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atarahderek · 4 years

Text

Looking for compassionate people? Look in a reptile group.

Reptiles and amphibians aren’t the most beloved of animals. And people who keep these critters--snakes in particular--as pets are often stereotyped unfavorably...

The goth-emo who leads an anti-social life in his parents’ basement

The Satan worshiper who slaughters rabbits and black cats in ritual sacrifices

The cult leader who dances with rattlesnakes and thinks the First Amendment gives him the right to abuse animals

The Steve Irwin wannabe bucking for a Darwin Award

But in truth, reptile keepers are some of the most diverse, well-researched, friendly and compassionate people in the world. Steve Irwin isn’t the exception among reptile lovers, he’s the rule. Perhaps he set the rule; I don’t really know. But it’s the rule nonetheless. And it’s the rule his family follows religiously in carrying on his legacy.

In one of the reptile meme groups I’m in on Facebook, someone posted about a real exception to the rule; a man who tried to pass his 100 lb. constrictor snake off as a service animal to board a plane. Anyone who is at all familiar with the ADA and ACAA (or similar laws in other nations) can tell you immediately that that’s definitely not okay.

And do you know what I discovered, to my shock and delight? Everyone in that group was familiar with at least the ADA, if not the ACAA--or with another nation’s laws on service animals. I don’t even see that level of education on pages or in groups dedicated to raising awareness for people with disabilities and who use service animals specifically. Some of the biggest arguments I’ve seen about the legal definition of a service animal happen on posts detailing the legal definition of a service animal. The ignorance is clearly intentional with so many people!

The reptile meme thread was hijacked to talk about service animal laws and the negative consequences of passing off ESAs or other untrained pets as service animals. Everyone in the discussion was righteously angry at anyone who would do such a thing, citing ADA law on service animals, discussing how to tell service animals apart from untrained pets, and even giving advice for how to decide if a service animal would benefit a member with a disability--specifically with the understanding that not every person is cut out for a service dog, and not every dog is cut out to be a service dog. It warmed my heart to see it. As a direct support professional in a family that has worked for years with people with disabilities, I and every woman in my family have been a voice for people with disabilities. I am at present writing and illustrating a children’s book about service animals. To know that I was surrounded with compassionate advocates like myself--in a reptile meme group, of all places--was incredibly encouraging for me not just as a DSP, but also as a snake owner. It makes me proud to be part of this oft-misunderstood demographic.

I can see the connection between reptile ownership and disability advocacy. As I said, herpetofauna is not the most beloved fauna. People who love reptiles and amphibians the same way Steve did tend to be champions for the less supported or more overlooked members of society as well. We don’t merely pity them like some do; we come alongside them and lift them up. We take the ridicule on their behalf. We go to bat for them, often with great passion that can make us more enemies than allies if we don’t rein in our temper and have grace on newcomers for their understandable ignorance. Sometimes we don’t know where our love of reptiles came from, but I suspect it must be something inherent within us. Our application of that love probably wouldn’t be so universal otherwise. What I mean to say is, if someone you know loves herps just as they are, you can be fairly confident they love you as you are, too.

I suggest you not screw it up by speaking cruelly of herps and their friends. Or by faking a service animal.

#reptiles #amphibians #herps #herpetology #Steve Irwin #Irwin family #service animals #Americans with Disabilities Act #Air Carrier Access Act #service dog #snakes

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sciencespies · 3 years

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Civil Rights Icons' Mothers, Lost Ancient Cities and Other New Books to Read

https://sciencespies.com/history/civil-rights-icons-mothers-lost-ancient-cities-and-other-new-books-to-read/

Civil Rights Icons' Mothers, Lost Ancient Cities and Other New Books to Read

Anna Malaika Tubbs has never liked the old adage of “behind every great man is a great woman.” As the author and advocate points out in an interview with Women’s Foundation California, in most cases, the “woman is right beside the man, if not leading him.” To “think about things differently,” Tubbs adds, she decided to “introduce the woman before the man”—an approach she took in her debut book, which spotlights the mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin.

“I am tired of Black women being hidden,” writes Tubbs in The Three Mothers. “I am tired of us not being recognized, I am tired of being erased. In this book, I have tried my best to change this for three women in history whose spotlight is long overdue, because the erasure of them is an erasure of all of us.”

The latest installment in our series highlighting new book releases, which launched last year to support authors whose works have been overshadowed amid the Covid-19 pandemic, explores the lives of the women who raised civil rights leaders, the story behind a harrowing photograph of a Holocaust massacre, the secret histories of four abandoned ancient cities, humans’ evolving relationship with food, and black churches’ significance as centers of community.

Representing the fields of history, science, arts and culture, innovation, and travel, selections represent texts that piqued our curiosity with their new approaches to oft-discussed topics, elevation of overlooked stories and artful prose. We’ve linked to Amazon for your convenience, but be sure to check with your local bookstore to see if it supports social distancing–appropriate delivery or pickup measures, too.

The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs

Ebenezer Baptist Church is perhaps best known for its ties to King, who preached there alongside his father, Martin Luther King Sr., between 1947 and 1968. The Atlanta house of worship proudly hails its ties to the Kings, but as Tubbs writes for Time magazine, one member of the family is largely left out of the narrative: King’s mother, Alberta.

The author adds, “Despite the fact that this church had been led by her parents, that she had re-established the church choir, that she played the church organ, that she was the adored Mama King who led the church alongside her husband, that she was assassinated in the very same building, she had been reduced to an asterisk in the church’s overall importance.”

In The Three Mothers, Tubbs details the manifest ways in which Alberta, Louise Little and Berdis Baldwin shaped their sons’ history-making activism. Born within six years of each other around the turn of the 20th century, the three women shared a fundamental belief in the “worth of Black people, … even when these beliefs flew in the face of America’s racist practices,” per the book’s description.

Alberta—an educator and musician who believed social justice “needed to be a crucial part of any faith organization,” as Tubbs tells Religion News Service—instilled those same beliefs in her son, supporting his efforts to effect change even as the threat of assassination loomed large. Grenada-born Louise, meanwhile, immigrated to Canada, where she joined Marcus Garvey’s black nationalist Universal Negro Improvement Association and met her future husband, a fellow activist; Louise’s approach to religion later inspired her son Malcolm to convert to the Nation of Islam. Berdis raised James as a single parent in the three years between his birth and her marriage to Baptist preacher David Baldwin. Later, when James showed a penchant for pen and paper, she encouraged him to express his frustrations with the world through writing.

All three men, notes Tubbs in the book, “carried their mothers with them in everything they did.”

The Ravine: A Family, a Photograph, a Holocaust Massacre Revealed by Wendy Lower

Few photographs of the Holocaust depict the actual moment of victims’ deaths. Instead, visual documentation tends to focus on the events surrounding acts of mass murder: lines of unsuspecting men and women awaiting deportation, piles of emaciated corpses on the grounds of Nazi concentration camps. In total, writes historian Wendy Lower in The Ravine, “not many more than a dozen” extant images actually capture the killers in the act.

Twelve years ago, Lower, also the author of Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields, chanced upon one such rare photograph while conducting research at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Taken in Miropol, Ukraine, on October 13, 1941, the photo shows Nazis and local collaborators in the middle of a massacre. Struck by a bullet to the head, a Jewish woman topples forward into a ravine, pulling two still-living children down with her. Robbed of a quick death by shooting, the youngsters were “left to be crushed by the weight of their kin and suffocated in blood and the soil heaped over the bodies,” according to The Ravine.

Lower spent the better part of the next decade researching the image’s story, drawing on archival records, oral histories and “every possible remnant of evidence” to piece together the circumstances surrounding its creation. Through her investigations of the photographer, a Slovakian resistance fighter who was haunted by the scene until his death in 2005; the police officers who participated in their neighbors’ extermination; and the victims themselves, she set out to hold the perpetrators accountable while restoring the deceased’s dignity and humanity—a feat she accomplished despite being unable to identify the family by name.

“[Genocide’s] perpetrators not only kill but also seek to erase the victims from written records, and even from memory,” Lower explains in the book’s opening chapter. “When we find one trace, we must pursue it, to prevent the intended extinction by countering it with research, education, and memorialization.”

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz

Sooner or later, all great cities fall. Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic settlement in southern Anatolia; Pompeii, the Roman city razed by Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 A.D.; Angkor, the medieval Cambodian capital of the Khmer Empire; and Cahokia, a pre-Hispanic metropolis in what is now Illinois, were no exception. United by their pioneering approaches to urban planning, the four cities boasted sophisticated infrastructures and feats of engineering—accomplishments largely overlooked by Western scholars, who tend to paint their stories in broad, reductive strokes, as Publishers Weekly notes in its review of science journalist Annalee Newitz’s latest book.

Consider, for instance, Çatalhöyük, which was home to some of the first people to settle down permanently after millennia of nomadic living. The prehistoric city’s inhabitants “farmed, made bricks from mud, crafted weapons, and created incredible art” without the benefit of extensive trade networks, per Newitz. They also adorned their dwellings with abstract designs and used plaster to transform their ancestors’ skulls into ritualistic artworks passed down across generations. Angkor, on the other hand, became an economic powerhouse in large part thanks to its complex network of canals and reservoirs.

Despite their demonstrations of ingenuity, all four cities eventually succumbed to what Newitz describes as “prolonged periods of political instability”—often precipitated by poor leadership and unjust hierarchies—“coupled with environmental collapse.” The parallels between these conditions and “the global-warming present” are unmistakable, but as Kirkus points out, the author’s deeply researched survey is more hopeful than dystopian. Drawing on the past to offer advice for the future, Four Lost Cities calls on those in power to embrace “resilient infrastructure, … public plazas, domestic spaces for everyone, social mobility, and leaders who treat the city’s workers with dignity.”

Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, From Sustainable to Suicidal by Mark Bittman

Humans’ hunger for food has a dark side, writes Mark Bittman in Animal, Vegetable, Junk. Over the millennia, the food journalist and cookbook author argues, “It’s sparked disputes over landownership, water use, and the extraction of resources. It’s driven exploitation and injustice, slavery and war. It’s even, paradoxically enough, created disease and famine.” (A prime example of these consequences is colonial powers’ exploitation of Indigenous peoples in the production of cash crops, notes Kirkus.) Today, Bittman says, processed foods wreak havoc on diets and overall health, while industrialized agriculture strips the land of its resources and drives climate change through the production of greenhouse gases.

Dire as it may seem, the situation is still salvageable. Though the author dedicates much of his book to an overview of how humans’ relationship with food has changed for the worse, Animal, Vegetable, Junk’s final chapter adopts a more optimistic outlook, calling on readers to embrace agroecology—“an autonomous, pluralist, multicultural movement, political in its demand for social justice.” Adherents of agroecology support replacing chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other toxic tools with organic techniques like composting and encouraging pollinators, in addition to cutting out the middleman between “growers and eaters” and ensuring that the food production system is “sustainable and equitable for all,” according to Bittman.

