The New York Times has decided to take up the cause of studying English in college.
This discussion sounds similar to the discussion of whether we should legalize gay marriage. Generation Y is so overwhelmingly in favor of legalizing gay marriage that the debate is a waste of time. It's opposed by conservative, out-of-date Baby Boomers who want to freeze society in debate sessions like they try to hold onto their delusions of agelessness with plastic surgery.
1. Writing for just one teacher to read is stupid.The Internet provides a way to write for hundreds of people at once. Which means we try much harder when we write a comment online than we do when we write a paper for one teacher. To hear that a student is more motivated by a good grade than a good conversation is absolutely crushing. So we should all be grateful that kids care a lot more about writing online than writing for school.
2. Social media teaches writing better than school. Stanford has conducted a wide-ranging study of kids who have access to top educators, and the conclusion is that kids learn better writing in the context of social media than in a classroom. There are a lot of reasons for this, but the biggest one is that we write to inform and persuade. Trying to keep people you don't know from clicking away is a much bigger challenge than writing for one teacher. So kids are better off engaging in social media, which, by the way, is all written.
So can we all just stop talking about teaching writing and teaching English? We are wasting our kids' time. Tell them to write a comment on someone's blog and subscribe to the comments to see if anyone responds.
Finally, take a look at the video up top. It's breathtaking for two reasons. First, it's an example of the outstanding writing that kids are doing in the context of social media. But also, it's an example of how very strong writing is empowering kids in ways that were unthinkable before social media.
The father in this video is incredibly abusive in his disrespect for his daughter. The ending is stunning because of the dad's pathetic use of violence. But the end is also hopeful. This girl's words speak so much for her. And I have a hope that she will come out fine, because she's using her voice. She didn't need an English class for this.
Hi Penelope, I totally disagree with your assessment of the dad in the video. I think you need to address the behavior of the teenager that led to this. What about her incredible lack of disrespect for her dad's time, money and parenting.
You're being very one sided on this issue.
And as far as violence goes, I really thought this was going to be a video of a dad hitting his kid. His actions are stunning (and perhaps not the actions that we your reader group would use); and he could have achieved the same end result by just pulling out the battery pack or hard drive, but the extreme drama of shooting the laptop really hammers home his feelings of dealing with his spoiled child. A bit more objectivity would have been helpful here.
I agree with you. The thing that struck me most about the video was how hurt he was that his daughter would write that about him and post it for the world to see. Shooting the computer was a bit extreme but I have to admit, kinda funny. I usually agree with P about most things but I think she's way off base here. It was the daughter who was being disrespectful, not the dad.
I, the adult, am hurt by the child's writing about her frustrations so I am going to up the anti and create a violent ranting video about my hurt while disrespecting and shaming you then top it off with immature violence. THIS is the way to make a connection with a child.
I understand the daughter acted out with inappropriate behaviors. Rather than encouraging a discussion about how they each feel and seeking peaceful resolution — modeling for her how to work things out through open communication, which she clearly doesn't know how to do either — he just goes straight to shaming and punishment. It seems that the disrespectful behavior he's so angry about she learned from him.
I am not sure groundings, shaming, violence are the best way to show her the error of her ways. Clearly this is not working for this family. I only see escalation here.
You know me … I love a good gun story. :-) This isn't a good gun story to me. I see a father grooming his daughter to accept violence and immaturity as the norm to expect from someone who supposedly loves and cares for you.
I can admit it looks wild and fun at first blush (in part because I was raised with similar attitudes and behaviors) but honestly with some reflection it feels sad and shaming and violent and angry and frustrated to me and I don't see it getting any better/different anytime soon.
My hope for you … you can see the flip side of this display of parenting technique.
if the girl is dumb enough to do that to her dad who works in IT wait until she does it to her employer (if she ever gets a job). the boss won't shoot her computer, he will shoot her career.
Perhaps his daughter wasn't dumb, but instead was purposeful in sharing on Facebook. Perhaps she won't have and employer or get a job, but instead will create her own career and have her own employees… much like the creator of this blog.
@ Lisa – Replace the word 'boss' for 'client', and you got the same conclusion.
There is one point I would like to add to this view. Maybe people indeed try much harder when writing a comment online than when writing a paper for one teacher. But trying harder when writing online might not IMPROVE their writing as much as in class, because IMHO the kind of feedback being received online and in class is different.
