas of the brain, affecting functions such as speech and literacy development. "Music does not happen in a vacuum, but always in a social context […]", Welch added, referring to a recent fMRI study (Parsons & Cocker, 2009) which revealed that the active areas in the brain are different when someone sings alone, as opposed to when singing along with others. Is this the 'social' component of musical experience mapped in the brain? And if so, how can this component be developed further? Thus, Welch aims to bring this link between music and social activity into the educational context. Welch's previous research in the context of the Sing Up project, exhibited that the active engagement of children during singing lessons correlates with improvements not only in singing but also in social inclusion (Welch, Himonides, Saunders, & Papageorgi, 2010). By what means can this musical training be exploited to create an enhanced sense of social cohesion within its participants, while at the same time keeping the experience enjoyable? The answer came from the UMSIC project, the Usability of Music for the Social Inclusion of Children. By creating a rationale that music making using mobile phone technology can be applied to engender a greater sense of community cohesion, the UMSIC project was approved and funded as an Information and Communication Research (ICT-FP7) project by the European Commission. To support this unique project, an interdisciplinary and international team was formed including musicians, psychologists, software developers, hardware designers, and engineers. With mobile phone technology supplied by Nokia, the team's objective was to research, design and develop interactive software, based on a mobile device, which would enable children to create and share music easily, and trial this on targeted groups. Whilst intended for children with any social or medical background, the team aimed particularly to assist children at high risk of marginalisation, as a result, children with learning difficulties (ADHD) and immigrant children became their priority. Welch's enthusiasm about the project was self-evident during the presentation of the team's outcome: the Jamming Mobile (JamMo). JamMo was developed on a new mobile phone (N900) provided by Nokia, the industry partner of the project. Working with more than 1400 children, between 3-12 years old, the UMSIC research team designed, developed and evaluated the programme. For 3-6 year olds a singing game was created, along with software allowing children to drag and drop music onto a backing track. For older age groups, a "spinning icons" interface was used to listen to a variety of loop samples and compose from these. During the analysis stages, the group employed various techniques to observe children's use of the device and gather data through special questionnaires for children and teachers, adult interviews and real-time observations including video recording coupled with log-file (i.e. keystroke recording) analysis of the user's behaviour. Children helped the UMSIC team to design the interface and were enthusiastic to use this "cool" device; avoiding the paradox of school music being perceived as teacher-directed and "serious". Before presenting the final results Welch went one step further by presenting a short video of two 12 year old children filmed whilst composing music using JamMo. He then asked the audience to identify which participant had severe ADHD. No one could observe any symptoms of ADHD. Supporting the video, Welch argued that evidently JamMo improved self-regulation and musical productivity. In general, the project's results reported that the musical collaboration was positive, reciprocal and intense for the ADHD group; despite the fact that they were working with a non-friend participant. JamMo moreover, received positive feedback for its effectiveness by teachers and enthusiastic reactions from its users. The project evaluation results were promising as the social interaction through music was evident. The participants collaborated with each other, sharing ideas and compositions, and encouraging comments from their partners. The JamMo enhanced individuals' motivations and concentrations, and participants reported greater feeling of being in a group and being socially included. All these findings were significant according to the appropriate statistical analyses based on the social inclusion instrument data used for this project as well as other UMSIC studies internationally. Based on UMSIC findings, it can be concluded that mobile music technology can support musical development and social inclusion especially with children in danger of social marginalisation. The cultural-distance between children can be reduced irrespective of ability, ethnicity, and gender. Moreover, there is clear evidence of intellectual, emotional and social engagement. Although the project cannot present any long-term impact of this interactive music-making software, the ability to create and learn music using a 'cool' and 'new' gadget will enforce children to use it and 'have fun' socially, while they increase their musical skills, language and social interaction. This might not be the panacea for a better community but it is evidently a useful tool towards achieving reduced marginalisation Earlier this year an invitation to apply for a week long Auditory Cognition Summer School at the University of Groningen arrived in my inbox. The opportunity to meet people with the similar interests and extend the international network of Music, Mind & Brain MSc prompted a quick response to the requested justification of interest and relevance. The acceptance criteria were devised to promote generative discourse amongst a diverse group, chosen on the basis of the relevance of their research interests. Following a successful application, the Netherlands rail network provided my seamless and civilised arrival in the sunny town of Groningen 2 hours north west of Amsterdam. My welcome pack included updated information about the educational and social programme, speakers and participants – and instructions on picking up my free bike! Cycling around Groningen is easy, fun and safe (apart from an early near crash caused by my misunderstanding of European cycling etiquette!). The campus consists of both 'state of the art' facilities and historically beautiful, exceptionally functional buildings. Founded in 1614 with 5 Professors and 82 students, the University is now ranked as one of the Top 10 research institutes in Europe, comprising of 50,000 students. Consequently, Groningen is a city of enterprise and a dynamic base for scholarly application which proudly boasts not only the 'most contented inhabitants on the continent' but also the worlds' most beautiful urinal! The first lecture covered the healthy and impaired auditory system, given by expert audiologist, Deniz Baskent. The lab session comprised of techniques used for auditory testing, including otoacoustic emissions and pitch sensitivity, and utilised the latest software. After this, group projects (in the form of questions) were assigned and people paired from complementary disciplines. With many aspects of auditory cognition represented, from biomedical engineers, to architects specialising in auditory design and experts in artificial intelligence, I looked forward to engaging with my new colleagues. "Why do I like this [sound]?" was the questioned designed to stimulate debate amongst my group, which comprised of Anne, a PhD student from Leiden University studying the influence of emotion on auditory processing; Erkin, a PhD student from Chalmers University (Sweden) researching the connections between haptic sensations and auditory perception and Vicky from the National Biomedical Research Unit in Hearing, University of Nottingham. We had 5 days to brain storm and prepare our presentation, but with a heavy educational and social programme, the pressure was on. A 'getting to know each other' Tapas evening rounded off day 1, followed by a tasting of typical Dutch and Belgium beers. This included the entire history of beer, the process of making it and explanation of the various descriptions as well as the joy of an expert tasting session. This entails taking a swig, holding the beer in your mouth until it reaches room temperature, then swallowing and breathing out through your nose at the same time in order to fully appreciate the complexity of the taste and aromas. Undoubtedly I am now a complete beer snob! Dr Roy Patterson from Cambridge University thoroughly engaged with his lecture about his development of auditory images. In the subsequent lab session, we explored the freely available AIM software designed to generate, for example, glottal pulse rate, vocal tract length and display size-invariant representations of messages communicated at syllabic level. The illustration included here is a simulated auditory image of an /ae/ vowel, as in the word 'hat'. A seasoned speaker, Roy interspersed his talk with anecdotes about fish communication strategies which were informative and very amusing. Saturday was reserved for a group outing to Amsterdam, during which I spent a very enjoyable day with the programme director, Dr Tjeerd Andringa. Originally a Physicist and founding member of the Artificial Intelligence department at the University of Groningen, Tjeerd consults with INCAS3, (the Innovation Centre for Advanced Sensors and Sensors Systems) and is a board member of EuCognitionII. His interests in cognition range from synaptic cleft to geopolitics, which we discovered led to lively debate over lunch. A true facilitator, Tjeerd introduced new ideas at regular intervals, consistently challenging the group to think outside the box. The evening was spent at ctaste, an incredible fine dining 'in the dark' restaurant. The removal on sight heightens the sensory experience of the taste, texture and smell of the food and wine. Blind waiters provide excellent service, but also some amusing Monty Pythonesque moments as crockery escaped and we tried to guess the menu. As we discovered, kangaroo presents as a slightly gamey lamb taste with the texture of horse! Not for the faint hearted, or for those of a claustrophobic disposition but an enlightening escapade as one battles to focus against overwhelming background noise and sensory overload. Sunday saw more group work and a little rest before a Dutch pancake evening on a pirate boat, followed by a novel game of power point karaoke, in which you have to present an improvised lecture on novel topics such as 'the geometry of rope tying', or in my case…Vegetables. Let me just say, this game is a lot easier when you are sitting down watching everyone else. Professor Susan Denham, head of Cognitive Neuroscience at Plymouth University and co-director of the summer school, gave a very interesting lecture on Monday concerning neuromorphic models of streaming. Building on the work of Bregmans' Auditory Scene Analysis with her computational background, Sue's current work looks at the competition between rivals in auditory processing and the flexibility of perception by modelling sequences in CHAINS. This looks at the parameters of perception in a process defined as stochastic perceptual switching. The following lecture given by Dr Robert Mill explained more fully how the model differentiates between the factors of exclusivity, inevitability and randomness in order to ascertain why the (auditory) world appears stable. During the subsequent lab session, Sue tested the group for fundamental (frequency) listeners vs spectral component listeners, with predictions that some people appear to be extreme (for example, drummers like me tend towards fundamental frequencies) whilst others can be mixed. Results supported her model and happily I appeared as a percussive outlier. Monday evening heralded the much anticipated 'International Cooking Event', in which we prepared culinary delights for the wonderful group of students who had been so welcoming, helpful and had obviously worked incredibly hard to organise the week for us. Everyone went to great lengths to provide samples of their gourmet heritage, from homemade arepas (cornmeal pancakes from Columbia) to Coco-Cola Chicken from China. Good old bread and butter pudding went down well from the British contingent, but mostly it was heart warming to see how much effort people went to in order to share their love of the food of their home nations. The next day, Tjeerd presented his work regarding real world sound perception, questioning traditional approaches to listening and differentiating it from hearing. He also explained the process of the creation the verbal aggression detection system for unconstrained social environments by his company Sound Intelligence. Research enabling identification of a particular cohort of frequencies (which even actors couldn't match for intention of violence) has been implemented in stations around Holland to great effect, generating philosophical questions concerning the slightly disconcerting 'big brother' overtones. Tuesday evening was spent earnestly within groups preparing the next days' presentations. This aspect of the week, with topics such as 'Sonic environments to grow up in' actually became one of the highlights as expertise from all areas was shared, although sadly not enough time was assigned for full discussion. Wednesday continued with a fascinating lecture from Dr David Prior, an electroacoustic composer and ambisonic artist. Combining art and science, David founded Liminal with his creative partner Frances Crow and won the PRS new music award with The Organ of Corti, currently on tour in the UK. Having enjoyed the 'sound walk' David organised, I really hope I get a chance to experience more of his work. Thinking about auditory stimuli from this perspective reminded me that above all, the experience of sound as music is at the heart of my journey – a journey which has taken me through the wonders of our music, Mind and Brain course and now to Groningen for a wider perspective. Auditory Cognition is an emerging rainbow of complimentary disciplines, which as ACG 2011 showed, can all inform each other and work together on an international level, creating space for innovative projects and future collaborations. If an invitation to ACG 2012 lands in your inbox – I recommend you reply. ACG 2011 Group Photo ]]> LogoCycling by Groningen Universitygroningen urinalAuditory imageACG Group Organisers with Certificates 2011organ of corti music sculptureACG Group Photo 2011Psychological aspects of singing development in children 07 May 2011 11:35:46 +0000music-mind-brain reading →]]>Dr. Graham F. Welch, Institute of Education, London 3rd February 2011 Music is always around us. Everyone can express one's emotion with music and thankfully, everyone is born with one instrument: a voice to sing. Then, how does singing affects us? Since this ability is innate, it should be important enough to give some positive effects to people. Dr. Graham F. Welch was invited as a guest speaker for students on the Music, Mind and Brain program. Starting from psychological aspects of singing in children, Dr. Welch introduced his research on Sing-up, a program for the development of singing in children, by starting to describe the phases of the physical vocal development across the life of humans, and emphasising the effect of the program. According to Welch, there are seven phases of vocal development: Early childhood from1 to 3 years of age, later childhood from 3 to 10 years of age, Puberty from 8 to 14 years of age, Adolescence from 12 to 16 years of age, Early adulthood from 15 to 30/40 years of age, Adulthood from 40 to 60 years of age and Senescence from 60 years of age onwards (Welch, 2006). Some important points about the physiology of vocal development are the individual differences that exist among human beings, the sex differences, the difference between biological age and chronological age and the fact that some phases overlap. Dr. Welch also described a continuum of vocal ability which can be segmented into 3 categories. From left to right of the scale, the first category is abnormal, the second is normal and the third is supranormal. He continued his talk by emphasizing that music is an emotional experience which involves the activation of 3 biological systems: The endocrine system, the immune system and the nervous system. Moreover, brain architecture was discussed in order to point out its integrated neurological modularity. Music is an experience which is multi-sited. In a research by Belin and Zatorre (2000) it was found that voice selective regions can be found in both hemispheres of the brain. Peretz and Coltheart (2003) proposed a model of music processing which was then adapted by Welch (2005) in order to be specifically about singing processing. This model involves all the steps from the acoustic input, the acoustic analysis, the emotional analysis, the musical lexicon, the phonological lexicon to the song lyrics and melody. Further, as far as singing and speaking is concerned, it was found that there exists a bi-hemispheric network for vocal production. The above finding was revealed through a research by Ozdemir, Norton and Schlaug (2006) who gave participants a task, to repeat a sequence of 20 bi-syllabic phrases based on a recording by a native English speaker. An fMRI study showed that in all 4 conditions – speaking, singing, humming and vowel production – both sides of the brain were activated. Comparing the differences between actual singing and imagined singing, there is actual evidence from an fMRI study that largely the same areas are activated in the brain in both cases (Kieber, Veit, Birbaumer & Lotze, 2007). Dr. Welch also added that mental rehearsals are not at all a waste of time and that they should be used by undergraduate music students in order to rehearse quietly. Further, there are studies that examine the difference between singing alone or with others. Larry Parsons conducted an fMRI study which showed that the social part of the brain is activated when singing with others (Kieber, Veit, Birbaumer & Lotze, 2007). Going back to the musical development, Dr. Welch emphasised that musical development begins pre-birth in utero. The voice and the emotional state of the mother while singing or speaking are encoded and perceived by the foetus. In early childhood the identification of rhythmic and melodic contour patterns begins (Welch, 2006). Children at the age of 3 are able to sing by combining familiar tunes from their culture with improvised melodies. The environment plays an important role in how every child will develop musically. Research has shown that children with a richer music environment develop faster as far as singing is concerned (Welch, 2006). Based on this evidence, the UK government created the Sing-up Program for children. Sing-up program This national program with the UK government's support is applied to primary school-aged children, offering them high quality of singing experiences (see also Dr. Welch and his colleagues investigated how the sing-up program made difference across various domains; not only singing skill, but also sociability, self-concept, and even physical benefits. Schools with the sing-up program showed higher singing skill scores across ethnicity groups, and both males and females while females tend to have higher scores than males regardless of the program intervention. Having a closer look at differences among type of schools, it is clear that schools with more experience of singing, including the sing-up program intervention and special school setting such as chorister school or cathedral school, showed higher development on singing ability. (See Welch et al. (2008) for further details). The impact of the sing-up program showed that children from the sing-up group actually developed their singing abilities 2 years ahead on average compared to those from the non sing-up group, even though its impact tended to decrease as children grew older. The overall difference between the sexes in his study made for an interesting comparison. While the female group achieving better singing scores overall, females and males from sing-up group showed parallel development of increasing singing ability across ages. On the other hand, the difference between females and males from non sing-up group gradually increased with age. This result goes with the common sense that singing becomes more gender specific activity as children grow. Then, what are benefits of having higher singing development? Dr. Welch analysed and concluded benefits in various domains. First, children's attitudinal data about their singing activities and self-concept were anaylsed. Overall, girls and younger children were more positive than boys and older children group, respectively. Also, children who had sing-up program experience showed more positive result than non sing-up children on singing activity at school. (Even though children normally have better singing ability as grow, they tend to less like it since the singing activity becomes more private.) To be more specific, singing activity affects on physical benefits such as respiratory, cardiac, and neurological development. It helps children for better understanding and skills of what they learn in educational perspective. Most importantly, it benefits in social perspectives such as group works, communication, or community setting understanding. Children with higher singing ability had a more positive self concept, and felt more socially included whereas children with lower singing ability showed less effective ways of dealing with the world (see Welch et al. (2010) for further details). A voice is one of the tools to describe who the person is. Therefore, giving children and adolescents more access to singing education will help not only to have higher singing ability, but also to have a more positive self-identity and social inclusion, eventually being beneficial to society on the whole. If we follow Dr. Welch's argument, overall singing and engaging in musical activities will help socialization and the development of a healthy self-identity in children	eng	004e93f2-5575-4ad3-830d-e9dd1a792141	http://musicmindandbrain.wordpress.com/feed/
Comments on: BOOOM! Oracle's Copyright Case v Google Takes a Big Hit One man. Closing, all the windows.Sun, 26 May 2013 00:37:15 +0000hourly1 Robert Pogson Robert PogsonWed, 25 Apr 2012 15:03:27 +0000 wrote, "In other words: Google wants to use a product of SUN/Oracle (JAVA) that is very useful – rather, essential – for their product (ANDROID), but they don't want to pay for it." SUN/Oracle say Java is $0 to write applications. Google provided something to run those applications that was not a Java virtual machine but a Dalvik virtual machine. They complied fully with the licence provided for $0 for developers. That's the only code Android/Linux needed, not the Java virtual machine. No one else paid for the privilege of writing Java applications, so why should Google? In yesterday's testimony, Google's guys stated under oath that money was not the problem. The irrational compulsion to control the ecosystem was a problem. Google was willing to pay for a licence but could not accept the terms. Google insisted on Android/Linux being FLOSS and SUN, apparently, did not. SUN's position makes no sense to me. Android/Linux could have multiplied the use of Java and SUN could have been paid for allowing SUN's Java virtual machine to ride on smart thingies, but SUN wanted to control Android. The whole point of Android was to increase the numbers of users of search/advertising to drive revenue and Google wanted no one to have a hand on their throat. SUN wanted to be the hand, just as M$ was the hand on the x86 PC. " Google: Was Java developed at Sun while you were CTO? Eric Schmidt: Yes. Google: What was your role? Eric Schmidt: Taking from primary author, James Gosling, working with Bill Joy. Google: Duration of development? Eric Schmidt: 1989 to 1994. "Attempt to build a new religion around a new way of thinking." Google: When was language released? Eric Schmidt: In 1994, here in the Moscone Center. Google: How was it released? Eric Schmidt: It was released with the understanding of developing with partners. [He negotiated licenses with Netscape and Oracle.] Google: Why do this? Eric Schmidt: We, who had come out of Berkeley and Unix, put the software out there to allow others to modify it. You could use Java under license, or you could make your own, as long as you did not call it Java. … Google: When Java was introduced, were the APIs released too? Eric Schmidt: Yes. Google: What is the purpose of the APIs? Eric Schmidt: Language is useless without the APIs. Google: How were APIs made available? Eric Schmidt: Book by Bill Joy, documentation. Google: APIS were developed at the same time as JPL? Eric Schmidt: Yes. Google: How would Sun make money off it? Eric Schmidt: You could pay a modest license fee, or do your own implementation. … Google: Did you continue to speak with Jonathan Schwartz about Apache licencing? Eric Schmidt: Yes. Google: Remained a customer of Sun? Eric Schmidt: Yes. Google: How frequently? [did they talk?] Eric Schmidt: Once every 6 months. Google: Did he ever express concern about you using Java or Java APIs? Eric Schmidt: He did not. Google: Did they ever express any concerns? Eric Schmidt: No. Google: Did he ever say that there was any need for Google to take a license? Eric Schmidt: No. … Google: Were you able to reach an agreement? Eric Schmidt: Unfortunately, no. Google: Why not? Eric Schmidt: Contributors have little control after release. Sun wanted much tighter control. Google: Was money the reason? Eric Schmidt: Not really, $30-$50M. Money as not the big issue. Google: After the negotiations broke off in 2006 … Eric Schmidt: Date of exhibit is May 2006. . Google: At that point, what did you do? Eric Schmidt: Wanted to make sure that we could support the Java language. Eric Schmidt: We started cleanroom implementation. Totally different form the way that Java worked internally. Google: What do you mean by that? Eric Schmidt: We went with a route that didn't use the byte code approach. … Google: Were there in Spring '06 presentations to EMG? Andy Rubin: Yes. Google: By time of spring, generally what were these presentations about? Andy Rubin: Paying Sun to open source Java. Google: What would Google be providing? Andy Rubin: Donating the Android code and paying money to Sun. Google: Why pay money with Sun when it was going to be open sourced? Andy Rubin: It would be a change in their business model. Google: How large a payment? Andy Rubin: $28-$34 million payment to Sun. Google: Did you get approval? Andy Rubin: Yes." So, what Google did was reasonable, correct and OK by SUN. Oracle is dead on this issue. ]]>By: Ch ChWed, 25 Apr 2012 13:52:21 +0000 Google wanted the vast resource of Java developers but did not want to cut SUN/Oracle in on the action. In other words: Google wants to use a product of SUN/Oracle (JAVA) that is very useful – rather, essential – for their product (ANDROID), but they don't want to pay for it. > That's pretty reasonable. That's one way of putting it. It reminds me of the bankrobber who was asked by the judge: "Why did you rob that bank?" His famous reply: "That's where the money is!" In this sense, yes, what Google does is "reasonable". But why do you defend it? Oh yes, Google never ever does anything evil, only the others do … ]]>By: Robert Pogson Robert PogsonWed, 25 Apr 2012 11:36:57 +0000 also claims the copying, if any, is de minimis, based on the bulk of the coding they did. So, oiaohm's argument is that it's less than de minimis, very small indeed. ]]>By: oiaohm oiaohmWed, 25 Apr 2012 04:46:52 +0000 copies and stolen work have two slightly different meanings. Illegal copies is just that copies without approval you have not removed the Authors credit. A Stolen work is like plagiarism credit due has been removed in this case. This case is stolen work not illegal copies. Stolen work is basically taking credit for work you should not be. Robert Pogson Java API is made of functions and Classes. "An API does not cause a computer to produce any result. That is up to the implementation." Its the classes that make this wrong. Classes produce a result or effect produced result. This is where we are in hell. Classes do interact with each other. Function overloading. So scary enough they can and do produce a results. If Java API was just functions not protected this has already be ruled as clear by the judge. So C is mostly free and clear. So you example is right Robert. "function sqrt(x:real):real;" What if that was a virtual function like for average that depending on what class would be overloaded with something else. Polymorphism that is defined in classes is where the problem starts. Because this is effecting the results the program will produce. So read what you quoted careful. "A "computer program" is a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result." The loop hole indirectly threatens to turn classes into a computer program in there own right. If this is the case Google owns Oracle. Of course a classes could be argued as a method of operation. If that is upheld Google owns Oracle nothing over the copyright infringement bit. Its not functions where the problem is. Its the classes that contain the functions in Java and Android where the problem is. C++, Java, C#, Vala basically any Class based langauge there has been no ruling if Classes are in fact API or Copyright Protected Works. Also what conditions if any make Classes a copyright protected work. So far a class that is just a list of functions has been ruled as not copyright protected work. The name of the class might be copyright protected judge is not sure on this. So that google copied class Math and its stilled called Math it might be a copyright infrignement. If it had been renamed like science it would not be for sure. Classes with polymorphic interactions again judge is not sure on this either. Yes Oracle vs Google is a very important case. To clear up where the lines are with classed based languages. The lines in function based languages was cleared up years ago. When you think about the complexity of this problem I am thankful I am not the judge. ]]>By: Robert Pogson Robert PogsonWed, 25 Apr 2012 03:06:40 +0000 wrote, "Google did not include GPL copyright notices so it becomes just a stolen work." "Stolen" is not applicable. One can make illegal copies without stealing anything. function sqrt(x:real):real; Copied or not, that is not protectable under copyright. It is not a "work". " APIs are a "method of operation". Sqrt takes a real argument and gives a real result. They may not even be treated as "computer programmes" in law: "A "computer program" is a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result." An API does not cause a computer to produce any result. That is up to the implementation. ]]>By: oiaohm oiaohmWed, 25 Apr 2012 01:22:53 +0000 Pogson this is the thing Oracle does not have to sue for breach of GPL any form. Reason Google did not include GPL copyright notices so it becomes just a stolen work. This is where GPL enforcement gets fun. Someone steals GPL they had no license to use it so GPL does not even enter the case. Oracle is basically conducting GPL enforcement the other way. Ivan the thing is openjdk that google could have used is under GPLv2 + linking exception. Openjdk is the base to Oracle Java. There is also GNU Classpath with the GNU Classpath exception license that includes same parts as what Google took as well. So not just GPLv2. So there is no big bang against android. Since android can change the parts to a license that is still closed source friendly legally. Basically Ivan and Robert Pogson if android had those API under GPL using one of the accepted forms by Oracle(Ie including linking exceptions) there would not be a Copyright case at all. Effects to Android minimal. In fact before the court case and threats of damaged even started Oracle asked Google without bill to license what they believed was their code correctly. Yes it could ended before it started if there was a clear define of what a work is. "Google is claiming the documentation was in the public domain, but even if it was GPL, they could just change the licence back on the API. Where's the "damage" to Oracle? None." That is the problem the documentation was not public domain either. By copyright law damage is done because your product was distributed under the wrong license. So other people could believe your product was not protected by the license you wished for. Yes Oracle is unclear if it has a copyright infringement case. Judge has also found that the section what Oracle is unclear about has no test case and no law document tell you if its right or wrong. Google first belief that they were protected by Sega v. Accolade has already been broken. So now Google is not clear either. Its a real poor Judge problem. He has to work out some form of ruling based off law to cover problem if it happens in future. If it too hard the Judge can even rule that it cannot be decided by the courts and send it into the political system for a bill to be passed defining it. I hope this does not happen. Google created a platform that converted code of Java applications to run under Dalvik. They did that only because SUN encumbered Java virtual machines with the TCK licence. Google wanted the vast resource of Java developers but did not want to cut SUN/Oracle in on the action. That's pretty reasonable. The only place where they have come close to doing wrong is getting too close to the Java APIs in Dalvik. If they had translated Java to x86 or Java to ARM instead of Dalvik the situation would be crystal clear. A lot of work was done replicating the Java API implementation that would not have needed to be done if SUN had come to an agreement with Google. I just don't see anything wrong with what Google did except dodging the GPL. If they were going to share the code with the world, there is no advantage to anyone using ASL and there are lots of disadvantages like people suing each other. Owning Java gave SUN no right to prevent other from doing similar work. SUN did not own those developers and SUN had allowed anyone to write Java applications. ]]>By: Damon Arnett Damon ArnettTue, 24 Apr 2012 16:06:40 +0000 is an incredible developer's tool. It is largely open. It is so open that Sun had a hard time getting any money from it even though Java powers billions of devices worldwide. One of the few areas that Sun reserved for significant licensing revenue was mobile phone technology. All telecoms that used Java, which was most of them, paid Sun for their specific flavor of a small, powerful Java platform for their smart phone. So even though Sun could slap down Apache for numerous invasions of Java licensing rules, Sun left them largely alone because of their contribution to greater Java acceptance–as long as it did not imperil Sun's mobile phone licensing revenue. The rule was: Developers are free to write their applications for personal profit, but companies that commercialize a platform should pay to have their Java implementation certified. Google invaded Sun's only real revenue stream for Java–hiding behind the Apache non-license and thought they could bully and out-lawyer the hapless Sun CEO, Johnathon Schwartz. Oracle will monetize Java where Sun could not. They will not destroy the developer community or the Java ecosystem. But Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt–who had been Sun's CTO–thought he could get a billion dollar free-ride by pushing Sun in their one sweet-spot for Java–smart phone licenses. The judge is pushing on both sides in this case to get them to ultimately accept his compromise. He says it will start at $100 million (the figure that Google and Sun were discussing when negotiations broke off) and could go much higher. Oracle will also have an ongoing financial/development interest in Android. ]]>By: Robert Pogson Robert PogsonTue, 24 Apr 2012 11:22:00 +0000 wrote, ""How the Hell can the API be restricted for something that's GPL?" That is a simple case if it not a independent work it should have remained under GPL license." So then, what good is it, if you've already gotten a yes or a no, what does it add to then say "btw, is the implementation a derivative work of the plain English of what the method will do"? To my mind, there's no legal significance to that question. The first 2 questions are all that matter. Oracle: I think that's right. Let us think about it and get back to you." In effect, Google may be accused of copying 1/1000 of Java to make Android, by using the same documentation. They distributed that documentation to developers, a tiny violation if any compared to the distribution of Android/Linux on smart thingies. Google is claiming the documentation was in the public domain, but even if it was GPL, they could just change the licence back on the API. Where's the "damage" to Oracle? None.	eng	f43089e5-2c3c-4bc7-a772-574cf77265b7	http://mrpogson.com/2012/04/21/booom-oracles-copyright-case-v-google-takes-a-big-hit/feed/
Habitat fragmentation is one of the principle threats to biodiversity, and in developing landscapes, urbanization is a leading agent of fragmentation and primary cause of species endangerment. Such is the case in coastal southern California, one of the largest megalopolitan regions in North America where the dramatic growth of human populations and resulting sprawl has severely fragmented native habitat in this biodiversity hotspot. Connectivity, the degree of movement of organisms or processes among habitat patches (Taylor et al. 1993), is essential to maintaining the ecological integrity across fragmented areas by allowing for movement and dispersal of wildlife. Such animal movements may be critical to facilitate the exchange of genetic material among otherwise isolated populations, and maintaining functional levels of connectivity may be essential to allow natural range shifts in response to short and long-term environmental transitions, such as fires and global climate change. The preservation of functional levels of connectivity undoubtedly lends strength to efforts to protect wildlife, their habitats, and the ecosystem services they provide. Mammalian carnivores can be effective focal species to evaluate the degree of landscape-level connectivity, or fragmentation, in a region. Large carnivores are particularly vulnerable to extinction in fragmented habitat because of wide ranges and resource requirements, low densities, slow population growth rates, and direct persecution by humans (Noss et al. 1996, Woodroffe and Ginsberg 1998, Crooks 2000, 2002). Consequently, top predators may not be able to persist in landscapes that are not connected by functional movement corridors. Further, their disappearance may generate cascades that ripple down the food web. In fragmented habitat in San Diego, Crooks and Soulé (1999) demonstrated that the extirpation of dominant predators such as coyotes (Canis latrans) can result in the ecological release of smaller predators and increased extinction rates of their avian prey. Thus, top predators may function as keystone species - animals whose disappearance causes the increase in some species and the decline and extinction of others (Mills et al. 1993). Carnivores therefore are ecologically pivotal organisms whose status can be indicative of the functional connectivity of ecosystems. Using mammalian carnivores in conservation planning adds a critical layer of conservation strategy that may provide a robust method for protecting other species with less demanding needs. Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are an excellent focal species to evaluate connectivity. They are less sensitive to fragmentation than larger felids and are thus valuable indicators of connectivity at local (finer) spatial scales and intermediate levels of fragmentation and urbanization. They have relatively large home ranges and can disperse long distances. Bobcats can persist in habitat fragments, but only those that have adequate connections to larger natural areas. Coyotes can also serve as good indicators of connectivity and are a good choice of focal species, because certain populations are vulnerable to localized extinction in habitat fragments that are too small, disturbed, or isolated. Thus, habitat connectivity appears to be the key to the persistence of these species and their associated biodiversity. Due to the threat that habitat fragmentation poses to natural environments, connectivity conservation is increasingly becoming incorporated into land-management plans worldwide. Here we are studying the movements and dispersal behavior of carnivores, with a primary focus on bobcats, to evaluate functional connectivity in southern California and provide information to managers to help sustain carnivore populations across fragmented reserves. Project Details We are continuing examinations of over ten years of carnivore monitoring data from five contiguous counties in southern California, with a focus on how urbanization across this region has influenced the distribution and movement ecology of bobcats. In FY10, we will add to this regional dataset from a related project that will double the total number of data records. Recent findings of our research on bobcats have identified vehicle strikes as a major source of mortality and that notoedric mange, which may be linked to rodenticide exposure, is an emerging threat. -USE GLUE TRAPS TO KILL MICE IN YOUR HOME, NOT RODENTICIDES THAT BOBCATS AND COYOTES AND HAWKS DIE FROM WHEN EATING POISONED RODENTS--BLOGGER RICK Thus we are continuing examinations of bobcat health and mortality. Specifically we will continue recording and collecting bobcats killed on roads, examining the characteristics of the locations, and conducting necropsies of carcasses. We will also continue other disease surveys, with a focus on FIV in collaboration with Colorado State University. We continue examining internal connectivity within lands managed by the Irvine Ranch Conservancy and other land management groups. We are using previously collected data on bobcats to determine locations where bobcats might be particularly susceptible to mortality from vehicle strikes and where there are natural corridors. After identifying these important locations, we will conduct detailed field surveys of the roadways and potential corridors to identify characteristics influencing bobcat movement patterns and mortality. Finally, we are examining our 10 years of camera trap surveys in Orange County to identify longer-term trends in bobcat population health and distribution patterns with respect to urbanization. We will conduct a meta-analysis of GPS-telemetry data collected on bobcats since 2002 to study how fragmentation at varying scales impacts their activity patterns, space utilization, and genetic relatedness. These analyses should help identify factors contributing to the decline of bobcats in fragmented areas. In one analysis, we will compare the movement rates of bobcats to determine if the same environmental characteristics, such as temperature and moonlight, that seem to influence bobcat activity levels in relatively pristine areas also operate in areas where bobcats live in smaller habitat patches that are closer to urbanized areas. In another analysis, we will examine whether genetic patterns seen at coarse scales, where bobcats in a more fragmented and isolated area exhibited higher levels of inbreeding than those in a more in-tact area, are found at local scales. Specifically, we will examine whether bobcats living closer together have higher levels of relatedness than those that are farther apart, and whether dispersal appear to be inhibited by fragmentation and the hazards of crossing through an urban environment. Scientists: Wolf Hunts More Deadly Than Previously Thought by Virginia Morell on 29 September 2010, 8:00 PM A policy to sustainably manage gray wolves via recreational hunting appears to rely on faulty ecological science, says a new paper published today in PLoS ONE. The paper challenges a long-held assumption that gray wolf populations won't be decimated by hunting and predator-control programs. It has been believed up till now that such efforts can remove as many as 28% to 50% of the animals in a population without causing long-term harm to their numbers. The paper comes on the heels of last year's first gray wolf hunting seasons in Montana and Idaho. (Wolves are disliked because they eat elk and livestock.) Hunters killed 260 wolves, close to 20% of the two states' wolf populations, including members of one of Yellowstone National Park's research packs. Combined with wolves harvested through predator-control programs, some 37.1% of the wolves in Idaho and Montana were eliminated in 2009. Can the recovering wolf populations, which were removed from the protection of the Endangered Species Act in 2008, be killed at this rate? Although the hunting season for this year has been canceled following a recent court ruling to reinstate the wolves on the federal endangered species list, the question remains important, say Scott Creel and Jay Rotella, ecologists at Montana State University, Bozeman. And the short answer is no, the two say. "It's long been argued that hunting has little effect on wolves' overall mortality rates, so they can sustain" high harvest rates, Creel says. (One paper arguing that point is here.) But quotas of 28% to 59%—which the two states used for their wolf-hunting policies—are based on a "flawed assumption" in the scientific literature about how hunting affects wolf populations, he says. That assumption is that hunting and predator control have little effect on the number of wolves that would die in a year, because they simply substitute one type of death for another. According to this assumption, the same number of wolves die each year—but, instead of dying from something like old age, famine, disease, or injury, they are killed by people. --OF COURSE THE SEVERE HARM TO REMAINING PACK MEMEBERS THAT RESULT FROM HUMAN CULLING IS NOT CONSIDERED IN THIS PREMISE--BLOGGER RICK To see if this was actually the case, Creel and Rotella analyzed death data on 21 wolf populations across North America, including those in Idaho and Montana. And they found the opposite result. "Hunting strongly increased the mortality rate for wolves; it was additive," Creel says. That means that if left in place, Idaho's and Montana's hunting and predator-control programs will probably cause gray wolf populations to decline more than state wildlife managers have suggested. Although wolves will not be hunted in either state this year, both states' wildlife officials expect that they will be in the future. Creel hopes that these wildlife managers will incorporate the new results in their hunting policies. Those policies regard harvests of 35% of their wolf populations as sustainable. "This would be a high level of harvest for any species," Rotella says. "It's unprecedented for a species to move directly from the endangered species list to a harvest of this magnitude," Creel says. "And, when combined with the predator-control programs, the data suggest the effect will be larger than previously thought." Northern Rocky Mountains wolf packs may be more susceptible to being harmed by hunting because they are generally small, with few adult members. It's thus more likely that any wolf killed in a hunt will be a breeding adult. When a pack loses its breeding adults, it is apt to fall apart. Tell them no wolf hunts in Idaho or Montana! Gray wolves are protected under the ESA, this is egregious! Let them know the American people support wolves and don't want then slaughtered for the hunting and ranching lobbies Wolf Restoration is a Challenge to West's Old Guard By George Wuerthner, 9-27-10 George Wallace defying federal officials at U of Alabama A year ago I wrote a New West column asking rhetorically if hunters were stupid. In that article I wondered if hunters were aware of the fact that shooting wolves is unpopular with most Americans and if hunting of wolves continued, it might create a backlash against hunting. To answer my own question I have to say that hunters are not stupid—but most are clueless. Hunters don't seem to have a inkling about how non-hunters perceive them. Public support for hunting is only luke-warm—the majority of Americans grudgingly accept hunting, but they are not enthusiastic about people killing animals. Only 10% or so of Americans hunt. Hunters are in the minority and they are largely older white males. In America older white males are in their twilight years. Demographically the country is changing to a more diverse racial, religious and age structure. The majority of Americans who do not hunt only accept hunting if they believe the hunter is killing an animal to eat it. Public support for hunting declines rapidly if hunters kill animals for trophy mounts. When it comes to shooting an animal just to kill it as would be the case for hunters shooting wolves—and/or worse as a matter of vindication as in predator control, public support turns to public opposition. Both the ESA and wolves are extremely popular with the country as a whole. I suggest that if hunters succeed in this end run around the ESA, and there is the perception of a widespread slaughter of wolves, they are the ones that risk long term public opposition. This was brought home to me last week. I asked my 13 year old son if he wanted to go hunting with me this fall. He said "Dad, I don't want to hunt. Hunters are redneck wolf killers. I don't want to be like them." Another friend in Montana told me his 14 year old son had the same negative reaction about hunting and hunters and doesn't want to hunt this year. Ironically hunters are all worried about their shrinking numbers and how to get kids to become the next generation of hunters. Today's kids are better informed ecologically than their parents, and most of them have sympathies for animals like wolves. They don't want to have anything to do with people who kill predators. If hunters want to ensure they won't have a younger generation following in their footsteps, they could probably not find a better way than advocating wolf killing. The actions of hunters today and their Congressional allies remind me of the segregationists in the South. I can still see in my mind's eye the image of George Wallace and the Alabama state police standing on the steps of the University resolutely defying a court order to admit blacks into the University of Alabama. Wallace was immensely popular for his act of defiance against the hated "feds". Yet Wallace seemed unaware that he was part of the last hurrah of the segregated South. What he did was immensely popular at home, but it was out of step with where America was on race. In the end, thankfully George Wallace and his ilk lost the war—and today we have a black President. The passion, the anger, and the frustration exhibited by hunters (and ranchers ) is not so much about wolf predation itself. It's really about control. For decades hunters and ranchers have enjoyed a predator free environment. Hunters have always been the ones who controlled wildlife and state wildlife agencies. The outrage expressed by many hunters and ranchers is a reaction to what is perceived as the audacity of other people in society to assume, much less assert, they should have a voice in wildlife management issues. For decades hunters have considered elk and deer their "property". You can see this attitude displayed in their angry comments. "We paid for managing wildlife and by gosh, we are the only ones who should have a say in how all wildlife is managed." The overriding attitude is one of possession. Wolves are killing "our" elk and deer. The deer and elk by all rights exist for us. The debate over wolf management challenges those assumptions. Just as judges who ordered an end to segregation in the South, shaking up and eventually tumbling a hundred years of racism, hunters (and ranchers) are fearful they are losing their control over wildlife. That's the context which the wolf debate is framed, and if one doesn't understand this, the passion, anger, and outrage doesn't make sense. Even with thousands of wolves, the number of cattle and sheep killed by wolves is and would continue to be tiny compared to the number lost to diseases, poison plants, and even domestic dogs. Wolves are not really a threat to the livestock industry. And neither are they a threat to hunting. There will always be plenty of places where hunters can find elk and deer to shoot--hunting isn't going to disappear because of wolves. So the passions expressed are not based on just the perceived impact of wolves on hunters and ranchers, rather it is the idea that wolves and wolf management challenges the old guard and their position of power. Wolf restoration is more than bringing back a valued predator to the landscape—it is a challenge to the hegemony of the West's old guard. Hunters are much like George Wallace standing up in front of the halls of the University. They are standing up to change in the established order of things—and that is scary to anyone. I predict that if hunters succeed in obtaining an exemption to the ESA that permits killing of wolves, it will only swell the ranks of animal rights groups, and anti hunting support around the country. And that, in the end, is a far worse threat to hunting than wolves. In California after hunters repeatedly countered non-hunters efforts to have a say in cougar hunting, the voters finally outlawed all hunting of cougars. I suspect if hunters push too far, they may well see a similar outcome about wolves. They may be win the first battles, but they are going to lose control of the issue in the end. Not only could this result in a ban on all hunting of predators, but it could well lead to an acceleration of the decline in hunter ranks as more and more moderate and ecologically informed hunters and/or potential young hunters are turned off by hunter attitudes. In the end, hunters have to recognize that there is now a wider public who are demanding a voice in wildlife management. The name: Cougar, mountain lion and puma are names for the same animal: Puma concolor. Size: Adult males average 140 pounds; females average about 100 pounds. Age: Cougars can live more than 12 years. Habitat: Found in forested mountain and canyon country. Males can range over 150 square miles. Female ranges are half that size. Numbers: An estimated 2,500 to 4,000 cougars may live in Washington, but numbers are uncertain. Prey: Their preferred prey are deer and elk. A large male will kill a deer or elk every nine to 12 days and feed off it for several days. Fascinating facts: Known for their strength, cougars can leap 30 feet from a standstill. Over the past 100 years, cougars killed one person in Washington and attacked 15. Source: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife CLE ELUM, Kittitas County — Jane the cougar is having a bad day. Ben Maletzke, the cougar biologist, couldn't be happier. After days of chasing the crafty animal, his team of hounds finally ran her up a tree where Maletzke could take aim with his tranquilizer gun. Now, the predator powerful enough to take down a bull elk is lying helpless under a tent of fir trees while Maletzke replaces the batteries in her radio collar, checks her teeth and measures her girth. Jane is part of a healthy cougar population that lives in relative harmony with its human neighbors in the rapidly growing communities just east of Snoqualmie Pass. In the past six years, Jane has killed deer less than 50 paces from homes — yet residents don't even realize she's there. She has never harmed pets or livestock, nor have any of her offspring. The story is different in northeastern Washington, where the state has stepped up hunting in response to soaring numbers of complaints about cougars, including two attacks on toddlers. A bill signed by Gov. Christine Gregoire last week could expand the cougar killing. But startling results from studies such as Maletzke's question this traditional approach to cougar management. Instead of reducing conflicts between cougars and humans, heavy hunting seems to make the problems worse, says Robert Wielgus, Maletzke's graduate adviser and director of Washington State University's Large Carnivore Conservation Laboratory. "It goes against the grain of what we've been doing for decades," Wielgus says. Killing large numbers of cougars creates social chaos, Wielgus and his students found. Trophy hunters often target adult males, which act as a stabilizing force in cougar populations. The adults police large territories and kill or drive out young males. With the grown-ups gone, the "young hooligans" run wild, Wielgus says. "Every time you kill a dominant male, about three of these young guys come for the funeral." Evidence suggests cougars under two years of age, just learning to live on their own, account for the majority of run-ins with people and domestic animals. "You don't get to be an old cougar by doing stupid stuff like hanging out in backyards and eating cats," Wielgus says. In the Selkirk Mountains at the confluence of Washington, British Columbia and Idaho, Wielgus and his students discovered the cougar population was actually crashing at a time when everyone assumed it was booming — because complaints were off the charts. Hunters had killed all the older males. Then they targeted adult females, whose numbers were plummeting. "About all that was left were these teenagers, and that could well be the reason there were so many complaints — even though there weren't many cougars," Wielgus says. Another project focused on a smaller area in the Colville National Forest, also in northeastern Washington, where the state opened emergency hunts to reduce cougar numbers in response to complaints. But the cougar population didn't drop at all. Instead, young males from a hundred miles around moved into the territories vacated when adults were killed. "The only change is that the problematic component — the younger males — increased," Wielgus said. By contrast, the cougars Maletzke studies along the Interstate 90 corridor have been subject to light levels of hunting. Yet conflicts are rare. "When you've got a population of smart, resident cats, that's a stable situation," he says. The number of cats killed by hunters in Washington has climbed in recent years, exceeding levels in the 1950s when the state paid a $75 bounty to encourage eradication. Before 1996, hunters killed an average of 156 cougars a year. Since the initiative, the harvest rate increased more than 40 percent, to an average of 225 animals a year. That's because state wildlife managers, worried cougars would proliferate when hound-hunting ended, liberalized the rules for so-called "boot" hunters: Those who walk or drive the woods primarily in search of deer or elk. The state raised the bag limit to two cougars, doubled the length of the season, and cut the cost of a cougar tag to $10. Before the initiative, the state issued about 600 cougar permits annually. Now, more than 60,000 hunters have license to kill cougars every year. State lawmakers also enacted several bills to allow hound hunting in counties where complaints about cougars killing livestock or menacing people were high — leading to the heavy kill rate in northeastern Washington. One unintended consequence of the new rules is a growing toll on female cougars. Whereas hound hunters selectively targeted large males, or toms, "boot" hunters tend to shoot any cougar they run across. "Killing big adult males is not a good thing," Wielgus says. "But once you start killing off females, there's nowhere to go but down." The state is revising its game-management plan and considering quotas to reduce the number of female cougars killed, says Donny Martorello, carnivore-section manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The agency also is weighing the research that suggests heavy hunting may aggravate cougar problems but is waiting for more solid evidence, Martorello says. Join us for a sneak premiere on Saturday October 9, 2010! Jackson Hole Center for the Arts............... NATURE's Wolverine: Chasing the Phantom "Its name stirs images of the savage, the untamable. Legend paints it as a solitary, blood-thirsty killer that roams the icy heart of the frozen north, taking down prey as large as moose, crushing bones to powder with its powerful jaws. But there is another image of the wolverine that is just beginning to emerge, one that is far more complex than its reputation suggests. This film will take viewers into the secretive world of the largest and least-known member of the weasel family to reveal who this dynamic little devil truly is. Hard-wired to endure an environment of scarcity, the wolverine is one of the most efficient and resourceful carnivores on Earth." The Big Bad Wolf Makes Good: The Yellowstone Success Story and Those Who Want to Kill It Tuesday 28 September 2010 by: Chip Ward \| TomDispatch \| Op-Ed At long last, good news. Fifteen years have passed since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and the results are in. The controversial experiment has been a stellar success. The Big Bad Wolf is back and in this modern version of the old story, all that huffing and puffing has been good for the land and the creatures that live on it. Biggie, it turns out, got a bum rap. The success of the Yellowstone project is the kind of good news we long for in this era of oil spills, monster storms, massive flooding, crushing heat waves, and bleaching corals. For once, a branch of our federal government, the Department of the Interior, saw something broken and actually fixed it. In a nutshell: conservation biologists considered a perplexing problem -- the slow but steady unraveling of the Yellowstone ecosystem -- figured out what was causing it, and then proposed a bold solution that worked even better than expected. Sadly, the good news has been muted by subsequent political strife over wolf reintroduction outside of Yellowstone. Along the northern front of the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Colorado, as well as New Mexico and Arizona, so-called wolf wars have added fuel to a decades-old battle over the right to graze cattle or hunt on public land. The shouting has overwhelmed both science and civil discourse. This makes it all the harder to convey the lessons learned to an American public that is mostly ecologically illiterate and never really understood why wolves were put back into Yellowstone in the first place. Even the legion of small donors who supported the project mostly missed the reasons it was undertaken, focusing instead on the "charismatic" qualities of wolves and the chance to see them in the wild. No Wolves, No Water Here's the piece we still don't get: when we exterminated wolves from Yellowstone in the early 1900s, killing every last one, we de-watered the land. That's right -- no wolves eventually meant fewer streams, creeks, marshes, and springs across western landscapes like Yellowstone where wolves had once thrived. The chain of effects went roughly like this: no wolves meant that many more elk crowded onto inviting river and stream banks where the grass is green and the livin' easy. A growing population of fat elk, in no danger of being turned into prey, gnawed down willow and aspen seedlings before they could mature. Willows are both food and building material for beavers. As the willows declined, so did beaver populations. When beavers build dams and ponds, they create wetland habitats for countless bugs, amphibians, fish, birds, and plants, as well as slowing the flow of water and distributing it over broad areas. The consequences of their decline rippled across the land. Meanwhile, as the land dried up, Yellowstone's overgrazed riverbanks eroded. Life-giving river water receded, leaving those banks barren. Spawning beds for fish were silted over. Amphibians lost precious shade where they could have sheltered and hidden. Yellowstone's web of life was fraying and becoming threadbare. The unexpected relationship between absent wolves and absent water is just one example of how big, scary predators like grizzlies and mountain lions, often called "charismatic carnivores," regulate their ecosystems from the top down. The results are especially relevant in an era of historic droughts and global warming, both of which are stressing already arid Western lands. Wolf reintroduction wasn't a scheme designed to undermine vacationing elk hunters or harass ranchers who graze their cattle on public lands. It wasn't done to please some cabal of elitist, urban environmentalists eager to show rural rednecks who's the boss, though out here in the West that interpretation's held sway at many public meetings called to discuss wolf reintroduction. Let's be clear then: the decision to put wolves back in Yellowstone was a bold experiment backed by the best conservation science available to restore a cherished American ecosystem that was coming apart at the seams. The Biggest Losers Today, wolves are thriving in Yellowstone. The 66 wolves trapped in Canada and released in Yellowstone and the Idaho wilderness in 1995-96 have generated more than 1,700 wolves. More than 200 wolf packs exist in the area today and the effect on the environment has been nothing short of astonishing. There was one beaver colony in the park at the time wolves were reintroduced. Today, 12 colonies are busy storing water, evening out seasonal water flows, recharging springs, and creating habitat. Willow stands are robust again and the songbirds that nest in them are recovering. Creatures that scavenge wolf-kills for meat, including ravens, eagles, wolverines, and bears, have benefited. Wolves have pushed out and killed the coyotes that feed on pronghorn antelope, so pronghorn numbers are also up. Riverbanks are lush and shady again. With less competition from elk for grass, the bison in the park are doing better, too. Elk are the sole species that has been diminished -- and that, after all, was the purpose of putting wolves back in the game in the first place. The elk population of Yellowstone is still larger than it was at its low point in the late 1960s, but there are fewer elk today than in recent decades. The decline has alarmed elk hunters and the local businesses that rely on their trade. Worse yet, from the hunting point of view, elk behavior has changed dramatically. Instead of camping out on stream banks and overeating, they roam far more and in smaller numbers, browsing in brushy areas where there is more protective cover. Surviving elk are healthier, but leaner, warier, far more dispersed, and significantly harder to hunt. This further dismays those who had become accustomed to easy hunting and bigger animals. A lively debate is underway among game wardens, guides, and wildlife biologists about just how far elk numbers have declined, what role drought and other non-wolf variables may be playing in that decline, and whether elk numbers will -- or even should -- rebound. State wildlife agencies that once fed hay to bountiful populations of elk to keep them from starving during harsh winters depend on hunting and fishing licenses to fill their coffers. Predictably enough, they have come down on the side of the frustrated big game hunters, who think the wolves have killed too many elk. Hunters have been a powerful force for conservation when habitat for birds and big game is at stake, but wolf reintroduction hits them right in the ol' game bag, and on this issue they seem to be abandoning former conservation allies. Of course, wolves themselves can be hunted and selling the privilege of doing so has proven lucrative for state wildlife agencies. Montana recently expanded its wolf-killing quota from 75 to 186, while Idaho licensed 220 wolf kills in 2009. Beyond the Bovine Curtain As wolf reintroduction took hold and wolves migrated out of Yellowstone as far as Oregon to the west and Colorado to the east, it became clear that surrounding states needed plans to deal with their spread. Once regarded as an endangered species and legally protected by the Endangered Species Act, wolves were taken off the formal list of protected creatures wherever states created plans for restoring and managing them. The intention of the federal government was to allow states to participate in, and so take some control over, the recovery process in the West. As it happened, however, most states took a strikingly hostile approach to their new wolf populations, treating them as varmints. A federal court took away Wyoming's power to regulate wolves within its borders when it decided that the state's management goal would be no wolves at all outside of the Yellowstone and Teton national parks. Other Western states are now planning to keep their numbers as low as possible without triggering a federal takeover, too low to play their ecological role, or even survive over the long run, according to conservation biologists. After wolves were "delisited" in Idaho in 2009, 188 of them were killed by hunters before the year was out. In August 2010, a federal judge ruled that wolves everywhere but in Minnesota and Alaska (where wolf populations are plentiful and healthy) must be relisted as an endangered species and afforded more protection. How this major decision will shape the debate from here on out is uncertain. Since relisting precludes sport hunting, state wildlife agencies are now making plans to kill more wolves themselves to keep their numbers low. Critics worry about a return to the days when wolves were routinely shot, trapped, poisoned, and gassed in their dens. Up until now, where wolves and cows mix, cows have ruled. What wildlife advocate George Wuerthner calls the "bovine curtain" limits full wolf restoration to within Yellowstone's park boundaries. Outside the park, where the feds have less power and control, wolf packs continually form but are often slaughtered, usually at the insistence of ranchers who can legally shoot wolves that attack cattle. They are also compensated for wolf-kill losses from both state funds and privately donated ones. Wolf predation accounts for only about 1% of livestock deaths across the northern Rockies, but those deaths generate disproportionate resentment and fear. Ranchers are the first to understand that, in the arid West, a cow may require 250 acres of forage to live. In the states where wolves are spreading, cows wander wide and don't sleep safely in barns at night as they do in the east. Wolves need room to roam, too. Overlap and predation are the inevitable results. If wolves are ever to effectively play their ecological role again across the West, significant changes in animal husbandry, like adding range riders and guard dogs, would be required, as well undoubtedly as less grazing overall. The implied threat to limit grazing provokes fierce opposition from cattlemen's associations, a powerful and influential Republican constituency throughout the West. Real cowboys don't sip tea, but as anger over those wolves builds they may be riding off to the nearest tea party nevertheless. At public hearings across the rural West wherever wolves are rebounding, near-hysterical locals claim that their children will be carried off from their yards by those awful beasts set loose by evil Obamacrats willing to sacrifice life and limb to win favor with tree-hugging easterners. In New Mexico, such hostility has led to poaching that has decimated an endangered species of gray wolves reintroduced 12 years ago after the last survivors of that species were trapped, bred in captivity, and released into the wild. Eco-Commodities or Ecological Communities? Today's wolf wars pit opposing perspectives on how (or even why) our public lands should be managed against each other. The disagreement is fundamental. On one side is a historic/traditional resource management paradigm that sees our Western lands as a storehouse of timber, minerals, and fresh water; on the other side, a new biocentric orientation driven by conservation biologists who see landscapes as whole ecosystems and all species as having intrinsic value. At one end of the spectrum lie strip-mining coal companies; at the other, deep ecologists. In between you can find conflict, contradiction, and confusion as we sort out a new consensus about how to manage vast public land holdings in the West. In the beginning, Americans assumed that nature was inefficient (if efficiency is defined as getting the most bang for the buck) and that humans could manage the planet better than Mother Earth. Wild rivers, after all, spill their liquid bounty where they will and then empty themselves into the sea. What a waste! In the same way, forest fires were viewed as a prime example of Nature's wanton destruction. To a rancher who is leasing public land, wolves and cougars are monsters of inefficiency. It's far clearer now that nature is, in fact, efficient indeed, if creating healthy, viable ecosystems is what's on your mind. Matter and energy are never wasted in food webs where synergy is the rule. Because we have come to appreciate how rich nature's interconnections are, we are now committed to protecting species we once would have wiped out with little regard. Health (including the health of the planet), not wealth alone, is becoming a priority. Think of wolf reintroduction, then, as a kind of hinge-point between the two paradigms. After centuries of not leaving the natural world's order to chance, micro-managing wherever we could, we are now encouraged to take a chance on Nature, to trust the self-organizing powers of life to heal ecosystems we have wounded. While organizing campaigns to make polluters accountable, I learned that citizens generally won't take them on until they grasp that the deepest link they have to their environment is their own bloodstreams. Once they understand the pathways from a smokestack or a poisoned watershed to the tumors growing in their children's bodies, they can become a powerful force. But first they have to know what's at stake. In this regard, ecological literacy is not a side issue. It's a prerequisite for survival. The articulation of reality is more primal than any strategy or policy. If greed is turning the Earth into a scorched planet of slums, ignorance is its enabler. Just as American farmers once realized that erosion follows ignorance and learned how to plow differently, just as most of us finally learned that rivers should not be used as toxic dumps, so today we must learn that environments have the equivalent of operating systems. Predation by large carnivores is written deep into the code of much of the American landscape. Today, a rancher who expects to do business in a predator-free landscape is no more reasonable than yesterday's industrialist who expected to use the nearest river as a sewer. Living with wolves may be a challenging proposition, but it's hardly impossible to do -- as folks in Minnesota or Canada can attest. Hard days are ahead as the weather, once benign and predictable, becomes hotter, drier, and ever more chaotic. Western landscapes are already stressed -- whole forests are dying and deserts are becoming dustbowls. To maintain their vitality in the face of such dire challenges, those lands will need all the relief we can give them. We now understand far better the many ways in which nature's living communities are astonishingly connected and reciprocal. If we could only find the courage to trust their self-organizing powers to heal the wounds we have inflicted, we might become as resilient as those Yellowstone wolves. Tuesday, September 28, 2010 About Us: Conservation Northwest Our story as an organization, plus descriptions of our staff, board, and geographical offices "Keeping the Northwest Wild" Proven and successful For 20 years, we've protected and connected hundreds of thousands of acres in Washington and BC Smart and strategic We work with local communities, build science-based solutions, and lead innovative partnerships Conservation Northwest connects and protects old growth and other wild areas from the Washington Coast to the BC Rockies, to benefit people and wildlife. Since 1989 we have protected hundreds of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat: from the big tree forests south of Mount Rainier to forest critical to lynx in the Loomis east of North Cascades National Park. Conservation Northwest is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with four offices and twenty-one staff around the state that are supported by 5,000 families and hundreds of volunteers who together provide 70 percent of our funding. Wild raccoons to be vaccinated for rabies State and federal officials are working together to vaccinate wild raccoons for rabies. The Tennessee Department of Health and the United States Department of Agriculture will be distributing an oral rabies vaccine for wild raccoons along Tennessee's borders with Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia, starting October 1. "We are pleased to be part of this important and effective program to prevent rabies and protect the health of Tennesseans," said Health Commissioner Susan R. Cooper, MSN, RN. "We also want to remind pet owners of the importance of having rabies vaccinations current for all domestic animals to ensure their health and safety." Vaccine packets placed inside fishmeal blocks or coated with fishmeal will be distributed throughout a 15 county area in Tennessee. The barrier varies from 30 to 60 miles wide and covers approximately 3,400 square miles, running along the Georgia border in southeast Tennessee near Chattanooga to the Virginia/North Carolina border in northeast Tennessee. Baits will be distributed by hand from vehicles in urban and suburban areas and by dropping from specially equipped airplanes in rural areas. The oral rabies vaccine will be distributed October 1 through 10 in Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington Counties. Bait distribution will take place from October 7 through 15 in Bradley, Hamilton, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe and Polk Counties. "Rabies is most common in wild animals in Tennessee, and it poses a risk to humans and domestic animals that come into contact with wildlife," said L. Rand Carpenter, DVM, assistant state public health veterinarian. "Control of raccoon rabies is vital to public health and we are very supportive of this USDA effort." This is the ninth year Tennessee has participated in baiting with rabies vaccine to slow and possibly halt the spread of raccoon rabies. Two raccoons have been diagnosed with rabies in the eastern part of Tennessee so far this year. Since raccoon rabies was first detected in Tennessee in 2003, the disease has spread much less rapidly here than has been documented in other areas of the United States. Although the vaccine products are safe, the USDA Wildlife Services program has issued these precautions: If you or your pet finds bait, confine your pet and look for other baits in the area. Toss baits into a wooded or fencerow area. These baits should be removed from where your pet could easily eat them. While eating these baits will not harm your pet, consuming several baits might upset your pet's stomach. Do not attempt to remove the oral rabies vaccine packet from your pet's mouth, as you could be bitten. Wear gloves or use a towel when you pick up bait. While there is no harm in touching undamaged baits, they have a strong fishmeal smell. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water if there is any chance that the vaccine packet has been ruptured. Instruct children to leave baits alone. There is a warning label placed on each bait advising people not to touch the bait. The warning also contains the rabies information line telephone number. For additional information concerning rabies prevention or the oral rabies vaccine program, call the USDA Wildlife Services toll-free rabies line at 1-866-487-3297 or the Tennessee Department of Health at 1-615-741-7247. Or go to this website. As a reminder to help prevent exposure to animals that can carry rabies, the Tennessee Department of Health recommends that individuals enjoy wild animals such as raccoons, skunks, foxes and bats from a distance and keep pets up-to-date on rabies vaccination. The CDC also has a website to help educate children about rabies. Published: September 27, 201 With a chorus of howls and yips wild enough to fill a vast night sky, the coyote has ignited the imagination of one culture after another. In many American Indian mythologies, it is celebrated as the Trickster, a figure by turns godlike, idiotic and astoundingly sexually perverse. In the Navajo tradition the coyote is revered as God's dog. When European colonists encountered the species, they were of two minds, heralding it as an icon of the expansive West and vilifying it as the ultimate varmint, the bloodthirsty bane of sheep and cattle ranchers. Jason Holley Jonathan Way Animals in the Northeast thought to be coyotes actually carry wolf and coyote DNA, studies have found. Mark Twain was so struck when he first saw that "long, slim, sick and sorry-looking skeleton, with a gray wolfskin stretched over it" that he called it "a living, breathing allegory of Want." And Twain's description itself was so vivid, it inspired the animator Chuck Jones to create that perennial failure known to cartoon-loving children everywhere, Wile E. Coyote of Road Runner-hating fame. Yet as familiar as the coyote seems, these animals remain remarkably poorly understood. They have remained elusive despite fantastic ecological success that has been described as "a story of unparalleled range expansion," as they have moved over the last century from the constrictions of their prairie haunts to colonize every habitat from wild to urban, from coast to coast. And they have retained their mystery even as interest has intensified with increasing coyote-human interactions — including incidents of coyotes dragging off small dogs and cats, and even (extremely rarely) attacks on people, from Los Angeles to the northern suburbs of New York City, where four children were attacked in separate incidents this summer. Coyotes have managed to elude much serious scrutiny by being exquisitely wary, so much so that even dedicated coyote scientists can struggle to find ways to lay eyes on them, not to mention hands. Dr. Laura Prugh, a wildlife ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley, said trying to survey a population of coyotes in Alaska was "like working with a ghost species." To even have a chance of catching a coyote, she said, traps must be boiled to wash away human scent, handled with gloves and then hidden extremely carefully with all traces of human footprints brushed away. Even then, the trap is likely to catch only the youngest and most inexperienced of animals. Coyotes have remained so much in possession of their own secrets that it was not until this year that the real identity of the coyotes living in the eastern part of the country was revealed. Two separate teams of researchers studying the genes of coyotes in the Northeast reported evidence that these animals that have for decades upon decades been thought of as coyotes are in fact coyote-wolf hybrids. The team headed by Roland W. Kays, curator of mammals at the New York State Museum, studied coyotes from New Jersey to Maine. Jonathan Way, wildlife biologist with the Eastern Coyote Research consulting firm, and colleagues examined coyotes around Cape Cod and Boston. Both teams found that the animals carry wolf and coyote DNA. The paper by Dr. Kays and his colleagues was published in Biology Letters; the paper by Dr. Way and his colleagues was published in Northeastern Naturalist. Based on the wolf DNA found in the Eastern coyotes, Dr. Kays and colleagues hypothesize in their paper that Western coyotes dispersing eastward north of the Great Lakes across Canada during the last century mated with wolves along the way, bringing that wolf DNA along with them to the Northeast. The findings may explain why coyotes in the East are generally larger than their Western counterparts — that is, more wolflike in size — and why they are so much more varied in coat color, as might be expected from a creature with a more diverse genome. It may also explain why Eastern coyotes appear to be more adept as deer hunters than their Western forebears, which tend toward smaller prey, like voles and rabbits. What the finding does not settle is how to define exactly what these animals are, or for that matter, what to call them. Dr. Way favors the term "coywolf" to denote the animals' hybrid heritage. He said because these animals are part wolf — species that enjoy protected status — they deserve some benefits not available to coyotes, which are typically freely hunted. Dr. Kays, however, says that he is not a fan of the name, in part because the animals are "mostly coyote and a little bit of wolf," but also because the Eastern coyote may be less a finished product deserving of a name and more an evolutionary work in progress. There are even hints that the traveling coyotes may have been up to more than just dawdling with a wolf or two. Dr. Kays's team also found one coyote carrying something similar to domestic dog DNA, suggesting that the question of what exactly an Eastern coyote is may become even more complicated as scientists learn more. One major complication is that all the species in the genus Canis, to which the coyote belongs, can successfully interbreed. In other words, coyotes (or Canis latrans, meaning "barking dog") and domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and every kind of wolf, from the red wolf to the Eastern wolf to the gray wolf (Canis lupus), can mate and produce perfectly healthy pups. No wonder, then, that interactions among these species have led to a genetic mess that researchers sometimes refer to as "Canis soupus." That coyotes will consider a wide variety of species as mates may be a reflection of their adaptability, also evident in their catholic tastes in food. Stephen DeStefano, a wildlife biologist with the United States Geological Survey's Massachusetts Cooperative Research Unit and author of "Coyote at the Kitchen Door" (Harvard University Press, 2010), explains that coyotes will feast on things as diverse as beetles, bird eggs, garbage, pocket gophers, raspberries, pigs, wild plums, porcupines, apples, flying squirrels and watermelons. But while such broad tastes have mostly made villains of coyotes as they happily expand their diet to take in the family pet when they can get it, they have also, at least once, made them the hero. Dr. Stanley D. Gehrt, a wildlife ecologist at Ohio State University who has studied coyotes in the Chicago area for the past decade, found that coyotes have a taste for Canada goose eggs. Rather than just dining at a single nest, the coyotes will plunder multiple nests in a night, gathering what eggs they can't eat and burying them for later. The result has put a significant dent in what had been fast increasing numbers of geese, considerably noisier and messier urban creatures than the coyote. Flexibility is also a hallmark of coyotes' hunting. Not only do coyotes hunt singly and in packs, they have even been observed hunting cooperatively with other species. In Wyoming, scientists have seen coyotes hunting with badgers, large burrowing creatures that enjoy a nice bit of ground squirrel. As badgers dig toward squirrels in their tunnels, coyotes wait above for the squirrels to pop up for a quick escape, or perhaps to be chased back down to be eaten by a badger. Teams may work together often for an hour or more, the coyote mock-chasing or otherwise playfully inviting the lethargic badger to activity when it pauses, and to good purpose. Coyotes hunting with badgers had to work less and ate more than solitary coyotes in the same area. These teams were so effective that researchers reported often seeing the same pairs working together again and again. Despite such charming intelligence, the coyote has found itself almost universally despised, feared and hunted. Ranchers hate coyotes for killing millions of dollars in livestock each year. These thefts have been answered with many millions of tax dollars spent over the years on programs to kill coyotes through the deployment of cyanide, strychnine, baited sheep collars and guns of many kinds. It is a war that has been as unrelenting and intense as, some researchers say, it is useless. "Killing coyotes is kind of like mowing the lawn," said Dr. Prugh. "It stimulates vigorous new growth." Even in their new habitat of the great metropolises, with nary a sheep in sight, the coyote finds itself, at best, a nervously tolerated visitor. In recent years, urbanites have been simultaneously charmed and disturbed by coyotes strolling in Central Park, trotting into a Quiznos restaurant in downtown Chicago and taking a dash around a federal courthouse in Detroit. Such news is, more often than not, soon followed by the news that the coyote has been rounded up and removed. It doesn't seem to matter that coyotes are relatively harmless, as researchers point out, as any person or pet is much more likely to be injured or even killed by a domestic dog. Neither does it seem to matter that the removal of a single showy coyote is unlikely to leave a city clear of these animals, or even give any sense of just how many coyotes a given city harbors. Dr. Gehrt said that when he began his research he would have guessed there were some 50 to 100 coyotes in the Chicago metropolitan area. After a decade of radio tracking and genetic analyses, he knows better. Dr. Gehrt said he conservatively estimates the number of these rarely seen creatures at more than 2,000. The coyote is out there, and it is here to stay. For most people (as long as they are not very unlucky and they and their neighbors refrain from feeding coyotes — the No. 1 reason coyotes end up hurting someone), the coyote offers a bit of wildness to anyone willing to listen to the gift it has shared for millenniums — its unforgettable voice. The moniker "barking dog" just doesn't cut it. The coyote has a bountiful lexicon that includes growls, huffs, woofs, whines, yelps, howls, "wow-oo-wow" sounds and more. Each serves its purpose in the coyote business of giving greetings or disseminating alarms. But perhaps the sound that listeners know best, the one that makes us stop what we're doing and look up into the night sky, is that mad cacophony of mournful howls and maniacal yips. That, scientists say, is the coyote's territorial declaration, an effort to make a few coyotes sound like 10 or 100, to insist on their unassailable presence. Dr. DeStefano writes in his book of the legends that coyotes are talking to us, that they can tell us things like where to find water, whether danger is approaching and whether today is the day that death will come, that the coyote has learned Comanche, Apache and many other languages, but not English. But even we English speakers know what the coyote is telling us when we hear those calls, shrill and fierce as they bounce along canyons of rock or concrete or just down the cul-de-sac. The coyote is saying to everyone, fellow barking dogs or otherwise, "We are here Monday, September 27, 2010 Steve Grooms who has published RETURN OF THE WOLF and who sits on the Advisory Board of International Wolf up in Ely, Minnesota wrote a very to-the-point and informative article focusing on how Cougars and Wolves can successfully co-exist in a given ecosystem. My analysis of Steve's article below: These two charismatic keystone top Predators have "lived in the same neighborhood in the Americas for millenia...................In fact, both the Cougar and Wolf vied for the most widely distributed Predator in the Americas prior to European colonization. While both are capable of killing each other and while both prey on many of the same hoofed species, both Cougar and Wolf historically were at home with each other whether in the Canadian Wilds, the Rockies.................the Great Plains........................the Southern Piney Woods and the Eastern Deciduous Forest. While the Cougar at 120-200 pounds is the larger of the two predators(gray wolves weigh in at 85- 120 pounds and Eastern, Mexican and Red Wolves tip the scales at 50 to 100 pounds), a Cougar is no match for a Wolf Pack. For this reason, Cougars tend to utilize the more hilly, mountainous and marshy sections of habitat whereas wolves seek out the flatlands as their first choice of homeground. Cougars also enjoy Valley living but the Wolf packs make things tougher for them so they take advantage of their "stealth and spring" hunting techniques to bag Elk and deer in high Country..............As coursing(chasing) predators, wolves like the flatlands where they can go full out at their 40 mph top speeds and take down fleeing deer, elk and buffalo. Because Wolf packs pressure Cougars where both species coexist, Cougars tend to produce smaller litters of cubs(stress on mother cougars results in smaller litters) and thus Cougar populations tend to be fewer in number than wolves. Cougars have smaller home ranges(150 square miles for males and 50 sq miles for females) versus Wolf packs (which range 200 to 500 square miles) and therefore Cougars do not have as much food available to them as Wolves(another reason for smaller populations)......................In addition, Wolf diets are more elastic than Cougars who tend to favor elk and deer(they will prey switch to Bighorn sheep where wolves put pressure on elk)...................Wolves savor both of those hoofed animals but will also dine on beaver and(when large enough in size(buffalo and Moose). Bottom line is that we human animals have to make the effort to create larger and more connective swaths of open space to allow wolves, cougars(Griz and Black Bears, Wolverines) and all of the other Pre-Columbian predators enough food, cover and water to persist and thrive through the 21st Century and beyond.--BLOGGER RICK Recently, coyote-human conflicts have increased in the Chicagoland area, presumably as a result of an increase in coyote numbers. Cook County, Illinois is interesting because it contains one of the highest human densities in the United States, but is also characterized by an extensive system of county forest preserves. This interspersion of preserved open spaces within an extensive urban landscape presents an opportunity for human-wildlife interactions. Thus, there is a demonstrated need for information on the numbers, movement patterns, health and related ecological aspects for coyotes in Cook County. Additionally, it is desirable to know the frequency and extent to which coyotes inhabiting forest preserves leave those areas and utilize adjacent properties, such as residential communities. With funding from Cook County Animal Control and Conservation Medicine Coalition, this 3-year study is investigating various ecological aspects of coyotes using the Chicago landscape. Specifically, the objectives include 1) determine the population dynamics and movement patterns of resident coyotes on forest preserves, 2) ascertain the prevalence of various pathogens within the coyote population in Cook County, 3) determine the prevalence and distribution of zoonotic diseases in the coyote population and 4) identify large-scale landscape use by coyotes. To date, we have captured and radiocollared 34 coyotes from three primary study areas in the Chicago region. We are currently radiotracking to determine movement patterns and survival. Results from this project will include basic ecological information that also can be used for public education, such as the current status of coyote populations, mortality factors for urban coyotes and whether they are expanding in number. These results also are important for educated management programs. On May 3rd, 2010, 16 environmental organizations joined forces to oppose the government's plan to kill more wolves and cougars in BC in the name of mountain caribou recovery. On September 16th, 2010, the CWC met with Norm Macdonald, MLA for the Columbia River-Revelstoke area, for the second time about this issue. We wanted to let him know that since May, 6 other groups have joined the cause and there are now 22 environmental organizations signed-on to a letter opposing the plan to kill more predators in the name of caribou recovery. The letter is addressed to BC Environment Minister Barry Penner. Working together, these organizations have created a public version of the sign-on letter, collected signatures online and in person and recently submitted more than 3,500 signed letters from people all over the world opposing this outdated practice. MLA Macdonald will be meeting with Minister Penner in early October to present the sign-on letters collected at the Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre in just over 3 months: BC residents = 672 Rest of Canada = 1,525 International visitors = 1,308 TOTAL = 3,505 Signatures will continue to be collected. The government grounds for killing predators are to help boost the smallest and most threatened caribou herds while buying time for the logged forest to regenerate. However, renowned biologists agree that the distributions of land parcels that have been protected for caribou recovery are unlinked and inaccessible. Given the habitat currently protected for them, many caribou herds would never reach a size that would sustain a stable population without killing predators for the next 50 years, if not indefinitely! This is NOT responsible wildlife management of the wolf, recognized as a keystone, indicator, and umbrella species . Despite this evidence, government workers have been trapping, sterilizing, and shooting wolves. Bag limits have been removed and hunting seasons lengthened. Tax dollars have been spent flying biologists in helicopters to find, capture, kill or sterilize and radio-collar wolves. These same wolves can then be shot by any hunter at any time. In order to save money, the government is considering shooting the wolves from helicopters. Despite using tax-payers money to put these plans into action, none of the management plans, decisions or practices thus far have been transparent nor made public. The 22 environmental groups as well as independent biologists argue that not enough low and mid-elevation habitat has been protected for the long-term persistence of mountain caribou. Protection from mineral exploration and commercial recreation needs to be implemented and enforced if caribou have a chance at a future. In BC, caribou have been in decline for decades, while resource extraction and development has continued on land that biologists have long recognized as being critical habitat for mountain caribou. These 22 groups, independent biologists and thousands of individuals are all urging the government to stop using wolves and other predators as a scapegoat. They are adamant that other steps be taken towards caribou conservation, before predator control is even considered. Recommendations include a halt on logging and road building in mountain caribou habitat, complete bans of snowmobiles in historical wintering areas, decommissioning of logging roads, and reducing the speed limit on the Salmo-Creston Highway, where vehicle collisions have already killed several caribou from a critically imperiled herd. Sunday, September 26, 2010 Osborne Russell was a "Free Trapper" during the MOUNTAIN MAN era in the Rocky Mountain West circa 1800-1850..................Not only did he have experience trapping Beaver with Nathaniel Wyeth(expedition through the Rockies to the mouth of the Columbia River in 1834), Russell also was a member of Jim Bridger's Rocky Mountain Fur Company (which ultimately merged with the American Fur Company). As the Beaver trade started to ebb to a close(decade of 1840-1850), Russell still stayed in the Mountains operating as a FREE TRAPPER(an independent trapper not beholden to any one Company or Outfit) until the wagon train migrations of settlers began to pour into the Region bringing the Mountain Man era to a close in 1850. Operating out of Fort Hall on the Snake River just West of Yellowstone and the Tetons, Russell was one of the rare breed of Frontiersman who articulately observed and kept a "lewis and Clark"detailed journal of his time as a trapper........................ I have attached 50 pages of his 154 page tomb that describe the herds of Buffalo, Pronghorn, Elk, Bighorn Sheep and Deer that he witnessed first hand over his 20 years as a Rocky Mountain trapper................Mention of Wolves, Cougars and Wolverines are also highlighted for your review and delight. One of the joys that I derive from publishing this blog....................investigating and exploring vicariously the first hand accounts of Early Americas Predators and Prey......................Osborne was a student of the early West and it's inhabitants...............Soak his writings in as I have!--BLOGGER RICK Scotti................thanks for your kind words............I will check out your site tonight.....................and Post your email so that readers can do the same and buy your book(s)..................Let me know if there is anything else you would like posted and definitely update me when your BIG CAT book gets published in March 2011 My children's picture book One Wolf Howls was published in March 2009 by Sylvan Dell Publishing. My second picture book -- Big Cat, Little Kitty -- will be published by Sylvan Dell in March 2011. The second book explores the similarities and differences between the "big cats" and domestic "kitties." There is a cougar in the book. As you will see if you visit Sylvan Dell's web site, they publish entertaining, educational books for children with an emphasis on math and science, including caring for the planet and learning about the natural world. I thought you might also be interested in my blog: Wolf and Cat. In the blog, I basically just share stories I come across about (mostly) big cats and wolves	eng	41210a90-48e4-4472-a47e-6af1481014f8	http://coyotes-wolves-cougars.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html
Not a member yet? Sign Up! The Second Great Awakening & Southern Christianity One of the persistent and stark differences between the traditional South and the Northeast is the religious divide between the two regions and cultures. The South is well-known today as the 'Bible Belt' while the Northeast is famous as a bastion of secularism and liberal Christianity (for instance, Mississippi is rated the most religious State while Vermont is rated the least religious). This was not always the case. In fact, in the early colonial era it was the Northeast that was fanatically religious while the South was comparatively moderate. Wikipedia provides the following summary: The Bible Belt is an informal term for a region in the southeastern and south-central United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a significant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's [sic] average. The Bible Belt consists of much of the Southern United States extending west into Texas and Oklahoma. During the colonial period (1607–1776), the South was a stronghold of the Anglican church. Its transition to a stronghold of non-Anglican Protestantism occurred gradually over the next century as a series of religious revival movements, many associated with the Baptist denomination, gained great popularity in the region. Author Frank Conner explains this in greater detail and how things changed in the following excerpt taken from pages 75-76 of his book The South Under Siege 1830-2000: Prior to the Second Great Awakening, the people of the Northeast had been known as devout Christians, while the Southerners conspicuously had not. In the 18th century, the South had been lightly populated. There were no big cities as such (those were strictly a Northern phenomenon); and when there was a church within travelling distance, the Southerners attended it on Sundays as much to socialize and conduct business as to worship God. Visitors to the region complained frequently that the Southern ministers were of low quality and were lightly regarded by their congregations. This was in sharp contrast to such Northerners as the Congregationalists of New England and the Quakers of Pennsylvania – who approached religion soberly and intensely. The South's attitude toward Christianity changed abruptly and permanently early in the 19th century. Then – during the Second Great Awakening – Baptist and Methodist circuit riders brought their versions of Christianity to the small towns and the hinterlands. This religion had been shorn of pomp and layers of arbitrary ecclesiastic bureaucracy, and was now a personal matter of faith between the believer and God, without mediators. This type of Christianity appealed strongly to most Southerners; and thereafter it changed their lives drastically. Its priorities emphasized Christ as Lord, personal honor, marriage, family, and community – in that order. many Southerners now lived their Christian faith; most of the rest were at least careful to observe the forms. The Southerners were now regarded as the bedrock Christians, and the Northerners less so as Calvinism receded – although liberalized Christianity remained strong in the North. 57 Responses to The Second Great Awakening & Southern Christianity It will be interesting to see how long the South continues to connect with Christianity. The churches, across denominations, have suffered scandal after scandal over the past several decades. In addition, many churches have introduced new unofficial doctrines of state and military worship and encourage its members to pledge their allegiance to an idol (the "Christian" flag). I, foresee a much better outcome for Southern culture, as history has demonstrated, religions come and go, but the culture seems to persist. "I, foresee a much better outcome for Southern culture, as history has demonstrated, religions come and go, but the culture seems to persist." If you are suggesting, sir, that the culture of the Old South can survive without the particular religion that brought it into being and sustained it through many dark years, I would urge you to think again. We have seen Europe decoupled from Christianity. Don't imagine that the fate of the South would be any different. I hear the same kind of nonsense spouted by the neopagan "Nouvelle Droite" types: Europe can be great again, especially so if Christianity is consigned to the dustbin of history. They are morons. Paganism by itself never worked out well for Europeans, as the histories of Rome — and most recently Nazi Germany — attest. If the South loses Christ — as the Yankees lost Christ — then the South can only hope for the Yankees' fate. This is something that Southern Nationalist writer Mac Aston argues with eloquence in his book Yankee Babylon. If you haven't read that book I strongly encourage you to do so. "Wherever an altar is found, there civilization exists." Joseph De Maistre . In fact much of the Southern culture, from story telling, hunting, fishing, cattle herders, music style, independent thinking, etc are all cultural customs that are from Southerners' Pagan ancestors. I see little of these customs changing based on the peoples' religious flavor of the moment. After all, the christian faith is foreign religion to people of western European decent that was forced upon their ancestors (especially in France, Scotland, Ireland, Wales etc) on pain of death. And what pagan ancestors would those be? The culture of the American South is separated from those ancestors by both a millennium and a half and an ocean. Virginia and South Carolina were colonized by Anglicans. The Scots-Irish wave of immigrants that came later were largely Presbyterians and various kinds nonconformist Christians. There was hardly a pagan among them. As James Webb writes in Born Fighting, Southrons can be bold sinners, but devout they always have been and are today, largely speaking, contrary to your assertion. That's precisely why the South is even today known as the "Bible Belt", and not the "Pagan Belt". Ask your typical Southerner about, say, Samhein, and note the blank look on his face. It is in your last comment that you tip your hand: you're one of those "Nouvelle Droite" types, hankering for the supposed glories of Europe's old pagan faith. Which is merely an indication that you really don't know much about that old faith, or why Christianity so easily supplanted it. It was ugly, brutal and fatalistic, contrary. The Southern heritage organizations with which I am associated — League of the South and Sons of Confederate Veterans — understand the key role the Christian faith has played in the formation of Southern culture, and they seek to hand down that legacy, each in their own unique way. Your neopagan perspective is that of an outsider, however. There's not anything truly Southron about it. I see both sides of it— But in reality, Christianity breaks down into three main groups (orthodox, protestant, catholic). And these really do seem to reference the pre-christianites that came before. The South is markedly protestant. In many early constitutions, one had to affirm protestantism in order to hold offices. By contrast to catholicism (the other christianity the protestants were most aware of, not having been deeply exposed to Orthodoxy), the southern faith is de-centralized (just like the state's rights they support), nonhierarchical, with the average person (the lay person) having a voice (both in government and church matters), with church having elected officials, who are on a same level spiritually with the congregation (as opposed to the catholic world's hierarchies, visible money, overlap of high priests and Big Money movers and shakers —like the Borgias and Medicis producing many popes, that kind of thing— the "need to know basis" sort of thinking (not thinking for yourself.). And much more. The catholic mind was much better suited to the Industrial Revolution in some ways (the clock punching, efficiency, corportism, hierarchy, "org charts" (lol), being "initiated" in the corporation ("promotions"), and so on. It is a very different culture from the culture of agriculture— a different sense of advancement, values, time, a person's reason for being and worth. So—- the catholic faith really does channel something prior that is different, and creates a very different christian culture overall. The Northern European/ Southern and protestant breaks down along this religious line— and is better suited for pioneering, thinking for oneself, valuing creativity, self-sufficiency, (all of which comes out in religious terms, as mentioned with elected offices, no confession to a "grand priest", direct prayer to God, a relationship with God, no saints of endless mediation, often very non-visibly wealthy churches (no gold and gowns, pomp, no statues, even stain glass, etc.—the opposite of so many catholic spaces). There's much more to say on the matter—- but the bottom line is that the three main christianities also seem to carry the folkways of the people, evident in how they interpreted the bible, how they live in accordance with it. Catholicism often produces people who are more prone to "The Cult of Experts" (they are raised in a religion that has "Experts" (the hierarchy of popes, priests), which is more than "elders" or "respected co-congregants" of the protestants. It seems insupportable (like when one reads about the popes from The Borgias? Medicis and so on, lol. d The consciousness that arises from the different christianities (the "sensibilities" that emerge) are different, indeed. "And what pagan ancestors would those be?" History answers this simply enough… Western European include the Celts, Normans, Saxons, etc, who all happened to be pagan. Those who immigrated to settle the South were the descendants of these pagans. It is well documented that many of the pagan cultural and traditional customs survived the forced conversion to christianity of the Southern peoples' ancestors. These traditions and customs that survived into the modern South include generous hospitality, hunting, fishing, martial prowess (I noted many of these earlier). . "Southrons can be bold sinners" On this point I agree with you… a lot of Southerners have absolutely no intention of living by their church's doctrines. " "but devout they always have been and are today". "Ask your typical Southerner about, say, Samhein, and note the blank look on his face" I absolutely agree with you on this point today most Southerners would recognize this holiday as Halloween or All Saints Day. Your third paragraph is full of many assumptions. I have never claimed that the old pagan religions were glorious, that is a completely falsified statement on your part. The old pagan religions of Western Europe were simply nature worship. Their religion followed the natural cycle of the seasons, life, death etc. There is scant to no academic evidence that the pagan religions were "ugly" as you stated. "." This. . By making several false statements in your post it really makes it difficult to take your position seriously. The above are obviously sweeping generalizations— with protestants out there who follow experts, and catholics who value de-centralization (actionably, in a real way). In the u.s., this is in part due to the wasps (especially southern wasps, but now also rural mid-weset/ westerns socialized into the way the country became after the War between the States (Industrialist-Corporatist-militarist –the real definition of fascism). —but the "gains" made by "the left" (especially in the real of academic thinking about population controls, were integrated into that System, so it's a "left-right hybrid," (in which the Constitutional America (who references colonizing not industrializing, has virtually no voice). — and disagree that the Northeast is necessarily "secular." It is frequently controlled by catholics and jews. (NYC is 4% protestant, as are other major cities now— in other words they do not exist in the major cities). There's a secular, humanist strain— but really, it's more controled by the left (atheist materialist). Organizational jews (genuinely political ones) working on Israel, and the catholics on Romanizing the country (not average people going to mass, but political catholics). Why else would they vote to open the south border of the country against the will of the people, as was done in 1965? Why else attack "The Bilbe Belt"— and the south, which are synonymous with "wasp?" In a sense, there may be no real secularism—- scratch the surface long enough, and people will pick a tribe. It might be ideological (communism in all its variants, or a theocracy of some kind), or their kin. And really, the "theocrats" really fall on ethnic lines. It's a shame that this discussion turns into a debate about 'paganism', which is for the most part a recently invented system cobbled together based on hearsay or fantasized notions about the good old pre-Christian days of Europe. The truth is, nobody really knows how the pre-Christian Europeans worshipped, apart from some sketchy details from the writings of Roman historians, etc. I need proof of this assertion by Chad that the European peoples were "forced" into Christianity on pain of death. I've seen this asserted on many 'new right' or 'Nouvelle Droite'-oriented forums and I'd like evidence to back it up. Recently-concocted histories don't count. The European peoples have been Christians for what, 1700 years and all the evidence is that they fully embraced it, and it formed the core of their culture. Look at all the great art from Christian Europe; they were not half-hearted Christians, but their faith was the heart of their culture. The cathedrals, the visual arts, music, etc. are all pay testimony to that. The South would not BE the South as we know it without Christianity. It's impossible even to imagine such a thing. Our forebears were Christians for dozens of generations back. -VA VA "I need proof of this assertion by Chad that the European peoples were "forced" into Christianity on pain of death." This is actually very well documented, I am surprised that you are unaware of the persecutions that pagans suffered by the early christians. One of the best documented instances of using the "pain of death" threat against practicing pagans was made by Constantius II. The early christians also began to forcibly close all pagan temples. "Saint" Ambrose further agitated and advocated violence and bloodshed against under the infamous "Theodosian Decree". Laws were continued to be passed that included the death penalty to those who attended or participated in a pagan ritual. Laws were also used to steal buildings and temples owned by the pagans and then award these buildings to the Christians. Pope Gregory I ordered that all sacred lands that were for the worship by the pagans were to be confiscated and to appropriated to the christians for building temples and alters to the christian god. The historical documentation of christians violence and bloodshed against pagans is extensive. There are several good historic books out there about the subject, if you are interested in the subject. "Look at all the great art from Christian Europe; they were not half-hearted Christians" There are numerous examples of pagan imagery and symbols in the Christians churches in Europe. Many of the pagan symbols and imagery are actually engraved into the churches themselves. There are also several books that document what churches have these pagan symbols and images carved into their buildings. "The South would not BE the South as we know it without Christianity. It's impossible even to imagine such a thing" This has never even been a question on this forum… and appears to be almost a strawman argument… with you giving support to a fact that does not conflict, support or hurt the fact that pagan culture exists in the South today. Even as Christianity continues to diminish in the South, it is likely that much of Southern culture and customs will continue to persist. Christianity influence on the South is also well documented. However, just because it has had an influence on the South does not take away from the cultural traditions we maintain from out pagan ancestors. Christianity is more a nuisance at this point. Originally it was pretty much an all White/European faith. Once it came to the new world it started trying to convert anybody and everybody. The modern churches are nothing more than multiculturalism packaged into a sermon. Not to mention the aliens that are pouring across the Southern border can easily play the religion card. "We are Christians too, you rayciss!" I notice the Orthodox Christians in the East aren't ate up with that PC malarky though. I don't know much about the different Christian sects, but they seem a hell of alot more keen on keeping their founding stock the majority in the Orthodox nations. I see Christianity as a part of White history but I'm an Atheist that can live a clean moral life without it. When it starts to endanger the people that were once its main followers then it is time for some serious changes. I don't care about Christianity either way, but if you want to keep it a 'white thing' then you better get to work breaking it from the PC spell its under. Also I'd rather live around a white Pagan than a black Christian. Race trumps religion every time for me. The word culture is derived from the Latin word "cultus" which basically means religion. It is from this we get our English word "cult" though when English-speaking people use it, they often mean it in a derogatory way. Nevertheless, culture derives primarily from cultus (religion), and specifically it is the way in which a religion interacts with various people in their environment and history. European Paganism was a failure. It produced a culture of such extreme decadence that it ultimately imploded upon itself, much in the same way modern Secular culture threatens to do the same in the not-too-distant future. It was regected by Europeans within a few centuries of Christianity's birth because it offered no hope to its adherents. It gave way to Christianity because the Christian faith offered the concept of free-will (something foreign to the "fates" of ancient Paganism) and a God who actually loves people and cares about them (something also foreign to the narcissistic gods of Paganism). Christianity offered a God who demands worship not for his own sake, but for the sake of his children, who were designed for this purpose and can only find fulfilment therein. I could go on about the reasons why Christianity conquered Paganism in the realm of ideas, but I digress. The fact that Paganism is today an obscure religion, with virtually no organised features outside of a rebellious subculture, demonstrates that it has been thoroughly defeated in the realm of ideas. It will always give way to either Christianity or Islam in the long run. Take your pick. The Antebellum South was built almost exclusively on Western European Christianity. The only Pagans that existed were among the Native American tribes, many of whom voluntarily converted to Christianity eventually. The only Muslims that existed were among some of the slaves who were imported from Africa, but they gave way to Christianity within a generation or two. Of course, there was always a smattering of Jews in every culture, but they are always a tiny minority. Without question, Christianity created the dominant culture of the South, regardless of how well people practised it. The dominant form of Christianity in the Antebellum South was Anglican Protestantism (Protestant Episcopal Church USA), and if you investigate the trends of North American Anglican Protestantism in the late 1700s to early 1800s, you will find they were overwhelmingly Anglo-Catholic in practice and liturgy. The Anglo-Catholic movement was practically invented by the Protestant Episcopal Church USA after the American Revolution, and later spread to England where it became known as the Oxford Movement. The English contributed to the intellectual side of Anglo-Catholicism, while the Americans contributed to the practical side of it. The mindset of Anglo-Catholicism is what many referred to as the "third way" — or an organic bridge between Protestantism and Catholicism. Church services were highly liturgical, mirroring the Catholic mass in almost every way, with subtle changes in the wording of prayers to fit traditional Protestant theology. Anglicans (Episcopalians) were sympathetic to Catholic sensibilities, and while their devotion to Mary and the Saints was not nearly as profound as among Catholics, it did nevertheless exist in small forms. Visit any Episcopal Church of the time period, and this will be obvious in the iconography and architecture. This was the religion of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, as well as countless other Confederate fathers. Catholicism also played a significant role in the Antebellum South, especially in Louisiana, Texas and the urban portions of Atlanta, Charleston, Richmond and Baltimore. One simply cannot understand the Antebellum South without appreciating this religious influence on the culture of the period. Of course that doesn't mean you have to agree with it, far from it, but you do have to understand it and appreciate it. The War of Southern Independence (the Dixie-American War) brought with it radical changes in religion both during and after. Because of the horrors of battle, many soldiers and their families sought a religious message that offered them immediate comfort and a private relationship with God. The evangelical message of the Baptists fit the bill for the time, and later (in the 20th century) the Pentecostals expanded on this. That's not to say you can't find the same message within Anglicanism and Catholicism, you can, but it shows that the Baptists and Pentecostals did a much better job marketing it. That is indisputable. As we enter the 21st century, we are beginning to see a convergence of these two religious systems, especially in the South. The Anglo-Catholic wing of the Episcopal Church is moving back toward Catholicism as many of them take advantage of the pope's ordinariate program. Meanwhile a growing number of Baptists have seen the advantages of practising Lent, and some congregations have formerly adopted the season starting with Ash Wednesday. There is also a small contingency of Pentecostals who have seen the advantages of Anglican liturgy, and have created for themselves the Charismatic-Episcopal Church. All of these movements are still in their infancy stage, but I see in them a great deal of hope, in that they recognise the advantages of both Evangelical and Anglo-Catholic traditions, attempting to draw from the best of both worlds. I see something strikingly "Southern" in this mindset. Dixiegirl, I must take friendly issue with your analysis of Catholicism and industrialisation. Catholicism basically rejects the Northern idea of industrialism and materialism. This is most clearly seen in Pope Leo XIII encyclical "Rerum Novarum" which flat out rejects Yankee (and English) Capitalism and the growing Marxist (Socialist) theories of the time. In response, the pope proposed the remedy of a return to rural self-sufficiency and cooperative (instead of corporate) industry — a very Antebellum Southern ideal. Since then, all social encyclicals of the popes have followed this model. When it comes to the issue of Catholicism in general (something I happen to know a thing or two about), it is interesting to note that the Catholic Church in America follows the cultural trends of the North and South. In the North, Catholicism is in trouble, as Catholics embrace the liberal Yankee mentality, they move further and further away from Rome. Thus the Church is retreating in the North, as parishes are forced to close, parochial schools are shutting down, and dioceses are going bankrupt. This is not to mention the priest shortage in those regions. Meanwhile, the exact opposite is true in the South. Dioceses in the South are booming, as the prevailing culture in the South is more in line with traditional Catholic thinking. Instead of closing, new Catholic parishes are opening, and old ones are expanding with new building projects. Parochial schools are thriving in the South as well, just as they did in antebellum times. While priestly seminaries are busting at the seems, as well as convents and monasteries. Catholicism is finding a natural home in Dixie, just as it did before the War, and with the rise in Catholicism, the South will see the social teachings of the popes played out here, as rural independence and cooperative industry is encouraged by Catholic bishops and priests. In my opinion, Catholicism (authentic traditional Catholicism that is, not the Yankee Modernist version up North) will be the key to the cultural revival of the Antebellum South, and insofar as the convergence of Evangelicalism and Anglicanism goes, that will play a very big role too. Just my 2 cents anyway. says the Catholic Nationalist Poster: "….Catholicism is finding a natural home in Dixie, just as it did before the War, and with the rise in Catholicism, the South will see the social teachings of the popes played out here…" Well, Catholic Nationalist (which is truly a "dual citizenship" status since your Pope created an embassy in our country)— I'm a Southern Episcopal (or was before the 60s Vatican Council and catholic creation of Liberation Theology in the 60s crashed our church). In regards to this being your natural home— a truth of the early state constitutions is that many had to profess protestantism in order to hold offices and some required an open rejection of catholicism in order to do so. Posts such as yours are of deep concern to many real Americans, who feel they have a home in their homeland, too, as well as your clear lack of regard for them, their families, their feelings, their sense of their own history. Very much, this post encapsulates the latest spin that the pope has made as he makes inroads in Romanizing the u.s., something that is very clearly the cause of problems, not the solution to them. How you can dispute the catholic role in the industrial revolution, the politicizing of our borders to romanize the country, the hand in liberation theology and much more— is beyond me. It is VERY TRUE what you say about the catholics "thriving" on the spoils of the Civil War. And yes, you do well now that it's a Welfare-Warfare State. Is that something to be proud of? Doesn't that just amount to theft? Being confronted with arrogant people such as yourself who are now trying to be "The South's Great Saviors" (lmao)— is genuinely sickening to me. —Although I have no doubt that —using southerners stolen money— you will do great wonders. Nor do I feel AT ALL in line with the catholics who have moved in. They are "suited" to the area BECAUSE they are in corporations moved down en mass, or in the military—- they certainly aren't much when it comes to reading (except to justify themselves— as you illustrate here). They also don't have anything of the southern knack for music and storytelling— and frequently just don't "get it." Many of the Southerners I know have moved to outskirts to get away from these "changes." I don't know what would have happened before— had there not been Vatican II, and the degradation of "Anglos" (a catholic code word for protestant) throughout the Bible Belt. In the end, frankly, I think the catholic world will go where it has long trended—toward a couple "experts at the top" it grooms and masses of proles— it's real gains are the third world and the kind of people who believe in blood-crying statues and the face of Jesus in pancakes. An aside— to talk about things s/a the Baptists "marketing" better than others, which you say— really shows where your yankee head is located, lol. On the level of dogma, the catholics SAY they reject materialism— but in reality, they are a system deeply tied to —and deeply inextricable from— the feudalism it always serves (or neo-fascism). No doubt, somebody s/a Rick Santorum actually thinks he's a "catholic." What makes them dangerous —and really, in some ways, even more so than Jews— is the hierarchical thinking (totally non-suited to Americans (the northern european wasps who actually created everything people liked about the place), and the teachings about Genocide of heretics being good. You will always have the horrible tendency to commit murders in the name of your God. This is because you are a group based in an Idea— a Catholic Nationalist— and to create group Cohesion, you will ALWAYS necessarily wind up killing people who do not agree with your idea of "being the only true path to God." A REALITY of the u.s. is that many who actually formed it came directly from families fleeing you (as well as Anglicans and others). For instance, Alex Hamilton. Catholics, due to the intensity of indoctrination, and fear (I think), have a hard time simply seeking truth. Rather, they "prove their point" You use the topic— simply to make a case for why you are going to be THEE SOUTH. You are more suited to our home. You are going to revitalize us (even though many really can't stand your religion or history, and certainly not the pope), and so on. You've got the future of others ALL FIGURED OUT. And that's a catholic yankee for you. The fact that others exist, that they don't want what you're pandering, that they think it's awful how you got it, that you seem incapable of remorse for that, that they don't want to live under the tyranny of others. We had a right, in the country WE CREATED, to reject you in our home. We had a right to our own space (which you are now parsing up the way you like, for your own ends). Anyway— just read your own post. It's sad that you people have so little in you for the people from whom you have fed. Finally— you're clearly a Theocrat, why are you even on sites like this??? Your clear objective is nothing to do with the real south—- but only TAKING IT FOR YOUR PEOPLE. you are not allied with whites, europeans, nothing but Your Ideology. Why not just go to France or Poland or anywhere in South America, lol— where all but the catholics were done away with, which is why they are catholic? Just live there. leave one STATE for Northern european wasps, lol. The jews and catholics from the 1900 immigration (who came politically organized and immediately went into offices, etc.) turned the country into europe, into exactly what the colonists were trying to escape from. If you're looking for a summation of the "New South" position (the yankee Northeast Takeover of the previous home of the Southland), this man's post is it, imo. You need go no further. He says everything they say. And after all the work of genocide, displacement, economic warfare, etc— he tries to make it like the Southern people were simply floundering… FOR NO REASON AT ALL, lol. It just sort of happened… but now the Catholic knights are going to come and WE'RE GOING TO BECOME a hybrid version of catholicism…. —– now, this poster tells us, the pope is going to "let us back in" through his ordinance deal—- (why didn't he just leave us alone in the first place, instead of descending with the horror of Vat II, then the Kennedy boys who opened our border—- (one of my neighbors was murdered by one of those sweet people let in by your people, btw)… Well, it might work—- the fat man in a dress certainly is rich enough, brutal enough, and he surely does work generationally enough, and has been committed to the Age of Chained Books enough, (i.e. hiding knowledge from the common man)— that you might get away with it. But seriously— people have been very very clear over centuries about wanting to be separate. Catholic socialization is simply not something I would want my children around very much. Shouldn't that be my right as a parent? But you say no— how American is that!!! READ YOUR POST—- it seems more to me then, that the catholics ATE UP the North you are saying— the saga of what they brought in 1900 has played out— they've done their Welfare Deal, driven up taxes, blamed the jews and protestants, taken over the supreme court, opened the borders for their criminal proxy fighters to wipe out "anglos" (incentivized to do so by Jesuit priests and their creation of Liberation Theology)… NOW— where you see this groovy growth of yourself in the South— the Southerners see Nyc, and detroit happening to them in your wake— the infiltration of government offices, loss of voice, flash mobbing regions en masse, HUGE UPTICK in crime waves, corporatism and militarism (the way the south NOW gets money since the yankees came)— The GEOGRAPHICAL CURE you say you are making— has already transformed the regions in a way many southerners find intolerable (do you even read this site before you post?— or League of the south???) People are reacting to these changes you find so nifty— by saying it's not even human to live there anymore. UM—- OK, AFTER IT'S GOOD AND RUINED, then this idea that your priests will help: The Anglo-Catholic wing of the Episcopal Church is moving back toward Catholicism as many of them take advantage of the pope's ordinariate program. I mean—will you ever QUIT RUINING THINGS IN THE FIRST PLACE. The Catholic machinations of the past years have been increasingly visible, and they have been about power. Your "church" is a POLITICAL COUNTRY. And this: In the North, Catholicism is in trouble, as Catholics embrace the liberal Yankee mentality, they move further and further away from Rome. … LOL— why don't they read scripture and rely on God and maybe they would cease to be this wishy-washy, and maybe also realize that people watching them are no impressed by the way they handled themselves in the u.s.. Also—- I think it's possible your group of people might get what you say—but only at such a cost that we're already seeing in the country, as it drags down spirituality and creativity. What you see as the "great new South" (the new traditional south suited to be transformed by catholics, as you say) IS ONE THAT THE colonial-identified Americans ARE RUNNING FROM. They aren't liking it. Wow Dixiegirl, I was wrong. You can't be reasoned with. How very "know nothing" of you. I don't think I've read a screed quite that hysterically anti-Catholic since the last time I picked up a Chick Tract. You neither know history nor Catholicism. BTW: I am a member of the League of the South, and many of the leaders in the League are Catholic as well — just FYI. I suppose I'll leave this one thought with you before I give up on you completely. Many of the supposed things you hate about Catholicism are not Catholic at all. Liberation Theology has been condemned by the Catholic Church as heresy. The Kennedy clan isn't even allowed to received communion in the Church anymore because of their anti-Catholic Yankee ways. Just a little information you could probably care less about since it seems you've already made up your mind about a great so many things. Take care. What I want to know is will this TCK guy side with the Mestizo invaders that share his faith, or white Southerners of opposite faith(or lack thereof) if something crazy goes down, such as a mass ethnic conflict? Would you launch a crusade against the Catholic Mestizo, TCK? Would you stand beside DixieGirl if she decided to launch a crusade against Catholic Mestizos? DixieGirl, would you stand beside, me, a white Atheist, or a black Protestant in a mass ethnic conflict? Thank you Michael. As I was trying to explain to Dixiegirl above, there are thousands of people who hate the Catholic Church for what they mistakenly believe it is, but there are few who hate it for what it actually is. For if many of the things people mistakenly believed about the Church were true, I would hate it too. As for me I am a Southern Catholic and I know many Southern Catholics where I live. We also know many Protestants of good will who do not hate us for being Catholic. I. TCK, I would not say that race is not an issue just as I would not say it's the only issue. However, there is no uniformity of opinion on this or any other issue within Southern nationalist ranks. As long as folks are pro-South I'm willing to work with them. There are various expanding circles of relation: the individual, the family, the ethnic group, the race, the species, etc. All of these levels of relation are important, in my view. A quick review of history demonstrates this, I think, as well as the obvious inequality at all levels – and the result of trying to ignore nature. This always leads to disaster. Agreed Michael. And I know there is no uniformity on the race issue in any real organic nationalist movement. There never is. When it comes to race, I have to speak on a personal level, based upon what my faith teaches me, and that's about as far as I can go. I have always believed that it is okay to love your own kind, and I believe that is natural and ordained by our Creator God. However, the gospel teaches us not to hate others. So therefore, I am forced to conclude, personally, that while it is right and good for me to love my own kind, it is forbidden of me to hate other kinds. So that's where I stand, and I believe this is consistent with the teachings of the Church on the matter. When it comes to Southern Nationalism (the Dixie Nation) I believe what makes us a nation is our common culture, language, history and values. Neither race nor religion are homogeneous in the South, they never have been. So when one comes across having racial issues, like above, I simply let them be, leaving them alone, preferring to do unto them as I would have them do unto me. That's the Christian way and I think it's very Southern. When it comes to religion, I may try to dialogue, as sometimes these can be due to misunderstandings, but if a person proves to be resistant to reason, as above, I'll try to leave them alone too. I just like questioning people on the race vs. religion topic. Mainly the PC Christians who espouse the 'we're all the same dogma'. I like finding out how people truely feel when faced with a situation where they have to choose one or the other. A few years back I was in a conversation with an older white Christian man that I've known all my life pretty much. Like alot of the PC crowd he would always preach to me about how we're all God's children etc. I decided that I would see just how much of that PC malarky he actually believed. I struck up a conversation about his daughter. She was a gorgeous gal, slim, cute Southern accent, very easy on the eyes to say the least. I asked if she was available for dating at the moment. He responds with a light nod and a "yep", "why do you ask?" I responded "Well sir, I'm not single myself, but I know this nice young Christian black man that might be interested." You should of seen how red his face got. LOL I just like seeing how many people actually believe what comes out of their mouthes. Very few actually live what they speak it seems. I find it easy to discuss race. I don't know why so many people wish to hide their true feelings. It is quite cowardly especially when their people and entire civilization is at risk. I think it's only natural for people to love their own kind and inwardly want to preserve their family race/ethnicity/culture/religion. I can't think of anything more natural actually. When confronted with a situation where it becomes apparent that one of these things will not be preserved in the next generation, I believe it's only natural to have a negative gut reaction. That being said, this is where the gospel has to come in, because in the end, it's the only thing that can help one deal with the situation. I think it's okay for parents to teach their kids to discriminate their dating partners based on these things too, if they are so inclined, but of course not at the expense of treating others in an uncharitable way. WhiteSouthron asked, " Would you launch a crusade against the Catholic Mestizo, TCK? Would you stand beside DixieGirl if she decided to launch a crusade against Catholic Mestizos?" My answer is "yes". What the Mestizos are doing is illegal and can be considered an act of war. An act of war, aided and abetted by the Federal government I might add. WS, I agree the PC bullcrap is what is destroying many things and I hope it is one of the many pry bars that can be used to loosen the tyrannical grip the DC tyrants have on the Confederacy. Would I stand by "Dixiegirl" if she were to launch a crusade against the Mestizos? In a general sense, the answer is "yes". If they start shooting first I am there shooting back. The only caveat is that I would stand behind "Dixiegirl" instead of next to or in front of her because I firmly believe that once we achieve our victory the next shot would be from her into my back. That's just her Puritan belief… CP, the Anti-Catholic tirade launched by Dixiegirl really is something straight out of a Chick Tract, filled with historical inaccuracies and blatant misrepresentations of Catholic teaching, but you know this already. Overall her argument sounds strikingly Puritan and I dare say Yankee in the old fashioned classical sense, before the onset of Modernism. It reminds me of the propaganda used by the Know Nothings in the 19th century, the KKK in the 20th century and Jack Chick Ministries in the 21st century. (I'm speaking of the 20th century Klan, not the 19th century original version started and eventually disbanded by the honourable Nathan Bedford Forrest.). The rabid anti-Catholicism displayed in her comments is very un-Southern and doesn't in the least bit reflect the Dixie I know. Sure, there are plenty of people around these parts that don't know anything about Catholic Christianity and don't want to know anything about it. But at least they are friendly and cordial about it. It's called civility and it's the mark of civilised people. I've only known Yankees and Westerners to behave the way Dixiegirl did. Most Southerners are unaware that the Vatican was the The South's only true friend during the War, but when they learn this, and how much both Lee and Davis revered the pope of that time, they are pleased to hear it. Like I said, there is plenty of anti-Catholicism in Dixie, but Southerners have a reputation of being polite about it. I must respect their charity even if I disagree with their opinions. Again, it's called civility, and unlike anti-Catholic Yankees and Westerners, Southerners are a civilised people who are usually able to temper their prejudice with charity. "'And what pagan ancestors would those be?' History answers this simply enough… Western European include the Celts, Normans, Saxons, etc, who all happened to be pagan. Those who immigrated to settle the South were the descendants of these pagans." I wonder if you could miss the point more dramatically. The point was that 1,500+ years and a big ocean separated those pagans from the Christians who colonized the South. Capiche? "It is well documented that many of the pagan cultural and traditional customs survived the forced conversion to christianity of the Southern peoples' ancestors." First, of all, most of the conversions weren't "forced". Check your facts. Secondly, the issue here is not whether many pagan cultural and traditional customs remained after these peoples converted. They did remain. That has happened wherever Christianity has gone. The issue is, rather, whether or not the pagan religions survived. They did not, and good riddance to them. "These traditions and customs that survived into the modern South include generous hospitality, hunting, fishing, martial prowess (I noted many of these earlier)." Of course, Judeo-Christians would know nothing of generous hospitality, hunting, fishing, or martial prowess. Read up on Thomas Jackson sometime, and find out where he obtained much if not most of his information about warfare. "." Ahistorical rubbish. But at least you do recognize the point I made above about culture vs. religion. The suggestion that Christians destroyed pagan culture, however, is, like I said, ahistorical rubbish. "'Southrons can be bold sinners" On this point I agree with you… a lot of Southerners have absolutely no intention of living by their church's doctrines." No, you don't agree with me at all. Rather, you miss the point again. Webb's point was that Southrons have historically been bold sinners while at the same time holding to — and living by more often than not — their church's doctrines. "'but devout they always have been and are today'." Your disagreement means nothing to me. It means nothing to me because your assessment simply isn't based on the facts of the matter. It is based, rather, on your jaundiced and emotional reaction to Christianity and Christian culture. Moreover, no Christian gives a flip about what a dogmatic pagan — who may very well turn out to be a Nazi — has to say about his Church. "'Ask your typical Southerner about, say, Samhein, and note the blank look on his face'. I absolutely agree with you on this point today most Southerners would recognize this holiday as Halloween or All Saints Day." Then I rest my case on that particular point. "Your third paragraph is full of many assumptions. I have never claimed that the old pagan religions were glorious, that is a completely falsified statement on your part. The old pagan religions of Western Europe were simply nature worship. Their religion followed the natural cycle of the seasons, life, death etc. Come now, don't be coy. If you're a pagan, own up to the fact that you're a pagan for a reason. You hint at it here: nature is glorious. No? "There is scant to no academic evidence that the pagan religions were 'ugly' as you stated." Why don't you tell everyone here about the "Wicker Man"? "'.' This." Then might I suggest that your parents wasted their money? Not only didn't you learn any facts about church history, why, that school didn't even teach you about paganism! The outrage! How about you tell us what you HAVE read about church history. Please reference the titles of the books you've read. "." After a millennium and a half of Christian saturation, it can hardly be argued — with a straight face anyway — that the European Christian culture which formed Southern American culture is in any way pagan. "By making several false statements in your post it really makes it difficult to take your position seriously." You've nowhere demonstrated that I made any false statements, and if you demur, I challenge you to point out where you did so. And as for taking things seriously, it is certainly difficult to take seriously the ravings of a neopagan who confuses his own jaundiced and emotional assessments with historical fact. "glorious".. I also like how you refer to a Hollywood movie to make your point about pagan religions being "ugly". . Yet, this entire post has really gotten side tracked. I simply pointed out how some pagan cultural customs are still a part of our culture. I have never taken the position that christianity hasn't influenced Southern culture or that pagan religion is a thriving religion (even though it has become more openly and widely practiced in the past half of a century. I stand by my point that there are cultural customs that are still part of the South that have survived the peoples' transition from paganism to christianity. . I went to Catholic school for awhile (when the 70s were wrecking schools–since that's the only thing there was at first, before homeschool). I also went all the way through conversion classes later (as an adult) just for study purposes. I had never heard of "Chick"— but it pretty much sums up my time with the nuns. HERE'S WHERE WE DIFFER— you (and many catholics) always claim that "the church condemns" this and that… the kennedys, pelosis, panettas, janet renos, dicaprios, scorseses, diniros, supreme courtiers, etc… are not "real catholics." Always— the villains that undoes the "real thing"— is the jews or protestants, (especially the evil puritans). Sometimes, it is devil possession. Anyone who disagrees with you MUST BE STUPID (AS YOU say I am above.) Like a Chick tract, etc. But everything I learned about Catholicism, I got right out of catechism classes. (Which were about the most dumbed down classes I have attended.) —know you would not think so (because I do not go and on, trying to sound "erudite" but I do have a few degrees (blah, blah) and a respectable IQ. Also—- I would not really count on "Southern Civility." Even a Southerner's patience can wear thin. I just don't see why Southerners put up with non-Southerners naming them, producing their "literature," and so on. It makes me sad to see what has happened to them. The protestants also. The fact is, the other populations have not been able to create and produce in the same way as the colonials. That's the right question. Are you a Catholic Nationalist (a theocrat who cannot understand why only the protestants were able (COULD HAVE BEEN able) to produce the u.s. when it was a constitutional republic? If you are NOT a Catholic Nationalist (in reality)— and you put the european over the catholic (you would chose me over a mestizo –that yes, we can thank the kennedys for)— you are fine by me. The guy above— carefully read his post. This is not a person who has "let in" that real organized Catholic Nationalism exists and is active in the country (a ideological universalism that seeks to displace ethnic nationalism as the organizational structure of society) Actually— I'm not a catholic hater, lol. Generally, I will admit has not "turned out" my favorite people. (Usually just along better with rural based Americans and Orthodox from East europe, nothing personal)— What concerns me are the real Heretic Killers. (And yes, in catechism they still teach killing people s/a the Waldensians as heroic. Absolutely, I do not agree. DO YOU?) Given the history, (and open Catholic-led aggression in the past 60s years in U.S.) it would seem much more likely that you would put a bullet in my back. I do admit (and this is with a few years of weekly or bi-weekly catechism and mass attendance, sometimes daily)—- the whole thing leaves me cold in a way my own faith does not; the lessons mostly about "talking points" to prove others are wrong about God. But the bottom line— is where YOUR REAL LOYALTIES LIE. –And whether your God is compatible (and if so, how) with ethnic nationalism. about manners— just reminded me of (the both catholic and southern) Flannery O'Conner and her story called Good Country People Southerners can be as nasty as anyone, maybe even more so, when they decide that's what they are going to do. They can be brutally honest, "honest to a fault," and tend to see straight through the bullshit. Confederate Papist— I think you really would stand by the european, even if they differ from you ideologically, (I'm just not tithing the pope, although due to the welfare state, in effect I do, but that's another story). TCK says: I….." a) if you read the post carefully, this may not be true, in that he admits no "machinations" behind why the protestants have been so wiped out in –very arguably– their own country, and sees no problem in things (given what's occurred) int he pope's new ordinance with anglicans, etc. b) but more importantly—- wonder how he would feel when it's even more "new south" (assuming he really is southern and had family in the south before the war)—- —when the character of the "region" to which he has his allegiance becomes non-southern, (as so much of the south is) will he continue to have allegiance to the land boundary— and if not… then what will his new allegiance be to? While I hear that you look at the "bad apples" and say they are not "real catholics"— I would agree with this. BUT– the reality that concerns me is that —despite denouncing these people— they really are still operating in society, and the overall catholic community benefits by their bad acts. For instance, the organized catholic community (who wishes to create out of america a "catholic country") BENEFITS from the "not real" catholic moves of the kennedys opening the south border to their co-congregants. That's just one example. So— since the whole community of which a catholic is a part BENEFITS from such things, (like having a dual status in the u.s., since your religious leader is also a recognized Political State AND has an embassy in the country where you reside), is saying "I'm against it" really enough? Imo— things such as the Jesuits and Lib Theo, from which the whole catholic community reaped BIG benefits (politically, economically, and so on)– are PART OF the whole overall "divide and conquer" organization, and always have been. Of course, the pope denounces such things— and yet they never seem to quite go away, do they? That's where I differ from TCK. I believe they are all "real" catholics (not in the religious sense, but in the sense that they are fighting for an Ideological Nation (just like communists do, worldwide). And— given this— how do you all take Bob Whitaker's statement that IDEA NATIONS tend toward killing people on the basis of disagreements over IDEAS? In a theocracy, "heretics" (people who disagree with your idea) often wind up getting killed. The dictatorship winds up imposing punishments for not agreeing with ideas. This is the danger with what TCK seems to say the pope is doing (merely disconnecting himself from the "anti-anglo" rhetoric of the Jesuits and Lib Theo, then offering a deal when their church is destroyed for "ordinance," etc.— THE REAL (one of them) churches of the real old south, btw. They report: "…. The Landscape Survey finds that among the foreign-born adult population, Catholics outnumber Protestants by nearly a two-to-one margin (46% Catholic vs. 24% Protestant); among native-born Americans, on the other hand, the statistics show that Protestants outnumber Catholics by an even larger margin (55% Protestant vs. 21% Catholic). …" Confederate Papist— you're right to bring up the mestizo question in the southwest. This indicates that while catholics have gained (protestants are almost a minority in the country they did found for the first time at 51% of the population) — BUT this change is made up of NON EUROPEAN catholics. idk the answer to that— many chose their own co-religionists over their race, and even european background (i.e. when they are both from Northern Europe, for instance). Catholics (north and south)— have had the largest losses among native born. IMO, this is in part a reaction to a lot of the maneuvers mentioned in my "screed." Many native born catholics preferred the 1965 u.s., even if wasps were given some credit for it. Watching the borders open, the siphoning of money from the more Generational Americans, some of the catholic-jewish alliances, the stunning behavior of catholics in office like Pelosi, and hundreds of others, and so on— has angered them. And at some point— being anti-white became synonymous with "christian" anyway. (Just as many are actually indoctrinated as atheist-materialists and told this secular do-gooderism is "religious." or "christian") It is EXTREMELY RARE to actually meet ANYONE who has a truly religious –a word that should be revived— "Sensibility" In other words, they've made real life decisions by being guided by God, and see all that occurs around them —how they interpret it— through the paradigm of scripture. Both priests and pastors are heretical enough have degrees in Psychology (for counseling, and thus, counsel in a secular way). The underlying assumptions of psychiatry –not to mention the collegiate new age baggage— are not compatible with the Word of Jesus. Dixiegirl, you are doing a good job of creating enemies, if that is your goal. You might try being less abrasive. One minor point, there is no such thing as a 'Catholic nationalist' any more than there is such thing as a Protestant, Hindu or Muslim nationalist. Religions are not nations of people, they are faiths. A German might be Protestant or Catholic but he's still German. His nationality doesn't chance based on his religion. "RE: Dixiegirl on June 11, 2012 at 4:32 pm TCK— I went to Catholic school for awhile (when the 70s were wrecking schools–" Catholic schools were also not the best place to be in the 1970′s and 80′s either since the atrocious implementation of Vatican II left many catechists confused and "liberated" the nuns (Farley, et al), so I really cannot say what kind of education you got "Dixiegirl". I would say TCK is right in saying you don't know what you're talking about. I don't recall reading anywhere in either Canon Law or the Catechism of the Catholic Church whereby killing someone is justified, in fact the Church recognises your so-called "heretic" as Christian bretheren, so I would like to see where in the CCC you read that. As far as my nationalism, I could give two rat's behinds about what goes on in Europe, Asia or in South America. All I care about is getting as far away from the tyranny of Washington DC by achieving our independence that was lost 150 years ago, being able to work and feed my family, pay my bills and go to church. I think history has proved that the Europeans are dying due to a self-inflicted wound from the PC 9mm, and unless we get the Feds out of Dixie we will suffer the same fate. "'You've nowhere demonstrated that I made any false statements' 'glorious'.." Oh, by "false statements" you meant inferences that were erroneous, though reasonable. I thought you were referring to matters of fact. Well then, you got me there, Chad. Shame on me for inferring that you hanker for the glories of the old religion when you've played up that religion so, and shame on me for inferring that your parents paid for your Christian college education, when that is happens in the typical case. So tell me. Who DID pay for it, and what institution did you attend, if you don't mind my asking? Color me skeptical, both about your education and your claim that you're not a pagan. (If you're not a pagan, what are you then?) "I also like how you refer to a Hollywood movie to make your point about pagan religions being 'ugly'." I wasn't talking about the movie, son. Who's making erroneous inferences now? "." Overall (it is one word, not two), it seems you've stumbled from one blunder to another in this exchange, from missing points to logical error to failure to provide facts in demonstration of your argument. If those are examples of your "debating skills", I'll have to remain pretty happy about mine, reasonable though erroneous inferences notwithstanding. "Yet, this entire post has really gotten side tracked. I simply pointed out how some pagan cultural customs are still a part of our culture. I have never taken the position that christianity hasn't influenced Southern culture . . . ." No, that isn't exactly how you first framed the argument. Here's what you wrote: "." So now, after being clobbered by VA, TCK and me, you're backpedaling. Glad to see you slowly backing off your initial argument though, and I hope you're learning something. "or that pagan religion is a thriving religion (even though it has become more openly and widely practiced in the past half of a century." What the relevance is of that statement is anyone's guess. "I stand by my point that there are cultural customs that are still part of the South that have survived the peoples' transition from paganism to christianity." Which is a point that has been conceded for the most part. Did you miss that? "." Chad's special subject: the bleeding obvious. And with that last paragraph of yours this exchange is now venturing into the surreal. I think my work here is just about done. Let me know if you'd like me to recommend a couple of reputable church histories. Dixiegirl has offered absolutely no proof of any of here hysterical accusations other than her alleged personal experiences and distorted view of history. When she is ready to learn something, I'll be ready to dialogue with her, but as you can see, she has already made up her mind about a great many things, facts to the contrary be damned. So she and I have nothing to talk about for the time being. As for the self-inflicted wounds of Modernism on European and American culture, I believe the most damaging of these can be summarised in on very unpopular word — contraception. I know virtually every American, including a lot of Catholics, thinks the Catholic Church is out of step with this teaching, but the fact remains (facts be damned for some) that every Protestant denomination taught that contraception was a sin prior to 1930. Only the Catholic Church has refused to cave into the liberal Modernist trends of the 20th century. And what has contraception done for white America? What has it done for the South??? It has reduced our numbers considerably, without firing a single bullet, and made us a minority in our own land. Granted, the influx of immigrants (both legal and illegal) has contributed greatly to this as well, but the fact remains (another fact be damned thing) that our politicians wouldn't be able to get away with allowing massive immigration so easily if there were more Americans around to demand it stop. Just stop and consider it for a moment. If every Southern Nationalist family had five children to raise as Southern Nationalists, how long do you suppose it would take before we became the majority in the South again? Well, was it "very sad" when Jesus drove the money changers from the temple, or when St. Peter confronted Simon Magus with harsh words, or when St. Paul said he wished the circumcision party would emasculate themselves, or when Luther confronted Roman error with some very acerbic language? In regard to Michael's point about "catholic nationalism,"— I have to say I think you seem a bit naive on this. Can one be a "zionist?" Of course! And it is Jewish Nationalism, although Judaism is also described as a faith. It's true that "a nation" (in reality) is A People. That is the real definition. But what do you do when a religious leader IS ALSO an acknowledged Political State, as is the pope? WE may know that "A Nation is a People" but others believe in Propositional Nations (of Ideas). There really are Theocrats, who believe in creating christian political states. It's not my intention to create enemies, but to look at some of the more difficult questions that most people simply turn away from in regards to these thing and try to find genuine common ground. — In a very quick time in America—-we have experienced a shift to a majority catholic nation and this COINCIDES with a shift to a non-white nation. (As cited by Pew, White European catholics are leaving their faith in record numbers, but their faith becoming the majority because these numbers are up because of Non europeans— It really is about loyalties. The "South" is much more than just a border, which is why we can speak of the "Southern Diaspora." I really don't know why I'd "create enemies," lol— for what? citing Pew statistics? And why shouldn't I refer to real life experiences— I actually VALUE people who speak from what they actually have encountered —names, dates, places— not the academic books they were told to study (Wordism, to use a Whitakerism). Apparently, if I am very "nice" and amenable to others' versions of reality, THEN people will have a "dialogue" with me. That's how professors used to talk in graduate school. At any rate, I'm very grateful I was born Southern, told to rely on my common sense, to be a witness to what I actually experience in the real world (It seems un-Southern to degrade personal witness, as TCK does, since that's a deep meme of the south— he also implies I am a liar.. "alleged experience.") TcK— I laughed at "you don't know who you're talking to." My Southern family taught me that I could be speaking to the King of the World and still I must be true to my perceptions and experiences. I'm very grateful for their insistence on that. However, if you want to leave your information, I'll look at your blog. About the heretic issue: in regards to catechism class (and maybe I was just in a bad one, and in a bad catholic school, also), we were taught "the history of the heretical movements," and the general tone was that their being wiped out (supposedly) was a good thing, that this had "saved christianity," (the only one, which was the catholic— the others all being in "imperfect communion with God") Found it, the Catholic Knight. At a glance, TCK is NOT a "catholic nationalist." But this really is a concern, and is a real thing. It looks like you (TcK) look at the church's relationship with Israel. — To me, southern culture is more than a land boundary, an almost undefinable thing that comes from "A People"— who had families that survived the war and still have the tales to tell, the strong history of literature, writers, artists, the folkways and foodstuffs. And the protestant tradition is deeply associated, imo, with the whole legacy of being "strong storytellers," (due to the emphasis on personal witness and testimony, religiously), and other things. In all honesty, I can't say how I'd feel about a majority catholic "New south" that was european. That's not what's happening in reality. Seems some time ago I listened to your interview with Michael. It is very good. What many around this area are grappling with is NOT BY ANY MEANS your kind of person!— but an influx of Northeasterners, as you know. Some neighbors down the road actually told me they had the only true path to God, (because they are catholic), and tried to "correct" me, and "help me." Back in reality, they are Atheist Materialists (from NYC) who have been taught they are catholic. They don't have any religious sensibility at all, not really. You would "get" this. It's people such as that who are truly scaring me, not you. In this transformed south, the religion of my forebears is not respected, and I do still like my religion, despite the attacks on my church and how effective they have been. So, sorry to be offensive— but these are trying times for those trying to hold fast to the history and heritage they were given in the south the more I think about it— I've not really met many Catholic southerners (real ones, not transplants). Where I've met most —had most of my experiences— was during being educated in the Northeast. Pretty much, when I went there, the protestants ceased. Nyc, for instance, is 4% wasp, even fewer southern wasps. Most teachers were catholic (raised) or jews. And of course, they were very anti-white, very PC, (often in the Lib Theo way). Confederate Papists point is true also—- my catholic school experience was after Vatican II, and that seems to have colored even the mainstream catholic church in ways that would be unrecognizable to older people. Where I struggle— is with this "we are the true church attitude" latched onto these really bossy Northeast types (who are really atheist-materialist at heart, although they do not believe that about themselves). I don't know if that makes any better sense. Traditional catholics in the South (really from there)— I would probably not have a problem. —but never meet them here; they are all from northeast cities.	eng	b75e5420-691e-455a-b2fc-781c7cc2b58f	http://southernnationalist.com/blog/2012/06/07/the-second-great-awakening-southern-christianity/comment-page-1/
Ansett Australia Ansett Australia, Ansett, Ansett Airlines of Australia, or ANSETT-ANA as it was commonly known in earlier years, was airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit airlines flew domestically within Australia and to destinations in Asia during its operation in 1996. The airline was placedin 2001 after suffering financial collapse, and subsequent organisedin 2002, subject to deed of company arrangement. Ansett operated for 66 years and 11 days after its first takeoff from Hamilton Hamilton, Victoria Hamilton is a city in western Victoria, Australia. It is located at the intersection of the Glenelg Highway and the Henty HighwayBeginnings Sir Reginald Myles "Reg" Ansett KBE was an Australian businessman and aviator; best known for founding Ansett Transport Industries Limited, which owned one of Australia's two leading domestic airlines between 1957 and 2001... in 1935 as Ansett Airways Pty. Ltd. This was an offshoot of his road transport business which had become so successful it was threatening the freight and passenger revenue of Victorian Railways. This led the state government to legislate to put private road transport operators out of business. Reg Ansett countered by establishing an airline as aviation was under control of the national government and beyond the reach of the state government. Ansett's first route was between Hamilton, in western Victoria, and Melbourne, the state capital, operated with a Fokker Universal Fokker Universal The Fokker Universal or "Standard" was the first aircraft built in the United States that was based on the designs of Dutch-born Anthony Fokker, who had designed aircraft for the Germans during World War I. About half of the 44 Universals that were built between 1926 and 1931 in the United States... monoplane. The rapid success of the airline led Ansett to float the business in 1937. As the route network expanded, Ansett Airways imported Lockheedaircraft. During World War II Reg Ansett opted to suspend all scheduled services, except the Hamilton service, in favour of more lucrative work for the USAAF. After the war Ansett battled to re-establish his domestic routes using war-surplus(ANA), established in 1936 by a consortium of British-financed Australian shipowners. The Chifley Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949... The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... government was determined to establish a state-owned airline to operate all domestic and international services. It was eventually thwarted in this aim by the High Court of Australia, and so it established(TAA) to operate in competition with ANA. Towards a duopolybattled for supremacy in the 1940s and 1950s. TAA, being blatantly favored by the then Labor Federal Government (which had unsuccessfully attempted to nationalise all Australian domestic airlines), better managed and having better aircraft partly as a result of the Federal Labor Government granting access to U.S. funds to TAA, whilst refusing them to A.N.A., had driven ANA to the verge of bankruptcy by 1957. Ansett operated around the big two, maintaining budget fare interstate operations with DC-3s and later Convair CV-340s. The airline was backed up by extensive road transport operations, including Ansett Freight Express and Ansett-Pioneer Coaches, as well as the Ansair coach-building operation. The Menzies Liberal government, while supporting TAA, because of the excellent dividends it paid to the government, wanted to avoid TAA having a monopoly on domestic services if ANA collapsed, as seemed likely. The only alternative, as it transpired, was for Ansett to buy the ANA operation. Ansett's bid had a number of financial supporters, most prominent of these being the Shell Oil Company. Douglas Aircraft was also concerned about ANA's demise, as TAA had ceased to be a customer for their aircraft. The ANA directors fiercely resisted this initially, but in October 1957 succumbed to Ansett's offer of 3.3 million pounds for their airline. The new entity was called ANSETT-ANA; the name it retained until 1 November 1968, when it became Ansett Airlines of Australia. ANSETT-ANA's excellent profit record was, at least in part, courtesy of the Menzies government's 'Two Airlines Policy Two Airlines Policy The Australian Two Airlines Policy was a policy of Australian Federal Governments from the late 1940s to the 1990s. Under the policy, only two airlines were allowed to operate flights between state capital city and major regional city airports... ', which had initially be put in place to protect A.N.A., propped up ANSETT-ANA and clipped TAA's marketing efforts (& the previous Labor Federal Government's total pro-TAA/anti-private enterprise bias). The policy effectively blocked any other domestic interstate operators by way of a ban on importation of aircraft without a government licence. From 1957 until the 1980s, under the strict rules set down by the Two Airlines Policy, Ansett and TAA operated as virtual carbon copies of each other, operating the same aircraft at the same times, to the same destinations, at fares, which were identical (under strict Federal Government policy). If either airline wished to change their fares, they had to obtain Federal Government approval. Reg Ansett then set out to ensure no other competitors could rise up to challenge his airline. He took control of Adelaide-based Guinea Airways (renamed Airlines of South Australia Airlines of South Australia Airlines of South Australia refers toA subsidiary of Ansett Airlines that operated from 1959 until 1986, andAn independent airline that operated between 1987 and 2005.- Ansett subsidiary :... Airlines of New South Wales callsign "NEWSOUTH" was an Australian domestic regional airline that operated from 1959 until its merger into Ansett in 1993. It was formed by Reg Ansett's takeover of Butler Air Transport... ). The takeover of Butler was achieved with covert support from the Menzies government and by Ansett engineering his employees' purchases of Butler shares (in a similar way as had just been attempted by Butler). He then flew the employees to a general meeting in Sydney and forced a vote in favour of selling out to Ansett. ANSETT-ANA was profitable courtesy of government support, but also because of Reg Ansett's parsimonious ways. ANSETT-ANA operated from terminals around the country that were very basic; but, then, so were TAA's. Following the takeover of ANA, Reg Ansett lobbied the government to block TAA's purchase of Sud Aviation Caravelle Sud Aviation Caravellejet aircraft. He was concerned about his airline's ability to finance equivalent jet aircraft, and the major engineering leap required to go from an all-piston fleet direct to pure jet aircraft, TAA had been operating prop-jets since 1954, and so had expertise in jet technology. Ansett was successful in convincing the government to authorize the importation of more Viscounts and the new Lockheed L-188 Electra Lockheed L-188 Electra. This action delayed the introduction of pure jet aircraft to Australian skies until 1964, when the Boeing 727–100began flying. Expansion beyond domestic aviation The airline prospered during the second half of the 20th century, especially in the 1980s. However, a number of substantial investments performed badly, including a share in the US airline America West Airlines America West Airlines America West Airlines corporate offices were in Tempe, Arizona and the main hub was at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The airline became part of the US Airways Group after a merger in 2005.... (which filed for bankruptcy, but survived) and its Hamilton Island resort (which went into receivership). Ansett also paid millions of dollars for the right to be official airline of the Sydney 2000 an investment generally regarded as unwise. This destabilised the financial position of the company considerably.after the New Zealand government opened its skies to the airline. After the Australian government reneged on an agreement to reciprocate,tried to acquire a share of Qantas, but was not allowed. Instead it bought a 50% stake in Ansett Australia (without managerial control) for A$540 million in 1996. Ansett Australia then had to divest itself of Ansett New Zealand to avoid creating a monopoly In 1994, it commenced service to Osaka and Hong Kong. Ansett commenced Jakarta Service on 12 January 1996. On 8 June 1997, Ansett commenced flights to Shanghai. Later, Seoul, Taipei and Kuala Lumpur flights were suspended. Air New Zealand merger and collapse Air New Zealand, previously a 50% shareholder, acquired full ownership of Ansett in February 2000, buying out's A$500 million bid. This essentially merged Ansett and Air New Zealand into one group, entitled "Air New Zealand/Ansett" although both airlines maintained their individual operations. The purchase by Air New Zealand was widely viewed as a mistake.Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...Keith Trace commented "... by taking it on, they ensured that their own airline was in terrible danger. That was a dreadful mistake. They were taken for a ride." Ansett became more of a drain than an asset. This was difficult for Air New Zealand to support because Ansett was the larger airline, with more employees, more aircraft, and more financial overhead. The Australian government then changed the rules to allow foreign airlines to fly domestic routes. Competition fromImpulse Airlines was an independent airline in Australia which operated regional and low cost trunk services between 1994 and 2001. It was acquired by Qantas in 2001 and later formed the basis of Qantas' low-cost airline Jetstar... and Virgin Blue), top-heavy and substantially overpaid staff, an aging fleet and grounding offleet due to maintenance irregularities left Ansett seriously short of cash, losing $1.3 million a day. Ansett's main issue was the costs it incurred in running its operations; for every $1 of revenue, 10 cents was profit compared with Qantas' 60 cents for the same amount . Air New Zealand attempted to cut Ansett's costs while maintaining the same level of revenue. This did not work, as the cost cutting hurt Ansett, with the notable incidents being the grounding of planes in Christmas 2000 and Easter 2001. Ansett was thus unable to compete with the low cost carriers and Qantas, who were able to run at a loss on some routes, as they could not maintain revenue while cutting their costs, which included laying off staff. A deal made in April 2001 for Ansett to purchase Virgin Blue was repudiated by Virgin chief Richard Branson Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies.... in August, and Singapore Airlines, which was initially blocked from buying Ansett, was also prevented from investing further in Air New Zealand/Ansett by the New Zealand government. It then declined to take up an earlier proposed deal to inject over $500 million into Air New Zealand and Ansett after talks collapsed. In early September 2001, as the trouble worsened, the New Zealand government prepared to rescue Air New Zealand (eventually buying 83% of the company for NZ$885 million) but cut Ansett adrift. Despite public pleas, the Australian government refused to fund Ansett.PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms.... on 12 September 2001. In the early hours of 14 September, the administrator determined that Ansett was not viable to continue operations (primarily due to the apparent lack of any funds to cover fuel, catering or employee wages) and grounded the fleets of Ansett and its subsidiaries Hazelton Airlines Hazelton AirlinesAeropelican Air Services Pty Ltd is a regional airline based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Its main base is Newcastle Airport , with a hub at Sydney Airport.- History :... . Flights already in the air at the time the decision was made (international flights from Hong Kong, Japan and domestic red eye Perth flights) continued on to their destinations, unaware of the devastating news that would greet them at the other end come morning. Customers and employees had no warning of the stoppage in operations. Everyone had been told in the days leading up to 14 September that flights would continue on schedule, and Ansett employees did not find out until they showed up for work at dawn that day. Thousands of passengers were left stranded and more than 16,000 people found themselves out of a job, making this the largest mass job loss event in Australian history. Widespread protests were held by workers, including the blockade of an Air New Zealand plane about to carry New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark home from Melbourne. It was alleged by the then administrators that Air New Zealand had engaged in asset stripping Asset stripping Asset stripping involves selling the assets of a business individually at a profit. The term is generally used in a pejorative sense as such activity is not considered productive to the economy. Asset stripping is considered to be a problem in economies such as Russia or China that are making a... of the airline as well as charging of its fuel costs due to Air New Zealand failing to hedge its fuel costs thus leaving it susceptible to major fluctuations in fuel charges during 2000. This claim was strongly denied by Air New Zealand, noting it had funded Ansett's loss of A$180 million in the last year, and Ansett's administrators soon admitted there was no evidence of any asset stripping. Ansett Mark II and Tesna After receiving a federal government guarantee, Ansett resumed limited services between major cities on 1 October 2001, utilising onlyfleet. This was referred to as 'Ansett Mark II', an operation run and financed by Ansett Australia under administration. The purpose of getting Ansett back into the air was aimed directly at attracting a buyer for the business and generating positive cash flow. Attempts by Ansett's Voluntary Administrators to re-engage(SIA) to consider a role in resurrecting Ansett through a meeting on 6 October 2001 resulted in SIA agreeing to play a consultancy role in this effort. The scaled-back operation ran on a tight budget, and its product reflective of that. It consisted of single class seating with no catering, interlining baggage, valet parking or frequent flyer points. After a month back in the air, the Golden Wing Club Lounges re-opened, however like the scaled-back flying operation, provided no refreshments or other amenities apart from coffee and water. Ansett essentially was in "lock down" mode, while the administrators tried to source buyers in a very challenging market. Ansett Mark II traded only as "Ansett" (minus the Australia) in a different font to separate it from the former operation. It traded from Ansett terminals, with Ansett ground staff, crew and baggage handler Baggage handler In the airline industry, a baggage handler is a person who loads and unloads baggage , and other cargo for transport via aircraft... s working around the clock to make it a success with limited resources. Designated gates at each of Ansett's terminals were used for the operation, while aircraft not being utilised (767/737 fleet) were moved away to more distant gates, with the disused concourses being sealed off. In November 2001, Ansett creditors voted to allow the Tesna consortium, led by Melbourne businessmen Solomon Lew Solomon Lew Solomon Lew is an Australian businessman, and one of Australia's richest men. His principal commercial activities involve importing apparel, toys and other goods into Australia from China and share market investments, principally in retail companies.He was formerly a director then Chairman of the... Lindsay Edward Fox AC is an Australian businessman. As of 2009, he was the 10th richest person in Australia, with a net worth of around 1.5 billion . He is best known as the founder and chairman of his family-owned trucking and logistics company, Linfox.- Early life :Lindsay Fox was brought up in... , to purchase Ansett's mainline assets. The plan involved creating a whole "new" Ansett out of the ashes of the old (with the "Australia" dropped from the name as per Ansett MK II), but the trademark font and "Star Mark" logo re-instated. It would be a full-service, two-class single-fleet-type domestic airline. It included very reduced staff numbers and an all-new Airbus A320 fleet. The new Ansett would operate out of the old Ansett terminals, and temporary lease the former Ansett's A320 fleet until younger replacements arrived. Loyalty products such as the Golden Wing Club and Frequent Flyer program would be relaunched. Those members of Golden Wing Club at the time of the collapse would have their memberships re-instated for a six-month period if they used the new Ansett. A new CEO was sourced and hired, and began to put together a new management team. A new head office was planned, and Airbus showcased a new A320 to the consortium. A new catering company was selected, with new Business and Economy Class in-flight meals trialled on passengers on select MK II services in readiness for the new operation. The agreement with Ansett's administrators, although well-advanced, collapsed in late February 2002. Without any prior warning, the administrators announced on 27 February—just days before the new Ansett was due to launch—that Fox and Lew had withdrawn their bid, citing "Inability to complete the transaction on legal advice". A subsequent press conference with Fox and Lew the same day announced that they had received no support from the government for their bid, thus withdrawing their proposal. With no other saviours, and any chance for Ansett as an airline to be revived now gone, the administrators had no choice but to cease all Ansett flying operations permanently at 23:59 on 4 March 2002, with the very last commercial flight, AN152 from Perth to Sydney, operated by A320-211 VH-HYI, touching down a little after 06:00 on 5 March. "It's an end of an era, an end of a great Australian company and the staff now are faced with unemployment after this flight." said Captain Geoff McDonald, who piloted the final Ansett flight in. Staff filled Golden Wing Lounges across the country for mass wakes as the final flights came into land. At dawn on 5 March, Ansett had officially passed into Australian history for good. Entitlements By this point, the administration of the company had transferred to newly formed insolvency firm. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) began an investigation of whether Ansett had gone on trading while insolvent, and eventually determined in July 2002 that it would be too expensive and difficult to proceed with an action which would, in any case, need to be many separate actions on behalf of individual creditors rather than just one. With Ansett now grounded forever, the administrators began the daunting task of selling off Ansett's massive list of assets. This included its regional subsidiary airlines, which still continued to trade – despite Ansett being grounded. Its massive inventory of aircraft, Head Office, ancillery buildings, Engineering Base, Flight Simulator Centre, furniture, terminal leases, supplies, catering and amenities all had to be sold. A creditors meeting post March 2002 voted in favour of an organised wind-up of the operation, under a deed of company arrangement, as opposed to an immediate liquidation. It was viewed that a deed of arrangement would give creditors a greater return than liqidation would provide. Laid-off Ansett workers were eventually paid most of their entitlements, partly from an A$150 million compensation package offered by Air New Zealand in return for having the ASIC enquiry dropped, but mostly through asset sales and leasing revenue. The Federal Government did provide a A$350 million loan (SEESA) which is being repaid by the Administrators at the same time as the staff are being repaid however, to ensure that there is no exposure to taxpayers, a A$10-per-seat levy was imposed by the Federal Government on Australian airline passengers. This has led to claims of "double dipping" by the Australian Government and a common misconception that former Ansett staff have been fully reimbursed. As at December 2010, former employees still have not been paid their full entitlements, and many employees have not had their superannuation funds released, causing problems for many former employees who have now reached retirement age. Administration and asset salesKordaMentha is an Australian business known for their work as insolvency and restructuring practitioners. They also provide Corporate Recovery Services, Turnaround Restructuring Services, Real Estate Advisory and Forensic services... . The process of administration of the companies' assets continues to this day with employees receiving A$667.7 million out of entitlements estimated at A$766.4 million (or about 90c in the dollar) and it is expected that another A$85.1 million will be raised. Ansett's administrators,, initially advised creditors that it was unlikely that much more money would be realised, due to the depression of the global aviation industry after 11 September reducing the value of aircraft from A$300 million to A$70 million. In the months following the final flight, the administrators negotiated the sale of the terminal leases back to the airport owners, recouping millions. Auctions were held to sell Ansetts airport furniture and equipment. Its headquarters at 465/489 and 501 Swanston Street in Melbourne were put up for sale and were purchased by PDG corporation. Some aircraft stored in heavy maintenance were broken up; nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengersJJX being the first, as it was not cost-effective to restore them to an airworthy state. The disposal of the former fleet did not progress quickly, given the events in the U.S and the subsequent lack of demand by other carriers around the world whose operations had been crippled by the 9/11 attacks only months before. Following the final flight, nearly all of the A320 fleet was ferried back empty to Melbourne, where they sat at abandoned gates in storage. The Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft fleets ultimately found new owners first, and randomly departed Australia between March 2002 and December 2006 as the banks finally reclaimed them, or as new owners were found. The two Boeing 747 aircraft that were leased fromwere reclaimed within weeks of the collapse and returned to Singapore Airlines, where they were repainted back into the colours of their owner. They subsequently found new lives are now leased to Fiji's Fiji Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island. The more modern Boeing 767–300 aircraft, of which Ansett had two (BZF and BZL), were reclaimed by the lessors in the following months, while two new delivery Boeing 767–300 aircraft (BZI and BZM) which arrived too late to enter service with Ansett, departed soon after. BZI was wet leased on a short term basis by Qantas to bring additional aircraft to cover the loss of Ansett, but the aircraft retained its Ansett registration while under lease to them. Another new 767-300 which was halfway through its ferry from Canada (VH-BZN) never made it to Australia and returned to Canada. The Kendell Kendell Kendell Airlines was a regional airline in Australia, at times the largest in the country. It served major regional centres in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania from Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney... CRJ-200 jets departed back from Canada within twelve months of the initial collapse. With the newer aircraft gone, most of the older Boeing 767–200 fleet (RMD-RMO) were moved from the Melbourne terminal gates as Virgin Blue moved into the former Ansett Terminal, and were placed into long term storage at the Ansett Engineering Base in Melbourne until late 2004, when most were sold off to Aeroturbine and flown to the United States to be broken up into spare parts. Many of the British Aerospace 146 aircraft were also stored but broken up at Melbourne. As of 2008, the remains of a BAe 146 (JJQ) sit derelict in Brisbane, and a somewhat intact but inoperable BAe 146 (JJT) remains in Perth, although neither of them are still owned by Ansett or expected to fly again. A lone Boeing 767–200, the ex VH-RMF survived the scrappers cull, was sold and continues to fly in the United States as a charter aircraft. More recently, employees of the former airline have received an additional A$16.4 million in entitlement payments after the sale of over A$22 million of assets, including aircraft and aircraft parts. According to media reports, there are still in excess of 217,000 items and two properties belonging to the airline remaining for sale. In June 2011, it was announced that the Special Employee Entitlements Scheme for Ansett employees had finished making payments to former staff. Staff received roughly 96 cents in the dollar of their entitlements. Fleet The Ansett Australia fleet as of 13 September 2001 (last day of trading) was made up of the following aircraft:x18 (-200 and -200QT models used by both Ansett Australia and -300 models used by Ansett New Zealand)(VH-EWM,R,S, JJP,Q,S,T,U,W,X,Y,Z and ZK-NZG,H,I,J,K,L,M,N)The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner or the Fairchild Aerospace Metro is a 19-seat, pressurised, twin turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild at a plant in San Antonio, Texas, United States) Only the Airbus A320 was utilised from Ansett's original fleet during the brief re-launch of operations as "Ansett Mark 2" from October 2001 to March 2002. The Boeing 737, Boeing 767, and Boeing 747 fleet was grounded from September '01 onwards and never flew an Ansett revenue flight again. The same went for the BAe 146 fleet, with the exception of a one-off revenue flight from Cairns to Brisbane in November 2001, operating off the back end of a charter flight for the government. Two other Ansett BAe 146 aircraft were chartered by the Howard Government and Federal opposition in late 2001 during the federal election campaigns, VH-JJP (Federal Government) and VH-JJT (Opposition). Several of the defunct fleet types did operate ferry flights back to Melbourne from wherever they ended up across Australia in the months after the collapse, and operated the occasional test flight around Melbourne to retain currency. Of the subsidiary fleets, only the Kendell Bombardier CRJ200 did not return to active flying. The Fokker 50, Saab 340, Twin Otter and Metro 23 regional aircraft were all back flying for Skywest, Kendell, Hazelton and Aeropelican in the weeks following the collapse. Both Kendell and Hazelton merged to create REX (Regional Express). Historical fleet At various times Ansett Australia and its predecessors and partnering carriers operated Bristol Type 170 Freighter was a British twin-engine aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner, although its best known use is as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively short distances.-Design and development:The Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair was a large piston-engine transport aircraft. It was a Douglas DC-4-based air ferry developed by Freddie Laker's Aviation Traders Limited , with a capacity of 25 passengers and five cars, loaded at the front.-Design and development:Freddie Laker's idea to... from the 1960s. Three of the airline's own DC-4s were delivered Frederick Alfred Laker was a British airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which went bankrupt in 1982... as Managing Director. Historically, whichever aircraft carried the registration VH-RMA (the initials of Reginald Miles Ansett) was the unofficial flagship of the airline. The last aircraft to do so was a Boeing 767-200 owned by Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services until 1997. Cabin services Ansett Australia offered up to three cabin classes (First, Business and Economy Classes) in varied seat configurations throughout its 66 year run. At the time of its collapse, this had reverted to just two travel classes (Business and Economy), both domestically and internationally: International fleet: (B747-400/767-300ER) International Business Class International Economy Class Domestic Fleet: (B767-200/B767-300ER/B737-300/A320-200/BAe-146-200) Domestic Business Class Domestic Economy Class International business class Ansett International's last business forty-two single recliner seats in a 2-2-2 configuration on the main deck, with around 160 degrees of recline. Ansett Australia's retrofitted two equipped with these recliner seats mostly served the Australia-Asia) international flights. The recliner seats were equipped with inflight entertainment including personal televisions/touch screens with AVOD, personal telephones in every seat and laptop 110 V AC power outlets. On Ansett International's 767 fleet, Business seating was in a 1-2-2 configuration, with recliner seats and AVOD similar, but not identical to those on the B747. Domestic business class Originally launched as "BusinessFirst" in 1997, and then reverting back to just "Business Class" in 1999, Ansett Domestic's last business class offered twenty-four single lounge chair seats grouped in groups of two allowing a more spacious area on its domestic configured 767-300ER and 200ER/200 fleet in a 2-2-2 configuration. Ansett Australia's domestic business class seats were also installed on the Airbus A320-200series, and the BAe-146 fleet in a 2–2 layout. These aircraft mostly served Australian domestic flights, however select 767-200ER, A320 and 737 services were also used on as demand dictated. International economy class The new international economy 398 seats (747) equipped with adjustable wings in the headrest and an adjustable footrest to provide extra comfort. Ansett Australia's international economy class seats were also installed on some of lower deck and mostly a 3–3 configuration on the upper deck, a 2-3-2 configuration onfleets retained their domestic configuration for international service The seats were equipped with inflight entertainment including personal televisions and personal telephones in every seat. Domestic economy class The new domestic economy class was also introduced with the arrival of the, offering 224 seats. Ansett Australia's domestic economy class seats were also installed on some of the Airbus A320 series Seat rows were in a 3–3 configuration on British Aerospace 146 is a medium-sized commercial airliner formerly manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2002. Manufacture of an improved version known as the Avro RJ began in 1992 Ansett Mark II cabin Following Ansett's limited re-launch under administration, it operated only Economy Class with a scaled back no-frills service. Those A320s with convertible Business Class seating were configured back to all Economy, while the A320 cabins with fixed Business Class seating retained the Business seat but was considered all one cabin. Bottled water was offered throughout the flight. Destinations and Routes Ansett Australia operated to many destinations in Australia and Asia prior to its collapse in 2001. This list does not include destinations only served by subsidiaries Aeropelican, Ansett New Zealand Ansett New Zealand.Alice Springs Airport is a small regional airport 14 kilometres south of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia.The airport has two runways, the largest of which can accommodate a Boeing 747 or 777 landingUluru , also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs; by road. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park.... Ayers Rock Airport is situated near Yulara, around away from Alice Springs, Northern Territory, and 20 minutes drive from Uluru itself. An average of 400,000 passenger movements per year pass through this airport in the middle of Australia.-History:Connellan Airport was originally started byBrisbane Airport is the sole passenger airport serving Brisbane and the third busiest in Australia, after Melbourne and Sydney Airports. Brisbane Airport has won many awards. Located in the suburb with the same name, the airport serves the city of Brisbane and the surrounding metropolitan area... Cairns Airport is an international airport in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Formerly operated by the Cairns Port Authority, the airport was sold by the Queensland Government in December 2008 to a private consortium. It is the seventh busiest airport in Australia. The airport is located northGold Coast Airport, or Coolangatta Airport, is an Australian domestic and international airport on the Gold Coast and is located some south of Brisbane and 25 km south of Surfers Paradise. The entrance to the airport is situated in the suburb of Bilinga on the Gold Coast... Hamilton Island is the largest inhabited island of the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland, Australia. Hamilton Island, like most in the Whitsunday group, was formed as sea levels rose creating numerous drowned mountains that are situated close to the east coast of Queensland, Australia... Mount Isa Airport is an airport serving the western Queensland city of Mount Isa, Australia. It is served by a variety of scheduled regional airlines, with flights to Brisbane, Townsville and Cairns as well as several other regional centres....Maroochydore is an urban centre on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.Maroochydore is a major commercial area of the Sunshine Coast with most shopping precincts located in the central business district. It is home to the Sunshine Plaza shopping centre and the Sunshine Coast's major busAdelaide Airport is the principal airport in the South Australian capital of Adelaide and the fifth busiest airport in Australia, servicing 7,362,000 passengers in the year ending 30 June 2011. Located adjacent to West Beach, it is approximately west of the city-centreHobart International Airport is an airport located in Cambridge, east of Hobart, Tasmania. The Federal government owned airport is currently being operated on a 99 year lease to the Tasmanian Gateway Consortium. The airport has seen strong passenger growth in the last few years, primarily due toBroome International Airport is a regional airport located at Broome, Australia.Broome International Airport is the regional hub of the northwestern part of Western Australia. It is considered the gateway to the Kimberley. In the year ending 30 June 2009 the airport handled 391 914 passengersKalgoorlie-Boulder Airport is an airport in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The airport is 7 km from the town center.In November 2007, Skywest Airlines attempted a three times weekly direct service from Kalgoorlie to Melbourne, which failed due to lack of patronage. This service has since been... -Facilities:A range of hotel, motel, B&B and caravan/RV accommodation is available for visitors. However, as the town is booming, accommodation is often hard to come by.The town has restaurants, a tavern, two hotels and two night clubs... Dampier is a major industrial port in the north-west of Western Australia. The Dampier Port is part of the Dampier Archipelago. The port services petrochemical, salt, iron ore and natural gas export industries. Rio Tinto exports large volumes of iron ore through the port, and in September 2010... Karratha Airport is an airport in Karratha, Western Australia. The airport is 14 km from Karratha and 8 km from Dampier. The airport was opened in December 1983, and upgraded in 1998. The Karratha Airport is the second busiest Airport in Western Australia with Perth Airport being the busiest... Kununurra is a town in far northern Western Australia located at the eastern extremity of the Kimberley Region approximately from the border with the Northern Territory. Kununurra was initiated to service the Ord River Irrigation scheme.... Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000Nadi International Airport is the main international gateway for the islands of Fiji. It serves about 1.2 million people per year, and is the main hub of Air Pacific. The airport is 10km from the city of Nadi. In 2009 it handled 1,220,000 passengers on international and domestic... ) AsiaSoekarno–Hatta International Airport , popularly abbreviated SHIA or Soetta is the main airport serving the greater Jakarta area on the island of Java, Indonesia. The airport is named after the first President of Indonesia, Soekarno, and the first vice-president, Mohammad Hatta. The airportSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world... Gimpo International Airport , commonly known as Gimpo Airport , is located in the far western end of Seoul and was the main international airport for Seoul and South Korea before it was replaced by Incheon International Airport in 2001ultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport , LTSAAS , often called Subang Airport or Subang Skypark, is an airport located in Subang, Selangor, Malaysia, and primarily serves general aviation and some turboprop domestic flights, a global network of carriers, opening up interline agreements with a dozen different carriers connecting to over 100 countries across the world. Reciprocal rights for certain Star Alliance membership tiers was offered, including earning frequent flyer points and a wide selection of lounge access. The Star Alliance logo was added to every aircraft in the Ansett fleet, as well as its regional subsidiary airlines. Other Star member carriers likebenefited greatly by Ansett's membership, with seamless feeder connections from its trans-Pacific services. Following Ansett's collapse, membership in the Star Alliance was suspended. It was understood that it would re-join Star Alliance upon re-launch under ownership of Tesna, but the March 2002 shutdown soon made that question irrelevant. Services Ansett Australia offered travellers a range of services up to the time of 14 September 2001: Golden Wing Club Golden Wing Club was the airport lounge service owned and operated by Ansett. Members received a bi-monthly magazine called "Travelling Life", as well as many other features. Golden Wing Club Lounges were located throughout AustraliaPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000and Hamilton Island. Ansett also ran international Golden Wing Clubs at, with an added "First Class" section of the Sydney Club for those travelling International First Class from 1994–1998. Access was available to Golden Wing Club members travelling on an Ansett or subsidiary service (e.g. – Kendell, Aeropelican and Skywest) on the day of travel. Complimentary access was granted for Global Rewards Diamond and Sapphire members, as well asGold (and above) members. Lounges were for a time, located in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch with members being able to access allLounges as well. The lounges initially closed following the appointment of administrators and subsequent grounding of the group in September 2001, however select lounges re-opened in a scaled-back capacity in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth only from November 2001 until March 2002 while Ansett Mark 2 was operating. Had Ansett's sale to Tesna gone ahead as planned, the Golden Wing Clubs would all have re-opened in March 2002 as part of the relaunched Ansett. Following Ansett's final flights in March 2002, the lounges permanently closed. In the weeks that followed, they were emptied of their expensive artwork and other items of value in subsequent auctions, leaving behind furniture and a variety of fittings, most of which was purchased by the various airport owners who bought the terminals back from Ansett's administrators. Today, many of the former Golden Wing Clubs in Australia live on as new lounges, occupied by Virgin Australia (the current name for Virgin Blue) as its member lounge in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth, through leases secured with the airport owners. The former Golden Wing in Cairns was used by Qantas as a temporary Qantas Club while the Cairns terminal underwent redevelopment,. The Perth Golden Wing was used firstly by charter airline Alliance and recently became Virgin's sixth lounge. The Adelaide, Gold Coast and Cairns lounges have all been demolished. Ansett Executive Lounge The Ansett Executive Lounge, also known as "Ansett Pass" and "Ansett Managers Lounge" was an exclusive airport lounge service owned and operated by Ansett. Membership was via invitation only, and offered opulence and luxury to that of the world's finest five-star hotels. As membership was quite select, the lounges were significantly smaller than that of Golden Wing Clubs. Executive Lounges were located throughout Australia (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth) and New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch). These lounges closed at time of administration and did not reopen. In the years since the collapse, many of the former Executive lounges were demolished after the airport owners purchased the leasing rights back off Ansett's administrators. For a time, regional carrier Regional Express Airlines Regional Express Airlinesutilised the former Canberra lounge as a lounge area for its passengers. Virgin Blue utilised the former Executive Lounge in Sydney for its initial "Blue Room" and later on "The Lounge" product, but relocated to the former Golden Wing Club lounge in 2008. The former lounges are still in existence in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra, but are now utilised for other purposes and not accessible to passengers. Ansett Business Class Lounge Ansett offered Business class lounges at 6 of its domestic airports. These lounges were offered to all passengers travelling in domestic Business Class from 2000 onwards. In January, 2000 three business class lounges were installed to Ansett's domestic terminals at Sydney, Melbourne and Perth respectively. In September,2000 a fourth business class lounge was added to Brisbane Airport's domestic terminal. This lounge connected with Ansett's Golden Wing Club at the airport. In February, 2001 a business class lounge was built in Cairns and the following week a brand new Business Class lounge was unveiled in Adelaide. At international terminals and at airports where Ansett did not have domestic Business class lounges, Business Class travellers were given passes to Ansett's Golden Wing Clubs. Two more Business Class lounges had been planned for construction (one at Canberra and another at Darwin) however, these were not completed before the airline's collapse. The former Business Class lounge at Brisbane was incorporated into the former Golden Wing Club space and became the home of Virgin Australia's (the current name for Virgin Blue) "The Lounge", In Sydney the Business Class lounge became the Qantas Club at Terminal 2 serving passengers on QantasLink and JetStar flights. In Melbourne the Business Class lounge was for a time used by Regional Express Airlines, however the "REX Lounge" soon relocated to the former Executive Lounge, and the Business Class lounge was turned into a series of retail outlets. Every other Business Class Lounge was demolished. The former Business Class lounge in Cairns was turned into a series of retail outlets. The former lounge in Adelaide was used for additional customs areas. Global Rewards A frequent flyer program is a loyalty program offered by many airlines. Typically, airline customers enrolled in the program accumulate frequent flyer miles corresponding to the distance flown on that airline or its partners. There are other ways to accumulate miles... from 1991 to 2001. It was formerly known as "Ansett Frequent Flyer". Points could be used for services from Ansett Australia and their partners including flights, upgrades, holidays, hotel stays and car rentals. Diners Club Diners Club Diners Club International, founded as Diners Club, is a charge card company formed in 1950 by Frank X. McNamara, Ralph Schneider and Matty Simmons... was a significant financial services partner in Global Rewards. Points held at the time of the airline's collapse lost their value as no other airline took over the program as had taken place with the collapse of some other airlines. Chauffeur drive Ansett offered a limousine service, for those wishing to hire for journeys to and from the airport to the CBD in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. It also offered airport-to-suburb service in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Valet parking Ansett offered a valet parking service in major Australian (and New Zealand) airports. This also offered the convenience of kerbside check-in, and even car cleaning for additional cost. Capital Shuttle Ansett's Capital Shuttle operated between Sydney and Canberra. This service mainly used Saab 340 and Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft, with small use of A320 and 737 aircraft mostly in peak periods. 'Capital Shuttle' services departed from a specially marked gate at Sydney Airport, Gate 14. Air cargo Also known as Ansett Air Freight during its time, Ansett ran a significant freight operation which specialised in the transport of items too large for normal carriage, along with heavy-freight contracts with numerous suppliers and contractors. Terminal transfersAirport, which offered seamless connection from its Domestic terminal to the International terminal for Ansett Australia services connecting to Ansett International. An Ansett bus operated the shuttle service which departed from a transfer lounge located between its two domestic concourses. The shuttle would route across the airside tarmac and runways and arrive near customs at Terminal 1. Accidents and incidents On 30 November 1961 a Vickers Viscount aircraft departed from Sydney, Australia late in the afternoon for a flight of 128 nautical miles to Canberra. There were thunderstorms to the north and south of the airport. From about 9 minutes after takeoff the crew of Ansett-ANA Flight 325 did not... starboard wing failed in a thunderstorm. All 15 people on board were killed. On 22 September 1966 a Vickers Viscount aircraft departed from Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia for a 73 minute flight to Longreach. Forty-four minutes after takeoff a fire started in one of the engines. The crew were unable to extinguish the fire or feather the propeller so made an emergency... -Qantas:Winton was one of the founding towns of the Australian airline Qantas. The first board meeting was held at the Winton Club on 10 February 1921.-Waltzing Matilda:... after a mid-air fire caused structural failure of the port wing. All 24 people on board were killed. On 19 October 1994, Boeing 747-300 VH-INH Landed at Sydney (SYD) without the nose wheel extended. Approximately one hour after departure the crew shut down the number one engine because of an oil leak. They returned the aircraft to Sydney where the approach proceeded normally until the landing gear was selected. With selection of the landing gear and selection of the flap beyond a setting of flaps 20, the landing gear warning horn began to sound because the nose landing gear had not extended. The flight crew unsuccessfully attempted to establish the reason for the warning. Believing the gear to be down, the crew elected to complete the landing, with the result that the aircraft was landed with the nose gear retracted. There was no fire and the pilot in command decided not to initiate an emergency evacuation. All passengers and crew were evacuated safely Incident VH-INH On 19 May 2000, Boeing 767-200 VH-RMO suffered a nose wheel collapse at Sydney Terminal (SYD) during an overnight service. The aircraft was not occupied by passengers or crew at the time History VH-RMO The Australian Football League pre-season competition, which is known at present as the NAB Cup, is a competition held before the beginning of the Australian Football League premiership season... . It was also a major sponsor of Waverley Park/VFL Park. The logo was visible around the stadium. Ansett was also a Major Sponsor of Australian Cricket, with the Ansett Australia Test Series a prominent fixture of the Australian summer. Ansett's logo (called the StarMark) appeared on all players' training and game shirts, as well as around the boundary and on the field during Test Series. The airline was the official airline of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Aircraft 767-300 ER VH-BZF carried the Olympic Flame from Athens (ATH) to Guam (GUM) for the start of the torch relay through Oceania History VH-BZF. An Airbus A320-211 VH-HYN carried the Olympic Torch from Auckland (AKL) to Uluru (AYQ), to commence the Olympic Torch relay in Australiateam from 1996–2001. Film and televisionin the late 1980s, having previously received publicity when its aircraft were used in the filming of another productionABBA: The Movie is a 1977 film about the pop group ABBA's Australian tour. It was directed by Lasse Hallström, who directed most of the group's videos. The film has become a cult film among ABBA fans... . Ansett often sponsored Channel 9's Nightline late night news program from 1994–1997. Ansett also offered on-board News and movies, entitled (Ansett Sky Show). It consisted of a twice daily 30 minute news service (AM and PM), which was recorded by Channel 7 studios in Sydney entitled "Seven Ansett News", which was then transmitted by satellite to all Ansett capital city, and some regional airport locations. The news service was then dubbed to video cassettes, and was then distributed onto Ansett aircraft first thing in the morning and exchanged halfway during the operational day for the second afternoon/evening broadcast. For the domestic fleet, Movies and TV shows were recorded to tape and distributed to each aircraft once a month. On international aircraft, the news was available in one edition (usually morning). Movies and TV shows were recorded onto a central data system on both 747-400 and one 767-300ER aircraft, which was changed monthly. Ansett's safety demonstration was done via TV screens throughout the aircraft as well as in person, at the time of its demise. Documentaries and books Documentaries about Ansett and the company's background include Air Australia: War in suites and The Ansett Story. Books have also been written, including Ansett: The Collapse and Ansett: The Story Of The Rise And Fall Of Ansett 1936–2002. Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services (AWAS) Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services (AWAS) or simply Ansett Worldwide is one of the world's largest commercial jetircraft finance refers to financing for the purchase and operation of aircraft. Complex aircraft finance shares many characteristics with maritime finance, and to a lesser extent with project finance.... companies. It was Ansett Australia's subsidiary and leasing arm from 1985 until February 2000. Ansett Flight Simulator Centre / Ansett Aviation Training The Ansett Australia Flight Simulator Centre located in Melbourne, had continued trading under administration, following the company's insolvency as it was one of the few Ansett businesses that could operate profitably, independent of the airline. An agreement was reached by the Deed Administrators in October 2004 for its sale to Aviation Training Australasia Pty Ltd. The sale included the business, related buildings, land and the Ansett owned Flight Simulators. Nineteen former Ansett Australia employees jobs were saved in the sale, and Aviation Training Australasia elected to operate the centre under the trading name of Ansett Flight Simulator Centre and later Ansett Aviation Training, dropping the "Australia" off the end of Ansett, but retaining the well recognised Ansett Star Mark logo, reflective of Ansett's last livery. In April 2008, it announced that it was undergoing a major expansion and will be getting simulators for the current-generation Boeing 737, Fokker 100, Beechcraft King Air and Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia, as well as a second Airbus A320 simulator due an extension to centre's existing building. John Holland Aviation Services (JHAS) With the demise of Ansett airline operations in 2002, the engineering services business, formerly known as the Ansett Australia Maintenance Base located at Melbourne Airport, was retained under the name of Ansett Aviation Engineering Services (AAES), primarily to care for the Ansett aircraft held in storage having mandatory ongoing maintenance, and also for other airlines supplying third party maintenance. Through five years of administration, AAES continued to operate despite Ansett Australia no longer trading. New business was secured and the engineering skills base continued to grow. The AAES business was acquired by the John Holland Group John Holland (engineer) Sir John Holland AC was an Australian engineer and construction magnate, who founded the John Holland Construction Group in 1949, was Managing Director until 1972, Chairman until 1986, and President from 1986 until his death... in June 2007 under the banner of John Holland Aviation Services (JHAS). As part of the sale to John Holland Group, 155 AAES staff and management had the opportunity for ongoing employment. Holland Aviation Services (JHAS) is a division of the John Holland Group, one of Australia's largest and most diverse specialist contracting businesses. It is the only heavy aircraft independent MRO in Australia. Ansett Aircraft Spares and Services Ansett Aircraft Spares and Services is a company that serves the aviation community by selling aircraft spares as well as maintenance work for airplanesFokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names, starting out in 1912 in Schwerin, Germany, moving to the Netherlands in 1919and Melbourne, Australia. Ansett Aircraft Spares and Services also has a logistics division. List of associated businesses, subsidiary of Ansett Australia Both of Kendell & Hazelton were merged each other and became Regional Express after collapse of Ansett Australia., former subsidiary of Ansett Australia Ansett Aviation Engineering Services Ansett Aircraft Finance Ltd Ansett Australia and Air New Zealand Engineering Services Ltd Ansett Aviation Equipment Pty Limited Ansett Equipment Finance Ltd Ansett Flying Boat Services Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services (AWAS), an aircraft leasing organisation which used to be a subsidiary of Ansett Australia Diners Club Australia, credit card provider. 68.2% share owned, was sold back to Diners Club USA in 1999. National Instrument Company (later renamed Ansett Technologies), originally part of ANA, an aircraft instrument and avionics servicing business. Also involved in defence electronics systems integration. Austrama Television Pty Ltd, which commenced television broadcasting in Melbourne in 1964 as ATV-0 (later ATV-10). Universal Telecasters Queensland (TVQ-0 Brisbane), 49.9% was purchased in 1964, with full control gained in 1970. Ansair, originally a manufacturer of aircraft seats, the business diversified to bus and coach manufacture. Ansett Wridgways Ansett International Travel Transport Industries Insurance See also-Roads:Australia has the second highest level of car ownership in the world. It has three to four times more road per capita than Europe and seven to nine times more than Asia. Australia also has the third highest per capita rate of fuel consumption in the world. Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane areThe National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...	eng	cec43209-c021-4fc3-8eb5-1c983c7cc132	http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ansett_Australia
Goring: Nazi Leader. Hermann Goring stands in front of the U.S. 36th Division (Texas flag) on day of surrendering to allied forces May 9, 1945. Hermann Wilhelm Goring (also Goering in English) (January 12, 1893 - October 15, 1946) was a German politician and military leader, a leading member of the Nazi Party, second in command of the Third Reich, and commander of the Luftwaffe. He was tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946 and sentenced to death by hanging; however, he escaped the hangman's noose around two hours before his scheduled execution by taking his life through the use of potassium cyanide. Last commander of Manfred von Richthofen's famous air squadron, Goring was a war hero of World War I and for continuous courage in action was awarded the coveted Pour le Merite. Family history Goring was born in the Marienbad sanatorium, near Rosenheim, Bavaria. His father Heinrich Ernst Goring (October 31, 1839 - December 7, 1913), had been the first Governor-General of the German protectorate of South West Africa (modern day Namibia). , as well as being a former cavalry officer and member of the German consular service. Goring had among his patrician ancestors Eberle/Eberlin, a Swiss-German family of high bourgeoisie who were originally Jewish financiers who converted to Christianity in the 15th century and had huge progeny in German speaking countries. Goring was a relative of such Eberle/Eberlin descendants as the German aviation pioneer Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin; German romantic nationalist Hermann Grimm (1828-1901), an author of the concept of the German hero as a mover of history, whom the Nazis claimed as one of their ideological forerunners; the industrialist family Merck, the owners of pharmaceutical giant Merck; one of the world major Catholic writers and poets of the 20th century German Baroness Gertrud von LeFort, whose works were largely inspired by her revulsion against Nazism; and Swiss diplomat, historian and President of International Red Cross, Carl J. Burckhardt. In an ironic historical coincidence, among Goring's relatives throughout Eberle/Eberlin line was a great Swiss scholar of art and culture, and a major political and social thinker Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1897), an opponent of nationalism and militarism, who rejected German claims of cultural and intellectual superiority, and predicted a cataclysmic 20th century, in which violent demagogues, whom he called "terrible simplifiers," would play central roles. Goring's mother Franziska "Fanny" Tiefenbrunn (1859-July 15, 1923) came from a Bavarian peasant family. The marriage of a gentleman to a woman from lower class (1885) occurred only because Heinrich Ernst Goring was a widower. Goring was one of five children; his brothers were Albert Goring and Karl Ernst Goring, and his sisters were Olga Therese Sophia and Paula Elisabeth Rosa Goring, the last of whom were from his father's first marriage While anti-Semitism became rampant in Germany of that time, his parents were not anti-Semitic.. Early life/Ritter von Epenstein Goring later claimed his given name was chosen to honor the Arminius who defeated the legions of Rome at Teutoburg Forest. However the name was far more likely chosen to honor his godfather, a Christian of Jewish descent born Hermann Epenstein. Epenstein, whose father was an army surgeon in Berlin, became a very wealthy physician and businessman and a major if not paternal influence on Goring's childhood. Much of Hermann's very early childhood, including a lengthy separation from his parents when his father took diplomatic posts in Africa and in Haiti (climates ruled too brutal for a young European child), was spent with governesses and with distant relatives. However, upon Heinrich Goring's retirement ca. 1898 his large family, supported solely on Heinrich's modest civil service pension, became for financially practical reasons the houseguests of their longtime friend and Goring's probable namesake, a man whose minor title (acquired through service and donation to the Crown) made him now known as Hermann, Ritter von Epenstein. As with many social climbers and nouveau riche businessmen of the time, Ritter von Epenstein sought the trappings of German aristocracy as well as the titles. He acquired these in part through the purchase of two largely dilapidated castles, Burg Veldenstein in Bavaria and Schloss Mauterndorf near Salzburg, Austria, whose very expensive restorations were ongoing by the time of Hermann Goring's birth. Both castles were to be residences to the Goring family, their official "caretakers" until 1913, and both were to be tremendous influences on Goring's childhood and fascination with the military and romanticized notions of history. Both castles were also ultimately to be his property. According to respected biographers of both Hermann Goring and his younger brother Albert Goring, soon after the family took residence in his castles von Epenstein began an adulterous relationship with Frau Goring that may in fact have resulted in Albert's birth. (Albert's physical resemblance to von Epenstein was noted even during his childhood and is even evident to the casual observer in photographs). Whatever the nature of von Epenstein's relationship with his mother, the young Hermann Goring enjoyed a particularly close relationship with his godfather. Goring was unaware of von Epenstein's Jewish ancestry and birth until as a child at a prestigious Austrian boarding school (where his tuition was paid by von Epenstein) he wrote an essay in praise of his godfather and was mocked by the school's anti-Semitic headmaster for professing such admiration for a Jew. Goring initially denied the allegation but when confronted with proof in the "Semi-Gotha", a book of German heraldry (Ritter von Epenstein had purchased his minor title and castles with wealth garnered from speculation and trade and was thus included in a less than complimentary reference work on German speaking nobility), Goring to his youthful credit remained steadfast in his devotion to his family's friend and patron, so adamantly so that he was expelled from the school. The action seems to have tightened the already considerable bond between godfather and godson. Relations between the Goring family and von Epenstein became far more formal during Goring's adolescence (causing Mosley and other biographers to speculate that perhaps the theorized affair ended naturally or that the elderly Heinrich discovered he was a cuckold and threatened its exposure). By the time of Heinrich Goring's death the family no longer lived in a residence supplied by or seemed to have much contact at all with von Epenstein (though the family's comfortable circumstances indicate the Ritter may have given them some financial support). Late in his life Ritter von Epenstein wed a singer, Lily, who was half his age, bequeathing her his estate in his will but requesting that she in turn bequeath the castles at Mauterndorf and Veldenstein to his godson Hermann upon her own death. World War 1 WWI: Goring in cockpit of his Albatros D.III Goring was sent to boarding school at Ansbach, Franconia and then attended the cadet institutes at Karlsruhe and the military college at Lichterfelde. Goring was commissioned in the Prussian army on 22 June 1912 in the Prinz Wilhelm Regiment, the 112th Infantry, the headquarters of which were at Mulhouse. During the first year of World War I Goring served with an infantry regiment in the Vosges region before he was hospitalized with rheumatism resulting from the damp of trench warfare. While recovering, Goring's friend Bruno Loerzer convinced him to seek a transfer to the Luftstreitkrafte. Goring's application to transfer was immediately turned down. However later that year Goring flew as Loerzer's observer. Goring had run the risk of arranging his own transfer and was sentenced by a military tribunal to three weeks' confinement to barracks as a result. The sentence was never carried out: by the time it was imposed Goring's association with Loerzer had been regularised when they had become attached as a team to the 25th Field Air Detachment of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhem's Fifth Army - "though it seems that they had to steal a plane in order to qualify." The team flew reconnaissance and bombing missions for which The Crown Prince invested both Goring and Loerzer with the Iron Cross, first class. Goring became a Jagdflieger or fighter pilot in October 1915. On completing his pilot's training course he was posted to Jagdstaffel 5 in October 1915. He was soon shot down and spent most of 1916 recovering from his injuries. On his return in February 1917 he joined Jagdstaffel 26, before being given his first command Jasta 27, in May 1917. Serving with Jastas 7, 5, 26 and 27, he claimed 21 air victories, being awarded in addition to the Iron Cross, the Zaehring Lion with swords, the Karl Friedrich Order and the Hohenzollern Medal with swords, third class, prior to his final award (despite never having shot down the required 25 enemy planes) in May 1918 of the coveted Pour le Merite. On 7 July 1918, after the death of Wilhelm Reinhard, the successor of Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen (The Red Baron), he was made commander of Jagdgeschwader Freiherr von Richthofen, Jagdgeschwader 1. In June 1917, after a lengthy dogfight, Goring shot down a novice Australian pilot named Frank Slee. The battle is recounted flamboyantly in The Rise and Fall of Hermann Goering. Goring landed and met the Australian, and presented Slee with his Iron Cross. Years after, Slee gave Goring's Iron Cross to a friend, who later died on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. Also during the war Goring had through his generous treatment made a friend of his prisoner of war Captain Frank Beaumont, a Royal Flying Corps pilot. "It was part of Goering's creed to admire a good enemy, and he did his best to keep Captain Beaumont from being taken over by the Army." Goring finished the war with 22 kills. Because of his arrogance Goring's appointment as commander of Jagdgeschwader 1 had not been well received and although after demobilization Goring and his officers spent most of their time during the first weeks of November 1918 in the Stiftskeller, the best restaurant and drinking place in Aschaffenburg, he was the only veteran of Jagdgeschwader 1 never to have been invited to post-war reunions. Genuinely surprised (at least by his own account) at Germany's defeat in the First World War, Goring felt personally violated at the surrender, the Kaiser's abdication, the humiliating terms and the treachery of the post-war German politicians who had "goaded the people [to uprising] [and] who [had] stabbed our glorious Army in the back [thinking] of nothing but of attaining power and of enriching themselves at the expense of the people." Ordered to convey the planes in his squadron and surrender them to the Allies in December 1918, Goring and other pilots in his unit intentionally grounded the planes as violently as possible in order to cause as much damage as possible upon landing while still enabling them to live, an endeavor inspired by the scuttling of ships. Typical for the political climate of the day, he was not arrested or even officially reprimanded for his action. Post World War I He remained in flying after the war, worked briefly at Fokker, tried "barnstorming", and in 1920 he joined Svenska Lufttrafik. He was also listed on the officer rolls of the Reichswehr, the post-World War I peacetime army of Germany, and by 1933 had risen to the rank of Generalmajor. He was made a Generalleutnant in 1935 and then a General in the Luftwaffe (German air force) upon its founding later that year. Married life On 21 February 1920, while in Sweden, he met Karin von Kantzow (nee Freiin von Fock, 1888-1931), who had been married for ten years and was mother of a son, Thomas von Kantzow (born 1913). Karin divorced her estranged husband, Niels Gustav von Kantzow, in December 1922 and married Goring on January 3, 1923 in Stockholm. Niels von Kantzow behaved generously providing a financial settlement which enabled Karin and Goring to set up their first home together in Germany: a hunting lodge at Hochkreuth in the Bavarian Alps, near Bayrischzell, some 50 miles from Munich. Both Karin and Goring were ardent nationalists. Karin died on October 17, 1931, aged 42, of consumption (tuberculosis). During the early 1930s Goring was often in the company of actress Emmy Sonnemann (born 1893) from Hamburg. He proposed to her in Weimar in February 1935. The wedding took place on 10 April 1935 in Berlin and was celebrated like the marriage of an emperor. Together they had a daughter, Edda Goring (born 2 June 1938) who was then thought to be named after Countess Edda Ciano, eldest child of Benito Mussolini. Actually, Edda was named after a friend of her mother. In 1933 Goring started construction of Karinhall (named in memory of his first wife) on his estate northwest of Berlin. Exile and addiction Goring joined the Nazi Party in 1922 and initially took over the SA leadership as the Oberster SA-Fuhrer. After stepping down as SA Commander, he was appointed an SA-Gruppenfuhrer (Lieutenant General) (and held this rank on the SA rolls until 1945). Hitler later recalled his early association with Goring thus: "I liked him. I made him the head of my S.A. He is the only one of its heads that ran the S.A. properly. I gave him a disheveled rabble. In a very short time he had organised a division of 11,000 men." At this time Karin, who liked Hitler, often played hostess at home to meetings of leading Nazis including her husband, Hitler, Rudolf Hess, Alfred Rosenberg and Ernst Roehm. Despite Goring's organisational abilities in the S.A., the storm troopers' march headed by Hitler, Goring, Hess, veteran General Ludendorff and Julius Streicher on 9 November 1923 during the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich ended in failure and surrender when confronted by the police not far from the Bavarian War Ministry, at the time occupied by Roehm's men, which had been the marchers' objective. Hitler and Goring were both hurt in the melee, the latter sustaining a serious bullet wound to the groin. Karin, herself unwell with pneumonia, arranged for Goring to be spirited away to Austria; Goring was in no fit state to travel and the journeys he had to endure may well have aggravated his condition although they did avoid his arrest. Goring was x-rayed and operated in hospital at Innsbruck; Karin wrote to her mother from Goring's bedside on 8 December 1923 describing the terrible pain Goring was in: "... in spite of being dosed with morphine every day, his pain stays just as bad as ever." This was the beginning of his morphine addiction. Meanwhile in Munich the authorities declared Goring a wanted man. The Gorings, acutely short of funds and reliant on the goodwill of Nazi sympathisers abroad, moved from Austria to Venice then in May 1924 to Rome via Florence and Siena. Goring met Mussolini in Rome. Mussolini expressed some interest in meeting Hitler, by then in gaol, on his release. Personal problems, however, continued to multiply. Goring's mother had died in 1923; by 1925 it was Karin's mother who was ill and the Gorings with difficulty raised the money for a journey in Spring 1925 to Sweden via Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig. Goring had become a violent morphine addict and Karin's family were shocked by his deterioration when they saw him. Karin, herself suffering from epilepsy, had to let the doctors and the police take full charge of Goring who was certified a dangerous drug addict and placed in the violent ward of Langbro asylum on 1 September 1925. Biographer Richard Manvell interviewed a psychiatrist in Stockholm who had seen Goring at a private clinic before being placed in Langbro: Goring was very violent and had to be placed in a strait-jacket but he was not insane. The 1925 reports revealed Goring to be weak of character, an hysteric, an unstable personality, sentimental yet callous, violent when afraid and as a person who deployed bravado to hide a basic lack of moral courage. "Like many men capable of great acts of physical courage which verge quite often on desperation, he lacked the finer kind of courage in the conduct of his life which was needed when serious difficulties overcame him." At the time of Goring's detention all doctors' reports in Sweden were in the public domain: a doctor's report on Karin and Goring was used in evidence by Neils von Kantzow to show that neither Karin nor Goring could be regarded as fit to look after Karin's son with von Kantzow and so von Kantzow defeated her suit in 1925 for custody of the child; when Goring was finally able to return to Germany, after the autumn 1927 political amnesty declared by the newly elected President von Hindenburg, Goring's political opponents including Communists used the reports against him but with mixed results. Political career Having been a member of the Reichstag since 1928, he became the parliament's president from 1932 to 1933, and was one of the key figures in the process of Gleichschaltung that established the Nazi dictatorship. For example, in 1933 he banned all Roman Catholic newspapers in Germany, despite the support the Centre Party had given to Hitler's chancellorship. In the regime's early years, he served as minister in various key positions at both the Reich level and in Prussia, being responsible for the economy as well as the build-up of the German military in preparation for the war. Among other positions, in 1935 he was appointed Reichsluftfahrtminister, head of the Luftwaffe. In 1938, he became the first Luftwaffe Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) and by a decree on 19 June 1940, Hitler appointed Goring his formal successor and promoted him to the rank of Reichsmarschall, the highest military rank of the Greater German Reich. Reichsmarschall was a special rank intended for Goring and which made him senior to all Army and Air Force Field Marshals. Goring also "collected" several other offices like Reichsforst- und Jagermeister (Chief of forests and hunting of the Reich), for which he received high wages. The Reichstag Fire, according to the Nuremberg testimony of General Franz Halder, was the handiwork of Goring, not of 'Communist instigators.' "At a luncheon on the birthday of Hitler in 1942..." Halder testifies, "[Goring said]...The only one who really knows about the Reichstag is I, because I set it on fire!" "With that," said Halder, "he slapped his thigh with the flat of his hand." Goring in his own Nuremberg testimony denied this story. It remains unclear whether or not Goring was responsible for the fire. The following is a transcript excerpt from the Nuremburg Trials: GOERING: This conversation did not take place and I request that I be confronted with Herr Halder. First of all I want to emphasize that what is written here is utter nonsense. It says, "The only one who really knows the Reichstag is I." The Reichstag was known to every representative in the Reichstag. The fire took place only in the general assembly room, and many hundreds or thousands of people knew this room as well as I did. A statement of this type is utter nonsense. How Herr Halder came to make that statement I do not know. Apparently that bad memory, which also let him down in military matters, is the only explanation. MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: You know who Halder is? GOERING: Only too well. GOERING: That accusation that I had set fire to the Reichstag came from a certain foreign press. That could not bother me because it was not consistent with the facts. I had no reason or motive for setting fire to the Reichstag. From the artistic point of view I did not at all regret that the assembly chamber was burned- I hoped to build a better one. But I did regret very much that I was forced to find a new meeting place for the Reichstag and, not being able to find one, I had to give up my Kroll Opera House, that is, the second State Opera House, for that purpose. The opera seemed to me much more important than the Reichstag. MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Have you ever boasted of burning the Reichstag building, even by way of joking? GOERING: No. I made a joke, if that is the one you are referring to, when I said that, after this, I should be competing with Nero and that probably people would soon be saying that, dressed in a red Toga and holding a lyre in my hand, I looked on at the fire and played while the Reichstag was burning. That was the joke. But the fact was that I almost perished in the flames, which would have been very unfortunate for the German people, but very fortunate for their enemies. MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: You never stated then that you burned the Reichstag? GOERING: No. I know that Herr Rauschning said in the book which he wrote, and which has often been referred to here, that I had discussed this with him. I saw Herr Rauschning only twice in my life and only for a short time on each occasion. If I had set fire to the Reichstag, I would presumably have let that be known only to my closest circle of confidants, if at all. I would not have told it to a man whom I did not know and whose appearance I could not describe at all today. That is an absolute distortion of the truth. The famous quotation, "When I hear the word culture, I reach for my Browning" is frequently attributed to Goring during the inter-war period. Whether or not he actually used this phrase, it did not originate with him. The line comes from Nazi playwright Hanns Johst's play Schlageter, "Wenn ich Kultur hore ... entsichere ich meinen Browning," "Whenever I hear of culture... I release the safety-catch of my Browning!" (Act 1, Scene 1). Nor was Goring the only Nazi official to use this phrase: Rudolf Hess used it as well, and it was a popular cliche in Germany, often in the form: "Wenn ich "Kultur" hore, nehme ich meine Pistole". After Hjalmar Schacht was removed as minister for the Economy, Goring effectively took over, becoming Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan in 1936 to better facilitate German rearmament; the vast steel plant Reichswerke Hermann Goring was named after him. This gave him great influence with Hitler (who placed a high value on rearmament). He never seemed to accept the Hitler Myth quite as much as Goebbels and Himmler did, but remained loyal nevertheless. The Aryanisation of Jewish Firms allowed Goring to buy them for almost nothing and he amassed himself a personal fortune. He was known for his extravagant tastes and garish clothing. Hans Rudel, the top Stuka pilot of the war, recalls in his war memoirs meeting Goring twice dressed in outlandish costumes: first a medieval hunting costume, practicing archery with his doctor, and second dressed in a russet toga fastened with a golden clasp, smoking an abnormally large pipe. As a highly decorated First World War hero and commander, Goring was a key connection between the former corporal Hitler and the traditional military elite. Goring, who had been married first to a Swedish baroness, built a vast Prussian estate, Karinhall, named after her. To avoid it falling into enemy hands, Goring had Karinhall blown up on April 20, 1945, immediately before attending Hitler's last birthday party. He exulted in aristocratic trappings, and after the Nazis conquered much of Europe, collected artworks looted from numerous museums, even some within Germany itself. Handsome and athletic in his youth, Goring sustained a painful injury during the Beer Hall Putsch, leaving him dependent on narcotic painkillers, particularly morphine. This addiction contributed to his later obesity and decline. He would finally be cured of his addiction toward the end of his life during his imprisonment at Nuremberg. World War II Goring was skeptical and averse to the path of war. He believed Germany was not prepared to embark on a new conflict and, in particular, he believed that Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe, whose leadership was entrusted to his own hands, wasn't yet prepared to beat the RAF. However, once World War II started, Goring was determined to win at any cost. Initially, decisive German victories followed quickly one after the other, Goring's modern Luftwaffe destroyed the Polish Air Force within two days and after the invasion of France, Hitler awarded Goring the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross for his successful leadership. Goring's political and military careers were at their peak. The Grand Cross of the Iron Cross is based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 which also renews the Iron Cross and established the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Article 2 of the enactment reads "The Iron Cross is exclusively awarded for bravery before the enemy and for excellent merits in commanding troops. The award of a higher class must be preceded by the award of all preceding classes." Thus by nature of the law a recipient of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross is also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and a recipient of the Iron Cross. Goring had already received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on September 30, 1939 as Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe's failure to gain control of the skies during the Battle of Britain marked Hitler's first defeat and put a stain on Goring's reputation. After that campaign he lost much of his influence in the Nazi hierarchy and faded briefly from the military scene, enjoying the pleasures of life as a wealthy and powerful man. His reputation for extravagance made him particularly unpopular as ordinary Germans began to suffer deprivation. If Goring was skeptical about war on the western front, he was absolutely certain that a new campaign against Russia was doomed to be disastrous. After trying, completely in vain, to convince Hitler to give up operation Barbarossa, he embraced the campaign against Russia as a chance to redeem credit from the disastrous British attack. As he had foreseen, the war against the Soviet Union turned out to be Germany's most ignominious defeat. Goring's contribution, as the head of the Luftwaffe, did not match his outlandish promises, and, as a result, negatively affected his relationship with Hitler. Goring also sponsored a ground combat unit, the eponymous Hermann Goring Division, an elite unit which fought on various fronts with success. His other units on the eastern front were not so successful. At the Oder front, he had 2 Fallschirmjager (airborne) divisions, which were partially composed of Luftwaffe's officers without any ground combat experience. He's known to have said in one of the Hassleben's planning meetings: "When my both airborne divisions attack, the entire Red Army can be thrown to hell". When the Red Army attacked, Goring's 9th Parachute Division (Germany) collapsed first. He was also Commander-in-Chief of "Forschungsamt" ("FA"), the Nazi underground monitoring services for telephone and radio communications. This was connected to SS, SD and Abwehr intelligence services. Goring was also placed in charge of exploiting the vast industrial resources captured during the war, particularly in the Soviet Union. This proved to be an almost total disaster and little of the available potential was effectively harnessed for the service of the German military machine. However, Goring was notorious for his role as one of the Nazi plunderers of art and other valuables from occupied Europe. Goring was the highest figure in the Nazi Hierarchy who had authorized on paper the "final solution of the Jewish Question", when he issued a memo to SS Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich to organize the practical details, (which culminated in the Wannsee Conference). He wrote, "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question." It is almost certain however that Hitler issued a verbal order to Goring in late 1941 to this effect. Near the end of the war, as the Red Army closed in around the German capital on April 23, 1945, Goring sent a telegram from Berchtesgaden to Berlin in which he proposed to assume leadership of the Reich as Hitler's designated successor. Hitler considered this disloyalty and high treason, especially because Goring mentioned a time limit after which he would consider Hitler incapacitated. Hitler had Goring placed under arrest by Bernhard Frank on April 25 and in his political testament Hitler dismissed Goring from all his sundry offices and expelled him from the party. Two days before ending his own life Hitler sent orders to Frank to execute Goring, his wife and their young daughter (Hitler's own goddaughter). A combination of Goring's considerable charm, Frank's confusion and terror at the last days of the war and perhaps common decency where the death of an innocent German child was concerned led to Frank's rejection of the order. Instead the Gorings and their captors moved together, with little formality and no semblance of a captives and captors relationship, to the same Schloss Mauterndorf where Goring had spent much of his childhood and which he had inherited (along with Burg Veldenstein) from his godfather's widow upon her death in 1937. (Goring had arranged for preferential treatment for the woman after his rise to power, a consideration that guaranteed her immunity from the confiscation and arrest that may have been her fate as the widow of a wealthy Jew.) Ironically, during World War II, Herman Goring's nephew, Capt. Werner G. Goering, piloted B-17 Flying Fortresses on 48 bombing missions against occupied Europe. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, the young Goring spoke fluent German. After an extensive background check, he was assigned to the 303rd Bombardment Group -- Hell's Angels -- of the 8th Air Force, based at Molesworth, England. This fact was kept secret by the Army Air Force during the time that young Goring flew missions against Nazi Germany. However, the AAF still assigned him a "uniquely qualified" co-pilot -- First Lt. Jack P. Rencher. Rencher was given orders to shoot him if he ever tried to land in Germany. According to Rencher, however, the only time young Goring wasn't eager to rain destruction on Nazi Germany was when he had to bomb Cologne, where his grandmother lived. "He was neat, clean, a sharp dresser and in every sense military minded," Rencher said. "While I served with him he and I got along well together and I believe made an excellent team. I know of no one I would rather serve as co-pilot with." Capture - trial and death Goring (first row, far left) at the Nuremberg Trials. Equally ironically, his younger brother Albert Goring was notable for helping Jews and dissidents survive in Germany during the war. Goring surrendered on May 9, 1945 in Bavaria. He was the third highest ranking Nazi official brought before the Nuremberg Trials, behind Reich President (former Admiral) Karl Donitz and former Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess. Goring's last days were spent with Gustave Gilbert, a Jewish German-speaking intelligence officer and psychologist who was granted free access by the Allies to all the prisoners held in the Nuremberg jail. Gilbert classified Goring as having an IQ of 138, the same as he ascribed to Karl Donitz. He kept a journal of his observations of the proceedings and his conversations with the prisoners, which he later published in the book Nuremberg Diary. The following quotation was a part of a conversation Gilbert held with a dejected Goring in his cell on the evening of 18 April 1946, as the trials were halted for a three-day Easter recess. "Sweating in his cell in the evening, Goring was defensive and deflated and not very happy over the turn the trial was taking. He said that he had no control over the actions or the defense of the others, and that he had never been anti-Semitic himself, had not believed these atrocities, and that several Jews had offered to testify in his behalf." Despite claims that he was not anti-Semitic, while in the prison yard at Nuremberg, after hearing a remark about Jewish survivors in Hungary, Albert Speer reported overhearing Goring say, "So, there are still some there? I thought we had knocked off all of them. Somebody slipped up again." Though he defended himself vigorously, he was sentenced to death by hanging. The judgment stated that: "There is nothing to be said in mitigation. For Goering was often, indeed almost always, the moving force, second only to his leader. He was the leading war aggressor, both as political and as military leader; he was the director of the slave labour programme and the creator of the oppressive programme against the Jews and other races, at home and abroad. All of these crimes he has frankly admitted. On some specific cases there may be conflict of testimony, but in terms of the broad outline, his own admissions are more than sufficiently wide to be conclusive of his guilt. His guilt is unique in its enormity. The record discloses no excuses for this man." Goring dispatched an appeal in which he said he would accept the court's death penalty if they allowed him to be shot as a soldier instead of hanged as a common criminal, but the court members refused to allow him this honor. Defying the sentence imposed by his captors, he committed suicide with a potassium cyanide capsule the night before he was supposed to be hanged. Where Goring obtained the cyanide, and how he had managed to hide it during his entire imprisonment at Nuremberg, remains unknown. In the 1950s, Erich von dem Bach-Zalewski claimed that he had given Goring the cyanide shortly before Goring's death. However, this claim is usually dismissed. Later theories speculate that Goring befriended U.S. Army Lieutenant Jack G. "Tex" Wheelis, who was stationed at the Nuremberg Trials and helped Goring obtain cyanide which had likely been hidden among Goring's personal effects when they were confiscated by the Army. In 2005, former Army private Herbert Lee Stivers claimed he gave Goring "medicine" hidden inside a gift fountain pen from a German woman the private had met and flirted with. Stivers served in the U.S. 1st Infantry Division's 26th Regiment, who formed the honour guard for the Nuremberg Trials. Stivers claims to have been unaware of what the "medicine" he delivered actually was until after Goring's death. After his suicide, Hermann Goring was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Conwentzbach in Munich, which runs into the Isar river. Personal standards of Hermann Goring Goring dressed for display, along with the other war criminals, after committing suicide by cyanide. When Goring had been promoted to the unique rank of "Reichsmarschall" on July 19, 1940, he at once decided to choose a personal standard for himself. The design in the centre of the left side displayed a German eagle embroidered in gold-yellow thread and clutching in its talons a gold swastika standing on its point. Set behind the swastika was a pair of crossed marshal's batons. The right side displayed in the centre a large black Iron Cross. It was the unique "Grosskreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes" that was bestowed on him by Hitler. Set in each of the four sections of the field was a gold-yellow Luftwaffe eagle and swastika. The basic field was light blue on both sides, which indicated that he was also the Commander-In-Chief of the German Air Force. In February 1941 he made up his mind to modify the whole design in order to look more "fashionable". The standard was used for all purposes and was carried by a personal standard-bearer. Quotations Goring spoke about war and extreme nationalism during the Nuremberg trials in an interview with Gustave Gilbert, a Jewish German-speaking intelligence officer and psychologist who was granted free access by the Allies to all the prisoners held in the Nuremberg jail (see Nuremberg Diary):On August 9, 1939, two days after meeting with British businessmen, assuring them "on his word of honour" that he would do everything in his power to avert war, Goring boasted "The Ruhr will not be subjected to a single bomb. If an enemy bomber reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Hermann Goring: you can call me Meier!" ("I want to be called Meier if ..." is a German idiom to express that something is impossible. Meier (including spelling variants) is the second most common surname in Germany.) By the end of the war, Berlin's air raid sirens were bitterly known to the city's residents as "Meier's trumpets", or "Meier's hunting horns." It has been written that Goring was one of the few Nazi leaders who did not take offense at hearing jokes about himself, "no matter how rude". Germans joked about his ego, saying that he would wear an admiral's uniform to take a bath, and his obesity (270 pounds), joking that "he sits down on his stomach".	eng	b0894470-6026-412d-9ad1-df181017a370	http://freespace.virgin.net/p.crowley2/Hermann_Goring.html
Lit Kit Hispanic Heritage Gabriel (Jose) García Márquez Born:1928- Nationality: Colombian Winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature for One Hundred Years of Solitude, Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez is widely considered one of the deans of Latin American writing. From his fabulous tales of rural Colombian life to his volumes of journalistic reportage, García Márquez has emerged as "one of the small number of contemporary writers from Latin America who have given to its literature a maturity and dignity it never had before," to quote John Sturrock in the New York Times Book Review. "More than any other writer in the world," declared David Streitfeld in the Washington Post, "Gabriel García Márquez combines both respect (bordering on adulation) and mass popularity (also bordering on adulation)." Time magazine correspondent R. Z. Sheppard simply deemed the author "one of the greatest living storytellers." One Hundred Years of Solitude is perhaps García Márquez's best-known contribution to the awakening of interest in Latin American literature. It has sold more than twenty million copies and has been translated into over thirty languages. According to an Antioch Review critic, the popularity and acclaim for One Hundred Years of Solitude signaled that "Latin American literature will change from being the exotic interest of a few to essential reading and that Latin America itself will be looked on less as a crazy subculture and more as a fruitful, alternative way of life." So great was the novel's initial popularity, noted Mario Vargas Llosa in García Márquez: Historia de un deicido, that not only was the first Spanish printing of the book sold out within one week, but for months afterwards Latin American readers alone exhausted each successive printing. Translations of the novel similarly elicited enthusiastic responses from critics and readers around the world. In this outpouring of critical opinion, which Books Abroad contributor Klaus Muller-Bergh called "an earthquake, a maelstrom," various reviewers termed One Hundred Years of Solitude a masterpiece of modern fiction. For example, Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, himself a Nobel laureate, was quoted in Time as calling the book "the greatest revelation in the Spanish language since the Don Quixote of Cervantes." Similarly enthusiastic was William Kennedy, who wrote in the National Observer that "One Hundred Years of Solitude is the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race." And Regina Janes, in her study Gabriel García Márquez: Revolutions in Wonderland, described the book as "a 'total novel' that [treats] Latin America socially, historically, politically, mythically, and epically," adding that One Hundred Years of Solitude is also "at once accessible and intricate, lifelike and self-consciously, self-referentially fictive." The novel is set in the imaginary community of Macondo, a village on the Colombian coast, and follows the lives of several generations of the Buendia family. Chief among these characters are Colonel Aureliano Buendia, perpetrator of thirty-two rebellions and father of seventeen illegitimate sons, and Ursula Buendia, the clan's matriarch and witness to its eventual decline. Besides following the complicated relationships of the Buendia family, One Hundred Years of Solitude also reflects the political, social, and economic troubles of South America. Many critics have found the novel, with its complex family relationships and extraordinary events, to be a microcosm of Latin America itself. The mixture of historical and fictitious elements that appears in One Hundred Years of Solitude places the novel within that genre of Latin American fiction that critics have termed "magical realism." Janes attributed the birth of this style of writing to Alejo Carpentier, a Cuban novelist and short story writer, and concluded that García Márquez's fiction follows ideas originally formulated by the Cuban author. The critic noted that Carpentier "discovered the duplicities of history and elaborated the critical concept of 'lo maravilloso americano' the 'marvelous real,' arguing that geographically, historically, and essentially, Latin America was a space marvelous and fantastic . . . and to render that reality was to render marvels." García Márquez presented a similar view of Latin America in his Paris Review interview with Peter H. Stone: "It always amuses me that the biggest praise for my work comes for the imagination while the truth is that there's not a single line in all my work that does not have a basis in reality." The author further explained in his Playboy interview with Claudia Dreifus: "Clearly, the Latin American environment is marvelous. Particularly the Caribbean. . . . The coastal people were descendants of pirates and smugglers, with a mixture of black slaves. To grow up in such an environment is to have fantastic resources for poetry. Also, in the Caribbean, we are capable of believing anything, because we have the influences of all those different cultures, mixed in with Catholicism and our own local beliefs. I think that gives us an open-mindedness to look beyond apparent reality." But along with the fantastic episodes in García Márquez's fiction appear the historical facts or places that inspired them. An episode involving a massacre of striking banana workers is based on a historical incident. In reality, García Márquez told Dreifus, "there were very few deaths . . . [so] I made the death toll 3,000 because I was using certain proportions in my book." But while One Hundred Years of Solitude is the fictional account of the Buendia family, the novel is also, as John Leonard stated in the New York Times, "a recapitulation of our evolutionary and intellectual experience. Macondo is Latin America in microcosm." Robert G. Mead Jr. similarly observed in Saturday Review that "Macondo may be regarded as a microcosm of the development of much of the Latin American continent." Mead added: "Although [One Hundred Years of Solitude] is first and always a story, the novel also has value as a social and historical document." García Márquez responded to these interpretations in his interview with Dreifus, commenting that his work "is not a history of Latin America, it is a metaphor for Latin America." The "social and historical" elements of One Hundred Years of Solitude reflect the journalistic influences at work in García Márquez's fiction. Although known as a novelist, the author began his writing career as a reporter and still considers himself to be one. In fact, in 1999, he used money from his Nobel prize to buy the then-failing Cambio, a weekly news magazine which employs some of Colombia's finest journalists, according to Frank Bajak in the Melbourne Herald Sun. As García Márquez remarked to Stone, "I've always been convinced that my true profession is that of a journalist." Janes asserted that the evolution of García Márquez's individual style is based on his experience as a correspondent. In addition, this same experience has led Janes and other critics to compare the Colombian to Ernest Hemingway. "[The] stylistic transformation between Leaf Storm and No One Writes to the Colonel was not exclusively an act of will," Janes claimed. "García Márquez had had six years of experience as a journalist between the two books, experience providing practice in the lessons of Hemingway, trained in the same school." And George R. McMurray, in his book Gabriel García Márquez, maintained that Hemingway's themes and techniques have "left their mark" on the work of the Colombian writer. García Márquez has been compared to another American Nobel-winner, William Faulkner, who also elaborated on facts to create his fiction. Faulkner based his fictional territory Yoknapatawpha County on memories of the region in northern Mississippi where he spent most of his life. García Márquez based Macondo, the town appearing throughout his fiction, on Aracataca, the coastal city of his birth. A Time reviewer called Macondo "a kind of tropical Yoknapatawpha County." Review contributor Mary E. Davis pointed out further resemblances between the two authors: "García Márquez concentrates on the specific personality of place in the manner of the Mississippean, and he develops even the most reprehensible of his characters as idiosyncratic enigmas." She concluded: "García Márquez is as fascinated by the capacity of things, events, and characters for sudden metamorphosis as was Faulkner." Nevertheless, Newsweek writer Peter S. Prescott maintained that it was only after García Márquez shook off the influence of Faulkner that he was able to write One Hundred Years of Solitude. Prescott argued that in this novel García Márquez's "imagination matured: no longer content to write dark and fatalistic stories about a Latin Yoknapatawpha County, he broke loose into exuberance, wit and laughter." Thor Vilhjalmsson similarly observed in Books Abroad that while "García Márquez does not fail to deal with the dark forces, or give the impression that the life of human beings, one by one, should be ultimately tragic, . . . he also shows every moment pregnant with images and color and scent which ask to be arranged into patterns of meaning and significance while the moment lasts." While the Colombian has frequently referred to Faulkner as "my master," Luis Harss and Barbara Dohmann added in their Into the Mainstream: Conversations with Latin-American Writers that in his later stories, "the Faulknerian glare has been neutralized. It is not replaced by any other. From now on García Márquez is his own master." The phenomenal worldwide success of One Hundred Years of Solitude has proven to be both boon and bane for its author. In Contemporary Popular Writers, Jack Shreve observed that with One Hundred Years of Solitude, García Márquez "emerged as the leading literary talent of the Spanish-speaking world . . . and many began to speak of him as the greatest author in the Spanish language since Cervantes." The critic added: "But like Cervantes after writing Don Quixote, García Márquez has subsequently had to contend with critics who are disinclined to acknowledge that his masterpiece can ever be equaled or surpassed." Indeed, while all of García Márquez's subsequent writings have been praised by critics and bought in quantity by readers, none has elicited the outpouring of praise that attended — and still attends — One Hundred Years of Solitude. In The Autumn of the Patriarch García Márquez uses a more openly political tone in relating the story of a dictator who has reigned for so long that no one can remember any other ruler. Elaborating on the kind of solitude experienced by Colonel Aureliano Buendia in One Hundred Years, García Márquez explores the isolation of a political tyrant. "In this fabulous, dream-like account of the reign of a nameless dictator of a fantastic Caribbean realm, solitude is linked with the possession of absolute power," described Ronald De Feo in the National Review. Rather than relating a straightforward account of the general's life, The Autumn of the Patriarch skips from one episode to another using detailed descriptions. Times Literary Supplement contributor John Sturrock found this approach appropriate to the author's subject, calling the work "the desperate, richly sustained hallucination of a man rightly bitter about the present state of so much of Latin America." Sturrock noted that "García Márquez's novel is sophisticated and its language is luxuriant to a degree. Style and subject are at odds because García Márquez is committed to showing that our first freedom — and one which all too many Latin American countries have lost — is of the full resources of our language." Time writer R. Z. Sheppard similarly commented on García Márquez's elaborate style, observing that "the theme is artfully insinuated, an atmosphere instantly evoked like a puff of stage smoke, and all conveyed in language that generates a charge of expectancy." The critic concluded: "García Márquez writes with what could be called a stream-of-consciousness technique, but the result is much more like a whirlpool." Some critics, however, found both the theme and technique of The Autumn of the Patriarch lacking. J. D. O'Hara, for example, wrote in the Washington Post Book World that for all his "magical realism," García Márquez "can only remind us of real-life parallels; he cannot exaggerate them." For the same reason, the critic added, "although he can turn into grisly cartoons the squalor and paranoia of actual dictatorships, he can scarcely parody them; reality has anticipated him again." Newsweek columnist Walter Clemons found the novel somewhat disappointing: "After the narrative vivacity and intricate characterization of the earlier book [The Autumn of the Patriarch] seems both oversumptuous and underpopulated. It is — deadliest of compliments — an extended piece of magnificent writing." Other critics believed that the author's skillful style enhances the novel. Referring to the novel's disjointed narrative style, Wendy McElroy commented in World Research INK that "this is the first time I have seen it handled properly. Gabriel García Márquez ignores many conventions of the English language which are meant to provide structure and coherence. But he is so skillful that his novel is not difficult to understand. It is bizarre; it is disorienting . . . but it is not difficult. Moreover, it is appropriate to the chaos and decay of the general's mind and of his world." Similarly, De Feo maintained that "no summary or description of this book can really do it justice, for it is not only the author's surrealistic flights of imagination that make it such an exceptional work, but also his brilliant use of language, his gift for phrasing and description." The critic concluded: "Throughout this unique, remarkable novel, the tall tale is transformed into a true work of art." "With its run-on, seemingly free-associative sentences, its constant flow of images and color, Gabriel García Márquez's last novel, The Autumn of the Patriarch, was such a dazzling technical achievement that it left the pleasurably exhausted reader wondering what the author would do next," commented De Feo in the Nation. The author's next work, Chronicle of a Death Foretold "is, in miniature, a virtuoso performance," stated Jonathan Yardley in the Washington Post Book World. In contrast with the author's "two masterworks, One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Autumn of the Patriarch," continued the critic, "it is slight . . . its action is tightly concentrated on a single event. But in this small space García Márquez works small miracles; Chronicle of a Death Foretold is ingeniously, impeccably constructed, and it provides a sobering, devastating perspective on the system of male 'honor'." In the novella, described Douglas Hill in the Toronto Globe and Mail, García Márquez "has cut out an apparently uncomplicated, larger-than-life jigsaw puzzle of passion and crime, then demonstrated, with laconic diligence and a sort of concerned amusement, how extraordinarily difficult the task of assembling the pieces can be." The story is based on a historical incident in which a young woman is returned after her wedding night for not being a virgin and her brothers set out to avenge the stain on the family honor by murdering the man she names as her "perpetrator." The death is "foretold" in that the brothers announce their intentions to the entire town, but circumstances conspire to keep Santiago Nasar, the condemned man, from this knowledge, and he is brutally murdered. "In telling this story, which is as much about the townspeople and their reactions as it is about the key players, García Márquez might simply have remained omniscient," observed De Feo. But instead "he places himself in the action, assuming the role of a former citizen who returns home to reconstruct the events of the tragic day — a day he himself lived through." This narrative maneuvering, claimed the critic, "adds another layer to the book, for the narrator, who is visible one moment, invisible the next, could very well ask himself the same question he is intent on asking others, and his own role, his own failure to act in the affair contributes to the book's odd, haunting ambiguity." This recreation after the fact has an additional effect, as Gregory Rabassa noted in World Literature Today: "From the beginning we know that Santiago Nasar will be and has been killed, depending on the time of the narrative thread that we happen to be following, but García Márquez does manage, in spite of the repeated foretelling of the event by the murderers and others, to maintain the suspense at a high level by never describing the actual murder until the very end." Rabassa explained: "Until then we have been following the chronicler as he puts the bits and pieces together ex post facto, but he has constructed things in such a way that we are still hoping for a reprieve even though we know better." "As more and more is revealed about the murder, less and less is known," wrote Leonard Michaels in the New York Times Book Review, "yet the style of the novel is always natural and unselfconscious, as if innocent of any paradoxical implication." In approaching the story from this re-creative standpoint, García Márquez once again utilizes journalistic techniques. As Chicago Tribune Book World editor John Blades maintained, "García Márquez tells this grisly little fable in what often appears to be a straight-faced parody of conventional journalism, with its dependence on 'he-she-they told me' narrative techniques, its reliance on the distorted, contradictory and dreamlike memories of 'eyewitnesses'." Blades added, however, that "at the same time, this is precision-tooled fiction; the author subtly but skillfully manipulates his chronology for dramatic impact." New York Times correspondent Christopher Lehmann-Haupt similarly noted a departure from the author's previous style: "I cannot be absolutely certain whether in Chronicle Gabriel García Márquez has come closer to conventional storytelling than in his previous work, or whether I have simply grown accustomed to his imagination." The critic added that "whatever the case, I found Chronicle of a Death Foretold by far the author's most absorbing work to date. I read it through in a flash, and it made the back of my neck prickle." "It is interesting," remarked Times Literary Supplement contributor Bill Buford, that García Márquez chose to handle "a fictional episode with the methods of a journalist. In doing so he has written an unusual and original work: a simple narrative so charged with irony that it has the authority of political fable." Buford concluded: "If it is not an example of the socialist realism [Garcia] Marquez may claim it to be elsewhere, Chronicle of a Death Foretold is in any case a mesmerizing work that clearly establishes [Garcia] Marquez as one of the most accomplished, and the most 'magical' of political novelists writing today." In Review, Edith Grossman concluded: "Once again García Márquez is an ironic chronicler who dazzles the reader with uncommon blendings of fantasy, fable and fact." Another blending of fable and fact, based in part on García Márquez's recollections of his parents' marriage, Love in the Time of Cholera "is an amazing celebration of the many kinds of love between men and women," according to Elaine Feinstein of the London Times. "In part it is a brilliantly witty account of the tussles in a long marriage, whose details are curiously moving; elsewhere it is a fantastic tale of love finding erotic fulfillment in ageing bodies." The novel begins with the death of Dr. Juvenal Urbino, whose attempt to rescue a parrot from a tree leaves his wife of fifty years, Fermina Daza, a widow. Soon after Urbino's death, however, Florentino Ariza appears on Fermina Daza's doorstep. The rest of the novel recounts Florentino's determination to resume the passionate courtship of a woman who had given him up over half a century before. In relating both the story of Fermina Daza's marriage and her later courtship, Love in the Time of Cholera "is a novel about commitment and fidelity under circumstances which seem to render such virtues absurd," recounted Times Literary Supplement contributor S. M. J. Minta. "[It is] about a refusal to grow old gracefully and respectably, about the triumph sentiment can still win over reason, and above all, perhaps, about Latin America, about keeping faith with where, for better or worse, you started out from." Although the basic plot of Love in the Time of Cholera is fairly simple, some critics have accused García Márquez of over-embellishing his story. Calling the plot a "boy-meets-girl" story, Chicago Tribune Books contributor Michael Dorris remarked that "it takes a while to realize this core [plot], for every aspect of the book is attenuated, exaggerated, overstated." The critic also argued that "while a Harlequin Romance might balk at stretching this plot for more than a year or two of fictional time, García Márquez nurses it over five decades," adding that the "prose [is] laden with hyperbolic excess." Some critics have claimed that instead of revealing the romantic side of love, Love in the Time of Cholera "seems to deal more with libido and self-deceit than with desire and mortality," as Angela Carter termed it in the Washington Post Book World. Dorris expressed a similar opinion, writing that while the novel's "first 50 pages are brilliant, provocative, . . . they are [an] overture to a discordant symphony" which portrays an "anachronistic" world of machismo and misogyny. In contrast, Toronto Globe and Mail contributor Ronald Wright believed that the novel works as a satire of this same kind of "hypocrisy, provincialism and irresponsibility of the main characters' social milieu." Wright concluded: "Love in the Time of Cholera is a complex and subtle book; its greatest achievement is not to tell a love story, but to meditate on the equivocal nature of romanticism and romantic love." Other reviewers have agreed that although it contains elements of his other work, Love in the Time of Cholera is a development in a different direction for García Márquez. Author Thomas Pynchon, writing in the New York Times Book Review, commented that "it would be presumptuous to speak of moving 'beyond' One Hundred Years of Solitude but clearly García Márquez has moved somewhere else, not least into deeper awareness of the ways in which, as Florentino comes to learn, 'nobody teaches life anything'." Countering criticisms that the work is overemotional, Minta claimed that "the triumph of the novel is that it uncovers the massive, submerged strength of the popular, the cliched and the sentimental." While it "does not possess the fierce, visionary poetry of One Hundred Years of Solitude or the feverish phantasmagoria of The Autumn of the Patriarch," as New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani described it, Love in the Time of Cholera "has revealed how the extraordinary is contained in the ordinary, how a couple of forgotten, even commonplace lives can encompass the heights and depths of grand and eternal passion." "The result," concluded the critic, "is a rich commodious novel, a novel whose narrative power is matched only by its generosity of vision." "The Garcimarquesian voice we have come to recognize from the other fiction has matured, found and developed new resources," asserted Pynchon, "[and] been brought to a level where it can at once be classical and familiar, opalescent and pure, able to praise and curse, laugh and cry, fabulate and sing and when called upon, take off and soar." Pynchon concluded: "There is nothing I have read quite like [the] astonishing final chapter, symphonic, sure in its dynamics and tempo. . . . At the very best [this remembrance] results in works that can even return our worn souls to us, among which most certainly belongs Love in the Time of Cholera, this shining and heartbreaking novel." For his next novel, The General in His Labyrinth, García Márquez chose another type of story. His protagonist, the General, is Simon Bolivar. Known as "the Liberator," Bolivar is remembered as a controversial and influential historical figure. His revolutionary activities during the early nineteenth century helped free South America from Spanish control. The labyrinth evoked in the title consists of what John Butt described in the Times Literary Supplement as "the web of slanders and intrigues that surrounded [Bolivar's] decline." The book focuses on Bolivar's last months, once the leader had renounced the Colombian presidency and embarked on a long journey that ended when he died near the Caribbean coast on December 17, 1830. Even as he neared death, Bolivar staged one final, failed attempt to reassert leadership in the face of anarchy. In the New York Times Book Review author Margaret Atwood declared: "Had Bolivar not existed, Mr. García Márquez would have had to invent him." Atwood called the novel "a fascinating literary tour de force and a moving tribute to an extraordinary man," as well as "a sad commentary on the ruthlessness of the political process." The political process is, indeed, an integral aspect of The General in His Labyrinth. "Latin American politicians and intellectuals have long relied on a more saintly image of Bolivar to make up for the region's often sordid history," Tim Padgett wrote in Newsweek. Although García Márquez presents a pro-Bolivar viewpoint in his novel, the book was greeted with controversy. Butt observed that García Márquez had "managed to offend all sides. . . . From the point of view of some pious Latin Americans he blasphemes a local deity by having him utter the occasional obscenity and by showing him as a relentless womanizer, which he was. Others have detected the author's alleged 'Caribbean' tropical and lowland dislike of cachacos or upland and bogotano Colombians." The harshest criticism, Butt asserted, emanated from some Colombian historians "who claim that the novel impugns the basis of their country's independence by siding too openly with the Liberator" to the detriment of some of Bolivar's political contemporaries. García Márquez earned wide praise for the quality of documentary research that contributed to the novel, although Butt, for one, lamented that the book "leaves much unexplained about the mental processes of the Liberator." He elaborated: "We learn far more about Bolivar's appearance, sex-life, surroundings and public actions than about his thoughts and motives." In the works, off and on, for nearly two decades, Strange Pilgrims: Twelve Stories marked García Márquez's return to the short story collection. García Márquez's pilgrims are Latin American characters placed in various European settings, many of them in southern Italy. "Thematically, these dozen stories explore familiar Marquesan territory: human solitude and quiet desperation, unexpected love (among older people, between generations), the bizarre turns of fate, the intertwining of passion and death," Michael Dirda asserted in the Washington Post Book World. At each story's core, however, "lies a variant of that great transatlantic theme — the failure of people of different cultures, ages or political convictions to communicate with each other." In Strange Pilgrims, Margaret Sayers Peden asserted in the Chicago Tribune, "Latins do not fare well in their separation from native soil." In "The Saint," for example, an old Colombian man has brought the intact corpse of his young daughter to Rome. For decades he journeys through the Vatican bureaucracy, trying to get his child canonized. "Absurd and oddly serene," Richard Eder wrote in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, "['The Saint'] says a great deal about Latin American boundlessness in a bounded Europe." In another story, "I Only Came to Use the Phone," a Mexican woman is mistakenly identified as a mental patient and is trapped in a Spanish insane asylum — no one heeds her cry that she only entered the building to place a telephone call. "Rich with allusion and suggestion, colourful like a carnival," wrote Ian Thomson in Spectator, "these short stories nevertheless lack the graceful charm of Love in the Time of Cholera, say, or of other novels by [Garcia] Marquez. There's a deadpan acceptance of the fantastic, though, which allows for a degree of comedy." In a similar vein, Dirda asserted: "Many of the stories in Strange Pilgrims might be classified as fantastic. . . . Still, none of them quite possesses the soul-stirring magic of García Márquez's earlier short fiction." He continued: "For all their smooth execution, [the stories] don't feel truly haunted, they seldom take us to fictive places we've never been before. . . . And yet. And yet. One could hardly wish for more readable entertainments, or more wonderful detailing." Edward Waters Hood, however, declared in World Literature Today that these "interesting and innovative stories . . . complement and add several new dimensions to Gabriel García Márquez's fictional world." García Márquez returned to his Maconderos in his next novel, Of Love and Other Demons. The story stems from an event the author witnessed early in his journalistic career. As a reporter in Cartagena in 1949, he was assigned to watch while a convent's tomb was opened to transfer burial remains — the convent was being destroyed to clear space for a hotel. There soon emerged twenty-two meters of vibrant human hair, atttached to the skull of a young girl who had been buried for two centuries. Remembering his grandparents' stories about a twelve-year-old aristocrat who had died of rabies, García Márquez began to reconstruct the life and death of a character named Sierva Maria. Jonathan Yardley remarked in the Washington Post Book World that the author's mood in this novel "is almost entirely melancholy and his manner is, by contrast with his characteristic ebullience, decidedly restrained." In the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Eder judged the novel to be "a good one though not quite among [García Márquez's] best." As the daughter of wealthy but uninterested parents, Sierva Maria grows up with the African slaves on her family's plantation. When she is bitten by a rabid dog, a local bishop determines that she requires exorcism. The girl is taken to the Convent of Santa Clara, where the bishop's pious delegate, Father Cayetano Delaura, is charged with her case. But Delaura himself is soon possessed by the demon of love, his forbidden love for the young woman. Yardley wrote: "Here most certainly we are in the world of Gabriel García Márquez, where religious faith and human love collide in agony and passion." In Time magazine R. Z. Sheppard asserted that in telling "a story of forbidden love," García Márquez "demonstrates once again the vigor of his own passion: the daring and irresistible coupling of history and imagination." Yardley warned, however, that "readers hoping to re-experience 'magical realism' at the level attained in the author's masterpieces will be disappointed." In the Nation, John Leonard stated: "My only complaint about this marvelous novella is its rush toward the end. Suddenly, [the author is] in a hurry . . . when we want to spend more time" with his characters. The origins behind Of Love and Other Demons emphasize once again the dual forces of journalism and fiction in García Márquez's oeuvre. The author elaborated in his interview with Dreifus: "I'm fascinated by the relationship between literature and journalism. I began my career as a journalist in Colombia, and a reporter is something I've never stopped being. When I'm not working on fiction, I'm running around the world, practicing my craft as a reporter." His work as a journalist has produced controversy, for in journalism García Márquez not only sees a chance to develop his "craft," but also an opportunity to become involved in political issues. His self-imposed exile from Colombia was prompted by a series of articles he wrote in 1955 about the sole survivor of a Colombian shipwreck, claiming that the government ship had capsized due to an overload of contraband. In 1986, García Márquez wrote Clandestine in Chile: The Adventures of Miguel Littin, a work about an exile's return to the repressive Chile of General Augusto Pinochet. The political revelations of the book led to the burning of almost 15,000 copies by the Chilean government. In addition, García Márquez has maintained personal relationships with such political figures as Cuban President Fidel Castro, former French President Francois Mitterand, and the late Panamanian leader General Omar Torrijos. Because of this history of political involvement, García Márquez has often been accused of allowing his politics to overshadow his work, and has also encountered problems entering the United States. When asked by the New York Times Book Review's Marlise Simons why he is so insistent on becoming involved in political issues, the author replied that "If I were not a Latin American, maybe I wouldn't [become involved]. But underdevelopment is total, integral, it affects every part of our lives. The problems of our societies are mainly political." The Colombian further explained that "the commitment of a writer is with the reality of all of society, not just with a small part of it. If not, he is as bad as the politicians who disregard a large part of our reality. That is why authors, painters, writers in Latin America get politically involved." Perhaps not surprisingly, García Márquez's political involvement has led him to examine the role that drug cartels have played in destabilizing Colombian society. News of a Kidnapping, a nonfiction account of several audacious kidnappings engineered by the Medellin drug cartel, is written in a consciously even-handed journalistic style but nevertheless reflects the author's dismay not only with the native drug dealers but with the American government that seeks to extradite and punish them. In the New York Times, Michiko Kakutani wrote: "News of a Kidnapping not only provides a fascinating anatomy of 'one episode in the biblical holocaust that has been consuming Colombia for more than 20 years,' but also offers the reader new insights into the surreal history of Mr. García Márquez's native country. Indeed, the reader is reminded by this book that the magical realism employed by Mr. García Márquez and other Latin American novelists is in part a narrative strategy for grappling with a social reality so hallucinatory, so irrational that it defies ordinary naturalistic description." Centered on the abduction of three prominent Colombian women, News of a Kidnapping describes the women's suffering as hostages of the drug lords as well as the negotiations to free them. "By now the world is well acquainted with hostage holding as a grotesque basis for personal relationships," noted R. Z. Sheppard. "But here the unusual experience of living in close quarters with your potential killers is intensified in prose as precise and deadpan as a coroner's report. And as he does so often, García Márquez makes the fantastic seem ordinary." In the New York Times Book Review, Robert Stone declared: "Mr. García Márquez is a former journalist, and News of a Kidnapping resembles newspaper journalism of the better sort, with a quick eye for the illuminating detail and a capacity for assembling fact. It will interest those who follow the details of the drug problem more than it will appeal to the literary following of Mr. García Márquez. . . . Still, the horrors and the absurdities, the touches of tender humanity and the stony cruelty that are part of this story — and of Colombia — all appear." Despite the controversy that his politics and work have engendered, García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude is enough to ensure the author "a place in the ranks of twentieth century masters," claimed Curt Suplee of the Washington Post. The Nobel-winner's reputation, however, is grounded in more than this one masterpiece. The Swedish Academy's Nobel citation states, "Each new work of his is received by critics and readers as an event of world importance, is translated into many languages and published as quickly as possible in large editions." "At a time of dire predictions about the future of the novel," observed McMurray, García Márquez's "prodigious imagination, remarkable compositional precision, and wide popularity provide evidence that the genre is still thriving." Janes, in the Reference Guide to World Literature, noted, "Often humorous, at times bitterly ironic or grotesque, occasionally tinged with pathos, García Márquez's work possesses a rare power of invention. Deficient in the psychological and linguistic density characteristic of some modern writers, García Márquez at his best achieves continuous surprise in the elaboration of a rococo, tessellated prose surface that makes the reader aware of the simultaneous insistence and insufficiency of interpretation." And as Tribune Books contributor Harry Mark Petrakis described him, García Márquez "is a magician of vision and language who does astonishing things with time and reality. He blends legend and history in ways that make the legends seem truer than truth. His scenes and characters are humorous, tragic, mysterious and beset by ironies and fantasies. In his fictional world, anything is possible and everything is believable." Concluded the critic: "Mystical and magical, fully aware of the transiency of life, his stories fashion realms inhabited by ghosts and restless souls who return to those left behind through fantasies and dreams. The stories explore, with a deceptive simplicity, the miracles and mysteries of life." García Márquez continues, too, to elude those who wish to pigeonhole him and to resist pressure to be "politically correct." He has continued to support the actions of Cuba's Fidel Castro against sometimes loud objections, while at the same time pointing out that he has helped many Cubans leave Cuba safely. He has returned to journalism in his later years, buying the failing newspaper Cambio in 1999 and writing regularly for it thereafter and increasing its sales five-fold. Of his (and other South American writers') early and continuing political involvement, Brooke Allen in the New Leader said, "There is hardly an ivory tower litterateur among the bunch. Their vital engagement seems to derive from the continual political chaos in South and Central America. 'In both America and Latin America,' commented Manuel Puig, 'the young writer usually doesn't like the system, with a capital "S," in his country. But in Latin America the possibility exists of actually shaking that system, because Latin American systems are shaky. Young writers who don't like the American way of life feel impotent, because it's really tough to shake Wall Street. You may not like Wall Street, but it works somehow. . . . Ironically, Latin American countries, in their instability, give writers and intellectuals the hope that they are needed. In Latin America there's the illusion that a writer can change something; of course, it's not that simple.' It is therefore not surprising that so many prominent Latin American writers have taken active political roles." 2002 saw the publication of García Márquez's memoir, volume one covering approximately the first thirty years of his life, Vivir Para Contarla. Two million copies were sold between late November and May 2003, not counting pirate copies that flooded the streets, prompting Knopf to publish the U.S. and Spanish versions a year ahead of their planned time. Elise Christensen of Newsweek recounted, "Photocopied versions have been peddled in Puerto Rico, and armed police guarded bookstores in Mexico in October after a delivery truck was reportedly hijacked in Colombia." And, according to Sandra Hernandez in a May, 2003 Knight Ridder report, "In an unprecedented move, major newspapers including the Los Angeles Times reviewed the Spanish language version rather than wait for the English edition due out in November together with the next volume in Spanish." Adriana Lopez of the New York Times reported that "for weeks, propelled by the buzz in the Latin American news media, Latino readers have been flocking to Little Colombia, where copies have found their way to street vendors and independently owned Latino bookstores. On Roosevelt Avenue, under the shadow of the elevated No. 7 train, street vendors like Ms. Luna do a brisk business hawking copies of the memoir, which they get from her buyers in South America and Spain, for up to $40 apiece. . . . Some customers shy away from the street vendors in response to a Colombian news media campaign urging readers not to buy illegal copies of the book. Some pirated copies are said to be circulating clandestinely. But the majority of Little Colombia's street booksellers appear to be selling the real thing, a quality-bound edition whose cover bears a haunting sepia image of the author as a child. Mr. Ramirez's wife, Irma, recalls the day she realized how much the book was touching a nerve among her fellow Colombians. 'I saw a young man sitting in Flushing Meadows Park reading a copy,' she said. 'And the tears were just running down his face'." The English translation appeared in late 2003 as Living to Tell the Tale. Caleb Bach, with his son Joel photographing, conducted an informal interview with García Márquez for the May-June 2003 Americas. They found him working six hours a day on the next volume of the memoir because as García Márquez told them, "If I don't write, I get bored," adding, "I keep writing so as not to die." He confided that he has a prodigious memory and uses no outside researchers: "I was a chain smoker for thirty years, but at age fifty abruptly I quit after a doctor in Barcelona told me my habit would cause memory loss." "If I can't remember something, it didn't happen," he said. Bach and his son found García Márquez to be a "kind, thoughtful, dignified man who has enriched the lives of so many people the world over never forgets his own humble origins and struggle to give purpose to his life. It is his nature to help others, especially young people, as they set out on their own journey." This impression was confirmed by an Economist (U.S.) reviewer who remarked, "Interestingly, his memoir reveals its author to be a man of few deep convictions, for whom friendship is far more important than politics." Nicaraguan poet Gioconda Belli relished the memoir, saying that she ultimately realized that, hoping to find the boundary between García Márquez's fiction and reality, "This is a journey in which each family anecdote and tale brings us back to characters we've met in his books or reveals to us the promise of many stories yet to be written. Through it, we find the hidden genetic codes of the Buendias, of Remedios the Beauty and Petra Cotes, and we come to realize that we've penetrated the looking glass, thinking we would be able to separate fiction from reality only to discover that they're inseparable." She went on, "Vivir para contarla is, from the start, an empirical argument to demonstrate both the reality of magic and the magic of reality. García Márquez brings up the idea more than once in that playful way of his, so far removed from academic parsimony. Referring to The Arabian Nights, for example, he says: 'I even dared to think that the wonders Scheherazade told about had really happened in the daily life of her time and that they stopped happening because of the disbelief and cowardice of succeeding generations'." She concluded, "His talent to blend magic and reality relieves us from the rationalist Cartesian split — so unhealthy for the spirit — and presents an alternative, wholesome way to embrace both. This is precisely why his writings provoke such a sensual joy. They let our imagination roam free in our bodies and infuse us with the magical powers inherent in the human condition. His writing shows us, Latin Americans, a credible version of our own history: not the academic vision of the history books that in no way resembles our experience but the version we learned by living in forsaken towns and in cities where lunatics and crocodiles roamed the streets and where dictators kept prisoners in cages alongside their pet lions and jaguars. In a world increasingly suffering the unreal, García Márquez has fooled reality once more, this time by remaining faithful to it." Belli also cited the memoir as explanation of the author's political development from the moment he was witness to the murder of presidential candidate, Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, a populist in whom many had hope for peace, in 1948. Searching for those who did not relate positively to the memoir was a futile task, though the U.S. Economist's writer did find, "This memoir may not win over those who have resisted being persuaded that Mr. García Márquez is a great, rather than a very good, writer. His style is one of much poetry but sometimes less meaning than meets the eye: in a typical sentence, he says of his grandfather that 'I knew what he was thinking by the changes in his silence.' And fecund though it was, magical realism has much to answer for: Mr. García Márquez has rarely let historical fact get in the way of a good story, and Latin American journalism has suffered much from the blurring of its boundaries with fiction. But most readers will not mind. They will simply enjoy the anecdotes and the prose of a master of the narrative art and of the Spanish language." Given Latin American commentary on the different view taken of the seam between "cold" reality and "magic" in less rationalistic South American countries (as evidenced in Belli's review), even this slight denigration can be seen as a cultural misprision. Hopefully, there is rather something to be learned from the understanding that reality, imagination, magic, history are bound together in such a way they cannot be so easily separated and reduced. The first volume of the memoir, presenting García Márquez' early life, reveals in it the realities that appear as magic in the novels. As Lois Zamora commented in the Houston Chronicle, "García Márquez is often called a 'magical realist,' but when you finish this autobiography you will be convinced of what he has long insisted in repudiation of the term: that he is not a magical realist but a realist and has never written about anything that he hasn't seen himself or known someone who has." On November 6, 2003, a tribute in honor of the American publication of his memoir was held at the Town Hall Theater in Manhattan. García Márquez did not attend the event, but he sent a statement. In December of that year, the book was named a New York Times Editor's Choice for 2003. In 2004, García Márquez received even more recognition when talk-show host Oprah Winfrey chose One Hundred Years of Solitude as her January book club selection. García Márquez continued to stir up controversy in September of 2004 when he was barred from the International Congress of the Spanish Language because he objects to the formal teaching of spelling, a position that angers many of the conference's organizers. On October 18, 2004, his novel Memorias de Mis Putas Tristes (Memories of My Sad Whore), was published a week early in Colombia in order to deter people from buying pirated copies. He thwarted bootleggers by changing the last chapter at the last minute, revealing the fact as one million copies of the book shipped to stores throughout Latin America and Spain. With the November 9, 2004, sale of the film rights to his novel Love in the Time of Cholera, García Márquez is certain to keep his name in the news. A play, Blood and Champagne, was based on García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude;Maria de me Corazon film 1983; I'm the One You're Looking For,Letters from the Park (extracted from Love in the Time of Cholera), Miracle in Rome,The Summer of Miss Forbes, films 1988; Nobody Writes to the Colonel, adapted for film, 1999; an adaptation of the story "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" was put on the stage for children in Minneapolis, MN, September 2002; the novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold produced by Repertorio Espanol in New York City 1999-2003, and by the The National Theatre of Colombia, January 2003, in Sydney; the novella Erendira and her Heartless Grandmother were adapted for the stage in New York, NY, in March 2003. Nation, December 2, 1968; May 15, 1972; May 14, 1983; June 12, 1995, pp. 836-840; July 2, 2001, p. 36; January 26, 2004, review of Living To Tell the Tale, p. 23. National Observer, April 20, 1970. National Review, May 27, 1977; June 10, 1983; May 1, 2000. Neophilologus, January 1999, p. 59. New Leader, January-February 2003, p. 24. New Republic, April 9, 1977; October 27, 1979; May 2, 1983; August 25, 1997, p. 30. New Statesman, June 26, 1970; May 18, 1979; February 15, 1980; September 3, 1982; August 1, 1997, p. 46. Newsweek, March 2, 1970; November 8, 1976; July 3, 1978; December 3, 1979; November 1, 1982; October 8, 1990, p. 70; December 16, 2002, p. 10; November 10, 2003, review of Living To Tell the Tale, p. 65. New York Review of Books, March 26, 1970; January 24, 1980; April 14, 1983; January 11, 1996, p. 37; October 9, 1997, p. 19. New York Times, July 11, 1978; November 6, 1979; October 22, 1982; March 25, 1983; December 7, 1985; April 26, 1986; June 4, 1986; April 6, 1988; June 19, 1997; March 3, 1999, p. A4; October 9, 2002, p. E1; November 17, 2002, p. 6; April 6, 2003, p. 3. New York Times Book Review, September 29, 1968; March 8, 1970; February 20, 1972; October 31, 1976; July 16, 1978; September 16, 1978; November 11, 1979; November 16, 1980; December 5, 1982; March 27, 1983; April 7, 1985; April 27, 1986; August 9, 1987; April 10, 1988; September 16, 1990, pp. 1, 30; May 28, 1995, p. 8; June 15, 1997. Tesserae: Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, June 2001, p. 55. Time, March 16, 1970; November 1, 1976; July 10, 1978; November 1, 1982; March 7, 1983; December 31, 1984; April 14, 1986; May 22, 1995; June 2, 1997, p. 79; November 17, 2003, review of Living To Tell the Tale, p. 148.	eng	10e237e0-a7e1-425d-8343-eb5e4c4695a2	http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/chh/bio/marquez_g.htm