“Agroecology aims to right social wrongs,” he explains. “… [It] regenerates the ecology of the soil instead of depleting it, reduces carbon emissions, and sustains local food cultures, businesses, farms, jobs, seeds, and people instead of diminishing or destroying them.”

The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song by Henry Louis Gates Jr.

The companion book to an upcoming PBS documentary of the same name, Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s latest scholarly survey traces the black church’s role as both a source of solace and a nexus for social justice efforts. As Publishers Weekly notes in its review of The Black Church, enslaved individuals in the antebellum South drew strength from Christianity’s rituals and music, defying slaveholders’ hopes that practicing the religion would render them “docile and compliant.” More than a century later, as black Americans fought to ensure their civil rights, white supremacists targeted black churches with similar goals in mind, wielding violence to (unsuccessfully) intimidate activists into accepting the status quo.

Gates’ book details the accomplishments of religious leaders within the black community, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Malcolm X, Nat Turner and newly elected senator Reverend Raphael G. Warnock. (The Black Churches’ televised counterpart features insights from similarly prominent individuals, including Oprah Winfrey, Reverend Al Sharpton and John Legend.) But even as the historian celebrates these individuals, he acknowledges the black church’s “struggles and failings” in its “treatment of women and the LGBTQ+ community and its dismal response to the 1980s AIDS epidemic,” per Kirkus. Now, amid a pandemic that’s taken a disproportionate toll on black Americans and an ongoing reckoning with systemic racism in the U.S., black churches’ varying approaches to activism and political engagement are at the forefront once again.

As Gates says in a PBS statement. “No social institution in the Black community is more central and important than the Black church.”

#History

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superpickthewise20posts-blog · 4 years

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Consistently is Dewsday in the timberland …

The dew point is ‘the temperature to which a volume of muggy air must be cooled … for water fume to gather into fluid water in any case, 'what is the purpose of dew’? That is an alternate inquiry, however one which may have been replied by Michael Latakos et al. – at any rate in a herbal setting. In their interesting investigation (New Phytologist194: 245–253, 2012) they exhibit that dew – 'dense water that structures on a strong surface’ – is produced on the bark of understorey trees in a marsh woodland in French Guiana until early evening, due to the warm properties of the trunks.

Decent work! Notwithstanding the article, I likewise prescribe Michael Proctor’s astute discourse consequently (New Phytolologist194: 10–11, 2012). Incidentally, however, comparative decisions about the significance of dew were come to by Khumbudzo Maphangwa et al., who analyzed an inside and out drier condition where 'differential capture attempt and dissipation of mist, dew and water fume and basic aggregation by lichens clarify their relative bounty in a waterfront desert’ (Journal of Arid Environments82: 71–80, 2012). Similarly as new hydrobotanical revelations are made over the ground, updates on another, down beneath. Utilizing neutron tomography, Ahmad Moradi and associates have evaluated and 3-D pictured the water content in situ in the rhizospheres of chickpea (Cicer arietinum), white lupin (Lupinus albus) and maize.

Finding that – irrationally – soil water content expanded towards the root surface for every one of the three animal categories, the group recommend that plants change the pressure driven properties of the rhizosphere’s dirt in a manner that improves water take-up under dry conditions. This 'repository’ of water can be seen as a save that enables the plants to conquer brief times of dry season. Pressure driven lift Rebecca Neumann and Zoe Cardon, New Phytologist194: 337–352, 2012), anybody?

In attempting to urge my understudies to consider the structure–work issues in being a land plant, I frequently joke that all plants truly need to be trees when they grow up, to order assets, conceal out rivalry, and so on. Also, you can – nearly – trust it is valid; all things considered, greeneries seek to be trees , monocots need arborescence, cycads are wannabe mammoth redwoods, and even the grasses contain bamboos .

What’s more, why not? This living thing is a definitive exhibit of the grandiose statures that can be scaled without anyone else supporting natural structures utilizing the most essential of 'fixings’ (tallest surviving tree – purportedly – is a coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, at 115·56 m. Also, ostensibly, trees speak to the longest-lived living thing on earth – 9554 years for a Norway tidy in Sweden (James Owen, National Geographic News April 14, 2008).

Furthermore, it’s no mishap that the entire of creation is imagined as branches on the TREE of life. All things considered, another lift to yearning of the way of life ligneous – on the off chance that it were required – Here pickthewise is given by Stagoll et al. (Protection Letters5: 115–122, 2012), who underline the significance of enormous trees as 'cornerstone structures’ in urban stops in giving 'urgent living space assets for untamed life’, particularly feathered creatures. Cornerstone structures are 'particular spatial structures giving assets, safe house or “merchandise and enterprises” significant for other species’ (Tews et al., Journal of Biogeography31: 79–92, 2004), and are unmistakable from the more recognizable idea of cornerstone species.

This exploration stresses the environment administrations job of trees and broadens a past report by three of the present paper’s co-creators (Manning et al., Biological Conservation132: 311–321, 2006) on the cornerstone job of trees in less urban – however similarly human-oversaw – situations. Review trees right now makes the significant point that even a dead structure can assume a significant job in biology; what better heritage for a real existence? Which leads on to your finish of-year Botany Exam question: 'Trees contribute more in death than when alive. Examine’. [I’m so happy that Mr P. Cuttings opposed the compulsion to ask: 'What did Mack Sennett call a little gathering of trees? Answer: A cornerstone thicket’ – Ed.

What does ethnobotany intend to you?

I’m most likely not the only one in partner ethnobotany with stories of derring-do, normally including difficult treks through insufferably hot, mosquito-pervaded, infection ridden marshes or wildernesses in remote of the tropics looking for 'goodness-comprehends what-however we’ll-remember it-when-we-discover it’. Indeed, ethnobotany – which endeavors to 'report, portray and clarify complex connections among societies and (employments of) plants, concentrating fundamentally on how plants are utilized, overseen and seen across human social orders’ – isn’t confined to the more difficult to reach portions of the world.

It tends to be discovered right close to home, as Łukasz Łuczaj and Monika Kujawska exhibit in their investigation of wild nourishment plants recollected by Polish botanists during youth (Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society168: 334–343, 2012). Their recognitions were contrasted with ethnobotanical concentrates from the 21st and mid-twentieth Centuries.

Two of the ethnobotanical examines provided more extravagant material on past starvation plants, though the botanists referenced many outsider plants and plants from urban natural surroundings not referenced in the ethnographical investigation. Unfortunately(!), the investigation reasoned that, in spite of the fact that botanists are perhaps the best wellspring of data for investigations of contemporary or new employments of plants, they were insufficient for utilizes that are vanishing.

As we face an eventual fate of dubious nourishment security, it will be progressively critical to recognize 'overlooked’ nourishment plants, regardless of whether at home or abroad, and to meet the individuals who have that neighborhood information. Albeit oft-disparaged, these alleged 'nearby information frameworks’ (LKSs), which 'comprise of the information, convictions, conventions, practices, organizations, and perspectives created and continued by indigenous and neighborhood networks’, merit (request?) to be abused for their 'latent capacity and built up estimation of ethnobiological information and its related plant and creature assets for nearby networks and society everywhere’ (Ina Vandebroek et al., Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine7: 35, 2011). Thus, much as I like botanists, if it’s a decision between the 'savvy lady’ realistic

Pharmacopeia Shakespeariensis

Proceeding with an ethnobotanical topic, another incredible wellspring of data in regards to society employments of plants is the compositions of the Bard of Avon , England’s own special quillmeister, William Shakespeare. Take, for instance, this line from Hamlet (Act 4, Scene V); Ophelia (to Laertes), 'rosemary, that is for recognition . Old spouses’ story , or wise counsel (sorry, play on words recognized, however accidental)? Work by Mark Moss and Lorraine Oliver (Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, in press, 2012) proposes the last mentioned.

They have shown that presentation on psychological undertakings is fundamentally identified with convergence of assimilated 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol: 1,3,3-trimethyl-2-oxabicyclo[2,2,2]octane – a constituent of rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis, basic oil). The impacts were found for both speed and exactness results; which isn’t actually 'recognition’, however related. Of more straightforward association in treating mind related disarranges is news that a semi-refined concentrate of the foundation of Withania somnifera 'turns around Alzheimer’s sickness pathology by improving low-thickness lipoprotein receptor-related protein in liver’ (Neha Segal et al., PNAS109: 3510–3515).

I’m not so much sure what this implies, however I do realize it is welcome and empowering news for Alzheimer infection (AD) sufferers, since AD is the 'most basic type of dementia … for which there is no fix … and which intensifies as it advances and inevitably prompts passing … and is anticipated to influence 1 of every 85 individuals all inclusive by 2050. Alright, so much for the AD transgenic mice – in which test-living beings the work was performed – shouldn’t something be said about the human sufferers? Almost certainly treatment for those well evolved creatures is still a few years awa https://pickthewise.com/best-outdoor-wifi-cameras.

#pickthewise #best pickthewise

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thepickthewise20-blog · 4 years

Text

Consistently is Dewsday in the timberland …

The dew point is 'the temperature to which a volume of muggy air must be cooled … for water fume to gather into fluid water in any case, 'what is the purpose of dew'? That is an alternate inquiry, however one which may have been replied by Michael Latakos et al. – at any rate in a herbal setting. In their interesting investigation (New Phytologist194: 245–253, 2012) they exhibit that dew – 'dense water that structures on a strong surface' – is produced on the bark of understorey trees in a marsh woodland in French Guiana until early evening, due to the warm properties of the trunks.

Decent work! Notwithstanding the article, I likewise prescribe Michael Proctor's astute discourse consequently (New Phytolologist194: 10–11, 2012). Incidentally, however, comparative decisions about the significance of dew were come to by Khumbudzo Maphangwa et al., who analyzed an inside and out drier condition where 'differential capture attempt and dissipation of mist, dew and water fume and basic aggregation by lichens clarify their relative bounty in a waterfront desert' (Journal of Arid Environments82: 71–80, 2012). Similarly as new hydrobotanical revelations are made over the ground, updates on another, down beneath. Utilizing neutron tomography, Ahmad Moradi and associates have evaluated and 3-D pictured the water content in situ in the rhizospheres of chickpea (Cicer arietinum), white lupin (Lupinus albus) and maize.

Finding that – irrationally – soil water content expanded towards the root surface for every one of the three animal categories, the group recommend that plants change the pressure driven properties of the rhizosphere's dirt in a manner that improves water take-up under dry conditions. This 'repository' of water can be seen as a save that enables the plants to conquer brief times of dry season. Pressure driven lift Rebecca Neumann and Zoe Cardon, New Phytologist194: 337–352, 2012), anybody?

