What is the opposite of allocated?
Opposite of exclusively allocated to or intended for a particular purpose. unassigned. unallocated. undesignated. unreserved.
What is the opposite of boundary?
What is the opposite of boundary?
What is the correct definition of segregation?
1 : the act or process of segregating : the state of being segregated. 2a : the separation or isolation of a race, class, or ethnic group by enforced or voluntary residence in a restricted area, by barriers to social intercourse, by separate educational facilities, or by other discriminatory means.
What is the difference between intercession and intercessory prayer?
Intercession or intercessory prayer is theact of praying to a deity on behalf of others. In WesternChristianity, intercession forms a distinct form ofprayer, alongside Adoration, Confession andThanksgiving. Also Know, what is the spirit of intercession? In the same way, the Spirit helps us in ourweakness….
What is the definition of integrated?
1 : to form, coordinate, or blend into a functioning or unified whole : unite. 2a : to incorporate into a larger unit. b : to unite with something else. 3a : desegregate integrate school districts.
What is a synonym and antonym for segregation?
separatism, sequestration. Antonyms: integrating, desegregation, integration. segregation, separatism(noun)…
What’s another word for taking action?
What is another word for take action?
|take measures||take steps|
What does jaded mean in slang?
If you’ve done something so much that it doesn’t excite you anymore but just leaves you tired, consider yourself jaded. If someone says you look a little jaded, it just means that you look tired. The history of jaded is not clear, but perhaps it is related to the noun jade, an old term for a worn-out horse.
What is another word for dividing?
What is another word for divide?
What does it mean to segregate someone?
to separate or set apart from others or from the main body or group; isolate: to segregate exceptional children; to segregate hardened criminals. to require, by law or custom, the separation of (an ethnic, racial, religious, or other minority group) from the dominant majority.
What is another word for intercede?
Frequently Asked Questions About intercede Some common synonyms of intercede are interfere, interpose, intervene, and mediate.
What does Segreated mean?
1a : set apart or separated from others of the same kind or group a segregated account in a bank. b : divided in facilities or administered separately for members of different groups or races segregated education. c : restricted to members of one group or one race by a policy of segregation segregated schools.
What does intercede mean in the Bible?
We may speak (as the scripture does) of our making intercession by prayer for someone. However, we should mean that we pray for someone through the Holy Spirit and through Jesus Christ. When referring to something that we ourselves do, the word “intercede” means no more than to pray and plead for somebody.
What is a antonym for divide?
divide. Antonyms: unite, collocate, classify, convene, congregate, conglomerate, conglutinate, commingle, join, consociate, co-ordinate. Synonyms: separate, dissect, bisect, portio, part, divorce, segregate, sever, sunder, deal out, disunite, keep apart, part among, allot, distribute, multiply.
What is the root word of segregation?
segregation Add to list Share. The Latin root literally means “separated from the flock,” and splitting a big flock of sheep into smaller groups is segregation. For many decades in the United States, “separate but equal” was the phrase used to describe the unjust racial segregation of black people and white people.
What does Segerated mean?
1 : to separate or set apart from others or from the general mass : isolate. 2 : to cause or force the separation of (as from the rest of society) intransitive verb. 1 : separate, withdraw. 2 : to practice or enforce a policy of segregation.
What is the antonym of intercede?
Antonyms of INTERCEDE stand back, disregard, hold off, keep away, overlook, ignore, keep out, retire, withdraw, shun, leave alone, eschew, avoid.
What is the difference between separate and segregate?
As verbs the difference between segregate and separate is that segregate is to separate, used especially of social policies that directly or indirectly keep races or ethnic groups apart while separate is to divide (a thing) into separate parts.
What is the opposite of nautical?
Opposite of relating to or found in the sea. freshwater. shore. land.
What’s another word for jaded?
Jaded Synonyms – WordHippo Thesaurus….What is another word for jaded?
|glutted by||jaded by|