There's been quite a lot of debate lately about the Constitutional definition of a "recess." This has brought on even more confusion over a already often-confusion question of Senate procedure, because a "recess" is also a legislative term under Senate rules. While the Constitutional "recess" is contemplating a break in Senate session generally, a "recess" under Senate rules is a more narrow idea. So bearing in mind that this discussion has nothing to do with recess appointments under the Constitution, here's a question I often get asked: At the end of a day, why does the Senate sometimes adjourn and sometimes recess? The answer is that there are different procedural consequences to doing one or the other, and thus strategic reasons for the majority to prefer one to the other. First, a little background. What is a recess and what is an adjournment? A recess is simply a temporary halt to activity on the floor. Everything stops, and when the recess ends, the Senate resumes from where it left off. A recess might last 10 minutes or it might last days. The length of time does not matter. An adjournment is a formal end to business in the chamber, and upon return the chamber does not resume from where it left off. Regardless of whether the adjournment is for 1 minute or for three weeks. Instead, a new legislative day is created. Wait, what's a legislative day? There are two types of "days" in Congress: calendar days and legislative days. A calendar day is exactly what is sounds like: one day of the year, as we normally think of it. So if today is January 27, in two calendar days it will be January 29. A legislative day, however, is different. A new legislative day begins only when the chamber returns from an adjournment. And at the beginning of a new legislative day, there are certain things that happen, under the standing rules of the House and Senate, precisely because it is a new legislative day. Much of it is routine business: the reading of the previous day's journal, filing of reports, delivery of messages from the House, etc. But there are also consequential things: for instance, in the Senate, for the first two hours of each new legislative day, motions to proceed are not debatable, and therefore cannot be filibustered. So a successful motion to adjourn creates a new legislative day, while a successful motion to recess does not. Consequently, if the Senate continually recesses instead of adjourning at the end of business each calendar day (which is quite common), it might be January 27, but legislative day January 5. (The House routinely adjourns at the end of a day's proceedings. As a result, the House's calendar days and legislative days are almost always the same.) This can have certain consequences. Some procedural events are triggered by calendar days. For example, a cloture motion must lie over two calendar before a vote can be taken on it. So if you introduce a cloture motion on Tuesday, it cannot be voted on until Thursday. However, some procedures are based on legislative days. For example, under rule XIX, no Senator can speak more than twice on any one question on the same legislative day. So back to the original question: why choose recess over adjourn, or vice versa? Well, as the previous paragraph indicates, one reason to choose a recess would be to try and smoke out a small group of Senators filibustering via floor monopoly. If the Senate doesn't adjourn, then each Senator could only speak on the motion to proceed twice, meaning they would have a limited number of opportunities for breaks. (This is actually a poor tactic to break a filibuster). But that's a rare situation. More common is that the majority leader might prefer to recess to avoid the routine business required on new legislative days, if he just wants to pick up where things left off, or if he fears that hostile Senators might use the business for purposes of delay. On the other hand, there are procedural advantages for the Majority Leader to create a new legislative day by adjourning. If he wants to skip a lengthy debate on the motion to proceed, he can adjourn, create a new legislative day, and then call up a bill under the provisions that make the motion to proceed non-debatable during the first few hours of a new day. This is a dangerous maneuver, however, since opposition Senators could then object to consent requests and force the reading of the journal and the other pieces of routine business normally dispensed with, in an effort to eat of the two hours before the motion to proceed could be given and voted upon. The majority leader can also use adjournment to regain control of the floor if he has lost it for any reason. This famously happened to Senator Byrd when he was majority leader in the 1970s. He lost control of the floor to opposition Senators, who were bent on wrecking his plans for the day by moving to other business. Byrd made a motion to adjourn (which is non-debatable and takes priority over virtually all other things) for one minute. Backed by the majority party, he won the vote. The Senate adjourned for one minute. A new legislative day was created, and as majority leader, Byrd was entitled to priority of recognition from the chair, which he accepted and then went on with his business. "By the end of my second term," Gingrich promised if elected, "we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American." Of course, this is not just primary season retail politics for Gingrich; he's been interested in a permanent moon colony since at least 1981, when he introduced H.R. 4286, the National Space and Aeronautics Policy Act, in the House, which among other things, set forth provisions for the governing of space territories, constitutional protections for space colonists, and a statehood process for space territories. You can read the full bill here (the portions regarding space territories and statehood are on the last page, but the whole thing is a good read). Now, I wrote my doctoral thesis on the institutional structure of the statehood process and the political construction of western states in the 19th century, so I have a strong natural interest in this kind of thing. And that sucker clocked in at almost 700 pages, so I'm not exactly searching for things to say about all this. But let me start with one meta-comment: I've spent more time than anyone in their right mind thinking about the formation and division of territories, the relationship between provincial statehood movements and the Senate Committee on the Territories, the politics of partial territorial admission, and the relationship between the flawed Constitutional statehood process, the desperate attempts to fix it, and the tragic politics of the 1850′s. I really thought I'd considered statehood politics from every conceivable reasonable angle. But I swear, in all those years, I never once thought about the moon. So my first question about Gingrich's "Northwest Ordinance for Space" is whether its internal process for producing new states is any good. But before I get to that, a little background is necessary. One of the conclusions of my dissertation is that the Founders made a pretty serious error in drafting the statehood clause of the Constitution. Various proposed plans had been suggested between 1776 and 1787 for how best to add the inevitable new western States to the federal union, and there were three key questions any such plan had to answer. Two were substantive — Q1: What are the new territories/states going to look like geographically (i.e. size, shape, location)? Q2: Is there a required population for admission? If so, what is it? – and one was procedural: Q3: How much ad hoc legislative discretion should there be over the answer to questions #1 and #2? (i.e. Are the terms of the process locked in the Constitution, or left to Congress? If there's a required population for admission, is statehood automatic upon reaching it, or does Congress have to vote on it?) The scatterplot below plots six major proposed statehood plans on two dimensions: how much discretion Congress has over the size/shape of new Sates, and how much discretion Congress has over admission in relation to the population of the would-be State. This table describes the basics of each proposed plan: As can be seen, the actual plan adopted in the Constitution is the most radical of all the plans, giving Congress complete discretion over admission, with no Constitutional minimum requirements for size and/or population requirements for new states, or any guarantee of statehood for a territory regardless of how large the territorial population became. This arrangement caused significant tensions in the 19th century. The rapid expansion of the country, combined with the discretion handed to Congress over state admissions, created a massive political football out of statehood. For example, consider the period from 1812-1821. The United States went from a 17-state union to a 24 state union in just nine years. The incorporation of these new political communities radically altered the balance of power in the national government, without there ever necessarily being a shift in political ideology or allegiance among the citizens of the existing states. Few, if any, individual elections in American history have had such a profound effect on the ideological composition of the national government. Can you imagine if 9 years from now we had 40 new Senators? Almost unthinkable. But utterly normal during the first half of the 19th century. And thus the intense concern about statehood from all existing interests. The plan in the Constitution was also seen by many as hopelessly broken. Throughout the antebellum era, there were calls for Constitutional amendments to alter the statehood clause and remove the ad hoc discretion of Congress over admission. The most famous proposals for this were the Crittendon and Douglas plans on the eve of the war. Most people know these proposals because they added Constitutional guarantees to protect slavery where it already existed, as a means of appeasing a South teetering on the brink of secession. But the plans also radically reshaped the statehood process, a reflection of the trouble that the issue of slavery in the western territories had caused between 1848 and 1860. Both the Douglas and Crittendon plans took away all congressional discretion over admission; specific sizes were proscribed for territories, and as soon as those territories reached the federal ratio of representation (i.e. U.S. population divided by current number of Representatives), they would become States. Of course, the Founders almost certainly did not expect Congress to have so much discretion. Every other plan proposed prior to the Constitution provided for either specific population thresholds for admission, specific geographic requirements for the size and/or shape of the new states, or both. Under some of the plans, as soon as a territory had the requisite population, it simply became a state, no vote necessary. And therefore, much less political manipulation of the process. But the Founders made a fatal mistake. There was indeed a specific plan all set to go in 1787 — the Northwest Ordinance — that proscribes a quite regulated statehood process for the old northwest. Under the Ordinance, precise fixed boundaries were drawn up for three territories, with Congress have the discretion to add up to two more. Each territory would be eligible for statehood upon reaching a precise absolute population, 60,000. Neat and clean. The problem was that the Northwest Ordinance wasn't made part of the Constitution, nor was any specification of the statehood process. Instead, Article 4, section 3, simply states:The entire process — so carefully thought out and specified in previous proposals — was reduced simply to a grant of power to Congress. Now Congress did pass the Northwest Ordinance as federal law as one of the first official Acts of the new government in 1789, but that was soon proven to be a worthless solution, because no federal law can constrain the terms of a future federal law. Laws that admitted a state or otherwise structured the territories in ways that would have violated the terms of the Ordinance had it been a constitutional provision were perfectly fine, because each individual law superseded the Ordinance. And so the statehood process throughout the 19th century was constrained only by norms, and those norms were routinely broken; states were admitted with tiny populations (Nevada), states far greater in size than had ever been imagined were admitted (most of the west); states were admitted without ever having been territories (California); territories were divided just prior to admission, leaving part of the territory a non-state (Michigan, Minnesota, many others); and seemingly obvious candidates for statehood were delayed for political reasons (Utah, many others). Which brings us to the Gingrich Plan. The terms regarding statehood are as follows: Whenever any such [space community] shall have acquired twenty thousand inhabitants, on giving due proof thereof to Congress, they shall receive from Congress authority with appointment of time and place to call a convention of representatives to establish a permanent constitution and government for themselves. Whenever any such community shall have as many inhabitants as shall be in any one of the least numerous of the United States such community shall be admitted as a State into the Congress of the United States on an equal footing with the original States. There are four quick points I'd make about this plan. 1. It suffers from the same problem as the Northwest Ordinance vis a vis the Constitution. As a piece of federal law, it would hold very little weight, as Congress would still have full discretion under the Constitution to simply write new laws on an ad hoc basis to alter its terms. 2. It does not specify a boundary requirement for the space territory. In fact, it doesn't even presume the space territory is on physical land; perhaps a space station with 20,000 residents could apply to be a territory! Again, Congress could easily write another law creating multiple territories and overriding this, but theoretically under the Gingrich Plan, as soon as 20,000 people were residing in space, they could form a territory. 3. The population threshold is based on the Jefferson Plan of 1784. Four population thresholds have been proposed in the past: no population requirement (Constitution, Continental Congress plan); a fixed absolute number (Northwest Ordinance, Bland Plan); the federal ratio of representation (Douglas plan); or the population of the least populous state, as proposed in the Jefferson Plan. 4. It does not give Congress discretion over the admission. Once the population threshold is reached, "such a community shall be admitted" — but that, again, that's not a Constitutional provision, just a federal law, so it could be overwritten easily by a new statute. So overall, I'm not a big fan of this arrangement of a statehood process. If these terms were put into the Constitution as an amendment, it'd be better, but even then I'm not crazy about it. I'd like to see the geographic issue constrained at least a bit, or perhaps completely rethought given that this is space we're talking about. Ok, I'll shut up for now. Perhaps tomorrow we'll get into territorial politics and how that would shake out in space. Under modern House practice and precedent, you write a letter to the executive of your State indicating your intention to resign, and you submit to the House, also by letter, notification that you have sent such a letter, as well as a copy of the resignation letter. You can see copies of Representative Giffords' letters to Governor Brewer and Speaker Boehner here. Under the terms of Giffords' letter, her resignation will be effective at the end of the day. Given the particular circumstances of Rep. Giffords' resignation, other floor activity also took place today. Several speeches were given on the House floor this morning — procedurally accomplished by Representative Pelosi seeking unanimous consent to speak out of order, and then yielding to Majority Leader Cantor, Minority Whip Hoyer, and Representative Wasserman-Schultz —culminating in Rep. Wasserman-Schultz reading Giffords' resignation letter in the well, after which Giffords personally delivered the letter to Speaker Boehner, who was presiding in the chair. About 10 minutes later, the letter was official laid before the House, and read once again by the Clerk. Why does the resignation procedure matter? A few reasons. First and most importantly, the Constitution provides for the filling of vacancies in the House, which can occur by death, resignation, expulsion, declination, or the House declaring a vacancy. Without a formal resignation, the state of Arizona cannot issues writs of election to fill Representative Giffords' seat, and without a vacancy the House cannot seat a new Representative. Second, the resignation of a Member triggers clause 5(d) of House Rule XX, which instructs the Speaker to announce that the whole number of the House has been adjusted. This is important for determining any numerical threshold that relies on a fraction of the total Membership of the House, such as the Constitutional quorum to do business. Since August 3, the House has had a whole number of 434 (due to the vacancy of the 1st district of Oregon). Upon the execution of Rep. Giffords' resignation at the end of the day, the number will be reduced to 433. As many very smart people will undoubtedly tell you today, the State of the Union address doesn't really matter much. Brendan Nyhan reminded us last year that the instant polling is worthless, that that President doesn't actually often get an approval bounce, and that unlike a debate there's no chance of an unscripted moment. John Sides reminded us that any policy or agenda effects from the speech are small at best. And Ezra Klein notes today that the one dimension on which the address may have a strong impact — laying out the President's policy agenda — is basically a non-issue in an election year with a divided Congress. In short, there's very little reason to believe that a single speech given by the President should draw even a fraction of the attention that the State of the Union address does; it's the over-hyped political event of the year. Let me tell you why the State of the Union address does matter. It matters because of what it symbolizes. The State of the Union address is the only regular non-electoral event on the American political calendar that brings our democratic government together as a whole. In a system of separate institutions sharing power, in which the ambitions of men are pitted against each other in hopes of producing a common good, the SOTU reminds us that fundamentally we are not a nation of competing political parties, or of divergent ideologies, or of irreconcilable interests. At our core we are a unified republic, a collection of people who quite naturally disagree about policy but concur that the best way to resolve those disagreements is through a republican government elected by a democratic vote of the citizenry, under a constitutional system that balances the capacity of government with limits that protect the liberty of the people to seek their own happiness. When the President slowly walks down the aisle, shaking hands with Representatives and Senators as the entire House chamber stands in applause, some people choose to cynically see it as a facade, a kabuki theater in which animosity is suppressed in service of outward appearances. I choose to see it differently; this is the power of the democratic system of government on full display. For it matters not why they are all clapping, only that they are, indeed, all clapping. The ties that bind us are not on display often in politics but, when they are, they time and again prove that our republic is not a government of men, but one of ideas and institutions and, most importantly, laws. They clap not only for the man who must shoulder the burdens of the nation in a lonely office down the street, but for the office itself, and for the powers we have chosen as a republic to place in it, long ago in the 18th century and still today. This is, in part, why it shook so many people — both inside and outside of Congress — when Representative Wilson interrupted the presidential address to Congress in September 2009. The concern was not fundamentally about what was said or the effect it had on the delivery of a speech; it was over and done in mere seconds. The issue was that a very small hole, but a very real hole, had been punctured in the unity — and in the power of that unity — that the joint session presidential address symbolizes for our nation. The trivial interruption became acutely important because of what it symbolized, and because of the way it struck at the greater symbolism of the address itself. Anyone who says that Members are polite at the State of the Union because it is politically disadvantageous not to be are missing the point; while that's probably true, it's not the potential partisan reaction of the citizenry that inspires the civility. If those were the concerns, I think you would actually see more incivility, since someone would probably stand to profit; instead, the civility is inspired by the systemic concerns of a fragile republic, concerns that do not divide, but actually unite, virtually all citizens. It matters because of the way it reflects our system of government. The other event that brings the entire government together as a whole is the quadrennial inauguration of the President, which inevitably becomes a celebration of the Presidency. Despite taking place at the Capitol, there's no way around the fact that the modern inaugural suggests a presidency far out of line with the actual powers of the office under the Constitution. In some ways, it feels more like the coronation of a new king than the implementation of an election. Now, don't get me wrong. I love inauguration; the pageantry and the symbolism of it are striking, beautiful, and full of many of the same republic-reinforcing features as the State of the Union address. It's a wonderful event. But, to me, it's like Christmas to the State of the Union's Easter; more important in popular practice, but not nearly as important philosophically. The State of the Union address, on the other hand, portrays a more basic and correct understanding of the foundations of our republic. The executive is invited to come to Congress by the leadership of the legislature, at a time satisfactory to them. If he accepts, he leaves his residence and comes to the institutional heart of the republic, the chamber of the House of Representatives. He then waits at the door of the chamber until he is introduced by the agents of the legislature, who then lead him down the aisle, where he is received by the elected Representatives of the people and the States. He passes by the Justices of the Court, members of his government, and finally he ascends onto the House dais, where he is again introduced and received by the legislature. He then begins to talk. What he says may or may not matter, but the way in which he says it sure does. He does not tell the legislature what he is going to do in the following year, for there is very little he can do. He tells the legislature what he believes needs to be done, and then he asks the legislature to do it. In the endless string of presidential debates it can often feel like the President has the ability to wave his hand and enact a policy. But the State of the Union Address reminds everyone that the President of the United States can no more make a law than he can walk on water; never is it more evident how our system of government works. The President comes and visits the Representatives of the people, and he pleads with them to do what he thinks is right for the country. It matters because of how it makes you feel. There are people out there who won't watch the address tonight because of reasons like "it's boring" or "I don't follow politics." This is totally reasonable on one level, but it also makes me sad, because none of things worth watching in the State of the Union address are related to contemporary partisan politics. And if you watch it for the right reasons, the non-partisan reasons, you should get chills up and down your spine if our republic is doing well in cultivating its democratic citizenry. Now, take this with a grain of salt; I'm a hopeless romantic sucker for political pageantry. But this isn't the mundane cerebral pageantry of going to vote. This is the mighty chorus of a republic in action. Do not underestimate its ability to play with your heartstrings. The State of the Union evokes many emotionally responses, which are as varied as the sensory stimuli that produce them. And it's those sensations that stick with us. There's the oozing of power that you can almost feel through your TV as the camera surveys the House chamber. There's the massive flag hanging vertically behind the dais. There's the absolutely thundering sound that mass applause makes in that room. There's the visible security everywhere, and the often-repeated reminder that the a Cabinet official is not present, because someone must think about the unthinkable. There's the packed feeling of the House chamber, which is obvious even when accounting for the fact that it looks much bigger on TV than it actually is in reality. There's the inspiring visual of all the Representatives standing in applause at once. There's the striking visual of half the Representatives doing so while the other half sit stony-faced. And then there's the President, standing alone at the podium, fulfilling a Constitutional duty as old as the republic itself. I've never been in the House chamber for a joint session presidential address. The closest I came was several years ago, when I had an office in the Capitol and could therefore gain access to the House wing after it was closed off to everyone but ticketholders and those with a local office (which today will occur at either 5:30pm or whenever the House recesses, whichever is later). My office was only about a 15 second walk from the House floor, and after milling around a bit in the hallway as Members and ticketholders came to the floor, we sat in the office and watched the address on TV. Most of the time, you couldn't tell it was taking place just around the corner. But when the full force of chamber-wide applause was unleashed, it felt like a cannon exploding in the near-distance, powered by the all the energy of the republic. Over and over again. I don't remember much from that speech, but I remember exactly what it felt like to listen to it. It made me proud. And hopeful. And safe. But mostly it made me thankful. Because the thunderous and genuine applause of a semi-sovereign republican legislature is not a sound that many in human history have ever heard. Nor is it one that many humans are allowed to hear in the modern world. But to those who have heard it — in person or on TV — it is the most basic reminder that fortune has bestowed upon you a great gift, in the form of a government worthy of genuine celebration. It doesn't matter what Obama says tonight. You don't even have to listen. Four things I wanted to write about in-depth today, but didn't have the time. 1. I continue to believe that the Gingrich rise is a mirage. As I suggested on Twitter Saturday, buying up Romney on Intrade right now at 70% to win is not a sound investment. It's a freakin' gold mine, a license to print money. And virtually nothing that happens in Florida would convince me otherwise. The only question I have is how big the bubble inflates before Gingrich pops; you might be better waiting until you can get Romney for 50 cents on the dollar! For good reads today on the surrounding issues, check out Jon Bernstein here and Seth Masket here and Nate Silver here and John Sides here.Matt Yglesias had a thoughtful response, which you should read. I'll try to write more about this in the future, but the main problem I have with discussions like this is that they don't really take into account the strategies of the interests over the longterm. The GOP had a murky but discernable plan for how they were going to attack slavery after they captured the government in 1861: absolutely and completely bar any new slave states (this had already been effectively accomplished when the LeCompton Constitution was brought down); admit Kansas as a free state; begin building a loyal following among non-slaveholding whites in the border states through the use of patronage and uncensoring of the mails; and pass the Homestead Act to begin populating the west with anti-slavery freeholders. Likewise, the southerners had a plan for how they were going to deal with aggressive GOP anti-slavery tactics: they would withdraw from the union, even if it meant war. The short-term goal of the anti-slavery movement was to bring down slavery in Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and maybe Kentucky, all of which were already suffering from the economic problems endemic to mobile slave labor: slaves were being drained out of the border states toward the deep south, where they were worth more and escaped less. In addition, the border states seemed structurally ripe for an anti-slavery political assault. Delaware, for instance, had relatively few slaves; Missouri already had a functioning anti-slavery party in the state. Once slavery was defeated in the border states, not only would there be greater anti-slavery majorities in Congress (23 to 11 states if you count Kansas, and tantalizingly close to the 3/4 needed for the Constitutional amendment), but the economic problems of border-state slavery were going to then come to Tennessee, Arkansas, and Virginia. There were optimist in the GOP who thought they could flip one or two border states by 1864, and the rest perhaps by the close of the decade. This is one reason the secessionists were in such a hurry to leave the union in the winter of 1861; if the GOP got its executive branch party patronage game going in the south, the window might itself close on the very possibility of secession, and certainly on the practical possibility of a successful confederacy. It is sometimes disguised by the way the history is taught, but the South was not particularly afraid of Congress — they knew well how to lock the legislature up, and starting in 1850 they more or less gave up on the idea of maintaining the balance rule. During the decade they traded new free states and territories (California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas/Nebraska/Utah/New Mexico) not for slaves states, but for other tangible benefits: a stronger fugitive slave act, an implicit repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the principle of possible slavery in the southwest. Heck, as I've written before, they defeated the GOP in 1859 in order to bring a free Oregon into the union, simply because it was possibly a Democratic state. All of this pointed to their real fear: the GOP capturing the executive branch and being able to dangle patronage jobs over the heads of the non-slaveholding whites in the south. And so I think talk of compensated emancipation sometimes misses the mark. If the GOP had been given the peacetime opportunity to undertake it, they would have certainly just focused it on the border states — in the sense that they really didn't need the cooperation of the deep south, just enough states to get the snowball rolling and eventually flip the calculus of consent on an amendment barring slavery — and let the natural flow of things kill off slavery in the deep south. But the deep south would have likely had the same reaction to peacetime compensated emancipation as they did to the GOPs actual political plan: they would not have waited around. Instead, the Gulf State Confederacy would have (ast they did) forced the upper South to choose between Union and Confederacy before any such plan would have had a chance. So the question is not about whether compensated emancipation was possible, it's about whether it could have been undertaken at some price level that both (a) convinced the border states it was worth it and (b) did not push the Gulf States into secession. I don't believe such a price point existed. I will absolutely write more on this later, the topic of political strategy on the eve of the war absolutely fascinates me. 3. Here's my quick (but completely impractical) Super Bowl fix: stop having the game at a neutral site. I'm a big Giants fan, and I think it's just such a travesty that the game in two weeks is going to be indoors among a bunch of neutral fans that bought tickets a year ago. How much better would it be — and again, I say this as a Giants fan — if the game was going to be in New England, with all the New England season-ticket holders there, and with the distinct possibility of a blizzard. The "we can't play in cold weather" defense has been out the window ever since they awarded the game to Giants stadium for 2014, so I don't want to hear that. And regardless of any theorizing to the contrary, nothing draws bigger ratings than a playoff game in terrible weather conditions. Some people think it'd be unfair to give homefield to the team with the better record, because the conferences don't have balanced schedules. But that was the argument in the 70s for not giving the better team homefield in the conference championship games (remember, the '72 Dolphins played the AFC title game on the road), and that has seemed fine every since they switched it to a better-record situation. Now, of course I know the economics of the Super Bowl seem to make it impossible if you want to keep the same revenue, but it would make for such a better football game, and I think that might increase the TV ratings. What we're talking about here is a vestige of the early days of the NFL-AFL merger that has grown into a mega-cash cow. But even that seems like a mirage. Maybe the TV ratings would suffer, but I doubt it; the real issue here is that you can't have all the Super Bowl parties and all the other events setup in town if you only have two weeks notice on location, and you can't get all the hotels for all the people coming in to sit in the expensive seats. But the TV ratings are what really dive the money, and I think the feel of the home crowd — not to mention the possibility of absolutely awful weather — would entice viewers. There's a reason that the conference championship games are often much more compelling than the Super Bowl. It's not rocket science. Presidential candidates like to talk about what they will do on their first day in office. Here's Newt Gingrich, from last night's debate: John, I just think if you're going to raise immigration, I want to make the point that on the very first day that I'm inaugurated, I will issue an executive order to the Justice Department to drop the lawsuits against South Carolina, Alabama and Arizona. On Inauguration Day, he will submit a jobs package to Congress consisting of at least five major proposals and will demand that Congress act on the package within 30 days, using every power at his disposal to ensure its passage. He will also take immediate and specific steps within his sole authority as president by issuing a series of executive orders that gets the U.S. government out of the economy's way. Seeing as day one is exactly one year from today, it's worth pointing out that there might be something of a messaging problem with all these Day One actions next year: January 20th, 2013 is a Sunday. And by tradition, America does not hold public Presidential inaugurations on Sundays. So whoever is President next year will almost certainly be sworn in privately on January 20th, but will not take the oath of office publicly on the west front of the Capitol until Monday, their second day in office. Which raises the question: if you want to do something on your "first day" next year, do you do it Sunday afternoon or Monday afternoon? If you do it Sunday, then you are definitely doing it on your first day. But it would be quite awkward to have a big signing ceremony or other publicity event (which the new President would almost assuredly like to do for something like an executive order stripping away parts of the ACA), when you haven't taken the public oath, and many in the public might not realize you are even President. On the other hand, doing it on Monday would you mean you weren't really doing it on the first day, giving the partisan press a nice opportunity to mock you out of the gate. Obviously, this is not a big deal, but I think it's kind of an interesting historical aside. So, now, how about that history. Where did this all come from? The first time an inauguration day fell on a Sunday was in March 1821, when President Monroe was to begin his second term. He consulted Chief Justice Marshall on whether the inauguration should be pushed off to Monday, to account for the Christian Sabbath. Prior to the 20th amendment, it was an open question as to whether the term of the president ended at noon on March 4th or at the stroke of midnight at the conclusion of March 3rd. That may seem like an odd unknown now, but it did not particularly bother the antebellum political class. But it did bear directly on the Sunday inaugural issue, as it provided a logic for the delay of an inauguration. Marshall's reading was that the term technically started at midnight, and thus advised in a letter to Secretary of State Adams that while a President might in an emergency situation take the oath right at the stroke of midnight on the 4th, the usual practice was to take it around noon on the 4th, meaning there had traditionally been a 12 hour window with no one able to legally execute the office. Marshall further argued that the Constitution only says that the President must take his oath before he "enters on the execution of his office," and so a delay is not fundamentally improper. He also noted that an interval of several hours or even a few days without an executive authority would not be problematic, although it would be preferable to take the oath as soon as conveniently possible. And so, Marshall's bottom line was in favor of waiting until Monday, unless some official duty should require Sunday. Monroe accepted this advice, and was sworn in for his second term on Monday, March 5. Of far greater potential concern were the two following cases (1849 and 1877) in which the Sunday inaugural fell upon a President-elect, rather than upon a sitting President commencing his second term. In 1849, outgoing President Polk was waiting at the Capitol to sign bills on the night of March 3rd. House and Senate action continued past midnight, but Polk signed the legislation at 6am on March 4, under the constitutional theory that he had taken the oath around noon in 1845, and thus his four-year term did not expire until the same time on March 4, 1849. The only problem with this theory is that it places the term with the oath, meaning that when Taylor did not take the oath until noon on March 5, he might argue his term would last until March 5, 1853. Congressional leaders dismissed this theory, arguing that Taylor could have taken the oath any time after noon on the 4th, when his term — but not his ability to execute his office — officially began. These events locked-in the "noon on the 4th" reading of when the terms began and ended under the old calendar. In 1877, the winner of the disputed election was not even known until March 2, and even then there was much continued dispute over whether Hayes was the rightfully winner. The Sunday inaugural complicated this — if Grant's term ended at noon on March 4 but Hayes did not take the oath until March 5, GOP leaders worried that the gap might give the Tilden supporters room to make some monkey business. Out of an abundance of caution, the private Hayes oath was administered on Saturday night, March 3. Since 1877, Sunday inaugurations have only fallen on second-term Presidents, and public inaugurations were held on Monday, for Wilson (1917), Eisenhower (1957), and Reagan (1985). In each of those cases, the President took a private oath on Sunday, and then participated in the public (but technically unnecessary) ceremony on Monday. Wilson was conducting diplomatic business on Sunday — the Zimmerman telegram had been revealed three days earlier — and chose to leave no doubt in anyone's mind that he could lawfully discharge the office int the afternoon, despite the opinion of the State Department that he could conduct his business while putting the oath off until the Monday public ceremony. Eisenhower and Regan followed suit, in precaution of anyone questioning their competence to discharge the office on Sunday. It, of course, remains to be seen if we will have a first or second-term president next year. In either case, it seems an iron-clad lock that the oath will be administered prior to noon on Sunday, so there is absolutely no disruption in the ability to execute the office. Now that the 20th amendment begins and ends the terms precisely at noon, there's no gray area; if the President is not sworn in prior to noon, no one can execute the office at 12:01. For instance, the Obama inaugural ran a bit late, so he didn't take the oath until 12:06. And so even for public inaugurals on the 20th, the President-elect may choose to take the oath prior to noon in private, such that there were be a legal President at exactly noon if the public ceremony does not run right on time. (Of course, absent such a move, the president-elect could always quickly take the oath if an action had to be made while the band was playing or whatever was going on that ran through 12pm). My wife is going out with some friends tonight, and assuming (god willing) that the girls go to sleep fine, at home it's just going to be me, the GOP debate, and my liquor cabinet. I don't know any drinks that are particular to South Carolina, but down Dixie way you have to assume bourbon is involved. So maybe an Old Fashioned is in order, or perhaps a Bourbon Stone Sour. I'll probably just be drinking straight from the bottle by the time they are finished with the questions on executive power. We could call that drink a Modern Whig: chug bourbon, smash bottle, use glass to slit wrists. Cheers! At any rate, I'm going to live-tweet this thing at @MattGlassman312, so check it out. And enjoy the debate. be goingWhen you get off the DC subway at the Capitol South metro stop and head up the escalator, you never really know what you are going to encounter at the top. Some days, it's the pro-life protesters. Other days it's the Lyndon Larouche crowd. Sometimes it's religious proselytizers. Or a worker's union. Or a conspiracy theory group. Occasionally it's a charity raising money. And now and again it's a protest or other group that you can't even really discern. But there's really never a week that goes by without some sort of organized group at the top of the Capitol South escalator, and in the nice weather it can be day after day with no perceivable end. It's undoubtedly the most popular metro station at which to hold a political protest or conduct grassroots lobbying efforts. The reason it's so popular is pretty simple: location. Capitol South's placement on 1st street SE between C street and D street is extremely close in proximity (less than 50 yards) to the three House Office Buildings, and not far at all from the Capitol Building. In addition, the station is directly across the street from the Republican National Committee headquarters and the National Republican Club. For comparison purposes, Union Station — which is the closest metro stop to the Senate side of the Capitol — is almost a quarter-mile from the Senate Office Buildings. Consequently, three groups of attractive protest targets are heavy users of Capitol South and the surrounding 1st Street area. First, a large number of House staffers use the station as part of their daily commute. Second, GOP Members and party-related staff are constantly moving between the Hill and the RNC/NRC, as well as often congregating on the sidewalks out front of the NRC. Finally, a large number of tourists pass through Capitol South directly prior to going into one of the House Office Buildings to pay a visit to the office of their Representative in Congress. Beyond proximity to the Hill, Capitol South has some unique features that make it even more advantageous as a spot to convey information. First, there's a great signal-to-noise ratio; the vast majority of all the traffic coming up the escalator at Capitol South is heading toward the Hill for one reason or another, and there's almost no reason to be a pedestrian on that block of 1st street if you aren't going or coming from the Hill. Compare this to Union Station, where the vast majority of people passing through are not going to the Hill. Second, Capitol South only has one real exit (again, unlike Union Station); if you set your protest up at the top of the escalator, it's basically impossible for anyone to get on or off the subway without receiving your message. Just about the only disadvantage of Capitol South (from the protestor point of view) is that it's not a physically big area; you can't fit more than a few dozen protestors in there before it becomes a complete mess. All of this make the top of the Capitol South escalator a fine place to try to get your political message to people who might be in a direct position to influence political outcomes on the Hill: House staffers heading to work, party people heading from the Hill to the RNC, tourists who are about to go stop in at a Representative's office, and so on. The causal mechanism isn't rocket science: grassroots lobbying and protests need to be visible to policymakers and to those who can influence policy makers. Many groups are reliant on free media to cover their protests as a middleman, but one way to be visible is to skip the media and try to directly prime, either consciously or subconsciously, the policymakers and influencers themselves, on their way to the Hill. There's no question that this is the strategy. What is a question is how well this works? I often wonder coming out of Capitol South, do these protests actually influence staffers, or are the protestors just wasting their time? I go back and forth on the answer to that, and I think it probably has some effect. But even if you could say for sure, getting a firm grip on the magnitude of the effect is almost impossible: lobbying effectiveness in general is really difficult to measure, in part because we can't ever use random-assignment to isolate the variable, but also because there's no clear definition of what success means. It's not like product advertising, where you have a bottom line of sales revenue for each product. In the world of Hill lobbying, you are almost always competing against an amorphous counterfactual, and therefore it's never clear whether the claims made by any lobbying group are actual effectiveness or just goalpost-moving of the imagined alternative outcome. On the other hand, it's pretty obvious that those doing the protesting/lobbying outside of Capitol South believe that they are being effective. And there's a neat little indirect way to (very roughly) ballpark some concrete numbers associated with those beliefs: the cost of advertising inside the Capitol South station. The DC Metro contracts with CBS Outdoors to sell advertising in all Metro subway stations. As described in their DC media kit and rate book, you can buy a variety of different kinds of subway advertising, including individual platform ads such as banners, posters, or floor graphics; rail car advertising such as interior posters or exterior branded cars, or packages that place your platform or rail advertising into many stations or whole fleets of rail cars. This should be familiar to anyone who has ridden the DC Metro, or any other metropolitan subway. One other thing you can do is something called "station domination," which allows you to buy up every single advertising spot in a given Metro station. A full station domination package is currently offered at ten DC stations: Capitol South, Metro Center, Convention Center-Mt Vernon, L-Enfant Plaza, Farragut North, Navy Yard, Pentagon, Regan Airport, Union Station, Federal Triangle, and Gallery Place. Looking at the Capitol South Station Domination factsheet, you can get a sense of how it works: you get a total of 45 advertisements, including two massive floor graphics, huge Pylon faces, dozens of monster-sized banners and platform ads, and a bunch of other stuff. As described by CBS Outdoor, the goal is "total station saturation. Creation of a total "experience" incorporating traditional media and non-traditional displays." Station domination buys are offered in 4-week blocks. Here's the thing: station domination is ridiculously popular at Capitol South. Anyone who commutes through there will instantly recognize what I'm talking about: one day you get off the Metro, and every single sign is for the same defense contractor; a few weeks later, you come down the escalator and every single sign is for a green energy group. Most recently, I got off the subway car, and it was vote4energy.org that had decided to dominate the station. It really does dominate the station; these ads are huge. And they are everywhere. Here are some photos I took of the advertising: A floor display A typical pylon ad But the most interesting thing is the relative cost of the ads at various different stations. A four-week buy of station domination ranges in cost from $30,000 at Navy Yard and Reagan airport up to $130,000 at Metro Center and $150,000 at Pentagon. Capitol South costs $125,000. But, of course, this doesn't take into account traffic at the various stations; Metro Center is a hell of a lot busier than Capitol South. Thankfully, CBS Outdoors not only provides the rate information in their media kit, but they also provide an estimate of the traffic circulation at 9 of the 11 stations where station domination is offered. The chart below reports the relative costs of station domination at the seven regular stops, with the figures reported normalized into cost/1000 daily circulation, based on a 4-week buy and not including production costs. (Navy Yard and Mt. Vernon Sq. are excluded because their traffic varies significantly based on Nats' games and conventions. Neither is particularly expensive). I think this chart is pretty remarkable. At five of the stations, the normalized cost is almost identical. But then the cost at Pentagon is more than 2.5 times the cost at the "regular" stations, and the cost at Capitol South is more than 4 times as much as the regular stations. Now, there aren't a ton of conclusions you can be certain about with just this data, but it seems like a pretty strong inference that advertisers are willing to pay an enormous premium to advertise at the two places where you might get a very large political bang for your buck: Congress and the Defense Department. What further inferences flow from that? Probably all the usual suspects, depending on your point of view about the positives and negatives of lobbying. One thing is worth reiterating: as mentioned above, none of this proves anything about the effectiveness of conducting lobbying or protest activities at Capitol South; at most it indicates that lobbying and protest groups believe there is strong value to conducting their activities there. But we kinda already knew that, intuitively. On the other hand, it's quite striking to see the premium attached to the ad buys at Pentagon and Capitol South, relatively to the amazingly stable baseline cost at other major subway stops. Like many people, I believe the true greatness of America can be found in its ability to wring moral justness, albeit slowly, from a system of government that, ex ante, preferences neither the good nor the right, but instead just the popular. And I also believe, like many, that this greatness has had no better expression than in the twin battles to secure the basic liberal rights of African Americans: the multi-generational crusade against slavery in the 19th century, and then the century-long battle that followed, for universal civil rights and against the segregation of the races. There are no greater products of America and American democracy than the abolitionists and the civil rights protesters, many of whom faced grim danger and horrific opposition, often with nothing to personally gain but the peace of heart that comes with a morally just society. Those movements are also a testament to the wonders of democratic government; ideas — no matter how unpopular at first — can and do matter. Unfortunately, as a libertarian I end up having to defend myself for these beliefs not only to people who want to poke holes in libertarianism as an ideology (You're a libertarian? If you were in charge we never would have ended slavery!), but also from libertarians themselves, many of whom seem to have a misguided understanding of why having a limited government is valuable in a capitalist democracy. The basic economic role of government in a libertarian society is to ensure the proper functioning of a free market, which includes, by definition, equal opportunity and access for those who wish to participate in the market. Even the crazy radical libertarians understand that government is necessary at some basic level, for instance to enforce private contracts and suppress violence in defense of private property; without those two things, it's obvious that a market society won't function. And it should be equally obvious that the market can't function efficiently if entrepreneurs cannot get a hotel room or a meal while traveling on business because of the freaking color of their skin. So even setting aside all sense of moral right and wrong and prioritizing absolutely no vision of the good life, any libertarian opposition to civil rights laws is deeply flawed, on market terms alone. If you disagree with this, I don't think you're a libertarian; you're probably an anarchist. (None of this is to discount the moral arguments against slavery or segregation; I happen to think those are stronger than the market arguments. But I think it's important for the purpose of diffusing radical libertarianism to show that for market reasons alone, civil rights are necessary.) But what about the heavy-handedness of government, you say? Shouldn't libertarians oppose laws that force people to provide commercial goods on a non-discriminatory basis? Isn't that anti-liberty? To which I'd say a few things. First, the state was deeply involved in segregation; even if you somehow believe that private discrimination in public accommodations is an unfortunate price to pay for a society of liberty, there is absolutely no way that any libertarian can justify the use of the state governments in the 20th century to actively promote Jim Crow laws. Remember, it was the state of Louisiana, not the railroads, that wanted segregation in Plessy; it was the southern states that mandated the schools and the drinking fountains be segregated; and it was the states that classified people based on their race, not the market actors. That's the state being heavy-handed. Requiring the opposite — non-discriminatory business practices — pales in comparison, mostly because the natural market is non-discriminatory to begin with; you're swimming with the tide, rather than against it. Stripping the states of the power to enforce racial discrimination isn't an anti-libertarian move; much to the contrary, it was the essence of libertarianism — the individual was unleashed from the enforced discrimination of the state. If you disagree with this, I don't think you're a libertarian; you're probably just an ardent federalist, which I suppose is a common conflation. But what about the private restaurants and hotels, you say? Shouldn't they have been able to continue on discriminating in their clientele? For sure this was not the simple decision that ending state discrimination was, but it's hardly any less of a no-brainer. As said above, the state has a positive role to play in the market, be it in enforcing contracts or preventing violence. Entrenched irrational racism is most emphatically a market distortion, if not an outright market failure, and a universal solution to the distortion — via positive federal law — also helps break the collective action problem for businesses, many (or most) of which would prefer to serve all possible customers, but must individually fear boycotts of the majority if they are the only ones who dare privately break from the cultural racial code. Again, all of this is to say nothing of the basic moral justness argument; but that argument need not be raised if anti-civil rights libertarianism can be defeated on its own terms. Now, I'm a pretty pragmatic libertarian. I happen to believe that the state has an important secondary role in a capital society — buffering the pain of the natural market losers. A free market inherently creates winners and losers via the risk/reward system, and while that's a necessary consequence of a dynamic market economy, it seems quite obvious to me that such a market can be only be optimized in a civilized democracy if the community is prepared to collectively provide a minimal standard of living to those who do not fair well in the market. By this, I do not mean corporate bailouts or massive redistribution of wealth. I simply mean that a wealthy society has a minimum responsibility to care for its poor such that they do not become permanent non-participators in the market. Unemployment insurance, food stamps, child health care, and free basic public education all fall into this rubric. I don't like minimum wage laws, but only because I think government should provide those benefits directly; rather than force employers to pay certain wages, just let the market pay what it will, and use the government to directly support the poor when necessary. Same thing with housing vouchers and such nonsense; just give the poor money directly, they can make market-decisions about its best use, certainly better than the government can. At any rate, the point here is that pretty straightforward: the civil rights movements of the 19th and 20th century were unabashedly victories for liberty, and those who complain otherwise are probably not libertarians; I would guess that they are actually reactionary conservatives, seeking cover for their crazy ideas. You see this on many of the contemporary libertarian fronts that intersect with racial injustice, such as police misconduct toward racial minorities or any of the many flavors of racial nonsense that intersect with our crazy drug laws. At the root of these issues are a basic confrontation between liberty and conservatism; libertarians know that the level of arbitrary power handed to the state cannot possibly justify whatever minor benefits (if any) flow from the war on drugs; conservatives dismiss such things with nonsense appeals to law and order and cultural decay and all that pap. To confuse or conflate the two may be politically helpful to liberals, but it is dangerous for libertarians. I've been thinking a lot about the recess appointments since the OLC opinion was released yesterday. (Not that I wasn't thinking about it a lot before; for past posts of mine on the topic, see here, and here, and here, and here). I've been reading a lot on the internet. I've talked to a bunch of people. I even forced myself to listen to some talk radio, because I wanted to see what the far right's reaction was to the opinion. What I came away with was a sense that some perspective is needed, all-around. As much as I'm whig-ging out about this, there are reasons to believe it's not as consequential as some think. To wit, three points: 1. The current political-institutional situation is quite rare. We are in a very rare form of divided government right now. There have only been three instances since world war 2 in which one party has controlled the Senate and the other party has controlled the House: the 107th Congress after Jeffords switched parties (2001-2002); the first three Congresses of the Reagan presidency (97th-99th Congresses, 1981-1986); and the famous "do-nothing" 80th Congress (1947-1948). If the Democrats controlled the House right now, the Senate would have had a traditional adjournment for about a month right now, making a recess appointment obviously constitutional, if not loved, to everyone. If the Republicans controlled the Senate, the Cordray nomination may very well have been outright rejected already in an up/down vote. Even if that was the GOP playing hardball and rejecting all nominees, you'd have a much more clear-cut institutional standoff. Instead, we have the awkward situation where it appears that the bare majority of the Senate probably wants the nominee approved, but can't adjourn to allow for a standard recess appointment, and thus the majority of the Senate is trapped in a classic position of having to suppress their institutional prerogatives in order to get their desired policy outcome. That's more or less the blueprint for how the President sucks power away from the legislature. But, as I said, the good news is that it's a pretty rare structural situation that we are in. 2. Another thing that makes this a rare situation is that the CFPB is a new entity. Somehow in discussion of all of this, it has been lost that recess appointments aren't necessary to temporarily fill a huge number of executive branch positions. The Vacancies Act allows the President to fill a large number of vacant PAS (i.e. Senate confirmed) positions with "acting" officers, who can serve in the position (in most cases) for up to 210 days. One of the exceptions to the Vacancies Act is that it doesn't apply to new positions, which means that the President can't fill the CFPB via the Act. It also doesn't apply to judicial nominations. And while the Vacancies Act has its own problems and constitutional concerns, it has the virtue of being congress-approved law that the President can use to fill vacancies even when efforts to thwart recess-appointments are in place. 3. Recess appointments aren't as great of a presidential weapon as some say. Jonathan Bernstein wrote a thoughtful post yesterday about the OLC memo, and his most important point was that recess appointments have limitations. He writes: I don't think that recess appointments are much of a threat to the Senate's role. As a presidential weapon, they lack punch. On judicial nominations, recess appointments are massive surrenders for the president since they involve trading a lifetime slot for a short-term one. And even in the executive branch, recess appointments have real disadvantages over regular confirmed nominations. Recess appointments at best are a weapon for presidents to use in negotiating with the Senate, not a potential replacement for it. I'm more concerned than he is (but there aren't a ton of people as whiggish as me), but the point about the judicial appointments is excellent and very important. That judicial appointment power of the presidency is a long-term power, and using recess appointments to appoint federal judges, while a nice solution to all the vacancies and thus the caseload issue in the federal courts, does not enhance the president's power all that much. And now one thing I have to get off my chest [warning: cranky whig-blogging ahead]. 4. I am not a big fan of reading into what the majority of the Senate wants. I disagree with Bernstein (and the OLC, and many others) when he says this: [M]y sense is that it's a close call if the majority of the Senate insists that they are not in recess while the president believes that they are for all practical purposes, but that it's a much less close case when the majority of the Senate agrees with the president and only the House (and the Senate minority) disagree. I certainly understand the logical case for this — the House is not contemplated as having a role in nominations, and therefore shouldn't be able to prevent recess appointments by forcing the Senate into staying in session after the Senate minority has filibustered the bare majority's desire to have a nominee confirmed — but I'm not willing to give up on the idea that the House and Senate rules are exclusively a matter for the House and Senate, and that the Constitution is plainly clear on this point. So what if a majority of Senators want to go home? The Constitution says that cannot do that if the House does not agree, and it matters not why the House does not agree and it matters not why they want to go home. The House can force them to stay there, and while they are there, they are in session. (Now, maybe the argument that the House is in pro forma session would be strong, but I think most people want to make the case that even if the House was passing legislation and was there around the clock, that wouldn't legitimate a pro forma Senate session as a real session.) And so what if they aren't conducting any business? God knows there's no rule in the Constitution that says things have to be accomplished during a session of Congress for it to actually be a session. How many days go by where the Senate floor is merely the host to speeches, punctuated by endless and lengthy quorum calls, with the actual movement of legislation tied up in negotiations. The argument seems to be that during a pro forma session held together by a UC, the Senate can't possibly get itself into executive session to advise and consent, and therefore it's not in session. I think that's false: there's nothing in any UC that can't be broken by a subsequent UC; if a second Senator shows up to the pro forma session, he can theoretically move a new UC to go immediately into executive session and consider the nomination. Instantly. Which is emphatically NOT the case, for instance, if the Senate has adjourned sine die for the session. But more importantly, the only judge of the contents of a UC, or the existence of the UC, or anything else related to the session should be the Senate itself. Article I, section V. If the Senate wants to pass a resolution saying that pro forma sessions aren't actual sessions under the constitution for the purpose of recess appointments, well fine. And I get the idea that the President is not without basis for judging what is an isn't a constitutional recess. And this current case is certainly the maximal test: the majority doesn't even want to be in session. But even in the maximal situation, we create an odd constitutional situation if we say some Senate sessions aren't actual Senate sessions: the Senate would currently not be in session under the recess clause, but it would be in session for the "can't adjourn" clause. That's a weird gray area being occupied. Did we inadvertently just destroy the "can't adjourn" clause? I don't know, and I don't know if that even matters in practice. But we should figure it out. Still, there's a lot of worries to come still, down the road. What happens when the Senate and President are in true conflict, as the undoubtedly will be over this, as soon as one party controls the Presidency and the other controls the Senate. Who can and/or will say what the limiting principle is: what if the Senate shows up for half an hour and receives communications? What if they show up for an hour and pass a resolution? At some point, in order to continue this recess appointment game, the President is going to need to claim that he is the primary judge of whether the Senate is in session or not. And that will be patently absurd under the Constitution. So to me, even in the maximal case we are currently in, the Senate needs to be considered in session when it says it's in session. And the UC plainly says it is in session. Again, if the Senate wants to declare itself not in session for the purposes of the recess clause but in pro forma session for the purposes of the "can't adjourn" clause, I would be willing to accept that. But this has to be a formal decision of the Senate. Not the majority leader's stated preferences in news conferences; the actual preferences of the Senate. Right now, the Senate has officially declared itself in session. And therefore, I would defer to that reading, even if the President and 53 Senators are saying otherwise. I know the majority wants out, but again, they don't want out bad enough to undue the filibuster. And therefore, they should have to live under the rules as applied. Besides, there are plenty of other options available to the pro-appointment actors that do not require new readings of the Constitution. For one, if the majority of the Senate wants this nomination so badly, they are free to try to change the Senate rules and eliminate the filibuster. But they have not even tried that, probably because the majority of the Senate prefers to have the filibuster than to have the Cordray nomination. Given that, it seems to me that the majority wants to have its cake and eat it too; they want to preserve the filibuster, but they also want the Cordray nomination. And thus the resorting to the recess appointments. But set that aside too. The president has the authority under Article II to break a deadlock between the chambers over adjournment. I honestly have no idea how that works — I don't even know if the clause has ever been used — but its existence suggests that there's a constitutional mechanism for dealing with the current situation that doesn't include setting a precedent of allowing the President to judge the importance of the business being conducted in the Senate. The Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department has released the recess appointment opinion that it produced for President Obama. First off, good for them. Those opinions aren't inherently public, but in a matter such as this, it's definitely to everyone's benefit for the President's cards to be laid on the table. As most observers (including me) expected, the argument put forth is not that the President can make recess appointments during recesses shorter than three days; instead, they argue that pro forma sessions of Congress are not valid interruptions of intra-session recesses for the purposes of the Constitution's recess appointment clause. Consequently, the recent appointments actually occurred during a 20-day intra-session recess, which they argue is plainly long enough of a recess under the constitution as previously interpreted by federal court rulings. I highly recommend reading it if you are interested in the current debate. It's a clear and well-written opinion, and not too long (23 pages). Although I disagree with their conclusion regarding the nature of the pro-forma Senate sessions, it's not an implausible argument; this is a vague Constitutional issue with little court guidance, and there is plenty of room for competing interpretations. One thing that I would stress, as I wrote last week, is that OLC opinions on inter-branch constitutional disputes are emphatically not like court rulings written by judges that have the force of law; they are more like briefs written by attorneys for one of the parties to the matter. In particular, when reading OLC opinions, you should not lend a lot of deference to appeals to precedents from previous OLC opinions, which this opinion has in spades. It doesn't matter how many times and for how many years the executive branch has claimed it has a power under the constitution; it's just a claim. And Senate Legal Counsel could just as easily churn out the opposite opinion ad nauseum, with equally little controlling power. This is not to say that previous claims of power aren't important, they are. But they are simply not authoritative precedents. They are arguments. To its credit, the OLC recognizes this (pg. 4), noting that the question at hand is a novel one, and that there are substantial arguments on both sides that may eventually result in litigation over the appointments. As a substantive matter, I don't think the President should be deciding whether a gavel-struck session of the Senate is real or not. But my larger concern is that there's no limiting principle articulated. At some point, a future Senate may decide to further up the gamesmanship, say, by leaving the Senate in one massive quorum call every time they break from conducting business, whether it be overnight or for three weeks. What then? I've said it jokingly several times, but maybe it's only a half-joke: if this were a farcical comedy, the end result would be a partisan Supreme Court decision upholding a partisan Supreme Court recess appointment that took place during a quorum call. I guess my point is that everyone is already playing hardball with recess appointments. The Senate has plainly been playing strategic hardball with the pro forma sessions for the past several Congresses. And now the House is playing hardball by not agreeing to adjourn, and thus forcing the Senate to hold the pro forma sessions. But I think it's a little rich for OLC to be calling out the House and the Senate for coming up with a innovative hardball maneuver, and then declaring it out-of-bounds; everyone has been playing hardball on this for quite some time. Presidents have been using recess appointments strategically for 200 years; there's very little normative need to fill those jobs during a 20 day recess, especially when you consider these offices routinely sit unfilled for weeks during the normal confirmation process. The Cordray nomination was being processed in the Senate for five months. It can't wait another two weeks? Of course it could. But this is hardball, and I don't begrudge the players. But let's not pretend these recess appointments aren't strategic. So it's not obvious to me that the President upping the hardball ante is going to result in anything except further hardball from Congress at some point down the road. And while that's perfectly legitimate for both sides to do, it can have wide ramifications. As we drift further and further from any defensible normative arrangement of the recess appointment power, the arguments and actions of the political actors will probably tend to become more and more about raw power and raw interests. Again, there's nothing inherently wrong with that, but when the actors seek short term advantage by undermining previous norms, such practices can have negative-sum effects on the institution if universalized. And they can also have spill-over effects to other issues or practices. As I've said, this may be a fight that ultimately brings on reform of the confirmation process that is satisfactory to all parties, but I worry that it may be just another step in the breakdown of the norms in favor of institutional hardball. Last week, Nate Silver ran a nice piece on Rick Perry not dropping out of the GOP nomination race, examining whether Perry's decision was personal/emotional or strategic, and discussing the consequences of each possibility. Jonathan Bernstein distilled and augmented the argument, helpfully framing Perry's motivation as either personal, strategic but wrong (i.e. thinks he can still win but can't), or strategically sound. I don't really disagree with anything in either post, but I think there is some value in taking a wider view of these sorts of political choices; both Nate's and Jonathan's analysis implicitly convey that Perry's strategic reason to stay in was "winning the nomination." This, I would suggest, artificially constrains how we should think about political goals, institutional incentives, and strategic choices made by political actors. First, some theoretical considerations. A large proportion of political actions — perhaps all — can be made either sincerely or strategically. A sincere political action can be thought of as one which is undertaken to achieve the plainly obvious outcome: a citizen stands for election because he wants to win the office, a voter pulls the lever for the candidate because he wants him to hold the office, a legislator introduces a bill because he wants it to become a law, a committee holds a hearing on the bill to gather information about it, a majority party brings the bill to the floor because they want to enact it, another legislator offers an amendment to the bill because he wants to improve the legislation, a Senator speaks at length on the measure in order to articulate his position and win some converts to it, the President issues a veto threat because he doesn't like the legislation, and 240 legislators vote in favor and 195 vote against it because the policy is either good or bad for their constituents. Strategic political actions, on the other hand, make use of sincere mechanisms in order to achieve alternative ends: a citizen stands for election because he wants to raise his business' profile in the community, a voter pulls the lever for the candidate because he wants to send a signal to a misbehaving dominant party, a legislator introduces a bill in order to lay down a position marker on an important policy, a committee holds a hearing in order to garner publicity for a policy position, a majority party brings a bill to the floor in order to force a difficult vote upon the minority, a legislator offers an amendment in order to make a bill unpalatable to current supporters, a Senator speaks at length on the measure in order to prevent a final vote, the President issues a veto threat to enhance his bargaining leverage over parts of the bill, and numerous legislators vote for or against a bill in order to win leadership or other support for their own legislative priorities. There are those — particularly novice political observers — who bristle at strategic use of the institutional rules of the political system, but there's no reason to be alarmed about it. Democratic systems of government are in the business of harnessing self-interest for the common good, and self-interest on the part of voters and elected officials who represent those voters implies taking maximum advantage of the available choices. To do anything less as a voter would be sub-optimal for your interests; to do anything less as a legislator would be sub-optimal representation for your constituents. Besides, there's no cure. Sincere and strategic actions look identical; no set of rules that govern political behavior can eliminate strategic action. Even if you could, removing those motivations would be akin to removing the profit motive from a market economy. If the preferences of the voters or legislators are resulting in sub-optimal policy outcomes, blaming political actors for strategic use of the institutional rules misses the point; it is the rules themselves that are the problem, not the actors. While most of the above is more or less obvious, it is often disregarded when observers assess the political strategies of presidential primary candidates and offer advice on the same. Read enough political commentary and you start to get the sense that politicians simply aren't very good at decision-making. Why did Tim Pawlenty drop out of the GOP race so early? He could be winning right now. What is Rick Perry still doing in the race? He has no chance. Why was Herman Cain campaigning in Alabama in November? He should have been setting up a field operation in Iowa. Why won't anyone attack Romney on the issue of health care? It's his Achilles heel. Why does Ron Paul have no presence in South Carolina? He can't just skip early states. Such criticism is sometimes correct — politicians are human and make many errors — and sometimes wrong — commentators make lost of errors, too. And defaulting to incompetence is often a better bet than bestowing strategic brilliance. Many times, however, the criticisms are not right or wrong; instead, they simply miss the mark because they aren't aiming at the right target. A very simple theory of political action says that strategy is derived from goals, rules, and resources. Once you know the latter three things, you can rationally arrive at optimal strategy for any situation, at least in theory (and allowing for personal/emotional biases that often affect such decisions). The problem in the case of presidential primary nominations, however, is that a lot of critics assume the candidates are behaving sincerely with respect to the goal — i.e. trying to win the nomination — when in reality many candidates are behaving strategically in seeking the nomination, and are actually trying to achieve some other goal. Without knowing what those alternative goals are, it is very hard to both judge candidate choices, as well as offer advice. The bottom line is there are lots of reasons to run for President of the United States, and only one of them is to become President of the United States. There's a long list of alternative reasons: to get picked Vice President of the United States; to raise awareness for an issue; to represent a regional and/or radical ideology; to become a Secretary in the next President's cabinet; to join the list of potential candidates four years later; to expand your network of fundraising; to challenge your party's orthodoxy on one or more issue; to increase your private sector market value as a commentator or author. And so on and so forth. People seem to intuitively understand this about certain candidates. Ron Paul, for example. While I'm sure Mr. Paul would love to be President, most people are in agreement that his current purpose is to influence the Republican party in a libertarian direction, and to raise awareness of particular libertarian issues. But people often understand this and still disregard the strategic implications: since Paul is not actually trying to win the Presidency, his decision-making calculus at any step in the process may result in radically different strategic choices, choices that may even look utterly absurd to an observer who naively assumes Paul is trying to win the nomination. Same thing with what Jonathan Chait calls the business-plan candidates: if you are primarily running for major party nomination as a way to enhance your private-sector ambitions, your campaign might, for example, take a national tact rather than one that reflect the serial calendar of primary states. Again, this may look strategically absurd to unaware observers. People often make similar mistaken assumptions about the goals of candidates who are primarily running for the sincere reason of trying to win the nomination and the Presidency. A lot of strategic advice from observers tends to not only assume the sincere goal is the true goal, but also that the sincere goal is the only goal. And consequently, the criticism and advice offered to the candidates reflects a win-at-all-costs mentality that simply doesn't exist among most candidates. Again, on one level most people intuitively understand this: candidates for primary nomination have at least one secondary goal in mind — winning the general election — that constrains their possible actions. And so people usually build that fact into their strategic advice. But as mentioned above, there are dozens of reasons to run for President, and all of those reasons can be fallback goals for people primarily trying to win the nomination. And therefore a lot of the no-holds-barred aggressive advice you hear (and this is applicable across many political situations) doesn't compute: politics is a repeated game, and slash-and-burn techniques tend to work poorly in the long-run. And so virtually all campaign decisions, from the macro (whether and when to drop out) to the most micro (how hard to attack the frontrunner during the foreign policy portion of the debate) are colored, at least in part, by goals that are not only unrelated to winning the nomination, but also are not known to the public. Which, in turn, makes it supremely difficult to judge the tactical choices being made by the candidates. Even when potential alternative goals are known, there's no way to judge how candidates weigh them against each other. Ron Paul may run as a third-party candidate in order to achieve the goal of influencing major party policy, but what if one of his goals is getting his son elected President someday? Does that affect his strategic calculation? Maybe. Jon Huntsman may want to be President, but he may also like to serve in the Romney administration. Does that constrain his strategy in next week's debate? Again, quite plausibly. Rick Perry almost certainly would like to be President, but he might also have policy preferences that can be advanced by either helping a particular candidate get elected, or by trading his influence to help any given candidate get elected. And none of these thoughts are mutually exclusive. It's not hard to imagine someone like Perry coming out of Iowa thinking well, it's really long odds now, but that's better than nothing, and definitely better than the embarrassment of dropping out. And besides, if I stay in at least I might be able to prevent that pompous Gingrich from winning South Carolina. And that wouldn't be the worst chit to have in my pocket during the Romney administration, especially if I can influence his immigration policies. In my personal experience, this sort of deep political strategizing is more common than most observers think. Candidates at all levels of politics can be romantics about their chances of winning far past the point of any viability; anyone who gets this far almost certainly feels like fate is on their side. But most candidates can also credit their career success to harnessing opportunities and salvaging victories even in defeat. And all of this serves to remind us how complicated political strategy can be, and how little we can sometimes say absent a full understanding of the goals of the actors. The continuing public debate over the constitutionality and propriety of President Obama's recess appointments last week is something that I think is quite healthy for a democracy. One of the few things we can say for certain about the issue is that the Constitution is vague on the matter, and therefore open to a variety of interpretations that are equally plausible. Don't listen to anyone to tries to convince you that this is a settled matter with a definitive answer. It's not. Ditto for anyone who tries to tell you that it's a prospectively easy court opinion to write; my inclination (against my normative wishes) is that the Obama recess appointments are constitutional, by one logic or another. But I think it's far from an open-and-shut case, and I can easily imagine an opinion to the contrary. In my mind, all of this means that optimal political and legal adjudication of both the immediate matter of the Cordray et. al nominations, as well as the use of recess appointments in the future, requires a full and vigorous debate over the normative, constitutional, institutional, and political issues surrounding the current appointments. Although I don't think it's true of all political debates, this is one in which I think having more voices and more opinions is an unqualified benefit; and so i applaud the volume and diversity of writing that has sprung up on the topic in both the popular press and the blogsphere. Past practice also points the way. Presidents have long claimed, attorneys general have long affirmed and the Senate has long acquiesced to the president's authority to make recess appointments during extended breaks within a Senate session [...] Since 1867, 12 presidents have made more than 285 such appointments, without constitutional objection by the Senate. And attorneys general going back to Harry M. Daugherty in 1921 have held that the Constitution authorizes such appointments. In problem is that although Daugherty broadened the definition of the term "recess," he also affirmed … that he didn't envision a recess lasting three days: "[A]n adjournment for five or even 10 days [cannot] be said to constitute the recess intended by the Constitution." Daugherty's caveat is also cited in [a] 1992 memoissued under Attorney General William P. Barr. As Yoo knows (since he refers to it in his article), the current three-day minimum standard is derived from a Clinton-era Justice Department opinion. Not the Senate. The Justice Department. But here's the problem I see: none of these opinions of the Justice Department are in anyway binding on constitutional matters that affect the legislative branch as an institution (note that this is emphatically not the the case for constitutional questions strictly within the executive branch, where Justice Department opinions bind agencies absent court rulings otherwise). Bernstein very correctly points out that the Senate is not the sole arbiter of what constitutes a recess for the purposes of Article II of the Constitution. But by virtually identical logic, it should be obvious that the opinion of the Attorney General is hardly the last word either. In fact, common sense tells us that the Justice Department is going to have a much strong pro-President opinion, on average, than any definitive Court ruling on the matter. The Attorney General works for the President! Even worse, most of the opinions and memorandums of the Justice Department rely strongly on previous opinions and memorandums of the Justice Department. It's not a stretch to say that many or most of these citations to Justice Department opinions are simply reiterating Justice Department precedent stemming from the 1921 Daugherty opinion. So while many commentators are presenting these opinions as a long and continuous cannon of rulings on the matter, it could just as easily be described as a series of self-serving executive branch precedents, stacked up on top of each other. Now, there's nothing wrong with the opinions as arguments. They are certainly important documents to consider when thinking about the issues surrounding recess appointments, and many of them are both well-written and thoughtful. As a historical resource for guiding deliberations or informing us of past thinking, they are useful. But they cannot be mistaken for court decisions on the constitutionality of the current recess appointments. As they relate to the ultimate constitutionality of any given recess appointment, they are, atbest, the foundation of the arguments that the executive branch would bring to court. And they should be treated as such: thoughtful opinions and memorandum, produced by the executive branch for use by the executive branch, with the full understanding that they were not written by, or for, the legislature. But wait, you say, hasn't the Senate signed on to certain Attorney General opinions in the past or otherwise validated executive branch action, like int he 1905 Judiciary Committee Report on the TR appointments? To which I answer: sure. But the Senate can surely validate an action at one point in time and change it's mind at another. It would be striking indeed to come up with a theory of recess appointments in which Senate precedent — which can be, and occasionally is, overturned by a bare majority of Senators — was binding not only on a future Senate, but also on questions of the constitutional powers of that future Senate. At the very least, a contemporary Senate can actively disagree with its own past precedent, even if inaction was interpreted as an endorsement of the precedent (which itself is not inherently true.) But wait, you say, aren't the terms of recess appointments, as pointed out by Noah and Akhil Amar, often negotiated by the Justice Department and the Senate? To which I say, again: sure. But while the Senate and President can come to agreements on recess appointments, nothing they do can violate or alter the Constitution, simply because they agree. Consider the legislative veto: numerous Presidents signed bills into law that put in place legislative vetos, but that did not alter their fundamentally unconstitutional character, as decided in Chada. Both the Senate and House agreed to the Line Item Veto Act in 1996, but that did not render it constitutional. The Senate cannot consent to violate the Constitution, even if that violation results in a disadvantage for the Senate. (Note that the Senate certainly can violate the constitution and choose not to attempt to enforce the constitution; but even in that case, any individual with standing could challenge the Senate's selfless actions as unconstitutional.) But wait, you say, don't the federal courts rely on such opinions and memorandum when consider the constitutional questions involved? To which, I say, again: sure. But that still doesn't make them any more authoritative than a good law review article on the topic. And to the degree to which the Courts are deferential to an OLC opinion in an inter-branch dispute, I think that's an error. The existence of such Justice Department opinions is probably, at least in part, constitutive of any lawsuit that was filed against a recess appointment. That it would also become the reasoning for the court opinion on the matter would rest solely, in my mind, on the strength of its arguments, not the province of its origin. And look, again, I'm not trying to say the Justice Department opinions and memos are worthless. Far from it. They are some of the best-informed legal writing we have on the subject, especially in the absence of a lot of competition or definitive court rulings. My point is that we shouldn't give them, on their own, as much weight as many commentators have been giving them this week. And I don't say this as a legislative branch patriot; the same logic would hold for opinions and memorandum of the Senate Legal Counsel (or House General Counsel, for matters in their purview). These are entities whose primary function and activities are to serve an individual branch of the government. In cases of inter-branch disputes, their opinions can be interesting, helpful, and ultimately persuasive. But we should not mistake them for controlling court decisions. So there's been a huge amount of writing about the recess appointments since I took it up from the Whig perspective on Wednesday. There appear to be four different playing fields on which this is being discussed/argued. To wit: 1) The Constitutional Question. Is the recess appointment of Cordray legal under Article II of the constitution? 2) The Normative Question. When should a recess appointment be available to the President? 3) The Institutional Questions. What caused this? How will it affect future inter-branch conflict over nominations and confirmations? 4) The Political Questions. Will the public legitimate this? Is this good strategy for Obama? How should the GOP respond? How will it affect domestic politics in 2012? These are all excellent questions to ask, argue about, lobby the public over, and adjudicate. But I see two problems with the current conversation. First, conclusively answering any one of the question doesn't give you either the answer, or a solid argument, for any of the other question. Whether the recess appointments are judged legitimate by the public has little or nothing to do with whether they are constitutional, and whether they are constitutional has little or nothing to do with whether they are normatively desirable. And you can be damn sure that whether they are normatively desirable has nothing to do with whether it will be accepted as publicly legitimate. So don't tell me it's constitutional because the CFPB is popular, don't tell me it's a good idea because it's constitutional, and please don't tell me the public won't accept it because it's a bad normative idea. Second, and conversely, people seem to want to ignore some questions completely when they address others. And while the answers to some questions aren't arguments for others, the fact is that all these issues are intertwined. For example, your answer to the normative question is at least partially dependent on your assessment of the institutional question; if the result of the current situation is that Presidents increasingly sidestep the Senate in making future appointments, that is almost certainly going to affect your normative view of Obama's actions. Similarly, I don't think the political questions and the institutional questions can be separated; as I wrote earlier in the week, institutional change is often driven (or not driven) by short-term politics. In the end, they are largely the same thing. With all this in mind, I'll make two quick points: 1. The normative question and the constitutional questions are inevitably in total conflict. I wrote this Wednesday, but I think it's worth repeating given how the arguments have progressed: the length of time under which the Senate needs to be in recess for a recess-appointment to be constitutional is already way shorter than any normative rationale can justify. The conflicting values here are congressional control of the executive branch and the judiciary vs. the smooth functioning of the government. Both are hugely important. But the span of court decisions flowing from the strategic use of recess appointments has whittled-down the time period needed for a recess to qualify to the point where the debate is over whether 3 days or a week is enough time under the constitution for a valid appointment. But even if the constitutional minimum is a full week (and there's good reason to believe it's a lot shorter than that), I don't think there's a possible normative outlook that can justify that, or at least one that justifies that and doesn't justify an even shorter time-period. The regular-order process of nomination and confirmation already takes longer than a week. If we had true normative concerns about executive branch officials being missing over a one-week period, we'd probably have temporary recess appointments for all regular nominations, so that the jobs could be stocked while the confirmation process took place in the Senate. But we don't. Instead, we quickly confirm the very few key positions (like Secretary of State), and the rest sit and wait out the process. What's the upshot of this? I see two. First, as far as the constitution is concerned, and as much as it pains my Whig heart to say it, I think we pretty much have to concede that, realistically, the President has the authority to make a recess appointment whenever he wants. The legal issues have been completely divorced from the normative issues, and trying to read a normative position into the constitutional jurisprudence is a fool's errand. Following that is a second point: we should focus normative energy on the institutional questions. Just because something is constitutional doesn't make it a good idea. And it also doesn't make it inevitable that the actors who hold such constitutional powers will use them; political and institutional incentives can be arranged to constrain the constitutional actions of political actors. This is obvious and routine in politics, but something that people tend to forget in these sorts of constitutional stand-offs. But I think it's especially important here, because… 2. The politics of this seem headed directly toward rearrangements of institutional power. I joked on Twitter this morning that the ultimate end of all of this is probably going to be a pro-president Supreme Court decisions that upholds a GOP recess appointment to the Supreme Court that was made during a Senate quorum call. That's overblown humor, but I do think things are headed in a slippery direction here. Now that the precedent has been set to use recess appointments during periods of pro forma sessions of the Senate, the Senate's available responses will be to either (a) accept the President's ability to move recess appointments more or less at will; (b) stay in actual session for much tighter periods of time; or (c) find some political ways to constrain the President from using the recess appointments. Obviously, choice C is preferable. But I don't think we're going to find out the true extent of this tit-for-tat game until the Senate and the Presidency are controlled by different parties. That may induce real fireworks. Right now, the co-partisanship of the two institutions is probably enough of a restraint on President Obama, but I don't expect that to hold under an Obama second-term with a GOP Senate or under a GOP Presidency and a Democratic Senate. I would suspect in either of those cases, we will see a rise in recess appointments, to which the Senate may respond by freezing confirmations, to which the response may be more recess appointments. And while we don't know where that would lead, it seems to me that the President would have the upper hand in the dispute. But wait, you say, what about a solution in which the regular order nomination/confirmation process was reformed, such that the norms against filibustering nomination returned and recess appointments did not become any more common than they currently are? That would be an excellent outcome, of course, and it's certainly a plausible solution. But it would also be a major reversal of course in what seems to be an ever-escalating game of constitutional hardball. And the Presidency is a real wildcard in any constitutional hardball game, I think. Internal congressional hardball can easily become a negative sum game for the institution after a series of small positive wins for individuals/parties, which might imply a leviathan-enforced type of internal reform bargain. But a Presidential-congressional battle would tend to be zero-sum game, and one that historically has not been won by the legislature. So as a Whig, I'm worried. But as someone who studies the legislature institutionally, I'm getting the sense that this is a big enough disruption of the equilibrium to bring on some institutional change. There's no solid way to predict, one way or another, if and when that will happen. But is certainly seems like all the ingredients are coming into place. You know, when you write a blog you are just constantly surprised at what topics flop and what topics get people talking. Much to my surprise (but warming to my upstate heart), my post on favorite-longshot bias ignited a burst of interest in both the mighty Saratoga Race Course and what it was like to grow up in its shadow. Luckily, I blogged a 6,000 word essay on all things Saratoga, on my old local upstate blog, Oh, SmAlbany!, back when I was a graduate student who didn't feel like working on his dissertation. The essay is in three parts — one on the cultural relevance of the track to the local area, one on how to spend a day at the track, and one on how to enjoy downtown post-track. And it's got a bunch of great pictures! The entire thing appears below after the jump (click "read more" if you are on the main page)…Read more » Having grown up just south of Saratoga, NY, I spent many teenage summer days sitting in the picnic area of the majestic Saratoga Race Course and many August nights bar-hopping the small-town, mardi-gras-like atmosphere on the streets of downtown Saratoga. You get some funny looks in most of the rest of the country when it's revealed that you know how to calculate the payout on a $2 exacta ((total exacta pool – takeout)/(total winning dollars bet * 2)) or can name the horse that beat Secretariat in the '73 Whitney (Onion), but it's neither trashy nor rare to know horse racing where I come from. One thing you become quite familiar with at Saratoga, virtually by intuition, is the economic concept of the favorite-longshot bias: horse bettors seem to vastly prefer betting longshots rather than favorites, independent of the true odds on the horses. And since the odds are set by the betting market at the track, this creates an attenuation: horses that should be massive longshots by their true (but unknown) odds of winning (like 150-1) end up selling as only big longshots (perhaps 75-1), while horses that should be ridiculous favorites by the true odds (say, 1-9) end up going off for much less (perhaps 1-2). As a result, most longshots are absolutely horrible bets (since their pay odds are vastly less than their true odds), while there's usually a fair amount of value in just betting the favorites (because they pay much better than their true odds would imply). And despite having a century-old reputation as the "graveyard of favorites" — just ask Man 'O War, whose only career loss came at Saratoga to, yes, a horse named Upset — savvy horseplayers at Saratoga know that longshots are still for suckers. Favorite-longshot bias has a long-known and well-documented empirical history in the economic study of the gambling world: using past performances, it has been shown over and over again that bets on longshots lose much more money, on average, than bets on favorites. For example, in the linked study of 6 million horse races between 1992 and 2001, bets on all 100-1 or bigger longshots returned -61%, while bets on all favorites returned -5.5% and utterly random bets returned -23%. Uninformed betting is expected to have a negative return because of the state's take from the prize pool, which in NY is 16% on win bets. But that only highlights how good blindly betting the favorites can be: if the state wasn't removing 16% of the prize pool, blindly betting the favorites would generate a significant positive return! There are two theories about why gamblers tend to behave this way. The first is known as "risk-love." In this view, gamblers are rational utility-maximizers, and get utility from the excitement of the risk of the longshots, whereas betting the favorite, well, sucks. Anyone who has ever cashed a winning $2 bet at Saratoga for a return of $2.40 (and thus a profit of 40 cents) knows how that feels. The other theory is behavioral: people are not good at discerning between two extreme sizes. And thus gamblers don't distinguish between 200-1 and 100-1, they are cognitively the same odds. And therefore bettors systematically take 100-1 prices on 200-1 true odds. And the betting market responds. I say all this because longshot bias is at least a partial explanation of what you see on Intrade right now, for both the Democratic and GOP nomination markets. Let's start with the Democratic market: Intrade Democratic Nomination Market (1/5/2012) Obama: 94.5 Clinton: 3.0 Biden: 0.5 These prices reflect only the functioning market — where there are actually sellers and buyers — and does not include candidates who have no current offers to buy at any price. As a reflection of the true odds, this seems certifiably insane. I would guess the odds on Obama are much closer to 99.5 (leaving a tiny amount of space for death, massive scandal, or incredible political turn in the party), which means the sum of the true odds of all other plausible candidates can't be more than 0.5. I would suspect that neither Clinton's or Biden's true odds are greater than 0.1. But the observed odds are easily explained by favorite-longshot bias. Right now, in order to bet Obama, you are effectively laying approximately 17-1 (i.e. bet $17 now and return $1 profit this summer). That might be a nice investment strategy — it looks like a pretty darn stable 5.5% return to me — but it's absolutely no fun as a gamble. Conversely, Biden at 0.5 looks like a horrible financial investment (a 1 in 200 chance Joe B is the nominee? No way.), but one heck of an exciting gamble — think of the psychological utility you could get from $10 on Biden, which could get you dreaming about two grand every time President Obama has to go the doctor. The Democratic market seems very much to be reflecting a risk-love bias. This market strikes me as equally biased, but somewhat different. The existence of the true mega-longshots at 500 or 1000 to 1 seemingly presents a greater possibility that cognitive misperception, rather than risk-love, is at work here, at least for the most extreme candidates. Does Chris Christie have a 1 in 500 chance of being the nominee? I doubt it, but he might very well have a 1 in 5000 chance (0.002%) and definitely a 1 in 50,000 chance (0.0002). Ditto with Bush, Ryan, and Daniels. Those all look like terrible, terrible bets. But, of course, that's not the interesting question. What we'd love to know is how the favorite-longshot bias is affecting Romney's price and the price of the other top tier and second tier candidates. This is, of course, seemingly an imponderable, since we can never know the true odds and we don't have millions of past performances to empirically examine like we do in horse racing. Still, anyone who's ever stared up at a 1-4 favorite on the Saratoga board and even passingly thought to themselves "this just isn't worth it for that return" can probably relate to someone who's irrationally passing on Romney right now on Intrade. And the instant you have that feeling, you have proof there's at least some marginal value in Romney due to the favorite-longshot bias. Now, marginal value is not actual value. Romney's true odds may be lower than 79.9 for fundamental reasons that are not being captured by the market. But so long as any bettors are passing on Romney in favor of another candidate because it's just no fun to bet the big favorites, there's a market distortion that can theoretically be capitalized on. I'd sure as hell be one pathetic Whig if I didn't write about recess appointments today. But you already knew that. Here's the backfill: last month, the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the nominations of Caitlin Halligan to the D.C. Court of Appeals and Richard Cordray to head the new Consumer Protection Board. Subsequent to that, there was a lot of criticism about this use of the filibuster, as many observers pointed out that it was being used to deny confirmation to an agency head as a protest against the agency itself, which, while probably not unprecedented, seemed to be a clear strategic escalation of the use of the filibuster. Steven Benen called the tactic "extortion politics." Jonathan Cohn likened it to antebellum nullification, echoing Tom Mann's assessment from this past summer. That's probably, as Seth Masket noted, a bit overheated, but there's little doubt that it reflects a crumbling Senate norm and a shift toward what Jonathan Bernstein calls hardball (and which I wrote about here). The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. And today, the President announced that he will do exactly that, filling the vacancy in the Consumer Protection Board with Cordray, and using similar recess appointments to fill three slots on the NLRB. The problem and controversy can be discovered from just a plain reading of the text, which raises two puzzling issues: first, do the "vacancies that may happen" have to occur during a recess, or can a vacancy that occurs during a session also be filled? Second, what constitutes a recess? As you might imagine, how these questions are answered has a big impact on both the balance of power between Congress and the Executive, as well as Congressional-Executive relations. The first question was resolved in the 19th century after numerous court decisions: it does not matter when the vacancy itself was created. The latter question — what constitutes a recess?— is still of much dispute, and is one of the reasons that today's action by the President is controversial. President Obama is making an appointment during a three-day intra-session recess of the Senate; if allowed to stand, such a precedent would go beyond even the most expansive current reading of the clause, one offered by the Justice Department on behalf of the executive in the past — that the Senate must be in recess for at least three days before a valid intra-session recess appointment can be made. (The President is also apparently arguing that the Senate is not even really in session — insert Whig head explosion here — but we'll get to that in a minute.) Ok. There's a lot of spurious partisan writing out there about this, so let's talk turkey. Bear in mind I'm a whig with a general inclination toward Congress over the Executive, but I'm coming at this from a good-faith point of view. 1. There are two fundamental values in collision here. The first value is legislative control of the Executive Branch of the government. The Founders were quite clear that the Senate should play a role in the appointment and installation of Executive Branch officials. No one disputes this, nor does anyone really question the propriety of Senate confirmation in contemporary times. It's an excellent check on the President, and a sensible way to share powers between the political branches. The second value is smooth and continuous functioning of the government. While Congress may be out of session for long periods of time in any given year, the government of the United States operates continuously. If a vacancy exists in the Executive Branch, then there are certain functions under law which may not be able to be executed. Under the Constitution, only officers of the United States may take substantial executive action, and absent a sitting Senate, the only way to create certain officers of the United States is through a recess appointment. Again, the Founders recognized this and sensible allowed for it in the Constitution. However… 2. History and the Founders may no longer be a helpful guide. Every partisan and their radical brother spent today looking for juicy Founder quotes about recess appointments. But a lot of the Founding thought is no longer relevant, because the structure of the congressional calendar is starkly different than it was in the 19th century, in two ways. First, the recesses between sessions of Congress (inter-session recesses) have dramatically shortened. Whereas Congress would often not meet from March until December in odd-numbered years or from June to December in even-numbered years, contemporary Congresses often have inter-session adjournments of only weeks or even just days. So while the President was routinely presiding alone over the government for months on end in the 19th century, virtually necessitating recess appointments, that is very rarely the case now. In that sense, the most pressing reason to even have recess appointments at all — months on end with no Senate session — is gone. Second, the number of intra-session recesses has grown significantly in the 20th century. During the 19th century, Congress would often sit in Washington for the duration of a session, with few or no recesses of a week or more. Due to advances in transportation technology and the almost year-round sessions, contemporary Congresses tend to include numerous recesses of substantial length, including an annual August recess that may last close to a month or longer. This raises some interesting normative questions: does a two-week congressional recess really create a disruption in Senate availability such that the smooth and continuous functioning of the government might be in jeopardy if there is an Executive Branch or judicial vacancy? Maybe, but bear in mind that many appointments submitted to the Senate take longer than that to confirm. Even more to the point, if the recess appointment clause was intended to be used during intra-session recesses, why does it allow the appointments to stand until the end of the next session, effectively allowing a intra-session recess appointment to last up to two years? It seems almost certain that such wording was used with inter-session recess appointments in mind, such that they would last only for the duration of one (i.e. the next) session of Congress. Now, court decisions have rendered most of the questions these facts raise legally moot. After a long list of 19th century court cases, both inter-session and intra-session recess appointment are perfectly constitutional, although they occupy very different footings. President Obama could have appointed Mr. Cordray yesterday at noon, in the brief interlude between the first and second session of the 112th Congress, and leaned on the precedent of Teddy Roosevelt's 160 appointments on December 7, 1903 for inter-session appointments, which seemingly require no span of time to be constitutional. But instead he chose to appoint him today — most likely because this will now allow Mr. Cordray to serve for virtually two years (the next session of Congress not ending until noon on January 3rd, 2014) — raising the question of how short a time period constitutes an intra-session recess long enough to qualify for a recess appointment. That's tricky because… 3. There's no solid answer to the question of what constitutes an intra-session recess. The Constitution simply doesn't tell us what counts as a recess and what doesn't. No number at all. No guidance at all. So all we have is our normative intuition on the political side, and court decisions on the legal side. The problem is that the court precedents tend to defy most reasonable normative evaluation. I don't think there's any question that an appointment can wait two weeks; lots of stuff sits vacant for two weeks while the Senate is considering a nomination. But the courts have upheld an appointment made during a Senate recesses of 11 days, and in the 2004 case challenging President Bush's appointment of William Pryor, the Eleventh Circuit more or less endorsed appointments during recesses of that length or even shorter (the Supreme Court did not hear the case). One potential hard deck is the 3-day period contemplated in the Constitution for either chamber to adjourn without the other chamber's consent. That might suggest that the Founders didn't think recesses of one or two or three days were of serious length (this, of course, assumes that the Founders thought any intra-session recess was of appointment-worthy length, but as noted, that ship has sailed), and indeed the Justice Department itself presented this theory while defending a Clinton recess appointment (attached to a longer recess) in 1993. But without further court guidance, this is an imponderable; our normative intuition says things like "when the Senate recesses overnight, that's not recess-appointment worthy," but again, our normative intuition might say the same thing about a two-week recess. 4. On the other hand, President Obama doesn't seem to making an argument for intra-session appointments during recesses less than 3 days. Based on what is emerging from the White House, it seems like the President's argument here is not that an intra-session recess appointment is valid during any recess of any length. Instead, the President seems to be making a much more troubling argument: that a two-minute pro forma session of the Senate which includes a unanimous consent order to conduct no business is not really a session of the Senate, and therefore the Senate has currently been in recess for several weeks at this point, clearly within the safe-harbor of court rulings on intra-session recess appointments. As Stephen Smith points out in a comment on an very good Sarah Binder piece on the topic, this is an argument that might very well be a loser in the federal courts. The Senate unambiguously has control over its own agenda (via the Constitution, Article I, section 5) and the courts would be virtually a lock to not "look behind" the Senate's own assessment of whether or not it was in session, leaving it clear cut that the chamber has been in session every third day. But set that aside. Whatever the merits of Obama's argument in the courts, it's certainly an affront to congressional authority; the Senate can consider whatever it wants whenever it wants, and no Presidential decree about what the Senate is considering and not considering can alter the meaning of the Constitution. The President is certainly welcome to hold his own interpretation of the Constitution, but he is not welcome to interpret the Senate rules on behalf of the Senate. In the bigger picture, however, this raises the political specter of the pro forma sessions. Such sessions have largely come into play only in the last few years, as first Senate Democrats used them to avoid an inter-session recess in which President Bush could make appointments, and then Republicans followed suit to prevent inter-session appointments by President Obama. Most recently, the House Republicans have been using the constitutional provision that prevents either chamber from recessing without the other's consent to keep the Senate in session. Some have suggested that this is a bridge too far, that if the Senate wants to stay in session to prevent recess appointments, fine, but when the House is forcing them to, that's over the line. I'm sympathetic to that argument, but I think it ultimately fails. The House need not justify its own proceedings, nor explain why it remains in session. Just as the Senate rules are the prerogative of the Senate, so the House rules are the exclusive province of the House. In any case, given that the House can prevent Senate adjournment for more than three days simply by not agreeing to such a recess, then control of either chamber may give an opposition party the ability to block recess appointments, assuming no court is going to bless recess appointments made during recesses shorter than 3 days. This may be good or bad, but it certainly is consequential: the growing backlog of Executive Branch and Judicial vacancies can be partially mitigated with recess appointments; if that safety valve is shut off, the Senate might find itself under even more intense pressure to find political or institutional ways to increase the speed of confirmations, or to reduce the number of positions requiring confirmation altogether. In this way, the President's actions today are potentially bringing on a crisis, or at least a dilemma of sorts: the Senate may be loathe to give the President expanded recess appointment power, but at the same time unable to move traditional confirmations with the necessary speed. That's a recipe for institutional change; Obama's actions may be the exogenous shock that jumps starts them. 5. As usual, the partisan divide is working to the advantage of the Presidency at the expense of Congress. If you glance around at the political press releases or the blogsphere, it's quite obvious what the alignment is over this issue; Democrats and liberals are supporting the President's actions, and conservatives and Republicans are opposing it. The normative arguments can be filled in quite easily; Democrats are defending the need to get the agency running and decrying the GOP strategy of filibustering the Cordray nomination, while Republicans are worried sick about Presidential power grabs and are trying to defend the prerogatives of the Senate. We can't say for sure, but it's likely that in the converse situation, the arguments would be perfectly reversed. I've looked in vain for a process hawk among the Democrats or a Republican argument for a smooth-functioning government, but I've yet to find one. So don't delude yourself — this is almost certainly policy preferences disguised as a normative process debate. But as I wrote yesterday, that's not surprising. The problem, however, is that I'm not sure how many Senators would favor each position in a vacuum. That is, if everyone was blinded to the specifics of the situation and the party/ideology of the President was unknown as well as the nomination in question, how many Senators would choose the smooth operation of the government (as manifest by the President being able to fill appointments willy-nilly for vacancies upon which the Senate has yet to act) over Senate control of nominations (as manifest by significant delays in appointments but lack of presidential workarounds). My inclination is to think that most Senators would choose the latter. And that's worrisome, because the likely outcome of the current situation (as was the outcome under Bush) is that the ability of the President to circumvent the Senate will be enhanced. There's no need to be a slippery-slope alarmist here, but the trend is nevertheless worrisome. What we don't want to end up in is a situation in which it has become the norm for the President to use recess appointments as the primary mechanism of filling the judiciary or the Executive Branch with judges/officers. Obviously, we're still a long, long way off from that. But we shouldn't disregard the possibility. For one, as discussed above the conditions and context are ripe for Presidents to seek to expand this authority; Senate confirmations have slowed considerably, and the past 20 years have seen an increase in the use of the filibuster in the nominations process, as the norm against such a practice has dissolved. It wouldn't be hard for President Obama or any future White House occupant to make the political argument that recess appointments are necessary; it's not like the President was out there on the stump today giving nuanced constitutional arguments. Instead, he just made a political argument in plain English: there's an agency here to help people, and it can't start helping them until it has an agency head. Therefore, I'm appointing one under my constitutional authority. Period. That's a powerful political argument, and one that should scare a Senate institutionalist. 6. Still, the Senate has weapons of its own. While recess appointments are unilateral actions, it's not the case that the President is playing strictly unilateral hardball here. Even if the recess appointment power was construed to allow appointment during any recess of any length, the President would still be strongly constrained in his actions. This is, after all, a separated system of shared powers, and there are lots of overlaps. Given that the Senate has the power to disregard the President's agenda, or cut funding to his priorities, or any other of the myriad powers that overlap between the branches, an equilibrium definitely exists that is different than "the President does whatever he wants." One tactic Congress has used in the past, and which is currently federal law for certain situations, is to deny pay to recess-appointed officers. But any tactic could be used. Of course, the same partisan and ideology cross-winds mentioned above tend to mitigate these powers, so it's unknown how far toward the Presidency such an equilibrium would land. How about a lawsuit that stopped the appointment, would that be a good thing for the Senate? On balance, I think it would be. I don't think the Senate can condone a Presidential maneuver that allows the Executive to make judgments about whether or not a plainly-happening Senate session is actually a session. Having the courts slap back the President on that one (or make him walk back the argument in briefs) might be worthwhile. And it seems like a winnable case, as the 3-day adjourn consent window might just prove to be the magic bullet the courts need to make a firm ruling. On the other hand, all that would do is institutionalize the strategic pro forma session game, and do little to defuse such hardball. Perhaps a better outcome would be… 7. One possibility is that today's action could (eventually) trigger Senate confirmation reform. There are lots of ideas floating around for improving the confirmation process in the Senate, ranging from bills to reduce the number of Executive Branch positions requiring confirmation all the way up to altering the Senate rules regarding the filibustering of Presidential nomination. And while none come without side effects (and potential unintended consequences), pressure may be growing for such action. If the alternative is a world in which recess appointments become more common as an everyday substitute for routinely filibustered nominees, the Senate may decide that it prefers strong influence in nominations over minority rights in confirmations. Again, I'm not saying we're there yet — today is just one nomination, and by next week you probably won't remember it — but as with so many things in the Senate right now, it certainly feels like the cords of institutional stability are growing taut, with no indication of when (or even if) they may snap. 8. As a last thought, don't let the partisans fool you. Recess appointments have been used strategically and regularly by Presidents since the 1790′s; this isn't something that was invented by President Obama. Or President Bush. Virtually all Presidents have routinely made recess appointments. On the other hand, today's action by President Obama is almost certainly an unprecedented extension of the recess appointment power, and it is, while perhaps constitutional, nothing to waive away like so much nonsense. It's true that this is just one appointment on one day, but these sorts of presidential actions tend to become the precedential basis for future actions, especially when they go unchallenged. Update (8:35pm): Somehow I failed in all of this writing to link to any of Jon Bernstein's various posts on the matter over the last few months. That's an obvious oversight, and I recommend starting with his excellent post from today, which has jumping off points for his older stuff. I disagree slightly with his take (he's somewhat more receptive to the idea that Obama's actions today are reasonable, constitutional, and good), but I agree with the thrust of his piece, especially as it regards the possibility of this propelling institutional reform in the confirmation process. I'm not going to comment much on Iowa/caucuses today, because it's so far from my field of competence that my thoughts probably have no marginal value, and definitely none in reference to the value of your time. I do want to, however, point you toward a few posts that I think are definitely worth reading: Nate Silver did his final prediction round-up here, Jonathan Bernstein explained how to think about Iowa here and here, Brendan Nyhan made a key point about media coverage here, and Ezra Klein had a nice distillation of everything already mentioned here. For a bit more whimsy, you might also want to try Dave Weigel's post on the twitter cliches of Iowa coverage, which got me laughing. I'd also refer you to Bernstein's election day patriotism post. That stuff always gets me. As you probably know, I'm a total romantic sucker for the pageantry and symbolism and raw logistics of the democratic process, even the messy parts. But I'm also a pretty hard-nosed realist about the fragility of open societies and the difficulty of instituting and maintaining a stable democracy. It's absolutely a blessing for modern America that such a government has been handed down to us, and it's a triumph for human freedom every time another nation of people successfully unshackles from authoritarianism and realizes such a system. I don't think there's any question that democracy is objectively the least-worst real-world system known to man. And so while I'm a huge supporter of citizens criticizing our political leaders and government institutions and electoral processes, I also think it's important that people remember how fortunate we are to live under such an imperfect form of government. And there's no better time for that than election day. This also brings me to what I want to discuss today: institutional reform. And I mean that in the widest sense possible — everything from the above-mentioned toppling of dictators in favor of democracy all the way down to changing chamber rules in Congress or the partisan primary calendars. Now, there's always a lot of talk about institutional reform, but I can't really remember a time when it seemed so constantly at the forefront of the political agenda. Maybe I'm just a hammer seeing a lot of nails, but I feel like it has become a secondary story to just about everything: in foreign policy, you've got the shakeout of the U.S. leaving Iraq, plus the Arab Spring in Egypt and elsewhere, all encased within a continuing debate over whether regime change is a legitimate or successful basis for a foreign policy of the United States. Back at home, we've got the ever-more-simmering debates over the filibuster in the Senate, the quadrennial rancor over the primary process for presidential nominations, and, oh yes, seemingly everyone and their radical-moderate brother trying to undo the partisan tension in Washington. In the abstract, it seems great that there are well-organized efforts to deliver institutional change to American politics; it's almost certainly the sign of a healthy democracy (or at least a sign against a democracy in fast decay). But it's hard to get enthused when you read the specific reform proposals of such outfits as No Labels or Americans Elect. In fact, it's rather depressing. Take the 12 point action plan of No Lables, for example. All of their proposals tend to fall into one of three categories: ultimately useless ( i.e. having Members of Congress not sit by party during the State of the Union address; barring Members from taking pledges; off-the-record bipartisan gatherings; joint leadership committees; 5-day congressional workweeks; nonpartisan fiscal report to Congress), plausibly good but not exactly novel (i.e. end the filibuster; presidential question time; anonymous discharge petitions), and horrible ideas and/or dangerous cures and/or unconstitutional (no negative campaigns; automatic confirmation of presidential nominees absent Senate up/down action; blocking Member pay until appropriations are done). And those are just the proposals, forget about how on Earth you'd get them implemented. And this leads to the question at hand: why is institutional change so difficult? I would suggest that, with the broadest brush, there are three answers to this question: conflicts between normative values and strategic self-interests; the wide scope of institutional reform; and biases against change. I think that most people assign greater weight to the latter (the anti-change biases), but my sense is that the first two are much more fundamental. Let's take a closer look: 1. Conflict between normative values and strategic self-interests. In a nutshell, the idea here is that your reform proposal might be a great idea that everybody loves in a vacuum, but it's almost certainly going to result in political outcomes that are different than they otherwise would have been. And therefore, it's going to make political actors consider how the outcomes differ in the short-run and weigh that against the normative long-term value of the reform. And you will not get much support for your reform from short-term outcome losers. This isn't rocket-science, but I don't think you can overestimate how important it is in all situations of potential institutional change. It's almost so obvious that it goes unspoken. After all, the implicit purpose of institutional reform is to affect how fixed preferences are translated into outcomes. If the outcomes aren't going to change, then your proposed reform isn't good or bad, it's just a waste of time, like the proposal to have Members sit in a bipartisan fashion at the State of the Union Address. But when the outcomes are going to change, in many cases the normative value of the reform ceases to even be a consideration among political actors or voters. Interests dominate. (And that's probably a good thing, but it's definitely a consequential thing). Like Bryan said, the people of Nebraska are for silver and I'm for silver, I'll look up the arguments later. Similarly, trying to assess the normative value of an institutional change is really hard, because of the strategic interests of the actors. Good government altruism aside, institutional change is often proposed specifically for the purpose of adjusting particular outcomes. Again, this is so obvious it's barely mentioned. But it has an important effect: the normative value of the reform itself is difficult to gauge. Is it being proposed for pure intentions, or to shift short-term outcomes? Likewise, the motivations of the short-term winners are going to be questioned: do they really think it's a good idea to get rid of the filibuster and have some other state besides Iowa go first int he primary process, or will those things just help them pass their current legislation and give their preferred candidate a better chance at the nomination and their home state more say in the process? Consider something like the voting age. It would be (and was) a significant institutional change to raise or lower it. And there might very well be strong normative arguments for letting 14 year-olds vote, or for returning the constitutional maximum-minimum voting age to 21. But there's little chance such normative arguments would play the role of anything but just that, arguments. Much more likely is that the outcome of such a move would be a prime consideration of any supporter or opponent. How would a lower or higher voting age play out? It's not obvious, but the general intuition is that a lower age might help liberals, while a higher age might help conservatives. And you can bet dollars to donuts that one sentence would be a better predictor of opinion than almost anything else. And the normative arguments would simply flow from there. And thus the situation almost always becomes one in which normative values cannot be trusted: they may be genuine or they may be strategic rationalizations for underlying short-term interest winners. From the point of view of an individual political actor or voter, the inability to trust the normative information creates an incentive to rely on an evaluation of the strategic outcomes. And thus, when universalized, you end up in a situation where everyone may be safer relying on their interests to evaluate a reform, rather than normative concerns. Which reduces institutional change to a process fundamentally about short-term outcomes, which are guaranteed to be in conflict. This is one reason that reformers sometimes propose blind or random change. For instance, one popular suggestion for abolishing the filibuster is to have the abolition take place 12 years down the road, when no one knows which party will be in the majority in the Senate or who will control the Presidency. The appeal of such a suggestion is obvious: it is explicitly trying to remove the short-terms strategic interests calculation from the decision-making process. By blinding the political actors from knowledge of how the reform will affect outcomes, people are bound to put more weight on their normative judgements about the value of the reform. Proposals to randomize the primary calendar offer the same benefit: with the exception of the existing winners (like Iowa and New Hampshire), strategic support based on outcome is less likely to jeopardize the success of the reform. Of course, the converse is also true. Without short-term winners, it's often hard to find people who will work hard for institutional change. There are definitely people out there who just want to Do The Right Thing, but they are (1) rare, (2) hard to identify, and (3) not usually backed with a ton of money or resources or hard-working volunteers. Now, I'm not trying to discredit reform or reformers here. But it's simply true that even the normatively best reformers are usually sponsored and midwifed by the sweat of those who stood to benefit from the short-term changes to the outcomes. 2. The wide scope of institutional change. None of what was said above, of course, is either groundbreaking or limited to institutional change. It's just as plausibly applicable to policymaking as it is to the electoral and institutional structures which provide the rules for policymaking. And as I've written about before, one of the fundamental blind spots of democracy is the difficulty of dealing with issues that entail long-term benefits but short-term costs. But institutional reform is particularly tricky because any individual change has the ability to affect a whole array of policy outcomes. And therefore, those who perceive the short-term outcomes to be against them can be quite diverse indeed. This is often carried through the reality of varying intensity of preference among political actors. Consider the filibuster: when Senators contemplate whether or not to abolish it, they are not just thinking about whether their party is currently in the majority or whether they want the current policy agenda to pass, but instead they are thinking about the individual policies most dear to them that they do not want to change. In effect, changes to current institutional arrangements do not just have the ability to create short-term losers, they have the ability to transform everyone into a short-term loser at the same time. This partially explains why serious filibuster reform has failed to get a majority vote in the Senate the few times it has successfully been brought to the floor. Most Senators don't want to reform the system, regardless of who the short-term winners will be, because they worry (perhaps correctly) that they will be made a short-term loser because reform will endanger the outcomes they care most about. 3. Biases against change. This is perhaps the most commonly-cited reason that institutional change is difficulty. There are at least two flavors. First, there's the institutional structure itself: most institutional reforms are going to require supermajority support at some point or another, or at least will run into multiple veto-players along the way. A bare majority is rarely good enough for serious institutional reform. In one sense, it's odd that we even call this a bias. Because it actually makes strong normative sense. It's would be a strange world indeed where the a bare majority could always adjust the rules of the game willy-nilly. And that's as true for meetings in a church basement as it is for amending a national constitution. So part of the bias is simply a different bias we have, one that favors majoritarianism. Second, there seems to be a cognitive bias in most people against extreme negative outcomes. And therefore, people will usually take mildly worse average results to avoid uncertainty that will yield better average results but also high variance that may occasionally result in strongly negative outcomes. As discussed above, institutional reform is resides in the world of uncertainty; not only are there unintended consequences to any institutional change, but information about those consequences is very difficult to trust. Therefore, actors are likely to judge the status quo more favorably than it might deserve. Marginally improving things is great, but unless the status quo is highly untenable, individual actors often prefer to maintain it rather than choose an alternative that might results in strongly negative results. Of course, all of this leaves the $64k question: how does institutional change actually happen? That's best left to another post. Maybe next week. __________________ Please don't mistake me for a neo-conservative here. I'm not interested in using war to build democracies. In fact, I'm not really interested in war at all. Or in trying to build democracies through destabilization of non-democratic regimes. I simply mean that we should cheer without reservation when it happens, or modestly help when asked. I'm reasonably confident (i.e. I'll lay you 30-1 or 40-1, i.e. I think there's a 97%+ chance) that Mitt Romney is going to be the 2012 GOP nominee for President. Now, I could be wildly wrong in my estimation. And regardless of whether Romney wins or not, we'll never know for sure. Unless you assign a 100% or 0% chance of something occurring, any observable single-trial result will plausibly conform to your estimation. So leave that aside.What I want to talk about here is why the race appears so much tighter than that. And the reason is simple: virtually everyone involved has an incentive to portray the race as still wide open. Let's take a look: 1. The media. This is the most obviously biased actor. Uncertainty is the press' best friend in elections. You can't sell advertising during debates that no one wants to watch, and no one wants to watch a debate for a race that is over. Ditto for election night coverage in individual primary states. No one is going to watch the returns if there is only one competitive candidate. So political news ratings/sales will be higher if the horse-race continues until late spring or (god help us) to the convention (which it won't). Therefore, the press has every reason to play up the competitiveness of the race, even after everyone else has more or less conceded it is over. 2. The Democrats. President Obama and other political opponents obviously have an interest in the GOP primary actually being drawn out, because it would sap the collective resources of the candidates. But Democrats also have an incentive to portray the race as competitive even if it is not, for at least three reasons. First, it ties the reasonable and stronger candidates (like Romney) to the unreasonable and unelectable candidates. If GOP voters can't choose between Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, then it might reason that Romney is similar to Paul, or that GOP voters think they are both reasonable candidates, or both. Second, it fosters the belief that GOP voters don't really like their best candidates, or that the party is caught in some sort of civil war. Either of those beliefs might turn off moderate voters. Finally, there's the plausible meta-possibility that pretending an election is close may actually make it closer, or at least draw it out (but more on this later.) 3. Iowa and New Hampshire. If the race were over and everyone knew it, then there would be a lot of downsides for the early primary states. Candidates wouldn't be visiting constantly and making promises, local politicians wouldn't have the chance to appear with candidates and make endorsements, and local media wouldn't be able to host debates, sell advertising, and make more money. I mean, you don't see President Obama prancing around Iowa and New Hampshire non-stop for the Democratic nomination, do you? One of the advantages of going first in the sequential primaries is to have leverage in choose between competitive candidates. But a second reason is to extract promises from whoever ends up winning the nomination, and that's a whole lot easier if the race appears competitive. 4. Later Primary States. Same logic applies here as above. Many of the benefits of holding a primary are only conferred if the primary is competitive. But again, that threshold is met not by the race being undecided, but by the appearance of the race being possibly undecided. 5. Pollsters. There was a long (and wonderful) nerdfight earlier this year on the internet over the relative importance of polling and fundamentals in predicting the outcome of elections. My personal opinion is that in primaries, both are relevant, but fundamentals are more important. Others disagree. But anyone who throws the lion's lot with polling needs to believe that the race is still at least somewhat competitive, because Romney doesn't have anything near a majority in the national polls, and can be found to be losing in state polls in Iowa. If the race is over right now, then the polls are rendered very blunt instruments of analysis. 6. The non-Romney candidates. The basic link here is resources. If the race is over and everyone knows it, you will not be receiving much in the way of donations, volunteers, endorsements, or anything else that can help you win. That's probably also true if you have less than a 2% chance and everyone knows it. But what if you have a 2% chance and everyone thinks you have a 25% chance? Now that's a situation you might want to create. Sure, you're still a longshot. But at least you will have a compelling answer on the phone when someone wants to know why they should give you $2000. 7. Romney. At first glance, this seems ridiculous. And on one level, it is: if Romney has a 85% chance of winning, he might be better off convincing everyone that he has a 100% chance of winning, which would dry up his opponents fundraising and give him that last 15%, which would plausibly allow him to turn his attention to the general election and begin his pivot. But whatBut he also has to consider resources. The primaries are an excellent opportunity to mobilize volunteers in various states, gather data like phone numbers, expand your fundraising base, and get people excited. A continued primary season aids this; by the time you get to the last primaries, it's not really possibly to mobilize and activate a large cadre of volunteers. Now, at some point (rather early, I would say) the benefits of turning to the general election outweigh the benefits of being able to highly mobilize resources in sequential primary states. But that doesn't happen, I don't think, until after all the other actors stop pretending the primaries aren't over. And so at least until then, Mitt has the incentives, just as they do, to publicly see this thing as a race. 8. Political Junkies. You really think my wife would put up with me talking and writing about this endlessly if I admitted it was over? Given all the stuff that's come out over the past few days — and it's just way too much to link to, just get on the internet or twitter and open a few doors — I don't think any libertarian in good conscience can continue to support Paul as a candidate in any capacity. I certainly can't. There's no reasonable doubt left that Paul willfully lent his name to some mixture of very ugly segregationist thought crossed with the conspiratorial ideology of an anti-government militia man. Now, people can change (i.e. Bobby Byrd) and you can associate with ugliness for the greater good (i.e. northern Democrats during the 20th c.), and those sorts of rationalizations are fine as far as they go. But I'm not running a party and Ron Paul's not a serious candidate. So I'm done with him. I was probably going to vote for Gary Johnson in the general anyway. So that's fine. But that doesn't mean there's not room for regret. All this makes me very sad for what could have been. For all the grave-dancing going on around the Internet right now by liberals and conservatives alike, I'm not afraid to say that the discrediting of Paul comes with some very serious negatives for the Republican party and for America. He was more or less the only person on the debate stage this year who cared one bit about civil liberties or the prospect of reversing the unsustainable American empire. And for voicing that, I'm grateful to him. To the degree that his positions on those issues are marginalized, and to the degree that Romney and Gingrich and whoever else is left do not have to grapple with them, it's our loss. I thought Jonathan Bernstein had a nice take on why different people support Paul, and what the revelation of these newsletters means for those people. I definitely fall into the camp that thought of him not as a serious candidate, but as a positive force in the party and a protest vote against what I believe is a conservative ideology gone off the rails. Needless to say, his economics were beyond kooky and many of his positions too extreme for my pragmatic libertarianism, but I admired his foreign policy honesty and loved his civil liberties stances. It's the endless frustration of a thinking libertarian to have to deal with racists and conspiracy theorists and plain old crackpots. How we have now gone 10 years down the post-9/11 road and still haven't been able to find a libertarian politician who can credibly fight for the mantle in either party makes me shudder that it might not be possible. And so we'll keep waiting. For who, I do not know. But I do know that it will never be Ron Paul. Anyway, here are a few links from my reading this week: I haven't really written on the payroll tax battle per se, and that's because there are just a million good takes things to read. I suggest starting with Sullivan's roundup, and branching out from there. Matt Yglesias asks why we subsidize college at all, rather than just make transfer payments to the poor. Good point. Kevin Drum looks at the disaster that was the LA school district trying to get rid of junk food in the lunch room. Blogging will be spotty over the next week — we're headed up to northern New York for Christmas — but I'll definitely post the remaining entries in the GOP Candidate Venn Diagrams series, and probably a few other items. Happy Holidays to all and safe travels. There's really nothing quite like a good inter-chamber standoff on the Hill. Most of the time, I think, inter-chamber conflict is overstated; many of the disputes are partisan rather than chamber, and the chamber leaders tend to have good bargaining relationships. But when things break down, they can really break down. And that's when you can start seeing some real fireworks, as staffers speak their minds and/or defend their respective institutions. Now, the current politics of the payroll tax — with the House Democrats and most of the Senate pitted against most of the House Republicans — isn't a strictly House vs. Senate issue. A classic inter-chamber fight would have the same party in control of both House and Senate, mitigating the partisan dimension. And we're nowhere near the inter-chamber acrimony of the early 90′s. But many of the underlying structural and institutional factors that create classic chamber disputes are visible here, and thus it's worth reviewing what exactly those factors are. To wit: why do two legislatures, democratically-elected by the same nation, regularly not see eye-to-eye on public policy? Let's break the factors into three categories: structural, institutional, and social-cultural. Structural Factors 1. Different Member time horizons. Representatives face re-election every two years; Senators every six. As the Founders well-knew when they intentionally created this arrangement, this would put the Representatives much closer to the short-term passions of the voters, in two ways: first, new Representatives would be elected in response to temporary popular passions, while those same passions would pass over Senators not up for election; second, existing Representatives would need to more closely monitor, relative to Senators, the temporary popular passions of the people as they considered how to beset represent their constituents. Representatives are, on average, more attentive than Senators to short-term constituent positions and concerns. They tend to go home more often, they are less likely to reside in Washington, and the often dedicate a larger percentage of staff to constituent relations. 2. Different electoral cycles. This follows from the time horizons, but isn't always appreciated. All of the Representatives are up for election next year, but only 1/3 of the Senate seats will be contested. Neither of those facts are products of the length of the term; we could elect half of the membership of the House each year, and we could elect all Senators every six years. There are two upshots to the existing arrangement. The first is compositional: only 1/3 of the Senate is composed of people elected in 2010, but the entire House was elected then, including a sizeable number of freshmen. The second aspect is prospective: every Representative will stand election next fall, and waiting for each of them will be an opponent who is both cognizant — and constitutive — of the prevailing popular passions. Not every Senator will face that test. And the entire Senate will never face that test at the same time. 3. Different constituencies. This is more or less self-explanatory, but there are a couple of sub-points here. First, there's the Madisonian idea of larger constituencies producing more moderate Members, due to localized extremism that is washed out in aggregation. But there's also the question of district construction in the House — i.e. gerrymandering — that is not a factor in the Senate. House districts drawn to protect incumbents may end up producing more ideologically extreme Members on both sides, while still tending to wash out the vote at the statewide Senate level. The Founders institutional solutions for their normative desires didn't always work out, but these, for the most part, did. The famous analogy is the Senate as the "cooling saucer" for the "hot tea" produced in the House, which is allegedly how Washington explained the chambers to Jefferson upon his return from France, having missed the Constitutional Convention. As Madison wrote in his convention notes, "the use of the Senate is to consist in its proceedings with more coolness, with more system and with more wisdom, than the popular branch." One intriguing aspect of this that is relevant right now is that the "Senate as saucer" theory implies House action and Senate resistance, which naturally fits with the inertia of the federal legislative process. But Madison doesn't contemplate the opposite: Senate demands for action and House resistance. What happens when the hot tea has the inertia of inaction on its side? Institutional Factors 1. Majoritarianism vs. consensus. The Rules of the House and the Rules of the Senate strongly influence policy outcomes in each chamber. Most people are now familiar with the key difference: the House is structured to allow a majority to work its will; the Senate is structured as to require supermajority consensus for positive action. This goes beyond the issue of the filibuster in the Senate. For example, House rules allow the majority to easily alter the rules, which in turn makes controlling the amendment process quite trivial. In the Senate, on the other hand, special rules cannot be written by the majority, meaning that the amendment process is usually negotiated by unanimous consent, which gives the minority much more leverage over the substance of the deliberations. 2. Leadership power. While it's true that the power of the leadership ebbs and flows over time in the House, in general the backbench Representatives have less individual institutional power in the House than in the Senate. Part of this is simply a numbers game: less Senators means greater opportunity for less senior Members to hold powerful committee slots. But it's also a product of the rules (for example, consider how important unanimous consent agreements are), the structural features of the chamber (i.e. staggered time-horizons) and the chamber culture. The party caucuses in the House usually have an easier time keeping their backbenchers in line, and they can usually afford to lose a few. In recent decades, this has grown more stark, as leadership power has increased in the House while decentralization has perhaps individual power in the Senate. Remember, these factors are independent of the structural factors. Even if both chambers were composed of Members chosen by identical electoral systems, these factors would create a situation in which the partisan majority in the House could routinely pass its legislative agenda in a pretty clean form, while the Senate would need to accommodate wider points of view, if it could pass the legislative agenda at all. Social-Cultural Factors 1. Citizen perception. It may be the case that citizens have different preferences for Representatives and Senators. That is, an individual voter might choose one candidate for House, but would not choose the same candidate for the Senate. I don't have any empirical evidence for this (though it probably exists), but there's an easy theoretical circumstantial case to be made: the Senate has a set of responsibilities that the House does not have — judicial and executive branch nominations; treaty ratification — and voters might weigh these responsibilities when assessing candidates. If this is the case, then you might find that, independent of structural and institutional factors, Representatives and Senators elected by identical constituencies might not agree on policy, if those policy disagreements correlate with voter choice discrepancies for the respective offices. 2. Chamber patriotism. There's an old joke on the House side of the Capitol that involves a Representative winning election to the Senate. It varies in its telling, but the punch line is always and now the average IQ of both chambers has increased. It's a joke that can be retold often: historically, about 30-40% of Senators in any given Congress had previously served in the House. Of course, as I wrote in this blog post, the joke is hardly ever told on the North side of the Capitol; the number of Senators who go on to serve in the House is very small. The last Representative to have previously served in the Senate was Claude Pepper, who served in the Senate from 1936 until 1951, and in the House from 1963 until 1989. What independent effect might this have? It's just speculation, but my guess is that in a situation where you have two aggregate groups that are ostensibly equals in terms of power, but are structurally designed such that most individuals would prefer to be in one rather than the other and that virtually all individuals who change groups go one direction, you are bound to occasionally end up with the dual emotions/feelings of superiority and jealousy. And those two feelings can be powerful players in political outcomes, independent of the structural and institutional factors that gave rise to them. 1. The House adopted a special rule today (H.Res.502; here is the committee report from the Rules Committee) to take up the Senate amendment to the payroll tax bill and to disagree with the amendment and propose a conference. Last week, I brought the full-court geekery explaining special rule layover waivers and the special rule process in general. H.Res.502 is a nice compliment to that discussion: section 5 of the rule specifically waives the chamber rule requiring a two-thirds vote to consider a special rule on the same legislative day it is reported from the Rules Committee from now until January 15th, which is two days before the second session of the 112th Congress is scheduled to start. Since the House was originally scheduled to close the 1st session of the 112th this week and is unlikely to take up major legislation other than the payroll tax and related items, the waiver more or less gives the House flexibility to act quickly on such deals between now and the start of the second session. As noted last week, the chamber rules allow same day consideration in the last days of a session, but that provision is often ineffective since (as is the current situation) the the session adjournment date is rarely known in advance. 2. I thought Jordan Ragusa's post today regarding the House move to reject the Senate amendments and propose a conference was quite good (although I mildly disagree that the conferees matter much in this situation; they are almost certainly just proxies for the chamber leaders). Steve Benen was a bit annoyed this morning about the procedural method that the House was using to take up the issue, but, as Jordan points out, it wasn't an unusual procedural action. Is the politics frustrating? Sure. But are the tactics some sort of convoluted invention? Not at all. 3. Representative Edwards (D-MD) raised a question of privileges of the House and offered a resolution (H.Res.504) disapproving of comments Representative West (R-FL) made earlier this week about the Democratic Party. Such a motion is privileged for consideration but only requires immediate action by the chair on the matter if it is offered by the majority leader or minority leader. When offered by anyone else, the chair can postpone ruling on whether the resolution qualifies for consideration under the chamber rules for two days. The chair did postpone, but only until after the debate on H.Res.501. Upon taking up the question of privileges again, the chair ruled that it did qualify, and the resolution was read in full by the clerk. Debate on the resolution then proceeded under the one-hour rule. Representative Price (R-GA), however, immediately moved to table the resolution, and the motion to table was agreed to, which kills the resolution. 4. A lively colloquy was held between Minority Leader Hoyer (D-MD) and Majority Leader Cantor (R-VA). A colloquy is nothing more than a back and forth discussion between two or more Members, accomplished procedurally in the House by a Member gaining the floor for some period of time and then yielding to the other Member as necessary for discussion. The floor leaders regularly have a colloquy at the end of a workweek to discuss the upcoming schedule, but today was different because the colloquy occurred in the middle of a series of votes, which meant that most of the House membership was in attendance for it. This led to some cheering and mild booing as the leaders discussed the upcoming schedule.	eng	f5df3aa4-db4a-4370-b6ce-4c4a320f3f61	http://www.mattglassman.com/?paged=3
Two other categories of population that are closely scrutinized by the national census are the Scheduled Castes (see Glossary) and Scheduled Tribes (see Glossary). The greatest concentrations of Scheduled Caste members in 1991 lived in the states of Andhra Pradesh (10.5 million, or nearly 16 percent of the state's population), Tamil Nadu (10.7 million, or 19 percent), Bihar (12.5 million, or 14 percent), West Bengal (16 million, or 24 percent), and Uttar Pradesh (29.3 million, or 21 percent). Together, these and other Scheduled Caste members comprised about 139 million people, or more than 16 percent of the total population of India. Scheduled Tribe members represented only 8 percent of the total population (about 68 million). They were found in 1991 in the greatest numbers in Orissa (7 million, or 23 percent of the state's population), Maharashtra (7.3 million, or 9 percent), and Madhya Pradesh (15.3 million, or 23 percent). In proportion, however, the populations of states in the northeast had the greatest concentrations of Scheduled Tribe members. For example, 31 percent of the population of Tripura, 34 percent of Manipur, 64 percent of Arunachal Pradesh, 86 percent of Meghalaya, 88 percent of Nagaland, and 95 percent of Mizoram were Scheduled Tribe members. Other heavy concentrations were found in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, 79 percent of which was composed of Scheduled Tribe members, and Lakshadweep, with 94 percent of its population being Scheduled Tribe members. Historically, Indian education has been elitist. Traditional Hindu education was tailored to the needs of Brahman (see Glossary) boys who were taught to read and write by a Brahman teacher (see The Roots of Indian Religion, ch. 3). During Mughal rule (1526-1858), Muslim education was similarly elitist, although its orientation reflected economic factors rather than those of caste background. Under British company and crown rule (1757-1947), official education policies reinforced the preexisting elitist tendencies of South Asian education. By tying entrance and advancement in government service to academic education, colonial rule contributed to the legacy of an education system geared to preserving the position and prerogatives of the more privileged. Education served as a "gatekeeper," permitting an avenue of upward mobility to those few able to muster sufficient resources. Even the efforts of the nationalistic Indian National Congress (the Congress--see Glossary) faltered in the face of the entrenched interests defending the existing system of education (see Origins of the Congress and the Muslim League, ch. 1). Early in the 1900s, the Congress called for national education, placing an emphasis on technical and vocational training. In 1920 the Congress initiated a boycott of government-aided and government-controlled schools; it founded several "national" schools and colleges, but to little avail. The rewards of British-style education were so great that the boycott was largely ignored, and the Congress schools temporarily disappeared. Postprimary education has traditionally catered to the interests of the higher and upwardly mobile castes (see Changes in the Caste System, ch. 5). Despite substantial increases in the spread of middle schools and high schools' growth in enrollment, secondary schooling is necessary for those bent on social status and mobility through acquisition of an office job. In the nineteenth century, postprimary students were disproportionately Brahmans; their traditional concern with learning gave them an advantage under British education policies. By the early twentieth century, several powerful cultivator castes had realized the advantages of education as a passport to political power and had organized to acquire formal learning. "Backward" castes (usually economically disadvantaged Shudras) who had acquired some wealth took advantage of their status to secure educational privilege. In the mid-1980s, the vast majority of students making it through middle school to high school continued to be from high-level castes and middle- to upper-class families living in urban areas (see Varna, Caste, and Other Divisions, ch. 5). A region's three or four most powerful castes typically dominated the school system. In addition, the widespread role of private education and the payment of fees even at government-run schools discriminated against the poor. The goals of the 1986 National Policy on Education demanded vastly increased enrollment. In order to have attained universal elementary education in 1995, the 1981 enrollment level of 72.7 million would have had to increase to 160 million in 1995. Although the seventh plan suggested the adoption of new education methods to meet these goals, such as the promotion of television and correspondence courses (often referred to as "distance learning") and open school systems, the actual extended coverage of children was not very great. Many critics of India's education policy argue that total school enrollment is not actually a goal of the government considering the extent of society's vested interest in child labor. In this context, education can be seen as a tool that one social class uses to prevent the rise of another. Middle-class Indians frequently distinguish between the children of the poor as "hands," or children who must be taught to work, and their own children as "minds," or children who must be taught to learn. The upgraded curriculum with increased requirements in English and in the sciences appears to be causing difficulties for many children. Although all the states have recognized that curriculum reform is needed, no comprehensive plan to link curricular changes with new ways of teaching, learning, teacher training, and examination methods has been implemented. The government instituted an important program for improving physical facilities through a phased drive in all primary schools in the country called Operation Blackboard. Under Operation Blackboard, Rs1 billion was allocated--but not spent--in 1987 to pay for basic amenities for village schools, such as toys and games, classroom materials, blackboards, and maps. This financial allotment averaged Rs2,200 for each government-run primary school. Additional goals of Operation Blackboard included construction of classrooms that would be usable in all weather, and an additional teacher, preferably a woman, in all single-teacher schools. The nonformal education system implemented in 1979 was the major government effort to educate dropouts and other unenrolled children. Special emphasis was given to the nonformal education system in the nine states regarded by the government as having deficient education systems: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. A large number of children who resided in these states could not attend formal schools because they were employed, either with or without wages. Seventy-five percent of the country's children who were not enrolled in school resided in these states in the 1980s. The 1986 National Policy on Education gave new impetus to the nonformal education system. Revised and expanded programs focused on involving voluntary organizations and training talented and dedicated young men and women in local communities as instructors. The results of a late 1980s integrated pilot project for nonformal and adult education for women and girls in the Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh provide important data for analyzing recent implementation trends and initial results of both the nonformal education system and adult education in India. Under this project, 300 centers were opened in rural parts of the district with the approval of the Department of Education, the central government, and the state government of Uttar Pradesh with financial and advisory support from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Because of the shortage of women teachers in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, in the pilot project nonformal education for girls aged six to fourteen was integrated with the adult education program for women aged fifteen to thirty-five, so that the same staff and infrastructure could be used. Most of the families of the project participants were in subsistence farming or engaged as farmhands, clerical workers, and petty merchants. Often the brothers of female participants attended a formal school situated about one or two kilometers from their homes. Most of the 300 instructors for the 300 centers were young women between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five. Each center averaged twenty-five women and twenty girl participants. The physical facilities of the centers varied from village to village. Classes might be held on the balcony of a brick house, within a temple, in a room of a mud-walled house, or under open thatch-roof structures. Besides focusing on the acquisition of literacy skills, the project increased participant motivation by also offering instruction in household work, such as sewing, knitting, and preserving food. In 1987 a UNESCO mission to evaluate progress in this project in the areas of functional literacy, vocational skills, and civic awareness observed that randomly chosen participants in both nonformal and adult education classes effectively demonstrated their reading and writing skills at appropriate levels. As a result of many such local programs, literacy rates improved between 1981 and 1991. Male literacy increased from 56.5 percent in 1981 to 64.2 percent in 1991 while women's literacy rate increased from 29.9 percent in 1981 to 39.2 percent in 1991. Indian religious tradition sees karma (see Glossary) as the source of the problem of transmigration. While associated with physical form, for example, in a human body, beings experience the universe through their senses and their minds and attach themselves to the people and things around them and constantly lose sight of their true existence as atman , which is of the same nature as brahman . As the time comes for the dropping of the body, the fruits of good and evil actions in the past remain with atman , clinging to it, causing a tendency to continue experience in other existences after death. Good deeds in this life may lead to a happy rebirth in a better life, and evil deeds may lead to a lower existence, but eventually the consequences of past deeds will be worked out, and the individual will seek more experiences in a physical world. In this manner, the bound or ignorant atman wanders from life to life, in heavens and hells and in many different bodies. The universe may expand and be destroyed numerous times, but the bound atman will not achieve release. The true goal of atman is liberation, or release (moksha ), from the limited world of experience and realization of oneness with God or the cosmos. In order to achieve release, the individual must pursue a kind of discipline (yoga, a "tying," related to the English word yoke) that is appropriate to one's abilities and station in life. For most people, this goal means a course of action that keeps them rather closely tied to the world and its ways, including the enjoyment of love (kama ), the attainment of wealth and power (artha ), and the following of socially acceptable ethical principles (dharma--see Glossary). From this perspective, even manuals on sexual love, such as the Kama Sutra (Book of Love), or collections of ideas on politics and governance, such as the Arthashastra (Science of Material Gain), are part of a religious tradition that values action in the world as long as it is performed with understanding, a karma-yoga or selfless discipline of action in which every action is offered as a sacrifice to God. Some people, however, may be interested in breaking the cycle of rebirth in this life or soon thereafter. For them, a wide range of techniques has evolved over the thousands of years that gives Indian religion its great diversity. The discipline that involves physical positioning of the body (hatha-yoga), which is most commonly equated with yoga outside of India, sees the human body as a series of spiritual centers that can be awakened through meditation and exercise, leading eventually to a oneness with the universe. Tantrism is the belief in the Tantra (from the Sanskrit, context or continuum), a collection of texts that stress the usefulness of rituals, carried out with a strict discipline, as a means for attaining understanding and spiritual awakening. These rituals include chanting powerful mantras; meditating on complicated or auspicious diagrams (mandalas); and, for one school of advanced practitioners, deliberately violating social norms on food, drink, and sexual relations. A central aspect of all religious discipline, regardless of its emphasis, is the importance of the guru, or teacher. Indian religion may accept the sacredness of specific texts and rituals but stresses interpretation by a living practitioner who has personal experience of liberation and can pass down successful techniques to devoted followers. In fact, since Vedic times, it has never been possible, and has rarely been desired, to unite all people in India under one concept of orthodoxy with a single authority that could be presented to everyone. Instead, there has been a tendency to accept religious innovation and diversity as the natural result of personal experience by successive generations of gurus, who have tailored their messages to particular times, places, and peoples, and then passed down their knowledge to lines of disciples and social groups. As a result, Indian religion is a mass of ancient and modern traditions, some always preserved and some constantly changing, and the individual is relatively free to stress in his or her life the beliefs and religious behaviors that seem most effective on the path to deliverance. A major breakthrough occurred in 1956 after some thirty years of Untouchable, or Dalit (see Glossary), agitation when Bhimrao Ramji (B.R.) Ambedkar, leader of the Untouchable wing within the Congress (see Glossary), announced that he was converting to Buddhism as a way to escape from the impediments of the Hindu caste system (see Varna, Caste, and Other Divisions, ch. 5). He brought with him masses of Untouchables--also known as Harijans (see Glossary) or Dalits--and members of Scheduled Castes (see Glossary), who mostly came from Maharashtra and border areas of neighboring states and from the Agra area in Uttar Pradesh. By the early 1990s, there were more than 5 million Buddhists in Maharashtra, or 79 percent of the entire Buddhist community in India, almost all recent converts from low castes. When added to longtime Buddhist populations in hill areas of northeast India (West Bengal, Assam, Sikkim, Mizoram, and Tripura) and high Himalayan valleys (Ladakh District in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and northern Uttar Pradesh), and to the influx of Tibetan Buddhist refugees who fled from Tibet with the Dalai Lama in 1959 and thereafter, the recent converts raised the number of Buddhists in India to 6.4 million by 1991. This was a 35.9 percent increase since 1981 and made Buddhism the fifth largest religious group in the country. The forms of Buddhism practiced by Himalayan communities and Tibetan refugees are part of the Vajrayana, or "Way of the Lightning Bolt," that developed after the seventh century A.D. as part of Mahayana (Great Path) Buddhism. Although retaining the fundamental importance of individual spiritual advancement, the Vajrayana stresses the intercession of bodhisattvas, or enlightened beings, who remain in this world to aid others on the path. Until the twentieth century, the Himalayan kingdoms supported a hierarchy in which Buddhist monks, some identified from birth as bodhisattvas, occupied the highest positions in society. Most other Buddhists in India follow Theravada Buddhism, the "Doctrine of the Elders," which traces its origin through Sri Lankan and Burmese traditions to scriptures in the Pali language, a Sanskritic dialect in eastern India. Although replete with miraculous events and legends, these scriptures stress a more human Buddha and a democratic path toward enlightenment for everyone. Ambedkar's plan for the expanding Buddhist congregation in India visualized Buddhist monks and nuns developing themselves through service to others. Convert communities, by embracing Buddhism, have embarked on social transformations, including a decline in alcoholism, a simplification of marriage ceremonies and abolition of ruinous marriage expenses, a greater emphasis on education, and a heightened sense of identity and self-worth. The Tradition of the Enlightened Master A number of avowedly Hindu monastic communities have grown up over time and adopted some of the characteristics associated with early Buddhism and Jainism, while remaining dedicated to the Hindu philosophical traditions. One of the oldest and most respected of the Hindu orders traces its origin to the teacher Shankara (788-820), believed by many devotees to have lived hundreds of years earlier. Shankara's philosophy is a primary source of Vedanta, or the "End of the Veda," the final commentary on revealed truth, which is one of the most influential trends in modern Hinduism. His interpretation of the Upanishads portrays brahman as absolutely one and without qualities. The phenomenal world is illusion (maya ), which the embodied soul must transcend in order to achieve oneness with brahman . As a wandering monk, Shankara traveled throughout India, combating Buddhist atheism and founding five seats of learning at Badrinath (Uttar Pradesh), Dwaraka (Gujarat), Puri (Orissa), Sringeri (Karnataka), and Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu). In the 1990s, those seats are still held by successors to Shankara's philosophy (Shankara Acharyas), who head an order of orange-clad monks that is highly respected by the Hindu community throughout India. Activities of the acharyas , including their periodic trips away from their home monasteries to visit and preach to devotees, receive exposure in regional and national media. Their conservative viewpoints and pronouncements on a variety of topics, although not binding on most believers, attract considerable public attention. The initiation of a renunciant usually depends on the judgment of an acharya who determines whether a candidate is dedicated and prepared or not; he then gives to the disciple training and instructions including the initiate's own secret formula or mantra. After initiation, the disciple may remain with his teacher or in a monastery for an indefinite period or may wander forth in a variety of careers. The Ramanandi order in North India, for example, includes holy men (sadhus) who practice ascetic disciplines, militant members of fortified temples, and priests in charge of temple administration and ritual. There are other orders of renunciants who lead still more austere existences, including naked ascetics who wander begging for their food and assemble for spectacular parades at major festivals. A few dedicated seekers still withdraw to the fastness of the Himalayas or other remote spots and work on their meditation and yoga in total obscurity. Others beg in populated areas, sometimes engaging in fierce austerities such as piercing their bodies with pins and knives. They are a reminder to all people that the path of renunciation waits for anyone who has the dedication and the courage to leave the world behind. Another kind of renunciation appears in the cult of Sai Baba, who achieved national and international fame in the twentieth century. The first person known by this name was a holy man--Sai Baba (died 1918)--who appeared in 1872 in Maharashtra and lived a humble life that blended meditation and devotional techniques from a variety of sources. This saint has a small but dedicated following throughout India. A later incarnation was Satya Sai Baba (satya means true), born in 1926 in Andhra Pradesh. At age thirteen, he experienced the first of several seizures that resulted in a changed personality and intense devotional activity, leading to his statement that he is the second incarnation of Sai Baba. By 1950 he had set up a retreat at Puttaparti in what later became Andhra Pradesh and was accepting disciples. His fame spread along with numerous apocryphal stories of his ability to perform miracles, including the manifestation of sacred ash and, according to some accounts, watches or other objects, from thin air or from his own body. The cult has expanded to include publishing, social service, and education institutions and includes an international association of thousands of believers. Devotion to Satya Sai Baba does not preclude attachment to other religious observances but concentrates instead on worship and veneration of the holy man himself, often in the form of a photograph. Thousands of pilgrims have traveled to his retreat annually to participate in group activities, obtain mementos, and perhaps a view of the teacher himself. The next important transition in life is marriage. For most people in India, the betrothal of the young couple and the exact date and time of the wedding are matters decided by the parents in consultation with astrologers. At Hindu weddings, the bride and bridegroom represent the god and the goddess, although there is a parallel tradition that sees the groom as a prince coming to wed his princess. The groom, decked in all his finery, often travels to the wedding site on a caparisoned white horse or in an open limousine, accompanied by a procession of relatives, musicians, and bearers of ornate electrified lamps. The actual ceremonies in many cases become extremely elaborate, but orthodox Hindu marriages typically have at their center the recitation of mantras by priests. In a crucial rite, the new couple take seven steps northward from a sacred household fire, turn, and make offerings into the flames. Independent traditions in regional languages and among different caste groups support wide variations in ritual (see Life Passages, ch. 5). After the death of a family member, the relatives become involved in ceremonies for preparation of the body and a procession to the burning or burial ground. For most Hindus, cremation is the ideal method for dealing with the dead, although many groups practice burial instead; infants are buried rather than cremated. At the funeral site, in the presence of the male mourners, the closest relative of the deceased (usually the eldest son) takes charge of the final rite and, if it is cremation, lights the funeral pyre. After a cremation, ashes and fragments of bone are collected and eventually immersed in a holy river. After a funeral, everyone undergoes a purifying bath. The immediate family remains in a state of intense pollution for a set number of days (sometimes ten, eleven, or thirteen). At the end of that period, close family members meet for a ceremonial meal and often give gifts to the poor or to charities. A particular feature of the Hindu ritual is the preparation of rice balls (pinda ) offered to the spirit of the dead person during memorial services. In part these ceremonies are seen as contributing to the merit of the deceased, but they also pacify the soul so that it will not linger in this world as a ghost but will pass through the realm of Yama, the god of death. Early leadership controversies within the Muslim community led to divisions that still have an impact on the body of believers. When Muhammad died, leadership fell to his father-in-law, Abu Bakr, who became the first caliph (khalifa , or successor), a position that combined spiritual and secular power. A separate group advocated the leadership of Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, who had married his daughter Fatima. Leadership could have fallen to Ali's son Husayn, but, in the power struggle that followed, in 680 Husayn and seventy-two followers were murdered at Karbala (now in modern Iraq). This leadership dispute formed the most crucial dividing point in Islamic history: the victorious party went on to found the Umayyad Dynasty (661-750), which had its headquarters at Damascus, leading the majority of Muslims in the Sunni path. The disaffected Shiat Ali (or Party of Ali) viewed only his line as legitimate and continued to follow descendants of Husayn as their leader (imam--see Glossary). Among the followers of this Shia (see Glossary) path, there is a party of "Seveners" who trace the lineage of imams down to Ismail (d. 762), the Seventh Imam and eldest son of the Sixth Imam. The Ismailis are the largest Shia group in India, and are concentrated in Maharashtra and Gujarat. A second group, the "Twelvers" (the most numerous Shia group worldwide), traces the lineage of imams through twelve generations, believing that the last or Twelfth Imam became "hidden" and will reappear in the world as a savior, or Mahdi, at some time in the future. The division between Sunni and Shia dates back to purely political struggles in the seventh century, but over time between the two major communities many divisive differences in ritual and legal interpretations have evolved. The vast majority of Muslims are Sunni, and in contemporary India 90 percent of Muslims follow this path. Sunnis have recognized no legitimate caliph after the position was abolished in Turkey in 1924, placing the direction of the community clearly with the ulama. Public worship for the average Muslim consists of going to a mosque (masjid )--normally on Fridays, although mosques are well attended throughout the week--for congregational prayers led by a local imam, following the public call to prayer, which may be intoned from the top of a minaret (minar ) at the mosque. After leaving their footwear at the door, men and women separate; men usually sit in front, women in back, either inside the mosque or in an open courtyard. The prayer leader gives a sermon in the local regional language, perhaps interspersed with Arabic or Farsi (sometimes called Persian or Parsi) quotations, depending on his learning and the sophistication of the audience. Announcements of events of interest that may include political commentary are often included. Then follow common prayers that involve responses from the worshipers who stand, bow, and kneel in unison during devotions. Islamic Traditions in South Asia Muslims practice a series of life-cycle rituals that differ from those of Hindus, Jains, or Buddhists. The newborn baby has the call to prayer whispered into the left ear, the profession of faith whispered into the right ear, honey or date paste placed in the mouth, and a name selected. On the sixth day after birth, the first bath occurs. On the seventh day or a multiple of the seventh, the head is shaved, and alms are distributed, ideally in silver weighing as much as the hair; a sacrifice of animals imitates the sheep sacrificed instead of Ishmael (Ismail) in biblical times. Religious instruction starts at age four years, four months, and four days, beginning with the standard phrase: "In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful." Male circumcision takes place between the ages of seven and twelve. Marriage requires a payment by the husband to the wife and the solemnization of a marital contract in a social gathering. Marriage ceremonies include the donning of a nose ring by the bride, or in South India a wedding necklace, and the procession of the bridegroom. In a traditional wedding, males and females attend ceremonies in different rooms, in keeping with the segregation of sexes in most social settings. After death the family members wash and enshroud the body, after which it is buried as prayers from the Quran are recited. On the third day, friends and relatives come to console the bereaved, read the Quran, and pray for the soul of the deceased. The family observe a mourning period of up to forty days. The annual festivals of Islam are based on a lunar calendar of 354 days, which makes the Islamic holy year independent of the Gregorian calendar. Muslim festivals make a complete circuit of the solar year every thirty-three years. The beginning of the Islamic calendar is the month of Muharram, the tenth day of which is Ashura, the anniversary of the death of Husayn, the son of Ali. Ashura, a major holiday, is of supreme importance for the Shia. Devotees engage in ritualized mourning that may include processions of colorful replicas of Husayn's tomb at Karbala and standards with palms on top, which are carried by barefoot mourners and buried at an imitation Karbala. In many areas of India, these parades provide a dramatic spectacle that draws large numbers of non-Muslim onlookers. Demonstrations of grief may include bouts of self-flagellation that can draw blood and may take place in public streets, although many families retain personal mourning houses. Sunni Muslims may also commemorate Husayn's death but in a less demonstrative manner, concentrating instead on the redemptive aspect of his martyrdom. The last day of Ramazan is Id al Fitr (Feast of Breaking the Fast), another national holiday, which ends the month of fasting with almsgiving, services in mosques, and visits to friends and neighbors. Bakr Id, or Id al Zuha (Feast of Sacrifice), begins on the tenth day of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijjah and is a major holiday. Prescribed in the Quran, Id al Zuha commemorates Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice Ishmael (rather than Ishaq--Isaac--as in the Judeo-Christian tradition) according to God's command, but it is also the high point of the pilgrim's ritual cycle while on the hajj in Mecca. All of these festivals involve large feasts, gifts given to family and neighbors, and the distribution of food for charitable purposes. A significant aspect of Islam in India is the importance of shrines attached to the memory of great Sufi saints. Sufism is a mystical path (tariqat ) as distinct from the path of the sharia. A Sufi attains a direct vision of oneness with God, often on the edges of orthodox behavior, and can thus become a pir (living saint) who may take on disciples (murids ) and set up a spiritual lineage that can last for generations. Orders of Sufis became important in India during the thirteenth century following the ministry of Muinuddin Chishti (1142-1236), who settled in Ajmer, Rajasthan, and attracted large numbers of converts to Islam because of his holiness. His Chishtiyya order went on to become the most influential Sufi lineage in India, although other orders from Central Asia and Southwest Asia also reached to India and played a large role in the spread of Islam. Many Sufis were well known for weaving music, dance, intoxicants, and local folktales into their songs and lectures. In this way, they created a large literature in regional languages that embedded Islamic culture deeply into older South Asian traditions. In the case of many great teachers, the memory of their holiness has been so intense that they are still viewed as active intercessors with God, and their tombs have become the site of rites and prayers by disciples and lay people alike. Tales of miraculous deeds associated with the tombs of great saints have attracted large numbers of pilgrims attempting to gain cures for physical maladies or solutions to personal problems. The tomb of the pir thus becomes a dargah (gateway) to God and the focus for a wide range of rituals, such as daily washing and decoration by professional attendants, touching or kissing the tomb or contact with the water that has washed it, hanging petitions on the walls of the shrine surrounding the tomb, lighting incense, and giving money. The descendants of the original pir are sometimes seen as inheritors of his spiritual energy, and, as pirs in their own right, they might dispense amulets sanctified by contact with them or with the tomb. The annual celebration of the pir 's death is a major event at important shrines, attracting hundreds of thousands of devotees for celebrations that may last for days. Free communal kitchens and distribution of sweets are also big attractions of these festivals, at which Muslim fakirs, or wandering ascetics, sometimes appear and where public demonstrations of self-mortification, such as miraculous piercing of the body and spiritual possession of devotees, sometimes occur. Every region of India can boast of at least one major Sufi shrine that attracts expressive devotion, which remains important, especially for Muslim women. The leadership of the Muslim community has pursued various directions in the evolution of Indian Islam during the twentieth century. The most conservative wing has typically rested on the education system provided by the hundreds of religious training institutes (madrasa ) throughout the country, which have tended to stress the study of the Quran and Islamic texts in Arabic and Persian, and have focused little on modern managerial and technical skills (see Education and Society, ch. 2). Several national movements have emerged from this sector of the Muslim community. The Jamaati Islami (Islamic Party), founded in 1941, advocates the establishment of an overtly Islamic government through peaceful, democratic, and nonmissionary activities. It had about 3,000 active members and 40,000 sympathizers in the mid-1980s. The Tablighi Jamaat (Outreach Society) became active after the 1940s as a movement, primarily among the ulama, stressing personal renewal, prayer, a missionary and cooperative spirit, and attention to orthodoxy. It has been highly critical of the kind of activities that occur in and around Sufi shrines and remains a minor if respected force in the training of the ulama. Other ulama have upheld the legitimacy of mass religion, including exaltation of pirs and the memory of the Prophet. A powerful secularizing drive led to the founding of Aligarh Muslim University (founded in 1875 as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College)--with its modern curriculum--and other major Muslim universities. This educational drive has remained the most dominant force in guiding the Muslim community. The constitution's Eighth Schedule, as amended by Parliament in 1992, lists eighteen official or Scheduled Languages (see Glossary). They are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. (Precise numbers of speakers of these languages are not known. They were not reported in the 1991 census, and estimates are subject to considerable variation because of the use of multiple languages by individual speakers.) Of the official languages, approximately 403 million people, or about 43 percent of the estimated total 1995 population, speak Hindi as their mother tongue. Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, and Tamil rank next, each the mother tongue of about 4 to 5 percent (about 37 million to 47 million people); Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, and Oriya are claimed by between 2 and 3 percent (roughly 19 million to 28 million people); Bhojpuri, Punjabi, and Assamese by 1 to 2 percent (9 million to 19 million people); and all other languages by less than 1 percent (less than 9 million speakers) each. Since independence in 1947, linguistic affinity has served as a basis for organizing interest groups; the "language question" itself has become an increasingly sensitive political issue. Efforts to reach a consensus on a single national language that transcends the myriad linguistic regions and is acceptable to diverse language communities have been largely unsuccessful. Many Indian nationalists originally intended that Hindi would replace English--the language of British rule (1757-1947)--as a medium of common communication. Both Hindi and English are extensively used, and each has its own supporters. Native speakers of Hindi, who are concentrated in North India, contend that English, as a relic from the colonial past and spoken by only a small fraction of the population, is hopelessly elitist and unsuitable as the nation's official language. Proponents of English argue, in contrast, that the use of Hindi is unfair because it is a liability for those Indians who do not speak it as their native tongue. English, they say, at least represents an equal handicap for Indians of every region. English continues to serve as the language of prestige. Efforts to switch to Hindi or other regional tongues encounter stiff opposition both from those who know English well and whose privileged position requires proficiency in that tongue and from those who see it as a means of upward mobility. Partisans of English also maintain it is useful and indeed necessary as a link to the rest of the world, that India is lucky that the colonial period left a language that is now the world's predominant international language in the fields of culture, science, technology, and commerce. They hold, too, that widespread knowledge of English is necessary for technological and economic progress and that reducing its role would leave India a backwater in world affairs. Linguistic diversity is apparent on a variety of levels. Major regional languages have stylized literary forms, often with an extensive body of literature, which may date back from a few centuries to two millennia ago. These literary languages differ markedly from the spoken forms and village dialects that coexist with a plethora of caste idioms and regional lingua francas (see Village Unity and Divisiveness, ch. 5). Part of the reason for such linguistic diversity lies in the complex social realities of South Asia. India's languages reflect the intricate levels of social hierarchy and caste. Individuals have in their speech repertoire a variety of styles and dialects appropriate to various social situations. In general, the higher the speaker's status, the more speech forms there are at his or her disposal. Speech is adapted in countless ways to reflect the specific social context and the relative standing of the speakers. Determining what should be called a language or a dialect is more a political than a linguistic question. Sometimes the word language is applied to a standardized and prestigious form, recognized as such over a large geographic area, whereas the word dialect is used for the various forms of speech that lack prestige or that are restricted to certain regions or castes but are still regarded as forms of the same language. Sometimes mutual intelligibility is the criterion: if the speakers can understand each other, even though with some difficulty, they are speaking the same language, although they may speak different dialects. However, speakers of Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi can often understand each other, yet they are regarded as speakers of different languages. Whether or not one thinks Konkani--spoken in Goa, Karnataka, and the Konkan region of Maharashtra--is a distinct language or a dialect of Marathi has tended to be linked with whether or not one thinks Goa ought to be merged with Maharashtra. The question has been settled from the central government's point of view by making Goa a state and Konkani a Scheduled Language. Moreover, the fact that the Latin script is predominantly used for Konkani separates it further from Marathi, which uses the Devanagari (see Glossary) script. However, Konkani is also sometimes written in Devanagari and Kannada scripts. Regional languages are an issue in the politically charged atmosphere surrounding language policy. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, attempts were made to redraw state boundaries to coincide with linguistic usage. Such efforts have had mixed results. Linguistic affinity has often failed to overcome other social and economic differences. In addition, most states have linguistic minorities, and questions surrounding the definition and use of the official language in those regions are fraught with controversy. States have been accused of failure to fulfill their obligations under the national constitution to provide for the education of linguistic minorities in their mother tongues, even when the minority language is a Scheduled Language. Although the constitution requires that legal documents and petitions may be submitted in any of the Scheduled Languages to any government authority, this right is rarely exercised. Under such circumstances, members of linguistic minorities may feel they and their language are oppressed by the majority, while people who are among linguistic majorities may feel threatened by what some might consider minor concessions. Thus, attempts to make seemingly minor accommodations for social diversity may have extensive and volatile ramifications. For example, in 1994 a proposal in Bangalore to introduce an Urdu-language television news segment (aimed primarily at Muslim viewers) led to a week of urban riots that left dozens dead and millions of dollars in property damage. The central issue in the link-language controversy has been and remains whether Hindi should replace English. Proponents of Hindi as the link language assert that English is a foreign tongue left over from the British Raj (see Glossary). English is used fluently only by a small, privileged segment of the population; the role of English in public life and governmental affairs constitutes an effective bar to social mobility and further democratization. Hindi, in this view, is not only already spoken by a sizable minority of all Indians but also would be easier to spread because it would be more congenial to the cultural habits of the people. On the other hand, Dravidian-speaking southerners in particular feel that a switch to Hindi in the well-paid, nationwide bureaucracies, such as the Indian Administrative Service, the military, and other forms of national service would give northerners an unfair advantage in gov-ernment examinations (see The Civil Service, ch. 8). If the learning of English is burdensome, they argue, at least the burden weighs equally on Indians from all parts of the country. In the meantime, an increasing percentage of Indians send their children to private English-medium schools, to help assure their offspring a chance at high-privilege positions in business, education, the professions, and government. Before independence in 1947, the Congress was committed to redrawing state boundaries to correspond with linguistics. The States Reorganisation Commission, which was formed in 1953 to study the problems involved in redrawing state boundaries, viewed language as an important, although by no means the sole, factor. Other factors, such as economic viability and geographic realities, had to be taken into account. The commission issued its report in 1955; the government's request for comments from the populace generated a flood of petitions and letters. The final bill, passed in 1956 and amended several times in the 1960s, by no means resolved even the individual states' linguistic problems. Even regions with a long history of agitation for a linguistic state sometimes have found the actual transition less than smooth. For example, proponents began lobbying for a Te-lugu-speaking state in the early twentieth century. In 1956 the central government formed a single state, Andhra Pradesh, composed of the predominantly Telugu-speaking parts of what in British India had been the Madras Presidency and the large polyglot princely state of Hyderabad. Although more than 80 percent of the residents (some 53 million people as of 1991) of Andhra Pradesh speak Telugu, like most linguistic states it has a sizable linguistic minority. In this case, the minority consists of Urdu speakers centered in the state's capital, Hyderabad, where nearly 40 percent (some 1.7 million people in 1991) of the population speak that language. Linguistic affinity did not form a firm basis for unity between the two regions from which the state had been formed because they were separated by cultural and economic differences. Although there were riots in the late 1960s and early 1970s in support of the formation of two separate states, the separation did not occur. The violence that broke out in the state of Assam in the early 1980s reflected the complexities of linguistic and ethnic politics in South Asia (see Political Issues, ch. 8). The state has a significant number of Bengali-speaking Muslims--immigrants and their descendants who began settling the region in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Muslims came in response to a British-initiated colonization plan to bring under cultivation land left fallow by the Assamese. By the 1931 census, the Assamese not only had lost a hefty portion of their land but also had become a disadvantaged minority in their traditional homeland. They represented less than 33 percent of the total population of Assam, and the Muslim immigrants (who accounted for roughly 25 percent of the population) dominated commerce and the government bureaucracy. Assamese-Bengali rioting started in 1950, and in the 1951 census many Bengalis listed Assamese as their native tongue in an effort to placate the Assamese. Further immigration of Bengali speakers after the formation of Bangladesh in 1971 and a resurgence of pro-Bengali feeling among earlier immigrants and their descendants reawakened Assamese fears of being outnumbered. Renewed violence in the early and mid-1980s was sufficiently serious for the central government to avoid holding general elections in Assam during December 1984 (see Insurgent Movements and External Subversion, ch. 10). Only around 3 percent of the population (about 28 million people in 1995) is truly fluent in both English and an Indian language. By necessity, a substantial minority are able to speak two Indian languages; even in the so-called linguistic states, there are minorities who do not speak the official language as their native tongue and must therefore learn it as a second language. Many tribal people are bilingual. Rural-urban migrants are frequently bilingual in the regional standard language as well as in their village dialect. In Bombay, for example, many migrants speak Hindi or Marathi in addition to their native tongue. Religious celebrations, popular festivals, and political meetings are typically carried on in the regional language, which may be unintelligible to many attendees. Bilingualism in India, however, is inextricably linked to social context. South Asia's long history of foreign rule has fostered what Clarence Maloney terms "the linguistic flight of the elite." Language--either Sanskrit, Persian, or English--has formed a barrier to advancement that only a few have been fortunate enough to overcome. Throughout the twentieth century, radio, television, and the print media have fostered standardization of regional dialects, if only to facilitate communication. Linguistic standardization has contributed to ethnic or regional differentiation insofar as language has served as a cultural marker. Mass communication forces the adoption of a single standard regional tongue; typically, the choice is the dialect of the majority in the region or of the region's preeminent business or cultural center. The use of less standard forms clearly labels speakers outside their immediate home base. To fulfill its purposes, the regional language must be standardized and taught to an increasing percentage of the population, thereby encroaching both on its own dialects and the minority languages of the region. The language of instruction and administration affects the economic and career interests and the self-respect of an ever-greater proportion of the population. These gyrations of census data serve to underline the complex relationship between caste and tribe. Although, in theory, these terms represent different ways of life and ideal types, in reality they stand for a continuum of social groups. In areas of substantial contact between tribes and castes, social and cultural pressures have often tended to move tribes in the direction of becoming castes over a period of years. Tribal peoples with ambitions for social advancement in Indian society at large have tried to gain the classification of caste for their tribes; such efforts conform to the ancient Indian traditions of caste mobility (see Caste and Class, ch. 5). Where tribal leaders prospered, they could hire Brahman priests to construct credible pedigrees and thereby join reasonably high-status castes. On occasion, an entire tribe or part of a tribe joined a Hindu sect and thus entered the caste system en masse. If a specific tribe engaged in practices that Hindus deemed polluting, the tribe's status when it was assimilated into the caste hierarchy would be affected. Since independence, however, the special benefits available to Scheduled Tribes have convinced many groups, even Hindus and Muslims, that they will enjoy greater advantages if so designated. The schedule gives tribal people incentives to maintain their identity. By the same token, the schedule also includes a number of groups whose "tribal" status, in cultural terms, is dubious at best; in various districts, the list includes Muslims and a congeries of Hindu castes whose main claim seems to be their ability to deliver votes to the party that arranges their listing among the Scheduled Tribes. A number of traits have customarily been seen as establishing tribal rather than caste identity. These include language, social organization, religious affiliation, economic patterns, geographic location, and self-identification. Recognized tribes typically live in hilly regions somewhat remote from caste settlements; they generally speak a language recognized as tribal. Unlike castes, which are part of a complex and interrelated local economic exchange system, tribes tend to form self-sufficient economic units. Often they practice swidden farming--clearing a field by slash-and-burn methods, planting it for a number of seasons, and then abandoning it for a lengthy fallow period--rather than the intensive farming typical of most of rural India (see Land Use, ch. 7). For most tribal people, land-use rights traditionally derive simply from tribal membership. Tribal society tends to be egalitarian, its leadership being based on ties of kinship and personality rather than on hereditary status. Tribes typically consist of segmentary lineages whose extended families provide the basis for social organization and control. Unlike caste religion, which recognizes the hegemony of Brahman priests, tribal religion recognizes no authority outside the tribe. Any of these criteria can be called into question in specific instances. Language is not always an accurate indicator of tribal or caste status. Especially in regions of mixed population, many tribal groups have lost their mother tongues and simply speak local or regional languages. Linguistic assimilation is an ongoing process of considerable complexity. In the highlands of Orissa, for example, the Bondos--a Munda-language-speaking tribe--use their own tongue among themselves. Oriya, however, serves as a lingua franca in dealings with Hindu neighbors. Oriya as a prestige language (in the Bondo view), however, has also supplanted the native tongue as the language of ritual. In parts of Assam, historically divided into warring tribes and villages, increased contact among villagers began during the colonial period and has accelerated since independence. A pidgin Assamese developed while educated tribal members learned Hindi and, in the late twentieth century, English. Self-identification and group loyalty are not unfailing markers of tribal identity either. In the case of stratified tribes, the loyalties of clan, kin, and family may well predominate over those of tribe. In addition, tribes cannot always be viewed as people living apart; the degree of isolation of various tribes has varied tremendously. The Gonds, Santals, and Bhils traditionally have dominated the regions in which they have lived. Moreover, tribal society is not always more egalitarian than the rest of the rural populace; some of the larger tribes, such as the Gonds, are highly stratified. Economic and Political Conditions Most tribes are concentrated in heavily forested areas that combine inaccessibility with limited political or economic significance. Historically, the economy of most tribes was subsistence agriculture or hunting and gathering. Tribal members traded with outsiders for the few necessities they lacked, such as salt and iron. A few local Hindu craftsmen might provide such items as cooking utensils. The twentieth century, however, has seen far-reaching changes in the relationship between tribals and the larger society and, by extension, traditional tribal economies. Improved transportation and communications have brought ever deeper intrusions into tribal lands; merchants and a variety of government policies have involved tribal peoples more thoroughly in the cash economy, although by no means on the most favorable of terms. Large areas fell into the hands of nontribals around 1900, when many regions were opened by the government to homestead-style settlement. Immigrants received free land in return for cultivating it. Tribal people, too, could apply for land titles, although even title to the portion of land they happened to be planting that season could not guarantee their ability to continue swidden cultivation. More important, the notion of permanent, individual ownership of land was foreign to most tribals. Land, if seen in terms of ownership at all, was viewed as a communal resource, free to whoever needed it. By the time tribals accepted the necessity of obtaining formal land titles, they had lost the opportunity to lay claim to lands that might rightfully have been considered theirs. Generally, tribals were severely disadvantaged in dealing with government officials who granted land titles. Albeit belatedly, the colonial regime realized the necessity of protecting tribals from the predations of outsiders and prohibited the sale of tribal lands. Although an important loophole in the form of land leases was left open, tribes made some gains in the mid-twentieth century. Despite considerable obstruction by local police and land officials, who were slow to delineate tribal holdings and slower still to offer police protection, some land was returned to tribal peoples. In the 1970s, the gains tribal peoples had made in earlier decades were eroded in many regions, especially in central India. Migration into tribal lands increased dramatically, and the deadly combination of constabulary and revenue officers uninterested in tribal welfare and sophisticated nontribals willing and able to bribe local officials was sufficient to deprive many tribals of their landholdings. The means of subverting protective legislation were legion: local officials could be persuaded to ignore land acquisition by nontribal people, alter land registry records, lease plots of land for short periods and then simply refuse to relinquish them, or induce tribal members to become indebted and attach their lands. Whatever the means, the result was that many tribal members became landless laborers in the 1960s and 1970s, and regions that a few years earlier had been the exclusive domain of tribes had an increasingly heterogeneous population. Unlike previous eras in which tribal people were shunted into more remote forests, by the 1960s relatively little unoccupied land was available. Government efforts to evict nontribal members from illegal occupation have proceeded slowly; when evictions occur at all, those ejected are usually members of poor, lower castes. In a 1985 publication, anthropologist Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf describes this process in Andhra Pradesh: on average only 25 to 33 percent of the tribal families in such villages had managed to keep even a portion of their holdings. Outsiders had paid about 5 percent of the market value of the lands they took. Improved communications, roads with motorized traffic, and more frequent government intervention figured in the increased contact that tribal peoples had with outsiders. Tribes fared best where there was little to induce nontribals to settle; cash crops and commercial highways frequently signaled the dismemberment of the tribes. Merchants have long been a link to the outside world, but in the past they were generally petty traders, and the contact they had with tribal people was transient. By the 1960s and 1970s, the resident nontribal shopkeeper was a permanent feature of many villages. Shopkeepers often sold liquor on credit, enticing tribal members into debt and into mortgaging their land. In the past, tribes made up shortages before harvest by foraging from the surrounding forest. More recently shopkeepers have offered ready credit--with the proviso that loans be repaid in kind with 50 to 100 percent interest after harvest. Repaying one bag of millet with two bags has set up a cycle of indebtedness from which many have been unable to break loose. The possibility of cultivators growing a profitable cash crop, such as cotton or castor-oil plants, continues to draw merchants into tribal areas. Nontribal traders frequently establish an extensive network of relatives and associates as shopkeepers to serve as agents in a number of villages. Cultivators who grow a cash crop often sell to the same merchants, who provide consumption credit throughout the year. The credit carries a high-interest price tag, whereas the tribal peoples' crops are bought at a fraction of the market rate. Cash crops offer a further disadvantage in that they decrease the supply of available foodstuffs and increase tribal dependence on economic forces beyond their control. This transformation has meant a decline in both the tribes' security and their standard of living. In previous generations, families might have purchased silver jewelry as a form of security; contemporary tribal people are more likely to buy minor consumer goods. Whereas jewelry could serve as collateral in critical emergencies, current purchases simply increase indebtedness. In areas where gathering forest products is remunerative, merchants exchange their products for tribal labor. Indebtedness is so extensive that although such transactions are illegal, traders sometimes "sell" their debtors to other merchants, much like indentured servants. In some instances, tribes have managed to hold their own in contacts with outsiders. Some Chenchus, a hunting and gathering tribe of the central hill regions of Andhra Pradesh, have continued to specialize in collecting forest products for sale. Caste Hindus living among them rent land from the Chenchus and pay a portion of the harvest. The Chenchus themselves have responded unenthusiastically to government efforts to induce them to take up farming. Their relationship to nontribal people has been one of symbiosis, although there were indications in the early 1980s that other groups were beginning to compete with the Chenchus in gathering forest products. A large paper mill was cutting bamboo in their territory in a manner that did not allow regeneration, and two groups had begun to collect for sale the same products the Chenchus sell. Dalits settled among them with the help of the Chenchus and learned agriculture from them. The nomadic Banjara herders who graze their cattle in the forest also have been allotted land there. The Chenchus have a certain advantage in dealing with caste Hindus; because of their long association with Hindu hermits and their refusal to eat beef, they are considered an unpolluted caste. Other tribes, particularly in South India, have cultural practices that are offensive to Hindus and, when they are assimilated, are often considered Dalits. The final blow for some tribes has come when nontribals, through political jockeying, have managed to gain legal tribal status, that is, to be listed as a Scheduled Tribe. The Gonds of Andhra Pradesh effectively lost their only advantage in trying to protect their lands when the Banjaras, a group that had been settling in Gond territory, were classified as a Scheduled Tribe in 1977. Their newly acquired tribal status made the Banjaras eligible to acquire Gond land "legally" and to compete with Gonds for reserved political seats, places in education institutions, and other benefits. Because the Banjaras are not scheduled in neighboring Maharashtra, there has been an influx of Banjara emigrants from that state into Andhra Pradesh in search of better opportunities. Tribes in the Himalayan foothills have not been as hard-pressed by the intrusions of nontribals. Historically, their political status was always distinct from the rest of India. Until the British colonial period, there was little effective control by any of the empires centered in peninsular India; the region was populated by autonomous feuding tribes. The British, in efforts to protect the sensitive northeast frontier, followed a policy dubbed the "Inner Line"; nontribal people were allowed into the areas only with special permission. Postindependence governments have continued the policy, protecting the Himalayan tribes as part of the strategy to secure the border with China (see Principal Regions, ch. 2). This policy has generally saved the northern tribes from the kind of exploitation that those elsewhere in South Asia have suffered. In Arunachal Pradesh (formerly part of the North-East Frontier Agency), for example, tribal members control commerce and most lower-level administrative posts. Government construction projects in the region have provided tribes with a significant source of cash--both for setting up businesses and for providing paying customers. Some tribes have made rapid progress through the education system. Instruction was begun in Assamese but was eventually changed to Hindi; by the early 1980s, English was taught at most levels. Both education and the increase in ready cash from government spending have permitted tribal people a significant measure of social mobility. The role of early missionaries in providing education was also crucial in Assam. Government policies on forest reserves have affected tribal peoples profoundly. Wherever the state has chosen to exploit forests, it has seriously undermined the tribes' way of life. Government efforts to reserve forests have precipitated armed (if futile) resistance on the part of the tribal peoples involved. Intensive exploitation of forests has often meant allowing outsiders to cut large areas of trees (while the original tribal inhabitants were restricted from cutting), and ultimately replacing mixed forests capable of sustaining tribal life with single-product plantations. Where forests are reserved, nontribals have proved far more sophisticated than their forest counterparts at bribing the necessary local officials to secure effective (if extralegal) use of forestlands. The system of bribing local officials charged with enforcing the reserves is so well established that the rates of bribery are reasonably fixed (by the number of plows a farmer uses or the amount of grain harvested). Tribal people often end up doing unpaid work for Hindus simply because a caste Hindu, who has paid the requisite bribe, can at least ensure a tribal member that he or she will not be evicted from forestlands. The final irony, notes von Fürer-Haimendorf, is that the swidden cultivation many tribes practiced had maintained South Asia's forests, whereas the intensive cultivating and commercial interests that replaced the tribal way of life have destroyed the forests (see Forestry, ch. 7). Extending the system of primary education into tribal areas and reserving places for tribal children in middle and high schools and higher education institutions are central to government policy, but efforts to improve a tribe's educational status have had mixed results (see Education, ch. 2). Recruitment of qualified teachers and determination of the appropriate language of instruction also remain troublesome. Commission after commission on the "language question" has called for instruction, at least at the primary level, in the students' native tongue. In some regions, tribal children entering school must begin by learning the official regional language, often one completely unrelated to their tribal tongue. The experiences of the Gonds of Andhra Pradesh provide an example. Primary schooling began there in the 1940s and 1950s. The government selected a group of Gonds who had managed to become semiliterate in Telugu and taught them the basics of written script. These individuals became teachers who taught in Gondi, and their efforts enjoyed a measure of success until the 1970s, when state policy demanded instruction in Telugu. The switch in the language of instruction both made the Gond teachers superfluous because they could not teach in Telugu and also presented the government with the problem of finding reasonably qualified teachers willing to teach in outlying tribal schools. The commitment of tribes to acquiring a formal education for their children varies considerably. Tribes differ in the extent to which they view education positively. Gonds and Pardhans, two groups in the central hill region, are a case in point. The Gonds are cultivators, and they frequently are reluctant to send their children to school, needing them, they say, to work in the fields. The Pardhans were traditionally bards and ritual specialists, and they have taken to education with enthusiasm. The effectiveness of educational policy likewise varies by region. In those parts of the northeast where tribes have generally been spared the wholesale onslaught of outsiders, schooling has helped tribal people to secure political and economic benefits. The education system there has provided a corps of highly trained tribal members in the professions and high-ranking administrative posts. Many tribal schools are plagued by high dropout rates. Children attend for the first three to four years of primary school and gain a smattering of knowledge, only to lapse into illiteracy later. Few who enter continue up to the tenth grade; of those who do, few manage to finish high school. Therefore, very few are eligible to attend institutions of higher education, where the high rate of attrition continues. Practices The influx of newcomers disinclined to follow tribal ways has had a massive impact on social relations and tribal belief systems. In many communities, the immigrants have brought on nothing less than the total disintegration of the communities they entered. Even where outsiders are not residents in villages, traditional forms of social control and authority are less effective because tribal people are patently dependent on politico-economic forces beyond their control. In general, traditional headmen no longer have official backing for their role in village affairs, although many continue to exercise considerable influence. Headmen can no longer control the allocation of land or decide who has the right to settle in the village, a loss of power that has had an insidious effect on village solidarity. Some headmen have taken to leasing village land to outsiders, thus enriching themselves at the expense of the rest of the tribes. Conflict over land rights has introduced a point of cleavage into village social relations; increased factional conflict has seriously eroded the ability of tribes to ward off the intrusion of outsiders. In some villages, tribal schoolteachers have emerged as a new political force, a counterbalance to the traditional headman. Changes in landholding patterns have also altered the role of the joint family. More and more couples set up separate households as soon as they marry. Because land is no longer held and farmed in common and has grown more scarce, inheritance disputes have increased. Hunters and gatherers are particularly vulnerable to these far-reaching changes. The lack of strong authority figures in most hunting and gathering groups handicaps these tribes in organizing to negotiate with the government. In addition, these tribes are too small to have much political leverage. Forced settlement schemes also have had a deleterious impact on the tribes and their environment. Government-organized villages are typically larger than traditional hunting and gathering settlements. Forest reserves limit the amount of territory over which tribes can range freely. Larger villages and smaller territories have led, in some instances, to an increase in crime and violence. Traditionally, hunters and gatherers "settled" their disputes by arranging for the antagonists simply to avoid one another; new, more circumscribed villages preclude this arrangement. Tribal beliefs and rituals have altered in the face of increased contact with Hindus and missionaries of a variety of persuasions (see Tribal Religions, ch. 3). Among groups in more intense contact with the Hindu majority, there have been various transformations. The Gonds, for example, traditionally worshiped clan gods through elaborate rites, with Pardhans organizing and performing the necessary rituals. The increasing impoverishment of large sections of the Gond tribe has made it difficult, if not impossible, to support the Pardhans as a class of ritual specialists. At the same time, many Gonds have concluded that the tribal gods were losing their power and efficacy. Gonds have tended to seek the assistance of other deities, and thus there has been widespread Hinduization of Gondi belief and practice. Some tribes have adopted the Hindu practice of having costly elaborate weddings--a custom that contributes to indebtedness (as it has in many rural Indian families) and subjects them to the cash economy on the most deleterious of terms. Some families have adapted a traditional marriage pattern--that of capturing a bride--to modern conditions, using the custom to avoid the costly outlays associated with a formal wedding. Christian missionaries have been active among sundry tribes since the mid-nineteenth century. Conversion to Christianity offers a number of advantages, not the least of which is education. It was through the efforts of various Christian sects to translate the Bible into tribal languages that those tongues acquired a written script. Christian proselytizing has served to preserve tribal lore and language in written form at the same time that it has tended to change drastically the tribe's cultural heritage and belief systems. In some instances, the introduction of Christianity has driven a wedge between converts and their fellow tribal members who continue to adhere to traditional beliefs and practices. Purity is associated with ritual cleanliness--daily bathing in flowing water, dressing in properly laundered clothes of approved materials, eating only the foods appropriate for one's caste, refraining from physical contact with people of lower rank, and avoiding involvement with ritually impure substances. The latter include body wastes and excretions, most especially those of another adult person. Contact with the products of death or violence are typically polluting and threatening to ritual purity. During her menstrual period, a woman is considered polluted and refrains from cooking, worshiping, or touching anyone older than an infant. In much of the south, a woman spends this time "sitting outside," resting in an isolated room or shed. During her period, a Muslim woman does not touch the Quran. At the end of the period, purity is restored with a complete bath. Pollution also attaches to birth, both for the mother and the infant's close kin, and to death, for close relatives of the deceased (see The Ceremonies of Hinduism; Islam, ch. 3). Members of the highest priestly castes, the Brahmans, are generally vegetarians (although some Bengali and Maharashtrian Brahmans eat fish) and avoid eating meat, the product of violence and death. High-ranking Warrior castes (Kshatriyas), however, typically consume nonvegetarian diets, considered appropriate for their traditions of valor and physical strength. A Brahman born of proper Brahman parents retains his inherent purity if he bathes and dresses himself properly, adheres to a vegetarian diet, eats meals prepared only by persons of appropriate rank, and keeps his person away from the bodily exuviae of others (except for necessary contact with the secretions of family infants and small children). If a Brahman happens to come into bodily contact with a polluting substance, he can remove this pollution by bathing and changing his clothing. However, if he were to eat meat or commit other transgressions of the rigid dietary codes of his particular caste, he would be considered more deeply polluted and would have to undergo various purifying rites and payment of fines imposed by his caste council in order to restore his inherent purity. In sharp contrast to the purity of a Brahman, a Sweeper born of Sweeper parents is considered to be born inherently polluted. The touch of his body is polluting to those higher on the caste hierarchy than he, and they will shrink from his touch, whether or not he has bathed recently. Sweepers are associated with the traditional occupation of cleaning human feces from latrines and sweeping public lanes of all kinds of dirt. Traditionally, Sweepers remove these polluting materials in baskets carried atop the head and dumped out in a garbage pile at the edge of the village or neighborhood. The involvement of Sweepers with such filth accords with their low-status position at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy, even as their services allow high-status people, such as Brahmans, to maintain their ritual purity. Members of the Leatherworker (Chamar) caste are ascribed a very low status consonant with their association with the caste occupation of skinning dead animals and tanning the leather. Butchers (Khatiks, in Hindi), who kill and cut up the bodies of animals, also rank low on the caste hierarchy because of their association with violence and death. However, castes associated with ruling and warfare--and the killing and deaths of human beings--are typically accorded high rank on the caste hierarchy. In these instances, political power and wealth outrank association with violence as the key determinant of caste rank. Maintenance of purity is associated with the intake of food and drink, not only in terms of the nature of the food itself, but also in terms of who has prepared it or touched it. This requirement is especially true for Hindus, but other religious groups hold to these principles to varying degrees. Generally, a person risks pollution--and lowering his own status--if he accepts beverages or cooked foods from the hands of people of lower caste status than his own. His status will remain intact if he accepts food or beverages from people of higher caste rank. Usually, for an observant Hindu of any but the very lowest castes to accept cooked food from a Muslim or Christian is regarded as highly polluting. In a clear example of pollution associated with dining, a Brahman who consumed a drink of water and a meal of wheat bread with boiled vegetables from the hands of a Sweeper would immediately become polluted and could expect social rejection by his caste fellows. From that moment, fellow Brahmans following traditional pollution rules would refuse food touched by him and would abstain from the usual social interaction with him. He would not be welcome inside Brahman homes--most especially in the ritually pure kitchens--nor would he or his close relatives be considered eligible marriage partners for other Brahmans. Generally, the acceptance of water and ordinary foods cooked in water from members of lower-ranking castes incurs the greatest pollution. In North India, such foods are known as kaccha khana , as contrasted with fine foods cooked in butter or oils, which are known as pakka khana . Fine foods can be accepted from members of a few castes slightly lower than one's own. Local hierarchies differ on the specific details of these rules. Completely raw foods, such as uncooked grains, fresh unpeeled bananas, mangoes, and uncooked vegetables can be accepted by anyone from anyone else, regardless of relative status. Toasted or parched foods, such as roasted peanuts, can also be accepted from anyone without ritual or social repercussions. (Thus, a Brahman may accept gifts of grain from lower-caste patrons for eventual preparation by members of his own caste, or he may purchase and consume roasted peanuts or tangerines from street vendors of unknown caste without worry.) Water served from an earthen pot may be accepted only from the hands of someone of higher or equal caste ranking, but water served from a brass pot may be accepted even from someone slightly lower on the caste scale. Exceptions to this rule are members of the Waterbearer (Bhoi, in Hindi) caste, who are employed to carry water from wells to the homes of the prosperous and from whose hands members of all castes may drink water without becoming polluted, even though Waterbearers are not ranked high on the caste scale. These and a great many other traditional rules pertaining to purity and pollution constantly impinge upon interaction between people of different castes and ranks in India. Although to the non-Indian these rules may seem irrational and bizarre, to most of the people of India they are a ubiquitous and accepted part of life. Thinking about and following purity and pollution rules make it necessary for people to be constantly aware of differences in status. With every drink of water, with every meal, and with every contact with another person, people must ratify the social hierarchy of which they are a part and within which their every act is carried out. The fact that expressions of social status are intricately bound up with events that happen to everyone every day--eating, drinking, bathing, touching, talking--and that transgressions of these rules, whether deliberate or accidental, are seen as having immediately polluting effects on the person of the transgressor, means that every ordinary act of human life serves as a constant reminder of the importance of hierarchy in Indian society. There are many Indians, particularly among the educated urban elite, who do not follow traditional purity and pollution practices. Dining in each others' homes and in restaurants is common among well-educated people of diverse backgrounds, particularly when they belong to the same economic class. For these people, guarding the family's earthen water pot from inadvertent touch by a low-ranking servant is not the concern it is for a more traditional villager. However, even among those people whose words and actions denigrate traditional purity rules, there is often a reluctance to completely abolish consciousness of purity and pollution from their thinking. It is surely rare for a Sweeper, however well-educated, to invite a Brahman to dinner in his home and have his invitation unself-consciously accepted. It is less rare, however, for educated urban colleagues of vastly different caste and religious heritage to enjoy a cup of tea together. Some high-caste liberals pride themselves on being free of "casteism" and seek to accept food from the hands of very low-caste people, or even deliberately set out to marry someone from a significantly lower caste or a different religion. Thus, even as they deny it, these progressives affirm the continuing significance of traditional rules of purity, pollution, and hierarchy in Indian society. Social Interdependence One of the great themes pervading Indian life is social interdependence. People are born into groups--families, clans, subcastes, castes, and religious communities--and live with a constant sense of being part of and inseparable from these groups. A corollary is the notion that everything a person does properly involves interaction with other people. A person's greatest dread, perhaps, is the possibility of being left alone, without social support, to face the necessary challenges of life. This sense of interdependence is extended into the theological realm: the very shape of a person's life is seen as being greatly influenced by divine beings with whom an ongoing relationship must be maintained. Social interaction is regarded as being of the highest priority, and social bonds are expected to be long lasting. Even economic activities that might in Western culture involve impersonal interactions are in India deeply imbedded in a social nexus. All social interaction involves constant attention to hierarchy, respect, honor, the feelings of others, rights and obligations, hospitality, and gifts of food, clothing, and other desirable items. Finely tuned rules of etiquette help facilitate each individual's many social relationships. Western visitors to India are sometimes startled to find that important government and business officials have left their posts--often for many days at a time--to attend a cousin's wedding or participate in religious activities in a distant part of the country. "He is out of station and will be back in a week or two," the absent official's officemates blandly explain to the frustrated visitor. What is going on is not laziness or hedonistic recreation, but is the official's proper recognition of his need to continually maintain his social ties with relatives, caste fellows, other associates, and God. Without being enmeshed in such ties throughout life, a person cannot hope to maintain long-term efficacy in either economic or social endeavors. Social bonds with relatives must be reinforced at family events or at rites crucial to the religious community. If this is not done, people who could offer vital support in many phases of life would be alienated. In every activity, there is an assumption that social ties can help a person and that their absence can bring failure. Seldom do people carry out even the simplest task on their own. From birth onward, a child learns that his "fate" has been "written" by divine forces and that his life will be shaped by a plan decided by more powerful beings. When a small child eats, his mother puts the mouthfuls of food into his mouth with her own hand. When a boy climbs a tree to pluck mangoes, another stands below with a basket to receive them. When a girl fetches water from the well in pots on her head, someone at her home helps her unload the pots. When a farmer stacks sheaves of grain onto his bullock cart, he stands atop the cart, catching the sheaves tossed up to him by his son. A student applying to a college hopes that he has an influential relative or family friend who can put in a good word for him with the director of admissions. At the age of marriage, a young person expects that parents will take care of finding the appropriate bride or groom and arranging all the formalities. At the birth of a child, the new mother is assured that the child's kin will help her attend to the infant's needs. A businessman seeking to arrange a contract relies not only on his own abilities but also on the assistance of well-connected friends and relatives to help finalize the deal. And finally, when facing death, a person is confident that offspring and other relatives will carry out the appropriate funeral rites, including a commemorative feast when, through gifts of clothing and food, continuing social ties are reaffirmed by all in attendance. Many castes are traditionally associated with an occupation, such as high-ranking Brahmans; middle-ranking farmer and artisan groups, such as potters, barbers, and carpenters; and very low-ranking "Untouchable" leatherworkers, butchers, launderers, and latrine cleaners. There is some correlation between ritual rank on the caste hierarchy and economic prosperity. Members of higher-ranking castes tend, on the whole, to be more prosperous than members of lower-ranking castes. Many lower-caste people live in conditions of great poverty and social disadvantage. According to the Rig Veda, sacred texts that date back to oral traditions of more than 3,000 years ago, progenitors of the four ranked varna groups sprang from various parts of the body of the primordial man, which Brahma created from clay (see The Vedas and Polytheism, ch. 3). Each group had a function in sustaining the life of society--the social body. Brahmans, or priests, were created from the mouth. They were to provide for the intellectual and spiritual needs of the community. Kshatriyas, warriors and rulers, were derived from the arms. Their role was to rule and to protect others. Vaishyas--landowners and merchants--sprang from the thighs, and were entrusted with the care of commerce and agriculture. Shudras--artisans and servants--came from the feet. Their task was to perform all manual labor. Later conceptualized was a fifth category, "Untouchable" menials, relegated to carrying out very menial and polluting work related to bodily decay and dirt. Since 1935 "Untouchables" have been known as Scheduled Castes, referring to their listing on government rosters, or schedules. They are also often called by Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi's term Harijans, or "Children of God." Although the term Untouchable appears in literature produced by these low-ranking castes, in the 1990s, many politically conscious members of these groups prefer to refer to themselves as Dalit (see Glossary), a Hindi word meaning oppressed or downtrodden. According to the 1991 census, there were 138 million Scheduled Caste members in India, approximately 16 percent of the total population. The first four varnas apparently existed in the ancient Aryan society of northern India. Some historians say that these categories were originally somewhat fluid functional groups, not castes. A greater degree of fixity gradually developed, resulting in the complex ranking systems of medieval India that essentially continue in the late twentieth century. Although a varna is not a caste, when directly asked for their caste affiliation, particularly when the questioner is a Westerner, many Indians will reply with a varna name. Pressed further, they may respond with a much more specific name of a caste, or jati , which falls within that varna . For example, a Brahman may specify that he is a member of a named caste group, such as a Jijotiya Brahman, or a Smartha Brahman, and so on. Within such castes, people may further belong to smaller subcaste categories and to specific clans and lineages. These finer designations are particularly relevant when marriages are being arranged and often appear in newspaper matrimonial advertisements. Members of a caste are typically spread out over a region, with representatives living in hundreds of settlements. In any small village, there may be representatives of a few or even a score or more castes. Numerous groups usually called tribes (often referred to as Scheduled Tribes) are also integrated into the caste system to varying degrees. Some tribes live separately from others--particularly in the far northeast and in the forested center of the country, where tribes are more like ethnic groups than castes. Some tribes are themselves divided into groups similar to subcastes. In regions where members of tribes live in peasant villages with nontribal peoples, they are usually considered members of separate castes ranking low on the hierarchical scale. Inequalities among castes are considered by the Hindu faithful to be part of the divinely ordained natural order and are expressed in terms of purity and pollution. Within a village, relative rank is most graphically expressed at a wedding or death feast, when all residents of the village are invited. At the home of a high-ranking caste member, food is prepared by a member of a caste from whom all can accept cooked food (usually by a Brahman). Diners are seated in lines; members of a single caste sit next to each other in a row, and members of other castes sit in perpendicular or parallel rows at some distance. Members of Dalit castes, such as Leatherworkers and Sweepers, may be seated far from the other diners--even out in an alley. Farther away, at the edge of the feeding area, a Sweeper may wait with a large basket to receive discarded leavings tossed in by other diners. Eating food contaminated by contact with the saliva of others not of the same family is considered far too polluting to be practiced by members of any other castes. Generally, feasts and ceremonies given by Dalits are not attended by higher-ranking castes. Among Muslims, although status differences prevail, brotherhood may be stressed. A Muslim feast usually includes a cloth laid either on clean ground or on a table, with all Muslims, rich and poor, dining from plates placed on the same cloth. Muslims who wish to provide hospitality to observant Hindus, however, must make separate arrangements for a high-caste Hindu cook and ritually pure foods and dining area. Castes that fall within the top four ranked varnas are sometimes referred to as the "clean castes," with Dalits considered "unclean." Castes of the top three ranked varnas are often designated "twice-born," in reference to the ritual initiation undergone by male members, in which investiture with the Hindu sacred thread constitutes a kind of ritual rebirth. Non-Hindu castelike groups generally fall outside these designations. Each caste is believed by devout Hindus to have its own dharma, or divinely ordained code of proper conduct. Accordingly, there is often a high degree of tolerance for divergent lifestyles among different castes. Brahmans are usually expected to be nonviolent and spiritual, according with their traditional roles as vegetarian teetotaler priests. Kshatriyas are supposed to be strong, as fighters and rulers should be, with a taste for aggression, eating meat, and drinking alcohol. Vaishyas are stereotyped as adept businessmen, in accord with their traditional activities in commerce. Shudras are often described by others as tolerably pleasant but expectably somewhat base in behavior, whereas Dalits--especially Sweepers--are often regarded by others as followers of vulgar life-styles. Conversely, lower-caste people often view people of high rank as haughty and unfeeling. The chastity of women is strongly related to caste status. Generally, the higher ranking the caste, the more sexual control its women are expected to exhibit. Brahman brides should be virginal, faithful to one husband, and celibate in widowhood. By contrast, a Sweeper bride may or may not be a virgin, extramarital affairs may be tolerated, and, if widowed or divorced, the woman is encouraged to remarry. For the higher castes, such control of female sexuality helps ensure purity of lineage--of crucial importance to maintenance of high status. Among Muslims, too, high status is strongly correlated with female chastity. Within castes explicit standards are maintained. Transgressions may be dealt with by a caste council (panchayat-- see Glossary), meeting periodically to adjudicate issues relevant to the caste. Such councils are usually formed of groups of elders, almost always males. Punishments such as fines and outcasting, either temporary or permanent, can be enforced. In rare cases, a person is excommunicated from the caste for gross infractions of caste rules. An example of such an infraction might be marrying or openly cohabiting with a mate of a caste lower than one's own; such behavior would usually result in the higher-caste person dropping to the status of the lower-caste person. Activities such as farming or trading can be carried out by anyone, but usually only members of the appropriate castes act as priests, barbers, potters, weavers, and other skilled artisans, whose occupational skills are handed down in families from one generation to another. As with other key features of Indian social structure, occupational specialization is believed to be in accord with the divinely ordained order of the universe. The existence of rigid ranking is supernaturally validated through the idea of rebirth according to a person's karma, the sum of an individual's deeds in this life and in past lives. After death, a person's life is judged by divine forces, and rebirth is assigned in a high or a low place, depending upon what is deserved. This supernatural sanction can never be neglected, because it brings a person to his or her position in the caste hierarchy, relevant to every transaction involving food or drink, speaking, or touching. In past decades, Dalits in certain areas (especially in parts of the south) had to display extreme deference to high-status people, physically keeping their distance--lest their touch or even their shadow pollute others--wearing neither shoes nor any upper body covering (even for women) in the presence of the upper castes. The lowest-ranking had to jingle a little bell in warning of their polluting approach. In much of India, Dalits were prohibited from entering temples, using wells from which the "clean" castes drew their water, or even attending schools. In past centuries, dire punishments were prescribed for Dalits who read or even heard sacred texts. Such degrading discrimination was made illegal under legislation passed during British rule and was protested against by preindependence reform movements led by Mahatma Gandhi and Bhimrao Ramji (B.R.) Ambedkar, a Dalit leader. Dalits agitated for the right to enter Hindu temples and to use village wells and effectively pressed for the enactment of stronger laws opposing disabilities imposed on them. After independence, Ambedkar almost singlehandedly wrote India's constitution, including key provisions barring caste-based discrimination. Nonetheless, discriminatory treatment of Dalits remains a factor in daily life, especially in villages, as the end of the twentieth century approaches. In modern times, as in the past, it is virtually impossible for an individual to raise his own status by falsely claiming to be a member of a higher-ranked caste. Such a ruse might work for a time in a place where the person is unknown, but no one would dine with or intermarry with such a person or his offspring until the claim was validated through kinship networks. Rising on the ritual hierarchy can only be achieved by a caste as a group, over a long period of time, principally by adopting behavior patterns of higher-ranked groups. This process, known as Sanskritization, has been described by M.N. Srinivas and others. An example of such behavior is that of some Leatherworker castes adopting a policy of not eating beef, in the hope that abstaining from the defiling practice of consuming the flesh of sacred bovines would enhance their castes' status. Increased economic prosperity for much of a caste greatly aids in the process of improving rank. Intercaste Relations In a village, members of different castes are often linked in what has been called the jajmani system, after the word jajman , which in some regions means patron. Members of various service castes perform tasks for their patrons, usually members of the dominant, that is, most powerful landowning caste of the village (commonly castes of the Kshatriya varna ). Households of service castes are linked through hereditary bonds to a household of patrons, with the lower-caste members providing services according to traditional occupational specializations. Thus, client families of launderers, barbers, shoemakers, carpenters, potters, tailors, and priests provide customary services to their patrons, in return for which they receive customary seasonal payments of grain, clothing, and money. Ideally, from generation to generation, clients owe their patrons political allegiance in addition to their labors, while patrons owe their clients protection and security. The harmonious qualities of the jajmani system have been overidealized and variations of the system overlooked by many observers. Further, the economic interdependence of the system has weakened since the 1960s. Nevertheless, it is clear that members of different castes customarily perform a number of functions for one another in rural India that emphasize cooperation rather than competition. This cooperation is revealed in economic arrangements, in visits to farmers' threshing floors by service caste members to claim traditional payments, and in rituals emphasizing interdependence at life crises and calendrical festivals all over South Asia. For example, in rural Karnataka, in an event described by anthropologist Suzanne Hanchett, the annual procession of the village temple cart bearing images of the deities responsible for the welfare of the village cannot go forward without the combined efforts of representatives of all castes. It is believed that the sacred cart will literally not move unless all work together to move it, some pushing and some pulling. Some observers feel that the caste system must be viewed as a system of exploitation of poor low-ranking groups by more prosperous high-ranking groups. In many parts of India, land is largely held by dominant castes--high-ranking owners of property--that economically exploit low-ranking landless laborers and poor artisans, all the while degrading them with ritual emphases on their so-called god-given inferior status. In the early 1990s, blatant subjugation of low-caste laborers in the northern state of Bihar and in eastern Uttar Pradesh was the subject of many news reports. In this region, scores of Dalits who have attempted to unite to protest low wages have been the victims of lynchings and mass killings by high-caste landowners and their hired assassins. In 1991 the news magazine India Today reported that in an ostensibly prosperous village about 160 kilometers southeast of Delhi, when it became known that a rural Dalit laborer dared to have a love affair with the daughter of a high-caste landlord, the lovers and their Dalit go-between were tortured, publicly hanged, and burnt by agents of the girl's family in the presence of some 500 villagers. A similar incident occurred in 1994, when a Dalit musician who had secretly married a woman of the Kurmi cultivating caste was beaten to death by outraged Kurmis, possibly instigated by the young woman's family. The terrified bride was stripped and branded as punishment for her transgression. Dalit women also have been the victims of gang rapes by the police. Many other atrocities, as well as urban riots resulting in the deaths of Dalits, have occurred in recent years. Such extreme injustices are infrequent enough to be reported in outraged articles in the Indian press, while much more common daily discrimination and exploitation are considered virtually routine. Changes in the Caste System Despite many problems, the caste system has operated successfully for centuries, providing goods and services to India's many millions of citizens. The system continues to operate, but changes are occurring. India's constitution guarantees basic rights to all its citizens, including the right to equality and equal protection before the law. The practice of untouchability, as well as discrimination on the basis of caste, race, sex, or religion, has been legally abolished. All citizens have the right to vote, and political competition is lively. Voters from every stratum of society have formed interest groups, overlapping and crosscutting castes, creating an evolving new style of integrating Indian society. Castes themselves, however, far from being abolished, have certain rights under Indian law. As described by anthropologist Owen M. Lynch and other scholars, in the expanding political arena caste groups are becoming more politicized and forced to compete with other interest groups for social and economic benefits. In the growing cities, traditional intercaste interdependencies are negligible. Independent India has built on earlier British efforts to remedy problems suffered by Dalits by granting them some benefits of protective discrimination. Scheduled Castes are entitled to reserved electoral offices, reserved jobs in central and state governments, and special educational benefits. The constitution mandates that one-seventh of state and national legislative seats be reserved for members of Scheduled Castes in order to guarantee their voice in government. Reserving seats has proven useful because few, if any, Scheduled Caste candidates have ever been elected in nonreserved constituencies. Educationally, Dalit students have benefited from scholarships, and Scheduled Caste literacy increased (from 10.3 percent in 1961 to 21.4 percent in 1981, the last year for which such figures are available), although not as rapidly as among the general population. Improved access to education has resulted in the emergence of a substantial group of educated Dalits able to take up white-collar occupations and fight for their rights. There has been tremendous resistance among non-Dalits to this protective discrimination for the Scheduled Castes, who constitute some 16 percent of the total population, and efforts have been made to provide similar advantages to the so-called Backward Classes (see Glossary), who constitute an estimated 52 percent of the population. In August 1990, Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap (V.P.) Singh announced his intention to enforce the recommendations of the Backward Classes Commission (Mandal Commission--see Glossary), issued in December 1980 and largely ignored for a decade. The report, which urged special advantages for obtaining civil service positions and admission to higher education for the Backward Classes, resulted in riots and self-immolations and contributed to the fall of the prime minister. The upper castes have been particularly adamant against these policies because unemployment is a major problem in India, and many feel that they are being unjustly excluded from posts for which they are better qualified than lower-caste applicants. As an act of protest, many Dalits have rejected Hinduism with its rigid ranking system. Following the example of their revered leader, Dr. Ambedkar, who converted to Buddhism four years before his death in 1956, millions of Dalits have embraced the faith of the Buddha (see Buddhism, ch. 3). Over the past few centuries, many Dalits have also converted to Christianity and have often by this means raised their socioeconomic status. However, Christians of Dalit origin still often suffer from discrimination by Christians--and others--of higher caste backgrounds. Despite improvements in some aspects of Dalit status, 90 percent of them live in rural areas in the mid-1990s, where an increasing proportion--more than 50 percent--work as landless agricultural laborers. State and national governments have attempted to secure more just distribution of land by creating land ceilings and abolishing absentee landlordism, but evasive tactics by landowners have successfully prevented more than minimal redistribution of land to tenant farmers and laborers. In contemporary India, field hands face increased competition from tractors and harvesting machines. Similarly, artisans are being challenged by expanding commercial markets in mass-produced factory goods, undercutting traditional mutual obligations between patrons and clients. The spread of the Green Revolution has tended to increase the gap between the prosperous and the poor--most of whom are low-caste (see The Green Revolution, ch. 7). The growth of urbanization (an estimated 26 percent of the population now lives in cities) is having a far-reaching effect on caste practices, not only in cities but in villages. Among anonymous crowds in urban public spaces and on public transportation, caste affiliations are unknown, and observance of purity and pollution rules is negligible. Distinctive caste costumes have all but vanished, and low-caste names have been modified, although castes remain endogamous, and access to employment often occurs through intracaste connections. Restrictions on interactions with other castes are becoming more relaxed, and, at the same time, observance of other pollution rules is declining--especially those concerning birth, death, and menstruation. Several growing Hindu sects draw members from many castes and regions, and communication between cities and villages is expanding dramatically. Kin in town and country visit one another frequently, and television programs available to huge numbers of villagers vividly portray new lifestyles. As new occupations open up in urban areas, the correlation of caste with occupation is declining. Caste associations have expanded their areas of concern beyond traditional elite emulation and local politics into the wider political arenas of state and national politics. Finding power in numbers within India's democratic system, caste groups are pulling together closely allied subcastes in their quest for political influence. In efforts to solidify caste bonds, some caste associations have organized marriage fairs where families can make matches for their children. Traditional hierarchical concerns are being minimized in favor of strengthening horizontal unity. Thus, while pollution observances are declining, caste consciousness is not. Education and election to political office have advanced the status of many Dalits, but the overall picture remains one of great inequity. In recent decades, Dalit anger has been expressed in writings, demonstrations, strikes, and the activities of such groups as the Dalit Panthers, a radical political party demanding revolutionary change. A wider Dalit movement, including political parties, educational activities, self-help centers, and labor organizations, has spread to many areas of the country. In a 1982 Dalit publication, Dilip Hiro wrote, "It is one of the great modern Indian tragedies and dangers that even well meaning Indians still find it so difficult to accept Untouchable mobility as being legitimate in fact as well as in theory. . . ." Still, against all odds, a small intelligentsia has worked for many years toward the goal of freeing India of caste consciousness. Classes In village India, where nearly 74 percent of the population resides, caste and class affiliations overlap. According to anthropologist Miriam Sharma, "Large landholders who employ hired labour are overwhelmingly from the upper castes, while the agricultural workers themselves come from the ranks of the lowest--predominantly Untouchable--castes." She also points out that household-labor-using proprietors come from the ranks of the middle agricultural castes. Distribution of other resources and access to political control follow the same pattern of caste-cum-class distinctions. Although this congruence is strong, there is a tendency for class formation to occur despite the importance of caste, especially in the cities, but also in rural areas. In an analysis of class formation in India, anthropologist Harold A. Gould points out that a three-level system of stratification is taking shape across rural India. He calls the three levels Forward Classes (higher castes), Backward Classes (middle and lower castes), and Harijans (very low castes). Members of these groups share common concerns because they stand in approximately the same relationship to land and production--that is, they are large-scale farmers, small-scale farmers, and landless laborers. Some of these groups are drawing together within regions across caste lines in order to work for political power and access to desirable resources. For example, since the late 1960s, some of the middle-ranking cultivating castes of northern India have increasingly cooperated in the political arena in order to advance their common agrarian and market-oriented interests. Their efforts have been spurred by competition with higher-caste landed elites. In cities other groups have vested interests that crosscut caste boundaries, suggesting the possibility of forming classes in the future. These groups include prosperous industrialists and entrepreneurs, who have made successful efforts to push the central government toward a probusiness stance; bureaucrats, who depend upon higher education rather than land to preserve their positions as civil servants; political officeholders, who enjoy good salaries and perquisites of all kinds; and the military, who constitute one of the most powerful armed forces in the developing world (see Organization and Equipment of the Armed Forces, ch. 10). Economically far below such groups are members of the menial underclass, which is taking shape in both villages and urban areas. As the privileged elites move ahead, low-ranking menial workers remain economically insecure. Were they to join together to mobilize politically across lines of class and religion in recognition of their common interests, Gould observes, they might find power in their sheer numbers. India's rapidly expanding economy has provided the basis for a fundamental change--the emergence of what eminent journalist Suman Dubey calls a "new vanguard" increasingly dictating India's political and economic direction. This group is India's new middle class--mobile, driven, consumer-oriented, and, to some extent, forward-looking. Hard to define precisely, it is not a single stratum of society, but straddles town and countryside, making its voice heard everywhere. It encompasses prosperous farmers, white-collar workers, business people, military personnel, and myriad others, all actively working toward a prosperous life. Ownership of cars, televisions, and other consumer goods, reasonable earnings, substantial savings, and educated children (often fluent in English) typify this diverse group. Many have ties to kinsmen living abroad who have done very well. The new middle class is booming, at least partially in response to a doubling of the salaries of some 4 million central government employees in 1986, followed by similar increases for state and district officers. Unprecedented liberalization and opening up of the economy in the 1980s and 1990s have been part of the picture (see Growth since 1980, ch. 6). There is no single set of criteria defining the middle class, and estimates of its numbers vary widely. The mid-range of figures presented in a 1992 survey article by analyst Suman Dubey is approximately 150 to 175 million--some 20 percent of the population--although other observers suggest alternative figures. The middle class appears to be increasing rapidly. Once primarily urban and largely Hindu, the phenomenon of the consuming middle class is burgeoning among Muslims and prosperous villagers as well. According to V.A. Pai Panandikar, director of the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, cited by Dubey, by the end of the twentieth century 30 percent--some 300 million--of India's population will be middle class. The middle class is bracketed on either side by the upper and lower echelons. Members of the upper class--around 1 percent of the population--are owners of large properties, members of exclusive clubs, and vacationers in foreign lands, and include industrialists, former maharajas, and top executives. Below the middle class is perhaps a third of the population--ordinary farmers, tradespeople, artisans, and workers. At the bottom of the economic scale are the poor--estimated at 320 million, some 45 percent of the population in 1988--who live in inadequate homes without adequate food, work for pittances, have undereducated and often sickly children, and are the victims of numerous social inequities. The Fringes of Society India's complex society includes some unique members--sadhus (holy men) and hijras (transvestite-eunuchs). Such people have voluntarily stepped outside the usual bonds of kinship and caste to join with others in castelike groups based upon personal--yet culturally shaped--inclinations. In India of the 1990s, several hundred thousand Hindu and Jain sadhus and a few thousand holy women (sadhvis ) live an ascetic life. They have chosen to wear ocher robes, or perhaps no clothing at all, to daub their skin with holy ash, to pray and meditate, and to wander from place to place, depending on the charity of others. Most have given up affiliation with their caste and kin and have undergone a funeral ceremony for themselves, followed by a ritual rebirth into their new ascetic life. They come from all walks of life, and range from illiterate villagers to well-educated professionals. In their new lives as renunciants, they are devoted to spiritual concerns, yet each is affiliated with an ascetic order or subsect demanding strict adherence to rules of dress, itinerancy, diet, worship, and ritual pollution. Within each order, hierarchical concerns are exhibited in the subservience novitiates display to revered gurus (see The Tradition of the Enlightened Master, ch. 3). Further, at pilgrimage sites, different orders take precedence in accordance with an accepted hierarchy. Thus, although sadhus have foresworn many of the trappings of ordinary life, they have not given up the hierarchy and interdependence so pervasive in Indian society. The most extreme sadhus, the aghoris , turn normal rules of conduct completely upside down. Rajesh and Ramesh Bedi, who have studied sadhus for decades, estimate that there may be fewer than fifteen aghoris in contemporary India. In the quest for great spiritual attainment, the aghori lives alone, like Lord Shiva, at cremation grounds, supping from a human skull bowl. He eats food provided only by low-ranking Sweepers and prostitutes, and in moments of religious fervor devours his own bodily wastes and pieces of human flesh torn from burning corpses. In violating the most basic taboos of the ordinary Hindu householder, the aghori sadhu graphically reminds himself and others of the correct rules of social behavior. Hijras are males who have become "neither man nor woman," transsexual transvestites who are usually castrated and are attributed with certain ritual powers of blessing. As described by anthropologist Serena Nanda, they are distinct from ordinary male homosexuals (known as zenana , woman, or anmarad , un-man), who retain their identity as males and continue to live in ordinary society. Most hijras derive from a middle- or lower-status Hindu or Muslim background and have experienced male impotency or effeminacy. A few originally had ambiguous or hermaphroditic sexual organs. An estimated 50,000 hijras live throughout India, predominantly in cities of the north. They are united in the worship of the Hindu goddess Bahuchara Mata. Hijras voluntarily leave their families of birth, renounce male sexuality, and assume a female identity, name, and dress. A hijra undergoes a surgical emasculation in which he is transformed from an impotent male into a potentially powerful new person. Like Shiva--attributed with breaking off his phallus and throwing it to earth, thereby extending his sexual power to the universe (recognized in Hindu worship of the lingam)--the emasculated hijra has the power to bless others with fertility (see Shiva, ch. 3). Groups of hijras go about together, dancing and singing at the homes of new baby boys, blessing them with virility and the ability to continue the family line. Hijras are also attributed with the power to bring rain in times of drought. Hijras receive alms and respect for their powers, yet they are also ridiculed and abused because of their unusual sexual condition and because some act as male prostitutes. The hijra community functions much like a caste. They have communal households; newly formed fictive kinship bonds, marriage-like arrangements; and seven nationwide "houses," or symbolic descent groups, with regional and national leaders, and a council. There is a hierarchy of gurus and disciples, with expulsion from the community a possible punishment for failure to obey group rules. Thus, although living on the margins of society, hijras are empowered by their special relationship with their goddess and each other and occupy an accepted and meaningful place in India's social world	eng	94bd9bfd-787a-48db-bc5d-0ff35afcc69d	http://www.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/india/SOCIETY.html