What's more, why not? This living thing is a definitive exhibit of the grandiose statures that can be scaled without anyone else supporting natural structures utilizing the most essential of 'fixings' (tallest surviving tree – purportedly – is a coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, at 115·56 m. Also, ostensibly, trees speak to the longest-lived living thing on earth – 9554 years for a Norway tidy in Sweden (James Owen, National Geographic News April 14, 2008).

Furthermore, it's no mishap that the entire of creation is imagined as branches on the TREE of life. All things considered, another lift to yearning of the way of life ligneous – on the off chance that it were required – Here pickthewise is given by Stagoll et al. (Protection Letters5: 115–122, 2012), who underline the significance of enormous trees as 'cornerstone structures' in urban stops in giving 'urgent living space assets for untamed life', particularly feathered creatures. Cornerstone structures are 'particular spatial structures giving assets, safe house or "merchandise and enterprises" significant for other species' (Tews et al., Journal of Biogeography31: 79–92, 2004), and are unmistakable from the more recognizable idea of cornerstone species.

This exploration stresses the environment administrations job of trees and broadens a past report by three of the present paper's co-creators (Manning et al., Biological Conservation132: 311–321, 2006) on the cornerstone job of trees in less urban – however similarly human-oversaw – situations. Review trees right now makes the significant point that even a dead structure can assume a significant job in biology; what better heritage for a real existence? Which leads on to your finish of-year Botany Exam question: 'Trees contribute more in death than when alive. Examine'. [I'm so happy that Mr P. Cuttings opposed the compulsion to ask: 'What did Mack Sennett call a little gathering of trees? Answer: A cornerstone thicket' – Ed.

What does ethnobotany intend to you?

I'm most likely not the only one in partner ethnobotany with stories of derring-do, normally including difficult treks through insufferably hot, mosquito-pervaded, infection ridden marshes or wildernesses in remote of the tropics looking for 'goodness-comprehends what-however we'll-remember it-when-we-discover it'. Indeed, ethnobotany – which endeavors to 'report, portray and clarify complex connections among societies and (employments of) plants, concentrating fundamentally on how plants are utilized, overseen and seen across human social orders' – isn't confined to the more difficult to reach portions of the world.

As we face an eventual fate of dubious nourishment security, it will be progressively critical to recognize 'overlooked' nourishment plants, regardless of whether at home or abroad, and to meet the individuals who have that neighborhood information. Albeit oft-disparaged, these alleged 'nearby information frameworks' (LKSs), which 'comprise of the information, convictions, conventions, practices, organizations, and perspectives created and continued by indigenous and neighborhood networks', merit (request?) to be abused for their 'latent capacity and built up estimation of ethnobiological information and its related plant and creature assets for nearby networks and society everywhere' (Ina Vandebroek et al., Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine7: 35, 2011). Thus, much as I like botanists, if it's a decision between the 'savvy lady' realistic

Pharmacopeia Shakespeariensis

Proceeding with an ethnobotanical topic, another incredible wellspring of data in regards to society employments of plants is the compositions of the Bard of Avon , England's own special quillmeister, William Shakespeare. Take, for instance, this line from Hamlet (Act 4, Scene V); Ophelia (to Laertes), 'rosemary, that is for recognition . Old spouses' story , or wise counsel (sorry, play on words recognized, however accidental)? Work by Mark Moss and Lorraine Oliver (Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, in press, 2012) proposes the last mentioned.

They have shown that presentation on psychological undertakings is fundamentally identified with convergence of assimilated 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol: 1,3,3-trimethyl-2-oxabicyclo[2,2,2]octane – a constituent of rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis, basic oil). The impacts were found for both speed and exactness results; which isn't actually 'recognition', however related. Of more straightforward association in treating mind related disarranges is news that a semi-refined concentrate of the foundation of Withania somnifera 'turns around Alzheimer's sickness pathology by improving low-thickness lipoprotein receptor-related protein in liver' (Neha Segal et al., PNAS109: 3510–3515).

I'm not so much sure what this implies, however I do realize it is welcome and empowering news for Alzheimer infection (AD) sufferers, since AD is the 'most basic type of dementia … for which there is no fix … and which intensifies as it advances and inevitably prompts passing … and is anticipated to influence 1 of every 85 individuals all inclusive by 2050. Alright, so much for the AD transgenic mice – in which test-living beings the work was performed – shouldn't something be said about the human sufferers? Almost certainly treatment for those well evolved creatures is still a few years awa https://pickthewise.com/best-outdoor-wifi-cameras.

#Pickthewise #best pickthewise

1 note · View note

pickthewise20-blog · 4 years

Text

Consistently is Dewsday in the timberland …

This broad window of hydration – up to 0·69 mm of dewfall a day – Pickthewise is instrumental in dragging out photosynthesis, of epiphytic crustose lichens specifically. The group recommend that this wonder might be a progressively broad component of woodland environments around the world, and this up to this point unrecognized system of early afternoon dew arrangement adds to the water supply of most corticolous (bark-staying) life forms. Decent work! Notwithstanding the article, I likewise prescribe Michael Proctor's astute discourse consequently (New Phytolologist194: 10–11, 2012). Incidentally, however, comparative decisions about the significance of dew were come to by Khumbudzo Maphangwa et al., who analyzed an inside and out drier condition where 'differential capture attempt and dissipation of mist, dew and water fume and basic aggregation by lichens clarify their relative bounty in a waterfront desert' (Journal of Arid Environments82: 71–80, 2012).

Similarly as new hydrobotanical revelations are made over the ground, updates on another, down beneath. Utilizing neutron tomography, Ahmad Moradi and associates have evaluated and 3-D pictured the water content in situ in the rhizospheres of chickpea (Cicer arietinum), white lupin (Lupinus albus) and maize. Finding that – irrationally – soil water content expanded towards the root surface for every one of the three animal categories, the group recommend that plants change the pressure driven properties of the rhizosphere's dirt in a manner that improves water take-up under dry conditions. This 'repository' of water can be seen as a save that enables the plants to conquer brief times of dry season. Pressure driven lift Rebecca Neumann and Zoe Cardon, New Phytologist194: 337–352, 2012), anybody?

I need to be … a tree!

All things considered, another lift to yearning of the way of life ligneous – on the off chance that it were required – Pickthewise is given by Stagoll et al.(Protection Letters5: 115–122, 2012), who underline the significance of enormous trees as 'cornerstone structures' in urban stops in giving 'urgent living space assets for untamed life', particularly feathered creatures. Cornerstone structures are 'particular spatial structures giving assets, safe house or "merchandise and enterprises" significant for other species' (Tews et al., Journal of Biogeography31: 79–92, 2004), and are unmistakable from the more recognizable idea of cornerstone species.

What does ethnobotany intend to you?

Indeed, ethnobotany – which endeavors to 'report, portray and clarify complex connections among societies and (employments of) plants, concentrating fundamentally on how plants are utilized, overseen and seen across human social orders' – isn't confined to the more difficult to reach portions of the world. It tends to be discovered right close to home, as Łukasz Łuczaj and Monika Kujawska exhibit in their investigation of wild nourishment plants recollected by Polish botanists during youth (Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society168: 334–343, 2012). Their recognitions were contrasted with ethnobotanical concentrates from the 21st and mid-twentieth Centuries.

Pharmacopeia Shakespeariensis

Old spouses' story , or wise counsel (sorry, play on words recognized, however accidental)? Work by Mark Moss and Lorraine Oliver (Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, in press, 2012) proposes the last mentioned. They have shown that presentation on psychological undertakings is fundamentally identified with convergence of assimilated 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol: 1,3,3-trimethyl-2-oxabicyclo[2,2,2]octane – a constituent of rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis, basic oil). The impacts were found for both speed and exactness results; which isn't actually 'recognition', however related. Of more straightforward association in treating mind related disarranges is news that a semi-refined concentrate of the foundation of Withania somnifera 'turns around Alzheimer's sickness pathology by improving low-thickness lipoprotein receptor-related protein in liver' (Neha Segal et al., PNAS109: 3510–3515).

. Alright, so much for the AD transgenic mice – in which test-living beings the work was performed – shouldn't something be said about the human sufferers? Almost certainly treatment for those well evolved creatures is still a few years awa https://pickthewise.com/best-outdoor-wifi-cameras.

#Pickthewise #best pickthewise

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nipnstp · 4 years

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Important concepts that we need to remember while performing our national service are both citizenship and nationalism, as well as the difference between the two. While in common parlance, very many people refer to the two quite interchangeably, there’s actually very many points of difference between the two which must be kept in mind. Thus to address this important difference, we must look at the roots of the words and differentiate between state and nation. The state is, in and of itself, a political construct and therefore inherently political. One cannot discuss the state without discussing politics, an oft overlooked method of discourse. Making the state apolitical is a non-action; it is simply that one supports the status quo, which is a political decision no matter which way you parse it. With that in mind, one can then move on to discussions of nation, which is a more cultural concept, evoking ideas of community and identity. Thus, the statement "the Filipino state oversees the Filipino nation" is a sensible statement: the government administrates and rules the community of Filipinos in these archipelagos. It is by mixing the two together that a certain danger is introduced into discourse, as saying "it is what the nation wants" might be misconstrued as a statement in support of the state—that is, the government itself. The flip coin of this also works: to substitute the state for the nation is dangerous, to mix up the wishes of the state with that of the general populace's is often a favourite talking point of would-be dictators, authoritarians, demagogues and the like. To survive in civil discourse, one must then make a clear and distinct demarcation between the two.

The speaker also made a few clarifications on common misconceptions, which are:

1. Filipino is not a homogenous identity

2. "Nation" is not essentially good

3. "Nation" is a modern invention

4. "Nation" is not a comprehensive concept

Of course, we know the first to be true considering the diversity of the ethnolinguistic groups as well as the diverse ethnicities that's come to mix in these islands. To be "Filipino" is not an essential category in which you check boxes, and the rest follows from this declaration. As it is a construct, we can then say that nation as we know it is a rather modern invention in liberal discourse. As it is, as a broad generalisation encompassing diverse subcategories of people, nation still cannot encompass the multitudes of cultural practices that exist in the world. For example, Filipino culture privileges the Tagalog ethnolinguistic group as opposed to the other groups that are also Filipino. In this sense, cultural realities go unacknowledged when one discusses the notion of the Filipino nation—cultural realities which might otherwise have been enriching to the discourse.

It is important then in the pursuit of national service that we keep these in mind, to be inclusive of all groups of people in our attempts to help as well as to keep in mind that it is the people or the nation that must be served and not the state.

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living-and-learning-lovingly · 4 years

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Treasures, Tchotchke, or Trash?