Video Games: The Ups and Downs of a Virtual World
What is it about video games that draws players in, and in some cases dominates an individual’s daily life more than their real life? The media often portrays the problem in a way that blames video games themselves for the rise in video game addiction. However, the issue really goes much deeper than this.
Video Game Addiction
Video game addiction is often portrayed by the media as the new addiction plaguing the modern generation. It should be noted, however, that in the most recent rendition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual, the DSM-V, video game addiction was not listed as a diagnosable mental disorder. Internet gaming addiction is most frequently discussed, as seen in many case studies of people dangerously foregoing such necessities as sleep and food in order to keep playing games. Countries in Asia are the most seriously impacted by incidents such as these. In 2005, a man in South Korea died after playing an online game for over 50 hours. HBO has aired a documentary called Love Child which follows a couple who neglect their biological child to live in a virtual world.
Video Game addiction is like a substance abuse addiction, with an added element. Substance dependency is well known for its stimulus-reward mechanism. While many substances we partake in today (like alcohol, sex, or coffee) have significant chemical rewards for our brains, not everyone who drinks alcohol becomes an alcoholic. The chemical response only scratches the surface. The real devil behind addictions is often its seductive ability in helping people escape reality.
The same can be said, possibly even more so, for video games. Most of the research on video game addiction focuses on online gaming addiction. MMORPGs like World of Warcraft are recognized as potentially causing players to form crippling addictions, as shown in this documentary done by Anthony Rosner. Scientists postulate this is because of the added social element to games (as well as the other factors). Online games allow players to enter a virtual world, while interacting with individuals in real life. This blurs the lines between the virtual world and the real world, adding that extra social element to an already enticing experience. 1
Many researchers looking at risk factors for developing video game addictions have identified psychopathology (mental illness) and social interaction factors (poor family relationships, low self-esteem, social anxiety) as among the top highest predictors of developing an online video game addiction. 2 This suggests that the social aspect of the game allows players to fulfill their need for social interaction and acceptance despite conflict at home or lack of respect due to a mental illness.
Researchers have identified two different motivating factors behind seeking social interaction through online gaming. Those who simply want to have fun and connect with others have a significantly lower risk of developing addictions than those who wish to escape their current reality. 3 Other researchers in Korea and Germany have found similar findings confirming that escapism is a high risk factor for developing a gaming addiction. 4 5
While the media often spouts this as an epidemic, many studies have shown that the number of gamers addicted is relatively small. 6 On top of that, reports have shown that these numbers vary quite a bit depending on the various parameters used to define what internet gaming addiction actually is. 7 What we do know is that addiction is not a black or white issue. Some individuals may show mild dependency while others show heavy dependency. The risks shown here could apply at least minimally to any gamer, online or offline. The issues raised here should cause concern or at least curiosity for how virtual realities hook us, and what that says about our life values.
For the purposes of this article, the word “addiction” will be used in its colloquial sense. I suppose “real” is being used in a colloquial sense as well. Without going into much detail, it should be noted that significant strides in physics have revealed how the “real” world is much less physical than it is often perceived as. The famous physicist, David Bohm 8, even goes so far as to suggest that we are actually living in a hologram. With this in mind, it makes even more sense that minds could so easily be drawn into virtual realities.
The Reward System
Many people are familiar with the concept of substance dependence. While there is no chemical substance given to us by the game, video games do elicit a chemical response within us. Video games are more than a substance, however, making the issue more existential than other kinds of addictions. The question explored here is why this might happen. Unlike life, which humans have adapted to, the video game world is adapted to the human brain. In the “real” world, some people simply have the cards stacked against them, while others have it easy from the beginning.
While the “rags to riches” stories might have fooled past generations, many are waking up to the realization that will power alone cannot always bring a hard working individual out of poverty, or into the fame they desire. In the game, the main character is put into a world designed to bring the player to the point where they are guaranteed to be a high enough level to beat the main “boss” or challenge in the game. No one ever plays a game, even a difficult one, wondering if winning will ever be possible (obviously there are a few exceptions to this). This could contribute to the escapist phenomenon discussed previously. Uncertainty is not very marketable. For most games, if the player practices they will win, plain and simple. Games are created by minds familiar with the common wants and desires of players, and are tailored to those specific needs. It takes the juicy bits of life, and packages them into something perfectly matched to a player’s abilities and desires.
In real life, individuals try to “level up” in many ways. People want to get older so that they can participate in more mature activities, like being able to buy certain water based beverages, or qualify for that senior discount at Arby’s. They want more money for that house or car that is better than the one they already have. They want more knowledge and skill so as to experience more of the world and get that promotion they have worked so hard for. While life might leave someone burned out after years of working hard with no results, video games carefully pace rewards to constantly reinforce the player to continue working towards goals. Many game theorists have written papers concerning that magical ratio of difficulty versus reward that keeps players hooked. One does not need to know the formula to understand just how enticing leveling up can be after playing a favorite game for a few hours.
Many Behaviorist Theorists starting with B. F. Skinner have proposed the idea that individual behavior can be explained through the stimulus that caused it. 9Any behavior not currently caused by an immediate stimulus is a “learned behavior”. While this gives us one piece to the puzzle of addiction, it completely disregards humans as autonomous agents. Though video games guide a player’s actions, the ability to choose how to direct the main character might possibly be the most tantalizing aspect of the game.
Possibly the juiciest part of the video game is the ability to act out the fantasy of being the hero. This has been around since the beginning of storytelling. The human race simply cannot get enough of heroes, whether it be the story of Beowulf, Ulysses, or Luke Skywalker. Most of this stems from the desire to be the hero. Games can make this more of a reality for individuals. While stories try to formulate characters that are generally relatable, games let the player shape their own hero, making them extremely relatable. For instance, the popular game, Borderlands, allows the player to choose a character that fits their fighting style.
You can choose to pick the kind of fighter that likes to barge in and blow things up, or the kind that likes to attack with stealth from a distance. For those interested in the Hero and other archetypes, a wonderful article has been written by another author here at The Artifice that delves into this topic in much more eloquent detail than I could. A player who is actively participating in the story rather than passively taking it in, can feel more ownership in the successes of the story. Video games help embody this “hero” persona we wish to be, making the ideal more tangibly real. Even though it is still virtual, the simulation is more vivid and enticing. The hero’s journey gives players the need for control, excitement, and a heightened status all bundled up in an adventure with the mind at the steering wheel.
Skyrim is a great example of this. The player hears over and over that they are the only one who can save the world from the coming doom. The hundreds of “side quests” available to the player help them choose which types of skills they want to enhance, allowing their character to develop a distinct personality in the game. Even though the main character often has to go through certain actions for the story to continue, the hero feels more real because their skill and achievements have been molded and directed by their own hand as much as or more than the creator of the story.
How Real is Real?
Considering all of the similarities between video games and real life, one could go so far as to say that these virtual realities are much closer to home than we like to believe. Most people could probably name someone they know who is addicted to life in the same way we could be addicted to games. The recent movie The Wolf of Wall Street, outlines someone who becomes addicted to the pursuit of money, regardless of the amount he actually has. In certain parts of Asia, where internet gaming addictions are much more common, attitudes towards work also tend to be more “obsessive”. People are known to throw themselves into their work, spending long day after day trying to “level up” and get that pay raise or promotion. Maybe it is easy to blur the lines between fiction and reality because fiction can be incorporated into real life so seamlessly one can hardly tell the difference. A great example of this is the game, The Sims. Unlike other games which feature extreme adventure or fantastical scenarios, many versions of The Sims put players in a world extremely similar to their own.
They do fairly normal things that we do in the real world. The difference is that attaining money and valuables in the game is more predictable and grants the player more certainty of success. (Whatever happened to awesome games like Oregon Trail?) Taking a step back from the fame, money, and power leaves a gaping hole in the meaning of life. Even though video games have an end that the player works for, most players would say that the main reason they play is not to win. There is something to be found in the excitement of struggling against the odds, failing and trying again, and growing in strength through perseverance. The trouble comes from not being able to see past this to the big picture. This is when players become hooked, because this is all that they see to invest in. Seeking money, fame, and power, either virtually or in real life, is not inherently bad. The problem is that it will feel empty when lacking the greater context within which everything resides. When we are finished with the game of life, our money, status, and influence with be gone. What is left?
The End of the Game
Many lives are lived progressing to the next “level”. Hopefully this article does not devalue these life experiences in any way. Video games are a pastime that allow players to test themselves with cognitive challenges that far exceed that needed for most forms of entertainment. This article is looking only at what happens when players get hooked on the pursuit, and lose sight of the big picture. To understand why anyone could get hooked on video games, it is important to explore why people get hooked on life. Why do some people obsess over gaining expensive possessions or getting that promotion to the point where all other life is basically excluded? If all of this goes away when the game is done, does that not mean the same thing for life? Maybe that is why people have difficulty when attempting to stop playing; they are afraid to die.
Death does not happen when your character dies, death happens when you stop playing. This of course, is not a real death, but a metaphorical one. What dies is not the actual person, but their idea of themselves as the main character. Each individual has their own personal story, but in someone else’s story they might simply be listed in the credits as “bystander number 3”. Each person can be the hero of their own story, without needing to be the hero of the world. When each of us can let go of our superficial needs, we can enjoy games both virtual and real in the context of the big picture. We are all important in our own ways, and leveling up in World of Warcraft is then seen as one goal, rather than an ultimate goal, allowing it to take the sideline to more important things like finding meaning in life and enjoying sincere relationships with loved ones.
- Kuss, D. J. (2013). Internet gaming addiction: Current perspectives. Psychology Research And Behavior Management, 6. ↩
- Hyun, G. J., Han, D. H., Lee, Y. S., Kang, K. D., Yoo, S. K., Chung, U., & Renshaw, P. F. (2015). Risk factors associated with online game addiction: A hierarchical model. Computers In Human Behavior, 48706-713. ↩
- Hellström, C., Nilsson, K., Leppert, J., & Åslund, C. (2012). Influences of motives to play and time spent gaming on the negative consequences of adolescent online computer gaming. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(4), 1379-1387. ↩
- Koo, H. J., & Kwon, J. (2014). Risk and protective factors of internet addiction: a meta-analysis of empirical studies in Korea.Yonsei Medical Journal, 55(6), 1691-1711. ↩
- Rehbein, F., & Baier, D. (2013). Family-, media-, and school-related risk factors of video game addiction: A 5-year longitudinal study. Journal Of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, And Applications, 25(3), 118-128. ↩
- Grüsser, S., Thalemann, R., & Griffiths, M. (2007). Excessive Computer Game Playing: Evidence for Addiction and Aggression?.Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 10(2), 290-292. ↩
- Hussain, Z., Griffiths, M. D., & Baguley, T. (2012). Online gaming addiction: Classification, prediction and associated risk factors.Addiction Research & Theory, 20(5), 359-371. ↩
- Bohm, D., & Nichol, L. (2003). The essential David Bohm. London: Routledge. ↩
- Slife, B., & Williams, R. (1995). What’s behind the research?: Discovering hidden assumptions in the behavioral sciences. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. ↩
What do you think? Leave a comment.


Python, R and SAS are the three most popular languages in data science. If you are new to the world of data science and aren’t experienced in either of these languages, it makes sense to be unsure of whether to learn R, SAS or Python.
Don’t fret, by the time you’re done reading this article, you will know without a doubt which language is the right one for you.
R – R is the lingua franca of statistics. It is a free and open source programming language used to perform advanced data analysis tasks.
Python –Python is a multi-purpose, free and open source programming language which has become very popular in data science due to its active community and data mining libraries.
SAS – SAS has been the undisputed market leader in the enterprise analytics space. It offers a huge array of statistical functions, has a good GUI for people to learn quickly and provides brilliant technical support.
If you are looking to start a career in data science or to gain the skills to be able to transition to this field in the future. Then you are probably doing some research on which of these three programming languages you should learn first to maximize your chances of landing your dream job. Should you focus on mastering R? Or would be it better to make SAS a priority? Or should you learn Python?
Take a look at these 5 factors as a starting point to help you decide:
Industries where the tool is used
Burtch Works,HR firm, asked over 1000 quantitative professionals which language they preferred, SAS, R or Python. Here are the survey results:
SAS is largely preferred by big corporations because they are offered highly reputed customer service, which is also why SAS has an advantage in the financial services sector and marketing companies, where cost is not the primary concern for selecting a tool.
R and Python, on the other hand, are used by Startups and mid-sized firms. Tech and Telecom companies require huge volumes of unstructured data to be analyzed, and hence data scientists use machine learning techniques for which R and Python are more suitable.
SAS is an expensive commercial software and is mostly used by large corporations with huge budgets.
Python and R are free software that can be downloaded by anyone.
You don’t require prior knowledge in programming to learn SAS, and its easy-to-use GUI makes it the easiest to learn of all the three. The ability to parse SQL codes, combined with macros and other native packages make learning SAS child’s play for professionals with basic SQL knowledge.
To analyze data in Python, you will use data mining libraries like Pandas, Numpy, and Scipy. In other words, you won’t code in native Python language when analyzing data. The code you write in these libraries looks somewhat similar to the code you write in R. Hence, it is easier to learn R when you are already familiar with the Python data mining libraries. If you already know R, then you should learn the basics of Python programming language before you start to learn the Python data mining ecosystem.
So, don’t think that R is difficult, and Python is easy to learn!
Data Science capabilities
SAS is extremely efficient at sequential data access, and database access through SQL is well integrated. The drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for you to create better statistical models quickly. It has decent functional graphical capabilities, but it’s difficult to create complex graphical plots in SAS.
R is known for In-memory analytics and is mainly used when the data analysis tasks require a standalone server. R is an excellent tool for exploring data. Currently, R has more than 5000 community contributed packages in CRAN. The wide range of packages and modules available for statistics and data analysis makes it the most popular and powerful language in data science. Statistical models can be written in a few lines of code.
You can draw complicated graphs beautifully in R using packages like Ggplot2, lattice, rCharts, etc.
Python libraries like Pandas, Numpy, Scipy and Scikit-learn makes it the second most popular programming language in data science after R. You can also create beautiful charts and graphs using libraries like Matlplotlib and Seaborn. Python is actively used by the machine learning community to scrap and analyze unstructured data from the web.
I Python notebook – a web-based interactive environment – makes it easier to share your code with anther.
SAS has an active online community moderated by community managers. These communities have evolved from peer to peer forums to become publishing platforms for essential content. You can ask queries related to SAS, and the community will answer them. The official blog of SAS is also an essential resource to refer to when you need help with a particular problem.
R has 125 active user groups worldwide, and the number of user group meetings has increased by a significant amount in the last year. Python has 1,657 user groups, its communities strictly focused on data is much less when compared to R.
R and Python have huge online community support from Stackover flow, mailing lists, user-contributed code and documentation.
SAS doesn’t have an active open source community at all.
SAS has more than 80,000 customers around the globe, and most of them are corporates with huge budgets. Analysts in these organizations use SAS to quickly and efficiently execute a wide range of statistical models on data sets. That is why the tile “analyst” is often mentioned in SAS job descriptions.
On the other hand, R and Python are used by startups and technology companies. R is more inclined towards tasks related to statistics and data analysis because of which R related jobs have mentions like “ Data miner”, “ Statistician” , “ Data analytics manager”, etc.
Learn R programming from Edvancer.
Meanwhile, given the boom in big data — projected by Ovum to grow 50 percent by 2019 on an already large base — you can expect increasing numbers of business analysts and other nonprogrammers to arm themselves with the R language as well.
Whereas, Python is used by programmers that want to delve into data analysis or apply statistical techniques, and by developers that turn to data science. Python related jobs have mentions like “Machine learning engineer”, “ Data engineer”, “ Big data architect”, etc.
If your goal is to become a business analytics professional and you are planning to join a startup, then you should learn R first. On the other hand, if you want to join a bank or pharma company you should start with SAS and then learn R once you are comfortable with SAS. If you are looking to become a big data professional, then you need to learn either R or Python. This depends on your background as well. If you come from a statistics/ mathematics background then you should learn R; If you have a programming background, then you should learn Python.
That ought to clear it up!


Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia is the most common in children, but is acquired during a person’s life and not inherited. It has the same symptoms as AML, but the risk factors are not really known. Rates of ALL vary from place to place and are increased in more developed countries (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 2005). This may be connected with less exposure to infectious diseases early in life or with population mixing.
Incidence: Each year, about 3,970 - 4,000 Americans are diagnosed with ALL (Robien and Ulrich, 2003).
Prevalence in children: ALL is the form of leukemia that affects children the most, comprising 75% of leukemia cases in this age group (Robien and Ulrich, 2003).
Average age at onset: The average age of a patient at onset is 10 (Robien and Ulrich, 2003).
Specific risk factors: Researchers are not sure what factors lead to the development of ALL, because few environmental factors have been associated with a higher risk of getting ALL. The rates of ALL are variable by location and lifestyle, with “higher leukemia rates in more developed countries and in higher socioeconomic groups” (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 2005). The difficulty of pinpointing one cause of ALL indicates that it may be caused by a combination of different factors.
Created by Shannon McGlauflin, Jolene Munger, and Rebecca Nelson, 2005.


This past week, Americans celebrated the 4th of Jult and the 245th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Many factors contributed to the colonists’ unlikely victory over the British, but one of the least known is the role the Spanish played, and, in particular, Bernardo de Gálvez (1746-1786). Gálvez was a tireless and brilliant tactician and strategist, and he led one of the most daring and successful military campaigns of the war. Just what did Gálvez do and how did he impact the war? Enjoy this new podcast from Brian’s Spain Domain and find out more.
The migrant dilemma continues to be one of Spain’s, and Europe’s, greatest humanitarian challenges. The “Open Arms” crisis is just the latest episode in a long history of confusion and frustration (on occasion tragedy) set amid glimmers of hope for a better life.
Pamplona is not the only place in Spain where you can see the running of the bulls. In summer, bulls are chasing brave and crazy people all over Spain! Find out a little more about the the San Fermin fiestas and some other “encierros” on this Spain Domain podcast. Enjoy!


Character of German-language string puppet and glove puppet theatres. Kasper is known as Kasperl and Kasperle in southern Germany and Austria. The character of Kasper is so popular in Germany and Austria that “Kaspertheater” is in everyday German a synonym for glove puppet theatre. This type of theatre with its main character of Kasper has seen many variations and has featured a multitude of different figures over time. The German Kasper can be traced back to the Neapolitan Pulcinella, a character of the Italian commedia dell’arte.
The name Kasper has existed in theatre for a long time. He was, for example, played by the comic actor Johann Laroche (1745-1806). He had succeeded the earlier Hanswurst who was a popular character of Viennese burlesque shows. Shortly after the death of Laroche, the Kasper character disappeared from the actors’ theatre. At the same time, Kasper became a popular figure of the German-language puppet theatre.
Of all the variations of Kasper, one can distinguish two main types. There was, in popular theatre on the one hand, the Kasper as string puppet who played secondary roles as servant, soldier or thief (see Faust), and on the other hand, the Kasper as glove puppet who is the lead character of the show surrounded by other characters like the Judge, the Executioner, the Policeman, the Crocodile, Death and the Devil. The story lines of the glove puppet Kasper had no literary source but consisted, as in Punch and Judy in England, Jan Klaassen in the Netherlands or Petrushka in Russia, of typical scenes where fights and disputes were settled by cruel jokes, the Pritsche (a split paddle or slap-stick) or frying pan. The show always ended the same way: “Kasper survives and does not die.”
In the second half of the 19th century, the Kasper of the puppet booths at fairs became, thanks to the works of Count Franz von Pocci, a character in dramatic literature which was specifically aimed at child audiences.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Kaspertheater was caught up in the current of educational reforms and other movements for young people that concerned themselves with children’s theatre. As a result Kasper was tamed, and violence and licentious behaviour were suppressed. New types of characters appeared: Grandmother, Seppel and Gretel. From then on the Kaspertheater was often used for educational and moralizing purposes or even for political propaganda (see Germany, Education and Propaganda, Max Jacob, Reichsinstitut für Puppenspiel) and the trend has never really stopped.
However, from the 1970s, a renewed interest in the origins of Kasper as a humorous alternative with subversive potential was observed in Germany and elsewhere, including in the productions of Peter Waschinsky and Theater o.N. (Zinnober). Finding a new and intellectual interpretation of the historical Kasper of the fairgrounds, young filmmakers showed in the early 21st century a nonconformist Kasper, a comedian and philosopher, who is faced with the inevitability of his survival at the end of each show. This was of course a question about the survival of Kasper as theatrical principle.
- Bernstegel, Olaf, Gerd Taube, and Gina Weinkauff, eds. Die Gattung leidet tausend Varietäten . . . Beiträge zur Geschichte der lustigen Figur im Puppenspiel [The Genre Suffers a Thousand Varieties . . . Contributions to the History of the Comic Figure/Character in the Puppet Theatre]. Frankfurt, 1994.
- Demet, Michel-François. “Hanswurst, Kasperl et Mozart”. Les Marionnettes. Paris, 1982 and 1995.
- Guillemin, Alain. Polichinelle(s) d’Europe. Pour marionnettes à gaine et à tringle [Polichinelle(s) of Europe. Glove Puppets and Rod Marionettes]. Roubaix: Théâtre Louis Richard, 1991.
- Miller, Norbert, and Karl Riha, eds. Kasperletheater für Erwachsene [Kasperl Theatre for Adults]. Frankfurt: Puppen und Masken, 1978.


Brazilian museum founded in 1994 in Olinda (Pernambuco State). Museu do Mamulengo (Centro de Documentação Espaço Tiridá, named for Professor Tiridá, a famous mamulengo theatre personality) has been set up in a late 19th century house. This space has been conceived as a “living museum”, where the puppets take on a life of their own and interact with the visitor in a playful manner. In order to preserve and encourage popular Brazilian culture, and more specifically, mamulengo theatre, the museum houses the works of master mamulengueiros past and the present.
The collection comprises about 1,200 pieces and the treasure is regularly upgraded by the acquisition of contemporary pieces. Other than precious and rare pieces from the 19th century, the museum possesses four engenhocas, puppet ensembles animated with the help of rods and other mechanisms. For the most part, the puppets come from the Zona da Mata (erstwhile sugar zone of the Pernambuco State) and belonged to the troupe Mamulengo Só-Riso which gave them away to the Fundação Joaquim Nabuco (Joaquim Nabuco Foundation), after which they soon became a part of the museum collection, which is the only space in Latin America reserved for the conservation of mamulengo art.
The museum is equally devoted to promoting research about traditional and contemporary mamulengo, bringing together masters and apprentices in order to stimulate the permanence of this popular theatrical manifestation.


Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck;
And yet methinks I have astronomy,
But not to tell of good or evil luck,
Of plagues, of dearths, or seasons' quality;
Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell,
Pointing to each his thunder, rain and wind,
Or say with princes if it shall go well,
By oft predict that I in heaven find:
But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive,
And, constant stars, in them I read such art
As truth and beauty shall together thrive,
If from thyself to store thou wouldst convert;
Or else of thee this I prognosticate:
Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date.
Paraphrase and Analysis of Sonnet 14
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Ben Jonson and the Decline of the Drama
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Are all the Sonnets addressed to two Persons?
Who was The Rival Poet?
Sonnet Essentials... Shakespeare's sonnets are written predominantly in a meter called iambic pentameter, a rhyme scheme in which each sonnet line consists of ten syllables. The syllables are divided into five pairs called iambs or iambic feet. An iamb is a metrical unit made up of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. An example of an iamb would be good BYE. Read on....
Shakespeare on Jealousy
Shakespeare on Lawyers
Shakespeare on Lust
Shakespeare on Marriage
Blank Verse and Diction in Shakespeare's Hamlet
Analysis of the Characters in Hamlet
Shakespeare on the Seasons
Shakespeare on Sleep


On 22 September 2004, a commercial aircraft flying from Sydney to Los Angeles disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. It crash-landed on a mysterious island and its passengers were left to fend for themselves for the next 6 seasons. Thus begins the TV show Lost.
Millions of travelers use public and mass transportation every day, whether that’s subways, bullet trains, buses, or airplanes. Few of us worry about anything other than whether we’ll arrive on time. The vast majority of the time, these daily commutes go by without incident, but on a very rare occasion, disaster strikes. Mass transit technology has improved dramatically in the 21st century, but despite painstaking engineering and safety regulations, the last decade has seen its share of accidents. Here are some of the worst.
1. Washington, DC, Subway Collision
With eight fatalities and roughly 80 reported injuries, the 22 June 2009 Red Line Crash is the Washington Metro system’s most deadly and severe incident to date. The event occurred during rush hour, on the system’s Red Line. One train heading south collided with another train stopped on the tracks. An investigation determined that the track had a fault circuit, which failed to let the moving train know about a stationary vehicle on the track ahead. This rendered the stationary train essentially invisible to the oncoming one, causing mass casualties.
2. Chatsworth Train Collision
On 12 September 2008, one of Los Angeles’ Metrolink commuter trains smashed head-on into a Union Pacific freighter along a curved segment of the Ventura County line, killing 25 people. The commuter train caused the accident when it blew past a red signal, despite the Union Pacific freight train having the right of way. It was so severe that it led to many emergency management and safety reforms, including the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008. The sheer carnage of the crash scene makes it the worst accident in the Metrolink’s 25-year history.
3. Uttar Pradesh Train Accidents
While India is somewhat infamous for its lax attitude towards mass transit safety, the country’s poor record regarding train accidents reached a breaking point on 2 January 2010. That day, three separate train accidents occurred in the Uttar Pradesh region, involving a total of five trains, due to dense fog conditions. Thankfully, only 15 fatalities were reported, but the day still stands out for the sheer improbability of so many accidents occurring in one region during a single day.
4. Levina 1 Ferry Accidents
Like India, Indonesia is another country that’s had to deal with an unlikely occurrence of back-to-back public transportation accidents. Trains, subways, and buses may be the most common transportation vehicles, but ferries are equally vulnerable when it comes to tragic accidents. This was proven on 22 February 2007 when the Levina 1, a 2000-ton passenger ferry, caught fire in the waters near Jakarta. 51 people died. When journalists and investigators boarded the ship later to determine the cause of the fire, the ferry sunk, claiming another life and leaving another three missing.
5. Marhanets Bus and Train Collision
Ukraine is plagued with transportation issues ranging from uneven roads, poorly-serviced vehicles, and widespread inattention to traffic and safety laws. These issues extend past personal vehicles, impacting the country’s mass transportation systems. On 12 October 2010, a train collided with a passenger bus, killing 43 passengers and injuring another nine. The sheer number of victims marks this as one of the worst road accidents in the country’s history, and the investigation determined that the late bus driver was responsible for the accident.
6. Surrey Lorry Accident
Even when mass transit drivers and maintenance workers do everything right, freak accidents can still happen. On 5 November 2010, a concrete mixing truck (a lorry, in the UK) fell from a bridge onto a commuter train below. Only 36 passengers were on board at the time. Luckily, not only did no one die, but only five people were injured. This accident stands out from other accidents simply because of the unlikely chain of events that caused it, like the truck crashing through the brick wall on the bridge over the tracks at just the time when the commuter train was passing by. This shows that even the most stringent safety measures still can’t protect against all mass transit accidents.
With the development of self-driving vehicles, more advanced subway systems, and other modes of mass transit, the future of public transportation will get undoubtedly safer. Perhaps sometime soon, all the accidents will be more like Oceanic Flight 815: confined to TV shows for dramatic effect.


Slashdot | Pharaoh's Gem Brighter Than a Thousand Suns:
An Italian archaeologist accidentally found that the central gem in Tutankhamun's regal necklace is not amber, but a mere piece of yellow glass. Kinda cheap for the famous Egyptian pharaoh, best known for his splendid golden mask. Except that piece of glass is much older than civilization. Where did it come from, StarGate? Kind of. Scientists now think a meteorite much larger than the Tunguska event fell from the sky and exploded over the Sahara in prehistoric times. The tremendous heat of the 1000 A-bomb sized fireball melted large chunks of desert sand into perfect glass. The memory of such an apocalyptic event may have made sand-glass gems a desirable symbol, meant to emphasize the pharaoh's heavenly powers.


What’s one thing that pretty much all Americans carry around? A little bottle of hand sanitizer! But what if I told you that hand sanitizers are loaded with toxic chemicals? Moreover, they DO NOT protect you against germs because in order for them to slightly work, they need to be reapplied constantly. One of the most toxic ingredients used in making hand sanitizers is triclosan.
You can find triclosan in products like sanitizers, soaps, dish washing detergents, shaving gels, toothpastes. Triclosan has been found to cause serious health problems, including hormone disruptions and cancer. In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that triclosan is present in the urine of at least 75 percent of Americans. This is a disturbing fact; it means that we are constantly exposing ourselves to these toxic chemicals.
According to CDC, “The most common type of adverse health effects for both alcohol- and non-alcohol-based hand sanitizers were ocular irritation, vomiting, conjunctivitis, oral irritation, cough, and abdominal pain. Rare effects included coma, seizure, hypoglycemia, metabolic.” Find the report here
Stop Using Hand Sanitizers because..
- According to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Missouri and published in the journal PLOS ONE, Hand sanitizer causes the skin to absorb 100 times more of the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA).
- According to the FDA, “Animal studies have shown that triclosan alters hormone regulation.”
- Triclosan is a known endocrine disruptor and a suspected carcinogen.
Cinnamon essential oil is one of the most effective oils to kill any bacteria. It is highly anti-microbial and anti-bacterial. According to research, just 10 drops of cinnamon essential oil in a liter of water were able to kill all six strains of non-O157 STEC within 24 hours. (find the study here)
The Most Effective Homemade Hand Sanitizer
- 1/4 cup Aloe Vera Gel
- 10 Drops of Tea Tree Oil
- 10 Drops of Lavender Essential Oil
- 8 drops Cinnamon Essential Oil
1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Pour into a spray bottle or a pump type bottle.
3. Shake before applying
Learn more about essential oils here
DETOX TOXINS FROM YOUR BODY
( you can find it here)
If you want your liver to function properly (eliminate toxins and cleanse all the impurities) you should consume reishi mushrooms daily. In, a study in Food and Chemical Toxicology showed that using reishi mushroom reversed chemical-driven liver damage in mice. Reishi mushroom is known for its anti cancer properties. It eliminates free radicals and promotes liver cell regeneration. Just take 1/2 tablespoon a day!
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Thanks great information.
Hi Mariam! My pleasure!
Very interesting stuff! I hope you don’t mind, but I shared this to my Facebook business page, where I help people rid their lives of toxic chemicals by using essential oils.
Hi Deb! Thank you for sharing!
Love your articles…passing it on to my family and friends…the hand sanitizer I stopped using 5 years ago..it made me cough and could not breathe…I did not like the ingredients inside it that sounded toxic to me then…this was advertised about 5 -10 years ago to tell people to stop using it…I noticed my family used it often with the kids…I have told them many times to stop…still use it…again I will warn them…that is all I can do…aside from telling them to cut down on their meds..they have a meds cupboard…and think it is a big joke to ‘go to the meds for every little thing wrong with them…when my sons lived with me I did not have such accessible ‘meds’..but with the women in their lives..they seem to think it is ok…anyway..thanks for reminding us again…thanks Crystal
Hi Crystal! Thank you thank you thank you! I appreciate you!