Online feedback in general will debate your arguments or express agreement with them. In general it will not comment your writing style nor how you could improve your writing by changing its structure, by reordering its parts, by reformulating, and so on.
Both types of feedback (online and "class") contribute to a person's writing development in different ways. I put class here in parenthesis since it may not take the form of traditional schooling but rather coaching or other type of teaching.
It's true that you wont receive the type of detailed grammer and spelling feedback online as you would in the classroom. But you do receive feedback. Just look at how many people comment on spelling and grammer on PTs blog.
Now I think about it, perhaps the best solution is to encourage your children to hire a social media editor.
I doubt there is something like THE writing on The internet -writing online is as varied as writing not online. Comments, blogs, notes, twitter, facebook, articles and on and on,if you practice one kind of writing you will usually improve at it, whic is great. Writing for an online blog-like community or epressing opinions in comments does rarely improve technical writing, which by the way is peppered with links to other work -even when written on paper.
i read blogs like jezebel and such. the commenters tend to be educated women (and some men).
when there are typos or weird sentences….don't you ever think people will let it die!
everyone points it out. which encourages the writers to edit better.
in my blog i just sort of ignore grammar structure because i feel like it tampers with my passion to express a point.
I am horrified that people think what this dad did is okay. It never occurred to me that anyone would say that on my blog.
He is the adult. He should be respectful no matter what his kid is doing.
He is resorting to violence to get control over the kid. He is using fear tactics as a way to parent.
He is using public humiliation as a tactic for parenting.
He is disrespecting her property and her privacy which teaches her that she is not a valuable human being.
These are parenting tactics that are typical of borderline personality disorder. You can google "borderline personality disorder" and see quickly how typical this guy's behavior is for borderline personality in parenting.
What the girl did: complain about her parents on Facebook – is what every other teenager in the US does. It's normal teenage behavior.
The problem here is that parents who have borderline personality disorder are most affected when a kid tries to separate from the parent.
His punishment is not a result of her normal teenage behavior. His punishment is the result of his inability to watch his daughter have a different opinion than he does about what is going on in his house.
The video made me so sad I couldn't even write about it yesterday when I saw it. I was too upset.
I totally agree with you Penelope! I hope child protective services payed a visit to the family. A man who gets so upset and violent for such minor reasons should not own a gun! What 15-years old kid DO NOT complaining about the chores and think her parents are stupid?! I feel really sorry for the girl. The only silver lining in this story is because of social media she is getting support from people online and her fathers actions are condemned by other adults.
Mine. And many others. It is a matter of treating each other with true respect.
How is it that you so clearly see the violence in this video, but somehow turn blind to the violence within your own home? Is it worse what this father did versus the Farmer pushing you in front of your sons?
If I were turning a blind eye then you wouldn't know about it, right? The only reason you know about what goes on in my house is that I am paying close enough attention to it to tell it to one million blog readers.
I have a feeling the guy in this video, and his daughter, will benefit immensely from the public outcry over this video. For each and every one of us, seeing our lives reflected back to us is a great method for gainings self-knowledge quickly.
also, shooting the laptop will *hurt* her schoolwork and her future. he just insured that she will hate him even more.
Thanks, Jill. I fixed it up top.
This is the first time I have ever disagreed with you. This man is a great dad from all the available information. He warned her that this behavior would not be tolerated again. Kids need to now understand that Facebook has consequences. From spouses, to employers- now and in the future. It is not a benign diary into which a 15 year old can jot her thoughts and it will never see the light of day. As an IT guy, her Dad understands that.
As for violence. No again. That was theatrics. He in no way was violent towards her. The property was his (as he paid for it) not hers. It was hers to use at his discretion.
This is nothing about a personality disorder. There is nothing here about separation issues.
And you are wrong again about the punishment. This was not about her having a opinion. It was about her being disrespectful, violating the rules, and caring enough about his daughter to make her understand that 15 years of age with loving parents that provide you everything is as good as it is ever going to get.
I think he did a great job on all counts and am stunned that the woman I read whenever she posts wrote this.
The English remarks have merit worth discussing, but I also think Thomas has valid points.
Wow. Thanks for bring both points to the fore however.