In today's America homosexuality has become a hot topic, so I have decided to put my point-of-view into view on what homosexuality is, and why it is wrong. To fully understand homosexuality, we should look at the definition of its base word, homosexual, as in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary ho•mo•sex•u•al- "hO-m&-'sek-sh(&-)w&l, -'sek-sh&l Function: adjective 1 : of, relating to, or characterized by a tendency to direct sexual desire toward another of the same sex 2 : of, relating to, or involving sexual intercourse between persons of the same sex As stated above, and as you may know, homosexuality is the condition of being attracted to member of the same sex. Bisexuality, in my opinion, is still considered homosexuality, because attraction to the same sex is still included. Homosexuals are classified into, gays for men, and lesbians for women. Now that you understand the basic idea and terms of homosexuality, I will explain why it is wrong. First, homosexuality itself is wrong, but homosexuals that admit to others or themselves that they are attracted to the same sex, yet abstain from being sexually active or dating that person, are not wrong. But, if they do actively engage in sexual activity or dating with the same sex, then they are wrong. Second, homosexuals. In this way homosexuality does not contribute to the human race. Homosexuality is slowly killing the human race, and stunting its growth. In a defending statement to the previous sentence, the Earth was not designed at all, therefore was not designed for life. The Earth could be as desolate as Mars, if only one thing had gone different. So in attacking the statement, "The Earth is over crowded," I state that their still are vast lands that can house billions of people. The air above our heads can soon be a place of housing for many. The planets and moons in our very own stellar system are waiting to be developed, to house hundreds of billions in total. Next, if homosexuals are allowed to marry, it will be inevitable that pedophiles and other perverts will demand to have their rights to 'marry' their partners. This cannot be allowed to happen, because as rules on sexual behavior vanish, rape and other hurtful and offensive acts will be committed frequently. Homosexuality is wrong for the civilized world, it breaks down the integrity of the Constitution(Rex's Facts on Gay Marriage- 1). Then, homosexuality goes against all teachings of civilized religions. As many people hate to face the fact that religion and government interconnect, in fact, our all governments were shaped by religion. Our constitution was designed off of three documents, one of them the bible. Since marriage is between a man and a woman, not an man and man, or woman and woman, then active homosexuals couples are theirfore not married, and are committing adultery. "Thou shall not commit adultery", this is a fundamental law of the Judeo-Christian faiths. Adultery is always looked down upon and is considered a sin in all primary religions of today. Being born with homosexuality is very rare, and sometimes happens in the youngest boys of a family of primarily boys(6+ boys). Researchers believe this a a genetic failsafe to prevent a larger male popular than female populace. So saying that all homosexuals were born that way, is simply not true. Most homosexuals are homosexual to be different of to rebel against their parents and their parents religion. What must be understood, is that homosexuality is like a disease, it spreads, and kills. Not only does it slowly kill humanity, it was on of the primary 'incubation' group for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). So say homosexuality is a alternate lifestyle, is wrong, it is a plague among humans. Some people say that this statement is discriminatory or Nazi-like, but unlike the Nazis I am giving a valid reason why homosexuals are bad and why I do not like active homosexuals, and I am not suggesting or preaching that we should kill them. Finally, other animals only have sex to reproduce. Humans and dolphins are the only to races on Earth that have sex for fun. Therefore it is seen in the natural world that homosexuality is wrong for the survival of the species. _____________________________________________________________ Classification of homosexuals. Since there isn't really and set classification of homosexuals, I will put my classification of types of homosexuals. I have organized it in the line of, top being the worst, and bottom being most right. Active Homosexual- Any person who actively only dates and has sex with a person of the same sex. In my opinion this is the worst type of homosexual. Semi-Active Homosexual- Any homosexual only dates, but does not have sex with a person. This form is next in the line. Active Bisexual- Any person who actively dates and has sex with members of both sexes. As I stated before bisexuals are still followers of homosexuality. Semi-Active Bisexuals- Any one person who actively date people of both sexes. Non-Active Homosexuals- Any person who admits to themselves or others that they are homosexual, but don't actively date of have sex with the same sex. These people in my mind are right to face their weakness, yet not succumb to it. Non-Active Bisexual- Any bisexual who admits to themselves or others that they are bisexual, yet do not participate in any dating of sexually activity. Straight-Active Bisexual- Any bisexual that admits they are attracted to the same sex as well as the opposite sex, yet actively date the opposite sex, and avoid the temptation of the same sex. These people are the most right in my opinion. As I have said, homosexuality is, in my mind, a plague, and in today's America, its is becoming more and more popular. As I have stated, I strongly believe that it will slowly lead to our demise as a species. Although many say my views are hateful, I would like to say that my views are backed with a reason that has been well thought of and developed. To all who say I'm hateful, just remember, what you preach is hateful too, hateful to those who hold fast to morals, religion, and the human race. As the debate on homosexuality grows larger everyday, I decided to make my points against it clear and on paper. Just because I wrote this doesn't mean I will always hold the views. As life progresses, we experience different things, that shape and re-shape our views on life. But if there is anything about this topic that will always remain clear in my head is that I will never be a homosexual. For any of you who want to see what "Rex's Facts on Gay Marriage", says, I'll include it here. From Rex's Facts Valid points to oppose "Gay Marriages": • The only reason I see that "Gays" would want their marriage to be recognized is for them to receive the advantages of marriage. Allowing this would give them the benefits of a regular married couple, increasing taxes to normal working families. • Allowing "Gays" to marry or join in any form of a civil union because it is unconstitutional to not allow it would only bring up more questioning. Gays ask for recognition, then Pedophiles say it is unconstitutional for them not to have a choice in their sexual orientation, then children demand that they be allowed to marry, then all kinds of psychotics bring up questions that break down the integrity of the Constitution. • Since religion has no place in the government, why should the word marriage be used in the government, the word itself has a religious meaning that dates back to its origin. Therefore the word should be removed and replaced. Scientific views: • Homosexual reproduction does not contribute to the population of any organism. • The organism created in reproduction usually has some form of a positive evolution; therefore without any offspring created through homosexual reproduction no contribution to human advancement is made. Religious views: • No form of homosexuality is found to be acceptable in any civilized religion. • Homosexuality has led to the unfortunate corruption of certain religions. EX Catholic clergymen In the event of: • Someone saying it's bigotry- question them why is it bigotry to stop someone from robbing you of your hard earned money simply because they want their sexual orientation to be recognized? Tell them to open their eyes to what would truly happen. • Someone questioning the economic conspiracy- marriage once recognized yields many benefits to the couple, that they would produce children that the government could eventually count as a human resource; allowing gay marriages or any government recognized union breaks the government cycle and disrupts economic balance • In the event of someone questioning religion's purpose in here- remind them that it is through the Church that your western world (in all its corruption I might add!) exists today, you cannot deny that without the Church there would be no today for you. • Someone questions scientific views asking for proof- at this point there is no true credible proof; the only available proof if any is the theory of evolution (do not use if unnecessary: theory itself is questionable) • Questioning if true cause of corruption in clergymen- if no form of homosexuality had ever been known, then there would be no chance of an event occurring • Questions term civilized religion- any religion found sensible and based on a tried and proven set of rules and regulations is deemed civilized Last edited by autogod_v1 on Tue 2004-07-13 20:57; edited 2 times in totalBut, if "two people" can get married, why not 3 or 4? Why couldn't a cult leader marry all of his followers? Why couldn't some jag-off marry all of Mexico to give them citizenship? Why couldn't a corporation get married & adopt children... thereby circumventing most child-labor laws? ...And why should marriage be limited to people? Why not Horses? If a Mexican marries an American horse, does that qualify him for citizenship? Of course, most people would think these arguments are silly. But remember that only a few decades ago, the idea of 2 men getting married was equally ludicrous. (and some would maintain that it still is) And once you take the first step to redefine marriage from "1 man, 1 woman", each following step becomes shorter and shorter. People who oppose gay marriage are generally called "homophobes". So for those of you that think that people who practice Polygamy, Bestiality, Pedophilia, or Necrophilia should be denied the right to marry, all I have to say is… Polygaphobe. Bestiaphobe. Pedophobe Necrophobe. I mean, who the hell are you to judge somebody else's "lifestyle" I really don't give a damn whether two faggots get married. (It does kinda bother me if the start adopting children because a lot of homosexuals are pedophiles... but that's another issue) But I think people need to think these things through a little more before they start tinkering with societal rules that have been with us since the dawn of time. Random thought... Given that homosexual relationships are generally even more short-lived than their hetero counterparts, I suspect that the biggest lobby for gay marriages is divorce lawyers. I agree totally with General Hein on this issue. While I am not in favor of making sodomy a crime, I do believe that marraige should stay between 1 man and 1 woman. Obviously, we can't see into peoples' bedrooms through telescreens, nor do we want to, but we can vouch for our comman morals in public and not give in to a vocal minority, especially when it goes against over two thousnad years of Judeo-Christain morality, which, like it or not, our legal system is based heavily on. Also, what's with the mayor of San Francisco? He is a thoughtcriminal who is disobeying the law and must be reeducated by the Governator of California. _________________ If you give us the education of the youth, we will give you the religion of the man. -Old Jesuit Proverb Reality TV is the opiate of the masses. Conservatives have more fun. Ok Bren, let's start with some level of agreement. You're quite within your rights to believe homosexuality is wrong and to oppose gay marriage. I suspect that you, like me, have a stomach churning physical reaction to the sight of two hairy blokes kissing (actually, I find sight of two hairy women kissing rather more disturbing ) so, I'm not going to argue that homosexuality is right, but rather, that it is not a matter of right or wrong and I'm going to explain why I believe that a legal form of 'marriage' should be available to gay couples. First though, let us look at some of your comments: "homosexuality itself is wrong, but homosexuals that admit to others or themselves that they are attracted to the same sex, yet abstain from being sexually active or dating that person, are not wrong." So, according to you, a homosexual it only wrong sometimes? I suspect what you really object to is the act of sex between people of the same sex, to which I would ask; What business it that of yours? "homosexuals." By inference then, all relationships that fail to produce offspring would also be wrong. Rather hard on those couples who, by no fault of their own, cannot have children, is it not? You also condemn bi-sexuals and yet they can and do produce children. Again I suspect you object to the idea of what they do, not to the effect they have on mankind. As to the evolution reference, it could equally be argued that not having a child is also a part of the 'evolutionary process'. "Homosexuality is slowly killing the human race, and stunting its growth." Homosexuality has been written about for many millennia, it has been part of humanity since there has been humans. It hasn't stopped the population reaching six billion and will not stop it reaching seven billion within a decade. The growth of the human race is far from stunted. "if homosexuals are allowed to marry, it will be inevitable that pedophiles . . ." You (and others here) seem to think there is a link between homosexuality and paedophilia, this is patently untrue. While it is correct to say that some homosexuals are paedophiles, it is equally correct that some heterosexuals are paedophiles, so where is the linkage? ". . .and other perverts will demand to have their rights to 'marry' their partners." The idea that extending the rights, granted to heterosexual couples, to gays would make paedophilia legal or allow anyone to marry their pets is absurd. "What must be understood, is that homosexuality is like a disease, it spreads, and kills. Not only does it slowly kill humanity, it was on[e] of the primary 'incubation' group for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)." Bren, you cannot catch homosexually, it is not a disease. The HI virus doesn't select who it infects nor does it care how it infects. Globally HIV affects far more heterosexuals than homosexuals and (in the UK) it is most commonly spread by intravenous drug use. Why do I think homosexuality is not a matter of right and wrong? I draw a boundary around personal (sexual) behaviour, essentially around the concept of consent; consenting adults can get up to what ever they like with each other, as long as it does not affect others beyond the consenting group. Kids are always excluded from the consenting group, because they are below the legal 'age of consent', animals are excluded because they cannot give their consent. I don't (or at least I try not to) judge activity that falls within the boundary nor do I believe anyone else should, after all what business is it of mine or yours if someone wants to wear a rubber suit, be flayed with a whip, dress as woman/man or whatever turn them on, just because it's not for me or you? Homosexuality, of the sort I'm defending here, falls within this boundary, it's not for me but, hey, it doesn't cause me any grief. Why do I think there should be Gay marriages? There are really two parts to a wedding, religious and civil. The religious blessing ceremony is always going to in the gift of a particular church and I my view is entirely up to them if they want to bless gay weddings or not. The civil part is different, it is the legal transference of kinship and, usually, the changing of a name. At the moment, straight (I hate this use of the word, but I'm fed up of typing H…) couples have the option of staying as two singles or to be treated legally as a couple. As I understand it, what gay people want is this legal coupling option. It's important to them because prejudice often results in contested wills etc. and the courts will not recognise their partnerships. We are talking about TWO people who are making a commitment to stay together, what's so wrong with that? In the UK the current age of consent is 16, personally I'd like to see this raised to the age of majority (18years) and a sliding scale of tariffs introduced based on age difference. ( I don't mind my 15 year old niece having relationships with kids of her own age but, I don't want someone much older sniffing around without fear of a prison sentence) the reason for the change of laws regarding the reduction of age of consent is to provide more recruits/casual partners to the gay pressure group. Later on they'll pressure the lawmakers and the media to compel the age of consent further down. Fucking NIMBLA should die immediately of AIDS. Sole purpose indulge itself in vice as sole reason d'etre. Person should at least be 18 or 21 person must be able to least be able to sign contracts and be of formed character. Death to the Queens of New York and San Pancho 'Cisco Carldiesturmer, you are my messiah, my gof you bring humor to the facts against queers. "if homosexuals are allowed to marry, it will be inevitable that pedophiles . . ." ". . .and other perverts will demand to have their rights to 'marry' their partners." The idea that extending the rights, granted to heterosexual couples, to gays would make pedophilia legal or allow anyone to marry their pets is absurd. No. It is not absurd. If you went back to 1865 and told everybody that freeing the slaves would eventually lead to affirmative action, inter-racial marriage, and hate speech laws, they would think it absurd. Society changes... one step at a time. Pedophilia is a perversion... probably almost (if not more) prevalent than homosexuality. And while I doubt that sex with 4 year-olds will ever be legal, I could see the legal age of consent being pushed back a bit... Is an 18-year old much more mature than a 17-year old? Is an 17-year old much more mature than a 16-year old? Is an 16-year old much more mature than a 15-year old? I had sex with a 13-year old .... ... when I was 14. Does that make me a pedophile? The shock and awe you display towards pedophilia is roughly the same shock and awe that people displayed towards homosexuals only a few decades ago. Who is to say what people 100 years from now will think? Along with a few good friends of mine. Why dont we just let Mormons marry 13 women, I mean they love them all, and they have the right dont they? Why dont we let people marry animals if they love them so much? I mean they have equal rights to love whom they want to dont they? They're not even really getting married. Its an open unionship of two people to show there some how possible affection. no church, with the exception of the Catholic church perhapes, wouldnt marry Gays ever. If they do I think I would bomb thirteen abortion clinics, kill every priest I see, and then kill myself. If the church ever accepts Gay's then that would have to be the end of my belief in the Church. Also homosexuals arent even natural so why should these outcasts be able to marry? _________________ If you went back to 1865 and told everybody that freeing the slaves would eventually lead to affirmative action, inter-racial marriage, and hate speech laws, they would think it absurd. Freeing slaves didn't lead to affirmative action, universal suffrage lead to it (votes should be IQ tested ). Interacial marriages had been common place (even in the US) long before the end (or indeed the begining) of slavery. Quote: I had sex with a 13-year old .... ... when I was 14. Does that make me a pedophile? No, that was my point about changing the legal protection* granted by the 'age of consent' to one based on age difference. (In the UK (for adults), sex with child below the age of 13 carries a manditory life sentance, yet bizzarely drops to just two years at 13. This has lead to paedophiles grooming kids until they are 13.) Quote: The shock and awe you display towards pedophilia is roughly the same shock and awe that people displayed towards homosexuals only a few decades ago. Paedophilia destroys the childhood and the lives of people, like murder, it never will be accepted by any decent society. Homosexuality only affects those who wish to participate. If a gay rapes someone then they are tried and convicted by the law, just like anyone else. You are trying to link homosexuality and paedophila as if they are equivalent perversions, clearly they are not ,else there would be no heterosexual paedophiles. Quote: Who is to say what people 100 years from now will think? If you go back a few centuries more you'll find that, in say Roman/Greek society, homosexually was accepted as normal. If you go back a few centuries more you'll find that, in say Roman/Greek society, homosexually was accepted as normal. And what about the rest of the world? Then again the United States is the modern Rome, so it will collapse sometime in the future. I cant think of very many places besides rome that did this, also most Romans were acceptable of homosexuality, most often with very young men of 14 and 16 if Im correct, lets nto forget they also loved a sport where they took their prisoners and made them fight to the death with impossible odds. So of course theres nothing wrong with the Roman empire. The real question behind Homosexuality can be summed up in one sentence: Is sex for fun or for the Puritanical duty-to-the-party make-babies-only? The orgasm in the female seems an idication that sex is for fun too; after all, humans are the only race to demonize their natural instincts (except where warfare is concerned, then I'd prefer the honesty of dumb beasts). The orgasm has no reproductive purpose at all except perhaps as an incentive, but that should not be construed a reason to never use it. I forget who said this, but the quote goes: "Homosexuality is God's way of making sure the truly gifted aren't burdoned with children." _________________ "Sanity is not statistical."-Winston Smith, 1984 "A witty quote proves nothing."-Voltaire Let them marry and collect tax benefits. Who honestly gives a damn nowadays anyway? Marriage is a failing institution as it is. As I see it, if gay people marry, they cannot reproduce. There you have it, we all win. The gays get what they want, and our population doesn't rise. To accuse a gay person of being "wrong" is stupid and infantile, it is also borderline homophobic. Hell I'm not even gay and I can tell you that. It would be the same as saying someone was wrong for being born albino or blind. The simple fact of the matter is that the majority of them cannot help the way they are. @Hein: What you read about homosexuality acting as a population control device is probably correct. This would mean that it is not only a genetic function written into human DNA, but also an act of god and a necessary function of the human species to prolong it's own existence. It seems to me that even though you have made some very intelligent observations on the subject, you are still not open minded enough to accept them. Realizing gay people are out there walking among us doesn't mean we have to join thier ranks, nor does it mean we should fear being gang raped by feral gangs of them out in the streets. You simply live and let live. You don't have to condone it, but harboring animosity for gays just slows down your own personal evolution. Straight people are straight, gay folks are gay. Bi people exist, but half of it is a fad, and a sad one at that. The only way homosexuality could be viewed as wrong is when its imposed as normal on otherwise heterosexual human beings. When its made to look stylish and trendy it is wrong. When a little girl sees her favorite pop divas on MTV making out, its wrong. Because that image is placed in her mind as an alternative possibility in her development, possibly creating a self deluded, fake gay person. But could this not be the motive? To introduce more people to it in order stem the population in the long run somehow? I think so. So what if our society has sunk to the level of Sodom and Gomorrah, nobody ever said we had to take part. Our job is to keep moving forward with our lives regardless of the things that don't immediately effect us, and never look back. If you choose to look back and dwell on what you feel is wrong and what you ultimately cannot change, you might find yourself turning into a miserable pillar of salt. That statement is figurative. And by no means do I accept the bible as real or infallible. _________________ "War is terrorism, magnified a hundred times." -Howard Zinn Also, what's with the mayor of San Francisco? He is a thoughtcriminal who is disobeying the law and must be reeducated by the Governator of California. To God, this means don't discriminate against others. I feel that homosexuality is wrong, because I follow what God says. However, I would never persecute and make fun of homosexuals. I feel that homophobia is wrong. I think being afraid of someone is just like discrimination because you are putting them in a lower spot than yourself. However, many people feel not giving homosexuals the right to marry is discrimination. I feel it is not because God says it is wrong and if our country starts going against divine establishment and allowing gay/lesbian marriage than God will allow our nation to be disciplined. Also, like someone said on another forum, NO major religion supports gay marriage. I think that statement speaks for itself. Anyway, in response to Comrade O'Brian: I live in Seattle and our mayor, Mayor Greg Nickels has done the same thing as the mayor of San Fran. He has supported gay/lesbian marriages, which is illegal since it is against state and federal law. bye _________________ If the USA didn't exist, I would live in Norway. If Capitalism didn't exist, I would support Socialism. GO NORWEGIAN SOCIALISM!!! That statement is figurative. And by no means do I accept the bible as real or infallible. Were you scared that someone would respond to that statement and that is why you put it in small print??lol That's quite funny actually. Well, the bible is real and infallible, maybe you will figure that out in eternity. God wrote the Bible through faithful saints and the whole Bible is inspired by God. _________________ If the USA didn't exist, I would live in Norway. If Capitalism didn't exist, I would support Socialism. GO NORWEGIAN SOCIALISM!!! True, but that means friendship and concern, not intemate love of everyone, cause thats imposible. Were you scared that someone would respond to that statement and that is why you put it in small print??lol HAHAHAHA no. Its just that I wasn't familiar with the size of the extra small print on these forums. I put that statement in so I didn't come off sounding like a self righteous bible-thumper like yourself. I assure you, I was merely covering my ass. Quote: That's quite funny actually. Well, the bible is real and infallible, maybe you will figure that out in eternity. Yeah, whatever you say. Maybe I'll learn all that in eternity, maybe my couch will sprout legs and wander off when I'm not looking. Quote: God wrote the Bible through faithful saints and the whole Bible is inspired by God. I prefer pot to the opiate of the masses thanks. From the sounds of it, it makes you a drooling DC Talk fan. Freeing slaves didn't lead to affirmative action, universal suffrage lead to it (votes should be IQ tested ). Interracial marriages had been common place (even in the US) long before the end (or indeed the beginning) of slavery. Yes... but freeing the slaves was the first step. And if you would have told people back in 1864 about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the political correctness we now face, they probably would have told Lincoln to shove that emancipation proclamation up his ass. Northern soldiers did not fight to "free the slaves". And, not to get off the subject, but I have never really understood how Lincoln justified his invasion of the South... and why so many Northerners were willing to go to war to keep the southern states in the US against their will. I suppose the North could make the case that the South "started it" by attacking first... but I think the blame falls on the North for not abandoning its southern forts. Bill wrote: No, that was my point about changing the legal protection* granted by the 'age of consent' to one based on age difference. (In the UK (for adults), sex with child below the age of 13 carries a mandatory life sentence, yet bizarrely drops to just two years at 13. This has lead to paedophiles grooming kids until they are 13.) Paedophilia destroys the childhood and the lives of people, like murder, it never will be accepted by any decent society. Homosexuality only affects those who wish to participate. If a gay rapes someone then they are tried and convicted by the law, just like anyone else. Like I said... I don't think society will ever disintegrate to the point where sex with 4-year old children is acceptable. But I can see the legal age being pushed back a bit. I can understand the emotional scarring which occurs from a 35 year-old fucking a 6 year-old ... but I don't think and 18-year-old bedding a 15-year-old is quite the same thing. Bill wrote: You are trying to link homosexuality and paedophila as if they are equivalent perversions, clearly they are not ,else there would be no heterosexual paedophiles. If you go back a few centuries more you'll find that, in say Roman/Greek society, homosexually was accepted as normal. No... It is not the same thing. But 100 years ago both were shunned, and now homosexuality is accepted. 100 years ago there was no such thing as NAMBLA, and now there is. Who is to say how successful they will be in "reforming" our laws. And yes... there have been homosexuals since the dawn of time. But even the Romans did not equate a homosexual relationship with a heterosexual one. It was just a fun way for soldiers to pass the time while they were in the field… and great fun at parties as well. But they never allowed them to marry and adopt children. Random Thought: Homosexuality does not exist in other species, so I have to wonder... At exactly what point in human evolution did people decide to give it a go? (And don't give that "gay monkey" story... A dominant Chimp may butt-fuck a smaller one on occasion ... but only to stake his claim as leader. He doesn't ejaculate during the encounter, so it is not the same thing.) Mankind is bestowed with the knowledge of how to craft tools... and how to get off in another man's ass I think this was the point South Park was trying to make by having a "Gay Lion" and other gay animals on the Big Gay Al episode. No such thing exists. Last edited by Big Brother on Fri 2004-05-28 06:38; edited 2 times in total Wouldn't that go against the desire to populate the world with more of us white folk? See you dont understand, I'm part black, part white, part native american, but I only define my race, as me, or sebecean(son of the stars). I beleive that we sound continue to reproduce, as long as sex is contained within the family unit, so future generation will hopfully learn morals and hard work ethics, as I was raised. It was basically a war between those who wanted an empire larger than Britain and those who wanted to maintain the constitution and steer clear of any form of Monarchy. Obviously with no states-rights today, you see which side won. I can understand the emotional scarring which occurs from a 35 year-old fucking a 6 year-old ... but I don't think and 18-year-old bedding a 15-year-old is quite the same thing . No, nor do I. I suspect we're not a million miles from agreement about paedophilia. What I'm not so sure about and what I don't understand, is why you believe the liberalisation of a law against one group (i.e. adult gay couples) should necessarily cause the same for others (i.e. NAMBLA) ? Quote: 100 years ago there was no such thing as NAMBLA, and now there is. Who is to say how successful they will be in "reforming" our laws. I had to do a web search for NAMBLA <fx:shakes head> - 'only in America' I've only read a little of what's on their site but, it does seem to show the unacceptable face of sexuality. I'm certainly not arguing in favour of preditory sexuality. Quote: Random Thought: Homosexuality does not exist in other species, You're probably right, so many things are unique to our (one) species but as the old saying goes 'Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence'. Quote: so I have to wonder... At exactly what point in human evolution did people decide to give it a go? In my opinion this is one of the strongest arguments against homosexuality being a matter of choice. I can't imagine ever wanting to try it with another bloke and I don't think that's just my rather conservative personal taste. God wrote the Bible through faithful saints and the whole Bible is inspired by God. Unfortunately, _Julia_, God's first draft seems to have been lost and the 'faithful saints' have proved fallible messengers. The Bible, Koran and all the other God inspired holy editions are full of inconsistencies and empty of proof, leaving them open to interpretation by those who would use them to their own end. Before we get into a religious approach to why "gay is wrong," I want to ask: Where is my gay apocalypse?? _________________ "Sanity is not statistical."-Winston Smith, 1984 "A witty quote proves nothing."-Voltaire (This article uses the word "pedophobia" ... and I thought I was the first to make that up ) I don't believe homosexuality is "wrong". I just don't like when people claim that it is "genetic" and that gays have no choice in the matter. And while I don't think government should regulate the private sexual relationships of its citizenry, I don't think it should force other people to accept gay couples and punish people that think homosexuality is weird… because it is. If you want to know what I really think... Like I said before... no other species practices homosexuality. This doesn't make it wrong... just weird. It is the product of the fertile human mind, and the result of our own natural sexual instincts being oppressed. I think the reason that homosexuality is an entirely human affair is that humans are the only species that voluntarily places restrictions on its own mating habits. If a male dog passes a female dog on in the street, the will sniff each other's butts -- then go at it. The same goes other species as well. When they get the urge to screw, they go for it. But this is not the case for humans. If a human was to pass a member of the opposite sex on the street and begin sniffing her butt he would be slapped. If the person was actually successful at initiating sex, they would be arrested for rape and locked in a box. As a result, the human sex drive is at all times kept under wraps. And it during these dry spells that the fertile human mind begins to entertain homosexuality, bestiality, and all the rest. If humans just would fuck more often, these perversions probably wouldn't exist. (except as a result of boredom, which I think is another purely human affair) And I think other species are the same way. If you keep a dog locked up too long, he'll be more likely to hump your leg. If you stop a guy from fucking any female he wishes, he'll be more likely to stick in the first hole he sees. (Is homosexuality more prevalent in prisons?... hell yes!) But of course, humans are much more evolved than that. Our society is too advanced to allow for such behavior. Females can't just pump out offspring and walk away as if nothing happened. And therefore, society has created rules to govern our sexual behavior... and as a result society has figure out what to do people that find other means of release. Personally, I'd rather just start fucking in the street. But maybe that's just me. So my opposition to gay marriage in not based on some notion of "right and wrong". It's just that our present system seems to be working just fine, and I see no reason to change it. The traditional family unit is already in decline, and I see no reason to hasten its demise. You won't find me in the protest lines, but if the matter of gay marriage were put to a vote my checkmark would be in the "No" column. P.S. - While we are on the subject of "unnatural" human sexual behaviors, I think we need to add "Monogamy" to that list. I just don't like when people claim that it is "genetic" and that gays have no choice in the matter. Of course choice takes it's part in this but, I'm sure there is a 'wired' component as well. Take the case of sex changes (or to be PC, gender reassignment), particularly in older men, not the young one's that could have had it done as a career move, but those that have lived with the kind of emotional turmoil that has forced them to take this drastic step. I really do not believe these people just wake up one day and say 'call me Loretta', there has got to be something in their head that drives them. Men are almost genetically identical to women, gender assignment in the foetus, particularly for males, is tortuous and dependent on many different genes. It is likely that the brain's gender wiring is equally convoluted. I'm sure there is a genetic constituent to all human behaviour, including sexual behaviour. (*males have a reduced ironing gene whilst, the female has an almost nonexistent car-parking gene) Quote: If a [hu]man was to pass a member of the opposite sex on the street and begin sniffing her butt he would be slapped. I bet that bastard Brad Pitt would get away with it Quote: Personally, I'd rather just start fucking in the street. But maybe that's just me. i think the government should stay out of morality issues like this. we don't legislate which church to attend, so why legislate what marriage is? gays should be able to marry. polygamists should be able to be polygamists. it doesn't concern me, so why should i care? there will always be homosexuals and there will always be heterosexuals, regardless of laws or norms. people have a right to declare their partner, even if children cannot be produced. You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum	eng	41083cc7-5ad5-46bc-bca6-2295500a8b61	http://forums.newspeakdictionary.com/viewtopic.php?t=84&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
A traditional account of stimulus equivalence. In matching-to-sample tasks, two or more stimuli, the samples, are presented successively. In the presence of each sample, two or more comparison stimuli are arranged. Responding to one comparison is reinforced; this depends on the sample. For example, a matching-to-sample task may present sample A1 or A2 with comparison stimuli B1 and B2. Choosing B1 may be reinforced in the presence of A1, and choosing B2 in the presence of A2. Suppose that a particular sample is repeatedly presented together with comparisons. It may be found on those occasions that the choice of a particular comparison predominates. One can then speak of a conditional relationNoun1.conditional relation - a logical relation between propositions p and q of the form `if p then q'; if p is true then q cannot be false logical implication, implication logical relation - a relation between propositions between the sample and the comparison (Sidman & Tailby, 1982). If choosing comparison B1 is reinforced in the presence of sample A1, and choosing comparison B2 in the presence of sample A2, then conditional relations between A1 and B1, and between A2 and B2, may develop. These conditional relations may be designated A1 B1 and A2B A2B Anti-Two-Block A2B Administration-to-Broker A2B Administration to Business 2. Tests conducted with humans frequently reveal that matching-to-sample tasks bring about novel conditional relations, in addition to the conditional relations that were taught explicitly (see HayesHayes, river, c.300 mi (480 km) long, rising in a lake NE of Lake Winnipeg, central Manitoba, Canada, and flowing NE to Hudson Bay. It was the chief route used by Hudson's Bay Company traders from Hudson Bay to Lake Winnipeg and the interior; York Factory, an & Hayes, 1992, and Sidman, 1990, for reviews). Consider the following pair of matching-to-sample tasks as an example. In the first task, choosing comparison B1 is reinforced in the presence of sample A1, and choosing comparison B2 in the presence of sample A2. In the second task, choosing comparison C1 is reinforced in the presence of sample B1, and choosing comparison C2 in the presence of sample B2. Conditional relations A1B1, A2B2, B1C1, and B2C (Business to Consumer) Refers to a business communicating with or selling to an individual rather than a company. See B2B. 2 thus are taught explicitly. After these conditional relations have been established, a test may be arranged with samples C1 and C2 and comparisons A1 and A2; reinforcementreinforcement /re·in·force·ment/ (-in-fors´ment) in behavioral science, the presentation of a stimulus following a response that increases the frequency of subsequent responses, whether positive to desirable events, or is not presented. Novel conditional relations C1A1 and C2A C2A Client to Application C2A Click to Action 2 may be found on this test. Sidman and Tailby (1982) have proposed a specification of the conditional relations produced by matching-to-sample tasks. They suggest that the conditional relation can be an equivalence relationequivalence relation In mathematics, a generalization of the idea of equality between elements of a set. All equivalence relations (e.g., that symbolized by the equals sign) obey three conditions: reflexivity (every element is in the relation to itself), symmetry (element A : a relation that is reflexive (theory) reflexive - A relation R is reflexive if, for all x, x R x. Equivalence relations, pre-orders, partial orders and total orders are all reflexive. , symmetric No difference in opposing modes. It typically refers to speed. For example, in symmetric operations, it takes the same time to compress and encrypt data as it does to decompress and decrypt it. Contrast with asymmetric. (mathematics) symmetric - 1. , and transitivetransitive - A relation R is transitive if x R y & y R z => x R z. Equivalence relations, pre-, partial and total orders are all transitive. . When the conditional relation is an equivalence relation, stimuli form classes, such that conditional relations are shown between stimuli in the same class. There are two classes in the example given above: [A1, B1, C1] and [A2, B2, C2]. Stimuli in the same class are called equivalent, and the actual existence of classes of equivalent stimuli is called stimulusstimulus /stim·u·lus/ (stim´u-lus) pl. stim´uli [L.] any agent, act, or influence which produces functional or trophic reaction in a receptor or an irritable tissue. equivalence. Stimulus equivalence has been found in both children and adults. It has not been found in young mentally retardedNoun1.mentally retarded - people collectively who are mentally retarded; "he started a school for the retarded" developmentally challenged, retarded children who lack expressive language skills (Devany, Hayes, & Nelson, 1986). Also, it has not been found in animals (D'Amato, Salmon, Loukas, & Tomie, 1985; DugdaleDugdale may be Dwelling of the Navajo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico. The hogan is roughly circular and constructed usually of logs, which are stepped in gradually to create a domed roof. & Zentall, 1977; KendallKen·dall , Edward Calvin 1886-1972. American biochemist. He shared a 1950 Nobel Prize for discoveries concerning the hormones of the adrenal cortex. , 1983; Lipkens, Kop, & MatthijsMatthijs is a given name, and may refer to: Equivalent stimuli often function in similar ways even when they occur outside the matching-to-sample context. This has been found both for discriminative stimulusNoun1.discriminative stimulus - a stimulus that provides information about what to do cue stimulant, stimulus, stimulation, input - any stimulating information or event; acts to arouse action functions (e.g., Barnes & KeenanKeenan is a male Irish name which means "Ancient, Distant". Keenan is an anglicisation of the Irish name Cianáin. The Keenans were historians to the McGuire clan. , 1993; de Rose, Mcllvane, Dube, Galpin, & StoddardStoddard may refer to: People Bob Stoddard, major league baseball pitcher Charles Warren Stoddard, American author Elizabeth Drew Stoddard, American poet and novelist James Stoddard, American fantasy author , 1988) and for functions of consequences (reinforcing or punishingpun·ish v.pun·ished, pun·ish·ing, pun·ish·es 2. Marked by or showing prejudice: discriminative hiring practices. functions within equivalence classes (mathematics) equivalence class - An equivalence class is a subset whose elements are related to each other by an equivalence relation. The equivalence classes of a set under some relation form a partition of that set (i.e. has been found in both children and adults. The transfer of consequentialcon·se·quen·tial adj. 1. Following as an effect, result, or conclusion; consequent. 2. Having important consequences; significant: functions has until now been investigated in adults only. The purpose of the present paper is to show that three-term of reinforcement can explain the phenomena of stimulus equivalence (the novel conditional relations and the transfer of functions). The basic idea has been put forward by Rodewald (1974). Rodewald had studied matching to sample in pigeons. After he had established conditional relations that may be designated A1 B1 and A2B2 he did not find novel conditional relations B1A1 and B2A B2A Business to Administrators B2A Business to Anyone B2A Business to Applications B2A Business to Assets B2A Business to Auctions B2A Business to Arts B2A Business to Administration 2. Rodewald then proposed a training history that could lead to novel conditional relations. This history can be described as follows. First, A1B1 and A2B2 are taught. Next, B1A1 and B2A2 are also taught. In other wordsAdv.1.in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , a pair of tasks is arranged in which symmetric conditional relations are taught. Later, A3B3 and A4B A4B Action for Business (UK)4 are taught, followed by B3A3 and B4A4; A5B5 and A6B6 are taught, followed by B5A5 and B6A6, and so forth. This history may lead to performance such that a novel BA relation is found after the training of an AB relation, whatever A and B. The phenomena of stimulus equivalence in humans can be explained with the assumption that training histories like the one proposed by Rodewald take place before the experiments in which the phenomena are observed. This is the key assumption of an account proposed by Hayes and Hayes (1989; see also Dugdale & Lowe, 1990; Hayes, 1991; Hayes & Hayes, 1992; Sidman et al., 1982). Suppose the behavior of a person is studied in an experiment. After conditional relations A1B1 and A2B2 have been established, novel conditional relations B1A1 and B2A2 are found. According toaccording to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Hayes and Hayes (1989), this result may be caused by the training of symmetric conditional relations in preexperimental pairs of tasks. Other stimulus equivalence phenomena can be explained in the same way. The following is a three-term contingencycontingency n. an event that might not occur. formulationformulation /for·mu·la·tion/ (for?mu-la´shun) the act or product of formulating. American Law Institute Formulation of the idea that the phenomena of stimulus equivalence depend on preexperimental training histories. It will first be shown how three-term contingencies can account for the novel conditional relations. Next, the transfer of functions through the equivalence class will be considered. Tactics for testing the account will then be presented, and the account will be compared with the account proposed by Hayes and Hayes (1989). Novel Conditional Relations According to the present formulation, the novel conditional relations found in studies of stimulus equivalence are instances of generalized performances. The generalized performances are generalized in the sense that they are shown for a variety of sample and comparison stimuli. It is assumed that the generalized performances are produced by reinforcement histories in the usual (extra-experimental) environments of humans. The generalized performances will be defined first. Reinforcement histories that explain the generalized performances will then be presented. Generalized Performances The generalized performances will be divided into two categories. One category consists of three generalized performances, which will be called generalized identity matching, generalized symmetric responding, and generalized transitive responding. The second category consists of an unlimited number of other generalized performances, which will be called generalized equivalences. Expressions of the form x [right arrow] y will be used in the definitions of all generalized performances, except generalized identity matching. The expression x [right arrow] y stands for a choice of comparison y in the presence of sample x. In generalized identity matching, the presentation of sample x with comparison x is usually followed by the choice of comparison x. This is the case for a variety of stimuli x. In generalized symmetric responding, x [right arrow] y is usually followed by y [right arrow] x. This is the case for a variety of stimuli x and y. In generalized transitive responding, x [right arrow] y and y [right arrow] z are usually followed by x [right arrow] z. This is the case for a variety of stimuli x, y, and z. The second category of generalized performances, the generalized equivalences, will be introduced with the help of examples. The examples are shown in Figure 1. Arrows point from samples to comparisons. Solid arrows indicate choices that occur initially; broken arrowsBroken Arrow a series depicting Indian–white man exploits. [TV: Terrace, I, 122] See : Wild West (communications) broken arrow - The error code displayed on line 25 of a IBM 3270 terminal (or a terminal emulator emulating a 3270) for indicate choices that occur finally. In one generalized equivalence (left), x [right arrow] y and y [right arrow] z are usually followed by z [right arrow] x. This is the case for a variety of stimuli x, y, and z. In another generalized equivalence (middle), x [right arrow] y and x [right arrow] z are usually followed by y [right arrow] z. Again, this is the case for a variety of stimuli x, y, and z. In a third generalized equivalence (right), w [right arrow] x, x [right arrow] y, and y [right arrow] z are usually followed by w [right arrow] z. This is the case for a variety of stimuli w, x, y, and z. In each of these examples, the following two conditions are met: (1) The final choice is predicted, if the conditional relation is an equivalence relation, on the basis of the initial choices; (2) the final choice does not follow immediately, by a single application of symmetrysymmetry, generally speaking, a balance or correspondence between various parts of an object; the term symmetry is used both in the arts and in the sciences. or transitivitytran·si·tive adj. 1. Abbr. trans. or tr. or t.Grammar Expressing an action carried from the subject to the object; requiring a direct object to complete meaning. Used of a verb or verb construction. , from the initial choices. These are the defining properties of generalized equivalences. The first property is shared with generalized symmetric responding and generalized transitive responding. The second property distinguishes the generalized equivalences from generalized symmetric responding and generalized transitive responding. The initial choices in generalized symmetric responding, generalized transitive responding and the generalized equivalences may be reinforced, but that is not necessary. They might also be test trial responses. For example, generalized symmetric responding is present when x [right arrow] y choices tend to be followed by y [right arrow] x choices, whether the x [right arrow] y choices are reinforced or not. It might be thought that the generalized equivalences can be reduced to generalized symmetric responding and generalized transitive responding, so that it would not be strictly necessary to introduce the generalized equivalences. This cannot be done, as the following example illustrates. Suppose that conditional relations A1B1 and B1C1 are taught explicitly. After these conditional relations have been established, a test of conditional relation C1A1 is arranged; no other conditional relations are tested. Suppose conditional relation C1A1 is indeed found. This conditional relation can be interpreted as an instance of a generalized equivalence. This is the case because A1 [right arrow] B1 and B1 [right arrow] C1 are followed by C1 [right arrow] A1. There are no other interpretations available. Conditional relation C1A1 could have been interpreted as an instance of generalized symmetric responding, had conditional relation A1CA1C abbr. airman first class 1 been found before conditional relation C1A1 (A1 [right arrow] C1 would have been followed by C1 [right arrow] A1). Because conditional relation A1C1 has not been tested, no choices of the type A1 [right arrow] C1 are present in the performances. Therefore, an interpretation that refers to generalized symmetric responding is not available. Similarly, conditional relation C1A1 could have been interpreted as an instance of generalized transitive responding, had conditional relations B1A1 and C1B1 been found before conditional relation C1A1 (B1 [right arrow] A1 and C1 [right arrow] B1 would have been followed by C1 [right arrow] A1). Because conditional relations B1A1 and C1B1 have not been tested, no choices of the types B1 [right arrow] A1 and C1 [right arrow] B1 are present in the performances. Therefore, an interpretation that refers to generalized transitive responding is also not available. Thus, the novel performance of this example cannot ultimately be explained as generalized symmetric responding or generalized transitive responding. (Novel performances of this kind have often been reported; see Devany et al., 1986; Hayes, TilleyTil´ley n.1.(Bot.) The seeds of a small tree (Croton Pavana) common in the Malay Archipelago. These seeds furnish croton oil, like those of Croton Tiglium. , & Hayes, 1988; Sidman & Tailby, 1982; Sidman, Willson-Morris, & Kirk, 1986; Spradlin, Cottercot·ter n. 1. A bolt, wedge, key, or pin inserted through a slot in order to hold parts together. , 1973; Wetherby, KarlanKarlan is believed to be one of the sons of the legendary Qais Abdur Rashid, the folklorish ancestor of the Pashtun people. Legacy Karlan had two sons named Kuki and Kodi. Through these two sons we get the Karlanri tribes. , & Spradlin, 1983.) Histories That Explain the Generalized Performances Table 1 presents schematic A graphical representation of a system. It often refers to electronic circuits on a printed circuit board or in an integrated circuit (chip). See logic gate and HDL. descriptions of reinforcement histories that explain generalized identity matching, generalized symmetric responding, generalized transitive responding, and one generalized equivalence. Each row shows a contingency: stimulus, a response, and a consequence. The antecedent stimuli are sequences of events. The last event of a sequence is the presentation of comparisons in the presence of a sample. An expression of the form x(y) stands for TABULARtab·u·lar adj. 1. Having a plane surface; flat. 2. Organized as a table or list. 3. Calculated by means of a table. tabular resembling a table. DATA OMITTED the presentation of comparison y, together with other comparisons, in the presence of sample x. For example, B1(A1) stands for the presentation of comparison A1, together with other comparisons, in the presence of sample B1. The responses are choices of comparisons; the chosen comparison is included in the specification of the response. That is, the responses are specified as "Choose A1," "Choose A2," and so forth. The responses are thus specified in terms of their antecedent stimuli. The consequences are presentations of reinforcers. (The units of the analysis are discriminated operants: classes of responses defined in terms of shared environmental effects as well as shared antecedent stimuli; see CataniaCatania(kätä`nyä), city (1991 pop. 333,075), capital of Catania prov., E Sicily, Italy, on the Gulf of Catania, an arm of the Ionian Sea, and at the foot of Mt. Etna. , 1968, 1973. Each of the contingencies shown in Table 1 defines a discriminated.. The generalized performances are also discriminated operants. In the generalized performances, responding is occasioned by a property of antecedent stimuli.) The first history of Table 1 explains generalized identity matching. In the first contingency of this history, sample A1 is presented and a choice between comparison A1 and other comparisons is offered. Choosing comparison A1 is reinforced. Next, in the presence of sample A2, choosing comparison A2 is reinforced, and so forth. The second history explains generalized symmetric responding. Each antecedent stimulus consists of different parts, which occur at different times. The antecedent stimulus of the first contingency begins with a choice of comparison B1 in the presence of sample A1. Later, sample B1 is presented together with comparisons; one comparison is A1. Choosing A1 is reinforced. The antecedent stimulus of the second contingency begins with a choice of comparison B2 in the presence of sample A2. It ends with the presentation of sample B2 and comparison A2. Choosing A2 is reinforced, and so forth. The third history explains generalized transitive responding. Here, each antecedent stimulus begins with two choices. The antecedent stimulus of the first contingency begins with a choice of comparison B1 in the presence of sample A1, and a choice of comparison C1 in the presence of sample B1. Later, sample A1 is presented with C1 and other comparisons; choosing C1 is reinforced. The antecedent stimulus of the second contingency begins with a choice of comparison B2 in the presence of sample A2 and a choice of comparison C2 in the presence of sample B2. Later, sample A2 is presented with comparison C2 and choosing comparison C2 is reinforced, and so forth. The last history explains one generalized equivalence. The generalized equivalence is shown in the left-handleft-hand adj. 1. Of, relating to, or located on the left. 2. Relating to, designed for, or done with the left hand. left-hand Adjective 1. panel of Figure 1. The contingencies are the same as in the history that explains generalized transitive responding, except for the final choices: Choosing comparison A1 is reinforced in the presence of sample C1, choosing A2 in the presence of C2, and so forth. Similar histories explain other generalized equivalences. A Traditional Account of the Novel Conditional Relations It is assumed here that histories like those shown in Table 1 take place in the usual environments of humans. This is assumed for generalized identity matching, generalized symmetric responding, generalized transitive responding, and a limited number of generalized equivalences. Further, it is assumed, for all histories, that a limited number of contingencies is sufficient for generalizationgen·er·al·i·za·tion n. 1. The act or an instance of generalizing. 2. A principle, a statement, or an idea having general application. to a variety of novel samples and comparisons, including those arranged in stimulus equivalence experiments. These assumptions lead to a traditional account of the novel conditional relations: The conditional relations are shown because similar performances have been reinforced in the past. The generalized performances are similar to abstract tacts, such as the verbal response "red" under the control of redness (SkinnerSkin·ner , B(urrhus) F(rederick) 1904-1990. American psychologist. A leading behaviorist, Skinner influenced the fields of psychology and education with his theories of stimulus-response behavior. , 1953, 1957). In both cases, responding is under discriminative control of a stimulus property. The properties that control responding in the generalized performances are patterns shared by antecedent stimuli. For example, in generalized symmetric responding, the property is the presence of a sample y with a comparison x after comparison y has been chosen in the presence of sample x. This pattern may be designated x [right arrow] y, y(x). The shaping of a generalized performance may be facilitated by nonreinforcement of responses that do not belong to the performance. Nonreinforcement occurs when the comparisons chosen differ from those given in the response specifications of Table 1. For example, choosing a comparison other than A1 goes unreinforced after the antecedent stimulus A1 [right arrow] B1; B1 (A1). The absence of choices of other comparisons may be facilitated by nonreinforcement of those choices. A generalized performance may be stronger in some contexts than in others. For example, it might be found that a child's generalized symmetric responding is strong when mother and child are looking through picture books together, and weaker in other situations. When the strength of a generalized performance varies between contexts, a three-term contingency interpretation can be that responding is under discriminative control of the context together with the pattern shared by the antecedent stimuli. For example, the picture book context and the pattern x [right arrow] y; y(x) may jointly control choosing comparison x. This interpretation is plausible if generalized symmetric responding has been reinforced in the picture book context, and not, or to a lesser extent, in other contexts. Although contextual control is possible, some degree of generalization between contexts must be assumed to explain why performances reinforced in usual environments are also shown in experiments. The environments in which the effective contingencies occur remain to be specified. Only a few possibilities will be suggested here. One possibility is that the contingencies occur in situations where one object is placed near another object. Here, the object that is moved corresponds to a comparison in a matching-to-sample procedure; the other object corresponds to the sample. When the comparison-object is placed near the sample-object, the subject touches one object (the comparison) in the neighborhood of another object (the sample), just as in a matching-to-sample procedure. Reinforcement of this behavior often takes place with different pairs of objects within a set of more or less similar objects. Consider a two-year-old two-year-old a horse aged between 2 and 3 years, the age dating from the horse's date of birth. In racehorses the birth date of the horse is as determined by the local racing authority as the birthday of all horses. boy playing with toy cars. Occasionally, he puts one car near another in a garage, which is followed by automatic or social reinforcement. In cases like these, many different placements of objects are taught with objects in the same set. Suppose all possible relations between different pairs of objects are taught with objects A1, B1, and C1. Thus, placing B1 near A1 is reinforced; placing A1 near B1 also. This contributes to generalized symmetric responding. Placing B1 near A1, placing C1 near B1, and C1 near A1 are reinforced. This contributes to generalized transitive responding. Placing B1 near A1, C1 near B1, and A1 near C1 are reinforced. This contributes to one generalized equivalence, and so forth. Further, generalized identity matching will be strengthened when the objects placed together resemble one another in certain ways (e.g., they are all toy cars). These contingencies occur in play, in tidying up, and in other activities. Another possibility is that the effective contingencies occur in situations where names of objects are spoken. This possibility will be discussed below. Other Contingencies That Explain the Novel Conditional Relations The present account assumes that the novel conditional relations depend on stimulus generalizationNoun1.stimulus generalization - (psychology) transfer of a response learned to one stimulus to a similar stimulus stimulus generalisation, generalisation, generalization in more than one way. Two of these have already been mentioned. First, responding is assumed to generalizegeneralize /gen·er·al·ize/ (-iz) 1. to spread throughout the body, as when local disease becomes systemic. 2. to form a general principle; to reason inductively. from the sample and comparison stimuli in the reinforcement histories of Table 1 to the unfamiliar sample and comparison stimuli arranged in studies of stimulus equivalence. Second, responding is assumed to generalize from preexperimental to experimental contexts. A third kind of generalization applies to the choices in the antecedent stimuli of generalized symmetric responding, generalized transitive responding, and generalized equivalences. Consider the history shown for generalized symmetric responding in Table 1. The antecedent stimuli begin with choices A1 [right arrow] B1, A2 [right arrow] B2, and so forth. It is assumed here that generalized symmetric responding can also be produced if the contiguous Adjacent or touching. Contrast with fragmentation. See contiguous file. occurrences of A1 and B1, of A2 and B2, and so forth, take the place of the choices. In other words, antecedent stimuli that contain choices can occasion symmetric responding after a reinforcement history in which antecedent stimuli contained contiguous occurrences of stimuli. This seems a reasonable assumption because the two kinds of antecedent stimulus have a structure in common. Similar assumptions are made for generalized transitive responding and for generalized equivalences. The contiguous occurrence of stimuli may involve spoken names. A spoken name occurs in the following contingency, which might contribute to generalized symmetric responding. Stimulus A1 is presented, and its name (B1) is spoken. Later, name B1 is spoken again and choosing A1, which is now a comparison, is reinforced. Here, name B1 may be spoken by the subject whose responding is finally reinforced, or by another person. This possibility exists for both the first and the second occurrence of the name in the antecedent stimulus. Therefore, four contingencies may be distinguished. A contingency that teaches is obtained if another person speaks both names. For example, a mother shows her two-year-old child a picture of a house and says: "It'sit's 1. Contraction of it is. 2. Contraction of it has. See Usage Note at its. it's it is or it has it's be ~have a house." Later, she asks: "Where's the house?" and after the child has pointed to the house she praises the child. A contingency that teaches transfer from expressive to receptivereceptive /re·cep·tive/ (re-cep´tiv) capable of receiving or of responding to a stimulus. use of names is obtained if the first name is spoken by the subject and the second by another person. For example, a mother shows her child a picture, which the child names. Later, the mother names the picture and she reinforces after the child has chosen appropriately. The other two contingencies, in which the subject speaks the second name, may also contribute to the development of generalized symmetric responding. Contingencies that contain spoken names may also contribute to generalized transitive responding and generalized equivalences. In the following contingency, which might contribute to generalized transitive responding, B1 is the name of both A1 and C1. Stimulus A1 is presented, and name B1 is spoken. Later, name B1 is spoken again, and C1 is chosen. Finally, choosing C1 is reinforced in the presence of A1. For example, a mother shows her child a picture of a house (A1) and says: "a house" (B1). On another occasion, she asks: "Where's the house?" (B1), and the child points to another house (C1; A1 and C1 have different shapes). Finally, the mother points to the first house (A1), asks "Where's another one?" and praises her child after he or she has pointed to the second house (C1). Similar contingencies contribute to generalized equivalences. Transfer of Functions The account of the transfer of functions in equivalence classes is similar to the account of the novel conditional relations. It is assumed that the transfer of functions depends on preexperimental contingencies of reinforcement. In these contingencies, the transfer of functions is reinforced. Table 2 shows two reinforcement histories that explain transfer of discriminative functions. The first history explains the transfer of a discriminative function from a sample to a comparison chosen in the presence of the sample. The antecedent stimulus of the first contingency begins with a choice of comparison B1 in the presence of sample A1, and a response r1 to stimulus A1. It ends with a presentation of B1. Response r1 is reinforced. The antecedent stimulus of the second contingency begins with a choice of comparison B2 in the presence of sample A2, and a response r2 to stimulus A2. It ends with a presentation of B2. Response r2 is reinforced, and so forth. As a result of these contingencies, a generalized performance is strengthened in which an antecedent stimulus that has the form x [right arrow] y, x [right arrow] r; y occasions response r. The second history explains a more complex case. In this case, there is a transfer between stimuli that do not occur together in a single choice. The antecedent stimulus of the first contingency begins with a TABULAR DATA OMITTED choice of comparison B1 in the presence of sample A1, a choice of comparison C1 in the presence of sample B1, and a response r1 to stimulus A1. It ends with a presentation of C1. Response r1 is reinforced. The antecedent stimulus of the second contingency begins with a choice of comparison B2 in the presence of sample A2, a choice of comparison C2 in the presence of sample B2, and a response r2 to stimulus A2. It ends with a presentation of C2. Response r2 is reinforced, and so forth. As a result, a generalized performance is strengthened in which an antecedent stimulus that has the form x [right arrow] y, y [right arrow] z, x [right arrow] c, z occasions response r. These generalized performances are only two possibilities. An unlimited number of generalized performances is possible. There is an between the contingencies that produce transfer of discriminative functions and the contingencies that produce novel conditional relations. The overlap exists because the response occasioned by a stimulus can be the choice of a comparison. As an example of this, consider generalized transitive responding. In this performance, an antecedent stimulus that has the form x [right arrow] y, y [right arrow] z; x(z) occasions the choice of z. This can be viewed as a kind of transfer of function: the choice of comparison z transfers from stimulus y to stimulus x. The contingencies that produce generalized transitive responding thus teach the transfer of a discriminative function from a comparison (y) to the sample that went with the comparison (x). The overlap between the two kinds of contingencies is not complete: Some of the contingencies that lead to novel conditional relations do not lead to transfer of discriminative functions. Examples are the contingencies of generalized identity matching and generalized symmetric responding. In these cases, there is no discriminative function that transfers from one stimulus to another. The kind of discriminative function that is strengthened in a contingency is probably important. As an example of this, consider two discriminative functions: (a) the choice of a comparison in the presence of a sample, and (b) a vocalization vocalization to make a vocal sound; a form of communication. Studies of feline vocalization have identified murmur, vowel and strained intensity patterns. excessive vocalization in response to the presentation of an object. Contingencies in which the reinforced response is the choice of a comparison will contribute primarily to generalized performances in which the response is also the choice of a comparison. Contingencies in which the reinforced response is a vocalization in response to an object will contribute primarily to generalized performances in which the response is also a vocalization. The contingencies will also contribute to the other kind of generalized performance, but this contribution will be smaller. The contingencies of reinforcement thus far assumed account for the transfer of discriminative functions. The transfer of consequential functions remains to be discussed. Table 2 shows a reinforcement history that explains the transfer of a reinforcing function from a sample to a comparison. The antecedent stimulus of the first contingency begins with three events: (a) the choice of comparison B1 in the presence of sample A1, (b) the contiguous occurrence of A1 and the spoken word "Good," and (c) a sequence in which stimulus C1 is followed by response r1, which is followed by B1. The antecedent stimulus ends with C1. This antecedent stimulus may be described as: A1 [right arrow] B1, A1 "Good," C1 [right arrow] r1 [right arrow] B1; C1. It is followed by r1, which is reinforced. The antecedent stimulus of the second contingency may be described as: A2 [right arrow] B2, A2 "Good," C2 [right arrow] r2 [right arrow] B2; C2. Response r2 is reinforced, and so forth. In these contingencies, the transfer is from stimulus A to stimulus B. Stimulus A (A1, A2, etc.) occurs together with the word "Good," and may therefore be a conditioned reinforcerreinforcer /re·in·forc·er/ (-in-for´ser) any stimulus that produces reinforcement, a positive r. being a desirable event strengthening responses preceding its occurrence and a negative r.. Stimulus B occurs together with stimulus A in the choice A [right arrow] B, and it follows response r in the antecedent stimulus. Stimulus C is an occasion upon which response r may occur. Ultimately, stimulus C will control a response (r) which has had a certain consequence (B) in the past. Similar reinforcement histories explain more complex kinds of transfer, such as the transfer of a reinforcing function from stimulus y to stimulus z, after choices x [right arrow] y and x [right arrow] z have been taught (see Hayes et al., 1987; 1991). Tactics for Testing the Account The following three tactics for testing the present account are based on suggestions made by Baer (1973), who considered ways to test behavior-analytic accounts of developmental phenomena. The first tactic is to arrange the contingencies of Tables 1 and 2, in an attempt to strengthen the generalized performances. The subjects might be young normally capable children, or older mentally retarded children (see Devany et al., 1986). Evidence that generalized identity matching can be strengthened in normally capable children was obtained by ShermanSherman, city (1990 pop. 31,601), seat of Grayson co., N Tex., near the Red River; inc. 1858. Originally on a stagecoach route, it is a highway and railroad junction. Manufactures include electronic equipment, processed foods, military equipment, and metal products. , SaundersSaun´ders n.1. See Sandress. , and Brigham (1970). In this study, a novel instance of identity matching was established by reinforcing other instances. The tactic remains to be applied to the other generalized performances. The second tactic is to arrange operant procedures for weakeningweak·en tr. & intr.v.weak·ened, weak·en·ing, weak·ens To make or become weak or weaker. weaken·er n. the generalized performances. The procedures are: letting the performances go unreinforced, punishing them, or reinforcing incompatibleincompatible adj. 1) inconsistent. 2) unmatching. 3) unable to live together as husband and wife due to irreconcilable differences. In no-fault divorce states, if one of the spouses desires to end the marriage, that fact proves incompatibility, and a divorce performances. (The incompatible performances are oddityodd·i·ty n.pl.odd·i·ties 1. One that is odd. 2. The state or quality of being odd; strangeness. oddity Noun pl-ties 1. from sample, the opposite of generalized symmetric responding, the opposite of generalized transitive responding, and so forth. For example, the opposite of generalized symmetric responding means that after an antecedent stimulus with the pattern x [right arrow] y; y(x) a comparison other than x is chosen.) Here, the reasoning would be that if the performances can be produced with operant procedures it should also be possible to eliminate them with operant procedures. Evidence that generalized identity matching can be weakenedweak·en tr. & intr.v.weak·ened, weak·en·ing, weak·ens To make or become weak or weaker. weaken·er n. was obtained by Sherman et al. (1970). Like the first tactic, the second tactic remains to be applied to the other generalized performances. Of course, evidence that operant procedures can be used to weaken the performances does not prove that the performances were originally established with operant procedures. Therefore, the first tactic is better than the second one. The third tactic is a two-step approach. It begins with a search, in the usual environments of humans, for contingencies that might cause the phenomena of stimulus equivalence. Once such contingencies have been found, their functionality in causing the phenomena is assessed. This can be done by arranging the contingencies for subjects who do not yet show the phenomena. A systematic search remains to be done, but it is plausible that appropriate contingencies occur when objects are placed together or names of objects are spoken. Comparison with the Account Proposed by Hayes and Hayes The present account of stimulus equivalence may be compared with an account proposed by Hayes and Hayes (1989; see also Hayes, 1991; Hayes & Hayes, 1992). There are similarities and differences between the two accounts. Both accounts assume that the phenomena of stimulus equivalence depend on preexperimental training histories. Hayes and Hayes (1989, p. 174) suggest that "a history of arbitrary matching-to-sample that reinforced symmetry,., and transitivity" might lead to stimulus equivalence. If symmetry, reflexivity, and transitivity here refer to generalized symmetric responding, generalized identity matching, and generalized transitive responding, then it can be concluded that the present account makes a similar suggestion. In both Hayes (1991, p. 25) and the present account, it is assumed that the transfer of functions within equivalence classes is learned. Further, Hayes and Hayes (1989, p. 167) suggest that generalized symmetric responding might result from a training history with names, as follows. First, a child is taught to speak Name 1 when Object 1 is shown, and to choose Object 1 when Name 1 is spoken. Thereafter, the child is taught to speak Name 2 when Object 2 is shown, and to choose Object 2 when Name 2 is spoken, and so forth. This suggestion is also present in the present account of stimulus equivalence. One difference between the two accounts concerns the nature of the responding brought about by the training histories. Hayes and Hayes assume that stimulus equivalence is a kind of higher order responding, called a "relational frame of coordination" (see Hayes & Hayes, 1989, p. 172; Hayes, 1991, p. 29). This kind of responding includes generalized identity matching, generalized symmetric responding, generalized transitive responding, and an unlimited number of generalized equivalences. It is suggested that the training of reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity allows the child to "derive" the frame of coordination (Hayes & Hayes, 1989, p. 174). According to the present account, no such higher order kind of responding is brought about. The following example illustrates this difference between the two accounts. Suppose a child has been exposed to histories of reinforcement in which generalized identity matching, generalized symmetric responding, and generalized transitive responding have been established. No instances of generalized equivalences have been reinforced. The child then receives a training in which conditional relations between unfamiliar stimuli are taught. The conditional relations are A1B1 and B1C1. After these conditional relations have been established, a test of conditional relation C1A1 is arranged. The account proposed by Hayes and Hayes (1989) presumablypre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. leads to the prediction that C1A1 will be found, because generalized identity matching, generalized symmetric responding, and generalized transitive responding had been established, which allows the child to derive the frame of coordination. The present account predicts that C1A1 will not be found, because no instances of generalized equivalences had been reinforced. Another difference concerns the role of context. Hayes (1991, p. 37) states that "the combination of the contextual stimuli controlling relational responding and the stimuli to be related produce the results seen." In other words, responding is controlled by the contextual stimuli together with the particular sample and comparison stimuli. At some points, Hayes and Hayes suggest that contextual control is a logical necessity. For example, Hayes and Hayes (1989, p. 168) state that "a relational response must, by definition, be brought to bear on the situation by stimuli other than the relatae themselves. Thus, it must be contextually controlled." According to the present account, these "stimuli other than the relatae themselves" are patterns shared by antecedent stimuli, such as the pattern x [right arrow] y; y(x) in generalized symmetric responding. It will be necessary to assume contextual control over the generalized performances only if the same pattern is followed by different responding in different contexts. For example, in one context, the pattern x [right arrow] y; y(x) might be followed by choosing x, and in another by choosing a comparison other than x. Here, a three-term contingency interpretation could be that responding is under discriminative control of the context together with the pattern. Concluding Remarks According to the present formulation, the performances of stimulus equivalence are instances of generalized performances that have been shaped by their consequences in the usual environments of humans. In all generalized performances, except generalized identity matching, behavior is under discriminative control of earlier responding by the same subject. The assumption that behavior can be brought under discriminative control of earlier responding by the same subject has also been made in accounts of other behavioral behavioral pertaining to behavior. behavioral disorders see vice. behavioral seizure see psychomotor seizure. phenomena. The phenomena include characteristics of responding under schedules of reinforcement (Zeiler, 1977), discrimination learning sets (Mackintosh, 1983), and various phenomena of verbal behavior (Branch, 1977; Hineline & Wanchisen, 1989). An example is the phenomenon of do-say correspondence: a correspondence between a person's earlier behavior ("doing") and his or her later reporting about it ("saying"). For example, do-say correspondence exists when somebody accurately reports about his or her own earlier nonverbalnon·ver·bal adj. 1. Being other than verbal; not involving words: nonverbal communication. 2. Involving little use of language: a nonverbal intelligence test. behavior. According to a three-term contingency interpretation, accurately answering a question like "What have you been doing?" is verbal behavior under discriminative control of the earlier behavior (Hineline & Wanchisen, 1989). Evidence for a three-term contingency interpretation of do-say correspondence has been provided by Risley and Hart (1968), who allowed four- to five-year-old children to play with various materials. Approximately one and a half hours after a play session, each child was asked: "What did you do that was good today?" Risley and Hart found that they could bring the answer to the question under the control of the earlier behavior by reinforcing only accurate reports. This finding suggests that the kind of stimulus controlStimulus control We refer to stimulus control when a discriminative stimulus changes the probability of a behavior (operant response). The discriminative stimulus comes to control behavior when it predicts something about the consequences of that behavior. assumed by the present account of stimulus equivalence is feasible. Until now, animals have not shown stimulus equivalence. The reason for this may be that the animals studied so far had not been exposed to the contingencies assumed by the present account. On the basis of other findings, however, it should be expected that these contingencies will not produce stimulus equivalence in animals. There is evidence that temporallytem·po·ral 1 adj. 1. Of, relating to, or limited by time: a temporal dimension; temporal and spatial boundaries. 2. extended stimuli, in which previous choices occur, can acquire discriminative control over animal behavior only with difficulty, if at all. This evidence has been obtained in studies of double-alternation in mazes (Woodworth & Schlosberg, 1954, pp. 627, 628) and in studies of discrimination learning sets (Mackintosh, 1983, p. 273). The important difference between animals and humans, as far as stimulus equivalence is concerned, may be the kind of discriminative control that can be established, rather than the possession of language or some other behavioral repertoireRepertoire may mean Repertory but may also refer to: Repertoire (theatre), a system of theatrical production and performance scheduling Repertoire Records, a German record label specialising in 1960s and 1970s pop and rock reissues (see Dugdale & Lowe, 1990, and Hayes & Hayes, 1989, for discussion). In the present account of stimulus equivalence, matching to sample is viewed as responding to stimulus compounds. This can be seen in Table 1, in the contingencies that lead to generalized identity matching. The stimulus compound is a sample together with comparisons available for choice; the response is choosing a comparison. Sidman (1986) has pointed out that stimulus compound formulations may not deal adequately with the phenomena of stimulus equivalence. It will here be shown that this criticism does not apply to the present account. Sidman's reasoning is the following: In tests for reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity, and in the global test for equivalence, each stimulus serves its new function effectively in the derived units without ever before having been paired with the other stimulus component of the new unit. This observation documents the earlier assertion that it can be incorrect to treat sample and comparison stimuli as a unitary unitary pertaining to a single object or individual. compound. (p. 236) There are two important differences between the present account of stimulus equivalence and the view criticized by Sidman. First, the stimulus compounds of the present account are not unitary compounds, in the sense of totally new stimuli. According to the present account, compounds A1(A1) and A2(A2) are not simply two different stimuli. They share a property, which may acquire control over responding. Second, the present account does not consist only of the idea that sample and comparison stimuli may be treated as compounds. It combines this idea with the assumption that the performances of stimulus equivalence are produced by reinforcement histories in the usual environments of humans. Branch of psychology concerned with changes in cognitive, motivational, psychophysiological, and social functioning that occur throughout the human life span. : Methodological issues (pp. 185-193 Press. BARNES, D., & KEENAN, M. (1993). A transfer of functions through derived arbitrary and non-arbitrary stimulus relations. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior The experimental analysis of behavior is the name given to school of psychology founded by B. F. Skinner, and based on his philosophy of radical behaviorism. A central principle was the inductive, data-driven[1], 59, 61-81. BIRKHOFF, G., & MACLANE, S. (1965). A survey of modern algebraalgebra, branch of mathematics concerned with operations on sets of numbers or other elements that are often represented by symbols. Algebra is a generalization of arithmetic and gains much of its power from dealing symbolically with elements and operations (such as . New York: MacMillan. BRANCH, M. N. (1977). On the role of "memory" in the analysis of behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 28, 171-179. CATANIA, A. C. (1968). Glossary A term used by Microsoft Word and adopted by other word processors for the list of shorthand, keyboard macros created by a particular user. See glossaries in this publication and The Computer Glossary. . In A. C. Catania (Ed.), Contemporary research in operant behaviorOperant Behavior is the network of factors and events involved in the behavior of animals. The operant is the behavior that acts on the environment to produce a consequence. This consequence is known as a reinforcer, which is meted out by the environment in response to the operant. (pp. 327-349). Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman. CATANIA, A. C. (1973). The concept of the operant in the analysis of behavior. Behaviorismbehaviorism, school of psychology which seeks to explain animal and human behavior entirely in terms of observable and measurable responses to environmental stimuli. Behaviorism was introduced (1913) by the American psychologist John B. , 1, 103-116. D'AMATO, M. R., SALMON, D. P., LOUKAS, E., & TOMIE, A. (1985). Symmetry and transitivity of conditional relations in monkeys This list includes individual non-human primates (capuchin monkeys, squirrel monkeys, Rhesus Macaques, and marmosets) who are in some way famous or notable. Note: This list does not include fictional monkeys, nor Apes, which are not monkeys. (Cebus apella) and pigeons (Columba livia). Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 44, 35-47. Act or process of knowing. Cognition includes every mental process that may be described as an experience of knowing (including perceiving, recognizing, conceiving, and reasoning), as distinguished from an experience of feeling or of willing. , contingencies, and instructional control (pp. 153-190). Press. HAYES, S. C., & HAYES, L. J. (1992). Verbal relations and the evolution of behavior analysis. American PsychologistThe American Psychologist is the official journal of the American Psychological Association. It contains archival documents and articles covering current issues in psychology, the science and practice of psychology, and psychology's contribution to public policy. , 47, 1383-1395. HOGAN, D. E., & ZENTALL, T. R. (1977). Backward associations in the pigeonpigeon, common name for members of the large family Columbidae, land birds, cosmopolitan in temperate and tropical regions, characterized by stout bodies, short necks, small heads, and thick, heavy plumage. . American Journal of Psychology The American Journal of Psychology was the first English-language journal devoted primarily to experimental psychology (though Mind, founded in 1876, published some experimental psychology earlier). , 90, 3-15. MACKINTOSH, N. J. (1983). Conditioning and associative learningassociative learning n. A learning principle based on the belief that ideas and experiences reinforce one another and can be mentally linked to enhance the learning process. . Oxford: Clarendon CLARENDON. The constitutions of Clarendon were certain statutes made in the reign of Henry H., of England, in a parliament holden at Clarendon, by which the king checked the power of the pope and his clergy. 4 Bl. Com. 415. Press. RISLEY, T. R.,$& HART, B. (1968). Developing correspondence between the non-verbal and verbal behavior of preschool children. Journal 1, 267-281. SHERMAN, J. A., SAUNDERS, R. R., & BRIGHAM, T. A. (1970). Transfer of matching and mismatching Mismatching is the term given to the alleged negative effect that affirmative action has when it places a student into a college that is allegedly too diffucult for her. For example, according to the theory, in the absence of affirmative action, a student will be admitted to a college behavior in preschool children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 9, 489-498. SIDMAN, M., WILLSON-MORRIS, M., & KIRK, B. (1986). Matching-to-sample procedures and the development of equivalence relations: The role of naming. Analysis and InterventionA procedure used in a lawsuit by which the court allows a third person who was not originally a party to the suit to become a party, by joining with either the plaintiff or the defendant. in Developmental Disabilitiesdevelopmental disabilities (DD), n.pl the pathologic conditions that have their origin in the embryology and growth and development of an individual. DDs usually appear clinically before 18 years of age. , 6, 1-19. Let S be a set of objects. We can speak of relation R on S if we can say for each pair of objects x and y in S whether x stands in the relation R to y, or does not stand in the relation R to y. The expression xRy can be used to indicate that x stands in the relation R to y. A relation R on a set S is an equivalence relation when R is reflexive (that is, xRx for all x in S), symmetric (if xRy then yRx, for all x and y in S), and transitive (if xRy and yRz then xRz, for all x, y, and z in S). These definitions can be found in texts on algebra (e.g., Birkhoff & MacLane, 1965). The concept of the equivalence relation can be applied to conditional relations in the following way. Define xRy to mean that conditional relation xy is shown. In other words, xRy means that the choice of comparison y predominates when x is the sample and y one of the comparisons. Further, let S be the set of all stimuli that can be arranged both as samples and as comparisons in matching-to-sample tasks. It might then be proposed that the relation R on S is an equivalence relation. This would mean: (1) conditional relation xx is shown, for all x in S; (2) if conditional relation xy is shown then conditional relation yx is shown, for all x and y in S; and (3) if conditional relations xy and yz are shown then conditional relation xz is shown, for all x, y, and z in S. These three statements give the usual meanings of the terms reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity in the literature on stimulus equivalence. @ @ COPYRIGHT 1994 The Psychological Record No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.	eng	b53e6fb2-834a-4a36-9ea7-0027e9c2e13c	http://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+traditional+account+of+stimulus+equivalence.-a016310652
Calif. to vote on labeling GMO foods, but you may already eat them I neither agree nor disagree with the labeling sentiment. But I do lean toward scientific rationalism. And the science says that this distinction is unwarranted and creates discrimination and bureaucracy. Basing genetic variance as a means of discrimination instead of the merits of the object on a meta level feels the same as discrimination against people with different color of skin. Here's a newsflash. All the food we eat is GENETICALLY ENGINEERED!!!! Everything. Every piece of meat. Every piece of plant. Every grain. Everything. None of it is in it's natural state. If it was we would all starve to death because none of it would produce enough to feed everyone And you don't find this disturbing...: But critics such as the American Academy of Environmental Medicine cite evidence, primarily from animal studies, of possible health risks of GM food consumption including infertility, organ damage, gastrointestinal and immune system disorders, and accelerated aging. Then I hope these excerpts at least give you pause: Georgia has been one of the states hit hardest by Roundup-resistant pigweed [caused by using too much glyphosate because of GMOs that are Roundup resistant], and one farmer in a long line of cotton farmers said the pest could pose as big a threat to cotton farming in the South as the beetle that devastated the industry in the early 20th century...(scientists and farmers say that glyphosate is a once-in-a-century discovery, and steps need to be taken to preserve its effectiveness)..-NYTimes [I know we don't eat cotton, but chemicals get into our environment, and this situation could cause much much more destruction to the industry in the form of superweeds than the initial use of GM cotton prevented in the first place.] The exclusive use of herbicide-tolerant GM crops would also make the farmer dependent on [particular] chemicals.-WHO [As of 2009] Scientists must ask corporations for permission before publishing independent research on genetically modified crops. -Scientific American, 2009 Pullmyfinger: It isn't true that all foods are genetically modified in the sense of this Proposition. Man has always created new strains of crops and food animals by cross breeding those with desirable traits. This is a natural process as it can and does occur in nature even when man is not directing the cross-breeding for a specific purpose. GM foods however could never occur in nature since they involve inserting genes from an entirely different organism into the DNA of another: inserting fish genes into tomato DNA for example to get a product that is easier to ship without damage. If it's completely safe to consume, then labels won't be a detriment. Stand up, be proud. Slap a label on it stating, "Damn straight it's GMO and we stand behind our product." There is nothing wrong with letting the consumer make an informed decision. At least as informed as we make an effort to be. lola3 -- Exactly. Why is so much money being spent on false advertising and scare tactics against the proposition if there's nothing to hide? The ads and (paid) spokespeople also quote some enormous amount of money the prop. is supposed to cost taxpayers but they don't say why. All they (food manufacturers) have to do is modify the label with a few quick keystrokes: 'contains GM ingredients: soy, wheat, corn ...' and print the labels. It won't take much time and that much more ink. And as far as I'm concerned, while they're at it, they can add a few more keystrokes and let us know if the packaging contains BPA or not. Knowing what's in my food so I can make informed choices doesn't scare me at all and so I ignore the asinine ads against it. I'll be voting yes, too. "an extensive 2010 review of 50 research projects done over a decade by the European Commission found no evidence to link consumption of GM foods with higher risks of food or feed safety when compared with conventionally produced foods." So the nuts in California want people to pay much more for their foods to satisfy a fringe group that's yelling "The sky is falling, the sky is falling". The worst part of this legislation is that it will create a huge windfall for lawyers - We will see tens of thousands of attorneys filing 'shakedown suits' (Pay a 'settlement' or get sued) against grocers and farmers about not complying with the law - AND THE LAWYERS DON'T EVEN HAVE TO PROVE THE GROCER OR FARMER DID ANYTHING WRONG - The law 'presumes' they are guilty and no proof is required. They require nutrition labels, they require allergy warnings, why shouldn't they require this. I want to know what I am eating. From what I understand, the companies that produce the GM foods also produce the pesticides that are being used on the food, such as Monsanto which produces Roundup and had produced agent orange (feel free to look it up). I hope it passes and the other states follow suit. It won't be easy because the businesses are putting big money into ads. Hope people can see throught it. If the European Commission found nothing wrong, why don't they allow GMO foods in Europe? I have seen, over the last 30 years, or so an increasing number of people with autoimmune diseases like Lupus, child hood cancers, austism, asthma, severe food allergies and the like. I see children going through puberty 2 years earlier than I did as a child. I do believe all of these health issues are related to the exposure to pesticides. Now we are eating them in GMO food, not just breathing them or getting them rubbed in our skin, and they wonder why resistant bacteria are now showing up in the community and not just the hospital or nursing home anymore.. If I lived in California, I would vote for this. This is a scientific question that will be answered by good scientific research. And should become an individual decision by the consumer for the ingestion of those products and not secretly and unknowingly forced on them. It is not a political question that will be determined by voting. ...(ie is the farming methods good for the environment?) should be voluntary. The vote is not to determine whether GMO is good or bad, but simply disclosing to the consumer whether or not the product contains GMO ingredients; whereby, the consumer can make their own determination whether or not to consume it, just as we now do with sodium, fiber, etc. One has to question Monsanto and others motive in pouring so much money and scare tactics into keeping this information secret. It can't be due to the cost of adding three little letters (GMO) to a label because we all know that minor cost will be passed on to the consumer. What are they attempting to hide? Everybody should realize that labeling something GMO is rooted in fear that the product "might" be harmful as alleged by marketers of "natural" products. The science does not show that, yet people have been scared into thinking it. Should scared people be allowed to make arbitrary rules? When people got scared that immunization caused developmental problems in children, the harm was very significant. Yet all the science says that it was not a factor. But people don't act rational. Whats the harm pandering to the fear? It is always small steps that gets society into its lamentable dysfunctional state. All the legal case law that makes insurance such a mess and the millions of rules that makes bureaucracy such a problem were all small steps. Read the literature from the prohibition era on why alcohol should be illegal. Or read the papers that explain the evil of marijuana. Their all completely ignore scientific rationalism and people eventually say "how did this get so screwed up?" Its because the some total of everybody's phobias results in an "Idiocracy". So I say we all need to put our adult underwear on, recognize that the world can't be perfectly safe, and were all better off not indulging everybody's paranoias even if each on their own may seem "reasonable". Part of the problem as I see it is many of these studies are not long term studies specifically addressing possible health issues. There is confusion too and it is present in this article. Genetically engineered and genetically modified are sometimes used interchangeably. At one time there was a distinct difference regarding the conventions in which these terms were used. From the very early years of agriculture, man has been doing genetic engineering. This was basically human intervention in natural selection to propagate crops with the desired characteristics. Like plants with different characteristics were frequently crossed through essentially natural means, (pollination), even though it may have been done selectively with human intervention. In this way what you have is man steering or guiding evolution. We have done similar things with animals too. Even cloning is an extension of this process and some plants actually naturally propagate through nature's version of cloning. Genetic modification is something entirely different. In GM they are manipulating genes in such ways which simply would not occur under natural circumstances. For example, nature does not provide a path for a fish or a mammal to mate with a corn plant. Many plants are even too genetically different to allow the mixing of their genes through any natural process. GM often take genes from entirely different species and splice them into the DNA of the target plant. Some classic examples are inserting genes into food crops so the plant creates its own pesticide. This works quiet well and kills pests that eat the plant. For the life of the plant, it doesn't seem to have any effect, however a plant doesn't have a central nervoussystem like insects and mammals do. In such cases you can be certain that if you eat that plant you also eat that pesticide. It may not kill you like it does the insect, but does it have a long term or accumulative effect? I don't think we know. That's just one example. Another common one is to modify the plant such that it is tolerant to weed control agents like Round-Up. That means that the plant can absorb the Round-Up without being killed by it. What remains in the edible portions of the plant is uncertain. But we know that regardless of whether or not the residues of the herbicide are present, the modified cell structure is. So now you end up ingesting plant cells that you simply wouldn't eat by nature. When we digest the food and absorb its nutrients we also absorb the residual components of these modified cells. How these are handled within our body is not fully understood. Maybe they get filtered out only to collect somewhere. Maybe they get broken down and get absorbed within our organs or end up getting fed to our own cells through our bloodstream. There is now evidence emerging that suggests that the genetic information itself can survive digestion and then circulate through the body potentially being incorporated into our own cells. This suggests that our own cells or even more likely, the bacterial cells within our digestive system might get "reprogrammed". So if we now have genetically modified bacteria within our gut, could they possibly be producing the same pesticide the food plant was tricked into producing? Could our own body cells also become modified? Known science suggests this isn't possible as DNA gets broken up in our digestion and genes don't really survive in a reproducible form. If the did it wouldn't just be these specialized genes that would survive, it could be an across the board problem all the time. We have no experiences of leaves growing where our fingernails used to be. If this was to occur it seems more likely that it would take place as some mutation of bacteria in our guts, but most experts say this isn't possible. What does seem potentially possible is that the different cell makeup of the GM plant cells when digested and converted to useful nutrients might result in some change waste products or possibly some slightly modified nutrients. The fact that we can modify a plant such that when an insect eats it, it dies, suggests that some mechanism does exist that allows the genetically changed cells to fatally impact the creature that consumes it. This alone should be cause for concern. Frankly I don't think this has been studied thoroughly enough. Some European studies suggest that there are mechanisms that we don't fully understand and that significant piece of DNA can survive digestion. Even more scary is a study that show that MicroRNAs survive and circulate in the bloodstream and have an effect on gene expression. The full implications of this aren't known but what was found was completely unexpected and just creates a bunch of new questions. I have heard it stated that if they can make it, it could at least theoretically occur as some random mutation. I suppose that could be possible but the odds are probably astronomically high, and for that random mutation to widely propagate would be another astronomically unlikely occurrence. The way I see it is that when we steer or guide evolution through selective breeding in plants or animals, the resulting "products" are probably just fine from a food perspective as the resulting changes are really relatively small. But I think GM, which manipulates genes in ways simply not achievable through natural evolution, we are taking some risks we simply don't yet fully understand. I am not against researching this stuff but it needs to be regulated as the desire to make money from it may overwhelm the use of due diligence. If I choose to be "paranoid", isn't that what the free market and capitalism is all about? Free choice? Studies on the safety of products can be wrong, as witnessed by the birth defects caused by thalidomide. Convince those children born of mothers who took the "safe" drug for their morning sickness all studies should be given carte blanche trust. GMO grain is WIDELY used to grow the corn, wheat and soy fed to cattle in feedlots in preparation for slaughter. The easiest way to avoid GMO food is to avoid commercial meat products. Avoid corn syrup products. Eat very low on the food chain. Organic fruit and vegetables and juices, organic grains from a good company such as Lundberg with a history of good stewardship. Seed Savers Exchange supplies heirloom and open pollinated seed for all edible food crops. Check them out. Folks, we don't need a government mandate. We simply need to take responsibility for our own education and make choices based on facts. Oh, finally, plant a garden if you can. Even one tomato plant in a pot is a good start. Or a tub of greens, lettuces, green baby onions, etc. Easy and yummy too. We can get cranky about the state of things or we can simply live our lives as we wish to do. Hope-295312 - Best suggestion yet! It really is our own responsibility. This proposition doesn't eliminate GMO......if the voters actually read it. It will only inform you of a few GMO products, but not even close to everything....to think this will "inform" you.....it will not. READ IT! Sanescience provides a very important point with regards to letting the public make certain decisions. The public is... simply put... too stupid to make certain decision. Various people were allowed to make decisions regarding immunization and they made such decisions for themselves and their children. This has led to several outbreaks of disease which affect not only them but others in society. So, yes, there are decisions the general public should not be making because they have no where near the understanding required in that subject. The reason people are fighting putting GMO is not that they're trying to hide something malicious. They're trying to avoid losing money because certain people are rather foolish and paranoid in their actions. They will lose money not based upon whether their product is better then what's currently out there, but rather based upon a paranoia. Another reason people are fighting it is because it doesn't actually add any useful information to the product. If a law was being passed that meat had to labeled with the phylogeny of the species it came from because an overzealous politician got a bug up his ass, people would fight that law based upon its stupidity. You can argue against a law being passed based upon it not actually doing anything and being incredibly stupid. Let's pass a law that says everyone has to wear a green shirt on the 16th of March. It doesn't actually hurt anyone. But, it doesn't actually benefit anyone. It just creates more useless regulations as opposed to useful ones. You know what's more dangerous to you then GMO foods? Labeling a drink as 100 calories and then putting 3 servings in the can.... If you're going to argue to pass a law, at least make it a non-green-shirt law. Why are you so opposed to information being made available to consumers? For the same reason Creationists shouldn't be allowed to put labels on biology textbooks that give the impression that evolution isn't true. They love to make the same arguments you are making, "Shouldn't the students hear both sides so they can make a choice?" They have an agenda and they don't have the science to back up their claims, so their labels shouldn't be used. Creationism is a theory. GMO is a fact. Whether or not it is good or bad is a determination that should be left up to the consumer, but it is still factual information, just as the salt content, fiber content, etc. No, the determination of whether it is good or bad should not be left to the consumer. It should be left to scientific study. The consumer has no where near enough information on the subject to make a determination of whether it's good or bad. You already don't have the ability to make all of your own decisions. You never had the ability to make all of your own decisions. You don't make decisions currently with food you eat unless you grow your own. So, trying to act like not knowing if food genetically modified is suddenly the end of freedom is rather stupid. Slippery slope arguments only work when there is an actual chance of falling down the slippery slope. Otherwise we could use them in any argument to justify our position. You're incorrect doggysaywhat. I buy my alot of my food locally and know exactly where it comes from. As for the food not available locally, I read the ingredients, which is required by law to be labeled, as should the "ingredient" GMO. Reading ingredients in the food does you little unless you actually know what those ingredients are. Food grown locally doesn't actually give you any information with regards to what is used as fertilizer, pest control, etc. They're covered under the similar laws as larger farms. In fact locally grown merchants can often get away with far more than larger groups because people have the impression that locally grown means the person who grew them isn't subject to the same temptations as larger farms when it comes to cutting costs. They're also not targeted as heavily as national suppliers because less people use them. You may see the farm that it's grown on, but I highly doubt that you go out there and check the residue on the crops. So, you have as little knowledge about what is done with the locally grown food as you do with other food sources. doggysaywhat, Part of prop. 37 is to not allow the term Natural to be used for GM products, for your info (and education). I can guarantee that the points you were trying to make are just common sense for everyone interested in buying organic. They've been there, thought about it, and moved on. It all comes down to: if these companies believe in their products and have nothing to hide, then why are they fighting so hard against the proposition? Food manufacturers are proud of all the phony vitamins they spray on their cereals and list them next to the ingredients. If GMOs are so beneficial, why not list them also? For the answers, see dogctor's comments. Anne, natural on a label is not regulated by either the FDA or the USDA so it can currently be put on anything. So, if you covered the food with crap, it could still be labeled as natural. Most people think that natural means something special including those that decided to put it in the prop in the first place. If these people don't even know enough about the labeling to understand the terms what makes you or others think that they would possibly know enough regarding genetics, scientific studies, etc. to make a determination on the safety of a particular type of produce? With regards to Doc's comments. He cherry picked studies that agreed with his conclusion and put part of the abstract in his description. It's not that hard to do. Watch. Now this one is nice. 400 rats over 13 weeks. No difference in health, body weight, food consumption, clinical pathology parameters (hematology, blood chemistry, urinalysis), or organ weights. They also found that gross and microscopic appearance of tissue was the same between groups fed GM food and normal. Here's a review of articles pertaining to genetic modification of foods. They talk about potential adverse effects but go onto state that the crops available in the market that are intended for human consumption are generally safe and not associated with serious health problems. I can keep citing articles like this but I believe I've demonstrated the point of how easy it is to cherry pick results that agree with your conclusion. I could also take parts of their abstract to make it sound more sciency if you like but it wouldn't actually add much value. What doc didn't post was several important caveats when looking at such studies. First, GM food is highly variable so if one study happens to find something adverse it doesn't apply to other GM foods because the genetic modification you do in one species is dependent on the DNA of that species which highly varies when you switch to a new one. So, trying to use select groups of studies as a reason to put all GM foods into a group is rather foolish as it doesn't actually give you any useful information such as the type of genetic modification performed. Second, studies that delve into the difference between GM and normal foods have different testing standards for what they consider normal or abnormal. If you don't give those with a study it's rather pointless. Those testing standards can effect results. If you look hard enough, you will always find differences that appeared by chance alone. So, it's also important to put the number of mice studied to see if that difference holds for a larger group. This is also called replication Third, rat and mouse studies with regards to feeding are extremely difficult to transfer to humans because they often give far higher doses then what a person receives. You see this all the time with possible cancer causing agents. These agents are shown to give cancer to mice when given doses far higher than a human would ever be exposed to. Rarely will you actually see a study that does a comparable human dosage/composition because humans vary their diets far too regularly to be as controlled as the mouse diet. This is one reason why such studies need to be taken with a grain of salt. Now, what is actually important is meta analysis of such studies. But, this is very difficult to do because of the differences mentioned previously. When you run across studies that say there is a difference and studies that say there isn't a difference you can often attribute the effect to random chance. If GM foods demonstrated an adverse effect in all foods even if small, the majority of studies would show that. That's not the case here. This is why agencies such as the FDA consider them safe and not different from normal in safety or nutritional content. The reason why various places don't want to put it on the label is because the populace is not nearly educated enough to even understand what genetic modification actually means. But these places do know that the population is irrational and not highly educated so they will likely make their decisions based upon a TV commercial or a movie they saw regarding genetic modification such as I am legend. The reason why others not involved in selling them argue against such pointless laws is that the laws don't actually improve quality for the general population but instead create more paperwork and lawsuits to deal with. We don't like politicians wasting time on such pointless pet projects when there are far more serious issues that could be addressed. For Debbie, Grown locally =/= organic. Do you actually know what natural means? And, I just gave you the reasons in this and previous posts. Another reason not given is that various places will not provide funding for research into GM foods which have great potential to reduce starvation across the world unless they believe that the populace will actually buy them. So, by labeling them and activist unjustly putting them in a negative light, you slow down research in that area which delays improvements and benefits mentioned previously. Oh, one other thing. The term locally grown isn't actually regulated so it can be put on plenty of things with little to no meaning. Locally grown definition the consumer uses aren't nearly the same as those used by producers. For example, Whole Foods considered anything grown within a 7 hour drive to be local. There's also doubt from experts that locally grown foods are any better than foods not locally grown. This is probably due to the fact that the definition of locally grown is very broad. These types of things demonstrate my initial point regarding the average person. They don't know nearly enough about the terms, the techniques, or the science to make an informed decision regarding the safety of a product. You mixed up locally grown with organic, you're placing actual value on the meaningless term natural (so are lawmakers...), and you're lumping completely different foods into the same GM group. It would be the same if I decided to take studies on trans-fat foods and lump them in with every non-GM food and now insist on more strict labeling for every non-GM food. Pointless waste of time and money that doesn't provide any real benefit.... The reason why various places don't want to put it on the label is because the populace is not nearly educated enough to even understand what genetic modification actually means. But these places do know that the population is irrational and not highly educated so they will likely make their decisions based upon a TV commercial or a movie they saw regarding genetic modification such as I am legend. It's highly suspect that GMOers are attempting to control and withhold information and use the rationale for doing so by accusing others of trying to control and manipulate information. There's also doubt from experts that locally grown foods are any better than foods not locally grown. I don't care what the experts think. It's my body, my purchasing power and my decision. For example, Whole Foods considered anything grown within a 7 hour drive to be local. As long as it's organic, what is your point? Whether it's determined to be good or bad, or whether my IQ is 98 or 157, I want to know if the food products I am consuming was genetically altered. Period. Conspiracy theorist highly suspect that the US was behind the bombing of the twin towers. Creation scientist highly suspect that evolution is wrong. We don't pay them much head when it comes to law making, why should your conspiracy theory be any different? I just demonstrated how you don't have much control over what you buy and put in your body already due to the lack of knowledge in the field so what you need to understand is that passage of this law doesn't actually do much for you in gaining that control. It only wastes time, money, and resources that could be better spent elsewhere and solving real problems such as obesity for example. I would rather tax dollars go to funding more important projects such as school improvements instead of defending against lawsuits or legal challenges against a pointless law. And, my point is that if you don't know the terminology and how it's regulated you stick stupid terms in laws that end up as loopholes. For example, the term natural has no special meaning so the fact that it was even mentioned shows that those either voting on the law or creating it have very little understanding of that field. Many people that aren't knowledgeable of an area want control over it. It slows down scientific funding and progress and often leads to pointless rules that don't provide a benefit but drain resources. Me: "Food grown locally doesn't actually give you any information with regards to what is used as fertilizer, pest control, etc." You: " Food grown locally doesn't actually give you any information with regards to what is used as fertilizer, pest control, etc. Ah, do you know what the term "organic" means, because personally, I'm not a fan of pesticides being a part of my daily diet." You inserted the term organic in a discussion regarding locally grown as a counter to the argument regarding "fertilizer, pest control, etc." in locally grown products. So, either you think locally grown = organic or perhaps you're trying to change the discussion to organic instead of locally grown. But either doesn't really matter which we'll see at the end. Second, yes it does show you don't know what the terms mean. Locally grown isn't distinct. So, using it at all to show that you have control over your food doesn't actually demonstrate this. Finally, argument structure is important. You stated you bought locally grown food to demonstrate you had control over what was in your food. I told you that the term locally grown gives you no information regarding pesticides, etc. so locally grown doesn't give you that control. That makes no assumption on whether or not the food contains any sort of pesticides etc. That's simply stating that what you said was pointless with regards to your wish of having more control of your foods. I'm inferring you didn't know the terms because you used locally grown to support your argument instead of organic, didn't give a definition of natural when asked, and placed erroneous importance on the term natural. If you would have stated your food was organic and used that as a defense of your argument, that would have been correct. You didn't do that, you used locally grown and then used natural in the same sense as you used organic demonstrating a misunderstanding of the terms. Organic food is one of the biggest scam to be perpetuated whose sole existence relies on the complete ignorance of the general public. Every peer reviewed study on organic food have consistently demonstrated no increase in safety, nutritional value, or taste when compared to conventional or GM foods. (Studies listed below)*** The UK Food Standards Agency have stated "Consumers may choose to buy organic fruit, vegetables and meat because they believe them to be more nutritious than other food. However, the balance of current scientific evidence does not support this view." A 12-month systematic review commissioned by the FSA in 2009 and conducted at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine based on 50 years' worth of collected evidence concluded that "there is no good evidence that consumption of organic food is beneficial to health in relation to nutrient content." In the past 2 years, over 20 organic food has been recalled due to health & safety concerns. Including Salmonella contamination of Andrew Williamson Fresh Produce organic grape tomatoes and Starwest Botanicals organic celery seed. While in the 25 year history of GM food, not ONE single GM food has ever been recalled due to health & safety concerns. So you have a higher probability of getting sick and ill from organic food then you would ever have from GM food. I buy locally grown because I can verify it is organic. You made a wrong assumption to think that because I stated I bought locally, I must not be buying organic. "Natural" simply means minimally-processed and free from artificial ingredients. Isn't it a bit "soylent greenish" that we now label normal, pre Big Agra food as "organic" to separate it from pesticide-laden, genetically modified food, which requires no labeling at all. 40 countries now require labels for GM foods. Did the American people not get the memo or is Big Agra and their lobbyists just too much of a match for our own government? The only reason Monsanto, Dupont, et al are spending over $44 million dollars fighting to keep 3 little letters off of a label, is fear, and the only thing corporations fear is a threat on their potential profits, which takes precedent over and above anything else. It doesn't matter to me what you choose to put into your own body. I'm only concerned with what I put in my own. No matter how uneducated or stupid I may be, no one should taint that decision by purposely withholding facts and information. Debi-1314897 - I'm against this proposition because of all the exemptions & who they are making responsible for the labeling of certain products. So your beef, chicken, eggs, milk, etc. were not genetically modified themselves, this does not mean the animals these products were derived from were not fed or injected with anything genetically engineered. Section 110809.2 (a) of Prop 37. These items will still get the "natural" stamp. Yes, it will inform you of a few items, but not all. Unless you are growing, raising, preparing the food yourself, it's pretty safe to assume something you may not "approve" of has been done to it. & the fact that grocers will be required to do the labeling on produce bins. Why should grocery stores be held liable for labeling? ALL of our produce could very well become pre-packaged. While the idea is a good one and on the right track, this proposition is very misleading. Those posts above that support GMO foods, or tell everyone that everything you eat is GMO'd, please go and do some research. You don't have a clue as to what you are talking about. There is a reason almost every other country has labels on them. If you don't care to eat them, then the labels will make no difference. For those of us who have studied the research behind GMO's, we want them labeled so we can avoid them and future doctor visits. By the way, I also read how much better for the earth and how these foods are necessary to feed more people. Both are very far from the truth. How is livestock being fed and/or injected their entire lives with genetically engineered/modified products & these products still getting the "natural" stamp being told the truth? We already have the option to buy organic or hormone free, etc. We already know that processed foods are not the healthiest choice for us. But when you make your local grocer responsible and then held liable for properly labeling these products, that's a bit of a stretch. Especially in such a sue happy state. We may only end up with the option of buying organic, another exemption from this proposition or shopping at whole foods stores. Would I prefer that all my store bought food did not get its start in a lab, of course. There are too many "exemptions" with the way this proposition is currently written. If they were to go back and rewrite it and not hold retailers accountable for labeling, then I would definitely support this. The only thing I have left to say about this issue is, what's currently stopping the producers who already sell non GMO foods from labeling their products as such? Seems like it would be a great marketing approach. I don't understand why a law would have to be in place for this to happen. We already know the term "natural" is vague in the eyes of the FDA. Yes, it would seem like a good marketing strategy to announce your product comes to you as nature intended and does not contain any GMO's, but the reason a law is necessary is because without one, how do you keep those making that claim, honest? Why does there seem to be so much resistence to honesty and information? Three (3) little letters on a label, is that too much to ask? Why is so much money being spent over divulging those letters? You don't recognize a red flag? This opens the door to frivolous lawsuits.......which would end up hurting us all. What kind of frivolous lawsuits? Its funny how the only thing stopping people from creating their own utopia is that they need for millions and millions of people to die. It's not a matter of "creating a utopia"; it's a matter of finite resources being able to maintain the current population. Even with the abundance of resources and technology today, we can't (more likely refuse to) keep massive starvation in third world countries at bay. It isn't a matter of not enough resources to go around, but one of greed and corruption. Producing food at lower cost and higher profits through the use of GMO's will not change mankind's dark side. What concerns me is why do they need to be exempt from this law in order to make that claim? If they truly are GMO free......claim it & print it! No law needed for that. Frivolous lawsuits could be as easy as someone ripping the sign down, claiming they were not properly "informed" then suing the grocer. If their products truly are GMO free.....there's nothing currently preventing them from making that statement on their packaging. As far as I know, you can't currently claim to be GMO free if you're not. Takechargeofyourhealth, frankly it's you that doesn't know what they're talking about. How many peer reviewed scientific studies in any of the major scientific journals have you read? I'm going to guess zero as every single one consistently demonstrates the safety of GM food. Try looking into what the scientific community thinks about this issue. There's a reason why there's a scientific consensus on this issue which is supported by all the major scientific bodies. U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization, the British Royal Society, the FDA, the European Commission. While not a single major scientific organization has come out against GM food. it's a matter of finite resources being able to maintain the current population. Sounds like you are in favor of increasing crop yields so that we don't have to use more land and resources to grow the same amount of food. More full stomachs and less natural land being turned into farmland. Win-win for everyone Even with the abundance of resources and technology today, we can't. People who say that have never worried about their next meal. They wrongly believe that inefficient archaic farming methods are the solution for our modern world's problems. We can either fight those whose ideas have already been shown to work or listen to those that ignore the results and say it can't be done. No Debi, that was not an assumption. When told that you didn't have control over the food you consume you stated that it was locally grown. You didn't state anything regarding organic. You assumed that people would interpret locally grown with some important meaning. You then tried to put in organic later. Your assuming that locally grown means you actually know where it was grown and that you have control over your food supply. That is is incorrect because the definition of locally grown is far to vague as demonstrated by locally grown label going on food that is grown hundreds of miles away from where it is sold. Second, you can't verify that food labeled as locally grown is organic anymore then you can verify non-locally grown as organic because the labeling of organic is not related to locally grown. This further demonstrates that you don't know what these terms mean on packaging. Also, you don't know the definition of natural as applied to packaging, nor do you know the legal definition of natural. If a package of produce is labeled as all natural it does NOT mean that it is free from what you would consider artificial ingredients. Natural has no meaning when applied to food products. So again, you demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge of these terms. This only serves to prove my initial point that this type of law doesn't do any of the things which you claim you want. You say you want information about foods to make better decisions and that not having labels takes away control. If you don't even understand what those labels means (as is the case for most consumers) then you had no real control in the first place. So, this law gives you no additional control. It pretends to do something useful. So again, we now have money wasted on a useless law full of loopholes not providing any benefit. Finally... Debi... scientific advancement in the fields of food growth can reduce starvation in other areas. Unfortunately, funding for scientific research into these areas has been significantly reduced due to budget cuts so now people that work in that field coming up with better technologies for growing food must apply for corporate sponsored grants to get research done. The funding they are willing to give to research into this area is related to how much profit they will make in that area. If their profits are reduced they will pull funding thereby slowing down advancements that could help those countries with starvation problemsStop pretending that preventing starvation in various countries is a huge drain on the planet's resources. I can guarantee that you're imprint and usage on the planets resources far outweigh the additional resources needed to support an individual starving in a 3rd world country. You're typing on a computer and living in a first world country so I would guess it's more than 10 times higher. Living in a first would country with the amount of resources we use isn't really "listening to mother nature" so stop pretending this fantasy you have about organic foods means you're listening to mother nature. For Rocklin, yes that's another reason why laws like this create several issues. If you require GMO foods to be labeled as such then you will create several lawsuits with regards to food not labeled as such through accidents. This can increase the cost of produce which is always passed on to the consumer. If you leave laws vague and use terms which have little to no meaning the number of frivolous lawsuits has nowhere to go but up.... Your assuming that locally grown means you actually know where it was grown and that you have control over your food supply. No, you're assuming I don't know exactly where my food is grown and that it is not organic. I know exactly where my food is grown, is organic and locally grown is just a byproduct of that informationWe have enough food to feed the world now and we still allow people to starve. How will more food solve that problem? If you require GMO foods to be labeled as such then you will create several lawsuits with regards to food not labeled as such through accidents. If a food is not labeled properly, whether by accident or on purpose, there needs to be a method in place for a correction (law). Allowing the proper labeling of food a voluntary measure leads to far too many purposeful "accidents". If you don't even understand what those labels means (as is the case for most consumers) then you had no real control in the first place. Either the label contains the letters "GMO" or it doesn't. Seems pretty simplistic whereby even a caveman can understand it. Most of your listed sources are almost 10 years old, but I did find in the article "Organic food: buying more safety or just peace of mind? A critical review of the literature" "Although there is an urgent need for information related to health benefits and/or hazards of food products of both origins, generalized conclusions remain tentative in the absence of adequate comparative data." The abstract actually concludes: "At our present state of knowledge, other factors rather than safety aspects seem to speak in favor of organic food." [my italics] (2006) Another article you listed ("Are organic foods safer or healthier than conventional alternatives?: a systematic review," from 2012) in its data synthesis goes directly against your implied argument that organic food is recalled more (you make a point of saying "over 20 organic food has been recalled due to health & safety concerns" and "you have a higher probability of getting sick and ill from organic food then you would ever have from GM food"): "Esc" (risk difference, 33% [CI, 21% to 45%])" [my italics]. Since many non-organic foods have therefore been recalled (based on contamination rates from the article "Are organic foods safer or healthier than conventional alternatives?: a systematic review,"), and since 75 to 80 percent of conventional processed foods currently contain GM ingredients (Grocery Manufacturers Association), clearly some of those were (or should have been) GM foods. To reiterate the last sentence of that quote, clearly non-organic chicken and pork have higher rates of bacteria "resistant to 3 or more antibiotics" as well. You later state, "There's a reason why there's a scientific consensus on this issue which is supported by all the major scientific bodies." In my first post I included a quote from this article from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics--"The Academy supports consumers' right to know what ingredients are in the foods they purchase to feed their families." There's also this WHO quote: "The exclusive use of herbicide-tolerant GM crops would also make the farmer dependent on [particular] chemicals." Besides the fact that GM crops haven't been in our food chain for a full generation, there's also the issue of testing to begin with: "[As of 2009] Scientists must ask corporations for permission before publishing independent research on genetically modified crops" (Scientific American, 2009). There are other market-sensitive issues at stake as well such as the development of "superweeds" from using more herbicides on engineered herbicide (Roundup)-resistant crops (I have a quote in my first post from the NYT on the example of cotton and superweeds affecting that industry). Regarding pesticides and herbicides on non-organic crops and increased herbicide use due to Roundup-resistant engineered crops we eat or work with (another major aspect to consider when buying organic—people exposed through work or living downwind/downstream), here are some relevant excerpts from the President's Cancer Panel (2008-2009): The "prevailing" US model for environmental policy regarding the science of harmful contaminants]…[The world and its finite resources cannot sustain unbridled population growth. Unbridled? The population has been growing yes, but the growth rate has been steadily declining for quite some time now and the world's population is expected to peak around 2050. People are choosing to have less and less kids, these fewer and fewer births add to the population count now, but that also means there are fewer babies replacing the people who die from old age. Me personally I don't care if people overpay for nutritionally equivalent food at Whole Foods, I just don't think starving people in third world countries can afford to shop there. Let'm starve isn't a solution. More access to birth control and using science to increase crop yields is the solution and it has been shown to work. Kryss are you under the impression that scientific evidence have an expiration date? Are we dismissing Einstein's theory of relatively because it's "too old"? Do you have any peer review study new or otherwise that counters the assertion from mainstream science that organic food do not show any consistent and significant difference in terms of safety or nutritional value? How does "Are organic foods safer or healthier than conventional alternatives?: a systematic review," counter my argument that organic food is more likely to make you ill than GM food? Nowhere in its data synthesis does it make any comparison of overall recall rates due to safety compared to conventional or GM food. It does specifically mention no significant difference of e.coli but e.coli isn't the only reason products get recalled. Records from the US Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada show that organic food is 8 times more likely to be recalled due to safety reasons than conventional food. "Institute of Food Technologists" have stated that organic food have the potential for greater pathogen contamination than conventional food. "Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics" is NOT a scientific organization. Its members are registered dietitians, not scientists, and they have absolutely no expertise in bioengineering. Most dietitians never go beyond a bachelor degreeThere are too many exemptions for this proposition to be truly deemed as informative. 110809.2. Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food--Exemptions The requirements of Section 110809 shall not apply to any of the following: ( (b) A raw agricultural commodity or food derived therefrom that has been grown, raised, or produced without the knowing and intentional use of genetically engineered seed or food. Food will be deemed to be described in the preceding sentence only if the person otherwise responsible for complying with the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 110809 with respect to a raw agricultural commodity or food obtains, from whoever sold the commodity or food to that person, a sworn statement that such commodity or food: (1) has not been knowingly or intentionally genetically engineered; and (2) has been segregated from, and has not been knowingly or intentionally commingled with, food that may have been genetically engineered at any time. In providing such a sworn statement, any person may rely on a sworn statement from his or her own supplier that contains the affirmation set forth in the preceding sentence. (c) Any processed food that would be subject to Section 110809 solely because it includes one or more genetically engineered processing aids or enzymes. (d) Any alcoholic beverage that is subject to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, set forth in Division 9 (commencing with Section 23000) of the Business and Professions Code. (e) Until July 1, 2019, any processed food that would be subject to Section 110809 solely because it includes one or more genetically engineered ingredients, provided that: (1) no single such ingredient accounts for more than one-half of one percent of the total weight of such processed food; and (2) the processed food does not contain more than 10 such ingredients. (1) it is consistent with the most recent "Guidelines on Performance Criteria and Validation of Methods for Detection, Identification and Quantification of Specific DNA Sequences and Specific Proteins in Foods," (CAC/GL 74 (2010)) published by the Codex Alimentarius Commission; and (2) it does not rely on testing of processed foods in which no DNA is detectable. (g) Food that has been lawfully certified to be labeled, marketed, and offered for sale as "organic" pursuant to the federal Organic Food Products Act of 1990 and the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto by the United States Department of Agriculture. (h) Food that is not packaged for retail sale and that either: (1) is a processed food prepared and intended for immediate human consumption or (2) is served, sold, or otherwise provided in any restaurant or other food facility that is primarily engaged in the sale of food prepared and intended for immediate human consumption. (i) Medical foodBut but ... the consumer should get to decide the facts not the scientists who've devoted their lives to researching food safety. You see the smart guys in the lab coats aren't falling for the misinformation and scare tactics of the anti-GMO gang, that's why we have to let the uninformed consumers decide whats on food labels. Does anyone else remember when the Zambian gov't turned away 35,000 tons of food aid when millions of their own people were starving because of the possibility that some of it might have had GMO's in it? This is why I very much dislike the anti-vaccination and anti-GMO groups their lies and scare tactics end up causing people to die. Because the overall current evidence regarding the safety of both non-organic and particularly GMOs isn't even close to sufficient in terms of scope in the first place, I think it is particularly important to search out new evidence, specifically studies with a wider scope. As the article "Organic food: buying more safety or just peace of mind? A critical review of the literature" mentions, "Although there is an urgent need for information related to health benefits and/or hazards of food products of both origins, generalized conclusions remain tentative in the absence of adequate comparative data." Newer research is also able to more fully take into account the entire ongoing process of our understanding of food safety. It is more important to also encourage a more precautionary approach to chemicals used on crops, as the President's Cancer Panel of 2008-2009 mentioned; this applies to organic vs. non-organic and is important with GMOs because of engineered pesticide (Roundup)-resistant crops. The panel found that: "." (President's Cancer Panel) Because of that explanation and information like "Pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides) approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contain nearly 900 active ingredients, many of which are toxic. Many of the solvents, fillers, and other chemicals listed as inert ingredients on pesticide labels also are toxic, but are not required to be tested for their potential to cause chronic diseases such as cancer…Some chemicals indirectly increase cancer risk by contributing to immune and endocrine dysfunction that can influence the effect of carcinogens" (President's Cancer Panel) I choose to avoid many non-organic and probable GM [oils, meat, corn, etc.] foods (labeling of GMOs would make that easier). Although I'm gambling that it will really help me, even if it doesn't, it helps people closer to the harmful chemicals than I am. I've already given examples of superweeds harming the cotton industry, and there are numerous reasons to keep harmful chemicals out of the water supply, etc. Regarding recalls, the article "Are organic foods safer or healthier than conventional alternatives?: a systematic review" does show evidence (that I quoted in my last post) that harmful bacteria are found on both organic and non-organic crops in generally equal amounts. If a majority of non-organic foods are GMOs, then most likely some are making some people ill. Do you know of online primary sites and/or even academic, peer-reviewed titles that make mention of the assertion that "organic food is 8 times more likely to be recalled due to safety reasons"? I could only find an undetailed docket from the Institute of Food Technologists related to this statement. It is important to note again that the article mentions "antibiotic-resistant bacteria" occurring much more often in non-organic pork and chicken; this is something you are therefore avoiding by eating organic pork and chicken, and seems like another good reason to go with those types of organic meats. Rocklin--I know Debi said the same thing, but if you have no other issues with the law other than it doesn't go far enough, why not use this as a starting place? Is there something else besides or because of this issue that causes you to want to vote against it? Also, Zaqqum, I don't understand exactly why you're lumping anti-vaccination and anti-GMO people together. I am not anti-vaccines--I am not even very familiar with anti-vaccination arguments, especially after the major article disproving the 1998 study by Andrew Wakefield. If you don't get vaccines for yourself or children, you/they could possibly die (certain diseases have higher risks than others), plus you can weaken herd immunity. If you, as an American, personally choose not to eat GM foods (if given the choice), you are not hurting anyone, and you are actually helping those who live downstream/downwind and those who work with the crops in the first place in the case of herbicide (Roundup)-resistant GM crops that allow more herbicides. For Debi, you're missing the point regarding assumptions. I'm going directly off of your post. If you state that something is locally grown or that it's natural it's not up to me to figure out if it's also organic. That's up to you to either state or not. You tried to use locally grown to demonstrate that you had control over your food. You didn't use organic until much later. Now, with regards to GMO. No, that label is not at all accurate because different foods that are modified have different modification performed. So, the label of GMO doesn't give you any more information about it then not labeling it. You might as well label it with the weather information because it's about as useful. Fortunately, most individuals saw the stupidity of this particular law and it was voted down. "research projects done over a decade by the European Commission found no evidence to link consumption of GM foods with higher risks of food or feed safety when compared with conventionally produced foods." This is NOT the same thing as finding that they are safe. Until they FOUND TO BE SAFE, I don't want to eat them. Food products should be labeled so that I know. How do you define "found to be safe" because in science there are no absolutes like that, all you can really do is look at an individual claim of harm and see if it can be backed up by evidence. water for instance isn't safe, if you drink too much of it you can actually die from the sodium deficiency it causes. The labeling itself isn't the issue, it's the stigma. lets say foods were required by law to list dihydrogenmonoxide as an ingrediant in big bold letters would you want to consume that? dihydrogenmonoxide? the name alone sounds scary... compared to what it is commonly known as... H2O If you have a good education in basic chemistry you'd probably see that, and know it's water, but how many people also know that? how many people have a good education in basic genetics and know what GMO actually is? Here's the thing, Steve--It's a scientific impossibility for something to be "found to be safe," at least not in the absolute sense that you are looking for. That just simply isn't how things with science. Scientists pick a potential risk or threat from a substance, and then design and conduct a test to see if that substance actually creates that risk. At the end of the study, they can say substance X does or does not have a link to risk Y. No evidence of a specified risk is scientifically all they can conclude. Eventually, the number of studies on substance X will pile up, determining, or eliminating, links to specified risks, and at a certain point, like, say, the 50+ studies the European Commission reviewed, one is able to say "there is no evidence of risk." But it is a scientific impossibility to design a study for unknown risks. Can't be done. The human body, or even the lab rat body, has so many things going on in side of it that you can't simply say "we'll feed this group GMOs and that not, and see what happens." You simply can't test every bodily function at the same, and simultaneously rule all other risk factors your test subjects are subject to during that time frame. Trying to live life by your standards is utterly pointless and impossible. It's fear-driven, not evidence driven, in spite of your pleas to contrary, as no evidence will ever allay your fears. Easy, look up GMO rats, the study was with soy and the researchers admitted they could NOT find a 100% GMO free sample of soy for the control rats. So they had to use the sample with the least amount of GMO. Then they found that the GMO rats had a 50% infant mortality rate, including stillborns. Then the survivors grew up 1/3 the size of the controls. They were frail, feeble, had poor coats, looked unthrifty and didn't live long. The fact is there are two main GMO's. Bt- Baccillus Thuringins, is normally a bacteria us organic growers use in powder form for dusting plants like corn or anything that gets caterpillers. It is a bacteria specific to caterpillers. However, Monsanto began to inject the DNA from Bt into corn mostly, and made it part of the DNA of the plant. If you watch any movies like Food, Inc, or Bad Seed, you can see that the DNA injection process is far from stable, and the DNA moves. it doesn't stay in the area it was intended, and it causes some strange problems. Bt use naturally causes bowel destruction in caterpillers, so that is how they are killed, but Bt GMO crops, has caused colic and bloat (a bowel killer) in cattle and sheep when they were grazed on GMO crop residues. The other primary GMO, is basically Round Up, When you hear about "Roundup Ready" crops, this is what they are talking about. A chemical called glyphosate is implanted in the DNA of soy, and lawn grass, and now alfalfa, and this is a weed killer. It is designed so that you can spray your whole field with RoundUp and the Roundup Ready crop will be resistant, killing the target weeds. It just sounds like a way to sell MORE weed killer. And the kicker is that the nonresistant weeds are becoming resistant and the whole thing is a backfire. In the meantime, anyone eating this GMO crop like soy or our dairy animals eating RR alfalfa, are having health issues from the ingestion of glyphosate. Search for Dr. Huber; glyphosate for the science on this horrible dilemma. Round Up has been around for years, and people have been using it on their lawns forever, glyphosate itself is causing long term health issues in many ways. Safety comparable to conventional food can certainly be proven, by Long Term controlled blinded clinical feeding trials. What's stopping the Monsanto's from doing them? 1. cost--they are simply too cheap to spend a tiny proportion of their profits on safety studies 2. they are afraid of what they will find, because their own short term studies actually suggest medical harm: chronic nephropathy and hepatobiliary disease. But what do you expect, when narcissistic plant experts ( without any medical training) pretend there is no limit to their limited knowledge base and try to act like they are qualified to be formulating health policies? Granular degeneration level in 10% of examined sections was maximum (level 4) in Group III Liver Focal infiltration Group III : 7/14 8/16 Congestion: 10/14 7/16 Granular degeneration 9/14 13/16 Nuclear border change 10/14 13/16 Kidney Enlargement in parietal layer of Bowman's capsule 6/14 5/11 Tubular degeneration 13/14 9/11 Fate of transgenic DNA and evaluation of metabolic effects in goats fed genetically modified soybean and in their offsprings R. Tudisco et al. On the contrary, in blood and milk of treated goats, fragments both of the 35S promoter and the CP4 EPSPS gene were detected. These fragments were also found in treated kids with a significant detection of the 35S promoter in liver, kidney and blood, and of the CP4 EPSPS gene fragment in liver, kidney, heart and muscle. A significant increase in lactic dehydrogenase, mainly concerning the lactic dehydrogenase-1 isoenzyme was found in heart, skeletal muscle and kidney of treated kids, thus suggesting a change in the local production of the enzyme. Finally, no significant differences were detected concerning kid body and organ weight. Vecchio et al. (2004). Enlarged vesicles of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum, Decrease in the number of nuclear pores. Reduced labelling during the 2–8 month interval. Increase in perichromatin granules in Sertoli cells and in spermatocytes of GMfed mice A transient transcriptionnal decrease Causes of the alteration notestablished, especially The effect of multigenerational diet containing genetically modified triticale on immune system in mice. M Krzyżowska et al. In this study C57BL/6J mice were fed for five consecutive generations with pellets containing 20% of conventional triticale grain (control) vs. pellets containing 20% of the transgenic triticale grain resistant to BASTA herbicide (experimental). The F5 experimental animals showed enlarged inguinal and axillary lymph nodes, but not spleens, and increased WBC counts in blood (but within the norm for Mus musculus). Immunophenotyped cell suspensions derived from spleens, inguinal and axillaris lymph nodes and PBMCs from blood showed the significant decrease in the percentage of T cells in spleen and lymph nodes and the B cells in lymph nodes and blood of the F5 experimental mice in comparison to the control F5 mice. Immunoblotting analysis of IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, IL-12, IL- 6, IFN-gamma levels in serum showed significantly increased IL-2 levels and decreased IL-6 levels in the F5-experimental mice sera. No significant changes in the levels of IgE in sera in both mice groups were observed. The obtained results indicate that multigenerational use of feeds for rodents containing the GM-triticale leads to expansion of the B cell compartment in the secondary lymphoid organs, but it is not caused by malignant processes or the allergic response. Thank you, dogctor, for the info. I will have to ask my husband (he is a retired physician) about a few of the things you quoted in #2.6, but most of it I fairly well understood (I think!). Definitely some cell changes in the liver and pancreas, and lymph nodes of the animals in the studies. In light of the G I tract problems I have been having, and my process of having to go on a bland, simple diet then adding items back in slowly, I definitely need to know what is in my food! I live in California, and will be voting yes on prop 37. I am not counting on it passing, as I am only one person. This I can tell you, though--the more untrustworthy the big corporations act, the more I avoid them. It is definitely a 'let the buyer beware' world we live in today! dogctor, you do realize essentially everything you wrote has been thoroughly debunked by peer review in the scientific community right? There are significant errors and issues with the studies you cited. "The EFSA concluded that the observed small numerical decrease in rat kidney weights were not biologically meaningful, and the weights were well within the normal range of kidney weights for control animals. There were no corresponding microscopic findings in the relevant organ systems, and they stated that all blood chemistry and organ weight values fell within the "normal range of historical control values" for rats. In addition the EFSA review stated that the statistical methods used in Séralini 2007 paper were incorrect." "The European Food Safety Authority reviewed the 2009 Séralini paper and concluded that the authors' claims were not supported by the data in their paper, that many of their fundamental statistical criticisms of the 2007 paper also applied to the 2009 paper, and that there was no new information that would change the EFSA's conclusions that the three GM maize types were safe for human and animal health, and for the environment." "The French High Council of Biotechnologies Scientific Committee (HCB) also reviewed the Séralini 2009 study and concluded that it "..presents no admissible scientific element likely to ascribe any haematological, hepatic or renal toxicity to the three re-analysed GMOs."There is not a single scientific study that has passed peer review and published in a major scientific journal that concludes a potential health or safety risk of GM food. In fact all the peer reviewed studies in major scientific journals point to the contrary. The European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation 2010 report on GMOs noted that " "To date, no adverse health effects attributed to genetic engineering have been documented in the human population."---US National Academy of Sciences Paranoia can lead to a law negatvily effecting business from what would normally seem like a common sense law... people don't trust GMO because of the what they hear from activists, much of which is untrue or misleading, so they see a product labeled as GMO and they decide not to buy it... because of the paranoia rather than actual facts. This doesn't change the fact that people have a right to know what they are eating, under any circumstances. Personally, I would eat GM food that was approved by the FDA, but I also support this proposition (Not that my vote matters, I don't live in California.) Nothing says that government or consumers are obligated to help avoid certain businesses being negatively affected. This is a transaction between the seller and the buyer. That's all. It's not like refusing to get vaccinated for some dumb reason, which makes you a carrier and hurts the rest of the community. The other problem is that labeling regime called for the by California law is vague, inconsistent, and so hard to determine that it will serve primarily as a boon for civil attorneys looking for someone to sue. It seems almost as if it's designed specifically to force food businesses to make a Hobbesian choice between supply chain nightmares, civil liability, or over-labeling and innaccurate labeling of GMO. The more ingredients a product has, the greater the chance that some portion will be GMO somewhere along the line, even small portion, but it's unclear in the law the threshhold line for GMO ingredients requiring labelling. If? None of this is clear in the law, and will be settled by running farmers, wholesalers, grocery stores, and restaurants through a litigation ringer. And all for labelling what, by all scientific evidence, is an irrelevant distinction. The lies are coming from MONSANTO. Follow the money... activists have nothing to gain monetarily. None of the promises Monsanto has made about GM crops have come to fruition. No greater yields, not less pesticide or herbicide usage, but more, creation of new superweeds and superbugs, depletion of soil nutrients, cancer in field workers, threats to bee and bat population, the list goes on and on. justross- I'm reading over the proposal now. It is actually pretty clear.......when you read it! To answer your concern: "If?" Pg. 112 Text of Proposed Laws 110809.2 (a) The requirements shall NOT apply to any of the following: ( & then goes on from there. However, I do share your concern about civil liability issues. Especially if grocery stores will be required to do the labeling for raw fruits and vegetables sold from bins. 110809 (1) - In the case of a raw agricultural commodity on the package offered for retail sale, with the clear and conspicuous words "Genetically Engineered" on the front of the package of such commodity or, in the case of any such commodity that is not separately packaged or labeled, on a label appearing on the retail store shelf or bin in which such commodity is displayed for sale There is a simple solution for what to label. Simply label everything as containing the product of genetic engineering. That's true. Everything that we eat has been the subject of thousands of years of genetic engineering. Activist most certainly have motivations that can be monetarily based. For example, if a "natural foods" producer wants to continue to sell overpriced products, they would have a monetary incentive. An activist not having a monetary incentive doesn't make their cause any less stupid. Does PETA get paid whenever someone doesn't eat meat? No. But that doesn't make their cause any or reasoning any more correct. Eactly what's the difference in eating a specific "variety" of corn, tomatoe, radish, etc.? Are we eating the same corn that the Pilgrams ate? Of course not. Cross-pollination creates a new "variety", thus a "new", distinctive DNA. Creating new "varieties" of food through cross-pollination has been going on for thousands of years dating back to pre-bibilical Egyptian times. Are we asking food growers to label each new variety as genetically engineered? I would think that if a splice-altered DNA needs to be labelled, then ANY gene-altered food should be labelled. Personnally I really don't think we need labelling on GA or GM foods OR on hybrid pollinated foods. Is there any solid evidence, scientific or apocryphal, to support suspecion of GA/GM foods? Exactly right, catfish. The only difference between cross-pollination and GMO techniques is that the cross-pollination techniques were really much more a "hope and pray" gamble. You'd take a variety of corn that seemed to do well in drought years but fell victim to a crop disease and try to pollinate with a variety of corn that seemed to survive a particular disease rather well, but couldn't tolerate drought. You would then hope and pray that the resulting corn got both the drought and disease resistant genes, rather than the "needs lots of water" and "falls victim to disease" genes. GMO techniques allow scientists to determine which genes account for those traits and ensure they show up in the resulting seeds. That's the only difference. Cross-pollination has never been proven safe, either. This is an assumption that everyone gets wrong. Just one example: Modern wheat has been manipulated so now it contains 50% gluten, whereas 60 years ago, it had 5%. How many people do you know that have problems with wheat now because of 'gluten intolerance' ? I know plenty. you are both right AND wrong GMO seeds are ONLY GOOD FOR ONE HARVEST. This is done so that the grower must buy new seeds from Monsanto. That is not just the home grower such as myself, but every corporate farmer as well. A sterile seed is only good to the guy who owns the patent. This is a monopoly plain and simple. frances -- I don't know -- are GMOs only good for one harvest? Why is Monsanto seeking damages from neighboring farms if a field of Monsanto-engineered product pollinates a nearby field of non-engineered produce? Monsanto has the patents and somehow they're being successful in claiming infringement/damages. Either way, it's pretty disgusting. Frances is 1/2 right. Some GM seeds can be used over and over. Other GM seeds have a "terminator" gene in them that causes them to be sterile. (Now if that terminator gene crosses over into other seeds...scary thought...) Another biased misleading article. Whether or not to label the foods is a valid topic for discussion, but this article only talks about the generalities while implying that those apply to Prop 37. Unfortunately there are so many exceptions built into this Prop that it is worse than useless. Everyone here that says they don't want to eat GM or GE foods...how do you feel knowing that Dog Food must be labeled but most meat for human consumption is EXEMPT under Prop 37? IMHO this is the right topic but the wrong Prop. The reason why a labeling bill 'failed' in Vermont and Connecticut was not because people didn't want it (90% DO). Both measures passed the legislature in these states. Monsanto used the threat of lawsuits against the states to intimidate them and forced them to back down. Why is it that Europe says no to GMO by labeling all there food so people know what they consume. Its like were always light years behind Europe on many issues. These should of been labeled from day 1. What we consume is important to everyone. Also the farmers cannot even reuse the seeds for the next harvest. They have to give them back to the company monsanto. If they don't vote yes to have them labeled. This will prove how stupid Americans have become. Regions in europe have outlawed GMO. That should make everyone pause and say what do they know that we don't. Let's think about what we write, before we do. Why is that Europe is light years ahead of us. This is the same Europe that is the verge of complete financial and civil destruction? You ever wonder why America is so prosperous? It's because we are a forward thinking country, we think about the future. Instead of blaming ideas for which you have no qualification arguing, you should focus on what YOU need to do to ensure your childrens' children can survive in this tumultuous world. tayd7 -- A main reason Europe is having financial problems is because of the banking industry's deregulation, bad loans and subsequent meltdown that happened in this country. Letting Monsanto and others dictate to virtually everyone in this country what goes into our "food" and we don't need to know about it, is not forward thinking. It makes investors wealthy for a period of time but that sort of thing always comes home to roost, just like the housing bubble. We're already paying for it in the form of increasing health problems such as allergies and obesity. Europe doesn't have the obesity problem the U.S. does. Europe is in financial crisis like most of the world. That's a separate issue. On social policy as well as education and science they are ahead of us in many areas. Why? I think mostly because we've become a society that doesn't think rationally. We listen to whatever fear tactics are out there and take it as gospel. Because of that, we are in a position where we can't move forward. The money decides what would be best to make more money, and by using scare tactics they control the people into fighting for them. Rational thinking should tell you that people have a right to decide what they put into their bodies. I'm amazed that by telling people that it will bring some sort of economic collapse by labeling foods, people are actually fighting on their side. I don't give a darn about whether or not Monsanto makes money by using us as guinea pigs in their great experiment. I'm glad someone else actually read this proposition. Of course we don't want to eat GMO foods. So your beef, chicken, eggs, milk, etc. were not genetically modified themselves, this does not mean the animals these products were derived from were not fed or injected with anything genetically engineered. Retailers should not be held responsible for certain labeling as well. As a California resident let me shed some light. Prop 37 was written by trial lawyers; the ones who will benefit most from passage. Prop is estimated to add $400 a year to the average family budget. Dog food has to be labeled but meat for human consumption does not. Only in the land of "fruits and nuts", predominantly lear jet liberals, could anyone think this proposition is designed to "protect' the public or in the public's best interest. Even the seeds you buy to plant your own veggies/fruits are GA. The only seeds I have found that aren't are Heirloom seeds ( available on line ). We always saved our seeds from what we grew for the following year and couldn't figure out why when we used those seeds we got plants but no food. Now we know that even the seeds have been GA'd. The biggest bully in GA seeds is Monsanto. Yup the old carpet company. Everyone who grows knows that a 'royalty' of sorts is payed to this company in order to grow. It's a shame but that's just the way it is. I live in AZ and I certainly would like to know if I am eating GA or really natural food. On the surface, this just seems to be a no-brainer that folks would want to know exactly what it is they are eating. For way too long, all these processed foods have been dressed up with snappy commercials - and something like %50 of the country is overweight. Anything backed by Monsanto has to be a bad thing. In fact, the Dupont pesticides will soon contain the same stuff used in Vietnam, "Agent Orange". All because crops are growing resistant to their pesticides...See where this is going? Pesticide use increases and become more dangerous while the pesticide makers get a monopoly. No thanks. It isn't just crops that are growing resistant, weeds are as well. So we now are using more pesticides and more dangerous ones to control it. This is way too dangerous, beyond the actual food. It's very similar to antibiotics. Used too often it creates resistant strains. That's what is happening now with vegetation. And what will happen to the wildlife that lives nearby with all the pesticide use. Right, I might have that mixed up a bit but something is growing more resistant to the pesticides and herbicides. The weeds or the pests themselves. Either way, more and strong chemicals keep getting used and that gets in your food, the ground water and the air you breathe. Not sure what people are calling GM plants, if you are talking about gene splicing in the lab that's one thing, if you are talking about cross breeding plants in the field that's another, corn has been hybrids for 60 years that I know about, not sure when it started. I don't think that there is a farm crop that is the original source plant. If we could go back to the original source plants, it would be a hungry world. When using such methods it may look the same and taste the same but you may be changing the structure of it. Cloned animals look like any other animal of the same sort, but they tend to not live as long. I see this as being in the same category. We are manipulating our food and distributing it without knowing how it will affect us in the long run. Maybe it's necessary to advance (I doubt it, but maybe) but I don't want to be the experiment in it's early years. We don't yet know enough about the science to conclude without a doubt it is safe. eric -- GM food has more genetic material added to it, so it can end up with many more chromosomes than the original version. There isn't a good way of predicting what it will do to the human body ahead of time, other than unleashing those monstrosities on the public and waiting to see what happens. Modern GM wheat now causes a higher blood sugar spike than table sugar. It also has a much higher gluten content, which would have to be contributing to food allergies. Why are so many people needing gluten-free foods these days? Gluten sensitivity is real and affects more people than you would think. GM is definitely not the same as cross-pollinating crops, which has been done by humans for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. GM food has more genetic material added to it, so it can end up with many more chromosomes than the original version. There isn't a good way of predicting what it will do to the human body ahead of time, Sure there is. Eat a steak---feel anything? Because you just ate about a billion chromosomes. Most cells you eat, whether they be animal or plant, have chromosomes. Again, this statement belies a lack of understanding of biology Modern GM wheat now causes a higher blood sugar spike than table sugar I don't believe it. Post source It also has a much higher gluten content, which would have to be contributing to food allergies. a) Post source about higher gluten content b) Only in people who already have celiac disease--in that case, any gluten is a bad idea, GM or not GM is definitely not the same as cross-pollinating crops, which has been done by humans for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. I live in Ohio. I have experience infertility first hand. I have seen relatives die of cancer & I have seen relatives struggle with intestinal issues. I would not wish that on anyone! If preliminary research shows that GM food increases the chances of those things in animals, why would I want to feed it to my children (after years of infertility we were blessed with miracle babies)? Opponents say that it will cause the price of food to rise. We switched from Aldis to Trader Joe's (no GM in their brand food) & our food bill stayed the same! So cutting GM from the food, will not cost more. Why I want CA 37 to pass is because although I can get food from Trader Joe's my family and extended family (like many families in the US) live hours away from safe food & can only go to GM laden places like Walmart. If the California bill passes, it will help the whole country to have access to choice. Choice is what our country desires. Everyone fights for the opportunity to choose to live out what they believe. All I am asking for is the opportunity for people to know what they are eating. So from a simple Ohioan with an $85 weekly grocery budget, please Californian residents vote YES on Proposition 37! Thanks for your comments, Han. I'm going to vote yes. The problem is, for every commercial I see for the proposition, I see about 10 commercials against it, funded by many well-known food brands (Heinz, for example, disclosed at the bottom of the TV screen). I hope enough voters can think for themselves. There's already a scientific consensus that GM food is as safe as conventional food. This is the official position of US National Academy of Sciences, the FDA, the European Commission, the World Health Organization, Royal Society of Medicines, etc. Their conclusions are based on 25 years of studies in which no ill effects have been found in any commercially available GM product. Peer reviewed research consistently demonstrate the safety of GM food. "---European Commission "To date, no adverse health effects attributed to genetic engineering have been documented in the human population"---US National Academy of Sciences The public has a very misguided view of GM food and seem rather clueless of the science behind it and have very irrational fears of something they don't understand. GM technology allows for crops to be produced more efficiently with higher crop yields with better nutritional and health values and with lower costs to the consumer. Genetic engineering technology is an enormous leap in the advancement of human society. And the people that oppose it due to irrational beliefs are hindering scientific and technological progress of the human race. In the exact same way those that oppose stem cell research due to irrational beliefs are hindering scientific progress. Genetic engineering will play a much bigger role in the future. Including the genetic engineering of humans where we will be able to eliminate terrible genetic diseases that plague millions of people today that will allow humans to live much healthier lives. I can only hope that by then society will be well informed by then and welcome this enormous scientific advancement of genetic engineering that will greatly assist the health and well being of human society. Lisa, you need to be able to distinguish reputable sources from ones that have failed peer review. This is the exact same problem the public has with global warming. All scientific peer reviewed research shows that anthropogenic global warming is real and it has an overwhelming scientific consensus but those that deny global warming find very obscure flimsy studies and sources to cite that have repeatedly failed in peer review and have been repeatedly thoroughly debunked. The same thing here. There is overwhelming scientific consensus that GM food is safe and that there is no established higher risk of GM food compared to conventional food. This is the official position of all the major scientific bodies. Over a hundred peer review studies spanning 25 years consistently demonstrates the safety of GM food. The sources you just cited have repeatedly failed in peer review and are not published in any major scientific journal. Please provide any peer reviewed study in any major scientific journal that concludes GM food as potentially dangerous.This is an example of how the political left and right are exactly the same when it comes to science and why Keith Kloor has called opponents of GM food "the Climate Skeptics of the Left". Because the exact same irrational unscientific thinking the right uses to deny global warming, the left does the exact same thing when it comes to GM food. But if anyone actually cares what the scientific consensus is, here it is. Anthropogenic global warming is real and GM food is safe. I don't care what the science says. Have the studies been done to see what the environmental impact is? Also, what about the financial effect on farmers and people in the food business? Are they going to eventually have to buy product from one or two companies? There's just so much involved here. And we are talking about labeling food! We aren't saying they will have to be taxed at a high rate or go through some rigorous testing to be sold. We just want to know. When my daughter was an infant my doctor recommended a vaccine to protect against rotovirus. She had one dose before it was pulled off the market due to safety issues. I was prescribed Zetia a few years back. I barely started it when news broke that it was ineffective at best and could even pose a health risk. Both of these products were at some point proven, scientifically, to be safe. I want to make that choice myself. Science is a long way away from having all the answers. If it did, the FDA wouldn't have to recall one drug after another that it previously gave its stamp of approval to, correct? I particularly like the self-described scientists who show up for news stories like this. They probably have an AA degree (not that there's anything wrong with that) but at that level they know just enough to be dangerous and they try to dazzle everyone with their vast knowledge. Get back to us in 20 years when you have more common sense and 20 years' worth of additional data about whether GM products are healthy or not. So 25 years of research and 130 peer reviewed studies are not enough? You want 45 years now? What do global warming deniers and anti-GM food activists have in common? They both nitpick the filmiest of evidence, ignore every scientific peer reviewed study, ignore the consensus of every major scientific body, and think they know more about science than scientists. Both the political left and right are guilty of nitpicking the science they want to believe in while refusing to accept scientific facts that conflict with their ideology.	eng	7d643ea6-7d6d-4d5e-8d6e-33f146fd78e9	http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/02/14836665-calif-to-vote-on-labeling-gmo-foods-but-you-may-already-eat-them
First Thoughts Archive Monthly Do Rawlsian principles of "political liberalism" demand the legal recognition of same-sex romantic partnerhips as marriages? I suspect that many of Rawls's conservative critics, as well as his liberal supporters, would suppose that the answer must be yes. (For the conservative critics, that would be one more count against Rawls's general theory of justice and political morality.) But now comes my former student, Matthew O'Brien, who in a brilliant article just out in the British Journal of American Legal Studies argues that the answer is actually no. In fact, he maintains that Rawlsian principles, rigorously and consistently applied, forbid the re-definition of civil marriage to include same-sex partnerships. The article, titled "Why Liberal Neutrality Prohibits Same-Sex Marriage: Rawls, Political Liberalism, and the Family," is available online here. 42 Comments I've read the first few pages, and the word 'morality' stands out. But isn't it important to distinguish an assertion of morality from what is actually moral? If one didn't, that would open a huge can of worms – allowing arbitrary tyranny that no one would support. For example, what would the Muslim Brotherhood or the Nour Party assert is moral and immoral? Should they be allowed to make laws, simply on their say-so that something is moral or immoral? Marriage meets this need through the provision that the child conceived or born in marriage has the husband for father. To date, no better, simpler, less intrusive means have been found for ensuring, as far as possible, that the legal, biological and social realities of paternity coincide. Opposite-sex unions are, as a class, capable of raising the question of filiation; same-sex unions are not. Marriage has been detached from child-rearing for decades in American society. Procreation /=/ marriage. I find this argument wholly uncompelling, and wonder just how aware you can be of society anymore if you bring it up. Is marriage itself even a necessity in a legal sense for Rawlsians? I actually have a hard time rationalizing opposition to it in Rawlsian thought, because if people were without bias, there is essentially no reason to not have it be legally-recognized. All else that there is seems to be the pseudo-sociological procreation 'argument'. And our new insight into sex being all about the adults and nothing about the kids has all turned out so well in these past few decades, that I guess we can leave it at that. All that pseudo-mumbo jumbo about kids and marriage is so yesterday's news. Thanks to Robert George for pointing out this welcome new article. I fear that Justice Anthony Kennedy will be especially prone to the blandishments of Rawls's "political liberalism," which is the generally hidden basis of most same-sex marriage arguments. In skimming the article, I noticed that the author of the article discusses Ralph Wedgwood's argument for same-sex marriage, which is largely Rawlsian. Last year, when I sent Wedgwood something I wrote in criticism of same-sex marriage, he courteously replied (unlike most academics, including philosophers at supposedly Christian colleges) to my argument. However, I couldn't figure out from his rather cryptic remarks why he thought the historical association of procreation with marriage was "entirely irrelevant," as he put it. Was it because of the naturalistic fallacy? I believe so, and I think it is an illegitimate line of reasoning. In the same-sex marriage debate, liberals tacitly resort to the naturalistic fallacy, and rely on its supposed authority, whenever they say–as they do all the time–that what marriage is historically is not what marriage ought to be ideally or as a matter of justice. The naturalistic fallacy says you can't derive an "ought" from an "is," or a norm from a fact. In the marriage-debate context, this is taken to mean that just because procreation historically is deeply connected with the institution of marriage, it is not an ought-to-be-connected feature of marriage. Procreation is not, in this view, a normative part of the institution of marriage. According to the naturalistic fallacy procreation cannot be part of the norm, or essence, of marriage. (Never mind that Philippa Foot's highly regarded book Natural Goodness shows the philosophical trend away from the whole idea of a naturalistic fallacy.) Supporters of traditional marriage can grant this, at least for the sake of argument, without losing any ground. For while procreation arguably is not the norm of marriage insofar as it is a value (illegitimately) derived from the historical and sociological facts concerning marriage, it can still be the norm of marriage in a constitutive sense, or in a non-derived sense of being internal to marriage. This sense is closer to what the supporters of traditional marriage believe. They believe not so much in the idea that marriage implies procreation. Here the naturalistic fallacy kicks in, for how does marriage imply procreation other than by a leap from fact to value? The defenders of traditional marriage believe, rather, that marriage just is a procreative institution–not for any supposedly naive reason such as that "is" implies "ought," but for the reason that the origin of a thing is the nature of the thing in certain cases, such as with marriage and procreation. Marriage as an institution originated in response to the need for ordered procreation. In that sense procreation is internal to marriage, and is the "norm" of marriage. Anything wrong with that? The naturalistic fallacy, as I believe I have just shown, is totally irrelevant. The genetic fallacy–which says that the origin of a thing is not necessarily the nature of the thing–is relevant, but is not an objection to traditional marriage. In the case of marriage as an institution, the question is, What sort of things made procreation internal to marriage in the beginning, and are those thing still applicable? What made procreation internal to marriage at the origin of marriage was a specific congeries of human nature (involving the potential messiness of procreation) as well as the necessities of social order (the need for channeling procreation). The problem for pro-same-sex marriage folks is that human nature and the demands of social order have not changed in any fundamental way over time (five thousand years–a mere blip on the liberal radar screen of progress, to be sure), and thus there is no justification for changing the procreation-internal institution of marriage to a fundamentally different, and procreation-neutral, institution. "No justification" is a polite way of saying that same-sex marriage, as a conception of marriage, is radically incoherent. The distinction between these two ultimate objections to traditional marriage–the naturalistic fallacy and the genetic fallacy–incidentally shows why it is wrong to say that supporters of traditional marriage are guilty of "reducing" marriage to procreation (everyone agrees that reductionism of any kind is generally bad). If procreation is internal to marriage by its very nature–unlike if procreation is a "value" derived from the "facts" about marriage–then it is pointless, and false, to say that procreation-internal marriage is reductionist. Procreation is not a mere value to which marriage is "reduced." Procreation is a constitutive element of marriage, by nature and definition alike, and to call that a reduction of marriage is like calling an ant a moron. By their nature, ants are not rational creatures, and so cannot have defects of rationality. Ants cannot be morons, and procreational marriage cannot be reductionist. Same-sex marriage is supposedly inevitable because it is a sign of "progress." Some of us are silly enough, and benighted enough, and maybe even bigoted enough, to believe that what liberals think is progress is really the height of folly, at least this one time (irony alert). We believe same-sex marriage is inevitable in the same way it was inevitable that the Baltimore Colts would destroy the New York Jets back in the day when the AFL, the league the Jets belonged to, was widely regarded as the junior varsity of pro football. How did that turn out? If the child rearing argument were an actual argument than why are same-sex couples allowed to adopt? and why are couples allowed to remarry after a divorce or marry after the age of 40? Would it not make more sense to provide the benefits of marriage to a same-sex couple that has adopted 2 children rather than to a 70yr old couple getting married that will never have children? The point is that argument has no real basis, there is so much more to marriage. And there is absolutely no argument against providing it to same-sex couples Well folks, as sympathetic as I am to opponents of gay "marriage," let's get real. The subject never would have come up if the institution of marriage weren't already so degraded that the idea that two people of the same sex can be married would have been plausible to anyone in the first place. Gay marriage, polygamous marriage, inter-species marriage, hey, it's all about how you feel. It's part and parcel of the cultural entropy we've been undergoing since 1968. If you want to see America's future, look at Detroit. And, frankly, it's a future we deserve. Are you suggesting universal DNA testing, at least where the putative father is alive, within the jurisdiction and his whereabouts known? Moreover, if such a test is to render the filiation incontestable, once recorded (on the birth certificate, perhaps) it would have to be final and conclusive Otherwise, we abandon the principle, the investigation of paternity is forbidden. If filiation can be imposed, in the absence of marriage or acknowledgement, what becomes of the rule that no one can have an heir born to him, without his consent? That is why I still say, "no better, simpler, less intrusive means have been found for ensuring, as far as possible, that the legal, biological and social realities of paternity coincide" than marriage. This is a great article, and it deserves a serious hearing and thoughtful engagment. Drawing attention to the relevance of Rawls' treatment of the family is very appreciated, and as a "Rawlsian liberal" and proponent of SSM, I commend O'Brian's even handed and rigorous analysis. What follows is a bare sketch of how I'm inclined to respond. Typical of a Rawlsian approach, the paper's argument is pretty abstract and in this case that's a problem. In particular, I think we need to attend to the actual cultural and legal context of the SSM debate, and to the features of homosexual relationships that would distinguish them from what are here called "domestic dependency partnerships." O'Brian makes a compelling Rawlsian case that a liberal state can support and encourage traditional marriage and child rearing without violating political liberal standards. What doesn't follow from this is that current marriage laws are significantly oriented towards this, or that denying legal recognition of SSM on the basis of those laws as currently understood would either work against the state interest or be prejudicial against other kinds of parental partnerships. This would need a lot of fleshing out, but the argument would go something like this. First, the separation of marriage and child bearing and rearing has already happened both legally and culturally. Secondly, the currently legally and culturally recognized basis for marriage is romantic attachment and sexual exclusivity. And finally, gay relationships resemble heterosexual relationships in this regard much more than either resemble the kind of widower/bachelor brother relationships considered by O'Brian. Looking at the issue with these facts mind, it seems the argument for SSM based on equality before the law is valid. No-one will deny that the state has a clear interest in the filiation of children being clear, certain and incontestable. And that's why we have DNA tests. When gay adults are so sensitive and fragile that even asking a question that violates the taboos they've constructed around themselves is enough to violate their precious rights – and the kids are "all right", and anyone who even questions this truth is attacking the very core of what it means for gays to be human – what good does it do to have DNA tests? What, to prove that the lesbian is lying when she claims to be the parent of her spouse's child? We already know she's lying. That's the whole point. Gays are demanding that their right to lie and take other peoples' children is far more important than silly things like "truth" or "the well-being of children" or who that child's parents really are. The child's legally recognized right to a relationship with, and the right to be supported by, both biological parents, is in direct conflict with "gay marriage", where gays demand nothing less than the right to make custody transferable – not in limited 'child's best interest" cases, but even when it is obviously not in the child's best interest. Whose rights matter more, the "right" to pretend to be something or not, or the right to have a relationship with your own real family, to not be used, to not be exploited, and to not have to live with the knowledge that your mother was a prostitute who sold you and your dad doesn't care how you feel about who and what you are, as long as you support his political agenda. No child should be told how to feel about being motherless. It's always a loss. Always. Lying about it doesn't make it go away. If gays have any right at all to marry, then whether or not marriage is or is not procreative, it should be recognized that their marriage is not procreative. Their "need" to pass for a real family is not more important than a child's real need for both a mother and a father. Time to expect parents to be the grownups for a change. Incidentally, I don't care if gays are allowed to "marry", as long as they understand that their marriage is not procreative, not family-forming, and therefore not equal to real marriage – or entitled to that which rightfully supports procreative activity. Barring the presence of "issues" (such as "daddy issues" or "mommy issues" or even all-around rage at authority issues – of the sort that makes people support anything that opposes, undermines, or annoys the authority figure in their life), I can't imagine any child would prefer to be raised motherless or fatherless, nor can I imagine any child would be happy about having his or her own life reduced to a secondary consideration, below and behind and "in the shadow of" the parents' ego needs, political needs, emotional needs, or sexual needs. Really, outside of cognitive dissonance, I don't see how anyone can support the argument that gay marriage is reasonable "because marriage isn't procreative", when it's so clear that gays are hoping to actively exploit, not ignore, the procreative family-making functions and benefits of marriage. I believe we should focus on the fact that mandatory civil marriage is a comparatively recent legal institution, first introduced in France on 9 November 1791. The question, therefore is to ascertain the intention of the legislator. The civil code offers no formal definition of marriage, leaving this to be inferred from its legal effects and by comparing it with other modes of life open to couples, such as unregulated cohabitation and civil unions. Jurists have always found such a functional definition in the provision that "The child conceived or born in marriage has the husband for father," which mirrors the doctrine of the Roman jurist, Paulus, ".pater vero is est, quem nuptiae demonstrant." (Marriage points out the father) [Dig. 2, 4, 5; 1]. This was the opinion of the four most authoritative commentators on the Civil Code, Demolombe (1804–1887), Guillouard (1845-1925). Gaudemet (1908-2001) and Carbonnier (1908–2003), covering the period from the introduction of mandatory civil marriage down to our own day and long before the question of same-sex marriage was agitated. The determination of civil status is plainly a legitimate state interest. Note that this is not, necessarily, to encourage procreation, but, rather, to address its consequences when it occurs. Opposite-sex marriage is plainly relevant to this purpose; same-sex marriage is not. To determine, in advance, which opposite-sex couples will reproduce is by no means easy. To establish a screening process would be burdensome, expensive, intrusive and litigious, especially given possible advances in reproductive medicine and assisted reproduction. Laws are enacted for the general case and anomalies are the price that legislators pay for simplicity and certainty. The presumption that opposite-sex couples are potentially fertile and same-sex couples are not is a reasonable working compromise and one that is well within the legislator's margin of appreciation. Regarding the assumptions of same-sex marriage's supporters, I'd like add a few points, especially about the genetic fallacy (as contrasted with the naturalistic fallacy), since it is unfamiliar to many people who are generally familiar with the naturalistic fallacy. My claim is that while the naturalistic fallacy is wrongly appealed to by liberal supporters of same-sex marriage (wrongly because it aims at a straw man), the genetic fallacy is relevant but is not a problem for the defenders of traditional marriage. From the beginning, procreation had a deep and unbreakable bond with the practice and institution of marriage. Procreation was universally understood to be internal to marriage. People who got married (as couples) were always people who had an intrinsic procreative capacity. This capacity was not (and is not) always exercisable, however, just as I have the capacity to speak French but I cannot in actuality speak French. Still, I have a real capacity to speak French, which can be referred to as an intrinsic capacity comparable to the capacity of, say, a sterile opposite-sex couple to procreate. My capacity to speak French might also be called an ideal capacity as opposed to an actual capacity, since I might ideally have been born in France and thus would be able to speak French, or I might ideally have had a parent who taught French for a living, and thus I might have picked up the language by a process of benign parental coercion. The point is that, in talking about the general fact of procreation as it bears on the meaning of marriage, we are always talking about the intrinsic–the actual or ideal–capacity to procreate. It is this capacity which the institution of marriage presupposes (not implies). Is procreation still, even today, internal to marriage? If the naturalistic fallacy is right, it may be doubted whether procreation is truly internal to marriage–whether procreation is internal to marriage or not will be up for grabs as conflicting beliefs in the society are pushed into a wrestling match over the meaning of marriage. I would argue, though, that the naturalistic fallacy is simply not applicable to the procreation-and-marriage case. Properly speaking, procreation is not an external "value" derived from any internal "facts" about marriage (such as the fact that marriage is a good way to raise kids and provide stability). Marriage is not valuable because of procreation. Where's the "ought" that is supposedly derived from the "is" in traditional marriage? IMO, there isn't any. The naturalistic fallacy is irrelevant as a basis for refuting traditional marriage. The genetic fallacy, by contrast, is clearly relevant. It has a direct bearing on the alleged close connection between marriage and procreation. Unfortunately for the supporters of same-sex marriage, traditional marriage has a perfectly good answer to the genetic fallacy's question of how the origin of a thing (the institution of marriage, in this case) can indicate or determine the true nature of the thing. I suggested what that answer is in my previous comment (and in comments more than a year ago at this blog). The origin/nature distinction–and relatedly the cause/reason distinction–helps to spotlight the significance of defining marriage as procreational. Causes are not the same as reasons, just as the origin of a thing does not necessarily explain the nature of that thing. Nothing in this prevents us from sometimes being able to identify the reasons for something (e.g., procreation as the reason for the institution of marriage) by an examination of its causes (e.g., the general fact of procreation as the cause of the institution of marriage). Similarly, origins may be a decisive clue to a thing's nature. Marriage originated with procreation, and that very fact tells us something important about the nature of marriage. The procreational nature of marriage is not just a social convention but an ontological truth (a truth about the definition of marriage), and informal logic attests to this truth. And by the way, the genetic fallacy doesn't mean the origin of a thing never indicates the nature of the thing. If it meant that, it would be saying reductionism is impossible–and even if you don't like reductionism, you can't say that it's impossible. What the genetic fallacy says is that the origin of a thing is not necessarily the nature (or an indication of the nature) of the thing. The contrast with the naturalistic fallacy is stark. The naturalistic fallacy makes "is" and "ought" mutually exclusive, while the genetic fallacy does not make origin and nature mutually exclusive. This shows the great advantage to defenders of traditional marriage in being able to view criticism of the procreation-marriage nexus in terms of the genetic fallacy rather than the relatively gay-friendly (so to speak) naturalistic fallacy. Honestly, I think this is tilted-playing-field territory. Defenders of traditional marriage can tilt the playing field by insisting the connection between marriage and procreation be seen through the prism of the genetic fallacy rather than the naturalistic fallacy. They will be ready with a poleaxe whenever liberal supporters of same-sex marriage say, "Maybe historically procreation was normative to marriage, but it doesn't have to be going forward." It does have to be–if reality means anything and if everything is not socially constructed. A rational society–even one that is gravely afflicted with judicial supremacy–will not run roughshod over the truth in mad pursuit of liberal jabberwockies such as "marriage equality." (Mea maxima culpa politicus incorrectus.) As is clear in the reading the comments here, gay marriage is just common sense, and Americans believe in common sense. A duck is a duck because it quacks, and gay people are married when they act just like your neighbor, taking out the trash on Monday, mowing the lawn regularly, behaving politely in public, working with the neighborhood on neighborhood issues, and holding hands when it's appropriate. Bachelor brothers are not ducks. They don't empathize when you explain how you still have a crush on your wife or when you confess that you've been tempted to stray. They don't have any real advice about how to keep it fresh. When one of the bachelors dies and the survivor fights with the mother about the disposition of property, you understand it as a family fight and side more with the mother. But when a member of a gay couple dies, and the survivor fights with his partner's mother, your sympathy is with the survivor. The spouse always trumps the parent. When my friend Ken asks me to swallow a dictionary so that he can persuade me to deny gays marriage, I know that he's already lost the argument. When Blake has to stomp his feet again and claim that he doesn't "care if gays are allowed to "marry" when it's clear that he really, really does care, then I know he's already lost the argument. The question before Americans is not whether to redefine marriage. It's whether to recognize the marriages already among us. It's a matter of common sense. "Art. 757-1 Where, in the absence of children or descendants, a deceased leaves his father and mother, the surviving spouse shall take one half of the property. The other half devolves for one quarter to the father and for one quarter to the mother. Where the father or the mother is predeceased, the share which he would have taken devolves to the surviving spouse." The rights of parents even over-ride a will, to the extent of half the estate. "Art. 914 (Act no 72-3 of 3 Jan. 1972) Gratuitous transfers, either by inter vivos acts or by will, may not exceed half of the property where, failing children, a deceased leaves one or several ascendants in each of the lines, paternal and maternal, and three-fourths where he leaves ascendants only in one line." Your example confirms my point that French law recognizes that the rights of your spouse are more important than the rights of the family you were born into. The spouse gets the greater portion of your inheritance. In recognizing the spouse over the birth family, French law follows Genesis in understanding that the distinctiveness of marriage lies in the way that it causes a man to leave his family and shift his primary loyalty from his birth family to his spouse. Gay marriage recognizes that a similar shift in primary loyalty has occurred when gays start a lifelong relationship. That shift in loyalty doesn't occur, however, when bachelor brothers live together. I don't think I'm asking you to swallow a dictionary. (I assume you're referring to my mention of "ontological truth," in particular.) I just want you, and your ideological allies, to take seriously the idea that there is more to this debate than sociological and psychological effervescences and trends. Even if it's true that Americans are coming around to a more gay-friendly way of thinking, that does not tell us in a dispositive way what to think of same-sex marriage. IMO it doesn't even provide a real clue what to think because it is possible for a culture to slide backwards and for people to be self-deceived. Is it not? Cf. Germany (my ancestral country) in the 1920s through the 1940s. Previously the epitome of civilization in philosophy, music, and efficient warfare (the Prussian tradition), Germany descended into a remarkable barbarism. I'm not saying same-sex marriage is like Nazism! I'm just saying it is possible for a society to go backwards. The following point is not as tangential to your concerns as you might think, because it removes a main source of unconscious liberal bias in the debate about same-sex marriage. I intended to make the point even before I saw your comment. Before liberalism can tell us what liberties should be allowed, such as the liberty to join with someone of the same sex in socially sanctioned (civil) marriage, the liberal must show why opponents of the liberty in question must be restrained from giving effect to their beliefs by disallowing the liberty. The only way to do this is to have a theory of toleration that shows why the liberty should be allowed. Liberals have no such theory. Contrary to a popular cultural myth, the No-Harm Principle is not that theory. What counts as a harm depends on beliefs about the good. The No-Harm Principle is illegitimately front-loaded in favor of liberalism (it would be illegitimately front-loaded even if it did not privilege the right over the good). The No-Harm Principle is unable to tell us anything useful about toleration because it improperly assumes the truth, or the moral priority, of secular liberal beliefs. The No-Harm Principle is an unreliable guide to what liberties should be allowed. John Gray failed to bite this bullet in Two Faces of Liberalism. He pulled the rug out from under the feet of liberalism, but then left the No-Harm Principle standing. That makes no sense. No, if both parents are alive, it is divided equally between the spouse and the parents – Spouse takes half and each parent takes a quarter each. Moreover, Article 757-3 gives a preference to the brothers and sisters and their descendents, to the extent of half the family property « Biens de famille » – "in case of predecease of the father and mother and in absence of descendants, the property that the deceased received from them by succession or gift and that is found in kind in the succession devolves for one half to the brothers and sisters of the deceased or to their descendants, themselves descending from the predeceased parent or parents from whom the devolution originates." So, if the deceased inherited a farm from his father, half goes to the brothers and sisters and half to the spouse. Once again, the rights of the spouse and the rights of the birth family are equal. It was always clear to me that elemental family formation was within a Rawlsian sphere of "public reason" – to say otherwise is untenable in the end, because it (at the very least) would mean that ANY limitations on what people would call "marriage" would be impermissible in a "liberal democratic order". It's not any particular term you use; your whole approach is philosophical, which means that it is incomprehensible to most people. Most people don't have a "theory" of toleration. They tolerate what is tolerable. While we've certainly seen societies slide backwards, we've also seen them move forward. You have no idea whether gay marriage is merely a trend or is here to stay. You hope that it will disappear, but I don't see how you can make it disappear without pushing homosexuality back into the closet. And I don't want to contemplate how one would go about putting it back in the closet. You are right and it would make the fact that the state claims a monopoly of marriage – the rule that only its officers can solemnise and record a marriage – equally incomprehensible. Jurists constantly repeat the mantra that "mandatory civil marriage is a pillar of the lay republic." Not just marriage, but mandatory civil marriage. This suggests, at the very least that it is a part of the "liberal democratic order." You're right about that, so far as it goes–which I fear is not very far. You seem to be denying that behind accepted ideas of toleration, or behind almost any kind of "ideological" social convention, is some theory or other, and behind that is a philosophical viewpoint of some degree of persuasiveness or other. If you are denying that, you might want to consider that in America today what is considered "tolerable" is pretty much what John Stuart Mill considered it to be. Was Mill right about what toleration is? You, and liberals generally–and plenty of non-liberals–assume that he was. I deny that he was right. (Mill's theory of toleration is usually called the Harm Principle. I'm calling the No-Harm Principle to make its upshot clearer.) Advocates of SSM are always saying, "What's the harm of allowing same-sex couples to get married? After all, the putative harm to children is speculative, especially since they suffer greater harm by not being adopted at all [in the case of adoptive same-sex couples]." IM. One reason I look at SSM this way–as a truncated form of marriage–is that I believe the No-Harm Principle isn't much help in defining the boundaries of toleration, or in explaining what kind of legal coercion of the "intolerant" (i.e., the religious) is permissible. Liberalism front-loads the harm equation by defining the harmful as harm to individuals only, while ignoring harm to the community or society. More generally, liberals misunderstand human nature in believing that individual character is fundamentally malleable and that individuals' desires are socially constructed. This leads to a distorted conception of harm. Whatever merits the No-Harm Principle has in theory–limited merits, I must add, because of the dependence of conceptions of harm on rival and therefore non-neutral conceptions of the good–is wrecked in practice, IMHO, by the liberal's false picture of human nature. Enough philosophizing, my friend! Here's a down-to-earth and entirely non-philosophical tidbit that might be of great interest to you. The other day–courtesy of the glorious event known within Western civilization as Yale Sex Week, and courtesy of the weird propaganda ensuing therefrom–I learned to my genuine shock (and I'm not easy to shock) of something notably perverse called "double anal penetration," in which two males do that to one woman at the same time. What kind of guys would do this? (What kind of drug-addled or libertarianism-addled woman would allow it?) Two kinds of men, it seems to me, might do this sort of thing: either bisexual men, or men who have sex with men (that is, men who identify as "straight" but occasionally have sex with other men). Not, in other words, normal heterosexual males like you and me. IMHO, this perversity cubed and squared is a nice reason why society should refuse to normalize or legitimize sexual aberration (while sometimes tolerating its relatively mild forms). Sexual nihilism is a slippery slope of ever-increasing degradation. I'm wondering, however, what you think of this particular perversion and my "unenlightened" view of it. It might be a kind of stand-in for our disagreement about same-sex marriage. Wouldn't you agree? "You seem to be denying that behind accepted ideas of toleration, or behind almost any kind of "ideological" social convention, is some theory or other" I'm not denying theory at all. I'm saying that once one has to defend the old ways in more than a few sentences the battle is lost. I'm saying that people care more about the pastoral and immediate than the theoretical. The fight against abortion is winning because killing is immediate, visceral, and repulsive. People understand that. The. It's hard to get alarmed by lesbians, which is why they are almost never mentioned in these forums. "IM" Once you start talking about the damage to institutions, you're starting to get abstract in a way that will lose people. You're also in danger of putting abstract things above people. Paterno and the bishops, after all, worried about the danger to their institutions, and because they placed these abstract things above people, children got hurt. That said, there has been real damage done to the institution of marriage by a divorce rate that is dividing more and more families. This is the number one priority for fixing marriage. Compared to it, homosexuality is a side show. People know that. Fix straight marriage first. "More generally, liberals misunderstand human nature in believing that individual character is fundamentally malleable and that individuals' desires are socially constructed." You're painting with a pretty broad brush here, mixing postmodern ideas into a pot that includes lots of other kinds of liberals. Why caricature the opposition? Why make into opponents people who otherwise share a lot of your values and causes? "I'm wondering, however, what you think of this particular perversion and my "unenlightened" view of it. It might be a kind of stand-in for our disagreement about same-sex marriage. Wouldn't you agree?" I hope you'll understand why I find this question insulting. As you know, my discussion of the issue of gay marriage is driven by the reconciling congregation to which I belong. We take our faith and our relationships seriously, and asking me about Yale's sex week is like asking you about Berlusconi. Yes, Berlusconi is in Italy, and so is the Vatican, but what do they have to do with each other? They are as related as Yale sex week and my congregation. The gay couples in my congregation have been in relationships for as many as thirty years, and some of them have raised children. They are active in and outside of the church, working on social issues from poverty and human trafficking to drug abuse and a cause you favor, environmentalism. Inside the church, they serve on the worship committee, teach Sunday school, and participate in Advent and Lenten devotions. Some join me in the uphill battle of pushing the congregation into taking a tougher stand against abortion. In the meantime, I have a former employee that I keep up with. A troubled girl in her late twenties, she has a lot of issues she's working through—grief over the death of her mother, alienation from her father, depression, etc. Happily, she's stayed away from drugs, though alcohol has more than a share in her troubles. She's into the kind of sport sex you describe. In it, she's expressing nothing about her sexuality. She's using it to say something about what she thinks is her courage and her self-abasement. Interestingly, whenever she gets close enough to a man to date him, she becomes faithful to him alone. Part of my struggle with her is that she was raised unchurched, and so there's no value system, no vocabulary, that I can appeal to that makes sense to her. Progress for her is coming slowly, but I feel like it's coming. "I'm saying that people care more about the pastoral and immediate than the theoretical." Yes, but sometimes people see the necessity of digging a little deeper. Large numbers of Americans think something like the following, whether or not they know and like gays personally. Marriage has something vital to do with sexual intercourse, and same-sex couples can't have real sexual intercourse. They can't unite their bodies except in a superficial way, and they can't even look into each others eyes–talk about intimate communion–during the act of sexual intercourse. (Lesbians can, but only via the bizarrely artificial–because opposite gender-imitating–device of a strap-on.) In other words, same-sex couples lack sexual complementarity. Complementarity is more than teamwork or cooperation in some activity. It's not like an orchestra or a violin duet. Sexual complementarity involves the uniting of two diverse individuals in a biologically functional way. Your testimony of homosexual individuals and their lives is deeply felt by many people but it's ultimately un-compelling. Morally speaking, it's the social counterpart of the political principle that might makes right. Popularity makes legitimate consensus–I hope that's not what you're saying, but it's what I hear. "You have no idea whether gay marriage is merely a trend or is here to stay. You hope that it will disappear, but I don't see how you can make it disappear without pushing homosexuality back into the closet." Whatever the evolving status of homosexuals in society, same-sex marriage should not be one of the avenues of "progress" for the basic reason that same-sex couples cannot affirm or give witness to what makes marriage marriage–the essential procreative goods of marriage. Marriage is not just a highfaluting form of cohabitation. In cohabitation, unlike in marriage, there is no predicate of procreation. Only couples who have an intrinsic capacity to procreate are able to experience the essential goods of marriage. ("Predicate of procreation"–gotta remember that phrase.) "When my friend Ken asks me to swallow a dictionary so that he can persuade me to deny gays marriage, I know that he's already lost the argument." I'm not worried. Consider the most immediate facts on the ground before me. Here in my home state of Washington, where a referendum is on the ballot to overturn pro-SSM legislation, the governor who signed the legislation (and who was the Grand Marshal at the most recent Gay Pride parade) is missing in action. (She's not running for reelection, but I don't see how that matters.) I assume the Obama campaign wants it that way. They're afraid of backlash, and fear of backlash is incompatible with confidence about the "inevitability" of SSM–especially since the inevitability is supposed to be due to the justice of the cause! As for Yale Sex Week, I'm inclined to think a person has to have a proper sense of the wisdom of Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France to know why Yale Sex Week is relevant to same-sex marriage. I don't know if you've ever read that book, but I suspect that if you did read it you thought Burke was just pontificating. That's the way liberals are. They still don't get how significant it is that Burke knew the French Revolution would be a disaster. Conservatives agree. That's why they want to put same-sex marriage on hold. Fix marriage first, then try to figure out what innovations it can bear without endangering the institution. In that sense, same-sex marriage is not a "sideshow" but a distraction. A healthy society, dealing with the problems faced by the institution of marriage, would not be talking about abolishing civil marriage or instituting same-sex marriage. A healthy society would be debating whether no-fault divorce is a good idea, and about how to minimize the worst effects of no-fault divorce, including the economic disadvantage it inevitably creates for women. IMO the ultimate problem is not the spouses (especially husbands) and their quest for romantic gratification. That's a perennial temptation. The problem is lousy parenting. It's Britney Spears' parents and the millions of parents like them, who have failed to pass on the moral sobriety that their own parents had. It can be argued that WWII caused this moral failure. "They can't unite their bodies except in a superficial way, and they can't even look into each others eyes–talk about intimate communion–during the act of sexual intercourse." Tell me, when you have talked to gay couples who have been together 10, 20, or 30 years, what did they say when you asked them whether their sex was superficial? What did they say when you asked whether they felt intimate communion during sex? What do you call a couple that has been together thirty years and raised two children? Are they not parents? Are they not helpmeets? Are they not cure of each other's loneliness? Have they not found the person for whom they have left mother and father so they might cleave? "I suspect that if you did read it you thought Burke was just pontificating. That's the way liberals are." What makes you think that I believe he is pontificating? Do all liberals believe the same thing? Why do people on this site believe they have to insult liberals rather than have a conversation with them? I hope you notice that not once have you had to respond to me by saying that I have mischaracterized your position, but I have had to tell you repeatedly that you have mischaracterized mine. I don't make insulting generalizations about conservatives, but you, like so many others here, are compelled to insult liberals. It's tiresome and counter-productive. "A healthy society would be debating whether no-fault divorce is a good idea, and about how to minimize the worst effects of no-fault divorce, including the economic disadvantage it inevitably creates for women" Where are these debates on First Things? Why are conservatives here reacting rather than leading? "IMO the ultimate problem is not the spouses (especially husbands) and their quest for romantic gratification. That's a perennial temptation. The problem is lousy parenting. It can be argued that WWII caused this moral failure" There are a lot of reasons marriage is in decline, but what if gay marriage is part of the solution rather than part of the problem? Why are the marriages—both straight and gay—so strong in my congregation? In his book on the French Revolution, Burke shows how dangerous it is to regard "the decent drapery of life" with utopian disregard and to try to impose extreme schemes of enlightenment in the name of abstract theories about justice or equality or some other transcendent political ideal. Today's liberals have forgotten Burke's lesson. I must admit that I see you as one of those liberals. Liberalism is the common element in both the push for same-sex marriage and the vulgar propaganda of Yale Sex Week. (No prominent liberal thinker or writer has criticized Yale Sex Week for its cartoonish moral relativism, its sexual nihilism, and its crude proselytizing. Pretty darned revealing.) In the not-so-wonderfully wacky world of contemporary liberalism, traditional marriage (fifteen centuries old) is regarded as bigotry while repulsively aberrant sexual practices–practices which you unintentionally dignify with the appellation "sport sex"–are considered to be tolerable and even commendable. Yale Sex Week is of a piece with the push for same-sex marriage. The same unreasoned, doctrinaire, and culturally suicidal liberalism is behind both of them. "The." You are shrewdly but subtly (and eloquently) challenging opponents of same-sex marriage to show how they can possibly overcome the influence of post-1960s heterosexual practices. Fair enough. In attempting to meet your challenge, I'll use an acronym for convenience–FR/PSI. It stands for "[bears a] family resemblance to paradigmatic sexual intercourse." As you will guess, paradigmatic sexual intercourse is the kind of act for which the classic description is "the missionary position." In PSI, babies are made. As for family resemblance, think of the functions of the mouth, the reproductive organs, and the anus. Connect the dots regarding the family resemblance of these with paradigmatic sexual intercourse. FR/PSI shows what kinds of sex acts are proper or normal. It doesn't show when such acts are properly engaged in–before marriage or after marriage. FR/PSI can be added to an account of sexual morality that shows when the acts are properly engaged in. FR/PSI shows why oral sex is morally licit for opposite-sex couples but not same-sex couples–it's because the latter lack the requisite family resemblance. To avoid apparent arbitrariness on this very point I must reject body-person or body-soul dualism and agree with Aquinas that I am my body. No problem. (Maybe a moderate or weak body-person dualism would be compatible with my understanding of FR/PSI, but not a strong version.) FR/PSI also shows why anal sex is illicit for both opposite-sex and same-sex couples–again, think of functions and connect the dots. This being a family oriented website, I don't want to connect the dots with explicit descriptions. The FR/PSI depends on the idea of functions. I understand functions as being both descriptive and prescriptive. The naturalistic fallacy is unable to rebuke beliefs about functions being norms. Consider the example of a clock. A clock can be used as a bookend (just as the sex organs are capable of being used in various ways) but that is not its function. Its function, which is to tell the time, is both an "is" and an "ought." A clock ought to tell the time. This sense of ought is an impersonal (and nonmoral) sense, in which the clock is seen to fulfill the goals inherent to it, just as I ought to use my reproductive organs in conjunction with women, and women only, to fulfill the goals inherent to me as an embodied soul. Opponents of same-sex marriage have the happy choice of either stick ing with an older sexual morality or adopting something like FR/PSI in conjunction with a compatible general sexual morality. They can go either way. The advantage of the latter is that it removes the "everybody does it" objection to so-called heteronormativity, including opposition to same-sex marriage. In other words, the FR/PSI undermines the belief that homosexuality must be regarded as basically normal if oral sex is regarded as normal. In short, it doesn't follow from the widespread acceptance of heterosexual oral sex that homosexual sex should likewise be casually accepted as "what we do around here." (This is not a spur of the moment invention. I worked it out five years ago and have been sitting on it since then. Thanks for forcing me to do something with it.) "Liberalism is the common element in both the push for same-sex marriage and the vulgar propaganda of Yale Sex Week." Have I said anything that suggests to you that I would approve of Yale sex week? I've talked about the marital fidelity of the gay and straight members of my congregation, and you come back with a question about sex week. The question remains insulting. Your explanation that liberalism is common to both proponents of gay marriage and sex weeks is both illogical and wrong. Your logic is lacking in this way: conservatism is the common element to both opponents of gay marriage and the bigotry of those who murder gays. How would you feel if I asked you for your opinion of Westboro and Aaron McKinney and presumed that you favor both? Your explanation is wrong because there's much, much more than liberalism at work. Many if not most in the fringe that puts on activities like sex week scoff at the term liberal and call themselves revolutionaries, anarchists, or even libertarians. You're using a meat cleaver when a pair of scissors is the more appropriate tool. Ludwig Wittgenstein (the great philosopher–and homosexual–who made "family resemblances" part of the conceptual vocabulary): "Don't think, just look and see." Cryptic. But to me he meant one should not be reluctant to look at reality straight, without flinching or denying what is apparent. If liberalism is as you say it is, name one modern writer who expresses that vision of liberalism, and be sure you can say why he or she would support same-sex marriage. Opponents of same-sex marriage routinely condemn people who criminally attack gays (I was pleased, to put it mildly, when Matthew Shepard's killers were executed.) Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but trying to find a liberal academic or opinion leader who condemns the sexual nihilism coming out of New Haven at the beginning of every academic year is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Your conservatism analogy fails miserably. It is worthy of Paul Krugman, but not you. "If liberalism is as you say it is, name one modern writer who expresses that vision of liberalism, and be sure you can say why he or she would support same-sex marriage" Your question is too vague. Which vision of liberalism are you talking about? What exactly have I said liberalism is? I'm not even sure why you are asking me to defend liberalism. I didn't introduce the term into the discussion, and I've already made it abundantly clear that I think you are using the term too broadly to name things you don't like. But conservatives don't routinely condemn non-violent attacks on gays. You've read some of the ugly things claimed about gays even here on First Things, which tends to be restrained, but I don't remember you speaking against those slurs. Why not? "trying to find a liberal academic or opinion leader who condemns the sexual nihilism coming out of New Haven at the beginning of every academic year is like trying to find a needle in a haystack." How many liberal Christians celebrate Yale's sex week? Didn't the Yale administration just cancel the event? I don't suppose the administration suddenly went conservative Catholic all of a sudden. I remember when conservatives were making fun of the liberals who were making the Antioch rules and who were anti-pornography feminists. You might remember Tipper Gore's campaign for profanity ratings on music. The truth is that there are plenty of liberals and liberal Christians who don't like sexual or any other kind of nihilism, but there are people who like to play the culture war. Culture warriors on the left claim that liberal Christians, anti-pornography feminists, etc., are playing into the hands of evil fundamentalists, and culture warriors on the right claim that liberal Christians are fundamentally dishonest. Either way, culture warriors get the truth fundamentally wrong. "Your conservatism analogy fails miserably." The terms of my analogy remain true. Conservatives oppose gay marriage. Conservatives murder gays. You only object to these statements because you know that not ALL conservatives murder or even approve of the murder of gays, but you're somehow unwilling to be generous to liberals in the same way. (Shh. There are also conservatives—even prominent conservatives—who support gay marriage, but let's not talk about that.) My analogy was intended to prove a point. You've tried to smear me by comparing me to people I don't approve of, and I've pointed out that I wouldn't think of doing the same to you. You have too much of the culture warrior in you, Ken. Too often you try to score points by painting too broadly or playing guilt by association. Being Christian and pro-life makes me conservative and being pro-gay and pro-big government makes me liberal, and I'm tired of the degraded religious and political environment that seeks to flatten every discussion into a simple opposition of good guys and bad guys. We were having a serious conversation about how to approach the issue of gay marriage, when you turned the conversation into a discussion of Yale sex week. Why you made that turn continues to escape me. I continue to believe that the same illusional ideal of sexuality, which has its roots in liberal myth-making, is common to same-sex marriage and Yale Sex Week. But I'll be happy to forget about all things Yale if you give me your opinion of the fact that the liberal pundits and academics who are so eager to moralize about the "bigotry" of opponents of same-sex marriage are unanimously unwilling to moralize about Yale Sex Week. What are they afraid of? That a porn star–a silly, morally blighted porn star–will denounce them? Same-sex marriage is the current incarnation of the culture war. Of course I'm a culture warrior; I have a dim view of same-sex marriage. You need to understand that my culture-warrior indignation is caused largely by the fact that a cheating game is going on. Overwhelmingly, the legalization of same-sex marriage is the result of judicial diktat, not the democratic process. This November, we'll see if that pattern changes, but even if it does, and if same-sex marriage starts to be advanced legislatively rather than judicially, it will be largely owing to the foolish Supreme Court opinion in Lawrence v. Texas, and so the cheating won't entirely go away. It angers me to see judges dictating the outcome of matters of reasonable disagreement like same-sex marriage. Yeah, it's about the "rights" of gays, liberals say, so judicial intervention is proper. Does it occur to these them that someone might reasonably disagree with that? Obviously not. Maybe this will help you to see why I don't think much of liberalism. I think liberals live in cocoons of the like-minded, insulated from viewpoints that are alien to liberal assumptions. Liberals know such viewpoints exist, but they tend to think those viewpoints are a sign of ignorance or bias, not reasonable pluralism. Do you agree with your fellow liberals who think that opposition to same-sex marriage is inherently unreasonable–that any properly informed and unbiased person will favor same-sex marriage? . Same-sex marriage promotes an illusion. It finds sexual complementarity where there is none. It misconceives sexual union as sexual contact. True sexual union requires physical–physiological and biological–unity as the bedrock of intimacy and communion. The unity of bodies can only be achieved in paradigmatic sexual intercourse (and true sexual communion, it may be, in any family resemblance thereto). To pursue illusions is human, but society should be careful about acquiescing in the pursuit of illusions. In the task of protecting marriage from hideously misguided reformist schemes, I see political urgency. "the same illusional ideal of sexuality, which has its roots in liberal myth-making" You might consider that there are several roots and several ideals of sexuality, each with their own proposals about how to understand and control sexuality. Just to use figures easy at hand, Tipper Gore's ideal is far from Yale Sex Week's. Obama and even Bill Clinton seem to understand sexuality better than either Newt Gingrich or Mark Sanford. "give me your opinion of the fact that the liberal pundits and academics who are so eager to moralize about the "bigotry" of opponents of same-sex marriage are unanimously unwilling to moralize about Yale Sex Week" It's a silly question because you're asking me to defend an idea I don't support. If I were a pundit or an academic, I would moralize about both issues. And you're ignoring all of the issues that conservative pundits and academics refuse to moralize about. Where is the condemnation, for example, of the loud bigotry against homosexuals? You haven't complained when bigoted comments have been made by fellow conservatives on this site, and you said nothing when I raised this point earlier. Why not? Why should I answer your questions when you won't answer mine? In fact, you've skipped a number of my questions. The short answer is that I would guess that most liberals don't think that the activities of sex week are worth bothering about. Kids experiment with sex and grow up and settle down, especially privileged kids who are on the fast track. Liberals tend to worry more about sex and especially violence in entertainment and popular culture, especially kids' entertainment. Your contempt of liberals doesn't reflect well on you. I wish your imagination were larger, more willing to believe that people you don't agree with nonetheless take stands out of well-reasoned principle. The mark of the culture warrior is that he thinks his opponents are dishonest fools. "Of course I'm a culture warrior; I have a dim view of same-sex marriage." You can have a dim view of gay marriage without thinking its proponents are dishonest fools. "You need to understand that my culture-warrior indignation is caused largely by the fact that a cheating game is going on. Overwhelmingly, the legalization of same-sex marriage is the result of judicial diktat, not the democratic process." The courts are part of the democratic process and exist in part to protect minority rights, and there are few minorities as slim as gays, which make up a scant 3% of the population. Speaking of diktat, civil rights for blacks are rooted in the Reconstruction amendments which were supported by a grotesque act of tyranny. When Southern states voted against ratification, the North dissolved their governments and instituted martial law until the states elected legislatures that would vote the way the Republican Party wanted them to. Hardly an example of the glories of the democratic process. "I think liberals live in cocoons of the like-minded, insulated from viewpoints that are alien to liberal assumptions. Liberals know such viewpoints exist, but they tend to think those viewpoints are a sign of ignorance or bias, not reasonable pluralism" Ah, yes, the old assumption that the other guys are blinkered, and your side is not. There are plenty of conservatives who live in a bubble, and the evidence is all around you. I'm skeptical of all claims that one group is more reasonable than another. "" You've asked this question a couple of times, and I've given a similar answer each time. I think there are reasonable arguments against gay marriage, and I think there are bigoted arguments for it. I don't think any side has an exclusive access to reason, and I don't think any side is exclusively bigoted. I think a lot of conservatives are bigoted against gays. I think others have reasoned and principled stands against gay marriage. As far as I can tell, you are not bigoted toward gays and have carefully reasoned and logically consistent principles that you apply to gay marriage. I think you might be bigoted toward liberals, but that's another subject. Is that clear enough? "Same-sex marriage promotes an illusion." You're wrong. It recognizes the truth that some gay couples have achieved the kinds of union that some straight couples have. Anyone who knows a gay couple that has been together through thick and thin for decades knows that gay unions can be great examples of true love and caring. The long-term relationships and families in my congregation are no illusion. They're real thing. They might not be recognized as marriages by the state or by the Roman Church, but they're marriages nonetheless. I haven't commented on the anti-homosexual comments that you say are on this blog because you and David Nickol are the only SSM commenters I bother to read. In general I do not read stuff that I agree with. I spend vastly more time reading liberal journals than conservative journals. Also, I would not equate even visceral dislike of homosexuality with hatred for homosexuals–"Love the sinner and hate the sin." Civil rights for blacks can't be compared to same-sex marriage in one sense that I think liberals should agree with: As of the 1950s, at least, no one could reasonably disagree about what rights blacks have as citizens and individuals, but one can reasonably disagree about, say, giving a right to marry to people who have no capacity to fulfill the procreative goods of marriage. The illusion behind same-sex marriage is that sexual union is mere sexual contact. This is the liberal view. (See Paul Weithman's article in the Martha Nussbaum-edited book–I don't have the title). The author claims he has refuted John Finnis' idea of sexual complementarity, but his entire argument is based on the plainly mistaken idea that sexual contact can be considered a "union" of the partners, with sexual complementarity existing whenever there is such a "union." Crazy stuff, but it confirms my beliefs about the intellectual tendencies of all too many liberals. Here's an idea. We're going in circles. Why don't we argue about the Finnis-Nussbaum contretemps, in which Nussbaum testified to a court in Colorado (in a case that the Supreme Court later decided–Romer v. Evans) that Plato accepted homosexuality, and Finnis strongly disputed that characerization. My impression is that Nussbaum was mendacious and Finnis was telling it like it is. Would that be a good proxy for our disagreement? Maybe later, though–read up on it in the meantime and inject that conversation into a future SSM post. "As of the 1950s, at least, no one could reasonably disagree about what rights blacks have as citizens and individuals" I'm sorry to say this, Ken, but you Yankees can be so naïve. My father and uncle were all very reasonable and well-respected, but they knew full well the so-called limitations of blacks. They learned to be more circumspect about their opinions later in the century, but in the right company they felt comfortable to hold forth. The change in their conversation about blacks reminds me of the changes made in the catechism, which no longer implies that gays need to marry women but suggests instead that gays should remain chaste forever. Where do you stand on this question? How do you recommend that gays spend their lives—praying the gay away or learning chastity? "Also, I would not equate even visceral dislike of homosexuality with hatred for homosexuals–"Love the sinner and hate the sin." Up the road in Dallas, Hank Jr. explained to an audience this weekend that "We've got a Muslim for a President who hates cowboys, hates cowgirls, hates fishing, hates farming, loves gays, and we hate him." Would you call this sentiment a "visceral dislike" or just old-fashioned bigotry? In fact, I'm no curious to know whether you think there is such a thing as bigotry toward homosexuals. "The illusion behind same-sex marriage is that sexual union is mere sexual contact. This is the liberal view." One weakness in your arguments, Ken, is that you often distort the views of your opposition. I wouldn't say that "sexual union is mere sexual contact." Because I believe sex is much more than that, I'm deeply opposed to premarital sex. I think most liberals agree that sex is never "mere" contact. "We're going in circles." I don't think we are going in circles, Ken. I think you drop arguments and shift to others. For example, in this thread, we started by discussing the changing nature of common sense, but you quickly shifted the conversation into a discussion of Yale, which continues to revolve around your overly broad definition of liberalism. In my last post, I raised several serious issues that you could have discussed, but you chose to focus on lesser issues instead. The serious issues were these: - The several roots and ideals of sexuality - The attitude of liberal pundits toward sex week - The role of the courts in a democracy - The role of reason in these arguments - The purported differences between long-term straight and gay relationships You picked up the role of reason, but I wonder whether you will stick with it. "Would that be a good proxy for our disagreement?" This is the second time you have asked for a proxy. I don't understand why you want me to defend ideas I may or may not hold. Why not just argue what is in front of us? As to blacks, I get your point. Lincoln was a racist by today's terms. In his day, there was reasonable disagreement about slavery–the Civil War was a theological crisis. But those arguments for slavery were rooted in the Old Testament. The New Testament tolerates slavery the way Jefferson Davis did–it is regrettable but it is here, and getting rid of it is not really high on the agenda–but in due course it would be better not to have it. (Jefferson Davis, like my hero Stonewall Jackson, was an exemplary Christian.) Anyway, you insult me by calling me a Yankee. Yankees. Hank Jr. was being hyperbolic and witty, as indicated by the fact that he knows perfectly well that Obama is no Muslim. (At least I hope he knows that!) There must be a rarified liberal kind of humor that tickles your funny bone, but clearly conservative irony does not do it. There is obviously such a thing as bigotry towards homosexuals. In my view, though, if a person is not "gay-friendly," that person should not be presumed to be a bigot. As an analogy, take someone like me who is very prejudiced against fat women–the more corpulent they are, the more prejudiced I am. And yet I'm perfectly friendly to the fat women I know. So bigotry is a mixed bag in any case. ? Liberal pundits ignore Sex Week because they buy into the Sexual Revolution plus the Harm Principle ("if no one is harmed by it, it's no business of mine"). They may not want sexual libertinism for their families, but they don't like making laws to keep sex from becoming destructive. Conservatives do. (It might comfort you to know that I think libertarians–except on the matter of centralized government–are even more foolish than liberals.) The role of courts–why do you not oppose judicial supremacy in cases of reasonable disagreement? What justifies judicial supremacy in such cases, such as same-sex marriage? Are your beliefs consistent on this point? For the record, I believe the best-known case of conservative judicial supremacy–in affirmative action cases–is not nearly as bad as liberal judicial supremacy in abortion and same-sex marriage. Affirmative action does involves reasonable disagreement, but only about the means to the end (equality is the end). Abortion and same-sex marriage involve reasonable disagreement about the end, not just the means to the end. Judicially dictating abortion and same-sex marriage is therefore much worse than dictating limits to–or even the end of–affirmative action. Ends are more morally significant than means–that's why liberal judicial supremacy as we know it is worse than conservative judicial supremacy as we know it. I oppose both kinds. On the differences between gays and straights. Romans 1:26-27 says that same-sex sexual sins are of a special sort. St. Paul is saying both that homosexuality reflects an unusual degree of estrangement from the created order ("male and female made He them") and that this estrangement is characterized fundamentally by an illusion (an illusion which extends to revisionist–i.e., liberal–interpretations of Romans 1:26-27). Would you be satisfied with civil unions instead of same-sex marriage? I don't favor civil unions. I do think that opponents of SSM would benefit from having an argument about SSM that does not necessarily reject civil unions, or have the implication that they should be rejected. It seems to me–but I could be wrong–that the most prominent anti-SSM argument does incline to reject civil unions. I think this popular argument can be supplemented, not modified, to steer it away from necessarily rejecting civil unions. But the great thing about it is that it would enable us to say about a potent pro-SSM point: "That's an argument for civil unions at best." To be able to say that sort of thing forcefully, you don't want your anti-SSM argument to inevitably oppose civil unions. Michael, I have one big problem with you. You disparage philosophy–you think it's relatively unimportant. It's not. What real marriage is depends on being able to think about marriage with some philosophical nuance. It's not all a matter of "Hey, here's Tom! He's gay and he's been with his partner for 30 years. Isn't that great!" Don't take umbrage. Try to understand that this way of putting it is (1) funny, and (2) true. You seem to have shifted to the 1850s. I thought we were talking about the reasonableness of racism in the 1950s. "Yankees" First, Texans mean something quite different when we talk about Yankees. Second, this is an odd way to describe the Reconstruction. I don't know how you can differentiate the abolitionists whose cause I presume you support from the Republicans who oversaw Reconstruction and passed the Reconstruction Amendments and who you disparage here. "Hank Jr. was being hyperbolic and witty, as indicated by the fact that he knows perfectly well that Obama is no Muslim. (At least I hope he knows that!)" What makes you think he was being witty? How well do you know his music? "In my view, though, if a person is not "gay-friendly," that person should not be presumed to be a bigot." I agree. "?" First a general point. There's rarely an "only way" to understand something. The idea of complementarity has always seemed like a dodge to me. It seems to offer a vague sense that the sexes are different, and I only hear it being used as a defense against homosexuality. The union as one flesh is clearly metaphorical and mysterious in Genesis. Women were not literally created out of the rib of the men they will marry. But when you're with the right person, you feel as if you were finally with your own flesh again. Gay couples can feel that. "Liberal pundits ignore Sex Week because they buy into the Sexual Revolution plus the Harm Principle" Some probably follow this logic. Others probably follow the logic I described. I don't see the purpose of a single, large generalization that you can use to describe all liberals as bad. "they don't like making laws to keep sex from becoming destructive" What specific laws do you want to pass that will prevent sex from becoming destructive? This question gets to something important. "The role of courts–why do you not oppose judicial supremacy in cases of reasonable disagreement?" This series of questions rests on a distinction I either don't buy or don't understand. Don't all cases involve "reasonable disagreement"? Why would something become a case if reasonable people didn't disagree? In other words, can you name a case where one party was unreasonable? "Romans 1:26-27 says that same-sex sexual sins are of a special sort." As you might remember, I don't think Paul should be reinterpreted to mean anything other than what he plainly meant, which is that he found homosexuality unnatural. I also think Paul was wrong on that score, and you can see that in 1 Corinthians 6 and the Roman catechism: "the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, the self-indulgent, sodomites, thieves, misers, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers" Paul places sodomites in a list of sins that with one exception is accepted universally by societies everywhere. Every society condemns thieves and swindlers, and most societies either reject or place significant restrictions on drunkenness and sexual immorality. Only monotheists, however, condemn idolatry. Now here's my question. Every sin except idolatry has clear, demonstrable harms that break other boundaries. The thief will eventually steal from those he loves. The drunkard will eventually hurt others beside himself. The idolater, however, can live a perfectly upright life but still not know the one God. When gays were kept in the closet, they seemed like drunkards, the kind of people whose sin eventually eats up their whole lives. But now that gays are accepted and live openly, they seem more like idolaters, people who can live perfectly upright lives. As is clear in the revised catechism, even the Roman Church doesn't see homosexuality as Paul did, as something that has this-worldly harmful effects. "Would you be satisfied with civil unions instead of same-sex marriage?" Civil unions are separate but equal, but that hasn't worked in the past nor in the present. "You disparage philosophy–you think it's relatively unimportant." I think you put that fairly. Jesus was no philosopher, nor was Paul for that matter. Philosophy can help us understand what has happened or is happening, but I don't think it creates change. And as a practical matter, I don't think most people think philosophically. They look not for coherence, reason, or principle; they look for justice and fairness. Most of what Jesus preached and lived is contradictory, but it is sublimely fair and just. ""Hey, here's Tom! He's gay and he's been with his partner for 30 years. Isn't that great!" Except I'm not talking about Tom, who is a philosophical abstraction. I'm talking about Gary and Don, who are not measured only by length of their love and faithfulness to one another, but by the consistency of their Christian practice. Remember that we are Methodists, which means that worship is only the beginning of our time together. We participate in devotionals together, we examine the state of our souls together, we work in the community together, we witness together in multiple ways. And this is not one singular couple but one of several. When we talk to other reconciling congregations, they report similar experiences. The good news was not a philosophical argument; it was the witness of changed lives made possible by grace. Shifting from the 1950s to the 1860s: You brought up Reconstruction and Yankees. "Odd way to describe Reconstruction": As carried out, Reconstruction was Carpetbaggery, not a fair public policy. I don't care for the Republican Party of the 1860s. It was imperious and self-righteous. Hank Jr's wit: I don't know anything about his beliefs, but I know the words of his that you quoted are inherently funny, at least to non-liberals. Btw, no one should miss slats grobnick's hilarious August 24 comment. Now that's how to make fun of liberals! Legislation that conservatives would like to pass to keep sex from becoming a destructive force in society: Against condoms in public secondary schools; against marriage-undermining same-sex marriage; against hard-core pornography (Hustler, not Playboy), against bathhouses; against no-fault divorce, etc. Sexual complementarity: What about someone who says the function of the male and female sex organs is a clear sign of the order of creation as instituted by God? Or someone who says this in a more secularized natural-law way? Or who says having complementary sex organs is a necessary condition of sexual complementarity? Can you show they are wrong? Reasonable disagreement: It refers to moral disagreement, or to conflicts of value–disagreements that implicate worldviews or basic moral beliefs. There is reasonable disagreement in this sense about abortion but not about federalism or gun control. St. Paul on homosexuality: Robert Gagnon's 500-page The Bible and Homosexual Practice is definitive–and magisterial. Civil Unions: We have separate but equal for Native Americans on their reservations, and (tendentiously but undeniably) for gender-segregated bathrooms. Separate but equal is a problem for liberals whose arguments for SSM can be considered by opponents of SSM as arguments for civil unions at best–e.g., the argument that socially sanctioned gay sex will be good for the whole society. (The idea behind "at best" being that same-sex couples aren't properly qualified for marriage, but civil unions might be morally okay.) People look for justice and fairness, not philosophical reasons: Is justice and fairness what you say it is? Aren't you assuming that it is, in fact, what you say it is? The Good News: The Bible says homosexuality is "against nature." You don't agree, but I'd like to know how your side responds to the book I recommended above. It's slightly philosophical, though–the subtitle is Texts and Hermeneutics. Dictionary! Judicial Review of Legislation: Unfair, in matters of reasonable disagreement, because judges are unaccountable to the people and because their decisions are constitutionally entrenched, making reversal difficult, and sometimes practically impossible. (I favor reversing Roe v. Wade because precedent is weak in the face of reasonable disagreement.) Proxy for our disagreement: Suppose Martha Nussbaum was indeed lying. Would Justice Kennedy, if he knew she was lying in her testimony, have characterized the Colorado legislation as driven by "animus," a characterization that helped pave the way for Lawrence v. Texas and thus for same-sex marriage? Maybe not–I think probably not. With this down-to-earth (non-philosophical) proxy, we would have a reasonable chance of agreeing whether a cheating game was going on here, and how this affected the prospects of same-sex marriage. But if you are reluctant to do the necessary reading, I confess that I am too. Generally: I like high school football even though I'm concerned about concussions to young players, when they are most vulnerable to the longterm damage it can cause. Despite this danger, I defend high school football. I value it highly and would not want to abandon it for flag football, despite the tragedy of concussions (which can be minimized by, for example, abolishing the three-point stance, and other rule changes). Similarly, I defend traditional marriage despite the tragedy for same-sex couples of not being able to have civil marriages. I value traditional marriage, and seek to protect it from being effectively abolished, despite this tragic aspect–just like with high school football. (Btw, that was my old high school that beat your Texas powerhouse school, Euless, last week.) I think you've lost the context of the reference. You complained that the "legalization of same-sex marriage is the result of judicial diktat, not the democratic process." Usually, when conservatives complain about judicial activism, they point to the civil rights acts of the 1960s as examples of good legislative process. Conservatives typically argue that judicial actions on civil rights were at least based on sound legislation as manifested in the Reconstruction Acts. My point is that the Reconstruction Acts were the result of a grotesque act of tyranny, with martial law replacing the democratic process. I think today that conservatives and liberals alike celebrate the victory over segregation. But when conservatives argue that this victory shows the proper use of the legislative and judicial branches, they seriously distort history. Like blacks once were, gays are a despised minority. It will take a combination of legislation and judicial action to secure gay rights, just as it took a combination to secure civil rights for blacks. "I don't care for the Republican Party of the 1860s. It was imperious and self-righteous" On the other hand, they passed the Reconstruction Acts. Nobody is perfect. If they hadn't passed those acts, what would the civil rights acts been based on? "I know the words of his that you quoted are inherently funny, at least to non-liberals." Do I really need to look up the poll data on how many Americans believe Obama is Muslim? I'd like you to ask a conservative Muslim whether he finds Hank's words funny. How many conservative gays are laughing? How about the columnists who have written on First Things about their same-sex attraction? Do they find Hank funny? I wonder how much imagination it takes to see that the world isn't divided between liberal and non-liberal. "Against condoms in public secondary schools; against marriage-undermining same-sex marriage; against hard-core pornography (Hustler, not Playboy), against bathhouses; against no-fault divorce, etc" I think you can find plenty of liberals joining conservatives on one or more of these issues. Lots of liberals like the v-chip and parental controls. Many liberals would support more light forms of censorship if they could be sure conservatives would restrain themselves. No more banning 1984 and Catcher in the Rye, etc. The other problem, of course, is the polarization that depicts all liberals as one way and all conservatives as another. It's hard to draw precise lines around issues of censorship and community standards when people are running around talking about wars on Christmas and wars on women. "Or who says having complementary sex organs is a necessary condition of sexual complementarity? Can you show they are wrong?" As I say, I don't know what complementarity means except that gay sex is wrong. The term is not used in any other context, and it is so vague that all it really means is that only one kind of sex act is allowed or considered central. It is hard to take seriously a concept whose sole purpose is to act as a trump card. It makes the argument circular. It boils down to saying gay sex is wrong because it isn't straight sex. "It refers to moral disagreement, or to conflicts of value–disagreements that implicate worldviews or basic moral beliefs. There is reasonable disagreement in this sense about abortion but not about federalism or gun control" Ok. This sounds like jargon to me. Why is this distinction important to you? Ok. Why is his book relevant? Does he agree with me that Paul was resolutely opposed homosexuality? Does he believe that homosexuality is more like drunkenness or idolatry? "We have separate but equal for Native Americans on their reservations" And that's a good thing? I probably would have been ok with civil unions, but the possibility didn't stay alive for long. It's strange to have a form of union where the only distinguishing feature is what kind of sex the couple has. "Is justice and fairness what you say it is? Aren't you assuming that it is, in fact, what you say it is?" That's not the point. My point is that people—real people, not philosophers—consult their guts, not abstract principles. In the old days, a lot of people in my congregation were against homosexuality, and they hewed to principle. Then they got to know real gay Christians, and they understood their principles differently. Some of the most powerful witnesses to our history as a congregation are by those who talk about how bigoted they once were. "You don't agree, but I'd like to know how your side responds to the book I recommended above." I can't speak for anyone but myself. I think the full Christian tradition is very clearly against homosexuality. Thus, I'm likely to agree with Gagnon. My agreement means that any change has to be taken slowly and prayerfully. I think we're there. "Unfair, in matters of reasonable disagreement, because judges are unaccountable to the people" It seems to me that conservatives in the 1850s would have argued that slavery is a matter of reasonable disagreement, so I just don't know how the distinction is useful. "we would have a reasonable chance of agreeing whether a cheating game was going on here, and how this affected the prospects of same-sex marriage." Let's assume that I read the accounts and decided that Nussbaum was lying, why would I change my mind about gay marriage? My opinion on the question doesn't hinge on what either Nussbaum or Kennedy thinks. My fellow congregants would still be who they are. "Similarly, I defend traditional marriage despite the tragedy for same-sex couples of not being able to have civil marriages." Why do you think it is "tragic" that gays can't marry? Why don't you think it is just? "Btw, that was my old high school that beat your Texas powerhouse school, Euless, last week" I won't address all your points. Reconstruction? Doesn't matter. Reasonable disagreement? You don't see the difference, I'm not willing to show it to you. It's not central except to the question of who should decide SSM–the legislature or the judiciary. Fairness and sexual complementarity are more on-point. Take the second of these first. Discomplementarity (meaning, self-evidently, physiological and biological discomplementarity) is how St. Paul describes the wrongness of homosexual acts. You are denying that bodily complementarity has any functional or natural purpose or point. You seem committed to denying that the perpetuation of the human race is natural to the created order–as opposed to being just a matter of God's will–in which case you are embracing an extreme form of theistic voluntarism. (Do you also believe that God could, if He chose, make square circles?) Couldn't God have built into creation the command to perpetuate the human race? Yes, and most Christians believe He did. But you don't. If you did believe that, you would recognize that sexual complementarity has a moral and anthropological purpose. And if, as you say, complementarity is not a generally applied idea, so what? Neither is "let there be light." Sexuality, like the creation, has a strong element of singularity. It's unique. That's why complementarity has special force in this one context and not so much elsewhere. Tragedy and justice: I think it is tragic but not unjust for same-sex couples not to be able to get married in civil law. Society has a duty to ameliorate some tragedies (the tragedy of drug addiction) but not all (the tragedy of bad luck). Same-sex couples are more like the latter. It is just their bad luck that their desires make them unfitted for real marriage, just as it's my bad luck that, unlike my father, I could never be a pilot, due to deafness. I don't see the injustice of society saying to me: "No, Ken, we don't want you flying commercial airliners." It's tragic, but not unjust–just as it's tragic but not unjust that same-sex couples, who are as unfitted for marriage as I am for flying commercial airplanes, cannot enjoy civil marriage. Maybe I can be allowed to fly small private aircraft under certain conditions, but same-sex couple are similarly allowed to marry under certain conditions–in religious ceremonies recognized by a church. Speaking of football, same-sex marriage is like saying, "from now on, football shall be flag football" so that people who are physically incapable of playing traditional football can enjoy this socially approved sport and bask in its glory. If flag football replaced helmet-and-pads football, it would be fair to say that it abolished football by abandoning real football, just as same-sex marriage abolishes real marriage. The passage you mentioned in your previous comment (in I Cor. 6) should be interpreted in light of Romans 1:26-27, not in opposition to it. I'm not enough of a Bible expert to know how to interpret the passage you cited, but I do know this basic rule of interpretation: Reconcile seemingly conflicting passages if that is possible, and if it's not, try to decide which passage is more important in light of the whole. Since you evidently think the two passages are irreconcilable, why do you think the passage from I Cor. 6 matters more than Romans 1:26-27? Especially since the former's teaching about homosexuality is vague, while the latter's teaching is not. Why, incidentally, do you think it's good that homosexuality be perceived to be like idolatry? I don't get that.	eng	104ac1af-d3e9-41bd-b2a3-fea3aebcf34d	http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/08/24/should-rawlsians-oppose-same-sex-marriage/
Business Insider: Gross en-usWed, 19 Jun 2013 03:52:23 -0400Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:52:23 -0400The latest news on Gross from Business Insider Insider Of People Don't Wash Their Hands Correctly After Using The Bathroom Tue, 11 Jun 2013 18:16:00 -0400LiveScience Staff <p><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="handshake" width="480" /></p><p>After using the bathroom, 95 percent of people fail to wash their hands long enough to kill harmful bacteria, a new study finds.</p> <p>Researchers also found that only two in three people use soap, while one in 10 skips the sink altogether, and men get much lower marks for hand hygiene than women.</p> <p>A team from Michigan State University trained a dozen students to inconspicuously observe and collect data on <a href=" behavior</a> in restrooms in bars, restaurants and other public places in a college town. In all, 3,749 people were observed.</p> <p>The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that you wash your hands vigorously using soap and water for 15 to 20 seconds, or the time it takes to sing or hum "Happy Birthday" twice. But on average, bathroom users only washed their hands for 6 seconds, and just 5 percent washed their hands for 15 seconds or longer, the researchers found.</p> <p>Among men, only half used soap and 15 percent didn't wash their hands at all, compared with 78 percent of women who used soap and 7 percent of women who didn't wash their hands.</p> <p>"These findings were surprising to us because past research suggested that proper <a href=" washing</a> is occurring at a much higher rate," study researcher Carl Borchgrevink, a Michigan State associate professor of hospitality business, said in a statement.</p> <p>The researchers additionally found that people were less likely to wash their hands when faced with a dirty sink, whereas a clean sink increased the length of time spent hand washing. People also were more likely to <a href=" their hands</a> earlier in the day and if there was a sign encouraging them to do so. The study suggests such signage could be particularly helpful in men's bathrooms.</p> <p>The CDC says hand washing is one of the most effective ways to cut the spread of infectious diseases. Dirty hands are estimated to contribute to 50 percent of all foodborne illness outbreaks.</p> <p>The research appears in the <a href=" of Environmental Health</a>.</p> <p><em>Follow us </em><a href=" </em><a href=" & </em><a href=" Original article on </em><a href=" <ul> <li><a href=" Evidence: The Grossest Things</a></li> <li><a href=" Weird Things Humans Do Every Day, and Why </a></li> <li><a href=" 7 Germs in Food that Make You Sick Hogan Tweets Utterly Disgusting Photos After A Radiator Exploded On His Hand Tue, 28 May 2013 10:30:00 -0400Aly Weisman <p>Hulk Hogan was rushed to the emergency room Sunday in Tampa <span>after a radiator exploded on his hand. </span></p> <p>Hogan documented the entire disgusting experience <a href=" target="_blank">via Twitter</a>:</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p>Just had a radiator explode on my hand,DoubleTripleDr at workGetting cut on brotherSlimed like a catWould you like it rare?HH <a href=" title=" — Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) <a href=" 27, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async="" src=" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script> <p>After getting some feedback from his nearly 600,000 followers, Hogan tweeted an apology for posting the grotesque photos:</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p>I apologize for posting my burned hand photos,with all the feedback I now realize I really should take a moment before I make a decision. HH</p> — Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) <a href=" 28, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async="" src=" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href=" >Jesse James posts gross photo of his severed finger ></a></strong></p> <p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p> James Posts Utterly Disgusting Photo Of His Severed Finger Wed, 22 May 2013 11:25:00 -0400Aly Weisman <p>[Warning: graphic content!]</p> <p>If you're one of Jesse James's 109,462 <a href=" target="_blank">Instagram followers</a>, you're used to seeing pictures of the self-described "pope of welding" <a href=" target="_blank">working in his West Coast Choppers shop</a>, <a href=" target="_blank">shooting guns</a> and <a href=" target="_blank">riding motorcycles</a>.</p> <p>But the TV personality (and <a href=" target="_blank">Sandra Bullock's ex-husband</a>) surprised followers Tuesday with a seriously grotesque photo of his severed pinky finger.</p> <p><strong><span id=".reactRoot[1].0.{info460893679985781323_23459505}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[0]">"OOOpps, Bad day at the office. Headed 2 Surgery in a few </span><span id=".reactRoot[1].0.{info460893679985781323_23459505}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[1]">#PayUpSucker," he captioned this photo that already has 10,000 "likes.":</span></strong></p> <p><span><img src=" shot 2013-05-22 at 11.07.39 am.png" border="0" alt="Jesse James severed finger" /></span></p> <p><strong>"<span id=".reactRoot[1].0.{info460926639195711756_23459505}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[0]">Doesn't look like this little dude's gonna make it, Nice know'n you little buddy</span><span id=".reactRoot[1].0.{info460926639195711756_23459505}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[1]">#jessejames</span><span id=".reactRoot[1].0.{info460926639195711756_23459505}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[2]"> </span><span id=".reactRoot[1].0.{info460926639195711756_23459505}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[3]">#westcoastchoppers":</span></strong></p> <p><span><span><img src=" shot 2013-05-22 at 11.08.59 am.png" border="0" alt="Jesse James " /></span></span></p> <p><strong><span id=".reactRoot[1].0.{info460963797826694102_23459505}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[0]">"Heading 2 Surgery1]">#jessejames</span><span id=".reactRoot[1].0.{info460963797826694102_23459505}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[2]"></span><span id=".reactRoot[1].0.{info460963797826694102_23459505}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[3]">#westcoastchoppers</span><span id=".reactRoot[1].0.{info460963797826694102_23459505}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[4]">5]">#StillMetal":</span></strong></p> <p><span><span><span><img src=" shot 2013-05-22 at 10.54.06 am.png" border="0" alt="Jesse James Finger" /></span></span></span></p> <p><strong>But by Wednesday, he was already back to his day job. </strong></p> <p><strong><span id=".reactRoot[1].0.{info461452588140096309_23459505}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[0]">“Your desire to do what you want to do has to be greater than the world's desire to stop you.” ~Mark Pauline, Survival Research Laboratories</span><span id=".reactRoot[1].0.{info461452588140096309_23459505}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[1]">#jessejames":</span></strong></p> <p><span><span><span><span><img src=" shot 2013-05-22 at 11.10.40 am.png" border="0" alt="Jesse James welding" /><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href=" >These "Call of Duty: Ghosts" graphics look incredibly lifelike ></a></strong></p> <p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p> New Venomous Tarantula Is Bigger Than Your Face Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:21:00 -0400Marc Lallanilla <p><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="Poecilotheria rajaei tarantula " width="400" /></p><p>It's big, it's hairy, and it's venomous.</p> <p>The newest spider to give arachnophobes the willies, a tarantula named <em>Poecilotheria rajaei</em> has been discovered on the island nation of Sri Lanka.</p> <p>With a leg span of 8 inches (20 centimeters) and enough venom to kill mice, lizards, small birds and snakes, according to <a href=" News</a>, the crawler is covered in subtle markings of gray, pink and daffodil yellow.</p> <p>"It can be quite attractive, unless spiders freak you out," Peter Kirk, editor of the British Tarantula Society journal, told the <a href=" York Daily News</a>.</p> <p>Even the scientists studying the spiders admit to being a little freaked out by its size: "It was slightly smaller than the size of the plate we have dinner on," Ranil Nanayakkara, co-founder of Sri Lanka’s Biodiversity Education and Research, told the Daily News.</p> <p>Tarantulas have been the subject of considerable study lately: Researchers are still trying to determine how or if <a href=" use silk</a> from the spigots on their feet. And in 2012, a scientist reported discovering nine species of colorful <a href=" tarantulas</a> in Brazil.</p> <p>The newest tarantula, as part of the <em>Poecilotheria </em>genus of arachnids (sometimes called "Pokies" or tiger spiders), is a tree-dwelling spider. All the Pokies, known for being colorful, fast and venomous, are found only in India and Sri Lanka, <a href=" reports. [<a href=" The World's Creepiest Spiders</a>]</p> <p>"They are quite rare," Nanayakkara told Wired. "They prefer well-established old trees, but due to deforestation the number have dwindled, and due to lack of suitable habitat they enter old buildings."</p> <p>The spider was first seen in 2009 after the discovery of a dead male specimen, on which scientists noticed a unique pink abdominal band.</p> <p>"In order to establish if this really was a new species to Sri Lanka and to the world, the authors carried out intensive and extensive surveys in the northern part of Sri Lanka to establish the distribution and ecology of this new species," the scientists write in the British Tarantula Society journal.</p> <p>"But what was lacking was a female or any other specimen of the same type. Days of extensive searching in every tree hole and bark peel were rewarded with a female and to our satisfaction several juveniles too."</p> <p>It's not yet known exactly how rare the newly discovered tarantula is, but there's some concern that habitat destruction is causing their number to dwindle. Additionally, northern Sri Lanka, where the spider was found, has been wracked by political violence in recent years.</p> <p>"It demonstrates that wildlife continues to survive whilst we are in the throes of conflict and that they can adapt to its changing environment," Kirk told Sky News, "but … we risk destroying the habitats of species new to science and condemning them to extinction before they are even discovered."</p> <p><em>Follow Marc Lallanilla on </em><a href=" and </em><a href=" Follow us </em><a href=" </em><a href=" & </em><a href=" Original article on <a href=" <ul> <li><a href=" Photos of Bat-Eating Spiders</a></li> <li><a href=" Really Scares People: Top 10 Phobias</a></li> <li><a href=" Photos: Tarantulas Strut Their Stuff</a></li> </ul><p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p> Leto Is Wearing A Fan's EAR As A Necklace Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:00:00 -0400Aly Weisman <p><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="Jared Leto" width="400" height="300" /></p><p>Actor-turned-30 Seconds to Mars frontman <span>Jared Leto recently revealed the strangest gift he has ever received from a fan.</span></p> <p>"Someone cut their ear off once and sent it to me, that was very strange. A whole ear. The Van Gogh move," he told <span>Xfm's Phil Clifton</span>. "The note just said, are you listening? I never knew who it was, who's missing their ear out there. I poked a hole in it and wore it as a necklace!"</p> <p>He jokingly added, "Just don't put your entire body in a case and send it to <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">us</span>."</p> <p>On Tuesday, Leto <a href=" target="_blank">tweeted a grotesque photo</a> of the actual ear:</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p>THEY CUT OFF THEIR F-ING EAR AND SENT IT TO ME!!! → <a href=" title=" — JARED LETO (@JaredLeto) <a href=" 26, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async="" src=" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script> <p>Now listen to Leto tell the weird story in his own words:</p> <p><iframe width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" src=" ALSO: <a href=" >Hugh Hefner has slept with an insane amount of women ></a></strong></p> <p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p> No Proof That Pubic Lice Are Going Extinct Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:48:00 -0500Jennifer Welsh <p><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="crab louse pubic lice" width="400" /></p><p>A story from Jason Gale & Shannon Pettypiece at <a href=" class="hidden_link">Bloomberg</a> has been making the rounds this week, with the itch-inducing headline "<a href=" Bikini Waxes Make Crab Lice Endangered Species.</a>"</p> <p>They say:</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">Pubic lice, the crab-shaped insects that have dwelled in human groins since the beginning of history, are disappearing. Doctors say bikini waxing may be the reason.</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">’s increasing in western countries. In Australia, Sydney’s main sexual health clinic hasn’t seen a woman with pubic lice since 2008 and male cases have fallen 80 percent from about 100 a decade ago.</p> <p>There's one big problem with their report, though. The Australian data above is just about all the information they have to support their theory that pubic waxing is leading to the decline, and possible extermination of, pubic lice.</p> <p>Sex and the 405 took a little time to <a href=" apart the lousy Bloomberg analysis</a> today:</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">The article starts by saying crabs are disappearing, a fact its authors never get around to corroborating. They provide interesting data about one Australian clinic that hasn’t seen a case of pubic lice since 2008 but get data from no other clinics. Later they note that crabs can be self-treated with insecticide yet fail to provide further information...</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">... <a href=" letter in the journal <em>Sexually Transmitted Infections</em></a> written in 2006 that suggests there may exist a correlation between decrease of body lice and increasing popularity of genital waxing among patients at the General Infirmary in Leeds, England. <strong>But, as we know, correlation does not equal causation.</strong></p> <p>Although waxing may be widespread in certain sections of society, there are huge swaths of the world and cultures that can't afford a $50/month personal pube-grooming ritual.</p> <p>Maybe we will have a bit more detail when the researchers publish their study in May.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href=" >Brazilian Bikini Waxes Blamed For Near Extinction Of Pubic Lice</a></strong></p> <p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href=" >10 Parasites That Do Horrifying Things To People And Animals</a></strong></p> <p><a><p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p> Find A One-Pill Solution To Fighting Bed Bugs Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:14:00 -0500Randy Astaiza <p><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="bed bug" width="400" height="300" /></p><p>Bed bugs are nasty <a href=" live on fabrics (especially beds) and leave you with annoying itchy welts. They are also notoriously hard to get rid of.</p> <p>But new research shows that we can kill these bugs by taking a drug traditionally used to fight off parasitic worms, <a href=" Jason Gale reports</a>. </p> <p>To see if the new treatment worked, researchers allowed beg bugs to feed on human blood from people who have taken the drug ivermectin, commercially known as <a href=" <p>Three out of five bed bugs died three hours after their blood meals. The drug can not only kill bed bugs, it can also prevent the small young ones from growing by preventing molting. This is great news, since bed bugs are increasingly resistant to traditional pesticides.</p> <p><span>The drug could be the key to combating what's reemerged as a widespread problem, particularly in dense cities like New York. According to 2009 estimates, </span><span>more than </span><a href=" New York City residents</a><span> experienced bed beg infestation. The critters are so common, they have even taken over places like </span><a href=" href=" Secret</a><span>, </span><a href=" & Fitch</a><span>, and an </span><a href=" Movie Theater</a><span> in Times <a class="hidden_link" href=" <p><strong>SEE ALSO:</strong> <a href=" Ultimate Guide To The War Against Bedbugs</a></p><p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p> Might Think These People Are Crazy For Swimming In Venice's Flooded Streets Once You See How Their Sewer System Works Tue, 13 Nov 2012 11:02:00 -0500Randy Astaiza <p><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="Flooding in Venice, tourists swimming" /></p><p>Torrential rains and unusually high tide has caused widespread flooding in Venice, Italy, leaving <a href=" percent of the city under water</a> this week. </p> <p class="p2">Although high tide, known as Acqua Alta, is common during this time of year, Sunday's water levels reached 5 feet, the sixth highest since records began in 1872. </p> <h2 class="p2"><a href="/how-the-venice-sewer-system-works-2012-11#high-water-called-acqua-alta-spills-water-from-venices-canals-onto-the-streets-1">See how Venice's old sewer system works > </a></h2> <p>Many Venetians and tourists <a href=" the opportunity to throw on bathing suits</a> and enjoy a swim in the city's flooded streets and squares — though we're not sure how good of an idea this is. </p> <p>The city does not have a complete modern sewage system, <a href=" its canals are also its sewer system</a>. This poses some obvious health and sanitation concerns.  </p> <p class="p2"><span>An Italian hotelier, whose hotel entrance was flooded, described the health risks to the <a href=" Morning Herald</a>. He said: "this is not clean water — you need to mop with disinfectant twice after it goes down."</span></p> <p>A video called <a href=" Backstage</a> describes how the floating city works, including its old sewer system. We've highlighted the main points, but recommend checking out the full documentary to learn more about the city's canals, buildings and history.  </p><h3>High water, called acqua alta, spills water from Venice's canals onto the streets.</h3> <img src=" alt="" /> <p><p><a href=" the full video > </a></p></p> <br/><br/><h3>Although some residents and tourists are making the best of the rising waters, it should pose basic health concerns. </h3> <img src=" alt="" /> <p><p><a href=" the full video > </a></p></p> <br/><br/><h3>That's because some parts of Venice still rely on the historical sewer system.</h3> <img src=" alt="" /> <p><p><a href=" the full video > </a></p></p> <br/><br/><a href=" the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> Disgusting Truth About Fish And Shrimp From Asian Farms Tue, 23 Oct 2012 11:09:00 -0400Jennifer Welsh <p><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="shrimp" /></p><p>Eighty-six percent of our seafood is imported, and about half of those imports are raised on factory farms, called aquaculture.</p> <p>Asia is the number one producer of these aquaculture products, dominating 89 percent of the industry, and most of our farmed fish imports come from there, the <a href=" Oceanic and Atmospheric Association</a> reports.</p> <p>Because of shortcuts some farmers are taking in these regions, these products aren't always safe and FDA testing of them hasn't caught up, <a href=" Mother Jones article by Tom Philpott</a> suggests.</p> <p>Here are some prime examples of the type of disgusting shortcuts that the Asian fish and shrimp farms do to save a few bucks, from <a href=" article</a> and a <a href=" Markets report by Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen and William Bi:</a></p> <ul> <li>Tilapia in China's fish farms, are fed pig and goose manure — even though it contains salmonella and makes the tilapia "more susceptible to disease."</li> <li>In Vietnam, farmed shrimp bound for the US market are kept fresh with heaps of ice made from tap water that teems with pathogenic bacteria. </li> <li><a href=" class="hidden_link">Bloomberg</a> also notes that at the same company "there’s trash on the floor, and flies crawl over baskets of processed shrimp stacked in an unchilled room."</li> <li>Like US meat farmers, <a href=" shrimp farmers rely heavily on antibiotics</a>, many of which are banned for use in the United States.</li> <li>In May, <a href=" News</a> bought 30 samples of imported farmed shrimp from across the country and had them tested for antibiotic traces. The result: Three of the samples contained detectable levels of these dangerous antibiotics.</li> <li>According to a recent <a href=" target="_blank">study</a> by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a quarter of the food-borne illness outbreaks caused by imported food from 2005 to 2010 involved seafood — more than any other food commodity.</li> </ul> <p>Philpott goes on to explain that the US FDA does very little testing — about 2.7 percent of incoming aquaculture is visually inspected, and even less, about 0.1 percent is tested for toxins. <a href=" writes</a>:</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">When the agency does test, it does find. For example, in 2008, GAO found, the FDA tested only 34 shrimp samples for residues of nitrofurans—a chemical not approved in the United States for aquaculture and one specifically singled out in Kraemer's FDA testimony for its ability to cause cancer. Six of the samples tested positive.</p> <p>Why don't they ramp up testing? Philpott suggests that it's not just a lack of funding to do the tests — but also a political decision not to anger partners like China. Read <a href=" article for more details</a>.</p> <p>Testing in <a href=" that found illegal antibiotics in three types of imported fish from China </a>did result in a temporary ban on these seafoods, but that was lifted and doesn't seem to have had a lasting effect on how the industry does business, judging by these recent reports.</p> <p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href=" Parasites That Do Horrifying Things To People And Animals</a> ></strong></p><p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p> Dangerous Beauty Tricks From Ancient Times Tue, 18 Sep 2012 18:05:00 -0400Randy Astaiza <p><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette" width="400" height="300" /></p><p>Make-up and beautifying treatments have been around since the time of the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians.</p> <p>Today, we pinch, peel and inject to make ourselves beautiful, but thousands of years ago people were doing dangerous and down right gross things to reach the pinnacle of perfection and beauty.</p><h3>Crocodile dung. </h3> <img src=" alt="" /> <p><p>Ancient Greeks and Romans thought crocodile dung had beautifying and restorative properties. The dung was mixed in with mud to use for <a href=" facials</a> or a relaxing bath.</p> <p>Mud Baths are still popular today claiming to improve complexion, relieve joint and muscle pain, and remove toxins from the body.</p></p> <br/><br/><h3>Poop Facials.</h3> <img src=" alt="" /> <p><p>People are still getting facials made of poop today.</p> <p><a href=" Daily Mail</a> reports that Tom Cruise rubs a mixture of nightingale poop, rice bran, and water to keep his youthful look.</p> <p>The nightingale facial is popular in Japan and is also known as the Geisha Facial. It is thought to exfoliate, brighten, and soothe the skin. The urea found in bird poop also helps with moisture retention.</p> <p>In New York, you can get a 60 minute Geisha Facial for $180.</p></p> <br/><br/><h3>Poop for pale faces.</h3> <img src=" alt="" /> <p><p>The uses of crocodile dung do not stop at baths and facials.</p> <p>When dried, it was also used as a less toxic option <a href=" achieve the pale face popular</a> in Elizabethan times.</p></p> <br/><br/><a href=" the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> Saw The Lowest-Grossing Weekend Of The Year—Here's Your Box-Office Roundup Mon, 27 Aug 2012 09:49:00 -0400Kirsten Acuna <p class="p1"><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="the expendables chuck norris" width="400" style="float: right;" /></p><p>With summer nearly over, there wasn't anticipation for much—save one shocker—at the box office this weekend. And, the numbers prove it.  </p> <p class="p1">The top ten this weekend amounted to <a href=" million at theaters</a>. The box office hasn't had a weekend this low since early February when the top ten grossed <a href=" million</a>.  </p> <p class="p1">Despite <strong>Joseph Gordon-Levitt</strong>'s star power this summer in "The Dark Knight Rises," new film "Premium Rush,"  which mixes the concepts of "Crank" and "Speed" on a bike, more than underperformed.  </p> <p class="p1">Instead, Disney's "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" earned more than every new film this weekend.  </p> <p class="p1">Despite all the red, not all was bad news. The anti-Obama film "2016 Obama's America" earned the title of highest-grossing conservative documentary. </p> <p class="p1">Out of the top ten this week include <strong>Whitney Houston</strong>'s "Sparkle," "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days," and <strong>Colin Farrell</strong>'s "Total Recall" remake.  </p> <p class="p1">And, horror flick "Apparition" about a supernatural presence didn't make it into the top ten in its first week. </p> <p class="p1"><strong>Here are this week's winners and losers at the box office:  </strong></p> <p class="p1"><strong>10.</strong> <strong>Kristen <a href=" class="hidden_link">Bell</a></strong>'s "<a href=" and Run</a>" about a young couple was a miss at theaters with<strong> $4.6 million</strong>. The film earned more than its measly budget of $2 million.  </p> <p class="p1"><strong>9.</strong> "<a href=" Springs</a>" pitting <strong>Meryl Streep</strong> and <strong>Tommy Lee Jones</strong> as a struggling couple trying to make things work dropped one spot this weekend with <strong>$6 million</strong>. With a 34.1 percent dip, the film dropped the least of any other movie from last week. </p> <p class="p1"><strong>8.</strong> "<a href=" Obama's America</a>" was up more than 400 percent during its wide release weekend. The documentary brought in<strong> $6.2 million</strong>.  </p> <p class="p1"><strong>7.</strong> "<a href=" Rush</a>" starring <strong>Joseph Gordon-Levitt</strong> barely made it past the Obama flick with $6.3 million. The film cost an estimated $35 million to produce. </p> <p class="p1"><strong>6.</strong> "<a href=" Odd Life of Timothy Green</a>" earned<strong> $7.1 million</strong> in week two, earning more than every new film out this week. In two weeks, the <a href=" class="hidden_link">Disney</a> film about a little boy from a garden made $27 million. </p> <p class="p1"><strong>5.</strong> "<a href=" Dark Knight Rises</a>" barely beat out Disney's green thumb grossing<strong> $7.15 million</strong>. To date, the Caped Crusader has earned<a href=" $941.1 million worldwide</a>.  </p> <p class="p1"><strong>4. Will Ferrell</strong>'s "<a href=" Campaign</a>" holds steady in the number four spot earning <strong>$7.4 million</strong>. In three weeks, the comedy's $64.5 million in domestic earnings are less than Ferrell's last big funny flick "The Other Guys" which earned <a href=" million at the end of the same week</a>.  </p> <p class="p1"><strong>3.</strong> "<a href=" stays near the top in week two with<strong> $8.5 million</strong>. The stop-motion animation has now grossed $28.2 million domestic, slightly behind 2009's similar film "Coraline" which earned $35 million in two weeks. </p> <p class="p1"><strong>2.</strong> "<a href=" Bourne Legacy</a>" dropped a big 46 percent to end the weekend with <strong>$9.3 million</strong>. The film's current $85 million gross will come no where near the other "Bourne" films in the franchise. "The Bourne Identity" earned $121.7 million at the box office. </p> <p class="p1"><strong>1.</strong> "<a href=" Expendables 2</a>" lead the pack again with <strong>$13.5 million</strong>; however, it's a bittersweet win. At this point, the film is behind its predecessor's ten-day domestic mark of $65.4 million with $52.3 m. The film's estimated budget was $100 million.  </p> <h2 class="p1">SEE ALSO: <a href=" see which '80s stars are making huge comebacks ></a></h2><p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p> A Mysterious Tattoo Infection Outbreak Running Rampant Thu, 23 Aug 2012 18:13:00 -0400Jennifer Welsh <p><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="Infected tattoo" width="400" /></p><p>The FDA had a scary warning for those of us who enjoy body art: Tattoo ink infections are running rampant, and they haven't been able to pin down the source.</p> <p>Skin infections caused by tattoos can be serious and difficult to treat, a perspective article by the New England Journal Of Medicine Notes. The new outbreak usually takes 4 to 6 months of treatment that comes with serious side effects. Some even require multiple surgeries.</p> <p>We usually assume that tattoo-related infections come from infected needles, which used to be used on more than one person, but of late, more and more infections have been linked to the actual ink used by tattoo artists.</p> <p>Tattoo parlors are overseen by state and local authorities to ensure safe tattooing practices and prevent contamination of inks.</p> <p>The latest breakout of skin infections — known as nontuberculous mycobacterial infections — are associated with contaminated tattoo inks. There was a recent outbreak in New York of infections that showed up as red bumps (known as papules) on grey-colored areas of recently acquired tattoos, like the image above.</p> <p><img class="float_left" src=" border="0" alt="M. chelonae bacteria." width="400" />"Efforts to identify additional cases nationwide revealed that there were other outbreaks of tattoo ink–related nontuberculous mycobacterial infection that were associated with multiple brands of ink, occurred in other states, and involved multiple species of mycobacteria (e.g., chelonae, fortuitum, and abscessus)," <a href=" LeBlanc writes in NEJM</a>.</p> <p>Because the outbreak is widespread, it's likely that parlor-specific practices aren't the cause. The authorities were even able to isolate the bacteria from an unopened ink pot. A total of 19 people had infections that could be traced to grey ink, from four different states.</p> <p>"Thus, contamination could have occurred at various points in the ink-production process — for instance, from unsanitary manufacturing processes or the use of contaminated ingredients such as water, glycerin, or pigments," LeBlanc writes.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">A <a href=" blog post</a> says that there isn't much regulation on what goes into these tattooing inks:</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">Concentrated tattoo inks may be made from products that were never intended to be used for tattoos.  Tattoo ink manufacturers may use products such as calligraphy ink, drawing ink, or even printer ink to make the products eventually used for tattooing.  These manufacturers often sell their products online, and while their states may require them to hold a business license, there is no regulation or oversight of the product itself.</p> <p>The water used in these inks isn't regulated either. Some artists think that using distilled water is safe enough, but in reality, the water should be sterilized, the post says. The result is below.</p> <h1>WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE BELOW</h1> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><img src=" border="0" alt="infected tattoo" width="620" /></p> <p>Read more from the <a href=" on tattooing and tattoo inks.</a></p><p><a><p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p> Woman's Mystery Illness Makes Fingernails Grow Out Of Her Hair Follicles Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:48:00 -0400Jennifer Welsh <p><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="mystery illness" /></p><p>A mystery illness has stolen the life of a 28-year-old in Tennessee. The disease is some kind of skin condition that somehow causes an increase in the number of skin cells that are growing out of her hair follicles — a 12 fold increase. This turns the "hair" into something akin to "nails."</p> <p>The woman's mother described her illness to <a href=" <p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Black scabs were coming out of her skin," said her mother, Kathy Gary. "The nails would grow so long and come out and regrow themselves. They are hard to touch and stick you."</p> <p>Whatever is wrong with the woman, whose name is Shanya Isom, it started in 2009 after an asthma attack. During the attack, she was treated with a large dose of steroids. Doctors suspect this medication caused an allergic reaction, they said.</p> <p>Even after two years, the doctors don't know what's causing Isom's illness. A doctor at John's Hopkins medical center has come up with a treatment regimen that keeps the growths at bay and makes life more bearable. The 25 medications Isom is on are expensive though, so she's <a href=" up a foundation</a> to collect donations for her medical bills, and to help others suffering from undiagnosed illnesses Itchy Ear Canal Housed A Spider For Five Days Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:29:00 -0400Life's Little Mysteries <p><img class="float_left" src=" border="0" alt="spider ear" /></p><p>That old urban legend about spiders crawling into your orifices while you sleep has come true. A woman who checked into China's Changsha Central Hospital Wednesday (Aug. 8) with an itchy ear learned she had a small spider dwelling in her ear canal, according to news reports. It had crawled inside five days earlier while she slept.</p> <p>At the hospital, heebie-jeebie-inducing pictures of the patient's ear canal revealed a stocky, hairy, four-eyed arachnid peering out at the camera, much to doctors' and the patient's surprise.</p> <p>Amid concerns that disturbing the spider would cause it to "instinctively drill its barbs deeper, scratching the ear canal," <a href=" news sources</a> reported that doctors succeeded in removing the creature by pouring saline solution into the ear canal and flushing it out.</p> <p>As the spider's outstretched foot emerged from her ear, the patient, identified only as "Ms. Lee," reportedly "almost started crying."</p> <p><em>Follow Life's Little Mysteries on <a href=" class="hidden_link">Twitter</a> @<a href=" We're also on <a href=" href=" <ul> <li><a href=" Evidence: The Grossest Things</a></li> <li><a href=" Truths Behind 10 Old Wives' Tales</a></li> <li><a href=" Do People Love to be Scared?</a></li> </ul><p><a have><p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p> Japanese Company Will Make A Creepy 3D Printout Of Your Fetus Tue, 31 Jul 2012 13:56:00 -0400Jennifer Welsh <p><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="attached image" width="400" /></p><p>Have you ever wondered just how much like an alien your unborn fetus looked? Well, if you have a spare ticket to Japan and $1,200 you can find out! They'll also send you home with a specially-printed sculpture of the unborn person in your uterus.</p> <p>From <a href=" <p style="padding-left: 30px;">A Japanese firm <a href="Fasotec">Fasotec</a> has sensed the need and has thus in collaboration with Parkside Hiroo Ladies Clinic in Mintao-ku, Tokyo devised ‘Shape of the Angle’, a miniatu<span style="color: #000000;">re <span;" id="itxthook0w0">3D</span></span> </span>replica of the fetus that you can actually keep as a memorabilia for the rest of your life.</p> <p>Yes, I'm assuming they misspelled "angel" as "angle." The model costs 100,000 yen ($1,230).</p> <p>The process requires an MRI scan. The data from the scan is then used to build a statuette of the fetus, as it was positioned inside of your uterus. I guess no one mentioned that we don't yet know the risk to a fetus from MRI, but that some studies have suggested there might be negative effects. <a href=" suggests</a> <em>"it is good practice to avoid MRI during pregnancy, particularly for elective studies or during the first trimester."</em></p> <p>But if you really need that little statuette, <strong>most</strong> studies haven't seen any ill effects of MRIs on human fetuses. <em><br /></em></p> <p>More images below.</p> <p>(Via <a href=" <p><img src=" border="0" alt="3D fetus statue" width="620" /> <img src=" border="0" alt="Fetus in 3D" width="620" /><img src=" border="0" alt="3D fetus statue" width="620" /><img src=" border="0" alt="Fetus in 3D" /></p><p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p> Video Of A Subway Grate Spewing Cigarette Butts Made Us Gag Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:21:00 -0400Callie Bost <p>Yesterday's <a href=" thunderstorm</a> was just too much for the New York subways to handle. A subway rider at Grand Central Station took this video yesterday of a grate spewing dirty storm water and cigarette butts (via <a href=" <p>Lesson of the day? Stop smoking, New Yorkers. Because when you toss your cigarette butts on the ground and it rains, things like this happen.</p> <p>Also, don't wear open-toed shoes.</p> <p><iframe width="618" height="373" frameborder="0" src=" <h2><a href=" target="_blank">These disgusting Jell-O recipes also made us gag ></a></h2><p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p> The Photo Of A Burger King Employee Standing In Lettuce Bins That Has Everyone Grossed Out Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:24:14 -0400AP <p><img class="float_right" src=" border="0" alt="DNU" /></p><p>Burger King says three workers were fired after a photo posted online appeared to show an employee stepping on lettuce in bins at a northwest Ohio restaurant.</p> <p>The hamburger chain's statements to Ohio news outlets didn't directly confirm reports that the picture was taken at a restaurant in the Cleveland suburb of Mayfield Heights.</p> <p>Burger King Corp. says the franchisee that runs the independently operated restaurant quickly investigated the matter, and three employees were terminated.</p> <p>The company says it won't tolerate such violations of its strict procedures for safely handling food.</p> <p>It didn't comment on the circumstances in which the photo was taken. News outlets say the picture was posted on the free-for-all website <a class="hidden_link" href=" and GPS data embedded in the photo led to the restaurant.</p> <p>Burger King Corp. is a unit of Burger King Worldwide Inc.</p><p><a href=" the conversation about this story »</a></p>	eng	2fbf94f7-c74e-454e-b8dc-7a8f71c8f944	http://www.businessinsider.com/category/gross.rss