Submitted by Visitor (not verified) on Mon, 07/12/2009 – 13:13
Bible Book: Genesis
Verse: 1 – 16
Text: Genesis 16:1-16
This sad story gives Hagar the maidservant (Sarai doesn’t even call her by name) a key role. Sarai’s (and Abram’s) plan to find a solution to their childless marriage makes Hagar an object that had to bring a child into the world. The result of this misuse of her body, however, causes tension in Sarai and Abram’s marriage and in their entire household. In verse 6 the story reaches a low: Hagar’s abuse becomes so bad that she runs away. She loses the roof over her head. Abram loses the woman who is carrying his child and Sarai is left without her maidservant.
It is not hard to find examples of the “Hagars” of our time. The oppression of women (the denial of their human dignity) is brought to our attention once more by the AIDS pandemic. The most recent statistics of UNAIDS for South Africa (for 2005) claims that there are 5,3 million adults living with HIV, of whom 3,1 million are women. The fact that almost 60% of the adults living with HIV are women raises serious questions about the human dignity, respect, regard and protection that the women in our communities receive.
The denial of women’s human dignity is found all over the world. A newspaper report in Mail&Guardian Online about the preparations made in Germany by the “legal sex industry” in order to profit from the influx of soccer enthusiasts is alarming. I quote a few sentences:
“In January, the internationals feminist organisation Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) launched a worldwide campaign to protest against Germany’s promotion and public display of prostitution during the World Cup. The organisation is worried that about 40 000 women will be “imported” into Germany from Africa, Asia and central and eastern Europe. (This figure is based on the number of women needed to fill the additional brothels being set up.)” [The article, “World Cup sex-slave fears” can be found at: http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=273845&area=/insight/monitor/ ]
The aspect of the sad story in Genesis 16 that upsets me most is Abram’s role! Today, 2 000 years after Jesus came to rectify this bad example of Abram’s, we as Christian men know better. Or do we?!
Fortunately, in the “dark Genesis 16” there is a ray of light of God’s grace. In verse 11 we learn that the Lord hears about Hagar’s misery, and in verse 13 we read that Hagar has found hope, for she says, “You are the God who sees me … I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Author: N du Toit (Ds)


To live vigorously and luxuriantly, to flourish
Diatomaceous Earth is actually a natural product made up of fossilized remains of tiny, aquatic organisms called diatoms. Diatomaceous earth contains a variety of trace minerals, including silica, magnesium, calcium, sodium and iron. Only food-grade diatomaceous earth should be taken internally by humans or animals.
DE works like a natural detoxifying agent within the body. It helps eliminate free radicals, viruses, insects, parasites and other harmful organisms by binding to them and drying them out. DE is a natural blood cleanser. It also benefits the digestive tract by reducing gas, cleansing the intestines and boosting liver function. DE is inexpensive and safe for internal use as a detox product.
DE has been shown to help your body regulate cholesterol levels. A 1998 study by H. Wachter and colleagues at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, published in the “European Journal of Medical Research,” monitored the serum lipid concentrations of 19 subjects, ages 35 to 67, over 12 weeks. The study subjects took diatomaceous earth three times a day over an eight-week period while their blood cholesterol levels were measured. In each subject, the LDL and triglyceride levels were lowered and the HDL levels increased.
DE is rich in the mineral SILICA. Silica is known to improve the absorption of calcium as well as direct and balance other minerals throughout the body. Silica’s action improves bone mineralization, protects joints and reduces the effects of aging.
Silica is the oxide form of silicon, meaning silica has an oxygen molecule attached via covalent bonding. It actually has an abundance of sulfur-oxygen bonds in its natural state. Together, silica and sulfur are the designate “beauty minerals”. They are known to improve, hair, skin, nails and teeth.
A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that silica also helps eliminate heavy metals from the body, such as aluminum. In studies, it has been shown to have a high-aluminum-affinity and reduces aluminum availability from the human gastrointestinal tract.
Silica within DE helps with normal bone metabolism and joint formation. Multiple studies over the past 30 years suggest a positive association between dietary silicon intake and better bone mineral density. This makes DE a great addition to any osteoporosis diet and treatment plan.
Since it has natural abrasive qualities and kills parasites, DE is used in many types of toothpaste, skin exfoliators, polishes and skin scrubs. Just like other beneficial clays — like bentonite clay — it dries out harmful toxins and leaves behind cleaned, smoothed skin with little to no side effects.


In a previous post, I suggested that writers were brain manipulators. Now I'm refining the description. It's more like a Vulcan mind meld.
A recent experiment by scientists at Princeton University shows neural coupling (coordinated brain activity) between a storyteller and a listener. The researchers used fMRI to scan a speaker’s brain as she told an unrehearsed story about an experience from high school. They then scanned 10 volunteers as they listened to a recording of the story.
The basic result was that listener brain activity trailed the speaker’s brain activity with a slight delay. Regions that process language and meaning showed a delay of around 1.5-3 seconds. This matches up with what you would expect during a conversation. The speaker thinks about something, says it, and the listener hears and understands it a few seconds later.
But it gets more interesting when you look more closely at delay times. Not all regions showed this delay – most notably, the low level brain regions that respond to sound. In both the speaker and the listener, these regions were time-locked to the sounds of the speaker’s words. This makes sense because the speaker doesn't hear the words any earlier than the listener does, so they process the sounds at the same time.
But here's the coolest result. Some regions in the listener's brain actually predicted the speaker's activity, as if the listener was anticipating parts of the story. Later tests of listener comprehension support this. The more predictive activity in a listener’s brain, the better she scored on comprehension questions after the experiment.
As usual, I try to draw some writing applications from these results. I have two thoughts.
First, it's a good reminder for writers that the story starts in your brain. Sure, the reader will add his own experiences and details, but you provide the raw materials. Have you ever had an experience where you got lazy and wrote a scene without a clear idea of what you were writing, only to have critique partners tell you that the descriptions were flat or the characters weren't believable? If your story is vague and dull in your imagination, your audience will also find it vague and dull.
Second, the correlations with listener comprehension and brain activation remind me that not all audience members are the same. Every book will have some readers that follow passively and other readers that engage and predict. Is it possible to write a story that satisfies both types of readers? What do you think?
Stephens GJ, Silbert LJ, & Hasson U (2010). Speaker-listener neural coupling underlies successful communication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America PMID: 20660768


Women who are thinking about their goals for the new year should start the year off right by getting screened for cervical cancer, especially if it’s been awhile since your last screening, or you’ve never had it done. Getting screened regularly for cervical cancer is important for all women because that is the most effective way to find the disease early so it can be treated. It is highly treatable when it is found early enough, but in order to find it, women have to get screened.
Who does cervical cancer affect?
Cervical cancer most often affects women over the age of 30. Almost 13,000 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer this year in the United States and more than 4,000 women will die from the disease. In Idaho in 2015, an estimated 45 women were diagnosed and 17 women died from cervical cancer.
Who is most at risk?
Almost all cervical cancers are caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV. HPV is a common virus that can be passed from one person to another during sex. Those who become sexually active at an early age or who have several sexual partners are at a greater risk, but anyone who has ever had sex is at risk for HPV. Not getting screened or being HIV positive increases a woman’s risk for cervical cancer, and smoking doubles it.
What can be done to help prevent cervical cancer?
Women can get regular screenings and get the HPV vaccine. Public health officials recommend the vaccine for 11 to 12-year-old boys and girls, before they become sexually active. The vaccine is also recommended for people ages 13 to 26 who did not get vaccinated when they were younger.
How often should women get tested?
Women should talk with their doctors about how often they should get screened. But we need to step it up: In 2014, Idaho ranked last among states and the District of Columbia in the percentage of women ages 21-65 who had had a Pap test to screen for cervical cancer within the previous three years. The good news is that it is generally covered under health insurance. Check your plan to be sure. Also, Idaho’s Women’s Health Check program can help low-income, uninsured women who qualify receive free screenings for breast and cervical cancers. You’ll find more information at www.womenshealthcheck.dhw.idaho.gov or by calling the Idaho Careline at 2-1-1.
Is there anything else women can do to prevent cervical cancer?
In addition to regular screenings, women can limit the number of sexual partners they have and be sure to use condoms. Quitting smoking can also help reduce the risk of cervical as well as several other types of cancer.
(Note: A Closer Look At Your Health airs at 6:50 a.m. most Tuesdays on KBOI News Radio 670. This is an edited transcript of the segment from Jan. 3. Join us next week, when we’ll be discussing the reasons for testing your home for radon.)
- About cervical cancer: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/cervical/
- About Women’s Health Check: womenshealthcheck.dhw.idaho.gov
- Fact sheet about genital HPV infection: http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/stdfact-hpv.htm


Analyze how children’s literature has changed over the years to be more inclusive and to have strong female protagonists. One example of this theme is The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munch.
This is an interesting topic. I cannot say I am familiar with many strong female protagonists in children's literature other than The Paper Bag Princess. That goes to show there should be more – Riccio1 year ago
You could start with Jo in Little Women and Anne in Anne of Green Gables plus Pippi Longstocking and Ramona and Beezus. – Munjeera1 year ago
It's stupid to have male heroes only since men are stronger than women, as a group, but not the dragons, etc., that are so often slain in children's literature. This father of two female dragon slayers says, "Great topic." – Tigey1 year ago
Look at Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen"--in that story, the little girl, Gerda, is the one who embarks on the dangerous journey to save the boy, Kay. Also, some of George McDonald's fairytales feature interesting female protagonists, as does Oscar Wilde's "The Canterville Ghost." – Allie Dawson1 year ago
Don't forget Hansel and Gretel, wherein Gretel is the one who ultimately defeats the witch. Feminism is a lot older than we think. Some other great examples of feminism in children's lit:
1. Amazing Grace (can't remember the author right now): Grace, a young black girl, is determined to get the lead in her class' production of Peter Pan, although her classmates say a black girl can't play the role.
2. Homecoming (Cynthia Voigt): Dicey Tillerman, 13, takes over the role of mother and leads her 4 siblings to a new home after their mentally ill mother disappears.
3. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi): Charlotte, a young girl growing up in the 1830s, becomes a crew member on the Seahawk during a voyage from England to America, and helps put down a ruthless captain.
4. Dear America and American Girl books: many of these have strong female protagonists. Focus on Julie, Kit, and Felicity for particular AG examples. – Stephanie M.12 months ago
Also, try Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. – Munjeera10 months ago
Want to write about Literature or other art forms?