Monica, I agree with you completely and you said it very well.
My computer keeps cutting out so I miss the last minute of the clip, but I assume the daughter's not even around. I don't see how this could be violating her safety. If anything, he's getting his frustration out in a very non-confrontational manner because he's doing it alone. If he bought the computer, it's his to do whatever he wishes with.
Really, even for a 15-year-old, his daughter is a bit daft. I mean, duh, her dad's an IT guy. And because of her own post, the whole world now knows she's a thoughtless, lazy, and self-absorbed. Chances are many of her friends view her the same way.
He did not teach his daughter respect. In fact, he taught her just the opposite. I would venture to reason that this parenting style contributed to her selfish, disrespectful written outburst. We learn this stuff at home.
I'll give you that I think that there has been a parenting breakdown along the line and that there are numerous better ways he could have handled it, but 15 year olds are far removed form their future self. This link may have been a better suggestion for the father.
Facebook is not benign in any way. If it was, as I hope was his major point, to drive that home, I hope he still accomplishes that goal.
I think others are correct. Most of us seem to be reading too much into it. Or more to the point, imposing far more on this one situation. We don't know the full extent of the home. If they need help, I pray they get it. If the kid is just having a bratty day, I hope she sees the wisdom in her parent's concerns.
i feel like when P explains how his behavior reflects borderline person. disorder it feels true.
but when i first watched the video and he explained what the chores actually were i didn't think they were extreme like what she describes.
if your kid acts like a normal teenager it doesn't mean that's true.
she had done in the past and the dad was upset. they provide way beyond what is required of a parent and she acts like a brat.
she's got excellent writing skills, apparently, but she is immature.
i don't know why i think he isn't being violent. he's destroying a computer not a person. those things are hers but they are the parents.
i don't know. maybe i got the talk of "you are not entitled to anything; whatever we give you beyond food, shelter and basic clothes, is a blessing, an extra." that kind of thing.
anyway, this is about writing. but writing is for communicating. she is using social media to paint her parents as slave drivers rather than dedicated parents that give her above and beyond what is needed.
if she did that and bad mouthed her boss i doubt the boss would shoot the computer he facilitated for her work. if the boss was humiliated and irritated enough he would destroy her career, credibility, and close doors shut so no one can hire her again.
just because her behavior is common i don't think is less bullying than what he did.
I think you are right: her behavior is bullying and his is also, albeit in a different way. There is a limit what you should post on publicly available venues. It is different from complaining to your friends about your parents: social media provide a much larger forum, and contribute due to a certain level of anonymity often to a considerable escalation which would not (or only rarely) happen in a person-to-person conversation. Cyber-bullying has become an important concern for the online community for a reason.
The man is controlling and manipulative. Since he is unable to control her feelings he controls her actions. When you punish a behavior, the person being punished will then work harder to not get caught.
Maybe people don't realize that children feel hurt and offended by rough language and injustice, just as adults do. We should practice respect when getting our points across whenever possible and be an example for children.
I just want to know if you did something you r spouse/partner disagree with or about would you think this was an acceptable response by said spouse/partner? If not why is it OK because he is an adult and the daughter is in her mid-teens. Are you telling me it is acceptable to beat you to get the point across that hitting someone is not OK? If you mis-managed the check book would it be OK to shame you publicly and/or physically hurt you? What is the best way to teach you? Shaming and disrespect? Communication and working it out and natural consequences?
Actually if my spouse posted a diatribe on what a terrible wife I am on facebook, I think it would seriously damage my marriage. Of course, he is a grown-up and theoretically should know better the consequences of that kind of behavior. What the daughter did was disrespectful and hurtful and should be addressed. Shooting the laptop doesn't bother me, but the public shaming seems excessive.
I had to stop watching half way. There was nothing that young woman said that I found outrageous. I've said much worse about my parents. He is totally psychotic. I am also surprised that people think this is a reasonable response to a completely normal developmental stage this young woman. He is totally abusive. He is humiliating her. I find it disgusting. He is out of control, worse than borderline. He seems like a total sociopath. Honestly, I don't understand how children are still in this home now that the video is all over the place. "A bullet in your laptop?" That's so violent and terroristic.