Scrutinizing Solutions to Pollution in Singapore

As pollution clutters up our land, gluts the seas and pervades the air, discussions about how to properly clean up and dispose of the waste produced by humanity's lifestyle have multiplied. Yet the best solution might simply be to make less.

In terms of big government efforts, Singapore has embraced some innovative and practical solutions to waste. An example is our man-made island landfill, Pulau Semakau. Waste is incinerated, reducing items to 10% of its original volume (with the smoke filtered and trapped to keep our air clean). The ash is poured into landfill cells in Pulau Semakau, and when they are filled, earth is laid and grass grows over the landfill as if it was never there1.

When visiting the island, this reporter learned that the presence of mangrove forests there further protects the ocean. Mangroves are highly reactive to toxic material, and will warn should pollutants escape.2 Furthermore, mangroves are said to neutralise heavy metal pollutants which might leak out, providing a natural solution.3 The efficacy of both these natural and man-made systems is reflected in the teeming wildlife and healthy ecosystem that supports said mangroves as well as fish farms, coral reefs and lush seagrass habitats around the island.

Lush mangroves of Pulau Semakau overlook Bazillion Snails, clustered on the shore. Photo by Ria Tan.

With water consumption, NEWater, an initiative which takes water “from toilet to tap”, treats and cleans waste water until it is so clean it can be drunk. It provides for 40% of Singapore’s total water use currently.4These strategies reuse water which might otherwise be disposed of, acting as solutions both to Singapore’s water scarcity but also as paths towards greater sustainability in this essential resource.

Yet these solutions are not sufficient. Carbon emissions will be produced during the incineration and treatment process. Additionally, at the rate we produce waste, Pulau Semakau will be filled by 2035 and space scarce Singapore will be in a bind.5

To reduce what is sent to landfills, we often focus on recycling. With only 6% of the 815,200 tonnes of plastic waste was recycled, there is clearly room for improvement.6

However, recycling, while important, should not be our primary focus because it is not as sustainable as it seems. China’s National Sword policy banned the import of most recyclables and left countries, including Singapore, scrambling to find alternative markets. With falling demand, public waste collectors admitted in an interview with Channel News Asia that unable to sell recyclables, they prefer incinerate them.7 Even if this is a minority view, and the majority of recyclables are sent to alternative overseas markets (like Indonesia and Malaysia) as NEA has claimed5, recycling is not an environmental panacea. In Indonesia, a report by the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) showed that indiscriminate plastic waste incineration had poisoned the food supply8, while in Malaysia, residents complained of toxic, choking fumes from nearby factory plants.9 With Singapore’s low recycling rate and the oft-overlooked costs of recycling, we should be focusing earlier in the waste cycle.

Crushed PET bottles. Our plastic waste piles up, but how much of it is recycled responsibly?

It would be better to reduce the production of these items we consume.

Plastic bags, which make up one fifth of our total plastic waste, exemplify that much is only consumed for convenience’s sake. Anything offered free that we are accustomed to taking can lead to frankly absurd levels of consumption; Straits Times estimated in March 2019 estimated that 13 plastic bags are used by Singaporeans everyday.10 Thoughtless consumption for temporary convenience is creating a legacy of trash.

Today, grassroots movements prove it is both possible and easy to live more sustainably and “plastic-lite”. The proliferation of the straw-free movement, driven by Instagram pages has motivated institutions and corporations to reduce their use of this (usually) unnecessary disposable. Singapore’s flagship university NUS has banned plastic straws, and corporations like KFC and Starbucks are working on removing straws.

Food and fashion consumption should also be scrutinized. Singaporeans throw away S$342 million in unconsumed food annually11, and the fact that Singaporeans may hit an obesity rate of 15% by 202412 implies that not only are Singaporeans squandering food, but we are also consuming more of it than is healthy for us. And while 6 in 10 Singaporeans know about fashion’s harmful impact on the environment, 7 out of 10 Singaporeans buy clothing at least once every six months, and care not if it is sustainably sourced.13 This waste of resources is undeniable but overlooked. Our culture tells us to want more, regardless of if it is good for us.

Everything we buy is thrown away eventually, though we do not often think about it. Photo by Lily Banse on Unsplash

When we lust after new clothes, gadgets, kitchen accoutrements, tchotchke or any other knick-knacks, we should think about whether it really makes us happy. Consumer clutter is a bane to the environment, especially when unwanted or unneeded goods are produced and then disposed. The philosophy of minimalism, which has skyrocketed in popularity after Marie Kondo’s book, reminds us that it more important to focus on what “sparks joy”. We do not need to live like ascetics, but we should give more careful consideration to our choices.

Sometimes a want is just an impulsive and unnecessary whim. What we consume –or do not consume -- shapes our lives and our legacy. The Gods of indiscriminate and relentless consumption will never be satiated, and our sacrifice of nature will only win us a mountain of garbage. Treasures, Tchotchke, or Trash; we need to be more frugal and clear-sighted, and learn to differentiate treasure from tinsel before all we have is trash.

#environment #sustainability #waste managment #singapore #mine

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mst3kproject · 6 years

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504: Secret Agent Super Dragon

Let’s move on to another oft-overlooked subset of MST3K – the Budget Bond films. These are always very bad, but often a lot of fun if you’re in the right kind of mood.

Brian Cooper is Super Dragon, pulled out of retirement to find out who’s distributing poisoned chewing gum to co-eds! Boy, if that doesn’t sound like the setup for a thrilling spy caper, nothing does! The plot seems to revolve around a Dutch student named Christine Bruder, so Cooper goes to Amsterdam looking for her. There, in between fucking his female colleagues and flirting with every woman he sees, he learns that Bruder was part of a plot to smuggle deadly drugs into the United States, hidden in fake Ming vases. An evil conspiracy is planning to dope the free world on a chemical that will cause us to violently attack one another, and then… uh, I don’t know what happens after that, but it’s probably safe to assume it’ll end in the bad guys ruling the world. That’s always the goal.

What’s with that spy movie cliché about the glamorous secret agent who sleeps with every woman he meets? Friends, enemies, co-workers, random waitresses… our suave hero loses no chance to insert Tab A into Slot B. He can’t walk down the street without having women throw themselves at him. This trope has been parodied to hell and back in everything from Austin Powers to The Million Eyes of Sumuru and it’s actually sort of weird to see it played straight, as it is here. As a PSA to my readers: never sleep with a glamorous secret agent. He probably has like nine venereal diseases.

The weirdest thing in the movie is a facet of this trope: it’s the bit where Cooper and Agent Farrell are busily smooching when a man breaks into her apartment and tries to kill them. They fight him off, and he commits suicide so they can’t question him. Cooper then throws his body out the window, turns the soundtrack back on, and the couple just pick up where they left off! Maybe it’s because I’m not a glamorous secret agent but I gotta agree with Tom Servo on this one: I don’t think I could have sex in the same room where I just watched a guy kill himself. It wouldn’t be right, you know?

I will say that this indifference towards death bothers me less here than it did in Master Ninja I, but the characters in Secret Agent Super Dragon have presumably have years of both physical training to kill and psychological coaching to deal with the consequences. Even so, just getting right back to the makeout session before the body’s even had a chance to cool seems unnecessarily callous.

The other trope I notice a lot of in Secret Agent Super Dragon is the death trap. Our hero’s life is threatened repeatedly but always in some contrived way that allows him a chance to escape. The first time he’s tied to a rail so some machine can come along and roll over his head. He gets out in the nick of time and it crushes a can of red paint instead. The second time he’s nailed into a coffin and thrown into the river. He holds his breath and inflates a flotation device. The third time, he’s trapped in a building rigged to explode. His buddy flies in with a helicopter. Why doesn’t anybody just shoot this guy? Villains that stupid don’t deserve to take over the world!

Yet another thing that stands out as remarkably dumb is the cause the charity auction is supposed to support – ‘an International Hospital for Babies with Malnutrition’. Okay, so, imagine you’re somebody whose child is starving, which probably means you’re dirt poor. Instead of sending food to you, these people expect you to bring the baby to a hospital, which may be in another country, so that they can feed the kid there. Is the complete impracticality of this supposed to be our clue that it’s a scam? The script never references that, though. Did somebody just pick a bunch of charitable-sounding words? Was it a bad translation of something that actually made sense in the original language? Are the writers just that stupid? We’ll probably never know.

Beyond that… it’s honestly really hard to say anything deeper about Secret Agent Super Dragon, because this is another movie that’s not very ambitious. It has some vague themes about drugs as the downfall of western civilization, but its characters don’t have appreciable arcs and there’s not much by way of symbolism for me to analyze. All it wants is to keep us mindlessly entertained for an hour and a half – and there’s nothing wrong with that, honestly, but Super Dragon isn’t even any good at it. Trying to watch without Joel and the bots I found myself drifting repeatedly. There’s the charming super-spy, the parade of blandly beautiful women, the evil mastermind with a vague plan to take over the world, the easily-escaped death traps… we’ve done this all before, and Super Dragon doesn’t even use the stereotypes in skillful or interesting ways.

The thing about spy movie tropes is they’re so easy to parody, and have been parodied so many times, that even somebody who doesn’t actually watch spy movies can spot them because we all absorb them through pop-culture osmosis. Playing them straight therefore runs a very serious risk of boring the audience. Of course Agent Farrell is working for the bad guys, because in a story like this, a character like her does – and of course she falls in love with Cooper and betrays her bosses for him. None of this stuff is even really foreshadowed (except that Farrell dyes her hair – can’t trust those unnatural redheads!) but we still know it’s coming because we’ve seen the same shit in fifty other movies. The bad guy wants to cleanse the world so it can be made anew? Been there. The movie wallows in misogyny but in all the same old ways, so I’ve got nothing new to say about it.

Throughout the film people talk about the ‘legendary Super Dragon’ but I don’t think we ever get a reason why Cooper’s so great. Bond films begin with a breathtaking action setpiece to show us that our hero has nifty gadgets and balls of steel – Secret Agent Super Dragon begins with Cooper playing dead by the pool. His most remarkable ability seems to be holding his breath for a really long time, and his gadgeteer, the kleptomaniacal Babyface, makes most of his gadgets out of literal toys. I think this might be a joke about the obvious miniatures some of these movies use… but I’m not sure. All I’m sure of is when that dinosaur waddled into the room I was halfway expecting it to demand the return of the Golden Ninja Warrior.

About the only place where the movie seems to accidentally brush by a real statement is in a moment that resembles a historical reference. Cooper has infiltrated a conspiracy meeting (by wearing a half-mask that leaves his rather distinctive chin fully visible) at which the Big Bad, Mr. Lamas, is delivering an expository monologue: their factory in India is in full production of the drug, which will be shipped to America in phony Ming vases and bring the world to its knees! If you’re going to talk about drugs making and breaking empires, China and India are where it happened.