February 22, 1770 – May 10, 1853
Rebecca Wallace Burnet
August 23, 1778 – January 3, 1867
Jacob Burnet was a prominent citizen and early leader in Ohio, serving in various elected and appointed posts including, serving on the Territorial Council in 1799, elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, appointed to the state’s Supreme Court, and appointed to fill the Senate seat William Henry Harrison vacated when he was elected President. He also authored the state’s first constitution.
He and his wife Rebecca are buried in the highly ornate white Italian marble mausoleum in the Spring Grove Cemetery which was designed by Cincinnati architect Charles Rule. The sweeping lines, the flowing architecture and the high ornamentation are examples of Baroque architecture which was popular in the late seventeenth Century. “Baroque” was a Spanish term for pearls that were oddly shaped. The term was commandeered to describe architecture that was designed to have a feeling of movement, almost as if it was undulating and lyrical. Judge Burnet was originally buried in the Presbyterian churchyard but was moved in 1865 when the mausoleum his wife had designed and built was completed.


Friday, August 21, 2015
Villagers, al-Tuwani, West Bank, Palestine, Hebron District, 12/26/1961
Al-Tuwani (also spelled At-Tuwani) is what as known as a "frontier village," that is, a village that is near the 1948 border between Israel and the West Bank (occupied by Jordan) and that lost its agricultural lands due to Israel. Residents of frontier villages are not considered refugees, because they still live in their original homes although they lost their chief means of livelihood. As they're not refugees, they were not covered by the the mandate of UNRWA, the agency charged with serving the needs of Palestinian refugees. We (the Swedenburg family) visited al-Tuwani on December 26, 1961, with Robert Lapham, an employee of Church World Service, one of the few aid agencies to do work in al-Tuwani. The Laphams resided in Hebron (al-Khalil), the only Christians, they reported, in the city. (You can read about Lapham here: www.nytimes.com/1988/02/25/obituaries/robert-lapham-58-de...; he passed away in 1988.)
The village, we were told, had 300 residents. We reached it over a dirt/stone track (no road) They were very, very poor -- the surrounding land was very rocky and not suitable for agriculture. My father writes in his diary: "Children without shoes, clothes in tatters." You can see an example in the photo. The villagers were extremely hospitable -- we were invited for tea at the house of the village headman, and they were about to prepare chicken for lunch but we said our thanks and departed. Reportedly we were the only Americans to have visited the village besides our host (who lived in Amman) and Mr. and Mrs. Lapham.
Since the Israeli occupation, al-Tuwani has come under very severe pressure from nearby Israeli settlers and military. You can get an introduction to the issues at wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-Tuwani and from the Christian Peacekeeper Teams: www.cpt.org/taxonomy/term/6. There is also a FB page for an organization called Humanity Together: Supporting At-Tuwani, Palestine: www.facebook.com/HumanityTogether.
Addendum: the best academic source I've read on Palestinian border villages (of which there were/are 111) is Avi Plaskov's The Palestinian Refugees in Jordan 1948-1957 (Routledge 1981).


For many Christians, the very idea of having doubt is unthinkable, even sinful. Solid Christians are those who not only know what they believe, but are ready with an answer to tell you why it is the way it is, and why – if those around them would simply read scripture as it should be read – they would come to the same rock solid, unshakable conclusions. Enter Barnabas Piper, who is bold enough to ask the question “what is belief?” and explore the critical difference between doubt based in belief and doubt that undermines belief.
Through personal and often painful story, Piper recounts his journey from being a born-and-raised Christian who went on to graduate from seminary, always having the right answers, to one who learned the stark contrast between knowing God in relationship and simply knowing a lot about him. Many of us (myself included) will find resonance with Piper’s discussion of mental assent; knowing the facts, defending the arguments, even brushing aside wise counsel designed to penetrate and change us with the terse “I know”. Christians need to move beyond mere mental assent – Piper urges – to allowing what we know to transform us. That kind of belief is what the Bible calls faith. Faith is belief that transforms into action. When we only have the mental assent part, we base our actions on something other than God, namely our own emotions or reasoning. Piper writes:
“When people say they believe in God, what does that mean? It may mean they believe God exists in some form. It may mean they acknowledge God’s moral standard as a genuine guideline. Or it may mean they believe fully in God’s word and God’s way and look to him as the object of their faith. While each of these is an accurate statement and a proper use of the term belief, only one of them is real belief. That is the third use.”
As risky or uncomfortable as we feel doubts and questions can be, Piper argues that it is much more dangerous to live in a safe Christian world refusing to exchange curiosity for comfort over the long haul. The only way to disarm the danger posed to faith by things like divorce, destitution, and disease is to engage the questions (especially with our kids) before they wreak havoc.
Through the prayer of a desperate man in Mark chapter nine (“I believe; help my unbelief”), Piper unpacks the struggle of every Christian; that we will always hold tension between believing and not believing, but we take comfort from the fact that even this prayer takes a shred of faith to pray in the first place, so all is not lost. He discusses evidence of true belief like repentance, prayer, and humility and he effectively shows how doubt is not the opposite of faith, but is in fact a healthy part of it.
As beings created by God, our finitude simply cannot grasp his infinity aside from what he chooses to reveal to us. Scripture doesn’t offer every answer. But it reveals exactly and completely everything God wanted revealed – no more, no less. This is where our belief takes comfort. When we question and wonder in ways that are firmly planted in relationship with God, then it will serve to strengthen our belief. And so our faith seeks understanding and we pray “I believe; help my unbelief”.


Please form a circle.
Categories is both an exercise, handle and warm up. This is the warm up version of the structure.
The team leader will guide the players in choosing a broad category. For example, cars, toys, cutlery, food, etc. The players will be tasked with coming up with offers from the category. While the exercise has many ways to administer Categories the warm up has but one.
The players call out offers from the category around the circle. If the category was food it could sound like “dinner”, “turkey”, “ice cream”, etc. As time is spent on the category it become more challenging to come up with new ideas. The players should be encouraged to not repeat ideas.
In Categories, the warm up, once a player has called out their offer she will point, and keep pointing, to another player in the circle. That player then calls out her offer and points to another player. Players cannot point at a player who is already pointing. Eventually every player in the circle will be pointing at another player.
This process is repeated using the same offers and the same order of pointing. Once the players feel that they have the sequence memorized they are ready for complications.
The first complication is to repeat the sequence without pointing. The sequence will sound exactly the same but the cues are given by making eye contact and listening for the offer that preceded yours. It is a bit harder to do.
The next complication is add another category into the mix. This new category will have a new set of offers and a different order of pointing. Once this new sequence is memorized they leader will combine the two categories such that a category sequence of food could be happening at the same time as a category sequence of cars.
The leader can keep adding complications like more categories, eyes closed, or other distractions. Like any good warm up this one fails with grace and laughter.
This warm up focuses on two main elements of LACE (Listen. Accept. Commit. Expand.) The player must be listening to both words and phsyical cues. The player must also commit to their offer and get used to making mistakes.


Here is one astounding constant of Jewish history since (at least) Mishnaic times: every boy was expected to go to school from the age of three to the age of thirteen. This duty was imposed on male children and their parents, administered and often subsidized by the community. At school, often a tiny one-room, one-teacher, multiage affair, the boys studied Hebrew—not their mother tongue, and not a living language even in Talmudic times—at a level sufficient for both reading and writing. This ten-year study was unconditional, independent of class, pedigree, and means. Some boys surely dropped out prior to becoming a Bar Mitzvah, but few remained illiterate. The secret was to teach them a great deal in their earliest years, and wisely pamper them with sweets to munch with their first alphabet. Where other cultures left boys in their mothers’ care till they were old enough to pull a plough or wave a sword, Jews started acculturating their youngsters to the ancient narrative as soon as the tots could understand words, at two years old, and read them, often at the ripe age of three. Schooling, in short, began soon after weaning. The Jewish twist also pertained to the vessel in which the ancient narrative was served up to the scions. Early in our history we began to depend on written texts. On books. The great story and its built-in imperatives passed from generation to generation on tablets, papyri, parchments, and paper. Today, as we write this book, the historian among us checks all our references on her iPad, and she cannot resist the sweet reflection that Jewish textuality, indeed all textuality, has come full circle.
Amos Oz, Fania Oz-Salzberger - Jews and Words
Mis en ligne le 15.1.15