I was really upset for the dad, because it is obvious that he cares about his daughter and she hurt him. I think this could be a better example of poor communication in the family unit, then good English. It is clear that he does not talk to his daughter or give her trust to make good decisions. She learns how to handle her feeling from him, which is why both of them are acting passive-aggressive. Communication is so important. Recognizing your children's emotions and teaching them how to handle their emotions is much more important then teaching grammer or good writing. I am new to you blog and I think you are amazing! You make me think so much deeper and question thing!
At first I didn't think it was so bad (kid actually does seem to be a brat, and I even like brats usually), but then you can see him sort of unraveling as he does go on. I think he's making himself angrier. By the end, I can't believe what I'm watching, and why the bullets? It was such a shock, that I didn't even get to the hopeful part.
Penelope has blogged about 50-0-50 theory of Judith Rich Harris. This theory says that how a child turns out is 50 percent genetic, 0 percent parenting, 50 percent peer socialization.
Intuitively, the idea is absurd. I've come to realize that it has some merit, it's just that it only has merit for families with traditionally-schooled children.
This Facebook story illustrates that.
Harris herself explicitly states that the reason why the parents have no impact on the way the kids turn out is that the effects of society's program of institutionalized enculturation, or socialization, are so pervasive and overwhelming, that nothing the parents do can really compete.
Parents don't generally affect outcomes because the norm in this society is to leave raising and shaping a child to the school system and their schoolmates. Since schools refrain from any but the most gross moral instruction, that just leaves the schoolmates for that.
Peer pressure does not just compete with parents, it neutralizes parents, marginalizes them and discounts their input. Parents are adults, what do any of them know about *my* life? Suddenly Harris makes a lot of sense to me.
But what happens if you remove peer pressure from the equation? What happens when it is not the peers that shape the child but their parents? What happens when you homeschool?
I suspect something a lot closer to 50-45-5. This a long comment, but this gets to the heart of why many parents choose to homeschool and why "what about socialization?" is such a touchy subject.
I saw nothing that gave me any indication in the articles I read that Harris examined homeschooling families, or that this ever dawned on her. I agree with her that sending your kids to school carries a risk that the child you brought into this world may end up almost a complete stranger to you.
That is evidently what happened in this Facebook story as there is no functional line of communication, and apparently no level of mutual understanding. Personally I do not see it as bad parents or a bad kid, rather a mutual explosion of frustration at the radical incompatibility between the family culture the parents obviously seek, and the peer culture of the child.
From the looks of it, the daughter has nothing in common with the parents except an address.
Most insightful Mark. Thanks for this comment. Have forwarded it to my homeschool list. Parents such as yourself are one reason we are now homeschoolers. Kind Regards.
Mark K, I loved your comment, and I have really enjoyed reading many of your past comments as well. When I saw this video yesterday, it sparked a long conversation between my husband and me, and your comments tied together many of the things I expressed. It was just what I needed to read. This blog so often gives me the affirmation that I am on the right track, despite how out-of-step with my community I can be.
I liked your "long" comment. Very worthwhile reading.
Penelope – Thanks for being a voice in opposition to the claims that social media/the Internet is eroding communication skills. I was a creative writing major in college, but it wasn't until I started blogging that my voice truly began to develop. I've been experimenting with storytelling on my site, and I can see the progress — both by comparing recent posts to those I wrote 2 years ago and from the quality of the comments.
1. The daughter complained about her parents on Facebook.
2. The father responded by posting a video to her wall, which includes him pulling out a handgun and shooting her laptop.
That's it. We don't know with any certainty any of the dynamics of their household. We don't know whether her chores were indeed a burden. We don't know whether the father is truthful in anything he says. Typically, the truth falls somewhere between two opposing versions of events.
Based on those two facts, how can we respond to his actions with anything other than horror?
Even if the father's version of events is 100% accurate, how can we applaud violence as a resolution? What is he teaching his daughter? When her subordinate is out of line, she should smash her laptop? Not to mention the fear of knowing your father would take a gun to your belongings in anger…one day it could be pointed at you.
This is such a great, calm assessment of the situation. Thanks Brigitte.
It's fascinating the natural inclination to take sides. What the girl wrote and the way she wrote it was terrible. The way the father dealt with it was terrible. But the father has more responsibility than the girl to behave in a constructive manner.
There's no reason to think that either of them are terrible people. He's just not skilled at dealing with his daughter and her behavior (along with his reaction to it) reflects that.