Mutual resentment between Hong Kongers and mainlanders is nothing new, and has been both long-standing and widespread. Many Hong Kongers look down upon mainlanders as being crude and uncivilized, while many mainlanders in return chafe at Hong Kongers' arrogance and sense of superiority. Last month, a video of Hong Kongers and mainlanders arguing on the Hong Kong subway circulated online. What began as mainlanders eating on the Hong Kong subway violating the subway's rules immediately expanded to all sorts of resentments by both sides. Controversial Peking University professor Kong Qingdong's subsequent public rant that "many Hong Kongers are dogs" only escalated things further. Because we understand that you are victimized by poisonous milk powder, we've tolerated you coming to panic buy milk powder; Because we understand that you have no freedom, we've welcome you to "travel freely" to Hong Kong; Because we understand that your education is backwards, we've shared our educational resources with you; Because we understand that you don't read complete [traditional] Chinese characters, we've used crippled [simplified] Chinese characters below: "When coming to Hong Kong, please respect local culture, [because] if it weren't for Hong Kong, you would all be doomed." @叶落孤舟: "Had Enough! Collection" Ever since Hong Kong's "Apple Daily" newspaper printed the [locust] advertisement, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen netizens have one after another posted images in response, and soon various major cities one after another also expressed their unwillingness to be left out… Tianjin version / Chengdu version / Chongqing version / Xiamen version / American version, then a Naruto version, a time travel version, and finally a dove version!! Netizens are such geniuses!! (Images from the internet) Translation of the above parody: Do you want Beijing's migrant population to continue increasing? Beijingers won't tolerate it anymore! [have had enough!] Beijing has already accommodated 20 million migrants. Beijing has already accepted 478 thousand children that came along. But! You still ruin Beijing's culture, disturb Beijing's order, push up Beijing property prices, have too many children who then take their gaokao collect examinations here, eat Beijing's food and drink Beijing's water and still curse Beijing as worthless. So please do us a favor, Go build up your hometown first, then come build up Beijing. Strongly demand that the government revise the law! Stop the endless influx of migrants into Beijing! Translation of the above parody (which was written in Shanghainese dialect): Do you want to spend 4 billion RMB every year subsidizing the migrant population? Shanghainese can't take it anymore! [have had enough!] Because you've come to make money, we've accommodated 17,566,700 migrants; February 1st, a large "Hong Kongers have had enough!" advertisement appeared in a Hong Kong newspaper, expressing a position against mainlander pregnant women going to Hong Kong, as well as making fun of mainlanders as locusts, demanding that the authorities stop the "invasion". A Hong Kong resident says this reflects some Hong Kongers' views, especially certain local pregnant women who have been affected, but the metaphor used is extremely impolite, and doesn't represent the majority of Hong Kongers. "If it weren't for Hong Kong, you would be screwed" — Arrogance like this is breathtaking. 河北沧州人 [网易北京市网友]: They're right in their criticisms, because when there's always some people who believe it is good there and do everything they can to go there, how can they not develop a superiority complex? Look at the content, it's all a kind of despising and disdain. Sigh, the belief of our country's people is to squeeze themselves into wherever they think is good. Where's the ambition? If you're worth anything, then first build up your current home, and one day, they will do everything they can to come here. Then, we can post this kind of advertisement, and we'll feel differently then. 网易广东省肇庆市网友: If going to Hong Kong to give birth didn't come with a Hong Kong birth certificate, I bet it would reduce the number of mainland pregnant women going to Hong Kong to give birth by 99.9%! The mentality of Hong Kongers is already nearing perverse. First, after returning [to China], the central government had sought to change the law, but it was the Hong Kongers' Legislative Council who unanimously sought so-called democracy and freedom, to let people who didn't have Hong Kong parents to obtain Hong Kong residency rights. Hong Kong delivery rooms are about to go bankrupt. Several years ago, the former Chief Executive even said again that Hong Kong's birth rates keep dropping and encouraged mainlanders to compensate. Well then, now there are more and more mainlanders, where the number of mainland children being born in Hong Kong are even more than Hong Kongers. Now Hong Kongers want to blame us, saying we're coming to steal their resources, that we're locusts, haha, fuck, what is going on? Now you think there are too many mainlanders, right? Well, that's because your government doesn't know how to regulate, how is it mainlanders' fault? Ask your Legislative Council, what's wrong with you Hong Kong people? The power has always been in your hands, so go change the law, stop pretending. 凌波伊布 [网易福建省厦门市网友]: First: "Please respect local culture." This indeed should be the case. Just like if you went to live temporarily in someone's home, you have to live in accordance with the host's living habits, rather than having them accommodating you! Second: "If it weren't for Hong Kong, you'd all be screwed." To the person who expresses this kind of opinion, I only want to say that without people like you, our country would still slowly but steadily become strong and powerful! 网易上海市手机网友: The problem needs both sides to work together to solve. Even if one side wins the argument, it's useless. If there's a problem, put it on the table and let everyone think of a solution. Mutually yelling at each other only shows that people have different positions because of different perspectives and points of view. Wouldn't it be better to work together as one to solve the problem? Why waste time like this?! 网易广西桂林市手机网友: Because we understand you got rich first, we've tolerated you coming to the mainland to invest, having us work like animals for you, and letting you curse us as "northerners"; Because we understand you lack affection [for us], we've chosen to use less in order to give you more help; Because we understand you don't know where you're from, we try to tell you who is good and who is evil; Because we understand you are very realistic, we won't beat around the bush when telling you: "Hong Kongers, if you didn't have us, you guys would be nothing! 网易广东省手机网友: What does Hong Kong owe you? To say something fair, Hong Kong's success today is mostly because of British rule! Could China have done it? 网易广东省手机网友: I think the direction of the discussion is completely wrong. Mainlanders going to Hong Kong to have children is of course wrong. But who is wrong is definitely not the mainland, but the Hong Kong government's inappropriate measures in response and the many profit-seeking clinics. Since Hong Kong has already provided this kind of channel, it can't blame others for using it. What is even more wrong is this advertisement being so obvious in expanding the issue and directly pointing at all mainlanders, even using "crippled Chinese characters", "locusts" and other attacks. 网易江苏省盐城市手机网友: Kong Qingdong said it right, some Hong Kong people are simply dogs, simply bastards… you think you are so superior?? Ignorant… makes me laugh… 网易广西手机网友: Who can appeal to the mainland public to boycott visiting Hong Kong? I'll be the first to support it. im curious. what will happen to hong kong in 2050 when it is under mainland's government rule? dim mak Nothing. I'm sure if the CCP wanted to they could change HK right now, autonomy or not. But they realize HK is doing just fine and don't want to mess with success. Any by 2050, they'll probably be more liberal and civilized anyway. coala banana well, if its still profitable in 2050 they will extend it for another 50 years i guess. I know HK very well and can tell you that HK profits a lot from mainland tourists, especially the luxury brands. While the street picture has of course changed significantly, cause mainland people showing their mainland behavior in public, one can understand why many HKers feel the way they feel. But let me tell you something about HKers. They ARE the most hypocritical MFs on the planet. Its a great city, no doubt, but ones you leave the city area of kowloon it very much looks like mainland china, even HK island looks like another world compared to kowloon side. One of the commentators was right..what would HK be without 100 years of British rule ? Without a doubt it would look like mainland china. Every weekend i see hundreds of HKers coming to china and somehow they quite fast adapt to mainland "customs". Then there is the hate between HK and mainland females. While most HK women dress better then mainland women, they both lack the same hygiene issues. Many HK women lost their husbands/boyfriends to a mainland "hotty" and that pisses them off. Mainland girls are the better players, while women and girls must work in HK to make a living, mainland girls prefer looking out for sugar daddies. I don't like Brits very much, but without them HK would be a shithole. And considering that a city state was under a 100 year rule, the infrastructure, work ethics, court system…have benefited from it,but the people haven't changed significantly in HK. Most are still mainlanders, but with slightly better clothing and without the spitting and nose drilling. By 2050 ? i doubt that there will still be a CCP in china. I think that within the next 5-10 years, china will go down in a chaos and violence….10s of millions will loose they lives in another "cultural change" and many more will die cause of hunger. The country will be chopped apart and GD province will be the only province worth living in, except city states like Shanghai and Beijing which will establish democracy to a certain degree….China is not able to defend themselves from global and economy crises and local corruption, they have 1.5 billion people to feed and to keep under control. Ever saw a chinese gets pissed ? It gives the term "out of control" a whole new meaning…!! White Phosphorus I saw a YouTube video of a Chinese woman with what seemed to be a taishan accent, and she got all nuts on a black women on a public bus in SanFran. The Chinese can get very psychotic when their adrenaline gets going! Don't be deceived by the submissive outer appearance of the Chinese…! yeah, i know that one. From my experience most are quite calm, but the fact that once they allow their blood pressure to go up, they are in another world and completely out of control. I think that has to do that they always swallow their emotions and feelings and keep quite about things they should be pissed about. Once a certain level of self mutilation is reached they are like ticking time bombs ready to explode. When they release the pressure you better to be close to them, cause they will do some crazy ass shit. I have around 500 employees and we hire and fire a few people every week. Some get real pissed when they loose their job. I had everything…. from the guy jumping on the office table, yelling, crying and screaming and throwing his pc out of the window….the ones which talk about to kill themselves in front of all….up to the ones which come back with 10 of his friends armed with hacksaws and knifes….while some cases are entertaining, I would consider to put others in the "dangerous category". I am still surprised that in 6 years i just had 2 cases where i had to knock out someone. I never had any problems with female employees, all hard and good working. Except one case where a pregnant worker was hit and beat in the stomach by other female workers. The males kinda suck. 24Herbs I think you are missing the real point. The problem is that the HK govt is not willing to disallow citizenship to kids of double negative parents. If you stop giving the HK ID to them, then the abuse of the local hospitals will stop. Do you realise how many mainlanders take the hk id and return to guangdong or fujian and claim hk umemployment benefits? s4v males suck and females are fine? Just because you a hairy (on your stomach and back), bald, fat white dude who thinks you are the shit, because you work here in china and earns better than the average and probably fucks some ugly chinese whores, does not you the right to judge about the males. Yes, I do feel deeply offended by your opinion as a chinese. people like you should go back to from whereever you are from and leave china alone. Tadd Hey, hey, hey!~ You "don't like Brits very much"… what did we do wrong? coala banana hehehe, its some sort of luxury thing ! sometimes it has nothing to do with people at all….england ? shit weather, shit food, too many muslims. Ok, you did a great job in HK ! But, from a colonization perspective i don't like you guys, with everything else , i am fine with brits as long as they are not ordinary hooligans and have their alcohol consume under control… Hongjian I like your assessment about the state of affairs and level of civilization of the mainland, but I do not share your view of the developmental prospects of whole of China. Also, 2050 and China collapsing? Are you the cheap version of Gordon Chang? At least he was funny enough to claim it will happen in 2012, as the rest of the world as well. But whatever. I really really look forward for a next Cultural Revolution. Because shitsters like you would have their assets nationalized, rounded up, their necks bloody of the metal wire carrying the heavy wooden board with your names and crimes against socialism on it, and then buried alive in a pit full of feces after long hours of public shamings and abuse. I'll be there; that girl with the red scarf who uses a rusty bicycle-chain to leash your exposed, bloody body, ripping one piece of stinking, swollen meat out after each hit, until you will look like a victim of Lingchi, drenched in blood and torn pieces of flesh and skin, and effectively tortured to death, before you can join the fermentaion of the feces-pit with your capitalist accomplices. Because, this is my merciful service for all those who ever managed to amuse me. Wow that's quite an offer Frau Hongjian, CB I'd take her up on that, usually that kind of sick action costs extra, and it is sooooo hard to find decent practitioners outside of Japan [and no doubt delivered in a thick teutonic accent!] coala banana :-))), I don't know, but somehow i like this guy ! not that i would go so far to invite him over for thanksgiving dinner, but like i said before, when one cut out his barbaric and bestialic fantasies, then he brings out one or the other valid point. Maybe he has missed the fact that china is by no means a socialist or communist country, but that just as a side note, cause its funny that he calls me a capitalist. Truth is I was a communist too in my youth, even a party member at one time:-), now we are all over the world and enjoy the freedoms of globalization and earn the fruits of the many loopholes in certain economies. I didn't ask for that, its just how things work out sometimes in life and i wouldn't want to have it any other way, its exciting. Deep inside i am still a commie, probably will ever be, but then there is this common sense thing which tells me thats all BS, so i keep on enjoying my real life and something i can touch and feel. Money is a great things and so are women:-). Hongjian might have both too, I truly believe that he is an educated fella and would even be a cool dude when he could just tone it down a bit with this blood&torture stuff. He might even got a wife or GF ? When that is the case one can just hope that he don't leave a mess behind one day. People do sick things, but i don't believe that he is one of them. He might have real detailed fantasies about some S&M which includes blood and torture, but i think that he just jerks off to it and don't really practice it. rollin wit 9′s nice one on the gordon chang bit haha, fuckn A! I just got off of forbes too hehe. -Classic southernortherner your idea of china falling into chaos…is a bit farfetched ..its like sayin america will fall into similar situations…oh wait.. Ray I don't get how one can speculate "what ifs" especially if it spanned over 50 years, if HK is a shithole without British rule, then that is because China is not good at ruling. It is basically saying that "Americans won't feel so superior to other third world countries if it wasn't under its own democracy, but instead if it was under China rule it'll be a shithole." If being under British rule makes Hong Kongers more educated, develop a better trading system and economy, then that belongs to the people of Hong Kong, you can't assume people or different cultures would somehow be the same prior to migration, especially when its been through multiple generations. Culture can change within 1 generation especially if the standard of living changes rapidly as well. Most HKers don't think that they are superior to mainlanders, that is just the mainlander's inferiority complex, like they have with all foreign people, but it hits them extra hard because HKers used to be from China, so instead of admitting that they got an inferiority complex, they just assume that everyone thinks that they are superior to Chinese people. Most HKers would just be discontent with what many mainlanders does in HK (like the baby stuff, cheap labor stealing jobs and some trivial cultural stuff like waiting in line), that is just a matter of differing cultures coming together. The main problem with this is that some Chinese would think that HK is just another part of China and they'll exert their usual "Chinese ways" while they are in HK, without giving any effort of adjusting with the locals, and that can stir up the nerves of some citizens that had spent their life in HK and calls it their home. E Puff That is the one major thing I have noticed about the chinese who post here is that they claim everyone thinks theya re better than them when in reality, americans for example are terrified of china's progress, terrified that theya re taking our manufacturing jobs and producing our products, terrified because americans truly believe that chinese people are smarter and work harder. but if you ask someone chinese, they say that americans feel superior. I think we feel that chinese not having civil liberties is sad, but other than that, chinese people need to stop being so jealous of other countries because the PRC is denying them their human rights. fx wow ,u sounds like a prophet ,but who knows it might get worse like u said but hope China will become a better place to live by then. QWA More than half of China's GDP is created in Guangzhou and Fujian and Taiwan. Mostly in the south. In some places people have not contributed to GDP for centuries but try to act like they do. The great wall was built to keep those people out of China. The biggest advantage right now is tax free shopping and import export. That is slowly disappearing new tax-free zones are being established. In other places they file bankruptcy to eliminate the differences. To publish in a newspaper is fine but it might be just as easy to file a Defamation and Libel suit. The suit can be easily in New York. Since the US can and has the power and incentive to freeze the bank accounts of UB. UB is the employer and is responsible for the action of its employees. Since this is a broad statement. The victims group is large. It includes all businesses worldwide such as HK style restaurants, individuals that suffered mental pain, import/exports from HK. Companies that are headquartered in HK. badnews I'd rather be born on my…SOFA!!!!…you snooze you lose sucker k Ironic how the Chinese have these opinions about other Chinese when Westeners have these same opinions about all Chinese who come to their country. E Puff bullshit. westerners (Americans) don't have this opinion about chinese . they have this opinion about mexicans. they like chinese because you don't see chinese people in welfare offices, they keep to themselves, we don't see them committing crimes against americans, if anything, next to SOME european countries, chinese people are probably the most welcome immigrant to come here. but chinese people see themselves differently – like they are disliked. i don't know how british people feel, i understand that there is some problem with asians there, not sure which asian people. Dan LOL i dun mind them using our facilities, resources and healthcare as long as they can input to the actual hong kong's infrastructure (e.g 1 baby for 500 thousand RMB, that will ensure they pay for wht they use as in many case those ppl just run away after giving birth) (holiday makers 10 thousand fine for pooping or peeing in MTR), never mention the PRC gov plan to allow mainlanders to drive in hk with china driving license in the future… i just cannot imagine wht it'll be like looking at the driving culture in china…. (may be they should do a 50 thousand fine for each accident they cause) White Phosphorus I totally agree with you there. You gotta pay to play in HK!!! Then I might be more tolerant of their antics. dim mak ohboyherewego.jpg 1. Kong Qingdong is a fucking idiot. Not a real nationalist, just an idiot. 2. Have kids in your own city/province. Why the fuck not? The advantages conferred by being born in HK are minor at most, and even if it does it's up to you to improve rights in your own locale. 3. Shoppers welcome. Milk powder, luxury bags, whatever. 4. Yes, HKers can be arrogant pricks. But then again so can any developed city on the mainland, as all the parody posters show. 5. Yes, mainlanders can be uncivilized faggots. Not everyone, but more on average. I don't hate them for it, but for now, it's true. 6. Simplified vs traditional = who the fuck cares. Proposal: We live down here, you live up there, we do business, buy each others' stuff, both be Chinese, everybody's happy. mr. weiner DM. I think everything you proposed was fair equatable and pragmatically thought out….are you feeling unwell? dim mak I've always been pragmatic. People just get upset when I'm pragmatic about something that offends their beliefs. Andao Definitely agree with #2. If your hometown is so shitty, why don't you try to improve it? It's like, "well, I could try to improve the country/city/village, or I could just drive to HK." The poor people aren't going to have any influence in this, so it's gotta be middle/upper classes. It's cases like this where mainlanders come off as being really, really lazy. White Phosphorus I agree with your comment, but you haven't stated how to change the mindset of the middle/upper classes so that they will try to improve their own country/city/village. Hongjian Welp, this is why the mainland has the glorious Hukou system inspired by Imperial times and revived in the Red-imperial dynasty. Migration from the poor to the rich places are the oldest, one of the most problematic and one of the mostpotentially destabilizing 'natural laws' of socio-economic develpment ever. And this is why wise emperors of the old, have found the ultimate countermeasure for it: You will stay where you are born, or be bullied out or killed off by chengguang. Why the fuck isnt the CCP enforcing this shit in regards to the HK problem, until the mainland reaches a certain economic level? But whatever. Delicious frustration-tears of HK faggots makes me moist. This must be how rape feels like. E Puff HOngJian, have you ever thought that maybe the mainland should be more like Hong Kong so the people on the mainland would actually want to stay? If people are leaving, maybe there's something wrong with the way things are. Hongjian Why always ask what people want? If my time living in a democracy taught me anything, it is that people are inherently stupid and like animals. Only better clothed and pretentiously talking about politics and faggy higher ideals still doesnt make them anything better than cattle. If they dont like shit to eat, it is the emperor's duty to force it down their throats. You weak-willed faggots living in democracies and thinking you arent cattle, are the worst kind of cattle. You are the cattle that thinks that you have ANY power and actual say. Social welfare are not meant for abuse it took many years for Hong Kong Citizen to pool it in Those locust just think it is from a magical endless pit jiayi Such a confusing and oddly laid out article. White Phosphorus Confusing for double negative cretins like you! He he he… anon Read or scan from top to bottom. The only confusing part are the thumbnails of parodies she didn't bother to translate since they're not necessary to get the jist that Chinese netizens are having a field day with the idea. donscarletti I understand Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou being annoyed about migrants, but Beijingnese should remember their place. The last Beijing born person to actually lead China was the Xianfeng Emperor in 1861. As such, as they are located in the capital, is in general the job of Beijingnese to serve a Waidiren and provide girls for powerful officials to fuck on a whim. It is not generally within the reach of those from Beijing to be these officials however. White Phosphorus So what country provides men for powerful women to fuck on a whim? LMAO. donscarletti Men will generally do that if you ask them. You don't even have to be powerful. White Phosphorus Minus the homosexual males! coala banana lets not "discriminate" homosexual males:-) i don't know any homosexuals, at least not any i know off….. my understanding is that hetero sexuals can have gay friends too, BUT in the moment one of them would go down on his knees to suck on my cock is the moment where i would seriously reconsider our friendship. UkExPaT From my experience of working and living in China, I can absolutely say that mainlanders are more selfish than HKers. It becomes very evident whenever you TRY to queue, pay for goods or get on and off transportation etc…… I had lived in Japan for a year before my stint in China. As a result, I have a lot of respect for the way Japanese citizens conduct themselves in public, their thoughtfulness for others and their overwhelming display of unity. Also, it is funny when you travel on public transports in Guangzhou China that you would hear constant broadcast of messages to urges decent public behaviour just because it is a virtue of the Chinese people! What a load of BS! From my understanding, HK has changed a lot since it was handed back to China. These changes came about because the lack of political will of the HK gov to ensure independent governance, as well as too much contact with mainland China. The HK politicians made many unwise decisions over the years just to please leaders in Beijing, and they won't have to be responsible because all of them have foreign passports which allows them to retire elsewhere. In response to banana's post about how most HKers are just as obnoxious as the mianlanders. I would like to say that a large proportion of people you encounter in HK could have originally emigrated from the mainland. Therefore, it is natural that their behaviours would be ery similar to their mainland counterparts. A country's leadership can change overnight, but it takes a long time for the people to change their habits. From the way I see Chinese children are being brought up, they are constantly being spoilt to do as they please. They all grow up to be selfish little brats, which in turn will set bad examples when raise their children in pretty much the same fashion. This vicious cycle will ensure that you won't notice much differences in the mainland tourists you see today and in the future. That's my bet anyway…… anon The constant broadcast of messages urging decent public behavior is a good thing. That's what the rest of us, including the Japanese and Hong Kongers, had to go through to get where we are today. The mainland Chinese are behind, but there are efforts and as you say, it takes al ong time for people to change their habits. Being spoiled by parents into becoming snotty little emperors may work against fostering greater civic mindedness, but let's hope larger environmental pressures towards greater civic mindedness by the government and social contact with more "civic-minded" individuals (perhaps from other countries) will help. 平凡人 Well said, they may be ahead economy wise but socially, way behind. Unfortunately most Chinese thinks that only when they are rich, people will respect them. Quite a significant younger generation Chinese (post 80s and 90s) are really obnoxious. fx can't agree with u more, the younger generation in general are pretty selfish,even for Chinese whoever lived abroad for long period of time when they returned to china ,they would experience some degree of cultural shock ,selfishness,spitting are two major problems. Technowolf Wasnt the "要不是香港你们全完蛋了" remark a retort to a previous clip of a Mainlander in HK saying sth like "要不是中央管的你们完蛋了"? >Strongly demand that the United States government reenact the Chinese Exclusion Act! >You denigrate our culture, and yet you come to study our culture? >America >Culture HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Well, played, netizens! Shanghairen I heard the mainland women just throw the placenta out the window after they give birth. GodsHammer I KNOW!!! Such a waste of a perfectly good soup base riiiight? Technowolf This made me laugh. Lots. typingfromwork Wow, if anyone printed something like that here vis a vis, say, Scots in London there will be shitstorm of the highest order. What kind of a fucked up newspaper allows such an ad to be printed in the first place? And then just to match their myopic arrogance the PS for each of the mainland cities are also the same. Only Shenzhen seems to have its head screwed on. I guess it's a city full of new money that don't give a shit about the kind of inherited hypocracy that seem to infect the rest of these so called "civilised" cities. Good for them. I can't stand pretentious assholery in any form. I find it ironic how the HKers contemptuously call mainlanders "locusts" while the rest of the world shout "LOL zerg rush" whenever they see these HKer's yellow skin. Being born in a former British colony does not make you honorarily white, fucking dumb shits. Newsflash- Brits consider all the unwashed, uncooth HK born, barely educated Chinese takeaway owners to be unsanitary vermin, too. Know who you are and where you come from, be proud of your ancestry- and for gods sake being a dumbass elitest snob does not make anyone think any better of you. They're not laughing with you- they're laughing at you, stupid cunts. dim mak That's only because Shenzhen is a city of migrants. Who are they going to hate on, themselves? Apple Daily is a tabloid and Chinese people in general doesn't give a fuck about all the political correctness you mentioned. No HKer thinks they're white or wants to be "honorary white". Way to pull the colonialism card, idiot. We know exactly where we're from and are no less proud to be Chinese than mainlanders. Only dipshits who use mainland/mandarin as the default for "China" think otherwise. Back in the early days of colonialism, HKers WERE unwashed, uncouth vermin. If Britfags are stupid enough to still think this now, then I have news for you. The way Britain is headed vs the way China is headed, even mainlanders will find you beneath them in due time. Come try your moral equivalency then, see if anybody cares. DRaY HA….. I see HKers as Locusts in CHina, ,,, they refuse to be called Chinese unless it helps them make money or fuck chickens …. FUCK Hong Kong…. two faced assholes…. Arrogant for no fucking reason… Yes HK used to be nice, but now … that shit is played out … Let your mainland brothers have some fun, you are all the same right? Stop acting like you are better than them, because the British gave you guys infrastructure and rules. dim mak Which HKer refuses to be called Chinese, exactly? I've never met one. Our mainland brothers can have all the fun and shopping they want as long as they don't take advantage of the local system or act like a bunch of uncivilized bumpkins. They'll be our social equals when they act that way, then I'll be more than glad to defend them from unjust biases. Go rage on the Republic of HONG KONG post, faggot. That's what I made it for. It was meant for Hongjian and he wasn't dumb enough to take the bait. You on the other hand… what's up the ad makes sense, anywhere you go, you have to respect their local customs and laws and be considerate of the people that inhabited the area originally. and mainlanders for one do not play by the rules, they like to spit on the floor and are incessantly loud mutual respect is the key here 平凡人 For this case, the government policies are the main issues. Why are they granting mainland Chinese to reside in Hong Kong? "One country two policies" does not mean an influx of mainland Chinese into Hong Kong as residence. This has created tension between Hong Kong people and mainland Chinese people as Hong Kong itself is already a very crowded city. It saddens me to see people of the same nationality and race despising one another. Ding Dong Jung Mainlanders are so naive. Hong Kong does not need mainland to survive. Many small countries flourish when they are independent. Like Taiwan (seperated from mainland) and Singapore (separate from Malaysia). In fact after HK returns to China, the economy is becoming so gloomy. Being a British colony is so much better. dim mak No, Britfags only get the credit for not being a bunch of weird, free market-hating communists. All Chinese should be unified. We just need to not step on each other's toes (and point it out when someone does). Gaz Haha, if all chinese are unified then HK will just be another shithole Chinese ciy, which it is slowly becoming anyway with all these mainlanders who for some reason think buying luxury imported goods is contributing while ignoring the fact that most FDI goes through HK because China's legal system is based on corruption, and that a whole f*ckload of mainland companies rely on the HKex or they would be doomed. HK put China on the map, without it China would still be stuck in 1978. kaibotski Actually if all Chinese can unify, Democratic Socialism would've worked. There wouldn't be Great Leap Forward. Mainland chinks wouldn't have to go to Hong Kong. Hong Kong chinks would risk being shark food and swim to be embraced by the glory of Socialist achievements and fend off the capitalist occupation. IF all chinese people can unite, the Manchus wouldn't establish Xing kingdom and they wouldn't give HK to the Brits.. Wait!! IF… all Chinese can unite they can all be Lin Zexu and write to the queen. Mail bombardment!!! Wait… IF the chinks can unite they can just take over the world after they invented junks and gun powder… Do they have a site called GreeceSmack? wonder what would happen IF all Greek were united… Chink on Chink hate so cute. Imagine HK like NYC but no blk on blk crime. they'd just spit at each other than use real guns much safer and comical to bystanders. I_AM_YR_DAD You must be an ignorant Hongkong dumbfuck…. Hongkong only can depend on CHINA!!! Before 97,' It was difficult to export goods directly from China. And forget about leagally importing goods to China. Hongkong played a key role especially in "Smuggling" goods in and out of China. Why do you compare Hongkong with Taiwan and Singapore. Taiwan has become a tech giant and singapore is no less in tech., logistics,and rely on service industry. What does Hongkong have? Hongkong has one useless university…..most of Honkies go to abroad to study…Why? Hongkong only has a stock market which is no different than a casino….and with mainly Chinese listed companies…. Many countries have a stock market…so that is no big deal…even Singapore and Taiwan has… Hongkong has no infastructure that can help develop careers of Hongkong future….. HOngkong economy only became gloomy after 97′ because China no longer needs Hongkong to re-export goods or smuggle goods in to china for them. They ship out from many local ports and import themselves…. So go blame your lawmakers before pointing a finger on your masters… China is like an ocean and Hongkong is a small pond in comparison. So please dont compare your small pond values with the values of the ocean. Karl at the end of the day we all chinese people no need for such resentment. kaibotski its duty of chinks to shit on chinks. Anise I just read an article in my local Vancouver newspaper today complaining about the same "double negative" problem we have, but we call it "birth tourism" or "passport babies". There was actually a organisation found in Hong Kong that was helping Chinese women sneak into Canada just before birth so that they can take advantage of the immigration laws in Canada. It doesn't matter if your parents are Canadian or not, if you are born on Canadian soil, you get citizenship. Unlucky for the Chinese that we have a conservative majority right now that hates any immigrants that aren't blowhard rich. So they're looking to change the law. The Shen Zhen parody brought a tear to my eye. I had to show it to my husband and mother in law who are both from Shen Zhen. They loved it. 长江晴天 HKers are seen as arrogant snobs, MLers are seen as unsophisticated bumpkins. Apart from that though, the two groups are basically the same. Both are obsessed with money and material possessions; both have the same family values; both are linked by culture and language; both are Chinese. Divides within nations are nothing new of course. One day MLers will respect local customs; One day MLers will stop going to HK because the appeal will diminish; one day MLers will have a comparable standard of living; one day HKers will have to find something else to complain about.	eng	f9d89fb7-45dc-4ae9-bd52-388168b85df3	http://www.chinasmack.com/2012/pictures/anti-mainlander-hong-kong-ad-parodied-becomes-internet-meme.html
You are here: Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior - Shantideva (sPyod-'jug, Bodhisattvacharyavatara) by Shantideva translated from the Tibetan, as clarified by the Sanskrit by Alexander Berzin, 2004 Translation 7. Joyful Perseverance (1) Patient like that, I need to embrace joyful perseverance, Since (based) on perseverance, enlightenment takes place. After all, without joyful perseverance, there's no arising of positive force, Just as, without wind, there's no motion. (3) Lethargy arises From apathy about the problems of recurring samsara, (Which comes) through relishing a taste of pleasure from idleness And through craving sleep as a haven. (4) Sniffed out by the trapper, the disturbing emotions, And fallen into the trap of rebirth, How do you still not realize That you've landed in the mouth of the lord of death? (5) Don't you even see that he's slaughtering The members of your herd, each in turn? Yet despite being like a buffalo at the butcher, You even go to sleep! (6) With the road blocked everywhere And eyeballed by the lord of death, How can eating bring you joy? How can sleeping? How can making love? (7) So stock up on a bountiful store (of positive force) while you can, For death will come all too soon. Even by throwing off lethargy then, What can you accomplish when out of time? (8) With this still not done, this just having been started, This still left half-done, And the lord of death having come all of a sudden, And the thought arising, "Oh no, I'm destroyed!" (9) And seeing relatives, Their faces with red eyes swollen from the force of grief And flowing with tears, having lost all hope, And also the faces of the messengers of Yama, (10) Tormented by the memory of negative acts, Hearing the screams from the joyless realms, Body befouled with excrement because of fear - Having become delirious, what will you do? (11) If, like a live fish flopping, (about to be cooked,) You'd have (such) terror in this lifetime; Is there need to mention the unbearable tortures Of the joyless realms, when having created (so much) negative force? (12) Baby-skin! Even at the touch of hot water, you're scalded! How can you sit back at ease like this, Doing karmic deeds for a joyless realm (rebirth)? (13) Dreamer of results without any effort! Weakling! Waster of plenitude! Seized by death and having the airs of an (immortal) god! Oh dear! With these miserable ways, you're destroying yourself! (14) Seated in a boat (now) of a human rebirth, Cross over the mighty river of suffering! With this boat being so hard to catch again, Idiot, it's not time for going to sleep! (15) Letting go of the joy of the hallowedDharma - The best, an unending fount of joy - How can you find any joy in such causes for suffering As shenanigans, joking, and the like? (16) (So,) don't get discouraged, amass the supporting forces, Readily accept, and take control of yourself, Then equalize self and others, And exchange self for others, too. (17) Never get discouraged by thinking, "How can there be enlightenment for me?" For the Speaker of Truth, the Thusly Gone (Buddha), Has pronounced this truth, like this: (19) (How much more so for) someone like me, having (Buddha) nature and born as a human, Able to perceive what's of benefit or harm! Why shouldn't I reach enlightenment, So long as I don't quit bodhisattva behavior? (20) Suppose I said, "But it frightens me That my arms, legs, and so on are to be given away." Well, I'm being reduced to fear by a state of bewilderment, From failing to discern what's heavy or light. (21) For countless millions of eons, I'll be gashed, stabbed, burned, and split open Innumerable times, And still won't attain enlightenment; (22) But this suffering I'll have In achieving enlightenment is something with a limit, Like the pain from an incision made on my body To remove the harm from a foreign object festering inside. (23) All doctors, in fact, bring freedom from sickness Through the discomforts of medical treatments; So a little discomfort must be endured To kill off a plague of sufferings. (25) As a start, the Spiritual Guide prescribes Giving away a vegetable and the like. Once accustomed to that, one may eventually, through stages, Come to give away even one's own flesh. (26) When the insight arises that my very own body Is similar to a vegetable and the like, Then, as for giving away such things as my flesh, What hardship would there be in that? (27) (After all,) from purging negative karmic force, there'll be no more suffering, And from becoming mentally proficient, there won't be any more mental distress; But similarly, from distorted conceptions, the mind gets hurt, And from negative force, the body. (28) Through positive force, though, the body has joy, And with mental proficiency, the mind becomes joyful. So even remaining in recurring samsara for the sake of others, What could depress a compassionate one? (29) Because the strength of his bodhichitta aim Is depleting his negative forces from the past And gathering oceans of positive force, He's explained as surpassing the shravakalisteners. (30) So, mounting the horse of the bodhichitta aim, Which dispels all depression and exhaustion, And journeying from joy to joy, Who, with a sensible mind, would ever become discouraged? (31) (Thus,) the supporting forces for fulfilling the aims of limited beings Are strong intention, steadfastness, delight, and letting go. Strong intention is developed from the dread of suffering And by reflecting on its benefits. (32) Uprooting opposing factors like that, I shall strive then to further my zestful vigor With the forces of strong intention, having pride, delight, and letting go, Also readily accepting and taking control. (33) But the faults of both myself and others That I'll need to vanquish are boundless! And when the depletion of each individual fault Will take oceans of eons, (34) And even a fraction of that initiative For depleting those faults can't be seen yet in me, Then how is it that my heart doesn't burst At the fathomless sufferings that I'll need to endure? (35) The excellent features, for both myself and others, That I'll need to actualize are also enormous! And there, when the repeated practice for each individual feature Will take oceans of eons, (36) And I've never developed the repeated practice For even a fraction of the excellent features, It's amazing how I've rendered meaningless This rebirth somehow attained! (37) I've not made offerings to the Vanquishing Master, Nor provided the joy of magnificent feasts; I've done no services for the teachings, Nor fulfilled the hopes of the poor! (38) I've given no freedom from fear to the frightened, Nor offered comfort to those in distress! It comes down to all that I have produced Is only discomfort, and the pain (of an alien object) in the womb for my mother! (39) (Since) such a poor mess has come about Through my lacking a strong intention for the Dharma In former lives and now, Who would ever give up strong intention for the Dharma? (40) The Sage has chimed, "A strong intention is the root Of every constructive facet." And the root of that is constantly having meditated on The ripened results (of karma): (41) Pain, foul moods, and assorted forms of fear, And being parted from what I would like, Come about from behaving With negative karmic force. (42) (Consider this:) by enacting the constructive deeds That my mind has intended, Wherever I'm reborn, I'll be honored, through their positive force, With an oblation as the karmic result. (43) But by enacting negative deeds, Though I wish for happiness, Wherever I'm reborn, I'll be assaulted, through their negative karmic force, By weapons of pain. (44) By constructive behavior, I'll come to stay in the presence of the Triumphant as a spiritual child of the Blissfully Gone, With a superb body, born from a lotus opened by the splendor of the Sage, And dwelling in the heart of a spacious, fragrant, cool lotus, My radiance shall grow with nourishment from the Triumphant's melodious voice. (46) Hence, I shall set a strong intention to (do) what's constructive And make it a habit, with regard. Undertaking it, then, I'll make it a habit of having pride, Through the lines in the Vajradhvaja (Sutra). (47) Examining my talents first, To undertake (something) or not undertake it, It's better not to undertake it at all - Not to start it and then turn back. (48) For that turns into a habit in future lives too And causes negative force and suffering to increase; While other (undertakings) and the time for their results Are weakened and do not succeed. (49) Actions, disturbing emotions, and abilities - Pride is to be applied regarding the three. "It's something that I myself shall do" Is having pride regarding actions. (50) Worldly beings, not under their own power, Due to disturbing emotions, are unable to accomplish their very own aims. But I'm not incapable, like wandering beings, So I'll do this (for them). (51) How can I stand by While someone else is doing an inferior job? If it's because of being proud that I'm not doing it (instead), Then best to let pride be exterminated in me. (52) Even a crow makes itself act like an eagle When encountering a snake that's already dead. But if I remain timid, Even the slightest setback impairs me. (53) Discouraged and having given up effort, Will there be liberation due to feeling bankrupt, or what? But by strengthening my effort through having my pride, Even huge things will have difficulty triumphing (over me). (54) Therefore, with my mind steadfast, I shall set back setbacks. For if setbacks bankrupt me, My wishing to triumph over the three realms becomes a joke. (55) I shall triumph over everything And nothing shall triumph over me! As a spiritual offspring of the Triumphant Lion, I shall maintain this pride. (56) Wandering beings conquered by pride Are disturbed: they have no pride; For those having pride don't fall under the enemy's power, But instead, have power over the enemy, pride. (57) Filled up with the disturbing emotion of pride, They're led by pride to the worse rebirth states, And even as humans, their festivity is killed; They become slaves, eating the scraps of others, (58) Stupid, ugly, feeble, And insulted in all (situations). If filled up with pride, those having trials Are also included among those having pride, Then what kind of pathetic beings are they, tell me please? (59) But those who hold on to their pride in order to triumph over the enemy, pride, Are the holders of pride, the triumphant heroes. And those who kill off the enemy, pride, even though it's gargantuan, Bestow then the fruit of triumph in full on wandering beings, whatever they wish. (60) So, when standing amidst a horde of disturbing emotions, I shall hold my ground (proudly), in a thousand ways, And not be thrown off by the pack of disturbing emotions, Like a lion with jackals and such. (61) Just as a person would protect his eyes When events of great danger actually arise; Likewise, I'll never fall under the power of disturbing emotions, When danger actually arises. (62) Let me be burned to death, Or even have my head chopped off, that would be better; But I'll never, in any way, Bow to the enemy, disturbing emotions. Likewise, in all situations, I shall never do anything other than what's fit. (63) Like someone wishing for happiness as the result of play, Any (positive) actions (a bodhisattva's) engaged in, He clings to those actions And delights in those actions, never having enough. (64) Although people do actions for the sake of happiness, It's not clear that they'll become happy or not; But for (a bodhisattva) whose actions in fact bring happiness, How can he be happy without doing those actions? (65) If there can never be enough desirable sensory objects, Though they're like honey on a razor's edge, How can there ever be enough (ambrosia of) positive actions, Which have as their ripening (sweet) happiness and peace? (66) So, after completing a positive action, I'll plunge into the action (that's next), right then, Like an elephant parched by the midday sun, When encountering a pond, plunging into the water. (67) But, following upon a decline in my strength, I'll set (my activity) aside, to take up again; And having completed it well, I shall leave it, With thirst for the next and the next. (68) Then, like engaging a sword in a duel With a seasoned opponent, I shall parry the disturbing emotions' thrusts, And decisively stab my opponent, the disturbing emotions. (69) Just as someone, having dropped his sword in a duel, Would snatch it up quickly, out of fear, So, having dropped the sword of mindfulness, I shall quickly snatch it up, mindful of the fears of the joyless realms. (70) Just as poison on (the blade of a sword, finding) blood as its carrier, Spreads throughout the body, Similarly, a fault, when finding an opening, Spreads throughout the mind. (71) Like a terrified person, carrying a jar filled with mustard oil, With someone keeping in front, poking with a sword, Threatening to kill him if he spills (a drop), Someone with taming behavior needs likewise to hold on tight. (72) Therefore, just as I'd swiftly stand up At the slithering of a snake into my lap, Likewise, at the slithering in of sleepiness or lethargy, I shall swiftly repulse it. (73) Scolding myself on each and every occasion of a lapse, I shall contemplate at length, "How can I act so that never again Will this happen to me?" (74) With this as a motive, "How can I make it a habit To be mindful, given those situations?" I'll aspire for the company (of spiritual teachers) Or the appropriate action (that they give me to do). (75) Then, the way to have force for all (events), Before doing some action, is That I'll rally and invigorate myself, Recalling the chapter on taking care. (76) Just as the wind, coming and going, Takes control of a cotton ball, So shall I take control of myself, with zestful vigor, And gain, in this way, spiritual success.	eng	e6710624-f326-4e3a-9183-b3b2772a08c9	http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/e-books/unpublished_manuscripts/bca_shantideva/translation/engaging_bodhisattva_07.html
In Behind the Wall, NBC News correspondents and producers examine events and trends in China, both big and small. China state media: North Korea would 'pay a heavy price' for nuclear test Eugene Hoshiko / AP Chinese workers set up decorations for the upcoming Chinese New Year in Dandong, China, on Tuesday. Dandong is located across the Yalu river from the North Korean town of Sinuiju. By Ed Flanagan, Producer, NBC News Published at 10:35 a.m. ET: BEIJING – It remains unclear just when, if ever, North Korea will attempt its controversial third nuclear test, but there are growing signs that the reclusive nation's biggest political ally is growing weary of its behavior. "If North Korea insists on a third nuclear test despite attempts to dissuade it, it must pay a heavy price," the paper said. It called on China to cut economic aid to the struggling country as punishment. The editorial also restated a popular opinion held by many Chinese experts that friction between North Korea and its regional neighbors was opening China up to diplomatic attack from players such as the United States. "Some believe the U.S., Japan and South Korea are attempting to foment discord between China and North Korea," the editorial warned. "Such a trap may be real, but China shouldn't be taken hostage by North Korea's extreme actions in order to avoid such a trap." A propaganda video posted on YouTube by the North Korea government shows a missile launch and a city that appears to be New York, in flames. NBC's Brian Williams reports. Addressing concerns that a harsh response to North Korea's nuclear test would cause Pyongyang to turn on its long-time ally, the paper argued that even if the reclusive nation was to turn completely on China and side with the U.S., there would be "no serious ramifications." In the Global Times' view, China's increasing political and economic clout would negate such newfound hostility. "China is never afraid of Pyongyang," the paper declared. "If Pyongyang gets tough with China, China should strike back hard, even at the cost of deteriorating bilateral relations." Despite the tough talk, China's Foreign Ministry maintained its official position on North Korea, expressing concern about the situation and calling for more engagement between the embattled parties. "China is extremely concerned by the way things are going," spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. "We oppose any behavior which may exacerbate the situation and any acts which are not beneficial towards the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. "We call on all the relevant sides to remain calm and exercise restraint and earnestly work hard to maintain peace and stability in the Korean peninsula," she added. The Global Times, a hard-line state-owned newspaper, has long taken a strong nationalist bent in its opinions, which while tacitly allowed by state censors, does not always reflect the official position of the government. "Many people outside of China think that the Global Times is the official voice of the Chinese government," said Wang Junsheng, a North Korea researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Science. "But the paper is mostly commercial and doesn't represent the government's official point of view." That isn't to say that the Global Times' editorials aren't representative of the views of many Chinese and Communist Party officials. But such editorials help Beijing to gauge public opinion within China while also serving as an effective safety valve with which the Communist Party can ratchet up and ease nationalism when needed. Zhang Liangui, professor of international strategic research at the Party School of the China Communist Party Central Committee, believes that in this case, the editor accurately conveyed public opinion in China on the North Korea question. "This article only represents a reporter's point of view, but I think he really expressed what many people in China are thinking must be done," Zhang said. Like the editorial, Zhang argues that China should take a stand against the nuclear test and that China should take the additional step of enforcing sanctions on North Korea should the test go ahead. "If North Korea performs this test, it is necessary for North Korea to pay a price," Zhang said. "North Korea is a small country and is very close to China, so the nuclear test will have an impact on China's security." Discuss this post China should use the same methods to gather information on North Korea that they use on the US -- place spies in high tech jobs all over the country. They should then determine when the next nuclear test will be held and send a ground-hugging nuclear missile to strike that site at the same time the test is detonated. Not only would it surprise the NK scientists, who would all be in the blast zone, but it might send a real message to Kim Jong Un that his efforts are going to eventually get his entire country made into glass if he doesn't stop his incessant saber rattling. China has the will and the way to stop the NK nuclear research, but until now has sat back and allowed the US and UN to take all the flak from the self-important, self-impressed little fat boy with his 'all bark and no bite' attitude. The only problem with that plan? It's easy for a Chinese spy to infiltrate the US: we're a nation of immigrants, and there have been Chinese here since the Spanish owned California. However, it's not easy for Han Chinese to just "fit in" in North Korea. They're different. Heck, even if some 2 million ethnic Koreans that live in China could be trained as spys, THEY'D still be suspect since they look and speak differently too. North Koreans are shorter than South and Chinese Koreans, and their language is so colored by patriotic code it woudl be very easy to fit in. It would also take years or even decades to get into "secured" positions, since they wouldn't start off with membership in the Communist Party and without a lineage it would be hard to get. Can you name a non-warmongering power? From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, every single country on the Earth is warring with somebody or has within the last 100 years. Some war within themselves (Ivory Coast, Syria) some within other countries (US, Canada, UK, etc in Afghanistan) and some technically because a war is not over (Australia is still at war with North Korea). But all war with someone. Devils Son: that comment made no sense whatsoever. You trapped in a 1960's time warp? If anything, the plug works the other way, with 17 million starved, exhausted, abused North Korean civilians all trying to swim the Yalu River without getting machine-gunned by their own army. China wants a plug, all right... There's a video game where one gets to attack NY skyscrapers? That's kind of offensive right there, given 9/11. I know about Call of Duty, of course.. but I didn't know it actually lets you attack American civilian targets. That's not really acceptable, for an American video game. It does little good to argue with these city monkeys. They have no understanding of the Constitution. Hell they don't even know what sta'bard means. They think the Bill of Rights guarantees our freedoms, or somehow grants our freedoms. They got the whole thing backwards, but then what do expect from a bunch of loser 'Serfs', dependent upon the "Lord of the Manor"(Uncle Sam) to take care of them. Mike Wig Jake Reyna are trolls, and even though we shouldn't feed the Trolls, we must at least let them know we know they are trolls. So, good call HardtoStarboardWell said you dang 'ole farmboy! I've had this argument with numerous "city monkeys" (no offence to monkeys), but they (entrenched leftists) have it dead set that anyone who DOESN'T live in a big city is a knuckle-dragging, gun toting, root-n-tootin redneck! You can't tell these cultural degenerates anything, especially if it shines a negative light on the "Lord, and almighty savior, Barack Obama" - Jamie "I'm a freaking idiot" Fox. I agree. I really don't care for either the GOP or the NRA (although I was a member of both in the '80s) Heck, I can't even decide who I'd rather laugh at, shoot at, or sh!t on between the two, but I do know that Mike Wig is an idiot troll. And before you bash him too hard, remember that over 3 MILLION people voted for Barack HUSSEIN Obama than did for Mitt Romney. The voters HAVE spoken. When you use terms like, "libby douche" and "city monkeys," you are forcing yourself to be seen as in the same category as Todd Akin, Glenn Beck, and Larry Craig, not to mention Fox News who's "Fair and Balanced" motto is laughable, even by my conservative friends. Do you really want to be seen as hypocrites, liars and idiots? The country voted in favor of a LIBERAL President in record numbers and completely took the Tea Party and Republicans by surprise. It's because you all tell yourselves these things that are not true over and over again until you believe them. Like the only criminals are illegal Mexicans. And that all liberals want free everything. And that Obama wants to remove the 2nd amendment and take away all of your (or any of your) guns. That is simply not true, but I read it in these idiotic posts every day! Unbelievable! Do you remember when Karl Rove and Megyn Kelly told themselves repeatedly that Romney was going to walk with Ohio and win the election? They were SO convinced that they fought with their own Decision Desk! The rational people of this country (the vast majority of the population) saw right through the lies and misdeeds of the Tea/Publicans and voted for sanity instead. Pull your heads out and start working on who you are; because the old guard, racist, bullying Tea Party and Republican party are on their way out unless you all change your image. We are entering a time when people just want to be left alone. Women want to be in control of their bodies for instance. Why, why, why do Republicans constantly say that they want less government and less federal laws, but then want to amend the Constitution to ban abortions and gay marriage?? Talk about hypocritical hyperbole! Do you all see that most of the country and the rest of the world see you all as jokes? It's impossible not to. OK, so we have an adult in the room, ready for some serious discussion? Although , "I can't even decide who I'd rather laugh at, shoot at, or sh!t on between the two", doesn't sound all that grown up to me. Agreed, Mike Wig is a troll, and I responded to a troll, in a troll's language. Actually 4.9 million more voters voted for Obama, that is less than 2% of the population, and roughly 3.8% of the electorate, hardly a smashing victory, even though he had all but one of the MSM networks cheering him on, and putting forth a large amount of Propaganda in his favor. If you want a example of the "voters have spoken" How about Reagan over Carter by 9.75%, Reagan over Mondale by 18.2%. How about GH Bush over Dukakis by 7.8% And Clinton only won because of Perot in 92. (it is estimated that had Perot not run, Bush would have by 6 or 7%) And I will agree, Fox is a conservative based network, but the rest are certainly Liberal based or at least left leaning, Especially MSNBC/NBC. Even if you do watch several networks, rarely do you still get the whole story. There is no more Journalism in this country. Only biased reporting, and commentary. I can point to a number of hypocrites, liars and idiots on the other side of the isle as well. The last time I looked, voter turn out was about 5% lower than 2008, and 3% lower than 2004. And I can point to a number of "Liberal" commentators who nearly went into apoplectic when Bush was re-elect. And Really, 3.8% margin of the 51% of the 57.5% of the electorate, "the vast majority of the population". Now who is talking hyperbole? (I'll do the math for you, 65,899,660 who voted for Obama out of 224,460,281 registered voters or 29.3% of all voters) That means more voters abstained from voting, than voted for Obama, by 13.2%) And I read idiotic posts all them time from the other side of the isle as well, let's not be one sided about this. What is true, is that crime rates, at least in most cities I am aware of, are higher, in the areas with higher concentrations of minorities, also, prison have a population of minority prisoners, than is not commensurate with the overall general population. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) blacks accounted for 39.4% of the total prison and jail population in 2009. According to the 2010 census of the US Census Bureau blacks comprised 13.6% of the US population. Hispanics (of all races) were 20.6% of the total jail and prison population in 2009. Hispanics comprised 16.3% of the US population according to the 2010 US census. Connecticut has the highest Hispanic-to-White ratio with 6.6 Hispanic males for every white male. The National Average Hispanic-to-White ratio is 1.8. Other states with high Hispanic-to-White ratios include Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York. (all of which are very Liberal areas I might add, so is it racism?) Illegal immigrants, usually Mexican nationals, also make up a substantial number of Hispanics incarcerated. In 2010: black males were incarcerated at the rate of 4,347 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents of the same race and gender. Hispanic males were incarcerated at the rate of 1,755 inmates per 100,000 White males were incarcerated at the rate of 678 inmates per 100,000 "All liberal want free stuff" Well who exactly is the party calling for food stamps, 'free' birth control pills, free phones or phone service? Etc, etc, and then who is clamoring to raise the taxes on the wealthy to pay their fair share, and please tell me what fait is? As far as the 2nd Amendment goes, it is already infringed upon, but I doubt you'd understand that, as I am guessing you are one of those who believe the US Constitution is the grantor, or guarantor of our rights. But I guess since it is already being done, a little more won't hurt. "Women want to be in control of their bodies for instance." How are women not in CONTROL of their bodies? Last time I checked, a woman could decide (choose) with whom and when she could have sex. Anything else is rape, even with a husband. How many CHOICES do women need? And how about the father, the male counterparts, of this equation? Where is their Right to their Reproduction? What about a husband, who wants to have children, the wife says no and gets an abortion? What about a guy, doesn't want children, is he asked if he wants an abortion? NO, he gets stuck paying child support for 18 years, and risks jail and loss of Rights if he doesn't. Federal Laws are supposed to be applied equally. And yes, I want to be left alone, I don't want or need the EPA, OSHA or the Equal Rights Act telling me how to run my business. And I don't want to be taxed to death, to pay welfare (child support in essence) for a child I did not produce, and to pay for prisons filled with those who come from these "Homes", and a myriad of other Government Programs, that are demonstrably failures. And if you want to see bullies, go to a Conservative Rally sometime and watch the liberals. How many times have you seen a group of liberals shout down a speaker, and compare that to how many time it happens in reverse. Some thing else to think about, in the last 80 years, Democrats have had simultaneous control of both houses of Congress for 52 of those years, the Republicans on 14. Yet some how, all the problems today are Republicans fault. Some thing odd about thatMike Wig, there are other editorials in which to place your blathering comments. This is one about a serious subject, if not resolved, could result in hundreds of thousand, if not millions of people being hurt/killed. You should read more, and comment less......unless you are trying to prove what all (who have read your comment) now know. I live in South Korea. The South now has an AWACS-type plane up in the air, and they have threatened to shoot down any missle from the North. If any of you think this is a laughing matter, you are highly mistaken. China could stop this in a heartbeat. They are the key to this whole thing......and to North Korea. It is their aid...their help....that is keeping the country of North Korea afloat. What you just read is a comment in a private newspaper of China's. What we know about the talks between the North and Chinese gov't people.....is nothing. The North and China are both playing games. If it was the North by itself, then that would be one thing. But, enter China, and it becomes a whole different, dangerous situation. And, our government officials, hopefully, know this. (It could keep them from making a terribly costly mistake in judgment.) The ONLY real reason that China is giving food aid and fuel oil to North Korea is that they fear that too much more starvation may actually incite riots that end up with hundreds of thousands of North Korean refugees in South China. They already have a substantial problem with this, but China is still the "Merchant Kingdon." It is cheaper to give NK a little foreign aid than it is to feed, clothe and house hunsdreds of thousands of poorly-trained, poorly-educated NK subsistence peasants. Malnutrition in NK has been so bad that the average North Korean is 15+ IQ points lower than the average South Korean. Every country plays political "games" to some extent. This is pretty normal since each country seeks to emphasize only the side of issues that favors themselves. More reason than that is not necesssary. hikeimts, you are so right, this is no laughing matter and China is the key. Unfortunetly far to many do not understand Chinas position. Or the seriousness of the current Korean situation because it has been a repeated scenario, over one issue or another, for most of their lives. That the sudden call of alarm, one day, just fades away to nothing of importance the next. Ignorance of Chinas concerns could result in a costly mistake for sure. Far to many do not understand that no matter how crazy North Koreas actions are or how obvious it seems that China, is not/could not/should not, be in agreement with them, they must. That just as irrational as North Korea seems the relationship makes the Chinese position on issues just as mysterious. As China to North Korea is just like the relationship within a family, compared to an outsider. While you (North Korea) may be a fool and all your family (China) agree and say so. Heaven (not literally) help the outsider (any western ally) who dares to call you a fool in the presence of your family. We can hope this is good news and the obvious choice for China. We still can not take this as okay with China to do as we please to North Korea without having to confront them also. Because no matter what threats North Korea may make, at the end of the day, China will always weigh having the little madman or the big bad west at their border and the flood of immigrants fleeing any military assault. Even when it seems to all the world, short of a continued military assault, what North Korea is doing can not be tolerated, any move without giving China the opportunity to reel in North Koreas aggression, China, for their own security will side with North Korea. Until the day comes that China is more concerned having North Korea at their border than they fear western expansion. And make no mistake Chinas fear of western expansion is just as strong as the fear of spreading communism was to the US. It may not be any more rational but it is what makes us all shake our heads and ask how can China even consider supporting North Korea in such concerning actions. And why North Korea can get away with sinking ships and shooting missiles at (disputed) South Korean islands without an all out military response. China will not tolerate the west at their border even if they are South Korean. So the fear of escalation and China having no choice but to insure a buffer zone against the west. Allows North Korea a great deal of tolerance that they are pushing the limits of. Our problem is figuring out if China is truly becoming feed up and takes action on their own or are they pulling the strings? A question of concern when all so looking at the tensions in the Pacific. Actually, that's not true. All China can really do is cut off fuel and food shipments, and that might put it in the sights of the loonies running the DPRK.. including floods of refugees and possibly terror attacks. China has no ability to invade a country that has a bigger army that it does, as many main artillery pieces, and a reputation for kamikaze warfare. North Korea can field 5-7 million trained soldiers, and the ability to draft three times that number, because it's entire society is basically run like a mobilized military corps. The Chinese PLA has, what, 94 divisions, about a third of which are actually combat ready?.. and China hasn't had a draft since.. ever. China might be able to put 300,000 boots into North Korea at a time, and there's huge street protests every time a single Chinese UN Peacekeeper comes home in a body bag. This would be against a minimum of 5 million North Koreans and probably several times that many total armed defenders. Even with superior air and naval power, China would just find itself involved in its own version of Vietnam... right on its border. It would take a combined multi-national force, led by both Chinese and American assets, to attack and hold territory in North Korea, and why would we possibly want to help the Chinese do that? You are all that correct about the Sino-North Korean relationship. Some reasons I say that: 1) China and North Korea are linguistically and culturally as night and day. The two countries have never been more than the de facto relationship that would would expect to see between countries with a common border. China has never been more of an ally except to further China's own self-interest. In fact this is true of all countries that border on China. Look at the books for the past 100 or so years. China has been at war with Korea, Vietnam, India, Tibet, Pakistan, Burma, the USSR and more. These countries hate China for being a sort of "neighborhood bully" 2) China only helped North Korea in the Korean was because MacArthur's drive to the Yalu was pushing millions of refugees ahead of it. This was a burden that China was not willing to accept. So they intervened, not to destroy the UN forces, but just to drive them back to their starting place at the 38th Parallel. The seesaw nature of the Korean War really kept China in the dark about US intentions and goals in Korea. But the Chinese were very quick to pull out of Korea as soon as the Armistice was signed. 3) North Korea did not start out as a client state of China. At Yalta Stalin persuaded Churchill and FDR to divide the country and effectively make NK a client of the Soviet Union. Because the USSR had had so much trouble with Chinese military incursions, the Soviets saw it as useful to have a "friendly" country that abutted China. This remained so until the fall of the USSR. Kim Il-Sung was trained in the Soviet Union and they were the ones who put him into power and the country that supplied most of NK's foreign aid since 1953. 4) All these countries hate Japan about equally. Their common hatred of the Japanese, left over from the Japanese atrocities of WWII, would be about the only thing that might unite the Chinese and North Koreans in joint offensive military operations. 5) Most Americans do not realize that the Soviet Union dropped China as an ally like a hot potato after the Sino-Russian War in 1969. Until then, China had had little to no influence over North Korea and afterward there was still much more Soviet than Chinese influence until the dissolution of the Soviet Empire. These days neither Russia nor China have any interest in having close relations with North Korea --- they're just more trouble than they're worth. 6) The North Koreans are not considered part of the Chinese "family" because the cultures and language is so different. The same applies to Tibet and Vietnam etc. The only "family" China has like that is Taiwan which China considers a rogue state that is still a province (state) of China. None of the major Oriental powers --- China, Japan, Vietnam etc get along very well. Most of this is residual from the the Japanese atrocities of WWII. But if you had ever lived in the Far East you would realize that Chinese are "friends" only with Chinese. 7) The Chinese-North Korean Border is one of the most heavily guarded borders in the world. The Chinese do not want North Korean "mice" as refugees and shoot any who attempt to cross and the North Koreans also shoot at them. If they do manage to sneal into China and are caught, they are handed back to North Korea to be executed. Does that sound like North Korea is a puppet of China? 8) Much of the same rhetoric was spewed about Vietnam and China and how China was using Vietnam to somehow harass the US. In fact, the Vietnamese and Chinese are bitter enemies that have hated one another for centuries. Again, the Soviet Union was much more of an influence than China. In fact, the Sino-Chinese War of 1979 resulted in some serious kicking of Chinese butts who fled back over their border back into China. 9) It is hard to describe either the North Koreans or the Chinese as "irrational" since that implies a lack of reasoning ability or sound judgment on their parts. In fact, the North Koreans are cold, ruthless people who have been conducting a very high-stakes game of brinkmanship for 60 years and always winning. 10) China is supplying North Korea around $80 million in food aid. They stopped selling them fuel oil when North Korea dropped out of the Six-Party Disarmament Talks. They do not give North Korea any military aid. In international terms, this is a paltry amount at best. 11) The reason that North Korea can get away with thing like sinking the Chongnan is that in provocative incidents going back to the late 1950's neither the civilian leadership nor the military has ever been able to come up with a response that was acceptable. Every President since Truman has wrestled with the problem and not a single one ever came up with any workable retaliation or punishment. 12) Have you stopped to think about what would happen if a shooting war was begun in Korea? If there was the slightest bit of Chinese assistance or aid, the US would immediately stop interest payments on the debt held by China. That would immediately make the bonds worthless and plunge China into a serious depression --- much worse that the depression that hit Japan in 1990. 13) China already tolerates "western" powers at its border and has done so for centuries. And I have no idea where you got the hare-brained idea that China is afraid of "American expansionism." That's just foolish. You know, it is ofter a better policy to not post long rants if you do not have any idea what you are talking about. It would be better to wonder how, if NK is only a client state of China, and its leaders are only cartoon-like characters and its military is so inferior to ours, how it is that they sunk the Chongnan. This was a modern anti-submarine corvette on patrol and on alert in the Yellow Sea. It was sunk by an advanced diesel-electric sub with torpedos built by the North Koreans. These subs are coated with SONAR-absorbing coatings and can lie in the mud of the Yellow Sea or the Sea of Japan without surfacing. On several occasions North Korean subs have surfaced near Amnerican surface ships without being detected or having any warning. These are people to be taken very seriously. And on their own since there is no Sino-North Korean conspiracy as you seem to think. SF, I to was under the same impression, all though independant in China will never mean the same to us. They are government friendly in that they must print what the government wants and are very limited when the government wants to limit the information or sway the information. But in risking life and limb some do sometimes stretch the government bull to truth and then pay for doing so. Well, there's a subtle but important difference between "printing what the government wants" and "not printing what the government doesn't want to hear". As far as I know Chinese media is firmly stuck in the latter situation, getting to pen their own articles on topics of their choice but having them vetted by very conservative editors and government censors. I could be wrong, though. The unclear relationship between the media and government in China is as much of a flaw as the explicit censoring. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that many media outlets considered "independent" actually ran stories literally penned by government officialsNo, it could be used much more easily on China than on us. The problem for N. Korea is that without Chinese aid...they're screwed (starvation in biblical proportions). And no, China doesn't think it's all right. If they did, you wouldn't see an editorial like that in a Chinese paper. For years N. Korea has been useful as China's "bad boy". But like all bad boys, one day they become a liability (think Saddam Hussein, useful in the 80s...not so much in the 90s - 2000s) . We're witnessing the falling out. china state run media. i take it is the same thing as the so called public television in the united states. its funny how the united states news media always has to make it sound bad. they are no better than anyone else. Anyone who thinks China IS NOT controlling everything N. Korea does, is naive. If anything, they are being used to "test response reaction" from the west, to see how far they (Chinese) can push the envelope. What makes you think that North Korea is China's puppet? Because China gives them critical aid? If it were that easy to bribe them into submission, there would be no conflict with NK; shovel a few billion dollars and crates of food into the country and they'd shut up and keep to themselves. North Korea is EXTREMELY nationalistic, to the point that even the Chinese find them fanatical. That nationalism makes them hard to deal with even for China. If NK thinks China is starting to turn on them, it's unlikely they'll back down quietly. I find it funny that the Chinese are admonishing the N. Koreans for their "sabre rattling" techniques, when they themselves are doing the exact same thing in the South China Sea. Hello pot, my name is kettle... Give me a break. China has no concern regarding US "expansion". They know as well as us that we can no longer afford "expansion". China doesn't need NK at all. In fact, they are a serious liability to China's goal to establish themselves as the #1 World Player. They're also not happy with the stream of starving Koreans crossing their border. Both those things come with a political, diplomatic, and economic price, Quarant. It's not as simple as ranking one issue above the other. At one point the Chinese leaders are going to wonder exactly what they're giving up to prevent so-called US expansion, and wonder which country is a greater threat to their sovereignty and regional stability. If anyone remembers any of my past comments on China's position in regard to North Korea's chest pounding pomposity, then they will remember that I had mentioned China's need to yank Pyongyang's chain. It seems that a finger has finally been pointed in junior blimp boy Kim Jung il's direction. The last thing China needs now is a Nuclear armed loose cannon at its doorstep while it's trying to show the world that it has come of age as a regional leader. The Neanderthal nature of the North Korean model is unwanted by today's China. The best case scenario from China's point of view (as I have said in the past) would be to invite the 'Bowl Cut' buffoon and his military leaders to a "Tea Summit" in Beijing and cap them all; move into North Korea; assimilate it while gaining even more strategic positioning on the Korean peninsula; open trade and invite investment and save what's left of the starving North Korean population while making themselves look (almost) like heroes. It would definitely benefit China. I completely agree with your analysis of China's opinion toward NK, but I have to disagree with your "best-case scenario". China having to invade North Korea, an overgrown, highly militarized backwater mudhole, and then adminster it as a new territory full of underfed, uneducated, unproductive citizens (probably with a persisting nationalist rebellion to root out) is probably more like a second-to-worst-case scenario, narrowly beating out a nuclear missile flying off in the wrong direction and landing on Beijing. The two reasons that China want North Korea to remain stable is to keep the American troops in South Korea away from their borders and to keep the North Koreans in North Korea so they don't have to deal with them. Annexing the country would defeat both those purposes while taking a considerable military toll on China. The situation is a tad more complex than that. No one wants to "assimilate" North Korea, and it is really doubtful that anyone can. The South Koreans, especially the younger better-educated ones, are now moving toward the position that reunification and assimilation are not practical or perhaps even feasible. They watched while Germany struggled to assimilare East Germany. East Germany's workforce was poorly-trained, poorly-educated, and had little to no work ethic or work habits. Their factories were vintage 1955 junk and the country was riddled with massive pollution problems. While Germanyb has not finished reintegration, it nearly has bankrupt them. Without the ability to use the ECC to effectively loot the economies of Greece, Italy and Spain, Germany would have been bankrupted by the effort. North Koreans are even worse. NK does not have the ability to feed itself. It has no exports except for arms and illegal activities. Its industrial capacity, outside of the munitions industry, is early 1950's vintage and broken down. Even the munitions industry is pretty much late 1960's. As with East Germany, pollution is rampant and very, very serious. But worst of all are the North Korean people. They are far worse in job training and education that East Germany ever was. And widespread malnutrition has been so bad that the average North Korean is 15+ IQ points lower than the average South Korean. And if you only compared NK peasants to South Koreans it would be well over 20+ IQ goints. So the idea of "assimilating" them is a silly pipe dream, though not nearly as stupid as "invite(ing) the 'Bowl Cut' buffoon and his military leaders to a "Tea Summit" in Beijing and cap(ing) them all." That one borders on sheer lunacy. Yep, read it. I read everything I can get my hands on about North Korea (and that's not much) because years ago I was a North Korean intelligence analyst. If anything the book is a little too upbeat and optimistic about North Koreans because it follows a half dozen people until they escape from the country. The vast majority of the people do not have that initiative or courage. They are either brainwashed to the point that they believe everything the leadership says or they are so beaten down that they don;t think at all. I got to sit in on "interviews" of a number of captured North Korean "commandos" and that was very revealing to me. They were astounded at the quality of life in the South and were simply stunned that the South Korean people were not on the edge of a massive revolution to overthrow their government. After interrogations of these captured soldiers (about a year or so) they would simply give the guy a limo and a credit card and tell him to explore Seoul on his own for 12 hours. Most would not make it past the first shopping mall they entered. When they came back they were usually quite certain that evereything the North Korean government had told them was a lie. If they were "converted" they were allowed to become South Korean citizens after an involved process. If they were not 100% convinved they were executed as spies and buried in unbmarked graves to separate them from their families and ancestors forever. I would bet that IF the Chinese decided to do whatever they felt needed to be done, they would do it. The North Korean military would put up a fight and the Chinese would most certainly overwhelm them. The South would most certainly get whacked if the PLA steps foot on North Korean soil. The mention that NK military support industry is 60's vintage is most certainly correct as is the fact that their logistical supplies and supply systems leaves much to be desired and would be overwhelmed in days. China sees the need and feels the pressure to do something. That something is finger pointing and chastising at the moment. The last thing China needs, and it knows it, is a nuclear armed wannabe next door. China is very sensitive in regard to their appearance (now) on the world stage. To have a bipolar harbinger of destruction yanking on its coattails offends. At one time in China's history, it was probably considered a joke as the West postured with the buffoon's daddy and grand daddy, post Korean conflict. China wants to write its regions history and the North Korean government hasn't taken the hint yet. You can be assured that they will. With North Korea's population approximately that of our state of Pennsylvania; Largely agrarian; large segments of the population actually dieing of starvation; Malnutrition; disease ridden and generally having their will to fight sucked right out of them, I doubt the folks with the wooden pitch forks, bare feet, bloated bellies, gum disease, rickets and the myriad of other ailments would help the fat slob and his well fed henchmen put up much of a fight. And as far as assimilating the North Koreans, they probably wouldn't have to. Just install whatever Chinese politician tasked supported by divisions of troops needed to retain control. Pop the brainwashed military leaders who fail the vetting. The world's do-gooders would stampede to NK with food; medical aid; agricultural help; Construction equipment and expertise; demilitarize the Korean borders and THAT would send the U.S. military packing in short order. Trade would blossom between the two and China would gain another superior advantage tactically and strategically with two shore lines on the North Korean peninsula, plus an 'atta boy' on the world stage. Junior blimp boy could run amusement rides (the rocket ship) at the new Disney in Pyongyang unless his native population gets their hands on him and he gets the Benito Mussolini treatment. Yes, China could look brilliant, but in the short term South Korea could get whacked, but I never cared for the people who really don't want us there in the first place........ ...........and, oh yeah. I forgot the recent articles which mention the Chinese Military's apparent NEED to flex it's new found (stolen) military might. We seem to get to 'test' our equipment worldwide, on a regular basis and the bosses in the Chinese military feel that it's about time that they too, draw blood through war themselves.....KILL!....KILL!....KILL!...... ....and just think, the stupid American 40+ year, CHRONIC trade imbalance made it all possible! When is the rest of the world going to realize that North Korea is in bed with Iran - these 2 countries hate everybody else and are just waiting for the right time to do their dirty work. Sad that the U.S. has gone so far down morally and spiritually - God's protection on this country won't last as our countries leaders are fueling this downgrade. Lord, I pray for each and every American that their hearts will be turned to YOU and repent of their evil ways and bring this country back to the greatness we were blessed with in former years. Your prayer rug isn't going to help. Why are you so frightened of these people? Are you familiar with the "little man syndrome"? That's what this is on a national scale. If either or both of them attacked the US the damage would be minimal (relatively speaking) while their entire nations would be utterly obliterated. One Ohio Class Nuclear Attack Submarine could rain down 96 nuclear warheads on them at any given time with about 5 minutes warning. We have 18 of those. Do you suppose we have a few off the Iranian and N. Korean coasts? And Ol Doc is right: Iran and North Korea are little annoyances, throwbacks to much more dangerous times when there was a REAL threat of planetary annihilation via nuclear war. You think we're worse off now than during the Cold War? Ludicrous. I'll take the North Koreans over the Soviets any decade. You think we're worse off now than during the Cold War? Ludicrous. I'll take the North Koreans over the Soviets any decade. Here's the weird thing about all the Iranian/NK paranoia; these are former Soviet satellite countries that we used to test our weapons systems on (as did the Soviets) by "encouraging" wars with other satellite countries. Now some paranoid individuals are trying to make them "archenemies". It's a little like sending Special Operations Command after "Fat Bastard" ("I want my baby back, baby back, baby back"). Folks, they are not in a class to be archenemies. Perhaps SF, but I think the thrill is gone from that love affair. As I mentioned in another post, NK was China's "bad boy" and useful as such...enter the new world order with a possibility of China being a real world stage player...NK is now more trouble than they are worth. Especially since China has to feed starving NK refugees who cross the border. The US should respond to North Korea's blustering with a picture of a very large and well maintained parking lot in the shape of North Korea. China is going to need more parking soon, so that's the business model. Kim Jong XBox seems to be taking himself seriously instead of realizing that it's all just a big video game with good graphics. In case you haven't noticed, the US ain't exactly "Adept" at influencing ANYBODY these days. Oh sure, we can send in a couple of armies and blow the Hell out of everything and destroy a country's entire military inventory, but to actually establish a government that represents the people instead of some petty wannabe puppet dictator...well we have no friggin' clue how to do that. Mainly we just F$%& things up even more and the people end up suffering for a couple of decades after. I guess that's why we're so popular in Pull Start Head country... no one imposes a permanent government on an occupied nation successfully... Well, actually here's a very short and incomplete list off the top of my head. Some are still going on, by I'd call anything over two generations (40+ years) as being as close to permanent as one can home for. 1453 to present: Byzantium by Ottomans (that's 560 years and counting...) 1494 to 1820s: Whole of South America, by Spain & Portugal 1858 to 1947: India & Pakistan by UK 1898 to present: Puerto Rico by US 1898 to 1946: Philippines by US 1899 to 1938: China by the Eight Nation Alliance (US, UK, Russia, Japan, France, Germany, Italy & Austria-Hungary). 1903 to present: Panama by US 1908 to 1960: Congo by Belgium 1945 to present: Japan by US 1945 to present: (West) Germany by US, UK & France 1945 to 1990 : Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, & Albania by USSR 1960 to present: Malaysia by UK Direct rule is not exactly "nation building" now is it! Which one of those examples you cited tried to form a government to "represent the people"? In the final analysis, the only true influence one nation has ever had over another is force of arms, threat of force of arms, or economic pressure. @Ol Doc: Direct rule is not exactly "nation building" now is it! Which one of those examples you cited tried to form a government to "represent the people"? All I'm pointing out is that "some do manage to impose a permanent government on an occupied nation successfully." If you're invading, who cares about the will of the occupied people? the only true influence one nation has ever had over another is force of arms, threat of force of arms, or economic pressure. ..What else actually matters when we're at that level? Understand something....America has ZERO influence in what is going on in N.Korea; we owe China TRILLIONS of dollars, we can't fart without asking China's permission these days. Whatever China wants to do with North Korea will NOT be subject to the whims of Obama, South Korea, or MSNBC. This whole story is a joke; the leaders of China will simply make one LOCAL phone call to the "little man" and tell him what/when to do whatever they want. Putting aside that Amused is correct - US citizens hold more government debt than China - the fact that we owe mind-boggling sums of money to China does not give them any sort of special leverage over us. As long as we can make the contracted payments on time (which we do), our obligations to China is fulfilled. We don't need to ask their permission for anything, much less to run our foreign policy as we wish. You seem to be conflating our position with that of Germany in the EU, in which debtor nations are asking Germany for MORE money; were that the case, then that would provide the creditor nation leverage to ask for additional conditions. That is not the case with North Korea, and in fact the actions and intentions of the United States are very important in this geopolitical conflict. China has reduced its holdings from $1.31 trillion in June 2011 to $1.16 trillion in June 2012, which put them a shave above Japan at $1.13 trillion. All told, China owns about 8% of US debt, which is a considerable percentage but nowhere near "owning us". And as the Chinese economy is cooling, there is a high probability that they will continue shedding T-Bills. After all, they wo;; need the money and the US interest rate is going to be held at zero for at least another couple	eng	69a86752-7547-4fba-958c-5a2ead55d6f3	http://behindthewall.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/06/16867952-china-state-media-north-korea-would-pay-a-heavy-price-for-nuclear-test
forest house Tuesday, November 27, 2012 i don't have a sleep schedule. i'm all over the place and always have been. this has gotten me into a great deal of trouble with jobs, social events etc. one of the ways to try to ensure you can get up early when you're not used to it is to just stay up the night before. i do this all the time but the pattern never seems to hold... there's lots of other reasons to stay up all night of course: to study, to work, to talk to that awesome new person you just met, or just because you're not tired but don't want to sleep through the whole next day. since i've done this entirely more often than i'd like to admit, i present to you some tips for doing this when you need or want to: -sleep late the day before. ok, this might be the reason you're not tired now. that said, if you're planning this in advance, try to sleep as late as possible the previous day or take a few hours nap. -do not lay down for a "power nap" at any point once the night of wakefulness has begun. you'll tell yourself you'll only sleep for 20 min. you wont. you'll sleep for 9 hours. and then wake up panicking -if possible, get some exercise right around your normal bed time. not so much that you're tired, just enough to get the blood flowing. jog around the block. do a sun salutation. dance in your underwear. -don't start the caffeine until you really really have to. once you start you will be dependant upon it until you go to bed, lest your caffeine high come crashing down and take you with it. wait until you're starting to drag and then spend 15 min making the perfect cup of coffee. savour it. have another. -keep yourself occupied. if you're awake to work, then do so. if you're just resetting your pattern you can indulge your internet addiction, have a marathon of an exciting show that will keep you up, clean your house, talk to your friend in australia, cook something elaborate, write a blog post, you get the idea -once you start with the caffeine, be sure to also monitor your water intake. dehydration will make you tired and counter the affect of all that lovely coffee. aim for at least the same amount of water as the caffeinated beverage, if not more. i said WATER, not juice or soda or anything else. just. water. yes this will make you have to pee every 30 min. that keeps you awake too. -remember to eat something every few hours. not a heavy meal that will give you food coma. opt for slow burning carbs (apples, whole grains) and protein. your body needs fuel. you can deprive it of food or sleep but not both. -crank up the music. silence is sleep-inducing. put on energetic music that makes you want to move -cool off. go outside, have a cool shower, splash cold water on your face. cold tends to wake you up. if you're one of those strange people that get tired in the cold but can't sleep in heat then go put on 2 sweaters and another pair of socks -once the sun rises, it's a new day. stop thinking about the night before or how long you've been awake. treat it like you just got up early. go about your normal morning routine and stop thinking about how you spent the night, unless you're mooning over the hot person you've been talking to. then go ahead and revel and plan the next talkathon. -be patient with yourself for being moody. your brain needs rest to function properly and you're running it into the red zone. you're allowed to be grouchy, silly, stupid, slow, or all of the above. at some point i usually reach the stage where everything is irrationally funny. unfortunately that's generally followed pretty quickly by the stage where nothing is funny. ride the wave. tell people you're tired so they'll be patient with you. try to take it easy on yourself as much as possible. -do not put on any quiet, thoughtful movies. do not crank the heat up. sleepy animals or children are very contagious. do not drink alcohol. do not read a book. do not rest your head on your arm on your desk just for a minnn.vcb,n .................. Friday, November 23, 2012 keeping with my apparent theme of dissecting dating, can we talk about double standards and weirdness? first of all i'd like to say that i'm a little reluctant to publish this post because it will likely make me look like a slut or a crazy bitch. there's a lot wrong with that in itself. i should be able to write and publish anything i like without people thinking i'm talking about myself unless specified and i hate the term slut and all that it implies (see slut walk etc). what i'm saying here applies more or less to all genders and orientations but i think the difference is most pronounced when i'm trying to date men. stay with me here, it's not all bitching. to be clear, i do not hate males. i'm irritated with society as a whole, that includes me and you since we all participate in it. i'd like to see what we can do about fixing it. as ranty and unattractive as this article makes me look, i think it's important and i don't think i'm alone here. mind games: i'm a straightforward and honest person. i'm possibly too blunt but i expect people to take me at my word. i think it's a good thing. i also think that getting to know someone involves knowing their faults as well as their strengths and it's a fair part of choosing a partner. it makes me crazy that the official dating world seems to have all these insane rules about who calls first, how long you wait to contact someone, when you sleep with them, what it's ok to share and when, how you should look or hold yourself, how positive you should be, when you can consider it a "relationship", who you can ask for advice or support, etc ad nauseum. none of these rules make any kind of sense to me. i can understand that people are trying to protect themselves and have created rules as a way to manage risk. the problem is that none of these rule sets sync up and most of them defy common sense. if i could get away with bypassing this crap and just say "hey, this is how i feel about you and where i'd like us to go, what do you think?" it would be fine, but i can't. you know why? NO ONE takes me at my word. it's extremely rare for someone to refuse to play by the rules so it's assumed that even in saying that, i'm playing the game. i know quite a few people who run into exactly the same issue. the distrust runs so deep that even when someone is saying "i seriously have no double meaning here. i like you. i'd like to get to know you. that's all" people are having the reaction of "what do you really mean by that?" suspicious glare. does that sound totally crazy to anyone else? i shouldn't have to gauge how many days it's been since i last talked to someone and determine if that makes it appropriate for me to message them today. i shouldn't have to worry that my most straightforward and honest statements are going to be taken as "well if she's says THAT then what else is she NOT saying?" have you ever spoken to a paranoid schizophrenic who's off their meds? everything you say to them is taken as you being out to get them. even you saying you realize they're having problems with a mental illness and would like to help. that's how i feel when dealing with this kind of crap. guys are liked for being confident, girls are liked for being...what, exactly?: i realize it's hard for guys to be confident and assertive. no one's saying you have it easy, boys. you're often called upon to pay for everything (i call bullshit), initiate communication, make the first move, etc. all of that crap SUCKS. it doesn't make any sense for these pressures to fall on one partner simply because they have a dick. i have no problem with asking a guy out, calling first, making the first move, whatever. everywhere you go you'll hear that it's ok for girls to do so. the problem is that it labels me as "aggressive", no matter how gently i do so. if i was male my current dating style would probably be considered really meek and i'd be told to man up and grow a pair. because i was born with a vagina i usually feel like i'm barely walking the line of acceptable assertion without coming off as desperate. that annoys the fuck out of me. can we look at the definition of desperate for a moment? someone who is willing to be with ANYONE just to not be alone. to chase someone into the ground even if it's clear they're not interested, to compromise their own standards. someone who defines their own worth by having a partner and can't deal with being single. i see that behaviour more in 'player' type guys. the partners they want are only for a night or two but that doesn't make them any less desperate. is someone who's genuinely interested in one particular person and doing their best to get to know them and assess them as a potential mate in a respectful way meeting any of those criteria? the flip side, girls who are confident and sexual and go after what they want, may be liked initially since they take the unfair pressure off the guys, but how many of them are taken seriously as relationship material? that same confidence that makes them hot to sleep with tends to be taken as threatening or emasculating after a little while and girls don't generally end up with a healthy partnership that way. if you had to pick one trait that almost all girls would say is attractive in a guy(and mean it. and respond to it. and have it work long term), it would undoubtedly be confidence. you ask guys the same question and you'll probably get a similar (if less unified and enthusiastic) response, but it doesn't seem to actually work other than getting laid so i'm confused. guys are players, women are gold digging sluts: speaking of getting laid, are we not evolved enough as humans to dispense with the stereotype that women aren't supposed to like sex and men aren't supposed to like relationships? i don't think i have any male friends who are just looking to get laid. certainly there are guys who do that, just as there are women who do. there are shallow assholes or people just wanting to fulfil physical needs and not wanting an attachment in every group of humans. i tend to hang out primarily with men and they are all awesome guys. they would almost all prefer a healthier relationship to a one night stand. i also really like sex. i know very very few women who don't. not just for the lovey dovey connected feeling or as a way to keep a guy around (and certainly not to get him to buy me things, disgusting concept) but because sex is awesome! it feels great, it releases stress, it helps you sleep, it's good for you in a hundred ways. it can be an amazing spiritual love making connection with someone, or it can just be two people enjoying each other and having a great time! i think it's totally fine for women to safely seek out sex for whatever reason, with whomever they're comfortable with. i don't think they need to answer to anyone for that choice unless they're cheating on a partner. i also think that it's a bit sleazy to start counting your sex partners as if they were just conquests. considering there's a ton of different definitions of sex (see clerks, etc), it makes more sense to me to have a general estimate and a fluid concept of it. regardless of that number or estimate, you can't change what's already done anyways, nor does it mean you are in any way dirty or unsafe. i would rather sleep with someone who's had 50 partners and was safe and careful about it, than someone who's slept with 15 people but never used protection. they're a much higher risk and less responsible and respectful. sleeping with someone early in a relationship doesn't necessarily mean they aren't really into you as a person. even if it did, you were part of that decision, what does that say about you? on a semi-related note, expecting someone to buy you things just because you're sleeping with them means they are paying for sex and you are a prostitute. if you want to be in an adult relationship, act like an adult and pay for yourself. apply the same principals of sharing expenses that you do with your friends. the shift from early "dating" to a relationship: there's a host of conflicting and generally shitty advice out there for the initial dating stages, and the same amount of crap for established relationships. where exactly does one become the other? i would think it's when both parties talk about it and decide it is so, but that doesn't work for two reasons. the first being differing expectations before you have that conversation; some people think you should only ever be interested in or 'seeing' one person at a time. some people think you're free to see multiple people unless you've specifically said otherwise. same thing but more charged when it comes to who you're fucking. the second being the emotional shift after that conversation. if you're officially in a relationship there's the expectation that you're going to be more attached, rely on them more, etc. the problem is that all of these things take time. you can't just declare someone your bf/gf and suddenly you trust them with all your secrets and they are there for you whenever you need them and love you for evah and evah and evah (i think i'm getting cynical, i just flinched a bit at that). a conversation or an agreement is just that. it doesn't change your current relationship any more than you let it. there's a whole section of weirdness in that stage where a lot of couples fall apart that no one seems to really understand. the weirdness of the alt world: the majority of rules just simply don't apply to us. this is a social world where men and women are close friends really frequently and lots of people are polyamourous, pansexual, trangendered, bi, queer, or all of the above. the lines get muddy really fast. the good part about that is that it necessitates somewhat better communication. the bad part is that the few stereotypes and double standards and hangups that remain become even harder to figure out. i'd like to think i have a little influence in my community so maybe my rant here will help? things i think could fix this nonsense: say what you mean, take people at their word-starting a relationship with mistrust is a recipe for failure. if i say "i haven't made up my mind about you" it's not a polite way of saying no. if i say "i like you. lets hang out and see if we get along" it's not a marriage proposal. constantly looking for extra meanings where there are none is psychotic, and it makes everyone else involved psychotic too. suck it up and say what you really mean. make it known that you do so. standardize-if we must apply rules to make this silliness manageable, they should apply to everyone across the board and everyone should understand them. having a dozen sets of rules that apply only to one gender or the other makes things more confusing, not less. ideas on rules that make sense? stop policing other people's choices!-if two people choose to have a one night stand, that's their business. if someone had a crazy section of their youth where they slept with 50 people in a year, that doesn't mean it's still who they are. girls have as much right as guys to say yes or no to sharing their bodies with other people for any reason they like. judge someone by who they are as a person and how they treat you. not on how many people they've slept with in the past. talk to your partner, for the love of god!-we all have different communication styles and there will always be some differences in the way men and women think. that said, we are all just people and have way more in common than not. we all have insecurities and hangups. we all get depressed and awkward and nervous. this is part of being human. it's not something that needs to be fixed. be easy with it. tell the person you're interested in how you're feeling. if they're someone you want to date they'll think it's endearing, not unattractive. if you're confused about what your partner said, ask for clarification before you jump to conclusions. if you want to call or text someone, just do so. life and love and relationships shouldn't have to be this hard Thursday, August 9, 2012 so a friend recently posted the following link on FB: which i highly recommend, btw. i've seen quite a lot of similar stuff popping up in recent years. i think it's important that we talk about this. i think it's fantastic that a lot of it is being posted by my male feminist friends. i think it's necessary to put into words what we all see simmering below the surface and don't talk about. the thing is that some of the statistics in these articles really shock me and a lot of the things they talk about (like "the pact"), while i certainly know what they're talking about, DOES NOT HAPPEN IN MY COMMUNITY! i'm not remotely saying that there's no need for us to talk about it, rather i think the fact that we do is one of the reasons the alt community seems to me to be stronger and healthier than the mainstream world. we post articles like this, and then we talk about them. we consistently support each other and stand up for what we know to be right. we are politically active and fight for an end to bigotry and violence. i was recently writing about the differences in dating in the alt world vs the "normal" world and i think that has a lot to do with it. the community being small makes it easy to manage. in the 13 years i've been in our community, i have only heard about 2 incidents of people acting unacceptably (in the ways that would be defended or accepted in mainstream society). in one i was there for the aftermath where a guy showed up to a birthday party and a girl immediately wanted to leave because he had raped her. he was immediately asked to leave, everyone's opinion of him as a person changed radically, and we all stood behind her as having done nothing wrong. the other someone was drugged at a party. her friends immediately realized that she was not ok and took care of her. the person responsible was called out for it and is no longer welcome at any of our events. this is the place i proudly call home. i am surrounded by honourable men who do not put up with their friends preying upon women. i am surrounded by strong women who are not afraid to speak out and stand up for themselves. we do not find racist or homophobic or sexist jokes funny. we respect each-other as humans. if we are catty or dramatic, it is based on people's actions. stereotypes are not brought into it. all of my friends know that i was sexually abused as a child and have been sexually assaulted as an adult. i have never had anyone react to that knowledge in a negative or unsupportive way. i am female and pansexual and i never get discriminated against for it. coming from that basis of support gives me the strength to deal with people out in the "normal" world who are not so enlightened. it gives me the baseline for what is actually normal and sensible so i never consider other opinions may be true. i'm not battered with hatred and objectification on a daily basis. i keep it out of my life so it can't infect me like the plague it is. and i'm not afraid to walk down the street alone at night. i'm not afraid to be in an elevator with a strange man or cross a nasty area of town alone. i'm healthy and strong and capable of defending myself. i have my head on straight about reasonable risk. failing all that i carry a large knife and the training to use it. living in a healthy community gives me the strength to deal with an unsafe one. attending events and making friends here is a tacit agreement to abide by our rules. when we bring new people in we have a good idea that they are respectful and open minded. usually they share some interests but far more important is their attitude. i think that's why it's very common for people to come out to an event and immediately get the feeling "oh god, i'm home!". they are. this is what we were all looking for. the environment and the people where we fit. i'm not sure how we can extend these social rules into the rest of the world. maybe this kind of strict control only works in a small group or maybe that's the only reason we're able to be so different. i'm told that in cities where the alt community is huge it's the same. maybe it's just that we're used to being different in our clothing and our music and our interests. we don't care if our social rules are also different. we have no problem saying "i don't care if that's acceptable where you come from, that shit doesn't fly here". maybe it's just that the world needs to stop wearing their wishbone where their backbone aught to be. it starts with one person influencing their social group. it starts with one company choosing to market things in a way that focuses on their product without demeaning any group of people. it starts with you. stop wringing your hands. the next time your buddy makes a crack about getting a girl really drunk so he can get laid, don't laugh. tell him that's not fucking cool. stop going along with things. stand up and say no. people will respect you for it. eeps! it's been so long since i posted anything blogger has changed the whole layout. hopefully i'll be on here more in the near future. i wont bore you all silly with my news. if you care about such things i'm sure you've been kept informed on FB, etc. the point is that i finally have something new to say and the time to do so. i've been attempting recently to date outside of the alt world. the community is small and eventually you have either dated or discounted everyone in it. hence my testing the waters of dating in the "normal" community and getting really confused. i think i'm starting to understand why people do the modern formal dating ritual. it's a lack of trust thing. you meet in public to keep it safe. you don't trust the other person to like you so you dress up and spend too much money and act overly polite and bland. in the alt world we know and trust everyone to some extent so it's fine to hang out in private and it's fine to be ourselves. i think our way is better but it only works if all parties understand and agree to it. the goth world in insular because we all started as outcasts. the freaks no one liked. if you've ever wondered what became of the strange kids who thought that leggings, scraps of fabric and string made a great outfit, or that a dead bird was beautiful, that would be us. we found family and support and friendship together and learned to trust again, forming our own community. the rest of the world is not included in that trust. new people are brought in carefully and vouched for as safe and like-minded before being accepted. it's a bit like the bro code but far more specific and strict. we enforce our rules ruthlessly and unacceptable behaviour will lose you the trust of the community. we all know each other and we hear everything that goes on. there are no big secrets and you don't get away with shit. you also can't have feuds. the tribe is too small to not learn to get along. we accept each other's differences and revel in our shared interests. many of us are huge geeks. there's a lot of crossover to the hippy and punk and metal communities. i'll be talking about all of this under the umbrella of "alt" but it applies most accurately to goths as i'm examining our culture, i thought i would talk it out and provide some instruction for new people in the process. some differences: talking about sex in mixed company, even with people you don't know, and in detail, is totally fine as long as you're talking in general, not about a specific person. this is not even considered flirting most of the time (unless you're clearly checking if you're compatible with someone and they're reciprocating). talking about heavy emotional issues is fine as long as you know the person a little and often leads to closer friendships. it's not weird to lean on anyone from the community for support. you never overtly hit on anyone. ever. it isn't done. if you're interested you flirt more until you're fairly sure they like you as well and then talk about it or arrange to hang out one-on-one (note, not a formal date) or you "make a move" in a respectful way (a kiss for example). no one really goes on formal dates and there's certainly no unspoken rules about sleeping with them on the 3rd date or such nonsense. we just hang out, either one on one or in a group, or invite them to events. since you already know the person at least in passing, they have been vouched for by the group. we are REALLY big on sexual consent being freely given and never coerced, so this is perfectly safe. no one from the tribe is going to push you or put you in danger in any way. sleeping with someone does not have rules about when you would then contact them or what that now makes the two of you. we are honest about what's just a fuck buddy and what is a relationship of various kinds. neither are shameful. lots of people are poly, gay, bi, or pan sexual and bigotry of any kind is not tolerated. we're far more likely to judge someone for having unsafe sex than to keep track of how many people they've been with. slut shaming is very rare. your clothing does not say anything about you besides "i think this looks cool", or possibly "i like the band on my shirt". showing a lot of skin does not make you slutty, nor does it entitle anyone to touch you. one the subject of touch, we're particular about personal space. we're often touchy-feely with friends, sharing hugs and massages and maybe drunken kisses. this does not apply to people we don't know, even people in the scene. if you don't know someone you would assume you have no permission to touch any part of them besides a handshake for any reason until they touch you first. the rule seems to be that the less assertive of two people should be the one to initiate contact but that isn't set in stone. you get a feel for it, its just watched a lot more closely then outside the alt world. touch someone inappropriately and you could even get injured, either by that person, their friends, or the bouncers. at the least you will get a whole lot of "WTF?" aimed at you, depending on how badly you just fucked up. dancing with someone is sometimes flirting and sometimes just silly fun. it's all about what kind of dance. we are all very aware of the undercurrents in our encounters and we interpret them in a much more straightforward manner. we also talk about such things openly. you can see that the lines between friends and relationships tend to blur. this is why the "friendzone" isn't so much of a thing. if someone says you're just friends it's either that they are not attracted to you, or you are such close friends they couldn't risk losing you (i'm sure you'd know if that were the case). there's no wavering or having someone put you in the friend box so even though they think you're hot and it wouldn't be devastating to lose the friendship they wont change their opinion. that shit doesn't happen. the community is too small (a few hundred people maybe, in vancouver). if you like someone as a person and are attracted to them you just start flirting and see what happens. relationships evolve organically and are usually not officially defined for several months, even though you're communicating about it. i love our community and believe that all of this promotes safety and acceptance. we can be snobby and closed but we are fiercely loyal and supportive. lately i've been seeing the alt world growing as being geeky becomes more socially acceptable. on one hand i would love to see the group grow in numbers and there's certainly advantages to having our interests and way of seeing the world become more popular. on the other hand i worry that our being less selective about who we call our own will lead to a blending of morals and viewpoints with the "normal" world and we will lose some of what makes it unique and amazing. what do you guys think? what did i leave out? Thursday, February 23, 2012 the revolution is rising! we broke ground on an abandoned lot today. the place is about 1/4 acre of weeds and grass and rocks where the owner has just been dumping crap for years. we decided it needs better parents then that so we're adopting it. this is what the site looked like before we started: and this is an hour later (i don't know why this pic is so blue): right now it just has some wild flower seeds sprinkled on top. we'll add more useful things later in the season. we got the wood from the crap already on location and cleared out the weeds in a nice sunny spot with loose bare soil. it was just me and a guy from the guerrilla gardening meetup group but it worked out fine. we're just testing the waters with this one little bed for now and we'll expand from there if no one freaks out. we spoke to a few neighbors who didn't seem to object and one lady from next door seemed really interested and is going to help us run a hose over the fence so we have a water source. i'm really excited. the worst that's going to happen is the owners tearing the whole thing out but i don't think it's that likely since the land has been unused for at least 10 years. because it's been untouched the soil is nice and rich and healthy, if a little rocky. if we take over the whole space we'll need to either pull out a lot of weeds and grass or dump a lot of topsoil on top to smother it. my vote is for pulling out the grass and composting it. we'll be putting a compost pile in a corner and we found a dog kennel that's going to be dismantled for plant supports. there's also 3 old tires that are going to become a potato stack. i may relocate and cultivate some of the native blackberries and snowdrops that are already thriving there. eventually it would be great to cover the whole place with little beds tended by the community. seed the paths in between with hardy short wildflowers or lay down the broken tiles that are dumped there like paving stones. this is where we're going to plant the things i don't have room or enough sun for on the balcony, specifically things that are unlikely to be recognized as food and stolen. i know people think that no one would steal your tomatoes from the vine but it happens around here all the time. homeless people go into backyards and strip your harvest. if i do plant things that may be stolen i'm going to plant enough to share on purpose (those abundant cherry tomatoes!). it would be nice to put in some fruit trees as well. this is a huge undertaking but i'm hoping that others in the area will want to be a part of it. we do not have permission from the owner to do this. we're doing it anyways on the principal that land should belong to those who care for it and are in it's care, especially when those who hold the property deed are neglecting it. lots of community gardens have started this way, with people just taking it over and it eventually gets sanctioned and protected. we're doing this openly and hoping to promote friendships among the community and make this neighborhood a safer and more pleasant place to live. can't you just see it? Tuesday, February 14, 2012 valentine's is a time for indulgence and care of ourselves and our loved ones, is it not? it occurred to me how often i can be found hunting down interesting items that very few people know exist. i suppose i've become a bit of a connoisseur of the offbeat, interesting, and strange. i do a lot of DIYing so a lot of these hunts are for rare supplies or ingredients that non-crafty folk wouldn't have use for (bees wax pellets and e6000 glue, etc). i also frequent etsy, artisan indy stores, and markets for things i read about or that popped into my head and now i have to have them, hard to find or not. these often end up being among my favorite possessions, either for usefulness or beauty or both. i thought i'd share with you some little bits of affordable luxury. these are all things i either really want, am already waiting on my order, or have and use on a regular basis: e-cigarettesthere's no long term studies on them yet and limited standardization for safety so be careful to do your research. these are becoming more and more popular either as an alternative to cigarettes or as a stop-smoking aid. it's a little metal cigarette that contains a rechargeable battery (usually usb charged), a little heating coil that atomizes the liquid, and a cartridge that holds your liquid and is your smoking tip. the liquid is a mix of glycerin, propylene glycol, nicotine, and flavourings (there's a whole world of recipes to mix your own blends too). i tried one of these the other night and it was really nice! not sure if it can replace smoking entirely for me but i'm sure it can reduce it quite a bit and more or less anything is healthier. since they only produce a water vapour you can "smoke" them anywhere and they're much cheaper and more eco-friendly than tobacco. the liquid also comes in tons of fun flavours. WANT zomg smells is this great little website i found via offbeathome where they make wonderfully geeky perfumes with names like "the melancholy death of nikola tesla" and "brontosaurus loves triceratops". i've heard great things. shipping is very reasonable and they have little 1ml samples called squees for about $3 each. a 10 pack of squees works out to about $30 after taxes and shipping. they seem to take quite some time to put your order together, i've been waiting almost a month already. if i like these ones i already have a list of at least 13 more i want to try, i'm super excited. fake gauge earrings oh i know, this is cheating and not very hardcore, especially by my usual go-hard-or-go-home standards, but it does give you the flexibility of big gauges when you want them and small ones when you don't. i think they look pretty good. i even found ones made with surgical steel posts so even my crazy sensitive skin can handle them. if you're not concerned about such things you have more options. etsy is a wonderful place. search "fake gauge earrings" for lots of options. most are made of wood, bone, or horn and most are hand carved. metal or beaded bookmarks i'm so sick of using scraps of trash in all my books. i love my books and i think they deserve nicer markers. i'm trying to amass a collection of ones i'm not ashamed of so there's always one around and i wont resort to gum wrappers and bus transfers. most of these are embarrassingly easy to make but if you really can't tell one end of a needle from another you can sometimes find these tucked in corners of bookshops and always on etsy. if all else fails a strip of pretty ribbon is better than trash chameleon dresses i had one of these made to my measurements and dyed to my preference for under $200 after tax and shipping but it looks like prices and fabrics have changed since then. this is still totally worth it. i love it to pieces. it's my go-to formal dress that i can tie in lots of different ways and it flatters any body type. best part is that it feels like pajamas! (hint-your prom dress looks like a prom dress. it's not appropriate for formal functions if you've been out of high school for more than a year or two. you're an adult now. attend adult parties looking like one) handkerchiefs kleanex is made of cottonwood trees. it also sheds dust and fibers like nobody's business. large amounts of people are allergic to cottonwood and dust. does this seem like a cruel joke to you? it does to me. i love handkerchiefs. i wish i had a ton more. i learned that if i have white ones and am not used to them yet, i often forget myself and toss them like you would a tissue. i was wondering where all of mine were going and then caught myself doing it one day. since then i get coloured ones. obviously it's insanely easy to make your own out of an old pillow slip or bed sheet, or even a thin t-shirt and then you don't even have to hem. i like mine about 12"-14" square but suit yourself. seriously tho, get some. so much nicer to your nose and you'll never run out of tissues again. just throw them in your regular laundry. edible paper cake toppers ok so these are totally indulgent but aren't they PRETTY!? they also come in flowers and leaves and dragonflies. they're made of rice paper, printed with food colouring. some of them are done on super thin sheets of frosting but those are made to be laid flat on your cake and they melt in. that's how they put photos on cakes in the bakery. i want to make a summer cake for beltane iced in green with a rainbow of flowers and butterflies. i also think an orange cake with autumn leaves and bats would be great. worth doing for a special occasion stainless steel straws i think this is a brilliant idea. you use steel forks and spoons, who says straws should be plastic and disposable? i expect a rinse in hot water would be fine if you've been drinking clear liquids. they're dishwasher safe if you've been sucking up milkshakes or similar. they come with a pipecleaner too. if you could find thin enough piping in a hardwear store you could just have them cut it to the lengths you want and file the edges smooth. also, hot liquids wont melt scary chemicals into your drink. reusable sandwich bags these come in zipper, fold-lock, and velcro closures, in all different colours and styles and sizes. obviously they wouldn't work for everything but you can still cut out a large chunk of disposibles with these. i fid that quality reusables are not just eco-friendly, but also much more pleasant to use, don't you? i often wonder how we were convinced to use throw-away items in the first place. fire bowls i'm currently putting one of these together but you can also buy them premade. it's a little personal fireplace! putting one on the balcony for chilly evenings and/or impromptu toasting of food on sticks. it's really just a nice heat-resistant bowl filled with sand or salt and rocks to somewhat hide the reservoir of chafing dish fuel. the bowl i bought was a touch too small for the standard cans of fuel but i do love it so i may just find a smaller reservoir. i was planning on refilling it from the bottles of liquid anyways. i'll try to put up a simple tutorial when mine's done. hand knit clothes or accessories this is a pretty broad category, i know. most of us have only experienced hand knit in the form of ugly gramma sweaters, stay with me here. first, if you have a gramma who wants to knit you things you should totally take her up on the offer! tell her the colours and styles you like, if you prefer bulky fluffy yarn or slinky smooth stuff. let her take measurements. leaf through her patterns. she has the skills and wants to make you something you'll like, just give her direction. if you do not know anyone who knits, and don't want to take up the addiction yourself, i suggest you get acquainted with etsy. hand crafted knits are nothing like storebought. you can feel the quality and care woven into every fiber. they're fully customized by shape, size, colour, style, material, and everything else about them. it's hard to explain just how lovely they are. buy a nice pair of hand knit socks or something and you'll see what i mean. it's like comparing home made foccacia with wonderbread. they're both labeled bread, and there the similarity ends. you can often find these things at farmer's markets. custom made clothing make friends with your local tailors and seamstresses! if you're involved with theatre people or performers of any kind they probably have contacts you can use. so do those lovely people at the farmer's market who are selling knits. ask around on facebook. chances are you know someone who knows someone who sews. being able to get things that fit perfectly for a reasonable price is a wonderful thing. you can also use etsy's alchemy feature and have one of their artists pick up your request. my experience with it has been a bit hit and miss, to be honest, and i'd rather support my friends if i can't do something myself. once you know one person who crafts they can usually point you to others who do jewelry, makeup and hair art, will make you a webpage, or whatever else your heart desires. believe me, you want to have creative people in your life and support their endeavors. pretty serving dishes i don't know if i'll ever be able to afford a full set of hand thrown, custom painted, wood-kiln fired dishes. if i had them i might be scared to use them. i can afford to add little pretty pieces here and there that work together and with the rest of my stuff. olive platter made from a melted wine bottle? yes please! sugar bowl with a little frog for a handle? absolutely! i think we need little touches of fun and beauty in our homes. and for the love of god do not put them in a glass cabinet and never use them, what on earth good is that? use the good dishes! they were designed to be handled and loved. buying them online will run you a pretty penny in shipping cause them things are heavy. small art galleries and farmer's markets are a better bet nice journals and notebooks do you keep a brain-in-a-book? i do. everything from to-do lists and budgets to drawings and journal entries. receipts and money and pamphlets get shoved in. i always have a nice pen. if it falls open it will explode. i try to buy or make nice ones. i should really invest more in them since i'm never seen without it. one of these days i'll learn to bind books myself and not worry about them being too pricey. in the mean time it's a nice indulgence. one of those little gifts to myself so that i can enjoy the things i handle and rely on daily. i've been meaning to get another cartridge fountain pen to go with a nice hand bound book. i love dip pens to pieces but they're not very portable. cloaks i've been trying to bring cloaks back into fashion for years. they're wonderfully multipurpose, as warm or cool as you like, go with everything, are super easy to make, what's not to like!? be careful not to get ripped off buying these. you should be mostly paying for fabric quality. it is a ton of fabric, but it only takes a few hours to put one together so don't let someone charge you $150 for labor or something (unless they hand-sewed the whole monster because fun fur wont fit in the machine, but i'm nuts like that). next one i make needs to have pockets on the inside. they're much more comfy with either several clasps or one big toggle-style one. the little pretty ones tend to slide backwards and choke you. gladiator sandals i'm still trying to break mine in but these are a great example of simple technology that needs no improvement. they last for ages, are really comfy once the leather is broken in, and can be tied many ways. unisex and functional, these go from hiking in the woods to a semi-formal wedding with no trouble. lets see your heels do that! hair sticks and french combs this is mostly for those with long hair. you can keep your bobby pins and elastics and claw clips. if you want a versatile hair accessory that is comfortable and simple, wont fall apart or wreck your hair, than look for really old school stuff. you need to get a feel for the physics involved. both use your hair's own resistance and you twist before pinning. here and here are good places to start. get the hang of it with cheepy ones from the dollar store and then invest in a few pretty pieces. the nice part about them being simple is they can be made of lots of different materials and be as ornate or simple as you like. i'm fond of pretty wood and/or copper. btw, none of these people are paying me in any way. i just like their stuff. so what interesting and hard to find stuff are you in love with? i think we all need a little affordable indulgence in our lives. Monday, January 9, 2012 difficulty rating: bottle short of a six pack kinda greek-italian fusion food. this premise holds true for any kind of stuffed bun. it's based on my usual focaccia and usual spanikopita but without the egg in the mean time mix 2 cups flour with 3/4 tsp each of dill, oregano, basil, garlic, pepper, and salt add the yeast mix to the flour along with 2-3 Tbs olive oil. stir until a soft dough forms. kneed until soft and elasticy but still slightly sticky. add more flour as needed. coat lightly in oil and cover. let rise in a warm place for 25 min or until doubled. your dough should have risen by now, punch down and divide into 6 pieces. flatten each piece to about 1/2 an inch thick, put a blob of filling in the middle, bring all the sides together and squish to form a bun full of goodies. place them evenly on parchment paper on a baking sheet. brush the tops with olive oil or butter, top with a bit of parmesan while still hot so it melts a bit. let the damn thing cool a bit or you'll burn your face off! add a salad. call it dinner. bring leftovers to work tomorrow. tell the little old greek lady spinning in her grave to fuck off cause it's tasty.	eng	31aaa693-a150-46b7-ad16-d5b1427b3c79	http://spiritussancto.blogspot.com/
Computers have made typing papers a breeze for those of us who do not know how to type! We can make mistakes left and right and be able to fix them on the computer before we print the paper. We can save a paper as a file on a diskette and keep it for future reference. We can modify papers in a flash and we can even include pictures in our papers. When using a word processor you should be aware that you can move an entire paragraph or simply one word very easily in your paper. You can also include a new paragraph, a new sentence or just a new word anyplace within your paper. This ability to manipulate your text is the prime advantage and difference between using a word processor and a typewriter. The word processor also allows you to make modifications relatively easily. Especially if you have followed the simple basics as outlined in Figure 1. The basics of word processing are guidelines to follow to make it easier to change and modify your document. They all relate to something called paragraph formatting features. The 3 computer Basics are common to all applications not just the word processor. Most word processors are similar, so I want to introduce you to some of the things in general that can be done using a word processor. What I want to stress is the correct way to use a word processor, which is by following the basics that are listed in Figure 1. Anyone can sit down on a computer and type in a paper, but not everyone knows how to type in the paper correctly. If you ever need to modify the paper in some way it will be easier to do if you have followed the basic guidelines. Let's start with a little word processing terminology so that we are all working from the same reference point. Cursor/ Insertion Point- The cursor, or insertion point, is a flashing vertical bar on the screen. This is where your text will appear when you start to type. The mouse pointer will be an I-beam on your document window and can be used to move the insertion point by clicking the left mouse button. Word-wrap- When using a word processor we want to take advantage of word-wrap. When you reach the end of the line, the computer will automatically go to the next line; this is called word-wrap. If you were trained to use a typewriter, your most common mistake will be hitting the carriage return key at the end of every line. In word processing, we only want to hit the return (enter) key at the end of the paragraph. Cursor Movement Keys Arrow keys Left arrow - moves cursor one space to the left. Ctrl + Left arrow - moves cursor one word to the left. Right arrow - moves cursor one space to the right. Ctrl + Right arrow - moves cursor one word to the right. Up arrow - moves cursor one line up. Down arrow - moves cursor one line down. Other Keys Home - Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line. Ctrl + Home - Moves the cursor to the beginning of the document. End - Moves the cursor to the end of the current line. Ctrl + End - Moves the cursor to the end of the document. Page Up - scrolls the screen up one page. Ctrl + Page Up - moves the cursor to the top of the screen. Page Down - scrolls the screen down one page. Ctrl + Page Down - moves the cursor to the bottom of the screen. Figure 2 Paragraph- A paragraph is defined as going from one enter key stroke to the next time you hit the enter key. So, every time you hit the enter key, you create a new paragraph. Formatting- With word processing, you can change the appearance of your text by formatting the text. There are two kinds of formatting features: 1. Features that effect characters or only what is highlighted. 2. Features that effect the entire paragraph. Highlightedor Selected- Generally speaking, whatever you have highlighted will be affected by the formatting feature that you do, or will be deleted, or will be moved, or will be copied, etc. Highlighted text appears with text in the background color (usually white) and the background color as the text color (usually black). You can highlight text by clicking with the mouse (holding down the left mouse button) and dragging the mouse cursor over the text. Oftentimes when highlighting text in this manner, you may let go of the mouse button too early and miss a letter or two. No problem. Simply hold the shift key down and press the arrow keys to move the highlight in the direction that you want. In fact, you can use any of the cursor movement keys (Figure 2) combined with holding down the shift key to highlight text. Also, if you place the mouse pointer on the extreme left side of the document window you can then click to highlight the entire line. Toggle- Many features in word processing work as a toggle, which means it is a switch that can be turned on or off. If you decide you do not like the option you simply turn it off. Some of the toggle options include BOLD, Underline, and Italics. These can all be turned on or off. If you have something bold and you do not want it bold, you simply highlight the text and then click the bold switch to turn it off. Insert mode/over type mode- In "insert mode", when you type, the text will automatically be pushed forward. In "over type mode" you will type over the text, thereby deleting the text. This is also a toggle and can be changed by pushing the Insert Key on the keyboard. To tell which mode you are in, look at the status bar (Figure 5) of the document window. If OVR shows up on the status bar you are in "over type mode". Non-Printing CharactersFigure 3- There are several key strokes that you use all the time that do not print. These would include hitting the space bar, tab key, and enter key. All of these characters can be shown on the screen. It is sometimes helpful to see these characters so that you know what is happening in your document. I will talk about the non-printing characters more when I talk about the basics of word processing. FontFigure 4 - The style of character that your text is in. I am using Arial at the moment. You can have as many fonts in a document as you want. In fact, you can make each letter a different font! One very important point about fonts is, the fonts that you have available to you are dependent on the printer that you have. So if you don't see any of the fonts that I have here, that simply means your printer does not have those fonts. You can buy fonts for your printer and then you would be able to use them in your documents. You should also know that you can make your computer think it has a laser printer (has a lot of fonts) by just setting the option as if you had that printer. Your computer will not know the difference. You will not be able to print them on your computer but you can save the file on a disk and bring it to a computer that does have that printer. The bottom font is Wingding. In fact if you type a lower case L and change the font to Wingding you will get a bullet l. Font Size- The size is how big or small your text is. The larger the number selected the larger the size. Some fonts have more sizes available to them. Again size, just like font, is printer dependent. You can also use as many sizes as you feel like in your papers. In Figure 5 you can see what a new word processing file will look like in Microsoft Word. Let me describe the various parts for you. You should begin to recognize some of them. Also, as you practice your word processing, pay attention to how the program works. Most Windows programs work in a similar fashion. For example, opening or saving a file is done in the same way for most applications. You would choose the File option on the menu bar and then look for Open or Save. Title Bar- This is something that you have seen before. In this case the title bar is showing you the name of the application that you are using (Microsoft Word) and the name of the file (Document2). In this case the name of the file is the default name[1]. You should notice the Minimize - Maximize and Close button on the title bar for the application. The buttons on the menu bar are for the document. Menu Bar- The menu bar shows all the available menu options that you can choose from. Let me quickly point something out. In almost all applications, File, Window and Help all have almost exactly the same options. File will hold options such as: create a new file, save a file, open a file, page set up options, print preview and print. File also contains the exit option that will close the application (you can also click the close button). Window will have options to arrange your open windows as well as giving you a list of all the windows in this application that you have open. Remember you can have several Windows open at once. Help will allow you to look at the Table of Contents for the help available to you. You can also Search for a particular word by simply typing it in, or you can scroll through the index. Most software applications come with an On-line tutorial as well and that is found under the help menu. There is also an option called About that will tell you what version of the software you are running as well as some system information. No matter what application you are using, these options are almost always the same. So, if you do not know how to use the software, simply choose Help and then read through the tutorial. If you simply want to leave the program, choose File Exit or click the close button. Status Bar- The status bar gives information about our position within the document. Page 1 is the page we are on. 1/1 is where we are, on the first page of 1 page total in our file. At 1" means our cursor is 1" from the top of the paper (we have a 1" top margin in this case). Our cursor is also on Ln 1 (line 1) and Col 1 (column 1). There are also several other options available as well. To get a groovy description of the status bar simply choose Help, Search and look for the status bar! Scroll Bar- The scroll bar simply allows you to scroll through the document. If you click the scroll arrow you will move 1 line at a time. If you click in the scroll bar itself you move one screen at a time. The square box indicates your position in the document. If you click above the square box you will move up, if you click below it you will move down. You can also drag the square box to where you think you want to go. Toolbar/ Formatting Toolbar- The toolbars are designed to give you "mouse access" to some commonly used options that are available to you. Every option on the toolbar is available in the menu bar someplace. The toolbar just allows faster access to them (provided you have a mouse). One of the problems with the toolbars is in trying to remember what those cute little buttons stand for. Software companies have helped this problem by supplying mouse tips. When you place the mouse pointer over a button on the toolbar and wait a few seconds, a small description will pop up on the screen. The formatting toolbar also has list boxes for font and size as you can see in Figure 6. Document Window- This is simply the window that your document will be in. InsertionPoint- The insertion point is the place where once you start typing, the text will begin. The text will be inserted to the left of the insertion point. The insertion point is also know as the cursor. Paragraph Marker- Our document already has a paragraph even though we have not typed in a single word. The paragraph marker may not be showing on your screen. It is a toggle to display non-printing characters or not to display them. Look for the show/hide button on the toolbar to turn this option on or off[2]. End of Document Marker- This will always show up at the end of your document when you are in Normal View. If you do not see the "end of document marker", then you are not at the end. You may have several blank paragraphs that you accidentally put in. Mouse Pointer/ I-Beam- These show the location of your mouse. If you are moving the mouse pointer and you run out of desk space to slide the mouse on, simply pick the mouse up in the air and move it to a place you can reach. The mouse pointer will not move unless the mouse is on the desk. It is helpful to use a mouse pad when using a mouse. A book or some paper makes a quick mouse pad if you do not have one. Ruler- The ruler is one of the most important things to understand in word processing as it tells you what is happening. Looking at Figure 7, the ruler is telling us that we have 6" inches of working area, no tabs set (only default at every 0.5"), and no left or right indent set. The zero mark on the ruler is at the left margin. When the layout of the text is wrong the ruler is the first place to look. You may have an incorrect tab setting or indent. We have just been talking about Microsoft WORD but let's look at a different Microsoft product called WORKS (Figure 8). There is really not that much difference between the two packages except that WORD has more options and you can easily apply the same concepts to each. The ruler for Works looks a little different but it is still easy to tell where the default tabs are located at or what marker stands for the left indent. Instead of Document1 the default name is Word1. So just because we are learning one specific application package remember that what we learn is applicable to many other software products as well. Have confidence in your own ability and try the different packages. If worst comes to worst, simply choose File, Exit! If things are really bad turn the computer off, but do this as your last alternative. You will not break anything (that can't be fixed) but turning a computer off when it is still running a package leaves a lot of extra temporary files[3] on the computer that normally get deleted. Well let's try to create a simple word processing document. Remember to use word wrap, so just keep typing until you get to the end of the whole paragraph and then hit the enter key to start a new paragraph. When you set formatting attributes you have two choices: one is to set the attribute and then type in the text, the second is to type the text first and then go back and highlight the text and set the attribute. You can use either method. I use a combination of the two myself. Start up the word processor that you will be using. Some word processors will automatically start a new document for you and some will not (check the title bar for a default document name). If there is not an empty word processing file on your screen, create a new one (use the File, Newmenu option or the New button on the toolbar). The first thing I want you to do is to save this blank document! When using computers you should save often; the more you save, the better off you will be. I am guilty myself of typing for an hour and losing all of my information. One thing that can happen is that there may be an error on your disk drive[4]. It is better to find this out before you start typing than after you have been typing for an hour. So, the first time you should save a file is BEFORE you type anything. Another more common problem is that you may turn the computer off by mistake (or the electricity goes off) and then lose all of your information. To save your file, simply choose File, Save As. This will give you a dialog box as shown in Figure 9. Be sure to pick the correct drive and folder to save in. When giving files a name, pick a name that will best describe the file so that you can find it easily in the future. In Figure 9 the file will be saved as Chapter3.doc in the folder My Documents. To see which drive it will be saved on, you must click the arrow q to see the drop down list box as shown in Figure 10. In this example it is the Hard drive C:. This is a good place to save your work if you are using your own machine. After you pick (or verify) the drive you then choose the correct folder(s) by double clicking the folder (easier to double click the icon of the folder instead of the name). To change the file name, you simply type in the name desired. If you need to change the File Type you do so by picking the correct type in the drop down list box. Once you are all set, go ahead and choose the Save command button. As you type your document, be sure to click the save toolbar button every now and then (or choose File Save[5]) to be sure you have saved your work. So when you save a file you must specify the DRIVE, FOLDER, NAME and the File Type (if needed). Okay, now that we have given our file a name, let's start typing it. I want you to type in the following memo just as it appears in Figure 11. I have shown you the non-printing characters so you know when to hit enter. There are 10 paragraphs in this document (remember, every time you hit the enter key you create a new paragraph). Format the document to look like the one shown Figure 12 (This file is done correctly). Start by selecting the first four paragraphs. The easy way to do this is to put the mouse cursor to the left of the first paragraph (on the extreme left of the document), then with a click and drag motion highlight all four. Currently the first 4 paragraphs are left aligned; meaning the left side is smooth on the left indent. To change this to center aligned, simply click the center align toolbar button. This will center the paragraph between the left and right indents. If you forget which button this is just leave the mouse pointer on top of the button for a couple of seconds and you should see a mouse tip that will tell you. We also want to change the font for these paragraphs to Arial. Since they are still highlighted we can simply click the arrow to get the list box for the different fonts available. Scroll to the top of the list and click on Arial. You should note that whatever is selected is going to be changed. If the size is not 12, simply change the size to 12 by clicking on the size list box and choosing 12. If you do not have Arial, simply choose a font that you do have. Now I want you to make the first paragraph larger than the rest. So we will need to highlight just the first paragraph. Simply double click[6] to the left of the paragraph; this will highlight the entire paragraph. Now change the Size to 20. I want the rest of the document (from Hillary on) set to a size of 14. Simply click the mouse pointer to the left of the fifth paragraph. This will highlight that one line only. Now to get the rest of the document highlighted we will use the keyboard. Remember that we can highlight by holding the shift key down and using the cursor movement keys. I know that if I choose Ctrl + End it will take me to the end of the document. So I want you to press Shift + Ctrl + End. This will highlight from the cursor's current position, to the end of the document. Now go ahead and change the size to 14. If the Font is not Times New Roman, change that now as well. A few more things to do and then you will be done. You will notice that there are no paragraph markers between the paragraphs. This is because I have set my paragraph spacing correctly. You will also notice that there is no tab mark at the beginning of each paragraph. I have used a feature called first line indent. The file in Figure 12 is done correctly following the basics of word processing. We can set the line spacing and the first line indent at the same time. Before we do this let's make sure we have the correct paragraphs highlighted. Click the mouse just before Dear and highlight to the end of the document. Now choose Format from the menu bar, and then choose Paragraph ...; this will give you the Paragraph dialog box (Figure 13). Be sure you are looking at the indents and spacing tab as shown. I have set this dialog box to the correct options and this is what I want you to do as well. Set the First Line Indent to 0.5. Looking at the Special list box choose first line (you may just have a first line text box and that is the same thing). You can type in .5 or click the up arrow till 0.5 shows. Your first line indent is always measured from your left indent. Your left indent is measured from the left margin (the zero mark on the ruler). Your right indentis measured from the right margin. If you were to set your left indent to 0.5" with a first line indent of 0.5", your first line indent marker would be at the 1" mark as shown in this example. For spacing I want you to set the Spacing Afterto 12 pt or 1 Ln[7]. 12 points is the standard size for 1 Line. You can set the spacing to whatever number you want as long as it is in the same form of measurement. For example if I wanted 1 and a half lines I would type in 18 pt. Notice that the Alignmentis set to the left. We changed the alignment earlier by using the toolbar. Also notice the little preview section. If you hit the tab key (to move the focus to another option in the dialog box), it will put into effect your last change in the preview section so you can get an idea of how it will look when you choose OK. One last thing before you choose OK and that is the Help Command button. Choose it now and read all there is to read about the paragraph dialog box (it will explain a lot). When you are done reading Help, click the Help's Close Button or choose File Exit on the Help menu. When you are ready, go ahead and choose the OK command button. Your document is all set and done correctly. Let's take a look at Figure 15, which shows the same file, but this time it was done incorrectly. What was done wrong is that the enter key was used to insert the blank lines for paragraph spacing and the tab key was used to start the paragraphs. If we were not looking at the non-printing characters we would not be able to see any difference whatsoever. I admit it would not make much difference in this example because this is a short one to type in. However you might as well learn the correct way now, so that when you type in a longer document you will be able to make multiple spacing and indent changes much more rapidly than if you had not used your word processor correctly. Okay, my point is a simple one. When we want to make a change (if we have used the word processor correctly) we can make them quickly and easily and our document will look the way we want it to. Suppose I were to say to you that I wanted 1.5 spaces between each paragraph and I did not want the first line indented. If you have used your word processor correctly than all you have to do is: 1) Highlight the paragraphs. 2) Choose Format, Paragraph 3) Set your spacing to 18 pt 4) Set your Special Indent (First Line) to none. If you have not used the word processor correctly than you would need to delete all the tabs at the beginning of each paragraph. How would you set the line spacing to 1.5 without formatting the paragraphs, I am not sure[8]. If your document were 20 pages long, this would be a real hassle. However if done correctly, it makes no difference how many pages there are because it requires the same number of steps and the same amount of time. Now modify your memo a little by putting your name, lecture, lab and the date at the top in block format. Simply place your insertion point at the beginning of the document. You may find it easier to hit enter and give yourself a blank paragraph. It is okay to hit enter a few times and create blank paragraphs, just remember to delete any extra ones you may have. Move your insertion point before this blank paragraph and start typing. If you find you are typing in the center of the page choose the left aligned button to bring the text over to the left margin. For the date I want you to insert a date field. The date field will always print the current date. For example: if you print this document on May 1, 2525, then that will be the date that prints. On the other hand if you print this document on May 31, 2525, that would be the date that would print. To insert the date field, all you need to do is choose Insert, Date & Time.... Choose the format that you want for the date and then be sure to check the Insert as Fieldcheck box. If you do not turn the check box on then it will enter in the current date. The difference between the two is that the current date will not change. In other words, if you do this on May 1, 2525, that is the date that will print. If you print the document again on May 31, 2525, May 1, 2525 will still be the same date that prints. Your document will look like this when you are done: TO:Professor's name FROM:Your name LECTURE:Your Lecture LAB:Your lab DATE:May 15, 2525 In Figure 16 we can see the top half looks correct, however it is done incorrectly. You do not want to hit the tab twice in a row in order to line up your information. The bottom half of the diagram is done correctly as far as in how it was typed in by hitting the tab key only once. We would now need to highlight the 5 paragraphs and set the tab stop to 1 inch. To set the tab stop all you need to do is to click the mouse just below the number 1 on the ruler (be sure to highlight the 5 paragraphs first). This will put in a left aligned tab at one inch and align your text like shown in Figure 17. If you need to move the tab simply click and drag it to the desired location. If you want to delete the tab stop simply drag the tab above the ruler. Now would be a good time to save your document again! TO:Professors name FROM:Your name LECTURE:Your Lecture LAB:Your lab DATE:May 15, 2525 Figure 18 Let's make the TO paragraph bold. This is easy to do, as all you have to do is highlight the TO paragraph and click on the bold button on the toolbar. Again, what you have highlighted will be changed. Let's practice this a little more by making the FROM paragraph bold as well. You can format your text as many ways as you like, so for practice let's underline only your name. Simply highlight your name and click the underline button on the toolbar. Try something on your own. Make your lecture section and lab section Italics. It should look like the sample (Figure 18) when you are done. Looking back at the memo I realize that Hillary may not know where our headquarters are located. Our headquarters are actually located in Kansas, Vermont though our mailing address is Manchester, Vermont. We will be sending her an information packet that gives complete directions to our lodge, so I really do not want to give the directions in the memo. What I want to do is to use a footnote so that I can explain that directions will be forthcoming. Inserting footnotes into a document is very easy. You simply place the cursor where you want to mark the footnote and choose Insert, Footnote.... This will give you the footnote dialog box as shown in Figure 19. You have your choice of a footnote which shows up at the bottom of the page that the mark is on, or endnoteswhich show up at the end of the document. We are going to use footnotes and Autonumberfor this class. As always, to learn more about the various footnote options simply choose Help. When you are ready, choose OK. This will give us a footnote window at the bottom of the screen. Here we simply type in the information that we want to include in the footnote. The computer handles the numbering for the footnote marks both in the document text and the footnote window. If you have two footnotes on a page and add a third one in the middle, it will be numbered in order as two. The same is true if you delete[9] a footnote, then the existing footnotes would automatically be renumbered. In the footnote window you can do any formatting feature that you normally would do. You can change the font and size. You can bold, underline, or italicize text. You can set tabs, indents, and spacing. Basically you can do most anything, just try it. If the computer will not let you do something then I guess you can't, at least try it first. Who knows, maybe someday you will be able to! The style of footnote that I want you to use follows the Modern Language Association Guidelines for footnotes. The footnote should be a different font and a smaller size than your main document. You should use a first line indent of 0.5" for each separate footnote. Other than that, there really is nothing to it. Unless you are a perfect typist and never make any mistakes, chances are that you have made a spelling or typo mistake. I have a tendency to make a million of them when I type! Luckily, word processors come with a spell checking feature that works great. If you made a mistake while typing you may have noticed that the incorrect word was underlined with a red squiggley line. If not type a word incorrectly now to see it. This shows you that a word is spelled incorrectly or is unrecognizable by the computer. You may notice a green squiggley line, which indicates that you have a grammar error. You can continue typing and then check your spelling and grammar at the end or you can fix the words as you go. It is a good idea to save your document before you run the spell checker[10]. The spell checker is a neat feature as it will check every word in your document and compare it to the internal dictionary to see if it matches any words. So that means the spell checker will look "I" up in the dictionary to be sure you spelled it right! I do not think I would have the patience to literally look every word up in the dictionary. The spell checker will also find repeated words, for example if you type type a word twice, the spell checker will ask if you want to delete one. Also if you type "i" the spell checker will ask you if you want to capitalize it. However the spell checker will not check your grammar so you may spell 'two' when you meant to spell 'to' and the spell checker will not say anything. The grammar checker will put a green squiggley line under the words. You can look on the right side of the status bar for the spell check symbol to see if you need to run the spell checker. The check means it is okay, however theXmeans you have misspelled word(s). To run the spell checker choose the Spell checkerbutton on the tool bar or choose Tools, Spelling .... When the spell checker finds a word that it cannot match, it will give you a dialog box with several options for you to choose (most spell checkers work pretty much the same). In Figure 20 you can see that patience is misspelled. You will be shown how you spelled the word with a list of possible correct spellings. You can Ignore the spelling if the word is spelled correctly as, some words will not be in the dictionary. For example, your last name is spelled correctly but will not be found in the dictionary. If you have used your last name throughout the document you may want to Ignore All, which means the spell checker will not stop at that word again. If you see the correct spelling in the list simply click on the correct spelling and choose Change. This will change the spelling in your document. If you are a consistent bad speller like myself you may want to choose Change All so that the spell checker will just automatically change the word throughout the rest of the document. If you are using your own computer you may want to Add a correctly spelled word such as your last name to the dictionary. You simply double check to be sure it is spelled correctly and choose the add button to add the word to your CUSTOM.DIC. If you accidentally added a misspelled word you can open the file called CUSTOM.DIC[11] and fix the spelling. After you have finished, be sure to save your file again so you do not lose your corrections. A couple of notes about the spell checker. When you click on the spell check button, the computer will begin to check the spelling from the cursor and go down to the end of your document. After the spell checker finishes with the main document it will then check your footnotes. If you have started the spell checker someplace in the middle, when the spell checker reaches the end of your document, it will ask if you want to check the rest of the document. If you want to just check a word or paragraph simply highlight what you want to be checked and then run the spell checker (remember what is highlighted will be affected). If you are using WORD, there is an advanced proofing option that if it is set to no proofing by mistake, it will not check those words for spelling (you will get a message that says text formatted as no proofing was skipped[12]). This can happen when pasting text from another type of document into WORD. One thing that I have noticed is that my marginsare still set at the default of 1.25" on the left and right side. Let's fix the margins so that they are set to 1" all around. This is very easy to do as we simply choose File, Page Setup. The dialog box looks like Figure 21. The top and bottom margins are already set to 1" so all we need to do is set the left and right margins to 1". You can either type in 1" in the text box or click the down arrow to get 1" displayed. Be sure that the Apply To: list box has Whole Document in it. When you are all set go ahead and choose OK. The reason why (I think) the margins are by default set to 1.25" is that this will allow you a 6" working space in your document. When you change your margins to 1" you find that you can not see the whole width on the screen. You can use the zoom control on the toolbar to zoom down to page width. Of course your text will be smaller. You can also scroll your screen back and forth using the horizontal scroll bar. When you use the scroll bar you may want to be sure you scroll back. Often times you may click on the scroll bar by accident. This will cause your document to shift one way or the other. Simply click on the scroll bar again to move the text back so that you can see it. Now that we have finished our document, proofread it on the computer, checked the spelling and saved it again we are ready to see what it looks like printed. Word processors come with an option called Print Previewthat will show you what your document will look like on a piece of paper. Choose the print preview button on the toolbar and we will see how the document will look on a piece of paper. You most likely will not be able to read the document but you can see the layout. Actually if you move your mouse cursor over the paper it will turn into a magnifying glass. When you click the left mouse button it will Zoom In and enlarge that section so you can read it. Print preview helps you to see the format of your document on paper. It is faster to look at your document in print preview than it is to print the document, look at the printout, make any necessary changes and then reprint the document. It also saves paper! Some things to look for in print preview are blank pages (we do not want to waste paper). To check for blank pages simply press the page down button until the computer 'beeps'. This means there are no more pages. If there are blank pages, you need to go back to the document and fix whatever is wrong. Most likely there are several paragraph marks at the end of your document that should be deleted (remember to look for the end of document marker). If on the other hand everything looks fine simply choose the print button on the tool bar. I never use the print button on the standard toolbar as I can easily use the print button found in print preview. You should always check print preview before you print to spot any possible errors. If you notice that you have only one or two lines showing up on the second page you may as well change your margins or line spacing to get the information to print on one page. Try changing your margins to 0.8" (top, bottom, left and right). This will be close to 1" and is worth the sacrifice from the standard to get your document on one page. You could also change your paragraph spacing to 8 pt instead of 12 pt. The point is that you can do this easily as long as you have used your word processor correctly. The actual numbers that you use, i.e. 8 pt vs. 12 pt, 1" vs. 0.8" are not that important in life. Experiment and use what works the best. However for this class be sure to follow the directions as given. No matter how hard you try invariably you will find that sometimes you want to change something after you print your document. The nice thing about using a word processor is that you can easily go back and revise your document and print it again! If you need to add a paragraph simply place the cursor where you want the information to go and just begin typing[13].If you decide you do not like a sentence simply delete it. You can also move paragraphs by simply highlighting them and then choosing Edit, Cut. This will take the highlighted section out of the document and store it in the computer's memory. Now place your cursor where you want the information to go and choose Edit, Paste. This will take the information you just cut and place it back into your document where you have specified by the cursor location. I hope that you have noticed a pattern about all the dialog boxes we have seen. Every dialog box has a help command button. If you are not sure of what you are doing simply click the help button and read the information available to you. If you are not sure what to look for use the help feature like a book and search for the key word. If you have the time you may just want to go through the On-line tutorial available with the program itself. The other points that are important are following the basics of word processing and saving your documents often! I have tried to demonstrate the reason behind the basics but if you do not understand please ask me to explain again until you do. Replace is a handy feature found in both the word processor and spreadsheet. What it does, is search for a word or series of characters that you specify and replaces those with whatever you want. The Find feature works the same way, only it does not replace anything, it just finds it. The search will start from where the cursor is and goes to the end of the document (unless you have a highlighted section in which case it would only look in what you have highlighted). So choose Edit, Replace... to get the dialog box shown in Figure 22. Let's talk about the dialog box for a minute. I have filled in the Find What with 'Bob' and Replace With: 'Robert' so I can change every 'Bob' to 'Robert'. I have a couple options that I can change. The Searchspecifies how to search, Down means from the cursor to the end of the document. The Match Casecheck box specifies that I have to find 'Bob' and not 'bob'. Find Whole Words Onlymeans that what you are trying to find must have a space before and after it. In other words Bobbie would not be replaced with Robert. The command buttons are also important in what they do. Find Nextwill simply look for the occurrence of the word in the Find What text box. The computer will simply stop when it finds the word. You can at that point click on Replace to actually change the word. Replacewill simply find the next word and automatically replace it without asking. You can choose Replace again to move on to the next word. Replace Allwill find all the words and replace every single one without asking. A strong suggestion is to save your document BEFORE you do a replace just in case the results are not what you expected. For example, if you replace the word US with United States without checking any of the options, the word 'just' will become jUnited Statest! You need to match case and whole word only. I do not want to get into 'Use Pattern Matching' or 'Sounds like', so I will leave that up to you to read about in help if you would like. The added feature you have in the word processor (not in the spreadsheet) is the ability to format your Replaced word in any way you like. You can change not only Font characteristics but also Paragraph characteristics (A very powerful feature, check it out). For a simple replace there is no difference in the word processor or spreadsheet so use them wisely and to your advantage. Just be sure to save your file first! Remember you can usually Undo your replace if you do it right away. Looking at the document in Figure 23, you should see several things that are incorrect. The first thing I see is that the enter key was used to put in a space between paragraphs. You should use the Format, Paragraph..., Space Before/After option. The next thing that I notice is the Main paragraph was started using the tab key. You should use Format, Paragraph..., First Line Indent option. The last thing is, what is all that junk near the end of the document? That is all extra and should be deleted. That extra junk can cause a blank page to print out with nothing on it (they are all non-printing characters but that only means they do not show on the page). If this were your document, you would lose points for all of these mistakes. These are the things that I will be checking when I grade your work. Notice how the first paragraph goes over too far to the left in Figure 24? This is caused by the fact that you have a negative left indent. When you look at the ruler the white area is your working area. The gray area on the ruler is the margin area on your paper. You should not have text in the margin area. To fix this problem, simply choose Format Paragraph and set the left indent to 0". You probably did not mean to do this but it happens a lot when you use your mouse to set your first line indent. It is pretty easy to fix. This is what my screen looks like (Figure 25) after I fixed the previous problem! However, now I have a lot of wasted screen space so I cannot read my document. I simply click to the right of the horizontal scroll box and then click to the left of the box. This should move the text over more to the left. This is not a real problem only a display 'quirk'. 1.Only hit the enter key at the end of the paragraph. You do this in order to utilize the word wrap feature. If you hit enter at the end of every line and then change your margins, your paper will not adjust to the new margins the way that you would like. 2.Use the indent option to start paragraphs and when appropriate. This is so that you can change the indents for your document easily. Suppose you hit the tab key to start your paragraphs and later you are asked to have no indentation. You would need to delete all the tab marks, whereas if you used the indent feature you could simply highlight the document and remove the indents in a few easy steps. 3.Use the spacing option to space your lines and paragraphs. This is related to using the indent option, since when you need to change the spacing it can be done easily provided you have used the spacing option. If you chose to use the enter key for your spacing you would need to go back and adjust the spacing with each enter key individually, which could be a lengthy process. 4.Use the TAB key once and set the tab stops. This enables you to be able to align your text up so that it is even. If you have to change the alignment it can be accomplished easily. If you used the space bar to align your text it most likely will not be aligned when you print. 1.Use the spell checker before you print. This just makes sense! Why print only to find simple spelling errors. That is just a waste of paper and time. 2.Use print preview before you print. This also makes sense so that you can see the layout of your document before you print it. You may find your document has 2 pages. If so, you can change your margins and have your document fit all on one page. [1]A default name is one that the computer picks for you. They are not very descriptive and in the case of WORD they are simply document followed by a number. In a spreadsheet the default name might be something like Book1. When using computers you will encounter defaults all the time. A default is simply the pre-programmed or pre-existing value. These values can almost always be changed. [2]Look under Tools, Options ... , View All if you do not see the toolbar button. [3]Windows products normally create temporary files with the extension .tmp someplace on the hard drive. They normally get deleted but occasionally they do not. If you think you have a problem simply use the windows explorer to search for all the files with a *.tmp file name. Then you can delete them. If a program is still using the temporary file it will not let you delete it. [4]If there is an error you may lose your information. If you have an error, let someone know about it! [5]The difference between Save and Save As is that Save will save the file with the name given; Save As allows you to specify the name, drive and folder. [6] A single click will work in this example since there is only one line but to highlight a multiple line paragraph you need to double click. [7] Your computer may be set up for lines (ln) instead of points (pt). [8]Okay I do know how you could do it, but I don't want to tell you because it would be incorrect and not the best way to do it. [9]To delete a footnote you simply highlight the footnote mark in the text and press the delete key. [10]Whenever you do anything like spell check or print, it is a good idea to save your document first, then in the case of spell checking save it again when you are done. [11]The CUSTOM.DIC is most likely kept in C:\WINDOWS\MSAPPS\PROOF directory. You can use the file manager to search for the file if it is not there. Be sure to save the file as Text Only (it will automatically be this way so be sure not to change it).	eng	8cfe7fde-1253-4457-99f6-c964b764ce6e	http://www.uvm.edu/~rerickso/education/office/chapter1.htm
A record is defined as including any papers, memorandum, text or other document, any photograph, film or recording, or any form in which data are held (whether manual, mechanical or electronic), and anything that is a part, or a copy, or a combination of the foregoing. A copy in any form of a record is deemed to have been created at the same time as the original. 3.2 What records can be sought from bodies within the scope of the Act? The following manual and electronic records may be sought: records created from the commencement date of the 1997 Act (21 April 1998; 21 October 1998 for health boards and local authorities) all personal records and records relating to personal information of a requester irrespective of when created any other records necessary to the understanding of a current record personnel records of staff in public bodies created less than 3 years before commencement i.e. from 21 April 1995 Earlier records may be accessed if they are liable to be used in a way that might affect adversely the interests of the member of staff involved. A record will not come within the scope of the FOI Act where it is: i. already publicly available ii. available under another enactment (except the Data Protection Act: requests for personal data may be made under either Act). iii excluded under section 46. 3.3 Making an FOI Request A person who wishes to exercise their right of access to records under the Act can make a request, in writing, to the head of the public body concerned for access to the record concerned: stating that the request is made under the FOI Act setting out sufficient particulars to enable the record to be identified specifying the preferred form of access, if he or she has such a preference (e.g. photocopy or computer disc). making payment of the amount of the fee prescribed in regulations under section 47(6A). The standard fee is currently set at €15 with a reduced fee of €10 applying if the requester is covered by a medical card. A request for records containing only personal information related to the requester (including a request made pursuant to section 28(6) by a parent or guardian on behalf of a minor or disabled person or the next of-kin or personal-representative on behalf of a deceased person) is exempt from this fee. 3.4 Duty to Assist If the request is unclear or of a general nature, the public body must assist the requester in the preparation of his/her request so as to enable identification of the information sought. A request may not be refused on the grounds of being either voluminous in nature or not sufficiently focused unless the body has first offered to assist the requester. (Sections 6(2)(a) and 10(2) refer). The public body must also have particular regard to the needs of people with a disability (Section 6(2)(b)) and should where appropriate consider relevant guidelines in this area which have been drawn up by the Minister for Finance. 3.5 Motive of the Applicant Section 8(4) provides that, subject to the provisions of the Act, the interests and motives of a requester should not be taken into account in determining access. This provision reflects the general principle that each person has an equal right to access records under the Act, irrespective of any reasons the requester may give or any opinion the public body may have regarding the motive of the requester. However the interests or motive behind a request may be considered where some other provision of the Act requires it. For example, in conducting his review in cases 020375, 020376, 020647, 020648, 020649, 020651, 020652 - Mr X and RTÉ, the Information Commissioner found that section 8(4) allowed for the motive of the requester to be taken into account when considering if a request is 'frivolous or vexatious'. The identity and circumstances of a requester, rather than the reasons for the request, may be relevant in certain cases. The identity of a requester can also have relevance where privacy considerations apply. Similarly, the means of the requester may allow waiver of fees for search and retrieval and photocopying in certain circumstances (section 47). 3.6 Informal Consultation Cases may arise from time to time where a request under FOI is received by a Department or public body which relates to the activities or functions of another Government Department or public body. While there is no requirement for a public body to consult in such circumstances, it is strongly recommended that the other body should be informed and where possible consulted prior to a final decision being taken on the request. 3.7 Dealing with an FOI Request – Time Limits Acknowledge receipt of request within 10 working days. A working day excludes a Saturday, a Sunday, or a public holiday as defined in the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997.(section 7(2)) Issue acknowledgement setting out the rights of the requester in the event of the request not being dealt with within the specified time limits. (under section 41 non-reply to a request is deemed to be a refusal thereby allowing the requester to proceed to internal review at no charge). Decide whether to grant or refuse to grant the request within 20 working days (section 8(1)) If decision is to grant the request, determine the manner in which access will be offered Cause notification in writing of the decision and determination to be given to the requester 3.8 Extension of Time Limit (section 9) The head of the public body may extend the time limit for dealing with a request by up to 20 working days, if the request, or related requests, concern such a large number of records that compliance within the initial 20 working day period is not possible 3.9 Information held by another public body (section 7(3)) The Act makes provision for transfer arrangements where an FOI request is made for a record held by another public body. If, upon receipt of a request, the record is not held by the recipient body, but is known to relate to another public body, the public body should consider recommending to the requester that the request be withdrawn and resubmitted – with the appropriate 'up-front' fee – to the body that holds the record. Otherwise, a copy of the request must be forwarded to the bodythat holds the record within 10 working days of receipt. The public body should: take reasonable steps to acquire knowledge as to the most appropriate body for transfer inform the requester that his/her request was transferred the "first" public body shall be deemed not to have received the request. Where a request is received for records, some of which are held by the body concerned and others are known to be held by one or more other public bodies, the requester should be informed of the names of the other bodies. 3.10 Information partly held elsewhere (Section 7(4)) if part of a record is held by the first public body and the remainder by another public body, the first body must notify the requester of the names of the other public bodies which hold such records. The first body should then process the request insofar as it relates to records which it holds. 3.11 Granting of Access to Records Procedure re Fees for search/retrieval and photocopying (section if no fee for search and retrieval and/or photocopying is due or the amount of the deposit paid covers the fee, access to the record is granted immediately. if such a fee is charged, access to the record is granted within 5 working days of receipt of same. The charging regime under FOI is described in chapter 7. Form of Access (section 12) Access may be granted in the following forms: a copy of the record a transcript of the information concerned a computer disk or other electronic device containing the information a reasonable opportunity to inspect the record if the record is of sound or visual images, a reasonable opportunity to hear or view the record if the information is in shorthand or other code, the information in decodified form or written form in such other form or manner as may be determined by the Minister for Finance in a combination of any two or more of the foregoing Access to the record should be given in the form requested, unless: the granting of the record in an alternative form would be significantly more efficient, or the granting of access in the form requested would be: detrimental to the record involve an infringement of copyright (other than that owned by the State, the Government or the public body concerned) conflict with a legal duty or obligation of the public body prejudice, impair or damage any interest protected by Part III (exempt records) or section 46 (records excluded from FOI). 3.12 Refusal to grant requests Requests to access records may be refused for any of three reasons: 1. the record is exempt under Part III of the Act 2. the record is excluded under section 46 (see chapter 5) 3. refusal for administrative reasons (section 10): i. the record does not exist or cannot be found ii. the request does not include sufficient details to identify the record sought iii. the request is of a voluminous nature iv. the information requested is likely to be published within 60 working days v. the request is frivolous or vexatious or forms part of a pattern of manifestly unreasonable requests vi. a fee or deposit for a previous or current request has not been paid A public body must consult with the requester to ascertain more clearly what information is being sought before refusing a request on the grounds that it does not contain sufficient particulars or is a voluminous request (section 10(2)). 3.13 Deferral of Access to Records(section 11) Access to a record may be deferred in the following circumstances; if the record was prepared solely for the information of both or either Houses of the Oireachtas or a committee of the Houses and will be so provided within a reasonable time if the interest to the public generally in disclosure is such that the Minister wishes to inform the Houses of the Oireachtas of, or otherwise make public, the contents prior to its release under FOI. The Minister must do so within 25 working days of receiving the request, subject to payment of fees, etc. if the information constitutes that in paragraphs (b), (d) or (e) of section 20(2) and disclosure on or before a particular day would be contrary to the public interest i.e. (b) factual information (defined as including "information of a statistical, econometric or empirical nature together with any analysis thereof"). (d) a report of an investigation or analysis of the performance, efficiency or effectiveness of a public body in relation to the functions generally or a particular function of the body, (e) a report, study or analysis of a scientific or technical expert relating to the subject of his or her expertise or a report containing opinions or advice of such an expert. {A deferral of access under section 11 may not be invoked in respect of reports used or commissioned for the purposes of a decision of a public body made pursuant to any enactment or scheme, because exemption for such matter may be sought under section 20(1)}. A public body is required under section 8(2) to notify the requester of the reasons for the deferral, the period within which the record will be made available and his or her rights of appeal. Deferral of access for the latter two reasons (i.e. Minister informing the Houses or matters relating to section 20) may be appealed directly to the Information Commissioner. 3.14 Access to Parts of Records (section 13) If part of a record contains exempt material, where practical, access may be offered to part of the record only. In some instances, deletion may be impractical if the information to be deleted forms an integral or large part of the original document. The public body must ensure that an edited copy is not misleading or falsely representing the contents of the entire document. The public body is obliged to inform the requester that the information offered has been edited and to indicate the nature of the information deleted. This requirement does not apply if the public body is entitled not to disclose whether or not certain records exist, as permitted in sections 19 Government Records, 22 Legal Professional Privilege, 23 Law Enforcement and Public Safety, 24 Security, Defence and International Relations, 26 Information Obtained in Confidence, 27 Commercially Sensitive Information and 28 Personal Information.. 3.15 Reasons for refusal of FOI Requests(whether in whole or in part) Section 8(2)(d) requires reasons for refusal to be given together with findings on any material issues relevant to the decision and particulars of any matter relating to the public interest taken into consideration for the purposes of the decision. Again, this requirement does not apply if the public body is entitled not to disclose whether or not certain information exists. The reasons requirement is designed to: 1. give an applicant the underlying reasons for a decision as opposed to merely quoting a section of the Act 2. enable the applicant to make an informed decision about an appeal 3. encourage public bodies not to invoke an exemption unless good grounds exist for so doing 3.16 Notification of Decisions on Requests (Section 8(2)) The following details should be included in the notification of a decision on an FOI request:- the decision and date on which it was made name and designation of officer dealing with request (unless disclosure of this information could prejudice the safety or well being of the person concerned) a schedule of records covered by the request if request is to be granted – the form and manner of access, the period during which the record will be kept available and the amount of any fees for search and retrieval and/or photocopying due if the request is to be refused – the reasons for the refusal, findings on any material issues relevant to the decision (including details of any public interest factors taken into account) and the section of the Act upon which the refusal is based; if access to the record is deferred – the reasons for the deferral and the period of its deferral particulars of rights of review and appeal, including procedures, fees and time limits involved. Right to have Personal InformationAmended 3.17 Section 17 of the Act confers a legal right on each member of the public to have personal information held by a public body amended, where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading. It complements the right of access to personal information and is analogous to the right under the Data Protection Act (section 6) which allows individuals to seek amendment of personal data. This right can also be exercised on behalf of a certain persons who are unable to invoke section 17 directly i.e. by the parents or guardians of minors or disabled persons or relatives or personal representative of a deceased. Any guidelines published by the Minister for Finance should be considered in relation to such applications. Time Limits The time limits applying to applications for correction of information are similar to those applying to access requests. Applications must be processed by the public body within 20 working days. If the Public Body does not Agree Where a public body does not agree that the information in question is incorrect, it must append to the record a copy of the application. This requirement does not apply where the application is considered by the head to be defamatory or where the alterations or additions would be unnecessarily voluminous. Electronic Records Section 17 recognises that some electronically stored records would be impossible to append. It provides therefore that a notation may, instead, be added to the record indicating the existence of the application, where it is not practicable to append the actual application. Amended Record to be Furnished to Others Details of the amended record must be furnished to any other person or public body to whom the record was given in the previous 12 months. This provision is consistent with the requirements of the Data Protection Act (section 6(2)(b)). Right to Reasons for Decisions 3.18 Section 18 confers a legal right on each person to obtain: reasons for a decision on any matter particularly affecting that person findings on any material issues of fact relevant to the decision. This right can also be exercised on behalf of a person unable to invoke section 18 directly i.e. by the parents or guardians of minors or disabled persons or the relatives or personal representative of a deceased. Any guidelines published by the Minister for Finance should be considered in relation to such applications. Findings on any material issues of fact refer to matters taken into account in making the decision. They may include: all the steps of reasoning linking the facts to the ultimate decision the criteria relevant to the decision, the weighting attached to each criterion and the conclusion reached on each any internal rules and guidelines used as part of the decision making process details of any recommendations, reports or investigations carried out by subordinate officers or experts and considered in the decision making process	eng	3b9a05bb-f725-4ee3-bd9c-425ee2de304f	http://foi.gov.ie/chapter-3-processing-requests/
Praise be to Allah and may Allah raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad It has been said :قيل 1.Q: What is the Personal Obligatory Knowledge of the Religion, Islam A: The Personal Obligatory Knowledge of the Religion is the amount that one has to learn among the Knowledge of Belief, rules of purification (taharh), the prayer (salah), fasting, and judgments pertaining to dealings for the one who engages in transactions. Also among other issues one has to know about the sins of the heart, the organs, the tongue and the like. As well the one whom az-Zakah is obligatory has to know about the obvious judgments pertaining to az-Zakah and likewise those of Pilgrimage (Hajj) for the one who is able to perform it. The prophet, salla-l-lahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said: طلب العلم فريضة على كل مسلم Which means: Seeking the Personal Obligatory Knowledge is incumbent upon every Muslim (narrated by al-Bayhaqiyy). 2.Q: Who is the accountable person (Mukallaf) who is obligated to embrace Islam and work according to its rules (Shari^ah)? A: The accountable person (Mukallaf ) is the one who is pubescent , sane and has received the message of Islam. The male becomes pubescent when one of two things occurs: seeing the maniyy or reaching 15 lunar years of age. The female becomes pubescent when one of three things occurs: seeing the maniyy, menstrual bleeding or reaching 15 lunar years of age. Hence, the one who dies before becoming pubescent is not accountable. Also, the one whose insanity continues without interruption from the time before one is pubescent, until after that, and then dies as an insane is, hence not accountable. Moreover, if one did not hear the basis of the message that is, the rectification that no one is God except Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, is then not accountable. Allah said in Surat al Isra' verse 15 it means: The Pen has been lifted from writing the deeds of three: The one who is asleep until one wakes up, the child until he becomes pubescent and the crazy person until he becomes sane (narrated by Ahmad). 3.Q: What is the meaning of the saying of the author in his book the summary: :..and to comply with what is obligatory upon them of its rules. A: It means to perform the obligations and avoid the prohibitions. The God-fearing slave is the one who has performed the obligations and avoided the prohibitions. If one dies in this state, he will be admitted to Paradise without torture. 4.Q: Speak about the highest and best obligations as decreed by Allah. A: The highest and best obligation as decreed by Allah is: The Belief in Allah and his messenger. The prophet, salla-l-lahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said: أفضل الأعمال إيمان بالله و رسوله This means: The best of deeds is to believe correctly in Allah and his messenger (narrated by al-Bukhariyy). Having the correct Belief is a condition for the acceptability of the good deeds. Hence, the one who does not believe in Allah and his messenger will never have any reward in the Hereafter. Allah said in Surat Ibrahim verse 18 which means: The deeds of those who blasphemed are like dust which was scattered by wind in a stormy day . 5.Q: Speak about the merit of the knowledge of Tawhid over other types of knowledge. A: The knowledge of Tawhid has a privileged merit over other types of knowledge. This is because it relates to the most honored information. The high honor of the knowledge is due to the high status of the things one knows about. Since the knowledge of Tawhid conveys the knowledge about Allah, clears Allah of what is not befitting to Him and clears the prophets of what is not befitting to them, it is better than the knowledge of the rulings. Allah said in Surat Muhammad verse 19 ( فاعلم أنه لا إله إلا الله و استغفر لذنبك ) which means know (be steadfast) O' Muhammad that no one is God except Allah and ask Allah for forgiveness. Imam AbuHanifah said in his book "Al-Fiqh al-'Absat": "Know that the knowledge of the essentials of the Religion is better than the knowledge of rulings." 6.Q: Is it required for one to embrace Islam to utter the statement: Ashhadu alla-'ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna Muhammada-r-Rasulullah? A: This particular statement is not required by itself for embracing Islam. It is enough for one to utter a statement that gives its meaning. For example, one may say: La ilaha illallah Muhammad Rasulullah, (there is no God other than Allah Muhammad is the messenger of Allah) or La rabba illallah Muhammad nabiyyullah (No Lord other than Allah Muhammad is the prophet of Allah). One of these statements is sufficient for one to embrace Islam. However, the word "ashhadu" is better than other words, because its linguistic meaning includes the knowledge, belief and declaration. By using this word, the confirmation of the meaning is attained unlike other words. the existence of this world is a proof for the existence of Allah. It is intellectually invalid to accept the existence of an action without someone doing it as it is invalid to accept the existence of copying and writing without a copier and writer. Hence, this world by precedence has a Creator and this Creator is Allah the exalted. Allah exists and is not similar to existing things. He exists without a manner of being and without place. Imam Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy, said: "The ultimate knowledge about Allah is to believe with certitude in his Existence ta^ala without a manner of being and place." 8.Q: What is the general meaning of ashhadu alla ilaha illallah? A: The general meaning of ashhadu alla ilaha illallah is: I declare with my tongue and believe in my heart that no one deserves to be worship except Allah. That is, no one deserves to extremely subjugate one's self to except Allah. This is the worship which if one practices to other than Allah, one becomes a mushrik (blasphemer). Worship is not just calling, asking another for help, or asking another for rescue as some people claimed. Imam Taqiyyu-d-din as-Subkiyy said: "Worship (al-^Ibadah) is the ultimate degree of submission and subjugation." 9.Q: What is the meaning of one (Wahid ) when attributed to Allah? A: The meaning of one (Wahid ) when attributed to Allah is that there is no partner to Allah in Godhood and that no one deserves to be worshipped other than Allah. Allah said in Surat Al-Baqarah verse 163 ( و إلهكم إله واحد ) which means: Your God is One. Imam AbuHanifah said in "Al-Fiqh al-'Akbar": "Allah is One not in the context of numbers, but rather in the context that there is no partner to Him." 10.Q: What is the meaning of indivisible (Ahad)? A: Some religious scholars said: its meaning is like the meaning of al-Wahid. Some others said: Al-'Ahad is the one who is not divisible. That is, Allah is not a body, because the intellect judges that a body accepts divisibility and Allah is not a body. Allah said in Surat Al-Ikhlas 1. [0 Muhammad,] say that Allah is One without a partner to Him in the Self or attributes, and the One Who is indivisible (because He is not a body.) 2. All creations need Allah and He does not need any of, them. He is the One to Whom all resort in all types of adversities. He does not benefit from His creations and does not ward any harm off Himself by them. 3. Nothing was born out of Him; so no one inherits Him. He was not born; so no one shares property with Him. He is not the origin of anything and He did not originate from anything. 4. He has no equal in any way. Allah said in dispraising the blasphemers in Surat az-Zukhruf verse 15 ( و جعلوا له من عباده جزءاً ) which means: The blasphemers attributed to Allah parts among his creations. Imam Abu al-Hasan al-'Ash^ariyy said in his book "An-Nawadir": "Whoever believes that Allah is a body is not knowledgeable about his Lord and is a blasphemer." 11.Q; What is the meaning of without a beginning (Awwal) and eternal (Qadim)? A: The meaning of without a beginning (Awwal) is the One whose Existence has no beginning. Allah is the only one who is Awwal in this context. Allah said in Surat al-Hadid verse 3 ( هو الأول و الآخر ) which means: Allah is the one who does not have a beginning and does not have an end for his Existence. Along its meaning falls the meaning of eternal (Qadim) when attributed to Allah. The nation unanimously agreed on the validity of attributing the Qadim to Allah. Az-Zabidiyy conveyed this unanimous in his book Sharh Ihya' ^Ulum ad-Din. 12. Q: What is the meaning of the alive (al-Hayy) when attributed to Allah? A: The meaning of the alive (al-Hayy) when attributed to Allah is that He is attributed with an eternal and everlasting Life which is not soul, flesh and blood. Allah said in Surat al-Baqarah verse 255 ( الله لا إله إلا هو الحى القيوم ) which means: No one is God other than Allah who is al-Hayy and al-Qayyum. Allah also said in Surat al-Furqan verse 58 ( و توكل على الحى الذى لا يموت ) which means: One should rely upon the one who is alive (al-Hayy) who does not die. 13.Q: What is the meaning of without an end (Qayyum) when attributed to Allah? A: Some scholars said: the (Qayyum) is the one whose existence does not end. Others said: The (Qayyum) is the One who does not need anyone. 14.Q: What is the meaning of the everlasting (Da'im) when attributed to Allah? A: The meaning of the (Da'im) when attributed to Allah is the One who does not annihilate and annihilation is intellectually impossible for him. No one is everlasting (Da'im) in this context other than Allah. There is no partner to Allah in everlastingness, because Allah is everlasting by Himself and he deserves this attribute by Himself, nothing else confirmed it to Allah. The everlastingness of other than Allah like Paradise and Hellfire does not pertain to themselves, rather Allah willed for them to be everlasting. 15.Q: What is the meaning of the creator (Khaliq)? A: The meaning of the Creator (Khaliq) is the One who created and formed all the creations. That is, He brought them from non-existence to existence. Creating in this context may not be attributed to other than Allah. Allah ta^ala said in Surat Fatir verse 3 ( هل من خالق غير الله ) which means: No one is the creator except Allah. 16.Q: What is the meaning of the sustainer (Raziq) when attributed to Allah? A: The meaning of the sustainer (Raziq) is the one who brings sustenance to his slaves. Ar-rizq is what facilitates even though it may be prohibited. Allah ta^ala said in Surat Hud verse 6: ( و ما من دابة فى الأرض إلا على الله رزقها ) which means: Allah provides the sustenance to all what is on earth. 17.Q: What is the meaning of al-^Alim when attributed to Allah? A: The meaning of al-^Alim is the one who is attributed with an eternal and everlasting Knowledge which does not change. Allah knows about everything before it happens. Allah said in Surat al-An^am verse 59: which means: Only Allah knows about all the unforeseen and what is in land and sea. No matter what a leaf may fall Allah knows about it. Any grain in the darkness of earth or a wet or dry thing all are registered in a Book. 18.Q: What is al-Qadir when attributed to Allah? A: Al-Qadir when attributed to Allah means the one who is attributed with al-Qudrah (Power). Power is an eternal and everlasting Attribute by which Allah affects in all the mentally permissible things. That is, in all that which is by the judgment of the mind, is permissible to exist and to be annihilated. The Power of Allah is not related neither to the mentally necessary i.e. that which the mind does not conceive its non-existence nor to mentally impossible i.e. that which the mind does not conceive its existence. Allah said in Suratal-^Imran verse 29: (و يعلم ما فى السماوات و ما فى الأرض و الله على كل شئ قدير) which means: Allah knows what is in the heavens and earth and Allah has the Power over everything. 19.Q: Mention the categories of the mental judgments. A: The mental judgment is divided into three categories: The necessary, the impossible and the permissible. The mentally necessary: It is what the mind cannot conceive its non-existence. This refers to Allah and his Attributes [only]. The mentally impossible: It is what the mind cannot conceive its existence like the existence of a partner to Allah. The mentally permissible: It is what the mind conceive its existence at one point of time and its non-existence at another point of time like the entire creations. 20.Q: What is the meaning of: " Allah does whatever He wills " ? A: The meaning of: " Allah does whatever he wills " is that Allah has the Power to create what He eternally preordained by His Will. Nothing makes Allah powerless from doing that, nothing prevents Him from doing that, and He does not need the assistance of others. Allah said in Surat Hud verse 107: ( و لو شاء الله ما اقتتلوا و لكن الله يفعل ما يريد ) which means: Had Allah willed, they would not have fought one another, however, Allah does whatever He willed. 21.Q: Give a brief explanation of the statement: " Whatever Allah willed to be shall be and whatever Allah did not will to be shall not be ". A: This statement means that all what Allah willed to exist must exist in the time that Allah willed for it to exist. This equally includes the good, evil, obedience, disobedience, blasphemy and belief. What Allah did not will for it to exist shall not come into existence. It will not happen and will not occur. The Will of Allah is eternal, everlasting and does not change. The above statement is taken from the sayings of the prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam. Abu Dawud narrated in his book "as-Sunan" that the prophet taught this statement to his daughter: ما شاء الله كان و ما لم يشأ لم يكن " Whatever Allah willed to be shall be and whatever Allah did not will to be shall not be ". 22.Q: What is the meaning of la hawla wala quwata illa bil-lah? A: The meaning of lahawla walaquwata illa billah is: No one can evade sinning without the protection of Allah and no one has the strength to obey Allah without the help of Allah. Abu Ya^la narrated the explanation of this statement from the messenger of Allah, salla-l-lahu ^alayhi wa sallam. It was confirmed that the prophet urged to say it. 23.Q: Allah is attributed with all proper perfection. Why was the word "perfection" restricted with saying "proper"? A: This statement was restricted with saying "proper" because perfection is either a perfection attributable to Allah and to other than Allah like knowledge or perfection that is attributable to other than Allah but not a perfection attributable to Allah like the soundness of the mind. An attribute may be a praise to Allah and dispraise when attributed to humans- like the attribute al-Jabbar. Al-Jabbar is a praise when attributed to Allah and is a belittlement when attributed to the humans. ( The meaning of al-Jabbar, when attributed to Allah, is the One whom hands do not reach Him and for Whom nothing happens in his dominion except what he willed ). 24.Q: Speak about clearing Allah of imperfections. A: Allah is attributed with all proper perfection. He is clear of any imperfection. That is, He is clear of all that which do not befit Him such as ignorance, powerlessness, place, space, color and limit. Imam Abu Ja^far at-Tahawiyy who died 322 A.H. said: "Allah is clear of boundaries, extremes, sides, organs and instruments. The six directions do not contain Him unlike the case of all the created things ". Mentally speaking, it means Allah is not limited. Hence, He is clear of sitting, because the one who is attributed with sitting has to be limited. Imam ^Aliyy, MAY Allah raise his rank said: "Allah created the throne (ceiling of paradise: al-^Arsh) to show his Power and did not take it as a place for Himself". Imam Abu Mansur al-Baghdadiyy mentioned that statement in his book "Al-Farq Bayna-l-Firaq" after he had conveyed the consensus about clearing Allah of places and limits. 25.Q: What is the meaning of Allah's saying: ليس كمثله شئ A: It means Allah is not similar to any of the gentle, dense, upper (in the skies) or lower (in earth and below it) things. Allah ta^ala said in Surat al-Ikhlas verse 4: ( و لم يكن له كفواً أحد ) which means: Allah has no similar in any way. That is, there is no similar to Allah in any respect. Imam Dhu-n-Nun al-Misriyy, said: "Whatever you imagine in your mind, Allah is different from it". Imam at-Tahawiyy said in his book of "Al-^Aqidah": "The one who attributes to Allah a sense of mankind is a blasphemer." 26.Q: Speak about Allah's Attributes of Hearing and Sight. A: Allah said in Surat ash-Shura verse 11: ( ليس كمثله شئ و هو السميع البصير ) which means: Nothing is similar to Allah and He is attributed with Hearing and Sight. Allah attributed to Himself that there is not anything similar to Him and that He is attributed with Hearing and Sight. In the verse Allah firstly negated that He is similar to any created thing in any way, and then Attributed hearing and sight to Himself. This shows that the Hearing of Allah is not similar to the hearing of the creations and His Sight is not similar to the sight of the creations. Also, all the Attributes of Allah are not similar to the attributes of Allah's creations. Allah Hears all the hearable things without the need for an ear or any other instrument. He Sees all the seeable things without the need to a pupil or a ray of light. 27.Q: Speak about the saying of the author: "Allah exists without a beginning and everything else exists with a beginning. He is the creator and everything else is a creation" A: One must believe Allah is the only One who is eternal (Qadim) Who does not have a beginning to His existence and every thing else is a creation. Every creation that exists, be it among entities or deeds, from the fine dust to Ceiling of Paradise (^Arsh), and every movement, rest, intention and thought of the slaves is created by Allah. Hence, no one other than Allah -- be it nature or reason -- creates any thing. Things become existent by Allah's eternal Will, Power and Knowledge as mentioned in al-Qur'an in Surat al-Furqan verse 2: ( و خلق كل شئ ) which means: Allah created everything. Imam an-Nasafiyy said: "If a person hit glass with a stone and broke it, then the acts of hitting and breaking and the state of being broken were created by Allah." 28.Q: Speak about the Attribute of Speech (Kalam) of Allah ta^ala. A: Imam AbuHanifah, may Allah raise his rank said in his book "Al-Fiqh al-'Absat": "Allah speaks not like our speech. We speak by instruments from the [vocal] exits and [by] letters, whereas Allah's speech (Kalam) is without an instrument and a letter." Hence, Allah has speech (Kalam) which is not similar to our speech. His speech (Kalam) does not have a beginning and an end. Silence or interruption do not occur on his speech (Kalam), because it is not a letter or a sound; but it is an Attribute of Allah which is not similar to the speech of the creations. Allah said in Surat an-Nisa' verse 164: ( و كلم الله موسى تكليماً ) which means: Musa heard the speech (Kalam) of Allah. 29.Q: Speak about the saying of the author: "...because He, the exalted (subhanah), is unlike all the creations in the Self (Dhat), Attributes and Actions." A: Allah is not similar to any of the creations in Self, Attributes and Actions. That is, his Self (Dhat) is not similar to the selves of the creations. His Attributes are not similar to the attributes of the creations, and his Actions are not similar to the actions of the creations. The Action of Allah is eternal and everlasting, whereas what is done is a creation. Allah ta^ala said in Surat an-Nahl verse 60: ( و لله المثل الأعلى ) which means: Allah is attributed with the perfect Attributes that are not similar to the attributes of others. Imam AbuHanifah, and al-Bukhariyy, may Allah's mercy be on them said: "His Action (i.e., Allah's Action) is an Attribute of His (Self) which is eternal and what is done is a creation." 30.Q: What is the meaning of the saying of the author: " Subhanahu wa ta^ala " A: The meaning of subhanahu is clearing Allah; that is, I clear Allah of imperfections. The meaning of "ta^ala" is emphasizing that: Allah is clear of all imperfection. 31.Q: The scholars said that it is an obligation to know thirteen Attributes of Allah. What are these Attributes? A: The one who is accountable has to personally know thirteen Attributes of Allah which have been mentioned repeatedly in the Qur'an either explicitly or implicitly. A: The self of Allah is confirmed without a doubt to be eternal, then his Attributes have to be eternal. This is so, because the one whose attributes are created, one's self has to be created too. Imam AbuHanifah, said in "al-Fiqh al-'Absat": "Allah's Attributes are not created and were not proceeded by non-existence. Changes in states happen to created things. The one who says Attributes of Allah are created, or doubts or hesitates about them is a blasphemer".	eng	6e366391-0b81-49f4-a173-581fab72c065	http://www.alsunna.org/Questions-about-Islamic-Beliefs-Aqeedah.html
MDA - living with enLow Body Fat Linked with Risk of Developingnecdotal evidence has long described a positive association between being lean or underweight and developing <a href=" target="_blank"><strong>amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)</strong></a>. Now, results from a large-scale study conducted in Europe appear to confirm these observations, showing that individuals with more body fat have a decreased risk of developing the disease.</p> <p>The identification of such a <a href=" target="_self"><em>nongenetic risk factor</em></a> could help scientists better understand and determine the causes of ALS.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">About the study</h4> <p>Investigators studied more than half-a-million people recruited from the general population across 10 Western European countries for a study called European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, or <em>EPIC</em>. (In a "prospective" study, data is collected before a disease manifests.)</p> <p>At recruitment, participants provided information on lifestyle and dietary habits. Weight and height measurements were used to calculate each participant's <em>body mass index</em>, or <em>BMI</em>, and assign one of four standard BMI classifications: underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese. Waist and hip circumference measurements also were recorded.</p> <p>(BMI is a measure of body "fatness" and can be calculated by multiplying one's weight in pounds times 4.88 and dividing the result by one's height in feet squared. The <a href=" target="_blank">body mass index calculator</a> provided by the National Institutes of Health will do the math for you. )</p> <p>Within the 518,108-person group, a total of 222 deaths (79 men and 143 women) were attributed to ALS during a 13-year follow-up period.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">About the results</h4> <p>Analysis showed a statistically significant association between body mass index and gender, and ALS risk. Overall, underweight individuals had a significantly increased risk of ALS.</p> <ul><li>In men, having more body fat was associated with significantly reduced risk of developing ALS.</li> <li>The ALS risk for underweight women was more than three times that of normal-weight women.</li> <li>Also in women, the risk of ALS decreased as waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) increased; those with a WHR in the top 25 percent had less than half the risk of ALS compared to those in the bottom 25 percent.</li> </ul><p>Height was not associated with ALS.</p> <p>The investigators noted that factors that potentially could have influenced the results included participants' age at recruitment, education levels and smoking histories. They noted that inclusion of smoking and education information did not significantly change the ALS risk estimates, however.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">For more information</h4> <p>The international research team reported its findings online Feb. 6, 2013, in Neurology. To read the full report (there is a $30 charge), see <a href=" target="_blank">Prediagnostic Body Fat and Risk of Death from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis</a>.</p> <p>For more on nutrition and ALS, see:</p> <ul><li><a href=" target="_self">ALS Experts: Keep the Weight On</a></li> <li><a href=" target="_self">Overweight and moderately obese people with ALS survive the longest</a></li> <li>MDA webinar featuring Anne-Marie Wills called "<a href=" target="_blank">The Importance of Nutrition for Individuals with ALS</a>" at <a href=" target="_blank">Educational Presentations — Public Webinar Series</a> Body Fat Linked with Risk of Developing 361 574 18 Feb 2013 05:00:00 +0000admin255701 at Like a Penguin: Anti-Slip Tips for People with MuscleWinter can be a beautiful time of year — especially when you're inside under a warm blanket, drinking hot cocoa and looking out the window at the glistening white and the snow-coated branches. Unfortunately, most people have to carry out their daily lives regardless of slippery conditions.</p> <p>Slipping and falling are hazards for everyone in winter weather, but for people with neuromuscular diseases, it's crucial to be extra careful around snow and ice.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">Neuromuscular disease and falling</h4> <p>"Neuromuscular patients have less ability to restabilize after slipping on ice because of muscle weakness, insufficient strength and insufficient coordination to recover their center of balance," says Deborah F. Gelinas, director of the MDA Clinic at the Michigan State University Clinical Center in East Lansing, and director of clinical neuroscience research for the Hauenstein Neuroscience Center in Grand Rapids.</p> <p>Falling can be especially dangerous for less physically active people with neuromuscular disease, Gelinas said, because they tend to have more osteoporosis and are at greater risk of breaking a hip, spraining an ankle or fracturing a bone.</p> <p>An injury like a broken bone, with a long recovery period, can leave muscles permanently weaker than they were before.</p> <p>"Muscles quickly decondition when not used," says Gelinas. "It takes only a few days, so if an MDA patient is nonambulatory for a few weeks, they may not get back to baseline. Recovery depends to some degree on the diagnosis and the rate of decline with that diagnosis. Many forms of muscular dystrophy cannot regenerate new muscle easily or well."</p> <p>Since preventing injury is crucial, here are some general hints to help you avoid slipping and falling.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">Think ahead</h4> <p><strong>Have a plan:</strong> Know what you will do if you slip and fall.</p> <p><strong>Carry your lifeline:</strong> Always carry your cell phone with emergency contact numbers, even if you're just going out to get the mail. One way to keep a cell phone handy is to attach it to a lanyard and wear it around your neck.</p> <p><strong>Slow down and focus</strong>: Take your time on icy and snowy surfaces. It's better to be late than to slip and fall because you're in a hurry. Stay focused — don't get distracted using your cell phone.</p> <p><strong>Be willing to ask for help</strong>: Sometimes all you need is a steady arm to help you safely across a slippery sidewalk or parking lot. Most people are happy to offer assistance if asked.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">Dress for success</h4> <p><strong>Slip-proof your footwear</strong>: Look for boots with rubber or neoprene composite grip soles and boots with built-in ankle support.</p> <p>Traction aids such as ice cleats (spikes that bite into ice and snow) and chains (which grip) can be easily attached to the bottom of almost any form of footwear. Companies such as <a href=" target="_blank">Surefoot</a>, <a href=" target="_blank">ICEtrekkers</a>, <a href=" target="_blank">Kahtoola</a> and <a href=" target="_blank">Yaktrax</a> sell cleats and chains online and at outdoor equipment stores such as REI or Summit Hut. Prices range from $14 to $60.</p> <p><strong>Keep your hands free</strong>: Avoid carrying heavy things such as boxes or even big purses, as they may throw you off balance. Keep hands out of pockets and ready to break a fall.</p> <p><strong>Use more assistive equipment</strong>: Gelinas advises patients who normally use a cane to use a walker instead to gain extra stability; if you normally use a walker, this is the time to use a wheelchair.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">Decrease the risks</h4> <p><strong>Grit and clear your walkways (but mind the pooch)</strong>: Rock salt creates traction and helps melt snow and ice, but it's tough on lawns and incredibly harsh on the paws of service dogs and pets. Some lawn- and pet friendly traction-enhancers include cat litter, coffee grounds and tea grounds. Other de-icing solutions and pellets that are safe for pets and environmentally friendly can be found online, and at pet, hardware and discount department stores.</p> <p>The best way to clear the walk: Pay a neighborhood kid to shovel it.</p> <p><strong>Rattle the railings</strong>: If your house has steps leading up to the door, test the hand railings ahead of time to ensure that they can support your weight if you start to fall.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">Change where and how you walk</h4> <p><strong>Beware of steps: </strong>Steps are difficult to keep clear and tend to build up ice easily. Always use handrails and plant your feet firmly on each step.</p> <p><strong>Avoid shortcuts: </strong>Always walk in designated walkways because taking shortcuts over frozen areas can be risky.</p> <p><strong>Walk like a penguin: </strong>When walking on ice, point your feet out, take shorter shuffling steps and extend your arms from your sides to improve and maintain balance. Consciously keep your center of gravity directly over your feet.</p> <p><strong>Take care getting out of the car: </strong>Sometimes ice is invisible, so always test potentially icy parking lots with your foot before exiting your vehicle. If the ground is coated with ice, consider parking somewhere else. Brace yourself on the vehicle's door and seat back for stability before standing.</p> <p>The best defenses against slipping and falling on snowy and icy surfaces, says Gelinas, are "good judgment and caution."</p> <p><em>Note: For more tips on staying upright when walking, no matter the weather, see <a href=" target="_self">All Fall Down: Staying Upright with a Neuromuscular Disease</a>.</em></p> <table style="background-color: #f4f4f4; ; width: 100%;" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="10"><tbody><tr><td> <h4 class="sidebar-head">Protect Your Pooch's Paws</h4> <p>Service dogs should have proper footwear in the winter to protect their paws from the painful effects of ice and snow. Frozen surfaces can cause cracked and sore pads and blisters that can lead to infections. Salt and de-icing chemicals also can damage their paws.</p> <p>Adjustable boots and booties provide protection against winter conditions. Protective footwear for dogs is sold online by companies such as <a href=" target="_blank">Keep Doggie Safe</a>, <a href=" target="_blank">Ultra Paws</a>, <a href=" target="_blank">Muttluks</a> and <a href=" target="_blank">Ruffwear</a>, and also can be found in some pet retail stores such as PetSmart and Petco. They range in price from $14-$90, depending on the quality of the material used Like a Penguin: Anti-Slip Tips for People with Muscle 316 324 246 08 Feb 2013 11:27:00 +0000admin255961 at With Friends,</p> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" class="photo-table" style="width: 160px;"><tbody><tr><td> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/large.jpg" style="width: 146px; height: 190px; float: right;" /></td> </tr></tbody></table><p>In 1992, at the age of 32, I was diagnosed with <a href=" target="_self">inclusion-body myositis (IBM)</a>. About six years later, my youngest sister Celeste learned she also has IBM, which gave us both a diagnosis of <a href=" target="_self">hereditary inclusion-body myositis, or HIBM</a> — the kind of IBM that runs in families. MDA classifies HIBM as a distal muscular dystrophy.</p> <p>Through the years, adaptations have been made to accommodate the changes to my body due to the disease. For example, ankle-foot orthotic braces help me tremendously. After 20 years of wearing them, I am still capable of standing and moving around. As my disease symptoms have progressed, I've come to view my power wheelchair as a remarkable asset. It takes me almost anywhere I want to go, including sea cruises, which have been wonderful experiences.</p> <p>I keep myself so busy that lately my biggest problem has been finding the time. My former career was in the furniture/kitchen manufacturing business. Woodworking was my life. Sadly, I had to retire due to my disability. But I never really stopped working. I went forward with a business called The Cookie Nook. I came up with the idea, wrote a business plan, and a year later we were baking cookies and delivering them nationally. It was a lot of fun, but my love of sawdust was still there. So, eventually, I sold the cookie business.</p> <p>A power tool called a scroll saw was my door back into woodworking. A small tabletop machine, it gives me the ability to create intricate items made from exotic hardwoods. Scrolling allows me to express my creativity while sitting down; it's something I truly enjoy doing. Thus began my second post-diagnosis business, <a href=" target="_blank">Wood Crafts by Chris</a>.</p> <p>Shortly after my diagnosis, I became involved with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and it's become a big part of my life. The staff is wonderful, very helpful in every aspect and the doctors are top notch. They really care about each and every one of us. MDA and all its resources are there to help you and your family. My sister Celeste is also an active member of the MDA family. Together we have been involved in case studies and experimental treatments: positive research with promising results.</p> <p>While MDA's research program continues making strides toward better treatments and a cure, it's also good to know that people with disabilities have more opportunities than ever before to develop and use their abilities, and that the laws entitle us to equal employment opportunities and access to public places. </p> <p>I hope that hearing my story will provide you and your loved ones with some encouragement about life with muscle disease. And always remember, you're not alone!</p> <p>Chris Fosmire<br /> Boynton Beach, Florida</-name/finnish-tibial-distal-myopathy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Finnish (Tibial) Distal Myopathy</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/disease-name/gowers-laing-distal-myopathy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Gowers-Laing Distal Myopathy</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/disease-name/welander-distal-myopathy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Welander Distal Myopathy</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/disease-name/nonaka-distal-myopathy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Nonaka Distal Myopathy</a></div><div class="field-item odd even"><a href="/disease-name/hauptmann-thanheuser-md-emery-dreifuss-muscular-dystrophy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Hauptmann-Thanheuser MD (Emery-Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy)</a></div></div></div>Wed, 30 Jan 2013 21:47:48 +0000ftiberio249846 at Webinar Discusses Spinal Bracing and Surgery one-hour, MDA-sponsored webinar features two physicians and the parent of a child with <a href=" target="_blank"><strong>spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)</strong></a> who has undergone bracing and surgery for a spinal curvature, as well as questions and answers from listeners.</p> <p>The webinar titled "<a href=" target="_blank">Straightening the Growing Spine</a>," recorded Jan. 22, 2013, is part of <a href=" target="_blank">MDA's webinar series</a> and complements these recent Quest articles:</p> <ul><li><a href=" target="_self">In Focus: Straightening the Growing Spine</a> (article zeroes in on managing spinal curvatures in growing children with neuromuscular disorders, Quest, Jan. 7, 2013); and</li> <li><a href=" target="_blank">Adapting to Change After Spinal Surgery</a> (article discusses changes in equipment and activities that may be necessary after spine-straightening surgery, Quest, Jan. 7, 2013).</li> </ul><p>Below are highlights from the webinar.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">Bracing may postpone spinal surgery</h4> <p>Curvature of the spine is a common problem in children with neuromuscular disorders, particularly in children with SMA, said Tom Crawford, a child neurologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he co-directs the MDA clinic.</p> <p>"The driving force for scoliosis [a side-to-side curvature of the spine] in neuromuscular disease is gravity," Crawford noted, adding that children with SMA who are able to sit independently at some point in their lives — generally children with type 2 SMA (SMA2) — have a greater than 90 percent chance of developing scoliosis.</p> <p>Children who are able to walk independently at some point — generally children with type 3 SMA (SMA3) — develop scoliosis about 50 percent of the time, he said.</p> <p>Children with SMA who are never able to sit or walk — generally children with SMA1 — often develop scoliosis as well, Crawford said.</p> <p>Children with SMA often develop a "collapsing" type of scoliosis, which can develop suddenly, after some years of being relatively stable, Crawford said. This type of scoliosis is different from the type that affects children who don't have a neuromuscular disorder — so-called <em>idiopathic</em> (of unknown origin) scoliosis, which can develop very gradually and generally does not go into a sudden "collapse" mode.</p> <p>Crawford advised parents of children with neuromuscular disorders to look at the child's back and see whether or not the spine is starting to curve to one side. If it is, the child should be seen by a specialist. (Check with your MDA clinic for a referral.)</p> <p>Crawford is a proponent of bracing using a <em>thoraco-lumbar-sacral orthosis</em>, or <em>TLSO</em>, for children with neuromuscular spinal curvatures, as a way to put off doing surgery. Not every doctor agrees with bracing, he said, but in his experience, children with neuromuscular disease in general, and with SMA in particular, can benefit from a well-fitted TLSO. Although not a cure for scoliosis, a TLSO can allow spinal surgery to be postponed, particularly when the disorder is SMA, until a child is "at a later age when they're bigger and the results are better," Crawford said.</p> <p>However, if the curvature is very severe or complex or if the child is very overweight, bracing may not be effective, and the child may need to go to surgery while still quite young.</p> <p>Crawford noted that most children with <a href=" target="_blank"><strong>Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)</strong></a> do not develop scoliosis until after they have reached skeletal maturity and are nearly at their expected adult height, at which point there usually is no advantage to postponing spinal surgery. In fact, there's a disadvantage to doing so in DMD, as cardiac and pulmonary function often deteriorate after this point. These children generally do not need bracing but need surgery soon after a curvature develops.</p> <p class="article-subhead">Spinal fusion versus growing rods</p> <p>Pediatric orthopedic surgeon Paul Sponseller works closely with Crawford and other neurologists and has performed spine-straightening surgery on many children with neuromuscular disorders.</p> <p>Sponseller discussed two types of spine-straightening surgery:</p> <ul><li><em>spinal fusion</em>, in which the spine is permanently stabilized in the best position, using rods anchored with screws or wires, and employing bone chips that coax the vertebrae to fuse into a continuous column; and</li> <li><em>growing rods</em>, in which adjustable-length rods are anchored to the top and bottom of a spinal curvature and lengthened once or twice a year as a child grows.</li> </ul><p>Sponseller said that, in his experience, not everyone with a neuromuscular disease and a spinal curvature needs surgery, although many do. Patients with collapsing curvatures and those who have pain in the area of the curve need surgery, while those with a stable curvature who are not in pain may not need it.</p> <p>Spinal fusion surgery, Sponseller said, is best performed after a child's major growth spurt, which generally occurs at around 12 years old in girls and 13 in boys. Fusions performed earlier stop the growth of much of the spine, although in some circumstances they may be the best option.</p> <p>Sponseller said it's really never too late to do spinal surgery, but that, with time, the spine can become progressively more twisted, and respiratory function can deteriorate, both of which can make the surgery more risky.</p> <p>Spinal fusion, he noted, prevents further curvature of the spine and displacement of the ribs; can maintain or improve respiratory function and sometimes intestinal function; allows a child to go without a brace; and allows easier sitting and a more upright posture.</p> <p>A spinal fusion operation takes about four to six hours and is followed by an average of four to seven days in the hospital and one to three months at home or in a rehabilitation facility (out of school). It may take three to six months before a child "feels normal" after spinal fusion surgery, Sponseller said.</p> <p>Surgery to insert growing rods, he said, is for children in whom full growth is far from complete, usually those who are younger than about age 9.</p> <p>Growing rods are anchored at the top and bottom of the curvature but not in between, so that their length can be adjusted as the child grows. At this time, he said, such lengthening has to be done during a surgical procedure. However, in the future, it may be possible to do the rod lengthening without surgery, using an external device.</p> <p>The rods allow a child to go without an external brace (they act as an internal brace) and can allow not only further growth but adjustment of the rods to allow for changes in the curvature.</p> <p>A downside is that they require multiple surgeries.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">Complications and adaptations</h4> <p>Possible complications of spinal surgery, Sponseller said, include infection, bleeding, pneumonia, the need for assisted ventilation in the postoperative period and sometimes an unanticipated additional operation.</p> <p>Going without spinal surgery if one needs it can lead to pain, breathing impairment and sitting difficulties.</p> <p>Crawford said he tells families: "If you need spinal surgery, the only thing worse than having it is not having it."</p> <p>After surgery, children may find that they have to eat and drink differently; that raising their arms or pushing down with their arms may be difficult; that they may be taller and stiffer; and that personal care, such as in the bathroom, may be more challenging.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">Payton's story</h4> <p>Rachele Krebsbach and Payton Mueller describe their experience, offering encouragement and advice to families facing spinal surgery. Payton wore a brace for several years prior to insertion of growing rods, has undergone several rod-lengthening procedures, and has experienced some unexpected complications as well as overall success Webinar Discusses Spinal Bracing and Surgery 281 109 447 25 Jan 2013 10:23:00 +0000admin255991 at to Obtain Durable Medical Equipment Via Medicareurable medical equipment (DME), such as wheelchairs, walkers, portable oxygen devices and hospital beds, can be very expensive — and the process for obtaining them from Medicare can be very confusing. </p> <p>Learn about Medicare coverage of DME and get the latest information on obtaining such equipment in a webinar Tuesday, Jan. 29, from 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern time. </p> <p>"Medicare Coverage of Durable Medical Equipment" is presented by the <a href=" target="_blank">Medicare Rights Center</a> and costs $40 to attend. It will cover:</p> <ul><li>when Medicare does and does not pay for medical equipment;</li> <li>what types of equipment are covered;</li> <li>how much of the cost Medicare will cover;</li> <li>buying versus renting equipment;</li> <li>getting medical equipment under Medicare; and</li> <li>appealing a denial of coverage for equipment.</li> </ul><p>The registration fee covers participation in the webinar or — for those who can't attend the live event — a link to a digital recording of the webinar after it's complete.</p> <p>Visit the <a href=" target="_blank">Medicare Rights Center</a> to register for the webinar or for more information to Obtain Durable Medical Equipment Via Medicare 26156 869support-and-resources" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">support and resources 23 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000admin256001 at Building 'Transitional Freedom' Partnerships"><tbody><tr><td><a href=" target="_blank"><img src=" alt="" height="200" width="200" /></a></td> </tr></tbody></table><p>Like many high school seniors, Drew is busy choosing a college and preparing for the big transition from life at home to life on a college campus. Unlike his peers, Drew has <a href=" target="_blank"><strong>Duchenne muscular dystrophy</strong></a>.</p> <p>Until relatively recently, the idea that Drew would be able to attend college was unimaginable. But with medical research breakthroughs and advances in therapeutics and treatment, Drew and many others with neuromuscular diseases now enjoy a longer life span and improved quality of life that enables them to pursue a college degree and employment.</p> <p>Academic success at college will be easy for Drew, who has an enviable GPA. An Eagle Scout and member of his high school's homecoming court, he has known no barriers he couldn't surmount.</p> <p>But what Drew and his parents don't realize as he prepares to transition from childhood to young adulthood is that many barriers to education, employment and independent living still exist for nearly half a million youth with disabilities and chronic health conditions who cross into adulthood each year in the United States. And this population is growing rapidly.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">Transition meeting addresses barriers</h4> <p>Reducing these barriers was the goal of a daylong Transitions Pathway Meeting hosted by MDA and the <a href=" target="_blank">Spina Bifida Association (SBA)</a> on November 29, 2012 in Washington, D.C. The two communities, whose members face similar transition barriers related to physical mobility, were joined by federal partners from the:</p> <ul><li><a href=" target="_blank">National Institutes of Health</a>;</li> <li><a href=" target="_blank">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>;</li> <li><a href=" target="_blank">Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services</a>;</li> <li><a href=" target="_blank">Social Security Administration</a>; and</li> <li>U.S. departments of <a href=" target="_blank">Health and Human Services</a>, <a href=" target="_blank">Education</a> and <a href=" target="_blank">Labor</a>.</li> </ul><p>"Our goal is transitional freedom. We want young people with disabilities to have the same freedom as those without disabilities to make choices for themselves and transition to whatever their desired independence is in life," said Annie Kennedy, MDA senior vice president of advocacy, who organized the meeting in collaboration with SBA CEO Cindy Brownstein.</p> <p>"We have a population of adults that didn't exist before, and they are now living not just to 30 or 35, but into their 50s. They are outliving their parents, getting higher degrees and looking to contribute to society, get married and have families. But they don't realize until they attain their degree or other desired goal that the resources to get to the next level don't exist."</p> <p>Barriers identified over the past three years by <a href=" target="_blank">MDA's transitional services program</a> range from finding accessible transportation and housing to funding personal care attendant services to locating knowledgeable physicians who treats adults with pediatric-onset diseases. Others include employment and Medicaid benefit eligibility, pain and associated depression, mental health issues, and health care self management. Fragmented and complex federal and state systems of support also present barriers to much needed resources.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">'The largest mistake I've ever made'</h4> <p>Two members of the MDA community shared personal experiences with barriers to independence. <a href=" target="_blank">Christopher Rosa</a>, City University of New York's assistant dean for student affairs and a member of MDA's Board of Directors, spoke about his transition from college to competitive employment and "the largest mistake I've ever made in my life" — voluntary forfeiture of Social Security and Medicaid benefits.</p> <p>"I was so thrilled that I had achieved competitive employment that I told [Social Security and Medicaid] that I didn't need their support anymore," said Rosa, who is affected by <a href=" target="_blank"><strong>Becker</strong><strong>muscular dystrophy</strong></a>. "I didn't have the foresight to understand how my needs would evolve over the course of living with a progressive neuromuscular disease. I didn't realize how important Medicaid would have been for sustaining my independence with personal care assistance services and housing because, at that critical moment, I had no meaningful benefits counseling or help with program navigation. I've spent the last 25 years recovering financially from that mistake. I'm just now experiencing the liberation of independence."</p> <p><a href=" target="_blank">Angela Wrigglesworth</a>, an award-winning fourth-grade teacher in Houston, Texas, and a member of the MDA National Task Force on Public Awareness, discussed the barriers she's faced in finding accessible housing. Just taking a shower has been a major obstacle for Wrigglesworth, who has <a href=" target="_blank"><strong>spinal muscular atrophy</strong></a>.</p> <p>In her college dorm, she managed with a makeshift roll-in shower. Upon graduation, she moved to an apartment without a roll-in shower. "If I had renovated the bathroom, I would have been required to put it back the way it was when I moved out. So I commuted 20 minutes to my parents' house each day for six years just to take a shower!" she related<strong>. </strong>Now renting a fully accessible house built by friends, she acknowledges that it would be difficult to find accessible accommodations if she ever had to move again.</p> <p>Recently, Wrigglesworth faced another major obstacle when she was notified by Social Security that she no longer qualified for personal care assistant services because she had crossed over the income threshold.</p> <p>"On a schoolteacher's salary, I couldn't afford to pay for personal care assistants without help," she said. "I need six hours of assistance each day which costs $23,000 a year, and I have no savings. I can do only three things myself — eat, apply makeup and brush my teeth. For a while, I thought I would have to quit my job and live in a nursing home. That is unacceptable."</p> <p>Wrigglesworth contacted her U.S. senator who helped get her benefits reinstated through a little-known waiver. "I know how to work the system, but others don't," she observed. "People with disabilities shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get what they need."</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">Action plan for policy change</h4> <p>All meeting participants agreed that partnership and collaboration among the organizations and federal agencies they represent is essential to removing barriers for young people with disabilities and chronic disease conditions who are transitioning to adulthood. Rosa proposed the development of a <em>national disability transition policy for youth</em>.</p> <p>"All federal agency partners, not-for-profits and organizations for people with disabilities can work together to create a more seamless approach to transition. A national disability transition policy should meet people with disabilities where they are in the transition process and should be sensitive and nimble enough to support people in their self-directed choices when they are at different key stages of transition in their lives."</p> <p>MDA's advocacy program is spearheading the organization of five working subgroups of Transitions Pathway meeting participants, who will work toward the goal of transitional freedom by addressing various aspects of transition. These include:</p> <ul><li><strong>Building a coalition.</strong> In addition to MDA and SBA, other groups serving similar populations of youth with disabilities will be organized into a formal coalition to work together to effect federal policy change.</li> <li><strong>Developing a communication strategy.</strong> A campaign is needed to more effectively disseminate critical information to young people in transition and provide successful role models to encourage and inspire them.</li> <li><strong>Determining health care action steps.</strong> A plan of action will help improve care when young people transition from pediatric to adult primary care providers and subspecialists.</li> <li><strong>Researching the Affordable Care Act</strong>. How will this new legislation affect transition issues?</li> <li><strong>Conducting outreach on competitive employment.</strong> Reach out to the business community and university business schools to promote competitive employment of young people with disabilities and determine how they can best achieve success in the workplace.</li> </ul><p>The entire group will reconvene in six months to report progress among the subgroups and continue working toward meaningful policy change that will enhance transitional freedom for young people transitioning to adulthood.</p> <p>Judy Thibadeau, a meeting participant and health scientist on the CDC's Rare Disorders and Health Outcomes team, noted, "This effort will serve all our communities if we can find opportunities to work together, collaborate on great programs that are working and maximize the benefits for everyone Building 'Transitional Freedom' Partnerships 141 355 225 141 06 Dec 2012 15:31:43 +0000admin256081 at in the Hurricane: How Social Media Rescued a Man with Mitochondrial MyopathyAs you all know, being the creative type that I am, I love do-it-yourself projects … However, I found myself in the middle of a rather unusual project, which involved a lot of creative 'thinking outside of the box,' and it was more than just a do-it-yourself. It was more of a 'do it ourselves' project. And we did it. Successfully. Here's the story of how we helped Nick Dupree."</p> <p>So begins an amazing <a href=" target="_blank">two-part blog by Crystal Evans</a> of Braintree, Mass., a "WAHM" (work-at-home mom) with <strong><a href=" target="_blank">mitochondrial myopathy</a></strong>, and owner of the online shop <a href=" target="_blank">Little Free Radical</a>.</p> <p>The blog relates how Evans and a network of people around the country, connected only through Facebook, were able to figure out <a href=" target="_self">how to power a ventilator through a car battery</a>, raise money, buy supplies and hand-deliver necessary equipment, food and water to a wheelchair- and vent-dependent man with mitochondrial myopathy stranded in the immediate aftermath of <a href=" target="_blank">Hurricane Sandy</a>.</p> <p>Evans, who uses a wheelchair due to mitochondrial myopathy, clearly is the kind of person who jumps in when others need help, and Hurricane Sandy brought out this instinct quite strongly. When she learned through Facebook that her online acquaintance and disability activist <a href=" target="_self">Nick Dupree</a> was stuck in Manhattan with his partner Alejandra Ospina (also a wheelchair user) on the 12th floor of an apartment building with no power, no water and no one coming to provide Dupree's needed 24-hour skilled nursing care, Evans co-led a social media effort to get him help. In addition to his ventilator, Nick needed to power a cough-assist machine, oxygen concentrator and feeding pump. (For a variety of reasons, explained in the <a href=" target="_blank">second part of Evans' blog,</a> Dupree did not feel safe evacuating to a hospital.)</p> <p>"I'm amazed at the amount of teamwork that has occurred in trying to get Nick and Alejandra help," Evans wrote in her blog. "Strangers all working together to help make a plan to get supplies in to get equipment working. People donating to help fund supplies ... <strong>I emailed FEMA this morning to let them know WE had taken care of it together</strong>. Nick has a temporary power source because dozens of people worked together through social networking to make that happen. Nick and Alejandra have a team of volunteers because while some of us focused on access to a power source, others focused on volunteer assistance. Complete strangers are helping get supplies up to him. It's amazing."</p> <p>Dupree, who got his electrical power back on Nov. 4, posted this to his Facebook account: "I've survived this long (fifth day of no power and counting) because of social media organizing and direct help from Crystal Evans-Pradhan … So very overwhelmed so many feel I'm worth saving. Thank you all so very much!!!!!!!!" in the Hurricane: How Social Media Rescued a Man with Mitochondrial Myopathy41 474 071 21 Nov 2012 05:00:00 +0000admin256111 at Shows Increased Life Span in DMD in Recent DecadesFindings from a study of 516 Italian boys show a significant improvement over the last six decades in survival time in <a href=" target="_blank"><strong>Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)</strong></a><strong>. </strong>This modified <em>natural history</em> (general disease course) of DMD, the study team reported, stems from the application of a comprehensive therapeutic approach that emphasizes <a href=" target="_self">respiratory and cardiac (heart) care</a>.</p> <p>Specific care components that have contributed to longer life span for those with the disease include noninvasive mechanical ventilation and <a href=" target="_self">corticosteroids</a> (steroids such as prednisone, prednisolone and deflazacort) to help <a href=" target="_blank">breathing function</a>, and drugs called <em>angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors</em> to improve <a href=" target="_self">heart function</a>. (Corticosteroids also are used in DMD to <a href=" target="_self">keep muscles stronger longer</a> and to prolong ambulation, or the ability to walk.)</p> <p>DMD should now be considered not only a pediatric disease, but a disease of adulthood as well, the research team noted, adding that more public health interventions are needed to support individuals with DMD and their families as they transition from childhood into adulthood.</p> <p>The researchers published their findings Oct. 31, 2012, in Acta Myologica. Read the entire report, free of charge: <a href=" target="_blank">Improvement of Survival in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Retrospective Analysis of 835 Patients</a>.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">Survival to 20 and 25 years has increased</h4> <p>Investigators reviewed the medical records of 835 people with DMD who were treated between the years of 1961 and 2006 at the Naples (Italy) Centre of Cardiomyology and Medical Genetics. After eliminating from the study those who had incomplete records, lack of routine follow-up, and those in whom a DMD diagnosis couldn't be confirmed, the remaining 516 were divided by decade of birth into three groups: those born between 1961 and 1970; those born between 1971 and 1980; and those born between 1981 and 1990.</p> <p>Age and causes of death were analyzed along with details about respiratory and cardiac care. Cardiac and respiratory problems were the main causes of death, with respiratory causes being proportionally higher until the 1980s.</p> <p>The average age for heart-related deaths was 19.6 years, with an increasing age in the last 15 years. The overall average for deaths attributable to respiratory issues was 17.7 years in people without ventilator support, and 27.9 years in those who used mechanical ventilation.</p> <p>Improvement in survival rate was observed at two different ages:</p> <ul><li>at the age of 20 years, 23.3 percent of individuals born in the 1960s (group 1), 54 percent of those who were born in the 1970s (group 2) and 59.8 percent of those born in the 1980s (group 3) were still alive; and</li> <li>at the age of 25 years, 13.5 percent of individuals born in the 1960s, 31.6 percent of those born in the 1970s and 49.2 percent of those born in the 1980s were still alive.</li> </ul><p class="Default">The researchers noted that treatment that included noninvasive mechanical ventilation, ACE inhibitors and steroids became standard practice in the care of people with DMD at the Centre in the early 1990s.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">Similar study, similar results</h4> <p>Results from a previous study conducted by another group corroborate those from the new study, showing that:</p> <ul><li>The average age of DMD-related death in the 1960s was 14.4 years; since 1990, however, in those who used assisted ventilation the average age of death is 25.3 years. </li> <li>The chance of surviving to the age of 25 years in the 1960s was 0 percent; 4 percent in the 1970s and 12 percent in the 1980s, while with assisted ventilation, since 1990, the chance of living to the age of 25 rose to 53 percent.</li> <li>A greater chance of living to the age of 30 years occurred when spinal surgery was combined with assisted ventilation.</li> </ul><p class="Default">For more on this study, see: <a href=" target="_blank">Survival in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Improvements in Life Expectancy Since 1967 and the Impact of Home Nocturnal Ventilation</a>.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">MDA research and resources</h4> <p class="Default">In an effort to better understand how specific interventions such as ACE inhibitors and corticosteroids are connected to health outcomes for people with DMD (or other neuromuscular diseases) in the United States, <a href=" target="_self">MDA launched a neuromuscular disease registry</a> through its national network of 200 clinics in October 2012. Through the data it collects, MDA hopes to significantly improve survival and quality of life for those with neuromuscular disease, including DMD, and to help advance clinical trials. In particular, the data are expected to help determine the best ways to provide care. (For example, the data may shed light on the ideal age for a young child with DMD to begin taking corticosteroids.)</p> <p class="Default">MDA's <a href=" target="_blank">Transitional Services</a> program provides support and resources designed to assist youth with disabilities as they prepare for adulthood and develop life skills necessary for achieving greater independence.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">For more information</h4> <p class="Default">To learn more about interventions that contribute to increased longevity in DMD, see:</p> <ul><li><a href=" target="_self">DMD Briefs: Stopping Inflammation on Earth and in Space</a>, Quest News Online, Sept. 13, 2012: Inflammation is a normal process the body uses to control the spread of infection; but in some situations, such as in DMD, it can do more harm than good.</li> <li><a href=" target="_self">MDA Funds Development of Gentler Glucocorticoid for DMD</a>, Quest News Online, May 3, 2012: With support from MDA, ReveraGen BioPharma is developing a compound for DMD that is designed to eliminate the negative aspects of glucocorticoid drugs while retaining the beneficial actions of these drugs.</li> <li><a href=" target="_self">MDA Funds Testing of Anti-Inflammatory Compounds for DMD</a>, Quest News Online, April 4, 2012: Catabasis Pharmaceuticals is receiving MDA support to test two anti-inflammatory compounds that act similarly to corticosteroid medications but with fewer side effects.</li> <li><a href=" target="_blank">DMD — Wang</a>: Jen Chywan Wang is receiving MDA support to study the effects of chronic glucocorticoid treatment in DMD.</li> <li><a href=" target="_self">DMD clinical care recommendations for the diagnosis and management of DMD</a>, Quest News Online, Dec. 3, 2009: Prepared by the DMD Care Considerations Working Group under the auspices of the <a href=" target="_blank">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>, the recommendations outline standard guidelines that doctors and other medical professionals and caregivers can use to design and implement the best plan of care for an individual with DMD Shows Increased Life Span in DMD in Recent Decades 311 904 19 Nov 2012 05:00:00 +0000admin256116 at for In-Home Care Available from Philanthropist with LGMD small nonprofit organization is offering limited grants for in-home care to people with physical disabilities. The next quality-of-life grant application deadline is November 1, 2012.</p> <p><a href=" target="_blank">CMMS Deshae Lott Ministries</a>, a Louisiana-based nonprofit, is in its third year of offering scholarships and grants to people with physical disabilities. Deshae Lott, a Bossier City college professor and minister with <strong><a href=" target="_blank">limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD)</a></strong>, founded the organization in 2007.</p> <p>The amounts offered for the quality-of-life grants are generally modest — $250 to $500 — to avoid jeopardizing benefits and services that people currently receive, or are on waiting lists to receive.</p> <table class="photo-table" style="width: 206px; height: 370px;" align="right" border="0"><tbody><tr><td align="center" valign="bottom"><img src=" alt="" height="252" width="189" /></td> </tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top">College professor and minister Deshae Lott has limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), requiring her to use a wheelchair and a ventilator. Her ministry's outreach program offers financial aid and scholarships to people with severe disabilities.</td> </tr></tbody></table><p>A recent recipient of a Lott Ministries quality-of-life grant is Ida Tranks, of Charlotte, N.C., who has <a href=" target="_blank"><strong>amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)</strong></a>. She lives with her 15-year-old grandson and has no other family member to provide assistance. Awarded $500, Tranks will use the money to hire an in-home female caregiver to help her with bathing and dressing.</p> <p><span class="article-subhead">Money toward graduate degrees</span></p> <p>The organization also awards a number of academic scholarships each year. Because financial aid specifically for graduate students with disabilities is often lacking, Lott, who holds a Ph.D. in English, established the scholarship program to help individuals with disabilities who want to pursue higher education beyond the bachelor's degree level.</p> <p>A recent recipient of a $1,500 Lott Ministries scholarship is Claire Abraham, who has <strong><a href=" target="_blank">type 2 spinal muscular atrophy</a></strong>. Abraham is seeking a Master of Science in Information from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The money will be used to help her live independently on campus.</p> <p><span class="article-subhead">Deadlines and information</span></p> <p>Applications for quality-of-life grants are due by May 1 and November 1 each year. Guidelines and an application form are available at <a href=" target="_blank">deshae.org/cmms/qlgrant.pdf</a>.</p> <p>Applications for academic scholarships are due by July 1 each year. Guidelines and an application form are available at <a href=" target="_blank">deshae.org/cmms/scholar.pdf</a>.</p> <p>Although CMMS Deshae Lott Ministries has a Christian orientation, Lott stresses that the organization's participants come from various faith backgrounds, and the awards are nondenominational and nonsectarian. Funding for the scholarships and grants comes from donations from people wishing to support the outreach program.</p> <p>To learn more about the Deshae Lott Ministries Outreach Program's scholarships and quality-of-life grants, visit the <a href=" target="_blank">Deshae Lott Ministries</a> website or <a href=" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page for In-Home Care Available from Philanthropist with LGMD 916 349 456 549 05 Oct 2012 16:55:25 +0000admin256261 at with Mitochondrial Myopathy Swims in London><strong>Update (Oct. 16, 2012)</strong>: <em>Joe Wise placed fifth in the 400-meter freestyle at the London Paralympic Games. Watch an <a href=" target="_blank">interview with Joe</a> to learn more about his experiences at the Paralympics.</em></td> </tr></tbody></table><p>As an energetic youngster in Menlo Park, Calif., Joe Wise's favorite sports were baseball and football. Once he developed allergies and asthma, though, his mom, Marie, insisted that he add swimming to his athletic pursuits to improve his health.</p> <p>When Wise turned 9, his parents noticed alarming changes — he moved slower and complained of hip pain. His legs became weaker and writing was difficult. That year, doctors diagnosed him with <a href=" target="_blank"><strong>mitochondrial myopathy</strong></a>. There was a good chance, they said, that he wouldn't live to see his 15th birthday.</p> <p>But Wise had a secret weapon. He was a swimmer. Kelly Crowley, a fellow hometown swim team member and Paralympian, told him about the <a href=" target="_blank">Paralympic Games</a>.</p> <p>Two years after his diagnosis, Wise competed in the 2004 Athens Paralympic Trials in Minneapolis, Minn. "I was nowhere close to making the team. After the trials, I decided I wanted to go to the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. From that moment on, my whole life was swimming," says Wise, who attended practices nine to 11 times a week and began eating a healthy "athletic" diet. </p> <p>At the age of 15, Wise made it to Beijing and swam in one event as a member of the <a href=" target="_blank">U.S. Paralympic Team</a>. Wise's Mom credits swimming for her son's miraculous survival in those early years.</p> <p>"I love swimming — it has introduced me to some of my best friends. Swimming makes me feel normal. I know this may sound a little weird, but I train with two able teams both at my club and at college. Once I dive in the pool, I forget about my disease. I forget about all the negative doctor news. I forget about the ventilator," says Joe. "The swimming pool is also the place where I can take my frustration out. Sometimes after hearing negative news from doctors I have the best practices of the year. I just take my anger out in the pool." </p> <h4 class="article-subhead">On to London, despite setbacks</h4> <p>Inspired by his experience as a Paralympian in Beijing, Wise immediately set a new goal to compete in not just one, but multiple events in London 2012.</p> <p>Through the next four years of high school, Wise's mind flourished while his health continued to fail. In addition to an enlarged heart, he experienced weakness in his hips and diaphragm, and motility issues. By 2010, he needed treatments with a volume vent to deal with his enlarging heart. Despite his health issues, Wise's straight-A average and athletic abilities caught the notice of Loyola University Maryland, located in Baltimore. In 2011, he began college as a member of the school's swim team. </p> <p>Just as he was closing in on his Paralympic goal, however, Wise's condition "took a turn for the worse," says his mom. His swim times slowed, his heart continued to weaken, his balance was poor, and he was spending more time on the vent. In February 2012, Wise's failing health forced him to take a medical withdrawal from college. "That was very tough — putting my education on hold and leaving my friends," he says.</p> <p>Refusing to give up hope, his doctors and his coaches promised, 'We're going to get you to London." By early May, his health had dramatically improved. In June, he competed in the Paralympic trials and earned a place with the U.S. swim team. </p> <p>"The feeling I had when my name was called for the London team is almost indescribable. I felt ecstatic, and actually couldn't believe it. Three weeks prior to trials, I had one of the worst meets of my life. My coaches and I talked about if it was even worth going to trials in Bismarck, North Dakota," Wise says. </p> <p>The 19-year-old will compete in five Paralympic events: 200-meter individual medley, 100-meter butterfly, 100- and 400-meter freestyle, and the 100-meter breastroke. </p> <p>"I have put the time, effort and hard work into this one goal. Considering the tough year I have had, just being on the team is a victory," says Wise. "I have accomplished my goal. It just wasn't the road I wanted to take, but I guess God has a plan for everything and he was with me every step of the way." </p> <p>After the London Paralympic Games, Wise will return to Loyola University Maryland to pursue a degree in political science with a minor in communications. He intends to continue swimming with the college team and help Loyola win a conference championship. "I plan on swimming to 2016 — I want to give my college coach four solid years of swimming," he says. "I figure retiring in 2015 is way too close to a games year, so I will stick around for another year and hopefully make the [Paralympic] team and swim in Rio in 2016." </p> <p>What are Wise's long-term goals? He hopes to attend grad school and enter the world of politics working as a lobbyist for disability rights. </p> <p>Follow Wise's adventures at the U.S. Paralympic Games on <a href=" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href=" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, and learn more about his story in this <a href=" target="_blank">2008 video</a>.</p> <h4 class="article-subhead">How to see the Games</h4> <p>The 2012 Paralympic Games will be held in London August 29 through September 9. They encompass 21 separate sporting events: archery, athletics, boccia, cycling road, cycling wheelchair, equestrian, football 5-a-side, football 7-a-side, goatball, judo, powerlifting, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis. A record 2.2 million tickets have been sold.</p> <p>The Games can be watched in the U.S. via several outlets:</p> <ul><li>The <a href=" target="_blank">U.S. Paralympics YouTube channel</a> is broadcasting 10 daily highlights of the games, interviews with the athletes plus the opening and closing ceremonies.</li> <li>Uninterrupted, live coverage will be aired on five channels on the <a href=" target="_blank">International Paralympic Committee website</a>.</li> <li><a href=" target="_blank">Paralympic.org</a> will broadcast more than 1,000 hours of sporting action.</li> <li>NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) will air one-hour highlight shows on Sept. 4, 5, 6 and 11 at 7 p.m. EDT. NBC will broadcast a 90-minute special about the Paralympic Games on Sept. 16 from 2-3:30 p.m. EDT. All NBC and NBC Sports Network Paralympic highlight shows and specials will re-air on Universal Sports Network and <a href=" target="_blank">UniversalSports.com</a>.</li> </ul><p>For a wonderfully detailed overview of all sports at the Games, and a calendar of events, see <a href=" target="_blank">The Paralympian: Paralympic Games Special Edition</a>.</p> <table style="background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%;" cellpadding="10"><tbody><tr><td> <h4 class="sidebar-head">Cyclist with CMT Going to the Games</h4> <p><img class="sidebar-photo" style="float: right;" src=" alt="Anthony Zahn" height="140" width="90" /></p> <p>Also competing in London will be Anthony Zahn, a cyclist with <a href=" target="_blank"><strong>Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT)</strong></a>, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. </p> <p>Anthony, 37, is originally from Riverside, Calif., where he owned a bike shop, but now lives in Lincoln, Neb., with his wife, Deane.</p> <p>Cycling (road and track) is the third-largest sport in the Paralympic program. There will be 225 cyclists in London (70 women and 155 men) — the U.S. is sending 17 of them: eight women and nine men.</p> <p>Zahn — who has been singled out as one of several U.S. Paralympians who should be "<a href=" target="_blank">exciting to watch</a>" — will represent the U.S. in four events in London.</p> <p>To learn more about Anthony Zahn, follow him on <a href=" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and watch this <a href=" target="_blank">2011 YouTube video</a> with Mitochondrial Myopathy Swims in London81 350 387 154 27 Aug 2012 05:00:00 +0000admin256226 at	eng	f0569a0c-19bb-45dd-a10f-dc0ce4bd5a25	http://mda.org/taxonomy/term/366/feed
May 31, 2008 31 May 2008 01:18 Three years ago, Mahendra BK was a 12-year-old boy living on the street in Pokhara, a middle-sized Nepalese town with a population of about 200 000. His mother died when he was still an infant and his alcoholic father died of tuberculosis when Mahendra was only eight. Mahendra lived in extreme poverty with his sister and grandmother for about a year. At the age of nine, he left them and ended up in Kathmandu, the capital, where he was living a high-risk life on the street, collecting garbage and selling it for petty cash to recycling factories. Mahendra's story is all too common among children in Nepal where, according to the local NGO Child Workers in Nepal, an estimated 5 000 children live on the streets without a family. But Mahendra BK (a two-letter family name is common in Nepal) was lucky. Today, he is one of just more than 20 boys in the Sahara Football Academy in Pokhara. Sahara (the Nepalese word for "support") is a social welfare organisation that provides street children with lodging, food, education and something to do — playing football. Mahendra is the goalkeeper in the Sahara team, and he explains that joining the football academy has changed his life and given him hope for the future. "When I was living on the street, I was sleeping under empty rice sacks in many different places. The police used to come around and chase me away. So I was really happy to come to Sahara. Here, we practise football every day and I hope that one day I will be good enough to become an international footballer … like Oliver Kahn, my favourite player," he says. Of course, not all of the 20 boys will be able to make a living by playing football. "I think that perhaps five of the boys we have here possess the talent to go on to play in the Nepalese A division and on the national team in the future," says Keshab Bahadur Thapa, Sahara general secretary. "Even if they go on to play professional football, they can't expect to become rich that way. There isn't very much money in Nepalese football right now, but it is slowly getting better." That is why the club also tries to provide vocational training for the boys when they turn 16 years old. After that age, the club helps them establish their own life outside the academy. "Firstly, we try to place them in other football clubs where they will receive a small salary, but we also give them training as mechanics, electricians, plumbers and carpenters," Thapa explains. While the academy was established as a regular football club in 1998 by members of the local community, the idea for social work and the combined orphanage and football academy developed later. In 2004, the club was made a reality, largely through the inspiration and fund-raising of Nepali expatriates such as Navin Gurung who lives in the United Kingdom. Gurung relates: "I was already involved in organising sports events in the UK. One day a friend told me about the activities of the Sahara club and I was really touched. From there the connection started. Now many of my personal friends, Nepalese acquaintances and business connections have all assisted me in organising various fund-raising programmes to support the valuable work that Sahara is doing." In addition to funds raised abroad, the Sahara club also receives money from the local business community in Pokhara and through ticket sales at the tournaments it arranges every year. The Sahara club isn't the only home for orphans and street children in Nepal. Indeed, there are many such homes. But the quality of the Nepalese orphanages varies a lot and they often lack proper management. The United Nations Children's Fund spokesperson in Nepal, Rosanne Vega, says: "Since there is no proper monitoring of orphanages, the quality and conditions for the children vary a lot. Almost anybody can start an orphanage here, including people completely lacking experience in this field." Indeed, it is common for street children to stay in an orphanage for a while but then run away and end up on the street again, as the conditions in some of the orphanages are even worse than living rough. Rajesh Thakuri, aged 11, is one of the many street children in Kathmandu. He was staying in an orphanage but ran away because, as he says, "They didn't like me. They hated me there!" He now sleeps on the street and begs for money outside a hospital. Another street boy, 12-year-old Raivi, has lived on the streets for the past two years. He is a rag-picker, going through other people's garbage and collecting glass, metal, paper and plastic that he can sell to recycling factories. Raivi sleeps every night in relative safety in the no-man's-land behind the airport perimeter fence. Every morning he goes around town and searches the garbage piles before the sun heats them up and makes them too smelly. According to International Labour Organisation statistics, the thousands of rag-picking children in Nepal work an average of six hours a day, making about 87 rupees a day — just short of €1. But living on the street, there is always the risk of losing the day's wage to gangs, junkies, bigger boys or even police officers. At Sahara, staff say, with some pride, that in the three years since the academy started not one child has run away. The children's programme in the academy usually starts at 5am when they get up and have a snack before taking a five-minute walk to the local stadium, where they have two hours of football training. Then it's back to the hostel for breakfast and school. When school is out in the afternoon, they again practise football for an hour or two before doing their homework. The two assistant trainers in Sahara work as tutors and help the boys with their studies. In the evening, after dinner, they sometimes watch English Premier League football on TV, wash their clothes or play in the garden across the street. They don't really have toys, so they just play with whatever they can find, as is normal for Nepalese children. Once a month, they play friendly football matches against some of the local school teams. Although the dormitory at Sahara is crowded and the facilities a bit rudimentary, there is little else that the boys really need here. They have good food and warm beds, form strong friendships and there is always an adult around to help them with their problems. The goalkeeper, Mahendra, expresses a single wish: "I would like to have a pair of goalkeeper's gloves for the winter football training." A Central Children's Welfare Committee has prepared a draft of the national master plan to stop the children from coming to streets and rehabilitation of street children across the country in the next five years, according to the report. The committee is a statutory body created by the Children's Act(1992), under the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. It is charged with the overall responsibility to ensure realization of the rights of the children of Nepal by the state collaborating with civil society as well as national and international development organizations. It has overall responsibility to look after children's issues. The master plan incorporates the identifying of the street children, their data, the cause of their coming to the street and rehabilitation and coordination among organizations, said Executive Director of the Committee Dharma Raj Shrestha. It proposes keeping children under 14 in their respective families and those without families in children's homes and giving training to those above 14 years old, Shrestha said. The children should not be allowed to come to the street and those in the street should be scrutinized, for which a mechanism should be developed, said Saath Saath Executive Director Biswo Bajracharya on Sunday. Children are coming to street since the ten-year long conflict in the past, family feud, social circumstances and bad company. At present, there is no actual data of street children in Nepal and in Kathmandu valley with any institution. February 14, 2008 Lawrence Brown stands with a homeless child in Nepal. Brown has been helping homeless children in Nepal since he retired in 2005. Some people retire more quickly than others, and some never do quite get the hang of it. Lawrence Brown began teaching in Rocklin in 1965 when there were just two schools in the district. In 1999, he retired – sort of. "I basically retired in 1999. It never occurred to me to teach again," Brown said. "By a strange fluke, I was drawn into subbing. I initially didn't want that, but I went for two days and enjoyed it." After a year of substituting and four more years helping with the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, Brown finally called it quits in 2005. But Brown found he needed to find new things to do to fill his idle time. After devoting his professional life as well as his personal life to children (he and his wife of 46 years have two daughters, two granddaughters and hosted six foreign exchange students, each for one year), Brown decided to join an international pen-pal club. Little did he know that a friendship developed with a man in Nepal would once again focus his attention on children in need, this time half a world away. After writing back and forth for about a year, Brown established a friendship with Birendra (Krishna) Dahal, a married father of two in Katmandu, Nepal. In 2006, Brown visited Nepal, hosted by his new friend. Upon his arrival, Brown became aware of the "street children" of Nepal, specifically in the Katmandu Valley. "As a teacher, it was an intolerable situation," he said. According to UNICEF, the number of street children in Nepal, estimated at 5,000 in 1992, has "grown very rapidly because of the People's War, increasing disintegration, civil unrest and growing urbanization." In 1997, there were an estimated 30,000 such children and Brown said the number is increasing at an alarming pace. "I just had to do something about it," he said. That something was the formation of an organization known as Protego-Nepal. The group consists of five "concerned Nepalese citizens and a retired American educator," with Brown's friend Dahal serving as managing director. The organization's goal is to provide shelter to the street children, some of whom are as young as 3. The children are drawn toward crime, drug use and are exploited as cheap child labor. "In Nepal, we have a problem of the way these children are seen by society," Dahal said. "We have been trying to work on changing this concept of street kids being non-people. We have worked with groups like Rotary International and a few government officials, but it is a hard thing to change people's mind." Protego-Nepal is raising funds to establish a safe-house for these children where they can get off the street and be protected from various kinds of abuses and exploitations. "Funding is the main problem now. We are ready to move, but although people are taken with our ideas for a self-sustaining safe-house, there has been little financial help from Nepal, the U.S., or any other organization," he said. According to both Dahal and Brown, unsuccessful efforts have been made to solicit help from many charitable organizations including the high-profile operations of Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and Richard Gear, among others. "There is no help from the Nepalese government," Dahal said. "It is hoped that if we get established eventually there will be some assistance from them." Brown's goal is to collect $40,000 in the next year to get the whole program started. He said that in five years he will have a self-sustaining element going and can turn outward. "This is a new concept," Brown said. "Nobody is doing it. We have the advising resources to get it started, we just need the start-up money." Currently, Protego-Nepal is trying to change the attitude of the Nepalese people toward the street children. "That's a hard nut to sell. Civil war has destroyed the family infrastructure in the countryside and is forcing these kids into the cities," Brown said. "We are trying to get our video out on TV. Without funds, any organization is dead in the water." Due to the expense involved, Protego-Nepal has not yet gained its non-profit status, but Brown said "a church in Loomis said, 'Yes, we will take you under our wing,' and people can donate to get the tax status they need. It is the Loomis Basin Congregational United Church of Christ." "If it helps one kid in Nepal it is worth it," Brown said. "If it helps 10, well miracles do happen." January 30, 2008 Glue, a Cheap Substitute for Intoxication OhmyNews reports from the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal Mani Man Singh Rajbhandari (mannie) Published 2008-01-30 09:59 (KST) The day is sunny in Kathmandu. It's a rushed day for pedestrians hustling through the city's narrow footpaths. Here, people pass by many unusual behaviors, which often go unobserved. Unnoticed by most, there is a group of youngsters below adolescent age wandering around the streets of Kathmandu, blowing and inhaling constantly into a plastic bag. Many adults feel pity for them, so as they pass by give them friendly, and unknowing, grins. For many these youngsters are street children with no shelter, no healthy food and no proper clothing who, with this plastic bag they stick in their noses and mouths, have merely found something to play with in order to pass the time. They are not so different from rich children playing with any toy - the only disparity being that these children depend on the rags littered on the streets for their playthings. Those who might think these street kids are ignorant are wrong. They are actually inventors - innovators of a cheap substitute for intoxication, which is easily available in the market, sold in both drug stores and hardware stores. It is none other than a sticky adhesive gluten substance commonly known as dendrite solution. If you happen to be in a car in Kathmandu waiting for a red light, don't be amazed to witness the street children congregating around your car begging for money with a plastic bag in hand. These bags, usually filled with gluten, might look like a harmless, playful thing to us - but it is cheap and extremely harmful substitute for getting high and intoxicated. The scene I encountered when I saw some middle class teenagers under the influence of this cheap substitute was a devastating one to me. Unknown to my presence, these teenagers had slipped into the once famous school campus of the Durbar School. Behind an old, monumental building, I saw some other youths enjoying a cricket game. They seemed to be not at all bothered by the rowdy acts of these teenagers inhaling gluten on the other side of the wall. It was a delightful moment to see the children enjoying their cricket game. At the same time it was a distressful moment, as I simultaneously watched the other kids inhale toxic vapor from a bag. I wondered about whether educational institutions like this school should have restrictions for outsiders after school hours. If such restrictions to enter the school campus were made, one might ask, then where would playful innocent children go to enjoy a game of cricket? It is a good question, but we must realize that situations of such lenient authority and liberty at schools may create situations like this, of open drug use. The open schoolyard can become a meeting place for drug aficionados. School authorities should be aware of these problems and act promptly to bring an end to these kinds of scenarios, or else face potentially devastating consequences. The glue sniffing by these young boys can be seen in popular areas of Kathmandu, in prime junctions where people like to shop, eat and roam. Often people are followed by the street children as they come out from fast food restaurants. The misconception in judging these young boys as helpless is itself a sort of ignorance on the part of those who throw them coins, who do so thinking that they are helping them. This small offering instead becomes an encouragement for boys to buy further tins of gluten solution. Another scene I encountered was when I was walking the street of Bagbazar. I saw three lads walking and inhaling from a plastic bag. I noticed that one lad was using a transparent plastic with the adhesive solution inside, inhaling deeply, and repeatedly massaging the substances in the plastic bag. Their attitude was casual, as though they thought people wouldn't realize what they were doing. I looked around to see any bystander reaction, but there wasn't a painful glimpse on the part of anyone. As for myself, I didn't dare to act but passed on a stare of dislike, expecting that they would become aware of such a public display. This is something I would have thought anyone would do under such circumstances. In the day your plane lands at Kathmandu airport and an obnoxious taxi driver in an antique car charges you a fortune to dump you in the middle of its urban chaos, you quickly learn to navigate Thamel. It's like snakes and ladders. Whatever your destination, and however close, a series of obstacles will hold you up. You have to walk very briskly, look down and skirt teeming humanity. There are the drug dealers offering you pot, fruit vendors with their one-dollar-a-piece apples, rickshaw drivers, touts who pretend you've met before and try to talk you into going on a trek with their agencies. Each time you hesitate and stop, you slip back a few squares. Then there are the ragged ladies shaking empty baby bottles, the kids begging for biscuits, the guy with the mini-chess set, tiger balm, flutes, sarangis. If you are scared of reptiles, then you might also have to cross the road to avoid walking next to a snake charmer petting a two-metre python. But all that is Thamel for beginners. Once you've learned a few tricks, dodging the hurdles are a piece of cake. That usually happens when you return to the capital from your trek in the mountains. First, you will be able to wrench your eyes away from the potholes and multitude of wheels racing in all directions, threatening to amputate your feet. You will start noticing the souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants that you had previously ignored, choosing to dive into the closest bakery before rushing back to your guesthouse, all limbs intact. Finally slumped on a soft cushion in front of a sizzling steak with pommes frites, you'll observe the ecstatic, slightly daft smile on the faces of emaciated fellow trekkers returning from a three-week diet of muesli bars, instant noodles and dal bhat. That's when Thamel becomes a culinary Shangri-La where you'll be flabbergasted to find apple strudel that challenges its Viennese counterpart, pizza that tastes exactly like in Rome and better hummus than in Casablanca. In your memories, Kathmandu is bound to become the place where you had the best food ever. As in Pavlov's experiment, the word Thamel will trigger a conditioned reflex that will make your mouth water. But there is also an advanced Thamel, which needs to be read between the lines, examined against the light like a watermark. It's one the vast majority of tourists never get to see, even though they are walking in the midst of it every day. It's the Thamel of mushrooming massage parlours and dance clubs where prostitution is rife, of street children sniffing glue out of small plastic bags, of young pimps in search of western ustomers for a snotty bunch, and of pre-teen boys wearily trotting along. There's a few Nepali men staggering in the middle of the road, staring into the void, their bodies and minds devastated by brown sugar. And finally there are scores of kind-hearted travellers who, despite the clear directions given by the Lonely Planet, buy street kids and beggars something to eat or a little present, perhaps ignoring that most of the time things will be returned to the shops or sold on to someone else to raise some cash. If you observe people on the main Thamel road from a first-floor bar, you will see some of these happening at any given time. "Thamel is killing itself," says a long-time resident. "Will tourists really want to come to a place like this?" Maybe they will. Two attractive young girls in bright saris get off a taxi on the street below. They walk quickly into a massage shop. Congestion in Thamel is a sign of a tourism rebound, but not everyone is happy Touts and beggars, coupled with congested traffic make navigating in Thamel a challenge in itself. During peak hours, walking the 100m stretch into Thamel can take up to 10 minutes. Yet, businesses at Thamel go on as usual. Prakash Karmacharya of Typical Handloom Weavers, a fabric exporter, says there hasn't been any noticeable change in his business in the past five years despite the worsening congestion. Sales in some stores have even picked up. The Paper Park, which sells handmade stationery goods, has seen business boom in the past year. "It seems that political instability creates more problems than traffic," says Bhupal Raj, who runs the store. Businesses in Thamel took a dive after Nepal's tourism collapsed when the conflict intensified in 2001. But with things now on the rebound, Thamel is bustling again. And for many in Thamel the congestion itself is a sign that business is picking up. But tourism officials and Thamel hotel owners realise that Kathmandu's tourist hub may be the victim of its own success. The Thamel Tourism Development Council is liaising with business owners and entrepreneurs to improve traffic and chase out touts. Thamel's new traffic regulations include issuing special passes to vehicles, such as those belonging to hotels, which will allow them to enter areas cordoned off by security guards. This month, the council will be setting up roadblocks to test the feasibility of the plan. "Traffic here is crazy, cars are bumper to bumper," says Korean backpacker Kim Seung Wook who has been grazed several times by side mirrors of whizzing motorcycles. Kim has even been spat upon by storeowners whom he rejects. Other tourists buttonholed outside Kathmandu Guest House agreed. "It's not a relaxing place," says Sjors and Herman, both from Holland, who have been in Nepal for two months. On one side of the road, drug dealers whisper their wares. On the other side, street children beg for money. Most tourists interviewed said that they did not respond to the children's pleas. "We choose to ignore them because we are aware that there are shelters available, and these children had been given a choice for a better life," says Herman. Storeowners in Thamel sympathise with the tourists and are determined to clean up the area's image. "The touts, beggars and children leave a bad impression on visitors," admits Richa Maharjan of Pilgrims Book House. Once the Council's plans go into effect, vehicles will not be the only ones experiencing limited access. Mobile fruit-sellers will be given passes and will only be allowed to sell at allocated places. "We are also hoping to keep away the street children through these barriers," says Namgyal Lama, who heads the Council. Lama expects a more pleasant Thamel where pedestrians can walk without fear of being hit by motorcycles and harassed by beggars. The shops and cafes would benefit as more people are attracted by the ambience. But when that happens, some say, the fun will be gone. Thamel just won't be Thamel without its chaotic streets. December 26, 2007 We can see lots of street kids basically homeless children roaming in our city. These kids stay in groups. They come to city in search of better life as most of them come from remote areas of Nepal. The places from where they come have less opportunity. The other reason they come to city is because they are driven out form their house by their step mother or some other family related problems. After they reach the city many try to get work, the lucky ones get jobs at tea shops as a helper, as bus or tempo or micro bus conductors and luckier one are kept as a house workers and helpers. What about the unlucky ones? The unlucky ones are forced to sleep on the street, run towards dumping site to collect plastic, glass bottles which they collect and sale to scrap shop to earn some money and kill their hunger. They are not always lucky enough to make money out of such dumps to kill their hunger. They are forced to beg or get into pick pocketing. Sometimes, they fight among each other and steal friends' money but still they are seen together walking around corners of Kathmandu's streets. We can even see them begging, especially with the tourist as they know most of Nepalese people won't give them a single paisa. Now-a-days, we can see that these street kids have developed a new kind of addiction. Their addiction is towards the odor that comes from some adhesive which are mostly used in making leather shoes. In Nepal they are commonly known as "Dendrite" by the name of the company that produces them. These adhesive are synthetic rubber which is a combination of Aromatic and Aliphatic Solvent with a strong odor. They are highly flammable too. Boys with adhesive in miniral water bottle and a plastic bag I met few such kids and questioned them why they want to take such smell of adhesive. They simply replied me that it gives them pleasure. They get stoned with suck odor; they get relief from their hunger, pain and other unpleasant things they come across in their daily life.I don't know what kind of pleasure they get from such odor of adhesive nor do I have any idea what impact such odor will create in their health. One question that comes in my mind is who taught them to take such odor and get pleasure or get stoned? How did they learn all about such addiction? Do you think they are worried about their future? These street kids are also part of our society; they don't have good guidance of their parents or elders that is why they are forced to live such a poor very low standard life. What I think is every person is born with his/her own specialty with which he/she can contribute something good for this society. So it will be our great contribution to the society if we can help these kids to get rid of such bad habits, give them proper guidance and some formal vocational training or even if they are interested to study then good education to them so that they can work and earn on their own with their heads up. I am sure they have some potential to contribute to the society and help in the progress of nation. Updated on December 27, 2007 Fact Sheet on Glue Sniffing Among Street Children in Nepal According to CWIN estimation there are 5000 street children in Nepal and around 400 - 600 are based in the Kathmandu Valley. CWIN Research on Alcohol and Drug Use among Street Children in Nepal, 2001 has shown that between 25 and 90 per cent of street children use substance of one kind or other. Glue sniffing is relatively new trend in Nepal. It is fast becoming an addiction among street children in Kathmandu. The current prevalent of glue sniffing is 51.7% among street children in the Kathmandu Valley. 19.7% have started using glue two years ago, 34.4 % started a year ago and 27.9% started just few months back. Glue sniffing is taken as a 'debut' drug by street children. Mostly street children begin drug-taking by glue sniffing and end up on other, more hard-core, drugs. Street children, who do not even smoke or drink alcohol often sniff glue. In general, the main short-term effects reported by the responding children were hallucinations. Its ill effects have resulted in problematic behavior, self-destruction due to hallucinations and fighting amongst friends. The reasons given by the users for sniffing were low self-esteem, an inferiority complex and having enough pocket money to buy this substance. Children also use glue because it is cheap and easily available. Most of the harmful effects of Glue Sniffing are found to be related to the brain and the Nervous System. 63.9 % have reported one or other kind of illness as long term effects of glue sniffing. Even among non-users almost all the children knew about glue sniffing. In the group of non-users a majority (85%) have seen their friends sniffing glue. Glue sniffing can be termed as 'group activity' among street children. 95.1% children use glue with friends. 77% use glue in peer influence and 60.7% children sniff glue daily. (Source: CWIN Survey on Glue Sniffing Among Street Children in the Kathmandu Valley, 2002) December 16, 2007 The issue of child labour was never an agenda of any social organization and the state before 1990. Despite the prevalence of child labour, the pre-1990 government did not recognize child labour as a problem. During the Panchayat period the government had claimed the non-existence of child labour in Nepal. Emergence This issue emerged as a social agenda only after 1990. The democratic governments formed after 1990 not only recognised the problem of child labour in Nepal but also formulated laws, policies and programmes for the protection of children and their rights. Nepal ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990 and expressed its public commitment at the international forum for the protection of the rights of the child. In line with its international commitment, the government introduced and enforced laws regarding the protection of children including the Children�s Act 1992 and Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act 2000. Some organizations made significant contribution to the development and protection of child rights in Nepal. Among them Underprivileged Children Education Programme (UCEP) was one of the pioneer organizations dealing with child labour rehabilitation in Nepal. The UCEP programme started in 1982 has its own non-formal education curriculum for children living in deprived conditions. After the completion of its stage of education, UCEP provided vocational training like draftsmanship, auto-mechanics and tailoring. The Chhauni Children�s Home established in 1985 and situated in Swayambhu area played a key role for the removal and rehabilitation of street children in Kathmandu. The objective of this organization was to rescue young abandoned children roaming in the streets of Kathmandu and send them in rehabilitation centre. It rehabilitated a signification number of rag-picking children through its correction homes. This is the first organization in Nepal, which actually started programme for the street children living in risk. But now this organization does not exist. Before 1990, many INGOs including ILO and UNICEF did not have any policy and programme for child labour in Nepal. In 1987, a group of post-graduate university students took initiative to raise the issue of child labour. This group formed an organization called Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre, which was supported by Child Workers in Asia, Thailand. My personal survey began with dealing on the problems of teashop boys popularly known as �Hotel Kanchha�, in Kathmandu. The study was published in a CWIN�s publication the �Voice of Child Worker�. This was followed by another survey on the condition of shoe shining boys in Kathmandu. By the end of 1989 some other surveys such as rag-picking children, carpet-weaving children, street children, child labour in tea garden, etc. were conducted. In 1988, the first five-day conference on working children in South Asia was organised in Kathmandu with support from Save the Children Norway. The outcome of the workshop was widely covered in the local media. The programme, in fact, encouraged many individuals and organizations to work in the field of child labour. On November 20, 1989 the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the UN General Assembly. The Convention was ratified by Nepal on September 14, 1990. The Convention had clearly defined the provision to help protect the child labourers against their economic exploitation. In 1990, a survey on economic exploitation over children in Tea Estates in Ilam and Jhapa districts commissioned soon after restoration of multiparty system. This writer had coordinated the research survey. The government made an amendment in the existing Labour Act in 1991 adding some more clauses concerning prohibition of employing children under 14 years. In 1992, I coordinated a national level survey on the child labour problem in carpet industry. In the same year the National Children�s Act 1992 was enacted. The plight of economic exploitation of children in hand knotted carpet industry in Nepal was disclosed in different media. Most of the European consumers stopped buying the Nepali carpets after the news about the use of child labour was made public. As a result, more than 40% carpet business went down. In 1994 Concern for Children and Environment-Nepal (CONCERN) came into existence to deal with the issue of child labour in Nepal. In the same year a survey was conducted by this organization to ascertain the problems of economic exploitation of child porters in Kathmandu Valley. However, the survey report was published in a book form only in 1997 due to financial constraints. At present several NGOs and INGOs have given priority to combat the issue of child labour. In 2000, the Nepal government signed an agreement with ILO/IPEC to fight child labor. The ILO/IPEC in collaboration with government, non governmental organisations, trade unions and employers� associations identified seven worst forms of child labour in Nepal which include child porters, carpet weaving working children, coal mine child labour, street children, bonded labour, domestic child labour and children in trafficking. A rapid assessment was also made in the same year, which estimated the number of worst form of child labourers at 127,000. Accordingly, ILO/IPEC developed a five-year action plan targeting 22 districts including Kathmandu and launched its activities. Although the government of Nepal enacted the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act 2000, it was enforced only in 2005. Its by-laws are yet to be made. In the same way Nepal government developed a 10-year national plan of action for the protection and overall development of children in Nepal. Population At present, ILO/IPEC estimates that the number ofchild labourers in Nepal stands at 2.6 million. Child labour exists in 84 areas. Agriculture is still the dominant sector that employs largest number of workers including children. However the actual figure of the number of children in this sector is yet to be ascertained. There is an urgent need to conduct a survey to find out the exact number of child workers in agriculture in Nepal. KATHMANDU, 22 October 2007 (IRIN) - Bhim Pariyar, who grew up on the streets of the capital, Kathmandu, huddled in a corner with other boys like him, all trying to warm themselves around the fire they had made by burning plastic, paper and tyres. "It's time for fun now," Pariyar told his friends as he took out the packet of dendrite. "You know, this helps us to get rid of our hunger," explained his friend, 14-year-old Rajen Subba, who fled his home in Jhapa district in southeast Nepal due to grinding poverty and started to work as a rag picker. But he cannot afford regular food or clothing to keep warm, and has been living on the streets for the past six years. "I wish I was home even if it means living without food because I would not have to suffer like this," said Subba, who complains of chest pain and often gets sick. Subba tries to forget his hardships by inhaling the fumes from the carpet glue, squeezing the dendrite from the tube into a plastic bag and holding it to his mouth. The adhesive glue contains toluene, a sweet-smelling and intoxicating hydrocarbon, which is neurotoxic. The solvent dissolves the membrane of the brain cells and causes hallucinations as well as dampening hunger pangs, and wards off cold. "I forget everything. I won't feel cold and hungry and can sleep easily," said Shyam Tamang, 12, another street boy. Glue sniffing on the increase Glue sniffing in Kathmandu has been increasing to dangerous levels among children, according to rights activists, who said their health is at risk and it is even affecting their mental health. It can cause neurological damage, kidney or liver failure, paralysis and even death, according to local child health workers. According to a prominent child rights NGO, Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), there are approximately 800-900 street children in Kathmandu out of 5,000 in the country. The decade-long armed conflict between the Nepali government and Maoist rebels that ended last year also contributed to the rise in numbers, say activists. But despite the signing of the peace treaty in November 2006, many children continue to live on the streets, homeless, food-insecure and suffering from serious health problems, according to CWIN. CWIN found that almost all street children were addicted to glue sniffing because of hunger and the influence of friends. About 95 percent of street children were using glue, and it would not take much to introduce the habit to the remaining 5 percent, it said. It found that some children used as many as 15 tubes a day (one tube of dendrite can be used four to five times) and many used it as a substitute for regular meals. The cheapest of all dendrites is Nepal-made, besides the imports from India and China. It is available in all hardware shops and costs less than 40 US cents per 25mg tube. "I was really surprised why these children came so often to my shop to buy the carpet dendrite and now I know why," said Ramesh Shrestha, a local shopkeeper, who was unaware children were using the glue as a drug. Thanks to the street awareness programme organised by several NGOs, including CWIN, Sath Sath, and Kathmandu Valley Police, some shop owners have stopped selling glue to street children or increased prices to discourage them. But on the whole, many shops still make it readily available, said activists. Laws needed, say activists "The government should make it illegal to sell dendrites to minors. That's one of the best ways to control glue sniffing and prevent health hazards among the street children," said Sumnima Tuladhar from CWIN. "This is an emerging problem. If we don't take this seriously, then a lot of lives will be at stake," said Biso Bajracharya from Sath Sath. At the official level, only the Kathmandu Valley Police has paid serious attention to the problem but since glue sniffing is not considered illegal, they have difficulty preventing shops from selling the dendrite products to children. "The best we can do is to raise awareness among shop owners and the street children. We ask them to be more careful about their health," said a local police officer, who did not want to be named. The trend of glue sniffing is new in Nepal compared with other countries in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. Nepalese activists want their country to apply the same strict measures as taken in Kenya, which has laws against supplying harmful substances to minors. "It is time for us take this issue seriously because the trend is also fast entering schools," says Bajracharya. "Nepal really needs a new law to combat the growing abuse of glue sniffing." October 5, 2007 Eliza Rana At a time when the nation is on path of restructuring itself, every ethnic community, indigenous, dalit, women and other backwards people are voicing their concerns to have their rights to cast vote in the Constituent Assembly polls. But nobody has bothered about the rights of children as regards the historical CA election. The school going children, street children and domestic workers too say that they should have right to cast votes in the CA polls. There are about 12 million under-18 years of age who are regarded as children, having no right to cast their ballots in the upcoming CA polls. Due to growing awareness, many children are aware about the condition of political upheaval, human rights, social justice and democratic process of the country. Many of them have participated in the people�s movement in one or the other. Street children were the ones who actively participated in many of the political protest programmes. Many of them were injured but none of the organization, government or political parties came forward to acknowledge their contribution, let alone taking care of them. Article 22 of the Interim Constitution-2063 has mentioned the basic rights of the children that include their rights of identity and name, along with the rights to basic health and social security and rights of protection against any physical, mental and other types of abuse. The state should provide special care and facility to orphans, mentally retarded children, children affected by conflict, displaced and street children. Children are not allowed to be recruited in police, army services and be involved in kilns. But these acts so far has not been implemented in practice. Many children are still found working in kilns and other dangerous and risky works. Bishal Lama, 17, of Sindupalchowk said his neighbor brought him to Kathmandu with a promise to provide him education but now he has been working in a tea-stall as the negibour failed to fulfill his promise. When asked about what he knew about the ongoing politics, he retorted saying that politics was not a matter of his concern. But when asked what he expected from the government, he replied the government should address the problems of the children especially like him, who came all the way from village to make his future in Kathmandu. He said the government should allow children the right to cast votes in CA election so that �we can have a leader of our choice who can support and help to make our future prosperous and bright.� Bishal Kayastha, a former street children, who now lives in a children�s home, said the state should provide children the rights and their voice should be listened to. Kamal Bara, a domestic worker said, � I have citizenship certificate but I cannot cast votes in CA polls because I have not reached the age of 18 so I request all the adult eligible voters to chose the right candidates who can make a difference to the life of the street children as well as everybody else.� Similarly, students going to higher education centers too shared the same views. Nipur Pradhananga, a grade 12 student of Universal College, reveals that the political parties should be conscious about the betterment of children. They said that children are the pillars of nation. But this ideal has never been implemented in practice. Political parties have never acted in favor of children�s rights. The frequent strikes that force closures of schools and the protest of political parties have badly hampered the education of children. In such a situation, how can children become the pillars of the future and how would the nation get an able leadership in future if the rights of the children is not protected? Nipur queries. The regular bandh has mentally affected the children and students now wish to remain inside their homes instead of going to school, he said. �If given opportunity to cast my vote in CA polls, I will certainly chose the right person because it is not only our right but our duty,� reveals Nipur. Tripti Bhuju, a grade 12 student of Ambition Academy said the protest and regular bandhs have badly affected the education of children. �I think the new generation should have the opportunity for leading the country so that they can realize the sentiments and rights of the children. The activities that would hamper the education of students must be stopped,� Bhuju said. August 24, 2007 PNK WE talk a lot about social justice and equity. Once it was about equality that god had created us as equals. They also talked about the colour of blood being red in every human being. But, it turned to some having the blue blood. In fact, no one has come across anyone having his/her blood blue. It was just put into the imagination and thereby get the cake for yourself. It has been like that throughout history. The strong have always been suppressing the weak. The possession of arms made matters still different. It is for nothing that the deterrent policy is not working. All these go to effect changes in the society. There are many ways to impose your superiority. The technocrats may be powerful but the politicians have the say in almost hundred per cent of the cases. So, may be the political leaders are powerful. That is best left to debate which will be never ending one as politics is. What concerns almost everyone is the rising population in our country. In fact, the political parties must be thanking themselves that there are more voters. It is for the population factor that India is the largest democracy in the world and they are justified in boasting about it. What about us? The rising population is creating a greater number of destitute people out in the streets. Well, everyone has to have enough food to eat and that is the basic problem. Remember the incident when rice that had been stocked for five years or so were dumped as it was not fit for human consumption. But, some villagers took it home. That indicates that our situation is not good. We're supposed to be in the transition times. That's only a way to console ourselves but deep in our heart we know what pinches us. On the matter, it is rather unfortunate that the number of street children in the cities is increasing especially in the Kathmandu metro. It is plain and clear to any one who takes the round of the metro whether as a pedestrian, public vehicle commuter or in your own private means of transportation. There, out in the street, are groups of the street children on their prowl. They may be asking for donations or scavenging as the metro is a haven for garbage piles at strategic points. It is true that there are a number of NGOs that profess to work for doing the needful to make the street children's life better. Yes, they also regularly come up with thick volumes as reports to show the good they have been doing. But, alas, the street children live as any of us has observed in the streets. Heckling the people is their common behaviour. Can't fight back but listen to them. One has the tendency to get humiliated but there's no way out but go through the experience. The street children are not to be blamed as they are living a live deprivation and sees in you a person who has enough of everything. One just can't face many of such children with supposedly empty milk pouches. Probably they are sniffing glue. Well, it's a percentage of a generation that is going to waste. That brings in us a feeling of guilt. Rhetoric can't help them. There are people who talk much of bringing relief to the people and the street children also might be included. But action is nowhere. When one is troubled by one's own problems it seems that only a few can dare to take up the challenges. And they must receive ovation for trying to make the rest of us get some relief from the ever snapping feeling of guilt at the state of the street children	eng	5a497a43-ba1e-4c9a-b8c8-42a8710e8f02	http://streetkidnews.blogsome.com/category/1/asia-streetkid-news/nepal-streetkid-news/