According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 23.5 million Americans are affected by one or more autoimmune diseases. These are conditions for which the body’s immune system mistakenly considers its own organs or tissues foreign invaders and attacks them. Of the 80+ known conditions, familiar variants include celiac disease, diabetes type 1, Grave’s disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus.
So how does someone wind up with an autoimmune condition?
- A genetic predisposition for the condition
- One or more “triggers” for which the affected individual is sensitive – e.g., food allergies, chronic inflammation, nutrient depletions, infections, toxins
- A “leaky gut” that allows bacteria and dietary antigens (i.e., molecules capable of producing an immune response) into the bloodstream.
To date, there is no permanent cure for an autoimmune condition. However, through lifestyle and dietary changes, the “triggers” can be eliminated, and the “leaky gut” repaired. With no trigger(s) and “leaky gut,” the autoimmune condition can go into remission.
Different people have different triggers for their conditions. It can take time to figure out the root cause of an autoimmune response. Food allergies are common irritants, with milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat accounting for 90% of all sensitivities. Chronic inflammation is another common trigger. It occurs when the immune system is constantly fighting allergies, infection, and/or toxins. When the immune system gets stressed, it can “go rogue” and start attacking the body’s own tissues. These triggers must be eliminated to eradicate inflammation and allow the immune system to become calm, strong, and responsive.
Intestinal health is paramount for persons affected by autoimmune disease… and everyone else, for that matter. The intestines break down the food we eat to extract nutrients that fuel our bodies. They keep our water and electrolytes in balance. They also play a big role in the proper functioning of our immune system. Three conditions impair gut function:
- “Leaky Gut”: When healthy, the small intestines maintain tight junctions in the endothelial lining that block all but the smallest of food particles from passing through the intestinal wall. When these junctions become loose, forbidden substances make their way out of the gut. Common factors that increase intestinal permeability include: alcohol, food allergies, gluten, NSAIDs (e.g., Advil, Motrin, ibuprofen), psychological stress, surgery/trauma, and unsaturated fats.
- Imbalanced Bacteria: The gut needs a strong population of friendly bacteria to help break down food. Antibiotics kill off good bacteria along with the bad, leaving undigested food in its wake. That residue provides the breeding ground for unhealthy bacteria. The resulting small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) can cause or exacerbate “leaky gut.” Excess estrogen and undigested seeds also precipitate SIBO.
- Compromised Nutrient Absorption: The gut uses hair-like projections called microvilli to extract nutrients from our food. Foods high in lectin – e.g., grains, legumes, and nightshade vegetables – may interact badly with the brush border, causing it to flatten. With reduced surface area for food interaction, fewer nutrients get absorbed. (Note: Proper food preparation can eliminate lectins from foods.)
In The Autoimmune Solution, Dr. Amy Myers, MD provides a four-step process to remove the autoimmune triggers, restore digestive enzymes, re-inoculate healthy bacteria, and repair the gut. The following dietary precepts form the foundation for her protocol:
- Work with a physician (preferably one trained in functional, integrative, or naturopathic medicine) to diagnose the condition(s), render lifestyle and dietary recommendations, prescribe medication and supplements (as needed), and monitor progress.
- Eliminate all sources of gluten (including food and personal care products) and all forms of processed carbohydrates, sugar, and starch.
- Eliminate soy, grains, legumes, and nightshade vegetables (e.g., potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers).
- Eliminate Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) from the diet. They’re bred to resist pests, diseases, pesticides, and herbicides; they may resist our digestive processes, too.
- Use grass-fed beef/pork, free-range poultry, and wild-caught fish as sources of protein. When eating non-organic meat or farm-raised fish, we’re feasting on the GMO-based grains that they were fed.
- Buy organic produce to maximize the nutrient content of the food. Organic produce benefits from the farmer’s attentive care of the soil and natural remedies for pests and disease.
- Get rid of Teflon cooking surfaces; avoid plastic for food preparation or storage.
- Consider installing air and water filters for the home.
Autoimmune disease prevents challenges for those afflicted, but there is a message of hope. By getting rid of the “triggers” and healing the gut, the antibodies that are destroying healthy tissue can go away, and the body can repair the affected areas.
- The Paleo Approach: Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body, by Sarah Ballantyne, PhD
- THE AUTOIMMUNE SOLUTION: Prevent and Reverse the Full Spectrum of Inflammatory Symptoms and Diseases, by Dr. Amy Myers, MD
- HASHIMOTO’S THYROIDITIS: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause, by Dr. Izabella Wentz, PharmD, PASCP
- HASHIMOTO’S PROTOCOL: A 90-Day Plan for Reversing Thyroid Symptoms and Getting Your Life Back, by Dr. Izabella Wentz, PharmD, PASCP


As part of her Diamond Jubilee celebration, Queen Elizabeth II has established a Web site featuring the complete personal journals of Queen Victoria, the only other sovereign in British history to have celebrated 60 years on the throne.
The project, undertaken in collaboration with the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford and ProQuest and available at www.queenvictoriasjournals.org, marks the first time that Queen Victoria’s diaries have been published in their entirety, as well as what Queen Elizabeth, in a message on the site, called “the first major public release of material from the Royal Archives.”
The diaries, which run to 141 volumes and more than 43,000 pages, begin when Victoria was 13 and end 10 days before her death in 1901, at age 81. They cover subjects ranging from the early days of her romance with Prince Albert to her own Diamond Jubilee in 1897, which she recorded as turning the streets of London into “one mass of beaming faces.”
They also provide glimpses of her meetings with prime ministers, as well as intimate moments like the birth of her nine children (“Dr. Snow administered ‘that blessed Chloroform’”) and interactions with the royal household. “I am learning a few words of Hindustani to speak to my servants,” she wrote on August 3, 1887. “It is of great interest to me.”
The site shows transcriptions of the journals up to 1840 along with digitized images of all the pages, though most are not in Queen Victoria’s handwriting and do not reveal her complete unvarnished thoughts. After Victoria’s death in 1901, Princess Beatrice, as requested by her mother, spent 30 years redacting and transcribing the journals, destroying most of the originals.


Coliving Community Around The States
The growing population of cities is giving rise to enormous interest in affordable housing and, consequently, its deficit. In this respect, Coliving is one of the options for solving this problem. This is the reason the Coliving communities are constantly expanding.
Although roommates have been here for a long time and you probably shared an apartment or room with your classmates or friends during your more youthful years until you became independent, the trend has changed a bit and roommates are now sought by people later in life.
In the USA, Coliving is already a common form of accommodation. That its popularity will continue to rise is more than certain.
An important factor accelerating the popularity of Coliving communities – even the Big Apple coliving – is the increase in the age at which people enter into marriage and start a family. Statistics show that today, on average, people get married at the age of 31, while in 2008 it was 29 years. The average age at which young families have their first child has also shifted by two years, from 27 to 29 years.
These are two key milestones in the life of each individual, which are the main trigger for interest in buying their own housing. As the completion of these milestones are delayed, the number of people living grows.
The background to this development is, among other things, the growing number of university graduates. The years after graduation are dedicated to building a career rather than starting a family. This is especially true for women, who go on to become more financially independent with higher education.
The reason the Coliving community in the US is constantly expanding is as a result of the increase in the number of people working from home. This factor has been significantly aided by the Covid-19 pandemic, which took the world by surprise, and have significantly affected the lives of people all around the world.
Companies have realized that the efficiency of people working from home is not as low as they thought it would be during the “pre-coronavirus” period. Thanks to the pandemic situation that arose, they could or rather – had to – test the home-office as one of the rescue options.
However, this option has proven to be very effective, and many companies no longer allow people to crowd in their expensive office space but have instead let them work from home permanently.
This made people realize that when coronavirus measures completely disappeared, they would be able to work from anywhere, and this fact has encouraged Coliving well beyond expectations.
People working from home use Coliving very often. Both in the long- and short-term. Now investors are trying to invest as much money as possible in Coliving companies, and the various startups that have emerged are growing very fast.
The Coliving community is also growing hand-in-hand with the growth of Coliving companies. These communities usually share a similar lifestyle, similar values of life, similar working conditions and, in most cases, similar social thinking. These factors rapidly affect life in the community as such, which is why they live very well together “under one roof”.
In the Coliving community, however, we find not only people working from home, but also students who do not want to live only in dormitories, but instead want to taste life “out there”.
Coliving can prepare students for real life after school much more effectively than life on campus. Several studies have been conducted to show that students living in Coliving KoUnit can adapt to life much faster after school.
This is mainly due to the fact that their roommates see work every day, so they perceive their regime and subconsciously soak up the atmosphere of “real life”.
With the growing number of Coliving communities in the United States, other categories of people are joining the community. There are, for example, Coliving communities, which consist mainly of older aged people, say from 40-55 years. They are usually very active people who want to try something new or maybe start from scratch and try something completely different.
Although Coliving is widespread mainly in large cities such as New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami, new cities are constantly being added.
Even cities that are significantly less populated than large urban cities in the United States. Thanks to this, it is possible to predict the development of the Coliving communities. They will certainly expand very soon to other smaller cities, where they will fulfill the role of cheap, quality and safe accommodation to different categories of people.
Coliving unites people. It creates new possibilities and brings a new spirit into the lives of different people, which they would probably not have under other circumstances.
The expansion of Coliving communities is therefore completely organic, but very predictable. Enlargement is not only affected by the above-mentioned factors, but also by economic facts and changes in the development of technologies, owing to which people will not only have more processing freedom in the future, but will also perform better.
Of course, companies like this because they don’t have to pay expensive office rentals, pay employees who keep these properties running, and so on. Coliving housing is simply win-win for each of the parties involved.
If you are not yet involved in this community, you may find it tempting after a while if you give it a try. After all, there’s constant growth in the number of companies that run Coliving, which is a pointer to increased demand. We see how they are constantly improving and offering new and better services to their tenants.
These include regular cleaning, good security, improved rental conditions, reduced rental prices and improved apartment and house equipment. Coliving communities across the United States are growing and most likely will continue to do so, and the demand curve for housing in the Coliving community will go up sharply in no distant time.