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the East India Company fostered opium addiction in China because they wanted cheap tea and because the British government had vague plans, which never came anywhere close to fruition, to add China to their empire. The opium to feed this addiction was grown in India, often by farmers who would rather have been growing actual food but owed too much money to the EIC. This all led to the Opium Wars and a lot of other unpleasantness in which the British Empire came out looking even more like assholes than they usually did. In a story about conquering the world through drug addiction, then, having the drugs created in India and slipped into something Chinese looks like a reference to history repeating itself.

It may also mean something else. Secret Agent Super Dragon is relentlessly white, set mostly in a city in northwestern Europe, where conspiracies of middle-aged white guys drink booze and decide the fate of nations. The actual work that makes this possible, however, is being done by people of colour in the east. Not only does this seem to reference how western nations use other countries as battlegrounds and bargaining chips in their own power struggles, it can also serve as a reminder of something we frequently forget: a lot of what makes our comfortable lives possible comes from other countries, made by people who could never afford to buy it. My eyeglasses, the sweater I’m wearing, and the chair I’m sitting on were all made in China. Our entire economy depends on cheap foreign labor, and I wonder sometimes how much longer that can last before the whole thing falls apart.

Is any of this the movie’s intentional theme or message? I doubt it. The historical reference seems to be just a ‘hey, look how clever we are!’ moment and the rest probably goes no deeper than ‘oh, no, our children are doing drugs!’, which has been on the verge of ending civilization since at least the thirties. Secret Agent Super Dragon is just a dumb trashy Eurospy movie, and not even a very good one. I don’t hate it, but mostly because it’s not worth that kind of effort. The MST3K treatment renders it infinitely more enjoyable, especially when Tom and Crow do Jazz.

Agent Cooper was played by actor Ray Danton, who died in 1992, a year before the episode aired. Probably all for the best. I doubt he’d have been into all those jokes about how his character is perfectly smooth.

#mst3k #reviews #secret agent super dragon #60s

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trashyinfernomusic · 2 years

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Our L’Manberg: What Was I Thinking Part 2

I’m gonna start every one of these posts with a link to the video, so here (it’s also on spotify and apple music :D):

youtube

I’m trashyinferno! Maybe one day I’ll say why I call myself that, but not today because I’m back with another analysis of Our L’Manberg! Part 2, baby, let’s roll!

This section of the song picks up a bit - still Wilbur - as we get into the bit that actually first popped into my head:

“It’s a battle of wills, it’s a battle of fire. It’s a battle of strength and your heart’s desire

Get ready for the fight, Pick up your sword, This is ours, this is ours!”

Like I said, this section was actually the first one to pop into my head. The ascending lines of the main melody gives me, personally, a sense of movement. Things are picking up - I’ve always imagined Wilbur as walking through the crowd of Pogtopia soldiers, his coat billowing behind him, his steps working in time with the music as he stops in front of a tired soldier. “Pick up your sword,” he sings, grabbing a sword from the floor and shoving it into the soldier’s hand. This is ours - theirs - the war, the fight, the day, the battle. I still find Wilbur’s language interesting. It’s all about creating a We. Taking the individual and reminding them that they’re fighting together. “Ours”.

Establishing a “we” is a common tactic in persuasive speaking. If you can group people together under you, you can make them feel obligated to at least hear you out if not flat out agree with you. In this situation, with the soldiers tired and battle-weary (again, they’ve already been through war, guys), that’s all you really can do. You just create the “we” and hope it carries you through what’s to come. (It won’t. We all know that in the end it won’t. But, we can hope.) “Ready, aim, fire, take the shot. Make one last jab, kick it up, kick it up a notch. This is our fight. This is our war. Our chance to reclaim what’s ours.

This is our L’Manberg. This is our L’Manberg. This is our L’Manberg. Our L’Manberg.” Again, we’re gonna circle back to this idea of a “we”. Our fight. Our war. Our chance. I wanted to play with the difference between “My L’Manberg” and “Our L’Manberg” in this song. ”My L’manberg” is iconic. It’s the heart of what we all remember - it’s what we sing when we remember those days, and it’s a song most, if not all, dsmp musicians have covered (myself included, though you won’t hear it for a little while, yet). But I’ve always wondered if things might have been different if Wilbur had changed one word. Our. ”The thing I built this nation for doesn’t exist anymore!” Wilbur cried, once upon a November. “I”. “If I can’t have this, no one can, Phil!” Wilbur’s view of L’Manberg, in my opinion, was that it was an extension of himself. It was about him from the beginning. “My L’Manberg” is an oft overlooked example of this. It’s supposed to be a song that inspires nationalism, one that everyone can sing, but instead it’s always felt like it’s Wilbur’s song. Not ours. Not the people of L’Manberg’s. And that’s how the song Our L’Manberg began. It began as an exploration of how Wilbur could have convinced so many people (canonically, anyway, we ignore the limitations of Minecraft, here) to fight for him even after everything that had happened and ended as an exploration of the word, “our” and its significance to a world that never was. Hmm... it’s an interesting thought, anyway. As always, I have to plug myself a little bit. If you like the song, go check out my Youtube channel and spotify/apple artist pages! You’ll find some of my other work around there, too! Thank y’all for all of your support! <33333

#trashyinferno music #Our L'Manberg #music analysis #music #this is basically me just spewing about my music #but i love it and it's worth it #here's to word vomit about rhetorical techniques #wilbur #dreamsmp #dreamsmp fanart #vilbur #i blame corpsey for these

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sciencespies · 4 years

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How the Alphabet Got Its Order, Malcolm X and Other New Books to Read

https://sciencespies.com/history/how-the-alphabet-got-its-order-malcolm-x-and-other-new-books-to-read/

How the Alphabet Got Its Order, Malcolm X and Other New Books to Read

Throughout history, alphabetical order has acted as an unsung agent of democratization, providing an organizational framework based not on social hierarchies, but an easily memorized string of letters. As historian Judith Flanders argues in A Place for Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order, “The religious no longer automatically took precedence over the secular, kings over subjects, or man over animals.”

In today’s Western world, the A-B-Cs are as self-evident as 1-2-3. But the adoption of an ordered Latin alphabet (the system used in most European and English languages) was far from straightforward. In fact, writes Flanders in the “first-ever history of alphabetization,” the protracted path toward alphabetical order spans millennia, involving such diverse entities and individuals as the Library of Alexandria, philosopher John Locke and George Washington.

The latest installment in our series highlighting new book releases, which launched in late March to support authors whose works have been overshadowed amid the Covid-19 pandemic, explores the history of alphabetical order, the woman behind Wolf Hall, the life of Malcolm X, secrets of urban design and chance’s role in shaping the world.

A Place for Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order by Judith Flanders

The invention of the alphabet dates to some 4,000 years ago, when merchants and mercenaries in Egypt’s Western Desert developed a phonetic system of symbols that could be rearranged into words. “Just as money was a stand-in for value,” notes Joe Moran in the Guardian’s review of A Place for Everything, “so the alphabet was a stand-in for meaning, separating words into letters for ease of reordering” and allowing humans “to shape whole universes of meaning out of a small number of letters.”

Derived from an array of earlier alphabetic systems, the Latin alphabet gained traction across the ancient world following its invention in the seventh century B.C. But a widely accepted alphabetical order remained elusive. As Chris Allnut points out for the Financial Times, Galen, the second-century A.D, Greek physician, took a subjective approach in his On the Properties of Food, organizing listings by general category and level of nourishment. The Library of Alexandria, meanwhile, used first-letter alphabetical order to organize certain scrolls, but “this was just one system among many,” according to Flanders. Later, medieval monks elevated the sacred over the profane; one European abbot wrote his English dictionary in descending order, beginning with angels, the sun and moon, and the Earth and the sea and concluding with weapons, metals and gems, per the Times’ Dan Jones.

The rise of the printing press in the mid-15th century furthered the cause of alphabetization by sparking an unprecedented explosion in the dissemination of information. Still, widespread adoption of alphabetical order didn’t simply follow “hard on the heels of printing,” according to Flanders. Instead, she writes, “[T]he reality was less tidy,” owing much to government bureaucracy, librarians and an array of fascinating historical figures.

A Place for Everything is peppered with tales of such individuals. Among others, the list of alphabetical order’s early proponents (or detractors) includes diarist Samuel Pepys; poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge; George Washington, who kept his records in an “alphabetted” ledger; and 13th-century Dominican monk John of Genoa, who prefaced his alphabetized Latin dictionary with a note stating, “I have devised this order at the cost of great effort and strenuous application. … I beg of you, therefore, good reader, do not scorn this great labor of mine and this order as something worthless.”

Mantel Pieces: Royal Bodies and Other Writing From the London Review of Books by Hilary Mantel

In March, Hilary Mantel concluded her much-lauded trilogy on statesman Thomas Cromwell with The Mirror & the Light, which follows the last four years of the Tudor minister’s life. Her next work—a collection of 20 essays previously published in the London Review of Books—expands the universe inhabited by Cromwell, deftly detailing Tudor figures like Anne Boleyn’s infamous sister-in-law, Jane; Henry VIII’s best friend, Charles Brandon; and 67-year-old noblewoman Margaret Pole, who was brutally executed on an increasingly paranoid Henry’s orders.

Mantel Pieces also moves beyond 16th-century England: “Royal Bodies,” a polarizing 2013 essay that employed Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, in its broader discussion of how the media, royal family and public treat female royals, appears, as do meditations on Madonna (the pop icon), the Madonna (or Virgin Mary), Britain’s “last witch” and a pair of 10-year-old’s headline-grabbing 1993 murder of 2-year-old James Bulger.

The author herself—the only two-time woman winner of the United Kingdom’s highest literary award, the Booker Prize—takes center stage in several personal essays. Tackling events including her first meeting with her stepfather, a showdown with a circus strongman and the aftermath of a major surgery, Mantel demonstrates that “[a]s a memoirist, [she] is without parallel,” per Frances Wilson of the Telegraph.

As Wilson concludes, “It is only when her essays are laid out like this that we can see the inside of Mantel’s huge head, bulging with knowledge and a million connections.”

The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les and Tamara Payne

When Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Les Payne died of a heart attack in 2018, his daughter, Tamara, stepped in to complete his unfinished biography of Malcolm X. Two years later, the 500-page tome is garnering an array of accolades, including a spot on the 2020 National Book Awards shortlist.

The elder Payne started researching the civil rights leader in 1990. Over the next 28 years, he conducted hundreds of interviews with Malcolm’s friends, family, acquaintances, allies and enemies, tirelessly working to tease out the truth behind what he described as the much-mythologized figure’s journey “from street criminal to devoted moralist and revolutionary.”