Sign up to receive free email alerts when patent applications with chosen keywords are publishedSIGN UP Abstract: A system and a method for filling a form are provided which take as input a user's data file, which is configured for use in filling in forms, and an image of an original form to be filled in using the user's personal data. Form filling rules encoded in the image are decoded and used to determine values of a plurality of fields of the form by applying the decoded rules to the user's data. The plurality of fields of the form are filled with the determined values to generate an at least partially filled form, which is then output, e.g., to a printer or a display. The exemplary system and method are able to operate independently of the language used in the text of the form, have the capability of filling in previously unseen forms, and are particularly suited to filling in paper forms. Claims: 1. A method for filling a form comprising: receiving a user's personal data configured for use in filling in forms; receiving an image of an original form to be filled in using the user's personal data; with a processor, decoding form filling rules encoded in the image; determining values of a plurality of fields of the form by applying the decoded rules to the user's data; autofilling the plurality of fields of the form with the determined values to generate an at least partially autofilled form; and outputting the at least partially autofilled form. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the outputting the at least partially form comprises printing the form with the autofilled fields. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of a plurality of the autofilling rules define a form field region which identifies a location of a field to be filled and a filling value expression which provides a rule for determining the value of the field, based on at least one identified piece of the user's data. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the filling value expressions are generated from the group consisting of: at least one string constant which retrieves a specified piece of user data; a string operator which defines how the at least one string constant is modified before insertion in the form; an if-then-else rule which defines how the field is to be filled if a condition is met and how the field is to be treated if the condition is not met; and combinations thereof. 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the user's personal data comprises a tree-structured document in which the user's data is distributed among nodes of the tree, each piece of the user's data being independently retrievable as a string constant value. 7. The method of claim 5, wherein at least one filling value expression comprises an Xpath expression for retrieving a data item of the user's data. 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the user's data includes at least one of a name, an address, and a date of birth of the user and wherein the at least one of the name, address, and date of birth is distributed over a plurality of nodes, whereby a part of the name, address, or data of birth is retrievable as the value of a string constant. 9. The method of claim 3, wherein the decoding comprises decoding a graphical encoding printed on the original form. 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the graphical encoding is selected at least one of a barcode, a DataGlyph, a QR code, and a Datamatrix. 12. The method of claim 1 wherein a first rule is associated with a first of the fields and at least a second, different rule is associated with a second of the fields. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the form filling rules are executed without taking into consideration text that is associated with the fields of the form. 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising scanning the original form to generate the image of the original form. 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the user's data is configured for filling in multiple forms of different types, with different fields, independent of any language in which text of the form is expressed. 16. A computer program product comprising tangible media encoding instructions, which when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform the method of claim 1. 17. A system for automatically filling in forms comprising: memory which stores instructions for performing the method of claim 1 and a processor in communication with the memory for executing the instructions. 18. A system for automatically filling in forms comprising: a rule decoder which decodes auto-filling rules which have been encoded in a paper form; a rule interpreter which applies the decoded rules to pre-saved user personal data to identify values for fields of the form; a form filler which enters the values in respective fields of the form, whereby the form is at least partially filled in; and a computer processor which implements the rule decoder, rule interpreter, and form filler. 19. The system of claim 18, wherein each of a plurality of auto-filling rules comprises a field region defined with its coordinates and a filling value expression, which is built from at least one item of the user data, and optionally at least one of a string constant, a string operator and an if-then-else statement. 20. The system of claim 18, wherein the auto-filling rules are encoded and printed in the form to be filled in. 21. The system of claim 18, wherein the user personal data are stored in an XML-format, and where the auto-filling rules refer to specific items of user data using Xpath notation. 22. The system of claim 18, further comprising a scanning device which scans the paper form. 23. The system of claim 18, further comprising a printer which prints the at least partially filled form. 24. In combination: a user's personal data file in which data items are associated with nodes of a tree structure; and a scanned form comprising fields to be filled in based on the user's data file, the scanned form encoding autofilling rules which, when decoded, specify filing value expressions for determining values for the fields based on the data items associated with specified ones of the nodes of the user's data file and without reference to any of the text associated with fields of the scanned form. Description: BACKGROUND [0001] The exemplary embodiment relates to a system and method for auto-completion of forms. It finds particular application in connection with the importing of a user's personal data into appropriate fields of a form. [0002] People often need to fill in different pre-printed administrative forms with their personal data, such as name, address, date of birth, place of birth, passport ID, and the like. This can be a repetitive and time-consuming task since the paper forms are often filled in manually by the user. Subsequently, the data is manually entered into computer databases by administrative employees. Much of the information required by the forms is common among paper forms of different administrations/organizations and countries. [0003] Automatic fill-in systems exist for filling in electronic forms especially in web pages. However, they generally require that the user manually fill in the same web page in a previous session, or that the field names in the form to be filled in match predefined field names stored in a user profile file. Such systems are thus dependent on the field names of the form, and in particular on the language used. [0004] A number of commercially available software packages propose filling in paper forms automatically. In one method, a paper document is scanned and filled in digitally. In other systems, automated methods are used for recognizing fields. [0005] None of these systems allow the user's data to be imported into many different forms where the field names are quite different from those previously encountered by the system. INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE [0006] The following references, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties are mentioned: [0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,259, issued Aug. 11, 1998, entitled APPARATUS AND METHODS TO ENHANCE WEB BROWSING ON THE INTERNET, by Dan Kikinis discloses a system for filling fields in Internet forms which associates stored fill entities with field names and places the stored fill entities into fields in the Internet form. [0008] U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,380, issued Feb. 20, 2001, entitled AUTOMATIC WEB BASED FORM FILL-IN, by John Light, et al., discloses a method which includes recognizing a form in a web page, identifying information to be filled into the form, determining whether data corresponding to the information to be filled into the form is authorized by a user to be disclosed to the web page, and automatically filling the data into the form from a database if the data is authorized by the user to be disclosed to the web page. [0009] U.S. Pat. No. 6,928,623, issued Aug. 9, 2005, entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SELECTING A TARGET WINDOW FOR AUTOMATIC FILL-IN, by Mark A. Sibert, discloses a data processing system in which a user of a GUI can easily designate one of a plurality of windows to be automatically filled in with predetermined, pre-stored information. A method and system are disclosed for selection of a target window from among a plurality of open windows so that the target window can be used for an application specific function, such as for the directing of digital wallet information to the target window only. [0010] U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,577, issued Jun. 17, 1997, entitled DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM WITH AUTOMATED AT LEAST PARTIAL FORMS COMPLETION, by Andrew J. Scharmer, discloses a data processing system for automated forms generation which uses data displayed at a predetermined position on a data terminal display screen and a data processing function selector to automatically retrieve a pre-established form stored in a data processing system. The data processing system retrieves data from at least one data field displayed on the screen and automatically inserts the data in a predetermined uncompleted field of the form. [0011] U.S. Pat. No. 7,254,569, issued Aug. 7, 2007, entitled INTELLIGENT AUTOFILL, by Goodman, et al., discloses a system and method that can employ machine learning techniques to automatically fill one or more fields across a diverse array of web forms. Machine learning can be used to learn what data corresponds to which fields or types of fields. [0012] The following publications disclose hand-held optical information readers for optically reading a target based on a light reflected from the target, suitable for reading dataglyphs, data matrix codes, and QR codes: U.S. Pub. Nos. 20050040237, 20060175411, and 20060196942. [0014] In accordance with one aspect of the exemplary embodiment, a method for filling a form includes receiving a user's personal data configured for use in filling in forms, receiving an image of an original form to be filled in using the user's personal data. With a processor, form filling rules encoded in the image are decoded. Values of a plurality of fields of the form by are determined by applying the decoded rules to the user's data. The plurality of fields of the form is autofilled with the determined values to generate an at least partially autofilled form. The at least partially filled in form is output. [0015] In another aspect, a system for automatically filling in forms includes a rule decoder which decodes auto-filling rules which have been encoded in a paper form, a rule interpreter which applies the decoded rules to pre-saved user personal data to identify values for fields of the form, a form filler which enters the values in respective fields of the form, whereby the form is at least partially filled in, and a computer processor which implements the rule decoder, rule interpreter, and form filler. [0016] In another aspect a combination includes a user's personal data file in which data items are associated with nodes of a tree structure and a scanned form comprising fields to be filled in based on the user's data file, the scanned form encoding autofilling rules which, when decoded, specify filing value expressions for determining values for the fields based on the data items associated with specified ones of the nodes of the user's data file and without reference to any of the text associated with fields of the scanned form. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0017] FIG. 1 is an overview of a system and method for auto-filling forms; [0018] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an apparatus for auto-filling forms; [0021] Aspects of the exemplary embodiment relate to a method and system for form filling which can be performed entirely or at least partially automatically. In various aspects, the method is independent of the language used, has the capability of filling in previously unseen forms, and enables filling in of paper forms. [0022] Briefly, data values for a person or persons (name, date of birth, etc.) are saved in a structured digital data file. Paper forms issued by organizations or administrations contain, in their header and/or footer, auto-filling rules, which may be encoded as DataGlyphs, Data matrix codes, QR codes, and the like. Each auto-filling rule indicates which user's data item should be used to generate a value to fill a specified field/region in the paper form and how the value is to be generated from the data item, e.g. input directly, combined, modified, or only used if a condition is met. When a user has to fill in a paper form, the user provides it to a scanning device for a form-filling system, along with his or her pre-saved data file. The system fills in the scanned paper form based on the auto-filling rules it contains and the user's data. [0023] The system finds particular application in relation to administrative paper forms generated by a particular organization or government body where the issuing organization uses the same method(s) for encoding the auto-filling rules in all or a number of their paper forms. If a common encoding method becomes widely accepted across organizations/governments, it may become universally applicable. [0024] FIG. 1 provides an overview of a system and method for populating paper forms 10 with user data that is stored electronically in a user data file 12. The paper form 10 is scanned by a scanner 14 to produce an electronic copy 16 of the form. A rule decoder 18 extracts autofilling rules 20 from the electronic copy 16. A rule interpreter 22 applies the autofilling rules 20 to the user's data in the data file 12 to determine data for filling in fields of the form which is used to generate a fully or partially filled electronic form 24. The partially filled electronic form 24 may be sent to a printer 26 for printing a hardcopy 28 of the form 24 or stored for further processing by the user. [0025] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram which illustrates one embodiment of a computer system 30 for populating (filling in) paper forms with user data 12. A typical "blank" (unfilled) form 10 includes printed text serving as field descriptions 32, 34, etc., and associated blank fields 36, 38, etc., which are intended to be filled in by a person. Each paper form 10 also encodes one or more auto-filling rules 20, encoded as machine readable data 40, which is printed on the form 10. Each auto-filling rule identifies, for one of the form's fields 36, 38, a filling value expression specifying which of the user's data 42 in the data file 12 should fill the respective field in the paper form on which the information to be inserted into the field is to be based. In the illustrated example, one of the auto-filling rules may specify that field 36, which on the paper form has a field description 32 "given name," is to be filled in with the user data string constant with the value person/name/firstname, and another of the auto-filling rules may specify that field 38, which on the paper form has a field description 34 "Surname," is to be filled in with the user data string constant with the value person/name/lastname, with the requirement that the text all be in capital letters. The machine readable data 40 may thus encode filling value expressions for some or all the fields 36, 38, etc. of the form. The encoding is independent of the field description 32, 34 on the form, which can be in any language or format. For example, "given name" could be replaced with "first name," the French word "prenom," or the like, without affecting the encoding. [0026] A designated location 48 on the form 10, such as in a header or footer region, includes the auto-filling rules as machine readable data 40, such as a graphical encoding. Exemplary forms of graphical encoding include barcodes, DataGlyphs and QR codes or any other efficient machine readable encoding. Dataglyphs generally encode information into very small, individual glyph elements. Each element may consist of a small 45 degree diagonal line, about 0.025 cm in length, or less, depending on the resolution of the printing and scanning that is used. Each line represents a single binary 0 or 1, depending on whether it slopes to the left or right. Sequences of these lines can be used to encode numeric, textual, or other information. QR codes are two dimensional codes, such as matrix codes or two dimensional bar codes. The code 40 may also include locations of the data fields, e.g., their x,y coordinates. Alternatively, the system 30 may identify each of the designated fields from the scanned form and determine its x,y coordinates, with the fields then being autofilled in a predefined order, such as left to right and then top to bottom. [0027] The user data file 12 may include such information 42 as name, date of birth, address, and the like. As noted above, each data item of the user's data is a value of a string constant, described in greater detail below. [0028] The form filling system 30 may be in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and software. The illustrated system 30 is in the form of a computing device with one or more inputs/outputs 50, 52, for communicating with external devices, data memory 54, main memory 56, and a digital processor 58, all connected by a data/control bus 60. System 30 may include one or more computing devices, such as a general purpose computer or dedicated computing device, such as a desktop or laptop computer, PDA, web-based server, network server, handheld computing device, or the like. The exemplary processor 58 controls the overall operation of the system 30 by execution of processing instructions which are stored in main memory 56 connected to the processor as well as executing instructions for implementing the method described with reference to FIG. 3. In the exemplary embodiment, memory 56 stores software instructions which are executed by processor 58. [0029] In one embodiment, the computer system 30 is hosted by a multifunction device which includes a scanner 14 and a printer 26. For example, the digital front end (DFE) of the multifunction device includes a CPU which controls the scanning and printing functions of the device and also serves as the processor 58. In other embodiments, the system 30 is resident in a scanner 14. [0030] The memory 54, 56 can include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, optical disk, combinations thereof, and the like, and may be physically located in the same computing device or parts thereof may be accessible to the computing device, e.g., via a local area network or the Internet. [0031] The digital processor 58 can be variously embodied, such as by a single-core processor, a dual-core processor (or more generally by a multiple-core processor), a digital processor and cooperating math coprocessor, a digital controller, or the like. [0032] Scanned forms 16 to be processed by system 30 are received by input 50 from a scanning device 14 via a wired or wireless link 66 and may be stored in a volatile portion of memory 54 during processing. In one embodiment, scanning device 14 forms a part of the system 30. In other embodiments, scanner 14 and computer system 30 are separate units. [0033] The system 30 may access the user data 42 stored as a digital file either internally, e.g., in memory 54, or externally, e.g., accessible from a USB connection, Ethernet, Internet or any wireless connection (e.g., Bluetooth connection with the user's mobile phone where the user's data are stored in memory). For example, the data file 12 may be stored on portable data memory 68, such as a disk or USB memory device. In other embodiments, the user's data file 12 is encoded in hardcopy on print media, such as on a sheet of paper or a card. The data file may be encoded as QR codes, Dataglyphs, Data matrix codes, barcodes, or the like or may simply be a printed XML file understandable by an XML reader. The paper/card may thus be provided to the system scanning device 14 along with the paper form 10 to be filled in. The system causes the scanning device 14 to scan the user's data paper/card. In either case, the system 30 decodes his/her personal data and then applies the auto-filling rules to fill in the paper form. [0034] In a typical scanning device 14, a document sheet is illuminated with light from a light source and the light reflected from the document sheet is recorded by a photosensitive device such as a CCD (charge coupled device) or CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) array, to be converted to digital image data. In one embodiment, a narrow strip of the document sheet is illuminated as the sheet is moved through a document handler, or the photosensitive device is moved relative to a platen on which the document sheet is placed. Exemplary scanning devices for scanning encoded datglyphs or QR codes encoding the auto-fill rules are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pub. Nos. 20050040237, 20060175411, 20060196942, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. [0035] The system 30 may include various processing components including a rule decoder 18, a rule interpreter 22, a form filler 70, and a print requester 72, which operate on an input scanned form 16. Components 18, 22, 70, and 72 may be in the form of hardware or software and may operate on the output of a prior one of the components. In the illustrated embodiment, these components are in the form of software instructions stored in memory 48 which are executed by the processor 52. Operation of these components is best understood with reference to the method described in greater detail below. Briefly, rule decoder 18 identifies the encoding 40 of the form filling rules on the scanned form and decodes it to generate the autofilling rules. The rule interpreter 22 applies the form filling rules to the user's data file to generate values to be input to some or all of the fields. The form filler 70 inputs the values to the appropriate fields. The print requester 72 receives the at least partially filled in form and sends it to the printer 26 for printing a hardcopy of the auto-filled form. The printer 26 prints the at least partially filled in form on print media, such as paper, using a marking material, such as ink(s) in the case of an inkjet printer, or toner particles in the case of a laser printer. The exemplary system 30 also includes a user data file creation component 74, for creating and modifying a user's data file, although in other embodiments the component 74 may be separately located and executed by a separate processor. [0036] The output 52 of the computer system 30 may be linked to a display 90, such as an LCD screen or computer monitor, which allows a user to review the filled form prior to printing, e.g., by printer 26. The exemplary display 90 is directly linked to computer 30. A user may edit the displayed at least partially filled form prior to printing, using an associated user input device 92, such as a keyboard, touch screen, cursor control device, or combination thereof. However, in other embodiments, the display may be associated with a client computing device 94, linked to the system 30 by a wired or wireless link 96, such as cable, a local area network, or a wide area network, such as the Internet. The client computing device 94 may include a web browser which displays a user data file interface with a user data file creation component 98 of the system 30. [0037] The term "software" as used herein is intended to encompass any collection or set of instructions executable by a computer or other digital system so as to configure the computer or other digital system to perform the task that is the intent of the software. The term "software" as used herein is intended to encompass such instructions stored in storage medium such as RAM, a hard disk, optical disk, or so forth, and is also intended to encompass so-called "firmware" that is software stored on a ROM or so forth. Such software may be organized in various ways, and may include software components organized as libraries, Internet-based programs stored on a remote server or so forth, source code, interpretive code, object code, directly executable code, and so forth. It is contemplated that the software may invoke system-level code or calls to other software residing on a server or other location to perform certain functions. [0038] FIG. 3 illustrates the exemplary method which may be performed with the system of FIG. 2. The method begins at S100. [0039] At S102 data 42 for one or more people which are to be used in filling in forms 10 is provided in a markup language file 12, such as an eXtended Markup Language (XML) file, and stored in memory. [0040] At S104, a paper form 10 to be filled in is provided, e.g. by an organization or administration. The form includes printed text 32, 34 and associated blank fields 36, 38 which are intended to be filled in by a person, e.g., by handwriting, although in the exemplary embodiment, one or more of the fields is autofilled. Each paper form 10 also encodes one or more auto-filling rules as a code 40, as noted above. [0041] At S106, when a user wishes to fill in a paper form, the form is scanned by a suitable scanning device 14 to generate a scanned image 16, optionally along with his/her personal data file 12, if this is encoded on paper. Standard methods for deskewing the image and ensuring that the scanned image corresponds in size and shape to the original form may be used, such as providing marks on the paper form which are spaced by predefined distances. [0042] At S108, the system receives the scanned image 16 and detects the encoded information 40, which includes the auto-filling rules and encoded locations of the data fields. [0043] At S110, the auto-filling rules and filed locations are decoded. [0044] At S112, the user's data file is retrieved and read by the system. [0045] At S114, for each auto-filling rule, the system looks up the required user data in the user's data file, computes the value of the expression of the rule and at S116, with this value, fills in the corresponding form region specified by the rule. If a rule requires a user data element that is not available in the user data file, the rule is ignored and the corresponding field region is left empty. [0046] At S118, the system sends the at least partially completed form to the printer which prints out the fully or partially filled form or otherwise outputs the form. In one embodiment, the data is automatically stored in a database which is used for storing data entered on the organization's paper forms. [0047] The method ends at S120. [0048] The method can be repeated using the same user's file to fill in a very different form. [0049] The exemplary method is able to provide several advantages over conventional systems for filling in paper forms. It can save time and effort for the user who may have to fill in several different paper forms per year, often with similar information. It can also save time and effort for administrations/organizations since their paper forms are filled in more rapidly and with better coherence and fewer errors. Additionally, the automatically filled-in data can be automatically read (through the embedded auto-filling rules and OCR) and inserted into the organization's computer databases. The exemplary method also has the advantage of being independent of the language of the paper form and of its field names. It enables wide variations in form field names and in required value formats among organizations and countries. The method is thus more robust than existing methods used for the filling of electronic (web) forms which are based on exact or fuzzy-matching of field names. [0050] The encoded forms 10 can be provided as a service to an organization by an outside service provider which is provided with sample forms to be filled in and reformats the forms to include a code 40, using an encoding system which defines the appropriate form filling rules for the particular form. The encoding system, which may be similarly configured to system 30, may use an algorithm to generate form filling rules based on answers to questions posed to an operator who answers based on reading the text of the sample form. In one embodiment, a service provider may provide a service for scanning paper forms and entering data in the fields based on a supplied user data file and optionally uploading the entered data to the organization's database. [0051] The method illustrated in FIG. 3 may be implemented in a computer program product that may be executed on a computer. The computer program product may be a tangible computer-readable recording medium on which a control program is recorded, such as a disk, hard drive, or the like. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, floppy disks, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic storage medium, CD-ROM, DVD, or any other optical medium, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, or other memory chip or cartridge, or any other tangible medium from which a computer can read and use. Alternatively, the method may be implemented in a transmittable carrier wave in which the control program is embodied as a data signal using transmission media, such as acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio wave and infrared data communications, and the like. [0052] The exemplary method may be implemented on one or more general purpose computers, special purpose computer(s), a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit elements, an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a hardwired electronic or logic circuit such as a discrete element circuit, a programmable logic device such as a PLD, PLA, FPGA, Graphical card CPU (GPU), or PAL, or the like. In general, any device, capable of implementing a finite state machine that is in turn capable of implementing the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, can be used to implement the method for populating a paper form. [0053] Further details of the system and method follow. The User Data File [0054] In the exemplary embodiment, the user's data are stored in standardized data structure format, e.g., an XML-based format. XML is a tree-like data structure for a document, here, a user's data file, where XML nodes refer to the junction of branches of the tree-like structure. Each node in the XML document contains the (string) value of one data item of the user data that is referred to by the Xpath of the node. XPath is a node-tree data model and path expression language for selecting data within XML documents. An XPath expression points to an address within an XML document where data may be located. XPath makes it possible to refer to individual parts of an XML document. XPath expressions can refer to all or part of the data in XML nodes. The root node of an XML document refers to the entire document. [0055] For instance, the Xpath expression /person/name/lastname will refer to the family name of the person, and /person/name/firstname to the first name of the person, while /person/birth/date/year refers to the year of the date of birth of the person. [0056] The user data are expressed with fine granularity so that the auto-filling rules of the system can refer to precise data items when appropriate for a given form. For example, any date value is split into basic components (day, month_noun, month_number, year) so that an auto-filling rule can access them and build a date string in any format and with the required date components. For example, one form may have a field for the person's birth date in the format mm/dd/yyyy, another requires the format dd/mm/yyyy, while yet another may require only the year of birth yyyy. [0057] The user's personal data file 12 may be created and updated by the user through a local or web-based friendly graphical user interface (GUI) which avoids the need for the user to edit XML data. [0058] Once completed or updated, the data file can be saved, for example, on a disk, a USB storage device, a PDA, a mobile phone, or on a paper or card, encoded as DataGlyphs or QR codes, or stored in a database accessible to the system. [0059] In general, all user data files use the same standardized tree structured format, the primary difference between a personal data file for user A and a data file for user B is in the data items which are associated with respective ones of the nodes. In some embodiments, the user's data file may only include nodes corresponding to part of a generic tree structure which is generic to all user data files, such that any nodes which are not present are read as having a NULL data item. [0060] In some embodiments, not all the nodes of the standardized data structure may have an associated data item, for example, if the user does not want to provide this information. In some embodiments, the data file may be submitted with certain nodes locked, (or the associated data encrypted) and therefore the associated data item(s) are inaccessible to the system 30. This may be used for sensitive information which the user does not want to provide to all administrative organizations. For example, the generic tree structured format may have the option to enter a credit card number as the data item for one of the nodes, with the option of locking this node from access by the system/encrypting the data item, which is only decoded when a user's password is entered. Auto-Filling Rules [0061] The auto-filling rules infer the same tree structure as is used in creation of the user data file so that a node of the tree structure can be specified in the auto-filling rules, with the knowledge that a specific data item that has been associated by the user (or the creation component) with that node will be retrieved. [0062] Each auto-filling rule follows predefined syntax and semantics. For example, an auto-filling rule may be expressed in the following format: [0063] <form_field_region>: <filling_value_expression> [0064] where: [0065] <form_field_region> is the coordinates (x1,y1,x2,y2) of the top left corner point and bottom right corner point of the field region to be filled in the paper form, for a particular form field. The coordinates are expressed in a distance measure unit, e.g., millimeters or pixels. If the fields are the same size, only one reference point need be identified. [0066] <filling_value_expression> is an expression built in a selection language, such as XPath, referring to XML nodes in the user data file, string constants, string operators, and if-then-else statements. [0067] For example as illustrated in FIG. 4, the users data can be expressed as a tree 100 in which a root node 102 is linked by paths 104 to terminal nodes 106 which each have a data item 108 associated with them and which may be spaced from the root node by one or more intermediate nodes 110, which have no data associated with them. The user's data, comprising all the data items, is thus distributed over the terminal nodes. A string constant generally corresponds to the data item 108 from a terminal node in the user's data tree. [0068] A string operator defines how the string constant is modified before insertion in the form 16, for example, the string operator may specify that the string constant is to be in upper case. If-then-else-statements may be used to define a condition, which if met, results in the form region being filled in with string constant data, as modified by the string operator, else left blank, as the case may be (or it may specify that the form region is filled in with other data, such as a check mark, or the word YES or NO). [0069] The syntax and semantics of filling value expressions (FVEs) can be defined as follows: [0070] 1. Any string constant written between beginning and end quotes, such as "and", is an FVE, and its string value is the constant itself. [0071] 2. Any Xpath string is an FVE and its value is the content of the first matching XML node in the user data file. If such node does not exist, then the value of the FVE is NULL. [0072] 3. If A is an FVE, then A[i], where i is an integer, is an FVE and its value is the ith character of the string value of A (0 refers to the first position). If i is greater or equal the length of A, then the value of A[i] is NULL. If the value of A is NULL, then A[i] is NULL. [0073] 4. If A is an FVE, then A[i,j] (where i>j) is an FVE and its value is the substring of the value of A laying from the ith character up to the jth character. If i is greater or equal the length of A, then the value of A[i,j] is NULL. If the value of A is NULL, then A[i,j] is NULL. [0074] 5. If A is an FVE, then UPPER(A) is an FVE and its value is the value string of A where every alphabetic character in lowercase is replaced by its uppercase counterpart. If the value of A is null, then UPPER(A) equals NULL. [0075] 6. If A and B are two FVEs, then A+B is an FVE and its value is the concatenation of the string value of A and the string value of B, in this order. If A or B equals NULL, then A+B equals NULL. [0076] 7. If A, B, X and Y are FVEs, then IF (A=B; X; Y) is an FVE and its value is NULL if A is NULL, the value of X if A equals B, the value of Y otherwise. [0077] As will be appreciated, the syntax defining rules are not limited to the seven syntax rules shown above. The rules may be added to, modified, or reduced in number. [0078] Auto-Filling Rule Interpretation [0079] The system may interpret an auto-filling rule as follows: [0080] 1. The (string) value of the FVE of the rule is computed. [0081] 2. If the value equals NULL or " " (the empty string), the system ignores the rule, otherwise, it adds the string value to the form field region (of the electronic form copy 16) specified in the auto-filling rule, using adequate font and size attributes to fit in the region. Examples of Auto-Filling Rules [0082] Some example rules are as follows: [0083] 1. (100,120,170,128): UPPER(/person/name/lastname) [0084] This rule tells the system to print the uppercase form of the user's last name in the region specified by the upper left and lower right coordinates listed in the format (x1,y1,x2,y2). The specified region corresponds to a field to fill in, labeled, for example, with "Family name" or "Surname", which, as noted above, has no relevance to the operation of the exemplary method. This is an example of the syntax and semantics rule noted at 3 above. The instruction LOWER can be used to put a value in lower case. [0085] 2. (100,120,170,128): if(/person/gender="Male"; "X"; NULL) [0086] This rule tells the system to print an "X" in (i.e., to check) the specified region if the user's gender is "Male", nothing otherwise. It is assumed that the specified region corresponds to a field to check that is labeled, for example, "M" or "Male". This is an example of the operation of an If-then-else-statement in an FVE. [0087] 3. (150,120,157,127): if(/person/gender="Female"; "X"; NULL) [0088] This rule tells the system to print an "X" in (i.e., to check) the specified region if the user's gender is "Female", nothing otherwise. It is assumed that the specified region corresponds to a field to check labeled, for example, with "F", "female" or "femelle". This is an example of the operation of an If-then-else-statement in an FVE. [0089] 4. (170,120,190,130): (/person/name/firstname)[0] [0090] This rule inserts the first initial of the user's first name in the specified field region, e.g., the letter J in the case of the data structure shown in FIG. 4. This is an example of the syntax and semantics rule noted at 3 above. [0091] 5. (100,120,170,150): UPPER(/person/address/country)[0,2] [0092] This rule inserts the first three letters of the country where the user lives in the specified field region, in upper case, e.g., the letters WAL in the case of the data structure shown in FIG. 4. This is an example of the syntax and semantics rules noted at 4 and 5 above. [0094] This rule inserts the month day and year of the user's birth in the specified field region e.g., the date Mar. 11, 1987 in the case of the data structure shown in FIG. 4. As specified in the syntax and semantics rule at 6, above, this rule will enter a NULL value if any of the three nodes specified is empty. [0095	eng	1ccf7d6f-dfa0-4be5-8747-94bef328a086	http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20110271173
The Eighty-first 1949 to January 3, 1951, during the fifth and sixth years of Harry Truman's presidency Sixteenth United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 132,164,569, an increase of 7.3 percent over the 1930 population of 123,202,624 persons. The census date was April 1, 1940January 20, 1949: Inauguration of President Truman and Vice President Barkley Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union... : President Truman ordered American military forces to aid in the defense of South Korea Major legislation Agricultural Act of 1949 is a United States federal law that is known as the "permanent legislation" of U.S. agricultural policy and is, in its amended form, still in effect. The Act was enacted on October 31, 1949... The Internal Security Act of 1950, , also known as the Subversive Activities Control Act or the McCarran Act, after Senator Pat McCarran , is a United States federal law of the McCarthy era. It was passed over President Harry Truman's veto... (including Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950), ch. 1024, , September 30, 1950: Performance Rating Act, ch. 1123, August 15, 1950: Omnibus Medical Research Act, , (including Public Health Services Act Amendments, which established the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness) The Celler-Kefauver Act is a United States federal law passed in 1950 that reformed and strengthened the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 which had amended the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The Celler-Kefauver Act was passed to close a loophole regarding asset acquisitions and acquisitions involving... Hearings 43 TOTAL members: 96 American Labor Party was a political party in the United States established in 1936 which was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party who had established themselves as the Social Democratic... Minority (Republican) leadershipRoy Orchard Woodruff was a politician, soldier, printer and dentist from the U.S. state of Michigan....William Fife Knowland was a United States politician, newspaperman, and Republican Party leader. He was a U.S. Senator representing California from 1945 to 1959. He served as Senate Majority Leader from 1953-1955, and as Minority Leader from 1955-1959. He was defeated in his 1958 run for... Raymond Earl Baldwin was a United States Senator, the 72nd and 74th Governor of Connecticut.-Biography:Born in Rye, New York, he moved to Middletown, Connecticut in 1903 and attended the public schools. He graduated from Wesleyan University in Middletown in 1916, and entered Yale University... John James "Whispering Willie" Williams was an American businessman and politician from Millsboro, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the Republican Party, who served four terms as U.S. Senator from Delaware....Glen Hearst Taylor was an American politician, businessman and United States Senator from Idaho. He was the vice presidential candidate on the Progressive Party ticket in the 1948 election. Taylor was otherwise a member of the Idaho Democratic Party... Paul Howard Douglas was an liberal American politician and University of Chicago economist. A war hero, he was elected as a Democratic U.S. Senator from Illinois from in the 1948 landslide, serving until his defeat in 1966...Homer Earl Capehart , American business innovator and politician, was born in Algiers, Indiana, in Pike County. During the First World War, he served as a Sergeant in the United States Army Supply Corps, but was never sent overseas.-Business career:Capehart attained fame as the father of theJames Preston Kem represented Missouri in the United States Senate from 1947 to 1953.James P. Kem was born in Macon, Missouri. He attended Blees Military Academy, then graduated from the University of Missouri in 1910, and Harvard Law School in 1913. He was admitted to the bar in 1913 and... Hugh Alfred Butler was a Nebraska Republican politician.He was born on a farm near Missouri Valley, Iowa on February 28, 1878. He graduated from Doane College at Crete, Nebraska in 1900. he became a construction engineer with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad from 1900 to 1908...Charles William Tobey was an American politician, who was a Governor of New Hampshire and a United States senator, was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, the son of William Tobey, an accountant, and Ellen Hall Parker Tobey. His father had moved to Massachusetts from Maine in the 1860s. Charles Tobey... Robert Clymer Hendrickson was a United States Senator from New Jersey.-Biography:Born in Woodbury, New Jersey, he attended public schools and during the First World War enlisted in the United States Army in 1918 and served overseasWilliam "Wild Bill" Langer was a prominent US politician from North Dakota. Langer is one of the most colorful characters in North Dakota history, most famously bouncing back from a scandal that forced him out of the governor's office and into prison. He served as the 17th and 21st Governor of... Milton Ruben Young was a United States politician, most notable for representing North Dakota in the United States Senate from 1945 until 1981. At the time of his retirement, he was the most senior Republican in the Senate.... Robert Samuel Kerr was an American businessman from Oklahoma. Kerr formed a petroleum company before turning to politics. He served as the 12th Governor of Oklahoma and was elected three times to the United States Senate... Guy F. Cordon was a U.S. politician and lawyer from the state of Oregon. A native of Texas, he served in the Army during World War I and later was the district attorney of Douglas County in Southern Oregon... Francis John Myers was an American teacher, lawyer, and Democratic Party politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A graduate of the St. Joseph's University and Temple University School of Law, He represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives, and then in the United States SenateBurnet Rhett Maybank was a U.S. Senator, the 99th Governor of South Carolina, and Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina. Maybank was the direct descendant of six former South Carolinian governors. He was the first governor from Charleston since the Civil War... Olin DeWitt Talmadge Johnston was a Democratic Party politician from the US state of South Carolina. He served as the 98th Governor of South Carolina, 1935–1939 and 1943–1945, and represented the state in the United States Senate from 1945 until his death in 1965.-Early Life, Military Involvement,... Harry Pulliam Cain was a United States Senator from Washington who served as a Republican from 1946 to 1953. Today, Cain is mainly remembered for his very conservative and often highly controversial views as a member of the Senate, and as a friend and supporter of Senator Joseph McCarthy, but...Alexander Wiley was a member of the Republican Party who served four terms in the United States Senate for the state of Wisconsin from 1939 to 1963. When he left the Senate, he was its most senior Republican member.-Biography:... Lester Callaway Hunt was a Democratic politician and dentist from the state of Wyoming. He served as the 19th Governor of Wyoming from 1943 to 1949 and as United States Senator from January 3, 1949 until his suicide on June 19, 1954.... Albert McKinley Rains was a U.S. Representative from Alabama.Born in Grove Oak, Alabama, Rains attended the public schools, Snead Seminary, Boaz, Alabama, State Teachers College , Jacksonville, Alabama, and the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa.He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1928 andEzekiel Candler Gathings was a U.S. Representative from Arkansas.Born in Prairie, Mississippi, Gathings attended the public schools and the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. He was graduated from the law department of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1929... James William Trimble was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas, having served from 1945-1967. He was the first Democrat in Arkansas since Reconstruction to lose a congressional race to a Republican... William Frank Norrell was a U.S. Representative from Arkansas, husband of Catherine Dorris Norrell.Born in Milo, Arkansas, Norrell attended the public schools, the Arkansas Agricultural and Mechanical College of Monticello, the College of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas, and law school at the... Richard Joseph Welch was a U.S. Representative from California.Born in Monroe County, New York, Welch was educated in the public schools.He moved to California in early boyhood and settled in San Francisco.... John Joseph Allen, Jr. was the US Representative from California's 7th district from 1947 to 1959. He served as Undersecretary of Commerce for Transportation under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1959 to 1961, helping to lay the groundwork for the future Department of Transportation... John Zuinglius Anderson was a U.S. Representative from California.Born in Oakland, California, Anderson moved with his parents to Santa Cruz, California, the same year, and to San Jose, California, in 1913, attended the public schools.He was graduated from San Jose High School in 1923.He moved to... Cecil Fielding White was an American farmer and politician. The Democrat White served as the United States Representative for California's 9th congressional district for one term, from 1949 to 1951. White was a cotton broker and owned his own ranch before getting into politics at the age of 47,...Ernest King Bramblett was a Republican United States Congressman from California. He was elected to the U.S. House in the 1946 Republican landslide when he ousted Democratic incumbent Rep. George Outland.-Biography:Cecil Rhodes King was an American businessman and politician. King, a Democrat, served as the first member of the United States House of Representatives from California's 17th congressional district for fourteen terms, serving from August 1942 to January 1969... Clyde Gilman Doyle was a United States Representative from California. He was born in Oakland, Alameda County, California. He attended public schools in Oakland, Seattle, Washington, Los Angeles and Long Beach, California. He graduated from the College of Law of the University of Southern... John Carl Hinshaw was a United States Representative from California. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, son of William Wade and Anna Williams Hinshaw. He attended the public schools and Valparaiso University... Harry Richard Sheppard was a U.S. Representative from California.Born in Mobile, Alabama, Sheppard attended the public schools.He studied law.He was employed in transportation department of the Santa Fe Railroad.... John Phillips was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California.John Philips was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He moved to St. David, Pennsylvania, in 1891. He graduated from Haverford College in 1910. During the First World War, he served in the Adjutant General's Office... Clinton Dotson McKinnon was a former American Democratic politician and journalist from San Diego.McKinnon was born 1906 in Dallas, Texas to Dr. John and Tennie McKinnon. He was 12 and the only child when his father died and his mother, a nurse, raised him. He graduated from Palo Alto High School,... John Albert Carroll was a Democratic United States Representative and United States Senator from Colorado. Born in Denver, he attended the public schools, and during the First World War served in the United States Army... William Silas Hill was a U.S. Representative from Colorado.Born in Kelly, Kansas, Hill attended the public schools, Kansas State Normal at Emporia, and Colorado State College of Agriculture at Fort Collins.... John Henry Marsalis was a U.S. Representative from Colorado.Born in McComb, Pike County, Mississippi, Marsalis attended the public schools of McComb, Mississippi.He moved with his parents to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1922....Chase Going Woodhouse was an educator and Congresswoman from the Second Congressional District in Connecticut. She was the second woman elected to Congress from Connecticut, and the first elected as a Democrat.Woodhouse graduated from Science Hill School, Shelbyville, Kentucky, 1908... John Andrew Mcguire was a U.S. Representative from Connecticut.Born in Wallingford, Connecticut, Mcguire attended the public schools. He was a student at Lyman Hall, Wallingford, in 1924, and graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1928... James Hardin Peterson was a U.S. Representative from Florida.Peterson was born in Batesburg, South Carolina. His family moved to Lakeland, Florida, in 1903, and he attended the public schools there. Peterson graduated from the University of Florida College of Law in 1914... Albert Sydney Herlong, Jr. was a U.S. Representative from Florida.Herlong was born in the small community of Manistee, Alabama in 1909, and moved with his parents to Marion County, Florida in 1912. He attended the public schools of Sumter and Lake counties and graduated from Leesburg High School... Dwight Laing Rogers was a U.S. Representative from Florida.Born near Reidsville, Georgia, Rogers attended the public schools and Locust Grove Institute at Locust Grove, Georgia. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1909 and from the law department of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia... Edward Eugene "Eugene" or "Goober" Cox served as a U.S. Representative from Georgia for nearly twenty-eight years. A conservative Democrat who supported segregation and opposed President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "New Deal," Cox became the most senior Democrat on the House Committee on Rules... Olin Stephen Pace was an American politician and lawyer.Pace was born near Dawson, Georgia. He attended the Georgia School of Technology and graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law in Athens in 1914 with a Bachelor of Laws degree... James Curran Davis was a politician from the state of Georgia.Davis was born in Franklin, Georgia. He attended Reinhardt College in Waleska, Georgia and Emory College in Oxford, Georgia. During World War I, Davis served in the United States Marine Corps...Paul Brown was an American politician and lawyer.Brown was born in Hartwell, Georgia, and graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law in Athens with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1901. He was admitted to the state bar in that year and began practicing law in Lexington, Georgia... Barratt O'Hara of Chicago was the 30th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois from 1913 to 1917 and a U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1949 to 1951 and from 1953 to 1969.-External links: Retrieved on 2008-02-09... Neil Joseph Linehan was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.-Biography:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Linehan attended the public schools. He was graduated from John L. Marsh School in 1913. He engaged in electrical business since 1919Adolph Joachim Sabath was an American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Chicago, Illinois, from 1907 until his death.He immigrated to America at age 15, became active in real estate, and received his LL.B... Sidney Richard Yates was a politician from the state of Illinois.Yates was born in Chicago, Illinois and he graduated from the University of Chicago. He served in the United States Navy during World War II....Leo Elwood Allen , American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for fourteen terms, 1933–1961, representing the 13th District of Illinois 1933–1949, and the 16th District of Illinois 1949–1961. He was born in Elizabeth, Illinois and... Robert Bruce Chiperfield was a U.S. Representative from Illinois, son of Burnett Mitchell Chiperfield.Born in Canton, Illinois, Chiperfield was educated in the public schools of Canton, Illinois, Washington, D.C., and at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire.He served as a private during... Sidney Elmer Simpson was a U.S. Representative from Illinois, husband of Edna Oakes Simpson.Born in Carrollton, Illinois, Simpson attended the public schools and was graduated from Carrollton High School.... Peter Francis Mack, Jr. was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.Born in Carlinville, Illinois, Mack attended the public schools and Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois, and St. Louis University.... Rolla Coral McMillen was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.Born near Monticello, Illinois, McMillen attended the public schools of Monticello, Illinois , and the University of Illinois. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1906... Charles Wesley Vursell was a U.S. Representative from Illinois, cousin of Carl Bert Albert.Born in Salem, Illinois, Vursell attended the public schools of Marion County, Illinois.Hardware merchant in 1904.... Cecil William Bishop was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois.Bishop was born on a farm near West Vienna, Illinois. After attending the public schools, and Union Academy in Anna, Illinois, he entered the profession of tailoring. Bishop was engaged in the cleaning... (RThurman Charles Crook was a United States Representative from Indiana.He was born on a farm near Peru, Indiana and attended the Cass County schools, Logansport High School, Indiana State University, Purdue University, Indiana University, and graduated from Valparaiso University in 1930... Edward H. Kruse was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Kruse attended South Side High School in his hometown. He graduated from Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis in 1942, after attending Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana... John Richard Walsh was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.-Early life and career:Born in Martinsville, Indiana, Walsh attended the public schools. He was graduated from Indiana University Law School in 1934. He was admitted to the bar July 27, 1934, and engaged in the practice of law in... Cecil Murray Harden was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.Born in Covington, Indiana, Harden graduated from the public schools of Covington in 1912. She attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, and became a teacher. She served as Republican National committeewoman from Indiana from... Winfield Kirkpatrick Denton was a U.S. Representative from Indiana, son of George Kirkpatrick Denton.Born in Evansville, Indiana, Denton attended the public schools.He attended De Pauw University, Greencastle, Indiana.... Earl Wilson was a United States Representative from Indiana. He was born on a farm near Huron, Indiana and attended public schools there. He attended Purdue University and received degrees from Coyne Electrical School of Chicago, Illinois in 1928 and Indiana University of Bloomington, Indiana in... Ralph Harvey was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.Born on a farm near Mount Summit, Indiana, Harvey attended the public schools.He graduated from Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana, 1923.Agricultural instructor.... Henry Oscar Talle was an economics professor and a ten-term Republican U.S. Representative from eastern Iowa. He served in the United States Congress for twenty years from 1938 until 1958.-Background:... James Isaac Dolliver served six terms as a Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 6th congressional district, beginning in 1944. He was the nephew of U.S. Senator Jonathan Prentiss Dolliver of Iowa....Clifford R. Hope was a U.S. Representative from Kansas. Born in Birmingham, Iowa, Hope attended public schools and Nebraska Wesleyan University, in Lincoln, Nebraska. He served during the First World War, as a second lieutenant. He served in the Kansas House of Representatives... John Albert Whitaker was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, grandson of Addison James.Born in Russellville, Kentucky, Whitaker attended the public schools, Bethel College, and the University of Kentucky.He studied law.... Frank Leslie Chelf was a United States Representative from Kentucky. He was born on a farm near Elizabethtown, Kentucky. He attended the public schools as well as Centre College at Danville, Kentucky and St. Mary's College... Edwin Edward Willis was an American politician and attorney from the U.S. state of Louisiana who was affiliated with the Long political faction. A Democrat, he served in the Louisiana State Senate during 1948 and in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1969.-Early life:Willis... Thomas Overton Brooks was a Democratic U.S. representative from the Shreveport-based Fourth Congressional District of northwest Louisiana, having served for a quarter century beginning on January 3, 1937. Brooks was a nephew of U.S. Senator John Holmes Overton as well as a great-grandson of Walter... Henry Dominique Larcade, Jr. was a U.S. Representative from Louisiana.Born in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, Larcade attended the public and parochial schools, Opelousas High School, Academy Immaculate Conception, and Opelousas Institute.During the First World War, Larcade served as a... Charles P. "Charlie" Nelson was a member of the US House of Representatives from Maine. He was born in Waterville, Maine, in 1907. He graduated from Cony High School in Augusta, Maine and from Colby College in Waterville. Later, he attended Harvard Law School, earning his Juris Doctor, and... John Walter Heselton was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1945 until January 3, 1959. Heselton represented Massachusetts' first congressional district for seven consecutive terms.Heselton was born in Gardiner, Maine... John Foster Furcolo was a member of the Democratic Party who served as the 60th Governor of Massachusetts, a member of the United States House of Representatives, and in other government offices in Massachusetts. He was the first Italian-American governor of Massachusetts.-Life and career:Furcolo... Edith Nourse Rogers was an American social welfare volunteer and politician who was one of the first women to serve in the United States Congress. She was the first woman elected to congress from MassachusettsDonald William Nicholson was a 20th century American politician from the state of Massachusetts. Born in Wareham, Massachusetts, he attended the public schools and took college extension courses. He first worked as a salesman, then during the First World War served overseas in the United States... George Gregory Sadowski was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.Sadowski was born in Detroit, Michigan, where he attended Ferry School. He attended high school in Foley, Alabama, and then returned to Detroit, where he graduated from Northeastern High School in 1920 and from the law... Earl Cory Michener was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.Michener was born near Attica in Seneca County, Ohio. He moved with his parents to Adrian, Michigan in 1889 and attended the public schools there. During the Spanish-American War, he served in the U.S... Paul Werntz Shafer was a politician and judge from the U.S. state of Michigan.Shafer was born in Elkhart, Indiana and moved with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John M. Shafer, to Three Rivers, Michigan, where he attended public schools... William Wallace Blackney was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.Blackney was born in Clio, Michigan, and attended the public schools there. He went to Olivet College, Olivet, Michigan, and Ferris School in Big Rapids. He moved to Flint, in 1904 and served as county clerk of Genesee... Jesse Paine Wolcott was a politician and soldier from the U.S. state of Michigan.Wolcott was born to William Bradford Wolcott and Lillie Betsy Wolcott in Gardner, Massachusetts and attended the common and high schools there... Fred Lewis Crawford was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.Crawford was born in Dublin, Texas and attended local public schools. He went to business college at Peniel , and attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He engaged in accountancy at Des Moines, Iowa, and Detroit,... Albert Joseph Engel was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.Engel was born in New Washington, Ohio. He attended the public schools in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, and the Central YMCA College in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from the law department of Northwestern University,...Joseph Patrick O'Hara was a U.S. Representative from Minnesota.-Early life:O'Hara was born in Tipton, Cedar County, Iowa, on January 23, 1895. He attended the public schools and graduated from Spirit Lake, Iowa, High School... Roy William Wier was a U.S. Representative from Minnesota; born in Redfield, Spink County, South Dakota; moved with his parents in 1896 to Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota; attended the public schools and North High School; learned the telephone and electrical trade, later going intoWalter Henry Judd was an American politician best known for his battle in Congress to define the conservative position on China as all-out support for the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-sheck and opposition to the Communists under Mao... John Elliott Rankin was a Democratic congressman from the U.S. State of Mississippi who supported racial segregation and, on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, voiced racist views on African Americans and Jews and even accused Albert Einstein of being a communist agitator.InWilliam Arthur Winstead was a U.S. Representative from Mississippi.Born near Philadelphia, Mississippi, Winstead attended the public schools Clarke Memorial College, in Newton, Mississippi, and the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa.He graduated from Mississippi Southern College at Hattiesburg in... Clare Magee was a U.S. Representative from Missouri.Born on a farm in Putnam County near Livonia, Missouri, MageeGraduate of Unionville High School.Student in Kirksville State Teachers College in 1916.... Philip James Welch was a U.S. Representative from Missouri.Born in St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri, Welch was educated in the public schools.He engaged in the furniture business 1916-1931.Treasurer of city of St... Theodore Leonard Irving was a U.S. Representative from Missouri.Born in St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, Irving moved with his parents to a farm in North Dakota.He attended the public schools of North Dakota.... George Henry Christopher was a Democratic Party representative from Missouri's 6th congressional district from and from the Missouri's 4th congressional district from January 3, 1955 until his death January 23, 1959.He was born on a farm in Bates County, Missouri near Butler, Missouri... Paul Caruthers Jones was a U.S. Representative from Missouri.Born in Kennett, Missouri, Jones attended the Kennett public schools. He was graduated from the University of Missouri with a B.J. degree in 1923. He served as a member of the Kennett city council from 1931 to 1933 and as mayor of... Michael Joseph Mansfield was an American Democratic politician and the longest-serving Majority Leader of the United States Senate, serving from 1961 to 1977. He also served as United States Ambassador to Japan for over ten years... Wesley Abner D'Ewart was a U.S. Republican politician.He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts as the son of William John D'Ewart and Mary Elizabeth Barnard. In a special election due to the death of James F... Eugene Daniel O'Sullivan was an American Democratic Party politician from Nebraska.He was born in on a cattle ranch near Kent, Kansas to John E. O'Sullivan and Josephine Kluh O'Sullivan on May 31, 1883. He was married to Ellen Katherine Lovely. He graduated from Christian Brothers College, in St....Arthur Lewis Miller was a Nebraska Republican politician.Born on a farm near Plainview, Nebraska, he graduated from the Plainview High School in 1911 and from Loyola Medical School in Chicago in 1918. He then taught rural school in Plainview from 1911 to 1913. He was a member of the United Anderson Wolverton was a Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for nearly 32 years, from 1927 to 1959.After receiving a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1900, Wolverton practiced... Thomas Millet Hand was an American Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1945-1957.-Biography:Hand was born in Cape May, New Jersey on July 7, 1902, and attended the local public schoolsHarry Lancaster Towe was an American Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey's 9th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1943 to 1951.Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, November 3, 1898, Towe attended the public schools of Passaic, New Jersey... Edward Joseph Hart was an American Democratic Party politician who represented New Jersey's 14th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1935-1955.-Early years and education:Hart was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on March 25, 1893, where he... Antonio Manuel Fernández was a United States Representative from New Mexico. He was born in Springer, New Mexico where he attended the public schools, and Highlands University, Las Vegas, New Mexico... William Kingsland "King" Macy was a United States Representative from New York. Born in New York City, he graduated from Groton School William Kingsland "King" Macy (November 21, 1889 – July 15, 1961) was a United States Representative from New York. Born in New York City, he graduated from... Leonard Wood Hall was a United States Representative from New York. Born in Oyster Bay, Nassau County, he attended the public schools and graduated from the law department of Georgetown University in 1920... Henry Jepson Latham was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.Latham was born in Brooklyn. He graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1931. He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1941 until 1942. He served in the United States Navy from 1942... Louis Gary Clemente was a United States Representative from New York. Born in New York City, he attended St. Ann's Academy in New York City and LaSalle Military Academy in Oakdale. He received a Reserve officer's certificate at Plattsburgh in 1925 and a Reserve commission in 1929... Thomas Vincent Quinn of Jackson Heights, Queens was a U.S. Representative from New York from 1949 to 1951.-Career:* Fordham University Law School, graduated 1924* Assistant District Attorney, Queens County, NY, 1931-1934.... Joseph Lawrence Pfeifer was a United States Representative from New York. Born in Brooklyn, he attended St. Nicholas Parochial School, St. Leonard's Academy, and St. Francis College in Brooklyn. He graduated from Long Island Medical College in 1914 and was licensed to practice the same year... John James Rooney was a Democratic politician from New York.Rooney was born in Brooklyn in 1903. In 1925, he graduated with a law degree from Fordham University and practiced law following his admission to the bar the next year... Donald Lawrence O'Toole was a United States Representative from New York. Born in Brooklyn, he attended public and parochial schools, graduated from St. James Academy in Brooklyn in 1916, and from the law department of Fordham University in 1925... Abraham Jacob Multer was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. Born in New York City, he graduated from City College of New York in 1921 and Brooklyn Law School in 1922. He served in the United States Coast Guard from 1943 until 1945James J. Murphy was a United States Representative from New York. He was born in Brooklyn. He was educated in the public schools of Staten Island and served as a noncommissioned officer with the First New York Cavalry on the Mexican border in 1916... Vito Anthony Marcantonio was an American lawyer and democratic socialist politician. Originally a member of the Republican Party and a supporter of Fiorello LaGuardia, he switched to the American Labor Party.-Early life:Jacob Koppel "Jack" Javits was a politician who served as United States Senator from New York from 1957 to 1981. A liberal Republican, he was originally allied with Governor Nelson Rockefeller, fellow U.S... Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., was an American politician and pastor who represented Harlem, New York City, in the United States House of Representatives . He was the first person of African-American descent elected to Congress from New York and became a powerful national politician... Isidore Dollinger was a Democratic U.S. Congressman from New York between 1949 and 1959.Dollinger was born in New York City. He graduated from New York University in 1925 and from New York Law School in 1928. He was admitted to the New York state bar in 1929... Christopher Columbus McGrath was a United States Representative from New York. Born in New York City, he graduated from Clason Military Academy in the Bronx in 1921 and from Fordham University School of Law in 1924. He was admitted to the bar in 1927 and commenced the practice of law in New York... Ralph Waldo Gwinn was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.Gwinn was born in Noblesville, Indiana. He graduated from DePauw University in 1905 and Columbia University Law School in 1908. He served as a special representative of the Secretary of War in the... Ralph Abernethy Gamble was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.Gamble was born in Yankton, South Dakota. He graduated from Princeton University in 1909, George Washington University Law School in 1911 and from Columbia Law School in 1912. He was a member... William Thomas Byrne was a United States Representative from New York.-Biography:Born in the town of Florida, Montgomery County, New York he attended the public schools and graduated from Albany Law School, a branch of Union University, in 1904. He was admitted to the bar the same year and... Dean Park Taylor served as a United States Congressman from New York for nearly 20 years and came from a family long involved in public service to New York. Taylor was born in Troy, Rensselaer County, N.Y., on January 1, 1902, and attended the Troy public schools, Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y... Clarence Evans Kilburn was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.Kilburn was born in Malone, New York. He graduated from Cornell University in 1916. He served in the Twenty-Sixth Infantry, First Division during World War I. He was elected to Congress in... John Clay Davies II was a United States Representative from New York.-Biography:Born in Albany, he attended Camden High School, attended the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and Hamilton College .... Roy Walter Riehlman was an American congressman.He was born in Otisco, New York, USA on August 26, 1899. He was a member of the board of supervisors of Onondaga County from 1938 to 1943 and county clerk for Onondaga County from 1943 to 1946. He represented New York in theHouse of Representatives... Edwin Arthur Hall was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.Hall was born in Binghamton, New York. He attended Cornell University. He was a member of the Binghamton City Council from 1937 until 1939... William Sterling Cole was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.Cole was born in Painted Post, New York. He graduated from Colgate University in 1925 and Albany Law School in 1929. He was elected to Congress in 1934 and served from January 3, 1935 until... William Louis Pfeiffer was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.Pfeiffer was born in Buffalo, New York. He served as deputy comptroller of New York from 1946 until 1948. He was elected to Congress in 1948 and served from January 3, 1949 until January 3,... Anthony Francis Tauriello was an American congressman who represented the state of New York. He was born in Buffalo, New York, USA on August 14, 1899 and graduated from the Cumberland School of Law in 1929. He was a member of the Erie County Board of Supervisors from 1933 to 1937; also, he was a... Chester Charles Gorski was an American congressman who represented the state of New York. He was born in Buffalo, New York, USA on to a Polish immigrant family. He was a member of the Erie County Board of Supervisors from 1941 to 1945 and of the Buffalo Common Council from 1946 to 1948... Carl Thomas Durham was a U.S. Representative from North Carolina.Born in Bingham Township, Orange County, at White Cross, North Carolina, Durham attended the public schools of Orange County, Mandale Private School, Saxapahaw, North Carolina, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel... Charles Bennett Deane was a member of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina.-Career:Deane was born in Ansonville Township, Anson County, North Carolina on 1 November 1898. He attended Pee Dee Academy in Rockingham, North Carolina, and Trinity Park School, Durham, N.C.,... Robert Lee "Bob" Doughton , of Alleghany County, North Carolina, sometimes known as "Farmer Bob," was a member of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina for 42 consecutive years... Hamilton Chamberlain Jones was a United States Representative from North Carolina. He was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and attended the schools of Charlotte, Central High School in Washington, D.C., and Horners Military School in Oxford, North Carolina...Cliff Clevenger was a United States Representative from Ohio. He was born on a ranch near Long Pine, Brown County, Nebraska. He moved in 1895 with his parents to Lacona, Warren County, Iowa, where he attended the public schools. He engaged in the mercantile business at Marengo, Iowa, 1901-1903... John Martin Vorys was a U.S. Representative from Ohio.-Early life:Born in Lancaster, Ohio, Vorys attended the public schools in Lancaster and Columbus, Ohio. During the First World War served overseas as a pilot in the famous "Yale Unit" of the United States Naval Air Service, retiring to... Robert Thompson Secrest was an American Democratic representative to the United States Congress from the state of Ohio. He served in Congress three separate times: 1933 to 1942, 1949 to 1954, and 1963 to 1966, resigning each time prior to the end of his term.-External links:*... J. Harry McGregor was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio.J. Harry McGregor was born on a farm near Unionport, Ohio. He attended the public schools, West Lafayette College, and Oberlin College... Michael A. Feighan was an American politician from Lakewood, Ohio, near Cleveland. He served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, and as a Democratic Party U.S. Representative from 1943 to 1971, serving Ohio's 20th congressional district.Originally, he was recruited by national... Frances Payne Bolton , born Frances P. Bingham, was a Republican politician from Ohio. She served in the United States House of Representatives. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Ohio. She was also the oldest woman to date to serve in the House of Representatives.Born in Cleveland,... William Franklin Gilmer was a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.Born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, Gilmer moved with his parents to Oklahoma.He attended the public schools of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.... William Grady Stigler was a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.-Biography:Stigler was of on-quter Choctaw descent.Born in Stigler, Haskell County, Indian Territory , Stigler attended the public schools... Carl Bert Albert was a lawyer and a Democratic American politician from Oklahoma.Albert represented the southeastern portion of Oklahoma as a Democrat for 30 years, starting in 1947. He isAlmer Stillwell "Mike" Monroney was a Democratic Party politician from Oklahoma.He represented Oklahoma's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1939 until 1951 and represented Oklahoma in the United States Senate from 1951 until 1969.Monroney graduated from... Toby Morris was a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.Born in Granbury, Texas, Morris moved to what was then Comanche County, Oklahoma, in 1906 and to Walters, Oklahoma, in 1913. He attended the public schools, leaving high school in his senior year, during World War I, to enlist in the United... Victor Eugene Wickersham was a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.-Early life and education:Born on a farm near Lone Rock, Arkansas, Victor Wickersham moved to Mangum, Oklahoma, with his parents in 1915... George Howard Wilson was a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.-Early life and education:Born in Mattoon, Illinois, Wilson moved with his parents in 1910 to Enid. There he attended Enid Public Schools. He graduated from Phillips University in 1926... Albin Walter Norblad, Jr., was an American attorney and Republican politician in Oregon. He represented the U.S. state of Oregon's First District from January 18, 1946 until his death in the United States House of Representatives. His father was A. W. Norblad, Sr., a one-time Governor of... Mathew Harris Ellsworth was a Republican U.S. congressman from Oregon.-Early life:Born in Hoquiam, Washington, Ellsworth moved together with his parents to Eugene, Oregon and later to nearby Wendling, where he attended public schools. In 1922, he graduated with a journalism degree from theEarl Chudoff was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.-Biography:Earl Chudoff was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in economics in 1929 and from the University of Pittsburgh School of... William Joseph Green, Jr. was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.William J. Green was born in Philadelphia, PA. He graduated from St. Joseph's Preparatory School, and attended St. Joseph's College, Philadelphia, PA. He was engaged in business as anFranklin Herbert Lichtenwalter was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Franklin H. Lichtenwalter was born in Palmerton, PA. He was engaged in general insurance business from 1933 to 1973... Harry Patrick O'Neill was a Democratic United States Representative from Pennsylvania.Harry P. O'Neill was born in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. He left school at the age of ten and went to work as a slate picker in the O.S. Johnson Colliery in Dunmore... Daniel John "Dan" Flood was a flamboyant and long-serving Democratic United States Representative from Pennsylvania. He was censured for bribery and resigned from the House in 1980.-Early life and career:Richard Murray Simpson was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Richard Simpson was born in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, in 1923 and from Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C., in 1942... John Crain Kunkel was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. He was the grandson of John Christian Kunkel, great-grandson of John Sergeant, and great-great-grandson of Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant and Robert Whitehill.He was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,... James Francis Lind was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.James F. Lind was born in York, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Penn State Extension School as an accountant. He served in the United States Army from 1917 to 1920, 1941 to 1946, and in 1953... Anthony Cavalcante was an United States Representative for Pennsylvania.-Biography:Anthony Cavalcante was born in Vanderbilt, Pennsylvania. He served overseas with Company D, One Hundred and Tenth Infantry, Twenty-eighth Division, from May 3, 1918 to May 6, 1919, and was awarded the Purple Heart...Augustine Bernard Kelley was a United States Representative from Pennsylvania.Augustine B. Kelley was born in New Baltimore, Pennsylvania. He attended the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, in 1904 and 1905. He studied mining engineering with the International Correspondence... Carroll Dudley Kearns was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Carroll D. Kearns was born in Youngstown, PA, and moved with his parents to New Castle, PA, in 1901. He was a student in the Army Training Corps at the University of Pittsburgh in 1918, at the... Frank Buchanan was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Frank Buchanan was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKeesport, Pennsylvania. He married future Representative Vera Daerr on January 4, 1929... Aime Joseph Forand was a U.S. Democratic politician.He was born in Fall River, Massachusetts. He was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island in 1936 and served from January 3, 1937 to January 3, 1939, having lost his re-election campaign in 1938... John Edward Fogarty was a Congressman from Rhode Island for 26 years.Congressman John E. Fogarty was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1940 and served until his death on January 10, 1967 as he was being sworn in for his fourteenth consecutive term... Hugo Sheridan Sims, Jr. was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina.Born in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Sims attended the public schools.He graduated from Wofford College, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 1941.... Joseph Raleigh Bryson was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina.Born in Brevard, North Carolina, Bryson moved, with his parents, to Greenville, South Carolina, in 1900.He attended the public schools.... James Prioleau "Dick" Richards was a lawyer, judge, and Democrat U.S. Representative from South Carolina between 1933 and 1957. He later served as a special ambassador under Republican President EisenhowerJesse Martin Combs was a U.S. Representative from Texas.Born in Center, Texas, Combs attended the public schools and graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1912. He was admitted to the bar in 1918 and commenced practice in Kountze, Texas. He served ascounty judge of HardinThomas Augustus Pickett , was a United States Representative representing Texas's 7th congressional district. Born in Travis, Texas on August 14, 1906, Pickett attended the public schools of Palestine, Texas, and the University of Texas at Austin... Clark Wallace Thompson was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin on August 6, 1896 and moved to Oregon in 1901 with his parents, who settled in Cascade Locks. Thompson attended the common schools and the University of Oregon at Eugene. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps during the First WorldWingate Hezekiah Lucas was a U.S. Representative from Texas.Born in Grapevine, Texas, Lucas attended the public schools, the North Texas Teachers College at Denton, the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College at Stillwater, and the Texas University at Austin. He studied law... Ed Lee Gossett was a U.S. Representative from Texas.Born in a sawmill camp known as Yellow Pine, near Many, Sabine Parish, Louisiana, Gossett moved to Texas in 1908 with his parents, who settled on a farm near Henrietta, Clay County.He attended the rural schools of Clay and Garza Counties,... Omar Truman Burleson was a U.S. Representative from Texas.Born in Anson, the seat of Jones County, north of Abilene, Texas, Burleson attended the public schools and Abilene Christian College and Hardin-Simmons University, both in Abilene.Burleson graduated in 1929 from Cumberland University in... Paul Joseph Kilday was a U.S. Representative from Texas.-Early life and education:Born in Sabinal, Kilday was the sixth child of Patrick Kilday, an immigrant from Ireland who was established as a merchant, and his Texas-born wife, Mary Tallant Kilday. Kilday moved with his parents and siblings to... Walter Keil Granger was a U.S. Representative from Utah.Born in St. George, Utah, Granger moved with his parents to Cedar City, Utah, in 1894. He attended the public schools and graduated from Branch Agricultural College at Cedar City, Utah in 1909... Julian Vaughan Gary was a U.S. Representative from Virginia.-Biography:Born in Richmond, Virginia, Gary was a graduate of the University of Richmond . He was admitted to the bar in 1915 and commenced practice in Richmond, VirginiaClarence Godber Burton was a U.S. Representative from Virginia.Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Burton moved with his parents to Lynchburg, Virginia, at an early age.He attended the public schools.... Burr Powell Harrison was a U.S. Representative from Virginia, son of Thomas W. Harrison.Born in Winchester, Virginia, Harrison attended the public schools, Woodberry Forest School, Virginia Military Institute, Hampden-Sydney College, and the University of Virginia.He was graduated from Georgetown... Russell Vernon Mack born on July 13, 1891 in Hillman, Michigan, served as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing Washington State's 3rd District from 1947 to 1960. Mack moved to Aberdeen, Washington in 1895. Mack was educated at Stanford University in California, and... Otis Halbert Holmes was a U.S. Representative from Washington, and grandson of Dudley Chase Haskell.Born in Cresco, Iowa, Holmes moved in 1915 to Walla Walla, Washington, where he attended the public schools.... Walter Franklin Horan , American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for ten terms from January 3, 1943 to January 3, 1965, representing the Fifth Congressional District of Washington.... Thor Carl Tollefson was a U.S. Representative from Washington.-Background:Born in Perley, Minnesota, Tollefson moved to Tacoma, Washington during 1912. He attended public schools, graduating from Lincoln High School in 1924... Robert Lincoln Ramsay was a Democratic U.S. Congressman from West Virginia. The son of a coal miner, Robert Ramsay was born in Witton Gilbert, County Durham, England. Ramsay immigrated to the United States in 1881 with his parents, who settled in New Cumberland, Hancock County, West Virginia... Cleveland Monroe Bailey was a U.S. Representative from West Virginia.Born on a farm near St. Marys, Pleasants County, W.Virginia, Bailey attended the public schools, and West Liberty State College, West Liberty, W.Virginia.... John Kee was a U.S. Democratic politician.-Biography:He was born in Glenville, West Virginia. He attended Glenville State Normal School and West Virginia University and was admitted to the bar in 1897... Lawrence Henry Smith was a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin.Born in Racine, Wisconsin, Smith attended the public schools and Milwaukee State Teachers College. He graduated from the Marquette University Law School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1923... Gardner Robert Withrow was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1931–1939 and again from 1949–1961, when he did not seek reelection. Withrow was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and worked for the railroad and was involved in the labor union. He was a member of the WisconsinJohn William Byrnes was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin from 1945 until 1973, when he did not seek reelection. He also served in the Wisconsin State Senate.-External links:...), until December 31, 1950 Non-voting members Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett was an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party.Bartlett was born in Seattle, Washington. After graduating from the University of Alaska in 1925, Bartlett began his career in politics(D) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Died March 6, 1949. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. \| nowrap \| Frank P. Graham Frank Porter Graham Frank Porter Graham was a president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and, for a brief period, United States Senator.-Early life:... Robert Ferdinand Wagner I was an American politician. He was a Democratic U.S. Senator from New York from 1927 to 1949.-Origin and early life:... (D) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Resigned June 28, 1949 due to ill health. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. \| nowrap \| John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles(D) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Resigned August 23, 1949 to become U.S. Attorney General. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. \| nowrap \| Edward L. Leahy Edward L. Leahy(D) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Died October 8, 1949. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election, which he subsequently won. \| nowrap \| Henry Dworshak Henry Dworshak Henry Clarence Dworshak was a Republican United States Representative and a United States Senator from Idaho.... Clyde Martin Reed was an American politician from Kansas who served as both the 24th Governor of Kansas and U.S. Senator from that state.... (R) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Died November 8, 1949. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. \| nowrap \| Harry Darby Harry Darby Harry Darby was an American politician from Kansas.Born in Kansas City, Kansas, he graduated from the University of Illinois, and served in the United States Army during the World War I, rising to the rank of captainSheridan Downey was a lawyer and a Democratic U.S. Senator from California from 1939 to 1950.-Early life:... (D) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Resigned November 30, 1950 due to ill health. Successor was appointed to finish term, having already been elected to the next term. \| nowrap \|(D) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Retired after successor elected December 18, 1950. Successor was elected to finish term. \| nowrap \| John O. Pastore John O. Pastore(D) \| December 19, 1950 \|} House of Representatives John Joseph Delaney was a United States Representative from New York.-Biography:Delaney was born in Brooklyn, he attended St. Ann's Parochial School and St. James' Academy in Brooklyn and Manhattan College. He engaged in the diamond business in 1897, was graduated from the Brooklyn Law School of StRichard Joseph Welch was a U.S. Representative from California.Born in Monroe County, New York, Welch was educated in the public schools.He moved to California in early boyhood and settled in San Francisco.... John Francis "Jack" Shelley was a U.S. politician. He served as the 35th mayor of San Francisco, from 1964 to 1968, the first Democrat elected to the office in 50 years, and the first in an unbroken line of Democratic mayors that lasts to the present .Shelley earned a law degree from the(D) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Died December 4, 1949 \| Vacant \| Not filled for the remainder of this term \|- \| \| nowrap\| J. Parnell Thomas J. Parnell Thomas John Parnell Thomas was a stockbroker and politician. He was elected to seven terms as a U.S. Representative from New Jersey...(R) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Died March 21, 1950 \| Vacant \| Not filled for the remainder of this term \|- \| \| nowrap\| Eugene Worley Eugene Worley Francis Eugene Worley was a U.S. Representative from Texas.-Biography:Born in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, Worley moved to Shamrock, Texas, in 1922...(D) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Died May 27, 1950 \| Vacant \| Not filled for the remainder of this term \|- \| \| nowrap\| William Lemke William Lemke(R) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Died May 30, 1950 \| Vacant \| Not filled for the remainder of this term \|- \| \| nowrap\| Alfred L. Bulwinkle Alfred L. Bulwinkle(R) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Resigned November 30, 1950 after being appointed to the US Senate \| Vacant \| Not filled for the remainder of this term \|- \| \| nowrap\| Frank A. Barrett Frank A. Barrett) \| style="font-size:80%" \| Resigned December 31, 1950 after being elected Governor of Wyoming \| Vacant \| Not filled for the remainder of this term \|}James Shera Montgomery was an American Methodist minister who served as the 55th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives, April 11, 1921 - January 3, 1950.-Life and works:Montgomery served as House Chaplain for 19 years	eng	e5e2506f-19a2-4b14-a2c0-c0346fb32ba1	http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/81st_United_States_Congress
In the beginning, Sword Art Online (SAO) looked like it could have turned out to be the best show of the year, no exaggeration. The premise of being stuck and unable to log out of a virtual reality MMO with the condition that dying in the game means you die in real life and the only way out is to clear all 100 floors was set up extremely well in the first episode. The second episode continued this with the first boss fight, supported by well-done animation and Yuki Kajiura's amazing-as-always score. At this point, hopes were high. But it didn't last. The following few episodes were side stories from the original novel that have little to do with the overall plot. On their own, none of these are all that bad, but together they become rather tedious and ridiculous, especially when you realize that the focus of each one is the main character, Kirito, befriending and helping a cute girl (despite the fact that the female playerbase is said to only be 10%), and in more than half the cases, said girl getting attached to Kirito in more than a "friendly" way. And these characters, if they appear later at all, never again play a significant role. These episodes would have worked better if they'd been placed throughout the series between story arcs - though it later becomes apparent that this would not actually work - or released separately as OVAs or DVD specials. The best thing to be said about them is that they help to give the game world some more depth since they explain some game mechanics and show viewers how the various groups of players are going about playing the game, but the information is mostly superfluous and could have easily been given to us through the main story. Not that any of it ever gets used again anyway. Then the main story continues and things get...worse. It's at this point that an idea starts developing that perhaps the writer of the novels merely had a good idea for a story but didn't know what to do with it past the premise. The above-mentioned side stories were included when they were because the show is being broadcast in chronological order; when the main story picks back up, it's been two years since the last main story episode. Bonds between characters have been formed off-screen and over the half the game has already been cleared. What a rip-off. Before continuing with the story, let's look at the characters. We have our protagonist Kirito, a solo player who knows his way around the game fairly well as a result of having been a beta tester for the game. Okay, this is cool. We don't need 12 episodes of training to become the best in every show, a strong-from-the-start MC is fine. But that's not quite what Kirito is. Kirito is portrayed as essentially perfect in every way; he never loses a (fair) fight, he always has a solution, and all the chicks dig him. Basically, Kirito is a Gary Stu, a self-insert wish-fulfillment character with no true substance (have you heard of that before, anime fans?). He even gets a special ability not given to any other player just because he's that awesome. Now let's look at Asuna, the only other character the show actually cares about. She is initially portrayed as a strong, individual female who has abilities on par with the male characters. Again, this was good at first. But it quickly becomes clear that she only exists as otaku bait. She's extremely popular and beautiful and all the guys want her...but she only wants Kirito. And despite the fact that she is supposedly a strong player, she's treated more like a prize than a teammate; Kirito literally fights for her freedom from her guild more than once. Yeah, she can't even earn her own freedom for some vacation time after all the work she's been putting in for the past two years. Sexist much? No MMO guild leader would actually be this anal, but hey, we need to make Kirito look awesome somehow. And really, that's all Asuna is here for: to enhance Kirito's badass status. When he almost dies, she's there to cling to him and cry for him. When Kirito needs to look awesome, she's put in some kind of trouble and he gets her out of it. She also cooks for him because her cooking level is so high because hey, your waifu needs to cook for you, Kirito. Tailor Twilight so that it appeals to boys instead of girls and send your awful fanfic to the printing press. Sword Art Online has been born. No, I'm not joking. Screw action, screw plot, cue romance. SAO skips out on all the floor-clearing and boss-killing and decides to just have its main characters play house and do character development backwards. Nothing is believable about the relationship between these two characters. We see no real development between them since the show kind of just drops us into the middle of things after those useless side stories are over. And this is the focus for multiple episodes. Lots of cheesy, lovey-dovey dialogue, hand-holding, and sleeping is what we're fed. It's an otaku wish-fulfillment, folks; you're in a medieval world, you're the strongest person around, the cute girls all want you, and you don't have to work because magic (game mechanics) supplies everything. Oh, and breast-groping. Can't forget the blatant fanservice! Another thing I praised the show for at first was that it seemed like an accurate portrayal of what a virtual reality MMO would actually be like. But, as usual, SAO managed to crap on itself. The whole "beater" concept, a combination of the words "beta" for beta testers and "cheater," is laughably ridiculous and would never happen and obviously only exists to antagonize certain groups of players and give Kirito even more attention. We also see a group of players acting as an "army" of sorts going around forcing other players to pay taxes, even attacking an in-game daycare (LOL) in order to collect; this is dumb. Once again, a way to make Kirito and Asuna look like such sugoi people for helping out the needy children. Somewhere along the line the writer decided to make this a pseudo-medieval setting, taking what he wanted from the medieval era and what he wanted from MMO mechanics and not caring how they would make sense with each other. It's even written in the novel and alluded to in the anime that characters can have sex (but can't get pregnant, because that's no fun). Now that's taking cyber-sex to a whole new level. What would our wish-fulfillment world be without it? But before too long we get to the climax of the first main arc, and after a couple miracles and deus ex machinas we can very clearly see that the author had no damn clue what he was going to do with his story after he had the premise down. The promise that was made to us has been broken and we, the viewers, are left with one of the most soulless shows to ever hit the airwaves. Any generic battle shounen at least gives us the action it promises and has better developed relationships and themes of friendship. Any generic harem at least knows it's dumb and only exists to appeal to that niche group of otaku who still enjoy it. SAO is a lie, a cheat, a traitor, and is worse than either of those. SAO wants you to believe it's good and smart, but it's so bad it doesn't even manage to achieve So Bad It's Good status. It's just terrible. And now we're at the start of a new arc. Things...don't look any better. Kirito has added a new member to his harem in the form of a busty little sister/cousin (emphasis on that bust), because we needed some imouto fetish-fuel in here. Our antagonist is about as generic and stereotypical as they come, but that kind of fits because our new plot is about as generic and stereotypical as they come. I've spent a lot of time on characters and plot without mentioning technical aspects because the technical aspects, no matter how good they are, really just won't change anything. They're there, and they're good; really, there's nothing wrong with them. Kajiura's music, when noticeable, is great and enhances the few good scenes the show has. The animation is also good. But neither is really amazing enough to be notable, so in the end, they just can't save a terrible piece of work. It becomes obvious pretty early on with Cardfight!! Vanguard that whoever said "Don't judge a book by its cover" was...clearly not talking about this show. Yes, Cardfight is a show you can and should judge by its cover, as that judgment will determine whether or not you should watch the show. But I'll get to that later. Let's run the bases: The story is basically thus: people play card games. Or rather, card game. Vanguard is the "big thing" in the world of Cardfight, as one might expect. For at least half the series, this basic idea is what the show runs on. It occasionally shows signs of wanting to do something more, but I have to be honest: most of it comes off as cheesy and laughable. But, well, that's only the first half of the series. Somewhere along the line, you start to be able to actually take the show seriously and like it. Its pacing seems slow at first (expected with 65 episodes of run time), but it's all the better to develop characters and situations with. In the end, Cardfight actually becomes a great story about learning who you are and understanding others through the lens of this card game. Power of Friendship is nothing new to anime, but it can still be done well, and Cardfight pulls it off. Obviously it's not without its perks. If you're not into the card game thing (which really shouldn't be the case if you even pick the show up, but still), you'll have a hard time getting into the meat of things. Then there's the deal with Psyqualia; although the last couple episodes make it obvious that more is coming, we don't learn much about this rare ability that is very important to the plot. We don't know where it comes from, how it chooses people, how it really works, how it may possibly be controlled, etc. All we know is that it has a tendency to bring out the worst in people. Nevertheless, the perks tend to be minor and shouldn't bother you too much if you go into the show knowing what to expect: lots of card games. And lots of card games you will get. Art and animation is reasonable for what seems to be an average-budget kid's show. Many settings and details are rather plain, but the card fights are all well-animated and the monsters all look pretty cool and distinguishable. It's obvious where they put the effort, and really: what else would you expect? Now, I could have sworn when I first heard him that the main character in this was voiced by a woman, but I was wrong. Seriously, for a long time Aichi sounds very girly and wimpy. It's odd at first, but you get used to it, and when Stuff Starts Happening, it gets better.Voice work is, again, of fairly standard quality; it's good, usually well done, and generally not poor. There is, at least, nothing for me to complain about. Music is quite well done. The second opening in particular is a great way to get hyped, especially in the final 15 or so episodes when things really start to get heated. In-series music stays suitably light-hearted. It is, essentially, "game music." It never takes itself too seriously (well, until the last episode), and this turns out to be for the better. As I mentioned before, Aichi sounds very wimpy and girly for a long time. This is because he is. As an example, when asked what he would do in a dangerous situation, his response is to "always be sure I have a path of retreat behind me." I know what you're thinking: "Not another wimpy male lead! I'll pass!" And no, it's not the most pleasant thing to behold. But in a way, I was able to accept it. I remembered that this show is aimed more at kids than someone my own age, and since I knew it would go on for a while, I was able to bear it even though I didn't like it (just the character, not the show). I was rewarded in the end. Aichi gradually grows into a mature character with a backbone that I was proud to see through. As his ability in Vanguard grows, so does he. He learns to fight his fights, help others, and make a name for himself. 65 episodes leaves room for a lot of characters, but I don't want to go into full detail on all of them or I'll be here all night. Basically: the important characters all get their time, and the side characters get a reasonable amount, good and bad. Kai just seems like you're typical, stone cold, bad friend for a long time, and though he really only turns into a jerk with a heart of gold, seeing what he went through really makes you understand and relate to him as a character, and this also leads into the development for the series' main villain, Ren, who is a huge, overconfident (well, he largely does have the ability to back it up) asshole that you just can't wait to see defeated (note: that isn't a bad thing). Skipping over a few characters to the negative side: Katsumi, an eventual friend of Aichi, is the comic relief who is...just not funny. He's a loser who thinks he's awesome, and the gimmick gets really old really fast and just never dies. That's the worst of it, but Doctor O, the guest commentator for tournament Cardfights, I think was also supposed to be humorous, and again, isn't. He's just kind of strange. But luckily, he isn't overdone. Here's the important part of the review, as I hinted at in the first paragraph: if you read all that and thought, "Doesn't sound like a show I'd ever want to watch," trust yourself; don't watch it. You're probably not going to like it. I went into this wanting a show about card games just for a fun twenty minutes every week and got exactly what I wanted. If that's what you want, go for it; you won't be let down. But it has to be stressed: you really must know you want this if you're going to enjoy it. It's not going to surprise you and turn into something epic if you're not prepared to watch a lot of card games (65 episodes, remember?). You'll probably just drop it before you hit the ten episode mark. Think about what you want. If you're ever thinking, "Yeah, I could use a fun show about a card game to kill some time," that is when you should watch this. It is very much a kid's show (read: not average MAL age), so you need to be either young enough or old enough to really enjoy and respect it. Personally, I went into it thinking it would be as I just described: a time-killer every week. Watch some card games for fun. It was never high on my priority list, but I always looked out for it. But then somewhere along the line it turned into something more. It became highly anticipated, and eventually it was the show I looked forward to the most every week (and by Winter 2012 I was keeping up with 20+ shows). If you ARE willing to watch and have fun with the show's first half, you'll be more than excited to continue as you get further on in the series. I don't consider myself the greatest of reviewers, but I wanted to do this show some justice and provide both sides of the spectrum: the kind of person who will like it and the kind of person who won't. Otherwise I feel most people wouldn't ever give this show more than passing glance and just write it off as some twenty minute commercial for a children's trading card game. And it largely is just that, but it's also more than that. It's nothing amazing, and it never tries to be. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's still a good series. Now, I'm off to buy a starter deck and choose my new avatar...read more P.A. Works, I'm disappointed in you. While none were perfect, I enjoyed True Tears, Canaan, and Angel Beats! So what happened with Hanasaku Iroha? Was it just too long for you to handle? That's a sure point against it; while Angel Beats! was too short for its own good, Hanasaku Iroha is most definitely too long for its own good. I imagine both shows would have been much better if their lengths had been switched. What starts at first looking like a serious drama about an easy-going city girl who has to get used to a much harsher working environment literally overnight quickly turns into a typical and forgettable slice-of-life where "average" might be giving the show too much credit. Being a slice-of-life, "story" is not what you should be looking for. As you can probably guess, it is largely episodic in nature, occasionally making a situation span for a couple episodes. It doesn't use this very well; at least half the episodes turn out to be useless, forgettable, and full of forced drama with some half-assed comedy. It attempts a "story" in the final few episodes to give the viewer a lasting impression but even that comes off as uninspired and unbelievable (can't say too much because spoilers, though). There isn't much else to say. HanaIro isn't meant to have a compelling storyline but even for a slice-of-life it falls short. Aesthetically, I was again not pleased with HanaIro. Now I know the Kissuiso (the inn where everything takes place) is portrayed as a normal, almost dying business, but everything about it just looks so...boring. The colors, the decorations, the uniforms, etc. I can't imagine I'd ever want to visit this place, so why should I care about what goes on inside? The animation seems decent enough, but neither did I notice anything particularly amazing about it. Oh, but there's fanservice! Watch out for it, because it isn't too common. Makes me wonder if the ratings were beginning to drop. If there's anything I've loved about P.A. Works productions in the past it's that they've always had stellar theme songs. Both the OP and ED from the three series mentioned above have had significant time on my Favorites playlist, and Annabel's My Heaven from Canaan is one of my favorite songs of all time. Again, HanaIro disappoints. I listened to all the theme songs at least once (we get more than just two with this one, being 26 episodes and all), usually twice as I do with every anime, hard as that was with some of them due to a truly irritating voice, and I didn't even consider so much as downloading any of them. So I just end up skipping them. Insert music is just as forgettable considering I can't even conjure up any of it in my head. Voice work is not a whole lot better. I love Kanae Itou so maybe it was just the character, but I often had a hard time hearing Itou's voice on Ohana without wanting to turn the volume down. Most of the voices are just like the art: boring. I'm no judge of Japanese voice acting but I never felt anything special from the actors in this one. Sadly, I found only two characters in this that I am actually somewhat fond of, and one, Ohana's mother Satsuki, doesn't even show up much. She's the only character in the show that I felt knew what she was doing, except when doing something awful like abandoning her daughter to work for her mother who has since disowned her (don't fear spoilers; that's the premise of the show). The other one was Nako, and I'm fond of her not because I actually find her to be a good character but because she's pretty cute and largely not retarded or annoying. So yeah, I don't even have much good to say about the characters I actually liked. Everyone else...ugh. Ohana is just a peppy idiot who can't even correctly figure out the status of her own relationships, Minko is a snotty brat, and everyone else is too dull and unimportant to even warrant mentioning. They are generally just given a base personality and stick to it with little to no development throughout the series. For a character-based show, that's pretty bad. All in all, HanaIro mostly felt like a time-killer. It usually wasn't actually hard to watch, it just wasn't fun. It's a generic slice-of-life with little to set it apart from any other and nothing to make it good aside from a few choice moments of random absurdity that serve to give the viewer a quick laugh for how ridiculous it can get, and only then if you don't take it as seriously as it wants you to. It's pretty disappointing when the most memorable and enjoyable moments come down to a couple sub-5 second clips of Ohana being chased by a heron. A mediocre piece of work from P.A. Works, HanaIro has truly been a disappointing experience. Here's for hoping Winter 2012's Another will restore my faith in them. P.S. Why the hell is this listed as Seinen on MAL? I'd sooner tag it with Shoujo (this is not intended as an offensive comment to Shoujo fans or the genre, it really just feels more like one).read more One thing you may notice about anime today is that everything is, the way I put it, "fantastical." Characters with supernatural powers, mythical beings from other worlds, magic. Even straying from the realm of supernatural, there are prodigies, psychological masterminds, and characters being pushed beyond realistic limits. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I think it's something that makes anime in general a great medium. But what happens when you get an anime series with none of that? A series with completely normal characters, no sudden plot twists, and no limitless boundaries. Just pure, normal human drama. Can a series like this still manage to be good? Moshidora says "Yes." Moshidora is the story of how a young high school girl, Minami Kawashima, takes over for her sick friend as the manager of the school's baseball team using Drucker's Management as a guide with the goal of getting the team to the nationals. You may have read from other reviews and/or recommendations that Moshidora is not really about baseball, but about applying the ideas of Management to something other than just starting a normal business using baseball as the medium. This is not exactly wrong, but it is a bit misleading. Baseball is still a very important aspect of the story, it just isn't used in the way you may expect it to be. There is not a whole lot of focus on the actual games until the later episodes. That's not to say it moves slow; the first couple episodes may seem that way, but one must remember that Moshidora is still more about Management applied to baseball than baseball itself. The show isn't afraid to take it's time detailing the strategies being implemented in many ways, from asking each team member what they want to get out of the team to going out to other clubs and using their methods in a way that can be applied to various members of the baseball team. Moshidora is, quite simply, a fairly normal story. There are no sudden plot twists as previously stated, and there is a certain amount of predictability, even cliches to the execution. However, at the end of the day, I believe that's what makes Moshidora such an enjoyable show. You don't need fantastical entities or magical worlds to have a compelling story and likable, believable characters. Moshidora is here to tell us that normal people still have goals to be reached, new ideas to try out, and stories to be told. Early on there is a lot of tension in the team and things seem to be falling apart, but by the end they've all learned how to work together, cover up each others weaknesses, and magnify their strengths through their motivation to push forward. There are easy times, there are hard times, and there are sad times, but at the end of the day, Moshidora isn't throwing any curve balls; it knows what it wants to say and it says it well. It may go without saying, but you don't need to be a fan of baseball to enjoy Moshidora. After all, I've never been a fan of baseball, but I loved this. Even Minami herself claims she hates baseball.read more This is the greatest thing you will ever see. Who ever dreamed that such genius could be shoved into a mere 1:30? Everything about it is the epitome of perfection. The story is mind-blowing and original, yet easy enough to follow that no one will get lost. The art is fantastic. The character designs, the way they move, the way the camera pans in and out. Flawless mastery of animation can be found here. The sound in this may make you want to go deaf because you know you'll never hear anything as wonderful as this in your life. It's not fair that I'm only allowed to give this 10/10; it deserves a 14/10 at the very least. And if the sound deserved a 14/10, the characters deserve something like 1million/10. The characters are deep, realistic, and you will fall in love with every single one of them, no doubt. Enjoyment? I may never watch anime again. Hell, I may never indulge in any kind of entertainment again because this is simply too amazing. Everything else feels like the shit a fly takes after eating a cow's shit that had been sitting in the grass for three weeks in comparison. Perfection has been achieved. If there is a God, he's got competition.read more Quite honestly, I was very surprised by this movie. I've always felt that Pokemon had some untapped potential and would probably remain that way due to how they go about making the anime for 700 episodes. However, with this movie I felt like they may have actually tapped that source a bit, and what resulted was a highly entertaining movie that has probably become my favorite of all of them (and I've seen all of them, too). The MAL synopsis is actually a bit misleading. For example, we know exactly why Zoroark is unleashing its fury upon Crown City: to save Zorua, whom Zoroark believes to be held prisoner by Kodai, and so Zoroark is being forced to do whatever Kodai says. It is why Kodai is doing these things that remain a mystery until further notice. Meanwhile, Ash and co. come upon the escaped Zorua, befriend it, and decide to help it find Zoroark. This, essentially, is the main focus, alongside eventually helping Celebi and attempting to prevent the same disaster from twenty years ago from happening to Crown City again. While the time travel aspects of the story aren't really anything new, even for Pokemon, I felt it was still quite well-done in its execution. Zorua and Zoroark's ability to create illusions was used very well throughout the movie (with the possible exception of "I can't fly"), giving it actual purpose instead of having it exist more as a gimmick, which would not have been very surprising. Kodai also wasn't some totally useless villain. He really takes advantage of his ability to see the future to predict outcomes and get what he wants, making the threats feel very real. Needless to say, I was hooked on this movie's story pretty early on and I stayed that way until the very end. As far as characters go, another thing I like about this movie is that they didn't put all the focus on Ash. Granted he's the main character, but it was refreshing to see them really focus on the relationship between Zorua and Zoroark and make it almost so that they're the protagonists instead. This is cool because they can freely develop characters that don't have a hundreds upon hundreds of episodes long series to get their development in, and they take advantage of that here. The two of them have a connection akin to a mother and her child, and this is shown very well and quite often throughout the movie as it essentially drives the entire plot. However, fans of Team Rocket may be disappointed. They were here, but they could have been cut out and the movie would not have been any different. I'm pretty sure they didn't even interact with anyone except each other. Suicune, Raikou, and Entei, while they did technically fulfill their purpose, also probably could have been used more, since they were pretty important to the history of Crown City. And then Celebi was amazingly weak. Any Pokemon fan knows that it's among the worst of the legendaries, but it's still a legendary. How does a Shuppet take it down with a single Psychic? Oh well, the anime's logic has never followed the game completely anyway ("FINISH IT OFF WITH FALSE SWIPE" - quote not from this movie), so I guess that can be written off. Still weak, though, as a plot device, anyway, since even the anime usually agrees that legendary Pokemon are supposed to be a cut above in terms of strength. So, is this recommendation worthy? To a Pokemon fan, I would give a definite yes. If you enjoy the other movies and/or the anime series at all, I think you'd definitely enjoy this. It would also probably be a good family movie. Teenage, non-fan audiences may get a bit lost, though, since, like other Pokemon movies, it does occasionally assume the viewer has certain knowledge of the Pokemon universe that people who don't play it or watch regularly may not pick up on, but they aren't really plot-essential either. The often cheesy voice-acting can also be a turn off at times. In the end, this is still a kid's movie, and a pretty good one at that.read more What the hell. (There is no question mark because that statement is not meant to be read as a question) I love the mystery genre. It's always been among my favorite genres, but since I don't tend to find much of it in anime it's taken a backseat at times. That's why I was excited for Gosick. A series focused on mystery, and to top it off, a unique (for anime) setting for it all to take place in. No more high schools with their swim teams and cultural festivals to rack up the clichés. Meh. I should have just stuck with a high school anime. The mysteries, and I use that term loosely, in this anime are akin to the likes of Scooby-Doo, but that show was aimed at kids so it was supposed to be simple. This show is clearly aimed at an older teenage audience. What do we get? Well, let's run it down. Obviously, in a mystery anime, the story is very important. What Gosick tends to do well (not always amazingly, but it can pull it off) is a setup. Most of the story arcs start off quite intriguing and have you thinking. What it fails at is the climax. Every single arc tends to end in a sort of, "Yeah, whatever" fashion because that's how our Moe Holmes does it (don't worry, we'll get to her later). We may have been interested as we were going, but at the end, how can you care? One mystery solved, moving on, nothing to see here. Art and sound...are not very important to me. I like the setting, as previously stated, though the character designs are hit-or-miss. Victorique is pretty much a typical moe girl without any real unique qualities, and then there's cone hair brother. Seriously, I know this is anime, but that HAS to get in the way. On the sound side of things, the only thing I find worth mentioning is the ending theme, which is very good. And then, the characters...Well, Kujo is pretty much your typical male lead. Not much to say there. Just wants to help the lead female and asks for nothing in return but "Thanks!" Plus he's always around her like he loves her or something...Oh, wait. Then there's Victorique, one of the most unbelievable characters I've ever witnessed in anime. She can't be any older than 12, and yet she's the greatest detective the world seems to have ever known. But that's not all. I could buy her being some sort of prodigy. What's worse is that she has been confined to an area at the top of a library for a long time. And yet, somehow, she can fit all the pieces of a mystery together in a matter of seconds. To top it all off, she's tsundere! The following may be spoilers: Kujo is walking along a road by a forest, thinking about having a nice, blonde-haired girlfriend. He sees a motorcyclist driving far away to the right of his position at a fork in the road. By the time this person reaches his position, they crash, are sent flying, and the head comes off because they'd driven through a wire spread across the road. Now, let's forget for a moment that the bike would have swerved out of control long before crashing. Kujo tells this to Victorique, and what does she conclude? The killer is a blonde haired girl. Kujo was imagining it because humans are visual creatures and he must have seen the killer running through the forest after setting the trap out of the corner of his eye. And she's right. And this is barely half of a full episode. Trust me, there's more to come, and it's even more insane. There's also her older brother, cone hair. He's pretty much a moron who, despite being a grown adult and famous detective, can't solve a single mystery on his own and so comes to his kid sister for help. And yet, even though he needs her to keep his career, he's perfectly fine letting a 13-year-old boy attempt to protect her from a psychotic killer on a burning bridge while he runs on by. And then, when that same boy is about to fall to his death and Victorique grabs him to try to save him (again, forget that this doesn't actually make sense since Victorique is so light he'd have taken her down with him), what does he do? Nothing. While we don't see him as Kujo is actually being pulled up, we did see him in the shots immediately before that, so he was definitely there. Enjoyment? I'm willing to suspend my disbelief (I need to be for anime) to enjoy a show, but this is stupid. It's one thing to create a world where people can transform, wield swords twice their size, and fly. That doesn't fall into the realm of disbelief because those are just the ways of that story's world. But Gosick isn't a world where little girls are super-detectives who read the show's script (Or is it? If it is, someone let me know so I can edit this). It's our world. In the 1920's, no less (so some of these methods probably hadn't even been thought of yet). I can't even remember how many times I practically shouted at my computer screen during episode 8 at all the absurdities they kept throwing at me, one after another. I don't like complaining about other reviewers, but I don't understand how this has so many positive reviews and 0 negative ones. I can't call this a good anime. The only reason I can imagine people would actually want to watch this is if they like the interactions between the characters, which I find pointless but I can see others enjoying, especially loli-tsundere fans. It is not terrible, but I am sorely disappointed.read more Do you like sex, shit, and booger jokes straight for twenty minutes? If so, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt is the anime for you, because that's what it is all about! Story: Story? This has no story. Not one worth speaking of, at least. Two angels (and that term should be used loosely) have to go around killing monsters for some strange coins that do...what exactly? It's episodic. In fact, it's double episodic because each episode is actually two ten-minute episodes. If there's an on-going story here it hasn't started yet or it is just terribly written. Actually, it's terribly written either way; being episodic alone isn't bad if it's done well, which this show isn't. Art: Honestly, I like what they did here. The style is massively different from anything we've come to expect from anime, and I welcome that. They did a good job of it, too. Not everyone will like it, but I think if this show had been animated like most other anime it would be even worse; at least having it look weird makes all the stupidity at least somewhat acceptable. Sound: Another place this series actually excels. The OP is a great intro for the type of show this is, and the ED, though it does not really fit the show, is fantastic. A lot of the insert music, like that one fight song that comes on occasion, is also pretty good. The only real problem I had was the Engrish cursing; sorry, not very funny. Notice how I summed all of them up in three or fewer words each. There is nothing else to say about these characters. Nothing. The closest thing to development was that episode where Stocking started to get fat and decided to go on a diet and exercise, but it's not like she actually changed or anything. I don't mind crude humor in general. A show like School Rumble has a good amount of sexual innuendo and there it was hilarious. But here? No. Panty walking out of the elevator singing about sex is not funny. Stocking getting fat because she ate too much is not funny. Garterbelt's afro exploding like an orgasm and raining his sperm everywhere is not funny. It's just sick. This show is disgusting, and not in a funny way. If you're a preteen male who giggles at the mention of sex you'll probably love this show. If you want to enjoy some form of intelligent entertainment past nose-picking, avoid this at all costs. As it is, I've dropped this show, so don't expect me to update.read more Ah, Rainbro. Before I say anything else, let it be known that I have a lot of criticism for this but I do believe Rainbro is a good series; not great, better than average, just good. It has some good points and is ultimately worth watching but suffers from a good number of problems. Story: First off, there is a time warp around episode 11 resulting in the first 10 or so episodes being much different than the rest. I found the first 7-8 episodes to be pretty much terrible. This looks like a dark, survival-based show but instead it was full of cheesy, forced melodrama and extreme Power of Friendship. It could have been much improved but it was somewhat important to set the stage for later where it gets much better. Starting at around episode 14 the story goes into character arcs, some of which are dull and predictable but are overall quite enjoyable and save the series as a whole. There's more I could say about it but anything else would fit better in the character section since that is ultimately what this series comes down to; not a plot-driven anime, but a character-driven one. Art: There's no doubt this show is animated well. The opening to every episode is a bit misleading as to how gruesome the show really is but even so, the gruesome scenes are well-done, the character designs are mostly unique (a few characters look pretty similar to others later on, which may or may not have been intentional) and the animation is fluid. The occasional still shots look great and are used to very good effect instead of cutting into the motion like some might expect them to. There is plenty of detail with good settings and a well-placed atmosphere. Sound: The OP theme is a good mood setter for the show and the ED is a nice closer, but other than that I can't really remember much of the series' music. This leads me to one of two conclusions: 1. There wasn't hardly any music present. 2. Any music that might have present was not memorable enough. However, I can still give it a 7 because where it existed it was well done, the characters all sound good and believable, Joe's singing was great to hear, and even the parts that had characters speaking English did a good job of having certain characters speak more Engrishy and others speaking it more fluently. Using English at all can be seen as a noteworthy point of effort since not all anime series even do that with characters that are clearly meant to be speaking English. Character: This is probably the most disappointing part for me due to the fact that this is largely a character based anime. Even giving it 7 might be a stretch. One thing you can notice is that bad guys are BAD while the good guys are GOOD; better-written characters would probably have more gray area, especially in a story like this where the good guys are reformatory inmates (so they like, you know, committed crimes to get where they are, yet it seems they all forget about that when they meet Anchan), but instead you get enemies that are pure evil in-and-out and heroes that will do anything for their friends and justice. The best examples of gray areas are when the heroes try to get revenge on their enemies, but even that is played somewhat softly and might not be what you'd expect from reformatory inmates. Development was good for the most part. Most of them (yes, only most, not all) get a decent length story arc dedicated to their character, and although they can be a bit cliche they still get the job done well enough. They tell us about the character and their past, put them in some tough situations, and show some character growth. It feels as though the show should have been a bit longer for some further expansion (pacing was fast at some parts and a few characters got noticeably less screen time than others), though the way the show ended they might not be planning to make any more. Enjoyment: As I said, I hated the start. I almost dropped it early on and, if I had, would have scored it 4. The latter part really saved it. I think what most people see in this is that it doesn't have any "moe" (Arguably. We do have Setsuko and Lilly!) which we all know is in abundance in anime these days. However, that alone does not make a show great, so while this show may be unique in its time, it is not unique in its genre, and that's where it can fall short. Overall a decent watch. If you hate the first few episodes at least try getting to episode 10 and drop it then if you still don't want to continue. If you like it from the beginning, then, well, you should be golden. If you just want a break from the moe you might really love this. This has been a twenty-minute review, later edited for some more detail.read more 9/13/2010: I submitted this review when I had seen 10 episodes (11 had been aired). This show is now (9/25/2010) finished. Despite enjoying the show I was not able to see it as any more than completely average, and after seeing the many reviews praising this show for being much more than that I wanted to step in and show something else. My idea was that after every episode I would update this review with the new episode count if I felt the episode hadn't done anything new, expanded on the story or characters, etc. Unsurprisingly, I was updating after almost every episode. The few times I didn't update immediately I'd end up updating after the next. In the end, my overall score does not change, but I have made some edits and additions to the review. Also note that I have not read the manga, so this review is entirely on the anime as a standalone project. This anime can really be summed up with a single word: Average. There is nothing special about this anime, but it's not what I'd call bad either. It's just plain old middle-of-the-road stereotypical romcom shoujo. The funny thing is that I actually haven't seen a lot of shoujo romcoms, but everything about this show just screams "typical." First, the story. If you can call it that. So far this show has just had a bunch of standalone episodes, with only a couple stories spanning the length of two episodes. This isn't a bad thing alone, but Kaichou wa Maid-sama! doesn't have anything to show for it. The basic idea behind every episode is: 1. Misaki does something boring, like work or student council president stuff. 2. She gets into some sort of trouble. 3. Takumi appears out of the blue to save the day like a knight in shining armor. 4. Profit. I'll be honest; I don't really remember every episode. But that's probably because they're all the same and thus they are all fairly forgettable. Art and animation is okay. Just okay. Not great, not bad, just stained in the same mediocrity that the rest of the show exudes. Backgrounds aren't usually very detailed, the character designs don't really stand out, and there are often periods where the characters are reduced to mere blobs, usually used for some sort of comedic effect but without actually being funny. Misaki and Takumi are both pretty hot, but that's par for the course for a typical shoujo romcom, so no points awarded there. Sound is actually pretty nice. The OP and ED are both fun (though I dislike the second ED), though neither are exactly amazing either, and some might find them completely forgettable. Most of the BGM is suitable to the situation, and the recurring victory theme is pretty catchy but has ultimately become overused in the show. I don't know much Japanese so I can't say much about the voice acting other than that I didn't notice any problems. Nothing seems wrong, but nothing about it comes off as spectacular. Yuu Kobayashi and Aki Toyosaki are in it, though, so that at least helps my enjoyment. Character! Haha, I'm going to have fun with this one. The three main categories are: Misaki, Takumi, and everyone else. I'll get the two quick ones out of the way first: Misaki: Tsundere. That's it. If you wanted to know something else about her you're out of luck, because that one word sums up her every thought and action. Everyone else: Decoration mostly. A few of the one shot characters got a bit of development, but then we either never see them again or they show up as cameos. I don't even remember any of their names because of how forgettable they are. Jesus...Oh wait, I meant Takumi: To picture Takumi Usui accurately, first think of Superman, Chuck Norris, and Jack Bauer. Now put them all together and you get Takumi Usui (he hasn't flown yet but I wouldn't be at all surprised if he suddenly revealed that power). He's perfect. No, perfect is an understatement. There aren't words to describe this guy. If he has any flaw, it's that he has no flaws, as little sense as that makes. He's smart, hot, athletic, clever, you name it. He's the only one that can beat Misaki in a SERIOUS card game (in this show, card games are serious business). He's always there to save his girl, and he even calls himself her stalker (is being creepy considered a flaw?). He'd be gay if he wasn't interested in our cute little protagonist (I actually thought he was gay when he was first introduced. Not even jokingly, I thought he was literally supposed to be gay), though I get the feeling he might actually be gay and is just trolling Misaki (there's more evidence of this as you watch the show). If the show had ended like that my score would have gone up by at least two points. Or if we'd gotten a School Days ending. That would have been pretty sweet. The real problem with our characters as a whole is that there is no development (aside from the aforementioned occasional side character), nor any signs of developing. Misaki stays as tsundere as always (more "tsun" than "dere" of course), Takumi keeps the perfection act at 100%, and everyone else is shoved to the side. That isn't moving slow, people, that's bad writing. Takumi could be an alien for all we know. That's how little we know about him. Hell, it's possible he doesn't actually exist and he and everyone else's interactions with him are just a figment of Misaki's imagination a la A Beautiful Mind. I would not be surprised. All Misaki has going for her is that her family is poor and she works hard to pay the rent. That's it. The above mostly holds true for the entire series, though there is a slight exception. This might be considered spoilers if you're paranoid, though I'll do my best to keep it out of that ballpark. Hinata, Misaki's childhood friend, appears sometime in the later episodes. He gets development and actually sticks around. His presence also gives Misaki a bit of character development. Saying exactly what happens definitely would be spoilers so I won't do that, but it is, at the very least, worth noting. So, after all has been said and done, why am I enjoying this (Yes, a 6 means my feelings of enjoyment for this show are positive, for all you four-point scalers out there)? Because at the end of the day, Kaichou wa Maid-sama! is actually pretty fun. Most of the jokes fall flat, but it's fun to laugh at Takumi's perfectness and predict what he'll do next (because it's glaringly obvious when he's about to show up). In other words, this show ended up being funny in ways it didn't mean to. My enjoyment would have been higher if not for the extremely clichéd parts and even a few sexist (for both sides) parts. If you're sitting at episode 6-10 and wondering "Does it get better?" I will tell you right now: it doesn't. It stays the same. That may be a good or a bad thing for you depending on how you feel up to that point. Should you watch this? Do you like generic Shoujo romcoms? Your answer should be the same for both those questions. If you like the genre you ought to like this. If you don't, this won't get you interested.read more	eng	afa146f5-febc-41f8-b945-5a4233ae2602	http://myanimelist.net/profile/Redfoxoffire/reviews
Ball tossing skills game and methods of playing same Abstract: A method of playing a ball tossing or throwing game for multiple players comprises providing at least one receptacle into which each player attempts to toss or throw a ball, and positioning at least one band configured and sized to define a perimeter of an enclosed playing area along a playing surface into which each player attempts to toss or throw a ball and within which the receptacle is located. The method includes determining a total number of points as a winning score of the game and assigning each player a predetermined number of ball tosses or throws in a game set. Each game set allows each player or team of multiple players to earn a game set score of zero or more points the player or team earns as a result of sinking balls in the receptacle or placing balls in the playing area from the player's or team's position at a defined distance from the receptacle and the playing area. The method also includes totaling points each player or team earns from the predetermined number of ball tosses or throws made in the game set, and scoring each game set by subtracting points the lower scoring player or team earns in a game set from the points the higher scoring player or team earns in the game set to determine the game set score. The player or team who earns the total number of points of the winning score first wins the game. ... The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20120065004, Ball tossing skills game and methods of playing same. RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS This application is a nonprovisional patent application which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/373,329, filed on Aug. 13, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a multi-player skills game, and more particularly to a multi-player game in which ball tossing or throwing skills earn and accumulate scoring points for an individual player or a team of players based on each player\'s tossing or throwing skills performance. BACKGROUND Games that involve physical skills or player performance can be challenging and provide satisfaction and enjoyment as players\' skills and performance are tested consistently or with increasing intensity during gameplay. In particular, game designs that involve throwing or tossing skills help to exercise players, improve player hand-eye coordination, and practice and improve tossing or throwing skills. However, many designs of throwing or tossing games do not permit gameplay on any surface and do not provide portability or allow game pieces to be easily changed or modified to alter the level of gameplay difficulty or skills required. Thus, it is desirable to provide a ball throwing or tossing skills game including game pieces that permit gameplay along any of a variety of playing surfaces. In addition, it is desirable that such a ball throwing or tossing skills game allow players to readily modify game pieces or a gameplay lay out to adapt the level of gameplay difficulty in order to accommodate a variety of players of different ages and different tossing or throwing skills. Further, it is desirable that a ball throwing or tossing skills game is constructed and arranged to permit multiple game pieces to consolidate or integrate with one another to provide a compact play set configuration that enables easy transport and storage of the game. It is also desirable that a ball throwing or tossing skills game include scoring schemes or rules that may be modified or changed to adapt the level of gameplay difficulty and performance challenges in order to accommodate a variety of players of different ages and ball tossing or throwing skills. SUMMARY In one aspect, the invention provides a game method for a tossing or throwing skills game that requires one or more players to toss or throw a plurality of balls into one or more receptacles and/or within one or more playing areas. The game method comprises positioning at least two receptacles opposite one another, such that, a predetermined distance extends between the receptacles. Positioning the receptacles also includes locating each receptacle within an enclosed band. The band can have a size and shape to define a predetermined playing area within its perimeter and which surrounds each receptacle. The game method includes two or more players for individual-based or a team-based gameplay. In one configuration of the game method according to the invention, the players of an individual-based method or a team-based method are divided on each side of the receptacles with, in some cases, the same number of players positioning adjacent and typically behind each receptacle. For an individual-based game method including, for instance, four players, two players may position adjacent and behind each receptacle. For a team-based game method including, for instance, two players per team, one teammate may position at a first receptacle and the other teammate may position at the second opposing receptacle. The object of the game method is for players to take turns to attempt to toss or throw one or more balls into the opposing receptacle or playing area to earn scoring points. The game method includes accumulating points as a result of each player tossing or throwing a predetermined number of balls for each of a predetermined number of turns. The game method further includes defining a game set as including a predetermined number of turns for each player, wherein an entire game includes a given number of game sets until a predetermined total winning number of points are earned. The game methods include scoring after completion of each game set. In one configuration of the game method according to the invention, scoring, e.g., of a game set, includes reducing the number of points earned by the highest-scoring player or team in a game set with the number of points earned by the lowest-scoring player or team in the game set. Playing continues for any number of game sets until one player or one team earns the predetermined total winning number of points. In another aspect, the invention provides a ball tossing or throwing skills game play set including at least two receptacles, at least two bands with each band configured to define a playing area within which one receptacle is positioned, and a plurality of balls configured for gameplay according to the game methods described above. The receptacles may include any of a variety of configurations. In addition, the receptacles may be designed and constructed such that one receptacle receives the other receptacle in order to stack the receptacles. Each band may be designed and constructed as an enclosed tubular member that, when placed along a playing surface, defines a playing area within its perimeter. The tubular member may have any shape and size, such that, the playing area may have a range of playing area shapes and sizes. The tubular member may be designed and constructed as a hoop or band having multiple sections, wherein sections are configured to connect detachably to one another to construct or dismantle the hoop or band, or to reconfigure the playing area0. The invention will be further described in detail below in relation to the drawings and the detailed description of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one aspect of the invention providing an individual-based tossing or throwing skills game method in which at least two players participate; FIG. 2 is perspective view of another aspect of the invention providing a team-based tossing or throwing skills game method in which at least two teams, each team including two or more players, participate; FIG. 3A and 3B are views of a game play set according to a further aspect of the invention; FIG. 3C is a top plan view of a lay out of the play set shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B for the individual-based and the team-based game methods illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2; FIGS. 4A and 4B are perspective views of configurations of receptacles of a play set according to the invention; FIGS. 4C-4E are perspective view of another configuration of a receptacle and other optional pieces of the play set; FIG. 4F is a perspective view of a pair of receptacles, strap, and lid coupled in a compact configuration to contain and transport game pieces; FIGS. 5A-5C are top views of configurations of bands of the play set according to the invention; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the game methods illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 modified with other features; FIGS. 7A and 7B are top views of the receptacle and the band, respectively, of the game set according to the invention including additional signal-generating features; and FIG. 8 is a top view of an optional score keeping board. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, in one aspect, the invention provides a method of playing a tossing or throwing skills game that players may play as an individual-based game 100 or a team-based game 200. Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, and with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, in another aspect, the invention provides a tossing or throwing skills game play set 300 including game pieces as described in detail below. The methods 100 and 200 according to the invention may employ the play set 300 shown in FIG. 3A and in FIG. 3B. The play set 300 according to the invention includes at least one receptacle 12, a band 14 defining a predetermined playing area 13 in which the receptacle 12 is placed, and a plurality of playing balls 16 for tossing or throwing during gameplay. As shown in FIG. 3B, in one configuration of the play set 300 according to the invention, the set 300 includes at least two receptacles 12, at least two bands 14 to define the predetermined playing area 13 in which each receptacle is placed, and a plurality of playing balls 16. Other configurations of the play set 300 and game pieces according to the invention are described in detail below As used to disclose the inventions, the terms "toss", "throw", "tossing" and "throwing" refer to any and all manner with which an individual player launches the ball 16 toward the receiving receptacle 16 and/or the playing area 13, including, for instance, overhand throwing, underhand tossing, overhand pitching, lobbing, and any other style of tossing/throwing the ball 16. For a particular level of difficulty of the game method 100 and 200 according to the invention, one or more tossing and/or throwing styles may be allowed or disallowed during gameplay. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the game method 100 and 200 includes positioning the receptacles 12 apart from one another at a predetermined distance or length L1, e.g., 5, 10, and 15 yards. The predetermined distance or length may depend on the skill level of the one or more players or one or more teams, and/or may depend on the level of gameplay difficulty that is required or desired. As described below with reference to FIGS. 4A-4F and FIGS. 5A-5C, the receptacle 12 may include any type of containing device, such as a bucket, and the band 14 may include a device suitable to define the enclosed playing area 13, such as a hoop or other tubular member. FIG. 1 illustrates the individual-based game method 100 according to the invention including at least two players A and B. One configuration of the game method 100 includes positioning each player A and B as shown whereby one player A positions adjacent and behind one receptacle 12 and the other player B positions adjacent and behind the other opposing receptacle 12. Alternatively, the game method 100 may include positioning players A and B adjacent and behind one of the receptacles 12. One object of the game method 100 is for each player A and B to toss or throw a playing ball 16 across the predetermined distance or length L1, as shown by dashed line 24 in FIG. 1, toward and into the opposing or receiving receptacle 12. Each player earns a predetermined number of points for successfully sinking the playing ball 16 into the receptacle 12. Additionally, another object of the game method 100 is for each player A and B to toss or throw a playing ball 16 to land successfully within the opposing playing area 13 defined by the band 14 to earn a predetermined number of points. The game method 100 includes accumulating points as each player A and B earns points as a result of successfully sinking balls 16 into the opposing receptacle 12 and/or placing balls 16 within the opposing playing area 13. The player A and B that earns a predetermined total number of points first wins the game 100. The game method 100 includes scoring the predetermined number of points each player A and B earns during each of a predetermined number of turns. For instance, each player A and B may toss or throw one ball 16 per turn, with each player A and B earning points depending on the outcome of their toss or throw. A predetermined number of points are earned by each player A and B when they successfully sink the ball 16 into the receptacle 12 or place the ball 16 within the playing area 13. The number of points the players A and B earn for sinking the ball 16 into the receptacle 16 may be different from , e.g., greater than, the number of points the players A and B earn for placing the ball 16 within the playing area 13. For instance, if greater tossing or throwing skill is required to sink the ball 16 into the receptacle 12 than placing the ball 16 within the playing area 13, then more points may be earned by the player A and B who sinks the ball 16 into the receptacle 12, or vice versa. As described below, earning points may be varied based on modifying or adjusting the level of difficulty of sinking the ball 16 into the receptacle or placing the ball 16 within the playing area 13. The game method 100 further includes determining a score for each game set wherein a game set includes one or more turns for each player A and B. Each player A and B takes a predetermined number of turns with each turn involving tossing or throwing a predetermined number of balls 16, e.g., one turn includes tossing or throwing one ball 16, and earns points toward a game set score. The predetermined number of turns may constitute one game set and the score is calculated after completion of each game set. After each player A and B has taken the predetermined number of turns of the game set, the total points each player A and B earns is used to calculate the game set score. The calculation involves subtracting the points earned by the lower scoring player during the game set from the points earned by the higher scoring player during the game set to determine the game set score. For instance, players A and B may earn 3 points for sinking the ball 16 into the receptacle 12 and may earn 1 point for placing the ball 16 within the playing area 13. The predetermined number of turns for each game set may include 2 turns for each player A and B with each turn involving tossing or throwing one ball 16. Therefore, after player A and player B have each taken 2 turns in the game set, the game set score is determined. The points earned by the higher scoring player are lowered by the points earned by the lower scoring player. Where player A earns 6 points after two turns and player B earns 4 points after two turns, player A would have a score of 2 points and player B would have a score of zero (6 player A points−4 player B points=2 player A points). Player A in this case would win the game set with 2 points. The predetermined number of turns each player A and B takes in a game set is not limited, nor is the predetermined number of balls 16 each player tosses or throws per turn limited, such that, each player A and B can earn any number of points in a given game set based on their tossing or throwing performance. One object of the game method 100 is for each player A and B to attempt to outscore the other player A and B during each game set either by playing offensively and/or defensively in response to the points the other player is earning. Additional scoring rules of the game method 100 according to the invention are envisions and examples of such scoring rules are described in detail below for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit or to narrow the scope of the invention. EXAMPLES OF INDIVIDUAL-BASED GAME METHOD As described above, for the individual-based game method 100, a game set may include each of the players A and B taking a predetermined number of turns with each turn allowing each player to toss or throw a predetermined number of balls 16. In one configuration of the game method 100 according to the invention, one game set may include each player A and B taking two turns that require the player A or B to throw one ball 16 per turn. Each game set in this case, therefore, includes a total of four ball tosses or throws with each player A and B making two ball tosses or throws. Each player A and B may take their two turns sequentially or each player A and B may take their turns alternately with the other player\'s turn. Scoring involves each player A and B earning a predetermined number of points, e.g., 3 points, for sinking the ball 16 in the receptacle 12, and a predetermined number of points, e.g., 1 point, for placing the ball 16 within the playing area 13. After each game set, e.g., after four ball tosses, the points earned by the lower scoring player are subtracted from the points earned by the higher scoring player to calculate the total points awarded to the higher scoring player of the game set. The invention, however, is not limited in this respect and envisions that any number of ball tosses or throws may comprise each player turn. The invention also envisions any number of player turns may comprise a game set and any number of points may be earned for sinking or placing the ball 16, as well as any total number of points may be earned to win the game. For instance, Player A takes a turn and throws the ball 16, placing the ball 16 within the playing area 13 to earn 1 point. Player B takes a turn and throws the ball 16, and does not sink the ball 16 in the receptacle 12 or place the ball 16 within the playing area 13, thereby not earning any points. Player A takes their final turn in the game set and places the ball 16 within the playing area 13, earning 1 point. Player A has earned a total of 2 points in the game set. Player B takes their final turn in the game set and sinks the ball 16 into the receptacle 12 earning 3 points. Player B has thereby earned a total of 3 points in the game set. Player A, therefore, does not score any points in the game set and player B scores 1 point. Player B\'s score effectively reduces player A\'s score to zero (3 player B points−2 player A points=1 player B point) and player B wins the game set with a game set score of 1 point. Thus, the lower scoring player may not score any points in the game set. The game continues for a number of game sets until one of the players A and B scores a predetermined game-winning number of points, e.g., 21 points. Continuing with the above example, in the next game set, if player A tosses or throws two balls 16—sinking both balls 16 into the receptacle 12—then player A earns 6 points. If player B in the same set tosses or throws two balls 16—placing both balls 16 within the playing area 13—then player B earns 2 points. As a result, player A scores 4 points in the game set and player B does not score any points because player B\'s points are effectively cancelled by player A\'s points (6 player A points−2 player B points=4 player A points) and player A wins the game set with a game set score of 4 points. At this point in the game 100, player A has a score of 4 points and player B has a score of 1 point that player B earned in the prior game set. In the next game set, if player A tosses or throws two balls 16—sinking one ball 16 into the receptacle 12 and placing one ball 16 within the playing area 13—then player A earns 4 points. If player B in this same set tosses or throws two balls—sinking one ball 16 into the receptacle 12 and placing one ball 16 within the playing area 13—then player B earns 4 points. Neither player A nor B scores points in this game set because their earned points cancel each other out (4 player A points−4 player B points=0 points) and there is no winner of the game set. The scores of the players A and B at this point have not changed since the last game set. As the game method 100 proceeds from game set to game set, the players A and B may strategize their gameplay and choose to play defensively and/or offensively in any given game set. For instance, if after player A has taken two turns in a game set and has not earned any points, player B may choose to play defensively against player A. Player B may attempt to perform an easier toss or throw, e.g., to place the ball 16 within the playing area 13, to earn at least 1 point to win the game set rather than attempt to perform a more difficult toss or throw, e.g., to sink the ball 16 in the receptacle 12. Alternatively, if player A has taken two turns and has earned a low number of points, such as 2 points, then player B may choose to play offensively in two turns. Player B may attempt the more difficult toss or throw, e.g., to sink the ball 16 in the receptacle 12, to attempt to earn at least 3 points to ensure that player B will earn more points than player A in the game set. Other scoring rules of the method 100 may include allowing the player A and B, who scores highest or lowest in the game set, to take the first turn or toss in the next game set. The players continue to play the game until one of the players A and B scores the predetermined total number of points to win, e.g., 21 points. Optionally, the winning player A and B must win by a predetermined number of points, e.g., 2 points. EXAMPLES OF TEAM-BASED GAME METHOD The team-based game method 200 according to the invention may include one or more of the features, scoring rules, and other aspects of gameplay as described above with reference to the individual-based game method 100. As shown in FIG. 2, in one configuration of the team-based game method 200 according to the invention, the method 200 includes at least those features and scoring rules to perform gameplay as described above with reference to FIG. 1. The team-based game method 200 includes forming two or more teams of multiple players. For instance, two or more players may comprise one team wherein Team 1 may include player A and C and Team 2 may include player B and D. The teammates A and C and the teammates B and D position at opposites receptacles 12, as shown. The game method 200 similarly proceeds as described above with reference to the individual-based method 100. One player A or C of Team 1 may alternately take his/her turn with one player B or D of Team 2 until each player A, B, C and D has taken the predetermined number of turns to toss or throw a predetermined number of balls 16, e.g., one ball 16 per player turn, required for each game set. The points earned by the players A and C on Team 1 would be totaled together and the points earned by the players B and D of Team 2 would be totaled together to calculate the score of the game set as described above. The points earned by the lower scoring team during the game set are subtracted from the points earned by the higher scoring team during the game set to determine the score of the winning team for that game set. For instance, if player A sinks the ball 16 in the receptacle 12 and misses in the next turn, player A earns 3 points. If player C misses in the first turn, and places the ball 16 within the playing area 13 in the second turn, player C earns 1 point. Team 1 thereby earns 4 points in the game set. If player B sinks the ball 16 in the receptacle 12 and then places the ball 16 within the playing area 13, player B earns 4 points. If player D has a similar performance, player D earns 4 points and Team 2 thereby earns 8 points. Team 2 wins the game set with a game set score of 4 points (8 Team 2 points−4 Team 1 points=4 Team 2 points). Similar to the individual-based game method 100, other game rules of the team-based game method 200 may include allowing the team that scores highest or lowest in the game set to take the first turn or toss in the next game set. The teams continue to play the game until one of the teams scores the predetermined total number of points to win, e.g., 21 points. Optionally, the winning team must win by a predetermined number of points, e.g., 2 points. EXAMPLES OF ADDITIONAL SCORING RULES The design of the game methods 100 and 200 according to the invention permit players to apply other scoring rules for the individual-based game and the team-based game that affect the points earned and/or the scores awarded. Extra Point Scoring: For example, if one player A or B of the individual-based game method 100, or one Team 1 or 2 of the team-based game method 200, sinks a predetermined number of balls 16, e.g., two balls, in a game set into the receptacle 12 to earn a "double sink," then that player A or B or that Team 1 or 2 may be awarded a predetermined number of extra points, e.g., 1 extra point, if the other player or Team has not earned any points in the game set. In this case, the extra points may also be awarded only if sinking each of the predetermined number of balls occurs consecutively. For instance, in the individual-based game 100, if player A sinks two balls 16 into the receptacle 12 for a "double sink" and earns a total of 6 points in a game set, and player B earns no points in the game set, then player A receives 1 extra point for a total of 7 points for the game set due to the "double sink" (6 player A points−0 player B points+1 point for "double sink"=7 player A points). For the team-based game method 200, the extra point scoring may be applied if one player on a team scores a "double sink," or may be applied if at least two players on the team sink two balls 16 in the receptacle 12 so that the team collectively scores a "double sink." In addition, in either game method 100 and 200, the "double sink" extra point(s) may be awarded regardless if the opposing player or team scores points. Point Scoring Off The Rim: For example, in the individual-based game method 100 or the team-based game method 200, if a tossed or thrown ball hits a rim of the receptacle 12, which was intended to receive the ball, and the ball bounces from the rim, any player can catch the bounced ball for one or more extra points. Alternatively, if an opposing individual player or a player on an opposing team catches the ball 16, the catching player or team may earn one or more extra points or the non-catching player or team may lose one or more points. In addition, other point scoring off the rim may include any player that tips the ball 16 bounced from the rim of the receptacle 12 into that receptacle 12 may score one or more extra points for him/her or for his/her team. Optionally, in this scenario, only the player that bounced the ball off the rim or his/her team mate may score extra points for tipping the bounced ball into that receptacle 12. The extra scoring rules are flexible such that players may alter scoring rules according to the number of players per game, the number of players per team, the skill level of individual players, players of a time, or a team a whole, and/or the level of gameplay difficulty required or desired. Scoring on Non-Throwing Side: As another example of extra or additional scoring, for the team-based game 200, a team mate positioned at the receiving receptacle 12 that is serving as the non-throwing side during gameplay may catch the ball 16 that their team mate tosses or throws toward the receiving receptacle 12 to score automatically a predetermined number of extra points, e.g., 1 point, if the ball 16 hits the rim 12A of the receiving receptacle 12 and the team mate positioned near or at the receiving receptacle 12 catches the ball 16 in the air. For instance, as shown in FIG. 2, if player A tosses the ball 16 to the receiving receptacle 12 at which their team mate, player C, is positioned, and the ball 16 hits the rim 12A of the receiving receptacle 12, then player C earns 1 extra point for the game set if player C catches the ball 16 in the air. Such predetermined extra point or points may be awarded to the team that catches the ball 16 off the rim 12A regardless of the total score between the teams at the end of the game set. In other words, this extra point may not be calculated in the final score of the game set and may be awarded outside the game set scoring. As another example, for the team-based game 200, if a player A or C on Team 1 takes their turn and throws the ball 16 toward the receiving receptacle 12, and a player B or D on Team 2, positioned near or at the receiving receptacle 12, catches in the air the ball 16 that is thrown by a player A or C on Team 1, then Team 1 automatically loses a predetermined number of points, e.g., 1 point. This lose of a predetermined number of points may or may not be included within the total scoring of the game set. Alternate Scoring for Individual-Based One-on-One Game: For the individual-based game 100, the game set scoring described above that includes calculating the difference between the higher points earned and the lower points earned for each game set to determine the winning score of the game set may be eliminated. In this context, each individual player A and B essentially plays one-on-one and scores points based on the outcome of their individual tosses or throws irrespective of the points that the other player A and B scores, and is awarded whatever points they earn. Any of the additional scoring rules described above can also be applied to the individual-based one-on-one game. Two-Point Option at 21 Points: In either the individual-based game 100 or the team-based game 200, when one player or team scores the predetermined number of game-winning points, e.g., 21 points, the opposing player or team may be given the opportunity for one or more extra turns including a predetermined number of ball tosses or throws to attempt to get within the range of points, e.g., within 2 points, required to win the game in order to attempt to keep the game going. For example, if one player or team scores 21 points and is ahead by 2 points, then the other player or team may be given one or more turns to toss or throw one or more balls 16 to attempt to score within the 2-point range in order to keep the gameplay in progress. The invention is not limited to the objects and the gameplay rules described above and envisions that the objects of the game methods 100 and 200 and the respective gameplay rules may be altered, e.g., by adding features or rules, by removing features or rules, or rearranging features or rules. In particular, the objects of the game methods 100 and 200 and the gameplay rules may be modified in terms of, for instance, the level of tossing or throwing skill and/or the level of difficulty in earning points that is required or desired. Now turning to FIGS. 3A and 3B, configurations of the game play set 300 according to the invention are shown including the basic game pieces for the individual-based game method 100 and the team-based game method 200, including at least one receptacle 12, at least one band 14 configured to define the playing area 13 within its perimeter and within which the receptacle 12 is positioned, and a plurality of balls 16. Referring to FIG. 3C, a top plan view illustrates the layout of the play set 300 for the individual-based game method 100 and the team-based game method 200 including positioning the receptacles 12 in opposing, e.g., and substantially aligned, positions relative to one another, and positioning each band 14 to define the playing area 13 in which each receptacle 12 is disposed. In one configuration of the play set 300 according to the invention, the receptacles 12 and the bands 14 may be designed and configured as portable objects such that the receptacles 12 and the bands 14 may be removably positioned along and relocated to any of various playing surfaces 22, such as the ground or a table top, depending on the required or desired location of gameplay. As portable objects, in one configuration of the game method 100 and 200 according to the invention, the predetermined distance or length L1 between the opposing receptacles 12 may be readily modified. The distance or length L1 between the receptacles 12 may be modified in accordance with the skill level of one or more players or teams and/or the level of difficulty of gameplay required or desired. For instance, the opposing receptacles 12 may be positioned to readily change the distance or length L1 to accommodate players and teams with greater or lesser skill, e.g., from one game to the next, and/or to tailor gameplay depending on the ages of one or more players and teams, e.g., changing from a children\'s game to an adult game. The game method 100 and 200 is thereby flexible with respect to the location of play and the nature and skills level of the game players and teams. In addition, each receptacle 12 may be disposed substantially at the center of the playing area 13 defined by the band 14. Alternatively, each receptacle 12 may be disposed offset from the center of the playing area 13, depending on the surface on which the game 100 and 200 is laid out, the level of skill of players, and/or the level of difficulty of gameplay required or desired. Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B and with further reference to FIGS. 3A-3C, each receptacle 12 may define a substantially cylindrical or conical shape and may include, but is not limited to, a bucket. However, the invention is not so limited and anticipates that each receptacle 12 may define any shape and configuration, e.g., a square shape and an elliptical shape, and may include any type of container suitable for performing the game method 100 and 200 according to the invention. With the configuration of the receptacle 12 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the conical or cylindrical shaped receptacles 12 may define across its open end 15 any diameter D1 suitable for playing the game method 100 and 200 and for providing a greater or lesser challenge to the players. The diameter D1 of each receptacle 12 may be relatively large, or enlarged, to help to decrease the level of difficulty of sinking a ball 16 into the receptacle 12, while the diameter D1 of each receptacle 12 may be relatively narrow, or decreased, to help to increase the level of difficulty of sinking ball 16 into the receptacle 12. Similarly, the outer perimeter diameter D2 of the receptacles may define any of various diameters and the lower diameter D3 of the bottom of the receptacles may define any of various diameters to help to increase or decrease the overall dimensions of the receptacles 12. The receptacles 12 may further define any of various heights H1, such that the receptacle 12 may have a range of depths. The receptacles 12 may be constructed of various materials that would render the receptacles 12 lightweight and portable for transporting the play set 300 to various gameplay surfaces 22. In one configuration, each lightweight and portable receptacle 12 may require a device or a method to weigh the receptacle 12 down to the gameplay surface 22 to help to prevent the receptacle 12 from collapsing or falling over during gameplay. In one configuration, each receptacle 12 may have a height H1 to define a depth suitable to contain a volume of water 20, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, which is sufficient to weight the receptacle 12 to the playing surface 22 and to help to prevent the receptacle 12 from collapsing or falling over. Alternatively, or additionally, each receptacle 12 may be constructed with a weighted bottom 17 such that the weighted bottom 17 helps to prevent the receptacle 12 from collapsing or falling over during gameplay. Using volumes of water to weigh down the receptacles 12 provides the added dramatic effect and attraction of creating splashing when a player successfully sinks a ball 16 in the receptacle 12. In one configuration of the receptacles 12 according to the invention, the play set 300 may include the receptacles 12 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B as cylindrical or conical-shaped buckets with the bucket shown in FIG. 4A having substantially the same overall dimensions as the bucket shown in FIG. 4B. However, the two receptacles 12 need not have substantially the same overall dimensions and each receptacle 12 may include a different size. In one configuration of the receptacle 12 according to the invention, the bucket 12 may include a diameter D1 of from about 10 to about 14 inches, a diameter D2 of from about 12 to about 17 inches, and a diameter D3 of from about 8.5 to about 12.5 inches. In addition, as also shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, one of the buckets 12 may include a handle 19 for carrying the bucket 12. In this manner, the bucket 12 may serve as a container for the game pieces of the play set 300, including, for instance, receiving the other bucket 12 and the plurality of balls 16 and the band segments 23, as are described below, to enable portability of the game methods 100 and 200 and easy storage and transport of pieces of the play set 300. As shown in FIG. 4B, in one configuration of the game method 100 and 200 according to the invention, one or more receptacles 12 may include a rim 12A defining a width W1, e.g., from about 0.5 inches to about 4.5 inches, such that the rim 12A defines a width or thickness, e.g., consistently, around the perimeter of the receptacle 12 opening. The configuration of the rim 12A may help to make the game method 100 and 200 more challenging, wherein a wide rim 12A may help to increase the difficulty with which to sink the ball 16 into the receptacle 12. Further, a wide rim 12A may help to make it easier for other players, e.g., opposing team, to catch the ball 16 as it bounces off the rim 12A. Referring to FIGS. 4C-4F, other configurations of the receptacle 12 according to the invention are envisioned. As shown in FIG. 4C, at least one receptacle 12 of the play set 300 may include along one side at least one stop pin 30 that is positioned at an upper portion of the receptacle 12, e.g., 3 inches from top of receptacle 12. With configurations of the receptacle 12 including two stop pins 30, the pins 30 are positioned along the upper portion of the receptacle 12 in opposing alignment with the other stop pin 30. The widest portion, e.g., head, of each stop pin 30 may be from about 0.5 to about 1.0 inch. The stop pins 30 are configured and disposed to serve as devices to stop and to hold one receptacle 12 in position when placed telescopically inside the other receptacle 12, as shown in FIG. 4C. In this manner, the receptacles 12 may be stacked and the stop pins 30 help to prevent the stacked receptacles 12 from sticking together. The stacked receptacles 12 also help to consolidate and contain game pieces during transport and storage. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4D, the play set 300 may include at least one receptacle lid 34 configured to align with the perimeter of the opening 15 of at least one receptacle 12 and to connect with a portion of the rim 12A of the receptacle 12, such that, the lid 34 securely attaches to the receptacle 12 to define an enclosed container. In one configuration, the lid 34 can define an upper portion with a width W1 of from about 12 to about 17 inches, and a lower portion with a width W2 of from about 10 to about 14 inches, depending on the configuration of the receptacle 12 to which the lid 34 connects. The lid 34 may include openings and holes 36, e.g., about 4 inches in length, that are configured and disposed along the lid 34 in order that the openings and holes 36 may align with complementary openings and holes 32 defined in the rim 12A of the receptacle. In this manner, the openings and holes 32 and 36 help to serve as handles for lifting and transporting the receptacle 12 or the receptacles 12 when stacked. Further, as shown in FIG. 4E, the play set 300 may include a strap 35 that is configured to serve as a shoulder strap for use in connection with carrying the receptacle(s) 12. The strap 35 may include an adjustment device 37 that permits adjustment, e.g., decreasing and increasing, the length of the strap 35. In addition, the strap 35 may be include at each terminal end a toggle or a fastening device 38 to lock to or to connect with one or both of the receptacles 12. As shown in FIG. 4F, the receptacle 12 including the stop pins 30 inserts into the receiving receptacle 12 telescopically. The lid 34 is secured to the rim 12A of the received receptacle 12 to close off the interior of the stacked receptacles 12 such that the stacked receptacles 12 and the lid 34 define an enclosed container. The strap 35 threads through each of the openings and holes 36 defined in the lid 34 and the openings and holes 32 defined in the rim 12A of each receptacle 12. The toggles or fastening devices 38 of the strap 35 are configured to permit connection of the strap 35 to the receiving receptacle 12. In this case, the receiving receptacle 12 may include attachment fasteners or connectors (not shown) that complement the toggle or other fasteners 38 of the strap 35 to permit detachable connection of the strap 35. This configuration and arrangement permits the stacked receptacles 12 to contain the plurality of balls 16 and/or the plurality of segments 23 of band(s) 14, as described below, to enable easy storage and transport of some or all of the play set 300 game pieces. The receptacles 12 may be constructed of one or more materials suitable for receiving a volume of water to weight down the receptacles 12 and/or may be constructed of one or more lightweight and economical materials, including, but not limited to, plastic, metal, wood, cardboard, recycled materials and combinations thereof. Referring to FIGS. 5A-5C, the bands 14 that are used to define the playing area 13 may define a circular-shaped playing area 13, a square or rectangular-shaped playing area 13 or an octagon-shaped playing area 13. The invention is not limited in this respect and envisions that each band 14 may define any shape and configuration, e.g., square shape, rectangular shape, elliptical shape and irregular shape, to define the playing area 13 with a particular shape and area size. The shape and configuration of each band 13 may be selected to modify the playing area 13 such that the playing area 13 may be increased and/or decreased to thereby lower and/or raise the level of playing difficulty. As shown in FIGS. 5A-5C, each band 14 in one configuration according to the invention may include a solid or hollow hoop or tubular member. The hoop or tubular member 14 may include one or more segments 23 that removably attach or connect to one another. The one or more segments 23 may connect via one or more fasteners 25 to construct the band or member 14 that will configure the playing area 13 as an enclosed area. In one configuration of the band or member 14 according to the invention, the fasteners 25 may include snap-connect fasteners 25, each configured to connect one end of a segment 23 to one end of a second segment 23 or a fastener 25 connected to the end of the second segment 23. The fasteners 25 may also include telescopically receiving fasteners whereby one fastener 25 telescopically receives another fastener 25 to connect two segments 23. Where the band or member 14 defines a square, rectangle, octagon or other angled member as shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C, segments may include corner segments 27 with particular angles to define the shape of the member 14. The segments 23 and 27 may be of various sizes, such that, the size of the band or member 14 may be modified to increase and/or decrease the playing area 13 within the perimeter of the band or member 14. In one configuration, the segments 23 may define a diameter of about 0.5 inches and have equal lengths with each segment 23 having a length of about 14 inches, and the corner segments 27 defining a 45° angle. In this manner, the game methods 100 and 200 according to the invention may be modified with respect to the level of difficulty required to place the ball 16 within the playing area 13 during gameplay. In one configuration of the game methods 100 and 200, where the bands 14 are configured as circular hoops 14, each hoop 14 may define a diameter of from about 20 inches to about 40 inches. In another configuration of the game methods 100 and 200, where the bands are configured as squares or rectangles, each band 14 may define an area of from about 28 inches by 28 inches to about 36 inches by 36 inches. The invention is not so limited and anticipates the band 14 may include any dimensions to define variously the playing area 13. The band 14 may be constructed of one or more materials suitable for playing and storing and may comprise one or more durable materials, including, but are not limited to, PVC, plastic, metal, wood, cardboard, recycled materials, and combinations thereof. In addition, the configuration of the bands 14 using the segments 23 and 27 enables the bands 14 to be broken down into their segment 23 and 27 pieces. Such configurations would help to make these game pieces readily portable and to provide flexibility and ease in transporting and storing the play set 300, such as, for instance, in a receptacle 12 or in stacked receptacles 12. The game methods 100 and 200 according to the invention are highly flexible and may be modified or adapted via manipulation of the sizes and/or shapes of the receptacles 12 and/or the bands 14, at least as described above, in order the game methods 100 and 200 may be tailored to age-specific, skill-specific and difficulty-specific levels. One play set 300 of game pieces including at least two receptacles 12, at least two bands 14, and the plurality of balls 16 may be used to configure the game methods 100 and 200 for children, adults, high-skilled players and/or low-skilled players. As shown in FIG. 3C, the game methods 100 and 200 according to the invention may be further modified through inclusion of a game default line 18 that is positioned at a predetermined length L2 from each of the receptacles 12. Each player may be required during gameplay, particularly when the player is tossing or throwing the ball 16 to the opposing receiving receptacle 12, to stand behind the default line 18, such that each player tosses or throws the ball 16 from a substantially similar distance from the receiving receptacle 12. The default line 18 may be formed from one or more elements, such as one or more segments 23, which are used to form the bands 14, where such segments 23 are included in the play set 300. The scoring of the game may be modified to account for any violation of the default line 18 during gameplay. With reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the play set 300 includes a plurality of balls 16 for tossing and throwing. The plurality of balls 16 may include different colors to identify different sets of balls 16, e.g., one or more balls 16 per set. The balls 16 may further include any designs or ornamentation as may be desired. The balls 16 may thereby be color-coded in order to identify each individual in an individual-based game method 100 and/or each team in a team-based game method 200. The plurality of balls 16 in a given play set 300 may include balls 16 having the same size, e.g., about 8 to 14 inches in circumference, and the same weight, e.g., about 5 to 8 ounces. Additionally, or alternatively, a given play set 300 may include a plurality of balls 16 having different sizes and weights. The size and the weight of the balls 16 may be selected based upon the level of difficulty of gameplay required or desired, player or team skill level, player age, and/or the type of toss or throw, e.g., overhand and underhand, required or desired for a game. For instance, the play set 300 may include, and optionally the game methods 100 and 200 may require, balls 16 having the same size and weight that are conducive to underhand tossing or overhand throwing. In another instance, the play set 300 may include, and optionally the game method 100 and 200 may require, balls 16 having different sizes and weights. In this case, the balls 16 used in the early stages of the game methods 100 and 200 e.g., for a predetermined number of game sets or until a predetermined number of points are scored, may have a relatively greater size and/or weight than balls 16 used in the later stages of the game methods 100 and 200. In the later stages, the balls 16 may be relatively smaller and/or lower in weight, e.g., to provide a greater challenge or difficulty in sinking or placing the ball 16 in the receptacle 12. For instance, the balls 16 used in the early stages of the game methods 100 and 200 may be similar to, for instance, baseballs in size and weight, while the balls 16 used in the later stages of the game methods 100 and 200 may be similar to or include lightweight foam or sponge balls. Presumably, players would score more easily with the larger and/or heavier balls 16 resembling baseballs because players can handle and toss/throw such balls 16 more easily than the smaller and/or lightweight balls 16 resembling Nerf® balls. In this manner, the level of difficulty of gameplay can be progressively increased or decreased as the game method 100 and 200 proceeds by using balls 16 with different sizes and weights. In this configuration of the game methods 100 and 200, the plurality of balls 16 used sequentially in a game may be progressively different with respect to their size and weight of the balls 16. Thus, the receptacles 12, the diameter D1 of the receptacles 12, the width W1 of the rim 12A, the bands 14, the size of the playing areas 13, the predetermined length L1 between the receptacles 12 and/or the size and/or weight of the balls 16 according to the invention may be variously modified, such that, a given play set 300 and/or a given game method 100 and 200 is/are highly flexible with respect to being modified or adapted based on at least the players\' tossing or throwing skills, the players\' ages, the type of tossing or throwing required or desired in the game method 100 and 200, the level of difficulty required or desired in the game method 100 and 200, and/or the location of gameplay. Optionally, the inclusion of the game default line 18, as described above, may be used to modify the game methods 100 and 200 in this manner. The game methods 100 and 200 according to the invention envision other features, modifications and configurations of the play set 300, game pieces and/or the nature of gameplay. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the bands 14 may include different sizes and shapes in a single game, including a circular band 14 and a square band 14 that may define substantially the same or different playing areas 13. In the case where the playing areas 13 are different due to the different shapes and sizes of the bands 14—such as a circular band 14 and a square band 14—the teams in the team-based game 200 may switch sides. Each team would alternate between tossing or throwing to a circular playing area 13 and a square playing area 13. As another example, also shown in FIG. 6, the team-based game 200 is sufficiently flexible to allow multiple players on each of at least two teams. As shown in FIG. 6, Team 1 includes players A, D and F and Team 2 includes players B, C, E and H. Although Team 2 has one additional player, players B and C are adults and players E and H are children. The scoring opportunities for Team 2 may be equivalent to those scoring opportunities of Team 1 including adult players A, D and F with the offset provided by the two child players E and H. As a further example, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the play set 300 may include one or both of the receptacles 12 and/or one or both of the bands 14 equipped with one or more sensors 31, 32 and 36. Such sensors 31, 32 and 36 may be configured to detect an impact of a tossed or thrown ball 16, e.g., as a result of the ball\'s 16 contact with the receptacle 12 and/or the playing area 13. One or both receptacles 12 may include one or more sensors 31 within the rim 12A configured to detect when a tossed or thrown ball 16 hits the rim 12A. The one or more sensors 31 may provide a signal upon impact of the ball 16 on the rim 12A that actuates a visual and/or audio signal device 33. The audio signal device 33 may be configured to emit a visual signal, e.g., a light, and/or an audio signal, e.g., a sound alarm, to alert the game players that the ball 16 has hit the rim 12A. This can be an advantageous feature where the game scoring includes extra points for catching a ball 16 off the rim 12A, as described above. The light and/or sound alarm signal that the device 33 may emit may do no more than provide a dramatic effect during gameplay, and/or may alert the players that an extra point catch is imminent. In addition, the device 33 can be additionally or alternatively configured to send a signal, e.g., wirelessly, upon receiving a signal from the impact sensor 31 to an electronic score or record-keeping device (not shown) that is positioned remote from the receptacle 12 and is configured to record and store the number of hits off the rim 12A that have occurred. This feature of score or record- keeping of the number of hits off the rim 12A may be used in score keeping, penalty enactment and/or any other scoring method or other feature of the game 100 and 200 and gameplay. Further, as also shown in FIG. 7A, one or both receptacles 12 may include one or more sensors 32 in the bottom of the receptacle 12 that are similarly configured to detect the impact of a tossed or thrown ball 16 when the ball 16 sinks into the receptacle 12 and hits its bottom. In this case, the receptacle 12 would not include a volume of water. The one or more sensors 32 may provide a signal upon impact of the ball 16 on the receptacle 12 bottom that actuates the visual and/or audio signal device 33. The visual and/or audio signal device 33 would emit the visual signal, e.g., a light, and/or an audio signal, e.g., a sound alarm, to alert the game players of the sinking of the ball 16. The light and/or sound alarm signal that the device 33 may emit may do no more than provide dramatic effects, but it may also serve as an advantageous feature, such as where an electronic score or record-keeping device, as described above, may be used in conjunction with the game 100 and 200 for, e.g., scoring purposes. The band 14 may include one or more sensors 36 that help to detect when a tossed or thrown ball 16 lands within the playing area 13. The sensors 36 may be positioned on opposite sides of the band 14 and may be configured to send a signal 37 between the opposing sensors 36. If the tossed or thrown ball 16 breaks the signal 37 as it is tossed or thrown into the playing area 13, the sensors 36 detect the break in the signal 37 and emit a visual and/or audio signal and/or transmit a signal to an electronic score or record-keeping device that may be used in conjunction with the game 100 and 200 for, e.g., scoring purposes. Referring to FIG. 8, the game set 300 according to the invention may optionally include a manual score board 50 that includes a plurality of apertures 52 defined therein and a plurality of pegs 54. Each aperture 52 is configured to receive at least a portion of a scoring peg 54 and may be labeled with a number (not shown) that represents the score of an individual play or team. The scoring pegs 54 are inserted into the appropriate aperture 52 to represent the numerical score of the individual player or team. The scoreboard 50 may define any dimensions. In one configuration of the board 50 according to the invention, the board 50 has a length of from about 3.5 to about 5.0 feet, a width of from about 2 to about 4 inches and thickness of from about 2 to about 4 inches. Having thus described at least one illustrative aspect of the invention, various alterations, modifications and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications and improvements are intended to be within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended as limiting. The invention\'s limit is defined only in the following claims and the equivalents thereto. Download full PDF for full patent description/claims. You can also Monitor Keywords and Search for tracking patents relating to this Ball tossing skills game and methods of playing Ball tossing skills game and methods of playing same or other areas of interest. ###	eng	7d34e430-eb1d-4953-8596-4dde3c000fdd	http://www.freshpatents.com/-dt20120315ptan20120065004.php
202-002 Introduction to Journalism Kimi Faxon-Hemingway MWF 10:00-10:50 MO 106 This class is an introduction to the world and skills of a working journalist. Through discussion, and more importantly, lots of practice, you will develop the tools that you will need to identify, gather, and report the news. While many of the practices you will learn in this course were developed by reporters working for large urban newspapers, you will apply these same core principles and practices (lede writing, story structure, how to cover news events, and conducting interviews) to reporting for any kind of outlet: print, broadcast, or the internet. We will also examine the differences between news stories and feature stories, and cover the basics of journalism ethics. 204-001 MWF 8:00-8:50 MO 204 204-002 MWF 9:00-9:50 MO 204 204-006 Online Introduction to Professional Writing Amanda Cosgrove This web-enhanced course introduces students to the basic concepts involved in professional writing environments and provides guided practice in drafting business documents, such as resumes, memos, proposals and reports. Both individual and group writing projects will be assigned; however, collaborative assignments will be emphasized. Most importantly, the class is framed in a service-learning context, which means that students will act as writing consultants for an area non-profit agency or UNCW entity, completing a project that targets real world audiences. By the course's end, students will produce writing artifacts suitable for inclusion in their professional portfolios. 204-003 Introduction to Professional Writing Jeremy Tirrell MWF 10:00-10:50 MO 204 Students in this course will engage core professional writing concepts including audience analysis, research, document design, usability, and ethical composing practices. Students will produce works including technical instructions, usability tests, and public relations documents in both print and multimedia formats. Individual and group projects are a feature of this course, as is directed service-learning with community partners. Text: Johnson-Sheehan, Technical Communication Today, 4th ed. 204-004 Introduction to Professional Writing Sarah Hallenbeck MW 2:00-3:15 MO 204 Students in this course will learn the rhetorical, ethical, and design considerations that inform effective professional and technical communication. Working in both print and multi-media contexts, they will develop strategies for conducting workplace research, performing audience analysis, and evaluating document usability. Students will produce a range of documents, including memos, proposals, instructions, and public relations materials. Much of their work will be conducted in a service-learning context in which their efforts will engage a wider public beyond the classroom. Text: Gurak and Lannon, Strategies for Technical Communication in the Workplace. 204-005 Introduction to Professional Writing Anthony Atkins TR 12:30-1:45 MO 204 Students will be exposed to reading, writing, composing, and designing a variety of professional and technical texts. Students will gain experience with writing traditional texts like memos and proposals, but also gain experience with design, social media, and video editing. Students will work with a variety of technologies like photoshop, camtasisa studio, adobe indesign, and various Web 2.0 tools and applications. Basic technology skills are required, but no extensive technology experience is necessary. Students will also work off campus for a service learning and applied learning component. Students will work both individually and collaboratively within a group setting. 205-001 Introduction to Literary Studies Janet Ellerby MW 2:00-3:15 MO 106 As English majors (or "would-be" English majors), you like to read and write, and you are probably good at both, but when faced with the assignment: "Analyze the following poem, or play, or novel," how should you begin? This class will give you the practical steps to take when confronted with just such an assignment. Primarily a writing class, you will produce four carefully revised papers all of which demonstrate a particular critical approach to literature. Together we will read and apply contemporary theory and learn useful interpretive strategies so that you will have the analytical skills to compose informed and insightful essays in your future upper division English courses. Texts: Tyson, Critical Theory Today, 2nd ed.; Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby; Clifford and Schilb, Making Literature Matter, 5th ed. 205-002 Introduction to Literary Studies Barbara Waxman TR 11:00-12:15 MO 202 Together we will explore some methods and theories of literary criticism—some ways of reading and some invention strategies for developing essays about literature. We'll apply these to fiction, poetry, and drama. We'll also consider why literary criticism matters. My aim is to develop a comfortable community of readers and writers as we analyze poems by Oliver, Clifton, Yau, Suarez, Pastan, and others in Schakel & Ridl's 250 Poems: A Portable Anthology; Terrence McNally's "Andre's Mother"; Ann Hood's novel, The Red Thread; Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray; and Peter Shaffer's prize-winning play, Equus. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers will also be required, as will Steven Lynn's Text and Context: Writing about Literature with Critical Theory. Our class will also look into some strategies of literary research and will have instruction with an expert librarian in Randall Library. Students will write four or five essays during the semester and additional informal exercises in class. 205-003 Introduction to Literary Studies Mark Boren MWF 11:00-11:50 MO 207 In this course we'll refine our critical reading skills, sharpen our research, writing, and speaking skills, and learn major theoretical approaches to the study of written texts, including psychoanalysis, feminism, new historicism, deconstruction, and post-colonialism. In understanding how texts generate their (often contradictory) meanings, we'll also see how those approaching texts are themselves "written" by both the texts before them and the cultural contexts in which they are themselves inscribed. In traditional literature classes, one often finds oneself in discussions of "what a text means," but in this class we'll shift our exploration of texts, focusing more on "how a text means" and "how we as readers are constructed to read in certain ways." Through the analysis of poetry, of fiction, and of non-fiction, and through the methodical study of critical essays on those primary texts, we'll learn the intricacies involved in negotiating the world through language. Students will produce a variety of essays, including research essays. 205-004 Introduction to Literary Studies Lee Schweninger TR 3:30-4:45 MO 101 This course is an introduction to literary studies and will thus offer you the opportunity to develop your knowledge of how to read, interpret and write about literature. The course has four primary objectives: (1) to introduce you to the field of English studies, including discussions of what you can do with an English degree; (2) to provide you with instruction on how to do research and how to write as a literary scholar; (3) to expose you to general overviews of some prominent approaches to the study of literature; and (4) to enable you to critically examine your own approaches to literature through engagement with primary literary texts. Because this is a writing intensive course, you will be asked to write and submit several formal response essays, argumentative research essays, and to keep an informal reading response journal. You will also be responsible for the readings and class discussions and to take occasional reading quizzes. As this will be a discussion based class, attendance, participation, and attention to the readings will of course be required. This course partially fulfills the University Studies writing intensive and the information literacy requirements. 205-006 Introduction to Literary Studies Keith Newlin TR 9:30-10:45 MO 102 How does one find something interesting and informative to say about a work of literature? And how does one convey that interpretation effectively in writing? This course seeks to answer those two questions by introducing students to the theories and methods of literary criticism and by providing an opportunity for detailed attention to the process of writing and revision. We will begin by examining a variety of interpretive strategies for reading literature; and then we will write a series of papers applying what we have learned to several literary works. Texts: Gibaldi, The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed.; Lynn, Texts and Contexts, 6th ed.; Treadwell, Machinal; Alger, Ragged Dick. 209-001 Classical Literature in Translation Cala Zubair MW 2:00-3:15 MO 207 Love and sexuality. Vengeance. Unwavering grief, accidental incest, and epic war. This course samples literature from the beginnings: the influential Greek and Roman authors who have shaped our understanding of the world from centuries in the past. We start with the Homeric epic and the calamitous adventures of Odysseus. Then we move on to three seminal Greek playwrights: Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus. In the Roman world, we read Virgil's Aeneid and Ovid's Metamorphosis, concluding with elegiac works of Latin poetry. All the while we compare ancient themes to current themes, classical symbols to present-day symbols, and lend our attentiveness to the recurrent role of narrative and mythology in governing our social experiences. 210-800 Mythology Ashley Bissette Sumerel Online In this course, students will become familiar with Greek, Roman, and Norse Mythology, as well myths from many other cultures. We'll explore several types of myths, such as Creation Myths, Trickster Myths, and the Female Divine. In addition to critical analysis of the myths, students will explore how they affect our own culture and can inform our reading of literature. This is a fully online course. Assignments may include weekly discussion boardparticipation, essays, and exams. 211-001 British Literature to 1800 Daniel Noland TR 8:00-9:15 MO 106 Mist-walking monsters, rolling heads and flimsy gowns, farts and polyandry, a sympathetic Satan, love poems, the joys and anguishes of the modern world; we'll meet them all, reading carefully, discussing thoroughly, writing several short essays and having a final exam. Text: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol. 1, 8th ed. 211-002 TR 11:00-12:15 211-003 TR 12:30-1:45 British Literature to 1800 Michael Wentworth MO 106 As a survey of British literature from Beowulf (first recited in the eighth century) to the death of Samuel Johnson (1784), the course will consider such major authors as Geoffrey Chaucer, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, and Samuel Johnson; a broad variety of genres, including narrative poetry, utopian fiction, tragedy, comedy, Christian epic, travel narrative, biography, and the periodical essay; topical and thematic concerns such as wit, imagination, art and nature, reason and passion, life choices, happiness, gender roles, marriage, and crime and punishment; such concerns as the value and purpose of literature, strategies of interpretation, and various factors that figure into the enduring permanence of our featured writers; and the relevance of selected works to other works of literature students have read, the current arena of local, national and international affairs, contemporary popular culture, and other academic courses students have taken. In addition to such standard canonical texts as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Sir Thomas More's Utopia, Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, Ben Jonson's Volpone, and John Milton's Paradise Lost, we will also be reading and discussing a number of texts with which you are most likely familiar such as Mary Astell's "Some Reflections upon Marriage," Daniel Defoe's "The Cons of Marriage," Aphra Behn's prose novella Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave, Eliza Haywood's prose novella Fantomima; or, Love in a Maze, Jonathan Swift's "The Lady's Dressing Room," and Samuel Johnson's prose novella The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia. Required texts: Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales (translated into modern English by Nevill Coghill); The Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol. 1B: The Sixteenth Century and the Early Seventeenth Century; The Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol C: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century. 212-001 British Literature since 1800 Alex Porco MW 3:30-4:45 MO 106 This course is a survey of British literature from the Romantic period through to the early twenty-first century. By the course's end, students will be familiar with major authors such as Wordsworth, Keats, Austen, Browning, Rossetti, Yeats, Eliot, Ford, Mansfield, Joyce, Beckett, and Smith. We will engage with canonical and non-canonical texts in a wide variety of modes, genres, and media, including lyric and narrative poetry, stage and closet drama, the literary and graphic novel, the essay and manifesto, genre fiction (e.g., detective fiction and the gothic), as well as cinema, television, and music. Throughout the semester, we will make a point of always considering how aesthetic value, literary form, representational strategies, and language practices develop in dynamic relation to historical, political, and material contexts of production and reception— for example, the Industrial Revolution, nationalism and colonialism, shifting gender roles, the emergence of "popular culture", World Wars I and II, the decline of the British Empire, postmodernism, and globalism. Readings will include selections from The Norton Anthology of British Literature – Volume 2; Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; Alan Moore, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, vol. 1; Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier; The Clash, London Calling (selected songs); The Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks (selected songs); Zadie Smith, White Teeth; John Cleese's Fawlty Towers (selected episodes); and acclaimed Irish playwright Martin McDonagh's In Bruges (film). Students are expected to attend supplementary film screenings throughout the term (i.e., Jane Campion's John Keats biopic, Bright Star; Joe Wright's 2005 adaptation of Austen's Pride and Prejudice; and Atom Egoyan's adaptation of Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape). Attendance and participation are essential to success in the course. 223-001 American Literature to 1870 Christopher Gould TR 12:30-1:45 MO 104 The course surveys major authors in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from the colonial period to 1870. Every student keeps a reading journal and writes two analytical essays, each of which comprises 20% of the semester grade. Final exam and a series of reading quizzes each account for 20%. Text: McQuade, Donald, et al. The Harper American Literature. vol 1. 223-002 American Literature to 1870 Professor Lee Schweninger TR 11:00-12:15 MO 101 This course will offer you an overview of American literature from the era of European contact through the late Romantics in the nineteenth century. We will read this literature in its literary, political, historical, and social contexts.As such, we will look at literature of the European Explorers, at some American Indian responses to encounters with Europeans, at the colonial period including Puritan poets and historians, at the writings of some of the founding fathers and mothers, and at the Romantic era writers such as Poe, Irving, Hawthorne, Stowe, Dickinson, and Whitman, as well as Emerson and Throreau, lynchpins of the American literary renaissance, as it has been called. You will be asked to keep an informal reading response journal, to write formal short response essays, to be responsible for the readings and class discussions, to take occasional reading quizzes and mid-semester and a final essay exams. As this will be a discussion based class, attendance, participation, and attention to the readings will of course be required. This course partially fulfills the University Studies writing intensive requirement. 224-001 TR 9:30-10:45 224-003 TR 12:30-1:45 Christopher Gould MO 104 224-002 American Literature since 1870 Keith Newlin TR 12:30-1:45 MO 101 In this course we will read representative short fiction, plays, and poems in American literature from the late 1900s to the present. We will discover how and why each story "works"—how it captures the reader's interest, the aesthetic methods the authors use to tell their story. We will also look at the political, social, and cultural context; and we will discuss such issues as emerging feminism, critical responses to racism, the literature of propaganda, alienation and literary experiment, and why some writers get represented in anthologies and others do not. At times reading selections will be lengthy, so be forewarned. This section will also emphasize critical discussion and writing. Texts: Cain, American Literature, vol. 2; Faulkner, As I Lay Dyin. We will look at common themes, the techniques of storytelling, the use of metaphoric language, how literature relates to the other arts and to political, social, philosophical, or religious ideas. You will learn to trace a chronology of world literature from the 1600 to the present, while making comparative explorations between national literatures. 227-001 World Anglophone Literatures Michelle Britt MWF 9:00-9:50 MO 207 Anglophone is defined as: "An English-speaking person, especially one in a country where two or more languages are spoken." This theme based Literature course will examine various fiction and non-fiction pieces written in English from a range of Caribbean Islands. We will explore the cultural nuances associated with the works and their relationships to individual and collective identity. 230-002 Women in Literature Marlon Moore TR 11:00-12:15 MO 104 By primarily exploring texts by modern women authors, this course investigates the roles, expectations, and representations of women while critically engaging with women's issues. In a discussion-based setting, this course interrogates how women internalize, resist, negotiate, and/or perform their social, cultural, and gendered positioning within the context of writing. Work will include discussion, response papers, and a final analytical project. 230-800 Women in Literature Ashley Bissette Sumerel Online In this course, we will analyze and discuss classic and contemporary women's literature, including the works of Bradstreet, Dickinson, Plath, Sexton, and Chopin. As we read these texts, we will also explore topics such as women's rights, female sexuality, and traditional and non-traditional gender roles. This is a fully online course. Assignments may include weekly discussion boardparticipation, essays, and exams. 233-001 The Bible as Literature Lewis Walker TR 9:30-10:45 MO 201 This course examines the Bible as a literary work, or, more accurately, as a collection of literary works. Through readings in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Apocrypha, we will consider matters such as genre (for example, narrative, poetry, history, letter, parable); style (for example, diction, metaphor, simile, symbol); historical and geographical context, authors, and organization; literary and cultural influences on the Bible; and the canon. Written work includes brief responses; reading quizzes; two tests; and a longer paper of 1500-2000 words. Oral participation is expected. It is absolutely essential that everyone who enrolls in the course acquire both of the assigned texts. The only acceptable version of the Bible for class use is The New Jerusalem Bible (the hardback edition with full footnotes—not the paperback version and not any other Bible). Texts: Gabel, Wheeler, and Citino, The Bible as Literature. 5th ed;Wansbrough, ed.,The New Jerusalem Bible. 290-001 Themes in Literature: Science Fiction John Clifford MWF 10:00-10:50 MO 201 Through a variety of stories, novels, and films, we will explore popular themes in Science fiction, including Alien Encounters, Artificial Life, Time, Dystopias and Apocalypses. We will read classic writers: Bradbury, Le Guin, Asimov, Dick, Heinlein ad well as such recent masters as Octavia Butler and Cormac McCarthy. Two short papers and two exams. 290-002 Themes in Literature: Evolution of the Vampire Ashley Bissette Sumerel MW 3:30-4:45 MO 104 Vampires. From the ghastly, ruthless monster to the sympathetic version with a conscience, these mythological creatures have fascinated readers for centuries. In this course, we will explore the ways in which the vampire myth has evolved, as well as the common themes that seem to occur throughout every vampire story. Required texts may include: Polidori's "The Vampyre," Le Fanu's "Carmilla," Stoker's Dracula, Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire, and Graham-Smith's Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. Assignments will include essays, exams, and short response papers. 290-003 Themes in Literature—Stories of Food, Family, and Culture Barbara Waxman TR 9:30-10:45 MO 205 "You are what you eat." We explore literary depictions of this notion: narratives of family life and growing up; depictions of relationships between the generations; food as a metaphor and a symbol representing history, culture, and individual identity; explorations of cultural beliefs and folklore connected to food. We'll discuss memoirs, a couple of essays, and a novel centered on food. You will, in addition, get a deeper appreciation of the texts by doing an analysis of one book enriched through research on the culture depicted in the text and by penning your own brief food memoir. We may even sample some of the recipes in the books! You will begin the process of writing your brief food memoir by selecting and writing down a recipe that is important to your family, or to a close group of friends, then creating an introduction to the recipe. Readings include: Pepin's The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen; Reichl's Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table; Hamilton's Blood, Bones, and Butter; Samuelsson's Yes, Chef; a food essay or two by Ann Hood; Mones's The Last Chinese Chef; and Abu Jaber's The Language of Baklava. 290-004 Themes in Literature Jane MacLennan TR 12:30-1:45 MO 205 Grab your love beads, peace signs, and 45s! Join this class for a look at three movements of the decade that forever changed the social and legal foundation of America. Through fiction, nonfiction, and music, we will explore the civil rights/black power movement, the counterculture/ antiwar movement, and the second feminist movement. We will look at works by Gloria Steinem, Martin Luther King, Richard Brautigan and yes, The Beatles, among others. Imagine! 290-005 Themes in Literature: White Vinegar and Chicken Coops: The Narratives of Homesteading and Self-Sustainability Rebecca Warfield TR 3:30-4:45 MO 201 Since the economic collapse in 2007, many people have reevaluated their role as a consumer. People that once purchased goods such as processed food and commercial products have begun to question if manufactured goods are necessary. As a result, there has been a shift away from consumerism and toward the idea of do-it-yourself (DIY). Consequently, this DIY mindset has rapidly evolved into a new subculture of people resisting the mass market and relying on self-sustainability. One of the most radical and dramatic movements in the DIY culture is homesteading—going back to the land, living a simple life, and maintaining self-sufficiency. Closely reading the narratives of homesteaders from America and abroad, we will explore the new movement to re-embrace farming and home economics. We will investigate not only the non-fiction, narrative literatures of homesteading but also how self-sustainability possibly acts as a method of resistance, control, and healing. Various forms of material will be used to supplement our readings including sources such as Pinterest, Etsy, and other popular DIY media. Students should expect a required service learning component. 302-001 Journalism Workshop Kimi Faxon-Hemingway MWF 9:00-9:50 BR 202 Continuation of ENG 202, this course focuses on advanced reporting and writing skills for online and print media. Students will produce a series of related news and feature stories, while critically reading the work of professionals and peers, in part to prepare for graduate study or a career in the field. Students will produce stories in other journalistic forms, genres and media (such as op/ed., reviews, and a long-form feature), while honing their journalistic craft. 303-001 Reading and Writing Arguments Don Bushman MWF 9:00-9:50 MO 102 A course in critical reading and writing exploring such concepts as "argument," "persuasion," and "rhetoric." We will study readings from popular periodicals which focus mainly on contemporary social and political issues, and we will critique these readings for the argumentative strategies the authors make use of. Students will enjoy a better understanding of the structure of well-argued essays and of the support required to gain an audience's assent. Required will be a portfolio of five polished essays, the last of which will require significant research. 304-001 TR 12:30-1:45 304-002 TR 2:00-3:15 Writing for Teachers Victor Malo BR 281 This course will introduce theoretical foundations and instructional strategies for teaching writing in secondary schools. We will begin by examining skills such as vocabulary, grammar, brainstorming, prewriting, and basic paragraph structures. We will then address the most frequently encountered/tested writing in secondary schools: narrative, expository/informational, argumentative, and research papers. Techniques such as scaffolding instruction, peer editing/review, alternative forms of assessment, and culturally relevant instruction will play a critical role in this course. We will also examine requirements for on demand standardized writing assessment and discuss how the Common Core State Standards and the new trend in using End of Course tests may impact writing instruction in the future. 306-001 MWF 9:00-9:50 MO 202 306-003 TR 9:30-10:45 MO 106 Essay Writing Hannah Abrams "A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out," says Virginia Woolf. Students in this course will explore the compelling form of the familiar essay. Reading may include selections from TheArt of the Personal Essay, Best American Essays, The Seneca Review, and The Artful Edit. Expect writers to range from George Orwell to David Sedaris, subject matter to move from the death of a moth to a man that works as a Macy's Christmas elf, and style to stretch from the polemic to the braided lyric. Dynamic discussions of the texts will not only generate a shared critical lexicon, but shape readers into writers. Workshops and drafting will evolve students into editors. And, in the end, through research and a variety of exercises on form, students will produce their own portfolio of powerful personal essays. "You are going after wisdom," Phillip Lopate reminds us. 306-002 Essay Writing Jill Gerard TR 9:30-10:45 MO 202 In ENG 306, we will explore the contemporary essay. We will read and discuss model essays but focus mainly on the writing our own essays (expect memoir, profiles, lyric essays, segmented essays and more). All writers are researchers, so be ready for a creative approach to research as well. In addition, we will work on developing critical skills through reading, small peer group critiques, and larger group workshops. The end result will be a portfolio of work that illustrates your understanding of the literary essay. 309-001 Technical Editing Colleen Reilly TR 9:30-10:45 MO 204 Students in this course develop strategies to improve documents and clearly express their plans for revisions orally and in writing. Along the way, they will acquire an interest in and appreciation for the conventions of English grammar, punctuation, and usage. Students work on the fundamentals of effective writing, organization, and design in order to develop the language and proficiencies necessary to edit technical documents, which include forms, manuals, policy handbooks, websites, and other texts used in organizations, and to argue successfully for the changes they make or recommend. Projects prompt students to edit documents comprehensively, addressing everything from the sentences to the overall structure and visual design. 310-001 MWF 10:00-10:50 310-002 MWF 11:00-11:50 Theory and Practice of Editing Shirley Mathews BR 160 Instruction in strengthening the backbone of writing. Course work includes extensive practice in the fundamentals of punctuation and grammar, editing, copyediting and rewriting, all done with an eye to preparing work for publication. Privacy and libel law are examined. Texts: Creative Editing; Media Writer's Handbook, and The Associated Press Stylebook. 311-001 Professional Magazine Writing Shirley Mathews MW 2:00-3:15 MO 202 Nothing tells the whole story the way a magazine piece does, and, in this course, students will have hands-on experience in this long-form style: developing story ideas, interviewing sources, reporting far-ranging topics, shaping their writing and creating a point of view. This course is designed to take a student to the next level of writing and reporting, where the superficial is peeled back, and the deeper reporting begins. No formal textbook is required. 312-001 MWF 12:00-12:50 312-002 MWF 1:00-1:50 Writing for Business Michelle Manning MO 204 Professional writing is not just about crossing all our T's and dotting all our I's properly. Writing on the job requires knowing the types of documents that are familiar to our bosses and coworkers, so they can find information quickly. Each of these documents has certain conventions and requirements we need to master to communicate effectively - and efficiently - in the workplace. In this course, we will focus on analyzing and producing rhetorically effective workplace writing with an eye to audience awareness, using different genres, and developing a professional tone throughout. Students will work individually and collaboratively on projects ranging from letters and resumes to reports and proposals. The course is suitable for students of any major who want to improve their professional writing skills and thus their career potential. By the course's end, students will produce writing artifacts suitable for inclusion in their professional portfolios and will participate in the English in Action Showcase held at the end of the semester. 314-001 Writing and Technology Colleen Reilly TR 2:00-3:15 MO 204 In this course, we will explore how using information and communication technologies contributes to shaping writing practices in communities and organizations. We will work with numerous technologies, including the software used to develop computer-based training, web-authoring applications, and graphics and video design applications. Students will complete individual and group projects and presentations that allow them to analyze and critique specific uses of technologies for writing and design while learning to select and employ technologies to produce their own texts for paper and electronic dissemination. 317-001 Writing about Film Nicholas Laudadio MW 3:30-4:45 MO 207 In this class we will explore what it means to write about film from a critical and analytical perspective. We will begin the course with a review of writing mechanics and film terminology and then turn to a number of feature (and short) films that will serve as focal points for our excursions into academic and journalistic writing. While we will spend some time considering the review, we will concentrate most of our efforts on the critical/analytical essay. Although much of this class concerns itself with film studies and history, it is at heart (and in practice) a writing course, and therefore a writing intensive course. Information on course readings will be available on Blackboard once the course begins. 317-002 TR 11:00-12:15 MO 207 317-003 TR 12:30-1:45 MO 102 Writing about Film John Clifford Primarily a writing course but we focus seriously on 9 documentary films and their narrative and imaginative practices as well as cinematic concerns such as point of view, camera angles, etc. Films include Grizzly Man, The Cove, Exit through the Gift Shop, and Catfish, and more recent films like Queen of Versailles. Assignments are reviews and critical essays. 318-001 Writing and Activism Daniel Noland W 3:30-6:15 MO 101 Why be active? Why work for change? What change? How? What part does writing play in answering these questions? Those and many more vexations will provide our gravitational hub this semester. But one answer is plain: we will be writing (and revising) constantly. Texts: Some to be announced; others to be determined by class. 319-001 Document Design Sarah Hallenbeck MW 3:30-4:45 MO 204 In this course, students will identify, practice, and critique principles of document design. They will reflect on the rhetorical impact of their decisions regarding typography, color, images, and space, as they draft and revise both print and electronic documents. In addition, they will develop strategies for assessing and improving a document's usability, and they will apply their skills to a service-learning project. Texts: Kimball and Hawkins, Document Design: A Guide for Technical Communicators; Williams, The Non-Designers' Design Book. 321-001 TR 9:30-10:45 MO 207 321-002 TR 11:00-12:15 MO 210 Structure of English Language Daniel Noland In this course you will become an expert in themetalanguage of the structures of English, particularly the syntactic ones. You have been a master of most of those structures since early childhood; we need to concentrate on making this knowledge conscious, giving you the ability to describe what you know, and making predictions based on that knowledge. In addition, some of the structures that we deal with in here may be new to you. This deeper understanding of your language should carry over into several related areas, and learning how to apply syntax to your own interests is one of your responsibilities. You need no special linguistic training to succeed. Text: Börjars and Burridge,Introducing English Grammar. 2nd ed. 325-001 MWF 12:00-12:50 325-002 MWF 1:00-1:50 Studies in Sociolinguistics Cala Zubair MO 207 Language is a primary way we indicate aspects of our social identity. Beyond the semantic content of our utterances, speech communicates who we are, where we come from, and what social experience we have had. In this introductory course on sociolinguistics, we study this relationship between language and social identity through a variety of key topics in sociolinguistics: language choice in multilingual speech communities; linguistics varieties and multilingual nations; national language and language planning; regional and ethnic dialects; language, gender, and sexuality; and register, genre, and style. We ask questions such as why do people speak differently in different social contexts, what are the diverse ways speakers use language to signal aspects of their social identity, and what does language reveal about social relationships within a community? 332-001 Shakespeare: Early Play/Poems Michael Wentworth MWF 11:00-11:50 MO 205 William Shakespeare: The Reviews Are In "The answer to the question 'Why Shakespeare?' must be 'Who else is there?'" ---Harold Bloom "With the single exception of Homer, there is no eminent writer, not even Sir Walter Scott, whom I can despise as entirely as I despise Shakespeare when I measure my mind against his. It would be a positive relief to dig him up and throw stones at him." ---George Bernard Shaw "I know not whether Bacon wrote the works of Shakespeare, but if he did not it seems to me that he missed the opportunity of his life." ---James Barrie "He was not of an age, but for all time!" ---Ben Jonson "Shakespeare was the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul. He was naturally learned; he needed not the spectacles of books to read nature; he looked inwards, and found her there." ---John Dryden "To know the force of human genius we should read Shakespeare; to see the insignificance of human learning, we may study his commentators." ---William Hazlitt "The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he really is very good, in spite of all the people who say he is very good." ---Robert Graves The above compilation is but a random sampling of testimonials to Shakespeare's genius, achievement, and enduring influence over the ages. One of the truly amazing aspects of Shakespeare's reputation and popularity is that he has both literally and figuratively "held the stage" during his own career as a professional dramatist and over succeeding centuries up to the present. In terms of the established literary canon, and no disparagement intended, Shakespeare is probably the ultimate "dead white guy," and like the "energizer bunny," he just keeps on going and going and going with no end in sight. Not bad for a small-town kid from the provinces who, without the benefit of a college education, left Stratford-upon-Avon (a village of approximately 1500) to try his luck as an aspiring playwright in London. So how do we account for Shakespeare's enduring status as one of the most prominent figures in world literature and his complementary status as the most famous and the most widely-wide read playwright in the English language whose plays are still performed on a regular basis throughout the world? That's where our course, the focus of which is Shakespeare's early dramatic and poetic career through 1600 (admittedly, a rather arbitrary date), comes into play. Through a careful reading and discussion of eight of Shakespeare's "early" plays, we will attempt to explore and identify the basis for Shakespeare's enduring legacy, influence, and pervasive iconographical status across cultures and continents. At the same time, and more importantly, our course will provide us (and I include myself in your good company) with the opportunity to negotiate and transact our own personal and critical response to each of the assigned plays and, quite aside from the authoritative assessments of Ben Jonson, John Dryden, William Hazlitt, Robert Graves, and others, to arrive at our own measured assessment of Shakespeare's "greatness." In terms of the written texts, this can be a daunting enterprise for the modern reader, who may feel challenged by Shakespeare's language, versification, and a likely unfamiliarity with the many topical, mythological, Biblical, historical, and political allusions in his plays. However daunting, such challenges shouldn't interfere with our enjoyment, appreciation, and larger, "holistic" understanding of the plays themselves. It is worth noting, in this regard, that whatever his eye toward posterity, Shakespeare was a professional dramatist whose livelihood and income depended upon his productivity and the popular reception of his plays on stage. Thus, Peggy O'Brien (the Head of Education at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.) has observed: "Shakespeare's plays were written to be performed—acted and seen on a stage. About half of Shakespeare's plays weren't even published until after his death. . . . Shakespeare wrote his sonnets to be applauded and remembered as a writer. He wrote his plays to make money. And he made lots of it." It is also important to recognize that the popular theater was one of the primary venues of entertainment on every social level and across class lines during Shakespeare's career as a dramatist. As O'Brien further observes, Everyone—all levels of society—went to see Shakespeare's plays.There weren't many other forms of entertainment: no TV; no cable; no DVDs; no videos, hand- held electronic game players, or personal CD players; no CDs; no movies; and only the rudiments of a newspaper. People went to the bear-baiting or bull- baiting ring for a thrill, they went to a public execution or two—and they went to the theater. Experiencing a play in the Globe Theatre in 1603 was sort of across between going to an Oscar de la Hoya fight and an 'N Sync concert. Thus, though his plays may present any number of challenges for the modern reader, Shakespeare didn't write his plays to be difficult; he wrote his plays to make money and, as Peggy O'Brien notes, he clearly succeeded. Thus, while our course will involve an assiduous, thoughtful, and creative attention to the written texts, we need to recall, once again, that for Shakespeare the written text was secondary to the dramatic presentation and live enactment of the text on stage—which, rather than the written text, served as the primary "rate of exchange" between Shakespeare and his audience, a considerable percentage of whom were uneducated and illiterate. It might be appropriate to conclude, in this regard, with a number of illuminating quotes, the spirit of which should inform our approach to and experience of the assigned plays: "In Shakespeare's plays, you find drunks, ghosts, teenagers running away from home, boy who gets girl, boy who loses girl, king who loses everything, woman caressing her lover's body which is minus its head, woman caressing her lover's head which is minus its body, weddings and celebrations, murder by stabbing, suffocation, decapitation, and drowning in a vat of malmsey wine." ---Peggy O'Brien "There are some parts of the play you'll never understand. But excuse me, I thought that's what great art was supposed to be about. Don't freak out over it. Keep reading." ---Peter Sellers "I went to see a Shakespeare play when I was 15, and it changed my life." ---Kenneth Branagh "If the public likes you, you're good. Shakespeare was a common down-to-earth writer in his day." ---Mickey Spillane Note: Mickey Spillane, who recently passed away in Murrell's Inlet, SC, was a legendary pulp fiction writer, whose hard-boiled detective series (featuring Mike Hammer) enjoyed such immense popularity in the 1950s that Spillane was the most widely read and best-selling author in the U.S. Hence, the implied and admittedly self-flattering connection with Shakespeare. "Children trust Shakespeare because they can still see the plays as play, with all the joy and wonder of discovery that this truly entails." As of mid-September 2012, the US State Department re-issued its travel warning to American citizens interested in going to Pakistan. That warning reads, in part, "Threat reporting indicates terrorist groups continue to seek opportunities to attack locations where U.S. citizens and Westerners are known to congregate or visit, such as shopping areas, hotels, clubs and restaurants, places of worship, schools, and outdoor recreation events. Terrorists have disguised themselves as Pakistani security personnel to gain access to targeted areas. Some media reports have falsely identified U.S. diplomats – and to a lesser extent U.S. and other Western journalists and non-governmental organization workers – as being intelligence operatives or private security personnel." Such framings of Pakistan-as-threatening pervade many of the representations of this nation with which you may already be familiar. Compare the thrust of the State Department's stance to this description of Pakistan, penned by Mohsin Hamid, one of the nation's most celebrated young novelists: "We have transvestite talk-show hosts, advocates for 'eunuch rights', burqa-wearers, turbaned men with beards, outstanding fast bowlers, mediocre opening batsmen, tribal chieftans, bhang-drinking farmers, semi-nomadic shepherds, and at least one champion female sprinter." The differences between these two representations of Pakistan define the project of this course: without diminishing or dismissing the real violence occurring in Pakistan, we will examine our own cultural references to this nation alongside the vibrant and varied literary imaginaries created by Pakistani writers who number among the finest authors working in postcolonial/South Asian/global literatures today. Through our exploration of Pakistani literature, we'll examine how literature engages with historical events and narratives; conjures that nation's linguistic, ethnic, and geographical diversity; represents the status of minority communities; and intervenes in two-dimensional framings of "Muslim" or "Pakistan" so frequently propagated by non-Pakistani sources. We'll read works by Mohsin Hamid, Mohammad Hanif, Uzma Aslam Khan, Daniyal Mueenuddin, Jamil Ahmed, Sorayya Khan, Kamila Shamsie, Bapsi Sidhwa, and others. Students will participate actively, moderate class discussion, write in a variety of formats, and come away with more questions than answers. 344-001 U.S. Latino Literature Barbara Waxman TR 2:00-3:15 MO 205 U.S. Latino/a writers with cultural and ancestral ties to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Peru, and Cuba are changing the landscape of American literature with their imaginative and energetic writing. We read closely poetry, fiction, plays, and memoirs by Sandra Cisneros, Junot Diaz, Julia Alvarez, José Rivera, Carlos Eire, Marie Arana, Virgil Suarez, and Cristina Garcia, using the guidance of feminist theory, reader-response criticism, and cultural studies. Machismo's influence on gender roles and Gloria Anzaldua's work on the New Mestiza enrich our discussion, as does recent scholarship on Latin literature. Themes of multicultural identity in tension with the mainstream American culture are a prominent thread of class discussions. History in fiction is another theme. Students write two essays: one is analytical (on poetry or play), and the other asks students to research the cultural community of one Latin author as framework for the discussion of the novel or memoir. Readings include: Woman Hollering Creek (Cisneros), This Is How You Lose Her (Diaz), Learning to Die in Miami (Eire), American Chica (Arana), Marisol and Other Plays (Rivera), 90 Miles: New and Selected Poems (Suarez), Saving the World (Alvarez) and The Lady Matador's Hotel (Garcia). 356-001 American Indian Literature Lee Schweninger TR 12:30-1:45 MO 207 This course will offer you an in-depth look at several American Indian writers from the 20th- and 21st centuries. We will look at a couple earlier writers such as William Apess (Pequot), Luther Standing Bear (Sioux), and Charles Eastman (Sioux) and at writers of the so-called American Indian Renaissance: Momaday (Kiowa), Welch (Blackfeet/Gros Ventre), Vizenor (Anishinaabe), and Erdrich (Anishinaabe). We will also read some of the younger, more recent writers such as Susan Power (Dakota), Sherman Alexie (Coeur d'Alene), Aaron Carr (Navajo), Sarah Vowell (Cherokee), and Toni Jensen (Métis). We will consider the very important historical and political contexts of the writings and also look at the other arts, especially American Indian painting of the same era. For this class, you will be asked to keep an informal reading response journal, to write formal short response essays, be responsible for the readings and class discussions, and to take occasional reading quizzes and mid-semester and a final essay exams. You will also be asked to lead class discussion at least once during the semester. As this will be a discussion-based class, your contributions are critical and thus attendance, participation, and attention to the readings will be required. This course fulfills the University Studies Living in a Diverse Nation requirement. 357-001 African American Literature to 1945 Marlon Moore TR 12:30-1:45 MO 201 Through the theme "Flight Patterns," this course examines various depictions of migration, escape, and flight imagery in the African American literary tradition, from the oldest texts in the oral tradition through the post-war era. We will consider the role of such depictions as storytelling devices, as well as the ways they illuminate notions of family, sexuality, racial and regional identities, and class status. Students will locate, summarize and interpret one course-related critical essay in an oral presentation, produce response essays throughout the semester, and take a final exam. Text: McKay and Gates, Norton Anthology of African American Literature 2nd ed. 361-001 Studies in Short Fiction John Clifford MWF 11-11:50 MO 201 A discussion oriented class focused on an analysis of short fiction written since 1945. We begin with an anthology of classic American stories by such masters as Cheever, Ellison, Updike, Carver, Le Guin and Oates. In the second half we will read O'Brien's The Things They Carried and the O'Henry Prize Stories from 2012. Two short papers and two exams. 362-002 Studies in the Novel Tiffany Gilbert MWF 1:00-1:50 MO 201 Fought on two fronts—domestic and corporate—the battle for the American Dream escalated into an existential crisis in the 1950s. The home, once treasured as a sanctuary, weighed heavily like an albatross around the necks of postwar husbands and wives: a money pit for him, a prison for her. More painful than mortgages for suburbanites, however, was the realization that they—unlike their country, which believed completely in its "exceptionalism"—were not special. They were average, conducting lives as prefab and unoriginal as William Levitt's tract houses. In the hinterlands of suburbia, the pleasing belch of Tupperware, the glimmering linoleum, and the polished chrome of the latest Sunbeam appliance furnished these lives in opulent predictability. This course examines the rise of the suburban novel after World War II. As the low-grade discontentment that simmered beneath driveways and in living rooms finally broke through in the literature of the period, we will critique how authors like Sloan Wilson, Richard Yates, Rick Moody, A. M. Homes, and John Updike chronicled the phenomenon in a modern vernacular of aspiration and angst. 365-001 Studies in Drama: Eugene O'Neill and His Contemporaries Keith Newlin TR 2:00-3:15 MO 101 This course will study the rise of American theater in the 1920s and 1930s. Although Eugene O'Neill's innovative plays will form the nucleus of the course, we will also examine representative works of his contemporaries to understand how the American theater transformed itself from a derivative art into a vibrant and exciting modernism. Some of the issues we will explore include the role of the little theater in educating audiences to appreciate more innovative fare; the obsession toward experiment with expressionistic and symbolistic staging techniques; the search for mythic representations of American history and its accompanying search for modern tragedy, and the role of depression-era theater and the issue of art vs. propaganda. Texts: O'Neill, Complete Plays, 1920-1931; Rice, Three Plays; Treadwell, Machinal; Odets, Waiting for Lefty and Other Plays; and others as PDFs. European Literature to 1900 emphasizes continental European narrative styles from the Early Renaissance to the mid-19th century. We will travel through Italy, Spain, France, and Germany to uncover some of the predominant themes of the times. Narrative techniques--such matters as point of view, plot construction, imagery, characterization, and that elusive quality we call style--will be stressed to the extent that they help us to understand the role of storytelling as a means of instruction and entertainment. Works to be discussed include: Boccaccio's Decameron, Cervantes' Don Quixote, Lafayette's Princesse de Clèves, Goethe's Sorrows of Young Werther, and Flaubert's A Simple Heart. 373-001 Women's Literary Tradition Janet Ellerby TR 11:00-12:15 MO 201 For this class, we will read, discuss, and write about 18th, 19th, and 20th century novels in order to explore the ways women writers have made sense of their experiences in stories. Given that Austen, the Brontes, Eliot, Woolf, and Wharton lived and wrote under the sometimes protective but inevitably the oppressive authority of patriarchy, we will investigate how they reiterated, interrogated, and contested patriarchal expectations. We will pay close attention to the historical contexts of the novels, especially the social construction of gender, identity, femininity, masculinity, and sexual desire. Reading to include: Austen, Sense and Sensibility, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre; Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights; Eliot, Mill on the Floss; Woolf, To the Lighthouse; Wharton, Age of Innocence; Oates, We Were the Mulvaneys. Work to include informal responses, 2 essay tests, 1 formal paper 375-001 American and British Poetry since 1945 Alex Porco MWF 11:00-11:50 MO 202 This course will examine American and British poetry since 1945. By semester's end, students will be familiar with popular figures of the period, including Elizabeth Bishop, Gwendolyn Brooks, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Larkin, Sylvia Plath, Margaret Atwood, Seamus Heaney, and Eavan Boland. However, a major emphasis throughout the semester will be avant-garde poetry that challenges the formal, social, political, and institutional parameters of poetry. Accordingly, students will engage with works by the likes of John Cage, Russell Atkins, Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Frank O'Hara, Amiri Baraka, Ed Dorn, Hannah Weiner, Maggie O'Sullivan, Aram Saroyan, Clark Coolidge, Christian Bok, and Caroline Bergvall. We will always be thinking reflexively about the following questions: what constitutes "a poem"? What kinds of materials and language(s) can a poem absorb? How and where are poems produced and consumed? What is the relationship between poetry and music, or poetry and the visual arts? What is the relationship between formal innovation and radical politics? Students will alternate between reading selected anthology pieces— the "greatest hits" of post-1945 American and British poetry, if you will— and exciting full-length collections and book-length long poems. The latter allows for sustained and rigorous engagement with the work of single poets. Texts will include The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry – Vol. 2; Ezra Pound, The Pisan Cantos; Ed Dorn, Gunslinger; Leonard Cohen, Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs; Hannah Weiner, Hannah Weiner's Open House; David Antin, i never knew what time it was; M. NourbeSe Philip, Zong!, as well as selections from the University of Utah's ECLIPSE digital archive. Also, throughout the term (when possible), students will engage with poetry recordings, thus developing close listening skills as a complement to close reading skills. Finally, students are expected to attend supplementary film screenings related to the course (e.g., Polis is This: Charles Olson and the Persistance of Place; Ladies and Gentleman… Mr. Leonard Cohen; and the 2010 feature film, Howl, starring James Franco). Note: attendance and participation are essential to success in the class. 380-001 Literature for Children Katie Peel MWF 10:00-10:50 MO 202 In this course we will explore children's literature across both time and genre, from centuries-old nursery rhymes to contemporary novels. Our close readings of texts and illustrations will apply different critical theories, and consider the role of children's literature in both history and popular culture. We will, lastly, consider the relationship between the adults who write, illustrate, market, and choose children's books, and the children who read and experience them. While this course is a selective survey of the history and genres of children's literature, we will pay special attention to issues of labor, which are intimately connected to the history of what it means to be a child. In the Western world, the past few centuries have seen a move from agrarian cultures in which children were expected to share the family's workload, to the development of a Romantic ideal of childhood as a state that required protection, and influenced some of the first child labor laws, to the economic necessities of child labor in the Great Depression and World War II, to the development of the 20th century idea of the teenager who worked for his or her own pocket money, to the policing of human rights violations regarding child labor worldwide. One of the functions of children's literature is to instruct the reader on how the world works. What kinds of representations of childhood and labor (both children's and adults') do we find in children's literature? This course will develop your critical understanding of children's literature through analysis of children's books not only as works of art, but also as powerful cultural influences. 381-001 Literature for Young Adults Victor Malo TR 9:30-10:45 BR 281 In this course we will examine both classic and contemporary young adult literature as scholars, educators, and readers. From each standpoint we will apply various critical lenses such as Marxist/social class, feminist, queer theory, archetypal/genre, and postcolonial to readings in order to gain a deeper understanding of the various roles young adult literature plays in the lives of its readers both in and out of formal schooling. We will also consider how young adult literature can play a role in identity formation, in preventing bullying, in decreasing sexual violence, in reducing homophobia, and in addressing adolescent issues such as drug use, eating disorders, and self-mutilation. This course may include titles such as: Speak, Hunger Games, Monster, Geography Club, Black and White, Crank, 47, Luna, Shooter, The Outsiders, Holes, Go Ask Alice, Touching Spirit Bear, Hatchet, and Uglies. 381-002 Literature for Young Adults Meghan Sweeney TR 2:00-3:15 MO 207 Throughout the semester, we will examine a broad range of literature, including novels, memoirs, advice books, and graphic narratives about and for adolescents. We will read these texts sympathetically and critically, paying particular attention to the influence of youth culture and popular culture more broadly. What does it mean to be an adolescent in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries? How (and why) are adolescents idealized/villainized/ portrayed "authentically" in YA texts and adult crossover texts, and what might "authentically" mean? We will pay particular attention to the ways YA literature confronts issues of otherness, constructs alternate worlds, and is marketed to its target audience. 382-001 Ways of Teaching Literature Michelle Manning MWF 9:00-9:50 MO 101 The "I Don't Like English" Literature Class: Although primarily designed for English Education majors who are working towards teacher licensure K-12, this class is open to all students interested in analyzing how literature is taught. Using an intertextual or "transactional" pedagogical approach to the study of literature, this course seeks strategies to engage even the most reluctant readers in the class by using dark themes as a way to entice resistant readers, especially male students who studies show lag significantly behind female readers. In addition to popular texts, students read challenged, banned or censored selections from all levels (elementary to high school) to reflect on their own individual responses and experiences to literature, to examine the underlying pedagogy of best practices, and then to create lessons incorporating those theories. We will learn the basics of connecting classics to contemporary texts, using more relatable, engaging, and even simpler texts to lead students to a deeper understanding of a more difficult text. By making connections to past texts they have encountered, examining strategies that past teachers have used, and connecting to others in their course community, students will learn how to use innovative and age-appropriate teaching methods. 386-001 Critical Theory Nicholas Laudadio MW 2:00-3:15 MO 201 This course will introduce you to some of the major critical and theoretical texts that have influenced our perception of literary and cultural studies since the late nineteenth century. Throughout the semester, we will explore notions of intertextuality, difference, hegemony, and ideology as we read authors like Ferdinand de Saussure, Roland Barthes, and Michel Foucault. This is a challenging class, but it can also be a rewarding one if you are willing to immerse yourself in the material. We will be using the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, Second Edition as well as numerous online readings and you will be required to take close reading notes and keep up. 389-001 Rhetorical Theory since 1900 Anthony Atkins TR 11:00-12:15 MO 102 This course picks up just after the 19th century rhetoricians. Students will be exposed to 20th and 21st century rhetoricians and the history or rhetoric. While rhetoricians like Kenneth Burke and I.A. Richards are rhetoricians who make significant contributions to rhetorical theory, we will also view Donna Haraway and N. Kathryn Hales as twenty-first century rhetoricians. Rhetoric, argument, and persuasion are intricately connected, and understanding the nature of how persuasion and rhetoric can enhance the impact of communication is necessary for critical thinking and critical analyses of culture, politics, and everyday social situations. The goal of the course is to give students a solid history of rhetoric in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. At the end of the course, we want to rethink what it means to be a twenty-first century rhetorician. 390-001 Studies in Literature: Holocaust Narrative Katie Peel MWF 12:00-12:50 MO 210 The purpose of this course is to engage students in the critical study of literature produced during and about the Holocaust. Among the most compelling literature of our day is that which records and seeks to interpret the Nazi war of genocide against the Jews. Our task will be a tough one: if, as generally agreed upon, the Holocaust cannot possibly be accurately represented, how, then, can we study it? We will consider issues of representation, voice, and genre, as well as study current events and controversies regarding Holocaust history and narrative. The scope of this course historically is from early twentieth-century European narrative through present-day global narrative. Literarily, the scope covers narratives across genre, from poetry to short story to drama to testimony to film to historical and art objects. We will seek to make connections to other literatures of marginalized groups, studies of oppressed peoples, human rights concerns, discussions of individual and communal responsibilities, and significant ethical questions from both the time period of the Holocaust to those that we face today. These kinds of connections are useful in enhancing an understanding of how the Holocaust was implemented, and also our individual responsibilities to each other today. This course can be taken as part of the Judaic Studies Cluster. 390-003 Studies in Literature: Beat Generation Michael Wentworth MWF 1:00-1:50 MO 205 Let's play a little game called "Name that decade." Ready? Based on the following clues, "Name that decade." "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." "Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, free at last." "Now come on all of you big strong men Uncle Sam needs your help again Got himself in a terrible jam Way down yonder in Vietnam Put down your books pick up your gun Gonna have a whole lot of fun." "Hey, Hey, LBJ, How Many Kids Did You Kill Today?" Or to provide an historical frame of reference, at the outset of the decade Democrats John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson won the national election over Republicans Richard M. Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., and, perhaps even more significantly, Elvis Presley completed his army tour of duty in Germany. By the end of the decade, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X had been assassinated, Dwight D. Eisenhower (one of the most notable icons of the previous decade) had died of natural causes, the U.S. was embroiled in the Vietnam War, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization was established under the leadership of Yasser Arafat. Well, it probably didn't take you long "to catch on." We're talking, of course, about the "60's" in America, a decade you very well may have lived through yourself or heard about second hand from your parents and possibly even your grandparents. While the whole notion of "decades" is admittedly arbitrary and historically naïve, still certain decades in American life over the past century are foregrounded by key developments on the national scene or by a distinctive zeitgeist: "the roaring 20's"; the Depression years (1930s); the World War II years (l940s); the 50s; and the focus of our course, the 1960s. Compared to the frequent, though oversimplified, characterization of the 50s as a decade of unprecedented prosperity and the accompanying materialistic pursuit of the "good life," the 60s were marked by radical turbulence and social upheaval that manifested it- self in a broad spectrum of revolutionary movements, ranging from the Civil Rights Movement and the women's movement—both of which were actually grounded in the 50s—to the anti-war movement, the free speech movement, the Black Arts movement, and the environmental movement. It would, of course, be impossible to amply cover all of the major social, political, and cultural aspects of the 60s over a fifteen-week period. As a result, "this time out" our course will focus on the development of a distinctive counterculture in the 60s and such ancillary topics as rock 'n' roll, poster art, underground "comix," psychedelics, the "summer of love," the sexual revolution, and alternative social experiments. I hope to make this class as casual and informal as possible. While I will provide a sense of guidance and structure, what matters most in the course is your thoughtful and meaningful interaction with and response to the assigned readings. The course will thus be slanted more toward informal discussion than formal lectures. To facilitate such discussion, I would emphasize the importance of reading critically; if you haven't already developed the habit, learn to read with a pencil or pen—underlining key points/passages, raising questions, noting personal insights and perceptions, identifying illuminating cross-references with other texts, the current arena of local, national, and international affairs, other academic courses you have taken, and, as relevant, your own personal history. "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." --Hunter S. Thompson "The answer is never the answer. The need for mystery is always greater than the need for answers." --Ken Kesey "When you don't know where you're going, you have to stick together just in case someone gets there." --Ken Kesey Texts: Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Kotzwinkle, The Fan Man; Ed McClanahan, ed., Spit in the Ocean: All about Kesey; Miles, Hippie; Ohle, Roger Martin, and Susan Brosseau, eds., Cows Are Freaky When They Look at You: An Oral History of the Kaw Valley Hemp Pickers; Roskind, Memoirs of an Ex-Hippie; Hunter Thompson, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream; Hunter Thompson,Gonzo Papers, volume 1: The Great Shark Hunt—Strange Tales from a Strange Time; Tom Wolfe, Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. "Always stay in your own movie." --Ken Kesey 495-001 Senior Seminar: A Literature of Insanity from Dracula to Dexter Mark Boren M 3:30-6:15 MO 202 This course will explore and chart the conceptual and aesthetic development of insanity, particularly as it relates to the construction of the Romantic ego and the gothic genre, itself a catch-all for texts dealing with such things as the supernatural, sexual ambiguity, violence, perversions, and myriad marginalized social human practices and beliefs. Using psychoanalytic and genre theory, we'll chart an evolution of "the insane ego" from its beginnings until today and seek to discover not only how it has been historically constructed and what ends it has socially served, but why, at this particular moment in time does it today have such a tremendous presence in popular culture. 495-002 Reading Virginia Woolf Janet Ellerby TR 2:00-3:15 MO 201 This course will follow 3 paths: We will read much of Woolf's fiction in order to familiarize ourselves with her styles, themes, and efforts to both subvert and appropriate Western literary traditions. We will "visit" Bloomsbury in order to get inside her social and scholarly group. And, we will read some of her nonfiction in order to understand her life story on her own terms. With each step, we will come to know this legendary intellectual, extraordinary empathizer, and self-reflecting novelist. Finally, I hope our paths will converge as we imagine the lighthouse beam going round and hear the sound of the waves breaking on the shore. Reading to include: The Voyage Out; Jacob's Room; Mrs. Dalloway; To the Lighthouse; Orlando; A Room of One's Own; The Waves; Moments of Being. Work to include informal responses and 2 well-researched seminar papers. 496-001 Senior Seminar: Data lives: Revisioning digital and information literacies for professional writing Colleen Reilly TR 11:00-12:15 MO 204 Our social and commercial activities in digital environments leave traces of our data lives and ensure that data about us lives in numerous electronic spaces. Professional writers working in organizations need to mine the data generated as the byproduct of digital interactions and transactions to answer questions important for advancing their endeavors. In this course, students will enhance their digital and information literacies by learning to develop research questions and deploy the appropriate tools needed for data driven research that will increasingly inform the activities of professional writers in the 21st century. Students will complete individual and collaborative projects and deliver presentations designed to aid them to move from generating data through their activities in electronic spaces to locating and using the available data to effectively and ethically achieve their professional goals. 496-002 Senior Seminar: Twisted Rhetorics: Interpreting and Responding to Texts that Transgress Diana Ashe TR 3:30-4:45 MO 204 So much of what we encounter seems, well, twisted. It may be an ancient form like satire or parody—Stephen Colbert's shtick fits this category. It may be a contemporary (or contemporary-seeming) ploy like the gambits of the Westboro Baptist Church, seeking to offend with bold intention. It may be a mundane office communication that has gone awry, making you wonder, "What were they thinking?" This course will explore those instances in which messages defy expectations and cross the boundaries of typical, polite communication. Because we'll always encounter these messages, in politics, in religion, in our social lives, at home and at work, we need a critical toolkit for understanding and handling them. Through theoretical readings and plenty of examples from Diogenes to the Dropkick Murphys, we'll explore what it means to transgress—and what that transgression tells us about the unstated expectations being violated. You'll have the opportunity to practice interpreting and responding to transgressive texts, argue about the purposes and value of transgressive texts, and research the transgressive texts that challenge you most. Texts: Foss, Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice. Helpful Links Your donations are greatly appreciated and help us to increase the support for students, faculty, academic programs, research, regional engagement, and global outreach to achieve excellence in all aspects of the UNCW experience.	eng	499a3c8b-abfe-49e1-9030-9f3dceac8762	http://www.uncw.edu/english/undergraduate/descriptionss.html