I hope they get some decent family counseling.
I also hope they get some form of help.
You're right, Mark. Frequently, the ones most in need of help are the most resistant to it. And for him to think that he's actually fixed the problem, "once and for all," when he's actually exacerbating it, doesn't bode well for them.
I see guys like this and I wish I could sit down with them and help them understand that they really don't know what they're doing, and that there's no shame in that.
What a disturbing video. That father is menacing and hateful, exuding violence and reactivity. Something is rotten in Denmark, for sure.
I'm a seasoned classical homeschooler, and I use my collegiate background in English and Philosophy to teach grammar and formal writing at a classical school that my children attend one day a week. The poor girl in the video is not an "outstanding writer." Her writing is, in fact, quite weak. Simple sentences, subject-verb constructions without exception, cliched, trite vocabulary, etc. Why did you use her writing as an example of the way kids can learn to write eloquently or evocatively from social media? Are your standards really that low, or are you simply trying to showcase a provocative YouTube for other reasons? I'm sure there are many ways to skin a cat when it comes to teaching writing; however, the young girl's writing in your example is simply not an example of proficient, nuanced writing for any age beyond third grade. I hate to diappoint you, Ms. Trunk: The parenting/teaching path of least resistance which you so describe yourself as choosing is *not* best for kids.
The feeling I am left with is that the daughter is going to run away at the first opportunity and not look back. I feel like encouraging her to leave for the reasons Penelope mentioned about the dad disrespecting her property and privacy. It makes me sad to think that she would be better away from her parents rather than with them.
Penelope, I'll be interested to read your opinion of this in about 5-6 years when your boys are in those obnoxious, know-it-all, self-centered teen years (the years all teens go through). Sometimes parents just get tired of it and do drastic things. As for property and privacy? Who is providing this girl's home, food, clothing, AND HER COMPUTER? We parents aren't here to offer privacy. We're here to raise and protect our kids. To teach them how to function in the real world. When little miss 15-year-old sweetie pants can take care of herself and not depend on her parents, THEN she can get the privacy she thinks she deserves.
As for English classes, I think our kids still need them. They first have to learn to read and write. They can then learn further on social media.
I have no comment about your post, but I do have a comment about the video. I heard about this incident when one of my Facebook friends posted an article describing it. She and many of the comments were in the "good for that father" vein. I, on the other hand, thought it was the kind of displayed violence and intimidation that some of us girls learn early on, and then get into a violent, adult relationship and wonder what happened.
I'm glad that you posted the video here so I could see it in its full context. While I agree that the daughter's actions were childish and disrespectful, and the father has a right to be angry and discipline her, his choice of shooting a gun into the computer is flat out physical intimidation. Same thing if he would have taken a baseball bat to it, or simply punched a wall.
If this is what we teach daughters at home — that your upsetting words will be met with physical force — and we teach sons that are watching that this is how "smaller" people can be treated, how can we be surprised when these same women enter into non-violent relationships down the road. This father's anger was justified, but not his actions or the pride he displayed when he did it.
Correction: Read – "… how can we be surprised when these same women enter into violent relationships down the road." Oopsie… Big difference. And one I know from experience.
What I find a bit shocking is that the majority of people seem to think the girl's attitude in writing this letter is totally normal teenage behavior. Being angry at your parents and whining about your chores is normal. Demanding your parents pay you for chores, expecting them to buy you whatever you want, refusing to get a job, sneering at a person providing housekeeping services for your family — these are not normal teenage behaviors and should not be tolerated. This is the kind of attitude that becomes gross entitlement in adults. And this entitlement is what stunts kids so they are not able to grow up and handle their own adult responsibilities.
The kind of teenager who expects not to have household chores or to not have to get a job is the type of adult who won't be willing to work hard and who expects things to be handed to them. That's why this attitude can't be tolerated as "normal". Because the 15-year-old who has this attitude becomes the non-functional 28-year-old living in her parent's house with no plans to move out.
Shooting the laptop may have been over the top, but this attitude is striking and needs to be addressed before this kid becomes a lazy, non-functional, entitled adult. And the fact that people think it's normal is indicative of the problem with today's parenting.
BRAVO!!! Well said and so true!
videos to give your posts more, "pop"! Your content is excellent but with pics and clips, this blog could certainly be one of the very best in its field. Great blog!