Thursday, October 11, 2007
ON THIS DAY: Friday, Oct. 11, 1861
Brig. Gen. William Starke Rosecrans officially takes command of the new Federal Department of Western Virginia. He had been ranking officer there since July 22, when Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan was called east to take over the main Union army, demoralized after its defeat at Bull Run. Rosecrans is yet another colorful character in a war that’s full of them. Born in 1819 in Delaware County, Ohio, he graduated from West Point in 1842, fifth in a class of 56 students. He left the army in 1854 and ran a mining business in western Virginia. The explosion of an oil lamp in 1859 badly burned Rosecrans, leaving his face with a “perpetual smirk,” according to one observer. At McClellan’s behest, he returned to the army in 1861 and in July was the architect of a Confederate defeat at Rich Mountain. Although McClellan took all the credit for the victory, Rosecrans’ career was on the ascent until his mistakes resulted in an ignominious loss at Chickamauga in northwestern Georgia. Friendly to his troops (and affectionately called "Old Rosy" by them), Rosecrans was an excitable man whose speech became a kind of chatter during battle. In camp, he was apt to keep his staff up much of the night while he, a convert to Catholicism, discussed theology.


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The Dead Sea Scrolls were buried in caves for centuries, and then enmeshed in controversy over scholarly access since their discovery in the late 1940s. But as of today, some 5,000 high-resolution images of the scrolls are readily available online, thanks to a collaboration between the Israel Antiquities Authority and Google.
“Only five conservators worldwide are authorized to handle the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Shuka Dorfman, the director of the authority, told The Associated Press. “Now, everyone can touch the scroll on the screen around the globe.”
The digitization project, the result of two years of scanning using technology developed by NASA, allows users to zoom in on details of the often highly fragmentary scrolls, which contain versions of every book of the Hebrew Bible (except the Book of Esther), including one of the oldest known copies of Genesis and a copy of Psalms containing one of the oldest known references to King David.
The scrolls, believed to have been written or collected by an ascetic Jewish sect that settled in the desert at Qumran in the Judean desert after fleeing Jerusalem sometime around the second and first centuries B.C., also include a number of non-biblical books that provide insight into the origins of Christianity. Five scrolls were previously digitized, and posted online by the Israel Museum last year.


Building games for Android devices requires an approach similar to that for iOS development. However, the hardware is not completely standardized across all devices, and this raises issues that don’t normally appear during development for iOS.
You need to have your Android development environment set up before testing your Unity applications on your Android device. Setting up your Android development environment involves the following steps:
Download and install the Java Development Kit (JDK).
Download and install the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) with the relevant Android platforms, platform tools and build tools for your Project.
Connect your device to your computer. The setup process differs for Windows and macOS, and is explained in detail on the Android developer website. Refer to your device manufacturer for specific information about connecting it to your computer.
Download and install the Android Native Development Kit (NDK) if you are using the IL2CPP scripting back end.
The Unity Manual contains a basic outline of the tasks that must be completed before you are able to run code on your Android device, or in the Android emulator. However, the best thing to do is follow the instructions step-by-step from the Android developer portal.
Unity verifies your development environment when building for Android, and prompts you to upgrade or download missing components if necessary. Always use the latest tools available unless a specific version is required by Unity.
Unity provides scripting APIs to access various input data and settings from Android devices.
Refer to the Android scripting page of the Manual for more information.
Use plug-ins to call Android functions written in C/C++ directly from C# scripts (Java functions can be called indirectly).
To find out how to make these functions accessible from within Unity, visit the Android plug-ins page.
Unity includes support for occlusion culling, which is a valuable optimization method for mobile platforms.
Refer to the Occlusion Culling Manual page for more information.
The splash screen displayed while the game launches is customizable on Android.
Refer to the Customizing an Android Splash Screen Manual page for more information.
The Android troubleshooting guide helps you discover the cause of bugs as quickly as possible. If, after consulting the guide, you suspect the problem is being caused by Unity, file a bug report following the Unity bug reporting guidelines.
See the Android bug reporting page for details about filing bug reports.
ETC is the standard texture compression format on Android.
ETC1 is supported on all current Android devices, but it does not support textures that have an alpha channel. ETC2 is supported on all Android devices that support OpenGL ES 3.0. It provides improved quality for RGB textures, and also supports textures with an alpha channel.
By default, Unity uses ETC1 for compressed RGB textures and ETC2 for compressed RGBA textures. If ETC2 is not supported by an Android device, the texture is decompressed at run time. This has an impact on memory usage, and also affects rendering speed.
DXT, PVRTC, ATC, and ASTC are all support textures with an alpha channel. These formats also support higher compression rates and/or better image quality, but they are only supported on a subset of Android devices.
It is possible to create separate Android distribution archives (.apk) for each of these formats and let the Android Market’s filtering system select the correct archives for different devices.
Movie textures are not supported on Android, but full-screen streaming playback is provided via scripting functions.
2017–05–25 Page published with editorial review
Updated functionality in 5.5


Statistics are useful to look at how our population changes over time. They help us plan for new facilities, services and understand our community make up. Statistics are often used by community groups when applying for grants and by businesses when establishing or expanding their business.
The community statistics information available includes:
- Community profile - provides census data from 1991 until the most recent census. This enables you to compare how the population has changed over time
- Social Atlas - provides demographic characteristics for our population based on census data from 2001 up to the most recent census in a mapping format
- Population forecast – forecasts our population size up to the year 2036 based on the projected population increase and the availability of land to be developed for housing.
- Economic profile - presents economic information that enables you to describe the area's role within the broader economy, explore options for economic development and promote the area's strengths.


@AmerAcad Peds @childhealthUSA
My favorite piece of camping equipment is a BioLite stove. Using only the kind of tiny twigs that would barely serve as kindling for a fire, it not only produces enough heat to boil a pot of water in less than 5 minutes, it also generates electricity for charging a phone. Designed for poor countries where access to electricity and fuel is a challenge, it happens to be far better than the large majority of “high tech” stoves I’ve seen. It’s a great example of so-called reverse technology transfer: more “primitive” technology is adopted by a more “advanced” culture. (Sorry for all the “quotes.”)
Another great example is known as kangaroo mother care. Developed in the 1970’s in Bogotá, Colombia, as an alternative to expensive and unavailable incubators for the care of premature infants, it involves, according to the World Health Organization, early, continuous, and prolonged skin-to-skin contact between the newborn and mother; exclusive breastfeeding; early discharge from the health facility; and close follow-up at home. It doesn’t get more low tech than basically holding and nursing the baby. Seems like a reasonable alternative to fancy equipment like a neonatal incubator.
Except it isn’t. It’s better. A recent review of 124 studies of kangaroo care, published in Pediatrics, demonstrated that for babies under 2000 grams (4 pounds 4 ounces), infants receiving kangaroo care had 36% lower mortality and sharply reduced rates of a number of serious complications compared with those receiving conventional care. Because of the large number of studies included, the authors could look for important differences between them to test the robustness of the findings. Of note, one third of the studies were performed in high income countries like the US (where conventional care is high tech), and the advantages of kangaroo care were similar. We provide kangaroo mother care for eligible infants in the neonatal ICU at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. While it may seem incongruous in one of the most sophisticated NICUs in the world, the evidence shows that it is better and cheaper. That’s the definition of value. And parents love it!
Oral rehydration therapy is another example of reverse technology transfer – a third-world technology that is equally or more effective than the more expensive, resource intensive , first-world alternative. I wonder how many more such value-laden options are on the horizon, especially as we become increasingly aware of the hidden costs (e.g., carbon footprint) of much of our technology. Agriculture may become a prime example; many of the techniques of sustainable agriculture, which is growing exponentially in the US and Europe, started as alternatives to the modern miracles of fertilizer and pesticides in resource-poor settings.
At a recent conference on innovation in pediatrics, there was a good deal of discussion about “design thinking.” This is a method of innovation in which the first steps are to truly understand and define the actual need, not just the stated or perceived need. It is tempting, especially in the industrialized world, to define the problem in terms of technology. But technology is not an ends, it’s merely a means. The question isn’t necessarily how to build a better mousetrap, it’s what are other ways of getting rid of mice. If Dr. Sanabria had defined his problem as “how do I make a less expensive incubator?” he would have come up with something different. His insight was to see that the actual problem was “how do I provide appropriate womb-like conditions for preterm infant outside the womb?” In the US, that meant an incubator. But in Colombia, that became kangaroo care.
As we seek to provide better value in healthcare, we have to continue to look everywhere to find it, even in the most unusual places, like the pouch of a marsupial.