Elementary Foraging Models Peter Pirolli Publisher: Oxford University Press DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195173321.003.0002 Abstract and Keywords This chapter provides a general overview of conventional models of optimal foraging with simple illustrations of how they can apply to idealized human—information interaction tasks. Two conventional optimal foraging models are presented in detail: (a) the patch model, which addresses decisions related to searching and exploiting an environment that has a patchy distribution of resources, and (b) the diet model, which addresses what kinds of things to eat and what to ignore. These conventional models make unrealistic assumptions about the fine-grained details of cognition but they provide useful first approximations to information-foraging situations. These classic optimal-foraging models are applied to idealized examples of using search engines and dealing with e-mail that contains spam. The detailed analyses and models presented in later chapters draw upon various parts of optimal foraging theory as well as other general approaches to rational analysis. This chapter provides a very general overview of the conventional models of optimal foraging (Stephens & Krebs, 1986 ). These conventional models make unrealistic assumptions about the fine-grained details of cognition—for instance, they assume perfect knowledge of the environment—but at the rational band of analysis (see chapter 1 ) they provide useful first approximations to information foraging situations. When the details of these models are elaborated by assumptions about the limitations of the cognitive architecture, they have resulted in highly predictive models such as SNIF-ACT (chapter 5 ) and ACT-IF (chapter 6 ). The approach taken in this chapter is to present several basic foraging models and then illustrate the models with idealized examples from food foraging and from information foraging. Like illustrations used in physics that require the assumption of frictionless surfaces, the examples of food foraging and information foraging are purposely simplified in order to focus the discussion on the rational models. The complexity of the real world will be met head-on in later chapters. Optimal Foraging Theory As implied by its name, Information Foraging Theory has drawn heavily upon models and techniques developed in optimal foraging theory (Stephens & Krebs, 1986 ). Optimal foraging theory seeks to explain adaptations of organism structure and behavior to the environmental problems and constraints of foraging for food. Optimal foraging theory originated in attempts to address puzzling findings that arose in ethological studies of food seeking and prey selection among animals (Stephens & Krebs, 1986 ). For instance, why would a predator eat a particular kind of prey in one environment but ignore the same prey in (p. 31 ) another environment? It has had an enormous impact in anthropology (Smith & Winterhalder, 1992 ), where it has been used to explain dietary choice (Kaplan & Hill, 1992 ), variations in land tenure and food sharing (Smith, 1987 ), group size (Smith, 1981 ), habitat choice (Cashdan, 1992 ), time allocation (Hames, 1992 ), and many other aspects of hunter-gatherer culture. Independent of the development of Information Foraging Theory, Sandstrom ( 1994 ) has suggested that optimal foraging theory may successfully address the complex empirical phenomena that arise in the scientific literatures. Optimal foraging theory (Stephens & Krebs, 1986 ) seeks to explain adaptations of organism structure and behavior to the environmental problems and constraints of foraging for food. A key assumption is that animals (including humans) should have well-designed food-seeking strategies because higher rates of energy consumption should generally translate in higher reproductive success. 1 Consider a hypothetical predator, such as a bird of prey. Its fitness will depend on its reproductive success, which in turn will depend on how well it finds food that provides energy. The environment surrounding this bird will have a patchy structure, with different types of habitat (e.g., meadows, woodlots, and ponds) containing different amounts and kinds of prey. For the bird of prey, different types of habitat and prey will yield different amounts of net energy if included in the diet. Furthermore, the different prey types will have different distributions over the environment. For the bird of prey, this means that the different habitats or prey will have different access or navigation costs. Different species of birds of prey might be compared on their ability to extract energy from the environment. Birds are better adapted if they have evolved strategies that better solve the problem of maximizing the amount of energy returned per amount of effort. Conceptually, the optimal forager is one that has the best solution to the problem of maximizing the rate of net energy returned per effort expended, given the constraints of the environment in which it lives. In their comprehensive survey of the field, Stephens and Krebs ( 1986 ) begin with discussion of two conventional models: (a) the patch model, which addresses decisions related to searching and exploiting an environment that has a patchy distribution of resources, and (b) the diet model, which addresses what kinds of things to eat and what to ignore. I follow their discussion using some simple hypothetical examples. As with many elegant theoretical models, these are certainly wrong in detail, but they provide understanding and insight. It should be noted that there are many other optimal foraging models in the literature that consider many other fascinating decision problems. Stephens and Krebs ( 1986 ) provide an excellent introduction to many of these models in behavioral ecology, Winterhalder and Smith ( 1992b ) collect many summary papers in the study of human behavior, Mangel and Clark ( 1988 ) present dynamic models of foraging, and Bell ( 1991 ) provides an excellent summary of observed food search strategies in the context of optimal foraging theory. Patch Model Chapter 1 presents a summary version of Charnov's Marginal Value Theorem (Charnov, 1976 ), which was developed in optimal foraging theory to deal with predictions of the amount of time an organism would forage in a patch before leaving to search for another. This is the conventional patch model in optimal foraging theory. Here, I provide a more detailed account of Charnov's Marginal Value Theorem, and additional mathematical details are presented in the appendix. Characterizing Foraging in Patches by the Rate of Gain As discussed in chapter 1 , the conventional patch model deals with situations in which organisms face an environment in which food is distributed in a patchy manner. By analogy, information patch models may deal with situations in which the information forager deals with information that is distributed in a patchy manner. For instance, chapters, books, bookshelves, and libraries impose a hierarchical structure on the arrangement of information. Our offices tend to have a patchy structure that evolves from use. For instance, my immediate desk work area may contain a variety of information items that are involved in some current task. Within arms' reach there may be a variety of piles of documents that may contain topically related content (e.g., my pile of papers about foraging theory) or task-related content (e.g., my itinerary and receipts related to a travel expense report). Within the office there are also file cabinets (with a hierarchically organized file system), bookshelves, and books. As discussed in chapter 3 , the World Wide Web also exhibits a patchy structure. figure 2.1 A hypothetical bird forages in an environment consisting of patches containing berry clusters. The foraging behavior can be characterized in terms of total rewards (G) and time spent between (TB) and within (TW) patches. Figure 2.1 presents the idealized view of a forager assumed in the conventional patch model. It is assumed that a forager, such as a bird, searches through the environment and on occasion encounters a patch of food resources, such as a berry bush containing clusters of berries. The forager must expend some amount of between-patch time getting to the next food patch. Once in a patch, the forager engages in within-patch foraging and faces the decision of continuing to forage in the patch or leaving to seek a new one. Frequently, as an animal forages within a patch, the amount of food diminishes or depletes. For instance, a bird might deplete the berries on a bush as it eats them. In such cases, there will be a point at which the expected future gains from foraging within a current patch of food diminish to the point that they are less than the expected gains that could be made by leaving the patch and searching for a new one. To generalize across the two domains of food foraging and information foraging, let us assume that the activity of foraging results in some total gain, G, in some measurable thing of value. In the case of food foraging, this may be the number of calories of energy gained from eating. In the case of information foraging, this might be some other utility that results from achieving a goal. Figure 2.2a is a hypothetical graph of the cumulative gains for the foraging behavior illustrated in figure 2.1 . The time expended on the forager's search process proceeds left to right on the abscissa of the graph in figure 2.2a . As depicted in figure 2.1 , the hypothetical forager encounters one patch, consumes a couple of berry clusters, leaves the patch, searches for a new patch, encounters a second patch, and consumes a couple of more berry clusters. For simplicity, figure 2.2a assumes that the cumulative rewards gained from consuming the berry clusters in figure 2.1 come in discrete chunks. Each time a cluster of berries is consumed, the cumulative gains jump up in figure 2.2a . As time proceeds to the right in figure 2.2a , some gains accumulate in the first patch encountered, no further gains accumulate between patches, and some more gains are added after encountering the second patch. figure 2.2 (a)The cumulative gain of rewards for the behavior of the hypothetical forager in figure 2.1 , and (b) the average rate of gain R expressed as a ratio of total rewards (G) to the total between-patch time (TB) and total with-patch time (TW). The patch model assumes that the total foraging time of the hypothetical bird can be divided into two (p. 33 ) mutually exclusive activities: (a) the total amount of time spent between patches (searching for the next patch), TB, and (b) exploiting within patches TW (e.g., handling and consuming the berries). 2 Figure 2.2b is a rearrangement of the plot in figure 2.2a . In figure 2.2b , the right portion of the graph plots the cumulative gains shown in figure 2.2a purely as a function of the within-patch foraging time TW. Figure 2.2b also graphically illustrates the average rate of gain or rewards, R, which, as will become clear, is the key factor that characterizes the efficiency of the forager. The average rate of gain of value (calories; utility), R, is the ratio of the net value accumulated, G, divided by the total time spent between and with patches: (2.1) (The appendix lists the definitions of variable used in models throughout this chapter.) Holling's Disk Equation: Using Averages to Characterize the Rate of Gain Figure 2.2 (and equation 2.1 ) characterizes the average rate of gain, R, in terms of total rewards gained and total time taken. This formulation is not particularly useful, but with some additional assumptions, it can be used to develop a way of characterizing the average rate of gain in terms of averages (rather than totals). The assumptions are as follows: 1. The number of patches foraged is linearly related to the amount of time spent in between-patch foraging activities. 2. The average time between patches, when searching, is tB. 3. The average gain per patch is g. 4. The average time to process each patch is tW. On average, as the forager searches for patches, the patches will be encountered at an average rate of (2:2) This rate can be used to define the expected total cumulative gain, G, as a linear function of between-patch foraging time, (2:3) In equation 2.3 , λTB is the product of the total time spent searching for patches multiplied by the average rate of encountering patches, which produces the expected total number of patches that will be encountered. Since each patch produces an average reward, g, the product λTBg gives the expected total cumulative gain. Likewise, the expected total amount of within-patch time can be represented as (2:4) Equation 2.4 multiplies the expected number of patches encountered λTB by the average amount of within-patch foraging time, tW. Given the assumptions listed above, equation 2.1 can be rewritten to express the expected average rate of gain, (2.5) This is what is known as Holling's Disk Equation (Holling, 1959 ). 3 In contrast to equation 2.1 , which requires knowledge about total times and rewards, Holling's Disk Equation is expressed in terms of averages that could be obtained by sample measurements from an environment. Holling's Disk Equation serves as the basis for deriving several optimal foraging models. Stephens and Charnov ( 1982 ) have shown that broadly applicable stochastic assumptions lead asymptotically to equation 2.5 as foraging time grows large. Additional Characterizations of the Environment: Prevalence and Profitability Two useful characterizations of the foraging environment can be made using equation 2.5 as context (see figure 2.3 ). In comparison to some baseline environment containing a patchy distribution of resources (figure 2.3a ), another environment may be "richer" because it has a higher prevalence of patches (figure 2.3b ). In comparison to figure 2.3a , the average time spent between patches is expected to be decrease in figure 2.3b because patches are more prevalent. Another way that the environment can become richer is because the patches themselves yield a higher rate of reward (figure 2.3c ). In other words, the patches are more profitable. figure 2.3 In comparison to some baseline patchy environment (a), another foraging environment may be richer because patches are more prevalent (b) or because the patches themselves are more profitable (c). In Holling's Disk Equation (equation 2.5 ), the prevalence of patches is captured by λ (the rate of encountering patches). Increased prevalence would mean that the average time between patches, tB, would decrease, and the rate λ = 1/tB would increase. The profitability, π, of patches can be defined as the a ratio of the net rewards gained from a patch to the time cost of within-patch foraging, Within-Patch Gain Curves The conventional patch model of optimal foraging theory (Stephens & Krebs, 1986 ) is an elaboration of equation 2.5 . It addresses the optimal allocation of total time to between-patch activities versus within patch activities, under certain strong assumptions. Rather than having a fixed average gain per patch and a fixed average within-patch cost, the patch model assumes (a) that there may be different kinds of patches and (b) that the expected gains from a patch can depend on the within-patch foraging time, which is under the control of the forager. The optimization problem is how much time to spend in each kind of patch before leaving to search for another. The conventional patch model (Stephens & Krebs, 1986 ) assumes that the environment can be characterized as consisting of P different patch types that can be indexed using i = 1, 2, …, P. The conventional patch model assumes that the forager must expend some amount of time going from one patch to the next. Once in a patch, the forager faces the decision of continuing to forage in the patch or leaving to seek a new one. Each type of patch is characterized by λi, the prevalence (or encounter rate) of patches of type i, tWi, the patch residence time, which is the amount of time the forager spends within patches of type i, and gi(tWi), the gain function for patches of type i that specifies the expected net gain as a function of foraging time spent within type i patches. As discussed in the appendix, the conventional patch model can be expressed as a variant of Holling's Disk Equation (equation 2.5 ): (2:6) The numerator of equation 2.6 sums the expected gains from encountered patches of each type, and the denominator sums the time spent between and within patches. Figure 2.4 presents a simple kind of gain function. In this example, there is a linear increase in cumulative within-patch gains up to the point at which the patch is depleted. In the information foraging domain, this might occur, for example, for an information forager who collects relevant citations from a finite list of citations returned by a search engine, where the relevant items occur randomly in the list. figure 2.4 A gain function, g, characterizing a type of patch that yields rewards as a linear function of within-patch time, up to the point at which the patch is depleted. As the forager processes the items, the cumulative gain function increases linearly, and when the end of the list is reached, the patch is depleted and the expected cumulative gain function plateaus. Figure 2.5 illustrates graphically how the average rate of gain, R, will vary with different time allocation policies. Imagine that the forager's environment is composed of just one kind of patch that has the simple linear within-patch gain function that eventually depletes, as illustrated in figure 2.4 . Assume that the average time (tB) spent between patches is 1/λi. Imagine that the forager can decide among three possible within-patch time allocation policies, t1, t2, and t, as illustrated in figure 2.5 . To see graphically the average rate of gain R that would be achieved by the different policies, one can plot lines, such as R, from the origin and intersecting with the gain function, gi, at each particular within-patch time policy, such as t1, t2, or t. The slope of these lines will be the average rate of gain because the slope will correspond to the expected amount of value gained from patches, gi(tWi), divided by the average time spent in between-patch activities, tB, and the time spent within patches, tWi. For cases such as figure 2.5 (linear but finite gains), a line, R, tangent to gi and passing through the origin gives a slope equal to the optimal average rate of gain, and an optimal within-patch time allocation policy of t. Policies of staying for shorter periods of time within patches (t1) or longer (t2) yield less than optimal average rates of gain. A forger should stay in such linear gain patches until the patches are exhausted (and no longer than that). When the patch is exhausted, the forager should move on the next patch. figure 2.5 For the gain function in figure 2.4 , a within-patch time allocation policy of t yields an optimal rate of gain (which is the slope of the line R). Time allocation policies that are less than t (e.g., t1)or more than t* (e.g., t2) will yield suboptimal overall rates. Charnov's Marginal Value Theorem Animals often forage in a patch that will have diminishing returns. The example of the hotel Web site in chapter 1 illustrates diminishing returns in the domain of information foraging. As mentioned in chapter 1 , Charnov's ( 1976 ) Marginal Value Theorem was developed to deal with the analysis of time allocation for patches that yield diminishing returns curves, such as the ones depicted in figure 2.1 . The theorem, presented in detail in the appendix, deals with situations in which foraging within a patch has a decelerating expected net gain function, such as those in figure 2.6a . The theorem implies that a forager should remain in a patch as long as the slope of gi (i.e., the marginal value of gi) is greater than the average rate of gain R for the environment. Figure 2.6 shows graphical representations of Charnov's Marginal Value Theorem that appear in many discussions of optimal foraging theory. 4 Figure 2.6a captures the basic relations for the situation in which there is just one kind of patch-gain function. The prevalence of patches in the environment (assuming random distribution) can be captured by either the mean between-patch search time, tB, or the rate at which patches are encountered is λ = 1/tB. To determine the optimal rate of gain, R, one draws (p. 36 ) a line tangent to the gain function gi(tW) and passing through tB to the left of the origin. The slope of the tangent will be the optimal rate of gain, R. The point of tangency also provides the optimal allocation to within-patch foraging time, t. The point of tangency is the point at which the slope (marginal value) of gi is equal to the slope of tangent line, which is the average rate of gain R. figure 2.6 (a) Charnov∗s Marginal Value Theorem states that the rate-maximizing time to spend in patch, t, occurs when the slope of the within-patch gain function g is equal to the average rate of gain, which is the slope of the tangent line R; (b) the average rate of gain increases with decreases in between-patch time costs; and (c) under certain conditions, improvements in the gain function also increase the average rate of gain. To capture figure 2.6 mathematically, for the case in which there is just one kind of patch, let R(tW)be the overall rate of gain as a function of the time allocation policy, and let g′ indicate the marginal value (the derivative or instantaneous slope) of the gain function g. For the case in which there is just one kind of patch, the patch model in equation 2.6 could be stated as (2.7) Then, Charnov's Marginal Value Theorem says that the optimal time to spend within each patch is that value t* that satisfies the equation (2.8) The left side of equation 2.8 is the marginal rate of the expected net within-patch gain function, and the right side is the overall rate of gain. As discussed in more detail in the appendix, for an environment in which there are P types of patches, the overall rate of gain depends on the time allocation policy t^Wi for each type of patch i. Charnov's Marginal Value Theorem says that the optimal set of t^Wi value satisfies the condition that the marginal rate of gain for each type of patch is equal to the overall rate of gain, (2.9) It should be noted that this more general form of Charnov's Marginal Value Theorem, which deals with multiple kinds of patches, is not neatly captured by the simple one-patch model illustrated in figure 2.6 . It is also important to note that the theorem is applied to situations in which the gain function eventually becomes negatively accelerated. Effects of Between-Patch and Within-Patch Enrichment The conventional patch models of optimal foraging theory deal with an unmoldable environment. The forager must optimize its selection of feasible strategies to fit the constraints of the environment. The information forager, however, can often mold the environment to fit the available strategies. This process is called enrichment. (p. 37 ) One kind of environmental enrichment is to reduce the average cost of getting from one information patch to another. That is, the forager can modify the environment so as to minimize the between-patch foraging costs. Office workspaces tend to evolve layouts that seem to minimize the between-patch search cost for needed information. Such enrichment activities create a trade-off problem: Should one invest in reducing between-patch foraging costs, or should one turn to exploiting the patches? A second kind of environmental enrichment involves making information patches that yield better returns of valuable information. That is, the forager can modify the environment so as to improve within-patch foraging results. For example, one may invest time in constructing and refining keyword queries for a search engine so that it returns lists with higher proportions of potentially relevant document citations. One may also enrich information patches by using filtering processes. For instance, people often filter their readings on a topic by first generating and filtering bibliographic citations and abstracts. Many computer systems for electronic mail, news, and discussion lists now include filters. Such enrichment activities create a trade-off problem: Should one continue to enrich patches to improve future within-patch foraging, or should one turn to exploiting them? We may use the conventional patch model to reason qualitatively about these enrichment activities. Figure 2.6b illustrates the effects of enrichment activities that reduce between-patch time costs. As between-patch time costs are reduced from tB1 to tB2, the overall rate of gain increases from the slope of R1 to the slope of R2, and optimal within-patch time decreases from t1∗ to t2∗. Not only does reducing between-patch costs improve the overall average rate of gain, but also the optimal gain is achieved by spending less time within a patch (when the conditions satisfying Charnov's Marginal Value Theorem hold; see the appendix). Figure 2.6c illustrates the effects of enrichment activities that improve the returns from a patch. Figure 2.6c shows that as within-patch foraging gains are improved from g1 to g2, the optimal average rates of gain improve from the slope of R1 to R2 and the optimal within-patch time decreases from t1∗ to t2∗ . Again, within-patch enrichment not only improves the overall rate of gain but also reduces the optimal amount of time needed to spend within patches (when the conditions satisfying Charnov's Marginal Value Theorem hold; see the appendix). Food Foraging Illustration: Birds and Mealworms To illustrate concretely the predictions of the conventional patch model, I use data from one of the earliest tests of the model in Cowie ( 1977 ). Great tits (Parus major) were studied in a large artificial aviary containing artificial trees. The branches of the artificial trees contained sawdust-filled cups containing hidden mealworms. These cups constituted the patches sought out by the birds. Hiding the mealworms in sawdust in the cups produced a diminishing cumulative food-intake curve as in figure 2.6 . Travel time was increased experimentally to effect the between-patch enrichment in figure 2.6b . This was done by placing lids on the sawdust-filled cups containing mealworms. Without the lids, the average time to go from one cup to begin feeding in the next cup took about 5 sec, and with the top on the cup the travel time increased to 20 sec. Figure 2.7 shows that—as predicted—the birds had a policy of leaving patches earlier when the interpatch time was shorter (figure 2.7a ) than when it was higher (figure 2.7b ). To effect an enrichment of the cumulative gain curves, as in figure 2.6c , Cowie ( 1977 ) manipulated the intercatch time of mealworms within the artificial food patches (the cups). As predicted by the model in figure 2.6c , improvements in feeding rates within patches produced shorter within-patch times. Although these empirical studies do find deviations from the conventional patch model, it has been generally successfully studied in a variety of species and environments (Stephens & Krebs, 1986 ). Information Foraging Illustration: Search Engines Chapter 1 presents an illustration involving the search for the lowest two-star hotel price in Paris on a hotel Web site. Imagine an even more idealized case in which there is an information worker whose job is to take information-seeking tasks from a queue that arrives by some electronic means such as e-mail, perform searches on the Web for those tasks, and return as much relevant information as possible overall. Assume that for any given query the search engines return links to documents, and if one were to actually (p. 38 ) read each and every document there would be a diminishing returns curve because there is some amount of redundancy among documents and some finite pool of ideas that one is drawing upon. This characterization has been found for medical topics (see figure 1.6 ) and is likely to be generally true of many domains. figure 2.7 Increased travel time from (a) tB = 4.76 sec to (b) tB = 21.03 sec increased the observed average patch-leaving time in Great Tits studied in Cowie ( 1977 ). The predicted patch-leaving times are indicated by the dashed lines, and are not significantly different from the observed rates. Imagine that the search engines used by the information worker have very little variation in performance. Assume that the worker is very good at examining the search result links and estimating the expected amount of relevant (and previously unencountered) concepts or propositions in each document. Figure 2.8 presents a hypothetical gain curve for the number of relevant concepts or propositions per document as a function of the order in which the documents are returned by the typical search engine used by this hypothetical information worker. The cumulative gain curve, g1(t), was derived by fitting a function to the data in Bhavnani et al. ( 2003 ) and making the simplifying assumptions that (a) links can be scanned and processed at an average rate of one every 10 seconds (this includes scanning and possibly cutting and pasting the links into a report) and (b) other costs such as scrolling and paging through results can be ignored. The resulting gain function is for the cumulative amount of new information encountered in search results as a function of time, (2:10) Effects of Changes in Travel Time Figure 2.8 shows the predicted effects on optimal patch residence time of two hypothetical between-patch (p. 39 ) travel time costs, which would represent the time it takes to acquire a new task, navigate to search engine, formulate and enter a query, and wait for search engine results. In one case the travel time is assumed to be tB = 60 sec, and in the second case it is assumed to be tB = 30 sec. For the case in which travel time is tB = 60, the overall rate of gain R is (2.11) In order to determine the optimal amount of time to spend within information patches, tW = t, we need to determine when the slope of g1(tW) is equal to R. We can do this by finding the derivative (2.12) and then solving the equality (2.13) Solving for the case in which the travel time is tB(2.14) A reduction in travel time of 30 seconds would cause an optimal forager to reduce time in each information patch by nearly 12 seconds. This is shown in figure 2.8 . Effects of Improved Processing of Links Figure 2.8 shows the predicted effects of an improvement in the rate of processing links from 10 seconds per link to 5 seconds per link. The rate of gain in this case would be (2.15) The derivative of the rate of gain remains the same as in equation 2.12 . Following the same steps as above, one finds that improving the time to process links would result in the forager reducing the time spent with each patch down to (2.16) This reduction in optimal within-patch time allocation is illustrated in figure 2.8 . Summary The purpose of this illustration is to show the calculations involved in the conventional patch model to make quantitative predictions, as well as to provide a more concrete understanding of the qualitative relationships that it captures. Many simplifying assumptions are made, but later chapters fill in some of the details. Chapters 3 – 5 present more detailed rational analyses and productions system models of Web use. It should be noted, however, that there is some evidence that changes in travel time on the Web have an effect on patch residence time (Baldi, Frasconi, & Smyth, 2003 ), as qualitatively predicted by the conventional patch model. In chapter 9 , I discuss Web usability advice that centers on this relationship. Diet Model Imagine a hypothetical situation in which a bird of prey, such as a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), forages in a habitat that contains a variety of prey of various sizes, prevalences, and ease of capture, such as mice, ground squirrels, rabbits, and hares. Typically, such a hawk may soar for hours on end, or perch in a high tree, waiting to detect potential prey. The environment poses the following problem for the predator: What kinds of prey should the predator pursue, and what kinds should be ignored? One may think of this in terms of diet breadth: A broad (generalized) diet will include every type of prey encountered, but a narrow (specialized) diet will include only a few types. If a predator is too specialized, it will spend all of its time searching. If the predator is too generalized, then it will pursue too much unprofitable prey. • the forager has perfect knowledge about the prey and the environment with respect to prevalence, energetic value, and search and handling costs; and • information about prey is assessed perfectly and used in a decision instantaneously when prey are encountered. The details and derivation of the conventional diet model are presented in the appendix. The model assumes that prey can be classified by the forager into i = 1, 2, …, n types and that the forager knows information concerning the profitability and prevalence each kind of prey. The average time between finding prey of type i is tBi. The rate of encountering prey of type i is assumed to be a random (Poisson) process. So prey will be encountered at a rate Each kind of prey, i, is characterized by the average amount of energy, gi, that could be gained by pursuing, capturing, and consuming the prey. The average time cost, tWi, of pursuit, capture, and eating is usually referred to as the handling cost associated with the prey type. The profitabilities of each type of prey, πi, are defined as the energetic value of the prey type divided by the handling time cost of pursuit, capture, and consumption of the prey, (2:17) The diet of a forager can be characterized as the set of available prey types that the organism chooses to pursue when encountered. Let D be a set representing the diet of a forager; for example, D = {1, 2, 3} represents a diet consisting of prey types 1, 2, and 3. The average rate of gain, R, yielded by such a diet would be given by another variation on Holling's Disk Equation (equation 2.5 ), (2.18) Optimal Diet Selection Algorithm If we assume that the time costs needed to recognize prey are effectively zero, then an optimal diet can be constructed by choosing prey types in an all-or-none manner according to their profitabilities (this is known as the zero-one rule; see the appendix). In general (Stephens & Krebs, 1986 ), the following algorithm can be used to determine the rate-maximizing subset of the n prey types that should be selected: • Rank the prey types by their profitability, πi = gi/tWi. To simplify our presentation, we and let the index i be ordered such that π1 > π2 >…>πn. • Add prey types to the diet in order of increasing rank (i.e., decreasing profitability) until the rate of gain for a diet of the top k prey types is greater than profitability of the k + 1st prey type, (2:19) • The left side of the inequality in equation 2.19 concerns the rate of gain obtained by the diet of the k highest profitability prey types, computed according to equation 2.18 . The right side of the inequality concerns the profitability of the k + 1st prey type. Conceptually, one may imagine an iterative process that considers successive diets of the prey types. Initially, the diet, D, contains just the most profitable type, D = {1}; the next diet considered contains the two most profitable types, D = {1, 2}; and so on. At each stage, the process tests the rate of gain R(k) for the current diet containing D = {1, 2, …, k} types against the profitability of the next type πk + 1. As long as the gain of the diet is less than the profitability of the next prey type, R(k) ≤ πk + 1, then the process should go on to consider the next diet D = {1, 2, …, k + 1}. Otherwise, the iterative process terminates, and one has obtained the optimal diet. Adding the next prey type would decrease the rate of gain for the diet. To illustrate this graphically, consider figure 2.9 , which presents a set of hypothetical prey types having (p. 41 ) an exponential distribution of profitabilities indicated by πk. Assume that these prey types are all encountered at an equal rate of λk = 1. Figure 2.9 also presents R(k) calculated according to equation 2.18 , for diets including prey types up to and including each type k. One can see that R(k) increases at first as the diet is expanded up to an optimum diet containing the top four prey types and then decreases as additional items are included in the diet. The optimum, R, occurs just prior to the point where R(k) crosses πk. Increasing the profitability of higher ranked items tends to change the threshold, yielding fewer types of items in the diet. A similar diet-narrowing effect is obtained by increasing the prevalence (λ) of higher ranked prey. figure 2.9 A hypothetical example of the relationship between profitability (πk) and rate of gain [R(k)] for diets including prey types 1, 2, … k. In this illustration, it is assumed that when the prey types are ranked according to profitability, the profitabilities, πk, decrease exponentially. The rate of gain, R(k), increases to an optimum R* as the diet is expanded to include the four highest profitability prey types and decreases if lower ranked types are included. Principles of Diet Selection The diet selection algorithm suggests the following: Principle of Lost Opportunity. Intuitively, the information diet model states that a class of items is predicted to be ignored if the profitability, πi, for those items is less than the expected rate of gain, R, of continuing search for other types of items. This is because the gain obtained by processing items of that low-profitability prey type is less than the lost opportunity to get higher profitability types of items. Independence of Inclusion from Encounter Rate. An implication of the diet selection algorithm (Stephens & Krebs, 1986 ) is that the decision to pursue a class of prey is independent of its prevalence. The decision to include lower ranked prey in a diet is solely dependent on their profitability and not on the rate at which they are encountered, λi. However, the inclusion of a class of prey is sensitive to changes in the prevalence of more profitable classes of prey. This can be seen by examination of equation 2.19 , where λi appears on the left side of the inequality but not the right side. Generally, increases in the prevalence of higher profitability prey (or equivalently increases in their encounter rates) make it optimal to be more selective. Conventional models of optimal foraging theory—the patch model and the diet model—have generally proven to be productive and resilient in addressing food-foraging behaviors studied in the field and the lab (Stephens, 1990 ). However, these models do not take into account mechanisms that organisms actually use to achieve adaptive foraging strategies. The conventional models also make the strong assumption that the forager has perfect "global" information concerning the environment. Moreover, the models are static rather than dynamic (dependent on changing state or time). Food Foraging Illustrations Returning to our hypothetical hawk, imagine that the hawk lives in an environment that hosts two kinds of rabbits (see table 2.1 ): (1) big rabbits that are scarce, rich in calories, and take a half hour to chase and consume and (2) small rabbits that are plentiful but low in calories, although quickly chased and consumed. 5 Should the hawk pursue just the big rabbits, or should the hawk include both kinds of rabbits in its diet? From table 2.1 , we can calculate the rate of return for the narrow diet that includes only big rabbits: (2:20) A broad diet that includes both kinds of rabbits turns out to have a lower rate of return: (2:21) table 2.1 Hypothetical parameters for a hawk faced with a diet choice problem. Parameters Rabbit Type λ g tw π = g/tw Big 1/3600 sec 10,000 kCal 1800 sec 5.56 kCal/sec Small 100/3600 sec 100 kCal 120 sec 0.83 kCal/sec The hawk should spend its time foraging just for big rabbits because they are so profitable (as indicated by g/tW). Pursuing the small rabbits would incur an opportunity cost that is greater than the gains provided by the small rabbits. As an exercise, substitute various values for λSmall (the rate of encounter with small rabbits) in equation 2.21 , ranging from very low (e.g., λSmall = 1/3600 sec) to very high (e.g., λSmall = 1/sec). This will illustrate the principle that inclusion in the diet is independent of the encounter rate. Below I describe as an analogy the junk mail, received by virtually everyone, that has no value whatsoever (i.e., there is always something better to do than read junk mail). No matter how much the rate of delivery of junk increases, it would remain unprofitable to read a single piece of it. Figure 2.10 presents data that are generally consistent with the predictions of the diet model. Figure 2.10 shows the diet of shore crabs when offered the choice of mussels of different sizes when each type was equally prevalent (Elner & Hughes, 1978 ). The crabs choose the most profitably sized mussels. Human hunter-gatherers have complex diets that appear to conform to the conventional diet model. For instance, the men of the Aché in Paraguay choose food types that are above the average rate of return for the environment (Kaplan & Hill, 1992 ). Information Foraging Examples The diet model developed in optimal foraging theory is the basis for aspects of information foraging models developed in chapter 6 , where it will be used to predict how people select subcollections of documents based on the expected profitability of the subcollections in terms of the rate of extracting relevant documents per unit cost of interaction time. The general analogy is that one may think of an information forager as an information predator whose aim is to select information prey so as to maximize the rate of gain of information relevant to their task. These information prey might be relevant documents or document collections. Different sources will differ in their access costs or prevalences, and they will differ in profitability. The profitability of an information source may be defined as the value of information gained per unit cost of processing the source. For instance, physical and electronic mail may come from a variety of sources that have different arrival rates and profitabilities. Clearly, low-profitability junk mail should be ignored if it would cost the reader (p. 43 ) the opportunity of processing more profitable mail. We might also expect the diet of an information forager to broaden or narrow depending on the prevalences and profitabilities of information sources. figure 2.10 Shore crabs tend to choose the mussel that has the highest profitability: (a) the profitability curve for mussels as a function of their size is mirrored by (b) the histogram of the size of mussel consumed by shore crabs when presented at equal prevalence in the environment (Elner & Hughes, 1978 ). The general principles of opportunity cost and independence of inclusion from encounter rate can be illustrated by a hypothetical information foraging example that may resonate with many people who use e-mail. Suppose we observe a woman who runs a small business that she conducts using e-mail. Assume that each e-mail from a prospective customer is an order for the businesswoman's product (let us assume that all other aspects of customer service are handled by others) and that she makes go = $10 profit on each order. The businesswoman also receives unsolicited e-mail (junk mail or spam) that occasionally offers some service or product savings of relevance to the woman. Suppose that, on average, 1/100 spam e-mails offers something that saves the woman $10 (gs = $10/100 = $0.10), and she receives one spam e-mail a minute (her encounter rate with spam is λs = 1/minute). Suppose that when she first started her business, the businesswoman received two orders during an 8-hour day (her encounter rate was λo = 1/240 orders per minute), but now it has improved to one order per hour (λo = 1/60 orders per minute). Assume that it takes one minute to read and process an e-mail (h0 = hs = 1). The analysis in table 2.2 suggests that when the order rate is low (λo = 1/240), the woman should read both orders and spam, but when the rate of the more profitable order e-mails increases (to λo = 1/60), her information diet should narrow to processing just the orders. With the order rate high at λo = 1/60, one should ignore spam regardless of its prevalence (the value of λs). In general, as the prevalence of profitable information increases, one should expect a narrowing of the information diet. For the optimal forager who has decided to ignore spam, she should do so regardless of increases in its volume. table 2.2 Hypothetical rates of return on the e-mail diets of a hypothetical information worker at two different rates of encounter of orders in the e-mail Rate of Return ($/min) Orders Only Orders þ Spam Order Enciunter Rate Low (λo = 1/240) 0.041 0.071 High (λo = 1/60) 0.164 0.132 When orders are low, the worker should process both orders and spam. When the orders are high, the worker should ignore spam. Discussion Optimal foraging theory has been applied with considerable success in the field of behavioral ecology (Stephens, 1990 ; Stephens & Krebs, 1986 ) and cultural anthropology (Winterhalder & Smith, 1992a ). Historically, the first proposal of an optimal foraging model appeared in MacArthur and Pianka's ( 1966 ) model of how the diet of species might change in reaction to invasion by competitor species, which made explicit predictions about how diets would change depending on prey availability. By the 1980s, optimal foraging theory had been used to bring orderly predictions to the study of behavior in hunter-gatherer societies (Smith, 1981 , 1987 ). As noted in chapter 1 , optimal foraging theory has arisen from the use of methodological adaptationism. This paradigm, including optimal foraging theory, came under a flurry of attacks precipitated by a paper by Gould and Lewontin ( 1979 ), which caused the field to become more rigorous in its methodology and more careful about its philosophy (Mayr, 1983 , 1988). 6 While the behavior of real animals and real people often departs from that of the optimal forager, the theory has been very productive in generating useful predictions. Departures from optimality often reveal hidden constraints or other important aspects of the decision problem and environment facing the forager. Once these are revealed, they can feed back into the rational analysis of the forager. The development of the information foraging models that are presented in the chapters that follow often emerged from considering an elementary optimal foraging theory model and adding detail where necessary. There are certainly differences between food and information, the most notable being that information can be copied, and the same content viewed twice often is not informative the second time around. But it is the nature of metaphors and analogies that they are productive, but not completely equivalent. Patch Residence Time Model For the patch model, Holling's Disk Equation (equation 2.5 ) is instantiated (Stephens & Krebs, 1986 ) as equation 2.6 . Assume that patches of type i are encountered with a rate λi as a linear function of the total between-patch foraging time, TB. Now imagine that the forager can decide to set a policy for how much time, tWi, to spend within each type of patch. The total gain could be represented as (2:A:1) Cumulative value gained in information patches as a function of time tW gi(tWi) Cumulative value gained in information patches of type i as a function of time tWi tB Average time cost for between-patch foraging tW Average time cost for within-patch foraging λ Average rate of encountering information patches tBi Time spent between patches of type i tWi Time spent foraging within patches of type i λi Average rate of encountering information patches of type i πt Profitability of item type i ρi Probability of pursuing items of type i (diet decision model) Likewise, the total amount of time spent within patches could be represented as (2:A:2) The overall average rate of gain will be (2:A:3) Equation 2.A.3 is presented as equation 2.6 in the text as the conventional patch model. The task is to determine the optimal vector of collection residence times (tW1, tW2, …, tWP) for a set of patches, ρ = {1, 2, …, i, … P}, that maximizes the rate of gain R. To differentiate R in equation 2.A.3 with respect to an arbitrary tWi, we first get (2.A.4) where ki is the sum of all terms in the numerator of equation 2.A.3 not involving tWi, and ci is the sum of all terms in the denominator of equation 2.A.3 not involving tWi, so the right-hand side of equation 2.A.4 (average rate of gain) is the same as the right-hand side of equation 2.A.7 (instantaneous rate of gain when the average rate of gain is maximized), (2.A.8) If we replace R with a function R(tW1, tW2, …, tWi, …, tP), the full vector of rate maximizing tWi values, (t^w1, t^w2…, t^wp), must fulfill the condition specified by (2.9) This is the formal condition (Charnov, 1976 ) of Charnov's Marginal Value Theorem: Long-term rate of gain is maximized by choosing patch residence times so that the marginal value (instantaneous rate) of the gain at the time of leaving each patch equals the long-term average rate across all patches. Diet Model Following Stephens and Krebs ( 1986 ), we assume that the items encountered can be classified into n types. The average rate of gain R can be represented as (2.A.10) where, for each item type i, λi is the encounter rate while searching, tWi is the expected processing time for each item type, gi is the expected net currency gain, and pi is the probability that items of type i should be pursued (the decision variable to be set by the optimization analysis). In the case of food foraging, equation 2.A.10 might be applied under the assumption that the modeled organism partitions the space of the observed feature combinations exhibited by its potential prey into discrete categories, i = 1, 2, … n. One may also think of equation 2.A.10 as being applicable when an organism can predict (recognize) the net gain, processing time, and encounter rate for an encountered prey. To maximize with respect to any given pi, we differentiate (2.A.11) where ki is the sum of all terms not involving pi in the numerator of equation 2.A.10 and ci is the sum of all terms in the denominator not involving pi, and we assume that the gain, processing time, and encounter rate variables are not dependent on pi. Differentiating equation 2.A.11 obtains (2.A.12) Zero-One Rule Inspection of equation 2.A.12 shows that R is maximized by either pi = 1 or pi = 0 (Stephens & Krebs, 1986 ). Note that this occurs under the constraint that the time it takes to recognize an item is assumed to be zero. This is known as the Zero-One Rule, which simply states that the optimal diet will be one in which items of a given profitability level are chosen in an all-or-none fashion, where profitability, πi, is defined as (2:A:13) The decision to set pi = 1 or pi = 0 is reduced to the following rules, which determine the numerator of equation 2.A.12 : Set pi = 0 if gi/tWi < ki/ci (the profitability for i is less than that for everything else). Set pi = 1 if gi/tWi < ki/ci (the profitability for i is greater than that for everything else). For the n item types, there are n such inequalities. This provides the basis for the diet optimization algorithm presented in the main text. Gould, S. J., & Lewontin, R. C. (1979). The spandrels of san marcos and the panglossian paradigm: A critique of the adaptationist programme. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (B), 205, 581–598. Notes: (1) . More strongly stated, the implicit assumption in optimal foraging models is usually that fitness is an increasing linear function of energy, whereas it is more likely that there is a saturating relationship (i.e., at some point, further increases in energy intake have little or no effect on fitness). (2) . Note that this assumption does not always apply to real situations. For instance, web-weaving spiders can capture new patches of food (e.g., insects) in their webs while engaged in the activities of consuming a patch of food, and this requires some elaborations to the conventional patch model (McNair, 1983 ). Pirolli and Card ( 1998 ) apply such a model to an information browser that has multithreaded processing. (3) . In his seminal work, Holling ( 1959 ) developed a model by studying a blindfolded research assistant who was given the task of picking up (foraging for) randomly scattered sandpaper disks—hence the name "disk equation." Holling validated the model later by observing three species of small mammals preying upon sawfly cocoons in controlled experiments. (4) . Figure 2.6 also uses the convention in optimal foraging theory in which the average between-patch time is plotted on the horizontal axis starting at the origin and moving to the left, and within-patch time is plotted on the horizontal axis moving to the right. This differs from preceding figures in this book. (6) . This debate is part of a broader one incited by the emergence of sociobiology in the 1970s, which continues to reverberate in the behavioral and social sciences. For a fascinating rendition of this "opera," see Segerstrale ( 2000	eng	3a9e34d5-82f8-4f57-88b1-9d300cb0607e	http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195173321.001.0001/acprof-9780195173321-chapter-2
More from Smithsonian.comStill, as debate continued, skeptics—especially within Britain's army and navy—raised troubling questions. Could the Royal Navy blockade the 1,000-mile-long American coast? Couldn't two million free colonists muster a force of 100,000 or so citizen-soldiers, nearly four times the size of Britain's army in 1775? Might not an American army of this size replace its losses more easily than Britain? Was it possible to supply an army operating 3,000 miles from home? Could Britain subdue a rebellion across 13 colonies in an area some six times the size of England? Could the British Army operate deep in America's interior, far from coastal supply bases? Would a protracted war bankrupt Britain? Would France and Spain, England's age-old enemies, aid American rebels? Was Britain risking starting a broader war? After the Continental Congress convened, King George III told his ministers that "blows must decide" whether the Americans "submit or triumph." North's government agreed. To back down, the ministers believed, would be to lose the colonies. Confident of Britain's overwhelming military superiority and hopeful that colonial resistance would collapse after one or two humiliating defeats, they chose war. The Earl of Dartmouth, who was the American Secretary, ordered General Gage to use "a vigorous Exertion of...Force" to crush the rebellion in Massachusetts. Resistance from the Bay Colony, Dartmouth added, "cannot be very formidable." II. Americans Of All Stripes Took Up Arms Out Of Patriotism The term "spirit of '76" refers to the colonists' patriotic zeal and has always seemed synonymous with the idea that every able-bodied male colonist resolutely served, and suffered, throughout the eight-year war. To be sure, the initial rally to arms was impressive. When the British Army marched out of Boston on April 19, 1775, messengers on horseback, including Boston silversmith Paul Revere, fanned out across New England to raise the alarm. Summoned by the feverish pealing of church bells, militiamen from countless hamlets hurried toward Concord, Massachusetts, where the British regulars planned to destroy a rebel arsenal. Thousands of militiamen arrived in time to fight; 89 men from 23 towns in Massachusetts were killed or wounded on that first day of war, April 19, 1775. By the next morning, Massachusetts had 12 regiments in the field. Connecticut soon mobilized a force of 6,000, one-quarter of its military-age men. Within a week, 16,000 men from the four New England colonies formed a siege army outside British-occupied Boston. In June, the Continental Congress took over the New England army, creating a national force, the Continental Army. Thereafter, men throughout America took up arms. It seemed to the British regulars that every able-bodied American male had become a soldier. But as the colonists discovered how difficult and dangerous military service could be, enthusiasm waned. Many men preferred to remain home, in the safety of what Gen. George Washington described as their "Chimney Corner." Early in the war, Washington wrote that he despaired of "compleating the army by Voluntary Inlistments." Mindful that volunteers had rushed to enlist when hostilities began, Washington predicted that "after the first emotions are over," those who were willing to serve from a belief in the "goodness of the cause" would amount to little more than "a drop in the Ocean." He was correct. As 1776 progressed, many colonies were compelled to entice soldiers with offers of cash bounties, clothing, blankets and extended furloughs or enlistments shorter than the one-year term of service established by Congress. The following year, when Congress mandated that men who enlisted must sign on for three years or the duration of the conflict, whichever came first, offers of cash and land bounties became an absolute necessity. The states and the army also turned to slick-tongued recruiters to round up volunteers. General Washington had urged conscription, stating that "the Government must have recourse to coercive measures." In April 1777, Congress recommended a draft to the states. By the end of 1778, most states were conscripting men when Congress' voluntary enlistment quotas were not met. Moreover, beginning in 1778, the New England states, and eventually all Northern states, enlisted African-Americans, a practice that Congress had initially forbidden. Ultimately, some 5,000 blacks bore arms for the United States, approximately 5 percent of the total number of men who served in the Continental Army. The African-American soldiers made an important contribution to America's ultimate victory. In 1781, Baron Ludwig von Closen, a veteran officer in the French Army, remarked that the "best [regiment] under arms" in the Continental Army was one in which 75 percent of the soldiers were African-Americans. Longer enlistments radically changed the composition of the Army. Washington's troops in 1775-76 had represented a cross section of the free male population. But few who owned farms were willing to serve for the duration, fearing loss of their property if years passed without producing revenue from which to pay taxes. After 1777, the average Continental soldier was young, single, propertyless, poor and in many cases an outright pauper. In some states, such as Pennsylvania, up to one in four soldiers was an impoverished recent immigrant. Patriotism aside, cash and land bounties offered an unprecedented chance for economic mobility for these men. Joseph Plumb Martin of Milford, Connecticut, acknowledged that he had enlisted for the money. Later, he would recollect the calculation he had made at the time: "As I must go, I might as well endeavor to get as much for my skin as I could." For three-quarters of the war, few middle-class Americans bore arms in the Continental Army, although thousands did serve in militias. III. Continental Soldiers Were Always Ragged And Hungry Accounts of shoeless continental army soldiers leaving bloody footprints in the snow or going hungry in a land of abundance are all too accurate. Take, for example, the experience of Connecticut's Private Martin. While serving with the Eighth Connecticut Continental Regiment in the autumn of 1776, Martin went for days with little more to eat than a handful of chestnuts and, at one point, a portion of roast sheep's head, remnants of a meal prepared for those he sarcastically referred to as his "gentleman officers." Ebenezer Wild, a Massachusetts soldier who served at Valley Forge in the terrible winter of 1777-78, would recall that he subsisted for days on "a leg of nothing." One of his comrades, Dr. Albigence Waldo, a Continental Army surgeon, later reported that many men survived largely on what were known as fire cakes (flour and water baked over coals). One soldier, Waldo wrote, complained that his "glutted Gutts are turned to Pasteboard." The Army's supply system, imperfect at best, at times broke down altogether; the result was misery and want. But that was not always the case. So much heavy clothing arrived from France at the beginning of the winter in 1779 that Washington was compelled to locate storage facilities for his surplus. In a long war during which American soldiers were posted from upper New York to lower Georgia, conditions faced by the troops varied widely. For instance, at the same time that Washington's siege army at Boston in 1776 was well supplied, many American soldiers, engaged in the failed invasion of Quebec staged from Fort Ticonderoga in New York, endured near starvation. While one soldier in seven was dying from hunger and disease at Valley Forge, young Private Martin, stationed only a few miles away in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, was assigned to patrols that foraged daily for army provisions. "We had very good provisions all winter," he would write, adding that he had lived in "a snug room." In the spring after Valley Forge, he encountered one of his former officers. "Where have you been this winter?" inquired the officer. "Why you are as fat as a pig." IV. The Militia Was Useless The nation's first settlers adopted the British militia system, which required all able-bodied men between 16 and 60 to bear arms. Some 100,000 men served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Probably twice that number soldiered as militiamen, for the most part defending the home front, functioning as a police force and occasionally engaging in enemy surveillance. If a militia company was summoned to active duty and sent to the front lines to augment the Continentals, it usually remained mobilized for no more than 90 days. Some Americans emerged from the war convinced that the militia had been largely ineffective. No one did more to sully its reputation than General Washington, who insisted that a decision to "place any dependence on Militia is assuredly resting on a broken staff." Militiamen were older, on average, than the Continental soldiers and received only perfunctory training; few had experienced combat. Washington complained that militiamen had failed to exhibit "a brave & manly opposition" in the battles of 1776 on Long Island and in Manhattan. At Camden, South Carolina, in August 1780, militiamen panicked in the face of advancing redcoats. Throwing down their weapons and running for safety, they were responsible for one of the worst defeats of the war. Yet in 1775, militiamen had fought with surpassing bravery along the Concord Road and at Bunker Hill. Nearly 40 percent of soldiers serving under Washington in his crucial Christmas night victory at Trenton in 1776 were militiamen. In New York state, half the American force in the vital Saratoga campaign of 1777 consisted of militiamen. They also contributed substantially to American victories at Kings Mountain, South Carolina, in 1780 and Cowpens, South Carolina, the following year. In March 1781, Gen. Nathanael Greene adroitly deployed his militiamen in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse (fought near present-day Greensboro, North Carolina). In that engagement, he inflicted such devastating losses on the British that they gave up the fight for North Carolina. The militia had its shortcomings, to be sure, but America could not have won the war without it. As a British general, Earl Cornwallis, wryly put it in a letter in 1781, "I will not say much in praise of the militia, but the list of British officers and soldiers killed and wounded by them...proves but too fatally they are not wholly contemptible." V. Saratoga Was The War's Turning Point On October 17, 1777, British Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered 5,895 men to American forces outside Saratoga, New York. Those losses, combined with the 1,300 men killed, wounded and captured during the preceding five months of Burgoyne's campaign to reach Albany in upstate New York, amounted to nearly one-quarter of those serving under the British flag in America in 1777. The defeat persuaded France to form a military alliance with the United States. Previously, the French, even though they believed that London would be fatally weakened by the loss of its American colonies, had not wished to take a chance on backing the new American nation. General Washington, who rarely made optimistic pronouncements, exulted that France's entry into the war in February 1778 had introduced "a most happy tone to all our affairs," as it "must put the Independency of America out of all manner of dispute." But Saratoga was not the turning point of the war. Protracted conflicts—the Revolutionary War was America's longest military engagement until Vietnam nearly 200 years later—are seldom defined by a single decisive event. In addition to Saratoga, four other key moments can be identified. The first was the combined effect of victories in the fighting along the Concord Road on April 19, 1775, and at Bunker Hill near Boston two months later, on June 17. Many colonists had shared Lord North's belief that American citizen-soldiers could not stand up to British regulars. But in those two engagements, fought in the first 60 days of the war, American soldiers—all militiamen—inflicted huge casualties. The British lost nearly 1,500 men in those encounters, three times the American toll. Without the psychological benefits of those battles, it is debatable whether a viable Continental Army could have been raised in that first year of war or whether public morale would have withstood the terrible defeats of 1776. Between August and November of 1776, Washington's army was driven from Long Island, New York City proper and the rest of Manhattan Island, with some 5,000 men killed, wounded and captured. But at Trenton in late December 1776, Washington achieved a great victory, destroying a Hessian force of nearly 1,000 men; a week later, on January 3, he defeated a British force at Princeton, New Jersey. Washington's stunning triumphs, which revived hopes of victory and permitted recruitment in 1777, were a second turning point. A third turning point occurred when Congress abandoned one-year enlistments and transformed the Continental Army into a standing army, made up of regulars who volunteered—or were conscripted—for long-term service. A standing army was contrary to American tradition and was viewed as unacceptable by citizens who understood that history was filled with instances of generals who had used their armies to gain dictatorial powers. Among the critics was Massachusetts' John Adams, then a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. In 1775, he wrote that he feared a standing army would become an "armed monster" composed of the "meanest, idlest, most intemperate and worthless" men. By autumn, 1776, Adams had changed his view, remarking that unless the length of enlistment was extended, "our inevitable destruction will be the Consequence." At last, Washington would get the army he had wanted from the outset; its soldiers would be better trained, better disciplined and more experienced than the men who had served in 1775-76. The campaign that unfolded in the South during 1780 and 1781 was the final turning point of the conflict. After failing to crush the rebellion in New England and the mid-Atlantic states, the British turned their attention in 1778 to the South, hoping to retake Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. At first the Southern Strategy, as the British termed the initiative, achieved spectacular results. Within 20 months, the redcoats had wiped out three American armies, retaken Savannah and Charleston, occupied a substantial portion of the South Carolina backcountry, and killed, wounded or captured 7,000 American soldiers, nearly equaling the British losses at Saratoga. Lord George Germain, Britain's American Secretary after 1775, declared that the Southern victories augured a "speedy and happy termination of the American war." But the colonists were not broken. In mid-1780, organized partisan bands, composed largely of guerrilla fighters, struck from within South Carolina's swamps and tangled forests to ambush redcoat supply trains and patrols. By summer's end, the British high command acknowledged that South Carolina, a colony they had recently declared pacified, was "in an absolute state of rebellion." Worse was yet to come. In October 1780, rebel militia and backcountry volunteers destroyed an army of more than 1,000 Loyalists at Kings Mountain in South Carolina. After that rout, Cornwallis found it nearly impossible to persuade Loyalists to join the cause. In January 1781, Cornwallis marched an army of more than 4,000 men to North Carolina, hoping to cut supply routes that sustained partisans farther south. In battles at Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse and in an exhausting pursuit of the Army under Gen. Nathanael Greene, Cornwallis lost some 1,700 men, nearly 40 percent of the troops under his command at the outset of the North Carolina campaign. In April 1781, despairing of crushing the insurgency in the Carolinas, he took his army into Virginia, where he hoped to sever supply routes linking the upper and lower South. It was a fateful decision, as it put Cornwallis on a course that would lead that autumn to disaster at Yorktown, where he was trapped and compelled to surrender more than 8,000 men on October 19, 1781. The next day, General Washington informed the Continental Army that "the glorious event" would send "general Joy [to] every breast" in America. Across the sea, Lord North reacted to the news as if he had "taken a ball in the breast," reported the messenger who delivered the bad tidings. "O God," the prime minister exclaimed, "it is all over." VI. General Washington Was A Brilliant Tactician And Strategist Among the hundreds of eulogies delivered after the death of George Washington in 1799, Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College, averred that the general's military greatness consisted principally in his "formation of extensive and masterly plans" and a "watchful seizure of every advantage." It was the prevailing view and one that has been embraced by many historians. In fact, Washington's missteps revealed failings as a strategist. No one understood his limitations better than Washington himself who, on the eve of the New York campaign in 1776, confessed to Congress his "want of experience to move on a large scale" and his "limited and contracted knowledge . . . in Military Matters." In August 1776, the Continental Army was routed in its first test on Long Island in part because Washington failed to properly reconnoiter and he attempted to defend too large an area for the size of his army. To some extent, Washington's nearly fatal inability to make rapid decisions resulted in the November losses of Fort Washington on Manhattan Island and Fort Lee in New Jersey, defeats that cost the colonists more than one-quarter of the army's soldiers and precious weaponry and military stores. Washington did not take the blame for what had gone wrong. Instead, he advised Congress of his "want of confidence in the Generality of the Troops." In the fall of 1777, when Gen. William Howe invaded Pennsylvania, Washington committed his entire army in an attempt to prevent the loss of Philadelphia. During the Battle of Brandywine, in September, he once again froze with indecision. For nearly two hours information poured into headquarters that the British were attempting a flanking maneuver—a move that would, if successful, entrap much of the Continental Army—and Washington failed to respond. At day's end, a British sergeant accurately perceived that Washington had "escaped a total overthrow, that must have been the consequence of an hours more daylight." Later, Washington was painfully slow to grasp the significance of the war in the Southern states. For the most part, he committed troops to that theater only when Congress ordered him to do so. By then, it was too late to prevent the surrender of Charleston in May 1780 and the subsequent losses among American troops in the South. Washington also failed to see the potential of a campaign against the British in Virginia in 1780 and 1781, prompting Comte de Rochambeau, commander of the French Army in America, to write despairingly that the American general "did not conceive the affair of the south to be such urgency." Indeed, Rochambeau, who took action without Washington's knowledge, conceived the Virginia campaign that resulted in the war's decisive encounter, the siege of Yorktown in the autumn of 1781. Much of the war's decision-making was hidden from the public. Not even Congress was aware that the French, not Washington, had formulated the strategy that led to America's triumph. During Washington's presidency, the American pamphleteer Thomas Paine, then living in France, revealed much of what had occurred. In 1796 Paine published a "Letter to George Washington," in which he claimed that most of General Washington's supposed achievements were "fraudulent." "You slept away your time in the field" after 1778, Paine charged, arguing that Gens. Horatio Gates and Greene were more responsible for America's victory than Washington. There was some truth to Paine's acid comments, but his indictment failed to recognize that one can be a great military leader without being a gifted tactician or strategist. Washington's character, judgment, industry and meticulous habits, as well as his political and diplomatic skills, set him apart from others. In the final analysis, he was the proper choice to serve as commander of the Continental Army. VII. Great Britain Could Never Have Won The War Once the revolutionary war was lost, some in Britain argued that it had been unwinnable. For generals and admirals who were defending their reputations, and for patriots who found it painful to acknowledge defeat, the concept of foreordained failure was alluring. Nothing could have been done, or so the argument went, to have altered the outcome. Lord North was condemned, not for having lost the war, but for having led his country into a conflict in which victory was impossible. In reality, Britain might well have won the war. The battle for New York in 1776 gave England an excellent opportunity for a decisive victory. France had not yet allied with the Americans. Washington and most of his lieutenants were rank amateurs. Continental Army soldiers could not have been more untried. On Long Island, in New York City and in upper Manhattan, on Harlem Heights, Gen. William Howe trapped much of the American Army and might have administered a fatal blow. Cornered in the hills of Harlem, even Washington admitted that if Howe attacked, the Continental Army would be "cut off" and faced with the choice of fighting its way out "under every disadvantage" or being starved into submission. But the excessively cautious Howe was slow to act, ultimately allowing Washington to slip away. Britain still might have prevailed in 1777. London had formulated a sound strategy that called for Howe, with his large force, which included a naval arm, to advance up the Hudson River and rendezvous at Albany with General Burgoyne, who was to invade New York from Canada. Britain's objective was to cut New England off from the other nine states by taking the Hudson. When the rebels did engage—the thinking went—they would face a giant British pincer maneuver that would doom them to catastrophic losses. Though the operation offered the prospect of decisive victory, Howe scuttled it. Believing that Burgoyne needed no assistance and obsessed by a desire to capture Philadelphia—home of the Continental Congress—Howe opted to move against Pennsylvania instead. He took Philadelphia, but he accomplished little by his action. Meanwhile, Burgoyne suffered total defeat at Saratoga. Most historians have maintained that Britain had no hope of victory after 1777, but that assumption constitutes another myth of this war. Twenty-four months into its Southern Strategy, Britain was close to reclaiming substantial territory within its once-vast American empire. Royal authority had been restored in Georgia, and much of South Carolina was occupied by the British. As 1781 dawned, Washington warned that his army was "exhausted" and the citizenry "discontented." John Adams believed that France, faced with mounting debts and having failed to win a single victory in the American theater, would not remain in the war beyond 1781. "We are in the Moment of Crisis," he wrote. Rochambeau feared that 1781 would see the "last struggle of an expiring patriotism." Both Washington and Adams assumed that unless the United States and France scored a decisive victory in 1781, the outcome of the war would be determined at a conference of Europe's great powers. Stalemated wars often conclude with belligerents retaining what they possessed at the moment an armistice is reached. Had the outcome been determined by a European peace conference, Britain would likely have retained Canada, the trans-Appalachian West, part of present-day Maine, New York City and Long Island, Georgia and much of South Carolina, Florida (acquired from Spain in a previous war) and several Caribbean islands. To keep this great empire, which would have encircled the tiny United States, Britain had only to avoid decisive losses in 1781.Yet Cornwallis' stunning defeat at Yorktown in October cost Britain everything but Canada. The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ratified the American victory and recognized the existence of the new United States. General Washington, addressing a gathering of soldiers at West Point, told the men that they had secured America's "independence and sovereignty." The new nation, he said, faced "enlarged prospects of happiness," adding that all free Americans could enjoy "personal independence." The passage of time would demonstrate that Washington, far from creating yet another myth surrounding the outcome of the war, had voiced the real promise of the new nation. Historian John Ferling's most recent book is The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon. Illustrator Joe Ciardiello lives in Milford, New Jersey. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story placed Kings Mountain in North Carolina instead of South Carolina. We regret the error. Add New Comment Name: (required) Email: (required75) the war commander game is closed in facebook and want play this game and broke band Posted by heart shady on January 16,2013 \| 12:58 PM I want to thank the blogger very much not only for this post,but also for his all previous efforts. I found this Google search to be greatly interesting. I will be coming back to your site for more information. Posted by silver11001 on January 14,2013 \| 09:49 AM It is soooo not worth reading. It has like too many words and stuff. And I totally not reading it again. Posted by Diana Leon on October 23,2012 \| 02:43 PM The greatest myth of the American revolution was that it was anything other than background context for round 3 of the second Hundred Years War, and thatindependence wasn't almost entirely down to French intervention. Posted by Boosra on June 20,2012 \| 12:26 PM Some of my relatives fought on both sides of the war. My mother's family came to America from England in 1924, and there is a myth in our family that our ancestor, Henry Walker, was a soldier under Lord North. Now I know who my ancestors were who fought on the side of the Americans, but how could one find out about the other side? Didn't they keep lists, or start organizations like "DAR" in Great Britain? Posted by alexandra on May 9,2012 \| 12:19 AM Ask yourself this question. Did anything really change since before the revolution. Posted by Mike on April 22,2012 \| 09:40 PM An interesting article on a fascinating era of history. However, as an Englishman I too can see the irony of the colonists shouting for 'Liberty' when many on the Congress side were fighting to keep their slaves and wealthy lifestyle. Still, hypocrisy exists in all wars. Posted by Perry Clarke on February 29,2012 \| 04:37 AM I'm curious about another myth -- the old "sword-marks-on-the-staircase" story adopted by so many houses with Revolutionary War history. Forever associated with Carter's Grove and Banastre Tarleton, I've heard people speak of "insulting a house" [not unlike marking one's territory] to describe the activity of troops hacking/cutting/slashing the staircases in areas that were hotbeds of skirmishing, raids and plundering by all sides. Posted by Sandy Levins on December 6,2011 \| 11:29 AM Another myth of the Revolution is that Benedict Arnold was a complete villain and scumbag. Yes, his treason was wrong, but if it wasn't for his brilliance as a military commander in the early part of the war America would have likely lost. He even partly financed some of the war effort out of his own pocket in the beginning. Plus there were many mitigating factors in his decision to switch sides, such as the fact that he had his leg shattered at Saratoga; he was often unfairly passed up for promotions; he was court-martialed in Philadelphia for relatively minor matters (and was found innocent of most of the charges); he was reprimanded reluctantly by Washington--who was ordered by Congress to do so--for misconduct; he married a loyalist woman who encouraged his treason; etc. Closer to the truth is that besides all the previously mentioned motivation, he thought Congress was mishandling the war and, thus, we were about to lose and that the British would not only pay him handsomely but also treat him as a hero if he pulled off the surrender of West Point successfully, and all of that culminated in his notorious, and, of course, unsuccessful decision to switch sides. It was much more a terrible lapse of judgement by an angry and broken man than the "treacherous act of a heartless villain." Posted by Andrew on November 26,2011 \| 04:48 AM Yet another American who doesn't know the difference between "England" and "English" between "Britain" and "British", and the fact that they are not interchangeable... Posted by Paddy Boot on October 10,2011 \| 12:13 PM Another Revolutionary War Myth: The Revolutionary War was fought for the benefit of the common people. In reality, the Revolutionary war was about the elite business-class revolting against the blood line aristocracy they had to bribe and pay taxes to in order to stay in business. All during a time when industrialization was beginning to take hold and become the dominant factor in the economy. What the Revolutionary War created was a Meritocracy of slave owners, land owners and business owners who carefully crafted a government with themselves in control. The proof is that they were the only ones who were given the right to vote by the original Constitution of 1790. They conveniently restricted control of government to the aristocratically (meritocracy) controlled state governments under Article X, of which they participated. They restricted the influence of religious leaders on their control by not establishing a national religion. They rigged control over Congress by the structure of the US Senate, where a minority (a handful of men they could own) could stalemate any effort in Congress that favored the people. And lastly, Congress did it all behind closed doors. Posted by PragmaticStatistic on July 5,2011 \| 02:06 PM It is interesting to me what we Americans think we know about our Revolutionary War and what are the ACTUAL facts of the war. I think this piece was greatly written and I believe that we got taught mostly opinions and little to no fact. Posted by Maria-Magdalena Laning on July 1,2011 \| 08:59 PM It is interesting what is recorded as US history and what is not. On a more personal level here is some that was not part of the Narrative of US History but play an important role in Spanish Colonial Louisiana and its support given during the American Revolution. This is no myth. This is part of my Louisiana ancestry. Hope it inspire and encourage those of you with your own personal ancestral stories to share them. If not, what we will have left that is called American history is lots of Myths and legends. Posted by michael henderson on February 4,2011 \| 02:50 PM What about the Dutchers? Posted by Phellonie J. Bobbs on January 12,2011 \| 01:36 PM Nice to read some largely unknown and interesting views of the history our national education thrusts upon us. Another viewpoint never mentioned when I was at school is the reaction of the ordinary citizens of Britain to their governments military postures...this I should add has many historical examples right up to the moment I write. The old 'passed on 'judgements' are almost certainly the viewpoints of the then current elites but the reactions of the general population allows very different opinions. There was within the British communities much indecision no doubt but overall the response seems to have been sympathy for the 'Colonials' - this showed in 'on the spot' reporting.... strikes and industrial actions grew to a point when the government were forced to take action to deflect public opinion and protect their internal interests. It is easy to see parallels in our own countries recent past with Vietnam as a case in point - another unpopular and ultimately ruinous elite war. Our present involvement in the ME follows the same pattern and will doubtless be portrayed in the future in a similar way. With few exceptions I think you can probably say the majority in any country will resent and reject resort to war - as did the Britons citizens in their countries colonial adventures. Posted by malcshee on December 26,2010 \| 10:14 PM How about "France was the rebels's only European ally." Ignorance of the Spanish role in the war is endemic. Posted by William Bur s on December 26,2010 \| 11:08 AM Surprised no-one has pointed out the following: 1) Colonials were quick to cry 'liberty!' when many were also slave-owners 2) Britain saved the 13 colonies from falling into French hands during the French Indian war (subsequent taxes to help defray the cost of the war were eventually withdrawn by London) 3) The 13 colonies had long been self-governing (prior to 1773-74), taking full advantage of Britain's policy of 'benign neglect'. Britain grossly mismanaged their relationship with their colonies, but the latter were also extraordinarily ungrateful post-French Indian war Posted by Loyalist on October 25,2010 \| 02:06 PM Wonderful article. I love learning about misconceptions in history, particularly ones that make us "look better" or had it harder or expose our bias. Posted by Timothy on September 23,2010 \| 12:24 AM This is a great article, but unfortunately repeats the common mistake of overlooking Cornwallis' duel with Lafayette across central Virginia during 1781. This was a remarkable campaign of thrust and parry between the veteran British general and youthful Frenchman. It was one of the most interesting (and now little appreciated) episodes of the Revolutionary War. Washington could not have cornered Cornwallis without this prelude. Forgotten also are Jack Jouett's ride and Thomas Jefferson's narrow escape from Banastre Tarleton, the Battle of Petersburg, the surrender of Alexandria to the British, and Francisco's fight. One would hope that Prof. John Ferling will one day turn his attention to this forgotten period of the war. Posted by Andrew on August 20,2010 \| 05:48 PM When in college I had a history Prof. that told us we had already read our own "approved" American history tales. Now we need to study what the other students of the various countries study about the same events. Then we may get at least half of the truth as they only read about the "approved" history tales. Then can understand their point of view and human nature in general, as that is the reason for the study of history to understand and hopefully not repeat it as we continue to do, it seems all too often. Posted by Thomas Harris on July 16,2010 \| 08:35 PM Frankly, this is an article on myth building. or instance, it talks of African slaves "joining" the rebellion when in fact most were sent there to take the place of their masters. A law had been passed in the south to force all adult males to join the rebellion when military service was demanded of them. Loyalists would of course refuse, which would then result either in their imprisonment or a lynching. Of course, rich southern rebels would not want to go fight, so this law had the proviso that a slave could be sent in their place. This law was the main recruitment source for those African units. The British offered freedom to any slave who joined them, resulting in over 10,000 following Cornwallis around as he moved through the south. The British had freed slaves serving in Pioneer and combat units and they were all volunteers. When the British left the colonies, they lived up to their word, taking many freed slaves to Nova Scotia and Freetown, Sierra Leone. Another myth has the rebellion as the poor American fighting the rich British or the rich Loyalist, when it was mostly the rich colonist who drove the rebellion. Rich southern plantation owners were virtually 100% for the rebellion, no doubt driven by the abolitionist sentiment that was then circulating in the British parliament. The use of "freedom" and "tyranny" were the rallying cry for the rebellion (the WMD of the time) when in fact it was all about anti-Catholicism, land and money. The damage done to land speculation companies such as the Ohio Company by the Royal Proclamantion of 1763 and the Quebec Act of 1774 drove much of the rebellion's sentiments. Both Washington and Franklin were investors in the Ohio Company. Posted by Bill Attercliffe on May 3,2010 \| 02:21 PM Another myth is that most of the fighting was mainly in New England and the Northern Colonies. New England was a better-read region due to it's Puritan roots and the battles are well-documented and publisized. Most of the fighting actually took place in the South, specifically South Carolina. There are estimates by National Park Ranger John Robertson that 560-700 battles took place there. More than any other colony. The war was so extensive that the Colony was devastated financially for many years afterwards. Virginia also had a Paul Revere named Jack Jouett. There were also battles all over Georgia, North Carolina and as far South as Pensacola, FL and Mobile, AL. Edenton, NC Wilmington, NC and Charleston, SC also had Tea Parties like the one in Boston. Liberty trees also existed in many Southern Colonies. The tree in Charleston, SC was chopped down by the British, so the colonists made a cane from the roots and presented it to Thomas Jefferson. There were 2 Declarations of Independence before the one in Philadelphia. Both Halifax, NC and Mecklenburg/Charlotte, NC had Declarations of Independence against Britain. The dates still exist on the North Carolina flag. Posted by jim on March 10,2010 \| 08:10 AM To the readers who enjoyed this article and want more about the revolution,I would like to highly recommend the book and miniseries on DVD titled "John Adams",starring Paul Giammatti and Laura Linney (as John and Abigail Adams);it was wonderful! Posted by Bill Boehm on February 17,2010 \| 03:37 PM Fascinating. I always like to read things that challenge popular belief. Check out my articles and let me know what you think. Thanks much. Posted by roguescholar2 on February 16,2010 \| 07:44 PM An interesting article. But, it starts with the popular misconception that the colonists in Boston who vandalized the cargo ships carrying the tea were protesting the imposition of taxes on tea. In fact, the problem was that Parliament had removed the taxes on that tea in an effort to make the price amenable to the colonists and protect the profits on the West India Company. I think that an article on commonly held myths of the Revolution ought to set the record straight. The original Tea Party members were protesting the removal of taxes, not the imposition thereof. Posted by Charlie Jensen on February 10,2010 \| 11:48 PM Very well written but I agree with the comments of "Nun" that this is a straw-man argument. For example, not only is the statement "The term "spirit of '76" refers to the colonists' patriotic zeal and has always seemed synonymous with the idea that every able-bodied male colonist resolutely served..." false but hard for a rational man to believe. As a matter of fact we were taught just the opposite! We were taught that the population was deeply divided on loyalty to England! Many of our founding fathers argued AGAINST cessation. That makes it hard to accept that we were taught that our people all fought and suffered united against the king. Posted by david on February 6,2010 \| 10:54 AM Wow I didn't realize the Brits knew exactly what they where getting into. Must be since they won. Georege Soros save the Queen. Posted by wolfpriest on February 6,2010 \| 09:16 AM I found the article interesting and the posted comments very thought provoking. I agree that the term "myth" may have been a stretch but the ideas and information certainly made me reflect on the information provided in American History classrooms across America. I will admit though that the only real disturbing bit was one of comments posted about Kings Mountain. Mark Anthony and William D. Anderson kept their professional bearing as they provided the author with a correction. Another comment posted by James C. Ryan reflect the ugliness that exists academia today. Let's certainly discuss our history and investigate differences in sources, facts, and interpretations but let's do it with respect. Yes, the geographic location was incorrect but the article didn't hinge on Kings Mountain. Really, did you need to express yourself so vehemently? An exclamation point after "wrong"? Take a valium next time you get ready to comment, Mr. Ryan, and maybe the readers will see your information and not your disrespectful tone. Posted by Heidi Bleazey on February 5,2010 \| 04:10 PM We frequently hear about the seizure of Texas and the Southwest by the uS during the period of Manifest Destiny, but little is said of the fact that the Mexican government had spent very little in treasure or physical effort in maintaining their colonial possesions in their Northern areas. Mexico had invited Americans into Texas to develop what they had been unable to develop, and in California they had done nothing to prevent the abandonment of all but five missions and one estancia, which operated only as businesses by that time. The only symbol of Mexican government in the area of California was a small fleet of reveue cutters operating practically as privateers. The indigenous Mexican populations at the time of American occupation consented, mostly, having little respect for the government in Mexico City. It could be reasonably said that Mexico lost Texas due ot the corruption in Santa Ana'a army, which left its soldiers unfed and unpaid as it dwindled from a highly orgnanized and cohesive force of 5,000 men to practically nothing. California was close to independence in 1848 due to inattention, and no opposition had maerialized to Fremont's incursion. Posted by Michael Buckley on February 3,2010 \| 02:37 PM Thank you. An extremely well-written piece. It was a marvelous brush-up on what my superb SC History teacher taught us about the Revolutionary War when I was in 8th grade. I'll even give a bit of credit to my US History teacher in 11th grade but I had already read my US history book from cover-to-cover within three days of receiving it. He just refreshed what I already learned from a well-written book. (The history book he chose for our education was far more entertaining than he was.) Posted by D C Langelage on February 3,2010 \| 08:00 AM We are just lucky that nobody felt compelled to use nukes. Posted by Obbop on February 2,2010 \| 12:23 PM I am a history major, but I hate the way history is taught, it makes it out that this country started with the Revolutionary War(which it is sad that revolutionary spirit has left this country), but this country really started with the Trail of Tears. I know technically that is just the occupation of the country and technically it is when the legal documents were written, but it's something we shouldn't forget, this land was not empty when we got here! Posted by Marilyn on February 2,2010 \| 10:50 AM A good read. But the myths were weak. The point of an article like this is be to debunk/deconstruct standing well accepted but misinterpreted (or just plain untrue) "facts" from the general corpus of mythology that underpins American identity. The talking points here are simply obscure, or far from that corpus of myth that they might only appeal to a specialist (who would have already debunked them for themselves), and as such end up creating a bit of a bait and switch. Unless the myths debunked are something almost everyone accepts, what is the point of debunking them? It is an interesting article, but maybe it didn't need the sensationalist focus? Robert Johnson University of Munich American Studies Posted by Robert Allen Johnson on February 1,2010 \| 02:28 AM "Shades of Avatar!"??? You should learn more about your history. America has lied to the native peoples of these lands for generations, has starved them, poisoned them, intentionally spread disease among them, massacred them and broken almost every treat, agreement and promise they ever made. An American tradition that goes on today. Get your head out of your backside and into reality. Posted by James Howard on February 1,2010 \| 01:23 AM A vision Washington had during the revolutionary war - very moving and powerful - is described at - along with a speech he gave when he left office - another wonderful piece. Posted by Craig on February 1,2010 \| 01:07 AM Very interesting, quite well written, wondering if anyone caught the part about "Manhatten Island"? Ladies and Gentleman, say hello to "Staten Island"! Unless Mr. Ferling wasn't specific enough, or omission from the publisher's due to space limitations. I'm wondering if there's a point in time when All detailed facts are presented before I leave this earth? Makes me wonder about the same thing about Abraham Lincoln and John Fitzgerald Kenndy? Very educational. I liked it myself. Posted by John Barrett. on February 1,2010 \| 01:01 AM We're in the same position the colonials were in 300-some years ago, in that they were revolting against England, but more specifically they were revolting against the taxes imposed by the bank of England, and since the Federal Reserve was snuck into law in 1913, we're in the same situation. Which is why we are forced to pay property taxes, wage taxes. Bankers own the US government. Posted by Phil E. Drifter on February 1,2010 \| 11:31 PM Everyone here needs to remember that our history is important and needs to be taught to future generations. I found this very informative and hope that those in the future do not choose to edit this out of the history books. Posted by CMS on February 1,2010 \| 11:02 PM Really? How could an article of such length mention the year 1775, April, and never mention 10 Novemeber 1775? This is when my Marine Corps came alive. Thankfully, we are a good natured bunch of leathernecked animals and just may forgive this blatant omission. Really...guess you just forgot? Must be an Army historian. Really. Posted by B.L.K. on February 1,2010 \| 10:27 PM In regards to the comment about the Civil War, yes the war was about slavery. Southern states left the Union in the name of "States Rights" and the right for southerners to chose their way of life. And the South's way of life was an economy based entirely on slave labor and the right to own slaves period. You can dress it up anyway you want, it doesn't change the facts. Posted by Vicki Johnson on February 1,2010 \| 09:53 PM I found this very interesting. May I suggest the History channels series on the American Revolution. Very well made. I learned more about the subject the they taught in school Posted by helen on February 1,2010 \| 09:48 PM Notable in it's absense from this pretty good list of myths is the role of Corporations in oppressing the Colonists. It was in fact Corporate Inventory which was deposited in Boston harbor during the so- called "tea party". The British East India Tea Company had been chartered by the King of England to enforce the Crown's economic domination of America. The "Red Coats" were merely the muscle backing up the Corporation. It was a 'mechanical arm', if you will by which the King extended his hegemony. For this reason, the Early government here essentially outlawed Corporations as a business entiy. Very few Corporate Charters were issued by the Federal or State Gov'ts for most of the first 100 years of our history. Then in 1876, the Supreme Court granted Corporations "legal personhood" and the set about doing exactly what the Founders had been afraid they would. Dominate politics with their Treasuries. How little we learned. Posted by Patriot on February 1,2010 \| 05:39 PM Now I'm eleven years old, and they never taught us these things when we were studying the American Revolution. This is an interesting article for all of us. Britain was right to have it's doubts if they could win a war with Americans! Sure, they have well armed soldiers. But what did the Americans have? Determination. They wanted to be free of the British. I'm glad the Americans decided to fight fore freedom. If they hadn't, where would we be now? I would hate to see myself. Posted by Sarah Anderson on February 1,2010 \| 04:40 PM The publishers might consider the so-called Civil War and its myths. Examples; was it fought over slavery (of course not) or what Lincoln really fought for (money) or the Emancipation Proclamation (it freed no slaves) and perhaps the very name of the war itself (it was not a civil war). SI writers could easily add another dozen or so myths about that tragic event in our nation's history which most of our school children are still being distaught, perhaps even adding why they are so misled - a topic in itself with modern day bearing. Such an article would be timely. The CW's sesquicentennial is already upon us (1860-2010). Posted by Bob Arnold on January 23,2010 \| 01:43 PM John Ferling's discussion of George Washington's ability as a military strategist in the January issue of the Smithsonian magazine omits one of the General's finest moments – the Battle of Stony Point, planned by him and carried out by General Anthony Wayne. Fought in New York's lower Hudson River Valley on July 16, 1779, it was the last major battle in the North and one of the few nighttime assaults of the Revolutionary War. Two columns of Light Infantry, armed with unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets, swept around the sides of the rocky peninsula while a diversion was created in the front. Within less than half an hour, the British garrison was captured, along with fifteen cannon. The battle had important consequences. Of only eleven medals issued for the entire eight-year war, Congress awarded three for bravery at Stony Point, and by December, Sir Henry Clinton, frustrated by his failed attempts to control the Hudson River, launched an attack against Charleston, South Carolina, shifting the focus of the war to the American south, eventually culminating in Cornwallis's surrender in October, 1781. For that reason, the Battle of Stony Point could well be added to the list of 'turning points' Ferling mentions in his article – in addition to providing evidence of Washington's strategic ability. Don Loprieno Bristol, ME former site manager Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site Stony Point, New York and author of The Enterprise In Contemplation: The Midnight Assault of Stony Point Posted by don Loprieno on January 19,2010 \| 06:44 PM Let me suggest that the biggest Myth of the American Revolution is that the Spanish forces were not involved. Ferling's complete lack of Spanish inclusion is shocking. Proclamations by our President during Hispanic Heritage Months acknowledge what historian John Ferling could not even whisper. "Hispanics have served with honor and distinction in every conflict since the Revolutionary War, and they have made invaluable contributions through their service to our country." Pres. Barak Obama Oct 15, 2009 "These proud patriots have fought in every war since our founding, and many have earned the Medal of Honor for their courage." Pres. George Bush, Sept 12, 2008 "Hispanic Americans have sacrificed in defense of this Nation's freedom, serving in every major American conflict." George W. Bush, Sept 17, 2003 "The Continental Army benefited from the valor of Bernardo de Galvez, who led his frequently outnumbered troops to numerous victories against the British." George W. Bush, Sept 28, 2001 If Ferling wondered how the South was not lost to the British, he should look at how the Spanish drove the British out of the Gulf of Mexico, blocking their access to New Orleans and the Mississippi River. Under Spanish General Bernardo Galvez, the Spanish forces captured the British fort of St. Joseph in present-day Niles, Michigan. Then they took Mobile and Pensacola, the capital of the British colony of West Florida. That was why the South was not lost to the British. I certainly believe that you owe your readers the opportunity of broadening their historical knowledge to include what our Presidents acknowledge, the Spanish were integral to the success of the American Revolution. Posted by Mimi Lozano on January 16,2010 \| 12:25 AM Dear Sirs/Mmes: Reference your Myths of the American Revolution article by John Ferling, Jan 2010. The story of our Spanish Mexican ancestors in the U.S. is no less impressive than that of the first English colonists that children are taught to admire from a very young age. Yet, it has been left out of the history books. It is unfortunate when "New Spain" in the U.S. is over twice as large as "New England". Bob Thonhoff in his book, "The Texas Connection with the American Revolution" writes: "Viewed from a Texas perspective, the American Revolution takes on a new dimension. A product of recent historical research, the Texas connection figures into the larger role that Spain played in the winning of American independence." In reality, the long-standing Anglo American anxiety and distrust of Spanish Mexican U.S. citizens today can be traced to their lack of facts. In truth, Spain and New Spain extended hands of friendship to Anglos from the beginning. An example is Bernardo de Galvez' support of the thirteen colonies. He is the forgotten Lafayette. Mr. Thonhoff describes it thusly: "More significantly to us (the U.S.), they (Spain and New Spain) aided the American colonists immeasurably in the war effort, both by providing arms, ammunition, and supplies by way of the Mississippi River and by diverting British manpower that could have been used against the Continental Army." After the war, England attributed their loss of its colonies in America to Spain's and New Spain's bulwark of support to the Anglo Americans. Yet, it seems that these events have deliberately been left out of history books. We ask for your support in getting the Spanish Mexican story recognized for what it is – an integral part of U.S. history. Thank you. José Antonio López ( Posted by Jose Antonio Lopez on January 15,2010 \| 11:41 AM Waiting 2 hours to respond to flanking maneuver? I'm guessing that could be explained as trying to verify the field reports to be sure they weren't being duped. Failing to comprehend the gravity of the conflict in the south? That's kind of hard to believe, or maybe just overly simplistic? Posted by on January 13,2010 \| 12:25 PM One thing that seems contradictory about this article and two books I read about Washington about three years ago seems to be the role of Blacks in the Revolution. One book asserted that Washington worked to get the Blacks out of the Army when he arrived at Boston. This book claims that Washington did not desire Blacks as soldiers and feared they would undermine support for the Revolution. The other said much the opposite and claimed that the number of Black soldiers increased as slaves were enlisted as substitutes (and to keep them from being freed by the British). This author seems to follow the second category. How can historians come to such conflicting statements? Is it any wonder there are "myths" about everything? "Give 'em Hell, Harry," left the White House as the most unpopular president up to that time. He was basically told not to run for an, complete term. Today his scandals and corruption are forgotten and he is a folk hero. All this is discouraging to learning the lessons of the past. Posted by Amy Delacroix on January 12,2010 \| 05:39 PM Too bad the Republic didn't last long enough to determine whether the War for Independence was worth the bloodshed. Thank Dishonest Abe for that. Posted by Herman King on January 12,2010 \| 11:40 AM the biggest myth is not dealt with and in light of present day problems whitewashing of american history appears to continue. the boston tea party was not a protest against taxation but a protest by local tea merchants against the tea market being opened up to other traders. Somebody suggested Miles Chilton) this article as suitable for 3rd or 4th grade readers. Clearly, his state must have superior education standards. Most grade 7's in the real world would have difficulty reading more than a few sentences of this article Posted by mike newcombe on January 11,2010 \| 02:31 AM A thoroughly enjoyable piece on the American Revolution... However, I understood General Howe's results were somewhat different than what this essay depicts. A number of years ago I had read a piece by another historian whose name I cannot remember, that put Howe in a better position than this article describes. Yes, he was cautious but as I understand it he was not interested in causing bloodshed but more interested in gaining ground through the use of the "indirect approach". Accordingly, Howe was quite successful and basically had cornered the American Army in the south and wrapped up the end-game of the entire conflict. At this moment Howe was replaced by Lord Cornwallis, who though a fine European commander, did not understand the small-unit fighting tactics of the American colonies and subsequently undid everything Howe had accomplished... Posted by Steve Naidamast on January 11,2010 \| 05:16 PM Sam Abrams should be more polite but he's basically right. From the British POV this war was indeed unwinnable because it could never be won by military means. The outcome of battles could only affect the form and timing of independence, not change the fact. As pointed out by "unpatriotic" British critics at the time, the only way in the long term of holding the First British Empire together was to ensure that its members WANTED it to hold together. Coercion just played into the seperatist's hands. By the time of Yorktown even a crushing victory could only have delayed American independence, and would thus have done even more damage to British finances. Late in the war even the British government understood this, but they saw no exit srategy and so kept muttering nonsense about "loss of prestige", "not letting the sacrifice of our soldiers be in vain", "protecting local allies" etc while blood and treasure were wasted. Posted by derrida derider on January 10,2010 \| 01:48 AM Well written and researched, but I'm curious, what myths about our time will they be regurgitating 250 years hence? Posted by kenneth polit on January 10,2010 \| 08:55 PM To me, this is a bit of a straw-man argument. The only potential "myth" listed is the one about Saratoga. None of the other so-called "myths" were taught to me in the first place. I'm not sure where the author is coming from. Posted by Nun on January 10,2010 \| 02:07 PM You would do better with a piece Myths of the Civil War, a far better established mythology with American historians. Among other issues, I suggest exploring whether Lincoln (although an excellent politician and wordsmith) should be given such high marks his failure to make more of an effort to head off the War, to retain the important Virginina, North Carolina and border states in the Union (as opposed to the far less important, hot-head South Carolina and gulf states), and whether the strategies of Lincoln and Grant (and Lee for that matter) bringing about the slaughter of 700,000 young men who were cousins and friends were wise and worthy of praise rather than condemnation. Posted by Dan Grossman on January 10,2010 \| 10:29 AM History is embellished--that's obvious. Our first leaders were not perfect--not even looking to be leaders until the situations arose, stimulating a change of direction in our America. It matters not whether Washington chopped down a cherry tree......or that there were multiple "Paul Revere" types....or incompetence on the battlefield. It is sad that historians seem to have proven that they themselves are at fault for providing us with tweaked "facts". Or maybe myths are just part of who we are, have been or will be. Posted by Catherine Katrovitz on January 9,2010 \| 11:42 AM It is often thougt tt there were only 13 olonies to revolt. Ihink that there were 14, Nova Scotia waa long established colony. It was more or less asked to join but refused. They might of taken into consideration that the British Navy was based there. FGD Posted by F Gordon Dunn M.D on January 7,2010 \| 08:42 PM Have enjoyed the January 2010 edition of the Smithsonian. In John Ferling's very interesting article Myths of the American Revolution I found what might be called an unrecognized myth. On both p. 52 & p. 53 I read that the Battle of Kings Mountain was fought in North Carolina. It was, in fact, fought in South Carolina as can be readily verified by consulting Chapter Eleven, The American Revolution, in Walter Edgar's SOUTH CAROLINA—A HISTORY (1998 . University of South Carolina Press). What contributes to the confusion, no doubt, is that the nearby City of Kings Mountain is in North Carolina. I have visited Kings Mountain National Military Park (the site of the battle), and can assure that it is in South Carolina—near the Town of Blacksburg. Posted by William D. Anderson, Jr. on January 7,2010 \| 04:06 PM NATHANAEL GREENE by G M Carbone portrays a detailed account of how the war was won in the South through Greene's shrewd defeat of Cornwallis. This set up the final blow at Yorktown. The French fleet kept the British from entering Chesapeake Bay to support Cornwallis. Charlestowne was renamed Charleston by Greene when he recaptured it. Posted by Lawrence Levine on January 7,2010 \| 01:54 PM My ancestors fought at the Battle of Oriskany in New York State. As a result of their involvement in the American Revolution, the United States ( or what would become the USA) won, but the family had to sell off some of their family's farmland in order to survive during that time. Everyone paid a personal price during that war for independence. Posted by Janie Glauber on January 7,2010 \| 01:12 PM The surrender of Cornwallis is made more interesting and complete when it is realized that Admiral Rodney could have been there with 15 men of war and 4000 soldiers if he hadn't stopped at St. Eustatius to close down the source of arms to the Americans and stayed too long while collecting and loading the prize he claimed. Posted by roger hanlon on January 7,2010 \| 12:43 PM This is an idiotic article. Eg, everybody knows there were significant force of Tories fighting for the king....and GW did win the war....he did the most important part of an insurgent generals job, keeping his army together and in the field. in this kind of insurgency (America, Nam), the imperial power, at the end of a long supply line, has to win on the field to win the war while the insurgents just have to not lose to win the war. which is what happened in both cases. Remember: the object of war, as defined at all war colleges, is psychological - to break the will of the enemy to continue to fight. To maintain the insurgency and draw support form great powers who are the enemies of your enemies. He did it. John Adams, who was an extremely critical guy, no tendency to flatter at all, credited GW...and 2nd after him Paine... Distinguished historian or not this attack on GW is just ill-informed. And his supposed widely accepted myths are accepted only by the dismally ignorant. Posted by Sam Abrams on January 2,2010 \| 05:04 PM A good article. Probably the best book I have ever read on the Revoulionary War is Benson Bobrick's book, Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution. I make this judgement based not on my own thoughts about the book but the fact that everyone to whom I have recommended (or given it as a gift) this book over the past 12 years has said they found it very good. Just a quick ironic note, Washington's view of the militia is interestng when one realizes that he was a member of the militia during the French and Indian War and that as a commander in that war was defeated at Fort Necessity in PA. Get the book, force yourself to read the first chapter; you'll be glad you did. Posted by Burt Floraday on January 2,2010 \| 10:00 AM I've read fairly extensively in Revolutionary War literature and history, owning many books including a 20 volume or so set and many individual books, plus reading on the internet. While this article is informative, I didn't recognize much in the Myths that are then disputed or disproved to establish in my mind the idea that these myths have any really great currency or standing. Perhaps, in part, this is a tactic to get a broader readership which I suppose the piece deserves. That being said, I think there are some myths that have modern legs that could be disspelled or disproved and that would make the piece stronger. For examples, one need only peruse snopes.com for spam email disinformation, for example. Another myth, or rather something only partially true, that is commonly repeated is that only land-owning males could vote during or in the immediate aftermath of the Revolution. This is not true, it varied considerably from state to state. When Vermont came in soon after, it featured universal male suffrage without any property requirement, and the original colonies varied as well. See A. Keyssar, "The Right to Vote" Posted by P. R. Finn on January 1,2010 \| 11:23 PM The article offers a brief overview regarding some opinions on this period I had not considered in the past. I would offer it to a younger group of American history buffs,(3rd or 4th grade) with the hopes it might stimulate further research. Content was well arranged. Posted by Miles Chilton on January 1,2010 \| 04:06 PM Oh to live in a country that pointed to a robust history of innovation, human invention, and contribution to the human condition as their greatest historical legacy instead of celebrating, debating, memorializing, chronicling and analyzing repeated wars ! Posted by Mack J on January 1,2010 \| 09:29 AM "The Americans had neither a standing army nor a navy " -- ah yes, but Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed. As Jung declared a centry later, they were Indians in their souls. Shades of Avatar! Posted by anne Simon on January 1,2010 \| 08:34 AM Very well written except for the error in stating that the Battle of Kings Mountain occured in North Carolina. This battle in fact was in South Carolina though fought primarily by militia units from Virginia and North Carolina. Posted by Mark Anthony on December 31,2009 \| 03:56 PM I enjoyed the article, but spotted a small geographic error that hit a sore point for a South Carolina history teacher. The Battle of Kings Mountain was fought York County, South Carolina. Posted by Jim Wilke on December 30,2009 \| 10:59 PM John Ferling obviously is a learned historian, but he just as obviously needs to brush up on his American Revolution geography. Mr. Ferling twice locates the 1780 battle at Kings Mountain in North Carolina. Wrong! The battle took place at what today is Kings Mountain National Military Park, which definitely is in South Carolina. Perhaps Mr. Ferling (and Smithsonian's fact checkers) confused the battle site with the nearby community of Kings Mountain, which IS in North Carolina. Posted by James C. Ryan on December 30,2009 \| 01:52 PM The war was a draw, the rebels contended for power & dominion over all of north America & didint get it. Posted by anthony mccabe on December 29,2009 \| 05:20 PM Liked the article. The illistrations are appropriate for a children's primer (maybe) - real portraits would have made better points. Posted by Shir-El on December 21,2009 \| 09:41 AM This is actually a very well written piece. Very informative and it raises a lot of points that aren't traditionally mentioned/taught at schools	eng	ef919af0-ac84-495e-b252-1c2c53d6be75	http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Myths-of-the-American-Revolution.html?viewAll=y&page=1
Saturday, April 30, 2011 The late 1500s was the first time that cookery books began to be published on a regular basis. Many of these books concentrated on the 'secrets' of the wealthy - the confectioneries and remedies hidden in the closets of noblewomen, a powerful selling point in this period. Increasingly these books were aimed at women, as is revealed by titles such as The Good Huswifes Jewell. However, it is estimated that only between 5 and 10 percent of women were literate at this time - add to this the fact that the books were expensive commodities (as were the ingredients for the recipes), and it seems likely that the market for these books was confined to a small affluent area of society. A turbulent century for England and her colonies This was an era of war, fire, plague and execution - and it was a period in which English cultural life was transformed. The dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s had led to new land ownership, and consequently to a new class of non-aristocratic landowners. The power battles between this new class and the monarchy would lead to civil war, to the execution of King Charles I, to a decade (the 1650s) of a Commonwealth government under Oliver Cromwell, and finally to the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II in 1660. Rich appetites Despite this political turbulence, the new class of landowners was here to stay. And, as is typical, new wealth led to new markets and new ways to spend money. Towns became increasingly fashionable, and began to bulge with spending opportunities. London became the richest source of luxury foodstuffs in the country. Throughout the century there was a growing fascination for food from mainland Europe. It is likely that this was fuelled by political events, such as the marriage of Charles I to the French princess Henrietta Maria in 1625, the forced exile in France and Holland of many supporters of the royalist cause during the Commonwealth, and Charles II's marriage to the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza in 1662. In any case, foreign food was all the rage. Samuel Pepys was extremely impressed to learn that his friend the Earl of Sandwich intended to employ a French chef, writing in his diary that the Earl had 'become a perfect courtier'. While the Great Fire of London raged, Pepys wrote of his feverish attempts to save his possessions, scrambling in panic for his bottles of wine and his parmesan cheese, all of which he buried safely in his garden. Foreign flavours French cuisine enlivened the English palate, flavouring its food with anchovies, capers and wine, and introducing coulis, roux, ragouts and fricassés. Fancy French dishes were nicknamed kickshaws, after 'quelquechose', the French word for 'something'. The influence of the Continent brought a greater taste for savoury dishes, and less of the traditional combinations of sweet and sour flavours. Thanks to the Europeans, the English realised that it was perfectly safe to eat raw fruit and vegetables, and began to enjoy salads with their meals. The first English coffee house was opened in London in 1652 by Pasqua Rosee, a servant to a Turkish merchant, who brought from Turkey his ingredients and his expertise. The drink became a huge hit, as did the coffee houses, which swarmed with fashionable social life throughout the century. Nonetheless, traditional English food retained its popularity - the English still greedily tucked into their cakes, pies and puddings. Even after the death of Charles I (1652) there was strong nostalgia for pre-war royal traditions, and many recipes were tinged by a reverence for this faded glory. Cookery Books The reign of Oliver Cromwell sparked a renewed interest in the customs of the old aristocracy, and cookery books appeared to be opening magical doors onto the glittering secrets of the wealthy. Following the fall of the monarchy, many distinguished chefs lost their jobs, and this is likely to be the reason for the sudden wave of new cookery books at this time - these professionals would have been searching for new ways to make money. The political situation also meant that many people were moving up the social scale. It is therefore in this century that cookery books begin to instruct those unfamiliar with the etiquette of the wealthy, guiding them on subjects such as bills of fare, or servant behavior. Although most 17th century cookery books were written by men, many of the recipes found in the books were originally devised by women. Gervase Markham, for example, admits in his book Countrey Contentments that the book's recipes were originally concocted by an 'honourable countess'. It was not uncommon for male cookery book writers to transcribe recipes found in unpublished manuscripts, many of which were written by aristocratic women, who would have had regular access to key ingredients. It is estimated that only around 10 percent of women were literate in the mid 17th century, and many were only taught to read, and not to write. Friday, April 29, 2011 . These snippets come from Gervase Markham's 1615 The English Housewif. This excerpt appreared in the always entertaining and educational blog Fragments this morning. Fragments publishes fragments, texts, and snippets from Shakespeare's England, and is written by a skilled PhD researcher in London who has a great sense of humor. Countrey Contentments or The English Huswife was written by Gervase (or Jervis) Markham (English author, c 1568-1637) in 1615, and was a best-seller of its time - reprints continued up until 1683. Although the title of the book suggests that it is written for a female readership, it is thought that very few women (between 5 and 10%) were literate at the time. Historians believe that most readers would have been members of the clergy, the gentry and the professions. Markham (1568-1637), poet and writer, was the third son of Sir Robert Markham of Gotham, Nottinghamshire. He served in the army in the Low Countries and then in Ireland, he spoke several modern languages, and was knowledgeable on the subjects of horse-breeding and forestry. His work included various tragedies and comedies, a study of horsemanship, an account of his military experiences, and a number of books on managing a country household. Basil-Besler, Hortus-Eystettensis 1613 When our English Housewife is exact in the rules before rehearsed,.shee shall then sort her mind to the understanding of other House-wifely secrets, right comfortable and meet for her use. First I would have her furnish herself of verie good Stills, for the distillation of all kindes of Waters, which Stills would either be of Tinne or sweet Earth, and in them shee shall distill all sorts of waters meete for the health of her Household, as Sage water which is good for Rhumes and Collickes, Radish water which is good for the stone, Angelica water good for infection, Vine water for itchings, Rose water and Eye-bright water for dimme sights, Treacle water for mouth cankers, Allum [mineral salt] water for old Ulcers, and a world of others, any of which will last a full yeare at the least. Then shee shall know that the best waters for the smoothing of the skinne and keeping the face delicate and amiable are those which are distilled from Beane flowers, Strawberries, Vine leaves, Goats milke, from the whites of Egges, from the Flowers of Lillies, any of which will last a yeare or better. To make an excellent sweet water for perfume you shall take Basill, Mint, Marjorum, Sage, Balme, Lavender and Rosemary, of each one handfull of Cloves, Cinamon and Nutmegges, then three or four Pome-citrons [a citrus fruit resembling a large lemon] cut into slices. Infuse all these into Damaske-rose water the space of three daies, and then distill it with a gentle fire of Charcoale, then when you have put it into a very cleann glasse, take Musk, Civet and Ambergreece [OED: A wax like substance found floating in tropical seas] and put into a rag of fine Lawne, and then hang it within the water. This being either burnt upon a hot pan, or else boiled in perfuming pannes with Cloves, Bay-leaves, and Lemmon pills, will make the most delicate perfume that may be without any offence, and will last the longest of all other sweet perfumes. To perfume gloves excellently, take the oyle of sweet Almonds, oyle of Nutmegges, oile of Benjamin [a sweet tree gum] each a dramme, of Ambergreece one grain, fat Musket (Musk) two graines. Mixe them all together and grinde them upon a Painters stone, and then anoint the gloves therewith. Yet before you anoint them let them be dampishly moistened with Damaske Rose water. To make very good washing balls take Storaxe [fragrant gum resin] of both kindes, Benjamin [a tree resin], Calamus Aromaticus [fragrant reed?], Labdanum [another gum resin used in perfuming] of each a like, and braise them to powder with Cloves and Arras (?) Them beate them all with a sufficient quantitie of Sope till it bee stiffe, then with your hand you shall worke it like paste and make round balls thereof.. Thursday, April 28, 2011 Pocahontas in 1616, Simon van de Passe (Dutch artist, 1595-1647). This engraving is the only known portrait of Pocahontas rendered from life. During her stay in England, Dutch engraver Simon van de Passe captured her likeness and recorded that she, like the artist himself, was 21 years old. The image presents Pocahontas as a princess in the European sense; the inscription describes her as the daughter of a mighty emperor, and the ostrich feather in her hand is a symbol of royalty. Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan, paramount chief of an alliance of Virginia Indians in Tidewater Virginia. An iconic figure in American history, Pocahontas is largely known for saving the life of the Jamestown colonist John Smith and then romancing him—although both events are unlikely to be true. She did meet Smith several times, sometimes serving as Powhatan's silent figurehead and a symbolic liaison between the chief and the English colonists; she was not, however, a "princess" or a diplomat in any modern sense. Sometime around 1610, she married an Indian named Kocoum, and in 1613 she was captured by the English and confined at Jamestown, where she converted to Christianity and married the colonist John Rolfe. The marriage, approved by Powhatan, brought an end to the First Anglo-Powhatan War (1609–1614) and set the stage for Pocahontas's visit to London in 1616. At the request of the Virginia Company of London, she met both King James I and the bishop of London, after which she reunited briefly with Smith. Early in her return voyage to Virginia, she became ill and died at Gravesend in March 1617. In the centuries since, Pocahontas's life has slipped into myth, serving to represent Virginia's early claim to be the foundation-place of America. Many elite Virginians, meanwhile, have tenuously claimed her as a relative, even leading to a "Pocahontas clause" in the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. Early Years Pocahontas was one of dozens of children born to Powhatan, the paramount chief of Tsenacomoco, a political alliance of Algonquian-speaking Indians in Tidewater Virginia. Her mother's name and tribal origin were never recorded, although no English colonist ever suggested that she was not an Indian. (The increasingly European-looking portraits made of Pocahontas over time represent artistic license.) In her infancy, Pocahontas was given the secret personal name Matoaka; later, she was known as Amonute. Neither name can be translated. Powhatan had many wives, and custom decreed that he keep a wife only until she had a child by him, after which he sent her back to her people and supported her from a distance. As a result, Pocahontas had no full siblings and many half siblings. When each child was ready to leave home and become part of a working household—probably at eight to ten years of age—he or she moved to Powhatan's capital, freeing the mother to remarry. Late in her childhood, Pocahontas likely joined Powhatan's large, busy household, where everybody worked, even Powhatan himself. In addition to their daily jobs, members of the household labored to produce grand feasts on important occasions. Pocahontas, meanwhile, probably participated in what was traditionally women's work—farming, collecting wild foods and firewood, making utensils, and cooking and cleaning—and as a result had little contact with her father or other males during the day. In the evenings, she probably had stiff competition for her father's attention; still, by 1607 she was his favorite child. Her new name may suggest why. William Strachey, who lived at Jamestown from 1610 until 1611, translated "Pocahontas" as "little wanton." In Strachey's time, "wanton" meant not only bawdy but also cruel and undisciplined. In other words, it's possible that Pocahontas may have teased Powhatan about his age (then about sixty) and his multitude of wives, and he may have been delighted by it. John Smith Pocahontas's first opportunity to see an Englishman came late in December 1607, about eight months after the founding of Jamestown, when John Smith was brought to Powhatan's capital at Werowocomoco. Smith had initially been a captive, but after being vetted by the high priests, he arrived as an honored guest. In The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles (1624), he famously wrote that he was threatened with death only to be rescued by Pocahontas, a story that subsequently became legend. However, in a more reliable account—a letter written a few months after his visit—Smith said only that he was feasted and then interviewed by Powhatan. This version of events makes sense, given how eager the Indian leadership was to find out why the English had come and stayed in Virginia. The interview took place inside Powhatan's house, a space large enough to accommodate only a few dozen people at most. In fact, Pocahontas probably was not even there; being then a young girl of perhaps eleven, she was needed to help with food preparation and washing up afterward. In the spring of 1608, Pocahontas traveled to Jamestown as part of a delegation charged with negotiating the release of several Indian captives. Sent as a silent reminder of Powhatan's trust in Smith, she was accompanied by several fully armed adult men, one of whom, Rawhunt, did all the talking. The captives were released—although to Pocahontas rather than Rawhunt, presumably because she served as a symbol of Powhatan. In his 1624 account, Smith hints that Pocahontas, acting as a diplomat, led the party, but earlier eyewitness accounts say no such thing. Even the daughter of a powerful chief like Powhatan would have left military and diplomatic matters to her male relatives. This was especially true for Pocahontas, who had not only uncles but also two older half brothers serving Powhatan as appointed district chiefs. With his later accounts suggesting that Pocahontas saved him personally as well as (in some accounts) the entire Jamestown colony, Smith had a tendency to attribute to Powhatan's daughter power she was unlikely to have possessed. That tradition continues in the frequent modern-day references to her as a "princess." Pocahontas lived in a society in which the paramount chief's position was matrilineal. In other words, Powhatan's brothers, sisters, and his sisters' children were his heirs, not his own children. As such, Pocahontas was not a princess in the European sense, and next to her favored half brothers, she was relatively powerless, either to gain entry to that first feast with John Smith or later to act on behalf of the English. On most occasions when she visited Jamestown, she probably tagged along with adults, as did other young people eager to gawk at the foreigners. Smith later described Pocahontas's "wild train," or mischievous retinue, while Strachey described her goading the English boys into turning cartwheels with her around the fort. From the autumn of 1608 onward, relations between the Jamestown colony and Powhatan became more strained, culminating in the First Anglo-Powhatan War. Powhatan moved his capital west to Orapax, on the Chickahominy River, and out of the reach of English ships. Smith departed Virginia in October 1609, and a story of Pocahontas traveling to Jamestown to ask after him is unlikely to be true; she would have been in danger of being taken as a hostage. Instead, she probably learned about Smith's departure through her father's intelligence channels. Marriage, Capture, and Remarriage What little is known about Pocahontas's next few years comes from William Strachey, whose interpreter, Machumps, was one of Powhatan's brothers-in-law. Through Machumps, Strachey learned that Pocahontas began menstruating sometime in 1610, soon after which she married an Indian named Kocoum, who is described by Strachey as a "private captain," or a warrior who was a commoner. There is no record of any children or of where the couple lived after the wedding. During this time, the English began to expand their settlements beyond the Jamestown fort, including at Henricus, established on the James River in September 1611. Slowed but not stopped by Indian guerrilla attacks, the English by 1613 were sending ships to trade with the Potomac River tribes who were beginning to act beyond the control of Tsenacomoco. In April 1613, Captain Samuel Argall heard that Pocahontas was visiting Passapatanzy, a satellite town of the Patawomecks, one of his trading partners. Argall pressured the subchief, Iopassus (Japazaws), to assist him in taking her prisoner, promising an alliance against Powhatan. After conferring with his superior, Iopassus agreed, and with his wives' help, lured Pocahontas aboard Argall's ship. Argall promptly transported her to Jamestown and sent a ransom demand to her father. Powhatan made an initial payment and then dithered for several months, during which Pocahontas remained at the English fort. According to English accounts she was treated well, although in a book published in 2007, Linwood "Little Bear" Custalow cites Powhatan oral tradition to argue that Pocahontas was raped while in the colonists' custody. Other historians have disputed that such oral tradition survived and instead argue that any mistreatment of Pocahontas would have gone against the interests of the English in their negotiations with Powhatan. A truce had been called, the Indians still far outnumbered the English, and the colonists feared retaliation. In any event, Deputy Governor Sir Thomas Dale, with the help of Alexander Whitaker, the minister at Jamestown and Henricus, saw to it that she was trained in the ways of the Anglican Church. She was baptized and given the Christian name Rebecca, at which time she also revealed her secret name, Matoaka. By the time the English forced the issue of ransom payment in March 1614, she and John Rolfe apparently had fallen in love. A twenty-eight-year-old widower from a family in the English gentry, Rolfe had come to Virginia, with Dale and Strachey, in 1610 and over a dozen years made his fortune in tobacco. Dale assented to their marriage—as did Powhatan, who sent one of Pocahontas's uncles as a witness—and on or about April 5, 1614, the minister Richard Bucke performed it. There is no record of where Pocahontas and Rolfe were married or where they lived after the wedding, although Rolfe owned land around Smith Fort, across the river from Jamestown. A son, Thomas, was born sometime later. Because the first recorded mention of him is on the occasion of his mother's death, the date and place of his birth are unknown; he could have been born on either side of the Atlantic any time between 1615 and 1617. As for Pocahontas's first marriage, to Kocoum, by Powhatan custom it ended when she was captured. Powhatan, meanwhile, called a halt to his ongoing war with the English. It is unlikely that Pocahontas negotiated the peace, as some writers have claimed, nor would she have been needed as an interpreter by then. Instead, she served as a figurehead—a symbol of peaceful relations and a Christianized "savage"—and in 1616 the Virginia Company of London paid her passage to England. London In an effort to raise funds on behalf of the Virginia Company, Rebecca Rolfe, as Pocahontas was now known, sailed to England in the spring of 1616 with her husband John Rolfe; Deputy Governor Dale; a retinue of young Indian women, some of whom would remain in England; and the priest Uttamatomakkin, a brother-in-law of Powhatan sent by the paramount chief as an observer. In particular, Uttamatomakkin was tasked with finding John Smith, meeting the English king, viewing the English god, and conducting a census of both the Englishmen and their trees. (An earlier Indian visitor, who saw only London and the Thames River, had mistakenly reported that there were next to no trees in England, explaining why the English sought timber in Virginia.) Uttamatomakkin would accomplish the first two objectives but fail with the rest, and his encounters with evangelistic clergymen such as Reverend Samuel Purchas would turn his sympathies forever against the English. After landing in Plymouth in September 1616, the party traveled overland to London, so Pocahontas saw a good deal of southern England. Once in London, she was lodged and clothed at the Virginia Company's expense and an engraving was made of her by Simon van de Passe that was intended for circulation by the company in its fund-raising efforts. Pocahontas also was introduced into English society, presumably by the lieutenant governor and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Dale, a distant cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth. The wife of Virginia's governor, Thomas West, baron De La Warr, may also have helped sponsor Pocahontas. While John Smith later claimed that he could have presented the young woman to the English aristocracy, he never had anything like the social clout of either the Dales or the De La Warrs. Pocahontas caused a sensation among an English upper crust that was always in search of novelty and amusement. She had an audience with the bishop of London, John King, who, in the words of Purchas, entertained her "beyond what I have seen in his great hospitality afforded to other Ladies." She and Uttamatomakkin also met King James I at Whitehall Palace and impressed him sufficiently that they were invited to attend, on January 6, 1617, his Twelfth Night masque, a formal costume ball held every year on the last night of the Christmas season. "Well placed" by the king—in other words, seated among important people—they viewed The Vision of Delight by Ben Jonson, which was performed at the ball. Although a century later Robert Beverley Jr. wrote that King James was angry with John Rolfe for presuming to marry a "princess," there is no contemporary evidence to suggest that the king was angered by the marriage and that Pocahontas was regarded as anything like royalty. One Englishman who met her referred to her only as "the Virginian woman," refusing to acknowledge her as a lady. Even John Smith took little trouble to pay his respects to his former friend. Living in London himself, he waited several months before calling on her; in his 1624 account, he claimed that he had been too busy. When he finally made his appearance, Pocahontas was so angry with him that she retired to another room to regain her composure. Their conversation, once it began, soon degenerated into her flinging taunts at him about his shabby treatment of her father. Smith ended his account of the visit with her telling him that "your countrymen will lie much [often]." If Smith was an accurate reporter—he wrote about the conversation seven years after it happened—then Pocahontas may have been experiencing some disillusionment with her husband's people. By the time Smith came around, she and her family had moved to Brentford, then a small village outside London. Later writers have claimed that her health was failing in the capital's smoky environs, although this is unlikely given the fact that Pocahontas had grown up in smoky Indian houses. It is more probable that her novelty among the upper classes had faded, and, absent rich sponsors, the Virginia Company was forced to transfer her to cheaper accommodations. Indirect evidence also suggests that she was in good health at that time. Though they were already planning to return to Virginia, a week before they departed the Rolfes were awarded a large grant by the Virginia Company to start a mission. As part of such an enterprise, Pocahontas would have been expected to serve the dual roles of interpreter and housemother, which would have been a strenuous assignment for someone who was ill or dying. After a two-month delay because of bad weather, the Rolfes and Uttamatomakkin embarked for Virginia in March 1617. Pocahontas was rumored to have regrets about leaving London, but that may have been wishful thinking on the part of some Englishmen. In the end, though, she took ill. Pocahontas, then about twenty-one years old, was taken ashore at Gravesend, down the Thames River from London, where she died. On March 21, she was interred under the chancel of St. George's Church in Gravesend, a burial place indicating that she was considered a lady. Her son, Thomas, too sick himself to travel, remained in England. (He finally sailed for Virginia in 1635, but it was thirteen years after his father's death.) Uttamatomakkin, meanwhile, returned to Virginia with John Rolfe and Samuel Argall and reported to Powhatan's brother, Opechancanough, in such negative terms about his experience that the English attempted to discredit him. The ships that carried Argall, Rolfe, and Uttamatomakkin back to Virginia also brought to the colony an epidemic of hemorrhagic dysentery which colonists called bloody flux and which Argall referred to as "a great mortality"; this epidemic may have been the cause of Pocahontas's death. Legacy Pocahontas is one of the iconic figures in American history. Since her death, her life story—buttressed by few and not always reliable historical sources—largely has been supplanted by myth. Except for her time in London, her contemporaries paid little attention to her, and they wrote next to nothing about her. In fact, she did not become a celebrity until the 1820s, when southerners sought a colonial heroine to compete with the story of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts and so establish Virginia (more accurately) as the earlier of the two English colonies. Toward that end, historians consulted Smith's Generall Historie, which two hundred years later was still one of the only available published accounts of early Jamestown. Written in the midst of the Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1622–1632), Smith's book emphasizes treacherous natives, a heroic Smith, and the one "good" Indian, "Princess Pocahontas." Some of what Smith writes, including the famous episode in which Pocahontas saved his life, contradicts his earlier accounts. Nevertheless, the mythical Pocahontas survives in the Walt Disney animated feature Pocahontas (1995) and the Terrence Malick film The New World (2005), both of which emphasize an unlikely romance between the young girl and Smith. Because of her celebrity, Virginians have long sought to connect themselves with Pocahontas. After St. George's Church burned in 1727, her bones and those of all the other people buried under the church floor were reinterred in a mass grave in the churchyard. Attempts made in the 1920s to identify her bones were unsuccessful. However, many Virginians have claimed descent from Pocahontas. The Racial Integrity Act, passed by the General Assembly in 1924, allowed the state to assign all newborns to racial categories and disallowed the mixing of those categories, especially in marriage. But one exception was made: "persons who have one-sixteenth or less of the blood of the American Indian and have no other non-Caucasic blood shall be deemed to be white persons." Referred to as the "Pocahontas clause," this language was added in direct response to an outcry by elite Virginians who claimed Pocahontas and John Rolfe as distant relatives and who worried that, according to the proposed law, they were not considered to be white. Such connections, though, have always been tenuous at best. Pocahontas's son, Thomas Rolfe, never joined the Virginia colony's elite upon his return in 1635. He died in 1681, place unknown, and left behind an unknown number of children, if any. Virginia kept no consistent records of births, marriages, and deaths before 1853, and no part of a Thomas Rolfe–descended genealogy was written down until the 1820s—in other words, exactly when the Pocahontas myth was beginning to be constructed. Who is and is not actually descended from Pocahontas thus remains both cloudy and controversial. Time Line December 1607 - Late in the month, John Smith is brought before Powhatan, the paramount chief of Tsenacomoco. He later tells of his life being saved by Pocahontas; in fact, Powhatan likely puts Smith through a mock execution in order to adopt him as a weroance, or chief. Spring 1608 - Pocahontas travels to Jamestown as part of a delegation charged with negotiating the release of several Indian captives. The captives are released to Pocahontas, although an adult male Indian, Rawhunt, performs the actual negotiation. October 1609 - John Smith leaves Virginia. The Jamestown colony's new leadership is less competent, and the Starving Time follows that winter. 1610 - Sometime this year, Pocahontas begins to menstruate, making her eligible to marry. Soon after, she weds an Indian warrior named Kocoum. December 1610 - Samuel Argall is dispatched by the Virginia authorities to the Potomac River to procure maize and furs there from Iopassus (Japazaws), the weroance of Passapatanzy, a Patawomeck town. September 1611 - Sir Thomas Dale marches against Indians farther up the James River from Jamestown and establishes a settlement on a bluff that he calls the City of Henrico, or Henricus, in honor of his patron Prince Henry. April 1613 - Powhatan's favorite daughter, Pocahontas, is captured and held hostage by the English, bringing a truce in the First Anglo-Powhatan War. The fight goes out of Powhatan, and during his apathy over the next year, his daughter is converted by the English. April 1613 - Samuel Argall uses his extensive knowledge of the Potomac River–northern Chesapeake area and its Indian population to kidnap Pocahontas while she is with the Patawomecks—an event that ultimately helps to bring the devastating First Anglo-Powhatan War to a conclusion. April 5, 1614 - On or about this day, Pocahontas and John Rolfe marry in a ceremony performed by Richard Bucke and assented to by Sir Thomas Dale and Powhatan, who sends one of her uncles to witness the ceremony. Powhatan also rescinds a standing order to attack the English wherever and whenever possible, ending the First Anglo-Powhatan War. 1615 - Ralph Hamor meets Powhatan at his residence in Matchcot in an attempt to arrange a marriage between a younger sister of Pocahontas and Deputy Governor Sir Thomas Dale. Powhatan expresses contempt for Dale and says a single marriage between his people and the English is sufficient guarantee of alliance. 1615–1617 - Sometime during this time, either in Virginia or in England, Thomas Rolfe is born to Rebecca (née Pocahontas) and John Rolfe. Spring 1616 - The Virginia Company of London sponsors a voyage to England. Led by Sir Thomas Dale, other passengers include Pocahontas, her husband John Rolfe, their son Thomas, a retinue of young Indian women (some of whom will remain in England), and the priest Uttamatomakkin, a brother-in-law of Pocahontas's father Powhatan. Samuel Argall commands the ship. September 1616 - Pocahontas and her traveling party land in Plymouth, England, and then travel overland to London. Their goal is to raise funds on behalf of the Virginia Company of London. January 6, 1617 - Pocahontas, accompanied by the priest Uttamatomakkin, attends King James I's Twelfth Night masque, a formal costume ball held every year on the last night of the Christmas season. The two are "well placed" by the king and view The Vision of Delight by Ben Jonson, performed during the ball. March 1617 - After two months of delay due to bad weather, Pocahontas, her husband John Rolfe, Uttamatomakkin, and the rest of their traveling party embark from England on the Virginia-bound George. Pocahontas soon takes ill, however, and is taken ashore at Gravesend, where she dies. March 21, 1617 - Pocahontas is interred under the chancel of St. George's Church in Gravesend, England. 1624 - John Smith's The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles, which emphasizes treacherous natives, a heroic Smith, and the one "good" Indian, "Princess Pocahontas," is published. Historians have since questioned its reliability. 1635 - After remaining in England upon the death of his mother, Pocahontas, Thomas Rolfe sails for Virginia. 1727 - St. George's Church in Gravesend, England, burns and the bones of Pocahontas are reinterred in a mass grave in the churchyard. 1920s - Attempts to identify Pocahontas's bones from a mass grave at Gravesend, England, are unsuccessful. March 20, 1924 - Virginia passes the Racial Integrity Act, a law aimed at protecting whiteness on the state level. It prohibits interracial marriage, the only exception being a marriage between a white person and a person with less than one-sixteenth Indian blood. Further Reading Custalow, Linwood "Little Bear," and Angela L. Daniel "Silver Star." The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing, 2007. Monday, April 25, 2011 There is no doubt that coffee was the exotic and fashionable drink of choice in last third of the Seventeenth Century, with Tea not far behind. But alongside these two was another narcotic of choice: Chocolate. In the 1660s, Coffeehouses sprung up all over the country, particularly in London, becoming hubs of political tittle tattle and acting as grease in the wheels of commerce (the venerable insurance giant Lloyds started out in just such a place), but by the late 1690s Chocolate houses were prevalent too. These were very similar to their black & frothy sister establishments, being popular social, political and gaming establishments. Luckily for these establishments, chocolate's reputation managed to survive the early Spanish accounts of the drink: They grinded the nuts into a paste, and, when they used it, they dissolved it (being pouder'd) and milled it, tempering it by little and little with water in an Indian cup: and sometimes they added a little pepper; and this was their ordinary drink; which they did drink themselves, and gave to wearied travellers, as well as to the sick. This they offered to Benzonus, and when he with an abhorrency refused such a drench, they admired, and laughed at him. But certainly it was not improved to any deliciousness of tast, since he saith it was bitterish, and that it was more fit to be hogs-wash, then drink for rational men. The same may be collected from Acosta, who saith, that The chiefest use the Indians make of Cacao is in a drink, which they call Chocholate, whereof they make great account in that countrey, foolishly, and without reason: for it is loathsom to such, as are not acquainted with it, having a skum, or froth, that is very unpleasant to taste, if they be not very well conceited thereof; yet it is a drink very much esteemed amongst the Indians, wherewith they feast Noble-men as they pass thorough their country. The ancient South Americans seemed to have something of a modern Chocolateers inclination to add in as many weird and wacky ingredients as they could. Unlike today, these had practical purposes; the additional ingredients changed the medicinal properties of the chocolate, which was an aspect that was considered highly important in the intial western adoption of the drink. That said, I'm pretty sure Hotel Chocolate do this recipe: It is then clear, that the Indian ordinary Chocolata was made of the Cacao nut, and meal of Indian wheat, and water, and Pocholt, and now and then some Pepper called Chille, which was put in, more, or less, according to the necessity of the Patient's stomach, or other circumstances: So that they made divers sorts of it, some hot, some cold, some temperate, and put therein much of that Chili, or Chille. Once Europeans realised that adding sugar was the key to making it palatable, the recipes start to look familiar: In the common Chocolata sold so cheap there is not any thing, but eight ounces of the [Cocoa] Nuts prepared, and powdered, seven ounces of Sugar, and one ounce of Spice; viz. half an ounce of Cinnamom, two drams of Iamaica-pepper, or other Pepper,and as much of Cloves, Nutmeg, and Limon-pill It's not surprising that chocolate became so popular as a drink once a palatable way of preparing it for English tastes had been found. Although it can't have hurt that Chocolate's reputation as an aphrodisiac was there from the very beginning: And as Chocolata provokes… and becomes provocative to lust upon no other account. As for Chocolata, how effectual it may be herein, I understand not by experience: but, since the most amorous Nations in the World drink it, it is very possible, it may conduce thereunto much. Sunday, April 24, 2011 . Margaret Winthrop (c. 1591-1647), wife of John Winthrop, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was the 4th child and 2nd daughter of Sir John and Lady Anne (Egerton) Tyndal of Great Maplestead, Esses, England. Her father was one of the masters of chancery; her mother was the daughter of Thomas Egerton of Suffolk and the widow of William Deane of Deaneshall. Nothing is known of Margaret Tyndal's early life and education. She was married to John Winthrop on Apr. 29, 1618, and moved to his father's home, Groton Manor in Suffolk. She was his third wife. At the time of her marriage she was 27 years old, 4 years younger than her husband. Adam Winthrop, father of John, was still lord of the manor, and his unmarried daughter Lucy was still a member of the household. As the new wife and mistress of the manor, Margaret Winthrop was charged with the care of her husband's 4 children by his 2 former marriages, ranging in age from 12 to 3. Within 3 years she had 2 children of her own, Stephen and Adam. In addition to her childrearing responsibilities, her household duties were heavy. Visitors were numerous, markets remote, and roads suitable for horseback travel only; the manor had to be sufficient unto itself for all its varied needs. Overseeing the operation of such a household was the best preparation she could have for the difficult, pioneer life in New England. During many months of the 12 years before 1630, when John Winthrop sailed for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, his position as attorney at the Court of Wards and Liveries kept him at his chambers in London. His visits to Groton Manor were brief and infrequent, especially after plans for emigration were under way. It was during this long period of enforced separation that the letters between them were written. Both husband and wife put their love to God first, love of husband and wife second. In Margaret Winthrop's words " I have many reasons to make me love thee, whereof I will name two, first because thou lovest God, and secondly because that thou lovest me." Religious feeling exalted their mutual love and dignified it. After her husband had left England, Margaret Winthrop remained at Groton for more than a year, until he could make suitable preparation for her coming. Only a few brief notes are preserved from this period. She arrived in Boston Nov. 4, 1631, in the ship Lyon, which brought a cargo of much-needed supplies for the winter. Her baby daughter, Anne, had died on the voyage. "The like joy and manifestations of love had never been seen in New England," John Winthrop wrote in his Journal. One week later, on Nov. 11, "We kept a day of thanksgiving at Boston." Margaret Winthrop had 16 years of pioneer experience as the 1st lade of the colony during her husband's long service as governor and assistant. She revealed some of her feelings in her letters from the new colony. In a letter, dated "Sad Boston, 1637," while the ANNE HUTCHINSON disturbance was at its height, she confessed to being "unfit for any thinge, wonderinge what the Lord meanes by all these troubles among us." She found in herself a "fierce spirit, unwilling to submit to the will of God," and yet in the next sentence could say, "God's will be done." She did not know how to say otherwise. She died after one day's illness in midsummer 1647, apparently of influenza. In her husband's words, she "left this world for better, being about fifty-six years of age: a woman of singular virtue, prudence, modesty and piety, and especially beloved and honoured of all the country." There is no portrait of that "lovely countenance" that he had so "much delighted in and beheld with so great contente." Four of her 8 children survived her, Stephen, Adam, Deane, and Samuel. A Letter From John Winthrop to his wife in 1620 July 12. 1620. IV. JOHN WINTHROP TO HIS WIFE. To my veryc lovinge wife Mrs. Winthrop at Groton in Suffolk. My TRUELY BELOVED & DEARE WIFE, — I salute thee heartylye, giving thankes to God who bestowed thee upon me, and hath continued thee unto me, the chiefest of all comforts under the hope of Salvation, which hope cannot be valued: I pray God that these earthly blessings of mariage, healthe, friendship, etc, may increase our estimation of our better and onely ever duringe happinesse in heaven, and may quicken up our appetite thereunto accordinge to the worth thereof: O my sweet wife, let us rather hearken to the advise of our lovinge Lord who calles upon us first to seeke the kingdom of God, and tells us that one thinge is needfull, and so as without it the gaine of the whole world is nothinge: rather then to looke at the frothye wisdome of this worlde and the foolishnesse of such examples as propounde outwarde prosperitye for true felicitye.— God keepe us that we never swallowe this baite of Satan: but let us looke unto the worde of God and cleave fast unto it, and so shall we be safe. I know you have heard before this of my coming to London: I thank God we had a prosperous journye and found all well where we came: I doubt not but thy desire wilbe now to heare of my returne, which (to deale truely with thee) I fear will not be untill the middest of next weeke: for the Parl' is putt off for a week; and I have many friends to visit in a short tyme: but my heart is allready with thee and thy little lambes, so as I will hasten home with what convenient speed I may: In the meane tyme, I will not be unmindfull of you all: but commend you dayly to the blessinge and protection of our heavenly Father. Remember my dutye to my father and mother, my love to Mr. Sands and all the rest of my true freinds that shall ask of me, and my blessing to our Children; and so giving thee commission to conceive more of my Love then I can write, I rest Thy faythfull husbande John Winthrop. Saturday, April 23, 2011 "Anne Stuart was an unlikely person to become queen of England. She was born on February 6, 1665 to the Duke and Duchess of York and was their second daughter out of three children. Shortly before her birth, her uncle, King Charles II, had married and seemed destined to have a large family after fathering several illegitimate children. But he had no more children. As Anne grew older she would be plagued by numerous health problems, but she survived to adulthood. She only received a limited education, yet Anne would reign during a critically important period in her nation's history. During her reign she would oversee two major events in English history, one domestic and one foreign. The first being the Act of Union that united England and Scotland. The second was a major international war, the War of Spanish Succession. Best remembered as the last of the Stuart dynasty Anne had no heirs. The events of her reign would pave the way for Britain to become an international world power. "Although born into royalty, her education was similar to that of other aristocratic girls: languages and music. Her knowledge of history was limited and she received no instruction in civil law or military matters that most male monarchs were expected to have. She was also a sickly child, and may have suffered from the blood disease porphyria, as well as having poor vision and a serious case of smallpox at the age of twelve. Poor health would plague Anne her entire life, probably contributing to her many miscarriages. "Anne grew up in an atmosphere of controversy. Her father James, the Duke of York, and both her mother and later her stepmother were Roman Catholic. They would have preferred to raise Anne and Mary (their only children to survive early childhood) as Roman Catholics. Nevertheless, prominent Protestants, such as Henry Compton, later bishop of London, interceded and ensured the girls would not only be required to attend Protestant services but that they also receive Protestant religious instruction. "Anne's life dramatically changed when the Lord Treasurer and Earl of Danby, in an attempt to strengthen his influence with King Charles II, arranged the marriage of Anne's sister, Mary, to William of Orange. Their father, the Duke of York, had wanted to wed Mary to the heir to the French throne, a Roman Catholic. Danby persuaded by the King to allow the marriage to William, a Dutch Protestant and an enemy of France, thus straining the close relationship between Anne and Mary. Anne married Prince George of Denmark. This was an arrangement Anne's father negotiated in secret with sponsorship by King Louis XIV of France, who hoped for a Anglo-Danish alliance against William of Orange and the Dutch. No such alliance would ever materialize. "Her husband did not affect Anne's position as he remained politically weak and inactive, suffering from a drinking problem. Prince George's influence in matters of state would remain small throughout their marriage. The relationship he had with Anne was a close one and she loved him deeply, however, their marriage was saddened by Anne's twelve miscarriages and the fact that none of their other five children reached adulthood. "When King Charles II died in 1686, Anne's father became King James II. His Roman Catholicism and his desire to rule without Parliament's input caused Parliament to call on William of Orange and Mary to take the throne, in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. This revolution created a constitutional, limited monarchy in England, where elected representatives, not a dynastic monarch, truly ruled. Interestingly, later Queen Anne became the last British monarch to veto an act of Parliament. Anne supported the revolution and opposed her father. "Mary allowed her husband to rule, and neither got along with Anne during their reign. But since they never had children, after Mary died, followed by William, in 1702, the throne then passed to Anne. The Settlement Act of 1701 paved the way for Anne's reign. It stated that if Anne died without children the throne would pass to the German Hanoverians. The only challenge was her half brother James, a Roman Catholic living in exile in France. Thus Anne ascended as the last Stuart monarch, and was the first married queen to rule England. "Anne's reign would be characterized by the attempts of others to manipulate her. Most significantly among these individuals was Sarah Churchill. A friend of Anne's since childhood, Anne leaned heavily on her for companionship. After Anne's marriage she named Sarah to the prestigious position of Lady of the Bedchamber. After Anne became queen, she named Sarah to other prominent posts including Keeper of the Privy Purse, Mistress of the Robes and Groom of the Stole. Their relationship for many years was a close one with Anne showering Sarah with large allowances and gifts, such as the huge and extravagant Blenheim estate. The estate was given to the Churchill's as a reward for John Churchill's important military victory in the War of Spanish Succession. Anne often seemed dependent on Sarah, at least for emotional support. Anne would constantly write to Sarah when Sarah was away from the court attending to her family. Anne's letters made it seem like she could not get along without Sarah. They would use playful pseudonyms when writing to each other: Anne being Mrs. Morley and Sarah Mrs. Freeman. Their relationship would eventually deteriorate due to Sarah's nagging and their many petty arguments. Sarah would fall out of favor and would be replaced as Anne's favorite by a distant cousin, Abigail Masham. "The end of Anne's friendship with Sarah signaled a change in political influences as well. Although Anne had always been a strong Tory throughout her reign she had vigorously supported the War of Spanish Succession, a Whig war. Sarah Churchill was a Whig and her husband John, though a Tory, was the leading English general in the conflict. Because of the Churchill's influence, Anne had always been inclined to support the war which was the most important event in foreign affairs during Anne's reign. However, when Abigail Masham a Tory replaced Sarah as Anne's close friend it signaled a shift in politics. Some historians believe Anne manipulated her ministers to enact the policies she wanted while others see her as a monarch manipulated by her ministers. Whatever the case, when the Tories came into power they negotiated an end to the war. "The Settlement Act of 1701 had angered Scotland where the Stuart dynasty had originated. The Scots threatened to bring back James, Anne's Roman Catholic half-brother and pretender to the throne, to rule. To head off a revolt and unite support for the crown, Anne pushed for the Act of Union which would unite England and Scotland. The Act of Union was finally accepted in 1707. "In the last couple years of her life Anne became very ill. She was often bedridden and attended to by doctors. These doctors used many techniques to try to cure Anne including bleeding her and applying hot irons. These crude medicinal techniques probably did more harm than good, and Anne died on July 31st 1714." . Article from History Today by Richard Cavendish describing the coronation of Queen Anne on April 23rd, 1702. "The last of the Stuarts on the English throne, Anne was thirty-seven when she succeeded her brother-in-law William III on March 8th, 1702. She was devoted to her husband, Prince George of Denmark, and he to her, but of their five children by her continual pregnancies, none had survived. Shy, plain, red-faced and dumpy, growing increasingly stout and a martyr to rheumatism, she was not considered intelligent and at this point she was under the thumb of her old friend from school days, Sarah Jennings, the brilliant and strong-minded wife of John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough. "Marlborough had made efficient preparations for the succession with his two principal allies, Sidney Godolphin and Robert Harley. An accession council was held immediately at St James's Palace in London, at which the new queen promised to continue the late king's policies. Members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons came to kiss her hand and were graciously received as the heralds proclaimed her in the streets. The principal members of the government were confirmed in office for a month at least. On March 11th, crowned and dressed in red velvet, Anne delivered her first formal speech to Parliament. 'As I know my own heart to be entirely English,' she said, 'I can very sincerely assure you that there is not anything you can expect or desire from me which I shall not be ready to do for the happiness and prosperity of England.' She had a soft, sweet speaking voice and made a good impression, though she was bashful and blushed so much that unkind observers compared her to the inn sign of the Rose and Crown. "Marlborough was swiftly appointed captain-general of the army and sent off to The Hague to reassure the Dutch. Sarah was made mistress of the robes, groom of the stole and keeper of the privy purse, which put her in control of the royal household. Anne and George established themselves at Kensington Palace and there was much hurrying and scurrying to get everything ready for the coronation, which was set for St George's Day. A Mrs Banks charged thirty shillings for making the coronation petticoat and Mrs Ducaila, the hairdresser, supplied a wig and false curls along with twenty-four yards of gold ribbon. "When the great day came, the Queen was too lame and unwieldy to walk. Yeomen of the guard carried her to Westminster Abbey in an open chair under a canopy, with six yards of train trailing behind to be managed by the Duchess of Somerset and other ladies. At the church door Anne disembarked from the chair and walked in. According to Celia Fiennes, who was watching, she wore crimson velvet over a golden robe richly embroidered with jewels and a petticoat with bands of gold and silver lace between rows of diamonds, while more diamonds blazed in her hair. She was crowned queen of England, Scotland, Ireland and France at about four o'clock in the afternoon by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Tenison, with a specially made crown flaming with huge diamonds. The sermon was preached by John Sharp, Archbishop of York, on a text which the Queen herself had chosen: 'Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and queens thy nursing mothers' (Isaiah 49:23). Gold medals were scattered about in profusion and the nobility, led by Prince George, did her homage. "Leaving the abbey on foot, 'with obliging looks and bows to all that saluted her', the Queen crossed to Westminster Hall, where the traditional coronation banquet was held and the Queen's champion rode in on horseback to challenge anyone who denied the new monarch's right to the crown to combat. Prudently, no one did and Queen Anne was able to retreat to St James's at about half past eight, tired out. Anne proved to be a far stronger character than anyone had supposed and Sarah Churchill would be sent packing. Winston Churchill, indeed, thought Anne was one of the toughest personalities ever to occupy the English throne. She loved England and was popular with her subjects throughout her reign, to her death in 1714 at the age of forty-nine." . Friday, April 22, 2011 The Roanoke Colonies were an ambitious attempt by England's Sir Walter Raleigh to establish a permanent North American settlement with the purpose of harassing Spanish shipping, mining for gold and silver, discovering a passage to the Pacific Ocean, and Christianizing the Indians. After three voyages the enterprise ended in the mysterious disappearance of the "Lost Colony." Sir Walter Raleigh 1522-1618 The first voyage, a reconnaissance venture led by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe, landed in 1584 on the Outer Banks of present-day North Carolina and made mostly friendly contact there with the Algonquian-speaking Indians, even returning to England with two of them: Manteo and Wanchese. Boosted by Barlowe's positive report and Queen Elizabeth's grant to settle "Virginia," the second voyage, in 1585, established a fortified camp on Roanoke Island. John White and Thomas Hariot accompanied explorations of the mainland and the Chesapeake Bay, creating maps, paintings, and descriptions of native culture. But after less than a year in America and shortly after beheading the Indian chief Pemisapan (Wingina), the English abandoned the colony. They returned the next year, this time under White's leadership and intending to settle in the Chesapeake; instead, they reoccupied Roanoke. After White sailed to England to update Raleigh and obtain additional supplies, he was delayed by the Spanish Armada. By the time he returned in 1590, the colonists, including his granddaughter, Virginia Dare, had disappeared. The First Voyage (1584) Half-brothers Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Walter Raleigh shared a passion for exploration and colonization. In 1578, Queen Elizabeth presented Gilbert with a six-year grant to explore and settle, on her behalf, unclaimed portions of North America. Fearing war with Catholic Spain and coveting Spanish wealth from Central and South America, Elizabeth saw the American coast as a potential haven for privateers such as Sir Francis Drake. The effective propagandists (and namesake cousins) Richard Hakluyt (the elder) and Richard Hakluyt (the younger) argued further for the region's commercial possibilities and endorsed the mission of converting Indians to the Protestant faith. Anglorum in Virginiam aduentus - The Arrival of the English in Virginia An eleven-ship fleet, captained by Gilbert and including Raleigh, set sail in September 1578 but made it only as far as the coast of Africa before turning back. In March 1580, Gilbert dispatched the Azorean-born pirate Simon Fernandes on a reconnaissance voyage to New England and the mid-Atlantic coast before himself leading a larger mission, in June 1583, first to Newfoundland and then to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Unquenchably adventurous and sometimes reckless, Gilbert ran into a nasty storm and died at sea. But by then Gilbert's brother Raleigh was close to the queen, who appreciated his lavish dress and what one observer described as his "strong natural wit" and "bold and plausible tongue." Held fast to London by Elizabeth's affection, Raleigh nevertheless ordered a new mission. Two small ships (their names unknown) sailed from Plymouth on April 27, 1584, one commanded by the short, temperamental Philip Amadas, the other by Arthur Barlowe, a well-read comrade of Raleigh's from the fighting in Ireland. With about seventy-five soldiers and sailors aboard, Fernandes served as chief pilot, while the painter John White and the mathematician Thomas Hariot may have tagged along as something like resident artist-intellectuals. Thomas Hariot A Spanish captive later claimed that when the party arrived at the Outer Banks, the Indians attacked them and "ate thirty-eight Englishmen." Barlowe describes no such thing; the Indians' welcome, which came three days after the colonists arrived early in July, appears to have been friendly and ritualistic. Three Indians appeared, Barlowe writes, "never making any show of fear or doubt," and one of them spoke at length, after which he was bestowed with gifts and treated to wine and meat. The Indians were emissaries of Wingina, the weroance, or chief, of the Roanokes. Although the English originally understood these Indians to call their territory Wingandacon, it was more properly known as Ossomocomuck. Wingina ruled several of its towns, including Secotan and Dasemunkepeuc on the mainland and another village on the north end of Roanoke Island. His enemy, Piemacum, ruled from Pomeiooc and had severely wounded Wingina in a battle shortly before the Englishmen's arrival. The Croatoan Indians lived on a barrier island, while to the mainland's north and west resided the Weapemeocs, whose weroance Okisco was subject to the more powerful Menatonon, chief of the Chowanocs. All of these Indians were Algonquian-speaking and their culture closely related to the Algonquian Indians of Tsenacomoco in present-day Tidewater Virginia. Other groups in the area included the Algonquian-speaking Pamlicos; the Neuse and Coree, who may have been Iroquoian-speakers; and the Tuscaroras, who definitely were Iroquoian-speakers and who also may have been known as the Mangoaks. Oppidum Pomeiooc - Town of Pomeiooc Barlowe was extravagantly impressed by Ossomocomuck, praising its "goodly woods, full of Deer, Conies [rabbits], Hares, and Fowl, even in the midst of Summer, in incredible abundance," not to mention "the highest, reddest Cedars of the world." The Indians, who had been suffering through a severe drought and who lacked extra stores of food, were unsure of how to react to the English encroachment. Some may have been as friendly as Barlowe claimed; others were less so. Hariot later wrote of the Roanoke Indians raising up a "horrible crye, as people which never befoer had seene men appareled like us, and camme a way makinge out crys like wild beasts or men out of their wyts." Amadas and Fernandes, meanwhile, took a ship to, probably, the north side of Albemarle Sound, and there encountered hostile Indians. Politics in Ossomocomuck was organized on the district level, with paramount chiefs ruling two or more towns, each with its own chief: Wingina on Roanoke and his close relative Granganimeo at Dasemunkepeuc attempted to win the English as allies, while other chiefs saw their presence as a threat. When the English left in mid-August, Wingina sent with them two high-ranking Indians: Wanchese, a Roanoke who probably served as an adviser to Wingina, and Manteo, the son of the Croatoans' weroansqua, or female chief. His name, which he possibly changed on the occasion of the trip, echoes the Algonquian word montoac, meaning the otherworldly spirit or power with which the Indians sought communion. His and Wanchese's job was to investigate what the Indians saw as the Englishmen's undeniable connection to montoac and to discover how the Roanokes might also harness it. The Second Voyage (1585) In London, Manteo and Wanchese took up residence at Durham House, a mansion on the Thames River granted Raleigh by the queen. There, they taught Hariot Algonquian and he taught them English. Raleigh, who was doing everything he could to raise money and support for a large-scale colonizing effort at Roanoke, likely even presented the pair at court. Barlowe prepared a report that emphasized the most positive aspects of the summer's mission and Hakluyt (the younger) presented to the queen and her advisors a sustained and forceful argument for colonization, Discourse on Western Planting. By December, Raleigh had the support of both the Crown and the House of Commons, and on January 6, 1585, he was knighted during a celebration of the Twelfth Night of Christmas; shortly afterward, he assumed a title, Lord and Governor of Virginia, that revealed a new name for the queen's colony. Queen Elizabeth I at her Coronation The Virginia settlement appeared to be part of a larger strategy developed by Elizabeth in her war against Spain. She would send an army to the Netherlands to fight on behalf of the Protestants there, Sir Francis Drake to the West Indies to disrupt Spanish shipping, and Raleigh's colonists to Roanoke Island to establish a harbor for English privateers who would prey upon the Spanish. She also hoped they might find gold and silver, as well as convert the natives. On April 9, 1585, the 600 or so colonists, again minus Raleigh, sailed from Plymouth in five ships and two smaller pinnaces. Sir Richard Grenville, Raleigh's often arrogant and bull-headed cousin, commanded the flagship Tiger, piloted by the ever-present Simon Fernandes. Colonel Ralph Lane, recently the sheriff of County Kerry, Ireland, was second in command, with Amadas, Barlowe, White, Hariot, Manteo, and Wanchese also present. About half the colonists were soldiers, but there also were carpenters, smiths, cooks, shoemakers, and at least one minister. All were men. On May 11, Grenville and the Tiger stopped for a few weeks at mosquito-ridden Mosquetal in present-day Puerto Rico, waiting for other ships that had become separated during a storm off Portugal. (White spent his time there painting Grenville's fortifications, as well as the island's flora and fauna.) On June 26, the Tiger dropped anchor at the Outer Banks barrier island of Wococon, about eighty miles to the southwest of Roanoke. Perhaps Fernandes did not fully appreciate just how treacherous navigation in the area could be, because three days later he ran the ship aground attempting to steer through an inlet. Much of the cargo was ruined. Having arrived with a year's worth of provisions for hundreds of colonists, now Grenville had enough food for just twenty days. This unanticipated dilemma proved crucial to how he and his men interacted with the Indians of Ossomocomuck. The Indians, meanwhile, were no less divided now about the English than they had been the year before. During the English absence, Wingina's people had observed a total eclipse of the sun, and immediately upon the colonists' reappearance, a comet had slowly blazed across the sky. The Algonquians thought these to be potentially significant signs, and when villages began to suffer from a quick-moving, often-fatal illness, they saw all of these events as related. On July 3, Grenville sent a pinnace and small crew, including Wanchese, north to Roanoke to announce their arrival to Wingina. Wanchese fled the English to Dasemunkepeuc, where he warned that the colonists could not be trusted. In contrast, Manteo continued to wear Western clothes, perfect his English, and support Grenville. On July 11, Grenville led a group of sixty men, including Manteo, on a weeklong trip to the mainland. They visited the villages of Pomeiooc, home of Wingina's rival Piemacum; Aquascogoc; and finally Secotan. White composed detailed paintings of Pomeiooc and Secotan, but a missing cup at Aquascogoc led to a return trip by Philip Amadas, who burned the village for the supposed thievery after its residents had evacuated. On July 21, Grenville and Manteo met with Granganimeo, weroance of Dasemunkepeuc, and he granted them permission to occupy the north end of Roanoke, about half a mile from Wingina's town. The English were dependent on the Indians for food and guidance, but the Indians increasingly worried about the colonists' violence. Still, as the historian Michael Leroy Oberg puts it, the "English colonists came to Roanoke Island not as discoverers but as invited guests." Oppidum Secota - The Town of Secota Later that summer, Grenville returned to England, leaving behind 108 men under the charge of Ralph Lane and expecting a relief mission to arrive in the autumn. (It didn't; Elizabeth had diverted it to the Netherlands.) That winter hungry colonists, likely led by Amadas, sailed to the Chesapeake Bay, where they visited Skicoak, capital of the Chesapeake Indians, and may, in turn, have been visited there by groups from the Eastern Shore. (Historians disagree over whether both White and Hariot joined the expedition, or just one of them did; regardless, they later collaborated on elaborate maps of the region.) Meanwhile, disease and famine took their toll on the Indians back at Roanoke—Granganimeo died early in 1586—so that when Amadas returned in the spring, Wingina was considering whether to attempt wiping out the intruders. A later account by Ralph Lane accuses Wingina of concocting an elaborate plan by which the weroance would eliminate the English by sending them into the clutches of the powerful Chowanocs and their chief, Menatonon. While possible, it seems more likely that Wingina—who at this time changed his name to Pemisapan, possibly meaning "one who vigilantly watches"—took a middle course, removing his people to Dasemunkepeuc and cutting Lane off from any food supplies. In the meantime, Lane not only met with Menatonon and survived, but the Chowanoc weroance's son Skiko told the colonists of a land called Chaunis Temoatan, beyond Tuscarora territory, where valuable copper was mined. When Lane returned, Skiko, then his hostage, told Lane of an impending attack by Pemisapan. Skiko possibly was lying, thereby playing the situation to the Chowanocs' advantage. Either way, on June 1 Lane preemptively stormed Dasemunkepeuc, and when Pemisapan, after being shot by Amadas, fled into the woods, an Irish colonist named Edward Nugent gave chase and emerged finally with the chief's head. Ironically, Pemisapan probably had located the Englishmen on Roanoke in order to control access to them, but their proximity had only caused disease and, finally, the weroance's death. Still divided, the Indians declined to immediately retaliate, and on June 8, when a fleet of twenty-three ships led by Sir Francis Drake and including the future Virginia governor Sir Thomas Gates arrived unexpectedly, Lane thought his hungry men might be saved. But a three-day hurricane struck, ruining the ship Drake had promised to leave the colonists. Abruptly, Lane decided to abandon Roanoke, loading his men onto the ships and returning to England. A relief mission arrived a few weeks later only to find the settlers gone. The same happened to Grenville, who, along with six ships and 200 colonists, landed at Roanoke in July. (One historian speculates that an Indian found hanging from a tree could have been Skiko.) After staying for a few weeks, Grenville set sail again, leaving behind a garrison of fifteen soldiers with enough provisions to last a year. The Lost Colony (1587) Raleigh was furious at Lane for leaving Roanoke, while at the same time intrigued by stories of Chaunis Temoatan and a possible passage to the Pacific Ocean. Even as his interest in Virginia waned in favor of Ireland, he approved one last mission, this time to be led by the artist John White. The plan called for the establishment of the "Cittie of Raleigh," not at Roanoke but on the Chesapeake Bay, where the Indians appeared to be friendlier and the waters more suitable for deep-water navigation. Casting off on May 8, 1587, White carried with him more than a hundred settlers, including families this time—even his own pregnant daughter, Elinor Dare, and her husband, Ananias Dare—and possibly Puritan religious dissenters. First, though, Simon Fernandes piloted the flagship Lion to Roanoke so that they might check on Grenville's men and drop off Manteo and his companion Towaye, who had spent the last ten months in England. They arrived on July 22, but the soldiers weren't there. "We found none of them," White later wrote, "nor any sign that they had been there, saving only we found the bones of one of those fifteen, which the Savages had slain long before." To make matters worse, one of Fernandes's sailors indicated that White's men were not welcome to reboard the Lion, that they should stay at Roanoke because "the Summer was farre spent." (Fernandes still hoped to make it back to the West Indies in time to loot Spanish ships.) This is one of the great controversies surrounding the Lost Colony. White wrote, referring to himself in the third person, that "it booted [suited] not the Governor to contend" with Fernandes, but the governor's refusal to argue the point—and to carry out Raleigh's explicit instructions for the colony—has long puzzled historians. James Horn has argued that the incident only makes sense if White and Fernandes actually agreed on making the change. White's later account, blaming Fernandes, was therefore intended to deflect his patron's anger over the change in plans. Whatever the case, Roanoke was where the colonists would settle, at least for the moment. If they were nervous contemplating the apparent deaths of Grenville's men, they must have been more so after the death of White's adviser George Howe on July 28. Howe was found in the woods two miles from camp, dead from sixteen arrows and a gruesome beating. Three days later, White sailed south to meet with the Croatoans, who reported that both Grenville's men and Howe had been killed by Wanchese's Roanokes at Dasemunkepeuc. Manteo's people, meanwhile, promised to support the English on one condition: "that there might be some token or badge given them of us, whereby we might know them to be our friends, when we met them any where out of the Town or Island." It was a reasonable request, but one that would turn out to be tragically ironic. White asked the Croatoans to spread the word in Ossomocomuck that the English were interested in talking peace if they heard from the Indians within seven days. They did not, so sometime after midnight on August 9, Manteo led White and some of his men across the water to Dasemunkepeuc. There they attacked the town only to discover, too late, that it was occupied by friendly Croatoans, and not enemy Roanokes. (Whatever tokens or badges the Croatoans might have worn were not visible in the dark of night.) Wanchese's people had apparently abandoned the town after killing Howe, and now White's party had accidentally killed the weroance Menatonon and a number of others. Although this turn of events "somewhat grieved Manteo," according to White, the Indian remained with the English; on August 13 he was baptized into the Church of England and christened lord of Roanoke and Dasemunkepeuc. Manteo and Virginia Dare from the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. "In August of the year 1587, a man of the Algonquin nation named Manteo, and an infant daughter of English settlers named Virginia Dare, were baptized on Roanoke Island at a settlement established under the auspices of Sir Walter Raleigh that would later become known as "The Lost Colony." Theirs were the first recorded baptisms by the Church of England in North America." August 18, White's daughter gave birth to Virginia Dare, and on August 21, Fernandes and his sailors were finally finished unloading the three ships and prepared to set sail. All that remained was for the settlers to decide who among them would accompany Fernandes back to England to update Raleigh on all that had occurred. Remarkably, no one volunteered; instead, the settlers demanded that White—their leader and the most experienced among them when it came to navigating the perils and politics of Ossomocomuck—represent them. He later claimed that he at first refused; then he demanded that the settlers put their request in writing, with an emphasis on their "one minde" and White's reluctance—which they did on August 25. Two days later White was gone, never to see any of them again. Queen Elizabeth had been fighting the Spanish on the seas and in the Netherlands, and now King Philip II was ready to launch an invasion of England. Despite a prohibition on all English ships leaving port, Raleigh managed to arrange for a two-ship relief mission that sailed on April 22, 1588, three months ahead of the fearsome Spanish Armada. But a fight at sea with the French left the ships limping back to England, and White was unable to arrange another mission until 1590, when four ships finally sailed for Roanoke. These were privateers; they carried with them no additional settlers or supplies and agreed only to drop off White at the colony. When a storm sank one of the ships upon arrival, they were even more anxious to move on, but on August 18, 1590, White and a company of sailors landed on Roanoke. It was his granddaughter's third birthday. The camp was abandoned, with the word "CROATOAN" carved on a post. Three years earlier, White and the settlers had agreed that if they needed to move, they would indicate their destination in just such a way; if they were under duress, they would carve a cross above the letters. To White's relief, no such cross could be found. But it was hurricane season, and another fierce storm ruined his plans to sail to Manteo's island. Instead, the privateers, and White along with them, sailed on, first to the West Indies and then to England. The Lost Colonists, as they came to be known, were never found. Legacy Historians have debated the colonists' fate for centuries. Some have assumed that, like Grenville's soldiers, they were quickly killed. Others have found evidence of another scenario: that they survived for twenty years among the Chowanocs and Weapemeocs or perhaps even the Chesapeakes, assimilating into their culture. The settlers at Jamestown had heard rumors to this effect, and during the First Anglo-Powhatan War (1609–1614), the Virginia colony's secretary, William Strachey, suggested that the paramount chief Powhatan had ordered them killed. Presumably the chief worried that these former Roanoke English men and women in his midst might join with the new settlers, posing too great a threat. Captain John Smith and others looked but never found them. The Lost Colony, meanwhile, has developed into one of the great legends of American history. Its story has traditionally focused on English discovery, apparent domination, and sudden disappearance. Virginia Dare has played an important role, too, as the first child born to English parents in North America. Her name is a reminder that the Virginia colony has its roots earlier than Jamestown and to the south. But Dare also serves to deflect attention from the Indians of Ossomocomuck, without whom Raleigh's colonists might never have survived at Roanoke. And although the legend revolves around the loss of white colonists, it's important to the note that the Indians of Ossomocomuck also largely disappeared, the victims of encroaching English and then American culture. Time Line June 1578 - Queen Elizabeth I grants Sir Humphrey Gilbert the right to explore North America and to plant colonies in those places not already claimed by other European powers. The grant expires in six years. September 1578 - Sir Humphrey Gilbert, commanding 11 ships and 500 men, departs from Dartmouth, England, bound for North America. Three ships desert the mission even before weighing anchor, and Gilbert makes it only as far as the African coast. Walter Raleigh, in a ship piloted by the Azorean-born pirate Simon Fernandes, also turns back. March 1580 - Sir Humphrey Gilbert dispatches a small reconnaissance mission, led by the Azorean-born pirate Simon Fernandes, to explore North America from New England to the mid-Atlantic coast. He returns early in the summer. Summer 1580 - Walter Raleigh fights in Ireland. Winter 1581–1582 - Walter Raleigh returns from Ireland to Queen Elizabeth's court, and over the next year his position there rises quickly, as does his personal wealth. Summer 1582 - Sir Humphrey Gilbert raises money for a new North American voyage while actively recruiting Catholics to plant a colony there, possibly in the area of New England. 1583 - Early in the year, Queen Elizabeth I grants her court favorite, Walter Raleigh, use of Durham House on the Thames River. He uses the palatial mansion to gather experts to help him plan his colonizing ventures. August 20, 1583 - In the midst of his colonizing venture, Sir Humphrey Gilbert leaves St. John's, Newfoundland, for Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. When his flagship sinks, Gilbert sails for England but is lost at sea. April 27, 1584 - Under the aegis of Walter Raleigh, two ships (names unknown) leave Plymouth, England, for North America. One of the ships, weighing about 50 tons with about 45 soldiers and sailors, is commanded by Philip Amadas with Simon Fernandes as pilot. The other, a 30- to 40-ton pinnace, carries Captain Arthur Barlowe and about 30 men. July 13, 1584 - The English exploration party led by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe goes ashore somewhere on the Outer Banks of present-day North Carolina, claiming the land "in the right of the Queens most excellent Majesty." Mid-August 1584 - The English exploration party led by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe sails for England, taking along two high-ranking Algonquian-speaking Indians, Wanchese and Manteo. Winter 1584–1585 - Queen Elizabeth I develops a strategy in her war against Spain. She will send an army to the Netherlands to fight on behalf of the Protestants, Sir Francis Drake to the West Indies to disrupt Spanish shipping, and colonists to Roanoke Island to establish a harbor for privateers. December 1584 - Walter Raleigh introduces a bill in Parliament to confirm his royal patent for colonizing North America. Capitalizing on the enthusiastic report by Arthur Barlowe of the summer's voyage to America, Raleigh wins support from Sir Francis Drake and Sir Richard Grenville, even as the bill fails in the House of Lords. January 6, 1585 - On the Twelfth Night of the Christmas holiday, Walter Raleigh is knighted at Greenwich, England. Shortly thereafter he assumes the title Lord and Governor of Virginia. April 9, 1585 - An expedition of colonists led by Sir Richard Grenville and including the artist John White and the mathematician Thomas Hariot leaves England bound for Roanoke Island off the coast of present-day North Carolina. May 11, 1585 - Having separated from the fleet's other ships in a storm off Portugal, Sir Richard Grenville and the flagship Tiger drop anchor at the island of St. John's (present-day Puerto Rico), establishing a fortified camp at Mosquetal (present-day Guayanilla Bay). They stay for a few weeks, and John White paints the local flora and fauna. June 26, 1585 - About a week after sighting the American mainland, Sir Richard Grenville and the Tiger land at Wococon Island, one of the barrier islands of the Outer Banks of present-day North Carolina. June 29, 1585 - The Tiger, commanded by Sir Richard Grenville and piloted by Simon Fernandes, runs aground trying to navigate an inlet near Wococon Island. Much of the cargo is lost, leaving the hundreds of colonists with only twenty days' worth of food. July 11, 1585 - Sir Richard Grenville leads a party of sixty men, including the Indian Manteo, on a weeklong trip to the mainland, where they visit the villages of Pomeiooc, Aquascogoc, and Secotan. John White paints the first and last of these, but a missing cup at Aquascogoc leads Philip Amadas to burn the town. July 21, 1585 - Sir Richard Grenville meets with Manteo and the weroance Granganimeo, who give him permission to settle his colonists on the north end of Roanoke Island. August 5, 1585 - A ship is sent back to England to update Sir Walter Raleigh on the colony's progress; it is soon followed by other ships. August 25, 1585 - Sir Richard Grenville, aboard the Tiger, departs Roanoke for England, followed shortly by the Roebuck. On the return voyage, he captures the Spanish merchant ship Santa Maria de San Vicente, worth around £300,000. Autumn 1585 - A fleet of ships commanded by Bernard Drake and Amias Preston, intended to resupply the colonists on Roanoke Island, does not arrive as planned. Unknown to the colonists, it has been diverted to the war in the Netherlands. October–November 1585 - An expedition of Roanoke colonists, likely led by Philip Amadas, departs for the Chesapeake Bay, eventually visiting the Chesapeakes' capital of Skicoak and several villages on the Eastern Shore. It is unclear whether one or both of John White and Thomas Hariot go along. February–March 1586 - The English colonists return to Roanoke Island after their expedition to the Chesapeake Bay. In their absence, the Roanoke Indians have suffered from disease (brought by the English) and famine, straining relations with the remaining English. Spring 1586 - The Roanoke Indian weroance Wingina ritually changes his name to Pemisapan. He relocates his people to the mainland town of Dasemunkepeuc and cuts off the food supply to the English colonists on Roanoke Island. June 1, 1586 - Ralph Lane and twenty-six men, including the Indian Manteo, march into Dasemunkepeuc. Philip Amadas shoots the weroance Pemisapan, who pretends to be dead before fleeing into the woods. The colonist Edward Nugent gives chase and returns with the chief's head. June 8, 1586 - A fleet of twenty-three ships led by Sir Francis Drake, which had been harassing the Spanish in the West Indies and Florida, arrives at the Outer Banks to resupply the colonists at Roanoke Island. A three-day hurricane scatters the ships, and Ralph Lane decides to abandon the colony. July 1586 - The English colonists from Roanoke Island arrive at Portsmouth, England. At the same time, Sir Richard Grenville, with six ships and 200 colonists, arrives at Roanoke to find it abandoned. He and his men stay a few weeks then return to England, leaving behind a garrison of fifteen men, who are soon killed by Indians. May 8, 1587 - Three ships and approximately 150 settlers and crew sail for America from Plymouth, England. John White is governor of the expedition that plans to stop off at Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina before establishing the "Cittie of Raleigh" on the Chesapeake Bay. July 22, 1587 - After landing on the Outer Banks of present-day North Carolina, John White and forty men sail to Roanoke Island to check on a garrison of soldiers left there the year before. They find only the bones of one of the men. July 23, 1587 - John White and his men travel to the north end of Roanoke Island in search of a garrison of fifteen soldiers left behind the year before. They find nothing. July 28, 1587 - George Howe, an adviser to John White, leader of the Roanoke colony, is found dead about two miles from camp. He has been shot by sixteen arrows and beaten. July 31, 1587 - A contingent from the English colony at Roanoke travels to meet with the Croatoan Indians. They learn that their fellow settler George Howe, along with a garrison of fifteen soldiers, has been killed by Roanoke Indians living at Dasemunkepeuc. August 9, 1587 - A party of Roanoke colonists, led by the Indian Manteo, attacks the town of Dasemunkepeuc in the early morning hours. Instead of killing enemy Roanoke Indians, however, they kill friendly Croatoans, including the weroance Menatonon. August 13, 1587 - Manteo, a Croatoan Indian who has visited England twice and assisted the English settlers at Roanoke, is baptized into the Church of England and christened lord of Roanoke and Dasemunkepeuc. August 18, 1587 - Elinor White Dare gives birth to Virginia Dare on Roanoke Island. Elinor White Dare's father is the colony's governor, John White, and her husband, Ananias Dare, is one of White's advisers. The baby is the first born to English parents in North America. August 21, 1587 - Three ships are finished unloading and pilot Simon Fernandes is ready to set sail for England from the colony at Roanoke Island. First, however, the settlers need to designate a representative to accompany Fernandes with the mission of updating Sir Walter Raleigh on the colony. No one volunteers. August 24, 1587 - Virginia Dare, daughter of Elinor White Dare and Ananias Dare, is christened at the English colony on Roanoke Island. August 25, 1587 - The English colonists on Roanoke Island put in writing their request that their governor, John White, return to England as their representative in order to update Sir Walter Raleigh on the colony. They emphasize White's reluctance and their unanimity. August 27, 1587 - John White sails for England from the colony at Roanoke Island, leaving behind 117 settlers, including his daughter and granddaughter. He will never see them again. April 22, 1588 - Two small ships, the Brave and the Roe, plus John White and fifteen settlers, sail from Bideford, England, on a mission to resupply the English colony at Roanoke Island. The two ships are separated and, after a fight with the French, are forced to return to England. March 20, 1590 - Four English privateering ships set sail from England on a mission to drop off John White at the English colony at Roanoke Island. White had left the colonists there three years ago and was delayed by the Spanish Armada; he returns with no passengers or supplies. August 16, 1590 - John White arrives back at the Outer Banks in an attempt to rejoin the English colonists at Roanoke Island, including his daughter and granddaughter. He has been gone for three years. August 17, 1590 - A storm sinks one of the ships anchored at the Outer Banks, killing the captain and six crewmen. The ships are there to drop off John White at the English colony at Roanoke Island after a three-year absence. August 18, 1590 - John White and a company of sailors go ashore at Roanoke Island. Hoping to be reunited with his granddaughter on her third birthday, White instead finds the colony abandoned. The word "CROATOAN" is carved into a post, suggesting the colonists may have relocated to that island. October 1590 - After being unable to find the 117 colonists he left at Roanoke Island three years before, John White returns to England. He will never see his daughter or granddaughter again. Further Reading Horn, James. A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. New York: Basic Books, 2010. Quinn, David Beers. The Roanoke Voyages 1584–1590: Documents to Illustrate the English Voyages to North America under the Patent Granted to Walter Raleigh in 1584. 2 vols. London, England: The Hakluyt Society, 1955. Quinn, David Beers. Set Fair for Roanoke: Voyages and Colonies, 1584–1590. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985 tempted	eng	052a8bfe-1141-4aa7-b550-6c2a76c4b239	http://b-womeninamericanhistory17.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html
Clubs I ntroduction Club Basketball is now recognized across the province as the premier vehicle for the development of basketball players. Players are provided more opportunities for participation, development and exposure under the Club system. Since the growth of clubs is expected to continue, a guideline of the steps involved and other items to consider in organizing a club has been prepared for interested communities or individuals.<br><br> It 9s important that Clubs are organized with sufficient planning so that they can provide a rewarding and successful experience for all stakeholders. The Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs (AYBC) was formed to promote and assist youth basketball clubs throughout the province by providing a framework for Club programs to operate under (tournaments and leagues). As a unified organization AYBC can provide a common set of rules and regulations for all members to participate under and provide more playing opportunities for our kids.<br><br> In setting up a Club team or Club organization, it 9s important to first establish the purpose for organizing the Club. Club goals and objectives should clearly be identified (short and long term) since there could be substantial differences in the work required to run the club and the structure to support its operation. Below are just a few items to consider: § Will the Club be a developmental organization (incorporate a program to develop players over a prolonged period and over a broad age bracket) or is the main purpose to provide more playing time opportunities for players?<br><br> § Is the Club going to be a single Club team or will it consist of a number of teams under same banner? § Define the length of season (fall, spring & summer or longer term). § What tournaments or leagues will the team(s) participate in and will there be a travel component to your program?<br><br> A template or framework that outlines some of the key steps to consider in organizing a Club is summarized under two main categories: A. Single Team Clubs, and B. Multiple Team Clubs Each Club type has its own challenges and requires a slightly different approach.<br><br> We hope the following template will provide a helpful guideline for establishing Club teams and organizations. A list of AYBC members (Multiple and Single Team Clubs) is given in Appendix E and F respectively. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact AYBC at Basketball Alberta 4 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs A. Single Team Clubs The Steps: 1. Contact key support personnel, players and coaches.<br><br> Key positions will be the Coach, Team Manager and Team Treasurer. It is important to have the right combination of parents/coaches that are willing to commit to the team with respect to the team planning and other administrative duties and communicating information to the rest of the parents. Have a plan in place before you contact the players and/or coaches.<br><br> There will be a lot of questions from the parents and it 9s a good idea to have a brief write up of your plan or at least have prepared responses to the their questions at your first meeting. 2. Tryouts and Insurance: Select key players or run tryouts for interested players.<br><br> Acquire insurance for team, coaches and its directors (AYBC or Basketball Alberta) after formation of team. Most tournaments and gyms require proof of insurance and it 9s a good idea to have insurance before something unfortunate happens. 3.<br><br> Club Activities: Research tournaments and leagues in your area (e.g., refer to AYBC Website for list of tournaments and leagues). Register with the AYBC and be aware of ASAA restrictions on season of play and other regulations. 4.<br><br> Program: Design season program for Club or teams so parents know what to expect, i.e., length of season, number of practices, games and travel. The program will affect your budget. Acquire uniforms at beginning of season.<br><br> 5. Reserve Gym Space: Arrange gym time at schools or community centres. Create a relationship with a local school and institution.<br><br> A good relationship and realized benefits may yield valuable gym times for practices or games. 6. Basketball Contacts: Establish contacts with other Club organizations (AYBC).<br><br> Create your own database of contacts. 7. Budget: Create a budget for your Club / team (cost of gyms, uniforms, tournament fees, accommodations and coaches expenses/honorariums).<br><br> A Sample Budget is attached in Appendix D. Basketball Alberta 5 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs 8. Create key Agreements for the Club : Agreements are important to have.<br><br> They can minimize any misinterpretations amongst players and parents. Unfortunately majority of the time in running Clubs is consumed dealing with personnel parental issues, therefore it 9s important to address this early by stating your plans and philosophy. In times of conflicts emotions can get heated so it might prove to be a good idea to establish that you have made reasonable attempts to properly inform parents of your program, your philosophy, and Club rules as it relates to behaviour of parents and players, code of conduct, disciplinary measures, etc.<br><br> Some of the key Agreements to consider are: Main headings of the agreements are given in Appendix A. 9. Code of Conduct: Create Code of Conduct for Players and Parents, coaching philosophy and expectations.<br><br> 10.Handbooks: Create handbook for players, coaches and parents. A Club handbook should summarize Club philosophy, expectations, rules and regulations, etc. Sample headings for a Club Handbook is attached in Appendix B.<br><br> 11. Register with AYBC: Registration with a Club Association is recommended. It will provide you with a communication pipeline with other members as well as provide additional information in running Club organizations.<br><br> 12 Basketball Alberta 6 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs B.<br><br> Multiple Team Clubs The Steps: 1. Club Incorporation: Incorporate the Club as a non-profit Society (elect a Board). 2.<br><br> Create Executive: Create a functional executive for the Club (President, Secretary, Treasurer, Coaching Director, etc.) 3. Organization Chart: Define Organization Chart for the Executive with reporting hierarchy and responsibilities of each executive member. Typical organization chart is attached in the Appendix C.<br><br> 4. Duties and Responsibilities: The Club should have an administration arm (run by the executive) and a coaching division (directed by a senior coach or Coaching Director). The Executive is responsible to the Club (members) and is an administrative support arm for the coaches.<br><br> Define the responsibilities and duties of each executive position. 5. Strategic Plan: Develop a Strategic Plan for the Club with Vision, Mission and a series of Goals and Objectives.<br><br> What is your purpose for existing, and your Club Philosophy, Coaching Philosophy, Program, etc. 6. Age Brackets: Decide on the age brackets and length of season.<br><br> Typical age brackets are U12, U13, U15, U16, U17 and U19. Age brackets are defined as being under the stated age as of December 31 st of the beginning of the season, i.e., U12 is a player who is no older than 11 as of December 31 st . 7.<br><br> Recruitment: Recruit and/or advertise for players and coaches. Arrange tryouts. In your selection process attempt to group players according to their skill level rather than friendships or association with specific schools.<br><br> Note: AYBC now supports the follow ing position on recruitment of coaches and players from other clubs as directed from the m em bership: c For the long term health and prosperity of Club Basketball in Alberta, Clubs w ill operate w ithin the Spirit and I ntegrity of the game as w ell as in Cooperation w ith regards to the continued grow th and success of all clubs. d 8. Club Activities: Research tournaments and leagues in your area (e.g., refer to AYBC Website). Register with the AYBC and be aware of ASAA restrictions on season of play and other regulations.<br><br> 9. Insurance: Acquire insurance for players, coaches and directors of Club (AYBC or Basketball Alberta). Basketball Alberta 7 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs 10.Program: Design season program for Club or teams so parents know what to expect, i.e., length of season, number of practices, games and travel.<br><br> Acquire uniforms at beginning of season. 11.Budget: Establish Budget for the Club (cost of anticipated program 3 gym costs, uniforms, travel, insurance, accommodations, tournament fees, coaches expenses/honorarium, etc.) so you can determine the membership fee. A sample budget was provided for a single team.<br><br> Within multiple team clubs, each team will need to prepare a sample budget. The individual team budgets can be consolidated into one Club budget. Within a multiple team club structure, the club should define what core items is its responsibility, i.e., coaches compensation, uniforms, gym rentals, casino, etc.<br><br> and what items are the responsibility of the teams. Typically, the individual teams should maintain their own expense accounts to address team specific items, such as tournament fees, travel expenses for coaches, team accommodations, etc. 12.Key Agreements: Agreements are even more important for multiple team Clubs.<br><br> As the number of parents/players increase so does the possibility of misinterpretations and conflicts. Agreements should be prepared and signed by all parents/players so they can minimize any misinterpretations later. In times of conflicts emotions can get heated so it is always good policy to establish that you have made reasonable attempts to properly inform parents of your program, your philosophy, and Club rules as it relates to behaviour of parents and players, code of conduct, disciplinary measures, etc.<br><br> Key Agreements to consider are (see Appendix A): 13.Code of Conduct: Create Code of Conduct for Players and Parents, coaching philosophy and expectations. Basketball Alberta 8 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs 14.Handbooks: Create handbook for players, coaches and parents. A Club handbook should summarize Club philosophy, expectations, rules and regulations, etc.<br><br> Sample headings for a Club Handbook is attached in Appendix B. 15.Register with AYBC: Registration with a Club Association is recommended. It will provide you with a communication pipeline with other members as well as provide additional information in running Club organizations.<br><br> 16 17.Team/Club Database: Create a database for coaches of players on their team (personal information, health insurance and any other medical conditions).<br><br> Be aware of PIPA regulations and necessary agreements. Basketball Alberta 9 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Appendix A: Key Agreements (main headings of Agreements) 1. Contract for Coaches § Scope of work (summarize expectations and commitment required) § Terms and Conditions of Employment.<br><br> § Compensation. (salary plus allowable expenses) § Rules and Regulations. (rules and regulations of Club) § Non- Disclosure (Optional).<br><br> § Termination for Cause. § Termination Notice. 2.<br><br> Financial Commitment § financial commitment to pay Club registration fees and participation in fundraising efforts 3. Player Declaration § Acknowledgement of player registration § Player declaration: Time commitment to Club and agreement to abide to Club rules and regulations. 4.<br><br> Limited Warranty and Liability § State that Club cannot warrant that it will meet parent expectations in the development of the player nor can it be held liable for any damages incurred while their child is a member of the Club. Parent should acknowledge and agreed that the player is entering the Club at their own risks without any implied warranties or guarantees that the Club will be successful in meeting parent's or player's expectations. 5.<br><br> Parental Release/Waiver Form and Assumption of Risk § Release, Waiver and Assumption of Risk Agreement: Parent agrees to release player in the hands of Club coaches and assigned chaperones for trips. Parent acknowledges element of risk of trips and sport of basketball and authorizes chaperones and/or coaches to make decisions on behalf of the parent upon notification to parent. Basketball Alberta 10 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Appendix B: Club Handbook (Main sections) 1.<br><br> INTRODUCTION TO CLUB 2. PURPOSE AND COMMITMENT OF CLUB 3. THE CLUB VISION AND MISSION § THE CLUB 9S PHILOSOPHY § COACHING PHILOSOPHY § SELECTION PROCESS 4.<br><br> CLUB PROGRAM 5. CLUB FEES AND FUNDING 6. LIMITED WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY OF THE CLUB 7.<br><br> CLUB DIRECTORY 8. PRACTICE SCHEDULE AND RULES 9. TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE § TOURNAMENT RULES WILL AWAY 10.<br><br> FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS & FORMS § FINANCIAL COMMITMENT § INSURANCE INFORMATION § ACCEPTANCE FORM Appendix A 3 Club Postions and Duties Appendix B - Code of Conduct Appendix C - Club Rules and Regulations 3 Player/Parental Agreement - Parental Authorization/Waiver Form - Financial Responsibility Agreement and Contract - Player Declaration of Commitment Appendix D - Strategic Plan Basketball Alberta 11 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Appendix C: Typical Club Organization Chart President Secretary Treasurer Coaching VP VP Director Operations Marketing Casino Team Committee Sponsorship Coaches Leads Fund Raisers Advertising Website Teams Tournaments Facilities Club Programs Basketball Alberta 12 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Appendix D: Sample Budget Proposed Budget Proposed Fund Raising Opportunities : Player Fees ($500 each) $5,500 Adopt-an- Athlete ($250 X 2 each) $5,500 Dinner Auction $2,500 Corporate Donations $1,500 Other Fund Raising Activities $5,000 Total $20,000 Proposed Expenses : Gym Rental for Practice $1,500 Team Camp or Skills Camps $1,500 Canadian Tournament Entry Fees (7) $2,400 US Tournament Entry Fee (1) $900 Canadian Hotels $1,600 US Hotels $2,000 Gas for Tournaments $1,500 Coaches Honorariums $4,000 Van rental (if necessary) $1,500 Team Apparel $3,100 Total $20,000 Basketball Alberta 13 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Appendix E: SI MPLI FI ED CHI LD ABUSE/ MOLESTATI ON RI SK MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 1. BACKGROUND Child abuse / molestation in the world of youth sports has received much media attention over the past ten (10) years and, unfortunately, for good reason. A recent Sports Illustrated article coupled with problems within the Catholic Church and other respected organizations have heightened this awareness.<br><br> The June 9, 2003 feature article in Forbes Magazine states cthe next litigation goldrush: child sexual abuse. Never mind priests 3 the Boy Scouts, day care firms and Hollywood may be next. d This article outlines disturbing litigation trends where non-profit organizations like sports organizations and their directors and officers can be targeted as cdeep pockets d. Medical professionals state that the effects of child abuse can surface decades later and often result in suicide, violence, delinquency, drug and / or alcohol abuse and other forms of criminality that are child abuse related.<br><br> There have been a number of multi- million dollar verdicts against coaches and associations for sexual abuse over the past several years and at least one child has been killed. 2. PURPOSE The purpose of this program is to reduce the liability risk and related negative publicity, expense and trauma to AYBC Members and of course, of utmost importance, the children they serve.<br><br> The likelihood of such can be reduced by making the environment unsuitable for the sexual predator and / or abuser. This program will key in on the bare essentials of education, volunteer screening, policies and program administration. The intent of this program is not to be all encompassing, but instead, to provide the framework of a basic workable program that is more likely to be implemented by a group of volunteers with limited resources and time.<br><br> The simple framework of this program will not address all contingencies that are likely to be encountered. Therefore, the reference materials listed in the conclusion section should be researched & consulted frequently. Basketball Alberta 14 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs 3.<br><br> DEFI NI TI ONS Child Abuse: Verbal abuse (ridicule or put- downs), physical abuse (any hurting, touching or excessive exercised used as punishment), emotional abuse (threats to perform unreasonable tasks) and sexual abuse. Sexual Abuse: Refers to a wide spectrum of interactions including rape, physical assault, sexual battery, unwanted physical contact, unwelcome sexually explicit or offensive verbal communication, coercive or expletive sexual contact, verbal sexual harassment and / or sexualized attention or contact with a minor. Conduct Official: Single person within the league who is appointed by the board to administer the Simplified Child Abuse / Molestation Risk Management Program.<br><br> The Conduct Official is responsible for education, reviewing Volunteer Applications, checking references, conducting criminal background checks, handling appeals from disqualified candidates, conducting investigations on allegations of abuse, acting as liaison to local law enforcement, etc. Volunteer: Citizens who perform the various functions entailed in the running of a league without pay including league officers and directors, committee personnel, coaches, managers, officials, scorekeepers, concessions workers, etc. Criminal Background Check (CBC): CBC 9s will provide all misdemeanor and felony information that AYBC Members may want to take into account in the disqualification process.<br><br> CBC 9s show offenses that go back a minimum of seven (7) years, but much longer in most cases. CBC 9s do not rely on third parties to enter information into the database as this happens automatically as part of the judicial process. It is recommended that AYBC Members use CBC 9s when screening volunteers.<br><br> 4. POLI CI ES ON CHI LD ABUSE/ MOLESTATI ON Limit One on One Contact : It is AYBC 9s policy that no activities shall take place involving one on one contact between a single, non- related league volunteer and a child, if such activities can be practically avoided. Instead, a cbuddy system d is encouraged where two (2) adults should always be present during practices, games, carpooling and special events.<br><br> Prohibition of Sleepovers : All AYBC sanctioned team or league activities will permit sleepovers (hotel or similar accommodation arrangement) if each child is either accompanied by his / her parent or is being supervised by two (2) adults who are in each other 9s presence at all times. Single coaches or supervisors are not permitted to sleepover with a child or team in any circumstance. Basketball Alberta 15 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Touch Policy : Touch is acceptable only if it is crespectful and appropriate d.<br><br> Some experts have adopted a no touch policy, however, most experts believe that cno touch d is an over- reaction and may be ultimately be damaging in itself and not practical. Verbal Conduct Policy : Inappropriate comments of a sexual nature and suggestive jokes are inappropriate and absolutely prohibited. Take Hom e / Pick- Up : Take home / pick-up of athletes by AYBC personnel is strongly discouraged because of the difficulty in limiting one on one contact between adult and child (remember the Buddy System).<br><br> Parent(s) should provide transportation for their own children to and from scheduled AYBC activities. Each respective AYBC Member team / club will clearly outline the expected start and end time for all activities and communicate this with all parent(s). Parent(s) should be instructed to make back- up plans in the event they cannot provide transportation.<br><br> If parent(s) can 9t provide transportation they are encouraged to communicate to the AYBC Member team / club the name of the person(s) who is / are authorized to pick up the child. Such policy will help protect against potential abuse, abductions or being thrust into the middle of any custody dispute. Child Abuse Prohibition : All forms of sexual, physical, verbal and emotional abuse are absolutely prohibited.<br><br> Name Distribution : The distribution if directories / rosters with names, phone numbers, addresses and pictures should be limited to persons on a cneed to know d basis. 5. EXAMPLES OF ABUSE/ MOLESTATI ON Em otional Abuse : Yelling or making the following statements: f You 9re stupid; f You 9re an idiot; f You 9re an embarrassment; f You 9re not worth the uniform you 9re playing in; etc.<br><br> Physical Abuse : Besides the obvious examples of a coach hitting, kicking, throwing equipment or shaking a player, watch out for the following: f Behaviours appear violent versus disciplinary; f Training practices become abusive; f Fighting is encouraged or ignored; f Illegal moves, often associated with injuries are encouraged; f Coaches teach improper techniques or encourage conduct that violates safety rules; f Coaches allow athlete(s) to become physically and / or verbally abusive; f Questionable behaviours result in injuries to athlete(s), etc. Basketball Alberta 16 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Sexual Abuse : An adult may not improperly sexualize touch by fondling instead of hugging (with permission), kissing or seductive stroking of various body parts. On the other hand, appropriate touching can be used when a young child needs comfort, reassurance and support.<br><br> Appropriate touch is respectful of a person 9s personal boundaries and comfort level, public (done in front of others and not secretly) and nurturing (not sexualized). f Misuse of power and authority; f Misue of love and affection; f Manipulation or tricks, ie: This is love, This is what you have to do to be a part of the team, This is what we do for initiation, etc. f Grooming 3 desensitization that begins with appropriate touch & then it changes, ie: You like it before when I touched you, What 9s wrong?<br><br> Don 9t you trust me?, Courting behaviours such as gifts, excessive time and attention provided, Romancing behaviours such as dating or talking or a relationship, Using cLines d such as: You 9re special, You 9re so mature, You 9re so cute, etc. Stating secrets such as: This is our secret, others wouldn 9t understand, etc. 6.<br><br> WARNI NG SI GNS OF ABUSE/ MOLESTATI ON With some forms of abuse, there may be physical indicators. For example with physical abuse there may be signs of bruises, welts, broken bones, etc. With sexual abuse there may be signs of venereal diseases, genital swelling / soreness, difficulty sitting or walking, pain or itching when urinating or defecating, pain or itching in genital area, stomach aches and / or frequently unexplained sore throats.<br><br> Most often the effects of sexual abuse are less obvious. For example, sudden shifts in behaviour or attitudes when an outgoing child suddenly becomes protected / closed or when a generally happy child becomes aggressive and angry or a trusting child becomes fearful may be an indication of abuse. In sports, this can show up as losing interest or wanting to drop out of sports or a sudden decline in ability or functions.<br><br> Please note that no indicators or symptoms are absolute. Many of these could be indicators of problems other than child abuse. However, if some of these things are going on, consider them to be a red flag.<br><br> One difficulty is that some signs are ambiguous. Children may respond in different ways and some may show no sign at all. Some indicators include: f Disclosure by the child.<br><br> Most children won 9t just come out and say they have been abused, but instead, may hint at it 3 watch for the signs; f Observations, complaints, concerns or allegations about league / team volunteers; f Attitudes / behaviours expressed on the part of an adult that may be associated with inappropriate or abusive behaviour (racist remarks, poor sense of athlete development, raging temper, extremely controlling, jealous, hypersensitive, poor sexual boundaries, bullying, intimidating, unrealistic or inappropriate training practices and risks, etc.); Basketball Alberta 17 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs f Unexplained / unlikely explanation of injuries; f Extreme fear of a league / team volunteer; f Extreme low self-esteem or self-worth; f A child 9s attachment to a coach / staff to the point of isolation from others; f A coach / staff with an interest beyond caring concerns and / or a special interest in a child (time, gifts, attention, obsession, unrealistic expectations, etc.); f A child 9s desire to drop out without a clear explanation or at least without one that makes sense; f A child that misses a lot of activities with suspicious explanations or excuses, etc. Despite increased sensitivity to abuse, there is still a tendency to blame the victims instead of holding the person(s) accountable who: f Lost their temper; f Got a little out of control; f Were just having a dispute; f Misinterpreted the touch; f Is really a wonderful person, etc. Listen to w hat the athlete is saying!<br><br> 7. ALLEGATI ONS OF ABUSE/ MOLESATI ON & OTHER POLI CY VI OLATI ONS Point of Contact : The Conduct Official is the appropriate person to whom all reports of child abuse / molestation should be reported. In the event that the Conduct Official is the alleged abuser / molester, the report shall be made to the President of AYBC.<br><br> Assessing the Seriousness of the Situation : It is useful to differentiate between: Concern: When the person just needs to be heard and have some information clarified. Complaint: When the person needs you to listen and may or may not want action taken if they feel you listened. Basketball Alberta 18 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Allegation: Clarify if the allegation is: f Appropriate, but unappreciated act; f Inappropriate act, but not an illegal act; f An iilegal act that needs to be reported to law enforcement.<br><br> Disclosure: When the person tells you that abuse occurred or based on their actions gives you reason to believe abuse has occurred. The Conduct Official must take the appropriate action depending on where the situation falls in the above mentioned categories. I nformation Gathering : Upon receipt of a disclosure of child / sexual abuse or of a policy violation the Conduct Official should gather all pertinent facts in a fair, respectful and confidential manner and review with both the accuser and accused.<br><br> All such disclosures must be brought to the attention of the Board of Directors of AYBC. The Conduct Official must immediately report to the authorities when there is reasonable cause to believe that physical abuse or sexual abuse has occurred. At this point, the Conduct Official should never investigate, as this is the role of the law enforcement authorities.<br><br> Furthermore, allowing the law enforcement authorities to investigate helps to shield AYBC against potential lawsuits for defamation of character. Suspension / Termina tion : The findings of the Conduct Official should be reported to the Board of Directors and all proceedings shall be confidential. If the alleged abuser or policy violator admits to the conduct, the AYBC Board can employ the most immediate and appropriate punishment.<br><br> If the alleged abuser or policy violator denies the conduct, the AYBC Board can conduct further investigations (except when reasonable cause of physical or sexual abuse exists that should be reported to the necessary authorities) deemed necessary prior to rendering any appropriate punishment or exoneration. Remember, the alleged violations range from inappropriate, but not illegal behaviour to clear cut child / sexual abuse and the punishment must be tailored to the violation. Suspension : Less egregious conduct on the part of the volunteer will result in a written reprimand.<br><br> If more than two (2) written reprimands are received in a three (3) year time period, this will result in termination of the volunteer. Slightly more egregious conduct will result in both a written reprimand and suspension. Upon the second suspension in a three (3) year time period, the volunteer will be terminated.<br><br> Termination : All volunteers are subject to immediate termination based on the disqualification criteria outlined herein. Basketball Alberta 19 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Duty to Disclose / I mmunity / Confidentiality : All volunteers may be required by law to report suspected cases of child / sexual abuse. Any person(s) who makes or participates in the making of good- faith report of abuse / neglect, participates in the investigation or in judicial proceedings shall in so doing be provided with complete and absolute immunity from civil liability.<br><br> The identity of the Volunteer reporting a case of suspected child / sexual abuse shall not be revealed. All records and reports concerning investigations and their outcome are protected by various confidentiality laws. Unauthorized disclosure of such records is a possible criminal offense which could subject the violator to fines and / or imprisonment.<br><br> 8. VOLUNTEER SCREENING Volunteer Application and Consent / Release Form : The attached application entitled cVolunteer Application d must be completed, signed, submitted and processed before a volunteer will be allowed to work with athletes. All volunteers who have regular access to or repeated contact with athletes must complete the cVolunteer Application d.<br><br> This includes all head coaches, assistant coaches, managers, league administrators, officials, scorekeepers, concession workers, maintenance workers, etc. refusal to comply will result in immediate dismissal from AYBC Member programs / teams even if the volunteer has been allowed to participate in the past. The Conduct Official will review all such applications, will conduct a Criminal background Check (CBC), may conduct a follow- up interview to clarify questions and will decide whether or not the candidate is disqualified based on this information.<br><br> Disqualification Criteria : AYBC must adopt its disqualification criteria in writing before the CBC 9s are run. Individual volunteers found to be guilty of the following crimes will be disqualified as a Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs (AYBC) volunteer as outlined below. Guilty means the applicant was found guilty following a trial, entered a guilty plea, entered a no contest plea accompanied by the court 9s finding of guilty, regardless of whether there was an adjudication of guilt (conviction) or a withholding of guilt.<br><br> This policy does not apply if criminal charges resulted in acquittal, dismissal or in an entry of cnolle prosequi d. 1. Ever Found To Be Guilty Of: f All sex offenses including child molestation, rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, sodomy, prostitution, solicitation, indecent exposure, etc.<br><br> f All felony violence including murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, kidnapping, robbery, aggravated burglary, etc. 2. Found To Be Guilty Within The Past 10 Years Of: f All felony offenses other than violence or sex including drug offenses, theft, embezzlement, fraud, child endangerment, etc.<br><br> Basketball Alberta 20 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs 3. Found To Be Guilty Within The Past 7 Years Of: f All misdemeanor violence offenses including simple assault, battery, domestic violence, hit & run, etc. 4.<br><br> Found To Be Guilty Within The Past 5 Years, or Multiple Offenses Within The Past 10 Years Of: f Misdemeanor drug and alcohol offenses including driving under the influence, simple drug possession, drunk and disorderly, public intoxication, possession of drug paraphernalia, etc. 5. Any other misdemeanor within the past 5 years that would be considered a potential danger to children or is directly related to the functions of the volunteer including contributing to the delinquency of a minor, providing alcohol to a minor, theft 3 if volunteer is handling monies, etc.<br><br> Should any pending charges described in 1- 5 above be uncovered, or should any of the above charges be brought against an applicant during the season, the applicant shall be suspended from serving until such time as the charges have been cleared or dropped and the Conduct Official (AYBC Board of Directors) has approved reinstatement. Note: Should any applicant happen into any of the criteria listed above, AYBC must be immediately notified of the said misdemeanor, charge or offense. Crim inal Background Check (CBC): After receiving the cVolunteer Application d, the Conduct Official will conduct a CBC with the selected vendor and will search records in all current and past countries of residence of the volunteer.<br><br> This procedure is confidential and only the Conduct Official will have access to these records. The Conduct Official will decide whether or not the candidate is disqualified based on the findings and the predetermined disqualification guidelines as set forth by the AYBC Child Abuse / Molestation Risk Management Program. Basketball Alberta 21 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Appeals : Candidate(s) disqualified due to an unsatisfactory Referral or CBC and / or other reason(s) will be given the right to appeal upon written notification to the Conduct Official.<br><br> The AYBC Board of Directors will appoint three (3) board members to hear the appeal and they will decide whether or not to uphold or overturn the decision of the Conduct Official. As a compromise, the appeal committee may decide to reassign a candidate to a more appropriate position or to place the candidate under a probationary period. The results of all CBC 9s and appeals shall be kept confidential.<br><br> Acknow ledgement of Training : All volunteers who have been accepted must read the Simplified Child Abuse / Molestation Risk Management Program and must agree to abide by the rules set forth. 9. CONCLUSI ON Due to the simplified nature of this program, it does not address all contingencies and as a result AYBC 9s Directors, Officers and Conduct Official may incur legal liability for failure to perform certain acts related to a case involving child / sexual abuse.<br><br> For this reason, i t is strongly recommended that legal counsel be retained in the event that a case is suspected. This program was designed for AYBC Member Clubs / Teams consisting primarily of volunteer workers. The following references were used in the design of this program and it is strongly recommended that they are referred to whenever a question arises: Athlete Abuse and Youth Sports, A Comprehensive Risk Management Program ; National Alliance for Youth Sports; Copyright 1996; 1- 800- 729- 2057.<br><br> Sexual Abuse Risk Management Manual For Youth Sports / Activities Organizations ; Gil B. Fried, M.A., J.D., Gil Fried & Associates LLC ( (203) 789- 8694; Copyright 1996. Southeastern Security Consultants, Inc.<br><br> (SSCI) ; Byron Palmer, 2627 sandy Plains Road, Suite 203, marietta, GA 30066; phone 866- 996- 7412. Intellicorp, John Sebeck ; 6001 Cochran Road, Suite 200, Solon, OH 44139; phone 440-505-0238; ( Appendix F: Volunteer Application Basketball Alberta 22 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs To be completed by all volunteers including Coaches, Managers, Administrators, Umpires, etc of Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs who have regular access to or repeated contact with athletes.<br><br> Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs (AYBC): Head Office Located in Calgary, Alberta Personal I nformation : Date of Completion of this Form: _____/_____/_____ Full Legal Name: ________________________________________________________ Date of Birth: _____/_____/_____ Other Names (maiden, alias, etc.): ___________________________________________ Male: ___ Female: ___ Social Security Number: _________ - ________ - _________ Driver 9s License Number: _____________ Province: ____ Expires: _____/_____/_____ Home Phone: (_____) ____-______ Work Phone: (_____) ____-______ Home Address : List all for the past 7 years Present (include dates): ____________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Previous (include dates): ___________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Previous (include dates): ___________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Previous (include dates): ___________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ (attach a separate sheet if additional space is needed) Basketball Alberta 23 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Qualifications : What position are you applying for?: __________________________________________ Have you ever been convicted of a crime?: _____ (if yes, explain): __________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Have you ever been refused participation in any other youth sports program?: _____ (if yes, explain): _________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Do you have children in the program?: _____ Why do you want to be a Volunteer?: ________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Why are you qualified to Coach, Manage, Officiate, etc.?: ________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Acknowledgement Of Training I acknowledge that on _____/_____/_____ (date) I was given a copy of AYBC 9s Simplified Child Abuse / Molestation Risk Management Program and that I have carefully reviewed it and voluntarily agree that as a condition of future participation, employment, or involvement in AYBC, I will abide by all the terms, conditions, policies and procedures contained within this program. If I violate the policies, regulations or spirit of this program, I will indemnify and hold harmless AYBC, it 9s employees, board members, volunteers and officials from any and all liability including negligence and any intentional tort claims. Signature: ________________________________________ Date: _____/_____/_____ Basketball Alberta 24 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Consent / Release I hereby authorize and give consent for AYBC referenced above to obtain my personal information.<br><br> This includes, but is not limited to employment records / employment references; criminal background records / information; criminal background checks / fingerprints; driving record check; financial bankruptcy information; coaching experience; personal references and addresses. I authorize this information to be obtained either in writing, via internet or via telephone in connection with my volunteer application. I understand that my position is contingent upon adverse information about my background or character not being uncovered upon the performance of the above referenced checks.<br><br> I also understand that regardless of my prior volunteer activities on behalf of AYBC, that AYBC is not required to allow my continued participation. I agree to hold harmless and indemnify from liability AYBC and its directors, officers, employees and volunteers from all liability arising out of the use of the information that is uncovered in the above referenced checks. Signature: ________________________________________ Date: _____/_____/_____ Basketball Alberta 25 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Appendix G: Multiple Team Clubs 1.<br><br> Jr. Trojans Basketball Club 2. Out West Basketball Association 3.<br><br> Edmonton Youth Grads 4. Calgary Senior Selects 5. Alberta Shooting Stars 6.<br><br> St. Albert Slam 7. Golden Hills Basketball Club 8.<br><br> Red Storm 9. Starz Basketball 10.Westside AAA 11.Airdrie Elite East Basketball Club 12.Silversmith Selects 13.Bow Island Bigs Basketball Club 14.Okotoks Minor Basketball Association 15.Lethbridge Junior Kodiaks 16.Kim Powell (Basketball Academy) 17.Calgary Selects 18.Junior Ooks 19.Hoopsters 20.Onyx 21.3D (Cranbrook) 22.Jr. Dinos 23.Oilfields 24.Cougars (Leger) 25.Junior Huskies 26.Lethbridge Basketball Club 27.Calgary Fury 28.Junior Cougars (LA) 29.Cranbrook Rockies 30.Lloydminster Barons 31.Patterson (Edmonton) 32.GBA (Greg Wayne) 33.Mt Royal Junior Cougars 34.Edge Sports School 35.Red Deer Kings / Queens 36.Championship Basketball Club 37.Basketball Alberta 38.Parkland Basketball 39.STARS Basketball Club Basketball Alberta 26 Association of Alberta Youth Basketball Clubs Appendix F: Single Team Clubs 1.<br><br> Southern Selects 3 girls 2. Team Vortex 3. Camrose Basketball Club 4.<br><br> Eastview 5. North East Bad Boys 6. Bow River - midget girls 7.<br><br> Big Rock Basketball 8. Shooters (LA) 9. Rolling Hills 10.Mavericks (High River) 11.Cochrane (Hanson) 12.United (Ivor Lewis) 13.Magrath (Kim) 14.Janice Giles (High River) 15.Crimson Tide (Fisher) 16.Sherwood Park Sabres 17.Cochrane Storm 18.Pacers Basketball 19.Foremost 20.S.A.R.A.<br><br> 21.Royals Blue/White 22.Titans 23.Vikings 24.Springbank 25.Wildcats (South All Stars) 26.South Central Spartans 27.U of C (Harle) 28.Happening Hoops 29.SoCal Comets 30.Goldade (CWB) 31.Okotoks Jazz 32.Calgary Swish 33.Jesse McLean (Drumheller) 34.RMS Rockies 35.Rockies Wild 36.Calgary Swoosh 37.NW Stingers 38.Bombers 39.Sonics 40.Loni Price 41.Southern Bells (Belisle) 42.Brent Anderson 43.Castle Mountain Titans 44.Team Magic 45.David Thompson Club 46.Edmonton Force	eng	9b086340-0c3a-42dd-91f7-a6dd8777b4fa	http://beepdf.com/doc/113157/template_for_organizing_basketball_clubs.html
This article is about the sport. For other uses, see Baseball (disambiguation). Baseball The baseball diamond at Wrigley Field, Chicago First played Mid-18th century or prior, England (early form) June 19, 1846, Hoboken, New Jersey (first recorded game with codified rules) Characteristics Team members 9 Categorization Bat-and-ball Equipment Baseball Baseball bat Baseball glove Olympic 1992–2008 and nine innings make up a professional game. The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins.In North America, professional Major League Baseball (MLB) teams are divided into the National League (NL) and American League (AL). Each league has three divisions: East, West, and Central. Every year, the major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series. Four teams make the playoffs from each league: the three regular season division winners, plus one wild card team Contents 1 History 1.1 Origins of baseball 1.2 History of baseball in the United States 1.2.1 The game turns professional 1.2.2 Rise of Ruth and racial integration 1.2.3 Attendance records and the age of steroids 1.3 Baseball around the world 2 Rules and gameplay 3 Personnel 3.1 Player rosters 3.2 Other personnel 4 Strategy and tactics 4.1 Pitching and fielding tactics 4.2 Batting and baserunning tactics 5 Distinctive elements 5.1 No clock to kill 5.2 Individual focus 5.3 Uniqueness of each baseball park 6 Statistics 6.1 Sabermetrics 7 Popularity and cultural impact 7.1 Baseball in popular culture 8 See also 9 References 10 Sources 11 Further reading 11.1 Online 12 External links // History Main article: History of baseball Origins of baseball Main article: Origins of baseball Part of the Baseball series on History of baseball • Origins of baseball • Early years • First league • Knickerbocker Rules • Massachusetts rules • Alexander Cartwright • Abner Doubleday myth • First pro team • First pro league • Close relations: • Rounders • Town ball • Softball • History of baseball in: • Worldwide • United States • United Kingdom • Canada • Japan • Cuba • South Korea • Netherlands • Nicaragua • Australia • Spain • Ireland • Greece • Negro league baseball • Women in baseball • Minor league baseball • Comparison between cricket and baseball • Baseball (Ken Burns documentary) • Baseball Hall of Fame • Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) • Baseball year-by-year • MLB season-by-season Baseball Portal v · d · e The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is difficult to trace with precision. A French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with similarities to baseball.1 Other old French games such as théque, la balle au bâton, and la balle empoisonée also appear to be related.2 Consensus once held that today's baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders, popular in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It: A3 It has long been believed that cricket also descended from such games, though evidence uncovered in early 2009 suggests that the sport may have been imported to England from Flanders.4 The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, by John Newbery. It contains a rhymed description of "base-ball" and a woodcut that shows a field set-up somewhat similar to the modern game—though in a triangular rather than diamond configuration, and with posts instead of ground-level bases.5 English lawyer William Bray recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford, Surrey; Bray's diary was verified as authentic in September 2008.6 This early form of the game was apparently brought to North America by English immigrants. Rounders was also brought to the continent by both British and Irish immigrants. The first known American reference to baseball appears in a 1791 Pittsfield, Massachusetts, town bylaw prohibiting the playing of the game near the town's new meeting house.78 By the early 1830s, there were reports of a variety of uncodified bat-and-ball games recognizable as early forms of baseball being played around North America. These games were often referred to locally as "town ball", though other names such as "round-ball" and "base-ball" were also used.910 The once widely accepted story that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839 has been conclusively debunked by sports historians.11 In 1845, Alexander Cartwright, a member of New York City's Knickerbockers club, led the codification of the so-called Knickerbocker Rules.12 The harder ball than had been common. Several other rules also brought the Knickerbockers' game close to the modern one, though a ball caught on the first bounce was, again, an out and only underhand pitching was allowed.13 While there are reports that the New York Knickerbockers played games in 1845, the contest now recognized as the first officially recorded baseball game in U.S. history took place on June 19, 1846, in Hoboken, New Jersey: the "New York Nine" defeated the Knickerbockers, 23–1, in four innings.14 With the Knickerbocker code as the basis, the rules of modern baseball continued to evolve over the next half-century.15 History of baseball in the United States Main article: History of baseball in the United States The game turns professional In the mid-1850s, a baseball craze hit the New York metropolitan area.16 By 1856, local journals were referring to baseball as the "national pastime" or "national game".17 A year later, sixteen area clubs formed the sport's first governing body, the National Association of Base Ball Players. In 1863, the organization disallowed putouts made by catching a fair ball on the first bounce. Four years later, it barred participation by African Americans.18 The game's commercial potential was developing: in 1869 the first fully professional baseball club, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was formed and went undefeated against a schedule of semipro and amateur teams.19 The first professional league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, lasted from 1871 to 1875; scholars dispute its status as a major league.20 The more formally structured National League was founded in 1876. As the oldest surviving major league, the National League is sometimes referred to as the "senior circuit".21 Several other major leagues formed and failed. In 1884, African American Moses Walker (and, briefly, his brother Welday) played in one of these, the American Association.22 An injury ended Walker's major league career, and by the early 1890s, a gentlemen's agreement in the form of the baseball color line effectively barred black players from the white-owned professional leagues, major and minor.23 Professional Negro leagues formed, but quickly folded. Several independent African American teams succeeded as barnstormers.24 Also in 1884, overhand pitching was legalized.25 In 1887, softball, under the name of indoor baseball or indoor-outdoor, was invented as a winter version of the parent game.26 Virtually all of the modern baseball rules were in place by 1893; the last major change—counting foul balls as strikes—was instituted in 1901.25 The National League's first successful counterpart, the American League, which evolved from the minor Western League, was established that year.27 The two leagues, each with eight teams, were rivals that fought for the best players, often disregarding each other's contracts and engaging in bitter legal disputes.28 The New York Giants baseball team, 1913. Fred Merkle, sixth in line, committed a baserunning gaffe in a crucial 1908 game that became famous as Merkle's Boner. A modicum of peace was eventually established, leading to the National Agreement of 1903. The pact formalized relations both between the two major leagues and between them and the National Association of Professional Base Ball Leagues, representing most of the country's minor professional leagues.29 The World Series, pitting the two major league champions against each other, was inaugurated that fall, albeit without express major league sanction: The Boston Americans of the American League defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League.30 The next year, the series was not held, as the National League champion New York Giants, under manager John McGraw, refused to recognize the major league status of the American League and its champion.31 In 1905, the Giants were National League champions again and team management relented, leading to the establishment of the World Series as the major leagues' annual championship event.32 As professional baseball became increasingly profitable, players frequently raised grievances against owners over issues of control and equitable income distribution. During the major leagues' early decades, players on various teams occasionally attempted strikes, which routinely failed when their jobs were sufficiently threatened. In general, the strict rules of baseball contracts and the reserve clause, which bound players to their teams even when their contracts had ended, tended to keep the players in check.33 Motivated by dislike for particularly stingy owner Charles Comiskey and gamblers' payoffs, real and promised, members of the Chicago White Sox conspired to throw the 1919 World Series. The Black Sox Scandal led to the formation of a new National Commission of baseball that drew the two major leagues closer together.34 The first major league baseball commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, was elected in 1920. That year also saw the founding of the Negro National League; the first significant Negro league, it would operate until 1931. For part of the 1920s, it was joined by the Eastern Colored League.35 Rise of Ruth and racial integration Compared with the present, professional baseball in the early twentieth century was lower scoring and pitchers, the likes of Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson, were more dominant. The "inside game", which demanded that players "scratch for runs", was played much more aggressively than it is today: the brilliant and often violent Ty Cobb epitomized this style.36 The so-called dead-ball era ended in the early 1920s with several changes in rule and circumstance that were advantageous to hitters. Strict new regulations governing the ball's size, shape and composition, coupled with superior materials available after World War I, resulted in a ball that traveled farther when hit. The construction of additional seating to accommodate the rising popularity of the game often had the effect of bringing the outfield fences closer in, making home runs more common.37 The rise of the legendary player Babe Ruth, the first great power hitter of the new era, helped permanently alter the nature of the game. The club with which Ruth set most of his slugging records, the New York Yankees, built a reputation as the majors' premier team.38 In the late 1920s and early 1930s, St. Louis Cardinals general manager Branch Rickey invested in several minor league clubs and developed the first modern "farm system".39 A new Negro National League was organized in 1933; four years later, it was joined by the Negro American League. The first elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame took place in 1936. In 1939 Little League Baseball was founded in Pennsylvania. By the late 1940s, it was the organizing body for children's baseball leagues across the United States. Jackie Robinson in 1945, with the era's Kansas City Royals, a barnstorming squad associated with the Negro American League's Kansas City Monarchs With America's entry into World War II, many professional players had left to serve in the armed forces. A large number of minor league teams disbanded as a result and the major league game seemed under threat as well. Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley led the formation of a new professional league with women players to help keep the game in the public eye — the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League existed from 1943 to 1954.40 The inaugural College World Series was held in 1947, and the Babe Ruth League youth program was founded. This program soon became another important organizing body for children's baseball. The first crack in the unwritten agreement barring blacks from white-controlled professional ball occurred the previous year: Jackie Robinson was signed by the National League's Brooklyn Dodgers—where Branch Rickey had become general manager—and began playing for their minor league team in Montreal.41 In 1947, Robinson broke the major leagues' color barrier when he debuted with the Dodgers. Larry Doby debuted with the American League's Cleveland Indians the same year.42 Latin American players, largely overlooked before, also started entering the majors in greater numbers. In 1951, two Chicago White Sox, Venezuelan-born Chico Carrasquel and black Cuban-born Minnie Miñoso, became the first Hispanic All-Stars.4344 Facing competition as varied as television and football, baseball attendance at all levels declined. While the majors rebounded by the mid-1950s, the minor leagues were gutted and hundreds of semipro and amateur teams dissolved.4546 Integration proceeded slowly: by 1953, only six of the sixteen major league teams had a black player on the roster.43 That year, the Major League Baseball Players Association was founded. It was the first professional baseball union to survive more than briefly, but it remained largely ineffective for years.47 No major league team had been located west of St. Louis until 1958, when the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants relocated to Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively.48 The majors' final all-white bastion, the Boston Red Sox, added a black player in 1959.43 With the integration of the majors drying up the available pool of players, the last Negro league folded the following year.49 In 1961, the American League reached the West Coast with the Los Angeles Angels expansion team, and the major league season was extended from 154 games to 162. This coincidentally helped Roger Maris break Babe Ruth's long-standing single-season home run record, one of the most celebrated marks in baseball.50 Along with the Angels, three other new franchises were launched during 1961–62. With this, the first major league expansion in sixty years, each league now had ten teams. Attendance records and the age of steroids The players' union became bolder under the leadership of former United Steelworkers chief economist and negotiator Marvin Miller, who was elected executive director in 1966.51 On the playing field, major league pitchers were becoming increasingly dominant again. After the 1968 season, in an effort to restore balance, the strike zone was reduced and the height of the pitcher's mound was lowered. The following year, both the National and American leagues added two more expansion teams, the leagues were reorganized into two divisions each, and a post-season playoff system leading to the World Series was instituted. Also in 1969, Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals made the first serious legal challenge to the reserve clause. The major leagues' first general players' strike took place in 1972.52 In another effort to add more offense to the game, the American League adopted the designated hitter rule the following year.53 In 1975, the union's power—and players' salaries—began to increase greatly when the reserve clause was effectively struck down, leading to the free agency system.54 In 1977, two more expansion teams joined the American League. Significant work stoppages occurred again in 1981 and 1994, the latter forcing the cancellation of the World Series for the first time in ninety years.55 Attendance had been growing steadily since the mid-1970s and in 1994, before the stoppage, the majors were setting their all-time record for per-game attendance.4656 In May 2010, the Philadelphia Phillies' Roy Halladay pitched the twentieth major league perfect game. That October, he pitched only the second no-hitter in MLB postseason history. The addition of two more expansion teams after the 1993 season had facilitated another restructuring of the major leagues, this time into three divisions each. Offensive production—the number of home runs in particular—had surged that year, and again in the abbreviated 1994 season.57 After play resumed in 1995, this trend continued and non-division-winning wild card teams became a permanent fixture of the post-season. Regular-season interleague play was introduced in 1997 and the second-highest attendance mark for a full season was set.58 The next year, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa both surpassed Maris's decades-old single season home run record and two more expansion franchises were added. In 2000, the National and American leagues were dissolved as legal entities. While their identities were maintained for scheduling purposes (and the designated hitter distinction), the regulations and other functions—such as player discipline and umpire supervision—they had administered separately were consolidated under the rubric of Major League Baseball (MLB).59 In 2001, Barry Bonds established the current record of 73 home runs in a single season. There had long been suspicions that the dramatic increase in power hitting was fueled in large part by the abuse of illegal steroids (as well as by the dilution of pitching talent due to expansion), but the issue only began attracting significant media attention in 2002 and there was no penalty for the use of performance-enhancing drugs before 2004.60 In 2007, Bonds became MLB's all-time home run leader, surpassing Hank Aaron, as total major league and minor league attendance both reached all-time highs.6162 Even though McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds—as well as many other players, including storied pitcher Roger Clemens—have been implicated in the steroid abuse scandal, their feats and those of other sluggers had become the major leagues' defining attraction.63 In contrast to the professional game's resurgence in popularity after the 1994 interruption, Little League enrollment was in decline: after peaking in 1996, it dropped 1 percent a year over the following decade.64 With more rigorous testing and penalties for performance-enhancing drug use a possible factor, the balance between bat and ball swung markedly in 2010, which became known as the "Year of the Pitcher".65 Runs per game fell to their lowest level in 18 years, and the strikeout rate was higher than it had been in half a century.66 Baseball around the world Main article: History of baseball outside the United States See also: Baseball in Cuba, Baseball in Japan, and Baseball in the United Kingdom Baseball, widely known as America's pastime, is well-established in several other countries as well. The history of baseball in Canada has remained closely linked with that of the sport in the United States. As early as 1877, a professional league, the International Association, featured teams from both countries.67 While baseball is widely played in Canada and many minor league teams have been based in the country, the American major leagues did not include a Canadian club until 1969, when the Montreal Expos joined the National League as an expansion team. In 1977, the expansion Toronto Blue Jays joined the American League. The Blue Jays won the World Series in 1992 and 1993, the first and still the only club from outside the United States to do so. After the 2004 season, Major League Baseball relocated the Expos to Washington, D.C., where the team is now known as the Nationals. Sadaharu Oh managing the Japan national team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Playing for the Central League's Yomiuri Giants (1959–80), Oh set the professional world record for home runs. The first formal baseball league outside of the United States and Canada was founded in 1878 in Cuba, which maintains a rich baseball tradition and whose national team has been one of the world's strongest since international play began in the late 1930s (all organized baseball in the country has officially been amateur since the Cuban Revolution). The Dominican Republic held its first islandwide championship tournament in 1912.68 Professional baseball tournaments and leagues began to form in other countries between the world wars, including the Netherlands (formed in 1922), Australia (1934), Japan (1936), Mexico (1937), and Puerto Rico (1938).69 The Japanese major leagues—the Central League and Pacific League—have long been considered the highest quality professional circuits outside of the United States.70 Japan has a professional minor league system as well, though it is much smaller than the American version—each team has only one farm club in contrast to MLB teams' four or five.71 After World War II, professional leagues were founded in many Latin American nations, most prominently Venezuela (1946) and the Dominican Republic (1955).72 Since the early 1970s, the annual Caribbean Series has matched the championship clubs from the four leading Latin American winter leagues: the Dominican Winter League, Mexican Pacific League, Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League, and Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In Asia, South Korea (1982), Taiwan (1990), and China (2003) all have professional leagues.73 Many European countries have professional leagues as well, the most successful, other than the Dutch league, being the Italian league founded in 1948.74 Compared to those in Asia and Latin America, the various European leagues and the one in Australia historically have had no more than niche appeal. In 2004, Australia won a surprise silver medal at the Olympic Games. The Israel Baseball League, launched in 2007, folded after one season.75 The Confédération Européene de Baseball (European Baseball Confederation), founded in 1953, organizes a number of competitions between clubs from different countries, as well as national squads. Other competitions between national teams, such as the Baseball World Cup and the Olympic baseball tournament, have been administered by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) since its formation in 1938. As of 2009, the IBAF has 117 member countries.76 Women's baseball is played on an organized amateur basis in many of the countries where it is a leading men's sport. Since 2004, the IBAF has sanctioned the Women's Baseball World Cup, featuring national teams. After being admitted to the Olympics as a medal sport beginning with the 1992 Games, baseball was dropped from the 2012 Summer Olympic Games at the 2005 International Olympic Committee meeting. It remained part of the 2008 Games. The elimination of baseball, along with softball, from the 2012 Olympic program enabled the IOC to consider adding two different sports, but none received the votes required for inclusion.77 While the sport's lack of a following in much of the world was a factor, more important was Major League Baseball's reluctance to have a break during the Games to allow its players to participate, as the National Hockey League now does during the Winter Olympic Games. Such a break is more difficult for MLB to accommodate because it would force the playoffs deeper into cold weather.78 Seeking reinstatement for the 2016 Summer Olympics, the IBAF proposed an abbreviated competition designed to facilitate the participation of top players, but the effort failed.79 Major League Baseball initiated the World Baseball Classic, scheduled to precede the major league season, partly as a replacement, high-profile international tournament. The inaugural Classic, held in March 2006, was the first tournament involving national teams to feature a significant number of MLB participants.80 Rules and gameplay Main article: Baseball rules A game is played between two teams, each composed of nine players, that take turns playing offense (batting or hitting) and defense (fielding or pitching). A pair of turns, one at bat and one in the field, by each team constitutes an inning. A game consists of nine innings. One team—customarily the visiting team—bats in the top, or first half, of every inning. The other team—customarily the home team—bats in the bottom, or second half, of every inning. The goal of the game is to score more points (runs) than the other team. The players on the team at bat attempt to score runs by circling or completing a tour of the four bases set at the corners of the square-shaped baseball diamond. A player bats at home plate and must proceed counterclockwise to first base, second base, third base, and back home in order to score a run. The team in the field attempts both to prevent runs from scoring and to record outs, which remove opposing players from offensive action until their turn in their team's batting order comes up again. When three outs are recorded, the teams switch roles for the next half-inning. If the score of the game is tied after nine innings, extra innings are played to resolve the contest. Children's games are often scheduled for fewer than nine innings.81 Diagram of a baseball field (the term diamond may be used to refer to the square area defined by the four bases or to the entire playing field). The dimensions given are for professional and professional-style games. Children often play on smaller fields. The game is played on a field whose primary boundaries, the foul lines, extend forward from home plate at 45-degree angles. The 90-degree area within the foul lines is referred to as fair territory; the 270-degree area outside them is foul territory. The part of the field enclosed by the bases and several yards beyond them is the infield; the area farther beyond the infield is the outfield. In the middle of the infield is a raised pitcher's mound, with a rectangular rubber plate (the rubber) at its center. The outer boundary of the outfield is typically demarcated by a raised fence, which may be of any material and height (many amateur games are played on unfenced fields). Fair territory between home plate and the outfield boundary is baseball's field of play, though significant events can take place in foul territory, as well.82 There are three basic tools of baseball: the ball, the bat, and the glove or mitt: The baseball is about the size of an adult's fist, around 9 inches (23 centimeters) in circumference. It has a rubber or cork center, wound in yarn and covered in white cowhide, with red stitching.83 The bat is a hitting tool, traditionally made of a single, solid piece of wood. Other materials are now commonly used for nonprofessional games. It is a hard round stick, about 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters) in diameter at the hitting end, tapering to a narrower handle and culminating in a knob. Bats used by adults are typically around 34 inches (86 centimeters) long, and not longer than 42 inches (106 centimeters).84 The glove or mitt is a fielding tool, made of padded leather with webbing between the fingers. As an aid in catching and holding onto the ball, it takes various shapes to meet the specific needs of different fielding positions.85 Protective helmets are also standard equipment for all batters.86 At the beginning of each half-inning, the nine players on the fielding team arrange themselves around the field. One of them, the pitcher, stands on the pitcher's mound. The pitcher begins the pitching delivery with one foot on the rubber, pushing off it to gain velocity when throwing toward home plate. Another player, the catcher, squats on the far side of home plate, facing the pitcher. The rest of the team faces home plate, typically arranged as four infielders—who set up along or within a few yards outside the imaginary lines between first, second, and third base—and three outfielders. In the standard arrangement, there is a first baseman positioned several steps to the left of first base, a second baseman to the right of second base, a shortstop to the left of second base, and a third baseman to the right of third base. The basic outfield positions are left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder. A neutral umpire sets up behind the catcher.87 Awaiting a pitch: batter, catcher, and umpire Play starts with a batter standing at home plate, holding a bat. The batter waits for the pitcher to throw a pitch (the ball) toward home plate, and attempts to hit the ball with the bat. The catcher catches pitches that the batter does not hit—as a result of either electing not to swing or failing to connect—and returns them to the pitcher. A batter who hits the ball into the field of play must drop the bat and begin running toward first base, at which point the player is referred to as a runner (or, until the play is over, a batter-runner). A batter-runner who reaches first base without being put out (see below) is said to be safe and is now on base. A batter-runner may choose to remain at first base or attempt to advance to second base or even beyond—however far the player believes can be reached safely. A player who reaches base despite proper play by the fielders has recorded a hit. A player who reaches first base safely on a hit is credited with a single. If a player makes it to second base safely as a direct result of a hit, it is a double; third base, a triple. If the ball is hit in the air within the foul lines over the entire outfield (and outfield fence, if there is one), it is a home run: the batter and any runners on base may all freely circle the bases, each scoring a run. This is the most desirable result for the batter. A player who reaches base due to a fielding mistake is not credited with a hit—instead, the responsible fielder is charged with an error.88 Any runners already on base may attempt to advance on batted balls that land, or contact the ground, in fair territory, before or after the ball lands. A runner on first base must attempt to advance if a ball lands in play. If a ball hit into play rolls foul before passing through the infield, it becomes dead and any runners must return to the base they were at when the play began. If the ball is hit in the air and caught before it lands, the batter has flied out and any runners on base may attempt to advance only if they tag up or touch the base they were at when the play began, as or after the ball is caught. Runners may also attempt to advance to the next base while the pitcher is in the process of delivering the ball to home plate—a successful effort is a stolen base.89 A pitch that is not hit into the field of play is called either a strike or a ball. A batter against whom three strikes are recorded strikes out. A batter against whom four balls are recorded is awarded a base on balls or walk, a free advance to first base. (A batter may also freely advance to first base if any part of the batter's body or uniform is struck by a pitch before the batter either swings at it or it contacts the ground.) Crucial to determining balls and strikes is the umpire's judgment as to whether a pitch has passed through the strike zone, a conceptual area above home plate extending from the midpoint between the batter's shoulders and belt down to the hollow of the knee.90 A strike is called when one of the following happens: The batter lets a well-pitched ball (one within the strike zone) go through to the catcher. The batter swings at any ball (even one outside the strike zone) and misses, or foul tips it directly into the catcher's hands. The batter hits a foul ball—one that either initially lands in foul territory or initially lands within the diamond but moves into foul territory before passing first or third base. If there are already two strikes on the batter, a foul ball is not counted as a third strike; thus, a foul ball cannot result in the immediate strikeout of the batter. (There is an exception to this exception: a two-strike foul bunt is recorded as a third strike.) A ball is called when the pitcher throws a pitch that is outside the strike zone, provided the batter has not swung at it.9091 A shortstop tries to tag out a runner who is sliding headfirst, attempting to reach second base. While the team at bat is trying to score runs, the team in the field is attempting to record outs. Among the various ways a member of the batting team may be put out, five are most common: The strikeout: as described above, recorded against a batter who makes three strikes before putting the ball into play or being awarded a free advance to first base. The flyout: as described above, recorded against a batter who hits a ball in the air that is caught by a fielder, whether in fair territory or foul territory, before it lands, whether or not the batter has run. The ground out: recorded against a batter (in this case, batter-runner) who hits a ball that lands in fair territory which, before the batter-runner can reach first base, is retrieved by a fielder who touches first base while holding the ball or relays it to another fielder who touches first base while holding the ball. The force out: recorded against a runner who is required to attempt to advance—either because the runner is on first base and a batted ball lands in fair territory, or because the runner immediately behind on the basepath is thus required to attempt to advance—but fails to reach the next base before a fielder touches the base while holding the ball. The ground out is technically a special case of the force out. The tag out: recorded against a runner who is touched by a fielder with the ball or a glove holding the ball, while the runner is not touching a base. It is possible to record two outs in the course of the same play—a double play. Even three—a triple play—is possible, though this is very rare. Players put out or retired must leave the field, returning to their team's dugout or bench. A runner may be stranded on base when a third out is recorded against another player on the team. Stranded runners do not benefit the team in its next turn at bat—every half-inning begins with the bases empty of runners.92 An individual player's turn batting or plate appearance is complete when the player reaches base, hits a home run, makes an out, or hits a ball that results in the team's third out, even if it is recorded against a teammate. On rare occasions, a batter may be at the plate when, without the batter's hitting the ball, a third out is recorded against a teammate—for instance, a runner getting caught stealing (tagged out attempting to steal a base). A batter with this sort of incomplete plate appearance starts off the team's next turn batting; any balls or strikes recorded against the batter the previous inning are erased. A runner may circle the bases only once per plate appearance and thus can score at most a single run per batting turn. Once a player has completed a plate appearance, that player may not bat again until the eight other members of the player's team have all taken their turn at bat. The batting order is set before the game begins, and may not be altered except for substitutions. Once a player has been removed for a substitute, that player may not reenter the game. Children's games often have more liberal substitution rules.93 If the designated hitter (DH) rule is in effect, each team has a tenth player whose sole responsibility is to bat (and run). The DH takes the place of another player—almost invariably the pitcher—in the batting order, but does not field. Thus, even with the DH, each team still has a batting order of nine players and a fielding arrangement of nine players.94 Personnel Player rosters Relief pitchers warming up, overseen by a bullpen coach. A manager will often have both a right-handed and a left-handed reliever warm up to maximize strategic options. Roster, or squad, sizes differ between different leagues and different levels of organized play. Major League Baseball teams maintain twenty-five-player active rosters. A typical twenty-five-man roster in a league without the DH rule, such as MLB's National League, features:95 eight position players—catcher, four infielders, three outfielders—who play on a regular basis five starting pitchers who constitute the team's pitching rotation or starting rotation six relief pitchers, including one specialist closer, who constitute the team's bullpen (named for the off-field area where pitchers warm up) one backup, or substitute, catcher two backup infielders two backup outfielders one specialist pinch hitter, or a second backup catcher, or a seventh reliever Other personnel The manager, or head coach of a team, oversees the team's major strategic decisions, such as establishing the starting rotation, setting the lineup, or batting order, before each game, and making substitutions during games—in particular, bringing in relief pitchers. Managers are typically assisted by two or more coaches; they may have specialized responsibilities, such as working with players on hitting, fielding, pitching, or strength and conditioning. At most levels of organized play, two coaches are stationed on the field when the team is at bat: the first base coach and third base coach, occupying designated coaches' boxes just outside the foul lines, assist in the direction of baserunners when the ball is in play, and relay tactical signals from the manager to batters and runners during pauses in play.96 In contrast to many other team sports, baseball managers and coaches generally wear their team's uniforms; coaches must be in uniform in order to be allowed on the playing field during a game.97 Any baseball game involves one or more umpires, who make rulings on the outcome of each play. At a minimum, one umpire will stand behind the catcher, to have a good view of the strike zone, and call balls and strikes. Additional umpires may be stationed near the other bases, thus making it easier to judge plays such as attempted force outs and tag outs. In Major League Baseball, four umpires are used for each game, one near each base. In the playoffs, six umpires are used: one at each base and two in the outfield along the foul lines.98 Strategy and tactics Many of the pre-game and in-game strategic decisions in baseball revolve around a fundamental fact: in general, right-handed batters tend to be more successful against left-handed pitchers and, to an even greater degree, left-handed batters tend to be more successful against right-handed pitchers.99 A manager with several left-handed batters in the regular lineup who knows the team will be facing a left-handed starting pitcher may respond by starting one or more of the right-handed backups on the team's roster. During the late innings of a game, as relief pitchers and pinch hitters are brought in, the opposing managers will often go back and forth trying to create favorable matchups with their substitutions: the manager of the fielding team trying to arrange same-handed pitcher-batter matchups, the manager of the batting team trying to arrange opposite-handed matchups. With a team that has the lead in the late innings, a manager may remove a starting position player—especially one whose turn at bat is not likely to come up again—for a more skillful fielder.100 Pitching and fielding tactics A first baseman receives a pickoff throw, as the runner dives back to first base. The tactical decision that precedes almost every play in a baseball game involves pitch selection. Among the wide variety of pitches that may be thrown, the four basic types are the fastball, the changeup (or off-speed pitch), and two breaking balls—the curveball and the slider.101 Pitchers have different repertoires of pitches they are skillful at throwing. Conventionally, before each pitch, the catcher signals the pitcher what type of pitch to throw, as well as its general vertical and/or horizontal location.102 If there is disagreement on the selection, the pitcher may shake off the sign and the catcher will call for a different pitch. With a runner on base and taking a lead, the pitcher may attempt a pickoff, a quick throw to a fielder covering the base to keep the runner's lead in check or, optimally, effect a tag out. If an attempted stolen base is anticipated, the catcher may call for a pitchout, a ball thrown deliberately off the plate, allowing the catcher to catch it while standing and throw quickly to a base.103 Facing a batter with a strong tendency to hit to one side of the field, the fielding team may employ a shift, with most or all of the fielders moving to the left or right of their usual positions. With a runner on third base, the infielders may play in, moving closer to home plate to improve the odds of throwing out the runner on a ground ball, though a sharply hit grounder is more likely to carry through a drawn-in infield.104 Batting and baserunning tactics A batter squares to bunt, moving his hands up the barrel of the bat to increase his control and deaden the ball on impact. Several basic offensive tactics come into play with a runner on first base, including the fundamental choice of whether to attempt a steal of second base. The hit and run is sometimes employed with a skillful contact hitter: the runner takes off with the pitch drawing the shortstop or second baseman over to second base, creating a gap in the infield for the batter to poke the ball through.105 The sacrifice bunt calls for the batter to focus on making contact with the ball so that it rolls a short distance into the infield, allowing the runner to advance into scoring position even at the expense of the batter being thrown out at first—a batter who succeeds is credited with a sacrifice. (A batter, particularly one who is a fast runner, may also attempt to bunt for a hit.) A sacrifice bunt employed with a runner on third base, aimed at bringing that runner home, is known as a squeeze play.106 With a runner on third and fewer than two outs, a batter may instead concentrate on hitting a fly ball that, even if it is caught, will be deep enough to allow the runner to tag up and score—a successful batter in this case gets credit for a sacrifice fly.104 The manager will sometimes signal a batter who is ahead in the count (i.e., has more balls than strikes) to take, or not swing at, the next pitch.107 Distinctive elements Baseball has certain attributes that set it apart from the other popular team sports in the countries where it has a following, games such as American and Canadian football, basketball, ice hockey, and soccer. All of these sports use a clock; in all of them, play is less individual and more collective; and in none of them is the variation between playing fields nearly as substantial or important. The comparison between cricket and baseball demonstrates that many of baseball's distinctive elements are shared in various ways with its cousin sport. No clock to kill A well-worn baseball In clock-limited sports, games often end with a team that holds the lead killing the clock rather than competing aggressively against the opposing team. In contrast, baseball has no clock; a team cannot win without getting the last batter out and rallies are not constrained by time. At almost any turn in any baseball game, the most advantageous strategy is some form of aggressive strategy.108 In contrast, again, the clock comes into play even in the case of multi-day Test and first-class cricket: the possibility of a draw often encourages a team that is batting last and well behind to bat defensively, giving up any faint chance at a win to avoid a loss.109 Baseball offers no such reward for conservative batting. While nine innings has been the standard since the beginning of professional baseball, the duration of the average major league game has increased steadily through the years. At the turn of the twentieth century, games typically took an hour and a half to play. In the 1920s, they averaged just less than two hours, which eventually ballooned to 2:38 in 1960.110 By 1997, the average American League game lasted 2:57 (National League games were about 10 minutes shorter—pitchers at the plate making for quicker outs than designated hitters).111 In 2004, Major League Baseball declared that its goal was an average game of merely 2:45.110 The lengthening of games is attributed to longer breaks between half-innings for television commercials, increased offense, more pitching changes, and a slower pace of play with pitchers taking more time between each delivery, and batters stepping out of the box more frequently.110111 Other leagues have experienced similar issues. In 2008, Nippon Professional Baseball took steps aimed at shortening games by 12 minutes from the preceding decade's average of 3:18.112 Individual focus For a team sport, baseball places individual players under unusual scrutiny and pressure. In 1915, a baseball instructional manual pointed out that every single pitch, of which there are often more than two hundred in a game, involves an individual, one-on-one contest: "the pitcher and the batter in a battle of wits".113 Contrasting the game with both football and basketball, scholar Michael Mandelbaum argues that "baseball is the one closest in evolutionary descent to the older individual sports".114 Pitcher, batter, and fielder all act essentially independent of each other. While coaching staffs can signal pitcher or batter to pursue certain tactics, the execution of the play itself is a series of solitary acts. If the batter hits a line drive, the outfielder is solely responsible for deciding to try to catch it or play it on the bounce and for succeeding or failing. The statistical precision of baseball is both facilitated by this isolation and reinforces it. As described by Mandelbaum, It is impossible to isolate and objectively assess the contribution each [football] team member makes to the outcome of the play.... [E]very basketball player is interacting with all of his teammates all the time. In baseball, by contrast, every player is more or less on his own.... Baseball is therefore a realm of complete transparency and total responsibility. A baseball player lives in a glass house, and in a stark moral universe.... Everything that every player does is accounted for and everything accounted for is either good or bad, right or wrong.115 Cricket is more similar to baseball than many other team sports in this regard: while the individual focus in cricket is mitigated by the importance of the batting partnership and the practicalities of tandem running, it is enhanced by the fact that a batsman may occupy the wicket for an hour or much more. There is no statistical equivalent in cricket for the fielding error and thus less emphasis on personal responsibility in this area of play.116 Uniqueness of each baseball park Main article: Baseball park Unlike those of most sports, baseball playing fields can vary significantly in size and shape. While the dimensions of the infield are specifically regulated, the only constraint on outfield size and shape for professional teams following the rules of Major League and Minor League Baseball is that fields built or remodeled since June 1, 1958, must have a minimum distance of 325 feet (99 m) from home plate to the fences in left and right field and 400 feet (122 m) to center.117 Major league teams often skirt even this rule. For example, at Minute Maid Park, which became the home of the Houston Astros in 2000, the Crawford Boxes in left field are only 315 feet (96 m) from home plate.118 There are no rules at all that address the height of fences or other structures at the edge of the outfield. The most famously idiosyncratic outfield boundary is the left-field wall at Boston's Fenway Park, in use since 1912: the Green Monster is 310 feet (94 m) from home plate down the line and 37 feet (11 m) tall.119 Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. The Green Monster is visible beyond the playing field on the left. Similarly, there are no regulations at all concerning the dimensions of foul territory. Thus a foul fly ball may be entirely out of play in a park with little space between the foul lines and the stands, but a flyout in a park with more expansive foul ground.120 A fence in foul territory that is close to the outfield line will tend to direct balls that strike it back toward the fielders, while one that is farther away may actually prompt more collisions, as outfielders run full speed to field balls deep in the corner. These variations can make the difference between a double and a triple or inside-the-park home run.121 The surface of the field is also unregulated. While the image to the left shows a traditional field surfacing arrangement (and the one used by virtually all MLB teams with naturally surfaced fields), teams are free to decide what areas will be grassed or bare.122 Some fields—including several in MLB—use an artificial surface, such as AstroTurf. Surface variations can have a significant effect on how ground balls behave and are fielded as well as on baserunning. Similarly, the presence of a roof (seven major league teams play in stadiums with permanent or retractable roofs) can greatly affect how fly balls are played.123 While football and soccer players deal with similar variations of field surface and stadium covering, the size and shape of their fields are much more standardized. The area out-of-bounds on a football or soccer field does not affect play the way foul territory in baseball does, so variations in that regard are largely insignificant.124 These physical variations create a distinctive set of playing conditions at each ballpark. Other local factors, such as altitude and climate, can also significantly affect play. A given stadium may acquire a reputation as a pitcher's park or a hitter's park, if one or the other discipline notably benefits from its unique mix of elements. The most exceptional park in this regard is Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. Its high altitude—5,282 feet (1,610 m) above sea level—is responsible for giving it the strongest hitter's park effect in the major leagues.125 Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, is known for its fickle disposition: a hitter's park when the strong winds off Lake Michigan are blowing out, it becomes more of a pitcher's park when they are blowing in.126 The absence of a standardized field affects not only how particular games play out, but the nature of team rosters and players' statistical records. For example, hitting a fly ball 330 feet (100 m) into right field might result in an easy catch on the warning track at one park, and a home run at another. A team that plays in a park with a relatively short right field, such as the New York Yankees, will tend to stock its roster with left-handed pull hitters, who can best exploit it. On the individual level, a player who spends most of his career with a team that plays in a hitter's park will gain an advantage in batting statistics over time—even more so if his talents are especially suited to the park.127 Statistics Main article: Baseball statistics Organized baseball lends itself to statistics to a greater degree than many other sports. Each play is discrete and has a relatively small number of possible outcomes. In the late nineteenth century, a former cricket player, English-born Henry Chadwick of Brooklyn, New York, was responsible for the "development of the box score, tabular standings, the annual baseball guide, the batting average, and most of the common statistics and tables used to describe baseball."128 The statistical record is so central to the game's "historical essence" that Chadwick came to be known as Father Baseball.128 In the 1920s, American newspapers began devoting more and more attention to baseball statistics, initiating what journalist and historian Alan Schwarz describes as a "tectonic shift in sports, as intrigue that once focused mostly on teams began to go to individual players and their statistics lines."129 The Official Baseball Rules administered by Major League Baseball require the official scorer to categorize each baseball play unambiguously. The rules provide detailed criteria to promote consistency. The score report is the official basis for both the box score of the game and the relevant statistical records.130 General managers, managers, and baseball scouts use statistics to evaluate players and make strategic decisions. Rickey Henderson—the major leagues' all-time leader in runs and stolen bases—stealing third base in a 1988 game. Certain traditional statistics are familiar to most baseball fans. The basic batting statistics include:131 At bats: plate appearances, excluding walks and hit by pitches—where the batter's ability is not fully tested—and sacrifices and sacrifice flies—where the batter intentionally makes an out in order to advance one or more baserunners Hits: times reached base because of a batted, fair ball without fielding error or fielder's choice Runs: times circling the bases and reaching home safely Runs batted in (RBIs): number of runners who scored due to a batter's action (including the batter, in the case of a home run), except when batter grounded into double play or reached on an error Home runs: hits on which the batter successfully touched all four bases, without the contribution of a fielding error Batting average: hits divided by at bats—the traditional measure of batting ability The basic baserunning statistics include:132 Stolen bases: times advancing to the next base entirely due to the runner's own efforts, generally while the pitcher is preparing to deliver or delivering the ball Caught stealing: times tagged out while attempting to steal a base Cy Young—the holder of many major league career marks, including wins and innings pitched, as well as losses—in 1908. MLB's annual awards for the best pitcher in each league are named for Young. The basic pitching statistics include:133 Wins: credited to pitcher on winning team who last pitched before the team took a lead that it never relinquished (a starting pitcher must pitch at least five innings to qualify for a win) Losses: charged to pitcher on losing team who was pitching when the opposing team took a lead that it never relinquished Saves: games where the pitcher enters a game led by the pitcher's team, finishes the game without surrendering the lead, is not the winning pitcher, and either (a) the lead was three runs or less when the pitcher entered the game; (b) the potential tying run was on base, at bat, or on deck; or (c) the pitcher pitched three or more innings Innings pitched: outs recorded while pitching divided by three Strikeouts: times pitching three strikes to a batter Winning percentage: wins divided by decisions (wins plus losses) Earned run average (ERA): runs allowed, excluding those resulting from fielding errors, per nine innings pitched The basic fielding statistics include:134 Putouts: times the fielder catches a fly ball, tags or forces out a runner, or otherwise directly effects an out Assists: times a putout by another fielder was recorded following the fielder touching the ball Errors: times the fielder fails to make a play that should have been made with common effort, and the batting team benefits as a result Total chances: putouts plus assists plus errors Fielding average: successful chances (putouts plus assists) divided by total chances Among the many other statistics that are kept are those collectively known as situational statistics. For example, statistics can indicate which specific pitchers a certain batter performs best against. If a given situation statistically favors a certain batter, the manager of the fielding team may be more likely to change pitchers or have the pitcher intentionally walk the batter in order to face one who is less likely to succeed.135 Sabermetrics Sabermetrics refers to the field of baseball statistical study and the development of new statistics and analytical tools. The term is also used to refer directly to new statistics themselves. The term was coined around 1980 by one of the field's leading proponents, Bill James, and derives from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).136 The growing popularity of sabermetrics since the early 1980s has brought more attention to two batting statistics that sabermetricians argue are much better gauges of a batter's skill than batting average:137 On-base percentage measures a batter's ability to get on base. It is calculated by taking the sum of the batter's successes in getting on base (hits plus walks plus hit by pitches) and dividing that by the batter's total plate appearances (at bats plus walks plus hit by pitches plus sacrifice flies), except for sacrifice bunts.138 Slugging percentage measures a batter's ability to hit for power. It is calculated by taking the batter's total bases (one per each single, two per double, three per triple, and four per home run) and dividing that by the batter's at bats.139 Some of the new statistics devised by sabermetricians have gained wide use: On-base plus slugging (OPS) measures a batter's overall ability. It is calculated by adding the batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.140 Walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) measures a pitcher's ability at preventing hitters from reaching base. It is calculated exactly as its name suggests.141 Popularity and cultural impact Writing in 1919, philosopher Morris Raphael Cohen described baseball as America's national religion.142 In the words of sports columnist Jayson Stark, baseball has long been "a unique paragon of American culture"—a status he sees as devastated by the steroid abuse scandal.143 Baseball has an important place in other national cultures as well: Scholar Peter Bjarkman describes "how deeply the sport is ingrained in the history and culture of a nation such as Cuba, [and] how thoroughly it was radically reshaped and nativized in Japan."144 Since the early 1980s, the Dominican Republic, in particular the city of San Pedro de Macorís, has been the major leagues' primary source of foreign talent.145 Both the local winter league and major league ball are closely followed in Puerto Rico; major league Hall-of-Famer Roberto Clemente remains one of the greatest national heroes in the island's history.146 In the Western Hemisphere, baseball is also one of the leading sports in Canada, Colombia, Mexico, the Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela. In Asia, it is among the most popular sports in South Korea and Taiwan. The major league game in the United States was originally targeted toward a middle-class, white-collar audience: relative to other spectator pastimes, the National League's set ticket price of 50 cents in 1876 was high, while the location of playing fields outside the inner city and the workweek daytime scheduling of games were also obstacles to a blue-collar audience.147 A century later, the situation was very different. With the rise in popularity of other team sports with much higher average ticket prices—football, basketball, and hockey—professional baseball had become among the most blue-collar-oriented of leading American spectator sports.148 In the late 1900s and early 2000s, baseball's position compared to football in the United States moved in contradictory directions. In 2008, Major League Baseball set a revenue record of $6.5 billion, matching the NFL's revenue for the first time in decades.149 A new MLB revenue record of $6.6 billion was set in 2009.150 On the other hand, the percentage of American sports fans polled who named baseball as their favorite sport was 16%, compared to pro football at 31%. In 1985, the respective figures were pro football 24%, baseball 23%.151 Because there are so many more major league baseball games played, there is no comparison in overall attendance. In 2008, total attendance at major league games was the second-highest in history: 78.6 million, 0.7% off the record set the previous year.61 The following year, amid the U.S. recession, attendance fell by 6.6% to 73.4 million.150 Attendance at games held under the Minor League Baseball umbrella also set a record in 2007, with 42.8 million;62 this figure does not include attendance at games of the several independent minor leagues. Two players on the baseball team of Tokyo, Japan's Waseda University in 1921 In Japan, where baseball is inarguably the leading spectator team sport, combined revenue for the twelve teams in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the body that oversees both the Central and Pacific leagues, was estimated at $1 billion in 2007. Total NPB attendance for the year was approximately 20 million. While in the preceding two decades, MLB attendance grew by 50 percent and revenue nearly tripled, the comparable NPB figures were stagnant. There are concerns that MLB's growing interest in acquiring star Japanese players will hurt the game in their home country.71 In Cuba, where baseball is by every reckoning the national sport,152 the national team overshadows the city and provincial teams that play in the top-level domestic leagues.153 Revenue figures are not released for the country's amateur system. Similarly, according to one official pronouncement, the sport's governing authority "has never taken into account attendance ... because its greatest interest has always been the development of athletes".154 As of 2007, Little League Baseball oversees more than 7,000 children's baseball leagues with more than 2.2 million participants—2.1 million in the United States and 123,000 in other countries.155 Babe Ruth League teams have over 1 million participants.156 According to the president of the International Baseball Federation, between 300,000 and 500,000 women and girls play baseball around the world, including Little League and the introductory game of Tee Ball.157 A varsity baseball team is an established part of physical education departments at most high schools and colleges in the United States. In 2008, nearly half a million high schoolers and over 35,000 collegians played on their schools' baseball teams.155 The number of Americans participating in baseball has declined since the late 1980s, falling well behind the number of soccer participants.158 By early in the 20th century, intercollegiate baseball was Japan's leading sport. Today, high school baseball in particular is immensely popular there.159 The final rounds of the two annual tournaments—the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament in the spring, and the even more important National High School Baseball Championship in the summer—are broadcast around the country. The tournaments are known, respectively, as Spring Koshien and Summer Koshien after the 55,000-capacity stadium where they are played.160 In Cuba, baseball is a mandatory part of the state system of physical education, which begins at age six. Talented children as young as seven are sent to special district schools for more intensive training—the first step on a ladder whose acme is the national baseball team.153 Baseball in popular culture Baseball has had a broad impact on popular culture, both in the United States and elsewhere. Dozens of English-language idioms have been derived from baseball; in particular, the game is the source of a number of widely used sexual euphemisms. The first networked radio broadcasts in North America were of the 1922 World Series: famed sportswriter Grantland Rice announced play-by-play from New York City's Polo Grounds on WJZ–Newark, New Jersey, which was connected by wire to WGY–Schenectady, New York, and WBZ–Springfield, Massachusetts.161 The baseball cap has become a ubiquitous fashion item not only in the United States and Japan, but also in countries where the sport itself is not particularly popular, such as the United Kingdom.162 The American Tobacco Company's line of baseball cards featured shortstop Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1909 to 1911. In 2007, the card shown here sold for $2.8 million.163 Baseball has inspired many works of art and entertainment. One of the first major examples, Ernest Thayer's poem "Casey at the Bat", appeared in 1888. A wry description of the failure of a star player in what would now be called a "clutch situation", the poem became the source of vaudeville and other staged performances, audio recordings, film adaptations, and an opera, as well as a host of sequels and parodies in various media. There have been many baseball movies, including the Academy Award–winning The Pride of the Yankees (1942) and the Oscar nominees The Natural (1984) and Field of Dreams (1989). The American Film Institute's selection of the ten best sports movies includes The Pride of the Yankees at number 3 and Bull Durham (1988) at number 5.164 Baseball has provided thematic material for hits on both stage—the Adler–Ross musical Damn Yankees—and record—George J. Gaskin's "Slide, Kelly, Slide", Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson", and John Fogerty's Centerfield.165 The baseball-founded comedic sketch "Who's on First", introduced by Abbott and Costello in 1938, quickly became famous. Six decades later, Time named it the best comedy routine of the twentieth century.166 The game's rich literary tradition includes the short fiction of Ring Lardner and novels such as Bernard Malamud's The Natural (the source for the movie), Robert Coover's The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop., and W. P. Kinsella's Shoeless Joe (the source for Field of Dreams). Baseball's literary canon also includes the beat reportage of Damon Runyon; the columns of Grantland Rice, Red Smith, Dick Young, and Peter Gammons; and the essays of Roger Angell. Among the celebrated nonfiction books in the field are Lawrence S. Ritter's The Glory of Their Times, Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer, and Michael Lewis's Moneyball. The 1970 publication of major league pitcher Jim Bouton's tell-all chronicle Ball Four is considered a turning point in the reporting of professional sports.167 Baseball has also inspired the creation of new cultural forms. Baseball cards were introduced in the late nineteenth century as trade cards. A typical example would feature an image of a baseball player on one side and advertising for a business on the other. In the early 1900s they were produced widely as promotional items by tobacco and confectionary companies. The 1930s saw the popularization of the modern style of baseball card, with a player photograph accompanied on the rear by statistics and biographical data. Baseball cards—many of which are now prized collectibles—are the source of the much broader trading card industry, involving similar products for different sports and non-sports-related fields.168 Modern fantasy sports began in 1980 with the invention of Rotisserie League Baseball by New York writer Daniel Okrent and several friends. Participants in a Rotisserie league draft notional teams from the list of active Major League Baseball players and play out an entire imaginary season with game outcomes based on the players' latest real-world statistics. Rotisserie-style play quickly became a phenomenon. Now known more generically as fantasy baseball, it has inspired similar games based on an array of different sports.169 The field boomed with increasing Internet access and new fantasy sports–related websites. By 2008, 29.9 million people in the United States and Canada were playing fantasy sports, spending $800 million on the hobby.170 The burgeoning popularity of fantasy baseball is also credited with the increasing attention paid to sabermetrics—first among fans, only later among baseball professionals.171 See also Baseball portal Baseball awards Baseball clothing and equipment Baseball terminology List of organized baseball leagues List of exceptional single-game events Related sports Brännboll (Scandinavian bat-and-ball game) British baseball Lapta (Russian bat-and-ball game) Oină (Romanian bat-and-ball game) Pesäpallo ("Finnish baseball") Stickball Stoop ball Wiffleball References ^ Block (2005), pp. 106–108. ^ Block (2005), pp. 71–72, 75, 89, 147–149, 150, 160, et seq. ^ Block (2005), pp. 86, 87, 111–113, 118–121, 135–138, 144, 160; Rader (2008), p. 7. ^ Mason, Chris (2009-03-02). "Cricket 'Was Invented in Belgium'". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-03-03. ^ Block (2005), pp. 139, 140, 151, 164, 178, 179, et seq.; Hellier, Cathy. "Mr. Newbery's Little Pretty Pocket-Book". Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Retrieved 2008-04-12. See Wikisource edition of A Little Pretty Pocket-Book. ^ "Major League Baseball Told: Your Sport Is British, Not American". Telegraph. September 11, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ Block (2005), pp. 58, 160, 300, 307, 310; Miller, Doug (August 2, 2005). "Pittsfield: Small City, Big Baseball Town". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ Block (2005), pp. 67–75, 181; Gutsmuths quoted: p. 86. ^ Block (2005), pp. 4–5, 11–15, 25, 33, 59–61, et. seq. ^ Sullivan (1997), pp. 9–11. ^ Block (2005), pp. xiv–xix, 15–18, 32–38, 42–47, et seq.; Rader (2008), pp. 7, 93–94. ^ Sullivan (1997), p. 292. ^ Block (2005), p. 84; Koppett (2004), p. 2; Rader (2008), p. 8; Sullivan (1997), p. 10. ^ Sullivan (1997), pp. 32, 80, 95. ^ Tygiel (2000), pp. 8–14; Rader (2008), pp. 71–72. ^ Rader (2008), pp. 9, 10. ^ Tygiel (2000), p. 6. ^ Rader (2008), p. 27; Sullivan (1997), pp. 68, 69. ^ Sullivan (1997), pp. 43, 73. ^ Sullivan (1997), p. 83–87. ^ Sullivan (1997), pp. 83, 130, 243. ^ Zoss (2004), p. 136. ^ Zoss (2004), p. 102. ^ Sullivan (1997), p. 115. ^ a b Rader (2008), p. 71. ^ Heaphy, Leslie, "Women Playing Hardball", in Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batter's Box, ed. Eric Bronson (Open Court, 2004), pp. 246–256: p. 247. ^ Sullivan (1997), pp. 243–246. ^ Sullivan (1997), p. 13. ^ Rader (2008), p. 110; Zimbalist (2006), p. 22. See "National Agreement for the Government of Professional Base Ball Clubs". roadsidephotos.sabr.org. Retrieved 2009-01-29. ^ Sullivan (1997), pp. 13–16. ^ Sullivan (1997), pp. 141–150; Sullivan (1998), pp. 8–10. ^ Koppett (2004), p. 99. ^ Burk (2001), pp. 56, 100, 102, 103, 113, 143, 147, 170, et seq.; Powers (2003), pp. 17–21, 27, 83, 121, 122, 160–164, 177; Rader (2008), pp. 60–71. ^ Powers (2003), pp. 39, 47, 48. ^ Burgos (2007), pp. 117, 118. ^ Sullivan (1997), p. 214. ^ Zoss (2004), p. 90. ^ Zoss (2004), p. 192. ^ Burk (2001), pp. 34–37. ^ Lesko, Jeneane (2005). "League History". All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association. Retrieved 2009-01-29. ^ Burgos (2007), p. 158. ^ Burgos (2007), pp. 180, 191. ^ a b c Powers (2003), p. 111. ^ "Baseball: White Sox and Fans Speak Same Language, With a Spanish Accent". New York Times. October 26, 2005. Retrieved 2009-02-04. ^ Rader (2008), p. 3; Bjarkman (2005), p. xxxvii. ^ a b Simmons, Rob, "The Demand for Spectator Sports", in Handbook on the Economics of Sport, ed. Wladimir Andreff and Stefan Szymanski (Edward Elgar, 2006), pp. 77–89. ^ Powers (2003), p. 170. ^ Burgos (2007), p. 215. ^ Heaphy (2003), pp. 121, 218–224. ^ Koppett (2004), pp. 307, 308; Sullivan (2002), pp. 163, 164. ^ Powers (2003), pp. 170, 172–175. ^ Powers (2003), pp. 156–168, 175, 176. ^ Sullivan (2002), p. 239. ^ Powers (2003), pp. 178, 180, 245. ^ Powers (2003), pp. 184–187, 191, 192, 280–282. ^ Koppett (2004), pp. 376, 511. ^ Rader (2008), pp. 249, 250. ^ Koppett (2004), p. 481. ^ Koppett (2004), p. 489. ^ Rader (2008), pp. 254, 271; Zimbalist (2007), pp. 195, 196. ^ a b "MLB Regular-Season Attendance Just Shy Of Last Year's Record". Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily. Retrieved 2009-01-29. ^ a b "Minor League Baseball History". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-01-29. ^ Powers (2003), pp. 292–293; Rader (2008), pp. 254, 271, 275–277. ^ Hilgers, Laura (July 5, 2006). "Youth Sports Drawing More than Ever". CNN. Retrieved 2009-01-29. ^ Drellich, Evan (October 6, 2010). "Year of the Pitcher Extends to Postseason". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2010-11-10. Gregory, Sean (November 2, 2010). "Giants Win World Series: Year of the Pitcher Ends With a Fitting Duel". Time. Retrieved 2010-11-10. ^ Speier, Alex (October 8, 2010). "Year of the Pitcher, or Year of the Umpire?". WEEI. Retrieved 2010-11-10. ^ Bjarkman (2004), p. 73; Burk (2001), p. 58. ^ Bjarkman (2004), pp. xxiv. ^ Bjarkman (2004), pp. 356, 123, 137, xxiv, 11, 233; Gmelch (2006), p. 296. ^ McNeil (2000), p. 113. ^ a b Whiting, Robert (April 11, 2007). "Is the MLB Destroying Japan's National Pastime?". Japan Times. Retrieved 2009-02-08. ^ Bjarkman (2004), pp. xxiv, xxv; Burgos (2007), p. 46. ^ Bjarkman (2004), pp. 362, 368; Gmelch (2006), pp. 100, 75, 59. ^ Bjarkman (2004), pp. xv. ^ Mayo, Jonathan (January 28, 2009). "Perspective: Baseball in the Holy Land". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-05. ^ "International Baseball Federation (Confederations/Member Federations)". International Baseball Federation. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ "Fewer Sports for London Olympics". BBC News. July 8, 2005. Retrieved 2008-09-16. ^ McCauley, Janie (August 23, 2008). "MLB Wants Baseball Back in Olympics". Associated Press (Washington Times). Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ Wilson, Stephen (August 13, 2009). "Softball Again Misses the Cut for Olympic Games". Associated Press (USA Today). Retrieved 2009-08-13. ^ Isidore, Chris (March 11, 2006). "The Spring Classic?". CNNMoney.com. Retrieved 2009-02-03. McNeal, Stan (March 3, 2006). "Your Guide to the '06 World Baseball Classic". Sporting News. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ Thurston (2000), p. 15; "Official Rules/Foreword". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. "Official Rules/1.00—Objectives of the Game (Rules 1.01–1.03)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. "Official Rules/2.00—Definitions of Terms". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. "Official Rules/4.00—Starting and Ending a Game (Rule 4.10)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. ^ "Official Rules/1.00—Objectives of the Game (Rules 1.04–1.07)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. "Official Rules/2.00—Definitions of Terms". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. ^ Porterfield (2007), p. 23; "Official Rules/1.00—Objectives of the Game (Rule 1.09)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. ^ "Official Rules/1.00—Objectives of the Game (Rule 1.10a)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. Fitzgerald, Stephen et al. (November 8, 2005). "Polymer Composite Baseball Bat Endcap (U.S. Patent Application 20050176531)". FreePatentsOnline.com. Retrieved 2009-02-02. ^ "Official Rules/1.00—Objectives of the Game (Rules 1.12–1.15)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. ^ Thurston (2000), pp. 21, 30, 31; "Official Rules/1.00—Objectives of the Game (Rule 1.16)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ Porterfield (2007), pp. 16–18, 25, 34, 35; "Official Rules/9.00—The Umpire (Rule 9.03a)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ "Official Rules/5.00—Putting the Ball in Play. Live Ball". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. "Official Rules/6.00—The Batter (Rule 6.09)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. "Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rules 10.06, 10.12)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ "Official Rules/2.00—Definitions of Terms". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. "Official Rules/5.00—Putting the Ball in Play. Live Ball (Rule 5.09e)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. "Official Rules/6.00—The Batter (Rule 6.05a)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. "Official Rules/7.00—The Runner (Rules 7.08d, 7.10a)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. "Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rule 10.07)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ a b "Official Rules/2.00—Definitions of Terms". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. ^ "Official Rules/6.00—The Batter (Rule 6.08)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. "Official Rules/9.00—The Umpire (Rules 9.02a, 9.04a)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ "Official Rules/6.00—The Batter (Rule 6.05)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. "Official Rules/7.00—The Runner (Rules 7.08, 7.10)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ Thurston (2000), p. 100; "Official Rules/3.00—Game Preliminaries (Rule 3.03)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. "Official Rules/6.00—The Batter (Rules 6.01, 6.04)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ Porterfield (2007), p. 19; Thurston (2000), p. 153; "Official Rules/6.00—The Batter (Rule 6.10)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ See, e.g., "Nationals Finalize 25-Man Roster". Washington Nationals/Major League Baseball. 2009-04-04. Retrieved 2009-04-21. ^ Walfoort, Cleon, "Most 'Signs' Given by Coaches Are Merely Camouflage", Baseball Digest, December 1960–January 1961, pp. 47–49. ^ "The Fans Speak Out" Baseball Digest staff], Baseball Digest, August 1999, pp. 9–10; "Official Rules/3.00—Game Preliminaries (Rule 3.15)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-04-27. ^ Zoss (2004), p. 293; "Official Rules/9.00—The Umpire". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-18. ^ Bast, Andrew (July 18, 2008). "Southpaw's Revenge". Newsweek. Retrieved 2009-02-08. ^ See, e.g., Davis, Hank, Small-town Heroes: Images of Minor League Baseball (Univ. of Iowa Press, 1997), p. 186. ^ Walsh, John (December 20, 2007). "Fastball, Slider, Change-up, Curveball—An Analysis". Hardball Times. Retrieved 2009-02-21. ^ Stallings and Bennett (2003), p. 192. ^ Stallings and Bennett (2003), pp. 126–132. ^ a b Stallings and Bennett (2003), p. 45. ^ Stallings and Bennett (2003), pp. 5, 46–47. ^ Stallings and Bennett (2003), pp. 42–43, 47–48. ^ Stallings and Bennett (2003), p. 186. ^ Mount, Nicholas James, "Team Sports", in Encyclopedia of Time, ed. Samuel L. Macey (Taylor & Francis, 1994), pp. 588–590: p. 590. ^ Eastaway, Rob, What Is a Googly?: The Mysteries of Cricket Explained (Anova, 2005), p. 134. ^ a b c Bodley, Hal (February 26, 2004). "Baseball Wants Just a Few More Minutes". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ a b Greenfield, Jeff (July 13, 1998). "Midnight Baseball". Time. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^ "Japan's Pro Baseball Teams Start Eco-Project to Cut Energy Use by 6%". Japan for Sustainability. July 13, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-18. ^ Clarke and Dawson (1915), p. 48. ^ Mandelbaum (2005), p. 55. ^ Mandelbaum (2005), pp. 55–57. ^ Morton, Richard, "Baseball in England", Badminton Magazine, August 1896, pp. 157–158: "The scoring is one of the most interesting features in this new importation from America [baseball]. Every detail of play is recorded, and a man's mistakes are tabulated as well as his successes.... A line in a cricket score may read, 'Lockwood, caught Stoddart, bowled J. T. Hearne; 30.'... [T]here is so much that is left out! There is no mention of the fact that O'Brien missed Lockwood before he had scored, and that somebody else failed to take a chance when his score was ten. These are items that go to make cricket history; but there is no record of them in the analysis.... The man who catches a ball is thought worthy of mention, but the man who muffs one does not suffer by publicity." ^ "Official Rules/1.00—Objectives of the Game. (Rule 1.04a)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. ^ Nightengale, Bob (August 20, 2008). "No. 8: Out in Left Field in Houston's Crawford Boxes". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-02-17. ^ Powers (2003), p. 85. ^ Powers (2003), p. 219. ^ Puhalla, Krans, and Goatley (2003), p. 198; Shaikin, Bill (May 27, 2006). "Guerrero Becomes Mr. Inside". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-02-17. ^ "Official Rules/1.00—Objectives of the Game. (Rule 1.04)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-02. ^ Shaikin, Bill (October 8, 2002). "No Fly Ball Routine in Dome". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-02-17. ^ Puhalla, Krans, and Goatley (2003), p. 207. ^ Keri (2007), pp. 295–301. ^ Gilbert, Steve (September 30, 2008). "Wrigley's Winds Don't Rattle Lowe". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-17. ^ Sheinin, Dave (March 26, 2008). "After Move, a Breaking In Process". Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-02-17. See also Powers (2003), p. 85. ^ a b Tygiel (2000), p. 16. ^ Schwarz (2004), p. 50. ^ "Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-22. ^ "Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rules 10.02a, 10.04, 10.21b)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-22. ^ "Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rule 10.07)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-22. ^ "Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rules 10.15, 10.17, 10.19, 10.21a, 10.21e)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-22. ^ "Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rules 10.09, 10.10, 10.12, 10.21d)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-22. ^ See, e.g., Albert, Jim, and Jay Bennett, "Situational Effects", ch. 4 in Curve Ball: Baseball, Statistics, and the Role of Chance in the Game, 2d ed. (Springer, 2003), pp. 71–110. ^ Gray, Scott, The Mind of Bill James: How a Complete Outsider Changed Baseball (Doubleday, 2006), p. ix. ^ Guzzo (2007), pp. 20–21, 67; Schwarz (2004), p. 233; Lewis (2003), p. 127. ^ "Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rule 10.21f)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-22. ^ "Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rule 10.21c)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-02-22. ^ Guzzo (2007), pp. 22, 67, 140; Schwarz (2004), p. 233. ^ Guzzo (2007), pp. 140–141. ^ Cohen, Morris Raphael, "Baseball as a National Religion" (1919), in Cohen, The Faith of a Liberal (Transaction, 1993 [1946]), pp. 334–336: p. 334. ^ Stark, Jayson (February 8, 2009). "A-Rod Has Destroyed Game's History". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2009-02-08. ^ Bjarkman (2004), p. xix. ^ Bjarkman (2004), pp. 159–165. ^ Bjarkman (2004), p. 487. ^ Riess (1991), pp. 69–71. ^ Riess (1991), pp. 247–248. ^ Kercheval, Nancy (October 1, 2008). "Major League Baseball Revenue Reaches Record, Attendance Falls". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2009-02-08. Battista, Judy (December 9, 2008). "Feeling Pinch, N.F.L. Will Cut About 150 Jobs". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-08. Haudricourt, Tom (October 20, 2007). "Bases Loaded". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2009-02-08. ^ a b Brown, Maury (February 25, 2010). "MLB Sees a Record $6.6 Billion in Revenues for 2009". Biz of Baseball. Retrieved 2010-09-17. ^ "Professional Football Continues Dominance over Baseball as America's Favorite Sport". Business Wire. AllBusiness. January 27, 2009. Retrieved 2010-09-15. ^ González Echevarría (2001), pp. 76, 133, 278–279, 352. ^ a b Weissert, Will (March 5, 2009). "Cubans' Baseball Dreams Take Root on Rocky Fields". Associated Press (USA Today). Retrieved 2009-04-28. ^ González Echevarría (2001), p. 366. ^ a b Bradford, Marcia (2008). "Expanding Opportunities On The Ball Fields". SportsEvents Magazine. Retrieved 2009-05-03. ^ "History of the Babe Ruth League". Babe Ruth League Online. Retrieved 2009-01-29. ^ Frommer, Frederic J (April 6, 2009). "Baseball to Add Women to Olympic Bid". Associated Press (FOX News). Retrieved 2009-04-29. ^ Badenhausen, Kurt (April 13, 2004). "Soccer Vs. Baseball". Forbes. Retrieved 2009-05-03. ^ Bjarkman (2004), p. xxiv; Gmelch (2006), pp. 23, 53. ^ Ellsesser, Stephen (August 11, 2006). "Summer Tournament is Big in Japan". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2009-04-28. ^ Rudel (2008), pp. 145–146. ^ Lam, Andrew (July 6, 2007). "Too Much Self Esteem Spoils Your Child". New America Media. Retrieved 2009-05-02. "Happy 50th, Baseball Caps". BBC News. April 27, 2004. Retrieved 2009-05-02. ^ "Honus Wagner Card Sells for Record $2.8 Million". Associated Press (ESPN). September 6, 2007. Retrieved 2009-05-03. ^ "AFI 10 Top 10—Top 10 Sports". American Film Institute. June 17, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-02. ^ Zoss (2004), pp. 373–374. ^ "The Best of the Century". Time. December 26, 1999. Retrieved 2009-05-02. ^ Neyer, Rob (June 15, 2000). "'Ball Four' Changed Sports and Books". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2009-05-12. ^ Zoss (2004), pp. 16–25. ^ Zoss (2004), pp. 27–31. ^ "Fantasy Sports Industry Grows to a $800 Million Industry with 29.9 Million Players". EMediaWire.com. July 10, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-03. ^ Lewis (2003), pp. 86–88. Sources Bjarkman, Peter C. (2004). Diamonds Around the Globe: The Encyclopedia of International Baseball. Greenwood. ISBN 0313322686. OCLC 58806121. Block, David (2005). Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game. Univ. of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803262558. OCLC 70261798. Burgos, Adrian (2007). Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line. Univ. of California Press. ISBN 0520251431. OCLC 81150202. Burk, Robert F. (2001). Never Just a Game: Players, Owners, and American Baseball to 1920. Univ. of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807849618. OCLC 28183874. Charlton, James (ed.) (1991). The Baseball Chronology: The Complete History of the Most Important Events in the Game of Baseball. Macmillan. ISBN 0025239716. OCLC 22704314. Clarke, William Jones, and Fredrick Thomas Dawson (1915). Baseball: Individual Play and Team Play in Detail. Charles Scribner's Sons. OCLC 2781766. Gmelch, George (2006). Baseball Without Borders: The International Pastime. Univ. of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803271255. OCLC 64594333. González Echevarría, Roberto (2001). The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195146050. OCLC 46601626. Guzzo, Glenn (2007). The New Ballgame: Baseball Statistics for the Casual Fan. ACTA. ISBN 087946318X. OCLC 123083947. Heaphy, Leslie A. (2003). The Negro Leagues, 1869–1960. McFarland. ISBN 0786413808. OCLC 50285143. Keri, Jonah (ed.) (2007). Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong. Basic. ISBN 0465005470. OCLC 77795904. Koppett, Leonard (2004). Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball. Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0786712864. OCLC 54674804. Lewis, Michael M. (2003). Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. W. W. Norton. ISBN 0393324818. OCLC 54896532. Mandelbaum, Michael (2005). The Meaning of Sports: Why Americans Watch Baseball, Football, and Basketball and What They See When They Do. PublicAffairs. ISBN 1586483307. OCLC 55539339. McNeil, William (2000). Baseball's Other All-Stars: The Greatest Players from the Negro Leagues, the Japanese Leagues, the Mexican League, and the Pre-1960 Winter Leagues in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. McFarland. ISBN 0786407840. OCLC 42976826. Porterfield, Jason (2007). Baseball: Rules, Tips, Strategy, and Safety. Rosen. ISBN 1404209913. OCLC 67773742. Powers, Albert Theodore (2003). The Business of Baseball. McFarland. ISBN 078641426X. OCLC 50866929. Puhalla, Jim, Jeff Krans, and Mike Goatley (2003). Baseball and Softball Fields: Design, Construction, Renovation, and Maintenance. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0471447935. OCLC 50959054. Rader, Benjamin G. (2008). Baseball: A History of America's Game (3rd ed.). Univ. of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252075501. OCLC 176980876. Riess, Steven A. (1991). City Games: The Evolution of American Urban Society and the Rise of Sports. Univ. of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252062167. OCLC 23739530. Rudel, Anthony J. (2008). Hello, Everybody!: The Dawn of American Radio. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 015101275X. OCLC 192042215. Schwarz, Alan (2004). The Numbers Game: Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics. Thomas Dunne. ISBN 0312322224. OCLC 54692908. Stallings, Jack, and Bob Bennett (eds.) (2003). Baseball Strategies: Your Guide to the Game Within the Game. American Baseball Coaches Association/Human Kinetics. ISBN 0736042180. OCLC 50203866. Sullivan, Dean (ed.) (1997). Early Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1825–1908. Univ. of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803292449. OCLC 36258074. Sullivan, Dean (ed.) (1998). Middle Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1900–1948. Univ. of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803242581. OCLC 37533976. Sullivan, Dean (ed.) (2002). Late Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1945–1972. Univ. of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803292856. OCLC 47643746. Thurston, Bill (2000). Coaching Youth Baseball: A Baffled Parents Guide. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0071358226. OCLC 43031493. Tygiel, Jules (2000). Past Time: Baseball as History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195089588. OCLC 42290019. Zimbalist, Andrew (2007). In the Best Interests of Baseball?: The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0470128240. OCLC 62796332. Zoss, Joel (2004). Diamonds in the Rough: The Untold History of Baseball. Univ. of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803299206. OCLC 54611393. Further reading Bradbury, J.C. The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed (Dutton, 2007). ISBN 0525949933 Dickson, Paul. The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, 3d ed. (W. W. Norton, 2009). ISBN 0393066819 Elliott, Bob. The Northern Game: Baseball the Canadian Way (Sport Classic, 2005). ISBN 1894963407 Euchner, Charles. The Last Nine Innings: Inside the Real Game Fans Never See (Sourcebooks, 2007). ISBN 1402205791 Fitts, Robert K. Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game (Southern Illinois University Press, 2005). ISBN 0809326299 Gillette, Gary, and Pete Palmer (eds.). The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, 5th ed. (Sterling, 2008). ISBN 1402760515 James, Bill. The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, rev. ed. (Simon and Schuster, 2003). ISBN 0743227220 James, Bill. The Bill James Handbook 2009 (ACTA, 2008). ISBN 0879463678 Peterson, Robert. Only the Ball was White: A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams (Oxford University Press, 1992 [1970]). ISBN 0195076370 Reaves, Joseph A. Taking in a Game: A History of Baseball in Asia (Bison, 2004). ISBN 0803239432 Ritter, Lawrence S. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, enlarged ed. (Harper, 1992). ISBN 0688112730 Tango, Tom, Mitchel G. Lichtman, and Andrew E. Dolphin, The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball (Potomac, 2007). ISBN 1597971294 Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. Baseball: An Illustrated History (Alfred A. Knopf, 1996). ISBN 0679404597 Online "Baseball: Child's Play (photoessay)". Life. Retrieved 2009-09-25. Boswell, Thomas (January 18, 1987). "Why Is Baseball So Much Better Than Football?". Washington Post. Baseball Almanac. Retrieved 2009-05-06. Carlin, George. "Baseball and Football". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved 2009-05-06. Gmelch, George (September 2000). "Baseball Magic". McGraw Hill–Dushkin. Archived from the original on 2007-04-21. Retrieved 2009-09-25. Lamster, Mark (April 10, 2005). "Baseball Before We Knew It: What's the French for 'Juiced'? (book review)". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-25. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Baseball Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Baseball Look up baseball in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Base-ball. Leagues and organizations Major League Baseball International Baseball Federation Minor League Baseball British Baseball Federation Statistics and game records Baseball Almanac Baseball-Reference.com Retrosheet News and other resources BaseballLibrary.com Baseball Prospectus Pro Baseball Newspaper Articles Archive Society for American Baseball Research Baseball PBS documentary directed by Ken Burns Mister Baseball European baseball news Links to related articles v · d · eInterdependent team sports Sport · Governing bodies · Sportspeople · National sport Basket codes Basketball (Beach, Deaf, Water, Wheelchair, FIBA 33) · Korfball · Netball (Fastnet, Indoor) · Slamball Football codes Association football (Beach, Futsal, Indoor, Street, Paralympic) · Australian football (nine-a-side, Rec footy, Metro footy) · Gaelic football (Ladies') · Powerchair football Gridiron codes American football (Eight-man, Flag, Indoor, Nine-man, Six-man, Sprint, Touch) · Arena football · Canadian football Hybrid codes Austus · International rules football · Samoa Rules · Universal football · Volata Medieval football codes Ba game · Caid · Calcio Fiorentino · Camping · Cnapan · Cornish hurling · Cuju · Harpastum · Kemari · Ki-o-rahi · La soule · Lelo burti · Marn grook · Mob football · Royal Shrovetide · Uppies and Downies · Yubi lakpi Rugby codes Beach · Rugby league (Masters, Mini, Mod, Nines, Sevens, Tag, Touch) · Rugby union (American Flag, Mini, Sevens, Tag, Touch, Tens) Handball codes Goalball · Handball (Beach, Czech style, Field) · Frisian handball · Torball Safe haven codes Baseball · Brännboll · British baseball · Cricket (Indoor, Limited Overs, Test, ODI, Twenty20) · Danish longball · Kickball · Lapta · Oină · Over-the-line · Pesäpallo · Rounders · Softball · Stoolball · Town ball · Vigoro Stick and ball codes Cammag · Composite rules shinty-hurling · Hurling (Camogie) · Lacrosse (Box/Indoor, Field, Women's, Intercrosse) · Polocrosse · Shinty · Hockey codes Ball hockey · Bandy (Rink) · Broomball (Moscow) · Field hockey (Indoor) · Floor hockey · Floorball · Ice hockey (Power) · Ringette · Roller hockey (Inline, Quad) · Rossall Hockey · Skater hockey · Sledge hockey · Street hockey · Underwater hockey · Underwater ice hockey · Unicycle hockey Polo codes Canoe polo · Cowboy polo · Cycle polo · Elephant polo · Horseball · Polo · Segway polo · Yak polo Ball over a net codes Biribol · Bossaball · Fistball · Football tennis · Footvolley · Jianzi · Footbag net · Peteca · Sepak takraw · Throwball · Volleyball (Beach, Paralympic) · Ball badminton Other codes Airsoft · Basque pelota (Frontenis, Jai alai, Xare) · Buzkashi · Curling · Cycle ball · Dodgeball · Gateball · Kabaddi · Kho kho · Lagori · Paintball · Pétanque · Roller derby · Tchoukball · Ulama · Ultimate · Underwater rugby · Water polo (Inner tube) · Wheelchair rugby · Wheelchair rugby league · Underwater football v · d · eProfessional baseball leagues Americas Major American League · National League Minor Triple-A: International League · Mexican League · Pacific Coast League Double-A: Eastern League · Southern League · Texas League Class A Advanced: California League · Carolina League · Florida State League • Class A: Midwest League · South Atlantic League • Class A Short-Season: New York – Penn League · Northwest League Rookie: Appalachian League · Arizona League · Dominican Summer League · Gulf Coast League · Pioneer League · Venezuelan Summer League Independent American Association · Atlantic League · Can-Am League · Frontier League · North American League · Pecos League Mexican League affiliates Double-A: Northern Mexico League Class A Advanced: Northwestern Mexico Baseball League Class A: Liga Clase "A" · Tabasco League Winter Affiliated: Arizona Fall League · Dominican Winter Baseball League · Mexican Pacific League · Venezuelan Professional Baseball League · Venezuelan Minor Mexican League Affiliate: Liga Rookie Invierno North American League Affiliate: Arizona Winter League Independent: Colombian Professional Baseball League · Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League · Puerto Rico Baseball League · Veracruz Winter League Defunct Major: National Association · American Association · Union Association · Players' League · Federal League · Negro Leagues · All-American Girls Professional Baseball League · Continental League · Cuban League · National Association of Base Ball Players • Winter: Florida Winter Baseball League · Texas Winter League · Panamanian Winter League Asia Japan Nippon Professional Baseball: Central League · Pacific League • Minor: Western League · Eastern League • Independent: Shikoku-Kyūshū Island League · Baseball Challenge League · Kansai Independent Baseball League South Korea Korea Professional Baseball • Minor: Korea Baseball Futures League Taiwan Chinese Professional Baseball League China China Baseball League Philippines Baseball Philippines Defunct Japanese Baseball League · Taiwan Major League · Israel Baseball League Europe Italy Italian Baseball League Netherlands Honkbal Hoofdklasse Oceania Australia Australian Baseball League Defunct Australian Baseball League (1989-1999) · International Baseball League of Australia · Hawaii Winter Baseball v · d · eWorld Baseball Classic 2006 • 2009 v · d · eBaseball at the Summer Olympics 1912* • 1920–1932 • 1936* • 1948 • 1952* • 1956* • 1960 • 1964* • 1968–1980 • 1984* • 1988* • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008 * Demonstration sports at these Games List of medalists v · d · eOlympic sports Summer sports Archery • Athletics • Badminton • Basketball • Boxing • Canoeing • Cycling • Diving • Equestrian • Field hockey • Fencing • Football • Gymnastics • Handball • Judo • Modern pentathlon • Rowing • Sailing • Shooting • Swimming • Synchronized swimming • Table tennis • Taekwondo • Tennis • Triathlon • Volleyball • Water polo • Weightlifting • Wrestling Winter sports Alpine skiing • Biathlon • Bobsleigh • Cross-country skiing • Curling • Figure skating • Freestyle skiing • Ice hockey • Luge • Nordic combined • Short track speed skating • Skeleton • Ski jumping • Snowboarding • Speed skating Former Olympic sports Baseball • Basque pelota • Cricket • Croquet • Golf • Jeu de paume • Lacrosse • Polo • Rackets • Roque • Rugby union • Softball • Tug of war • Water motorsports See also: Paralympic sports v · d · eInternational Baseball IBAF • World Rankings Major World Events World Baseball Classic • Men's World Cup • Women's World Cup Minor World Events Intercontinental Cup • Haarlem Baseball Week • World Port Tournament • University • Junior (under 18) • Youth (under 16) Defunct World Events Universiade • Women's Baseball World Series • Olympics Africa African Baseball & Softball Association – All-Africa Games Americas Pan American Baseball Confederation – Pan American Games • America Cup • Caribbean Series • Central American and Caribbean Games Asia Baseball Federation of Asia – Asia Series • Asian Championship • Asian Games • Junior (under 18) • Southeast Asian Games Europe Confederation of European Baseball – European Championship • European Cup • "Final Four" • Under-21 • Junior (under 18) • Youth (under 16) • Juveniles (under 12) Oceania Baseball Confederation of Oceania – Oceania Championship • South Pacific Games Baseball Mexico The Serie del Caribe (or "Caribbean Series") is the highest baseball tournament at club level in Latin America. The league winners from the Winter Leagues of Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela participate in the tournament. Baseball Team Helps Get Kids Into College Playground Allstars Baseball Team founder and head coach Mike Smith and wife Laconia Smith say six players from the Cincinnati club's roster got college scholarships to play baseball last year. Baseball Notes: Jones hopes to be on field by spring Attempting to come back from knee surgery, Chipper Jones took a big swing and ripped the cover off a ball during batting practice Tuesday morning. As Braves president John Schuerholz held the empty cover, the 38-year-old switch-hitting third baseman, who finished last season on the disabled list, told him: "That's what you've got to look forward to." Please Note If you use this photo on a website blog etc please link back to the original in Flickr and please give credit with the photo Thank you Baseball season is wrapping up My son s team has it s first playoff game on Tuesday I immediately thought of a baseball for this week s assignment although it s not permeable I also wanted to use a <a href http www vindaugagallery com p209 >freely available PS action< a> to give it an old fashioned vintage look since baseball has been around for 100 years or more I thought a vintage effect would be appropriate I slightly cropped the photo to remove some of the space around the glove Original here Jordan Smith Named D-II Preseason Player of the Year Baseball America, a leader in baseball analysis and statistics, recently named Jordan Smith of St. Cloud State as the Baseball America 2011 NCAA Division-II pre-season Player of the Year. The Willmar native and former Willmar Stinger had an outstanding 2010 at both the NCAA and Northwoods League levels. Carey baseball squad to rely on defense HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - Two facts to consider about William Carey University's baseball team: One, college bats have less power than they did last year, and two, Milton Wheeler Field is not a hitter's ballpark. Welcome to the site of the 9u Oklahoma Rib Crib Elite We are striving to be a very competitive team at the highest levels with our team goals to win a state championship and a world Cal baseball seeks to avoid cutting block With the start of what could be the final baseball season at California just more than two weeks away, the players and coaches are looking for a monumental victory before the first pitch is even thrown.	eng	e57e3cf9-5573-4bac-99b9-b1f04a965b75	http://en.goldenmap.com/Baseball