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whatcatydidnext's Reading List
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Czyżew-Osada (początkowo Czyżew Osada, bez łącznika) – dawna gromada, czyli najmniejsza jednostka podziału terytorialnego Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej w latach 1954–1972.

Gromady, z gromadzkimi radami narodowymi (GRN) jako organami władzy najniższego stopnia na wsi, funkcjonowały od reformy reorganizującej administrację wiejską przeprowadzonej jesienią 1954 do momentu ich zniesienia z dniem 1 stycznia 1973, tym samym wypierając organizację gminną w latach 1954–1972.

Gromadę Czyżew Osada z siedzibą GRN w Czyżewie Osadzie (od 2011 część miasta Czyżewa) utworzono – jako jedną z 8759 gromad – w powiecie wysokomazowieckim w woj. białostockim, na mocy uchwały nr 24/V WRN w Białymstoku z dnia 4 października 1954. W skład jednostki weszły obszary dotychczasowych gromad Czyżew Osada, Czyżewo Kościelne, Czyżewo Chrapki, Czyżewo Ruś, Ołdaki Magna Brok i Czyżewo Sutki ze zniesionej gminy Czyżew w tymże powiecie. Dla gromady ustalono 19 członków gromadzkiej rady narodowej.

1 stycznia 1959 do gromady Czyżew-Osada przyłączono wsie Dmochy-Wochy, Dmochy-Mrozy i Dmochy-Sadły oraz kolonie Dmochy-Kudły i Dmochy-Przeczki z gromady Zaręby-Bolędy w powiecie wysokomazowieckim.