The Dead Are Arising traces Malcolm’s childhood in Nebraska, brushes with the law as a teenager in Michigan, time as a petty criminal in Boston and Harlem, emergence as a black nationalist leader of the Nation of Islam, and 1965 assassination. The result, writes Publishers Weekly in its review, is a “richly detailed account” that paints “an extraordinary and essential portrait of the man behind the icon.”

The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt

Based on the hit podcast “99% Invisible,” this illustrated field guide demystifies urban design, addressing “mysteries that most of us have never considered,” writes Kenneth T. Jackson for the New York Times. Why are manhole covers round? Why are revolving doors often sandwiched between traditional ones? What do the symbols painted on sidewalks and roads mean? And why are some public spaces so intentionally “hostile”?

Co-written by host Roman Mars and “99% Invisible” contributor Kurt Kohlstedt, The 99% Invisible City is “an ideal companion for city buffs, who’ll come away seeing the streets in an entirely different light,” according to Kirkus. Case studies range from metal fire escapes to fake facades, New York City’s Holland Tunnel, the CenturyLink Building in Minneapolis, modern elevators and utility codes, all of which are employed to illustrate broader points about inconspicuous and conspicuous design, geographic delineations versus designations, and the influence of government regulations on city landscapes, among other topics.

The authors’ enthusiasm for their subject is apparent in both the book’s wide-ranging scope and attention to detail. As Mars and Kohlstedt write in the introduction, “So much of the conversation about design centers on beauty, but the more fascinating stories of the built world are about problem-solving, historical constraints, and human drama.”

A Series of Fortunate Events: Chance and the Making of the Planet, Life, and You by Sean B. Carroll

Biologist Sean B. Carroll opens his latest book, A Series of Fortunate Events, with an anecdote about North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il, who claimed to have scored five holes-in-one the very first time he played a round of golf. North Korea’s propensity for propaganda, coupled with the fact that golf champion Tiger Woods has scored just three holes-in-one in the entirety of his two-decade professional career, casts immediate doubts on Jong-Il’s account. But the scale of the lie is made all the more evident by Carroll’s employment of hard facts: As he points out, the chances of an amateur golfer achieving four holes-in-one are around 1 in 24 quadrillion—or 24 followed by 15 zeros.

In this case, the odds are against Jong-Il. But A Series of Fortunate Events demonstrates that similarly unlikely occurrences shape individual lives and the fate of the universe alike. “[B]reezy, anecdotal, informative and amusing,” notes the Wall Street Journal’s Andrew Crumey, Carroll’s work renders hefty topics accessible, exploring the perfect storm of events responsible for evolution, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs and every living person’s conception. (In the scientist’s words, “it’s time to think about your parents’ gonads, and the moment you were conceived.”)

Acknowledging the “razor-thin line” between life and death or existence and extinction may seem like a terrifying prospect. But doing so can also be liberating.

“Look around you at all the beauty, complexity and variety of life,” writes Carroll. “We live in a world of mistakes, governed by chance.”

#History

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un-enfant-immature · 5 years

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Green New Deal doesn’t go far enough

Lindsey Allen Contributor

Lindsey Allen is executive director of Rainforest Action Network.

The Green New Deal brings much-needed urgency to the national conversation around the climate crisis, which is without a doubt the biggest threat to life on this planet. The recent resolution introduced into Congress by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey rightly calls for a significant overhaul of our economic system that would drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, alongside a Just Transition framework that would create high-quality jobs while correcting historical racial and economic injustices.

While I applaud the direction proposed in the Green New Deal resolution, it simply does not go far enough. The hard truth is that we must keep more fossil fuels in the ground. Not only that, we must redouble our efforts to keep forests standing — a critical yet oft-overlooked factor in the only promising equations to stop climate catastrophe.

There are two promising paths toward a solution: cut off the billions of dollars still flowing into fossil fuel extraction and expansion; and strengthen the rights of indigenous and frontline communities, which has consistently been proven to be one of the most efficient ways to properly manage forests and natural resources.

On October 8, 2018, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report was released — and it did not pull any punches. The report clearly states that if global temperatures rise by 1.5° Celsius, the impacts will be much worse than previously predicted. The report also said that to have a reasonable chance of staying under 1.5° we must immediately embark on an unprecedented global effort to reshape our economic priorities over the next 12 years. As the biggest carbon polluter in history, the U.S. largely owns this problem — therefore we must lead in the solution.

If you’re in a hole and you want to get out, stop digging.

Regrettably, recent remarks by Senator Feinstein and House Speaker Pelosi dismissing the Green New Deal show that even those often considered allies in the fight against catastrophic climate change are unwilling to marry urgency with action. “If we wait until 2050 to make change, then our Earth is going to die. We will quite literally have an apocalypse,” said 16-year-old Isha Clarke, one of the youths who confronted Sen. Feinstein asking for her support of a Green New Deal. The bottom line is that we need politicians to stand up and fight back against the corporate special interest groups that are compromising our future.

The science is clear. Emissions just from the oil, gas and coal reserves already in production would take the world well beyond 1.5° Celsius. And standing forests, particularly tropical forests, are under constant threat of destruction for profit — despite the fact that they are some of the best protection against climate change that we have (intact forests act as critical carbon sinks, keeping carbon out of our atmosphere).

If you’re in a hole and you want to get out, stop digging. We need an immediate end to the expansion of fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure and an end to deforestation. In-depth research makes clear that Wall Street banks, insurance companies and other financiers continue to pump trillions of dollars into the same companies that have been shamelessly profiting off climate destruction for decades.

The Green New Deal calls for “achiev[ing] net-zero greenhouse gas emissions” through measures that include “meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the U.S. through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources” within 10 years, and restoring and protecting natural ecosystems that would remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, support climate resiliency, and enhance biodiversity. The resolution requires “obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous peoples for all decisions that affect indigenous peoples and their traditional territories, honoring all treaties and agreements with indigenous peoples, and protecting and enforcing the sovereignty and land rights of indigenous peoples.” This is a solid start to this very necessary conversation.

However, “net zero” could imply a continuation of fossil fuel production and use. For example, if corporations are allowed to cancel out their emissions with wrongheaded geoengineering schemes and tradeable carbon offsets, we will be in the same hole. Without an explicit commitment to keep fossil fuels in the ground, the resolution as currently written falls short.

Achieving the goals of the Green New Deal must also go hand in hand with transforming the financial sector. Banks like JPMorgan Chase must no longer be allowed to profit from financing the construction of tar sands pipelines and the destruction of rainforests for palm oil, endangering the livelihoods of indigenous communities in its wake. They need to be held accountable for the damage done to people and the planet. And they need to rapidly shift their financing to solar and wind power; energy storage and grid modernization; electrification of transport, heating and industrial processes; and energy efficiency, which are all key technologies in achieving the goals of the Green New Deal.

#TechCrunch

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spicynbachili2 · 5 years

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Recalling Jonestown massacre 40 years on

Some tragedies lose their energy to shock with the passage of time. That’s not true of what’s turn out to be referred to as the Jonestown bloodbath. Forty years in the past, on Nov. 18, 1978, self-styled holy man Jim Jones oversaw the mass slaughter of practically 900 members of his church or, extra precisely, cult — the Peoples Temple, marking the terrifying finish to their experiment in constructing a utopian neighborhood within the South American jungle. One cause why the horror of that occasion hasn’t pale 4 a long time later is as a result of Jones recorded himself preaching to his congregation as they died, entreating them to drink poison and guaranteeing that the colony’s giant inhabitants of youngsters consumed it as effectively.

Flash-forward to the current day, and Jonestown has turn out to be the go-to instance when each skilled and armchair analysts focus on the insanity of crowds, or single-minded devotion to a spiritual or political chief. On the similar time, the emphasis on the bloodbath usually overwhelms the story behind Jonestown and Jones himself. The brand new four-part documentary sequence Jonestown: Terror within the Jungle, which premieres this Saturday on SundanceTV, reconstructs the incident’s historical past by way of the testimony of Jonestown survivors, Jones’s now-grown sons and writer Jeff Guinn, who wrote the 2017 e book The Street to Jonestown.

Talking with Yahoo Leisure, Guinn expressed some remorse that the Jonestown bloodbath has turn out to be such a ubiquitous reference level, inspiring such oft-heard phrases as, “Don’t drink the Kool-Support.” “To start with, it wasn’t Kool-Support,” he notes. “And second, let’s face what the connotation is; it’s used to imply, ‘Don’t be a senseless zombie who simply routinely follows orders from an clearly demented chief.’ And the scenario in Jonestown wasn’t like that in any respect.” We spoke with Guinn concerning the particulars which can be usually overlooked when Jonestown is mentioned, and what parallels he sees between Jim Jones and a pacesetter like Donald Trump.

Writer Jeff Guinn is among the many speaking heads within the new documentary, Jonestown: Terror within the Jungle (Picture: Cooper Neill/SundanceTV)

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Yahoo Leisure: Forty years later, what are the largest misperceptions individuals have of Jonestown and the way do you hope to right them along with your e book and the documentary? Jeff Guinn: Like all people else, once I began writing the e book, I didn’t know there had been misconceptions. There have been three large surprises for me through the greater than three years I spent researching. The primary one concerned Jim Jones. I had no concept that he had been such an ideal chief within the American civil rights motion. He and his spouse nearly singlehandedly ended complete racial discrimination in Indianapolis, which was probably the most segregated main cities in America. There’s all the time a component of fraud there; he would do all these miracle cures to draw audiences, and so they weren’t miracle cures. However he completed all these good issues that I’d had completely no thought about till I bought to Indianapolis.

The second factor was that the standard of the individuals who joined Jim Jones and have become members of Peoples Temple included among the most clever, gifted and socially dedicated individuals you’d discover wherever. These weren’t dummies simply falling into place; they actually believed in what Jones was preaching. And the third factor is that the psychological picture most individuals have of what occurred that day, 40 years in the past, is that you simply had nearly 900 individuals in line obediently ingesting these cups of poison and falling over lifeless. A number of did that, that’s true — however over 300 of the individuals who died that day had been infants and toddlers who had no alternative. And primarily based on autopsies and research carried out by the Guyanese docs on website proper afterward, lots of the individuals concerned had abscesses on their our bodies. They hadn’t taken the poison voluntarily; there have been armed guards throughout the pavilion in Jonestown, and individuals who dissented had been held down and forcibly injected. So we’re speaking mass homicide as a lot or extra so than mass suicide.