Co.Exist infographics, and videos about the future of energy, electric cars, the environment, and food on FastCoExist.com.enFri, 24 May 2013 16:21:03 GMTFri, 24 May 2013 16:21:03 GMT2Looking to Lose Weight? Don't Shop When You're Hungry class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Science proves the old adage true: If you go to the supermarket on an empty stomach, you're going to make some bad decisions.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>If you're looking to lose or maintain weight, you might think of shopping when your belly's full. That's the upshot of a <a href=" target="_blank">new paper</a> looking at how people shop when they haven't eaten. Simply put: if you skip a meal, you're more likely to buy high calorie food, and probably eat it later on.</p> <p><a href=" target="_blank">Aner Tal</a> and <a href=" target="_blank">Brian Wansink</a>, researchers at Cornell's Food and Brand Lab, conducted two experiments. In the first, 68 participants were told not to eat for five hours before coming to the lab in the afternoon. Then one group got to eat until they were "satiated" (they only got <a href=" target="_blank">Wheat Thins</a>, but still), while the other group got nothing at all. When the groups were subsequently asked to shop in a simulated market, the second group bought 18.6% more food, including 31% more high calorie stuff.</p> <aside class="pullquote"><q>Later shoppers had 26.7% fewer low-cal items.</q></aside> <p>In the second experiment, the researchers went to an actual market and observed purchases both right after lunch (when shoppers are less likely to be hungry) and in the late afternoon (when they're getting peckish again). They looked at the ratio of high to low calorie foods in people's baskets, finding that the later shoppers had 26.7% fewer low-cal items.</p> <p>Tal says if they had counted calories (instead of products), the satiated/non-satiated and post-lunch/late afternoon differences might have been even bigger. The research also didn't look at consumption--though Tal says previous work shows availability has a strong bearing on eating decisions. If you buy unhealthy, you're more likely to eat unhealthy.</p> <p>He says the weight-conscious "might want to eat something before shopping" and even before making a list. Moreover, it could pay to go to the store with a clear head. Studies show that "a lack of cognitive resources can increase impulse purchases and hedonic choices", Tal addsHealthFoodWhy You're FatArticleFri, 24 May 2013 16:15:42 GMT1682060 at SchillerGender Equality Bears Its Chest For A Topless Summer class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>Climate change will make for increasingly toasty (<a href=" target="_self">and deadly</a>) summers in New York City (especially since <a href=" target="_self">carbon dioxide</a> is entering the atmosphere <a href=" target="_self">faster than ever</a>.) But there's good news for half of the population who may have once felt concered about their rights to go topless in the city's parks in summers past. This year, the NYPD's 34,000 officers have been ordered to no longer arrest women who show their breasts in public.</p> <p>The <a href=" target="_blank"><em>New York Times</em> reports</a> that the message was delivered to the city's police squad this February. The message is more of a reminder than a new order: In the past, police have arrested women for showing their breasts in public, even though a New York state court decided more than 20 years ago that the activity is just as legal for a woman as it is for a man.</p> <p>The <em>Times</em> cites a memo distributed among police saying:</p> <blockquote><p>"Even if the topless display draws a lot of attention, officers are to 'give a lawful order to disperse the entire crowd and take enforcement action' against those who do not comply, the memo says. 'Whether the individuals are clothed is not a factor in making a determination about whether the above-mentioned crowd conditions exist.' "</p></blockquote> <p>Sounds like New Yorkers can expect more naked Occupiers in coming months? Jokes aside, the decision's an important one for gender equality in the city. As PolicyMic's Hannah Ridge <a href=" target="_blank">writes</a>,</p> <blockquote><p>></blockquote> <p>Here's to a topless summer for everyonegender equalityNew YorkArticleHere's An IdeaCitiesFri, 24 May 2013 15:00:20 GMT1682128 at StoneGiving Kids Computers Doesn't Help Them In School At All class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>A new study looked at organizations that give disadvantaged kids home computers and found that kids used the computers a lot--but not for schoolwork.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>There's an unspoken assumption that giving poor and disadvantaged kids computers will help them academically. That's why there are so many organizations doling out computers and Internet access for their schools and <a href=" target="_blank">after-school programs</a>. But home computers? They don't make a difference.</p> <p>Slate <a href=" target="_blank">reports</a> on a <a href=" target="_blank">study</a> that gave computers to kids in California who didn't have a computer at home. The kids took advantage of the gift--they spent 50% more of their time using a computer for social networking, playing games, and doing homework. But academically, there was no impact. From Slate:</p> <blockquote><p>But.</p></blockquote> <p>The results of this research are the logical follow up to a <a href=" target="_blank">2008 study </a>that looked at the effect of a voucher program in Romania, implemented to help families pay off the cost of a home computer for their kids, on education. The result: Kids whose families used the vouchers watched less TV, but had significantly lower grades in math, English, and Romanian classes. Yet another study in 2010 showed that computer use among students is is linked to a <a href=" target="_blank">widened achievement gap</a> among rich and poor.</p> <p>The researchers behind the later study speculated on the reasoning in the <a href=" target="_blank"><em>Register</em></a>:</p> <blockquote><p>The profs suggest that this is because a kid in a disadvantaged home given a computer and internet access will tend to be poorly supervised and use it mainly for gaming, social networking or other timewasting online/computer activities rather than buckling down and doing homework. Thus computered-up poor children actually become dumber than they would have been without the tech.<br /> </p></blockquote> <p>If parents of all the children in the most recent study had provided constant supervision, the results would probably be more heartening. But it's easier for a distractible school-age kid (or anyone, really) to mess around on a computer than to do actual work, no matter how many online resources are availablecomputershome computersArticleHere's An IdeaEducationFri, 24 May 2013 14:00:20 GMT1682147 at SchwartzThis Map Shines A Light On Every Single U.S. Drone Attack class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Obama is making changes to how the U.S. drone program operates, but the past of the program is still shrouded in secrecy. This map helps clarify exactly what our killer technology is doing overseas.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>On May 24, President Obama addressed the U.S. military's use of drone strikes to target suspected terrorists in Pakistan, Somalaia, and Yemen--and pledged to continue to wind down those operations.</p> <p>Fittingly, <a href=" target="_blank"><em>Bloomberg Businessweek</em></a> created this map to serve as a reminder of the scope of that program., calling it the first ever "comprehensive compilation of all known lethal U.S. drone attacks."</p> <p>The sobering stats are as follows:</p> <ul> <li><span>Yemen: at least 552 killed between 2002 and 2013. The site of the first ever drone strike in 2002. </span></li> <li><span>Pakistan: at least 2,561 killed between 2004 and 2013. </span></li> <li><span>Somalia: at least 23 killed between 2011 and 2012. </span></li> </ul> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>Even though the programs are secretive, it's still surprising how hard it is to <a href=" target="_self">get reliable data on just how many people we've killed with drones</a>. <em>Bloomberg</em>'s infographic got its information from the nonprofit <a href=" target="_blank">Bureau of Investigative Journalism</a>, but was unable to get confirmation from the State Department. Other sources in Washington, when asked, offered a wide range of numbers.</p> <p>Will an Obama administration with a renewed commitment to following international codes of conduct shed more light on our drone operations and make it easier to get these numbers in the future?</p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>According to the <a href=" target="_blank"><em>New York Times'</em> Mark Mazzetti</a>, who provided live analysis of the speech, Obama's speech didn't go there:</p> <blockquote><p> One of the big outstanding questions is just how transparent the Obama administration will be about drone strikes in the future. Will administration officials begin to publicly confirm strikes after they happen? <p>There was no mention of this in the speech, and it is telling that the president did not mention the C.I.A. at all. It seems quite certain that past operations in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere are not going to be declassified anytime soon.</p> <p>Also, moving operations from the C.I.A. to the Pentagon does not automatically mean that the strikes will be publicly discussed. The Pentagon is carrying out a secret drone program in Yemen right now, and it is very difficult to get information about those operations.</p></blockquoteVisualizeddronesNewsArticleobamaFri, 24 May 2013 13:30:21 GMT1682153 at StoneThis Strange Looking Funnel May Be The Future Of Wind Power (Or Not) class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>The people behind the Invelox turbine claim that it can take a small gust of wind and make it much bigger. If they're right, it could change the equation of renewable power.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p><a href=" target="_blank">Daryoush Allaei</a> thinks the wind power industry has it all wrong. Rather than turbines high in the sky, he says, it should bring wind to the ground, in concentrated form. "This is the right track. The industry has been on the wrong track."</p> <p>.</p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>According to <a href=" target="_blank">SheerWind</a>--the company Allaei heads--the funnel can produce 600% more power than a conventional wind device, and with lower installation and maintenance costs.</p> <p>Now, if that sounds too good to be true, there are reasons for skepticism. For one, Allaei is quite coy about exactly what happens inside the funnel: the combination of ducts and pipework is a "trade secret." For another, the system is yet to be tested outside a <a href=" target="_blank">select group</a>.</p> <p>Still, Allaei insists the idea is based on proven science--notably the <a href=" target="_blank">Venturi Effect</a>, which says that wind (and water) speeds into a jet when constrained to a tighter space.</p> <figure class="inline-video inline"><iframe src=" width="584" height="354" frameborder="0"></iframe></figure> <p>Also, concentrating energy follows the example of other forms of power.<br /> "The reason fossil fuels are cheap now is because the source of energy has been concentrated for millions of years," he says. "The solar guys found out if you use mirrors and lens to concentrate the source, you can improve the capacity. Wind is the only one that has been on a track of concentrating equipment, but not concentrating the source."</p> <figure class="inline-small inline"> <img src=" alt=""/><figcaption>If you're looking for other crazy ideas for the future of wind power, <a href=" target="_self">look no further than the Windstrument</a>.</figcaption> </figure> <p>The latest version of the Invelox is 60 feet high and about 6.5 feet in diameter. Allaei says one advantage is that it can be more or less any size: from something that might power your cellphone, to something the size of today's utility installation. He reckons we'll see the first working applications in three to four years--in communities, industrial parks, universities and schools--given more investment.</p> <p>"We are past the technology validation. The question is more about the business. Can we bring the cost down and compete with a well established industry?"</p> <p>That might be a daunting prospect. But he points to $2 million in funding so far, and that three of the five largest turbine manufacturers have looked over the technology.</p> <p>"There is nothing new about an industry going on a track for many years and all of a sudden someone comes along with a different idea, and it changes," he says. "We are telling the industry it needs to retoolEnergyInveloxPowering The FutureWind PowersheerwindEnvironmentSlideshowFri, 24 May 2013 13:00:30 GMT1682082 at Schiller12 More-Sad-Than-Funny Cartoons That Illuminate The War On Science class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>From lobbyists gutting science bills to Congress not knowing the Earth is round, have a sigh and a chuckle at the punchlines in these entries in the Union of Concerned Scientists anti-science cartoon contest.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>From climate change to evolution, science is under siege. The cartoons here count the ways: political interference, personal attacks, erroneous reporting, dumbing down, corporate mischief. The list goes on.</p> <p>The cartoons were collected by the <a href=" target="_blank">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>,.</p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>"."</p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>Take a look through the slide show, then head over to UCS's <a href=" target="_blank">contest page</a>, where you can choose a favorite. The one with the most votes goes on the front of next year's Editorial Cartoon Calendar.</p> <p>While we're about it, here's last year's <a href=" target="_blank">entry list</a>Union of Concerned ScientistsEnvironmentSlideshowFri, 24 May 2013 12:30:38 GMT1682120 at SchillerThis Anti-Gravity 3-D Printer Can Make Objects Anywhere—Even Space class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>The Mataerial printer squirts quick-drying polymers from a nozzle, like it was frosting a cake, creating a new model for 3-D printing that doesn't require layers and supports to make a new object.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>While many creators look at 3-D printing as a technology full of endless potential, designers Petr Novikov and Saša Jokić saw something with room for improvement.</p> <p>"There is a variety of different 3-D printing types […] and no matter how they work, they all work with layers," explains Novikov. Machines extrude plastic layer by layer until the desired shape slowly accrues. "We thought that this is strange because layers are not very efficient": they require the presence of a support structure to prop up an object as it's printed, which restricts the printing process to horizontal surfaces. Plus the technique can increase the printing time, the use of materials, and the risk of damaging an object when removing it from its support structure.</p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>Novikov and Jokić, who were studying at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona last fall, wondered about printing with fibers instead of layers. Since then, they've worked to research, design, and patent a new method for 3-D printing called <a href=" target="_blank">Mataerial</a>, which squeezes polymers from a nozzle in a way that's reminiscent of how bakers squeeze icing from a tube to frost a cake.</p> <p>"The material that comes out of the nozzle is still kind of viscous--It's not a liquid already but its not a solid material, so what we wanted to do is make it solid the same exact moment it comes out of the nozzle," Novikov says. "And that's the hardest part. Because if it solidifies before it comes out of the nozzle, then its going to make a clog… but if it solidifies after it leaves the nozzle, than its going to be weak and fall down."</p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>The secret was finding two liquid polymers that, when mixed, quickly harden. They're calling the resulting method "Anti-Gravity Object Modeling," since the material's just-in-time solidification eschews the need for any sort of support structure, turning hard in mid-air.</p> <p>The new method is exciting for a number of reasons. While their demonstration video shows a large robotic arm moving the nozzle, the size could easily be scaled up or down, according to Novikov, to print with a nozzle that's narrower than 1 mm, or as big as a professional 3-D printer, to be used for furniture design or architectural construction.</p> <figure class="inline-small inline"> <img src=" alt=""/><figcaption>What could a 3-D printed moon base look like? <a href=" target="_self">Check out more visions here</a>.</figcaption> </figure> <p>The technology also allows for precise control over color and width of the tube, in real time as it's printed. Syringes with cyan, magenta, yellow, and black coloring connect to the tube, and changing the proportions allows for customization of the color. Slowing down the robotic arm can also change the thickness of the tube.</p> <p>But perhaps what's most exciting, in the context of recent conversations about using 3-D printers to build <a href=" target="_self">bases on the moon</a> or Mars: "We did an investigation and we are pretty sure that this could be used as 3-D printer in zero gravity," Novikov says.</p> <p>NASA, are you out there3-D printingSlideshowMataerialFri, 24 May 2013 12:00:30 GMT1682148 at StoneThe Boy Scouts Vote To Allow Gay Youth class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>But adult gay scouts are still banned.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>With a vote this afternoon, the Boy Scouts of America made official a policy that's been in the work for months: gay youth will no longer be excluded from the troop. As for gay adults, they'll still have to sit on the sideline.</p> <p>This, of course, causes a problem for all those gay youth who will one day grow up and become gay adults. <a href=" target="_blank"><em> Reuters</em> reports that</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>according to internal documents from the organization, "when youth members become adults, they 'must meet the requirements of our adult standards' to remain in the group."</p></blockquote> <p>So, will gay boy scouts have to reenter the closet to participate in the organization when they get to be adults?</p> <p>The new policy is certainly a victory for gay youth and their families, but it's one that comes with a certain amount of confusion. It's okay to be gay in the Boy Scouts, but only if you're a boyboyscoutsNewsArticleThu, 23 May 2013 22:30:39 GMT1682152 at StoneHop On Prague's New Love Train To Find A Date class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>The city is planning to introduce cars for single people, in an attempt to get their young people having babies.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>Prague has one of the most heavily used public transport systems on the planet; most local commuters use the system<a href=" target="_blank"> four times a day</a>. At the same time, fewer women in the Czech Republic are having children, and the marriage rate in the country has <a href=" target="_blank">dropped dramatically</a> since 1970. Clearly, a love train is needed to make things right.</p> <p>Ropid, a local transport company in Prague, is launching a real-life "love train" where single commuters can have awkward conversations away from the judging eyes and ears of regular commuters. From the <em> International Business Times</em>:</p> <blockquote><p>"People today have no place to meet. Maybe somewhere at parties, or at work. In the metro you can already read and learn, so why not find a partner?" said Filip Drapal, spokesman for Ropid. <p>"We want to make life more pleasant. People today have no time to meet.</p></blockquote></p> <p>The Love Train launches later this year, but Ropid is reportedly fine-tuning the details, like how many trains to include, which train cars are most appropriate, and what types of signs to display. That last detail is particularly important--no one wants to accidentally end up in the cruising car (just imagine how creeped out all the confused tourists would be).</p> <p>Prague residents feel mixed about the Love Train. <em>IB Times</em> reports:</p> <blockquote><p>Tyden's readers seem divided in the idea of the "love train"; a little over half (54 percent) of those who replied to a survey said it is a "great idea"; while 43 percent derided it as "utter nonsense."<br /> </p></blockquote> <p>The <em>Metro</em> newspaper actually <a href=" target="_blank">asked</a> some real live Czech commuters what they thought:</p> <blockquote><p>Petr Voracek said: 'When I'm in a rush, I enter the first open door I see. I should watch out now and make sure no one starts seducing me.' <p>Another commuter Karolina Vranova, added: 'As a notorious Metro catcher I'm afraid I might become the butt of gossip.'</p> <p>'What if someone sees me in the carriage and tells my boyfriend?'</p></blockquote></p> <p>It's a silly idea, but if it gets more people out of their cars and into trains, why notzech republicpragueTransportationtrainArticlelove trainHere's An IdeaThu, 23 May 2013 21:00:26 GMT1682124 at SchwartzSummer Heat Is Going To Make New York Deadly class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>The amount of people dying from heat-related deaths in the city is going to rise rapidly thanks to climate change.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>.</p> <p>As <a href=" target="_blank"><em>The Guardian</em></a> reported:</p> <blockquote><p>New York city could experience up to 22% more deaths from extreme summertime heat in the coming decade under global warming, according to a study of the impact of climate trends.></blockquote></p> <p>Those numbers, published in a study<a href=" target="_blank"> in <em>Nature Climate Change</em></a>, get even scarier when looked at over the long term. Assuming there's little change to our carbon emissions, "heatwave deaths in New York city could rise by as much as 91% on 1980s levels by the 2080s."</p> <p>Part of the problem is that concrete-filled, treeless urban areas get even hotter than non-urbanized zones on account of the urban heat island effect. Another problem is the high concentration of the elderly, disabled, and poor in urban areas, who may not have air conditioning. "How can we reach out to people who are stuck in their apartments trying to ride out the events? We have to try to target vulnerable people," Columbia University professor and study author Patrick Kinney, told the paperClimate changeHere's An IdeaEnvironmentThu, 23 May 2013 19:00:57 GMT1682127 at StoneIs "I Wish My Son Had Cancer" Appropriate Ad Copy? ad for a rare disease makes an uncomfortable statement border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src=" border="0"/>co.createThu, 23 May 2013 18:29:19 GMT1682145 at ClendanielThe Hilarious, Befuddling Charts Of The U.S. Congress Charts catalogs the visual aids--good, bad, and ugly--that drive Congressional debate. Okay, mostly they're just bad and uglyco.designThu, 23 May 2013 18:26:01 GMT1682144 at ClendanielBuilding A Social Network For Clean Water With Apps And Cheap Tests class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>The app mWater provides low-cost water tests to people in the developing world and then crowdsources their results, creating definitive maps of where water is safe to drink.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>John Feighery became interested in water testing while working for NASA. Spaceships have sophisticated systems for recycling condensates and urine, and it was Feighery's job to ensure that what astronauts drank was safe.</p> <p>When it comes to water testing, a space station isn't so different from, say, rural Africa. Both places lack expensive equipment for analysis and storing samples. So, Feighery is transferring a little of the space program to Planet Earth.</p> <figure class="inline-video inline"><iframe src=" width="584" height="329" frameborder="0"></iframe></figure> <p>Feighery and his partner Annie have built an app called <a href=" target="_blank">mWater</a> that takes advantage of the rapidly falling cost of water testing kits. Their aim is to build a "social network for water," where quality is transparent, and anyone can immediately know what they're drinking.</p> <p>The <a href=" target="_blank">app</a> records the location of tests, the result, and additional notes (say, if a well is broken). By logging thousands of samples, it builds <a href=" target="_blank">maps</a> that help individuals and health professionals make informed decisions.</p> <p>"Our aim is to prevent diarrheal disease," Feighery says. "It is completely preventable in most cases, and it's always caused by poor water quality and hygiene." The World Health Organization <a href=" target="_blank">estimates</a> the disease kills 760,000 kids under five every year, and that there are 1.7 billion cases worldwide. The majority are in Sub-Saharan Africa and East Africa, where mWater is concentrating.</p> <p>The <a href=" target="_blank">tests</a> come in several forms. The most basic is a bag to collect a water sample. You drop in a little change agent, and if it switches from yellow to green, you know E. coli is present. That indicates the water is likely to be contaminated with sewage. Another is the 3M <a href=" target="_blank">Petrifilm</a>. As well as being cheap in themselves--under $5--the tests don't require lab analysis, or elaborate transfer procedures.</p> <aside class="pullquote"><q>A lot of people are realizing that water they said was okay is not really okay.</q></aside> <p>The Feigherys are also collaborating with <a href=" target="_blank">a group</a> in Germany to develop "compact dry plates," which multiply E. coli samples to make bacteria countable. Samplers take a picture of the plate, and the app <a href=" target="_blank">automatically records</a> the count. And, they hope to include a test for arsenic being developed at <a href=" target="_blank">at Columbia</a>, and others for nitrates and chlorine.</p> <p>Feighery believes, in general, that aid groups need to focus more on water quality than simple availability.</p> <p>"A lot of people are realizing that water they said was OK is not really OK. We want to be the open access database for water quality results, and for people to share data, and not keep it in house."</p> <p>"It's better to have water than not to have water. But it's even better to have safe watermwaterThu, 23 May 2013 17:00:59 GMT1681943 at SchillerNot Even Tesla Can Make Battery Swapping Ubiquitous In The U.S. class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>What if instead of charging your electric car, you just popped a new, fully charged battery under the hood. It's an idea that's been tried--and failed--but Tesla is hinting they want to bring it back.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>Tesla may have made <a href=" target="_blank">a big splash by paying back its loans from the government</a>, but buried in Tesla's latest filing with the <a href=" target="_blank"> Securities & Exchange Commission</a> is this hint of things to come:</p> <blockquote><p>Other factors that may influence the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles, and specifically electric vehicles, include…our capability to rapidly swap out the Model S battery pack and the development of specialized public facilities to perform such swapping, which do not currently exist but which we plan to introduce in the near future.</p></blockquote> <p>But it's still unlikely that battery swapping will quickly take off in the U.S.</p> <figure class="inline-small inline"> <img src=" alt=""/><figcaption><a href=" target="_self">Read about our test drive of the Tesla Model S here</a>.</figcaption> </figure> <p>If the concept of battery swapping sounds familiar, that's because it's the main driver behind <a href=" target="_blank">Better Place</a>, an Israeli startup that dreamed of creating a global network of electric vehicle swapping stations that could switch out batteries in two minutes, no three-hour battery charging breaks required. These days, Better Place appears to be on the verge of death. Charismatic founder Shai Agassi stepped down in 2012, the company has <a href=" target="_blank">sold just 750 cars in Israel </a>(which was its launch market), and it has bled over $500 million. And yet, Tesla is at least intrigued by the idea.</p> <p>Better Place is stumbling due to a variety of factors: other automakers wouldn't build battery-swapping compatible vehicles (Sue Cischke, Ford's vice president for Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering, once<a href=" target="_self"> told me that</a> "For Ford, it doesn't seem to be a solution that makes sense"), the model is hard to explain to customers, and in Israel, local officials <a href=" target="_blank">haven't been that supportive</a>.</p> <p>In its heyday, Better Place thought that <a href=" target="_self">China would be a big market</a> because of its ambitious EV goals (5 million vehicles by 2020). <a href=" target="_blank"><em>Quartz</em> believes</a> that Tesla might be eyeing the same market for battery switching technology, both because of China's goals and its ongoing debate over whether battery swapping should be a national standard.</p> <aside class="pullquote"><q>It's unlikely that Tesla could convince other automakers to adopt a unified battery switching standard.</q></aside> <p>But Tesla owners in the U.S. won't be cruising up to battery swap stations anytime soon. Like Better Place, it's unlikely that Tesla could convince other automakers to adopt a unified battery switching standard. And the U.S. is too big for this to work on any sort of country-wide scale without the kind of national standard proposed by China.</p> <p>Electric vehicle charging stations aren't nearly as ubiquitous as gas stations, and that's with a number of different companies (including Tesla) installing them on streets and in parking lots. If Tesla is the only company installing battery swap stations in the U.S.--and they only work for Tesla batteries--they will inevitably be limited in scope (barring a future where we only drive Teslas).</p> <p>But that doesn't mean we won't see any working battery swaps because Tesla might have the ability make it work on a small scale, something that wouldn't work for Better Place's business plan. Tesla's Model S Supercharger network <a href=" target="_self">provides a model</a> for how it might play out in a more limited way: after launching the network of quick-charge stations last September, the company has installed nine of them in <a href=" target="_self">California</a>, <a href=" target="_self">New York City, Boston, and Washington D.C</a>. There will be over 100 by 2015.</p> <p>Unlike Better Place, to make battery swapping a success, Tesla doesn't need the system to become the de facto method of EV charging in this country; it could just be a supplement to the EV maker's existing network of charging stations--making it easier to own a Tesla, and more compelling to buyevTransportationElectric AvenueArticleteslaev chargingElectric VehiclesThu, 23 May 2013 16:00:34 GMT1682107 at SchwartzYour Healthy Greek Yogurt Harbors A Deadly Secret class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p></p> </div> </div> </div> <p>For every container of Greek yogurt you see on a supermarket shelf, picture another container (or two or three) of deadly poison. It's called acid whey, and it's a toxic byproduct from the yogurt-making process that's becoming a big problem for manufacturers as their product continues its assault on the hearts and minds of health-conscious Americans.</p> <p>Never heard of "acid whey?" Neither had we. <em>Modern Farmer</em> explains:</p> <blockquote><p> <p> <em>The Northeast alone, led by New York, produced more than 150 million gallons of acid whey last year, according to one estimate.</em> (Emphasis mine.)</p></blockquote></p> <p>Possible solutions to the acid whey problem include farmers mixing it with cattle feed, incorporating it into fertilizer, or making biogas from it. Another is using it to make baby-food. But nobody's really figured it out. As Cornell dairy scientist Dave Barbano told <em>Modern Farmer</em>: "Because the Greek yogurt production grew so rapidly, no one really had the time to step back and look at the other viable options."</p> <p>The cheese industry has solved its whey problem by selling the stuff to companies that make body-building supplements. But the "sweet whey" produced from cheese-making is richer in protein than acid whey, and therefore easier to process.</p> <p>For now, it remains a mystery what will become of all that whey. But by all means, keep eating the Greek yogurt and feeling good about yourself.</p> <p>[Illustration: Kelly Rakowski/Co.ExistyogurtFoodArticleHere's An Ideaacid wheyThu, 23 May 2013 14:00:54 GMT1682137 at StoneThis Is Your Body On A Can Of Soda class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>It feels so good when it hits your lips, but the rest of your body isn't so happy.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>At this point, you'd have to be quite daft to drink soda on a regular basis. Because the evidence of its ill-effects is vast, and mounting. Just recently, research found that consuming a 12-ounce can daily increases <a href=" target="_blank">the risk of type 2 diabetes</a> by 22%. And, not long ago, we wrote up a study that linked soda, and other heavily sugared drinks, with <a href=" target="_self">184,000 deaths annually</a> (132,000 of those from diabetes). And <a href=" target="_blank">so on</a>.</p> <p>This infographic, from <a href=" target="_blank">Term Life Insurance</a>, is a little trip around the body, from your lungs and heart, to your kidney and gut. For example, it points to research showing that phosphoric acid in cola leads to higher risk of osteoporosis, <a href=" target="_blank">particularly in older women</a>. And, that high fructose corn syrup is <a href=" target="_blank">associated</a> with heart disease, and may <a href=" target="_blank">cause more weight gain</a> than conventional sugar. And, that <a href=" target="_blank">soda rots the enamel</a> in your teeth.</p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>Of course, if you're looking for an alternative perspective, you could also go to the site kept by the <a href=" target="_blank">Coca-Cola Company Beverage Institute For Health & Wellness</a> (yes, there is such a thing), or <a href=" target="_blank">Sweetsurprise.com</a> (from the Corn Refiners Association). Both are full of contradictory "facts" and figuresWhy You're FatArticlesodaThu, 23 May 2013 13:30:05 GMT1682105 at SchillerAmazon Is Building A Biosphere For Its Employees class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Who needs a boring office park when you have a 65,000-square-foot glass dome?</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>If you've ever dreamed of working in a lush, greenery-filled dome, consider moving to Seattle. That's where Amazon is building a biosphere (made out of three intersecting domes) alongside a new skyscraper project. Plans for the 65,000 square foot structure, unveiled earlier this month, call for a general temperature range of 68 to 72 degrees and plants from high-elevation climates (that's the "<a href=" target="_blank">montane ecologies</a>" below) that can thrive in the weather.</p> <p>From Amazon's <a href=" target="_blank">planning document</a>:</p> <blockquote><p><br /> While <p>In addition to a variety of workplace environments, the facility will incorporate dining, meeting and lounge spaces, as well as a variety of botanical zones modeled on montane ecologies found around the globe. </p></blockquote></p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/><figcaption>NBBJ</figcaption> </figure> <p>Not everyone is thrilled about the dome. Gundula Proksch, an assistant professor of architecture at the University of Washington and a member of Seattle's design review board, asked the <em><a href=" target="_blank">Seattle Times</a></em>, "What is it offering other than making an experimental work environment?" The obvious answer: it's an architectural attraction, something different from the uniform buildings surrounding it. Seattle <a href=" target="_self">already has the greenest office building in the world</a>. Why not add a biosphere?</p> <p>It's an experimental work environment, sure, but it's not all that different from how tech companies like Google and <a href=" target="_self">Facebook</a> are building green roofs for their employees to enjoy. Facebook's roof will even have hiking trails. In rainy Seattle, an indoor biosphere might be preferable.</p> <p>And somewhere, Pauly Shore is <a href=" target="_blank">smiling-domeamazonDesignbiospherebiodomeSlideshowThu, 23 May 2013 12:00:53 GMT1682132 at SchwartzThis Robot Will Be Your Perfectly Precise Bartender class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>The Makr Shakr can make any drink you want--and even cut a lemon. Put a tie and a vest on it, and you won't even be able to tell the difference between it and your local mixologist.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>At the Milan Design Week, furniture usually take center stage. But lucky for booze-loving attendees this year, the fair's definition of "design" is broad enough to include cocktails, made at, perhaps, the world's most technologically advanced bar.</p> <p>Called the <a href=" target="_blank">MakrShakr</a>, the project is a collaboration between <a href=" target="_blank">MIT Senseable City Lab</a> and <a href=" target="_blank">Carlo Ratti Associati</a>, an Italian architecture firm. Mustachioed mixologists have been replaced by a team of theree robots, capable of making millions and millions--or, to get mathematical, a <a href=" target="_blank">googol</a> (that's 1 followed by 100 zeroes)--of drink recipes, created on the spot by the bar's patrons. "Makr Shakr aims to show the 'Third Industrial Revolution' paradigm through the simple process design-make-enjoy, and in just the time needed to prepare a new cocktail," explains the project website.</p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>Design fair attendees who need to take the edge off will first download an app to create their order (and peruse the recipes that other users have come up with). "The cocktail is then crafted by three robotic arms, whose movements reproduce every action of a barman--from the shaking of a Martini to the muddling of a Mojito, and even the thin slicing of a lemon garnish," according to a press release.</p> <p>If those motions seem particularly graceful, it's because they were inspired by ballet dancer Roberto Bolle, whose "movements were filmed and used as input for the programming of the Makr Shakr robots."</p> <p>While drinks designed by bar-goers, not experts, may not be as perfectly balanced as a craft cocktail, they're extremely precise. The design system monitors exactly how much booze each patron is consuming, which, in theory, could let the robot-bartenders know when it's time to cut off designers who have thrown back a few too many.</p> <p>Check out the video here.</p> <figure class="inline-video inline"><iframe src=" width="584" height="354" frameborder="0"></iframe></figuremakr shakrSlideshowWed, 22 May 2013 21:00:13 GMT1681842 at StoneTake A Breathtaking Trip Around The World In 15 Minutes class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>This NASA video shows a satellite pass over a huge swath of land, from Russia to South Africa, in stunning detail. Cue up some soaring music and sit back and enjoy.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>NASA's Landsat satellites have provided incomparable views of Earthen landscapes since the 1970s. In February, the newest satellite to join the family, called the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, took flight, and thanks to its new imaging technology, the Operational Land Imager, the images of land-masses are more detailed than ever.</p> <p>A recently released video of a fly-over of a swath of land 185 kilometers wide and 9,000 kilometers long--extending from Russia to South Africa and passing over land almost the entire way--is a testament to the power of the new imaging technology. In this 15 minute video, sped up from the 20 minutes it took the satellite to photograph, the image resolution is high enough that viewers can make out "urban centers, farms, forests and other land uses."</p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>Like the time-lapse videos created from Landsat data <a href=" target="_self">I wrote about</a> earlier this month, the most fascinating scenes are the ones that offer snapshots of man's touch, whether cities rising out of the desert or irrigation altering a river's natural course. As one YouTube commenter wrote, "Landsat flew right over the spine of the birthplace of the human species, and at the same time the birthplace of agriculture. This is where we came from, and the environment which might be said to have had the biggest impact on what made us… us. There could almost be no other landscape so interesting to see in one large glimpse as this one."</p> <figure class="inline-video inline"><iframe src=" width="584" height="354" frameborder="0"></iframe></figure> <p>And while the 15-minute glimpse is fascinating, what's possibly more entertaining is the <a href=" target="_blank">4-minute highlight reel above</a>, annotated with pop-up graphics explaining the stream of landmarks passing by, from borders, to cities, to mountains, to lakes. Selections include farmland along Russia's Volga river, irrigated crops along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq, the shores of Lake Victoria in east Africa, and Zimbabwe's mineral-rich rock formation The Great Dyke. The viewing experience is amplified with world music corresponding to the locations below.</p> <p>At the end of this month, NASA will hand over control of the satellite to the U.S. Geological Survey, its partner in the project, who will operate the satellite and it make its data available for freeasaVideoNewslandsatWed, 22 May 2013 19:30:15 GMT1682114 at StoneWant To Stop Being Fat? Cook class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>The only way to control what goes in your body is to make it yourself.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>Fat. Sugar. Salt. Carbs. When seeking explanations for why Americans' health has spun out of control over the past few decades, we tend to single out individual parts of the nutritional landscape for blame. But, as the <em>New York Times</em>' health blogger Jane E. Brody <a href=" target="_blank">points out</a>, the problem is "multifaceted" and will require systemic change to solve. While the average number of calories consumed per day has grown by more than 20% since 1970, that consumption increase is fueled by an across the board jump in the amount of not just sugar, but fats, oils, cereals, and flour that people are eating.</p> <p>So where are all these calories coming from? If there's any one culprit for the obesity epidemic in the U.S., perhaps we ought to point a finger at the overarching trend responsible for Americans eating more: the increasing popularity of eating food we didn't prepare ourselves.</p> <p>According to Brody:</p> <blockquote><p>Eating just one meal a week away from home can translate into two extra pounds a year for the average person, the [Department of Agriculture] calculated. Although the recent economic downturn forced more people to dine at home, the average adult now eats out nearly five times a week.</p></blockquote> <p>Brody points to a number of reasons why restaurant meals can sneak in so many calories, including the lack of nutritional facts on menus, the pre-dinner bread basket or chips and salsa, and the growth in portion size to please budget-seeking diners. This last reason has shifted the way we think about portion size even when we're not at a restaurant. Makers of processed foods have adjusted accordingly with foods like bagels and muffins being larger than ever and yogurts being more sugary.</p> <p>The advice for the American diner, which, is also the message of Michael Pollan's new book <em>Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation</em>, is to cook your own meals using unprocessed ingredients if you want to buck the trend toward becoming overweight. The problem, of course, is that this is not a reality for many overworked, poor Americans who don't have access to healthy food in their neighborhoods--the exact demographic most likely to battle obesityFoodcookingArticleHere's An IdeaWed, 22 May 2013 17:00:23 GMT1682113 at StoneTips By Millennials, For Millennials On Surviving Your Nonprofit Gig class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Tip #1: "Don't work at one."</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>More than almost anything, Millennials value <a href=" target="_self">work with purpose</a>. But their fresh-faced idealism may open the door to years of peonage in the underpaid, overworked nonprofit sector. The sad irony is that the same people who commit to helping those less fortunate or fighting back against injustice often end up invisible and disrespected themselves.</p> <aside class="pullquote"><q>Working at a nonprofit generally involves at least some level of exploitation.</q></aside> <p><a href=" target="_blank">Youngist</a>, a polished Tumblr maintained by a team of under-24 year olds, has some <a href=" target="_blank">advice</a> on avoiding getting screwed in the nonprofit game.</p> <p>Most notable is the writer, "Jade(d)'s" Here are some of our favorite of her tips. (<a href=" target="_blank">Read the rest here):</a></p> <h2><a name="Tip_1_Dont_want_to_be_exploited_with_a_job_at_a_nonprofit_Dont_work_at_one_">Tip #1: Don't want to be exploited with a job at a nonprofit? Don't work at one. </a></h2> <p>"Working at a nonprofit generally involves at least some level of exploitation."</p> <p>However, Jaded explains, different flavors of exploitation are offered at small and large nonprofits. Unfortunately, there is usually an inverse relationship between the degree of exploitation and the "street cred" offered by the job. Working in direct service or grassroots organizing, going door to door, say, has the worst hours and the worst wages, but also brings you closest to the problems you're ostensibly concerned about. Working for Unicef or the Gates Foundation probably means better pay and conditions--hey! air conditioning!--but your grittier radical vegan friends in bandanas and chain wallets will despise you.</p> <h2><a name="Tip_2_Make_sure_you_really_care_about_the_issue_">Tip #2: Make sure you really care about the issue. </a></h2> <p>"Every job involves doing some stuff that you don't want to do, but the boring stuff should at least be training you in some small way for the career that you actually want."</p> <p>There's no point in purpose-driven work if it's not your own personal purpose.</p> <h2><a name="Tip_3_Set_boundaries">Tip #3: Set boundaries.</a></h2> <p>"People who don't take care of themselves burn out and often become jaded and bitter. You can't sustain 'the movement' if you don't sustain yourself."</p> <p>Safeguard your own time and energy, because no one else is going to protect it. Sleep, weekends, or seeing friends--you can't have all three in the nonprofit grind, but pick the one that's most important.</p> <p>For more great advice, check out the <a href=" target="_blank">post. </social entrepreneurshipwork with purposeburnoutArticleEducationNonprofit workWed, 22 May 2013 16:00:15 GMT1682085 at Kamenetz4 Innovative Models Changing Health Care In Africa class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>From pop-up clinics to diagnostic rats, people are finding ways to bring modern health care to the developing world.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>In Tanzania, giant pouched rats are trained to sniff out tuberculosis in human sputum samples. Dubbed <a href=" target="_blank">HeroRATS</a>, the animals can evaluate 40 samples in just seven minutes, equal to what a skilled lab technician can do in a full day. <br /> In northern Kenya, health services--<a href=" target="_blank">including family planning services</a>--are being brought to 36 remote, underserved communities by four-wheel drive vehicles, bicycles, camels and good old-fashioned human feet. And in Malawi, durable e-health hardware--even touch screen computers--that are significantly more robust in harsh environments with erratic power supplies are being manufactured by Malawians.</p> <p>These are some of the really out-of-the-box ideas private sector organizations are applying in an effort to improve health by bringing affordable and high-quality health services to low-income people in Africa. While imported Western technologies certainly have their place, these ideas acknowledge local realities and tend to mix high and low tech in surprising ways that are appropriate to their environments.</p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>In South Africa, Unjani Clinic-in-a-Box prefers to stay totally in-the-box, by providing trailer houses that are made and fitted according to the specific needs of the site. It takes only four weeks from order to arrival at site, and another day to have it up and running. The clinics are part of a primary health care social franchise model equipped to deal with a range of the most non-threatening ailments that account for 50% to 60% of consultations in under-served communities of South Africa.</p> <p>These projects--all drawn from the crowd-sourcing platform of the <a href=" target="_blank">Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)</a>--are revolutionizing health care around the world by applying local solutions to local problems. The CHMI platform currently profiles 1,250 such private sector health programs in developing countries.</p> <figure class="inline-small inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <h2><a name="Rats_sniffing_out_TB">Rats sniffing out TB</a></h2> <p><a href=" target="_blank">APOPO</a>--which originally trained rats to sniff out landmines--evaluates samples from 10 TB centers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The HeroRATS sniff a series of holes under which human sputum samples are placed and identify samples that contain TB bacteria. Their correct indications on known positive samples are rewarded with a food treat. Indications on unknown samples, if pinpointed by two or more rats, are confirmed by humans using microscopes. Positive samples are reported to hospitals, who follow up with patients. The rats have already detected over 2,300 TB-positive patients that were missed by microscopes. APOPO's TB detection program is in a research phase, and is <a href=" target="_blank">now working towards further validation before full implementation.</a></p> <h2><a name="Delivering_health_care_by_camel">Delivering health care by camel</a></h2> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>The <a href=" target="_blank">Community Health Africa Trust</a> (CHAT) is a community organization that supports people living in remote, underserved poor communities of northern Kenya to have healthy lives. It does this through mobile clinics that use vehicles, bicycles, feet and camels--depending on the terrain and infrastructure--to visit 36 communities per month. CHAT <a href=" target="_blank">provides services in basic medical care</a>, reproductive health, malaria and TB treatment, HIV counseling and testing, AIDS treatment, child immunizations and health education, including information on the dangers of female genital mutilation.</p> <h2><a name="High_tech_in_a_low_tech_environment">High tech in a low tech environment</a></h2> <p>The <a href=" target="_blank">Baobab Health Trust</a> says it is "committed to using technological innovation to change lives in the developing world." It appears they are doing just that by developing software, touch screen computers, bar codes and alternative energy sources in health facilities in Malawi.</p> <p>Most notably, Baobab has developed low-cost and long-lasting power back-up systems that have allowed more than 1 million antiretroviral therapy sessions for 18,000 patients, registration of 800,000 patients and 160,000 HIV counseling and testing sessions. Baobab has also developed touch screen-based user interfaces designed for users with limited technology experience and low-cost information devices that stand up far better in harsh conditions than traditional computers.</p> <h2><a name="Clinicina_Box">Clinic-in-a- Box</a></h2> <p>The <a href=" target="_blank">Unjani Clinic-in-a-Box</a> is designed to provide primary health care services at affordable prices to under-served communities in South Africa. The 12-meter-long clinic provides consultations at about $15 per patient, including medicines, which is very competitive with other forms of private health care. Each clinic has an outside reception area, an examination room, a medicine dispensary, a registered nurse practitioner and an assistant.</p> <p>The model aims to empower black women. All clinics are managed and owned by an experienced and community-based registered nurse. Start-up costs are around $20,000. There are currently seven fully franchised units in different parts of South Africa. Each clinic sees between 180 and 400 patients per month, a figure which is growing every monthHealthunjaniheroratsSlideshowbaobaWed, 22 May 2013 15:32:55 GMT1682130 at OlsonThree Ideas For Better Health Care Of The Future, From Tech And Health Executives class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>You like your smartphone? Get ready for your smart toilet.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>The conventional wisdom goes that health care is notoriously slow to adopt new technologies. The <a href=" target="_self">explosion</a> in the past few years of sensor and app-filled health startups is starting to prove that wrong (emphasis on "starting"). But what about the large-scale stuff that will really make a difference in patients' lives? Genomic medicine has long been promised to the masses. And what about precision medicine, which integrates genetics, blood tests, medication and therapy response, and lab discoveries to make better treatment decisions?</p> <p>For two days in May, the most important executives in the country got together with health care leaders at a UC San Francisco gymnasium to come up with the solution to a thorny problem: How can we revolutionize medicine? Mark Zuckerberg stopped by to contribute. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, contributed his thoughts. So did GE <a href=" target="_blank">Healthymagination</a> CEO Sue Siegel. And at the end of the day, everyone walked out with some clear-cut steps forward.</p> <p>Genomic medicine is slowly starting to be used with cancer patients, but it has a long way to go. Precision medicine--a term invented in 2011--is even further from reality. In a recent <a href=" target="_blank">report</a> from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann lamented the gap between scientific discoveries and what's used in doctor offices. Making that leap requires all the brainpower from disparate industries that health care can muster.</p> <p>And that's why I find myself sitting in front of Salesforce founder and CEO Mark Benioff--who recently contributed $100 million for a new children's hospital at UCSF--as he discusses the promise of precision medicine to a crowd of over 150 people at the OME Precision Medicine Summit. I was witnessing the tail end of the two day event, which matched participants into teams that worked together on precision medicine-related ideas for a final pitch session. At the end, participants were encouraged to volunteer their resources (money, brainpower, access) to move the ideas forward. Not everyone had the chance to pitch; in the end, 11 of the best ideas were selected for presentation. There were some clear highlights.</p> <h2><a name="Smart_Toilet">Smart Toilet</a></h2> <p>The first idea pitched to the audience was also the only consumer product. The basic idea: a smart toilet that analyzes stool samples, letting the user know if they have anything wrong with them--giardia, the nasty bacteria <a href=" target="_blank">C. difficile</a>, you name it, the smart toilet can find it. The creators estimated that they would need $1.5 million to create a smart toilet device that can analyze stool samples on a chip--but the technology is within reach.</p> <h2><a name="Learning_From_Failure">Learning From Failure</a></h2> <p>An amazing 95% of drugs never reach patients. All the data from those failed drugs is essentially left unused; laws prohibit the FDA from making failed trial data public. This team proposed crafting an agreement with pharmaceutical companies to open up their data, ensuring that other researchers can learn from what doesn't work to more quickly make useful drugs. Big Pharma would obviously be concerned about confidentiality, but the team maintained that eventually, opening up data would lower the economic burden of getting drugs to market. Whether this idea can gain any traction is questionable, but both the FDA commissioner (Margaret Hamburg) and high-ranking representatives from pharmaceutical companies were present at the UCSF event--so it's possible.</p> <h2><a name="Data_Donor_Drive">Data Donor Drive</a></h2> <p>The easiest way to further genomic research is to gather lots and lots of data. This team proposed creating a data donor drive to collect 1 million genetic data sets. The first volunteers would be health care practitioners and members of disease advocacy--after that, the hope is that the first donors encourage their family and friends to join in.</p> <p>Nobody is quite sure what happens now. That will depend largely on what kinds of commitments participants made to furthering each of the projects (they submitted commitments on slips of paper at the end of the event). "We didn't set any notion of next steps," says Desmond-Hellmann. UCSF has already offered to get onboard with some of the projects, including one called the Global Biological Data Consortium that proposes a consortium to establish standards for analyzing biological data. We'll know more in the coming months about whether any of the projects get off the groundFuturist Forummarc benioffucsfprecision medicinegenomicsWed, 22 May 2013 15:00:52 GMT1682028 at SchwartzThis Strawscraper Gets Its Power From Thousands Of Quivering Hairs class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Using piezoelectricity, this concept skyscraper wouldn't need to be attached to the city's grid. It would get all its power from the wind passing through its hairy exterior.</p> </div> </div> </div> <figure class="inline-small inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>Called a <a href=" target="_blank">Strawscraper</a>, this tower is covered in <a href=" target="_blank">piezoelectric</a> fronds that rustle in the wind, generating power for people inside. It's just a concept, for now, but a pretty interesting one, and another example how designers see future buildings relying on their own power, rather than a power station at the city limits. Designer Rahel Belatchew Lerdell says the inspiration "came from fields of wheat swaying in the wind", while a press release talks about a construction that gives "the impression of a body that is breathing".</p> <p>Belatchew's blueprint calls for the "completion" of the <a href=" target="_blank">Söder Torn</a>, in Stockholm. The building, constructed the 1997, was originally envisaged as 40 stories, but was cut down to 26, when its architect, Henning Larsen, lost control of the project. The straws are an added bonus, but, for the moment, more futuristic than feasible.</p> <p>Still the idea is intriguing. "By using piezoelectric technology, a large number of thin straws can produce electricity merely through small movements generated by the wind," says the <a href=" target="_blank">release</a>. "The result is a new kind of wind power plant that opens up possibilities of how buildings can produce energy."</p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>Though piezoelectricity has never been used in this way, the idea is well understood (see <a href=" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href=" target="_blank">here</a> for a couple of studies). And several other designers have conceptualized using it. See <a href=" target="_blank">here</a> for another interesting example, conceived for the Masdar Energy City project in Abu DhabipiezoelectricitystrawscraperEducationSlideshowWed, 22 May 2013 13:00:38 GMT1682084 at SchillerHow Two College Pals Are Growing A Solution To Our Reliance On Plastic class="field field-type-text field-field-custom-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Six years ago, Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre were college friends with a bright idea: using mushrooms and agricultural byproducts to create an alternative to plastic. Now, they're growing a business that could change almost everything about how we live.</p> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="note editors-note "><div class="note-inner"><hgroup><h4>Editor's Note</h4></hgroup><p>This piece is part of Change Generation, our series on inspiring young entrepreneurs. <a href=" target="_self">Read more stories here</a>.</p></div></aside> <p>Maybe the most devastating aspect of styrofoam packaging is that it's useful for a matter of days or hours--say, while a product ships--but it lasts for a millennium. Plastics like styrofoam currently take up <a href=" target="_blank">between 25% and 30% of our landfill space</a>, and a single cubic foot of styrofoam has the same energy content as about one and a half liters of gasoline. That's a lot of impact for just a little bit of value.</p> <figure class="inline-small inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>And that's precisely why college pals Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre established <a href=" target="_blank">Ecovative</a>,.</p> <p>"It turns out that mycelium is actually a living polymer," says Bayer, who graduated in 2007 and co-founded Ecovative that same year. "I like to think of it as low-tech biotech."</p> <p> <a href=" target="_blank">Bayer even performed a TED talk in 2010</a>.</p> <figure class="inline-video inline"><iframe src=" width="584" height="329" frameborder="0"></iframe></figure> <p>They've replaced toxic products--styrofoam and insulation--with superior proxies that are biocompatible with the planet (meaning they're compostable). And perhaps the most compelling fact about Ecovative is that--like the product itself-- <a href=" target="_blank">growing a house entirely out of the fungal materials</a>. Ultimately, they've unearthed a natural solution to a consumer problem.</p> <figure class="inline-large inline"> <img src=" alt=""/> </figure> <p>"</p> <p>--which is really cheap--at the same price and performance. It's really hard; that's why no one's done it. But we're thrilled to be able to get there. "Change GenerationecovativeClean TechSlideshowWed, 22 May 2013 13:00:33 GMT1682117 at James	eng	0612a613-0980-4c8c-88d3-0b91c4463f62	http://feeds.fastcompany.com/fastcoexist/feed
CHAPTER TWO: PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY PHONETICS and PHONOLOGY are the two branches of grammar which are concerned with the study of the sounds of human language. The distinction between the two fields is as follows: phonetics deals primarily with the speech sound itself, including the way in which it is produced, transmitted, and perceived; while phonology deals more with the organization of speech sounds into sound systems. The difference is similar to the difference between studying the materials out of which buildings are constructed (e.g., bricks, concrete, steel, etc.) and studying the way in which a building is constructed out of these materials (e.g., by alternating a layer of brick with a layer of concrete, by encasing the steel in concrete, etc.). PHONETICIANS study the raw materials, the sounds; PHONOLOGISTS study the systems formed from these sounds. 2.1 PHONETICS PHONETICIANS describe and classify the sounds of human language in the following three ways: (i) in terms of the way in which they are produced by the vocal apparatus; (ii) in terms of the physical properties of the sound wave emanating from the speaker; and (iii) in terms of the effect the sound wave has on the various parts of the ear. These three methods of description and classification are known respectively as ARTICULATORY phonetics, ACOUSTIC phonetics, and AUDITORY phonetics. By far, the most common of the three is articulatory phonetics; hence, in the discussions which follow, the terminology of articulatory phonetics will be employed. The diagram in Figure One represents a cross–section of the human head, showing the parts of the vocal apparatus. In the production of speech sounds, the most important of these parts are the vocal cords. These are two elastic membranes located in the larynx or Adam's Apple. In normal breathing, air is forced from the lungs, up the trachea, through the vocal cords, and out of the mouth or the nose or both. If the air is not obstructed in any way by the parts of the vocal apparatus, then no sound will be produced. Conversely, when one or more of the parts of the vocal apparatus form an obstacle in the path of the air, then a sound results. 2.1.1 VOWELS There are two basic types of sound segments in human speech: VOWELS and CONSONANTS. Vowels are typically produced when the air is modified by the vibration of the vocal cords and when the tongue is held in specific positions in the mouth. The vibration of the vocal cords is known as VOICING. Sounds articulated with the vocal cords vibrating are [+VOICED]; those without, are [–VOICED]. Voicing is a feature of all English vowels, whereas the position of the tongue is what distinguishes one vowel from another. For example, the sound of a in father is produced when the tongue is in a low position in the back of the mouth, and the sound of I in machine is produced when the tongue is in high position in the front of the mouth. In the production of both vowels, the vocal cords are vibrating. 2 FIGURE ONE: THE VOCAL APPARATUS A chart of some vowel sounds, specified by the relative positions of the tongue, is given in Figure Two. The symbols in brackets are those used by phoneticians all over the world. These symbols are independent of specific languages and spelling conventions. Thus, the symbol [i] represents the sound of I in the English word machine, of ee in the English word beet, of ei in the German word sieben, or ie in the French word vie, of I in the Spanish word hijo, etc. 3 FIGURE TWO: ENGLISH VOWELS FRONT CENTRAL BACK [i] as in beat [u] as in boot HIGH [w] as in bit [] as in put [e] as in bait [o] as in boat MID [e] as in bet [c] as in butted []] as in bought [æ] as in bat [] as in but [a] as in pot LOW The features [±HIGH], [±FRONT], etc. in Figure Two contain a number of redundancies, that is, unnecessary duplications. For example, there seems to be no difference between [–BACK] and [+FRONT]. Modern linguistics, in an attempt to reach the highest possible level of descriptive adequacy, seeks to remove such redundancies from its descriptions. Therefore, it is more common today to replace the traditional classification in Figure Two with the one in Figure Three. FIGURE THREE: DISTINCTIVE FEATURES FOR ENGLISH VOWELS i w e e æ u  o ] a  c HIGH + + – – – + + – – – – – LOW – – – – + – – – – + + – BACK – – – – – + + + + + + + ROUND – – – – – + + + + – – – TENSE + – + – – + – + – + – – In addition to the unitary sounds charted above, English contains a number of DIPHTHONGS, which are vowels followed by a GLIDE ([w] or [y]). The true diphthongs are []y] as in boy and soil; [ay] as in sigh, nice, guy, lie, lye, sign, aisle, and choir; and [aw] as in cow, house and doubt. In most dialects, the [–LOW, +TENSE] vowels of English are also articulated with a glide, particularly in word final position: [iy] see, [ey] say, [uw] sue, [ow] sew. 4 The definitions for the distinctive features of English vowels are as follows: HIGH – NONHIGH — High sounds are produced by raising the body of the tongue above the level that it occupies in neutral position; nonhigh sounds are not produced with such a raising of the body of the tongue. LOW – NONLOW — Low sounds are produced by lowering the body of the tongue below the level that it occupies in neutral position; nonlow sounds are produced without such a lowering of the body of the tongue. BACK – NONBACK — Back sounds are produced by retracting the body of the tongue from the neutral position; nonback sounds are produced without such a retraction. TENSE – NONTENSE (LAX) — Tense sounds are produced with a deliberate, accurate, and maximally distinct articulatory gesture that involves considerable muscular effort; lax sounds are produced rapidly and somewhat indistinctly. ROUND – NONROUND — Rounded sounds are produced with a narrowing of the lips; nonrounded sounds are produced without such narrowing. 2.1.2 CONSONANTS 2.1.2.1 STOPS Consonants are produced in a variety of different ways. Some involve the complete stoppage of the air flow at some point in the vocal tract. Such consonants are known appropriately as STOPS. These include [ph] (the sound of p in pan), [th] (the sound of t in tan), and [kh] (the sound of c in can). The point in the vocal tract at which the stoppage of air occurs is used to distinguish one stop consonant from another. [ph], which is produced by stopping the air with both lips, is called a BILABIAL stop; [th], which is produced by placing the tongue against the alveolar ridge (see Figure One), is called an ALVEOLAR stop; and [kh], which is formed with the tongue against the velum, is called a VELAR stop. In the production of [ph], [th], and [kh], the vocal cords do not vibrate; hence, these sounds are called VOICELESS ([–VOICED]) stops. Other stops, for example, [b] as in bet, [d] as in debt, and [g] as in get, are formed by a complete stoppage of the air flow with an accompanying vibration of the vocal cords. These stops are called VOICED ([+VOICED]). A chart of some stop consonants, specified according to this method of classification, as well as the features [±CORONAL] and [±ANTERIOR] discussed in Chapter One, is given in Figure Four. 5 FIGURE FOUR: ENGLISH CONSONANTS, LIQUIDS, AND GLIDES MANNER OF PLACE OF ARTICULATION ARTICULATION ANTERIOR NONANTERIOR NONCORONAL CORONAL NONCORONAL LABIO– INTER– (ALVEO) BILABIAL ALVEOLAR VELAR GLOTTAL DENTAL DENTAL PALATAL STOP [–VOICED] ph (pun) th (ton) 9 kh (kill) kh (come) p (spun) t (stun) 9 k (skill) k (scum) ? (o?o) [+VOICED] b (bun) d (done) 9 g (gill) g (gum) FRICATIVE [–VOICED] f (fat) › (thin) s (seal) š (shoe) [+VOICED] v (vat) ð (then) z (zeal) ž (azure) AFFRICATE [–VOICED] … (Chet) [+VOICED] 9 (jet) : NASAL [+VOICED] m (sum) n (sun) ñ (onion) õ (sung) LIQUID [+VOICED] l (lot) r (rot) » (pole) D (cater) GLIDE [–VOICED] (when) h (hen) [+VOICED] w (wet) y (yet) 6 2.1.2.2 FRICATIVES A second group of consonants, called FRICATIVES, is formed by a closure in the vocal tract, which, though not complete as in the articulation of stops, is sufficiently constricted to cause turbulence in the air flow, thereby producing a hissing sound. This group includes such sounds as [f], [v], [s], and [z]. Like stops, fricatives are classified according to the point in the vocal tract at which the obstruction in the air flow occurs. For example, [f] and [v] are produced by a constriction formed with the lower lip and upper teeth; they are called LABIODENTAL fricatives. [›] and [ð], produced by a constriction behind the upper teeth, are INTERDENTAL; [s] and [z], produced by a constriction against the alveolar ridge, are ALVEOLAR; and, [š] and [ž], produced by a constriction against the palate, are PALATAL. 2.1.2.3 AFFRICATES Closely allied to the articulation of stops and fricatives is a group of consonants called AFFRICATES. These consonants combine a complete closure at some point in the vocal tract, as in the articulation of stops, with a turbulent release that produces a hissing sound, as in the articulation of fricatives. Examples of these consonants are […], the sound of ch in chunk, and [9], the sound of j in junk. These are the only affricates in English, but there are several others in the remaining : languages of the world. 2.1.2.4 NASALS A fourth group of consonants, called NASALS, are produced by a closure in the mouth and a simultaneous lowering of the velum so that the air escapes through the nasal passage (see Figure One). English has three nasal consonants. They are distinguished from each other by the point in the mouth where the closure is made. [m], the sound of m in Kim, is a bilabial nasal; [n], the sound of n in kin, is an alveolar nasal; and [õ], the sound of ng in king is a velar nasal. Each of the English nasals is a voiced consonant. 2.1.3 LIQUIDS AND GLIDES Vowels and consonants are distinguished from each other by the following features: VOCALIC – NONVOCALIC — Vocalic sounds are produced with an oral cavity in which the most radical constriction does not exceed that found in the high vowels [i] and [u], and with the vocal cords positioned so as to allow spontaneous voicing; in producing nonvocalic sounds one or both of these conditions are not satisfied. CONSONANTAL – NONCONSONANTAL — Consonantal sounds are produced with a sustained vocal tract constriction at least equal to that required to produce fricatives; nonconsonantal sounds are produced without such a constriction. 7 In addition to consonants and vowels, languages contain two other classes of sounds, LIQUIDS and GLIDES. The four groups of sounds are distinguished as follows: FIGURE FIVE: THE MAJOR PHONOLOGICAL CATEGORIES FEATURES CONSONANTS VOWELS GLIDES LIQUIDS CONSONANTAL + – – + VOCALIC – + – + 2.1.3.1 LIQUIDS LIQUIDS include [l], the sound of l in low, and [r], the sound of r in row. [l] is produced with a complete closure made by the center of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, in such a way that the air is allowed to pass out of the mouth along the sides of the tongue. Since the air passes along the sides of the tongue, l–sounds are often referred to as LATERAL consonants. In contrast to the articulation of [l], [r] usually involves a closure, or near–closure, made with the sides of the tongue, so that the air escapes from the mouth over the central portion of the tongue. An r sound can also be produced by making the tongue FLAP against the alveolar ridge. This sound, represented as [D], is heard instead of [th] or [d] in words like water and ladder. 2.1.3.2 GLIDES The last group of sounds includes [y], the sound of y in yell, and [w], the sound of w in well. These consonants are either called GLIDES or, because of their similarity to the vowels [i] and [u], SEMIVOWELS. Typically, they are produced like vowels, e.g., they do not involve a complete stoppage of the air flow, but are distributed like consonants, e.g. they occur before and after vowels, as in the word wow. 8 The remaining features necessary to describe all of the above sounds are the following: SONORANT – NONSONORANT (OBSTRUENT) — Sonorants are sounds produced with a vocal tract cavity configuration in which spontaneous voicing is possible; obstruents are produced with a cavity configuration that makes spontaneous voicing impossible. [Note: sonorants are usually hummable.] NASAL – NONNASAL — Nasal sounds are produced with a lowered velum which allows the air to escape through the nose; nonnasal sounds are produced with a raised velum so that the air from the lungs can escape only through the mouth. CONTINUANT – NONCONTINUANT (STOP) — In the production of continuant sounds, the primary constriction in the vocal tract is not narrowed to the point where the air flow past the constriction is blocked; in stops the air flow through the mouth is effectively blocked. SIBILANT – NONSIBILANT — Sibilant sounds are produced by forcing the air through a narrow opening produced by a groove in the midline of the tongue. Typically, sibilant sounds have a hissing quality; non–sibilant sounds do not have this quality. CORONAL – NONCORONAL — Coronal sounds are produced with the blade of the tongue (the portion immediately behind the tip) raised from its neutral position; noncoronal sounds are produced with some other articulator than the blade of the tongue. ANTERIOR – NONANTERIOR — Anterior sounds are produced with an obstruction that is located in front of the palato–alveolar region of the mouth; nonanterior sounds are produced without such an obstruction. VOICED – NONVOICED (VOICELESS)— Voiced sounds are produced with the vocal cords vibrating; voiceless sounds are produced without such vibration. FIGURE SIX: FEATURES FOR ENGLISH CONSONANTS, LIQUIDS & GLIDES FEATURES STOPS NASALS FRICATIVES AFF* LIQUIDS GLIDES p b t d k g ? m n õ f v › ð s z š ž … 9 : l D » r w y h SONORANT – – – – – – – + + + – – – – – – – – – – + + + + + + + + CONSONANTAL + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + – – – – VOCALIC – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – + + + + – – – – CONTINUANT – – – – – – – – – – + + + + + + + + – – + – + + + + + + NASAL – – – – – – – + + + – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – SIBILANT – – – – – – – – – – – – – – + + + + + + – – – – – – – – ANTERIOR + + + + – – – + + – + + + + + + – – – – + + – – + + – – CORONAL – – + + – – – – + – – – + + + + + + + + + + – + – – + – HIGH – – – – + + – – – + – – – – – – + + + + – – – – + + + – LOW – – – – – – + – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – + BACK – – – – + + + – – + – – – – – – – – – – – – – – + + – + ROUND – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – + + – – VOICED – + – + – + – + + + – + – + – + – + – + + + + + – + + – *AFFRICATES 10 2.1.4 SUPRASEGMENTALS There are, of course, many more sounds in the world's languages than the ones that have been described above. In addition, human speech is characterized by several SUPRASEGMENTAL features, that is, vocal modification executed along with the pronunciation of vowels and consonants. Two of these suprasegmental features are PITCH, i.e., the relative tone at which individual sound segments or groups of segments are produced, and STRESS, i.e., the relative emphasis (or accent) given to individual sound segments or groups of segments. Features like pitch and stress are as important in speech as vowels and consonants. Often, they serve to distinguish words from each other. For example, permit must be pronounced with heavy stress on the first syllable [permwt] if it is used as a noun, but with heavy stress on the second syllable [permwt] if it ' ' is used as a verb. Notice that this variation of stress is an example of how the sound system of a language is directly related to the classes of forms in a language. It is impossible to describe this variation without reference to whether permit is used as a noun or as a verb. There are many similar cases in English, e.g., contract, pervert, present, and so on. Consider also pairs of sentences like those in (1). (1) a. Look at the black bird. b. Look at the blackbird. One cannot describe the stress given to sequences like black+bird, unless one considers whether the sequence is used as a compound noun or as an adjective–noun construction. Examples such as these attest to the interrelationship of sound and form in the grammar of a language. 2.2 PHONOLOGY With a complete phonetic system for the identification and classification of speech sounds available, phonologists can begin their work. Essentially, their task is to discover the ways in which the sounds of language are systematized. This includes finding out (i) which sounds, out of all the sounds a speaker of some language utters, are the linguistically significant sounds for that language, and (ii) which rules govern the organization and distribution of these sounds with respect to each other. In analyzing English, for example, phonologists observe that all English speakers pronounce p in several different ways. In one way, the sound [ph] is followed by a perceptible puff of air, called ASPIRATION; this occurs in the articulation of a word like pin. In a word like spin, on the other hand, the p is not aspirated. We will use the symbol "h" for aspiration: the aspirated, voiceless, bilabial stop in English is [ph], and the unaspirated, voiceless, bilabial stop is [p]. In examining English, phonologists also observe that there are no pairs of words which are distinguished by aspiration, in the way that there are many pairs which are distinguished by other phonetic features, such as [–VOICED] ([ph]) and [+VOICED] ([b]), e.g., plank and blank, tap and tab, rapid and rabid, and so on. Lastly, they observe that [p] occurs only after the sound [s] and that [ph] occurs everywhere else. Thus, in spot, spin, spoke, and Spain, the p is unaspirated, but in pot, pin, poke, and pain, the p is aspirated. (The difference can be perceived if a tissue is held in front of the mouth during pronunciation.) These observations are important because they reveal that the distinction between [p] and [ph], i.e., 11 unaspirated versus aspirated, unlike the distinction between [ph] and [b], i.e., voiceless versus voiced, is not a significant distinction in the phonology of English. Thus, while it is possible to predict when [p], as opposed to [ph], will occur in English words, it is not possible to predict when [ph], as opposed to [b], will occur. This distinction is crucial in phonological analysis. Phonologists often call the distinctive classes of sounds in a language the PHONEMES of that language, and refer to the positional variants of phonetically similar sounds as the ALLOPHONES of a particular phoneme. To distinguish phonemes from allophones, the former are placed in slanted lines, e.g., /p/, and the latter retain their phonetic symbolization, e.g., [p] and [ph]. The relationship between a phoneme and its allophonic variants is expressed in the form of a rule included in the grammar of a language. For example, the relationship between /p/, [p], and [ph] in English is expressed in two rules as follows: (2) a. The phoneme /p/ is realized phonetically as its allophone [p] when it occurs in the environment after the [s], e.g., in the word spot. b. The phoneme /p/ is realized phonetically as its allophone [ph] in all other environments, e.g., in the word pot. It is important to realize that sounds which are phonemic, i.e., distinctive, in one language may be allophonic, i.e., non–distinctive, in another language. For example, while [ph] and [p] are allophones of the same phoneme /p/ in English, they are two different phonemes in Chinese. To put it differently, while [ph] and [p] do not distinguish pairs of words in English, they do distinguish pairs of words in Chinese. The Chinese word pa, if pronounced with a [ph], means 'eight,' and, if pronounced with a [p], means 'white.' It is very difficult for English speakers to master this distinction when they attempt to learn Chinese; very often, they confuse the two sounds. Conversely, speakers of many oriental languages have great difficulty in distinguishing the phonemes /l/ and /r/ in English, because these two sounds are not phonemic in their native language. Without considerable practice, a native speaker of Japanese, for example, might say rorripop when he means lollipop. When English speakers hear rorripop, they find it hard to believe that the Japanese speaker can't easily hear the difference between what he's said and lollipop. Similarly, a Chinese speaker will find it hard to believe that an American cannot easily distinguish between the distinct sounds [ph] and [p]. Continuing with their analysis of English, phonologists observe that the other voiceless stop phonemes in English, namely, /t/ and /k/, show the same allophonic variations as /p/. Thus, in stop, stub, skin, school, the t and k sounds are unaspirated, but in top, tub, kin, and cool, they are aspirated. This is not unexpected, since /p/, /t/, and /k/ form a NATURAL CLASS of sounds, which is a class that shares the same set of distinctive features. In this case, the three sounds form the natural class of [+CONSONANT, –CONTINUANT, –NASAL, –VOICED]. Furthermore, the same natural class has another allophonic variation. In final position or at the end of a syllable, they become unreleased. Notice that the final sounds in cap, pat, and tack are not fully exploded in the way the initial sounds of the same words are; similarly, the p sound at the end of the first syllable in captain and the k sound at the end of the second syllable in refracted are also not fully exploded. We will use the symbol "/" to indicate lack of release. For example, we have [kæp/] (cap) and [kæp/thwv] (captive). The environment in which "/" occurs is predictable by rule: voiceless stops are unreleased in final position of a syllable or word. Since the feature RELEASE is predictable in English, it is not distinctive. 12 In Chapter One, we discussed the classification of several distinctive features for English, such as [±NASAL], [±VOICED], [±ANTERIOR], and [±CORONAL]. We now have two nondistinctive features in English: [± ASPIRATION] and [±RELEASE]. Summarizing, the following forms exist in the language: (3) DISTINCTIVE FEATURES. a. [± VOICED] 1. [–VOICED] [p], [t], [k] 2. [+VOICED] [b], [d], [g] b. [± ANTERIOR] 1. [–ANTERIOR] [k], [g] 2. [+ANTERIOR] [p], [b], [t], [d] c. [± CORONAL] 1. [–CORONAL] [p], [b], [k], [g] 2. [+CORONAL] [t], [d] (4) NONDISTINCTIVE FEATURES. a. [± ASPIRATED] 1. [–ASPIRATED] little breathiness (i) [p] spade [sped] (ii) [t] steam [stim] (iii) [k] school [skul] 2. [+ASPIRATED] considerable breathiness (i) [ph] paid [phed] (ii) [th] teem [thim] (iii) [kh] cool [khul] b. [± RELEASED] 1. [–RELEASED] no explosion (i) [p/] mop [map/] (ii) [t/] rate [ret/] (iii) [k/] nook [nk/] 13 2. [+RELEASED] explosion (i) [ph] paid [phed] (ii) [th] teem [thim] (iii) [kh] cool [khul] Phonologists discover the distinctive features of a language by looking for a pair of words distinguished by one and only one sound. Such a pair is called a MINIMAL PAIR. If two sounds occur in a minimal pair, then they occur in identical environments. This means that the two sounds are distinctive and distinguish words. (6) contains examples of minimal pairs; (6), does not. (5) MINIMAL PAIRS Good Examples (SPELLING IRRELEVANT): a. mace/base [mes]/[bes] b. ether/either [i›cr]/[iðcr] c. known/sewn/shone [non]/[son]/[šon] d. phlegm/Clem [flem]/[khlem] e. who'd/hood [hud]/hd] f. bird/heard [bcrd]/[hcrd] (6) Not Examples (SPELLING IRRELEVANT): a. buff/bluff [bf]/[blf] b. choose/loose […uz]/[lus] c. though/tough [ðo]/[tf] d. chef/chief [šef]/[…if] e. great/heart [gret]/[hart] f. beard/heard [bird]/[hcrd] As we will have occasion to notice many times in this book, an important objective of linguistics is the construction of formal grammars. A formal grammar is simply one that is perfectly explicit and testable. Precision is essential in linguistics, as it is in all other sciences. Without precision, hypothetical principles and rules cannot be evaluated and tested with confidence. If hypotheses cannot be tested, then substantive conclusions cannot be drawn. Rules such as those in (2) are too informally written to satisfy scientific criteria. Therefore, linguists usually replace them with a SLASH–DASH notation as follows: FORMAL PHONOLOGICAL RULES: (7) a. [+STOP, –VOICED] ÷ [–ASPIRATED] / [s] ___ a voiceless stop is unaspirated after [s] b. [+STOP, –VOICED] ÷ [–RELEASED] / ___ {+, #} a voiceless stop is unreleased before a syllable boundary or a word boundary 14 Each symbol in this notation has a precise meaning. As a result the rules are explicit and testable. The slash–dash notation, which will be used throughout this text, observes the following conventions: THE SLASH–DASH NOTATION: (8) a. ÷ means 'is' b. (...) items in parentheses are optional c. {...} items in curly brackets or braces are alternatives d. / means 'in the environment of' e. ___ means 'before' or 'after' or 'between' f. / ___x means 'before x' g. / x___ means 'after x' h. / x___y means 'between x and y' I. # means 'word boundary' j. #___ means 'after a word boundary,' that is, 'at beginning of word' k. ___# means 'before a word boundary,' that is, 'at end of word' l. + means 'syllable boundary' or 'morpheme boundary' m. +___ means 'after a syllable or morpheme boundary' n. ___+ means 'before a syllable or morpheme boundary' Summarizing the theoretical apparatus developed so far, we say that phonological representations occur in pairs: a phonemic or abstract representation coupled with a phonetic or real representation. The two representations are related by phonological rules. The necessity for both levels of representation can be illustrated further in the following way (see Figure Seven below). Suppose one English speaker utters the sentence If you hit me, I'll hit you. What the speaker actually says in the second part of this sentence is [ayl hw…u]. The verb, therefore, appears to be hitch [hw…]. But, although the listener has heard [hw…], what he understands is /hwt/ (hit). The real or superficial or phonetic representation, the one actually spoken and heard, is [hw…]; the abstract or underlying or phonemic representation, the one intended and understood, is /hwt/. The relationship between the two is accounted for by phonological rules like those in (7), specifically, (9a) and (9b). (9) a. [t] ÷ […] / ___ [y] b. [y] ÷ Ø / […]___ (9a) changes a [t] to a […] before [y]; (9b) deletes a [y] after […]. The symbol "Ø" means 'zero'; so (9b) says that a [y] becomes zero (is deleted) after […]. These rules represent the change of [t] to […]. The derivation from underlying form to surface form proceeds as follows: (10) UNDERLYING FORM: /hwt yu/ APPLICATION OF RULE (9a): hw… yu APPLICATION OF RULE (9b): hw… u SUPERFICIAL FORM: [hw…u] 15 This derivation is intended to represent the native speaker's knowledge (competence) of the intended meaning of what is actually uttered, namely, [hw…u]. To an introductory linguistics student, a derivation like (10) often appears to be the result of hocus–pocus. This is not the case. The derivation proceeds from facts: in the example cited, there is a discrepancy between what is uttered and heard ([hw…u]), on the one hand, and what is intended and understood (/hwt/), on the other. Further, every native speaker of English knows this unconsciously; it is part of his linguistic competence. If this were not true, the person hearing [hw…u] in the context given, would not understand the intended meaning. These facts are givens; there is nothing that a linguist can do but attempt to describe and explain them. It is not the job of linguistics to alter the way people communicate (a hopeless task, incidentally). The postulation of an abstract underlying form, related by rule to a real superficial form, is merely an effort to describe observed phenomena. Again, linguistic theory proceeds in the appropriately scientific manner. 16 FIGURE SEVEN: PHONOLOGICAL AND PHONETIC REPRESENTATIONS PHONEME ALLOPHONE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES NONDISTINCTIVE FEATURES [±VOICED] [±ASPIRATED] [±ANTERIOR] [±RELEASED] NOT PREDICTABLE BY RULE PREDICTABLE BY RULE NONREDUNDANT REDUNDANT FOUND IN MINIMAL PAIRS NOT FOUND IN MINIMAL PAIRS FOUND IN OVERLAPPING FOUND IN COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION (IN THE SAME DISTRIBUTION (NOT IN THE SAME ENVIRONMENTS) ENVIRONMENTS) SLANTED LINE NOTATION SQUARE BRACKET NOTATION /spat/ spot [spat/] spot UNDERLYING (DEEP) SUPERFICIAL (SURFACE) ABSTRACT REAL Examples: Examples: Will he hit me? Will he hit me? /wwl hi hwt mi/ [wwli hwt/ mi] Will he hit you? Will he hit you? /wwl hi hwt yu/ [wili hw…u] Willie hit you? Willie hit you? /wwli hwt yu/ [wwli hw…u] Will he hitch you up? Will he hitch you up? /wwl hi hw… yu p/ [wwli hw…u p/] Willie hitched you up? Willie hitched you up? /wwli hw…+d yu p/ [wwli hw…t/…u p/] 17 2.3 PHONOTACTICS Further investigation of English phonology reveals that there are general restrictions on the sequences of sounds that are permissible in the language. There are ACCIDENTAL GAPS, sequences of sounds that just don't happen to occur, and, NONACCIDENTAL GAPS, sequences of sounds that are not possible. The permissible sequences are specified in the PHONOTACTIC RULES of the language, that is the rules concerned with the sequential arrangements of sounds in larger units. Consider the following: (11) ACCIDENTAL GAP (possible words): [blwd], [stæno], [sprim] (12) NONACCIDENTAL GAP (impossible words): [ftwd], [zdæno], [spnim] In analyzing the PHONOTACTICS of English, phonologists would observe that an English word cannot end with two nasal consonants. We see this in the root /kalmn/ which loses the second nasal in the word column [kalm], but retains it before the suffix –ist in the word columnist [kalmnwst]. Compare also autumn and autumnal. The loss of the second nasal at the end of a word is accounted for by the following phonotactic rule: (13) [+NASAL] ÷ Ø / [+NASAL]___# The presence of rules like (13) is what makes some words retaining their foreign spelling look so strange as compared to their pronunciation, e.g., mnemonic, pneumonia, and pterodactyl, which come to English from Ancient Greek. 2.4 MORPHOLOGY As one might expect, the study of the sound system of a language cannot be carried out in complete isolation from the other components of grammar. The phonological rules, in particular, very often involve reference to MORPHEMES, which are the minimal units of meaning in a language. Consider the following (ignoring details involving aspiration and release): (14) MORPHEME: a minimum unit of distinctive meaning. a. [riDcr] 'reader'; 2 syllables; 2 morphemes: /rid/ 'to interpret print' /cr/ 'agent' b. [kriyetcr] 'creator'; 3 syllables; 2 morphemes. /kriyet/ 'to bring into existence' /cr/ 'agent' c. [dalcr] 'dollar'; 2 syllables; 1 morpheme. d. [æntlcr] 'antler'; 2 syllables; 1 morpheme As the examples in (14) show, morphemes are not necessarily equivalent to either words or syllables. Further, a particular sequence of sounds can be a morpheme in one word and not another: notice [cr] in reader is a morpheme, whereas the [cr] in antler is not. Similarly [rid] is a morpheme in reader [ridcr], but not in breeder [bridcr]. 18 Morphemes have different phonetic variants in different contexts just as phonemes do. Paralleling the PHONEME/ALLOPHONE relation, we have the MORPHEME/ALLOMORPH relation. An ALLOMORPH is a conditioned phonetic variation of a morpheme. Consider the following: (15) ALLOMORPH: a conditioned PHONETIC variation of a morpheme: a. Negative Prefix: [wm]: impossible, imbalance [wn]: intangible, indiscrete [wõ]: incorrigible, ingratitude b. The indefinite article: []: a book, a use, a hotel [æn]: an owl, an honor For the grammarian, one point of particular interest in morphological analysis concerns the nature of the variations which specific morphemes show in their phonetic shape. Occasionally, this variation is peculiar and reflects the idiosyncratic speech habits of individual speakers. For example, some English speakers pronounce abdomen with heavy stress on the first syllable, while others pronounce it with heavy stress on the second syllable. In such cases as this, the rival forms are said to be in FREE VARIATION. More commonly, a variation in the pronunciation of a morpheme is predictable and reflects specific rules in the grammar of a particular language, sometimes called MORPHOPHONEMIC or MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL RULES. For example, the plural morpheme in English nouns is variously pronounced [cz] as in busses, [s] as in bucks, and [z] as in bugs. The occurrence of each of these allomorphic variants is predictable in terms of the phonetic environment in which the plural morpheme occurs. If the morpheme occurs after [s], [z], [š], [ž], […], or [9], it is realized phonetically as [cz], e.g., dresses, sizes, ashes. Otherwise, if it occurs after : a voiceless consonant, it is realized phonetically as [s], e.g., tanks, pipes, slots; if it occurs after a voiced consonant or after a vowel, it is realized phonetically as [z], e.g., bulbs, trees, eggs. Utilizing the theory of distinctive features, we can formally represent these rules as follows (where PL means 'plural'): (16) a. PL ÷ [cz] / [+SIBILANT] ___ b. PL ÷ [s] / [–VOICED] ___ c. PL ÷ [z] / [+VOICED] ___ These same variations are also found in the morpheme which indicates the third person singular present tense of verbs, e.g., [cz] as in blesses and pleases, [s] as in attempts and pollutes, and [z] as in confides and specifies. They also appear in contractions (he's for he is) and possessives, e.g., [cz] as in Bess's and Josh's, [s] as in Pat's and Skip's, and [z] as in Budd's and Don's.	eng	f2b2b4f4-0e0a-4f01-826c-2ad079b1c929	http://www.docstoc.com/docs/45699535/CHAPTER-TWO-PHONETICS-AND-PHONOLOGY
Saving time has never been Pay to win. Pay to win means getting something not otherwise obtainable without paying for it. Time is not one of those things. Sure someone could pay to advance alittle quicker, maybe even alot quicker, but everyone else will get there eventually. It doesnt offer any real advantage, just the illusion of advantage. Once everyone is at level cap, and the "time" factor evens out, they would have wasted all that money on nothing. I for one am happy to allow them to do this, as they help fund the game while I sit back and play for free. Get your head out of your ass. Boosts like this are never pay to win. Time is convenience, its only pay to win when it starts effecting player power above whats normally obtainable in game. You do not frown upon people that pay sweatshops to level their toons for them?Well it is F2P title. This was expected. Ofcourse, but it still hurts me to see Neverwinter implement it ;o) I'm all fine with F2P models ... as long as they do not empower the rich. If it turns out to be a 0.0001% difference, i'll look the other side. Why would it hurt you? Are you trying to moralize an amoral situation? What does "empower the rich" even mean? The first two dictionary definitions of empower describe granting authority or confidence to a person. First you make a crazy assumption that anyone using this is rich. Next I'm not seeing where the grant of authority or confidence comes in here. Guess what, the rich always have the advantage in any game. Not only that but time is a currency as well and those rich with extra time will also have an advantage. There is more to the system than clicking a button and then bypassing the timer. You have to meet the requirements of the task, including the necessary resources. Since players can use the Neverwinter Gateway to access their crafting from a browser they can progress while away from the game client which means those with extra time currency have their advantage minimized. The system is pretty good in that those with extra time or money can get an advantage, but not excessively so. It also offers a way for those lacking in time and money to put forth a little extra effort and still progress if they want. I forgot how serious gamers can be about these topics, my bad :) Anyways, maybe empower is not the right word, english is not my native tongue. "those with extra time or money can get an advantage, but not excessively so."If this post was sarcastic and not a sincere nod (in that you're implying there is "P2W" involved, which would still be wrong), then please do your research before posting. Granted, I don't expect perfect research (and I know even my own understanding of it is flawed), but even the most mundane of attempts to figure out how Astral Diamonds are earned would have yielded far better results than thoughts fabricated in one's own mind as fact. :) Originally posted by Mavolence Played SWG since beta and frankly......Screw SWG so damn sick of hearing about that game. You know i used to think it was so so so so so so so so so good then i started playing again with the SWGemu and wow, man i just realized how many times i quit that game and came back during live and it all flooded back to me....the game was so so. I much preferred teh vanguard crafting to SWG anyways. FLAME ON ROFL. For me the game had its good points and its bad points. There are some posters here who are wearing very thick rose colored glasses when talking abot that game. I was there during all of it's phases and the complaints on their forums about it's problems were more rancorous than anything I've seen in any game. I do think the crafting, cities and profession system PRe-NGE were it's best parts and is what's mostly missed by many of us who played it. People cried pre-NGE and were quitting due to it being too grindy. So, SOE changed it to the NGE and people cried that it wasn't pre-NGE...go figure. I personally preferred the NGE game play. I played it daily for 6 years and never once got burned out with it. It had so much to keep you interested in it. The people who were complaining about it being too grindy had already left to play WOW and EQ2. The people that were left were happy with the game and just wanted SOE to fix the bugs and introduce some new quests. They didn't want the entire game turned into a WOW clone. I didn't leave it and I thought it was way too grindy. Are you trying to tell me that the holo grind was good? I never did the holo-grind ... i was perfectly happy with my creature handler. Is the world seemless? Does it have huge load screens? Does it use instancing? How it character custimization? How is the fps on an average, even with low-end machines? I don't have a low-end machine, but I needed to ask .. because games that choke and gurgle, gasp and gag even on the low settings means higher settings are going to have problems too (ala SWTOR). The world is seemsless, loading screens and instances are rare. FPS noone can tell yet ... it's in Alpha and the new HE2 engine has been implemented. There is worldbuilding to be done and a lot of optimisation iterations. Please don't compare it to SWTOR, they build their own version of HE :) Originally posted by CreepProphetA million monkeys typing may end up writing Shakespeare, but do you know how much crap they'll produce before they get there? That's a silly myth from people who don't understand probability. A million monkeys typing on a million typewriters for a million years would probably never produce a single correct, meaningful sentence longer than 30 characters. The chance of a monkey typing the word, 'banana' is 1 in 15,625,000,000, assuming there are fifty keys on the typewriter (it's an old timey typewriter). For monkeys to type out Hamlet before the end of the universe, the monkeys would have to be the size of atoms, they would have to fill the universe, the universe would have to be considerably bigger and they monkeys would have to be really fast typists. It really only works if you have infinite monkeys, and they are in an alternate universe where there's an infinite amount of space. I don't think this really has anything to do with developing MMORPG, since developers aren't doing things randomly. I would think though, that if it was random you'd need an alternate universe where you have an infinite number of monkey developers to get the games you want. hmmm... so literal, let me translate = A million monkeys typing may end up writing Shakespeare, but do you know how much crap they'll produce before they get there? = A million self entitled AAA developers may end up developing a gem of a game, but u do u know how much "themepark for add kiddos" they ll produce before they get there? Your analogy is awful so don't use them- PLEASE. As another poster sated, MMO's are expensive to produce, how expensive is that Bot? Think 1-5 million minimum and 2-3 yrs minumum. I am basing this on what we have seen in the industry so far in the last 2 years. Independents will produce games, but they will be like Minecraft graphics (don't get me wrong, Minecraft is fun but the graphics get to me after a while). Games being produced with crowdfunding will only get so far, then they will need real money to come in and finish the process. You have to show these people that the game can make money. In every industry, it is a numbers game. I'm not sure how accurate that is. If you look at the Pre-Alpha footage for The Repopulation the graphics and mechanics were looking solid before the initial Kickstarter/crowdfunding event. I'm really looking forward to what they can do with the additional income. Pre-alpha footage was in Hero Engine 1, now that Hero Engine 2 is put in place, it looks loads prettier :) So automating/reusage in quest content can allow for more content? Perhaps, but logic dictates repeating quest types will become boring after the first 30 runs. Kept people in SWG happy for years and those quests were a lot more simple then The Repopulation has to offer. Questing, generally speaking, is something that players are tired of, much less repeated quest type. And it can be argued that questing is a very shallow content base. In this day and age, games are moving away from this old method of keeping players busy. Yes, people are done with themeparks ... this is not a themepark. Questing is optional. How you entertain yourself is completely up to you. Again, in two weeks time, after players have done the requisite kill and collect quest or whatever, that type of 'content' will not add to this games allure. Same ol' same ol.....I can hear the players crying now..../shrug Depends on your targeted player base. So your argument about computer generated questing giving players something to do? Doesn't hold up......There has to be content, A LOT of it to keep players after the initial launch. There simply are not enough workers to contribute to the overall game. It's a sandbox .. they give you tools to create content. The quests are in for people that do enjoy a quest every now and then, but it's optional. How you deem 'artwork' as content is beyond me. He wasn't, he was refering to the fact that you can build a game with a small team by outsourcing work and having dedicated volunteers. These volunteers often understand better what gamers want then highly paid developers. Big difference between pay and passion. Regarding Hero Engine. Lack of customization is absolutely horrible. Players can't stand looking like the guy next to him. The only mmo that did this right was Aion. And lets face it, The Repop is no Aion when it comes to customization, or alot of other things for that matter. I agree it's not Aion, The Repopulation is not aiming to be a shallow game where you can look different. Horrible graphics, zero customization and watching a pvp slideshow will do nothing to help this game..... Dissapointed SWTOR fan? Blame them, not the engine. Horrid AI? The oft repeated ITS IN ALPHA hurp/durp excuse isn't going to be enough when this game launches. You and I both know there won't be any massive upgrading in that dept before launch. Be honest....... There will be no release until it's finished. They have stated that repeatedly. You should read the monthly updates and marvell at all the new features that are put in. Customer service? You glossed over that point......Again, a small work force won't be able to handle the complaints and problems after launch. It's not hyped as the next WoW-killer ... there will not be millions of players at launch and it also doesn't need millions of players at launch to make up for the ridiculous budgets these AAA games burn. Your lack of a larger dev team will be mired in bug squishing eternally. If you think your launching with a lack of content, wait until two months down the road when people are wondering where the content updates are, and your still dealing with alpha bugs...... There will be no release until it's finished. They have stated that repeatedly. Due to not being tied to nor controlled by big investors, they are free to decide when it's released. SImply put, this game has too many negatives going against it....../shrug You summed up a handfull of assumed negatives .. did you bother checking the postives? I see it like going to the cinema. I spend 8 bucks on a ticket ... not knowing if the movie will be any good. If it was, cool. Its more like buying a ticket 4 years in advance based off a plot outline for a sci-fi epic, knowing that its got an amateur director, will have a bare bones crew, cheap, no-name actors, and a non existent special effects budget. Yeah, its possible they pull off something amazing, but there is a strong chance you are paying for Plan 9 from outer space part 2, if the project even gets finished. You just described a lot of good sci-fi movies ;) The reward is different too ... while the movie will most definatly end after 2 hours ... this could be a game that will entertain you for much much longer. I see it like going to the cinema. I spend 8 bucks on a ticket ... not knowing if the movie will be any good. If it was, cool. Same with theater ... wasted a lot of money on crap performances, but also enjoyed some incredibly good ones. One thing that makes this game different from others to me is that the owners have been building and funding it from their own pocket so far .. and look at how far they have gotten. Where big publishers make games for money, they make it because they want to make a fun game. You pledge not to pay for these guys, but to help finish the game they envision.	eng	59f68b80-cb5e-4244-9afb-ff9f491d1010	http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/userPosts/331563
The Online Library of Liberty A project of Liberty Fund, Inc. Search this Title: Also in the Library: SCOTLANDOTLAND SCOTLAND, the northern part of the island of Great Britain. The length of the mainland, from the Mull of Galloway, in latitude 54° 398acute; north, to Dunnet Head, in Caithness-shire, in latitude 58° 408acute; north, is 278 miles; the breadth, from Buchanness, in Aberdeenshire, in longitude 1° 418acute; west, to the most westerly point in Ross-shire, in longitude 5° 528acute; west, is 150 miles, while between the firths of Forth and Clyde, the breadth is only thirty miles. The area, including the islands, 186 in number, is 29,819.09 square miles, or about half the size of the state of Michigan. Its population in 1881 was 3,735,573; in 1811 it was but 1,805,864. —Although small in size, thinly populated and poor, Scotland, for many centuries, has occupied an important place in the annals of western Europe. Respectable historians have prefaced the history of Scotland with an imaginary line of kings descended from a fabulous daughter of Pharaoh, called Scota, who, fleeing from the plagues sent to punish her father's obstinacy, peopled Scotland. —The first reliable knowledge we have of Scotland is derived from Julius Cæsar, who invaded the island in the year 55 B. C. Julius Agricola first explored its northern coasts with his fleet, and informed the Romans that Britain was an island. In the 80th year of the Christian era, Agricola led the legions of Rome across the line which in later days marked the boundary between England and Scotland, and his son-in-law, Tacitus, in recording his achievements, first made Caledonia familiar to the Roman world, and brought a new country within the scope of authentic history. —Although the Romans effected no permanent conquest beyond the neck of land between the firths of Forth and Clyde, yet they more than once pushed their armies far northward. There are more known Roman ramparts, forts, camps and roads in Scotland than in all the rest of the world—vestiges of a close, continued and doubtful warfare. The Caledonians, who so long and so effectually kept the conquerors of the world at bay, are described as barbarous and warlike, with red hair and large limbs, and rugged as the land they inhabited. They painted their bodies, and could stand great hardships. Their arms were bows and arrows, small shields, short spears, and pointless swords; they fought also with chariots drawn swiftly by small horses. They were polygamous and idolaters, their religion being druidical. The name Caledonia, although used by the Romans, had no place among the natives, whose name for Scotland was Albin. The Roman civilization had no influence on Scotland except as it reached that country in after times from the continent. —When the Romans withdrew, the inhabitants of Scotland consisted of the Romanized Britons of Strathclyde on the south, the Dalriads, or the Scots of Ireland, on the west, and, largest of all, the kingdom of the Picts, embracing the whole of Scotland northward and eastward from the firth of Forth. The archæological hosts have long fought over the Picts. Were they Celts, or Teutons? Were they the same as the Caledonians of Tacitus, or the Scots of Ireland? What language did they speak? These are questions which will probably never be settled. —The most important event in the history of the Picts was their conversion to Christianity, in the sixth century, by St. Columba and other missionaries from Ireland, who settled in the isle of Iona. —When the writers of the early Christian centuries speak of Scotia, they refer to Ireland. The Mull of Cantyre, in Argyleshire, is only twelve miles from the county of Antrim, and the Scots spread in great numbers into Argyle and the western isles, so that there came to be two Scotias, and, prior to the twelfth century, a Scot might have meant a native of Ireland or of Scotland. The colony of Irish Scots in Albania, or present Scotland, continued to enlarge till it became a powerful and compact state, and the term Scotia gradually became dissociated from its original country, and attached entirely to the country which now bears the name. —How it came about, history does not state; but near the middle of the ninth century the Pictish kingdom disappears from history, and Kenneth MacAlpin, king of the Scots, is found reigning over its people. It is not unlikely that the barbarous Picts succumbed to the superior aggressive civilization of the Scots. At this time the Celts were known as a lettered people, and it is not improbable the Picts felt honored in accepting the Dalriadic sovereign as their own. —Scotland was long subject to incursions from the great Viking fleets of Scandinavia, and from the fourth to the tenth century large numbers of the Northmen settled on the coasts, and mingled with the existing population or gradually crowded them westward. The population of Scotland is probably of the most composite origin of any nation in Europe, a fact which has, no doubt, greatly influenced their national characteristics. Picts, Francs, Angles, Scoto-Galwegians, Saxons, Celts and Norsemen, all contributed to make the Scotsmen of to-day. —After Kenneth, the first king of the united Scots and Picts, followed a number of royal successors, such as Gregory the Great, Duncan, and Macbeda or Macbeth, around whom has gathered a most interesting history; but unfortunately it is largely mythical. —The first monarch of whose coronation we hear, was Malcolm III., son of Duncan, known as Malcolm Canmore, who was crowned at Scone, in 1057. His wife, the good Queen Margaret, or St. Margaret, had a greater influence on the destinies of Scotland than even her husband. Through her influence the "Lord's Day" was first sanctified from labor, and she did much to introduce a higher civilization. —In the tenth year of Malcolm Canmore's reign occurred the Norman conquest of England. The subjection of the southern kingdom by the restless and ambitious Norman opened a serious future for the Scots, and for centuries they had a ceaseless struggle to prevent their absorption by their aggrandizing and powerful neighbors. —The system of the Celts, even to their latest times, was patriarchal, and not feudal. The Highlander fought for his chief as the head of his family or clan, and not because he was his landed superior. For the same reason the early Scots fought for their king, who, indeed, was oftener called king of Scots than king of Scotland. —The Normans gradually introduced the feudal usages of the continent. Under them the king was theoretically the owner of all the land. Those cultivating the lands held them from some lord or superior, who in turn held them from the king or some other superior who did so. Each subordinate had to do homage to his superior for the lands he held, for he held them solely through the special favor of his lord, who, in return, had a right to call for military and other service. The king of Scots had estates in England, and for these, under the feudal system, had to do homage to the king of England as his superior. The English soon claimed that he did homage as king of Scotland to the king of England as his superior, and that the crown of Scotland was vassal to the crown of England. Notwithstanding that folios on folios were written by the English to prove their king lord paramount of Scotland, the Scots contested the claim for generations in many a costly war. —After Malcolm Canmore came Donald Bane, Duncan II., Edgar, Alexander I., and David I. The last named was the third son of St. Margaret, and succeeded his brother Alexander in 1124. As a true son of his good mother, he had a great influence on the condition of Scotland. In his reign the old traditionary usages were first superseded by written laws. He established the bishoprics of Dunkeld, Moray, Aberdeen, Ross, Caithness, Brechin, Dunblane and Galloway, and built the abbeys of Holyrood, Melrose, Jedburgh, Kelso, Dryburgh, Newbattle and Kinloss. He so lavished the lands of the crown on the Catholic church that King James I. said that "he was ane sair sanct for the crown." David reigned twenty-nine years. He was all to Scotland that Alfred was to England. After him came his grandson, Malcolm IV., who was not twelve years old when he began to reign. He was king twelve years, but leaves no special mark on history. —He was succeeded, in 1165, by William I., surnamed the "Lion," who was taken captive at the siege of Alnwick. King Henry granted him his release only after he had signed an obligation of absolute homage to the English king for Scotland, and placed the Scots under feudal subjection to England, as if a proud and warlike people could be handed over by a slip of parchment signed under duress. Richard the Lionhearted, of England, for 10,000 marks, released the Scots from all the conditions extorted by his father from William. —William the Lion was succeeded by his son, Alexander II., a monarch of great wisdom and ability, who was in turn succeeded by his son, Alexander II., whose accidental death left the crown to an infant granddaughter, Margaret, the daughter of the king of Norway, who died in one of the Orkneys, while returning to Scotland. The death of Alexander III. closed a period of prosperity, which the kingdom did not again enjoy for five hundred years. No fewer than ten competitors for the crown appeared, the chief being John Baliol and Robert Bruce, grandfather of the great Bruce. The matter was referred to Edward I. of England, who decided in favor of Baliol, stipulating that he should do homage to him as his feudal superior. The case was under discussion and consideration for eighteen months, and the decision in favor of Baliol was no doubt a correct one according to the law of hereditary descent as now established. —As Edward claimed to be lord paramount of Scotland, so the king of France made a like claim on England, and summoned Edward as his vassal to appear and do homage before him. King Philip even fixed the day when Edward should appear in Paris. Edward prepared for war, and summoned his vassal Baliol to his aid. In the war between England and France Scotland saw her opportunity, and not only refused to aid England, but formed a league offensive and defensive with France. This was the first of that ancient league which for three centuries bound the kingdoms of France and Scotland in the closest intimacy against their common enemy, England, and had a great influence, not only on the politics of Scotland, but even on its language and manners. —The Scots invaded England, which so exasperated Edward that he decided to concentrate his force on Scotland, and marched northward as far as Elgin with a great army, taking Berwick, Edinburgh, Stirling, Aberdeen, and all the other strongholds of importance. From the abbey of Scone he carried to Westminster the stone of destiny, the palladium of Scotland It was enshrined in the chair on which the kings of Scotland were crowned. The Scots reverently believed it to be the very stone which Jacob used as a pillow at Bethel, and that it was brought to Scone by Pharaoh's daughter Scota, from whom the Scottish kings were descended. Wherever that stone might go, it was believed the Scots would be supreme, a belief which was confirmed when, afterward, James VI. of Scotland was crowned in Westminster king of England. Edward I., as he marched back, garrisoned the strongholds with English soldiers, and many of the old castles in Scotland must be assigned to this period, 1296, and their style of architecture is properly called Edwardian. The Scots found the English planted in large numbers in strongholds in their very midst, and harassing them in many most ex asperating ways. While the nobility, the natural leaders of the nation, had sworn allegiance to Edward, the smaller gentry and the common people sullenly awaited an opportunity for revenge. —At this juncture appeared the renowned Sir William Wallace of Ellerslie, not only a brave soldier, but a man of great political and military genius. Gathering around him a band of heroic spirits, he harassed the English till his successes enabled him to collect an army of some 40,000 men, with which he totally defeated a larger English army under Surrey at Stirling bridge. This battle of Stirling bridge gave great encouragement to the Scots, as it showed that their haughty neighbors were not invincible, and being the first pitched battle of importance between the two nations did much to inspire and render permanent that international animosity which has disappeared only in recent years. After defending his country with heroism for several years, Wallace was betrayed into the hands of Edward, who caused him to be executed in London in 1305. His head was placed on London bridge, and a quarter of his body exposed at New Castle, Berwick, Stirling and Perth, respectively. These bloody trophies, far from frightening the Scots into submission, aroused their wrath and strengthened their courage. They only wanted a leader to attempt summary revenge. In the meantime, Edward, believing he had conquered Scotland, took steps to incorporate it with England. The crown was to be represented in Scotland by a governor or lieutenant, to be assisted by a council. Scotland was also to be represented in the English parliament by ten representatives; three were to be selected by the prelates, two by the abbots, two by the earls, two by the barons, and two by the community or commonalty. When parliament met, an ordinance was passed for the government of Scotland, complete in all its details. Edward showed a broad statesmanship in all this, and a desire to propitiate the Scots. Being seventy years of age, he hoped for a peaceful close of his stormy life. But it was too late. The Scots had seen the effect of Norman power in England; and Stirling bridge, Falkirk and the quartering of Wallace, were not to be so easily forgotten. —In February, 1306, Robert Bruce, lord of Annandale, was missed from Edward's court, and it was found that he had left for Scotland. He was now thirty-two years old, and had been carefully trained in the English court. On his way north he met Comyn, his only rival for the crown of Scotland, in the church of the Grey Friars, Dumfries, and during a heated controversy stabbed him with his dagger. He and his followers then attacked the English judges at that time sitting in Dumfries, and drove them across the border. The die was cast, the Rubicon was crossed, and there was no retreat for Bruce. The tidings spread rapidly all over Scotland, that Bruce was in the field against the English, and the people rose like one man. In March of the same year he was crowned king in the chapel royal of Scone. King Edward promptly determined on such an invasion of Scotland as would forever suppress all opposition. The flower of England's chivalry, with all the fighting power of England, was enlisted in the cause; and the king, broken down as he was, exacted a promise that his body should be carried with the army till Scotland was subdued. Some of the nobles of Scotland and Bruce's nearest relatives were executed as traitors, and their bodies quartered; but the Scots were not a servile people, to be cowed by such cruelties, which only served to arouse them to greater deeds of daring. King Edward died within sight of Scotland, on July 7, 1307. —The first undertakings of Bruce were unfortunate; but the death of King Edward proved a favorable turning point in the destiny of Scotland, for his son, Edward II., was no such leader as a contest like that demanded. —June 24, 1314, is the most momentous day in Scottish history, the day on which the battle of Bannockburn was fought. The Scots had between 30,000 and 40,000 men, while the English had 100,000. They had, according to agreement, to relieve the English garrison in Stirling castle before St. John's day, or it was to capitulate; and it therefore behooved them to attack the Scots in a field which the latter had selected in front of Stirling. The generalship of Bruce and the bravery of his men inflicted on England, that day, a defeat and a humiliation greater than ever befell her in all her history before or since, with the exception of the battle of Hastings. Her mighty host became a very chaos. The confusion of their flight was irremediable. The booty obtained was very rich, and articles taken at Bannockburn were treasured as heirlooms for centuries. An immense sum was also acquired by the Scots as ransoms for their noble captives. —The battle of Bannockburn marks an important epoch in Scottish history. The patriotic feelings excited and the glory acquired on that day consolidated the nation as it had never been before. It engraved on the Scottish heart a pride of their independence as a nation, which for centuries prevented a union with England; and to this day, like Thermopylæ and Marathon, it fires many a heart with an enthusiasm for liberty. The war continued for fourteen years longer, during which time England was twelve times invaded, and ravaged with fire and sword; and Edward III. was compelled to ratify a treaty in 1328, in which the claims of Bruce and the independence of the kingdom were acknowledged. —David II. was only eight years old at his father's death, in 1329, and Randolph, earl of Murray, was appointed regent. Edward Baliol, son of John Baliol, being assisted by Edward III. of England, claimed the throne, and was crowned at Scone in 1332. David, being a mere boy, was sent to France, and Baliol, being defeated soon afterward by the supporters of the Bruce dynasty, fled into England. An active warfare continued along the borders, the Scots making a diversion in favor of their ally, France, on whose soil the English king about this time gained the famous battles of Crecy and Poitiers. David returned from France in 1341, and though but eighteen years of age, he at once put himself at the head of his forces, and while invading England was taken prisoner, and remained one for eleven years. He reigned thirty-nine years, and was succeeded by Robert II. (1371-90), grandson of Bruce of Bannockburn, being the son of his daughter Marjory, and Walter, lord high steward of Scotland, whence came the name of the Stuart dynasty, of which he was the first. Probably no regal line ever encountered so many misfortunes as did the royal house of Stuart, of more than one of whom it has truly been said that they never learned and never forgot. He was succeeded by his son, Robert III. (1390-1406), who being weak-minded, the government devolved upon the duke of Albany. He killed the king's oldest son, David, and his second son, James, fleeing to France, was captured by the English, and detained as a prisoner for nineteen years, during the greater part of which time Albany ruled as regent. It was now over one hundred years after Bannockburn when James I., being ransomed, began his reign, in 1424 He was an accomplished prince, poet and legislator, and made many necessary reforms in the administration of the country, establishing the court of session and other tribunals. He with a firm hand checked the powerful and turbulent nobility, and did much to introduce law and order. He was cruelly assassinated (1437) in the midst of his beneficent work, leaving his son, James II., then a boy of but six years of age, to succeed him. He was a brave and vigorous ruler, and was killed by the bursting of a cannon at the siege of Roxburgh, in 1460. —James III., his son, was crowned when seven years old. He was unpopular with the nobility, who rebelled against him, and persuading his son, a youth of sixteen, to join them, the king was defeated and slain in the battle of Sanchieburn in 1488—His rebellious son succeeded, as James IV., in the sixteenth year of his age. In 1489 he married Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII. of England, and from this marriage eventually came the union of the crowns of England and Scotland. This Margaret, daughter of Henry VII., being great-grandmother of James VI. of Scotland, on the issue of Henry VIII. becoming extinct by the death of Elizabeth, James was next heir. James IV., desirous of assisting his ally, France, declared war against Henry VIII. of England, and was slain on Flodden Field, in 1513, where Scotland suffered the greatest defeat in her national annals. Twelve earls, thirteen lords, five eldest sons of noblemen, and an immense number of barons, fell with their king, and the land became one house of mourning. —At the death of James IV. his son James V. was but five months old, and the office of regent was conferred on his cousin John, duke of Albany. James first married Magdalen, daughter of Francis I., king of France, who dying without issue, he married Mary of Lorraine, daughter of the duke of Guise. By her he had two sons, who died young, and in 1542 the queen was delivered of a daughter, the famous but unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots. When she was seven days old her father died of a broken heart, caused by the mutinous conduct of his nobles, and the defeat of his army at Solway Moss. When told of the birth of his daughter, the dying man is said to have murmured, "It came with a lass, and it will go with a lass," in allusion to the throne coming to the Stuarts by the daughter of Bruce. Little did he think that the son of that lass, now but seven days old, would sit on the English throne. James V. was affectionately remembered by his people as the "King of the Commons," and he long held a place in literary renown as the "People's Poet." —It will help us somewhat to realize the troublous character of the times and the unhappy condition of Scotland, to state that, from 1390, when Robert III. began to reign, to 1567, when James VI., thirteen months old, succeeded his mother Queen Mary, a period of 177 years, every king of Scotland was succeeded by a minor. During all those years the nation was shaken by the continued quarrels of the nobles. They were a haughty, fierce and turbulent class, those Hamiltons, Huntleys, Douglasses, Albanys, Atholes, Arrans and Argyles. Combining the most indomitable courage with an utter want of principle, they seldom hesitated to endanger the interests of their sovereign, and even the interests of their country, to avenge fancied insults to their family, or to carry on personal feuds. Still, the country was advancing in wealth, and gradually taking an influential place among the powers of Europe, notwithstanding the clouds of misfortune which had encircled the personal history of her Jameses. "Battle, murder and death had swept away four of them, the fifth died of a spirit broken down by the weight of calamities." —During the latter part of the reign of James V. Protestantism began to make considerable headway in Scotland. Although she had for centuries been a faithful daughter of the Roman Catholic church, she was so far removed from Rome that she received but little of that attention bestowed so assiduously on the powerful countries of continental Europe. On this account her clergy had received but little supervision, and had become very ignorant and very corrupt. For this reason the hold of the Catholic church upon the moral sense of the people was very weak, and it was not a difficult task to alienate them from the papal see. Under Henry VIII. England had become a base of operations whence those who favored the Protestant faith could influence Scotland. Attempts made by Cardinal Beaton, the Catholic primate, to crush out the spirit of inquiry by persecution, not only failed in their object, but had a contrary effect. —With the rise of Protestantism, there came a party in Scotland which preferred an alliance with England to the ancient league with France; and by and by two well-defined parties existed, the Protestant or English party, and the Catholic or French party. The Protestant party hoped to unite the crowns of England and Scotland by the marriage of the Princess Mary, the young Queen of Scots, to Edward, son of Henry VIII., and they might have succeeded had it not been for the imperious conduct of Henry, who so roused the Scottish pride that the Catholic party gained the consent of the nation to her marriage with the dauphin of France, an event which brought upon her and upon Scotland many trying calamities. Mary, through the influence of her mother and the French party, was sent to France to be educated, when only six years old. In 1558 she married Francis, then dauphin, afterward king, of France; but, he dying without issue, she returned to Scotland, and in July, 1565, married Henry Stuart, known as Lord Darnley. It was a fearful mistake, for there was scarcely the vestige of a good quality to be found in his character. He was vicious, vainglorious, presumptuous—a fool. On June 19, 1566, a son was born, who was afterward James VI. of Scotland and James I. of England. Darnley was murdered in February, 1567, and in May of the same year Mary married the earl of Both well, who was generally believed to have directed the murder. The nobles soon after drove Both well out of the kingdom, and, having confined Mary in Lochleven castle, compelled her to abdicate in favor of her infant son, with her half-brother, the earl of Murray, as regent. She escaped from Lochleven, and rallied a powerful force around her, which was defeated at Langside by the regent Murray. Mary then fled to England, claiming the protection of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, but this princess ungenerously confined her in different prisons for eighteen years, and then the accomplished and beautiful, but most indiscreet and unfortunate, Mary Queen of Scots, being accused of conspiring against the life of Elizabeth, died with heroic bravery on the scaffold at Fotheringay castle, on Feb 8, 1587. There is probably no instance in history where one so able, lovely and accomplished became to such a marked degree the victim of untoward circumstances. Her life proved a burden to herself and a misfortune to her people. —From the time of her father's death to that of her own, the religious aspect of Scotland had undergone a most wonderful change. While she was in France, and her mother, Mary of Lorraine, was regent, the conflict between the Catholic and the Protestant faith was intense. During those eventful years, when individual convictions were struggling with the traditions of centuries, and the religious thoughts and emotions of the people were stirred to their depths, there appeared upon the scene a man of no ordinary power, the fearless, stern, eloquent reformer, John Knox. His life and work have made a more marked impression on Scotland than those of any other man, and no grander figure can be found in the history of Protestantism in Great Britain. It can hardly be doubted that Knox saved Protestantism in Scotland, and in saving it in Scotland he saved it in England; for, if Scotland had been Catholic, it would have furnished the great Catholic powers of the continent a base of operations against England, and in all probability, under such circumstances, a revolution would soon have driven Elizabeth from the throne, and England would have been reclaimed to the Catholic church. But Knox breathed into the commons of his country a spirit which lives to-day, a spirit of individuality and independence which taught them that the humblest peasant, as an immortal soul, is equal in the sight of God to the proudest peer. They may have been hard, narrow and fanatical, but, "heated red-hot in the furnace of a new faith," they could never again be trodden under the foot of tyranny. Protestantism in England proceeded from the king downward, but in Scotland it originated and developed in the bosom of the people themselves. Many of the nobility joined the Protestant ranks from mercenary motives, but the common people did so from their convictions of right. Knox tried to have the lands and revenues of the church set apart for educational purposes, but the greed of the nobility was too much even for him. The year before Mary returned from France, 1560, a meeting of the estates abolished forever in Scotland the power and jurisdiction of the papal see, and made the confession of faith drawn up by Knox and his associates the standard of faith in Scotland. —Mary on her return failed to understand the true state of affairs. She had been educated in a wrong school to meet in a conciliatory spirit the public feeling of Scotland as it now was. If she had but realized that Scotland could not be brought back to the Catholic church, and conformed herself to the necessities of her condition, she might have reigned a happy queen over a happy people; but that was not to be. —Mary's son, James VI., had been crowned king in 1567, when but thirteen months old. His uncle, earl of Murray, who was appointed regent, being assassinated in 1570, the office was held in succession by the earls of Lennox, Mar and Morton, when the king took the reins into his own hands. During the government of the regents the kingdom was distracted by civil wars, which continued largely to partake of a religious character. Protestantism retained its supremacy, and Presbyterianism became the established religion of the country. At three o'clock, Thursday morning, March 24, 1603, Queen Elizabeth died; and, a feat unmatched in that age, Sir Robert Cary galloped into Holyrood Court on Saturday night and wakened King James to announce to him that he was monarch of England, Scotland, France and Ireland. The two nations, which for centuries had been bitter enemies, and had crossed swords on a hundred bloody fields, were now united under one head. On the 5th of April James set out for London, and as he journeyed leisurely through England he was received with enthusiasm everywhere. He arrived in London on the 22d of May, to take possession of the government of his new state, and at this point ends the history of Scotland as a distinct kingdom. —The domestic condition of Scotland was but slowly influenced by the union of the crowns, but its external relations underwent a radical change. The ancient league with France, though never formally abrogated, was now and forever after a dead letter, while it was a matter of pride to the Scots that their king now ruled over their "auld enemy," England. The national institutions of Scotland remained untouched, so that from this source there was nothing to arouse their national jealousy. The parliament still remained in Edinburgh, and there was no occasion for the nobility and landed gentry to go to London, as was the case in 1707, when the union of parliaments took place. However, as the way was now open, a large number of Scots flocked southward to better their condition, and they generally succeeded. Political economy was not understood then, and then, and the prosperity of the Scots was supposed to be at the cost of the English, and in consequence they were much disliked and much maligned. —Immediately after the accession of James, steps were taken for an incorporating union of the kingdoms, which signally failed. It was proposed that the new state should be called "Great Britain," a name which the king himself claimed to have suggested. A decision by the courts, that all persons born in Scotland after the union of the crowns in 1603 were entitled to all the privileges of Englishmen, did more than anything else to unite the two peoples. An attempt was made to force the church of Scotland to adopt the episcopal form of government; but it failed, and James gave it up as a hopeless task "to make that stubborn kirk stoop more to the English pattern." —For centuries Scotsmen found their native land too small for their energies, and both before and after this period, under Gustavus, Frederick and Peter the Great, as well as in the Low Countries, France and even in Turkey, they in large numbers attained distinction; and, now that the era of colonization and commerce had dawned, they were not slow to avail themselves of its opportunities. This was first manifested in the settlement of New Scotland, or Nova Scotia. —Charles I., on his accession, learning nothing from the past, commanded the use of Laud's liturgy in the churches in Scotland, as "the only form which we think fit to be used in God's public worship in this our kingdom." An outbreak was of course unavoidable, and tumults arose in various parts of the kingdom. Under the lead of Archibald Johnston of Warriston, the solemn league and covenant was renewed. In 1638 it was signed in Greyfriar's churchyard amid the wildest enthusiasm, some drawing their own blood, which they used for ink. It has been estimated that a large proportion of the adult male community of Scotland subscribed their adherence to it, as copies were placed in all the churches and other public places. The cause of their national religion had come to be considered as one with that of their national independence. —The close of the thirty years war released thousands of Scottish soldiers experienced in the wars of Europe, who now returned home and contributed not a little to the important part which Scotland took in the great civil wars of the seventeenth century. —After the restoration of Charles II. to the throne, in 1660, unmindful of the failures of his father and grandfather in a similar attempt, he tried to force episcopacy on the Scottish church, but he met with most ignominious failure. —The estates of Scotland were not slow to indorse the revolution of 1689, and to tender the crown of Scotland to William and Mary, declaring that King James VII. had "forefaulted" all right to the crown. The attempt to compel the Highlanders to conform to the new state of affairs resulted in one of the most cruel and treacherous transactions which has ever blackened history. It is known as the massacre of Glencoe, and occurred in 1692, leaving a stain upon the name of William of Orange, which his admirers have found it hard to wipe out. —Now that the activity and enterprise of the Scots could no longer find a field in the wars of their country against England, or in the greater contests of continental Europe, they began to make themselves felt in the field of commerce. Wm. Paterson founded the bank of England in 1695, while, some years later, John Law drove France wild with his Mississippi company and other financial bubbles. The Darien and African companies were products of the same period, all showing the active though misguided enterprise of the Scottish mind at that time. —On the accession of Queen Anne, in 1702, the first business of importance which came up was to incorporate the union of the two kingdoms. The succession to the throne and the union of the two parliaments were readily agreed upon, but the English commissioners would not agree to allow the Scots to participate equally with them in the foreign and colonial trade, and the negotiations were a failure. In April, 1706, a new set of commissioners, representing both kingdoms, met at Whitehall; in two short months their labors were finished; and so much and so important business has probably never been concluded in so short a time. The union was bitterly opposed in Scotland; but, after nine months' discussion, on Oct. 16, 1707, an act ratifying its terms was passed in the estates by a vote of 110 to 69. At this time the population of England was about 6,000,000, while that of Scotland was probably not over 1,000,000. Nothing so much reconciled the Scots to the union as the prospect of equality in trading privileges and reciprocity of citizenship. —George I., the first of the Hanoverian line, was proclaimed king on Aug. 5, 1714, at the market cross of Edinburgh, amid apparent quietness through the whole country. Next year, however, the chiefs of the Highlands, under the carl of Mar, commenced a Jacobite insurrection in the north, which, although encouraged by the appearance in Scotland of the pretender, the son of James VII., was speedily suppressed. This added greatly to the stability of the new government, which now attempted to disarm the Highlands, and in the interests of peace constructed a system of excellent roads through that heretofore almost impassable region. The Highlanders were irritated by and restless under the industrial civilization of the Saxon, and when Prince Charles Edward, "Bonnie Prince Charlie," the oldest son of the pretender, under promise of help from France, raised his standard at Glenfinnan, in August, 1745, many a chieftain with his clan rallied around him. The Jacobite army, marching southward, after defeating Gen. Cope at Preston Pans, entered Edinburgh in triumph. With an army of but 6,000 men, remarkable to say, the prince pushed as far as Derby, only two days' march from London, when the approach of the duke of Cumberland with a larger force compelled him to retreat. On April 16, 1746, his halfstarved, exhausted army was routed on the field of Culloden, and with it forever fell the house of Stuart. —The British government, unwilling to lose the benefit of the fighting qualities of the Highlanders, organized Highland regiments, with Highland officers and Highland uniforms, nine of which are still in the British army. These regiments have become famous for their never-failing bravery, shown on many a well-fought field in every quarter of the globe. The Gælic-speaking population of Scotland in 1881 numbered only 231,594, or 6.20 of the whole. —For years the union was very unpopular in Scotland, and it was some time before its beneficent effects began to be felt. In recent times the prosperity of Scotland has been such as could never have been possible without the union. Although occasionally at the present time complaints are made that Scotland receives neither her share of parliamentary attention, nor her proportion of disbursements from the imperial treasury, yet no voice is ever heard expressing a doubt as to the beneficial results of the union. —While Scotland is an integral part of the United Kingdom, she still retains her own courts and practices of law, and her own church government. At the head of the judiciary is the court of session, which consists of thirteen judges, and is supreme in civil cases. Five of its judges comprise the court of justiciary, which is supreme in criminal cases. The full court sits in Edin burgh, but circuit courts are held in the principal cities of the country. Criminals are indicted by the lord advocate or his deputies, and are tried at the expense of the state. In case of the lord advocate failing to prosecute, any private person may do so on his own responsibility. Criminal cases are tried by a jury of fifteen persons, a majority only being necessary for a verdict; and when the case is not clear, a verdict of "not proven" may be brought in. Appeals from the Scottish courts go to the house of lords. The subordinate courts in the counties are held by justices of the peace, and the sheriffs, the functions of the latter being judicial in Scotland, and not ministerial, as in England. —In the cities the chief magistrate is not called the mayor, but the "lord provost," and the aldermen are called "baillies." In many particulars the law as well as the titles and duties of public functionaries differ wholly from those of England and the United States, and show distinct traces of the ancient league with France. —The Scottish peers elect sixteen of their number to represent them in the house of lords; but, in addition, many Scottish peers, being also British peers, sit in the house of lords in their own right. and without an election. Scotland is represented in the house of commons by sixty members, of whom thirty-two represent the counties, twenty-six the burghs, and two the universities. Fifty out of the sixty members belong to the liberal party. The strength of the bodies dissenting from the established church has probably much to do with Scotland being so overwhelmingly liberal in politics. The number of electors on the registers in 1881 were: in the counties, 98,328; in the burghs, 216,851. —The established church of Scotland is Presbyterian in form of church government. It embraces but a minority of the people, two non-established Presbyterian churches, the Free and United Presbyterian, having together more adherents than the state church. Some sanguine minds think the day is not far distant when the church of Scotland will be disestablished, and all the Presbyterian bodies of the country be united in one grand Presbyterian church, the church of almost all the people of Scotland. The Free church left the established church in 1843 under the lead of the celebrated Dr. Thomas Chalmers, and the result was another church and manse in almost every parish in Scotland. —For centuries Scotland had a system of national education superior to that of any country in Europe. As early as 1262, Master Thomas Bennum writes himself as "Rector Scholarum de Aberdeen," and in 1478 the master of the "Grammar Schules of Aberdene" had a salary of £5 annually. John Knox and his associates, 300 years ago, ordained that there should be a school in every parish, and there is no doubt but that to her parish school system is to be attributed the high place her sons have commanded in the fields of religion, literature and science. It was truthfully said of Scotland that every Scot had a mouthful of learning, but not a mouthful of meal. The imperial parliament has, in a recent educational act, wholly changed the system in Scotland by providing for local school boards and compulsory education. The number receiving education in 1881 was 720,099, being 19.28 of the whole population. Of those between the ages of five and fifteen no fewer than 79 per cent. were receiving education, which will compare favorably with the school statistics of any state in the American Union. There are four universities in Scotland, viz., St. Andrew's, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh, founded, respectively, in 1411, 1450, 1494 and 1582. They are more popular in their privileges than those of England, and were framed after the pattern of the continental universities of the fifteenth century. During the session of 1880-81 there were 6.619 students of all classes in attendance. The graduates elect two members of parliament; those of Aberdeen and Glasgow electing one, and those of Edinburgh and St. Andrew's the other. —Out of 20,000,000 acres of land in Scotland only 5,000,000 can be cultivated, yet her agriculture is not surpassed by any country in the world. Her deposits of iron and coal are very rich, and her shipbuilding and manufacturing interests are very large. The tonnage built on the Clyde is larger than that on any other river on the globe, and Glasgow is the second city of importance in the British empire. —There has been a great reduction in pauperism and crime during the last ten years. In 1872 there were 117,611 paupers, while in 1881 there were only 97,787; in like manner the number of convicted criminals fell from 2,259 in 1872 to 1,832 in 1881, showing a remarkable diminution of crime as well as pauperism accompanying an increase of population. —Notwithstanding the barren soil, the inhospitable skies and the scant population of Scotland, few nations, since the days of ancient Greece, have produced so many names illustrious as historians, philosophers, scholars, essayists, novelists, scientists, theologians and poets.104 [104.]Scotland has given to the world more than its share of genius, a fact largely attributable to its social, religious and political conditions. We may mention—1. Poets. John Barbour, Sir David Lyndsay, George Buchanan, Dr. Arthur Johnston, Gavin Douglass, Allan Ramsay, Robert Blair, James McPherson, John Logan. Dr. James Beattie, James Thomson (of the "Seasons"), Thomas Campbell, John Skinner, Lady Anne Barnard, Jane Elliott. John Leyden, William Laidlaw, John Graham, James Montgomery, Mrs. Joanna Baillie, Robert Burns. Baroness Nairn, Robert Tannahill, James Hogg (the "Ettrick Shepherd") Allan Cunningham, William Motherwell, William Edmonstoun Aytoun, J. Ballantine, Robert Buchanan.	eng	63c6e73d-a763-4b45-9447-75f9dc51987c	http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=971&chapter=63591&layout=html&Itemid=27
Liberty Practice Challenge On the subject of Goals: a member of this forum Judge Bartley offered comments and a link concerning the practice of Liberty as a rule, or a challenge, in our world. My words, my take on things. To be more specific the exchange of information, or the discussion, which is a competitive endeavor seeking higher quality and lower cost viewpoints by comparative analysis on the original purpose behind The Constitution. Please note that the question can be general or specific, and where it is general the answer will be the collective sum, or aggregate total, of many people sharing the same goal, while the specific answer will be more accurate as to the actual goal being shared by each individual person. Generally speaking The Constitution can be understood as a thing that is used to improve government. Yes, many people may say, I agree, as this is a common goal, to improve, so, by all means, let us improve government. How? It has been a long fought battle on my part to nail down the specific goals in mind for the specific people involved, so as to understand why these specific improvements were made so as to make government better, according to those people who made government better, and that general question has a very specific example in the change from The Articles of Confederation to The Constitution. Why, specifically, was it changed, and how was the specific goal reached, in that specific case. A. No Constitution (People subject to British Rule, fleeing Britain, Settling in America, then becoming ruled by the Monarchy step, by fearful step, once again) B. The Declaration of Independence and The Articles of Confederation leading to Published Rebellion and Invasion by a Criminal Army sent by the Monarchy to enforce obedience upon Targeted Individuals (all who refuse to obey) C. Elimination of the Invading Criminal Army and a sudden and rapid force employed toward the goal of altering The Articles of Confederation into The Constitution, or, in more specific terms: the removal of a working Democratic Federated Republic and the empowering of a Single Nation State. Having my own viewpoint, not having a viewpoint handed down to me, I can not write the script written by someone else, I write the script written by me. That above is the way I see it, and I must add: D. Removal of Legal Money Competition under a working Democratic Federated Republic and instead of Legal Money Competition those people who created The Constitution ushered in a new age of enforced Legal Money Monopoly, because that was their goal. In the Practice of Liberty, it seems to me, people will volunteer to meet and discuss and make deals so as to avoid something terrible, so as to avoid horrible things, so as to avoid costly actions, and so as to avoid being subject to the designs of criminals, including the goal of avoiding subjugation by Legal Criminals. How far away from Liberty have a people become when those people don't even have a word for Legal Criminals. In the past, it seems to me, the operating term, the word, for a Legal Criminal was a Monarchist, or Nationalist, or a Tory or Loyalist. "Oh, yea, the guy down the block, he is a Tory, a Loyalist, one of those guys who feeds the Army that is now occupying our homes, stealing from us, raping our women, killing us, torturing us, because we have the audacity to refuse to feed them, so that they can grow even more powerful while their targeted victims grow even weaker by that obedience to that arrangement." "Under duress?" "What?" "Does he feed them under duress, you know, at the point of a bayonet?" "No, no, no, he will trample upon, or stampede over, his own grandma to get in line to lick their boots, are you kidding me?" "Really?" "A toady to sociopaths is what he is, I declare." "Sycophant!" "Exactly, pining for a position in the new realm is my guess." "A steady income as an informant most likely eh?" "What else?" "Truly" Like this article? Get DP delivered to your inbox daily. Subscribe here: I checked out the site and it looks interesting, but not sure if Tom Woods is a reliable source. Do you have any thoughts about it that you would care to share with me as I htink I would like to brush up on my history. When I saw that link I knew from past experience that Tom Woods is associated with Liberty, most likely linked to me through the Lew Rockwell Web Page. I'm not certain as I write this, but I will start looking for specifics. I saw that announcement here on this valuable Forum, I tried to sign up, but I saw the Credit Card # space on the registration page and that was as far as I went down that path. I want to challenge anyone, including any teacher, on political economy, and I know that it would be too costly for me to pay for my access to challenge them, when all they have to do is expel me from class and keep my tuition. I can't afford much these days, certainly not that much. The additional goal, on my end, is to learn what I do not yet know. So: 1. Compete with anyone as to my understanding, my knowledge, concerning political economy (which is a form of learning, it is adaptation, it is side by side comparison of one perspective relative to another, and the process of accurate discernment proves out as higher quality perspectives are tested against lower quality perspectives, as one will cost less than the other over time) 2. Find new angles of view, as yet not perceived, of which the content may completely dominate my previous understanding, or alter it on a more accurate path. I am competitive by nature; hence the division of one thing into two things. Learning is vital, for whatever reason imaginable. On to Tom Woods: "Abolish the Entire Government All of it, says Tom Woods." That is the first article I found in a search, as I opened the link to Lew Rockwell Dot Com Archives on Tom Woods. Here is the problem I have with Capitalist or Right Wing Anarchists, or AnCaps Anarchist Capitalists. When very many bad guys have formed a very larger and powerful organized crime ring and they are at the gates to your property it may be a good idea to figure out a way to gain enough power to avoid becoming their next victim. An obvious solution involves more than the power capacity contained in one individual person. It takes one to invent, produce, and offer a workable solution, but the solution requires more than one person to agree with it, in order for the defensive, or avoidance, power to be sufficient in any case where the aggressive, criminal, power is composed of many people. Example: Nazi Germany Bolshevik Russia Wall Street If you have no idea as to why I put Wall Street in that list of examples of powerful aggressive criminal forces, then you may want to check out these two reports: The solution to the current problem isn't to run and hide, or to hope that market forces will save the day, in my opinion. Now let me see if I can pull a quote from the above mentioned article by Tom Woods, and see what angle of view he reports. That was not a good article for this purpose but I did find this: "The separation of money and state" That is not necessarily the fix, but it eludes to the fix. Please let me explain my take on this: Power flowing to criminals from victims make criminals more powerful while victims grow weaker over time. Separating the victims from the criminals is therefore the fix if the problem is exactly that problem, and no other problem. How is that done? How is that done if the criminals are already very much more powerful than the victims, according to the victims? Who actually has the power in the first place? Honest productive people have the power in the first place, it seems to me, and the proof is easy to see, as soon as money is separated from the criminals as that money connects those criminals to the victims. As soon as that connection is broken, there is no more power flowing to the criminals. What happens? The criminals will then have few choices, at least one choice less then they had before the connection was broken. No longer an option: 1. Steal from the victims through the money connection Options left: 2. Consume each other, as the criminals are still connected to each other with their money, they will then consume each other with that type of fraudulent money, as it is designed to favor criminals at the expense of victims. 3. Depend upon charity as charitable people offer other forms of connections to desperate former criminals, assuming that some of the honest productive people are able to produce enough extra so as to be able to afford to be truly charitable, honestly charitable, and voluntarily charitable. 4. Get honest work and begin producing surplus wealth on their own, and then enter the equitable commerce that will exist once there are no longer any useful (to criminals) connections made between victims and criminals. My problem with the quote from Tom Woods has to do with a lack of specifics concerning what he means by the words he uses: "The separation of money and state" That sounds good, but it may just be vapor. It may be words that can mean one thing one second, and the opposite thing the next second. What happens if the criminals don't like having their gravy train derailed and they set about hiring, or tricking, or forcing a very large army to enforce that connection between victims and criminals, or that connection between money and state? Won't the victims need a way to move their individual power into a single power of some kind that can deter those criminal aggressive armies that may want to maintain the connection between money and state? If the solution offered by Tom Woods is Free Money Markets, then that is one thing. If the solution by Tom Woods is a Democratic Federated Republican Limited Constitution Government that is another thing, and if the solution by Tom Woods is Gold and Silver as the winner of a contest for market share in a Free Money Market, then that is where I really have a hard time believing in such nonsense. People must find a way to avoid all those connections between victims and criminals if the goal is to avoid being a victim or a criminal, and if the connection between one Honest Productive Person is anything but Equitable Commerce, in my view, there will be a flow of power from victims to criminals. My guess is that Gold and Silver works as a shackle placed by Honest Productive People upon the specialized workers hired to help the employers avoid becoming either victims or criminals - because Gold and Silver is in such short supply that those employees won't have enough power to do anything more than exactly what they are told to do, by their employees. If you can't make sense of that, I can explain. The other side of that coin is that The People, the one's who hire specialized workers who are hired to help The People run a service, where the service is "to avoid becoming victims or criminals", are not shackled by those same shackles. Like this: 1. State is financed through the medium of Gold and Silver, limited in the work of one thing only, to help The People avoid becoming either victims or criminals. 2 The People can use any damn money they want to use, whenever they want to use it, including Gold and Silver, and including any money that is higher in quality, and lower in cost, than Gold and Silver, according to their own self-determined, voluntary, welcome, agreeable, individual, power of discernment, judgement, and practice. My guess is that Tom Woods will speak of The State, or Government, as ideally comprised of nothing more than an Insurance policy chosen by anyone caring to invest in such a thing, at their sole discretion. If so, I can sign onto that same understanding. How, though, does one get from here to there? That is what I can offer, a step by step methodology, so as to remove anyone's complaint, or at least the legitimacy of anyone's complaint, that there are no workable solutions. I think it to be impossible to separate victims from criminals because men's hearts are evil and predisposed to do wrong. You don't have to teach a child to lie or steal. They do it naturally because of their own human lusts. So even if you remove the first layer of criminals, then from the victims a 2nd layer will arise until the last criminal slays the last victim. Then there will be no criminals or victims because there will be no humanity. Thus the necessity of government which according to Dr. Ron Paul is to enforce and uphold contracts so that criminals are not allowed to victimize. Unfortunately the government then digresses to victimize for self-gain. Whichis probably why our founders advocated a society permeated with the Christian religion; i.e. the Golden Rule. And from what I understand the very continuance of the Republic would rely on the continuance of a such society. You will have to explain more on the gold/silver thing. Dr. Paul advocates a gold/silver standard from what I understand. Yes, there is a limited supply, but that is what makes the value somewhat stable. If you can bear it, I can explain 2 competitive plans side by side as I understand them to be. To do this right I think we should start a new Forum Topic. But I'll start it here, and then see if there is any demand for it. Imagine Ron Paul was elected President and then imagine that Joe Kelley was elected President, not at the same time, two possible future conditions of reality in our world. I Ron Paul A. End The Federal Reserve (repeal legal tender laws) B. End The Federal Income Tax (stop enforcing legalized extortion at the National Level, States can try out legalized extortion and then we can see which States grow stronger compared to States that refrain from legalizing extortion) C. Bring the Troops Home II. Joe Kelley A. Product 1 and Product 2 are promoted by the new President, and it is now OK to go ahead and compete with The Federal Reserve crooks, go ahead, be competitive, and try Product 1 and Product 2, as explained, if you decide to do so. I don't know how Ron Paul will get his plan through the gauntlet that is in place, but let us assume that he is somehow elected despite the rigged election scam, and then suppose further that his 3 steps are done as promised, or at least as I understand how the plan can work. Ending The Federal Reserve, in my view, ends the financing of World War III, on the spot, that is done, it is over, because they have not yet made America weak enough to be unable to survive World War III, and they (The Legal Criminals) have not yet made China powerful enough to win (as if there can be a winner) World War III, which is their plan, that is their plan, as I see it, and so ending The Federal Reserve ends the power flow from American to China, on the spot. China want's to collect all that debt, so bringing the troops home helps end World War III. We may need a power of defense here at home. More so than anyone is willing to admit, I'm afraid. What replaces The Federal Reserve, with it's World War III, which is supposed to follow in tandem with The World Wide Economic Collapse? That is where the repeal of Legal Tender Laws come in, according to the plan, as I understand it. A number of States are already growing in the power they need to resist enforcement of this Legal Money Monopoly with it's drive toward Economic Collapse and World War III, so as to move The World Reserve Currency Power (fraud) to China. Repealing legal tender laws allow those States to begin producing their own State run Gold and Silver Banks. What does that do? That immediately regains World Reserve Currency Status back to America and the only way any other country can take it back from us would be to produce a higher quality legal money, at a lower cost, which is almost impossible due to the ignorance of mankind, again this is merely my viewpoint, I think my plan is better. Immediately filling the vacuum created by the elimination of The Federal Reserve System of Extortion is a new age of Honest Money in America, and from that point the sky is the limit because, simply put, the power that was being siphoned off of all the Productive Americans, Honest Americans, would no longer be consumed in propping up the bubble in China, nor would that stolen loot be consumed in destroying things, and people, all over the Globe, and what would all that power be doing, since it wasn't being used in all that destruction? Power would be used to make more power. Instead of power being used to destroy all competition where ever and when ever power rears it's ugly head. Why is that not easy to see, simple, and a self-evident progression of reality resulting from those exact things Ron Paul is obviously determined to accomplish? I don't know. I think it is easy to see, and it will work as advertized, and if those Legal Criminals have enough power to stop our Liberty now then waiting any longer isn't in our best interest. Those Legal Criminals are at their weakest now, and we are now at our strongest, the window of opportunity won't stay open long. The Legal Criminals will buy, with our power, using their fraudulent money, Economic Collapse of us, not of them, and they will buy World War III, where we pay all the costs, and they reap all the profits, if we let them. I can move onto my plan, which are Product 1 and Product 2, but who would listen? So all in all, Ron Paul's plan inhibits WWIII for starting because there is no printing of money to finance it. I did not realize it boiled down so simply to eliminating WWIII. If you like, start another post and explain product 1 and product 2. Perhaps someone besides me will listen. Are you Joe Kelley? I am going to reread your 2nd post now and mull it over to reply. I am glad you are well now. Im doing family stuff now. Will check back later tonight. I skimmed both of your posts and will re-read to let it sink in. I think part of the issue for me is that all these concepts are new and have never even been a thought for me, so I have to reread to get meaning. I am not very far along in my Liberty and political thinking. I've only recently woken up to the horror we are in. Thank you for your patience. I can cut down a whole lot of time and energy that anyone may spend on trying to figure out Political Economy if you want to take a short cut. Learn this: Power produced into oversupply reduces the price of power while purchasing power increases because power reduces the cost of production. That is ENGLISH. I'm sure that the above can be formed into a mathematical statement, but the symbols needed must include symbols that measure human perceptions such as "value". If power has value the value is in perpetuating good life. If power has value it is in productive use of it, to use it to increase the quality of life while reducing the cost of life. If power has value as a means of destruction and enslavement then the opposite is true as such: Power produced into scarcity increases the price of power while purchasing power increases only for those who enforce power scarcity, because power used to destroy power is a crime in progress. The formula becomes rather convoluted, but none-the-less true. Honest people are productive people, not destructive, they produce more than they consume, and they are the source of surplus wealth, and surplus wealth is the stuff that exists when standards of living increase, measurably, while at the same time the costs of living decrease measurably, because there is more surplus wealth, more power, more power in reserve, an abundance of power, like sunlight on a nice warm day. Everything should be made as simple as possible, not simpler. Albert Einstein (or so I've been told) I hate pain, but I know it, so I have sorrow for those who bear the unbearable. During a bout with a Pulmonary Embolism my being went savage, it seems to me, where the pain sent me into an animal like condition. Liberty is for the healthy, innocent, honest, productive people. Those who may be charitable, those who can afford to be charitable. Those who have the power to be liberated. As to the nature of understanding, one step at a time, I can offer help in this regard. I've been very ignorant, very stupid, very confused, and those conditions persist, at least I know it. If there are any stumbling blocks in the way of you understanding my point of view, which wasn't handed to me on a silver platter, spooned fed with a silver spoon, I can go step by step toward that goal. I think discussion on this is vital, and I don't think you will find my viewpoint reported by Tom Woods. that I deleted about having to read yours 3 times and think about it...really it wasn't that bad. 1 more time thru and then a small repeat and I had it. My reply is above. I edited it several times so hopefully you didn't start replying while I was editing. I guess I think in layers. I was replying about the gold/silver thing but it didn't take my post because you replied to it so I am going to say about the gold silver thing... I understand that if we can all use whatever we want as money then there will not be a central control of money. However, there will still be those who conterfeit, steal, or swindle. The criminals will organize and there will still be victims. But at least there would not be a banking monoply as we know it. "Wealth can therefore also be defined as the entire sum of goods at an economizing individual's command, the quantities of which are smaller than the requirements for them. Hence, if there were a society where all goods were available in amounts exceeding the requirements for them, there would be no economic goods nor any "wealth." " So, I'm just an average Joe, but I do my homework. That above is Austrian Economics in a nut-shell. In the first quote the Author who is an Authority on Economics emphatically states that there is no such thing as Charity. I don't know how else to read that quote. Everyone (which means absolutely no one is left out of this group) will attempt to secure his own requirements as completely as possible (again an absolute word choice, leaving no stone unturned, as completely as possible) to the exclusion of others. Explain Parenting under that context? I'm a parent. Parenting is a charitable institution, in my view. Someone, a parent, secures requirements for others, their reproduced copies, at least as much as will help keep them alive. The whole thing, from that view, looks like an apology for greed, to me. But the second quote explains more, like putting in the puzzle piece that begins to really show how the pictures takes form. There is no wealth in abundance. That makes no sense, unless the opposite is true, whereby wealth is measured only by scarcity. "Now, if it were not a part of the present system to get a price according to the degree of want or suffering of the community, there would long since have been some arrangement made to ADAPT THE SUPPLY TO THE DEMAND. This, even in the present wretched jumble of accidents, would, to a great extent, soften some of the most hideous features of our cannibal commerce." There before you are two competitive explanations concerning wealth, and the quotes merely point to the principles involved. 1. Wealth = Scarcity 2. Wealth = Cost The relationship is not exactly EQUAL so much as it is inversely proportional in the second case. More like this: Higher Standard of living = Lower cost of living The former or the first case, that scarceonomics "theory" appears to tell people that there is only value when things are made scarce, on purpose, so as to produce the power to jack the price up as high as it can go, to the upper limits of "that which the market will bear". That makes no sense, other than in a sense that the very few can gain enough power by which those very few can then have the power needed to restrict the flow of power to everyone else, and therefore everyone else will be killing each other for a spot at the table, or alter, where the few decide who can have a little bit of power, at a very high price, which turns out to be a very high cost, and all costs are borne by the many, and all profits are consumed by the few, at the exclusive pleasure of the few. I can have that all wrong, of course, but the quotes are not mine. The words are authored by those authorities. I've boiled down political economy to one sentence, not a volume of books, not mountains of fine print, but one simple sentence. Power produced into oversupply reduces the price of power while purchasing power increases because power reduces the cost of production. I call that Joe's Law, because no one else will own up to it. It is true. It is an accurate account of Political Economy as it exists in reality. I can explain in greater detail. I can offer step by step methods by which the application of political economy can work to allow people to produce higher standards of living at lower costs of living and in so doing the power shifts from Despotism to Liberty. It really isn't that difficult to understand, so long as the person doing the understanding can get past all the lies, the frauds, and the mountains of misdirections that have piled almost as high as the mass murdered victims of Legal Crime have collectively piled up, and are about to pile up much faster. Including the Cancer victims whose lives are tortured and ended because of Crimes made Legal, including those legal criminals protecting their Monopolies as they legally destroy all competition where ever and when ever competition rears it's ugly head (ugly from a Legal Criminals view). I had the same thought about charity as well. I don't think Menger's thesis holds up. There are people who die for others...heros. What greater sacrifice is one's own life given for someone else? In the same vain, there are people who will give their last piece of bread to help someone else. There was a widow who gave her last 2 mites... Anyways when you give to the poor you lend to the Lord, so that leads to a supernatural type of economics. The 2nd part about scarceonomics whas harder for me to understand. But it seems to do with creating wealth by pricing at the upper limits to what the market will bear. Of course then you get into whether selling a greater quantity at a lower price is better than selling a few at a higher price. And there is always competition that can drive prices down... . All the necessities are being driven up because money is being printed, but salaries are not commenserate with the rate of printed money so the standard of living drops which then takes money out of the pockets of those that provide higher standard items. And yes, it is sickening that cancer patients are tortured to the death while every ounce of energy with every penny is squeezed out. One man in our area lost his wife to cancer and he said his worse enemy did not deserve to go thru what his wife did. And yet the drive to survive puts us into the hands of those that profit thru sickness. My brother-in-law was told that he could access his life insurance to fight his cancer... I have to go on a field trip tomorrow so I will be out of pocket till Friday. I am going to run a Political Economy Open Challenge Topic, if things work out soon. I have already in this thread a version of Ron Paul's Political Economy, which is based upon Austrian Economics A (not B - and there are 2 versions). I have to add that I think Ludwig Von Mises is the basis for Austrian Economics A, and I think Carl Menger is the basis for Austrian Economics B. One is absolutely Free Banking, no ifs, no ands, no butts, no Legal Tender Laws, while, and perhaps, it is OK to shackle government down to only using Gold and Silver - making up the A and B collage I can't speak for the Austrians, so I can't claim to have any authority over their thinking, but I can use what I know to illustrate the vital point of how competition works to force quality up (driving the standard of living up) and competition works to force the cost of living down (forcing prices down to cost). I can use your questions, I can use the already written Ron Paul Political Economy 3 point plan. I can explain my plan side by side with Ron Paul's Plan. Competition. That same force aught to be Legally working on Legal Money, and it is not, there really is no World Wide Legal Money Competition, because there is instead a world wide copy cat business, or race to the bottom, as all governments, with few exceptions, employ a Legal Money Monopoly Extortion Racket - leading to a World Wide Economic Collapse, and World War III. The competition is a slow race of sorts, the loser goes too fast. There does not have to be a single dictator looking fellow like the James Bond movie where there is only one Dictator lording over everyone, that would actually be very bad for the Legal Criminal Types, or the Legal Criminal Class, since the victims would all then know exactly who was their single worst enemy, assuming any number of them cared enough to know, considering all the power of mass media, behavioral modification, manufactured consent, false advertizements, brain washing, false propaganda, response conditioning, and all that false produce, in every form imaginable. The Copy Cats are all in the same mold, that is the common denominator, and they will kill each other off as they fight over their prey, their turf, unless there is a driving force that keeps their kind at bay, such as a mutually assured absolute destruction of everyone, which is obviously possible now, and such as a Mutually Beneficial Arrangement of some kind, a plan to agree to disagree. Such as: We the aforementioned Legal Criminals agree to stop fighting each other while leaving each others victims alone, until such time as it is in our combined best interest to consume a large portion of each of our supplies of victims as needed, cannon fodder don't you known, on a regular basis, since they do tend to get wild and crazy at times, thinking for themselves, and governing themselves, as they are wont to do from time to time, if we let them. So signed Alexander Hamilton, George the First, Second, and the American Versions etc. etc. etc. At times there are rouges among the rouges, so much for honor among thieves, such as those hired Warmongers and War Profiteers hired by The Dollar Hegemony to run Iraq, that two timing miscreant Saddam Hussein, and the one hired to help kill off some of those Modern Day Bolsheviks invading Afghanistan not long ago, that "Freedom Fighter", at the time, Osama Bin Laden, and perhaps, even now, our own runaway Dictator in Chief, Osama Hussein Obama who may have turned sides, not following orders well enough, cancelling the Keystone pipeline deal may have stepped well over the line. Like Kennedy 1, and 2, perhaps even Hitler stopped following orders. I think, perhaps, Stalin was the model, the Ultra Deluxe Legal Criminal for hire, maybe Pol Pot out did even Stalin, obeying every command, never stepping out of line, doing what is best for the fold. But...some of them, a few, just don't behave, imagine that! Feed them well enough and what can we expect? Create a demand and what will happen? Make it legal to profit by resort to deceit, make it legal to profit by resort to threats of violence, make it legal to profit by torturous and massive violence, known as war, and there will be people filing that demand, no doubt in my mind. Crime does pay, it is the best game in town. Why would it be inconceivable, only to the targeted victims of course, but inconceivable none-the-less to those victims, that there is a sort of, kind of, Honor among Legal Criminals, what may it be called: Legal Crime Union of Legal Criminal Workers United? Printed on the Stationary, the LOGO, the Trademark? I don't know which organization is tops right now. I don't get the memos. The game is might makes right, they know it, and their victims think that they are playing something akin to the Golden Rule. Talk about malivestment. So, you may or may not read these last entries in this Thread, I will answer the other one here too. I think it is important to also answer a few specific points: "Anyways when you give to the poor you lend to the Lord, so that leads to a supernatural type of economics." It is said that Jesus said something along the lines of: if someone asks for something give them more than what they ask for - I won't look for the specific quote. I think the point is that there is a competitive Political Economy along side Capitalism, and it is one that does not require the total destruction of capitalism, or any other competition anywhere, it just is, and it isn't hiding in the dark ready to strike, and it is simple, and it is called Charity. The Golden Rule Call it what you want, the point is that everyone does not necessarily work to fulfill their own requirements as completely as possible to the exclusion of others, that is not an accurate perspective, there are other thoughts, and there are other acts, that fall into a more charitable vein. As to the supernatural economics I can't measure it, since it is supernatural, but the natural one is easy to measure, so long as there is an accurate measuring device, such as a few honest people using an honest accounting system, an equitable commerce of some kind, including an allowance, or a crediting of, competitive examples. One is bound to be better at being honest than another, according to some of the users, and one is bound to be more accurate than another, according to other users, and one may actually be driven so high in quality as to begin to measure a supernatural economic advantage, by its users, as they see it, with their own eyes, and their own capacity to know better. Rather than settling for worseHere is where you may have limited vision, due to a lack of competitive viewpoints from which to judge a more wide angle view of more things, not all things, just a little wider angle than a too narrow angle. I may be able to squeeze a few things into your viewpoint, things that may be hidden just outside of your view, somewhere in the peripheral. My Product 1 and Product 2 Plan intends to illustrate this very thing, this Monopoly Viewpoint, this Too Narrow Viewpoint, where a Competitive Viewpoint, or Wider Angle Viewpoint, encompasses other options, and options that may make a whole lot of sense, where previous to the illustration there was less sense, or even nonsense, comparatively speaking.What power or force is at play in our world when the goal is to fit the supply of money to the demand for it? What power or force, as you know it to be, working to invent, produce, and maintain a money supply that is not too much and not too little since too much causes BOOMS and too little causes BUSTS, as if The Business Cycle were some kind of Natural Occurrence, an inevitability, something that man must control, something that there aught to be a law to stop? Here is where it is very tricky, a Litmus Test, to see if you have a handle on the facts, the reality, or if you are suffering from a lack of understanding, or worse, to see if you are possessed of a belief in your capacity to know better, while the fact is that you don't, and therefore your hubris locks you into that state of ignorance, leaving you with no interest, and no principle, with which to escape that condition? I know that the last paragraph may sound authoritative on my part, and it is admitted, confessed, that I have no cause to be authoritative, but the facts speak for themselves. You wrote did not write that, so that is not mine, and that is a viewpoint that is directly opposite of my viewpoint, and if both viewpoints are as good as the other, then there is no authority earned by my viewpoint, at all. Why not find out? Why not test your viewpoint competitively, side by side, with a competitive viewpoint? I am willingWhy is there only so much money to go around? What is the force at play in reality, now, whereby there is only so much money to go around? It may be said that I am cheating, since I've read a whole lot of data, mountains of data, concerning many variations of competitive money products, comparing each one, trying to find fault, trying to find benefit, trying to see which is higher in quality, and which is lower in cost. I've made it my business to know better, and I've been at this for over 20 years. I do this each day, every day. 365 days a year. Over 20 years. Very few days off. I'm possessed in this regard, by forces I do not understand. I go to sleep thinking of this problem, I wake up with new angles of viewpoints, competitive adaptations of view. If you are challenged by this, right here,And my question: What is the power at play to limit the supply to the demand for money? "A field which has no fence upon one of its sides is not fenced in, no matter how high and strong its fences may be on the other sides. So, the volume of the currency is not, in any true sense, limited by prohibitions of free banking, by a return to specie basis, or by any other means, so long as negotiable paper can be freely issued by individuals; and this free issue of negotiable paper is too useful, and too well intrenched in necessity, ever hereafter to be interfered with. Commerce can be hindered and trammeled to some extent – by statute arrangements claiming to regulate the currency, whether by restrictive measures, or by flooding the community with over-issues; but the volume of the currency can no longer be adjusted by such means. "There is, it is true, a certain temporary advantage in the specie basis, simply because it is traditionally believed in, and beliefs or ideas enter into the question of the stability of values. " That can be cut down to a sound bite, or it can be expanded to its entirety, and it can also be added to volumes of support concerning that one point: "A field which has no fence upon one of its sides is not fenced in, no matter how high and strong its fences may be on the other sides." To repeat, so as to avoid being lost in the words: ask: What is at play in governing the supply to meet the demand for money? A Point worth Pondering: "A field which has no fence upon one of its sides is not fenced in, no matter how high and strong its fences may be on the other sides." The belief in fraud made legal is one of those side of that fence. How high is it? What is the solution to any problem if you can't see it, or refuse to see it? My mind is boggled...I did not understand what I don't understand. Did you tell me, or leave me guessing? I do not understand what I need to see in broadened vision. Forgive my ignorance. It is not that I want to be stuck. I think I do not understand. In my simple mind...The limited paycheck is the power at play that limits the amount of money. Therefore work more than 1 job...my husband is working multiple. But, the cost of living continues to increase so what used to be enough to go around and provide for extras is consumed by necessities. I say that is because legal crime has allowed the dollar to be depreciated 98% in the last 100 years (according to Ron Paul). If a dollar still had its same value we would have plenty, but then of course or paycheck(s) would reflect the true value of the dollar so I still don't know if there would be enough to increase standard of living. Education increases standard of living, but when one has put ones self at the dispose of the Lord's work, it is not our say what we will earn...because we are not in it for the money or in it to take stepping stones to better and higher paid positions. But the way America used to work was work hard and get more...now it is work hard and harder to buy less and less and work longer and longer (I think till May) to pay taxes... So I think I am still seeing too narrowly. Please help me expand my horizen, if you think it possible. That is a sentence in English, and it is a question, and it exemplifies the question, or, it is a self evident fact. It, and I mean only that sentence, is an example of communication. If it is invented, produced, and then sent to other people, where the inventor intends to help other people while helping the inventor, then everyone wins, if the sentence accomplishes the goal that is intended by the inventor. I say all that as a way of leading into the answer – as I see it. Liberty = Competition That is the answer and that is the answer because the problem (or question) is: Despotism (Legal Crime) = Monopoly Example: Your invention driven by your intention arrives to me, and to anyone else listening, in the form of a competitive, adaptive, voluntary, question as such: "Am I both the solution and the problem?" Compare that offering to my reply, which is also a competitive, adaptive, voluntary, offering, as words, as words being communicated, so as to accomplish a goal: The Problem is Legal Crime, which is Monopoly, and therefore the solution is Liberty which is a process of voluntarily choosing better instead of worse. How can better be chosen instead of worse? People must be able to see that which is better if people are going to earn the power to choose better, and therefore there must be more than ONE CHOICE. ONE CHOICE = OBEDIENCE That is false, that is a false choice; it is falsehood. Do you invent lies? Do you produce lies? Do you maintain lies? Do you think lies just happen to fall out of the sky, or do you know, for a fact, that there is a human being behind every lie, and that there then must be an inventor of every lie, and a producer of every lie, and someone driving that lie along as falsehood continues to grow, and as all human power is driven toward each human being destroying each other human being? Or do you think better that that description of reality in the previous paragraph? How about taking an adaptive viewpoint, a competitive viewpoint, and I don't need any credit for it, it is competitive, and it works for me, so you may find it to be useful too. Productive Power in all the forms that Productive Power exists can be used to produce more Productive Power. Know that as a fact, and you, I, or anyone can prove that fact in many ways, by many competitive measures, but for now know that fact, or pretend to know it while I proceed in this process of knowing better. Since Productive Power can be used to produce more Productive Power it is then humanly possible to reach a point at which Productive Power is abundant. If you are skeptical as to that fact, which can be proven, has been proven, and will continue to be proven, as fact, in many competitive ways of measuring that fact, then please assume that it could be true, despite your skepticism for now, because I have to proceed to the next step. Since abundant power is humanly possible, what can possibly explain the cause of failing to arrive at that point whereby Productive Power is abundant? Are you seeing the truth yet? Get past the indoctrinations of dogma according to socialism versus capitalism and get to the point, please. Power can be used to make more power, productive power, power producing more power, until there is an abundance of power, in all forms that productive power can exist, and know that this is possible, and know that this is actually necessary if human beings, or any living organism, are to survive for any length of time – at all. What stops productive power from reaching a point of abundance? Back to your question: "Am I both the solution and the problem?" People choose not to use power to make more power, reaching a point where there is an abundance of power, and people choose to use power to destroy power, and the result is measurable. In context: If you work productively then there will be more power when you are done working compared to how much power there was before you started working, or, in fact, your work would not be productive. If your work is productive, do you get to keep it, and are you then more powerful after work, compared to the power you were before you started working? How would you know? If someone evil could figure out a way to take all the power you did produce when you worked, each day, what form would that crime take in our world today, supposing, of course, that there were people alive today who did want this power over you? Despotism = Monopoly The form that the process would take, by which your power would be taken from you, as you worked to produce more power, would be the form by which your power was used to destroy you. Your power produced by you would be used by someone else instead of you and they would use that power to make you weaker and to make them stronger and what do you think would be the result of that process working over time? You grow steadily weaker. They can only grow as strong as your ability to continue to produce something worth stealing. See? Power used to produce more power results, inevitably, into a condition of abundant power. Why does electricity cost so much? Why does fuel for transportation cost so much? Why does food cost so much? Why does money cost so much (don't be fooled here)? Why does work cost so much? Why do clothes cost so much? Why does shelter cost so much? Why does information cost so much (don't be fooled here)? Why does protection from fraud, protection from threats of violence, and protection from torturous, brutal, and massive violence upon millions of innocent victims cost so much? Answer: Common Sense is absent in our current lives. Such as: (Thomas Paine Common Sense 1776) Power flows to the Legal Criminals and they use that power to steal more. Who is left to use power to make more power so that there is an abundance of power, so that our standards of living are rising, and so that our costs of living are falling? When enough of us wake up, we will then begin the process of keeping the power we earn and we will then invest our power our way, in our own best interest, not in the National Interest, and power will move more toward abundance instead of power being stolen and then used to destroy us. More of us have to wake up soon. There must be enough of us using power productively, not destructively, if human beings are going to survive – ever. Don't be fooled. Don't be sucked into the false demand for your power, taken from you, for your own good, because that is most likely a fraud, that is most likely a confidence scheme, and that is most likely going to be providing the means by which we suffer, instead of using the means we earn to earn more for our own good. I had an eBay business for 10 years. eBay kept changing the rules every 3-6 months until they finally wanted 11% fee from my exact postage shipping charges. I declined and quit turning merchandise 4 times for eBay which meant I also quit sending quarterly tax returns. Ultimately when the monopoly gets too much power it self-destructs. Perhaps that is why people are waking up now. if Ron Paul is not elected. If our elected officials will not follow the constitution to which they swore? Is there really any hope 2016? "I feared my ignorance was too much for you to continue to spoon feed!" That is how science works, as the scientist cannot assume authority over knowledge. You and I see our present level of knowledge as a state of ignorance, and therefore we look for knowledge, as opposed to assuming authority over knowledge and from that monopolistic position we stop looking for knowledge, instead, if we had assumed authority over knowledge, we would dictate our authority over knowledge to other people – one way communication. Two way communications is productive. One way communication is by comparative analysis with two way communication: destructive (it is incapable of adaptation). We recognize ignorance, and therefore we look for knowledge. We don't assume authority over knowledge, and therefore we do not dictate knowledge to other people. Who could ask for more? All things are relative. You have gained the power of knowledge over ignorance where I have not, and visa versa, and the score is measured by you relative to me, and visa versa, I score the relative power my way. The point is to discuss both viewpoints and both of us find where experience suggests knowledge and both of us find where experiences suggests error. Minds meet, compare notes, both are better, neither is injured. This is the Power Struggle on a psychological level, we gain (supposedly) the power of knowledge so as to think of ways to gain power on a physical level, it is a Power Struggle. We do this all the time, we use the power we have to gain more power (not at the expense of someone else), and here is an example provided by Noam Chomsky in his book On Language: How is it that mankind has progressed to a point where there is now a vast store of knowledge; given the fact that each human life is very short in time? No single person, in one life time, could possibly have invented every single invention required to land a vehicle on Mars, for example. (my words interpreting his words which were his words interpreting other words, in that book) This discussion stuff, the productive employment of brain power, is facilitated by tools, such as language, books, and mediums of exchange. Forums Bear wrote: "Ultimately when the monopoly gets too much power it self-destructs. Perhaps that is why people are waking up now." This can be seen from the simplest viewpoint and then it can be seen in more and more complicated ways. The simplest viewpoint, in my opinion, is to realize that monopoly is by design destructive, therefore the only possible result is to destroy. From a more complicated viewpoint it can be understood that there can only be so many monopolists, or parasites, because someone actually does have to produce something worth stealing; as the number of monopolists grow relative to the number of victims, there is an obvious point at which there are too many parasites and not enough productive people. This also explains the function of war, which is to reduce the number of everyone, and the idea is to reduce the number of producers relative to the number of consumers. The idea, as far as the consumers/monopolists are concerned, is to reduce more consumers and keep alive more ready victims/producers. People are now seeing why they are being targeted, and it is not easy to know this fact. Now you can see two steps of complication, from the least complicated and then one more step in complication. 1. Monopoly (Legal Crime) is destructive so when it works things are destroyed. 2. Too many monopolists (working together to destroy) and not enough producers (working together to produce) results in self-destruction, or a requirement to keep monopoly going by "culling the herd", as the number of monopolists has to be reduced relative to the number of the producers. Legal Criminals know this fact, victims may not yet know this fact. Legal Criminals intend to reduce the number of Legal Criminals relative to the number of Productive Victims. If you are one of them: watch your back. Productive Victims intend to disconnect from the whole dirty business. Now you may see a third level of complication to illustrate how this part of the power struggle works between Monopoly (Legal Crime) and Competition (Liberty) in your own experience as such: The Creators of Legal Purchasing Power (claims on wealth or "dollars") legally print claims on all the wealth that is produced by all the producers of wealth, which they did in 2008, for one example, as The Federal Reserve Criminals (legalized by their selves) doubled the money supply, or wrote themselves a check for as much money as everyone else combined. They then "offer" other people a "piece of the action" in the form of banking interest. The slogan can be: "You too can be like us, and collect something for nothing, in the form of banking interest." Here is where it becomes very complicated, but you can see this, as can anyone else with a working human brain. The idea is to create the illusion of being "one of us", as "we" get something for nothing. That is a lie, of course, because there is no such thing as something for nothing, there must be someone, somewhere, actually working to produce the things that are worth stealing. The things that are worth earning require actual productive work. The things that are worth stealing require destructive work applied to victims (those who work productively). The idea is to confuse the two, and what happens is a move by productive people from complete rejection of any notion of joining in with the criminals to a gradual acclimatization into being one of the criminals, having a stake in it, but it is all illusion. You can do the math. If the rate of inflation is 10% (when they double the money supply and spend that money the rate of inflation is 50% not 10%), but if the rate of inflation is 10%, and if the savings interest rate is 3%, then the dupes who are lead to think that their money is making more money for them (something for nothing) at the tune of 3% annual interest are, they are not earning anything, they are, in fact, loosing 7%. Had they bought gold, which does not "generate interest" they would have stored their money competitively: they would not lose 7% while thinking they are earning 3%. It is complicated on purpose - of course. Bait and switch is the name of the game, as the Legal Criminals recruit more fellow "something for nothing" cohorts, until such time as that number of cohorts reaches an unaffordable number relative to the actual producers of the stuff that is worth stealing, and then there will be war, even if all the targeted victims prefer not to go to war, there will be war, too bad for you. Obey There is no option. Options are illusions in Monopoly (Legal Crime). Bear wrote: "Ultimately when the monopoly gets too much power it self-destructs. Perhaps that is why people are waking up now." I want to move further into your reply but there is a point that I think is worth offering at this juncture, and the point is pointed out in the words of Henry Ford: "It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." Henry Ford That explains why it is vital for the Legal Criminals to project the illusion of getting "something for nothing" to the victims, to get the victims believing that we area all on the same side, in the minds of the victims, not actually being on their side, the point of all the falsehood is to keep the victims from gaining too much power - duped. If the victims gain too much power they will then have the power to avoid being victims. Victims must be duped. Victims must be fooled. There is one born every minute. That is wholly different (being duped) compared to gaining the power to fight back (stop being duped), entirely different than gaining the power to use deceit, threats of violence, and acts of defensive violence in defense against crime by those Legal Criminals (becoming that which we supposedly abhor). 1. Avoid being victim or criminal 2. Become a criminal supposedly in defense against being a victim One is true, and the other is a Patented Absurdity. Total avoidance of any contact at all with Legal Crime is Liberty. As soon as enough of the victims wake up, having figured it out in their sleep, according to Henry Ford, the game is over for the Legal Criminals. This can be illustrated easily by a simple example such as when a store clerk cuts the credit card of a dead beat that is at the register intending to purchase something from the store with a fraudulent credit card. The power of the producer is physiological, knowing better, not buying into the fraud, and merely cutting off the connection simply, and irrevocably. Snip. If Henry Ford was able to hear the sound of that connection being snipped, why can't all the victims do that same thing, over night? Yes, we can, to steal a phrase from one of the Legal Criminals. We don't need no stinking Legal Criminals. We can, and we can do so over night, or we can decide to cut that credit card on a date in the future – how about July 4th, 2012? It sounds good to me, how about you? Who is listening? Who really wants to opt out of the whole Legal Crime business? Who is still operating under the illusion that they have a stake in it? When will they, or we, finally learn, or are they, or are we, truly one of the Legal Criminals, are we all one by illusion, making sure that the victims pay up, on time, making sure that the victims consume themselves for our profits, while we all consume each other? Friend of Liberty or Friend of Legal Crime? How can you tell the difference? Bear wrote: "First, if you may be able to employ my viewpoint, the idea of living life to the fullest cannot be lost, or if it is lost, then the power struggle is lost by you. Living life to the fullest, while not doing so at someone else's expense, is the point. Disconnect from Legal Crime means living life to the fullest without that connection. See? It seems to me that you, and I, and everyone, must keep in mind that the point of life is to make life better, because that is the key to perpetuating life, using power to make more power, which is adaptation, which is reproduction, which is to keep life worth living, which is to keep life alive, not at the expense of others. Loose sight of that and all is lost. Second, there has been a very rapid increase in general understanding concerning the problem, and there has been improvement in the general demand for productive remedy, therefore the many individual successes are adding up rapidly into a combined (voluntarily combined) power that may very well overpower Legal Crime. You and I do not know exactly how much our contributions have added to the total power of Liberty, so don't despair, and do not loose sight of the desire to enjoy life (The Pursuit of Happiness), unless you want to give up, and unless you want to let the Legal Criminals win in your individual case, right now, or next week. None of us can do what we can't afford to do, and knowing what we can afford to do is the point, if you can borrow my viewpoint again: If we all begin to demand for each other an honest, instead of a dishonest, money: we could then know better as to what we can afford, and what we cannot afford to do, as we each work in the Pursuit of Happiness, even if we are happy in the Pursuit of Property (so long as it is property earned and not property stolen, since property stolen is "Happiness at the expense of someone else's Happiness"). Honest accounts lay bare those who steal; hence the demand for, and the invention of, and the production of, and the maintenance of Dishonest Money by the Legal Criminals. On to the HOW TO: "HowAll of that is done, easily, at the individual level, each moment in each day, where each individual begins to work on those goals, because those goals cut that credit card, those goals cut that connection between the Legal Criminals and the targeted, and innocent, victims. If you do not work on those goals, you are failing to help out all the victims, and that is OK, if you can afford to do so, while you make the best of life. If you are not connected to Legal Crime, then it is OK to stay well away from all of it. Please do. How is your power, that you earn, stored by you, so that you can make more power, so that you can make the best of life? Are you connected to Legal Crime? If your power is stored in U.S. Federal Reserve Note Denominations, then you are a victim, even if you think that you can afford to continue storing your earnings that way, you are, measurably, a victim by that connection. Don't be fooled, and if you are not fooled, and you are not one of the Legal Criminals, then you will invent, produce, and maintain ways to cut that credit card, you will do your part, as more and more people do their parts, and soon that Credit Card will be cut, and the Power Struggle will swing back in favor of Liberty, as Legal Crime is avoided in that way. Former victims cannot afford not to stop feeding into Legal Crime. I have a thing called The Liberty Day Challenge, and I can explain it, if anyone wanted to hear it. That is one invention. There are many inventors inventing ways to use productive power to make more power, in Liberty, and that will be the way out of this mess. If we loose, if Word War III goes off on schedule, it won't be for lack of knowledge, if I have anything to do with it – with your measurable (and rare) help. Our credit card is used only for gas and restaurants and is paid off every month. We do, I agree, need to go strictly to cash though, and the sooner the better. Althought today I just got told about our flexable medical spending account starting in June which is to be managed by a singly designated credit card...looks like the hooks come out where ever they can. The wheels have been turning about our other long turn options and I need to be doing something about those as well. Supidity...buy a house and pay 30 years of interests all while holding retirement accounts that earn nothing. They got us though with the fear of loosing early withdrawal 25% tax/penalty. All the while we are actually loosing 50% because they paper. Cars now cost as much as a house because they can be financed...If we all paid cash for everything the prices would be held down. i.e. since we all have medial insurance, we all need insurance...because the solution of insurance (which has become the problem) drives prices up. Would you say retirement investing in paper is feeding the monster? Yes, I want to hear more about being disconnected. Where do the boundaries lie? This to me is the same principle at work regarding guns, or pointed sticks, or words. When someone resorts to crime, using a tool, it is not the tool that is bad, and no amount of punishment upon the innocent will deter any crime. Another way to look at the competitive money issue is by using the saying: Don't throw out the baby with the bath water. If honest, innocent, productive people (the actual source of all surplus wealth) are not punished for competition in money markets the result is better money. Better money might be gold. Better money might become silver if too many people are using gold as a weapon: buying up all the gold and then only letting so much gold out into circulation. The point is that anyone can use anything as a weapon, including words, including pictures, and including movies. The government does not torture people. Why blame government? If many people agree to behave a certain way, such as agreeing not to torture each other, that is an example of government. If one person decides to start torturing other people, it isn't the fault of all those who are governed by the non-torture principle. It makes no sense to punish everyone for the acts of a few, it makes no sense to throw out the baby with the bath water. Three examples: 1. Government 2. Guns 3. Paper (or digital) Money If Criminals take over Government it makes as much sense to blame government as it does if Criminals commit crimes with guns, and then blaming the gun. Why stop using credit cards? The point is to stop using credit cards that are produced by criminals such as the criminals running the National Level Legal Money Monopoly. Look at it this way please: Suppose Ron Paul becomes President and at the same time there are 13 States in this Federation (which becomes a Federation when Ron Paul no longer enforces the Legal Money Monopoly and all that goes with it) where each of those 13 States begin their own experimental money supplies. Suppose that The People in Alaska only use Gold, and they only use actual Gold coins, or bars, for everything, including the transfers of titles on very expensive things like houses or businesses. You may not live in Alaska so you only read about how that works for them, and the point is that they no longer, none of them, are connected in any way to The Dollar with all that Dollar Debt that "we" supposedly owe someone. Suppose my State is run by me, and I legalize my 2 Legal Money Products Idea whereby this particular money invention works the way I think it can work, but suppose you are not in my State either, so again you can read about it, but it does not concern you, and the point is still the same point, no one in my State is in any way connected to that whole dirty business with The Dollar Hegemony, none of us owe any of those 14 Trillions of dollars on the official Web Page, and we don't even owe anything additional like those 60 Trillion or so in Derivatives. We owe none, as far as we are concerned all that Dollar Debt has been liquidated. Now suppose your State uses almost the same thing everyone is using right now, same credit cards, same everything except no more connection to The Dollar that is printed, or accounted, by The Federal Reserve Extortionists. Nothing changes in your State. The money is still called The Dollar, but your Bank is no longer a Monopoly Bank, it is a Competitive Bank, and it competes with the banks offered by those people in Alaska, and those people in my State, and those people anywhere on Earth who offer a competitive money. You will read about the other money suppliers and you will be able to compare their money with your money, and there will be no President working for The Federal Reserve Extortionists who force you to use their money. You can use their money, but suppose your State does not force you to use their money, and you can use much better money if you prefer to use much better money? You can see good things in Alaska money, but you don't want to carry around a bunch of gold, so you stick with your money. You can see my money in my State, read about it, and if I have anything to do with the money supply then my money will be available to anyone, so you can use the money in my State, again assuming that I become Governor of my State and The People want my Product 1 and Product 2 Legal Money supplies. Now suppose that the State next to you is taken over by all those Legal Criminals that were thrown out of Washington and suppose you have a relative who lives in that State as that State becomes exactly the same as our Nation State, while all the other States have been Liberated from those same Legal Criminals. Those Legal Criminals start demanding payment for Debts they cause, and they make The people in that Criminal State pay for those Debts that they cause, and suppose your relative chooses to get out. Do you make room for your relative who is asking if you can provide sanction for him, or her, as that relative of yours runs away from that enslavement by that bunch of Legal Criminals? Runaway Slaves are knocking at your door, instead of you being a slave trying to get out. That is how a Democratic Federated Republic has worked in the past, as the States may experiment in Despotic Ways, The People can try ballots to hold their employees (government office holders) to account, and if that does not work they can resort to The Cartridge Box when The Ballot Box does not work, and if that does not work, they can leave the Despotism instead of being forced to love it, and they can move to a State within the Federation where experiments in Despotism are measurably less expensive to The People. We The People are now all forced, by our own ignorance mostly, into using the one Dishonest Money. According to Ron Paul it will end. It will come crashing down. We will either move to a world wide currency or if he has his way to a precious metal standard or something that has intrinsic value. Ron Paul would like us to be able to have competing currencies along with the Feds currency. So it all depends on whether Liberty is achieved as to what currency we will have OVER us. That is of course with the assumption that we have to be UNDER something. If the individual has Liberty then the currency would be UNDER us. Therefore power would reside with the Individual instead of the Monopoly. It seems the way things are orchestrated that if everything comes crashind down there will be something sinister ready and waiting in its place since criminals cannibalize each other. I don't know how we will break the centralized chains that have bound us together if we do not get a president for Liberty or a Congress that will follow the constitution. I guess states could exercize their autonomy simultaneously assuming the UN does not step in at that point. I say crashing down because those who desire honest money may be ill prepared as their honestly earned money is tied up in stocks. I say crashing down because it will not be without much pain and suffering even if liberation comes. I say crashing down because the illusion which has been trusted will no longer be. My "Mamma" told me not to look at the sun or stick my hand in fire, and I guess her Mamma told her... Our Founders told us not to have a centralized bank due to their experience and historic knowledge. Instead of following authority, we put our hands in the fire. Or should I say a fire was started under our hands...We and our Mamma's were born into it, and no one told us we were on fire and since I did not feel it or pay attention to common sense I did not know it. So I guess I have spent my life depending on orders passed down from authority. Now perhaps I am in the trial and error phase. Mostly stuck in the error phase because I only have the trials in mind and have not acted on them. Umm Number 4. NO that is what has been done to us and we are a blind and crippled nation as a result of our hands being put into the fire and looking into the sun. Besides history would tell us so much if we weren't bent on repeating it. I think number 1 is probably ideal, but who is to say what is the difference between common sense and nonsense. So I supose that is from where each person suffering from one's own actions determines true common sense comes; from which our nation seems to for the most part be devoid thru redistributive paralysis and blinding illusion. However, if there is power in numbers, perhaps if we all suffer at one time, there will be some sort of phoenix ushering in honest money. But without a plan for good, power in numbers can also, and will most likely, usher in a greater despotism. A Nation State is Despotism, it is Monopoly, I can prove it, if you care to know. Don't accept such nonsense. If we want Liberty we want, at a minimum, a Democratic Federated Republican Experimental Competitive Government; whereby monopoly is not rewarded by stealing surplus wealth from those who create it and then using the stolen loot to steal more. Nation State = Monopoly = Legal Crime "Indivisible" = Involuntary Why would anyone choose to use the false language dictated by the dictators to the victims; are you a victim? I don't know. I can ask. Why do you use the word Nation? Quote: "what is the difference between common sense and nonsense" Common sense is obvious and measurable; because people are still alive. Don't do things that cause your enemies to grow more powerful while those same things that you choose to do cause you to grow weaker and defenseless; because the end result is: Thomas Paine Common Sense 1776 Quote: "What is your plan? I am still stuck between trial and error." Competition is the plan. I can explain in exacting detail, or I can explain in general terms. Competition is the plan, in general terms. A step closer in detail is to enumerate 3 things: 1. Stop enforcing a monopoly money fraud. 2. Stop enforcing an extortion in progress (Income Tax at a "National" level) 3. Stop enforcing the profits of a few at the expense of many as the few order Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace (Bring the Troops Home) I go into much greater detail as the demand exists for much greater detail; meanwhile there is a need to realize the actual measure of the ongoing power struggle. The few enforce a Legal Counterfeiting Extortion Racket World Wide, using ONE money. As that crime in progress continues to play out the many are growing much weaker while the few grow much stronger on purpose, for profit, and the method by which that is accomplished by those few, at the expense of those many, is that Legal Monopoly of Money AND Perpetual War. All that The People have to do is choose, as one, to opt out. Go to bed. Decide in your sleep. Wake up. All as one. The new day is Liberty, no more transfers of surplus wealth from those who create it to those who steal it with the Legal Money Monopoly. Opt out. As ONE. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Have a replacement Legal Money working and that will be the tool that severs the connection between the victims and the Legal Criminals. Having a power that is used to create more power is the bypass, the avoidance of that Legal Crime in Progress. Choose something better. Leave behind something worse. Those who are left are those who insist upon "something for nothing" and they will cannibalize each other and their number will quickly reduce to zero. I say Nation because my government education has indoctrinated me to think in such a way, and I am slowing understanding which ways of thinking need to be renewed. I understand the Plan as I am able to within my ignorant and indoctrinated state, but what is the plan to get We the People to go to bed and wake up to Liberty in UNISON? Is there a necessity to have a Pre-Plan to fascilitate The Plan? I have a way of thinking that may not be typical, and you can judge for yourself: Liberty will arrive or the human species will not survive, therefore it makes no sense to me to think about human life without Liberty arriving on time. It will. If it doesn't then there are no more good humans to think, or judge, or be liberated, and no more bad human beings left to consume each other. So... Liberty Day does arrive, and the human beings who live past that day will know that day in their history books, very similar to the failed Liberty Day that occurred in 1776, with that document called The Declaration of Independence, or also similar to the failed Liberty Day that occurred with that document The Magna Carta. False Starts offer us a glimpse of what the True Start will be, when it arrives for good: not a False Start. Those who pass the new Liberty Day in our future will look back and see that Liberty Day as it happened in their history, much like we look back at the events documented by The Magna Carta and The Declaration of Independence, the only difference is that our future historians will be looking back at a Liberty Day that lasts, rather than a Liberty Day that perishes, or goes bad, or is corrupted into Despotism (Legal Crime). When is that new Liberty Day by my calculation? When is that new Liberty Day by your calculation? Is the new Liberty Day on anyone's calculations? It won't happen if no one entertains the possibility that it can happen, and that is the point behind all the Falsehood invented by all those liars, as all those liars hire liars to lie for them in "Public Office". Here is where our personal history may help, as we begin to look around, and as the days pass, and the weeks pass, and we start to measure the total power of Liberty as it compares to the total power of Legal Crime. I have been watching intently, and documenting my viewpoint on a Web Page, and I think there is cause to declare that Liberty Day is approaching if World War III does not go off on schedule. A. World War III goes off on schedule B. World War III does not go off on schedule because enough people opt out. I don't think Liberty Day will happen if World War III goes off on schedule. I am certain that Liberty Day will happen if the powers that cause World Wars are overpowered this time, this to me is the last battle between those who are honest and productive and those who are dishonest and destructive. Those who prefer to see human beings continue to survive will stop Legal Crime before those who prefer to consume all human life reach their goal. That will happen. When? My way of thinking is to get people to start putting Liberty Day on their own Calenders, to work toward that day, and on that day, when enough people have that day on the Calender, a well published "Public" event, we win. It is that simple. You think not, perhaps, by why not? Too many people are too stupid? Too many people are criminals themselves, having a stake in the Doom Day Parade? What? Each individual will either work toward Liberty or their work will move us closer to our doom. If Liberty Day is only on my Calender, then Liberty Day will probably not happen World Wide on the day I pick. I've picked July 4th 2012. I had already picked July 4th 2011, but we missed that day. Google for: Liberty Day Challenge 2012 Please tell me what you find. You may find my work on The Prison Planet Forum, for example, and I can tell you, first hand, that the authorities running The Prison Planet Forum censored me. That is odd behavior considering their claimed goals. Once you begin to measure the Power Struggle between Liberty and Legal Crime you may despair. Hang tough, failure is not really an option, failure may be a miserable death, but that should not be news, Liberty is Life. Competitive life, something better instead of something worse, and life that is not earned at the expense of someone else through deceit, threats of violence, or by violence upon the innocent. I did not find anything definitive on Liberty Day Challenge 2012. I even tried putting Prison Planet in the search. Can you send me a link? Here are my thoughts. I am shooting for November with a Ron Paul presidency. It is a long shot, but I pray Godspeed for him, because truly, I see his potential presidency as only something Providence can obtain that for us. It is a hope in a Dark time. I know Ron Paul cannot fix everything, but perhaps he may also obtain Godspeed within his time of service to our country. He says the right things, and has done the right things. I can only hope for as much in his presidency. The second thing is that Liberty when humanly achieved will always deteriorate because we are at human dispose and wicked will be with us and will ultimately ruin whatever liberty is achieved. True and lasting Liberty has been foretold in Revelation 21: 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth , neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. My favorite is the last sentence. I do not say this to say we should not try to humanly accomplish a reset of Liberty. Yes, we must try. It is our obligation to try. We do not know when this Final Lasting Liberty will be fulfilled. I do believe though, when no one can buy or sell except they have the mark, true and lasting Liberty is close at hand. That may be what WWIII is all about, but I do not know. Until then by all means, we must try. But most importantly, we must know whether we belong to the True Liberator because He grants individuals liberty within the heart even when physical liberty is not to be had. You wrote: "It would be nice to know more, but I don't think that knowledge is given away, or stolen." Here is my answer: Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is , and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. John . . 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born , not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried , saying , This was he of whom I spake , He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received , and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up : 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish , but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish , but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved . 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned : . 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest , that they are wrought in God. John 8:32 KJV And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 14:6 KJV Jesus saith unto him, I am the way , the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by	eng	844e118f-bc28-4dd7-bfa4-6ecc6724d10b	http://www.dailypaul.com/225942/liberty-practice-challenge
Tripping I must confess I've never done LSD, or any other drug beyond caffeine and alcohol, and a couple of cigars, lifetime. So, I am pretty boring in that sense. I've never felt a need to get away from reality or anything like that. My mind is already a pretty elastic place that would probably confuse a few people, could they visit. Still, I've always had a desire for clarity, rather than escape, and that makes me curious about LSD. According to this piece, it turns out that Steve Jobs might not have been exaggerating, when he said it was one of the two or three most important things he did:Apparently, it did, but:So there ended the research, in 1966. If even half of the piece is accurate, this is very interesting. Very. It advocates guided trips on LSD or other psychedelics. Guided is the key word here: "I think guides are wonderful," Fadiman said, "which often gets me dismissed as a radical conservative—a kind of fun thing to be in this crowd. But look, you don't go to the airport and say, 'I want to fly a plane.' And a pilot says, 'Here's the keys, pick one of those, and give it a shot.'" And here is an example of a somewhat guided trip: Read, discuss. And those of you who have some actual experience, don't be shy. Even if you have to cook up a pseudonym just for this one diary. I did it when I was in my early 20s. Having complete honesty and moving forward in that way was important to me, so I don't regret the vulnerability and breakdown of social constraints, which I understand is pretty common. I'm not sure I'd do it now, nevermind that my current partner isn't interested. Similarly for mushrooms. I sometimes wonder what % of our art, tech, culture in general is the product of LSD or other trips. Much more than most people realize, I suspect. To frame it in conservative terms: Should the nanny state continue to ban it, and even ban controlled research? Or do we have a right to try whatever we want to try as long as we endanger nobody else's safety? A more interesting question to me is why people like you haven't experimented with drugs. You say your own mind is plenty interesting, but so are the minds of many people who report interesting experiences on these things. Why would any curious person who knows even a little about hallucinogens not try them at least once? The guys I knew in High School who did drugs were not exactly inspiring. They spent their time back in the smoking area and were generally speaking quite low performers. So that's part of it. Another part is that I feared addiction. I strongly disliked the notion of depending on a substance of any kind. To this day I have no interest in most drugs. Certainly not pot or cocaine. I am not interested in a high. I am interested in insight. I did not know much about LSD at the time. If I had known Crick and Jobs had done it, I would have done further research for sure. I learned about that much, much later, and even then it seemed simply like a curious anecdote, a sign of their times. Said the geologist. My poison comes in bottles and I'm more than satisfied with the results. I've tried other stuff but nothing I'd care to try again though I might burn a little herb if it were legal. I have experienced too much variation in medication. Malaria and TB drugs had a list of side effects I never experienced but percocet floors me. Even alcohol gives me different reactions. Want a friendly guy that everyone loves, has tons of funny jokes and abeautiful singing voice? Then hand me whiskey and beer. Want to see someone get hit or their wife hit on, hand a bother some Jose C. is something that, even though, it could be interesting, I think I'd pass on. That was why in undergrad the most that I half-assedly experimented with was MDMA--was so pleasant that I resolved never to do it again--and good old weed (which made me feel slow, stupid, and tired, and so after a few tries I gave up). Basically the same reason that I prefer Percocet to Vicodin. The one dulls pain, but the other feels good. And I could easily see myself getting very, very used to it. It's a thing of knowing myself and my limits. For a kidney stone. A wonderful painkiller. But dreaming was very unpleasant. I've noticed that with codeine as well. I found mushrooms to be quite pleasant, the one time I took them. I was never brave enough to take a full dose of LSD, but I enjoyed the taste I had. Mushrooms, though, don't seem to have the speedy effects of LSD, nor the long recovery. Took me about three days to feel normal again after LSD, and that was when I was 23. They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist... -- General John B. Sedgwick, 1864 ya, the massive amount of pain from a major joint pointing the wrong way was finally fracking gone. "I'm to believe that North Korea is so dangerously unhinged that they would attack without warning – yet so meek and easily cowed that they will sit quietly and not retaliate when we start bombing them." Like good old Dr. Wilson and the "Experience Machine"... millionaires in The Matrix are not millionaires any more than Luigi in my current saved game of Super Mario has 60-odd lives. The millionaires are batteries. We're all batteries. We should be trying to understand what reality is rather than trying to chemically induce our brains to mislead us. Intentionally misleading oneself regarding the state of reality is about dead last on the list of things I'd want to do. Christ almighty, if you want to delude yourself, why that's what religion is for. The Constitution does not vest in Congress the authority to protect society from every bad act that might befall it. -- Clarence Thomas LSD as a therapeutic drug...now that might make sense. If someone's physician suggests it, then by all rights, someone might want to try it. I'm not saying LSD is bad, good, or indifferent. I'm saying it's not for me. In fact if LSD helps people get off the sauce, then lets put some money behind that research. The Constitution does not vest in Congress the authority to protect society from every bad act that might befall it. -- Clarence Thomas That's not what I mean. I'm saying that you might think you're a better person for having used LSD, but maybe I think actually it has made you a worse person. Note that I don't actually believe this, I'm just saying in a hypothetical. The only person that should matter to you about the effects of drugs on your happiness and personality are what you think and perhaps your family. What others think is inconsequential when dealing with inherently subjective subject matter. Yes, there are actions that arise from taking drugs. Some are subjectively good/bad and some are objectively good/bad. I'm not debating that. I'm debating whether or not it's better to be chemically happy or naturally miserable. I take the latter approach. The "oh, I took acid and it opened my eyes to all these possibilities about the world around me" argument is nonsense. You only think it opened your eyes. Your brain fooled you. The only way to open your eyes is to apply the scientific method to a given hypothesis. Now, I'll take the "oh, I took acid and it made me happier and more at peace with myself." argument as a given. Only the consumer of drugs can say if they helped or hindered their mental status in the long or short term. I definitely think it's inadvisable to take drugs to make yourself happier and more at peace with yourself given the risks. Even if you can prove that there are no risks, it's still not my cup of tea. I want to be happy via natural methods. And if nothing natural makes me happy anymore or I could be a lot happier if I used [insert legal or illegal drug here], then I'll just have to be unhappy. I'm an extremely independent person in my personal life. Relying on a chemical to make me happy doesn't cut it for me. The Constitution does not vest in Congress the authority to protect society from every bad act that might befall it. -- Clarence Thomas why is my brain fooling me about my results of my experiences but you're brain isn't fooling you about my results of my experiences? As Wagster says that seems kind of subjective, that your views on my thoughts are more valid than my views on my thoughts. BTW, I made it clear that I don't recommend for or against it unless I know a person very well (no one here qualifies in that regard). After all, even something as mundane as caffeine or sugar alters how our brains work. I've never used anything illegal (other than a bit of underage drinking), but even in my limited experience I can say that I think more clearly when under the influence of caffeine, and my ability to recall obscure facts improves immensely after a drink or two (don't ever play Trivial Pursuit with me if I've been drinking--the result will be very one sided and not in your favor). It's well known that a lot of creative people work best when under the influence of something--though Coleridge's experience with Kubla Khan rather forcefully demonstrates the downside that can be involved even for a legendary work. Personally, I've had enough bad experiences due to sleep deprivation that I avoid hallucinogens like the plague, but I can see how the prospect of an altered state of consciousness steering one into a intellectual leap of some kind would tempt one to experiment. The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one. Why would any curious person who knows even a little about hallucinogens not try them at least once? My answer was essentially "because they're hallucinogens". I don't doubt for a minute that hallucinogens can help enhance creativity. In fact, I'm pretty sure they do seeing that a good deal of popular music was written by people who were on such substances. That doesn't change that fact that I am not interested in any way regarding how they might be able to "help" me. The Constitution does not vest in Congress the authority to protect society from every bad act that might befall it. -- Clarence Thomas You are assuming that the brain, as is, is optimized to understand reality. Do you realize just how weak an assumption this is? In some ways the brain is optimized to process reality to guide our behavior from an evolutionary perspective. So if we are convinced by propaganda that we are fighting the "enemy", the brain conveniently forgets they are human too. A useful trait for survival of the tribe, but hardly a positive if your goal is to see everything as it truly is. It's pretty clear that the brain is not at all optimized to perceive objective reality. It has filters. Simplifiers. Reality is incredibly complicated. Just imagine running a full simulation of a ride on a bus or subway. We ignore much of this because otherwise it would be hard to function. But sometimes these filters dull our senses. I am not sure about the exact mechanisms but I certainly do find it totally plausible that drugs can shut down or reduce this kind of filtering and dulling to the point where you can perceive aspects of reality you would otherwise miss. Sure, anything that changes your brain chemistry can make you perceive reality in a different way. I'll buy that. Let's go to dreams, because that's something I have experiences with. The images and sounds that take place in my dreams are not an accurate depiction of something that actually occurred. If I dreamt that I had sex with someone, I didn't actually have sex with anyone. My brain fooled me into thinking I did. This is a poor state of affairs, because my belief is not an accurate depiction of reality. In fact, I was laying in bed, unconscious for hopefully 7.5 hours or more. Similarly, if I take a hallucinogen and my brain fools me into thinking that I can see subatomic particles and know the nature of dark matter, this is also a poor state of affairs as people can't actually see subatomic particles (someday we may know the nature of dark matter). In fact it sets me back a bit because I might follow a line of inquiry regarding subatomic particles or dark matter that is completely divorced from reality. I suppose many of the folks here think that dreams have some sort of objective meaning. The best I can say about my dreams is that from time to time, I'll consider them (when I wake up and remember them) for a few seconds, and if they stick with me, they might affect how I think about a particular issue as I consider how I acted in the dream. No, that's not right. In college, I would dream about answers to a mathematics proof I was working on the night before. That's the best I can say about dreams. In other words, if I dream about banging some broad, that doesn't actually mean I want to bang some broad. Dreams have no objective meaning to me other than "heh, that was weird". The Constitution does not vest in Congress the authority to protect society from every bad act that might befall it. -- Clarence Thomas True, dreams don't generally help you solve practical, operational problems in your waking life. But dreaming does appear to fulfill several vital brain functions. REM sleep deprivation has been shown to inhibit neurogenesis and long-term memory formation. Rats deprived of REM sleep typically survive only about 5 weeks. REM sleep and dreams appear to perform a vital, pragmatic function whether or not they help us solve problems. I'd submit that it's worth taking time to understand a) how & why they work and b) how our own particular dreams might relate to our waking experiences. For instance, dreaming that you did the no pants dance with someone might "fool" you into misperceiving reality, at least for the duration of the dream, but more interesting is the question of why your dreaming mind felt that particular illusion was more important than others. What need does it serve? How does it connect back to your waking experiences? What does it tell you about who you are, what you want, what you believe, etc.? Does it reveal some hidden connection between parts of your mind you don't normally connect in that way? Your brain is doing something while you sleep...working awful damned hard in fact for an organ that's supposed to be "resting"...figuring out what it's up to and why seems like not such a bad idea. All that said, I'm down on the no hallucinogens thing. Life is confusing and difficult, choices are hard, hanging on to perceptions, ideas, goals, relationships, all requires a lot of work and luck. Truth is hard. Reality isn't just "there," it requires focus, artistry, acumen. Also, reality is profoundly weird all by itself. Why muck all that up with chemicals that warp the system? I'm much more into the clear, lucid Apollonian life of the mind these days. To hell with sybaritic Dionysian chaos. I find the question as to why I dreamed what I did uninteresting. I don't really think much of it. They are usually funny stories. That's about it. The old lady thinks they mean something. Until that's proven by the scientific method, the default position is to believe they mean nothing. So I do. The Constitution does not vest in Congress the authority to protect society from every bad act that might befall it. -- Clarence Thomas You're assuming that dreaming evolved for a reason, when it might be the opposite - e.g. dreaming is a remnant of previously much more serious irrationality, that evolution hasn't finished cleaning up because it's not very important. I read a theory someplace that all those ancient legends where someone hears a voice telling them to do something arose because people's minds actually worked differently then. Thoughts were perceived as voices, and everyone (or almost everyone) back then had what we now consider schizophrenia, and evolution only recently started disfavoring it. appears to be necessary for long-term memory function, neurogenesis (i.e. growth of new brain cells...yes adult brains grow new cells continually), immune system integrity, and like I mentioned before, rats deprived of REM sleep die in a few weeks. All animals sleep. All animals seem to dream. All animals die if deprived of sleep, and it seems likely they all die if deprived of dream-sleep. The available scientific evidence suggests that dreaming is a vital physiological function, not a genetic vestige. If you're talking about the physiological benefits of dreaming, then sure. Lets find that out. Why you dream about what you dream about is a lot harder question to answer and, I fear, is not a question we're going to answer in my lifetime. The Constitution does not vest in Congress the authority to protect society from every bad act that might befall it. -- Clarence Thomas You don't decide to be hungry. You don't decide to want pepperoni pizza. You don't decide to become attracted to a particular person. You don't wake up one morning deciding to like blondes, or biker girls, or men or 12-year olds. Many of the most important features of your life - needs, desires & tastes, fears, hatreds, ethical predilections, political inclinations - are generated by your brain with zero input from you. We live in a world were people's inclinations, and our own, can have profound impacts upon our day-to-day existences. Figuring out how the brain comes up with this crap is worthwhile, arguably necessary, and maybe even possible. To explore yourself and what's going on in your head. I don't know how you can not see the connection... if you've ever had a stressful period in your life and woken up in a cold sweat, you know your daytime mind is connected to your nighttime mind. Whether what they "mean" can be proven by scientific method is beside the point. We have many pharmaceutical drugs in our arsenal today, where we do not know exactly how they work. All we really need to know is that they are a useful tool. That's what dreams can be... a way of investigating how you feel about things. It's fiction. It's stories you tell about your past, present, and future... about yourself, others, your relation to others... to explain, to rationalize, to predict, to deny, to mope, to preen. Your head is a big fuzzball of fiction called your self. It colors your every waking moment. When you actually encounter the sensorial and immediate experience of life, devoid of the fictions that are usually superimposed over it, it is shocking. You don't necessarily need LSD to do it, but it's not a common experience. Here is how the theory works...Nighttime is dangerous for people...always has been, we sleep to keep ourselves from wandering and stumbling around in the dark...a distinct evolutionary detriment...so we sleep. Babies sleep the most because they are the most prone to be harmed or harm themselves. Older people sleep much less because, first because they are more sensitive to the dangers in the darkness, and also because their evolutionary role having been played out...it is, from a natural selection standpoint, much less important to keep old people alive, so they sleep less. Maybe your universe is a place of warmth and trust, dominated by your relationships with friends and family and dropping acid will unleash your inner party on a cosmic scale. Maybe yours is an exciting, intellectual universe full of endless new discoveries and the amazing achievements in knowledge and the arts attained by you and by other human beings. Or maybe you contain deep wells of spiritual, religious belief untapped by your local priest, preacher, rabbi yogi or imam, and a psychedelic experience is likely to open you to a vast, cosmic ecstasy of togetherness with other beings like you, beings of light and love experiencing the infinite joy of a reunion that transcends death. On the other hand, you might be haunted by personal terrors, sadistic, disturbing visions & paranoid projections. And maybe if you manage to see through the veil you'll find that the truth of "one love, one mind" turns out to be a cosmic nightmare, an infinite schizoid solipsism in which death is a horror and the possibility of life after death an even greater one. A cold, terrifying infinity of loneliness masked by occasional delusion: this is what it means to be "god." Dr. Leary used the term "set and setting" to prescribe the rules for a good trip, but I think it goes far beyond that. You should be prepared to confront your own personal cosmology, including your mortality -- for better or for worse. It may not happen, of course...for some people tripping seems like just another kind of intoxication. It's fun, funny, confusing, pleasant, a bit like dreaming while awake, but by no means does it involve any kind of unhinging spiritual journey. Or you might come unstuck in time and space, collapsing your proprioception and your sense of "you right now" into an infinite, simultaneous aggregation of all possible nows across all possible worlds. It can be exhausting to live through an infinity of time. The film Donnie Darko pulls off a pretty good approximation. I strongly recommend against trying it. There are truths about life that are better left unexplored unless you have some great and pressing need for cosmic visions. Been there. I was big on astronomy back in the day. I still track developments. I had moments where I could actually lie down and look at the sky and feel the earth spinning in a monstrous void, as if the planet were just a few dozen feet in diameter. Cool and scary and overwhelming at the same time. Doesn't really happen anymore. It would last 30 seconds to a couple of minutes. ....many decades ago, on the shores of the South China Sea, on leave from a war zone....maybe it had to be bad, but it was the loss of control of my mind (and of course, loss of physical control of my body also), were difficult to endure...worse, it was the unknowing with any present certainty that I could get back that was....very difficult. For hours and hours and hours...an eternity of uncertainty. I have not and would not do it again. But it was memorable. For sure. How these waves and ripples have washed over my life I cannot tease out from the fabric of my existence, but wash over & influence they undoubtedly did. There are so many utterly bizarre, cool theories abounding (or given some rejuvenating experimental umph) at the moment that it makes me feel better about the soulless, measureless emptiness of space. :) Some for-instances: Cosmic Inflation - turns out that empty space might not be empty. Enter vacuum energy, a gee-whiz theoretical field of force that helps explain why the observable universe can be 93 billion light-years across even though the universe itself is only 13.75 billion years old, in addition to why the universe appears to be expanding at an increasing rate. A number of interesting implications, some awesome... Multiverse Theory - like Max Tegmark's taxonomy of IV levels of multiple universes. The Level I multiverse is simply the universe that we're living in which, assuming an eternal inflation model, would be infinitely ergodic. What this means is that outside of our own Hubble sphere are infinite other Hubble spheres which in aggregate and by the 1000 monkeys principle realize all initial conditions of the Big Bang. This means doppelganger universes (and infinite shades of similarity in other universes, and then infinitely bizarre & different universes) are a simple mathematical/probabilistic fact. (Tegmark estimates your nearest doppelganger is in a universe no more than 10^10^^28 meters away, and the nearest exact copy of our Hubble sphere down to the last atom is no more than 10^10^115 meters away.) Level II multiverses, again assuming chaotic ergodic inflation, are those "bubbles" of non-inflationary space between vast, still-inflating swathes of the omniverse. Within each of those bubbles is a Level I multiverse, and each bubble can have different spontaneous symmetry breaking, and hence different physical constants (speed of light, force of gravity, cosmological constant, etc.). Traveling to a different Level II multiverse could involve bizarre Lovecraftian shifts in fundamental physical law that we would find profoundly disturbing (or wonderful) and almost certainly lethal. Level III multiverses are extrapolations of quantum mechanics, superposition, and the Shroedinger's Cat paradox. The notion that reality itself is continually splitting and merging into complex multiple dimensions is both distressing and hard to comprehend. Level IV multiverses, good effing luck...Tegmark says that any world calculable by mathematics is also real, in what dimension or aspect of reality I have no clue. ...and some frickin terrifying, like the proposed Vacuum Metastability Event, whereby a "false" equilibrium vacuum at one region of space undergoes "vacuum decay" and a nearby, lower-energy vacuum gets "nucleated," expanding spherically at near the speed of light and gobbling up the higher-energy vacuum surrounding it pretty much infinitely... know. I'm also enjoying reading about the progress of discovering new planets and planetoids, including some really strange places. Rogue planets, cruising through starless regions of space, brown dwarfs, planets which orbit tiny pulsars utterly sterilized by x-ray bombardment, gas giants that've had their atmospheres blasted away down to a rocky core, etc. ...I of course understand none of this...but concede that the Vacuum theory of the Universe is intriguing.... But If I felt small and weak against the immensity of the forces and darkness which I inhabit, (dark forces?), then if the (Multi) Universe is really this....full of existential weirdness...I am smaller yet...in a vaster confusion of particles and inherently unstable probabilities... If minds are properties of brains, can they also be properties of other things? Yes, b/c mental properties are multiply realizable properties. They are analogous to properties like "being a key", where keys can be made out of lots of different stuff. You can probably make minds out of lots of different stuff too. Can the mind corresponding to one brain also correspond to a different brain? Over time, yes. At the same time, no. if the mind is somehow fungible, and able to translate into other brain-states, then maybe it can move from one multiverse to another. And the arguments behind the theory that mental states implement certain kinds of computational functions. Of course since we haven't encountered intelligent aliens or built fully intelligent AI systems, it might be the case that only brain material can realize certain mental states. That's an open empirical question, and a guy named John Searle at UC Berkeley believes that. But I think the best guess is that it's untrue. It's hard to see what about brain matter in particular would warrant believing that only it among all the possible arrangements of matter could have certain causal powers. But there aren't any knock-down arguments here, just better and worse hunches to guide research. they have binary states that can (through clever programming) approximate the behavior of analog states. Neural systems are not binary, they have a much more complicated set of ionic and neurotransmitter behaviors. psychological continuity. I wonder how he defines it. In my experience, consciousness is fairly discontinuous. We sleep, we dream, we spend several hours probably not dreaming, or dreaming on different levels. We get hit in the head, experience amnesia, disorientation. Consciousness from childhood to adulthood is replete with gaps. Ordinary memory loss.... Psychological breaks are fairly common, but our brains seem to be pretty good at patching together discontinuous moments and attributing them to the "same" person, i.e. us. I'd say that consciousness is more like a quilt than a blanket. Maybe an afghan. If it's "continuous," it isn't temporally or contiguously, but rather through similarities among disconnected memories. Tchuang Tzu's famous story about the butterfly dreaming that it is Tchuang Tzu comes to mind. I think Tchuang was actually pretty sure he was still Tchuang, but he's right that if an experience can create the feeling of "me-ness," as dreams can, then we can't be sure. I'm not sure if the word "intense" is powerful or descriptive enough. But it's also truly consciousness expanding in a way that's difficult or impossible to do otherwise. Aside from the visual and auditory effects, the best way for me to describe it is that it breaks down certain internal barriers in your thought processes to make you far more intuitive than is ordinarily possible. It also allows (or in extreme cases forces) one to more fully integrate various aspects of one's personality. If you're reasonably well adjusted and have an optimistic view on life, it's a very affirmative experience. But if you have fears or personal demons, they can come to the fore. I think the more spiritual self examination you've done prior to the experience the more likely you are to view it positively. But then again, there are people who just see it as an incredible light and sound show and leave it at that. But I have to say that the usual categories of "happy" or "sad" people doesn't really predict how the drug will affect someone. It's a very powerful drug that demands respect. It's nothing like having a few beers or smoking a joint. I'm generally in favor of drug legalization, but for some drugs (like LSD and heroin), I wouldn't feel comfortable having it available at the local 7-11. I've known people who had to be (briefly) institutionalized because they were careless and didn't respect the power of the experience. I've also known people who were very unhappy with the revelations they experienced, although in most cases they used their knowledge to work on the things they weren't happy about. I'm not sure I buy the whole idea of a guided trip, but it is a good idea to have someone around who's been through it before. I've had to talk a few friends through difficult trips and the fact that I knew what they were experiencing helped a lot. It's also imperative that it be experienced in a relatively safe place that you're familiar with, you don't want any major surprises since your perceptions are so altered. I do think it can be a life altering experience, several times it has been for me. It let me know who I was in a way that I hadn't before. It also provides insights into friends and lovers that you experience it with. That's obviously a double edged sword, and can be the source of problems. I saw the episode of Mad Men that you linked to in the video, and I thought that the conversation between Roger and his wife afterwards was the most accurate part of the scene. Roger could intuit her feelings and realized his own. The quote I've heard used to describe the experience is from William Blake's Auguries of Innocense - To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour. but it's actually a quote from further in the poem that I think is more apt - every grief and pine Runs a joy with silken twine. at it's best, it can help one to become a more integrated and balanced human being. when I was younger: I tend to have vivid, horrible nightmares--eyeless babies, insects, tentacles, demons, etc.--and the notion of being stuck in a nightmare for hours on end while the s**t processes out of your system is to horrific for me to contemplate. I like to be able to wake up if a nightmare becomes too intense. Might I suggest that while HankP is right that you want to "respect" LSD in particular, these worries about anguishing nightmares from which you cannot escape are likely exaggerated. For LSD or other hallucinogen you have reason to believe are of a strong variety, you can just start by taking smaller doses. Especially with shrooms my extensive experience is that almost all of the time you can talk yourself into being aware that you're on drugs. Also, it does end even if it's a bad trip. Also also, it's kind of nice to know that you can handle a negative mental experience and tame it. In my case even the bad times gave me mental confidence in other settings - e.g., social anxiety doesn't seem like such a big deal, etc. Yes, provided you don't massively overdose you can control/mitigate a "bad trip" (i.e. paranoia, waking nightmares, etc.), but if you do enough to dissociate your sense of time & proprioception, then you're bringing upon yourself 6-8 (seemingly infinite) hours of very intimate acquaintance with your own mortality, corporeality, and the fairly disturbing contingency of your own identity. You can, in other words, experience or realize things that don't go away when the drug metabolizes out. Shrooms are generally much milder and tend not to unplug the primary circuits of your identity...you're still you, albeit high. His thesis is that psychedelics open the filters in our brains that reduce the full potency and range of experience, so that we might survive day to day without being overwhelmed. He says that the great artists already had these filters opened for them, with or without drugs. When I tripped I used to pore over art books, and indeed, LSD can help you see a woman as Picasso did, or a chair as Van Gogh did. Generally, one can never be certain how much if any LSD is on the blotter paper. Or what else. In any case, I've tried it a few times, 'a trip to visit Uncle Sid' was pretty much de rigueur among computer folk during the 80's, but I was never terribly impressed by its effects, which were fun and fascinating but not world shattering. My few experiences with mushrooms and peyote were more significant, and I was also sure of what I was ingesting. One should experience the oneness of the universe at least once and a little psychedelics or a lot of meditation can do the trick. You could have put more emphasis on the healing capabilities of LSD. Not for nothing do they call it a drug. I know there was effective LSD therapy for alcoholics before the squares put an end to it. But it's the healing power of opium I will now praise. I was once blessed by a hat trick of healing thanks to a dozen pipes of the stuff. I think I'd eaten a lunch consisting mostly of rancid lard on a very bumpy road trip in the area of Asia known as the golden triangle. The lunch had given me a bout of diarrhea and the bumps on the road had re-inflamed a not quite fully mended broken rib. After arriving at my destination and consulting with the medicine man, the diarrhea and the pain in my side was no more and I liken the the resulting euphoria to dallying on the suspension bridge connecting the land of waking to the land of dreams. Nothing world shattering but it remains the best bit of medicating, self prescribed or otherwise, I've had the pleasure to experience. You will kill 10 of our men, and we will kill 1 of yours, and in the end it will be you who tire of it. - Ho Chi Minh "Somehow, the changing of consciousness is deemed to be threatening to the State. Now why is that? Is the State somehow playing a shell game that would be exposed if the people were to actually open their eyes? In what ways does the expansion of consciousness threaten industrial democracies? I think we need real answers to this." That was almost 20 years ago and the drugs discussed here are still every bit illegal now as they were back then. How about state-sanctioned, legal research into mind-bending drugs? Well, following on from McKenna, it's not consciousness expanding drugs which would expect to be researched, but consciousness diminishing drugs. I realized this recently on hearing an interview with Molly Crockett by the hosts of the "Philosophy Bites" radio show. There is a game in experimental economics where a 'proposer' offers a 'responder' a sum of money which he can accept or reject. Both know that there is, say, $100 at stake and the proposer can offer any part of it to the responder. If the responder accepts, they divide the money accordingly and if the responder rejects the offer, neither of them get any money. Classical economics predicts that the responder will accept any offer. He will take even $1, leaving $99 to the proposer because that would still leave him a dollar ahead and that's better than nothing. This game has been played many times in practice and offers of $1 are overwhelmingly rejected. Offers straying a little too far from $50 into the territory of 'unfairness' are rejected, regardless of the irrationality of the move. So much for the classical economist's views of human motives and behaviour. Here is where Molly Crockett comes in. She talks of playing the same game, only this time with the slight change of dosing the respondents with serotonin. And those dosed respondents will say 'yes' to any offer put before them. How she gushes over the results! In other words, the research is about altering human consciousness in order to make it conform to the heretofore simplistic and erroneous models of classical economics. Rather than rejecting these models, they are embraced with renewed vigour, strengthened by the power of pharmaceuticals. Consciousness diminishment is reducing the rich complexity of our motives and behaviour to something grotesquely simple, state-serviceable and alien. Only a brain chemist working in an economics department could come up with something like this. I don't deny that the results are interesting. I wonder if the serotonin was also given to the proposer and whether it had any effect on his behaviour... (no mention in the interview) You will kill 10 of our men, and we will kill 1 of yours, and in the end it will be you who tire of it. - Ho Chi Minh I hadn't thought of the drug turning people into Mr Spock think-a-likes. The idea is less scary to me than research on turning people into compliant lotus eaters. That this is the kind of work legitimate is funded and encouraged in our universities is unsettling. You will kill 10 of our men, and we will kill 1 of yours, and in the end it will be you who tire of it. - Ho Chi Minh measure solar properties. Fadiman and his colleagues published these jaw-dropping results and closed shop. that LSD is to scientific creativity as steroids are to athletics, there are some questions that need to be answered: - Should competitive scientific activities (like going after NSF grants) test for usage, and disqualify users, in the interest of fairness? - Or should employers require employees doing creative work to take LSD, on the theory that if they don't they aren't putting forth their best professional effort? - If CEOs and CTOs of innovation based tech firms fail to take LSD, are they committing Honest Services fraud, in violation of federal law? It seems they have an obligation to the stockholders to take the drug if it will results in new products and an enhanced IP portfolio	eng	bac21b26-f076-4b31-8e97-619ebbf07b8b	http://theforvm.org/diary/m-aurelius/tripping