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Whilst you had been researching and writing, would you attempt to put your self of their place? Did you concentrate on whether or not you’d have been prone to Jones’s message within the first place, after which what you’d have carried out on the day of the bloodbath? When Peoples Temple was in its heyday, I used to be a youngster rising up in Texas and I used to be very socially lively. I used to be very a lot antagonized by racism, significantly the way in which Hispanics had been being handled in Texas, and I attempted to become involved politically as a lot as I may. However in these days, an 18- or 19-year previous child didn’t get to vote, and there wasn’t that a lot you could possibly do. So if Jim Jones had out of the blue proven up in Austin, Texas, with the Peoples Temple, I’d’ve felt so caught up by not simply the guarantees of, “When you be part of us, it is possible for you to to make a distinction.” The precise proof [was there]; when you joined Peoples Temple, you actually did get to make the world a greater place indirectly or one other. I may see myself climbing on the bus and going with them.

Frankly, I don’t see that I’d’ve stayed to the top, as Jones bought more and more weird in his conduct. Then once more, speaking to the oldsters who did be part of, they hasten to level out that Jones didn’t go over the sting simply impulsively in the future. It was a really gradual course of. One survivor, Tim Carter, once more, mentioned it was just like the frog in a pot of water. When you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water, it’ll attempt to hop out straight away. However when you put the frog in lukewarm water and heat it up a level at a time, it’ll keep there, not realizing it’s being boiled alive.

That speaks to the idealism and dedication of the individuals Jones attracted that you simply referenced earlier. One of many issues that pleases me a lot concerning the documentary is that it reveals how the members of the Peoples Temple would nonetheless be capable to do issues — from free clothes and meals to these in must marriage counseling — even with all of the loopy issues occurring amongst the management. There are individuals strolling this earth who will inform you they wouldn’t be alive with out Peoples Temple. So each day, they may really feel that they had been doing one thing worthwhile, that they devoted their lives to an ideal trigger, not realizing that the chief at a sure level was going to determine that the ultimate grand gesture can be what he referred to as a “revolutionary act” glorifying suicide and mass homicide.

We’ve incessantly heard the time period “cult” incessantly utilized to Donald Trump and his followers. Leaving apart how Jim Jones’s story ended, do you see any parallels to what we’re seeing play out at this time? All politicians and all spiritual leaders to a sure extent need to be demagogues. They’re attempting to create a way of urgency: You’ve gotta vote for me, you’ve gotta come to my church. Jones had traits that each demagogue has in widespread. The obvious ones are they establish present social issues, however they exaggerate the hazard. They wish to make individuals really feel scared; they all the time current themselves as the one one who can clear up the issue; and so they do their finest to persuade their followers that anybody who disagrees is the enemy. And the very last thing is that they attempt to lower them off from different opinions and voices. They are going to all the time first assault the media, then they are going to attempt to separate individuals even from household and pals. They don’t need any dissenting voices in any respect, and so they’ll do no matter they’ll to maintain the skin world away from their followers — to maintain actuality away from their followers. These are the qualities of the worst demagogues. Jim Jones matches that to a T, and I believe individuals must ask themselves: Is there a lesson right here for the current day?

It’s fascinating that that Jones’s views had been very progressive in some methods, whereas Trump’s concepts about bettering the nation are about taking it again to a vanished previous. See, that’s the distinction. That’s the factor that makes Jones distinctive amongst profitable demagogues who finally led their followers into catastrophe. He’s been in contrast the years to Hitler, however in contrast to Hitler, Jones didn’t acquire his followers by interesting to their worst natures. Jones informed his followers, “You’re gonna have to surrender issues. What we’re attempting to do is ensure that everybody will get a justifiable share, not that you simply’re going to get extra.” Nobody ever bought something from changing into a part of Peoples Temple — they needed to give. And that’s what makes Jones all of the extra horrifying, as a result of we all the time figured that the demagogues who’re going to guide individuals into horrible ends will say God-awful issues. Jones did it the opposite means, and it was extraordinarily efficient.

An aerial shot of Jonestown in 1978 (Picture: Courtesy Everett Assortment)

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You’ve been to the stays of Jonestown: Taking a look at it now, do you see any means through which it may have turn out to be the utopia Jones promised? The factor that lots of people miss is that Jonestown wasn’t supposed to be the principle base of Jones’s remaining following. It was alleged to be a small abroad outpost, the place the Peoples Temple was going to ascertain a working farm. When Jones fled the U.S. after these nice investigative articles about him destroyed his political and public base, he introduced with him nearly a thousand individuals. So from the start, there’s overcrowding. They’re by no means gonna be capable to develop sufficient meals to feed themselves, and there’s fixed bodily labor with out nourishment.

In the meantime, Jones is within the grip of medicine greater than ever, and his paranoia is increasing. However there they’re 150 miles away from something, and the one voice they hear each evening is Jones telling them information from America, that focus camps for blacks have simply been opened, that the Military is now capturing down much more dissidents identical to us. So that you’ve bought exhausted people who find themselves malnourished, and so they’re listening to this time and again from Jones.

Standing in Jonestown, did you’re feeling the ghosts of what occurred there a long time in the past? I felt surprised. Till I had gone by way of that jungle, I had no thought simply how wild and primitive and horrifying it actually was. It’s triple-canopy bushes so shut collectively the solar can hardly break by way of, and brush with all types of thorns that tear at your garments and your pores and skin. You possibly can hear rustling from animals close by, however you may’t see them and you haven’t any thought what there are. Snakes are all over the place, in addition to bugs of each variety, most of them swarming and biting you. After which lastly you make your means with large problem to what’s left of the clearing that Jonestown lower, you notice the immensity of what these individuals completed. So I stood there, and that’s once I lastly understood what it will need to have taken to construct Jonestown in any respect. If Jones hadn’t gone there, it’s very seemingly that each one these years since, there would nonetheless be a working farm and settlement referred to as Jonestown.

Out of all of the tales you heard whereas reconstructing the occasions of Nov. 18, what’s the account that also haunts you? To me, essentially the most shattering expertise was the time I spent with Tim Carter, who survived that day from Jonestown, and misplaced his spouse and son on the similar time. Sitting in his residence and listening to him speak about that day, I felt his large sense of loss. And I couldn’t be extra impressed by the braveness that survivors have proven by being prepared to open up and be so trustworthy for this documentary. I’d by no means have been in a position to do this, and my admiration for them is simply immense.

There’s an simple fascination with the ghoulish elements of the Jonestown story. Are you bothered by the way in which it’s turn out to be a popular culture touchstone, versus a historic tragedy? Once I was in Guyana, a gaggle of journey businesses from world wide had come to Guyana to discover the chances of constructing the Jonestown website a [tourist] “vacation spot.” They talked about how there are all these vacationers who “love” — and that is their time period — loss of life excursions. That they love going to the focus camps in Germany and imagining the horror there. And so they thought that if Jonestown was by some means reconstructed, that folks would wish to come, and you could possibly promote them punch, and so they may line up and faux to be poisoned and die. So after all, there’s a portion of the general public that’s all the time going to be interested in that. However I additionally assume that most individuals basically are warmhearted, and in the event that they’re given the chance to know, they’ll sympathize. This present gives the proof to get the complete understanding of what occurred, and never the cartoonish, one-dimensional thought most of us had for 40 years.

Jonestown: Terror within the Jungle premieres Nov. 17 at 9 p.m. on SundanceTV.

Learn extra from Yahoo Leisure:

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flauntpage · 6 years

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Which Country You Should Cheer for in the World Cup

Whether or not you've ever kicked a soccer ball in your life, now's the time to stand up and support "your" team in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Which team? Well, you could pick a nation to which you have some legitimate connection: citizenship, ancestry or temporary residency (for example, the country you had that wild summer in that you only half-remember). Or, just do what all the cool kids are doing—pick one of the tournament's 32 competing nations for some arbitrary reason and immediately hang on their results like your life depends on it!

Not sure where to start? Don't worry, this handy guide will have you stanning for a team (that you'd never previously seen) in no time!

If you like good odds and beer houses: Germany. They're the reigning World Cup champs and top-ranked team on Earth. If glory-hunting is your thing, Germany is usually a good place to find it.

If you like good odds and samba music: Brazil. Sure, they got humiliated on home soil at the last World Cup (losing 7-1 to Germany in the semifinals). But if the bookies are to be believed, this will be their summer of redemption... and an unprecedented sixth World Cup title.

If you like long odds: Panama. The Central Americans are at the World Cup for the very first time. Put some money down on them and... well, you'll have less money than you did before.

If you like lower oil prices: Saudi Arabia. They won't win, or even come close, but the Saudis doing well could maybe give us some relief at the gas pump… that's how the international economy works, right?

If you enjoy an underdog: Iceland. After just missing out on the 2014 World Cup, the frozen outpost of under 400,000 people made a remarkable run to the quarterfinals of the 2016 European Championship, and is now the smallest nation to ever compete at the FIFA World Cup.

If you enjoy an underdog but feel Iceland is a little too mainstream now: Peru. Back in the World Cup for the first time since 1982, the oft-overlooked South American side could fulfil the promise they showed before the Alianza Lima disaster of 1987. (Be sure to remember this reference, to show others you supported Peru before it was cool.)

If you wish poor Vladimir Putin could have something go well for him, for once: Russia. Just, c'mon, give Vlad a break, right?

If you've never heard the phrase "golden generation" before: Belgium. With the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, and Romelu Lukaku, this is a Belgian golden generation. That sounds pretty good, right? Like they're destined to definitely win, as a golden generation probably always does? So, yeah, they're definitely going to win. Pick them.

If you like reboots: Spain. Sometimes, going back to the well can have disastrous results (hi, Roseanne!) But for Spain, winners of Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup, and Euro 2012, a six-year hiatus from the top of the soccer world could be just enough time to fill that bandwagon right back up.

If you like rock-hard abs: Portugal. We don't know if Cristiano Ronaldo will score in this tournament, but we can be reasonably certain that if he does, off comes the shirt.

If you root for the good guy: Egypt. After a record-breaking season with Liverpool that catapulted him into the global elite, Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah nearly had his arm broken in the UEFA Champions League final less than three weeks ago, leaving his World Cup status in doubt. Maybe your support can help him recover quicker?

If you root for the bad guy: Uruguay. The villain of the last two World Cups has been Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, who in 2010 cheated to help his team reach the semis, and in 2014 was banned for biting an opponent. And it wasn't his first time biting someone on the field.

If you're a fan of sweet-ass fashion: Nigeria. Good luck getting a Super Eagles kit if you don't already have one; there were reportedly 3 million pre-orders for their Nike-produced jerseys, which sold out quickly. But the sartorially-minded soccer follower can still covet from afar.

If you're a fan of consistent-ass fashion: Croatia. Some things are guaranteed: death, taxes, and Croatia donning a red-and-white checkerboard pattern at a big soccer tourney.

If you like the exhilarating feeling of a roller coaster about to careen off the tracks: France. As always, the French bring plenty of talent to the tournament. But their World Cup performances tend to fluctuate between the highest highs (reaching the final) and the lowest lows (ego-driven implosions). Who'll show up this time?

If you're a glutton for punishment: England. Self-explanatory.

If you like conspiracy theory rabbit holes on YouTube: South Korea. The Taeguk Warriors had a best-ever fourth-place finish at the 2002 World Cup (which South Korea co-hosted with Japan) and oh boy, does the internet have some opinions about why.

If you're a North American full of regional pride: Mexico. The united bid of Mexico, the US, and Canada just won the right to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup! Huzzah! What better way to show unity than to rally behind the only one of those three nations that actually qualified for Russia 2018?

If you believe that "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again”: Morocco. Poor Morocco. They're the ones who lost out on hosting the 2026 World Cup, after previously falling short in bidding for the 1994, 1998, 2006, and 2010 tournaments as well. They could use a W.

If you love narratives with satisfying conclusions: Argentina. Lionel Messi is the best player in the history of the sport (yes, he is) but won't be universally regarded as such unless he drags 22 other schmucks to World Cup glory—and this is probably his last chance to do so.

Photo by Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

If you like to hit the ground running: Japan. Akira Nishino has had just two months as head coach to prepare Japan for the World Cup, after the shocking firing of his predecessor in April. If you know the feeling of being thrown into the deep end, maybe Japan is the team for you.

If you won't let objective reality get in the way of your preferences: Italy. Alternate options: Chile, the Netherlands.

If you like sitting: Denmark. Chair design is a big thing in Denmark. It's true. Hey, there's 32 of these things, they can't all be gold.

If you believe good things come to those who wait: Senegal. The Lions of Teranga had to wait until 2002 to qualify for their first World Cup, where they made a rollicking, entertaining journey to the final eight. They've had to wait 16 more years to get back to the big show. Buckle up.

If you enjoy cleverly gaming the system: Poland. The FIFA World Ranking is an arcane, unpopular and often nonsensical system that also happens to be the way teams are seeded for big competitions like the World Cup. The Polish team, knowing this, scheduled its games in such a way as to maximize their chances of getting a favourable draw for Russia 2018. And hey, it worked!

If you're a stickler for correct spelling: Colombia. Adopt Los Cafeteros as your team, and not only do you get to watch James Rodriguez do his thing, you also get to righteously repudiate the dullards on social media who will inevitably spell it "Columbia."

If you want a team whose accent you can (badly) mimic while probably not being accused of cultural insensitivity: Sweden. Bork bork bork.

If you think lightning really does strike twice: Costa Rica. Los Ticos shocked the world at Brazil 2014 with their run to the quarterfinals following wins over Uruguay and Italy. And, oh yeah, scientifically, lightning can strike the same place twice. Boom, Costa Rica winning the World Cup, confirmed.

If you like riling people up: Serbia. Just belligerently tell anyone within earshot that Serbia is definitely going to win the tournament. "Why?" They just are. Keep going. Don't take "no" or "please stop bothering the other customers" for an answer.

If you're all about that anti-colonialism cred: Tunisia. The North African nation was a French protectorate until independence in 1956. At this summer's World Cup, over a quarter of the players suiting up for Tunisia were born in France. Turnabout's fair play, non?

If you've decided you're just going to remain neutral: Switzerland. HAHAHAHA, get it? (Sorry. Really.)

If you're an early-rising go-getter: Iran. Aside from Brazil, Iran was the quickest nation in the world to book a spot in the World Cup through the qualification process, making things official back on June 12, 2017.

If you like leaving things until the last minute: Australia. The Aussies punched their ticket to the tournament on Nov. 15, 2017—the very last day of the worldwide, two-and-a-half-year-long, 210-nation qualifying process for Russia 2018.

Whichever team(s) you decide to follow over the next month—or, heaven forbid, if you choose to just enjoy the competition without staking a claim—it's definitely as nice a time as any to be reminded that there truly are some things that can bring together people from virtually every place on our planet.

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports CA.

Which Country You Should Cheer for in the World Cup published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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asecondspinonpolitics · 3 years

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Why has there been silence on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa?

There is one issue on which conservatives have largely won on the side of recognizing and addressing injustice. Which injustice? The persecution of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa.

I think this addresses what, I think, can at times be three of some of the common Achilles’ heels of modern progressivism:

1) Viewing groups from the angle of oppressed vs non-oppressed, even when an “oppressed” class actually does not have the moral high ground in terms of actions. Or viewing issues in terms of where it is easier to feel sympathy. A few ways this has manifested before:

a) In the shooting of Michael Brown, in all likelihood the officer seemed to have taken justifiable action in self-defense. Liberals seemed to largely ignore the fact that Michael Brown grabbed a weapon from a police officer…largely a threat on his own life. What other reason would there be for taking such an action? Such an action is clearly grounds for someone’s life to be in jeopardy.

While the officers actions may not have been perfect (and I will leave that open for debate), in terms of moral high ground, Michael Brown arguably committed a much worse offense.

However, Michael Brown was an African-American (a group that truthfully, is often targeted if not intentionally by law enforcement), and unarmed. Darren Wilson was armed, Caucasian, and an officer. It was a situation of police confrontation in which African-Americans are often the victims of unfair bias at a critical time.

Not in this case, though.

The facts were often overlooked because one party to the situation appeared to belong to a group often oppressed or appeared to have less power in the situation.

b) The aftermath of this and many other confrontations. After rioting happened, the reaction was often “we shouldn’t be concerned that riots happened, we should be asking why these people feel pushed to commit the acts they did (rioters)”. Specifically, that African-Americans have felt pushed to commit acts of vandalism due to their oppressed treatment. I even saw one article entitled “Why I don’t condemn rioting, burning, and looting: I understand black rage”.

Frankly, I think it’s insulting to people to suggest they can’t be held accountable to their actions. It’s basically saying, “they didn’t know any better”.

It was seeing this through the lens of oppression, even when the rioters were actually the oppressors in that case.

c) The 2014 conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. With the exception of Fox News, most news media would show footage of Palestinians deaths by Israeli airstrikes but with limited, or no, discussion of either the reason why Israel was instigating airstrikes at all - the initial threats against Israel-or the tactics often used by Hamas, that of the use of human shields, which was much more to blame for the deaths of Palestinians themselves than actions by Israel.

Rarely was Hamas’ attempts at indiscriminate slaughter of civilians brought up (as opposed to Israeli’s attempts to avoid civilians), or the facts that it uses its own citizens as human shields to both gather support and make attacking their targets more difficult for Israel with civilians in the way.

When footage was shown of a school, or hospital, being hit, yes, it was heart-breaking. However, should it be asked why Israel was striking schools and hospitals?

Hamas purposely stores weapons near civilian schools, hospitals, etc, so that Israel will either hit these places, killing civilians and garnering bad press, or avoid hitting them. Either way, it clearly places civilians in harms way, unnecessarily.

Israel’s actions were also in the defensive.

Why was this so? It may have been because of the fact that Israel was the successor in the attack, that that those actually killed were generally Palestinians. Palestine is also a largely poor, and (truthfully) oft-discriminated against territory.

It became easier to focus on which side had had more damage done to it, than which side had committed a higher moral transgression. Even though there were many Palestinian victims by Israeli strikes, it was worth nothing that Hamas was the truly culpable party

Having compassion is important, but moral discernment and correct analysis and verdict of the situation was necessary as well.

2) An sometimes unwillingness to discuss difficult topics to avoid offense.

3) An unconscious prejudice revealed through having a lower expectation of certain people

Think of it this way. When we are not critical of drop-out rates in an inner city high school, is it possible that subtly, and often unconsciously, we may be saying we don’t expect better of the poor? That they don’t know any better?

The Israeli-Palestinian standoff of 2014 may have also shown this too. Could it be that we don’t expect better of people from developing countries, so we don’t react when we see them committing terrorist acts? We hold a developed, Western country, to higher standards because as such we expect of it.

How does this apply to persecution of Christians in the Middle East?

1) When we think of Christians, we think of wealthy, Western people, that constitute a majority. When we think of Muslims, we tend to think of a poor, oppressed, minority group. This is really unintentional, but our intuition is powerful. Thus, we become accustomed to thinking of Muslims as belonging to an oppressed class (which we should not anyway, as people should not be placed n groups anyway). Due to our unconscious categorizations, we generally think of one group as the traditionally oppressed group, and one as the group that is less oppressed, or even sometimes oppresses themselves. When we view a group as the oppressed on, we do not criticize it as much or see it as capable of being the oppressors themselves.

We’re also used to associating the religion of Christianity with persecution and intolerance itself, be it the Crusades, burnings at the stake, or the Salem Witch Trials. This is the intuitive thinking we have, and so when it is reversed, when Christians are instead being persecuted, it seems counterintuitive.

2) In order to state that it is specifically Christians being killed, it has to be argued that there is a reason having to do with their Christian belief that they are being killed. Why is Christian belief being opposed? What motivates opposition to it?

In order to be able to identify exactly what is happening, the motives of those doing the persecution have to be identified. What are their motives?

Aside from whether it is justifiable based on the texts of the Quran or the rationalization of a few, this is what the motives of those attacking Christians are.

Christians are, by those seeking to persecute them, being labelled as unbelievers, or apostates, those who have left the faith, if they were once practitioners of Islam. In fact, it is not only Christians experiencing this, but other religious minorities as well, such as those of the Bahá'í faith. Christians happen to be the largest group experiencing this in that part of the world.

The appearance (even if not actually stating so) of implying Islam as being an inspiration towards violence, opening the door to speaking about Muslims as a group or anti-Muslim prejudice, is something progressives want to avoid. Yet it is necessary to state that, if not necessarily correct Islamic belief, that the interpretation of Islam used by those committing these actions is the reason why this is occurring, and would not be occurring to Christians specifically otherwise.

It is true that the Bible was used to justify the Salem Witch Trials, whether or not this could be considered accurate interpretation of the faith. For a history book to not include this would left out a basic explanation of why those executed were accused of witchcraft.

As a side note, only to mention this in context, I consider myself to be a Christian, and would still want the Salem Witch Trials to be fully explained by history books.

3) Do we have a subtle prejudice against people of poorer, non-Western, less educated nations? That we don’t see them being as advanced as us, so we don’t expect advanced behavior of them (even though we should)?

If we see people as being like us, we told them to the same standards we do. We would expect them to act the way we would act, and hold them accountable when they don’t.

Do we not see peoples of developing nations as being like us? As such, do we not have as high expectations of their behavior?

Is this a failure for us to hold the Middle Eastern, and North African world, accountable? Is this a result of our own prejudices? That we expect incivility from these nations, and so don’t react when it occurs there?

We should expect the same civility we would expect of other Western nations.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what motivates our behavior, when its based largely on intuitive and unconscious thinking. These are helpful places to start, however.

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