I read in a description somewhere (forgive any poetic license - I'm too tired to search for the link again) that INFJs inhabit an "Inner World of Symbols" and that they're "intellectual". What's it like to be an INFJ? Does that (very) brief description resonate for any INTPs? It certainly did for me. ShaiGar 11th-September-2008, 06:11 PM I'll repost your thread at INFJs ( and link back to here. Hopefully you'll get some responses. Dissident 11th-September-2008, 06:58 PM What's it like to be an INFJ? Does that (very) brief description resonate for any INTPs? It certainly did for me. You are second guessing your type, arent you? :D gloomy-optimist 11th-September-2008, 10:42 PMloveofreason 12th-September-2008, 02:54 PM I'll repost your thread at INFJs ( and link back to here. Hopefully you'll get some responses. Thanks. I could have said "hey everyone, what do you think it's like to be an INFJ?" then we could have discussed hypothetical INFJ beingness, but the word from real living INFJs could be almost as much fun. ;) You are second guessing your type, arent you? :D yep. :phear:I could say those things apply to me also - need they be INFJ specific? (Except I do voice my questions about the universe - silently in text - and I positively have to not spew my emotions to the world until after I have objectified them and distanced myself from them, again through text.) I'd like to hear from INTPs too, do you relate to what gloomy has said?. Are INFJs typically emotionally reserved? Do you bottle emotions till long after their use-by dates? Do you dissect them until you can't feel them any longer, or keep them at bay for fear of them? Thanks for answering. Decaf 12th-September-2008, 04:21 PMDoes that help? I would appreciate if a real INFJ checked that stuff over though as it generalizes a bit. gloomy-optimist 12th-September-2008, 06:46 PM Long post, bear with me: (Except I do voice my questions about the universe - silently in text - and I positively have to not spew my emotions to the world until after I have objectified them and distanced myself from them, again through text.) Are INFJs typically emotionally reserved? Do you bottle emotions till long after their use-by dates? Do you dissect them until you can't feel them any longer, or keep them at bay for fear of them? I have difficulty voicing my opinions at any time where it wouldn't fit the situation, or where I would get an overly emotional response in return. However, I can portray my emotions much better through writing as well, and when I feel the situation fits, I have no secrets. The weird thing is, some people know some things about me, and other people know other things, because of this; it all depends on how my relationship with that person plays out. I am pretty emotionally reserved, I suppose. I don't like it when my emotions get the better of me, and I try to stay out of conflicts. I get stressed easily, however, when I have to bottle up my emotions, but I don't like talking about them unless the time is just right, and that presents a few problems. That's why I like professional counseling; it's a non-judgemental environment. I do feel a rich connection to my emotions and emotional state, so I tend to try figure out why I have emotions, rather than over-analyze them, and leave it at that.Yeah, I get upset with a lot of different types of violence. I'm a little better than I used to be, but I still maintain that there is no reason for it, and that there are much better ways to solve conflicts. I hate gore and horror movies (although I like action because it's not centered around torture, usually). And as for the betterment of mankind...well, it wouldn't be too left of center for me to say that most of my goals probably have at least a little bit of a plan to help educate and improve the conditions of mankind, but I don't think that's applicable to everyone. As for solitude...it's kind of a coin flip. With solitude for personal reflection, I can go for a very long time. Isolated solitude, without a way of breaking it, is difficult...it makes me feel like I've lost purpose, and I can get depressed and detached... Decaf 12th-September-2008, 06:58 PM Are INFJs typically emotionally reserved? Do you bottle emotions till long after their use-by dates? Do you dissect them until you can't feel them any longer, or keep them at bay for fear of them? Oh, I should also note that my partner (INFJ) is very emotionally reserved around other people, but between the two of us is 99% of the time the one to force us to deal with emotional issues. Often she won't relent until I've cracked my logical analysis and dealt with the emotions directly. I generally don't like this, but I understand that its good for me, and as much as I would avoid it on my own, I'm at least objectively grateful. people and dragging them down (though that may be more about insecurity than personality, but I thought I'd mention it in case its a common theme). gloomy-optimist 12th-September-2008, 08:16 PM people and dragging them down (though that may be more about insecurity than personality, but I thought I'd mention it in case its a common theme). Yeah, I relate to that. I hate people worrying about me; it stresses me out a lot more than if I were to be left to sort through my emotions by myself. I can talk about them to someone who's more emotionally detached from my problems, so someone who's logical (but sympathetic) about it, because they don't add any more emotional weight, and help me clarify my own thoughts. You're lucky that she confides in you. She really trusts you :) Agent Intellect 12th-September-2008, 10:02gloomy-optimist 12th-September-2008, 10:41It can be very hard to say no sometimes, especially in situation such as that. It may be that she understands who her real friends are, at least a little bit, but it may still be difficult for her to turn down someone who "needs to talk to her." If you wouldn't mine me making a suggestion, why don't you try exchanging notes? IfIf you try to reach her in writing, you may get her to communicate more than she would otherwise... loveofreason 14th-September-2008, 03:26 PM I will note that INFJs early on in life have a strong aversion to violence in any form . . . absorb all the bad emotions Reminds me of me as a child, except as an adult I am much more aware of my capacity for inflicting violence - I've been pushed too far too often. Now, as much as I despise myself for it, I will not only fight back but go overboard. But absorbing all the bad emotions, I always did that. Even the ones no one would acknowledge were there. Especially the ones no one would acknowledge were there. They are also one of the introverted types least likely to be comfortable with long periods of solitude. Absolutely not me. I crave solitude above all else. Life only sucks when other people are involved. Solitude is perfect. IfAgent Intellect 14th-September-2008, 10:18 PMgloomy-optimist 15th-September-2008, 01:06 AMI think one of the reasons I bottle emotions up so much is because I don't want anyone to react to them, but also because I feel I can deal with them on my own. I usually do not feel overwhelmed by my emotions, and I understand where they come from. When it gets to the point where I DO need help in dealing with them...well, that's where the problem lies. From that point, I actively (mentally, not visibly) search for someone to talk to/relate to, but it can be very difficult to find the right person... Otherwise, I am very in tune with my own emotions, and, somehow, with others' as well. It's very easy for me to understand and explain why people do things, for some reason :/I do that a lot too :B Afterwards, I usually feel a little disappointed though...I like knowing and utilizing these techniques in real life, and it frustrates me when I don't know how to react in real life responses sometimes... Shaz 18th-September-2008, 10:53 AM I can relate to a lot of what has been written : aversion for violence (I save spiders trapped in the bathtube :D), need for solitude like all introverts but in balance with interaction with people (not just anyone though, I need time with people I can truly exchange and grow with), fear or burdening other people with my negative emotions when they come up... Though I am allowing myself to share them more now and it brings positive results. I need a way to let them out though, generally by writing (which is also a great way to understanding them clearly) or drawing/painting. I am also learning to say no (very hard but necessary for my own health). INFJs are so empathic it can sometimes be a burden to them I think. loveofreason 18th-September-2008, 11:44 AM How does one let out negative emotions for positive results? Call me dim, but i just can't figure that one out. Life-long hermitage is a far more pleasant prospect than dealing with 'shit'. Waterstiller 19th-September-2008, 05:30 wasNoID10ts 19th-September-2008, 05:40 AMThread Killer 19th-September-2008, 05:41 AM Dunno, but as an INTP/INFP/INFJ, I can relate to your (waterstiller's) post. Either the people who push the stereotype that INTPs are unfeeling, insensitive pricks are beyond wrong or I'm just as confused as you are on these matters. Decaf 19th-September-2008, 06:33 wasOK, some indicators that might help... there aren't many T vegetarians largely because "ethical reasons" is a phrase they don't use that often. Unless it has to do with murder or something so serious that it triggers their feeling function. A job like a youth pastor is rarely something an INTP would do because the benefits wouldn't outweigh the costs. They would study first and probably end up skipping youth pastor and moving on to pastor by the time they felt ready. There are some exceptions, but by and large that's the common theme. Men traditionally are approved of when they exhibit T characteristics and disapproved of when they exhibit F characteristics. That leads to a lot of F men learning to be sub-par T's unfortunately. Its just not healthy to rely on a non-dominant function in a dominant way. Its especially bad for INFPs because that is opposite to the most highly regarded type in America, and especially in California, ESTJ. So I wanted to talk about both INFJs and INFPs (if INTP sounded appealing, it might be more likely). I'm dating an INFJ and I can tell you from first hand experience that INTPs and INFJs are very different. What little I have heard makes me think that you might be option number three, though obviously that'll have to bear out on your reading the description. INFJs introvert their intuition and extravert their feeling. That tends to mean they have an abnormally high need for socialization for an introvert, and even though they are creative people, they tend not to brainstorm with others. They much prefer to argue, sometimes aggressively if it deals with values. That is part of their strength, however. They feel pleasure from appreciation of their values and are highly motivated doers when it comes to championing the causes that best match their value system. Not as voraciously as ENFJs, but it often becomes a prominant part of their life. INFPs are more like us, the INTP. We both extravert our intuition, making public discussion something of a hobby, and feeling a lot of pleasure from appreciation of our creativity. Having dominant introverted feeling means that their internal value system is both the most important thing to them, and the most mature of any other type, with the possible exception of ISFPs. They are not as outwardly stubborn about their values as INFJs, preferring to deal with them on their own. Its sometimes difficult to know what an INFP's values are unless you ask outright or gleen them from their interests. Hard to know, but they tend to develop strong friendships with others based on acceptance. Obviously you should read descriptions written more completely, but what do you think?Remember, for most intents and purposes, there is no middle. Yes there is overlap between functions, but I'll start a thread about that so we can talk about it more in depth. One of the greatest challenges of MBTI indicators is differentiating at the middle, so 95% of people who hit the middle head on, have a clear preference, it just wasn't born out in the test. Waterstiller 19th-September-2008, 09:04 AM Obviously you should read descriptions written more completely, but what do you think? Giving it some more thought and reading, I think INFP is definitely in the running. Especially since it was my result just now on a mypersonality.info test. ( I think INFP could be correct, but there are aspects of the descriptions I've read that seem completely off. I am naturally drawn to logic, critical thinking, technology, and engineering. I can also be completely impersonal when I need to be. Along with being a natural at counseling and at times cripplingly empathetic. I'm going to need to spend some more time burying my head in reading about this. I appreciate your reply; it has given me a lot to think about. Aphasia 19th-September-2008, 11:29 AM ... I'm getting odder and odder. I think I share characteristics with INFJ, which could explain some things (see the hedgehog dilemma). But I also seem to have avoidant personality disorder, so that may complicate things. EDIT: Posted this before I can change my mind, or else I'll never say or admit it. If I can't tell the truth here, I can't do it anywhere. EDIT 2: I'm suddenly thinking of Alcoholics Anonymous. loveofreason 19th-September-2008, 03:23 PM I'm so glad you posted that, Aphasia. :) Seeing as you've confessed and we're here at Avoidants Anonymous, I'll also own up. The degree to which I let my avoidant tendencies rule my life has waxed and waned, but over the years I've had two major and a whole slew of minor nervous breakdowns characterised by extremes of avoidance/anxiety (which in turn is due to? Sensitivity? Does sharing INFJ of INFP characteristics arise from environmental influences on an INTP core? Or is the INTP character a result of injury sustained to INFx??? How much overlap is perfectly normal - afterall, no type can claim exclusivity of character traits. We're all human. Now I'm just blathering - so confused about my type...) Hedgehog dilemma? You mean you're so vulnerable that you're prickly and can't get close to people? Don't answer that if you don't want to. Aurora 19th-September-2008, 08:10I also don't like violence and can't stand the sight of blood or torture. I also need socialization to feel happy and fulfilled; if I isolate too much I get depressed. I read that another INFP characteristic is a childlike sense of wonder at the world, which I have in abundance. I definitely don't place much importance on ethics, though. I feel pretty much anything goes unless you're hurting another person. Decaf 19th-September-2008, 08:20Waterstiller 19th-September-2008, 10:48Decaf 19th-September-2008, 11:19SO THAT'S THE SITE!!! Sorry, but putting 'x's in people's four letter code is my personal pet peeve. You have a preference, you have to make a decision. Obviously, making the right one is a difficult thing, especially when you've grown up being told to be something you're not. For the first 4 years I was studying MBTI I thought I was an INTJ, told everyone I was an INTJ. You can imagine how embarassing it was to tell people I was wrong and expect them not to discount my expertise. What I'm trying to say is that you have a preference, and as you use the tools that hopefully have been provided to you by learning about type you'll better be able to decide what it is the you truly prefer. I'm not saying you can't use an 'x'. Go ahead, but please realize that it is a placeholder. There is overlap between the types, but that isn't a good place to start. Its a terribly place to start because it makes it terribly difficult to weed out 'shoulds'. Like the word suggests, 'shoulds' are the behaviors you have that do not support your preference. Like an introvert trying to be gregarious because it is more highly prized. A sensor trying to speak about abstract ideas because it makes others think he's smart. Its perfectly fine to do these things, but you need to know the personality behind it. Obviously MBTI is not a cure-all. Not knowing your type does not significantly alter your life experience usually. Not knowing your real type CAN make it hard to use any of the tools it has to offer though. Suggestions on how specific types can interact in harmony, methods on getting yourself out of a rut. Having an X may feel like it allows you to have a more diverse personality, but most of the time it just makes things fuzzier. Thinkers often have strong principles, feelers make great scientists, Introverts represent a large proportion of politicians, Extraverts have written some wonderful novels, Sensors can be wizards at theory, etc, etc. Those are al applications, not origin. Your four letter code does not decide what you can and can not do. It, at best, helps you figure out how you can accomplish what you want to do and be happy. Sorry... I've nearly worn a hole in my soapbox I use it so much. Its my passion, so I guess I get a little passionate.James Black 20th-September-2008, 12:03 AM I'm not a big fan of x's either, for some reason. If I had to use an x, it would definitely be at the intuitive/sensing area. IxTP. >.< Although some tests might place me as INTx, I'm positive I'm Perceiving, not Judging, and I'm not exactly sure if I'm Sensing or Intuitive, but I do tend to lean more towards intuition, even if only by a bit. Hence, I refer to myself as INTP... Not to mention that most of the personality explanations of an INTP fit me perfectly. Plus, if I want to explain who I am to someone, through use of MBTI, "IXTP" or "INTX" (or god forbid, IXTX) just won't get the point across. They could google (or I could try to find a link) and the information they'd find, if any, wouldn't be nearly as useful as information gathered from searching for an actual type. In ending, I suppose, to make short of all the mumbo jumbo I've stated -- The idea of the test, the idea of finding your type, seems to be to find out who exactly you are. Picking an X seems like you're cheating yourself, shorting yourself some little bit of understanding. Decaf 20th-September-2008, 12:07 AM Something I didn't talk about but really is the fuel for my furor... the four letter code you get is only a representation that helps break down the Jungian functions you use. INTP = Dominant Introverted Thinking, Auxiliary Extraverted Intuition When you throw X's in the mix, you can't do that. A letter in one direction or the other makes such a massive difference often that there's no point in using what is essentially the heart of personality type theory. Waterstiller 20th-September-2008, 01:26 AM SO THAT'S THE SITE!!! I'm not saying you can't use an 'x'. Go ahead, but please realize that it is a placeholder. Sorry if I wasn't clear; I came up with the x (as more or less a placeholder) on my own. Unfortunately, that site isn't the culprit. I really liked how you worded the 'should' behaviors; I'm here mainly to weed those out. I would like to resolve the fuzziness above all else. I think it tends to rest on this question: Do I use feelings to serve logic or do I use logic to serve my feelings. Does it change depending on the decision? How do I go about figuring this one out?Wow. Thanks for that analysis; I can really relate and it seems that this is where the 'counselor' in me comes from. What would happen if you tried to actively force yourself to go to that next step? How would it affect your personality(if at all) to have a greater awareness of your own feelings(IE feeling so much that you are moved to tears)? Would any changes be temporary and over time revert back, or would this create permanent changes in your personality once you allow these feelings? And now I'm totally hijacking this thread. Yikes! Perhaps someone could start a new one? I'm really bad at starting threads; I end up creating essay questions. Agent Intellect 20th-September-2008, 01:34 AM i think people put too much trust in the descriptions about the types without just thinking of the functions themselves. while a lot of the descriptions have accurate portrayals of the type, i've never found one that was 100% true. they're more of a generalization. the actual descriptions of the types would probably be more accurate, as far as your default functions (introverts get their energy from within, intuition is how they see the world, make decisions based on thinking etc) go. just by reading the INTP part of the forum one can tell that, even though theres a lot of similarities between all of us that none of us are the same. one has to take into account the different upbringings (in different countries sometimes) and how those pressures can change the way you act, and different function maturities and so forth. fullerene 20th-September-2008, 02:49 AM I'm really bad at starting threads; I end up creating essay questions. essay in that we have to write a lot to answer? I'm pretty sure those are what I think of as "good threads." Ask away. Jesin 20th-September-2008, 03:33 AM essay in that we have to write a lot to answer? I'm pretty sure those are what I think of as "good threads." Ask away. Yeah. Even if you ask it wrong, someone will likely grab your question and try rewording it until you have a good question. Just go ahead. Waterstiller 20th-September-2008, 09:10 AM That's good to know. My questions seem irrelevant now, but I'm sure I'll have more in the future. I'm INTP. Both my mom(INFP) and my sister(ISTJ) who know me best had no problem helping me sort it out. I'm far from a natural F; though, I have felt a ton of pressure to be one. Which makes me question whether or not an individual is best suited to figure out their personality type on their own since it can be extremely hard to distinguish the "should" behavior from the truly dominant. In my case, mixed opinions were helpful. One thing that still escapes me is how I can be so empathetic at times. :confused: Edit: I should lurk more. This thread ( helped a lot. fullerene 20th-September-2008, 04:25 PM I'm actually very similar with J/P and I/E... even N/S to an extent, although that was only because I was so N I was doing things like walking into traffic and stuff because I wasn't paying attention. My ideas are if you're under a ton of pressure to be something and you're still quite noticeably something else, you're definitely the opposite of what everyone's pushing you to be. My parents basically equated J-ness with thought/maturity, and even after growing up (19 now) I still have mostly P characteristics, and the J-pushing just became an area of tension. If you're not how your environment raised you, it's pretty likely that you're what you turned out to be. James Black 21st-September-2008, 05:13 AM >.< One thing I've noticed (cryptonia's post made me think of this) is that I'm very INTP, obviously enough, (which is why I'm here :D) but sometimes I'll act a bit more SF than NT. I'll act the "SF" part when I have to to get through the day without the annoying random hassle that comes with being NT, but when something bothers me enough, or something seems way off-base, I speak out my real thoughts -- those depicted by my normally NT self. I've slowly started to stop the "acting" however. >.< loveofreason 21st-September-2008, 01:38 PM Decaf is an absolute gemfieldINFJs can't let a few days pass without emotional disclosure? Egad, I don't think I've ever openly told someone in my life what's 'going on' for me emotionally. Not even my mother. If I'm dragged kicking and screaming to the point where I have to say something, I go for the closest approximation or deflect the reason onto a red herring so that the truth that matters ultimately to me is still safe (and undisclosed).This precisely describes what happens for me. As soon as the other person is relieved, I feel like I've been through the wringer but otherwise OK (yay - disaster averted - the world won't end today!!!) and there's simply no more motivation to disclose. I forget what was destroying me inside, it never gets said and lies dormant until the next time. It gets ridiculously harder every time too, because to own up to a cycle of ill feeling that started with the most innocuous thing ten years ago - that seems ludicrous. I simply end relationships to get out of the cycle with any particular person. Good advice, no? ;) So while I think my internal world may feel remarkably like an INFJ's world, my functional way of dealing with it is INTP. Hmm.. thinking now that there are areas of life in which I feel cumulative pressures, but that's connected to not getting the solitude I need. Decaf 21st-September-2008, 04:24 PM INFJs can't let a few days pass without emotional disclosure?Agent Intellect 22nd-September-2008, 03:29 PMsometimes i still feel like its almost too much to be bothered with. life is a lot simpler when i only have to worry about myself. i wonder about the feelings of "love" sometimes. people say opposites attract (which is certainly true with me and my girlfriend) which makes me think that relationships are simply ones selfish need to "complete" themselves. in many cases, people hold their partner to a standard they don't hold themselves to. they want their partner completely, 100% devoted to them. in some less mature relationships, people will even forbid their partner to have any social interactions besides the ones associated with themselves. in a lot of cases, i don't know if two people love each other as much as they need each other to help with their own shortcomings. gloomy-optimist 22nd-September-2008, 06:51 PM Okay, I was on vacation the last couple of days, and this conversation really seemed to take off :) But I have to agree with a lot of what was said; INFJs (at least in my case) do LIKE to talk about their feelings. In fact, I get stressed if I don't have someone to talk to. I'm very picky about it, though; I don't tell everyone everything, unless they are very important to me. It's either the right person....or at the right time with someone that seems to be open-minded enough. I guess what you could say is that INFJs are a bit more....complicated, but I use the term very lightly. I guess it's that I have a different way of doing things than the majority of people around me; I am introverted and need my alone time or I get stressed, but I also need to socialize or else I feel alienated. It confuses some people who know me well. It's just that I don't get to know people easily; I like making friends, but I do so usually with a 3rd party because I find it difficult to approach people. And even when I get to know someone, it takes a long time for them to get to know me; they may know certain sides of me and my viewpoints, but for some reason I react differently to different people; I'm true to myself and them, but it comes in pieces, as appropriate for our relationship. They know part of me, but they don't always get the whole picture.... Only few people are really close to me because of that. (By the way, to clarify, it's not a self-made, emotionally-protecting "mask" concept; it's more just a natural way of socializing. I have no secrets that I am not willing to tell; it's just that different people know different secrets) No matter what though, it's not that I don't want to get to know or talk to people. It's just that I can be sensitive to judgement, and I'm also pretty self-fulfilled, so most of the time basic contact is enough.... I get the feeling like I'm not answering much, so if there's anything else that anyone's doubting on.... fullerene 22nd-September-2008, 09:47Decaf 22nd-September-2008, 10:25 PM I get the feeling like I'm not answering much, so if there's anything else that anyone's doubting on.... I'm no sure what the question was but that could have been said verbatim by my partner. She reacts just like that and because of that has a very difficult time moving from place to place. To me its an adventure because everything I really need I carry with me in my head, but to her, the social network of interdependence she builds has a lot of value to her. She always feels like she needs to take a piece of it with her or it'll be too hard. Decaf 22nd-September-2008, 10:35No, I don't believe its possible to replace them. What I believe IS possible is to form a working relationship. For starters, you couldn't operate if both of your dominant functions were judging functions like T and F. You wouldn't take in information in any effective way. Eventually your judgments would start departing from reality, or you'd get super depressed because there's no new information coming in to make judgments about. So remember, Feeling is not emotions. Its a rational decision making process that deals in value judgments and subjective analysis. For Thinking to deal with emotions is not such a foreign thing to happen. One of the biggest reasons dominant thinkers especially operate "super-objectively" is because they feel so uncomfortable with their emotions (something that feelers feel more comfortable dealing with simply because it is more part of the subjective experience). Emotions are biological cues, not functions. The question is, how do you work with your emotions? Do you process them as a condition that you experience or as part of the experience you live? That sounds really confusing and I promise I'll try to come up with a better way to expressing what I'm thinking, but I believe that thinkers are perfectly able, once they've gotten used to doing it, deal with their emotions without stepping outside their comfort zone. You don't need to stop being a thinker to deal productively with what you're "feeling". Oh, and I've been reading some more and I think I may have attached the word shadow function inappropriately. Let's stick with calling them the inferior functions or tertiary and inferior function until I figure out where I went wrong (the reference I used referred to the shadow functions as the same as the functions we use, but reversed in orientation. Its not part of the official theory, but it seems to be the most prevalent use of the term "shadow function") fullerene 23rd-September-2008, 01:22 AM gotcha, ok thanks. See, I definitely think of them as a condition that happens, but I'm pretty sure that it's more accurate to be an integral part of experience. The thinking mode is definitely more natural... I was just curious because I thought I had seen a couple things about Fe relating to "comfortable dealing with feelings." That is almost certainly me using the descriptions of websites to fill in for Jung's (or whoever invented the functions) original theory. I feel like I should have been able to see through that, because nobody can be truly separate from/block their feelings, which is what someone with an Fi function would have to do if Fe "governed" talking about them, but I think that was just me being dumb. Decaf 23rd-September-2008, 03:36 AM but I think that was just me being dumb. Yeah, stop being dumb Crypt :D No, I think everyone starts off with a very blocky idea of what personality theory says. That's why so many people abandon it saying "it just doesn't adequately describe the complexity of people." And to be perfectly frank it doesn't, but it gives a lot of good, useful approximations. As you study it the blocks turn into statues. I suppose its like anything worth studying, like the piano. Chip away till you like what you see. Aphasia 23rd-September-2008, 09:12 AMloveofreason 23rd-September-2008, 02:53Aphasia, anything I could think of saying sounds trite. If I said the interface of the inner and outer worlds sometimes gets too sore, sometimes too numb, sometimes too amorphous; too abstract; too bleached; too saturated or too rarefied, would any of that come close to what you're feeling when you ask "Am I avoidant?" Decaf 23rd-September-2008, 04:22 PMMy first thought when I read this is that I feel that way sometimes too. I probably wouldn't characterize it as feeling ill, but feeling an odd uncomfortableness with something I normally enjoy. Many times when I log on feeling that way I read the first two lines of a post and get frustrated and close the window. Do I think that's mentally ill? No. Its a natural response when a person is not meeting all of their psychological needs. People need external stimulation, even introverts, but when the world around them either gives it to them in an unsuitable form (perhaps how you feel towards how you are able to extravert yourself on this forum) or withholds the necessary "carrot" the reaction is to force yourself to change things. Its not a particularly productive method of coping, but neither is freezing when fight or flight kicks in and we all know that happens sometimes. Of course, take my opinion with a grain of salt because I am terribly frustrated by the tendency of the psychological community to pathologize everything that isn't shared by every other individual. From a type perspective that feels destructive. Rather than try to figure out what someone can do to help themselves, they'll soon have you on medication for the rest of your life. My advice would be to explain how to feel to an older person of a different type (preferably one skilled in what you are lacking in your life). A counselor is usually a good choice. Advice can help you fix destructive habits. Medication adjusts your brain so that you don't notice your destructive habits anymore. Or worse it changes how your brain works and you become (even ever so slightly) a different person. Some people don't mind because they believe their actual selves to be unsatisfactory, but you will only be your best if you are yourself. I'm sorry if I always jump straight to sounding like I'm right and the other perspective is wrong. I fully accept that my entire view of human psychology could be wrong and that the current cultural perspective of the psychology community could be the best way to deal with things, but I don't think so. I think I'm right and it tears me up inside that I can't help the millions of people taking mind altering drugs for conditions that represent the stress we go through that allows us to grow and mature. If you're feeling unusually frustrated with your introverted nature it means your brain is trying to force you to engage your extraverted side more often. It might be signalling to you that its time to expand your horizons. gloomy-optimist 23rd-September-2008, 05:45I guess it kind of depends. When I get stressed, I become more isolated and critical. I get quick to anger, and sometimes I even get physically sick. I get stressed fairly easily, actually, because there's a certain balance between "my" world and the "outside" world that can be a bit difficult to maintain, which is why I can only have so much socialization, even though I do like people. If I am depressed, or isolated for too long, I get a little sick too. I don't like doing things that I did before, and I kind of get lost in little meaningless projects without taking on big responsibilities. I need people when I'm like that, but I only relate my needs to a few people. It's kind of difficult to describe. Decaf 23rd-September-2008, 06:05 PM @gloomy - How do you get yourself out of a funk like that? gloomy-optimist 24th-September-2008, 12:40 AM @gloomy - How do you get yourself out of a funk like that? Well, I do a couple things. I like taking solitary walks in natural settings; it helps calm the mind a little. I take time to myself to think and chill out; if I don't have access to someone I can talk to, then all other social contact becomes kind of stressful. Being alone helps me rejuvenate my mind a little, but I have to take care not to listen to sad music or anything like that...it's a time to emotionally heal, not remind myself of how lonely I am. I'm not sure exactly what I do; it's not something I can get out of quickly. I went overseas for 10 months to study, and there was a period of about 2 to 3 where I was pretty seriously depressed. It lessened after that, but it took me a while to get out of it. I did eventually, but I didn't really feel like myself that year; I was too quiet, too withdrawn, mostly because I have problems making friends on my own (but I'm getting better at that). Wisp 24th-September-2008, 01:51 AM I've always thought that being an I_F_ type would be a lot harder than being an I_T_ type. You need to have someone to talk to to let your emotions out, but you always need to be alone some as well. We ITs need the same things, but we need people in MUCH smaller doses, able to (happily) go days or weeks without human interaction. (Some will go months or years...) I would get touchy after a few weeks, I think. Maybe more, maybe less, maybe a lot less. Anyhow/// Honestly gloomy, your new avatar is like eyestrain on a stick! So many primary colors!!!! Aphasia 24th-September-2008, 08:52 AM I just remembered an unpleasant thing: I learned how to go into controlled trances so that I didn't need to feel pain from beatings. I guess I withdrawn into myself as a method of self defense. It's annoying that I'm still not able to get my message across properly, though. I'm not going to break anytime soon, and so far life is getting better as I grow older, so it'll probably be okay. Besides, I'm pretty stubborn. gloomy-optimist 24th-September-2008, 02:11 PM Wisp: Yeah, it can be kind of annoying sometimes. I've gone pretty long without any major socialization, but that wasn't really by choice...it did help me understand the world better, though. And thanks about the avatar ;p I try~ Aphasia: It's good that you feel like things are looking up. It actually helps to be positive in a situation like that; the mind perceives what you will it would. Especially if you're getting out of an abusive situation, though going into trances may become sort of a habit... I have a similar trait of escapism when there is violent or emotionally trying issues at hand; for some reason, my mind drifts. I have to really concentrate in order to pay attention... So it may stay with you for a long time... Kidege 18th-October-2008, 03:00 AM Old-er thread and all, but I just gotta say INFJs sound so darned cute. (Sorry if it came out as patronizing)	eng	f8cbbbfc-91b1-4afd-bdbc-5ff4c54c8db9	http://intpforum.com/archive/index.php/t-849.html
Like the worst kind of criminal, Tim's cold sticks around and seems relentless, making itself known in unpleasant ways--especially when the Boy Wonder starts to suspect it gone and done with. As the Gotham Transit rolls away from the residential district and into the commercial beginnings that will release them into the city's downtown, Tim hugs his bag to himself. He is making room so that the seat next to him is available, though the morning is late enough that, for once, Tim is not sharing an overcrowded ride to school. School, because that's what normal teenagers do. He says this once more to himself, having already calculated (to the hour) how much time he'll lose if he succumbs to the cold. It's a strange sense of rationalization that tells him that since he was well enough to participate in last night's patrol, he's more than capable to sit through classes. In fact, it's probably what Jack would have expected of Tim. They hadn't settled long enough to establish a norm. Sometimes, Tim wonders about that vacuum of possibility; the habits that would have formed if Jack had lived long after allowing Tim to return to the cape. And to Bruce. Skilled in avoiding such directions of thought, Tim sniffs at his reflection in the dirty window and wonders if his present apathy is proof that his illness has ground down at his mind. He feels it drift down to these places without the strength to summon emotional reactions. It's almost safe to dally now, in certain memories. Jack is not the only ghost to linger here. If Kon were still around, Tim is not sure how far they'd still share secrets and moments. Up until this point, Tim could have sworn that he would have called Kon daily, if only Kon would return. But reasonably...would they talk more than they had before? Without the sense of loss, they'd only have their capes to connect them again. Would Tim have confided to his friend, either through email or phone? As Robin on a Saturday, probably. But on Monday as Tim would he have dragged himself out of bed and shared his speculation of the upcoming miserable morning, in hopes that someone, somewhere, would comprehend his meek attempts at pushing through the day? And a miserable day it will be, Tim sighs. He's on the half-empty bus because he's late, already missing his first class and cutting it close to missing the second as well. Tim longs to express his weariness to someone. And encouragement from imaginary Kon to skip classes would probably replace any anger over Tim's participation in patrol. If only he could defend his position to someone other than himself. Tim could reaffirm his skill and set of talents, illness or no illness. Maybe have the meta admit that yes, in fact, Tim could hold his own in any number of circumstances. Most times, but should he? Or would Kon--for the sake of not arguing--simply accept that Tim could outlast most of the Titans, if the need arose. And... He snorts against the bitter thought, feeling numb to it. The bus falls into the shadows of the tall, Gotham buildings. They get higher and higher as the blocks progress into the heart of the city and in direction of the bay. Several shops drift by, the reflection of the bus mirrored in the windows almost to the point where Tim can see himself; a small detail in the fast-moving picture. He really doesn't want to be here. Not on this bus. Not on this path to school. Not in existence, where his body moves in long-practiced habits as his mind fails to remember why. He's still a different person at night, and things had seemed clearer on the rooftops with Batman a voice away; with direction a random scream or police request. His life made more sense then. He should just ring the bell, get off the bus and find the first coffee shop with a couch. He can drink some tea, pretend to read what was needed for class and then call Alfred when he thinks the man is done with his preferred chores. There's nothing stopping him, save for Jack's unworded expectations and the fact that Kon would certainly do it. No restraint with Kon, almost as impulsive as-- And where did that get them? Tim fights back a cough, wondering where he's gotten himself by doing the opposite. He's alive. He's sick today, though. And miserable. Alone. Like his stumble over an unsightly truth, the bus jumps to a sudden halt which pushes Tim into the seat ahead of him. His bag takes most of his weight, and when Tim realizes that he is uncertain of his whereabouts or why the bus has even stopped so abruptly, he is looking across the street at the panorama of a Sundollar cafe. The bus is frozen in the middle of a road, and Tim wonders if the mysterious stop is meant to be a sign. To give in. To forget the priorities and surrender to time off. No motives, no expectations of himself, nothing at stake but... The Sundollar explodes. Tim feels like he's waking up, throwing himself away from his seat as debris rains on the bus. His gasp is lost in the startled shouts of fellow passengers. Two cars, slowing to accommodate the bus collide, though their speed prevents serious damage. It's Robin slipping into control, assessing the casualties. And why did the bus stop before the explosion... The driver is shouting, almost screaming. Tim forces his eyes away from the black smoke rising outside of the dirty bus windows and sees the driver on his radio. "I knew it, I knew that was Joker on the corner and..." "GET OFF THE BUS!" Himself screaming, saying some of his first words all day, Tim's aware of how odd his voice sounds. The rough state of his throat tries to find authority and seems to succeed all on it's own. The mention of Joker is reason enough, though Tim has not yet seen the madman that the driver describes. Probably the corner ahead, out of the line of sight from his vacated seat. Tim should have been paying more attention to his surroundings. What the hell had he been thinking about to be so distracted and foolish?! Jack. Kon. And now he's here, and Joker's out there. People are dying again and...and Tim's not Robin. Or well. There are over a dozen eyes on him, but holding his shoulders up Tim points at the nearest exit. "If Joker's really out there, do you think a bus full of people makes an attractive target or not?!" he shouts, unsure if he's mad because they're all so clueless, or if it's something else. Where emotions had been so dull moments before, Tim's suddenly overwhelmed. He has to do something! Time holds, and then snaps. The driver throws the bus into park, whips open the door and nearly dives out first to escape the potential coffin Tim's made them all see. The unmasked Boy Wonder has to press himself against the row of seats to let people by. His eyes don't leave his bag, which has his school supplies but no suit. But... Tim can't stand around if Joker's present. Yet it doesn't feel like providence that puts him here now, the closest person to the unexpected crime. Tim quickly calculates that at this time of the day Bruce will be in bed, already asleep for a few hours. Oracle may have picked up on this, though she could also be busy with something else. Tim can't remember who is on JLA monitor duty for Monday's. His fingers are fishing out his bus pass from his pocket, along with his identification. He doesn't need to be caught dead with his photo and information in his pocket. He already knows he'll be throwing himself in. No time to make a mask, though that alone will drive attention to his face. Maybe Joker won't even recognize the idiot-boy who plans to cartwheel into the fray... "I'm so dead," Tim murmurs. And it's with this certainty that spurs Tim to yank out his cell phone and throw in a message. It functions as his Titan's Communicator when he's doing Tim-things, so... If this is suicide, he knows they'd appreciate the beacon; this known through experience. The bag stays on the bus as Tim himself evacuates. Most of the smart passengers have run back the way the bus had come. Tim hurries against the stream of pedestrians breaking for safety and then there's another rumbling explosion. This comes from ahead. Joker's moving up the street. Probably has bombs pre-planted, striking the city when it's full of people going through their motions. The casualties already are probably staggering, and Tim almost regrets his inability to stop and help at first cafe, or even at the next target. An attack this big will attract the League, so it just depends on how long Tim can distract the Joker. Maybe being identified as Robin is an asset. Everything blurs together as Tim thinks. He wonders if he can trust his reactions. His body hasn't yet realized that he's running. The street ahead clears up very fast, with cars abandoned and clogging the intersection Tim's crossing. This will make it difficult for police and ambulances to cut through. It also makes seeing ahead a lot easier. There's a few stunned gawkers, lingering. Tim pushes past them and only now starts to feel his lungs finding their limit. And then...yes, there. One figure twirling in the middle of the street ahead. The road divides itself by a median, and thin trees are lined along the middle from one of Gotham's beatifying projects. The leaves are as golden as the fire licking out of a blown-in building. There are still screams from inside, and Joker is spinning about as if to make himself dizzy, having fun with all of it. The smell of smoke, the sight of stumbling and bleeding people as well as the senselessness of the attack seems to settle in a translucent way for Tim. He knows he should be bothered by all of this, but he just tries to hate the Joker more than ever before. A fact that the evidence doesn't need to back up. He's trusting this to carry him forward into blind action, just as he trusts himself to walk away, fully knowing that he may not. Right now, the only certainty is that he is Robin and Joker is present. He's... He's putting himself forward. There's no Jack to find out about this on the news at noon. There's no Kon to tell him how fragile human bodies can be. There's no Bart quoting figures from books, or repeating things Tim has said in prior years; either for or against his current course of action. Maybe it's because his cold takes away the sharp side of reason, but Tim can't honestly say whether or not he should be here. It made sense on the bus, but not this morning. Last night, but not now. Just... Joker's spinning, and laughing. People are running about, away, keeping clear the the mad figure. And Tim blends into them, coming from an angle that could take him towards the second burning wreck. Just a concerned citizen on his way to find a loved one, or... Joker stops whirling, shifting his weight almost as if he'll allow his screwed up balance to fall. But Tim knows the man better, and Joker's still graceful enough to be dangerous. He's stopped with his back almost turned to Tim, not fearing people to stop him because his reputation's preceded him. Everyone in Gotham knows not to go near the clown. There have been several lessons learned in the past. So when Joker stops, he's facing the large sky-scrapers looming above the buildings in the west. His finger extends, a boney splinter surrounding a weird device. Tim realizes it's significance in the heartbeat before he slams into Joker from behind. It's a remote and Joker's just randomly picking things to destroy now. They both tumble over the curb, Tim being the one ready for it. He rolls and has his feet under him in an instant. His throat feels tight against the drawn out cough that is fast approaching. His shoulder aches from the disservice to it in Tim's tumble. He's not in body armour and his muscles are sensitive because of his cold. But it's Joker who twists on the ground, the remote discarded and closer to Tim. He has it before Joker can drag himself across to claw at it. There isn't a third resounding thunder of flame and exploding force from the blocks surrounding them. Tim has at least one of the devices that triggers any set detonations. To achieve it, he's cost himself any possible opportunity to immediately subdue the madman. His element of surprise is gone. His lungs want to burst and his nerves seem to understand how tense they should be. Anything can happen now. "You spoil-sport, how dare you cut in on my..." the Joker's words trail off and Tim knows exactly why. "You want to play," he answers, not feeling the arrogance he's dipped into his voice. He hates how it's still grating on the edges, but he doesn't have to hide his identity. As the phrase goes, cat's out of the bag. "You get me as a playmate." There's no news crews around. Perhaps he's so sick and disheveled that he doesn't look like a celebrity son. Lately, nobody's stopped to gawk at him. Gotham's a big place, and people are full of panic at the moment. Nobody to recognize him, and Joker won't know his name just by his face. All hopeful optimism. Joker's jaw is down, grin wide. It's as if an even better joke has grown from the original. "Did I catch you on your way to school?" he gushes. "I have to say, you look so much better in the tights." And then Tim has to move, because Joker's hands are fast and like a clever sleight of hand, there's a gun. Tim's dodged bullets in jeans before, and for a moment he remembers Darla screaming at him and how naked he had felt then. There's no armour and he's a target now, instead of a distraction. He's only protecting himself. Already this changes everything, and the second bullet grazes his shoulder as he's aerial. It almost causes him to lose focus. His balance feels unnatural and the pain from the bullet's burn doesn't let him compensate. When Tim lands, it's instinct that has his hand trailing for where his belt would be. He'd normally throw some of his shuriken or a smoke bomb. Instead, he finds the cell phone in his pocket and almost fails to implement it. His information is in phone, and it's also the one thing tracking him to this place. But it's throw something or be blown apart by bullets, and Tim doesn't want to risk giving back the detonator he possesses. Taking a brief run from his landing, Tim lets the cell phone fly as a bullet whistles past his ear. A testament to his training, he doesn't stall like his heart does. His throw is also true to it's marksmanship, glancing off of Joker's brow. Two seconds of time, which is all Tim needs to charge. He thinks the other has two bullets left, if (and only if) the gun is a conventional one. He'll last longer by closing the fight, or by escaping. Up the street there are sirens. The roar of flames from the second terrorized building continues. Tim's tired. Doubt is creeping up on him, living on the edge of his thoughts. He can last longer, certainly. But he's starting to believe he won't outlast this encounter. Tim thinks he should start feeling afraid or concerned, but once more, this is just him following the motions. He's committed, having started a task. Would Jack expect him to follow it through? And though Kon did worry--and Tim knows he used to--Kon had also trusted Tim to be so smart as to be scary. Is this smart? He shouldn't be questioning any choices he made minutes ago, and he knows it. Despite that, Tim gets two strikes in, using his momentum to move Joker between himself and the gun. Joker will have to move accordingly to shoot him and Tim can buy time to think of how to knock away the gun and prepare for whatever tricks that follow. Joker does turn, Tim kicks out the clown's supporting leg, but takes a backhand because of it. There's a moment of blindness, where Tim's head snaps back to absorb most of the strike's energy. He doesn't see the gun, estimates where it could be and finds himself holding the madman's wrist which wields the weapon. Up the street, Tim can make out a police car that has finally meandered around the traffic congestion, but he can't wait for them. They dance, and it's clumsy for a second. The gun falls, Tim takes a kick to the stomach and for a second feels dizzy. He tries to back up, inadvertently causing the gun to scatter farther from them both. This is good, but Joker's reaching for something else in his vest. Tim can't wait for it and rushes forward again. He feels Joker anticipate this, and then Tim's being flung. He can't help but go with it, trusting the air and the ground more than being tangled in close combat with Joker. But it's towards the advancing police cruiser that Tim's thrown towards. He hears the brakes sound, sees concrete and it's habit that makes him tumble out of serious injury. Right into the car, where his shoulder makes a very troubling noise against the grill. The rusted license-plate scrapes through his shirt sleeve and into his arm. Tim is frozen, uncertain if he should move to test his body and unaware of how hard he's hit the car. Is this shock or is he just insanely fortunate? A metallic ting takes away his hesitation, as a small ball bounces along not three feet from him. It's like watching a movie going slow, and then the ball pops in a cloud of green gas. Seriously injured or not, Tim throws himself behind the stopped vehicle, grabbing at his mouth as if that will keep him from breathing in the fumes. He narrowly misses clipping the passenger-side door of the police car as one of the officers leaps out. Tim wants to put as much distance between himself and the gas as he can, and has no time to shout out at the men in uniform. Bracing onto his knees, Tim checks the space between the gas and himself and wants to believe it's enough. A shot rings out and the officer closest to him falls. Joker's reclaimed his gun. The officer lays in front of Tim, an arm's reach away. He shudders and coughs a spray of blood and Tim wants to reach out to him. Part of his mind screams to help the man, while another tells him to acquire the officer's weapons. And for some reason, Tim can't make himself decide on an action. His shoulder feels wet and his lungs burn hot in his chest. The world is tilting oddly and Tim wonders if his inability to retain his momentum and motivation is just in his head, or if it's meant to be. Especially when he sees Joker stroll so casually across the street, taking away the shelter that the police car had offered. The gun; a single bullet left by Tim's count. The way his body just wants to settle down and his ears to ring with some new sound to break the monotony of this place. Maybe...it's worth accepting. And Tim wishes he could ask someone about it. A second opinion. A contrasting view, because he doesn't trust himself right now. Is this like him? The level barrel of the gun and the parting words, whatever the hell Joker is saying. Tim's not listening, because he's trying to see if this is where he comes to terms with his choices. He did accomplish his goal of temporarily preventing an even larger mass of casualties. And maybe he understands now that his secret anger at everyone for dying could have been unfounded. After all, he's soon to be just as guilty since he's soon to join their ranks. Just like a good soldier. And only a miracle will break that. He can't move out of the way, not how he's sitting. It'd be like abandoning the officer he still hasn't helped yet. It's trusting that if there were another way, it would find him. The bang is not nearly as loud as Tim imagines it should be. It doesn't classify his whole existence. The gun goes off an then there's someone there. The dark hair, familiar shape and promised miracle. Tim's seeing angels, and he almost laughs. "Ko..." he word dies, because it's not Kon. The shadow blocking Tim from his doom is only a different kind of miracle. The shock to Tim is through with catching up, and Joker doesn't really have a chance against a superman. If the Man of Steel hears Tim's case of mistaken identity, it's not spoken. The remaining officer, who had been frozen behind the wheel while his partner fell, is now rushing to Tim's side and to his friend. "I'll help," Tim says, the words automatic without the thought behind them. He's already remembering how to handle wounds such as the one afflicting the officer. He can't feel his own injuries and his head swims, but it's with something to distract it. Just like that. With Joker unmoving on the ground and Superman giving the two figures attending the fallen policeman a sad look before moving to answer every scream and ragged heartbeat in the blown out buildings. And there will be more work, with the remaining bombs to be found. Tim's already in an ambulance by the time Superman is done, the three Titans and Nightwing who answer the initial request arrive moments later and take up the task of retrieving the Boy Wonder's school supplies and managing structural safeguards to the damaged buildings. With so few witnesses, Tim's likely to pass himself off as just a foolish citizen, which works for him. He makes up a name and by the end of the day Oracle has supplied the relevant documents to fill out the lie. "You did good," Tim's told more times than he can count. The wrong place at the wrong time, and Tim had held his own. Superman is the last to speak up, saying the same words as everyone else. But it's clear that something else is needed. "You cut it close," he murmurs. The same sort of concern that Tim would imagine from his father. Bruce had complimented Tim for his actions, though Tim had yet to detail the event yet. He'd need time. "Are you okay?" Kon. He had asked for Kon. And is it too much to still want that miracle, rather than the other; rather than life? Tim nods, because that is what he's always done. He doesn't know why anymore, but it's habit. "I'll be fine," he promises; words muffled by his cold. Doubt. Like the worst kind of criminal, some things just stick around. The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.	eng	77c56e4c-87fd-41ac-a4b4-4a21adfc50f1	http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3819239/1/When_You_Need_It_Most
When Our Worlds Collide What is love? Is love good? Is it supposed to make you into this wonderful creature walking on earth? When your one, true and passionate love is bad for you, what should you do? Submitted:Dec 20, 2009 Reads: 173 Comments: 7 Likes: 9 In the mist of all the things going on; a waging war, family issues, origins, her so called work, her talent—the lack of it would be a more correct term, and the needed attention of the household, her mind was astray. She was a small woman of a small figure and raven hair. She looked quiet and worn down by life. She was still young, barely in her early thirties. That much was obvious about her. But she looked older, drained, and used--used like a tool. Her work was special; in order to conceal her true profession she sustained odd jobs. Writing short stories and novels, working as a waitress, a baby sitter that kind of jobs that drew no attention to her. Such a strange woman she was. She could stand out, or she could disappear in the crowd, go unnoticed for long periods of time, by anyone. She never got acquainted with her neighbors. Ah, she had been in love once. The best and the worst times of her life. He had stolen her heart, but they were no good for each other. They both were dangerously lethal, dangerously bad. They loved so one another, with their whole heart, a pure love, a true love. But they could never be together. They created calamities for one another. They were the harbingers of destruction for each other. As of late, she kept finding herself thinking of him, of his lips, of his warm touch, the way he spoke and put things together. She still remembered every detail about him. Did he remember her too? She thought about his music, and his voice, his violin and the long and endless hours he'd spend cooped up at the conservatory. She hesitated than allowed herself to think about his pretty average shoulders, and long but always pained fingers. His essentially sad eyes that brightened whenever he saw her. Such a strange man he was. She had dearly loved him for as long as she could remember. Her job, chores, even the moon reminded her of him. Even irrelevant things reminded her of him. She was even stranger. So, why now of all times was she reminiscent of years long gone by? Of a love she had buried so long ago, against the better judgment of her heart? Rather on the decision of her brain. What was this heavy feeling on her chest? Something heavy sat on her chest and just forgot to get up. She felt like she was drowning. Not that she ever lived a day without his presence, but even for her-- what was it? Surely there was a reason why this vivid imagination of him just sprung from her mind, like spring sprung flowers. Bright and bold. He clung on to her like a skin. The melody he had composed for her was all she really heard in her mind, other than his imaginary heart beats, his raspy voices saying her name, and singing her to sleep. She had always had a hard time falling asleep. But with him gone, she was an insomniac. It's not like she slept at night anyways. It was her job hazard. Their relationship, nay, their love was impossible. They just could not be together. It was true that no matter what, he had only cared for her. No matter how badly she messed up, he had still yearned to be with her. She had messed up often. No matter how badly he messed up, she had still yearned to be with him. He had messed up often. The only person that managed to understand her and stand up for her…that was him. She had brought danger, love and life into his dull and musical life. His bravery, his intelligence, his company--she had missed him so dearly. But they were so lethal to one another. Embracing the fantasy world was something she did. After all the vengeance, sadness and loneliness are dried up, something needed to motivate her. The promise of a better future was less than valid and logical than her fantasy world, in her circumstances. She messed up her life pretty badly. Why? Because of her choices. Because of her love. Because of him. She was a messed up woman. She had been good once. Hatred and rage got the better part of her though. She was disturbed and deranged. She had spiraled out of control then. It was impossible to get out when they meet one another. Not all kinds of love changes people into the best people on earth. Not because their love isn't true and honest. They were madly in-love with one another. Too in love. Their love was so raw, so emotional, and so imbalanced. That's what threw them into abyss. Their love was pure, but their relationship was unhealthy. Together, they dwelled in darkness. That was their problem. They didn't change into angels of goodness because of love. Their love drove them into further blasphemy. Not all love is good. They were no good for each other. They ruined each other's lives. That's what they did. They drove one another mad. They longer they stayed together, more life they took out of each other's hearts. It took them a long time to realize. They slowly killed one another metaphorically. But it hit them on the face that one night really hard. Their love was never the same thence. He was no good either. An established violinist, but oh my, was he messed up at the head. We all have our flaws, but they must be manageable. Needless to say, she and he could not. They loved each other so, but to be so bad for the very thing that have consumed you, that you have consumed. Such a sad fate when lovers cannot be together. To escape into fantasy wide awake only proved to get difficult with time. Happiness was beyond both of them. She was unhappy without him. But with him she suffered. They shared such a big passion for one another that they let go of the world. He was unable to get up in the morning to go to work; she was unable to leave him in their bed in the middle of the night to go to work. They forgot to clean, they forgot to live, they didn't turn on the television, they didn't read newspapers and they simply ignored the rest of the world. They slowly decayed next to each other, stealing from one another and killing one another. For him only she existed, for her only he existed. They lived in sin with one another. They destroyed one another with their love. Violinists require long practice hours and recital dates that crucify the musician. He could not make music without her. She made his music. Being the paramour of a hit woman is not an easy thing. She could not kill when he was in her life. She couldn't get herself to pull the trigger. Hired for kill. She feared each time she went to take somebody else down; they would take his sweet life away. Guns are such a bad hobby to develop at the age of thirteen. Happiness was beyond them both. They lived normal without each other, unhappy, but functioning in their own hells. But together, they created havoc both for each other and all that surrounded them. A weapon she was…she was an instrument of death and sin with a heartbeat, a soul and a haunting mind. What was he?A violinist with severe depression and problems left over from his childhood. He played the songs of hell. They were so lethal to one another, yet so in-love. How could this be? So, why now? Why now of all times, did he haunt her? Their break up was messy, heart shattering and nasty. They had both lost all touch with reality. With each other gone at first, they both went on a rampage. Eventually both settled down to lead normal lives though. But he had never haunted her so. She was sure it wasn't the regret of leaving her one and only true love. Regrets were a part of her past, her nature. She always managed to come to terms with it. That was her flaw. She had to for her job. It interfered. The mistakes of the past, continuously slapped her, constantly at every second, awake or asleep. This feeling on her skin, this awkward waiting before the storm—yes that was exactly it. Calm before the storm. But this was too much. To be completely barren, lonely and miserable. It was unbearable to face this constantly. This was beyond longing, hope and heavy baggage. While longing was second nature; hope was a foreign feeling for her. She had ditched it a long time ago when she figured she was screwed up no matter what. Baggage? Her whole being was a baggage. Do you know how many she had killed since she was sixteen? You don't want to know. She dealt with the skeletons in her closet. This was something more—this she could not deal with. This was an omen; she knew it, with every fiber of her being. Something was coming and her instincts were warning her. Her instincts allowed her a great advantage. That's how she had made it so far. But, what were her instincts telling her to run away from? What, of him? Him? Danger?! He couldn't harm a hair on her hand, let alone to go after her. At least physically. Sure they destroyed one another through their mutual consuming love. Though they screamed at one another at times, they had arguments and disagreements, but not once had he ever tried to hurt her physically. Quite to the contrary. He was always a gentleman towards her. He was always so kind, and so caring. Their destructible relationship was born out of their intense love and consuming passion for one another. The harm that was done to both was something born out of their relationship. It wasn't intentional harm to one another. They both held each other at the highest regards and light. So what was it? What could it be? Every cell on her body screamed RUN AWAY. Hide, so you won't be hurt again. Life had taken away everything. There was nothing more left in her, but bitter after taste of feelings and memories, and oh yeah-- a beating heart. That was always an afterthought. If you can count that. What else could they take from her? They had drained everything. Sucked her dry. It had been such a long time she had felt anything. She certainly did not feel alive. Pain, suffering and even sorrow had dulled. Happiness had diminished. Her smile robbed, her body violated, parents taken away, siblings long dead, she buried her love with her own hands. All the good had left, fleeted from her. Constant misery, brooding darkness and agony were all she felt. The idea of, nay a glimpse of seeing him, once more, even if eternal slumber came from his hands and she knew that catching a second long glimpse would be worth the apocalypse of the world. Her own damnation--her doom. It would be worth more than what she had left to give, if anything at all was left to give. Everything she couldn't give, sacrifice. Not because she wanted it for herself. Rather she didn't have it to sacrifice, to give. She was exposed, barren and naked. If she had everything before she had lost it, he could have it all.If she was graced by his presence for one short moment, to feel him in the same room, to be on the same earth as he, to breathe the air he breathed, to see him, and hear his voice, and feel the warmth of his life for one fickle moment. She doesn't have to touch or to feel him and that would be okay. If she could just do those, she was ready to burn in hell again. She would gladly be tormented and tortured and live a more morbid life than she already was. God could send her to the very core and the darkest, deadliest, most sinister chamber of hell and be locked there for the rest of eternity. If she could just see him again, it would be worth it. He didn't have to return her feelings anymore. She would be accepting of that. She wouldn't stay in his life even if he did remember her, loved her, hated her, and didn't want to see her again. She wouldn't run away from seeing him one last time, even if she knew that he wanted to claim her rugged and worthless life. That would be fine-- just one glimpse. Oh God. She could never ask for anything else in the world. For those reasons alone, she would risk it all. The raven haired girl will face hell, damnation, destruction, and be conquered, tortured and battered, for him, by him. The very nothing she had left, she would give it all. So she would not hide, but be extinguished destroyed all with her own will. What the demons of her world could not do, this human man could without lifting a finger. He could destroy her so easily. He had destroyed her so easily. The indestructible hit woman that has overcome it all is nothing but dust in front of her passion. The idea of catching a sight of him excited her. Was that the feeling? She had forgotten. She had not felt any emotion in so long. She had forgotten how it felt. Before him she will stand and be punished. Through him God will deliver, had delivered his retribution. She was going to burn in hell once her heart had stopped. She had never believed anything else. Since she pulled that trigger the first time when she was fourteen. She never had any misconceptions about that. The only difference is that she never thought she would burn on earth too. When was he or any danger related to him coming? The feelings, thoughts that were locked in a safe had been released; the rest was trying to break out of her. Her bruised and scarred heart was waiting to be tormented by him for the rest of eternity, through the hands of her passion.	eng	a0379121-483b-4a2e-a32b-8c8abd6880b3	http://www.booksie.com/literary_fiction/short_story/nazirec/when-our-worlds-collide
It is interesting that what is arguably Crowded House's best album - Woodface- is the one where Tim joined the band. They sound a bit like ELO, a band I have a love/hate relationship with. I'm only familiar with the Cloud Cult songs on RP, and among those there are several that have many beep and blips and electronic/synthesized sounds. Many folks have some strong opinions on that very element of their music - head to the comments page on those songs and check it outMan...this is probably blasphemy but I best know this song from one of my daughter's Wiggles videos. Their cover isn't bad, come to think of it... Yep, great stuff! Love this song! Even the version Tim Finn performed for the Australian kids show, the Wiggles: For RP purposes, however, I'm glad you're playing the original! This looks like the text output generated by collecting several sets of prose into a statistically linked word list, then starting it on a random word pair and letting it run along. Generally the output mirrors the summed content of the starting prose, but it is completely lacking in coherencyYeah, but he always seems pretty enthusiastic and happy. Even though (sometimes/frequently) a little cryptic It's actually a reference to Tim's near-nervous breakdown. That's the six months in a leaky boat. I thought I had read about that somewhere. Isn't it odd that Tim and Vincent D'Onofrio both had nervous breakdowns, and both were married to the same woman, Greta Scacchi? Maybe she was just too much for themThis sentence is very long and has no value until someone gives value to this useless sentence which will probably take a long time and that will simply not do at all for this sentence is not merely interesting but funny as well for the creator of this article was mental and had no sense and the article could use something actually funny, like how capybaras and fungi are related which would make the article very hilarious as well as useful and it might even be put up on the Main Page which would be amazing for such a boring article that doesn't even break the record for shortest sentence, because it is in fact an article about run-on sentences which are so meaningless like this one that they just look like a monotonous gray block, as well as the most boring article ever on this wiki but if it ever did break a record all cats would be famous and that would be very nice for cats love ice cream and pasta which the world could use getting rid of for they are very healthy and they taste like sushi and sushi tastes like milk and milk tastes like dino eggs and dino eggs taste like rocks and rocks taste like spinach which does not taste good at all but yet this article might be good if there was a such thing as a dragon for they breath fire and would kill everyone and that would be very funny and that would be so cool for dragons because dragons have lots and lots of fun killing but maybe they don't have fun killing maybe they just kill because they get to told to in books like Eragon which is not as cool as dragons in wintertime which is when everything is cold and not warm but sometimes it will be warm in winter if you are lucky and if you are not lucky it will be cold like ice cream which if you are lucky will be cold and if you are not lucky it will be warm and liquidy which could be a word and otherwise it isn't a word and if it isn't a word then I should not have used it because using made up words is not very smart because it seems like you can't find a real word to fit the situation such as that crocodile is so crocodiley, see look it makes you seem dumb because they think that you can't think of a real word when really if you have tried you could have said that crocodile is so reptillian which I think is a real word but maybe I spelt it wrong and maybe if I was lucky I did because at school I learnt to spell things correctly like the word the and cheese I spelt them correctly see check a dictionary I spelt that correctly too because I went to school which is where you can learn to spell and sometimes you learn things like the language features of a cinquain poem but not always but usually if you are doing a unit on poetry which was once said to be the English language at its best but not if the poem was in Spanish than it would be the Spanish language and its best which is not the same as the English language because they don't use the same words and Mexicans can't speak English; they speak Spanish, not Mexican which is what George Bush once said they spoke because I think it was supposed to be a joke like this article but it failed miserable because as said earlier it isn't funny and will not win any awards unless it is lucky and if it isn't lucky you might have a cold winter or maybe a warm ice cream which are both equally unlucky unless you do not believe in luck but instead believe in destiny or fate which is what I am trying to find out so I took up the hobby of palmistry which is reading palms and you can learn things like what your head line and life line are but you don't learn things like that in school you learn things like the language features of a cinquain poem and you also don't learn things about dragons who might or might not like killing people but dragons are cool and you might learn are them in school, if you are lucky, and if you are not lucky you will be forced to eat warm ice cream and have cold winters and while you are participating in such fun activities as the eating of warm ice cream and having a cold winter you may need to keep in mind that you could die at any second like now or now or now or now or maybe but not likely now and I don't think that anyone died when I was typing now or you were reading the nows but then again maybe some one in a place like Africa did because on planet earth someone dies every 2 seconds but that is probably because Africans die a lot because they starve and catch diseases because no one will teach them how to take over Microsoft and become rich like Bill Gates who is the captain of the chess team in the song High School Never Ends by bowling for soup which is a band like Fall Out Boy except the only difference if Fall Out Boy is actually good a ha ha ha just kidding they are not good they are the opposite of good they are bad which is the opposite of good or if you like you might say antonym I am definitely sure they taught me in homeschool along with the language features of a cinquain poem and guess what, I can recall which means opposite and which means something similar but synonym is probably the similar one because it sounds the same at the start or maybe I am wrong I have been wrong before like the time when someone was in an epic aeroplane chase from police heli-copters which were not as fast so they used the army jets to follow the criminal who was in an aeroplane which he got off eBay but anyway he was flying fast and I told the army to use a nuclear missile to hit the plane but not a homing missile just a nuclear one and I was wrong and it missed and hit Germany and that is how Hitler was born but not Adolf Hitler, his older brother Harry who was not Adolf Hitler because they can't both be Adolf Hitler unless they had the same name which they did not and I know this because I asked my mother when she was having a heart attack and answered my question which was 'was Adolf Hitler the same as his older brother' and she replied 'call an ambulance' which I assume was mother talk for no and since mothers know best I was sure my mother was right and you might be wondering why I say mother not mom and the answer is because I am a kiwi so I spell mom with a 'u' like mum and I wasn't sure if you understood it and I don't like spelling it like mom so I just say mother which is correct even if you are American or a Kiwi which is also the native bird of New Zealand but they like to call themselves Kiwis sometimes but even New Zealanders are not animals they are humans like you unless you are an animal or an alien and you may think this is is racist(creatureist?) to aliens because I said they don't count as humans but that is the truth they are not homo-sapiens they are aliens unless on some really far off planet they co-incidentally called themselves homo-sapiens too but they probably didn't just like Harry didn't have the same name as Adolf Hitler or pizza didn't have the same name as oinker who was a pig who starred in the classic movie released in 1987 titled 'Who'a stole'a my pig?' in which the pig runs around the well known country of Canada in an attempt to escape from the evil Italian chef who wants nothing more than to eat Oinker however the evil chef known only as 'Evil Chef' assumed some Canadian had stolen oinker and proceeded to slay 1 bajillion Canadians before Oinker gathered the courage to admit that he never was stolen and ran away because he wanted the Evil Chef to stop killing the friendly canadians who had sheltered him in his time of need which is why he confessed to the Evil chef but the movie received high ratings for having a pig who could talk a human language like Italian to humans unlike that lame pig Babe or that Pig in Charlotte`s Web whose name I cannot recall (maybe Wilbur) and if that pig had been able to speak fluent English he wouldn't've needed that spider's help but I think that is enough about pigs, so how about we talk about some current day music like Elvis who was good but I think he is no longer alive or he could be a zombie which would be cool because he could sing and write some cool zombie songs like 'Zombie Life Never Ends' or 'Boulevard of Broken Heads so I could Eat Brains' or 'Welcome to the Undead Parade' or 'Don't Feel Like Livin' or 'How to Take a Life' or 'One Way Ticket to being a Zombie' or 'Download this Brain' or 'Stacy's Mom's Brain' or 'When I'm Gone and Back as a Zombie' or 'Eat my Mind' or 'Ridin' Deady' or 'I died while landing Holly' or 'In the Summer-by the way I'm a zombie-time' or 'The Saints are Coming to Send Us Back to the Underworld But we are Going to Eat their Brains When They Get Here' or 'Love Me or Ate Me' or 'Roller-Coaster of Dead' or 'Windows Zombie' and if he zombie Elvis made all the songs it would be cool for a zombie I'm sure no-one would sue him and everyone would love the songs but then again I cannot tell the future so I don't know if they would sell well hopefully they do because Zombie Elvis could be the next Weird Al Yankovic but only bigger because he is the King because he is Elvis but enough about Elvis let's hear more about this article which only went to Dragons have lots of fun killing people and then I (imaginary person) did everything else because I am so nice and have nothing better to do because school just ended for the day and I didn't learn about any language features of a cinquain poem because I was lucky and get to eat cold ice creams and even though it is summer in NZ I might have a warm winter if I am lucky but anyway I was just wondering if you want to talk about something relevant to today such as T.V. shows of today but I am in NZ so it probably will be different than what you see on T.V. so maybe how about hold on I just realized school taught me how to spell maybe man that is crazy I never thought I would use something I learnt in school that is weird but it would still be better if dragon information was taught in school but I guess that is too much to hope for because dragon information has been obsolete since the death of Keith Moon in 5000 BC, man that Keith Moon was a funny guy with a red nose and blue eyes and a green face and blue hair even though nobody on this planet has blue hair except for the people who dye it blue and those people are nutto and they always love hot dogs except on Tuesdays because they prefer human babies then but on Wednesday they enjoy a few nibbles of bad video games and crappy computers made solely by Steve Jobs or in all probability by a young child in a nondescript third-world country struggling to survive on below-subsistence wages in a war-torn environment while in America people watch the news on the television and pay more attention to the latest exploits of Paris Hilton than to massive suffering of millions of people because lets face it some people are just stupid and shortsighted and selfish no alliteration intended and they cannot see the nose in front of their face for the very good reason that it is very difficult for the average person to consciously see their own nose unless they are Cyrano de Bergerac or they happen to be looking in the mirror in which case they are not seeing their nose but the light reflected from their nose (and some people's noses do reflect extraordinary amounts of light) but when you think about it no one ever really sees anything only the light reflected from an object so it's stupid to decide that seeing one's nose in a mirror is less real than seeing it in any other way, in the same way that many things are stupid, including communism sharks any novels by Charles Dickens and this long incredibly pointless sentence that is probably not worth your while to read, and if you did you probably have no life whatsoever, unless you just skipped here, which would be cheating, which would not be allowed, except in the case of certain games which allow cheating, thus making the cheating in fact not cheating, so cheating within the rules is sort of a paradox which one should normally not go into, but there's tons of space for it in this ridiculously long sentence which probably violates all of the part of Uncyclopedia guidelines that discusses being funny and not just stupid, but its not like is anyone is actually going to read this sentence, which was relatively recently discussing the paradox of cheating within the rules, a paradox which can be resolved with a healthy application of Oscar's Paradox Untangler Salve , which, by the way, contains the same active ingredient as Pre-Instant Cofee's Stable Loop blend, which is used to resolve paradoxes of all sorts, except for those involving the substance itself, causing a paradox involving the very means by which the parodox was to be avoided, this type of paradox being known as a "meta-paradox", or, a paradox that paradoxically involves another paradox, which could be a paradox concerning watermelons, which are especially prone to paradoxes as well as being prone to being the subject of ridiculously long sentences that no-one in their right mind should ever read, ever, and if you did read all the way through this monstrosity, you clearly, as has been mentioned above in that tangled mass which is now so large as to physically crush the text underneath, requirng restoration by underpaid workers, have no lifeKeyboard player Eddie Raynor, highly underrated, gave the Enz much of their unique sound. It shows on this song. He really was great. This Cd was probably my least favorite of the post theatrical and more poppy Enz configuration, but it's still a decent record. And it has Message to My Girl, a beautiful song that sort of started Neil Finn's Crowded House style of ballads.	eng	d1c39f40-38f5-446d-ad69-f24d7915a443	http://www.radioparadise.com/rp2-content.php?name=songinfo&song_id=30813
FootnoteShowcasing research with the power to change our world2013-05-16T14:44:53Z Journal of Emerging Investigators started with bees. Actually, bees, third graders, and a group of graduate students at Harvard. Each week, the students in the Microbiology and Immunobiology Department gather for a journal club, which consists of enjoying a free lunch while a peer presents a scientific paper. One week in November 2010, a fellow student presented a paper on bumblebee vision entitled "Blackawton Bees". The choice of topic confused my colleagues and me, since none of us worked on anything remotely related to bee behavior. Everyone got ready to load up on free food and tune out the presentation. What we quickly came to realize was that this paper – this published, scientific paper – had been written by third graders!(a) While it wasn't going to revolutionize the field or win a Nobel Prize, we were all extremely impressed by how these elementary school students were able to develop a hypothesis, design experiments to test that hypothesis, and draw meaningful conclusions from their experimental results. Even more impressive was the fact that the students had their work published in a peer-reviewed journal. My colleagues and I were thinking, "Wow, what a great way to learn science."(b) Then the light bulb went off: Why not create a journal dedicated exclusively to publishing student research? What developed is the Journal of Emerging Investigators (JEI), an academic journal that publishes research projects undertaken by middle and high school students (though ambitious third graders are encouraged to apply, as well). Students perform basic research – whether out of personal interest, for science fairs, or as part of class projects – then use the science-writing guidelines on our website to compose an article based on their findings. Once students submit their work, we send it to three scientists in a related field, who provide the students with comments and suggestions on how to improve their research and the article overall. If these steps sound familiar, that's because they mirror the same basic review process used in all scientific publications. Writing and publishing original research is essential for success as a scientist, yet almost no opportunities exist for young students to engage with this process in a rigorous way. Science writing in secondary school typically lacks the structure and rigor found in professional publishing. Though there are hundreds of academic science journals, very few accept work from middle or high-school students, and none focus primarily on this group or provide the mentoring and support necessary to facilitate an educational experience. We try to strike the right balance between rigorous standards of scientific integrity and realistic expectations about what kind of science research middle and high-schoolers can produce. Since we launched JEI in 2011, we've received over 40 submissions from students across the United States, and even a few from abroad. The articles that have made it through the review process and been published have focused on a range of topics. One of our first papers examined whether biodegradable plastic wrap was as good as non-biodegradable wrap for storing food.(c)Another pair of students examined microbes in their households and tested the effectiveness of a 70% ethanol solution at eliminating them. Both of these experiments represent applications of the scientific method to everyday problems these young students are curious about. My colleagues and I created JEI to educate students about the fundamentals of science research and writing and foster a community of young scientists. Submitting an article helps demystify the process of academic publishing to students who might not otherwise have access to experimental research. The review process connects students directly with professional researchers so they can envision what it's like to work as a scientist. Eventually we hope to have enough publications on our website that other students can use these articles as a resource in their own investigations. It's critical for academics to step beyond the bench and directly mentor the next generation of scientists. Fostering an early familiarity with science is of vital importance in the U.S., where students are generally not prepared for the realities of a professional career in the sciences.(d) By and large, the reception to JEI so far has been one of excitement. Educators have told us that they have been waiting for something like this to fill a void in science learning, and students have been enthusiastic about the prospects of learning directly from researchers and getting their own research published for everyone to see. ]]>0Zachariah about the effects of smoking, obesity, and other risk factors for chronic health problems have led policymakers to propose a range of new public health interventions, from banning large sugary drinks to putting graphic warnings on cigarette packaging and calorie counts on restaurant menus.(a) Despite vocal criticism of some of these policies as "nanny state" interventions, our research shows that most Americans support government action to address chronic health problems like diabetes, obesity, and tobacco and alcohol use. This is particularly true when such action takes the form of less intrusive interventions that nudge rather than compel people to make healthier choices. Traditionally, public health efforts have largely focused on addressing communicable diseases or environmental toxins, for example, by requiring childhood vaccinations, containing the spread of HIV and foodborne illnesses, or banning leaded paints. The legitimacy of government intervention in these areas is based on the idea that communicable diseases and environmental toxins can put the public at risk. Today, however, many of our most significant health problems are noncommunicable illnesses like heart disease and cancer, often caused or exacerbated by personal behaviors such as smoking, obesity, and lack of exercise. While addressing noncommunicable disease isn't entirely new to public health, the emphasis on so called "lifestyle behaviors" represents a new frontier for the field, and raises the question of what role government should play in pushing people to change their behaviors and improve their personal health. Some advocates believe government has a responsibility to improve the well-being of its citizens as well as control healthcare costs. Critics suggest that government intervention in individual health and behavior is intrusive and an illegitimate use of public funds. To better understand what the American public thinks about these questions, we conducted a survey of over 1800 adults.1 We found that large majorities (70-90%) support government action to address noncommunicable diseases and behavioral risk factors like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and tobacco and alcohol use. When asked about specific policy proposals, people show greater support for less restrictive or invasive measures, and are less likely to endorse more coercive approaches.2 For example, more than 80% of respondents favor efforts to make fresh fruits and vegetables more affordable and laws requiring restaurants to post the amount of calories in their foods. A much smaller share of people (less than 40%) supports banning children from bringing soda and junk food to school or charging obese people more for health insurance.(b) These findings suggest policymakers will likely receive greater buy-in from the public by continuing the current focus on using law to shape health environments and encourage better choices, rather than exerting direct pressure on individual behavior. Perhaps not surprisingly, we found that a person's political ideology predicts how likely he or she is to support these efforts. People who identify as conservative are less likely to endorse the general idea of government action on a range of public health issues, like cancer and obesity, and are also less supportive of many specific policy interventions. The same is true for respondents who believe that health is "strongly controllable through individual action." We were surprised, however, that we didn't see large differences in support by geography.(c) In particular, though New York City has been at the forefront of many new public health interventions, area residents are no more likely to support these interventions than people from other parts of the country (once we controlled for factors like age, race, and political ideology).(d) This suggests that many of New York's interventions could have success in other geographic areas. What should these findings mean for policymaking moving forward? Our study shows broad support – perhaps broader than previously understood – for government action on chronic health problems, even among potential targets of interventions, such as people who are overweight or have diabetes. As a political matter, we find that policymakers will face the least resistance in advancing interventions that encourage rather than compel people to make healthier choices. The dilemma, however, is that the least coercive options may not always be the most effective. Our research also suggests that the policymaking process itself can be key to public buy-in and compliance. Among the belief measures we tested, the strongest predictor of support for interventions was an individual's perception that "people like me" can influence government priorities in public health. Policymakers should take public opinion on health issues into consideration because people are more likely to comply with regulations they view as legitimate and are also more likely to view efforts as legitimate if they feel they have a say in the process. ]]>0Zachariah March 30th, the business journal The Economist ran a story describing the complexities of climate science modeling and offering an intricate scientific explanation of why air temperatures at the Earth's surface have remained flat for the past 5 to 15 years while greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise. And with this article as the flashpoint, the latest rhetorical battle on climate change began. Despite the author's quick assertion that this "does not mean global warming is a delusion" and that global average "temperatures in the first decade of the 21st century remain almost 1 degree Celsius above their level in the first decade of the 20th," Rush Limbaugh used the article as proof that "global warming is a hoax."(a) The National Review added that "the new climate deniers are the liberals who… have managed to miss the biggest story in climate science." Scientists have offered clear explanations in the past for the lack of change in average surface temperature measurements and scrambled to clarify the complexities of the models that The Economist ambitiously tried to explain. Yet Ed Rogers of the Washington Post warned of "Obama and the Democrats' attempts to control our lives via climate change policy." A serious effort to explain the complexity of climate science was transformed into a contest of rhetorical destruction invoking politics, religion, fears, and conspiracy theories. A Different Perspective on the Debate Why is this so? Why did a scientific issue like climate change become so toxic, so caught up in what we call "the culture wars"? It is because the social debate around climate change is no longer about carbon dioxide and climate models. It is about values, culture, worldviews, and ideology. As physical scientists explore the mechanics and implications of anthropogenic climate change and try to convey their results to a skeptical public, they must recognize that their work is being evaluated by a population where upwards of two-thirds do not clearly understand the scientific process and fewer are able to pass even a basic scientific literacy test.(b) In discussing this issue, people hear far more than science. They hear an engagement with deeply held values and beliefs. While frustrating to those in the physical sciences who expect their work to be judged by peer review and not public palatability, this response is something that social scientists can help us understand and address. The fields of psychology, sociology, anthropology and political science can help explain the cultural, cognitive and political reasons why people support or reject the scientific consensus that both the U.S. National Academies of Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science officially state exists. Social scientists are a relatively new voice in this public debate. To date, the academic perspective on climate change has mostly taken the form of physical scientists identifying and describing the problem and economists and policy experts developing potential solutions. These efforts have often been somewhat abstracted from messier questions about how the public views the issue of climate change and how they will respond to potential solutions. Social science offers valuable tools for answering these questions and understanding how to cultivate broad-based support for meaningful action on climate change. The Source of the Schism Recent social science research illuminates why climate change has joined issues such as evolution and stem cells in moving beyond the realm of science to become a social and cultural flashpoint. In a process that legal scholar Dan Kahan labels "cultural cognition,"1 people are influenced by group values and will generally endorse the position that most directly reinforces the connections they have with others in their social groups.(c) New information and ideas are filtered through people's existing belief systems, cultural identities, and values. Thus, for some people the phrase climate change evokes ideas of environmentalists pushing a radical socialist agenda, distrust of scientists and the scientific process, more and bigger government tampering with the market, and even a challenge to their belief in God as master of the earth. Others hear completely different connotations: the natural outcome of a consumerist market system run rampant, belief that scientific knowledge should guide modern decision-making, a much needed call for regulation to curb market excesses, and even the potential for breakdown of civilization as we know it if we fail to act. Understanding the role of culture and cognition in shaping public opinion on climate change is important because a connection between a position on the issue and one's cultural identity is very hard to break. For example, multiple studies have shown that political party affiliation is the strongest correlate with belief in climate change.(d) This, to me, is the most visible sign of the cultural dimensions of the issue. Efforts to present ever increasing amounts of data, without attending to the deeper values that are threatened by the conclusions theylead to, will only yield greater resistance and make a social consensus even more elusive. Opposing sides are debating different issues, seeking only information that supports their position, disconfirms the opposing view, and demonizes the other side. Think of the news sources that people trust most to get a sense of the schism that is forming. Who do you trust more: Fox News or NPR; Al Gore or Rush Limbaugh? Each of these sources project and represent different belief systems and worldviews, and thus different positions on climate change.(e) The cultural logics that underlie each group of beliefs form the crux of the debate and, as opinions drift to more polarized extremes, develop into a dangerous schism. As the divide grows and extreme opinions dominate the conversation, discourse and the potential for compromise disintegrate.2 While one side sees the future of the planet at risk, the other sees freedom and economic growth being threatened. The two sides are not so much competing as they are talking past one another, and a functioning democracy is not possible under such circumstances.(f) Breaking the Deadlock There is hope, however. Decades of social science research as well as more recent work that connects that research to the climate change debate can help us wade through the vitriol and understand why climate change has joined sex, religion, and politics as topics you don't mention in polite company without fear of a heated and divisive debate. For example, there is a large body of literature in dispute resolution and negotiations on how to engage in value-laden debates.3 This literature offers techniques for moving away from distributive win-lose configurations and towards "mixed motive" consensus-based discussions that are based on both the issue's scientific and social dimensions.(g) Two examples valuable for the climate change debate are discussed below.4 Focus on broker frames. Effective advocates draw on the language and narratives of the group they are communicating with. Examples and frameworks that align with people's existing worldviews can help them consider controversial issues in a new light. Categorizing climate change as primarily an environmental concern may only inspire action among people for whom this category is relevant, or worse, create resistance in those for whom this category is anathema. In response, advocates are increasingly using different broker frames to emphasize the economic, religious, psychological, sociological, developmental, and political implications of climate change. Potential broker frames include: Employ climate brokers. People are more open to arguments made by individuals they consider to be members of their cultural community. They often immediately discount and tune out claims from divisive figures, like Al Gore or Rush Limbaugh, who they view as being on the 'other side' of the partisan divide. The best climate brokers are individuals with credibility on both sides of the debate, particularly the right, since Republicans on the whole are more skeptical about climate change than Democrats. Politicians and pundits as well as advocates from the business world, the religious community, the entertainment industry, and the military can effectively reach audiences who may distrust anyone more closely associated with the left. The Way Forward It would be naïve to assume that a reconfiguration of the form of the conversation alone will yield a social consensus that climate change is real, that it is caused by humans, and that we should do something about it. Indeed, one major reason that climate change has become so culturally divisive in this country is because action threatens the interests of powerful economic and political groups. These groups have devoted substantial resources to challenging the validity of the scientific community and its research. This political reality confounds the debate and creates obstacles to a social consensus, but it does not change the trajectory of the discussion nor the tactics to be employed. The weight of scientific evidence is massive and growing, though inevitably incomplete in explaining such a complex system. As Paul Edwards, author of A Vast Machine, explains, "The science of climate change is like a jigsaw puzzle with a few missing pieces. We don't know everything, and real mysteries remain. But the overall pattern is clear and very unlikely to change dramatically, even if we find out that one or two of the pieces are out of place." The current challenge on climate change is a social one: explaining the pattern that this complex jigsaw puzzle reveals to a skeptical public that is more concerned with the tangible and salient issues of a downturned economy, high unemployment, an uncertain retirement, and rising health care costs. Given the weight of these concerns, science alone will not compel people to act. At the end of the day, climate change presents an existential challenge to our contemporary worldviews and only by shifting those perspectives will we fully embrace the change that is necessary. It means accepting that we, as a species, have grown to such numbers, and our technology has grown to such power, that we can alter and manage the ecosystem on a planetary scale. This is an enormous cultural shift that alters our conception of the environment and the responsibilities that come from our newfound place within it. Yet it is a necessary shift if we are to develop the will to act on climate change. ]]>1Zachariah Paharia's career has taken her through the academic, business, and online worlds on the way to a D.B.A. from Harvard Business School and her current position as an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University. In addition to her academic work, Neeru has been involved in a number of 'open knowledge' projects building online communities to make information and creative products more widely and freely available. She spoke with Footnote about some of the projects she's helped create, and how academic research can be made available and accessible to a broader audience. How did you first get involved with Creative Commons and what attracted you to the project?(a) I learned about Creative Commons (CC) through a coworker at McKinsey. His classmate from law school was the executive director (and only employee) of the project. At the time, I had made a short film and was trying to figure out how to put music in it. I learned that I needed to have the copyrights to any music I put in the film, which seemed really burdensome and confusing. How was I going to find copyright-free music for my film? So when I heard about Creative Commons it made so much sense—how great would it be if there was a pool of open music that anyone could use! I was interested in technology and art so it seemed like a great fit. I was indoctrinated into the world of open access at CC and it has informed my subsequent projects. From there I started AcaWiki and the Peer 2 Peer University, two grassroots open education projects. Can you tell us a bit about Acawiki and the mission behind it? The mission of AcaWiki is to make academic papers more accessible both physically and intellectually. Most academic papers are trapped behind a paywall, so ordinary citizens cannot access papers unless they have a university affiliation or want to pay $35 per paper. This is really sad because it creates an unnecessary bottleneck between cutting edge research and the citizens and organizations who can benefit from it. Oftentimes, this research is publicly funded by the same people who cannot access it.(b) The second goal of Acawiki is to make academic works more intellectually accessible to people. Academic articles are often long and technical, but in many cases the essence can be simplified so the main point is easily accessible to people. Because there is no copyright on an idea (just on the written work), summaries of academic papers can be written and distributed legally. Academics are privileged enough to be able to spend time coming up with new learning which is meant to benefit society. That said, one piece of the pipeline is broken—the last mile where the information should be delivered to people who can use it.(c) What are some other barriers to the broad dissemination of academic knowledge? How can we address these obstacles? I see three barriers: the two already mentioned in terms of paywalls and intellectual accessibility, and the third in terms of application. Academics spend time doing research without necessarily thinking about how their work can be applied. I think more people working in some middle area—between academics and the field—can help a lot. Businesses, communities, and citizens could benefit from an organization or group who does some thinking about how research can be applied to common problems that are faced in the world. This group can help figure out how to translate academic content for public citizens, and also offer academics ideas from the real world that would be worth their attention to investigate. What interest do scholars have in making their findings publicly accessible, both in terms of distribution and presentation? Scholars are not given many incentives to make their work publicly accessible. In most cases, the journal makes you sign a copyright form (where the scholar essentially loses their copyright) and universities often don't have the money to make open access work.(d) The work-around is to write a summary of the academic paper and put it online so people can easily find it. The focus on journal article publication for career advancement definitely hurts open access projects. The hope would be to create a different set of incentives that are stronger than what we have now. For example a scholar may get more citations in an open access journal, and that can affect how well he or she does when reviewed for tenure. ]]>0Zachariah election of 2012 is behind us. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have completed their last campaigns and given their final victory and concession speeches. It is time to reflect on the persistent themes that characterized the campaign and locate the election in relation to the parties' trajectories in recent years. Identifying those themes might explain, better than pundits' fascination with demography or with politics as a game of imagery and maneuver, the reasons why the president was reelected by a larger margin than many analysts predicted. It is not the atmospherics of their campaigns, but the substance of Obama's and Romney's stated goals and programs, the ideals they championed and the directions in which they wanted to take the nation, that reveal why the president's message resonated with a majority of American voters. The candidates and their parties presented two competing and ultimately incompatible visions of America that have deep roots in our nation's history. Most Republicans distrust government, particularly the federal government, and put their faith in free enterprise. Most Democrats, as they have done for a century, consider government regulation of the economy necessary to protect the most vulnerable Americans. Although campaign observers warned repeatedly during the months preceding the election that they did not sense the energy or the commitment of Democratic voters that they found so striking in 2008, members of many groups – including ethnic and racial minorities, unmarried women, poor people, and Catholics, Jews, and liberal Protestants – ended up turning out in large numbers and voting for Obama by equally large or even larger majorities this time.(a) Why? In his victory speech on election night, the president struck the same chords he has been sounding since he addressed the throng in Grant Park four years earlier – the same chords, in fact, that he struck when he burst into prominence with his address to the 2004 Democratic Party nominating convention in Boston: unity in diversity, conciliation and compromise, and policy making conceived as experimentation rather than the veneration of supposedly timeless truths. Obama conceives of governance as an endless process of trial and error in which programs are understood as hypotheses to be tested, not as dogmas to be followed regardless of the consequences. Obama opened his victory speech by declaring that "the task of perfecting our union moves forward," and this focus on the future rather than the past has distinguished him not only from Republicans but also from many Democrats trapped in an equally unhelpful nostalgia for an America that never was. From the beginning of his career in public life, Obama has shown a willingness to question the inherited assumptions of his own party and to incorporate ideas from his opponents. But since 2008 that willingness, rather than making him a more attractive president, has made him a target for partisans located at both ends of the political spectrum.1 Deep divisions have marked the United States since its birth. With the exception of the Civil War, tragically necessary to end the disastrous blight of slavery, those divisions have not prevented the nation from moving forward, usually in fits and starts, to address new problems with imagination and innovation. Early challenges included forging unified commercial and transportation networks, and public-private partnerships of the sort Obama extols were essential to achieving those goals.2 When expanding cities eclipsed small towns and new industries transformed the nation's economy, waves of government regulation, inaugurated by progressives and then extended by New Dealers, proved necessary to rein in the excesses that accompanied those changes.3 The regulated capitalist regime of the post-World-War-II era, marked by unionized labor and steeply progressive income taxes that diminished overall economic inequality, brought middle-class prosperity to unprecedented numbers of Americans even as it continued to exclude millions of others, particularly African Americans and Hispanic Americans. De-industrialization and a flattening of tax payments have destroyed that world over the last three decades, and low-paying work in the service sector has proved a poor substitute for jobs either shipped overseas or assigned to robots who require no benefits and never go on strike.4 Democrats and Republicans' fundamental disagreement about the best way to address these developments and the role of government in doing so was a key theme of the election. At the parties' summer nominating conventions, their leaders made clear just how stark their differences have become. The Republican Party platform extolled the individualism of self-reliant entrepreneurs, almost to the exclusion of everybody else. In his speech accepting his party's nomination, Mitt Romney proclaimed that "the real world of business," the world he knew from experience, "is what the president doesn't seem to understand. Business and growing jobs is about taking risk, sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding, but always striving."(b) Government, Romney implied, only gets in the way of "the genius of the American free enterprise system," which is "to harness the extraordinary creativity and industry of the American people with a system that is dedicated to creating tomorrow's prosperity rather than trying to redistribute today's." High among his priorities was his desire "to assure every entrepreneur and every job creator that their investments in America will not vanish," and he promised to "champion small business, America's engine of growth." Government regulations – and especially the specter of Obamacare – threatened the precious freedom of entrepreneurs. Mitt Romney Speaking at the Republican National Convention in Tampa Democrats, by contrast, insisted on the importance of community, not only in their convention speeches but in the two campaigns that attracted the most attention (and generated the largest contributions): Obama's bid for reelection and Elizabeth Warren's campaign for the United States Senate in Massachusetts.5 In Obama's words on election night, "while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people." Whereas Republican candidates had pledged to "take back our country" from the shadowy, unnamed aliens who had seized it and from the president whose citizenship and religious identity many persisted in denying, Democrats celebrated the growing diversity of Americans' ethno-racial identities and sexual orientations. President Obama declared that "for the United States of America the best is yet to come," precisely because the nation has become an ever-changing kaleidoscope of peoples and cultures. Another striking difference between the two parties in 2012 was the stridency of the Republicans' rhetoric. In his concession speech, Governor Romney celebrated a world in which strong men act and women applaud, and he made little effort even to gesture toward any values that all Americans share. Although magnanimity obviously comes more easily in victory speeches, the president on election night thanked every American who voted for either party, acknowledged Republicans' love of country, and pledged to talk with Governor Romney "about where we can work together to move this country forward." The president challenged the persistent claims that the presidential campaign was "small, even silly," and noted, correctly, that the stakes were big and the differences between the two parties real and important. Obama countered the relentless divisiveness of the Republican strategy by reaffirming his own commitment to the profound significance of elections, a dimension masked by most journalists' blow-by-blow accounts: "Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions," and in any political campaign the noisy collision of "deeply held beliefs" inevitably "stirs passions, stirs up controversy." But rather than blaming his opponents for that antagonism, as many commentators on the left and resentful Democrats have done, the president instead contended that these "arguments we have are a mark of our liberty" and reminded Americans that people elsewhere struggle "for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots." Moreover, he declared, as he has repeatedly in the last eight years, that all Americans share many of the same aspirations for the nation: fine schools, technological innovation, a robust economy, and a strong military that ensures peace rather than waging endless war. President Obama's Victory Speech on Election Night The president did not shy away, however, from identifying the fundamental differences between the two parties that the campaign brought into relief. He stressed the dangers of inequality and global warming that Republicans denied. He invoked the virtues of generosity, compassion, and tolerance that Republicans – especially but not only in their Tampa nominating convention – cast aside in their litany of praise for independent entrepreneurs. Yet the most notable feature of Obama's victory speech was also the most familiar. Despite the chorus of Democrats urging him to get tough and despite acknowledging that disagreements will persist, he implored members of both parties to face "the painstaking work of building consensus and making the difficult compromises needed to move this country forward." How did Obama expect to proceed? By building on the "common bond" that links Americans, the shared commitments to liberty and justice not only for "job creators" – the "makers" rather than the "takers" in the Republicans' preferred formulation – but for all of us. Obama directly repudiated Romney's denigration of the "47%"(c) by underscoring the point he made at the end of his acceptance speech in Charlotte this summer, a claim that recurs in his rhetoric as often as its mirror appears in Republican discourse: "America's not about what can be done for us. It's about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self-government. That's what we believe." President Obama Speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte The most distinctive feature of America, Obama insisted on election night, is not its wealth or its military, its universities or culture, but "the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth. TheThe contrast between the Democrats' drumbeat of unity and togetherness and the Republicans' equally insistent stress on individualism can be blurred in accounts by tough-minded analysts who focus on the maneuvers of the campaigns' "ground games" and the different demographic characteristics of the parties' voters. Of course those factors mattered. Focusing on them to the exclusion of the substantive differences between the parties, however, only reinforces and deepens the sense that American politics is nothing but a shallow shadow game between marketers and strategists rather than also a battle between competing visions of the United States. The current Republican vision isolates heroic entrepreneurs as the sole embodiments of the American dream. The Democratic view incorporates the struggles and failures as well as the successes of everyone striving to make it in an increasingly ruthless environment, a world in which competition has replaced compassion and every job is tenuous. In that world, many of those with power can see themselves as entitled to their privileges rather than lucky to benefit from the accumulated capital amassed by earlier generations and sustained by the efforts – often invisible to the wealthy – of those of their contemporaries on whom their comfort depends.(d) The closing remarks of the two election-night speeches confirmed the gulf between the parties. Governor Romney concluded by saying he would "earnestly pray" for President Obama, implying to many of his listeners that only God's mercy could redeem such wrongheaded and straying sinners as the voters who rejected him. Obama, by contrast, reiterated the idea that has been at the heart of his writings ever since he was a young community organizer converted to Christianity by the powerful example of religious believers and the inspiring words of a Protestant preacher: hope. Despite all the "frustrations of Washington" and all the "roadblocks" ahead, Obama declared that he has never been more hopeful about the future of America. He was not urging "blind optimism" or "wishful idealism" but the deeper resolution of Christian realism, "that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting." What sustains that hope? For Obama it is the continuing struggle of Americans for equality and inclusion regardless of creed, color, or – now – sexual orientation, the stubborn belief that "you can make it here in America if you're willing to try" because, as he put it in his ringing conclusion, "we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We're not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states," precisely the formulation he offered way back in 2004.(e) President Obama's Victory Speech on Election Night A wide gulf separates Obama's message of inclusiveness from Romney's last-ditch effort to rally the shrinking tribe of white men (and the wives who love them) by demonizing everyone else.(f) Yet we must remember that Romney appealed to just under half of American voters. The split in the electorate reflects more than just changing demographics or the principles of behavioral economics shrewdly deployed by the Obama team to get voters to the polls, important as those are. It points also toward the deep and persistent conflict between the bare majority of the electorate that views politics as problem solving and celebrates the growing diversity of America, on the one hand, and the still large minority that sees politics as the site of a continuing war between an older, increasingly brittle world view centering on received truths and the continuing exclusion of ideas and people considered alien to their constricted idea of the American way. The president's reelection signals the majority's endorsement not just of him but of his values; the narrowness of his victory serves as a sobering reminder that nearly half of the American people do not share his vision of an America open to experimentation and inclusiveness. Voters last November ensured that divided government will continue. Although the Senate remained Democratic, Republicans parlayed a decade of gerrymandering by state legislatures into a substantial majority in the House of Representatives. Opinion polls repeatedly demonstrate that significant majorities of voters stand with the Democratic party on issues ranging from taxing the rich and sustaining government spending to abortion and gun control. However, the dynamics of Republican party fundraising and primary campaigns continue to dictate that the most intransigent and ideologically attuned candidates will be returned to Congress from the safely Republican districts of the South and the Rocky Mountain states. Since the election we have witnessed more rounds in the increasingly dissonant battle between these competing ways of thinking. In the wake of the Newtown shooting, many conservatives have reiterated their conviction that the nation's problems can be addressed only by individual citizens taking the initiative, which in this case means defending themselves by carrying concealed weapons. President Obama captured the stark difference between that individualist perspective and his own at the memorial service to honor the dead. His remarks echoed the principal themes sounded throughout his campaign: care, concern, and a shared commitment to the common good. Implicitly rejecting the gospel of individualism and explicitly invoking the Christian ideal of love from the first sentence of his Newtown speech to the last, the president pointed out that "all the world's religions begin with the same question: Why are we here? What gives our lives meaning? What gives our lives purpose?" His answer underscored the values that animated his campaign: what matters is not the defiant self-reliance that makes us wary of all obligations but "the love that takes us out of ourselves," the "acts of kindness" that bind people to each other. In his most recent speeches, including his Second Inaugural and his State of the Union, the president has reaffirmed longstanding commitments. He has called for increased funding for education from preschool to community college, a substantial increase in the minimum wage, immigration reform, and gun control. In his second term Obama faces many serious problems, including persistent unemployment, economic stagnation, ever-growing inequality, and accelerating climate change. However, as demonstrated by the recent failure to halt the blanket cuts in government spending mandated by sequestration, his most daunting challenge will be more amorphous. If he is to make progress toward any of his goals, he must convince the almost fifty percent of the electorate that voted for Governor Romney and those who returned a majority of Republicans to the House of Representatives that they should reconsider their political ideas. He must persuade those Americans convinced that the federal government is their enemy, and that nothing matters more than their own personal freedom, that they should renounce those beliefs and adopt instead a different way of thinking. As he made clear in his remarks on March 1, the day the budget cuts took effect, the president continues to believe that Congress "will come to its senses" when the "common sense and practical approach" of the American people finally convinces Republicans in the House that simply cutting spending will not solve the nation's problems and restore economic growth. Commentators have noted for decades the incoherence of the public's unchanging preferences for continuing with expensive government programs – none of which a majority of voters want to see cut – and their equally persistent unwillingness to pay for those programs.(g) The president's confidence that Americans will at last resolve that contradiction and apply sufficient pressure on Congress to break the current stalemate seems unshaken by the endless rebuffs he has suffered at the hands of his opponents in Congress. Like the belief he expressed in Newtown concerning Americans' deep commitment to the values of love and kindness, his confidence in the electorate testifies to the unswerving hope he maintains in the face of banal selfishness as well as unspeakable evil. Several months into President Obama's second term, that hope remains an act of audacity. ]]>0Zachariah Piette has a Ph.D. in statistics from the prestigious Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where he spent most of his time researching and publishing papers on sports. Instead of jumping onto the professor track after graduation, he took his academic expertise and co-founded Krossover Intelligence, a start-up that helps sports teams analyze their data and improve their performance. James talked to Footnote about why he's passionate about understanding sports, how better analytics can help coaches and players improve their game, and how he puts his academic background to work in the private sector. How did you get interested in studying sports from an academic perspective? Thanks to the recent popularization of analytics in the sports realm, particularly by the book and subsequent movie Moneyball, a few researchers are starting to make sports their primary focus. I'm one of those people. Sports have always been a passion of mine. I tried all of them that I could, but thanks to my complete lack of balance and finesse, I was adept at none. Still stuck on being involved in some way, I started reading anything I could on strategy, coaching, etc., so that I could at least have an edge somewhere. Towards the end of high school, I came upon a recent flurry of analytically driven works by guys like Bill James and Dean Oliver, and I was forever hooked. After finishing your Ph.D., why did you choose to go into the private sector rather than academia? During my graduate studies at Wharton, I spent nearly the entirety of my time working on sports-related projects. Even my thesis, "Estimating Fielding Ability in Baseball Players Over Time," spawned from a grant by ESPN to purchase sophisticated data on outcomes from batted balls in play. However, academia has few outlets for my work and, the longer I worked in this field, the more evident it became that academic skills and ideas need to be transferred over into the sports world. That's why when Vasu Kulkarni, a former JV Penn basketball player and '08 alum, shared an idea with me back in 2009 about bringing analytics and film breakdown to amateur sports, I jumped on the opportunity. After nearly 4 years building Krossover, it's clear that there exists a huge disconnect between the analyses preached by researchers like myself and those used in practice. The biggest factor causing this gap is the lack of understanding around noise or error. It does not take much training to learn how to estimate means or averages. Finding that estimate's corresponding error rate or determining how much signal (that is, valid information) exists in the data requires more sophistication, something that academia has always been apt at providing. The biggest impediment facing the transfer of knowledge from academia to sports is not money or lack of interest in the sports industry, but the feeling among academics that sports comes with the connotation of "illegitimate research." Can you give us an example of how more data and better analytics can help coaches and players? Take the basketball shot chart. This is a visual interpretation of every shot taken in a basketball game, where an "X" corresponds to a missed shot and an "O" corresponds to a made shot. The shot chart is not a recent invention; it has been around since coaches started mocking up plays on chalkboards decades ago and is heavily used by analysts and media outlets alike. The problem is that the shot chart suffers from a lack of context; that is, there are major pieces of data missing from that visualization to really inform the viewer what happened in that shooting instance (e.g. how far the defender was from the shooter, what type of shot was it). At my company Krossover, we have added an interactive element to the shot chart by allowing the coaches to bring up the video related to that shot, giving them proper context before jumping to a conclusion. How does Krossover use the latest academic research to inform its work? The best example is our new product sIQ, short for sports IQ. The original idea came from Ben Alamar, a professor at Menlo College who also helps NBA teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder with their analytics. He was inspired by previous work done on developing an athlete's perceptual expertise, which is essentially their ability to predict subsequent events during a sporting activity. Researchers would perform a film-based simulation of a particular action that occurs in a game (like a tennis serve or a soccer penalty kick) and then ask players to predict the result of the action based on visual cues.1 Working with the simulations eventually improved players' on-field performance at those skills. Professor Alamar took this principle a step further for basketball by using live film of NBA games to test potential draftees (i.e. players who are looking to make a jump into the NBA) on both their accuracy and their response time. He did this by simply showing the beginning of a clip and pausing it to ask a question like "Does this shot go in?" The idea is that players who were able to beat competition at the amateur level on pure athletic ability alone would perform poorly, while those with a more sophisticated awareness of the game would do better. When my colleague and I heard Prof. Alamar talk about this concept, we immediately knew that this was a perfect app to build not only for professional teams, but for coaches at all levels looking for innovative ways to train their players. An interesting side effect of the app is that sIQ is also a lot of fun to play, as it plays off of an athlete's sense of competitiveness. In addition, having so many athletes take the sIQ challenges provides us with mounds of data on how athlete's skills evolve at different ages. ]]>0Diana the start of the Iraq War ten years ago today, more than 190,000 people have died as a direct result of the conflict, over 70 percent of them civilians. The U.S. has spent $2.2 trillion funding the war, 35 to 45 times the original estimate of $50 to $60 billion projected by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in 2002. Over ten years, 4,488 American service members died while on active duty in Iraq, along with nearly as many – 3,400 – military contractors (although owing to the inconsistent measures for documenting contractor deaths the true figure is likely many times higher).1 These are conservative estimates, important not only for what they count, but also what they leave out: disease, long-term illness, suicide, accruing interest on government debt, and other harder-to-calculate costs are not included in the basic figures. But that doesn't mean they remain unknown or undocumented. The Costs of War project aims to provide a comprehensive accounting of all costs from the U.S. wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan since the attacks of September 11, 2001. The statistics listed above are part of an ambitious, thorough report released to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the Iraq War's start on March 19, 2003.2In an interview with Footnote last year, project director Catherine Lutz explained the purpose of the endeavor: "After ten years of war, it really is imperative that we understand how much the American people and the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have been paying for these wars… [and] take responsibility for that." The scholarly, non-partisan Costs of War project attempts to document the wars' costs by bringing together the expertise of over thirty economists, political scientists, anthropologists, historians, lawyers, journalists, and humanitarian workers. This interdisciplinary approach takes more factors into account than conventional appraisals, adding depth and clarity to an understanding of wars' toll in all its dimensions, from human casualties and economic costs to impacts on daily life in the region and civil liberties in the U.S. One example of the project's nuanced accounting methods is its examination of the opportunity costs and tradeoffs of war spending, costs that Lutz explained are frequently overlooked. With so many kinds of costs to consider, the project's work is far from over. Documenting the costs of the war in Iraq is more than simply a historical exercise, however. As Catherine Lutz explained in her interview with Footnote last year, it's a way to "take responsibility" for what happened and identify lessons for future policymaking. The truth is a bit more complicated than these headlines might suggest. The study in question, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), compares patterns of gene expression in human patients suffering from various types of acute inflammation (burns, endotoxemia, trauma, and sepsis) and the mouse experimental systems designed to model these diseases.(b) Surprisingly, the researchers found that there was very little overlap between the gene expression changes caused by these diseases in humans and in mice. This disparity has troubling implications for drug development, as potential treatments are often identified via testing in mice. The disconnect may explain why nearly 150 drugs that showed promise for treating acute inflammation in mice had little to no effect when it came to humans. The take-away message of the PNAS paper is that the current mouse models for certain inflammatory conditions do not mimic human disease and are thus unsuitable for identifying and testing potential treatments. These findings will have a profound impact on the study of acute inflammation, particularly for researchers using the mouse models described in the paper. However, despite what some media coverage might suggest, this work does not signal the end for the mouse as a model organism and does not negate the progress that has been made in understanding disease and testing drugs using other mouse models.(c) Furthermore, focusing on the impact that one high-profile failure will have on the field as a whole reflects a lack of understanding of what mouse and other model systems mean to the researchers who use them. The vast majority of biological science is carried out using different model systems, each of which is designed to answer a specific type of question. For studies involving the most fundamental biological processes, such as DNA replication and metabolism, the simplest single-celled bacteria and yeast have provided some of the most profound insights. Cultures of human cells have shown themselves to be well-suited to biochemical studies, but fall short when it comes to complex organismal processes. Mouse models are excellent for the analysis of complex physiological environments, but suffer from the fact that there are many subtle and not-so-subtle differences between mouse and human biology (as the PNAS paper demonstrates). Although each of these systems can provide valuable insight, as researchers, we know that the models are just that: models. The only perfect model of human disease would be humans themselves, but performing many kinds of research on humans is an ethical and practical impossibility. As researchers, we are constantly trying to strike a balance between broad understanding and accurate representation. We use cell lines, mice, and other organisms to build conceptual models that allow us to make sense of the vast and complex set of microscopic processes that drive life. In biomedical research, the goal is to apply these conceptual models back to human disease. In some cases this is successful, and the result is promising new treatments and techniques. In other cases, the experimental and conceptual models prove to be off the mark and researchers must go back to the drawing board. Knowing the limits of our models is just as important as understanding their successes. The PNAS paper, which shows that certain acute inflammation models are incorrect, is undeniably important in that it will redefine the direction of that field of study and lead researchers to search for new tools for examining the problem in humans. Although the study does not invalidate mouse research as an experimental approach, it will serve as a valuable reminder to researchers to be vigilant in ensuring their models are as relevant as possible to human disease. Mouse research will carry on, and it will continue to provide invaluable biological insight and a fertile soil for testing the therapies that many of us will be using ten years down the road. ]]>0Diana dollar's status as the world's most widely traded currency affords the U.S. a number of economic perks, from low-cost debt to clout in the international economic system.(a) What policymakers and the public may not realize is that the primacy of the dollar is also a cornerstone of U.S. military strength, and the decline of the dollar would weaken America's superpower status. As policymakers address America's long-term fiscal challenges by enacting decisions that will shape the economy for decades to come, they must keep in mind that they will also be determining the future strength of the dollar and, with it, the country's military might. Since the end of World War II, the dollar has been the world's dominant reserve currency, the most widely used currency for international monetary transactions, and the choice of the world market. It is held by countries around the world as part of their foreign exchange reserves used to meet their foreign currency payments and manage their trade balances.(b) Being the world's currency of choice provides the U.S. a number of economic benefits, particularly related to international trade, and assures it influence over the international financial system.1 Continual demand for the dollar affords the U.S. a unique ability to float a large amount of debt at low interest rates and run a balance of payments deficit while maintaining autonomy from creditors.(c) A lesser known benefit of the dollar's strength is that currency supremacy is a cornerstone of America's military power. It allows the nation to fight wars at low political and economic cost as well as providing policy autonomy and strategic flexibility. States have a range of options for financing their military efforts, but each has its downsides. Borrowing compounds the cost of war through high interest rates; printing money can result in disastrous inflation; taxation combats high inflation and minimizes costs yet can be politically damaging; garnering money from abroad shields the public from the costs yet invites outside influence and fosters dependency. A state whose currency is in demand around the world, however, has access to cheap and stable finance from the international market even during wartime. This advantage has allowed the United States to fight long, costly, low intensity conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.(d) These wars were the first in U.S. history to be funded entirely by borrowing. Perhaps even more telling, the financing of the wars coincided not with tax increases, but with the Bush era tax cuts. Dollar supremacy not only secures the ability to fight low intensity conflicts, it also ensures America's ability to fight high intensity wars abroad, an intrinsic component of American military primacy. The ability to run a balance of payments deficit ensures a reserve currency state can purchase badly needed goods from abroad to maintain forward bases, supply troops, and supplement civilian consumption during wartime. In times of war, exports often become severely limited because of decreased trade or a shift in production to military needs. Meanwhile, the need to import goods to supply the war effort increases exponentially. Unlike other nations, reserve currency states can manage a trade imbalance like this without having to sell assets or take on large foreign loans. A look at 20th century history demonstrates the connection between currency power and military strength. Going into World War I, the British sterling was the world's reserve currency, but as the conflict wore on the power of the sterling waned as the dollar's prominence rose.(e) Yet the need for military supplies continued and, with their currency weakened, the British were forced to take on costly private loans, sell their American assets, and even cancel orders for supplies. This pattern was repeated during World War II, culminating in a $31 billion Lend-Lease loan from the U.S. to prop up the British war effort.(f) After World War II, the sterling was no longer a primary currency, leading to a reduction in British military spending around the world and a diminished capacity to fight a war abroad. When it came time to finance Britain's involvement in the Korean War, the country was limited to what it could fund through sterling and thus relied on the United States to fund a significant portion of its war effort. The international monetary system has changed since the rise and fall of the sterling. The dollar currently enjoys even more prominence than the sterling did due to the end of the gold standard and the pricing of many commodities, primarily oil, in dollars. These differences have afforded the United States an even larger military advantage in the post-World War II era than its predecessor Britain. That said, the dollar has been vulnerable to the same pressures that faced the sterling. In order to finance the Vietnam War, the Johnson Administration borrowed heavily, resulting in a balance of payments deficit and decreased confidence in the dollar. Temporarily unable to exercise its top currency status, the United States was forced to change its war financing policy and raise taxes. The ability of the United States to continue capitalizing on its status as the world's currency of choice in order to support American military power could be nearing an end. Recent events, notably the 2008 financial crisis, the ballooning deficit, and calls from foreign nations for a new reserve currency regime, have brought the dollar's dominance into question.(g) Nations such as China are looking to restructure their reserve holdings to incorporate other investments with higher yields and reduce the prominence of the dollar.2 Given the current reserve currency climate, if the United States were to enter into another costly conflict in the near future, the dollar might reach its breaking point and lose its status as the world's reserve currency. Though the dollar's future is unknown,3 most economists and political scientists point to the sheer size and presence of the American economy in world markets and the lack of an apparent competitor to take the dollar's place as indicators that the dollar will remain strong. While it is clear that the dollar will remain the primary reserve currency for the time being, if the United States values its ability to project its military power abroad, the dollar's position should not be taken for granted. As demonstrated above, serving as the world's reserve currency offers powerful advantages during periods of military conflict. Loss of reserve currency status would not just nullify these benefits; it could result in a decline in America's superpower status. ]]>0Diana electricity and transporting it over long distances is arguably one of the most important innovations that humans have produced.(a) The ability to transmit electric energy and impulses through wires has enabled basically every form of technology and communication at our disposal. As it turns out, however, humans were not the first creatures to find a means to conduct electric current. A recent report in the journal Nature describes a newly discovered species of bacteria that long ago beat us to the punch when it comes to long distance electron transport.1 Previously, scientists had observed electric currents in marine sediment, but had no clear idea how electrons were conducted from deeper, oxygen-free regions of the sediment up towards the surface. A group of Danish scientists led by Lars Peter Nielson took sediment from Aarhus Bay and transplanted it to aquariums in a lab. In this transplanted sediment, they were able to identify the same electrical currents that had been observed in the wild. When they began sifting through this sediment, they found long filaments made up of thousands of what DNA sequencing would later reveal to be a new member of the Desulfobulbaceae bacterial family.(b) When they cut the filaments using a tungsten wire, electrical conduction was blocked, demonstrating that these strings were facilitating the electron transport. Using electron microscopy, the researchers looked more closely at the bacterial filaments and discovered an elegant and unusual structure: the normally smooth exteriors were covered with a series of ridges that were continuous from one bacterium to the next, running along the entire length of a filament. The researchers found evidence that these structures contain a shared, conductive periplasm that facilitates the transport of electrons from one end of the filament to the other.(c) In doing so, these ridges allow the bacteria to create an electric current between the oxygen-rich regions at the surface of the seafloor and the oxygen-deprived regions further down in the sediment layer. The currents enable the bacteria to perform what is known as a redox reaction.2 By forming cooperative, electron conductive filaments, this newly discovered species has devised a way to thrive in an environment where it has no business surviving. As these bacteria have just been identified, there is little known about their evolutionary history. However, it is a safe bet that when humans first began engineering and placing long metal cables on the sea floor in order to transmit telegrams from one continent to another, we were placing those cables on top of bacteria that had developed their own electron conducting wires many thousands, if not millions, of years before.	eng	a77fe0fc-ab82-4413-ac5a-b0ad4ace7459	http://footnote1.com/feed/atom/
Oh and this part caught my attention at her press conference earlier today: That force ultimately would be replaced by another international force of up to 30,000 troops that would help the Lebanese government regain control over the southern part of the country, where the Shiite militia Hezbollah now dominates. She mentioned that they didn't know where those troops would be supplied from, anyone taking bets?2. The longer they wait to sign the cease fire, the stronger Hezbollah gets. They are like in the Sci-Fi shows when you zap the alien spaceship and they just feed off the power and get stronger. 3. Lebanon is going to have to be the ones to get rid of Hezbollah, but they are not strong enough to do it. Its going to take a few years. elchip:Why firing more than 40 rockets and slightly wounding 13. Overall, the death toll stands at 37, with 17 people killed by Hezbollah rockets and 20 soldiers killed in the fighting. In Lebanon: At least 384 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 20 soldiers and 11 Hezbollah fighters, according to security officials. At least 600,000 Lebanese have fled their homes, according to the WHO -- with one estimate by Lebanon's finance minister putting the number at 750,000, nearly 20% of the population. Either way, maybe next time they'll think twice before kidnaping 2 Israeli soldiers and firing rockets from Lebanon to Israel .... next time. And there we have the heart of the matter. As justified and righteous it may be to strike back at it's agressors, Israel's little war here will not solve the problem. It will just mean more bloodshed on both sides of the line, and probably drive people into Hezbollah's arms at the same time. Dancin_In_Anson .....[Snip] The rest are women and children ....[Snip] Define innocent. Is? This is the website where you can post an image of a dog doing something extremely wierd with the caption, "this will end badly" ... as well as images of Michelle Malkin for no apparent reason whatsoever. I agree to a point. The only people who can end the 'war on terror' are the people of the middle east whose sons and daughters commit terrorist acts. There cannot be any al quaeda, hamas, or hezbollah unless they have a ready supply of young men and women to send to their deaths. But really, when was the last time a large group of people acted rationally? Especially in a region of the world that is socially behind much of the rest of us? It seems like an awful big risk to just assume that if we kill enough they will finally have a mass-epiphany. EzraS:It seems like an awful big risk to just assume that if we kill enough they will finally have a mass-epiphany. And I would agree with you as well. For perspective, I sould suggest you and I could have a better perspective if you had lived in Isreal for the last 15 years, and I could have lived in Palestine, or Lebanon for the last 15 years. I see this conflict from far away, and I know that if I have lived in Palestine, I would probably hate the Jews. ( and want them killed. ) Similarly, I think that if you had lived in Israel, and saw your friends and families killed at a pizza parlor, on the way to work, or from a random rocket attack ... maybe you'd have another point of view from having lived the experience. Sorry, EzraS...I shed no tears for those that allowed hezbollah to build a heavily armed militia that has a habit of screwing with a very defensive neighbor in their midst. Neither I nor Israel put them in that position. Sorry, EzraS...I shed no tears for those that allowed hezbollah to build a heavily armed militia that has a habit of screwing with a very defensive neighbor in their midst. Wive? Sons? Daughters? You can't approach a war situation like this one looking at it in a traditional-war mindset. In todays wars, the line between civilian and combatant is very thin indeed. This does not suddenly mean that we should abandon all of our hesitations about killing civilians. We should not have to become our enemy to fight it. Neither I nor Israel put them in that position Which is not a reason for them to die. I understand that collateral damage happens, that hezbollah purposefully places their munitions in heavily populated civilian areas. But none of this means that it is 'right' for innocent people to die. EzraS:But none of this means that it is 'right' for innocent people to die. Who says it's right? It happens. The Israelis drop leaflets warning people that they are going to get bombed. They use high-tech expensive weaponry designed to minimize collateral damage. Israel is not trying to kill innocents. It happens. The Israelis drop leaflets warning people that they are going to get bombed. They use high-tech expensive weaponry designed to minimize collateral damage. Israel is not trying to kill innocents. What would you have them do? Yes. They could do nothing. They could ask politely. They could bring in the UN. They could also all die in a fire. ( That's what the arabs want, it would seem. ) EzraS:You can't approach a war situation like this one looking at it in a traditional-war mindset. If I was planning on winning, that is the only way I would look at it. Which is not a reason for them to die.Now, this is new to me, I was looking for the sarcastically phrased "stop the Jewish occupation of the Arab lands!" ,but you get the point. Look at this map. See all the Red areas ... and that little strip of blue?? If the other Arab countries really cared about the Palestineans, then maybe they might want to invite them into their homes, and help them relocate to Egypt, or Saudi Arabia, or Iran, or Pakistan, or all of the other African countries, or the rest ... but guess what, the other Arab countries don't give a crap about the palestineans, as much as they hate the Jews. They could help end this conflict by the end of this year by mailing them all airline tickets to all of the Palestineans and leaving Israel the fark alone. In less than 6 months. Over. No more fighting. Just .... stop. But they don't want to do that. They want to kill the Jews. But hey - what do you care, ?? I mean, sure, it sucks to be a Jew in Israel so many years ago when they were suicide bombing the population, before they built the wall, and tried to create a buffer zone, and did this and that ... If I was planning on winning, that is the only way I would look at it. If your definition of winning is 'killing everything that moves', then yes, I would agree. War has has no ability to resolve disputes between a nation (israel) and a civilian population with a militant front (lebanon/hezbollah).Which would be great, but it is a possibility that shrinks every time an israeli bomb misses its mark. Cmon man, I try to be reasonable but you still respond to me like I'm some kneejerk idiot who sees the star of david and screams 'zionist pigs' at the top of my lungs. In other words, yes I have seen a map like that. And yes, I think israel should have our support in this war. And yes, I understand the history that has led up to this war. But as for the map, its kind of a non-issue as far as 'land' goes. The palestinians aren't complaining that they don't have enough land - they are complaining they don't have enough of the land which their families have lived on for years. Very crucial difference from the POV of a palestinian. Yes it would be great if all the palestinians got flown to new lands in muslim countries, but i dont think we should waste our time talking about solutions that don't have a chance in hell of ever happening. Clarificaton: War used to work because it was fought between governments using the population a a weapon. This is vastly different from fighting a militant population who have a working knowledge of guerilla warfare, modern communications technology, religious motivation, and RPGs. The people of Iraq weren't responsible for Saddam's actions, because they didn't elect him.* But the only way to remove Saddam ( other than asking nicely, or writing a strongly worded letter, is to send in a military to take out the military loyal to the government, ... or whatever ) The German people 'kinda' elected the Nazis,* but as you say, if a popular uprising happens in a country, not all of the people in that contry is responsible for the uprising, when you can't tell the supporters and the non-supporters of the uprising, or insurgency, or whatever. The part about war that sucks to high heaven, is you can't just target a military, tank to tank and soldier to soldier when there are civilians around. And the Arabs around Israel have this funy habbit of operating in an around their civilian population for the express purpose of making any action against them, have a high probability of killing innocents. Sort of. There are a number of things that have happened that makes it impossible for war to operate in the way it used to. Most obviously, war between powerful nations cannot occur due to nuclear weapons (or at least if it did, it would be awful short). We're left with wars between powerful nations and between small groups who live in and amongst civilian populations and yet due to technology, still have the ability to fight powerful nations. How exactly do you 'beat' that? Even if you occupy a terrorist group's home nation, they don't quit - they just have an easier time attacking you. You kill one and another pops up. Every mistake makes them look good and makes you look like the agressor. Terrorism is a disease whose antidote does not lie in the barrel of a gun. Didn't they elect them into office? Well hezbollah is obviously more than just a political party. When we talk about hezbollah we are not talking about people who take their problems to lebanon's government - we are talking about the hezbollah that takes its orders from syria and stockpile missiles on the israeli border (which it would be doing regardless of whether or not it had political representation in the lebanese govt). That is the 'militant front' that I am talking about, and that is the militant front that can't be 'beaten' with overwhelming force. We had a similar situation in vietnam, and we have a similar situation in Iraq. The old ways of war don't achieve the same things they used to, and it is becoming an awfully expensive lesson to learn. EzraS:The ability of war to resolve WWII and its ability to resolve the lebanon/israel conflict are not equivalent. You claimed this was because war has has no ability to resolve disputes between a nation and a civilian population with a militant front. I pointed out that the Nazis were a militant front of Germany and war ended their aggressive acts. Seemed pretty obvious to me. A group which has the support of the population it operates within to attain its ends through violent means. It may be involved in a legitimate government but does not need to be in order to function. More similar to a gang, mob, or terrorist organization than a legitimate government.....none of which changes the reasons or aims of the war for either side. Hez asking for a ceasefire is like me punching Chuck Norris in the face as many times as i can before he swings back and then calling "time out". //After kidnapping two of his kids and killing eight more that is.They can drive them out of missile range, and destroy much of their army. Yeah, ultimately it'll take Lebanese and other forces to ensure they disarm and stay so, and this is what the negotiations are about. What Israel should do is not allow anyone to return within missile range until a genuine, capable peacekeeping force is in place. No civilian population to blend into, Hezbollah infiltrators would be quite visible and therefore vulnerable. 2. The longer they wait to sign the cease fire, the stronger Hezbollah gets. They are like in the Sci-Fi shows when you zap the alien spaceship and they just feed off the power and get stronger. Stated without proof or even plausible argument. 3. Lebanon is going to have to be the ones to get rid of Hezbollah, but they are not strong enough to do it. Its going to take a few years. Probably, that's why an international force would be a part of it, but it's hard to tell for certain. Right now, the Lebanese gov't isn't even willing to try. elchip: WhyUm..They killed a bunch of Israeli soldiers on Israeli soil and kidnapped 2 others, that's what's different. This following Hamas' action of same, which suggests co-ordination on 2 fronts. And Hezbollah has engaged in intermittant attacks even before this over the years even after Israel withdrew from Lebanon. Those attacks weren't as bad as this. willywanka firing more than 40 rockets and slightly wounding 13. Overall, the death toll stands at 37, with 17 people killed by Hezbollah rockets and 20 soldiers killed in the fighting. Those figures aren't verified, they come from Hezbollah or sources sympathetic to same; we saw that the BBC admitted uncertainty, that some "civilian" houses were used for Hezbollah guerillas and arms. Furthermore, the body count doesn't tell you who's right. In WWII, the US killed many, many more Axis people than vice versa. The US and European bombed the Serbs for months, killing many Serbs in the process, while the Serbs killed no one from the US and NATO. Except of course when it's Israel defending itself from actual attack, the standards are different. So it is wrong for Hezbollah to kill or kidnap soldiers, but ok for Isreal to kill civilians? Is this backwords world or what? People biatch terrorists kill civilians so the one time they act like freedom fighters, the IDF acts like terrorists? TGoT says "the Arabs around Israel have this funny habit of operating in an around their civilian population"....or another way of putting it is "the IDF have a funny habit of turning every city in a 1000 mile radius into a war zone".....and then crying foul that citizens are trying to use bunkers as concerte shields....so unfair Besides. Ethiopia's Jewish population immigrated to Israel at their own behest, not under the duress of some government. Also, wasn't there far more than just twenty-some thousand in Ethiopia? I was under the assumption is was upwards of nearly ninety thousand. Technically, all of the Hezbollah are "civilians" because they're not members of any country's armed forces. So when someone claims hundreds of "civilian" deaths in Lebanon, it really doesn't mean what you think it means. If they can get a truly international force together and act as a barrier between Isreal and some of these other countries I really think it could help. To be an international force, it would have to be proportionally made up of people from many many contries. Not 95% American. It would be like a teacher breaking up a couple of schoolkids fighting in the schoolyard. It doesn't matter who started it anymore, both sides have equally stupid reasons, this shiat needs to stop.I agree, and I'd like to see it too. I think it would clarify things for the rest of the world real quick. Did they displace the palestinians that lived there, as a majority? Those displaced by the transfer policies? Those kept out by policies today regulating that spouses cannot move into Israel proper - even though out of the thousands who applied and moved, only 26 were detained and none were convicted of a clear crime? People biatch terrorists kill civilians so the one time they act like freedom fighters, the IDF acts like terrorists? Three weeks ago Israel didn't occupy Lebanon. When HB crossed the internationally recognized border, violating Israeli sovereignty and attacked soldiers on the Israeli side of the border they started their attack with a distraction. HB first fired mortars and rockets on Israeli towns, that is, population centers aka civilians. That's four strikes against Hezbollah being freedom fighters. Unless you are bringing your own definition of freedom fighter that's synonymous with asshat?You notice that it's the Lebanese yelling for UN intervention, and not the Israelis? Hell, it was the Israelis that blew the UN guys up. Probably an accident though, like when we rocketed the Al Jazeera office in Gulf War One, or the Chinese embassy more recently. I do agree that a mostly-American force would not do; even if it were a simple role for the US (unlikely; domestic politics, for one reason why), it would not be seen as neutral. Shouldn't have Syrian involvement, either. Also...anyone screaming about Israel and their heartless killing of civilians is playing right into Hezbollah's hands. That's exactly the reaction they were hoping to get when they put those civilians in this situation. Why should israel do anything?? Israel isn't the source of the problem. The problem is hezbollah. If hezbollah would stop shooting, the war would be over tomorrow. This war is 100% hezbollah's fault. Every lebonese civilian that dies: hezbollah's fault. israel did absolutely nothing wrong. hezbollah fired between 300 and 400 rockets into israel BEFORE the war began, before israel started shooting back. Now, suicide bombs are one thing. I mean, they're bad, but at least you can sleep at night. You're only really in danger when you go out. These rockets are totally different. Just stop and think about it for a minute. Firing rockets, across a border into another country. If there was a terrorist group in mexico firing rockets across the US border into your town, even the most sissy liberal farker would be screaming glass parking lot. rockets change everything. and the Saudis (weird extreme form of sunni foetus-eating sect) hate 'em......it's why Iraq went to war with Iran.....it's why Hamas (sunni) dont support Hizbullah, it's why the saudis support alqaeda but not the Hizbullah...it's pretty simple to follow, those in sand countries hate those in green countries. Stick to this construct in the M East and it will all make sense Occupying a 20 mile wide strip of southern Lebanon isn't going to stop rocket attacks. Guerillas will sneak in with them on their backs, fire them, and sneak out. And the fact that Israel just bombed a clearly marked UN building just shows that they really are incompetant or have no qualms of killing innocents. Or are the apologists going to come out and say in the past Hezbollah used mind-control to turn UN members into suicide bombers so it's justified? Did they displace the palestinians that lived there, as a majority? Those displaced by the transfer policies? No - out of ~700,000 Palestinians to leave Israel between Dec 1947 and Nov 1948, only between 50,000 and 100,000 were "displaced", 50,000 of them from Lod/Ramle in response to repeated attacks on the airport and supply lines. Those kept out by policies today regulating that spouses cannot move into Israel proper - even though out of the thousands who applied and moved, only 26 were detained and none were convicted of a clear crime? Err, what? In English? Israel has a current policy that spouses do not gain automatic citizenship if they are known terrorists or refuse to take an oath of loyalty. Most people don't understand that Israel could easily purchase comparable arms to the ones they get from the US from nations like France, England, Germany or even Russia. All of those nations make high tech weaponry that is not quite as good as US weapons, but good enough to do the job that they are doing now with US weapons. Take the F16 or F15 for example. France makes the Dessault Rafaele or Israel could get the Eurofighter 2000 or SU 27's from Russia. Helicopter Gunships? Kamov KA-50 is a great competitor to the Apache as well as the Eurocopter. Tanks and APC's? The Israelis make thier own. Almost all weapons that Isreal use that are American made could be replaced with a counterpart from another country. If you question weather the other countries would sell Israel the weapons, just remember it was the French that helped provide Isreal with tech for deveolping their nuclear weapons program. If you doubt that, you can start researching Wiki and then dig through liks provided from there. Israel buys US made weapons because the US is thier biggest ally and want to give US companies the business. They don't need the best technology to fight against groups like Hezzbolah or Hamas. So, the "If the US stopped selling Israel arms, we wouldn't have this violence" argument is bullshiat. The only way you could stop Israel from having the advantage in weaponry, is to have them stop being a civilized country so they would have a shiat economy like thier neighbors and not be able to afford a decent military If someone can come up with a counter argument, I'll be more than willing to retract my statement. Oh man say it ain't so. Anyone have a link for us giving them the MOAB? And on that subject...the USA was asked to "expedite" shipments of precision munitions and other assorted fireworks to Israel. I have yet to see news footage of the US cargo planes or ships doing this resupply. Has it happened yet? If so, why not show it on TV? willywanka:11 of the 384 dead are confirmed Hezbollah militants. the_gospel_of_thomas:.... according to Hezbollah. Also note that the remainder have not been confirmed civilians. Hezbollah doesn't care to hide behind civilians because they use their corpses to make a propaganda offensive, nor do they mind mixing terrorist corpses among the dead to inflate those numbers. Nic Robertson from CNN even admitted that one tour of the aftermath of Israeli attacks came under the very strict guidance a Hezbollah press official who told the cameraman, "Just look. Shoot. Look at this building. Is it a military base? Is it a military base, or just civilians living in this building?" Robertson even commented at the time, "As we run past the rubble, we see much that points to civilian life, no evidence apparent of military equipment." (Newsbusters has the source video.) What Robertson waited until later to say was: They had control of the situation. They designated the places that we went to, and we certainly didn't have time to go into the houses or lift up the rubble to see what was underneath. So what we did see today in a similar excursion, and Hezbollah is now running a number of these every day, taking journalists into this area. They realize that this is a good way for them to get their message out, taking journalists on a regular basis. This particular press officer came across his press office today, what was left of it in the rubble. He pointed out business cards that he said were from his office that was a Hezbollah press office in that area. So there's no doubt that the bombs there are hitting Hezbollah facilities. But from what we can see, there appear to be a lot of civilian damage, a lot of civilian properties. But again, as you say, we didn't have enough time to go in, root through those houses, see if perhaps there was somebody there who was, you know, taxi driver there... So contrary to the picture Hezbollah was trying to paint, the civilian damage doesn't strictly indicate murderous intent on the part of the Israeli military so much as it might indicate the unfortunate aftermath of attacking Hezbollah offices and positions mixed among the civilian population. And Hezbollah is well aware of this. Correct. I'm assuming it could be one of the bunker-busters we gave'em. That post was, predictably, just a troll. I'm guessing it could be one of the GBU-28s we confirmed as to having sold them. 5,000 pounds of unpowered, hard target laser guided weapon in one of them. Secret Master of All Flatulence:/My tax dollars that went to Israel aren't wasted. From my point of view they have been. Lets take a look at the situation from a pragmatic outlook. What have we really gotten out of our relationship with Israel? Nothing. Except some cool guns, I like Uzis and Jerichos, but I'd rather have cheaper oil and less threat from terrorists, which would have been what happened had we financed the Arabs against Israel instead of the other way around. Hell had we pandered to the Arabs instead of the Israelis. the US would probably be a lot better off in general. Of course that would mean we supported genocide for the sake of acquiring natural resources, but this isn't a study into the ethics of the hypothetical, only the utilitarian effects. Sloth_DC:Why do ignorant people keep posting this in every thread just to get shot down? US military aid and massive foreign aid didn't start until after Israel's last major war. Their last major war was nearly a disaster. They won in the end, but it was costly. At the rate Syria and Egypt were re-arming, Israel would have been in trouble without our support. American aid to Israel is one of the reasons Egypt and Jordan signed actual treaties with their former enemies. Besides, if they really didn't need it, why waste so much money on them? It goes back to the question of wasted tax dollars. I think we are flushing them down the toilet anyway, but if our help were useless, well, even the mouth-breathers in Congress would see through the bullshiat. the_gospel_of_thomas:They could help end this conflict by the end of this year by mailing them all airline tickets to all of the Palestineans and leaving Israel the fark alone. It would probably be easier for us to offer airline tickets to everyone living in Israel. We can give them the Yukon, or Montana, or the Indian reservations after we kick them out and throw them in the sea. josephstalin:At the rate Syria and Egypt were re-arming, Israel would have been in trouble without our support. American aid to Israel is one of the reasons Egypt and Jordan signed actual treaties with their former enemies. Well, it helped a lot that Israel trapped the Egyptian army, and we talked them into not destroying it. Besides, if they really didn't need it, why waste so much money on them? Seriously? We flipped Egypt from the Soviet sphere. We started sending them lots of aid to stay friendly to us and stop attacking Israel. At the same time, we sent a lot of money to Israel to thank them for helping us flip Egypt and as a bribe to show more restraint in the future. "It would probably be easier for us to offer airline tickets to everyone living in Israel. We can give them the Yukon, or Montana, or the Indian reservations after we kick them out and throw them in the sea."There are so many apologists for Hezbollah in this thread, like Iron81. You guys seem to think you have the middle east figured out, and Israel is the bad guySort of like Hugo Chavez going to Belarus and Iran to hang out with his new-found friends, being completely defined by his hatred of America and democratic institutions, these guys come up with any ridiculous argument that protrays our interests in a bad light, because that is their mindset. Get this part straight: countries like Israel believe in what they are doing. They don't care if you think they will fail in Lebanon. They are there because Hezbollah attacked Israel. If Hezbollah does it next week, next month, or next year, Israel will be back in Lebanon with overwhelming force . By pretending that Hezbollah did nothing wrong and it's all Israel's fault, you just make yourselves look like asses. By pretending, as submitter did, that Israel is in the wrong here, you just show your ignorance of what Hezbollah has done. Nobody cares who joins Hezbollah, they only care about the casualties on both sides. If someone joins HEzbollah they deserve to die for their cause, uinfortunately they are bent on getting civilians killed as well. GoodasGoldHell if I know what you're talking about, but maybe it was a joke about Jews liking Chinese food? Don't confuse religious bigotry with disgust over military actions that border on temper tantrums. Civilized people do not act as Israel is now acting. It is as if they have been shot at from a crowd, can't see who did it, and so machine gun everyone in that general area in hopes of hitting the bad guys. The whole world is watching, and thinking the same thing: No matter how pissed off you are, you just don't do that. Why don't everyone stop arguing who was occupying what and when. Stop complaining about the consequences of pissing someone off, especially when that "someone" has a lot of guns. Let's not forget that none of this would have happened if those soldiers weren't kidnapped. You know what we call a person that goes and messes with someone stronger than them, and then goes ahead and complains when his country is turned to liquid shiat as a result of said messing? A farking pussy. Stop complainig already. I can understand your anger and frusteration with the situation. I can understand that you feel the need to take action. However, (to take a line from American History X) Has anything you have done made your life better? Madam SECSTATE Rice, worth giving it a shot & maybe the children on both sides can sleep safely in their beds tonight. Gotta admire you for even trying. Congrats Ma'am. If this works, we've got this little tallyban problem over here we would like you to take a look at. Oh ah, "Spankman" & "Buzzy" want to ask you if you could wear those boner inducing high black boots like you wore that night in Germany. When you visit the Pope in Rome send us some more pictures. Won't be as good as in person but....well we really think they looked very nice on you. And, we promise we won't make noises while you play the piano for us. The government of Lebannon has not formally declared war on Israel. They don't even like Hezbollah. So, what's your proposal for how to respond to a foreign invader who attacks you on your soil? HereI sure as hell would not "machine gun the crowd" as it were, and lay total waste to a city that has come so far in six years, to blow the infrastructure, bridges with cars on them, TV stations with people still inside, on and on, because I know that I would be creating far more terrorists down the road than I could ever kill today. studebaker hochereYou're retarded. Honestly, israeli has been trying that with palestinians, bombing the fields that they launch their kassams from. It doesnt work, because they launch the missile(s) and move right away. studebaker hochBut in that case, you STILL don't go around blowing up innocent people by the carload just because you're really really angry. You really think thats what israel is doing? 100 bombs a day and only 400 people killed? You think they are AIMING for civilians? They are doing their best to keep collateral damage down, but when it comes to whether israeli or lebanese lives are more important, israel knows its answer. GoodasGold:Almost, but you missed the important bits (That's ok as you're probably pegged for the journey and may soon enjoy it first hand!) For the rest of us, the plan is to send the wacko Noam Chomsky types along with their polar opposite "fair tax" lunatic nemesi out to the Gobi to have it out once and for all. It's set for the upcoming 4th of July in 2007. The red chinese promise wonderful fireworks for illumination. Shake Nausea R. Allah will be on hand to emcee at your final battle. Honestly, israeli has been trying that with palestinians, bombing the fields that they launch their kassams from. It doesnt work, because they launch the missile(s) and move right away. /You know, there are also anti-artillery defenses coming on line. Giant LASERS and such, no really. Let Israel be the beta site for them? ...and unless Israel wants to stand by and watch this same farce in replay ("arabs negotiate, arabs are rewarded, arabs murder, arabs lie": repeat continuously for 60 years), a few minor changes in policy will be in order as soon as the current emergency is over. 1. learn to do menial work yourself (lesson for us as well). 2. new act of parliament: only Jews are citizens. 3. one question, one statement: "Are you an arab?" "Get out". All arabs out: citizens, property owners, taxpayers, good, bad, legal, illegal, men women, children, clergy, pets, who really cares. 4. no "guest workers", maids, day laborers, let them find work at home. 5. no arab tourists, visitors, nothing. 6. seal the borders (lesson for us as well), post warning signs in English and Hebrew only "Trespass beyond this point is death", shoot on sight. 7. tell Condi "if you can't keep these monkeys on a leash, the first target for a multiple nuclear strike is the Saudi family". What have they got to do with it? Who cares? Will it stop the violence? Let's find out. studebaker hochYou are again wrong. Its not working. The innefectual response actually makes them more brazen. Very few return bombardments actually hit the team. The only time they get caught is when a UAV spots them on the way to the task, and the shelling occurs before rocket launch. As far as quality of their missiles, who cares? If someone is trying to kill me with a gun or with a bow and arrow, it can still kill me and theres no reason to suffer it. /You know, there are also anti-artillery defenses coming on line. Giant LASERS and such, no really. Let Israel be the beta site for them? Kimball_Kinnison anyone missing the fact taht Hezbollah was democratically elected? and now it seems the media are treating them as a differant ethnic group? instead of a political party?"(That's ok as you're probably pegged for the journey and may soon enjoy it first hand!)" I am not sure what you are saying. Are gentiles going to be kicked out of the US by JEws? I dont understand: "fair tax" lunatic nemesi"? Is that some esotetic Jewish thing that gentiles can't understand? Kimball_Kinnison: anyone missing the fact taht Hezbollah was democratically elected? and now it seems the media are treating them as a differant ethnic group? instead of a political party? The Hezbollah members of parliment are elected. The Hez itself is not. They are a resistance group that has sorta taken control over part of a nation, and done a fair to middling job of it. And they are probably sort of ethnic in that there are a whole lot of palistinian refugee types from a generation ago in the initial Hez. If Hezboolah and Hamas were completely disarmed, a fully Armed Isreal would let them be....no war. some other organizations would arise to take their place, since the it doesn't solve the underlying problem. YAWWNNN.... This is all getting boring. Can't we find some way to escalate the conflict? Perhaps a few suicide bombers in Jeruselam. Or a few more Mosques bombed... Damn, IDF has done their part by hitting the UN. I think it's time for H to step up. Common folks, lets get it on. The Tour De France is over, and your war can't hold my attention much longer... If things don't pick up again soon I might have to go back to "The View".The organization has been involved in activities like building schools, clinics, and hospitals. In 1992, it participated in Lebanese elections for the first time, winning 12 out of 128 seats in parliament. It won 10 seats in 1996, and 8 in 2000. In the general election of 2005, it won 14 seats nationwide, and an Amal-Hezbollah alliance won all 23 seats in Southern Lebanon. No confusion but your own. Hezbollah members have been elected, thus part of the DEMOCRATICALLY elected government of Lebanon. Or is this one of those Democracies we choose not to reconize becasue the have anti-american veiwpoints and aid terrorists? Like Pakistan. Since when is there a rule in war that your response to an attack must be equal to the attack against you? The rule we (usually) follow and one I think is reasonable is proportionality. That does not mean the level of force must equal the level used against you. What it does mean is that you try to be reasonable. Example: a sniper starts shooting at you from a building and has hit a couple of your guys. Reasonable: shoot a a SMAW rocket or tank round into the part of the building he is in. Not reasonable: level the entire block. uhmm, yeah. I'm aware of all that. Let me clarify; If the U.S. continues to pay for the evils of israel in money and weapons it will then pay for the evils of israel with loss of life and infrastructure, americans will attack american targets. just as the german people should have done to nazi targets during ww2. BEIRUT - Why, oh, why do people with access to really big bombs continue to think they can change people's loyalties by dropping those big bombs on their homes and families? Israel's strategy in Lebanon is pretty clear now: Make the pain of "supporting" or "harboring" Hizbullah so great that the Lebanese will deal with the group. That was also the idea behind the attack on Gaza and Hamas as well as the so-called Bush Doctrine - the U.S. will make no distinction between the terrorists and those who harbor them. It's also the hot air for the trial balloon often floated in D.C. regarding regime change in Iran: Bomb the mullahs and watch the pro-American youth embrace the Pax Americana! Except... it almost never works. I mean, George Bush was considered barely qualified to make coffee at the White House in August 2001. (Remember that?) And then, boom, 9/11 hit and he's suddenly the best wartime leader since Churchill. Was there a rethinking of American policy on the part of the masses and a call for changing those policies? Or even, dare I say it, removing the Bush Administration from office because the consequences of having a nincompoop in office had grown too painful? Hell, no! Americans rallied around the flag and the leader. In fact, the only incident that I can think of that involved bombs leading to the victims blaming their leaders and punishing them was ... Madrid. So why do Washington and Tel Aviv think Arabs would react any different? (Maybe a bit of cultural chauvinism?) Did the Iraqis turn on Saddam Hussein through 13 years of sanctions? No. Did the Palestinians turn on Fatah after the start of the 2001 intifada? That's a negative. The Gazans this year? Nope. Will the Lebanese turn on Hizbullah? Not likely, and certainly not in the short term. Another reason the "bomb 'em and they'll love us" strategy won't work here is that Hizbullah is not the PLO. An historical digression, if you'll allow me: Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 and 1982 in two attempts to dislodge the PLO from Lebanon, where it was using the country launch attacks on the Jewish state. The Palestinians had developed a state-within-a-state in the south, which was often called "Fatah-land." (Sound familiar?) In 1983, Israel finally pushed the PLO out and Yasser Arafat and his followers fled to Tunisia. Still, the Lebanese war dragged on for another seven years as various militias - some supported by Israel, others by Syria and Iran - before finally ending in 1990 from exhaustion. Lebanon was shattered and Israel ended up occupying parts of the country for 22 years, spawning Hizbullah. This is important. Hizbullah was not started by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. It was organized by them out of the disparate Shi'ite groups that popped up to resist the Israeli occupation. Iran helped merge them together, but they're a Lebanese creation. This means Hizbullah is an indigenous group, not a foreign body like the PLO was. Saying that Lebanon "harbored" Hizbullah is like saying the United States "harbors" white supremacists or anti-government militias. You probably hate them and despise their goals, but you can't they're alien parasites on American society. Like Hizbullah in Lebanon, they're an integral if extreme part of the political and social fabric. Ending of expelling Hizbullah is akin to amputation rather than lancing a boil. I've been in love with Lebanon since 2004 when I took a flat here and began immersing myself in the place whenever I could take a break from Iraq. In March, I settled here for the foreseeable future. I have a wide variety of friends, not just upper-crust Christians, and while I'm not a polling company, I think I have a decent grasp of the zeitgeist here. Before this damn war, Hizbullah was losing support. It wasn't draining, but it was ebbing. The political process was stuttering along, but it was moving. Many people here hated Hizbullah... Many people also loved it. The society was split but there was a consensus the problem had to be settled judiciously and politically because no one wanted another civil war. When the first Israeli bombs fell, some Shi'ites even blamed Hizbullah. I met a guy in the southern suburbs last Saturday, just four days after things started. He's a Shi'ite from Nabatiyeh in the south and hated Hizbullah. He thought they'd screwed up big-time. These days, when I talk to him, he says he hopes Hizbullah rips the Israelis apart. Another friend of mine, one of those upper-crust Christians, told me last night that as much as he hates Hizbullah, he hates the Israelis even more now. The Lebanese are closing ranks in the face of an external threat, just like people all over the world do - with the exception of Spain, I guess. They're no different from anyone else, and the same thing happened in the initial days of Iraq. The same pattern would play out in Iran, too, if this war gets that far east. The West has no monopoly on unity, patriotism and nationalism. That said, unity rarely lasts. In the case of America, it led to a polarized public where the public debate seems to involve screaming "traitor!" when someone votes for a Democrat for the school board. In the Middle East, things rarely stay at that level. Once that unity breaks, we're left with civil war. (See, Lebanon, 1975-1990 and Iraq, 2003-present.) And in civil wars, lots of people die and the situation that needed to be fixed is usually worse. (Does anyone think Iraq is a more stabilizing force than it was?) It is kind of funny people thinking Israel should sink and the USA shouldn't support them. Should Israel be where it is? Well, that's open to debate. In many ways I wish it never turned out the way it did. But do you know what? It did! Israel is there, and they have a homeland and they want to stay. The fact is, if those Arab nations would just leave them alone, none of this crap would happen. Pure and simple. Does Israel do a few things that seem extreme? Yes, I think so, and I feel bad for all those poor people in Lebanon. But I have to restate, if they would just leave them alone and be happy with what they have and spend all that money they use for weapons on their economy and people, none of this would be happening! Israel is the reactor. They have been getting punched in the nose constantly and so they fight back. This will happen until they stop getting punched. Who here wouldn't protect their family if their neighbor hated them and wanted them gone, and used force to try and take you out? I know I would bring out my baseball bat and whip some ass if my life was on the line like that. Either that or die trying. Then kick Hezbollah to the curb. If you can't get rid them in your own country, you really can't call yourself a government or expect anyone to respect your sovereignty. Yeah, cause we have done such a good job of kicking the Bloods, Crips, Suernos, White Power gangs, etc... to the curb and we have enormous amounts of resources and a much more stable government. In reality, terrorists are extremely violent gangs even if their goals are different than our street gangs. Getting rid of them is not that simple under the best of circumstances. To make things even more complicated, they do tons of cheritable acts for destitute Muslims which gives them legitimacy and support among the people who, as a result activly or passively support them. PappaSon: If Hezboolah and Hamas were completely disarmed, a fully Armed Isreal would let them be....no war. I don't accept your premise. There's an agenda at work to sieze all of the land in historical Israel. Work would continue to settle on the Palestinians lands and the move them into smaller and smaller areas until an excuse can be found to remove them entirely. The recent historic evidence would refute your argument. When Israel pulled out of 'Palestinian' territory the PLO/et al responded by regrouping and attacking Israel. This should make it clear that regardless of what Israel does the enemies of Israel will never accept the existence of Israel. The question is whether or not Israel knew that going in or has yet to realize it. I'm not saying Israel shouldn't have reacted to the rocket attacks and such, just that if their goal is to weaken Hezbollah, they've gone about it in the worst way possible. I think the question is less one of "what do we do with Hezbollah" and more one of "what do we do with Israel". Is there any way at all that they can peacefully exist in the Middle East? If so, please explain. Because it sounds like this current conflict can never end. It will just go on and on, a new terror group next time, another weapon, another city hit. If my neighbors for blocks in any direction hated me and were constantly trying to destroy me, really, I'd fight for a while, but after a while, I'd sell the house and move. But I have any number of places to go. Israel may not be willing to move, and thus the situation may be unresolveable. A life without peace, surrounded by hostile neighbors, under ceaseless attack, until the end of time. ... A huge, all-out nuclear war could qualify as the end of time, right? A total rescrambling of all national borders as civilization falls back to the days of the bow, arrow and horseman. (Is?) Possibly not. On the other hand, the militants should have the decency and balls to REFUSE to take shelter with and endanger the lives of civilian relatives. Prospero424:So what? Hezbollah kidnapped their troops - has been killing Israeli people with rocket bombs. Wtf? They are just supposed to sit and take that? I saw the Syrian Ambassador on 'Meet the Press' this Sunday. The official position of his goverment is that IUsrael should cease to exist and give back the 'stolen arab lands'. He also said his goverment was not giving weapons to Hezbollah - but that the US is giving arms to Israel to kill women and children in Lebanon with, and that if you are a tax payer in the United States you are killing Lebanese women and children. Somewhere along the way I got the impression Islam was a religion of peace and brotherly love. When did their Holy Book become a pamplet of war? It is my opinion that the biggest part of the fault lies in the hate mongering leaders of Islam who have led an uneducated and underpriviledged mass of Arab humanity into believing it is okay to kill in the name of Allah. Exactly where is that in the Koran? Had this been a new problem I might agree with you. Israel has been putting up with this shiat for far too long. I agree with you in part. Israel has been putting up with this for far too long. The terrorist attacks are atrocities and inexcusable. The problem is that the Isralies have been trying this tactic for decades and the problem has only gotten worse. It may be time to try something new. Sloth_DC ??? The one and only time we ever followed that rule was Vietnam. We lost. We've never since (or before) followed the principle of proportionality - it's a good way to lose wars. Not true,we have practiced it in theAre you distressed by the failure of certain media in failing to stress the culpability of voters who'd irrationally placed terrorists into their own government? No I am more interested in how convinantly people can seperate a Political group from it's military group and only condone it's actions and not it's policies. Only the US, Netehrlands, Isreal, and AUstralia label Hezbollah as Terrorists, while the UK only labels the miltary arm of Hezbollah as Terrorists. Extremist Muslims, and Hezbollah call them "Risistance fighters" TheSloth_DC:Evidence? Mind you, it has to be really strong evidence to successfully disagree with every major newspaper in the world. Dude - troll bait like that smells like paid - you know what I mean? After listening to indignant Arabs get up on world media and biatch - I m thinking stuff like that is par for the course where ever possible. Beauf:Not true,we have practiced it in theBig farking deal. If the enemy is going out of their way to kill you - who-farking-cares-what-they-think-about shiat? Dr. Frisbee:TheDr. Frisbee: TheAre you distressed by the failure of certain media in failing to stress the culpability of voters who'd irrationally placed terrorists into their own government? Define "terrorist". Words are a powerful thing. I think that the word "terrorist" has been used a lot lately to polarize opinions against one group or another. Hezbolla holds positions in the Lebanese government and does acts of charity within the country, furthering education and such. We chose to label them as a terrorist group, but why? Why could they not be simply labeled as what many Lebanese see them as: a political party. Saying that you want to remove Hezbolla in some ways is like trying to say that you want to remove the Republican party. Our officials call them a terrorist group in order to make Israels actions seem justified and rally support for our side. But what actions have they committed that are really that much different from Israel? They are lacking Israels technology and have a vastly inferior army; they couldn't target civilians if they wanted to. Besides, Israel, who has vastly superior guided bombs and other such "precision" instruments have managed to kill 10 times as many civilians. Either they are both terrorists, or neither of them are. We find it easy to call them terrorists because they ride around in trucks and fire unguided rockets at cities, but in reality, they are really just lacking a modern military, especially one that could challenge Israel. If they had jets and tanks and defended their border from an Israeli incursion onto their land, we might say that Israel was invading, and that they were having a war. But if Lebanon is too poor to retain an air force and any significant contingent of military hardware, we simply say that Israel is combating terrorism. BuckTheInfernal:Wow, then what's the deal with figuring out exactly who/what/when/where/why caused the 9/11 'hijackers' to ram planes into two prominent towers? Cui bono? The islamists obviously did it, ensuring that the great Western takeover of the ME would begin, oppressive legislation like the Patriot act would give the government tighter control over the American people, and the PNAC imperialists would get a collective boner. Oh yeah, and because they hate our freedom. BuckTheInfernal:Why exactly would we not want to understand the mind of our perceived 'enemy'? Admittedly, it would be easier to make them into monsters incapable of thought and emotion. But seriously.....why? . The organization views an Islamic republic, on the Iranian model, as the ideal and eventual form of state. However, as their conception of an Islamic republic requires the consent of the people, and since Lebanon remains a religiously and ideologically heterogeneous society (see Demographics of Lebanon), their political platform revolves around more mundane issues.[citation needed] According to their published political platform in 2003, Hezbollah favors the introduction of an Islamic government in Lebanon by peaceful democratic means. Hezbollah (pops) supports the destruction of the state of Israel[65] and has co-operated with other militant Islamic organizations such as Hamas in order to promote this goal. I think we should ask Al-Queda what they think about the WTC bombings - 'doh! That's right! They already told us! Big farking deal. If the enemy is going out of their way to kill you - who-farking-cares-what-they-think-about shiat? Sloth_DC The invasion was not proportionate, many of the operations have been. In the areas with proportionate operations violence has decreased. In areas where troops have gone overboard it has increased. "Big farking deal. If the enemy is going out of their way to kill you - who-farking-cares-what-they-think-about shiat?" Wow, then what's the deal with figuring out exactly who/what/when/where/why caused the 9/11 'hijackers' to ram planes into two prominent towers? Why exactly would we not want to understand the mind of our perceived 'enemy'? Admittedly, it would be easier to make them into monsters incapable of thought and emotion. But seriously.....why? A couple of thought on this: 1.) When they flew the planes into the buildings we had all the knowledge about their mindset we ever needed. 2.) If Clinton/Bush had acted on prior information regarding this group we could have avoided the tradgedy. 3.) If Albright had been on top of her job and continued the work Bush Senior had done in repairing Arab relations none of the current events would be possible. 4.) Now the value of knowing the mindset of our enemy is so we can remove them from the face of the earth. faethe:So what? Hezbollah kidnapped their troops - has been killing Israeli people with rocket bombs. Wtf? They are just supposed to sit and take that? Is there a reason you pretended the second part of my post didn't exist or are you just cranky tonight? ;) As far as the Syrian ambassador, I don't give a rat's ass what he thinks. It doesn't change the situation one bit. Bottom line is yes, Israel needs to defend itself. But what it's doing here is just going to get more Israelis and Lebanese killed and do absolutely NOTHING positive vis a vis long-term stability and peace.Beauf:I don't think they are very effective - I am thinking this is just more of the same. Radical political party get a controlling position in a smaller nations politics - uses that position to further it's agenda. Israel - or some other nation attacks, groups gets to be unpopular, and goes somewhere else. This shiat happens in Egypt pretty regularly. Trouble is - group goes somewhere else, or changes name - cycle starts itself up again. It's like when Europe used to make excuses to invade Poland during the 18th, 19th century - everyone who wanted to stabilize their own internal policies did it. Even Italy. It only stops when the world levies penalties of such magnitude against the aggressor nation that it's no longer profitable to do so. It no longer becomes profitable in political capital or otherwise to attack Israel - they go somewhere else or start loose support. Kimball_Kinnison: TheI'm sympathetic to your take to some extent, but pessimistic as I don't see any solution to the situation. At best, maybe ways to minimize the terrible state for the unlucky. I'm willing to take the terrorists who'd value death over life at their own words and treat them as the barbarians that they say they are. The civilized folk who didn't vote for these people should leave for better places. Good people should donate to help them leave and support them in a new life in saner, more humane surroundings, where they may live in peace with their neighbors. It seems to me that there are more than enough needy humans in the world suffering from bad situations, problems not of their own making, including those innocent Lebanese who didn't cast their ballots for these barbarians. They along with countless other victims of unfortunate circumstance and bad luck are worthy of our aid and support. Um, GoST, you might want to question the source of that map. Iran are Persians, not Arabs. Also, the confiscation of property was at the hands of National Socialists in Germany... in what way did that entitle them to property in some other part of the world... in Germany perhaps... but in Palestine? I agree that Israel should exist, but for none of the "reasons" in that posting. heap:it isn't what 'the enemy' thinks that matters. it's what engenders 'the enemy' to the populace that leads to problems for us. In this specific case the enemy wants the destruction of Israel, so I am thinking that any grey area is pointless? Prospero424:Is there a reason you pretended the second part of my post didn't exist or are you just cranky tonight? ;) Cranky :)If they are not having much effect why is Israel so worried and pouring so many resources into the fight?Sure lets do the same to the Isreali terrorists and place there "leadership" in prison where they belong along with the Hez. The Hez and the Zionists can PEOITA in the box and we can get back to doing something useful. Turns out, I'm not a bot, I am human, thus I have basic needs. To fulfill these basic needs, I need money and to get money, I need to work so my services can be exploited for a shiatty wage, as all regular college students do. As for the ambulances, I think it's unacceptable to strike at them - BUT Terrorists have a long history of using them as a cover to transport troops or bombs, as we've witnessed in Palestine or Gaza, so I have to ask, did Israel have a tip? Did they have suspicions? Did they witness something? Seeing as the only information I have on the subject is some random guy on the internet telling me Israel shoot someting at an ambulance and no actual links nor stated reason of the IDF, I can't actually take a position, otherwise it would be kneejerking and foolish. Beauf:If they are not having much effect why is Israel so worried and pouring so many resources into the fight? Popularity. We make 'reality TV' that revolves around some idiot eating a bug. They make reality TV that involves little kids having their heads blown off. You should google some of the shiat these different terror groups come up with. It plays on national television over there, in their press, in the streets. Pretty farking amazing, and also something I think almost no one in the United States can identify with.The Palestinians get good ratings - they get lot of funding. Israel is the bad guy, and I am not seeing where 'an increasing number of Americans' are turning against them. More like - an increasing number of Americans are sick of hearing about shiat having to do with the middle-east, period. In this case (and it's not always clear) Israel was provoked by n act of terrorism, so there's not a lot of divergence in viewpoint on that. The whole watching people blow people up for shiats and giggles issue on television is getting old. As a sephardi semite I'd like the anti-semitic joooooooos (read Ashkenazi - oh ish the clue is in the name) on this thread to spend 2 minutes living as a Pally in the occupied territories and then come back on here and tell us why the fark the pallies get pissed. Coz me, I dont get it, we turf em off their land and rename their country which is immediately declared an ethnically-pure state (how Hitler would've chuckled at this irony), we then bar their kids from schooling, kill off their intelegentsia and then cast them as the judas of the plot (this is becoming an irony jizzfest) while repeatedly depriving generation after generation of every human right possible (bar the occasional showing of Baywatch on Pally state tv).....and then we call them terrorists for getting upset at their lot....I dont understand why we just dont kill em al and put em out of our misery. Discuss. Aw go ahead :) You have more stuff bookmarked on this than I could evar. You ever play CIV Tatsuma? The US has the shortest attention span for war out of every modern nation, and is the first to go nuts in a protrated war that doesn't produce immediate results. People don't like to pay for stuff that doesn't come over to their house and give them a backrub. It ain't hate, mon. 'Tis boredom. Do not misunderstand me, I do not think they should sit there and take it. They should be fighting. The problem I have with Israel is the fact that they continue to reinforce failure. They need to use military action to fight while using political and economic efforts to undermine the terrorists and their recruiting efforts. I would also agree with you whaen you say that attacking ambulances may have been justified as Islamic terrorists are fond of using them to transport weapons, big bad guys, or carry out attacks. I need more info before I condemn them for that. It's not like Israel was destroying the infastucture and conducting countless airstrikes during those 13 days. I agree that Hizbullah needs to be dealt with but Israel has been on the offensive as well. Beer Nutz:Considering that there are no other options other than Israel packing up and moving to the US, I'd say that kicking ass is the only option they have. No, they have no other option YOU have thought of or that YOU like. There are absolutely countless things Israel could have been doing before and right now short of armored invasion and bombing sorties; from commando raids to propaganda campaigns to forcing the cooperation of the Labanese government. Mostly commando raids. But when you target entire neighborhoods because you think there might be terrorists hiding in there, you're not doing anyone any good whatsoever. When that kind of thing is perpetrated against us or Israel, we call it terrorism for a very good reason. faethe:Look, we've GOT to see the situation from a larger perspective or we're doomed to see this kind of thing repeated over and over again: the organization that is Hezbollah is a seperate entity from the Lebanese people. It is the Lebanese we and Israel should be negotiating with, not Hezbollah. There are a lot of Christians, a LOT of moderate and even "westernized" muslims, and countless other groups who would previously have had nothing to do with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and are now being collectively punished and lumped in right along side them, whose sympathies are as we speak being turned against Israel and the US because of what Israel is doing there. As I said: the goal IS to get rid of Hezbollah or, more realistically, to transform it into a non-militant group. But what Israel is doing here is doing nothing but setting that goal back. They are in the movies. In Dune (the movie), there are killing words. Shai Hulud In the real world there are folks, usually less sophisticated folks, manipulated by ideas. For ex: In the US, many US folksk who vote against their own interests and wind up with kleptocratic exploiters. In S Lebanon, the religious folk who vote against their own interests and wind up with Iranian exploiters. Okay, how about this simple challenge: Those people here taking the anti-Israel camp, what do you think Israel should do? IPeople keep saying that Israel was responding to the kidnapping of two soldiers and the killing of eight others when it decided to destroy Lebanon. I don't understand how two kidnapped soldiers is meaningful in context of the number of people that Israel has kidnapped from various areas near it. It's well know that Israel conducts undercover operations to kidnap or kill people. It's also well known that Israel has kept Lebanese hostages for several years. Wouldn't the Lebanese people or their appointed protectors be well within their rights to attack Israel for kidnapping far more than two people? I'm not an advocate of any hostile action, but if Israel can destroy Lebanon for two people, Lebanon or those people who protect Lebanon should be well within it's right to attempt to destroy Israel for many more people. I'll take yer money on the mushroom cloud thingy....everybody knows that arabs and jooooooooos are the 2 most cowardly peeps on earth. I would say damn em all but I wouldn't want them spoiling my peaceful entry to Gehenna when the time comes..... Tatsuma - Troll? If I can offer you the opportuntiy to disprove a negative "DS Wolf is not a sephardi - prove it".....Saddam was flummoxed by trying to disprove a negative, let's see how you cope, oh and I dont believe in fairies and pixies I'm sick of this 'they started it' crap. Let's reverse it to show the crap that it is. If Israel went into Lebanon and 'captured' or killed enemies of Israel (which they have done many times). Then Lebanon 'retaliated' with artillary strikes into Israel, and of course Israel then retaliated with their own artillary strikes into Lebanon would all you Israel supporters say "Israel started it" and "Lebanon has to protect themselves, I support them"? /you wouldn't and you know it. //furthermore you would say Lebanon was the aggressor. What Rice said seems to work IMO. 10k Turkish army troops to stand in the middle. I think that if Hezbollahiamplasma:What exact actions and orders would you give if you ran Israel? Just sit there and get shot at? What do you want them to do!? That's like asking what I want to do about the Iraq debacle. I'm not the one who screwed it up and it's not my responsibility to fix it. I can however criticize those who started the war and continue to make a mess of it. I'm not the one who decided to plunk a bunch of people down in the middle of somewhere they'd never been before and it's not my responsibility to fix the mess of those who did. I can however criticize the actions of the people trying to prop the mess up and complaining when their King David hotel comes back at them. The "what would you have done" excuse has never been apt. That's like taking a football team to a 1-15 record then asking critics to take it to the super bowl. "." I am generally confused. I am not a racist. My idiocy quotient is debatable depending on my stance I suppose. If I choose neither I am villified by both sides. I'm sorry you see me in such extremes as I am not. Aldon, you're an anti-semite nazi loving holocaust denier, you have to let us kill them all (I mean ALL) until they're wiped off the face of the planet, anything short of that makes you....errr.....whatever that gibberish I wrote in the first sentence says Prospero424:As I said: the goal IS to get rid of Hezbollah or, more realistically, to transform it into a non-militant group. But what Israel is doing here is doing nothing but setting that goal back. I agree with you - and no man - I do not associate Hezbollah with the entire population of Lebanon. I think they are a political group that was able to get into a position of power, and thereafter started using Lebanon as their playground. Actually, I am of the firm opinion that most of the people in the Middle-East (just like people here) could give a fark less about politics, and wish this shiat would go away and let them alone. I'm not thinking the Lebanese have much choice atm but to do whatever Hezbollah tells them to; they are armed, and they are providing services for the average person in large parts of Lebanon. Same old story, mon. Political group gets into power, then furthers its own goals apart from the desire of the peoples. How many Lebanese would love to trade with Israel? That's a wealthy nation. 7of7:Wouldn't the Lebanese people or their appointed protectors be well within their rights to attack Israel for kidnapping far more than two people? The Hizballah actually demanded the release of 3 Lebanese held in Israel. One of them is Samir Kuntar. Nice guy. Shot a man in front of his four year old daughter then smashed her head on a rock. Her mother was hiding in the attic, and accidentally smothered their second daughter lest she scream out. Oh, and the whole operation was performed to "protest teh israeli Egyptian peace treaty" Samir Kuntar is considered a hero among many in the Arab world. ...lots of questions about "what would you do" bla bla bla....there is only one response, the rest is oped, here it is...ready....Likudites/neocons please put hot beverage down and take a seat.....RESOLUTION 242 first and then we'll play it by ear. That's the solution. And it's cheap too faethe:What Rice said seems to work IMO. 10k Turkish army troops to stand in the middle. I think that if HezbollahIt's not a bad idea. I don't know how realistic it is, but it's certainly better than what seems to be the current approach, which pretty much amounts the same tack taken by the US in in Iraq: "maybe fewer arabs will hate us if we invade an arab nation and kill more civilians than terrorists! Durrrrrrr!". I question how realistic it is because I had several long conversations with an old Turkish friend I grew up with over the weekend, and he's 100% sure that Turkey is going to stay out of it. The sad truth is that any intervening action they might take would be seen by their populace and by the arab world as abetting Israel's actions. They're not gonna stick their noses in. Interestingly, this friend I mentioned as well as myself once met the President of Turkey when he was visiting Houston by chance when he came to shop at a CompUSA store we were browsing through to kill time. I think this was about 10 years ago. My friend, being Turkish, got to speak with him at length after passing the scrutiny of his bodyguards. I didn't get to say nothin', but if I did, I would have told him not to farking shop at CompUSA. Hehehehe. iamplasma:IEliminate every illegal settlement. Until they do that their claims to want peace are simply ridiculous. That shouldn't be some kind of "reward", that should be the starting point. Stop mass punishment. Driving a country back 20 years every time some idiots with a few crappy rockets manage to fire them off has never and will never create anything but more people who want you dead. The logic of genocide is the final destination of that line of defence. Would the same smelly idiots keep firing the odd rocket? Probably, but rich and comfortable neighbours are a lot less of an overall threat than poor people with nothing to lose and mostly you to blame it on. That little story is great, but at least 3 rednecks here in Idaho do the same thing every year and as much as I'd like it, it's still not acceptable to lock all rednecks away and the fact that there was one asshat among the prisoners taken by Israel doesn't legitimize the Israeli kidnappings or absolve Israel from the retribution that is apparently justified in the case of kidnappings. It appears that instead of going hamfist like Israel, Hezbollah's response to the kidnappings was to return the favor and expect prisoner exchanges. Unlike right-wingers, people equipped with a modicum of logic ought to realize that neither side is completely evil nor completely innocent. The world is not black-and-white, and neither is this issue. Isreal is not all good, Palestine/Lebannon is not all bad. Get over it. I REALLY doubt this is what would happen. But speaking for myself, if Israel did withdraw to the agreed-upon 1967 borders, and they were still attacked en masse, I would support almost any action they would take against those attackers. The plan of abiding by Resolution 242 may not be perfect, but it really is the only option, in the end, other than whole-scale war. No, they locked away him and have also kidnapped and locked away several hundred/thousand other people as that link from Amnesty International seems to show. He's a dirtbag, I get it, but that does nothing to detract from my point that Israel has been kidnapping people in vast quantities for many years and by the logic set by Israel's supporters regarding the two soldiers recently captured by Hezbollah, those countries have a right to try and destroy Israel as Israel is trying to destroy Lebanon. 7of7:I'd like it, it's still not acceptable to lock all rednecks away and the fact that there was one asshat among the prisoners taken by Israel doesn't legitimize the Israeli kidnappings The Israelis captured some other lebanese in response to the imprisonement of Ron Arad, an Israeli pilot who was captured by Amal, transferred to Hizballah, and then disappeeared. It s estimated he spent 15-20 years in captivity before he died, never getting a chance to communicate with his family or the IRCO. For a long time, the Hizballah made no demands for his release, or even admitted they had them. At some point, the former chief of Hizballah said that tey held him "Just to cause distress to the Israli public and his family". At some point, Israel captured Hizballah officials, hoping for a prisoner swap. That did not happen. At least those people saw Red Cross representatives, and had communication with their families. All were released some time ago, when Ron Arad was known to be dead. Jon Snow:Can we focus on ways to let Israel defend herself with a minimal loss of civilian life, infrastructure, and self-rule in Lebanon? Or do we have to pick between Hezbollah and the IDF? Exactly. You can tell those who really are interested in a solution from those who are only interested in allowing either Israel or Hezbollah to do anything they want because those uninterested in a solution repeatedly and insistently speak of the issue in strict either/or, all-or-nothing terms. Still, it's a convenient way to seperate the vicious idiots from the rest of humanity on this issue " (From The Hamas Charter) But speaking for myself, if Israel did withdraw to the agreed-upon 1967 borders, and they were still attacked en masse, I would support almost any action they would take against those attackers. I think the Palestinians have made it pretty clear, in word an in deed that that is exactly what they will doshipud:The Israelis captured some other Lebanese in response to the imprisonment of Ron Arad You're acting like they've only captured 5 people and they've only been Lebanese. Israel has kidnapped possibly thousands of people and they weren't all for Ron Arad either, only two actually were, Sheik Abdul-Karim Obeid, and Mustafa Dirani. That link to amnesty international clearly shows that Israel's kidnappings are no more humane or Red Cross accessible than Hezbollah's. You're trying to muddy the waters, but according to an internationally accepted "good" organization, Israel is just as kidnap happy as Hezbollah. As such they should be subject to the same fate that people claim Hezbollah is for it's kidnappings. I see you're content with pretending there's no middle ground and that the only possible outcome is either the total obliteration of the people of Israel, or the total obliteration of the people of Palestine. There is only Hamas and Hezbollah; reasonable Palestinians don't exist in your world. So nice of you to play right into the hands of terrorists by regurgitating their talking points. shipud:IAs sad as it is, Hezbollah now cares more about Palestine than it does about Lebanon. That's their own failing in this situation. But, as has been pointed out and ignored before; Hezbollah is not Lebanon. Hey Tatsuma - from last thread: Perfect. And send some international troops on the other side of the buffer zone. Yes, because Lebanese sovereignty is irrelevant if there are any terrorists in their country. That strategy can work here at home too! Instead of the FBI pursuing a stake-out followed by a successful cature of the Unabomber, you know, the person actually committing the acts of terror, Chicago PD should have started blowing up the infrastructure of Lincoln, Montana. Then, after that proved fruitless, they could lay claim to the area of Elliston & Gold Creek, to create a buffer zone. In fact, we should just make the lower half of Montana fall under the authority of Illinois, if Montana's going to prove a haven for terrorists who strike at Chicagoan civillian targets. As for people complaining about "War crimes" yet not a single clue what international law actually says: Doni Remba, President of Chicago Peace Now, examines UN claims that Israel is guilty of "war crimes" in Lebanon. Are Israel's Military Operations in Lebanon Proportional?Is Israel Guilty of War Crimes? What International Law Really Says Revised July 21, 2006 Gidon D. Remba Referring to the Hezbollah-Israel conflict, UN Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has said that indiscriminate shelling of cities is a war crime; presumably this is meant to apply to Hezbollah's indiscriminate rocket and missile fire on Israeli cities. The Swiss International Red Cross, the "guardian" of the Geneva Conventions, has been explicit in saying that "Hezbollah fighters too are bound by the rules of international humanitarian law, and they must not target civilian areas." But Arbour also has said, presumably with regard to Israeli strikes on civilian areas which harbor military objectives--such as rockets or armed Hezbollah guerrillas in private homes, villages or urban areas--that "the bombardment of sites with alleged military significance, but resulting invariably in the killing of innocent civilians, is unjustifiable," and she has implied that such actions are war crimes for which military and political leaders may be held liable under international criminal law. But is it true that Israeli actions in Lebanon are "unjustifiable" under international law? Is Israel guilty of war crimes, as Arbour suggests? Um, well, yes. Both Protocol I and Article 28 of the Geneva Convention (IV) make clear that "the deliberate intermingling of civilians and combatants, designed to create a situation in which any attack against combatants would necessarily entail an excessive number of casualties is a flagrant breach of the Law of International Armed Conflict," according to international law scholar Yoram Dinstein (see his The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict, Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 129 - 130).\| In short, Hezbollah is in violation of the laws of war when it places missiles and rockets in villages and homes in order to shield them from Israeli attack. And in what way does this justify the destruction of an infrastructure created, paid for and maintained by and for the Lebanese people? In what way do the actions of Hezbollah free Israeli soldiers, generals and politicians from the human obligation to act morally(e.g. not blow up civilians)? Article 51(7) of Protocol I states: "The presence or movements of the civilian population or individual civilians shall not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations, in particular attempts to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield, favour or impede military operations." And the Geneva Convention (IV) holds that "The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points of areas immune from military operations." (Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 1949, Laws of Armed Conflicts, 495, 511.) Moreover, the Rome Statute is clear that "utilizing the presence of civilians or other protected persons to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations is recognized as a war crime by Article 8 (2) (b) (xxiii)". (Dinstein, p. 130) At the same time, Dinstein acknowledges that the principle of proportionality applies even in such cases when a belligerent has committed the war crime of using a civilian objective to shield its military forces or weapons from attack. "However, even if that is the case," he notes, "the actual test of excessive injury to civilians must be relaxed. That is to say, the appraisal whether civilian casualties are excessive in relation to the military advantage anticipated must make allowances for the fact that -- if an attempt is made to shield military objectives with civilians -- civilian casualties will be higher than usual." (p. 131) Dinstein cites, inter alia, legal scholar L. Doswald-Beck who wrote regarding Israel's original Lebanon War in the Journal of Peace Research: "The Israeli bombardment of Beirut in June and July of 1982 resulted in high civilian casualties, but not necessarily excessively so given the fact that the military targets were placed amongst the civilian population." I guess what bothers me most about this attitude isn't the callouss nature of the statement by an officious prick with a govt. job; what bothers me is that YOU, Tatsuma, are using it as justification. You tend to be a moral, rational person(if a little religious), except when we talk about Israel. Then, all of a sudden, you start pulling out these legalese definitions and slippery slope moral rationalizations for what you really ought to know is simply immoral, bad behaviour. To wit: Israel escalated a hostage situation into a farking WAR and have since now expanded their territory, that is, SEIZED it. Why in the name of your fictional god would you defend them? What the hell is wrong with you? The above considerations pertain to the norms deriving from treaty law (e.g., the Geneva Conventions). But there is another set of standards which are relevant to the question of proportionality which derive from another source of international law, known as customary international law. Together with treaties, customary law is one of the main sources of international humanitarian law (IHL), or the laws of war. Dinstein explains that "Customary international law is certainly more rigorous than the [Geneva] Protocol on this point. It has traditionally been perceived that, should civilian casualties ensue from an attempt to shield combatants or a military objective, the ultimate responsibility lies with the belligerent [party] placing innocent civilians at risk. A belligerent...is not vested by the laws of international armed conflict with the power to block an otherwise legitimate attack against combatants (or military objectives) by deliberately placing civilians in harm's way." (Dinstein, ibid). In short, Hezbollah is legally (and morally) responsible for any Lebanese civilian casualties which result from Israeli bombardment of villages, homes or urban areas containing missiles, rockets or armed Hezbollah guerrilla forces-so long as Israel is aiming at these military targets, as it has. And just how far should this rationale go? If Israel creates concentration camps for Lebanese suspected terrorists and accidentally executes a bunch of innocent tourists, is it really, really Hezbollah's fault in your sick little double standard mind? I'm not one of these apologists for Hezbollah, I'm not sending them money or cards or blowing them kisses, but that doesn't mean I have to support a fascistic regime like Israel, which has little to no respect for human life, active disdain for human rights, and legal torture, when they start bombing civilian targets, government infrastructure and just whatever they please in the name of self-defense. You know what this reminds me of? Back in 1992 there were a group of Klansmen arrested in the Rodney King riots; they had armed themselves to the teeth and gotten dressed up in their little robes, then gone downtown during the riots in order to "defend" themselves. Dinstein further notes that "An obvious breach of the principle of proportionality would be the destruction of a whole village--with hundreds of civilian casualties--in order to eliminate a single enemy sniper. In contrast, if -- instead of a single enemy sniper -- an artillery battery would operate from within the village, such destruction may be warranted" under the laws of war. (pp. 122-123) But maybe I'm arguing the wrong point, I mean, this is war, and this is a typically militant attitude towards carrying it out. The problem here, I guess, is not just how it's conducted, the problem is who started it, and who escalated it. This wasn't a war with rockets firing into Israel until after Israel bombed Beirut; therefore, Israel is the aggressor, they are seizing territory using a false defence premise, and they deserve to have their U.S. funding yanked as a result. How they carry out the war once it's started is less important morally than the fact that they started it. Like the U.S. itself in the Iraq theatre, if you're the aggressor, everything you do in terms of war is ultimately a war crime, and you deserve to lose that war, even as the U.S. deserves to get kicked out of Iraq. Bridges and Civilian Casualties Israel has bombed bridges in parts of Lebanon in order to prevent the movement of missiles into firing range of Israeli population centers, to obstruct the re-armament of Hezbollah, and to prevent Hezbollah from spiriting its captured soldiers to the Iranian Embassy, to Syria or Iran. Dinstein notes that under the international law of armed conflict, "most bridges qualify as military objectives by purpose, use or above all, location...As long as they are apt to have a perceptible role in the transport of military reinforcements and supplies, their destruction is almost self-explanatory as a measure playing havoc with enemy logistics." (p. 92). Moreover, "given the significant military advantage that can generally be gained from the destruction of a strategically located bridge, relatively high civilian casualties would ordinarily be deemed reasonable collateral damage." (p. 125) Advance Warning Before Attacking Military Targets in Areas Affecting Civilians Article 57(2) of Protocol I of the Geneva Convention, like the Hague Convention of 1907, "prescribes that effective advance warning must be given of attacks affecting the civilian population, 'unless circumstances do not permit'...Warnings are designed 'to allow, as far as possible, civilians to leave a locality before it is attacked.'" (Dinstein, pp. 127-8) Israel has repeatedly given advance warning to civilians in areas containing military objectives it plans to target: in south Beirut, before it attacked the Hezbollah stronghold, it gave at least 48 hours advance warning via airdropped leaflets, and it did the same with civilians in southern Lebanon, an area from which Hezbollah has been indiscriminately launching rockets at Israeli civilians within Israel, and where Hezbollah guerrillas have built fortifications and store arms. It doesn't matter how much advance notice you give people to leave if, while fleeing, the people become targets of the Israeli military. That's like telling a prisoner they are free to go and then shooting them for trespassing. The Assessment of Proportionality Several conclusions follow from this review of the international law of armed conflict. First, the international laws of war permit considerable civilian casualties and harm to civilians of various kinds within the ambit of lawful combat, so long as a combatant fulfills its conditions. Second, the principle of proportionality prohibits an attack on a legitimate military target only if the collateral civilian casualties would be disproportionate in relation to the specific military gain anticipated from the attack. An attack against a legitimate military target is a war crime if the incidental loss of civilian life is "excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated." (Article 51 (5) (b) of Protocol I; Article 8 (2) (b) (iv) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court). Dinstein notes that "Even extensive civilian casualties may be acceptable, if they are not excessive in light of the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated." (p. 121) He further notes that "the Protocol refers to expected injury to civilians and to anticipated military advantage....what ultimately counts in appraising whether an attack which engenders incidental loss of civilian life or damage to civilian objects is 'excessive,' is not the actual outcome of the attack but the initial expectation and anticipation." Leonard Fein's new essay on the Americans for Peace Now website "Disproportionality Now" fails to take into account many of the key considerations which the laws of war mandate for assessing whether the harm caused to civilians is proportional. He does, correctly, raise the question of what military advantages are likely to be gained by Israel's campaign against Hezbollah, but for reasons I shall not elaborate upon in this essay, I think his assessment of the military and strategic gains which may be reasonably expected from Israel's campaign is unduly pessimistic. That, however, is a largely empirical question which won't be settled until we see the outcome of the campaign. But for reasons I've elaborated elsewhere, I believe it is not unreasonable to hold that Israel will achieve some significant military and strategic gains from this operation: These include: 1) pushing Hezbollah guerrillas back from its northern border, preventing further abductions and attacks on IDF forces within Israel (Israel is already engaged in ground operations in southern Lebanon to this end); 2) pushing Hezbollah's thousands of Katyushas beyond 12 miles of the border so that northern Israel's population centers are beyond their 12-mile range; Until the new Israeli settlements in what had been southern Lebanon need defending. 3) the imposition of an effective multinational force along with the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon to replace the IDF and Hezbollah, thereby implementing a key provision in UNSC resolutions 1559 and 1680, and an international monitoring regime in the Bekaa Valley and the Beirut airport to prevent Hezbollah's rearmament, a proposal which has now won support from the US and several major powers; Has it won support from Lebanon? you know, the country who's sovereignty is being violated and who's land is being seized? 4) reducing the number of missile launchers and longer-range missiles available to Hezbollah (it had only 62 Zelzal missiles threatening Tel Aviv and central Israel, and only 75 Fajr-3 and -5 missiles threatening Haifa, Israel's two most strategically important cities other than Jerusalem, before firing some and losing others to Israeli strikes); 5) restoration of a modicum of the deterrence which Israel lost after it unilaterally withdrew from Lebanon and Gaza to the international border, and failed to retaliate to previous Hezbollah abductions. This will a) create a disincentive against future attacks by Hezbollah and Iran, both of which harbor genocidal intent against Israel and its people, and b) foster the confidence necessary among the Israeli public for further withdrawal of Israeli settlements (though not of the IDF at this point) from as much as 90% or more of the West Bank, with such evacuations coordinated or negotiated with the Palestinians; such steps will, as the Israeli government has said, safeguard Israel's democratic and Jewish character, represent a giant step towards resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and promote the prospects for a future peace accord with its Palestinian neighbors; I'll believe the pullouts when I see them. 6) dealing a blow to Iran's efforts to gain leverage over the major powers in talks over its nuclear enrichment program, while thwarting its attempts to enhance its stature in the Arab world over the moderate Arab states, by using Hezbollah to threaten and bleed Israel; 7) blocking Iran's efforts to sabotage Palestinian-Israeli accommodation by inflicting a strategic setback to Hezbollah through achievement of the above objectives. All these are realistic potential outcomes of Israel's operation, achievable to some degree. Anticipated vs. Actual Outcome of Military Actions and Proportionality Dinstein also notes that in making judgments as to the proportionality of an attack, "if an extensive air campaign is undertaken, it would be mistaken to focus on the outcome of an isolated sortie. It has been rightly emphasized that, pursuant to Article 8 (2) (b)(iv) of the Rome Statute, assessment of what is excessive is to be based on 'overall' military advantage anticipated. By introducing the word 'overall', the Statute 'somewhat broadens the scope of military advantages which may be taken into account': it permits looking at the larger operational picture and not merely at the particular point under attack." (Dinstein, p. 123) It seems clear that the anticipated military and strategic gains, which include better protecting from rocket and missile attack more than 2 million Israelis--and with Tel Aviv and central Israel, virtually the country's entire population of 7 million--must be factored into any judgments about the proportionality of Israel's operations against Hezbollah. Turning the entire area into a glass parking lot would make all y'all safer too, after all, Hezbollah can't threaten Israel if Hezbollah and Israel don't exist. Does that make the glass parking lot option moral or laudable? Finally, from all this it follows that it is a categorical mistake to simply count the number of civilian Lebanese casualties, and then ask--is this too many in relation to whether Israel can "destroy Hezbollah", as the appropriate way for evaluating the proportionality of Israel's military actions in Lebanon. It is a mistake for at least two reasons: first, because it is arbitrary and unreasonable to treat "the destruction of Hezbollah," and Israel's inability to attain this objective, as the sole military advantage which should enter into the calculus; and second, because the absolute number of civilian casualties resulting from Israel's actions, while not irrelevant to that calculus, is not the primary determinant of proportionality in international law. This is so because the moral and legal responsibility for many of those casualties under international law falls squarely on Hezbollah. Many more of those civilian casualties are also permitted as proportionate under the laws of war even though they sometimes represent a considerable number, in absolute terms. As horrible as it is for us to see hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing from the war zone--and we should support immediate humanitarian assistance to the 45,000 of these (and all others) who need it--Israel has committed no war crime by taking action against legitimate Hezbollah military targets which it has willfully placed within urban and other civilian areas. This is all the more so given that Israel has fully complied with the laws of war by giving sufficient warning to the Lebanese civilians affected by its operations against Hezbollah military targets. The law may seem to some to be insufficiently morally sensitive. But so long as we cannot--and must not, morally--embrace pacifism, we must accept the tragic fact that even the most just wars may result in many civilian casualties-foreseeably and unintentionally-yet justifiably, with the full and terrible weight of law and morality. The only just war is the war that you cannot, by any other means, avoid. This war is not just, it is an abomination, as are all wars of aggression. /will be back later the_gospel_of_thomas:True. It's a shame Lebanon didn't curb Hezbollah. This is what happens when you're irresponsible and let your weeds grow wild into someone else's yard... someone's going to cut them for you. This isn't about politics anymore. The average Palestinian just remembers that his uncle was killed by an IDF attack chopper, and the average Israeli is sick of being worried that a trip to the market might result in being killed by a suicide bomber. "Physics tells us that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. They hate us, we hate them, they hate us back. And so, here we are, victims of mathematics!" Israel need to go in hard because the only way groups like Hizbollah will be defeated is when the lebanese population stops protecting them. This will only occur when there is such blood shed that everyone realises that this pray (hate to be religious) has a very significant meaning. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. for ever and ever. Amen I am not a religious person and I do not even believe in God but above is a few lines that hold the power to stop all the trouble in the middle east, these line are: And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. What is happening is generation after generation are not following those lines and I am afraid to say it will take a great deal of blood shed for them to turn and understand those line. When they do there will be peace. Hezbollah sparked the crisis July 12 when it captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight other troops in a cross-border raid into northern Israel. Really? I was under the impression that this crisis began in 1948 when the Allies decided to ease their conciences of Holocaust guilt by destroying the lives of tens of thousands of people in order to create a Jewish state. Yes, it was. Unfortunately we can't go back in time and stop the Balfour Declaration from being drafted, nor tell the Brits what a bad idea it will be to plop lots of Jewish folks in the mid-east without asking someone for permission first. 1) Good idea. At least they aren't violating International Law anymore. 2) Doubtful -- most groups stated goal is to eliminate the occupation. Hamas' recently drafted paper states specifically that they would like to found a Palestinian State in the West bank and Gaza. The most extreme of groups who want to eliminate Israel altogether would see their recruitmen drop sharply once people were not under the constant harassment from Israeli occupiers anymore. If they WERE attacked again, at least they could claim self-defense from a non-hypocritical position, and they would get more support. As it stands now, Israel is like someone who breaks into a house and then tries to use the self-defense plea when the homeowner pulls out a gun. 3) Noone would do that. You're making crap up to try and make a strawman out of the argument. We're not arguing that the Arabs are always right and the Israelis are always wrong. WeReally? I was under the impression that this crisis began in 1948 when the Allies decided to ease their conciences of Holocaust guilt by destroying the lives of tens of thousands of people in order to create a Jewish state. Well, yeah. But most people don't know that much history. And as everyone knows, what you don't know can't hurt you... Right? In actuality it was even earlier than 48' -- the Zionists moved in long before WWII started, but the influx was huge after the war. Britain moved the settlers into some land they "owned" after WWI when the Ottoman Empire was dissolved. Read up on the "Balfour Declaration". There has been UN troops at the border from 1975 to today. UNIFIL troops are known to let Hizbullah do as they wish and have been caugh, in certain instances, to directly help them I've seen reports at 500 and at 1,000, so I don't know which is true, but either number is CONSIDERABLY less than the 10,000 being proposed. Even though Hezbollah supporters number in the millions, the number of armed militants numbers in the thousands. Maybe the numbers were understated, but I keep hearing 3,000 or 4,000 of them...and at this rate, Israel might kill them all. But even for as little faith as I have in the UN (or any of these coalitions like NATO), it seems to me that 10,000 troops can probably disarm 3 or 4 thousand militants. Then again, given the efficiency of the IDF, 1,000 of them could probably beat 10,000 poorly-trained militiamen on their home court. 1) Good idea. At least they aren't violating International Law anymore. 2) Doubtful -- most groups stated goal is to eliminate the occupation. Doubtful? Israel has withdrawn from gaza and is being attacked from Gaza. Israel has withdrawn from Lebanon and is being attacked from Lebanon. What's doubtful about that? Hamas' recently drafted paper states specifically that they would like to found a Palestinian State in the West bank and Gaza. Oh, and Hamas stated they would "consider" a "temporary" truce if Israel withdrew first. No recognition of Israel. Hamas have time and again stated that they are sticking to their original charter, i.e. obliteration of Israel. If they WERE attacked again, at least they could claim self-defense from a non-hypocritical position, and they would get more support. OK, they are being attacked form Lebanon after withdrawing to an internationally agreed upon border. I guess they have your full support for the war in Lebanon. From a non-hypocritical postion, of course. As it stands now, Israel is like someone who breaks into a house and then tries to use the self-defense plea when the homeowner pulls out a gun. Um, what? This analogy doent' even begin to make sense. 3) Noone would do that. You're making crap up to try and make a strawman out of the argument. We're not arguing that the Arabs are always right and the Israelis are always wrong. No, just that the Israelis are always wrong. Even when they comply by standards more rigid than any of their critics are willing to meet themselves. WeThey aren't going to see peace even if they withdraw. Because the withdrawals from Gaza and Lebanon have led to the current situation. Both Hizballah and Hamas interpreted the withdrawals as a weakenss, and used the territory to continue attacks against Israel. Not to mention that they did not see peace before they even occupied one inch of the WB, Gaza, Golan, or Lebanon. Gawdzila:n actuality it was even earlier than 48' -- the Zionists moved in long before WWII started, but the influx was huge after the war. Actually, the large immigration waves were in the 1920s. During WWII and after the British blocked almost all Jewish immigration to Israel, and placed the Jews trying to escape from Europe in internment camps in Cyprus. Those were the lucky ones. Some were turned back and forced to go to the home ports in Europe. Those that were just hopeful of getting a visa to Palestine (instead of escaping illegally via boats) waited in vain until the Nazis murdered them. In that sense, the British were very much complicit with the Nazi genocide, and this lasted throughout the war, even in 1944 and 1945 when everyone knew what was going on. This is despite the fact that out of 500,000 Jews living in Palestine at the time, 137,000 enlisted to the British armed forces, to help fight the Nazis. The large immigration from Europe took place after Israel became a state. Prospero424:I see you're content with pretending there's no middle ground and that the only possible outcome is either the total obliteration of the people of Israel, or the total obliteration of the people of Palestine. No, there is a middle ground. The Palestinians can truly recognize the right of Israel to exist safely. This has not yet happened. reasonable Palestinians don't exist in your world. They do. they just don't have a say in things. shipud: IJust the majority that was elected and is currently tunning things in the PA, yes. "A few" don't get elected by an overwhelming landslide. As sad as it is, Hezbollah now cares more about Palestine than it does about Lebanon. Hizballah doesn't 'care' about either. They are a proxy army fighting for Syria and Iran against IsraelYeah so.. if we let Isreal sink or swim without our arms or money, a massive squadron of Arabs who are stuck in a militaristic religious crusade will march in there and wipe every Isreali into a mass grave. Fun, right? Sometimes, you have to stand against blind fervor. nygman212:I so totally agree with you! Look at this lebanese kid, he's clearly guilty! As Homer would say, "if he's so great, how come he's dead?" The sad fact is that the Bush Administration's diplomacy is now so transparent that even neophytes understand that the US is impotent in terms of Mideast influence. It's unfortunate that rank amateurs have been handed the foreign policy reigns of the most powerful nation on earth, and they're driving around aimlessly. what i find strange is that i get banned for awhile for threadjacking, yet the class and sophistication of fark's mods allow pictures of dead children posted in forums. i have some pretty distasteful pics of my own, can i post them as well? RIGHT NOW (7:40 PM, Wednesday, Beijing time), on the English Language TV station in China, they are discussing whether the Israeli actions are "an extension" of the "Bush administration's policies on the War on Terror". Both guests (University professor and Think-Tank member), said "Of course." -- So... there you go. We now know what China thinks. Question is: What will be China's reaction (if any)? so when Iraq invaded the sovereign nation of Kuwait, annexing some of their territory that was bad, right? And when Israel invaded the sovereign nation of Lebanon, annexing some of their territory, that's good right? As long as we're clear. Sorry for the banation, but I really don't need to see anymore dead baby images. Heads of government is where those images need to be sent. I've gotten banned a few times & sometimes my comments are deleted, never sure why, gov't secrets? Always found your comments cogent & on target. not sure if you are refering to me. i dont ever plan on posting the more distasteful pics i got. to be quite honest i really dont like looking at those things. ive seen enough of that. hey man, i usually like your comments and agree with the things you say. government secrets? you think we should start posting classified material on here and see what happends? infantry: Nope no bad images on my fieldworks. Have alot of mountain ranges, family, some happy kids, historical landmarks, poppy field flowers, airplanes, buddies surfing & a few hot babes. Re: secrets? haha, don't know too many, live in a pretty narrow focused world here, don't usually get invited to those briefings, get most of my news of the "real" world here, scary huh...is Bush still President? The Syrian government is dominated by Alawis, but it more like a secular dictatorship. I think it's like Iraq, it's run by a small clique, and the Alawis thing is just a coincidence. Interestingly enough, they had issues with Sunni fundamentalists before. Throughout the early 1980s the Muslim Brotherhood staged a series of bomb attacks against the government and its officials, including a nearly successful attempt to assassinate al-Assad on June 26, 1980, during an official state reception for the president of Mali. As a machine gun salvo missed him, al-Assad ran to kick a hand grenade aside, and his bodyguard sacrificed himself to smother the explosion of another one. Surviving with only light damages, al-Assad's revenge was swift and merciless: only hours later many hundreds of imprisoned Islamists were murdered in a massacre carried out by his brother Rifaat al-Assad in Tadmor Prison[1]. Curiously enough, Rifaat later fled Syria after attemptign a coup, and since approached both the Muslim brotherhood and Israel in an attempt to get backing as the next Syrian President. Iraq under Saddam was similar except that the dominating minority was a tribal one, Tikritis, rather than a religious one. Most of the challenges to Saddam came from Shi'ites rather than Sunnis. and the Saudis (weird extreme form of sunni foetus-eating sect) hate 'em...... In fact, whereas Christians and even Jews get some protection in Wahhabi Islam (not much - look up Dhimmi status), as people of the book, Shi'ite are heretics and get summary execution. So you could say that al Qaeda literally hates Shi'ites more than they do Jews. it's why Iraq went to war with Iran..... No, not really. Saddam wasn't too interesting in Islam, he was only interested in Saddam. He obviously reckoned attacking Iran would get him cash from the gulf states. Syria is just as cynical, except that they're backing the other side - the radical Shi'ites against the gulf states. The Syrian and Iraqi goverments were close to war for most of the time Saddam was in power, despite the fact that they are both secular Ba'athist dictatorships, and both dominated by mimorities. it's why Hamas (sunni) dont support Hizbullah, Actually Hamas and Hizbullah are pretty much allies, since Hizbullah gave tents and food to some Hamas people the Israelis had kicked out of Lebanon. This is where your argument breaks down. You're assuming that there is one split in the Middle East which overrides all the others. Actually, the Middle East has lots of factions, all of whom hate each other, but all of whom will work together if they face a stronger common enemy. it's why the saudis support alqaeda but not the Hizbullah... al Qaeda and Hizbullah, I don't know. I know that the Taliban killed a bunch of Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan, and most al Qaeda attacks in Iraq are on Shi'ites. Probably if the US/Israel disappeared there would be a battle between the Shi'ites, the Sunnis and secularists like Saddam and Assad (assuming any of them are around then). But until then, I reckon that they will all work together where possible. I wonder...I wonder if the plan here is to get American troops directly involved in the Israeli-Arab dispute. I wonder if the "international peacekeeping force" will find few takers, or no takers except for G.W. Bush. I wonder if this is a way to sucker the American people into directly fighting on behalf of Israel. No matter who constitutes the "international peacekeeping force," the "international peacekeeping force" will be instantly involved in a guerrilla war with Hezbollah. That means the "international peacekeeping force" will be a proxy army for Israel. my guess is that would suit the megalomaniacal, religious zealot G.W. Bush just fine. On top of the Hizbollah punishment, why don't we also cut Israel's free-money supply by 80% as punishment for being overreactive asshats, to be replenished by 10% each year they behave. They screw up again? Down to 0%, replenished 5% each year. 3 strikes and they're out. For crying out loud, both sides should be thankful we don't annihilate them before Friday with the current nutso administration we have. lebanon accepting foreign troops? well sure they obviously can't control their land or they would have stopped hizballah themselves. 20 mile wide freezone for israeli troops? that's one sided as hell, and is an obvious deal breaker. this administration isn't very good at this. the nato (or whatever) peacekeeping troops should be the ones to enforce the peace not israeli troops. obviously lebanon isn't going to go for this. I question whether or not this administration really wants peace, either that or they are once again being painfully daft. After almost five years of this GWOT, why would there still be any question in your mind? Seriously, what in the actions and policies and statements of the Administration in the last five years would suggest it wants peace? It has assiduously agitated to widen the conflict at every turn. Now it evidently wants to intervene directly in another of Israel's wars. You may or may not agree with its approach, but I think its motivations and desires should be abundantly clear by now. If it thought it could economically and militarily and politically get away with all-out assaults on Syria and Iran, it wouldn't hesitate two seconds to do so. Israel isn't interested in stopping hizballah, because they can't. They couldn't before, they can't now. Before soon they will claim all of them are part of hizballah and start mass killings. The more they kill the more power and money they give hizballah. Basicly it is impossiable to win, only retreat. Which is what hizballah wants. I know some bush fans that support this stuff that honestly think this administration's approach is the right thing to do for a lasting peace. though, from my point of view I see it as you do, I still have a small hope that even though the results of these policies are obviously causing more problems, at least their intentions might be noble. in other words I know a lot of good people who are still on board with bush, and I'd like to believe they are not simply hoping for death and destruction. if they are simply misguided then it's possible that this administration is also simply misguided and not intending to cause all this chaos. I was wondering (on another thread) how many of the people who are rooting for bush and his foreign policy are actually doing so because they believe it will lead to the rapture. I think that element makes up a frightful percentage of the bush base right now. I know a few. If it thought it could economically and militarily and politically get away with all-out assaults on Syria and Iran, it wouldn't hesitate two seconds to do so. I agree. they've learned nothing from their mistakes in iraq. of course, I'd say that's because they rarely acknowledge mistakes until they are so undeniable that everyone else has acknowledged the mistakes for them. only then does this admin. say, 'ok we've made some mistakes'. infantry"what i find strange is that i get banned for awhile for threadjacking, yet the class and sophistication of fark's mods allow pictures of dead children posted in forums." Indeed. The rules say 'no death' ( such as dead kurds, the 'wtc falling man' and others that are tagged as NSFW ) even to the point of deleting the "free cat" pic that had been allowed before. And yet here at 2006-07-26 05:41:15 AM, as well as at thread 2186960 at 2006-07-23 03:17:56 PM and again at 2006-07-23 09:14:06 PM, we have images of death that are allowed. Strange. "i have some pretty distasteful pics of my own, can i post them as well?" What? I assure you they are interested in "stopping" hezbollah from launching missiles into Israel. If hezbollah wants to play nice, I am sure Israel has no problem with that. Your second statement has nothing to do with your first statement. Before soon they will claim all of them are part of hizballah and start mass killings. What? When is "before soon"? When will we know when that time arrives? Yes, it is often the practice of the Israeli Army to conduct "mass killings". I mean we have seen how the Israelis cleared out the occupied territories by using your mass killing theory. The more they kill the more power and money they give hizballah. Basicly it is impossiable to win, only retreat. While somewhat true, they also give hezbollah quite a few more bodies to deal with. It is impossible to win because Israel, much like the U.S., U.K., Turkey, Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Syria are failing to recognize the global problem of radical Islam. Unfortunately you cannot win a battle of ideals by war. It takes regime change and re-education. Which is what hizballah wantsIf someone joins HEzbollah they deserve to die for their cause, uinfortunately they are bent on getting civilians killed as well. Yeah it wasnt the rockets or bombs or military force used by Israel doing the killings of civiliansHere is what I dont understand so maybe you can help since your so insightful. Why do neocons care so much about Israel? You can see people like Hannity and O'Reily, the spokesmen for the RNC, getting so excited at this, they love seeing bombs going off. We've seen the military used for inane purposes (Iraq) and American dollars contributing to more war... IMHO I think we are seeing the genesis of a far-left neo-liberalismfar-right neoconservatism, where the fundamental tenet is that the U.S. and her allies must be wrongright, and all philosophies and arguments derive from that as long as their is a war to start/fight/finish. Yeah it wasnt the rockets or bombs or military force used by Israel doing the killings of civilians. Yeah and it wasn't the civilians who let hezbollah use their family rooms to store katyushas making them targets for the IAF. The consequence of the IAF bombings sometimes results in then tragic death of civilians, this is what hezbollah wants, makes great news and allows for quick accusations by you and your kindthat's true and I agree with you that you can't win against an ideology with war. so you say regime change and re-education is the answer. regime change to what? a democracy? we've witnessed the obvious results there, radical islamists are voted into office because a lot of people support radical islam in that part of the world. the only way we'll get change in that part of the world is if their people demand it. I think we should stop with the offense, concentrate on defense and be an undeniably positive example for these people to strive for. it'll take a while. in other words, we need to stop stooping to their level to win this. it wont work. I, too, know some way-out Christians who are convinced we are living in the End Times and see all of this as part of God's Plan. Naturally, from this point of view, any escalation in the fighting in Southwest Asia is seen as an intrinsically good thing. This viewpoint is, of course, massively irrational...insane, even. Yet, there it is. Certainly, these people support Bush. As to the rest, I can only wonder what they see in the situation that I do not see. Clearly, the strategy of invading and attacking these Arab countries and groups and societies is not working. Any further incursions will be inconclusive at best. The Arabs have finally found the formula for successful resistance: guerrilla war. It is working in Afghanistan and Southern Lebanon and the Territories and most spectacularly in Iraq. Any invasion of Syria or Iran would result in the same on a much larger scale. It is hard to see how Egypt and Jordan and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States would not also be embroiled. This effort is unsustainable for America and Israel, and the current course leads to deterioration and chaos. There are three options for achieving anything remotely resembling "victory:" 1. Containment - Sealing off the Muslim world a la the Cold War. 2. Total War - Putting the U.S. on a war time economy a la WWII, reinstating the draft on a huge scale, and the invasion and occupation of virtually all of Southwest Asia...an effort that would require an army of many millions of men and a significant fraction of the nation's economic output. 3. Annihilation - The open and ruthless extermination of Arabs through the use of nuclear and bio-chemical weaponry, followed by massive invasions to slaughter any survivors...genocide. The current approach is doomed to defeat, because extended counter-insurgency will bleed us dry and eventually turn all of the region into a vast failed state. Since this region holds the lion's share of the world's petroleum, virtually all of the probable outcomes imply wrecking the world's economy for decades. All of the key players are spoiling for a fight. I am not optimistic. yeah some of the scenery i got is very pretty. got one of a sunset at BIAP on mid tour leave. if there is ever a proper thread i will post a few of them, however i will probably get banned, as the pics i want to post will not have dead bodies in them, but will be considered threadjacking. so you say regime change and re-education is the answer. regime change to what? a democracy? Democracy might work but I was thinking anything that was more moderate in structure. We cannot lead this change (as we have proven we suck at implementing Democracy). Believe it or not Iran at its base is a very pro-western country. Problem is, the populace is scared to death that they will be killed by their radical leaders if the seek to overthrow them. This change needs to come from strong players in the Arab world. I think that we have already seen the beginning of it from Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Those countries have quite a bit to lose if radical groups like hezbollah and hamas are allowed to flourish. It is important to note that Muslims hate each other (Sunni, Shia...), just as much as they hate us. I'm going to try and think of another option, but right now I have to say you've covered them well. from those, containment seems to be the only viable option. I think the people behind bush are quietly hoping for option #2 with a few hardcore nuts opting for #3. like you said the current game plan in the region is doomed. the people who support it back up their delusions of certain victory with vague concepts like, 'their hearts desire freedom' and similar non-points. this isn't simple and simple minded one liners won't get us anywhere. Democracy might work but I was thinking anything that was more moderate in structure. We cannot lead this change (as we have proven we suck at implementing Democracy). ok, I'm with you. something like what we had with saddam only less...murderous, maybe. Believe it or not Iran at its base is a very pro-western country. Problem is, the populace is scared to death that they will be killed by their radical leaders if the seek to overthrow them. I know it, iran can be changed from within if we were to apply the right strategy. I think the bush doctrine and the iraqi invasion did a lot of good for the mullah's. many iranians felt threatened and moved toward the more hardline leadership of Ahmadinejad. Though, I'm not so sure the mullah's would have allowed much more progress toward reform than they already had before Ahmadinejad, anyway. This change needs to come from strong players in the Arab world. I think that we have already seen the beginning of it from Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Those countries have quite a bit to lose if radical groups like hezbollah and hamas are allowed to flourish. I like where you're going with this. it would require some careful diplomacy and patience (neither of which we'll see out of bush IMO). I think you're going in the right direction here. It is important to note that Muslims hate each other (Sunni, Shia...), just as much as they hate us. noted, throw wahabism in the mix and it's easy to see why so many in that region can't get ahead without someone blowing there shiat up. there's a whole lot of black or white mindsets with violent tempers to back it up. I like where you're going with this. it would require some careful diplomacy and patience (neither of which we'll see out of bush IMO). I think you're going in the right direction here. I think the embarassment suffered from the Iraq war has humbled the administration somewhat (although they will not admit it openly). I see Condie as the key here, she is clearly the rational voice this administration needs right now. I like her hardline stance regarding the ceasefire but her reluctance to jump the gun and pull the trigger. on condi, I'm not so sure, but hey at least she's overthere giving it a shot. I thought her proposal was a bit slanted toward israel, particularly the part about israel having the right to a 20 mile wide chunk of lebanon. whether or not that's fair may be debatable, but one thing is for sure, lebanon will never agree to it. I think international forces should be placed in southern lebanon to keep the peace and israel should stay within it's borders. There is a fourth option, but political realities make it both impossible and unthinkable: Walk away. Yes, the United States could simply walk away. Withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, stop all foreign aid to any Southwest Asian state...Israel, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, etcetera. Dismantle all military bases in the region and cease all naval and aerial patrolling. Cancel all treaties and arrangements with all the nations and factions in the region, and drop all diplomatic initiatives. Ban all fund-raising in the U.S. on behalf of any Southwest Asian nation or faction. Simply walk away. illustration only By Arnaud De Borchgrave UPI Editor At Large Washington (UPI) Jul 26, 2006 Syria, under the Assad reign (father and son), has been involved in all the wars and tensions of the Middle East since 1970 when Air Force chief Gen. Hafez al-Assad launched his country's 22nd coup d'etat since World War II. For its inaugural issue in 1985, Insight magazine ran Assad on the cover as "The World's No. 1 Terror Broker." Defeated in the 1973 Yom Kippur war, Assad bounced back with the help of his 14 different intelligence agencies, all involved one way or another in general Middle Eastern skullduggery. When the Lebanese civil war broke out in 1975, Maronite Christians were reeling under the blows of a state within a state, which was then the PLO under the late Yassir Arafat. Assad sent his army across the frontier into Lebanon -- always considered a protectorate by Damascus and never recognized as an independent state -- to protect the Maronites. Syrian troopers duked it out with the Palestinians to ease the pressure on the Maronites before switching sides to ease the pressure on the Muslims. By war's end, every party had allied with and then betrayed every other party, sometimes more than once. Today, faced with scenes of destruction in south Beirut, Lebanese are reminded of their capital city in ruins during the previous Israeli invasion in 1982 that evicted the PLO from the country -- all the way to exile in Tunis. At first, when Gen. Ariel Sharon's Patton-like blitz reached Beirut, exhausted Lebanese greeted them with cheers and flowers. Not for long. The twin massacres of some 2,500 Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps by Israel's rightwing Lebanese militia allies ended the brief honeymoon. By 1989, when the principal protagonists signed the Taif peace agreement, Israel held a security buffer zone in southern Lebanon, policed by its Lebanese surrogates. But in 2000, tired of constant skirmishes with Hezbollah on its northern border, Israel's new Labor prime minister, Ehud Barak, decided to abandon the buffer it had held for 18 years. The Syrians stepped into the vacuum only to be forced out of Lebanon completely under international pressure in 2005 for suspected involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the man who rebuilt Beirut to its former glory. Evidently ignorant or blas� about the business of betrayal and the alliance merry-go-round in the Arab world (Libya and Morocco once merged their states -- for 48 hours), no one appears to have noticed Syrian and Israeli interests silently converging. Damascus wants a weak and subdued Lebanon and Israel wants a quiescent northern neighbor. The destruction of the country's modern infrastructure as well as its multi-billion-dollar tourist industry sets Lebanon back 20 years. Lebanon's strong currency probably will also collapse. The most immediate winner of the latest Middle Eastern war is Syria. Israel's success will take longer to assess. But Dr. Condoleezza Rice doesn't want to talk to Syria, still a key player in the current three-dimensional chess game. The original consensus among regional experts was that Hezbollah could not have mounted an operation to capture an Israeli prisoner without a green light from both Damascus and Tehran. Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah now says he informed the Lebanese government of the plan to abduct Israeli soldiers for a subsequent prisoner exchange. Israelis have been taken prisoner before, only to be exchanged in 100-to-1 deals that favor terrorist organizations. Israel's massive retaliatory campaign was probably the last thing Hezbollah expected. But Hezbollah's fighters were well prepared. Western intelligence agencies and journalists have been writing about Hezbollah's 10,000 to 15,000 Syrian-supplied Katyusha rockets and Iran-supplied Fajr missiles for at least the past five years. Israel knew it would have to move sooner or later before Hezbollah got 30,000 or 50,000 such weapons, including ones that could reach Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion International Airport and Jerusalem. Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers and the killing of eight others were totally unexpected. But it gave Israel the opportunity to launch what was only a matter of time. The retaliatory campaign now underway required the mobilization of some 10,000 reservists and the moving of several hundred tanks and tracked vehicles to the north for this week's ground offensive. It will be a long hard slog and a cease-fire is probably still two weeks away. Israel also knows that the NATO force it says it would accept to police a buffer zone is beyond NATO's present out-of-theater capabilities, stretched to the limit in Afghanistan and Africa. World opinion is understandably up in arms about several hundred Lebanese killed and 800,000 displaced people, made homeless by the wanton destruction of entire sections of Beirut, Sidon and Tyre, and critical infrastructure. While some precision-guided bombs frequently hit innocent targets, there are many that hit caches of rockets and missiles hidden in apartment buildings or modest houses along a highway or dirt road. Large swaths of southern Lebanon are a maze of tunnels and foliage-covered revetments that conceal truck-mounted batteries of six to eight Katyusha rockets. Hyperbole and the fog of war are usually synonymous. It's hard to sift facts from fiction. The result is usually "faction," or a blend of fact and fiction. Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador at the United Nations and a Fox News favorite, told NewsMax, a conservative website, Israel "is a convenient surrogate for the larger enemy Iran perceives -- the West." Now president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Gold says Iran is building long-range missiles to cower London and Berlin, not just Tel Aviv. These missiles are designed to force the Europeans to sit on their hands as Iran takes on Israel with its WMD-tipped 1,300-kilometer Shahab missiles. Far-fetched? Israel could not afford to take a chance. Hezbollah's Iranian Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 medium-range missiles had already turned Haifa, Israel's third largest city with 250,000, into a ghost town as air raid sirens drove people into their bomb shelters. Tens of thousands quickly moved out of the Israeli port city to stay with relatives and friends out of Fajr range. For Gold and the Israeli right, the current crisis is reminiscent of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. The G8 meeting in St. Petersburg, rather than discussing Iran's illegal nuclear program, which was supposed to be the main item on the summit menu, focused instead on the Israeli war with Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent another bizarre 10-page missive to Germany's Angela Merkel (President Bush's version ran 18 pages), this time drawing parallels between Iranian and German history since 1945 and their alleged oppression by Zionism and the "international Jewish conspiracy." Nary a word about Iran's nuclear ambitions or its Hezbollah prot�g�chai1836 had a good thought insist that the more moderate arab nations with something to lose if we drop out of the region take the lead in all of this. it's a thought, will that work? who the fark knows anymore? Simply walk away. This is actually my preferred option, but it'll never happen. I wonder what would become of that region if we were to do this. a twenty years later we'd check back with them and there would probably be only a smoking crater. bad.pirate.monkey.bonobo.boo stop tearing people down, they will only hate you more lift them up and they will have no excuse to hate Before you can build someone up, you must first tear down their illusions. The Arab will never enter the family of civilized nations until he is stripped of the false pride in his military prowess. Only when he realizes he has no chance of defeating the West militarily will he listen to the voice of reason showing him the better way. I hate to be a wet blanket, but there are no "moderate Arab nations." The people over there almost uniformly hate our guts and most certainly hate the Jew's guts. There are "moderate" Arab regimes, which means there are iron-fisted dictators who cooperate generally but incompletely with Western policy in the region. But no one should fool themselves about the sentiments of the Arab people and civilization at large. The overwhelming majority of people in those countries want to see Israel destroyed and America booted out. That's why the thing is intractable, and why America should just walk away. We should walk away slowly, but walk away steadily. There is no final payoff over there, just expense and combat until we are ultimately forced to walk away. It is inevitable. The smart thing would be to begin cutting our losses.	eng	c88e894f-543e-4671-b459-f6ece480c5b3	http://www.fark.com/comments/2191712/Condoleezza-Lebanon-must-get-rid-of-Hezbollah-welcome-10000-foreign-troops-let-Israel-drive-as-far-as-20-miles-into-their-territory-Israel-mustactually-theyre-doing-just-fine?cpp=1
Saint-Quentin Saint-Quentin is a common French, located in the department of the Aisne and the areaPicardy. Its inhabitants is called Saint-Quentinois. Geography and means of communication Saint-Quentin is located on a coastal river: the Somme, shortly after birth of this one in Fonsomme. The capital of the High-Picardy is in the middle of the Vermandois. The city has an interesting geographical position (Threshold of Vermandois): with crossroads between Paris, Amiens, Rheims, Lille and Brussels. This position is consolidated by the presence of two highways, A26 (known as "highway of the English") going towards Arras and Calais and A29, which connects Saint-Quentin to Amiens and Rouen, and from the rail link Northern Paris - Brussels - Amsterdam, in particular served by TEE (CC40100 accompanied by oar stainless). This line saw passing from the passenger trains bound for Germany, of Poland, of the Soviet Union and the Scandinavian Countries. The channel of Saint-Quentin, crosses the city and connects Chauny to Cambrai (approximately 93 km). It was one of most important of France until in years 1960/70. It links water of the Scheldt, the Sum and Oise. It has on the section Lesdins - Vendhuile, 2 important undergrounds constuits under the 1st Empire. The city is equipped with an urban system of bus (6 lines) serving the peripheral center town and districts. Demography History The city was rested by the Romans, towards the beginning of our era, to replace the Oppidum of Vermand like capital of the Viromandui: populate Celtic Belgian who occupied the area. It accepted the name of Augusta Viromanduorum , the Augusta of the Viromandui , in the honor of the Auguste emperor. The site corresponds to a Gué which made it possible to cross the Somme. It is devastated at the 3rd century and it is possible that Vermand is become again the local capital (cf its name which comes from Veromandis ). During the Early middle ages, the important monastery which develops thanks to the pilgrimage on the tomb of Quentin, a come évangéliser the area and martyrized Christian Roman with Augusta , gives rise to a new agglomeration which bears the name of the famous saint. From the 9th century, Saint-Quentin is the capital of the county of Vermandois. As of the 10th century, the counts de Vermandois (resulting from the Carolingian family, then capétienne) are very powerful. The city develops quickly and obtains a communal charter as of the 11th century. At the beginning of the 13th century, Saint-Quentin enters the royal field. At that time, it is a flourishing city, because of its textile activity (draping city). It is also a commercial place instigated by its position at the border of the kingdom of France, between the Foires of Champagne and the towns of Flanders (trade of the wine, in particular): it is held an important annual fair to with it. It also profits from its situation in the middle of an agricultural rich person area (trade of the grains and guède). From the 14th century, Saint-Quentin suffers from this strategic position: it undergoes the Franco-English wars (Guerre One hundred Year old). At the 15th century, it is disputed with king de France by the dukes of Burgundy: it is one of the " cities of Somme". Devastated by the plague on several occasions, its population decreases while its economy is put in difficulty: its fair loses importance, the agricultural production is reduced, etc Its textile industry declining turns to the production of fabrics of flax. In parallel, it must face important expenditure to maintain its fortications and to provide armed quotas. Between the end of the 15th century and until the middle of the 17th century, this strategic position is source of terrible misfortunes. In 1557, a heroic seat vis-a-vis the Spaniards ends in the plundering of the city and its desertion during two years. Returned to France in 1559, she knows an intense activity of fortification: the medieval enclosure is protected from many strengthened works, altered on several occasions. Two districts are shaven to make them place. In the middle of the 17th century, the city escapes the seats, but undergoes the pangs of the wars which devastate Picardy, accompanied by the plague (that of 1636 carried three thousand inhabitants, out of perhaps ten thousand) and by the famine. In second half of the 17th century, the conquests of Louis XIV move away it from the border and it loses much of its strategic role. At the end of the 16th century, its textile production specializes in the fine fabrics of flax (lawn and Batiste). It finds its prosperity, in particular at the 18th century, where these fabrics are exported in all Europe and in Americas. At the 19th century, it continues its development while becoming a prosperous industrial town, thanks to contractors unceasingly with the mounting of the technical innovations. The productions are diversified, but the mechanical engineering and especially the textile carry it: " articles of Saint-Quentin" are then well-known. Saint-Quentin still undergoes with three recoveries the consequence of its strategic position: in 1814 - 1815, it is occupied by the Russians (without damage). In 1870 - 1871, at the time of the war free-Prussian, the population associated with remains with the routed army pushes back the invader, but the city falls at the time of the second offensive; nevertheless, this desperate but heroic action had a national repercussion. If these two episodes of the 19th century century do not have affected the city heavily, it is differently of the First World War. The Germans integrate it in the Ligne Hindenburg: after the evacuation of the population, the city is systematically plundered and all the carried or destroyed industrial plant. The terrible combat finish ruining it: 80 % of the buildings (of which the Basilica) are damaged. In spite of the national support, the rebuilding is long and the city pains to find the dynamism former to 1914. The figures of the population are explicit: the level of the 55.000 inhabitants reaches in 1911, is found only in the middle of the years 1950, in the favorable context of the " Thirty Glorious ". The urban development began again, based on the textile and mechanical industrial tradition. This prosperity continues until the middle of the years 1970, period when French textile industry starts to suffer from the competition of the countries in the process of development. Heraldic Malta-Brown, in illustrated France (1882), brings back two Blasonnement S for the traditional weapons of the town of Saint-Quentin: 1°) "Of azure, with a bust of money Saint-Quentin, accompanied by three flowers of lily by gold, two as a chief and one at a peak. " 1°) "Of mouths, with a bust of money Saint-Quentin, accompanied by three flowers of lily by gold, two as a chief and one at a peak. " Economy Saint-Quentin is the seat of the Chamber of commerce and industry of Aisne whose President is Serge Renaud (CCIA). It manages the marina of Saint-Quentin. Personalities related to the city Tourist monuments and places Saint-Quentin is classified town of art and history. Art déco is strongly represented in the city (important inheritance). Many frontages rebuilt after the 1st world war are true architectural jewels. 3000 frontages were listed and approximately 300 classified (wrought iron, fayences, cement sculptures, of many bow-windows…). Monuments the Basilica of Saint-Quentin: Beginning of construction: at the beginning of the 13th siècle. End of construction: 15th century This important duration of construction is worth to him to have known all the styles of the Gothic. This monument offers to the visitors a unit complexes and fascinating Gothic architecture and constitutes an originality among the cathedrals of Picardy (has 2 transepts). This building is affected with the exercise of the catholic worship. Strongly damaged by the bombardments of 1917, the rebuilding of collegial of Saint-Quentin is started in 1919, under the aegis of the Historic buildings. The stained glasses of the 13th century are positioned back in 1948, thanks to the meticulous work of Maurice Berry, architect as a Chief of the Historic buildings. The missing stained glasses are supplemented by the modern works, carried out by an artist of the second school of Paris: Hector de Pétigny (1904-1992). In 1956, the new basilica can finally be open to the worship. Certain work was given to later: thus it is only in 1983, that the arrow with the top of the croisée.&quot was set up;. the Town hall: following the example big cities of North, the Town hall of Saint-Quentin, completed in 1509, of Gothic style, with three pinions, is decorated of 173 sculptures and is on a very great closed place. The Town hall of Saint-Quentin is famous for its chime (37 bells). This monument shelters a superb room of the marriages (polychrome ceiling and chimney of the rebirth type). The room of the municipal council realized in 1925 (Art déco) is woodworks and wrought iron. the municipal theater Jean Vilar, conceived in 1844 according to the plans of Mr Guy, architect in Caen, is of the type to Italian. In 1854, the Matagrin sculptor, cuts the stones of the frontage. In 1921, the ceiling was decorated by the Prévost painter and represents the reappearing City of its ashes, following the destruction of the First World War. Béguinages: The city has many béguinages whose origins go back to the Middle Ages. the Fervaques Palate built with the site of the old abbey of Fervaques, was built of 1897 to 1911. It shelters in addition to the TGI, a superb room of reception. the Door of the gunners, an old building allotted to the gunners and to arquebusiers. SNCF railway station of style Art déco, was built according to the plans of Gustave Umbdenstock. the large post office, street of Lyon, also of style Art Déco. the monument commemorating the heroic defense of Saint-Quentin by its inhabitants, in 1557 against the army of king d' Espagne Philippe II (Civis murus erat). Sculptor: C. Theunissen. (This monument was moved place of the town hall towards the place of October 8th, to allow the construction of an underground car park) Museums Museum of the butterflies: it has a collection which counts more: 600000 specimens, of which: 20000 are in exposure to the museum. Museum Antoine Lécuyer: devoted to the work of that which was going to become the virtuoso of the pastel of the 18th century, Maurice-Quentin of the Tower. He shelters works of natures and times varied (drawings, paintings, sculptures, fayences of Sinceny, objets d'art…). the Academic Company, located street Villebois-Mareuil, has a remarkable archaeological museum. Other interesting places the beach of the pond of Isle and its mini golf the natural reserve of the Marshes of Isle the park of Isle Jacques Poacher (House of nature). the Champs Elysées (8 hectares) which shelter a bandstand out of wrought iron. the old port which shelters the marina in its wet dock the cemetery of North (important monument of the war of 1870-71) the French military cemetery, road of Amiens the German military cemetery, street of the Roman Roadway the place Fayette known as place with the frogs (water jets in the frog shape) the war memorial (Seat of 1557, war of 1870, 1st and 2nd world wars), located in front of the pond of Isle the two headlights of the bridge of Isle (Art déco) space St Jacques (old church of same name) street of Saddlery the public library Guy of Maupassant, street of the Gunners (50 m of the door of the Gunners) the public garden Winston Churchill which shelters curbstone of the old man puit. This one was in service places Town hall, then the curbstone was relegated place of the market, then in the public garden, close to the basilica. the temple, street Claude Mairesse. old jails royal underground. Estival animations the Beach of Saint-Quentin: Saint-Quentin was the first city in France to transform its center town into true beach (Initiative of Xavier Bertrand, mayor associated with the relaunching): every year, of at the beginning of July mid-August, the place of the Town hall revêt its estival behavior to metamorphose itself in a sand beach end: the Beach of the Town hall.	eng	00072125-dd68-4865-a61a-278f75bb7df6	http://www.speedylook.com/Saint-Quentin.html