31 grudnia 1959 do gromady Czyżew-Osada przyłączono obszar zniesionej gromady Czyżew-Stacja oraz wsie Dmochy-Glinki, Dmochy-Rodzonki, Krzeczkowo-Szepielaki, Zaręby-Bindugi, Krzeczkowo-Bieńki Nowe, Krzeczkowo-Bieńki Stare i Dmochy-Wypychy, kolonię Krzeczkowo-Wybranowo oraz przysiółek Dmochy-Bąbole ze zniesionej gromady Krzeczkowo-Gromadzyń.

Gromada przetrwała do końca 1972 roku, czyli do kolejnej reformy gminnej. Z dniem 1 stycznia 1973 roku reaktywowano gminę Czyżew-Osada (przed 1954 i od 2011 jako gmina Czyżew).

Przypisy

Czyżew-Osada

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Tune in to the Always Already Podcast for indulgent conversations about critical theory (in the broadest read of the term!). Our podcast consists of two episode streams. The first is a discussion of texts spanning critical theory, political theory, social theory, and philosophy. We work through and analyze main ideas, underlying assumptions, connections with other texts and theories, and occasionally delve into the great abyss of free association, ad hoc theory jokes, and makeshift puns. The second stream, entitled Epistemic Unruliness, consists of interviews and discussions with activists, artists, and academics whose "disobedient" work builds upon the themes of that arise in the texts we discuss and in our ongoing podcast conversations.
In the first stream we also entertain the questions of friends and strangers and dole out slapdash advice about everything from massaging a head of Brooklyn kale to sweet talking a nebechy philosopher and dealing with the vagaries of academic life. We also put on our Freud-Klein-Lacan-Irigaray hats as we provide dream analysis to (always already anonymized) listener dreams.
Be a part by sending us text suggestions, interview ideas, advice questions to answer, and dreams to analyze.
The Always Already Podcast is created by B Aultman, Rachel Brown, Emily Crandall, John McMahon, and James Padilioni, Jr.
I just wanted to say that I love the podcast! Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to make this happen. Seriously, I don't know what I would do on long car rides with your podcast.
First, I wanted to recommend a book that you all have not covered yet, which is Mel Chen's Animacies. I love it, and it's a pretty interest affect book.
Next, I need your advice on something. I'm currently working on my first abstract for a conference, which I've never done before. Do you have any good advice on writing an attention grabbing abstract?
We'll talk about the abstract soon.
Wanted to let you know that we'll be discussing Chen and answering your question on the next episode, which will be out early next week!
Hi from Brasil! Just found this wonderful thing on the web!!! Thank you very much for doing those podcasts.


Sweet kitty Night is used to children & is waiting to find his new forever home!
I'm currently not desexed as I am too young but under our adoption policy all un-desexed cats will be booked in under the agreement of the adoption.
Some of our cats are currently not desexed due to lack of funds but under our adoption policy all un-desexed cats will be booked in under the agreement of the adoption. You pay for the cat and in turn we can pay for the desexing/microchiping if haven't already been done. If it has been done your adoption fee will go to another cat in need or the unpaid vet bill.


text:
Obovaria rotulata är en musselart som först beskrevs av Wright 1899.  Obovaria rotulata ingår i släktet Obovaria och familjen målarmusslor. IUCN kategoriserar arten globalt som starkt hotad. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Målarmusslor
rotulata


The team of consultant eye surgeons at Midland Eye offers consultations and surgery to patients with any eye condition.
As well as being highly qualified and experienced in the treatment of common eye conditions such as cataracts, each of our consultants also specialises in a particular area, which means they keep up-to-date on the latest research and development in their area of expertise.
Our priority is to provide you with the best possible care, using treatments that have a proven track record. We understand that there is a lot of information available on the internet and that this can be misleading or cause undue concern, so we focus on ensuring that you have an in-depth consultation to guarantee that your treatment path is the best and most appropriate one for you.
If you know which consultant you'd like to see, please call us on 0121 711 2020 to make an appointment. However, if you're not sure or you would like further advice, please call to be referred to the consultant who will best suit your needs.


Salam Waalekum and welcome to this episode of 'Saga In Stone'.
The Delhi Sultan had always had their share of glory and power. A lot of it infact. But they had always been just a provincial player in terms of their influence. Delhi Sultanate was just like any other sultanate, only bit larger.
And then came Mughals- pan-Indian in their appeal as well as their power.
The history of Mughals began in 1526, at the legendary battleground of Panipat. The history of their architecture began seven years and one king later, here at Purana Qila in Delhi.
In the tradition of the great Sultans of Delhi, Humayun too wanted to erect a new city at Delhi.
Much astrological calculations were made and, the foundation of the new city was laid on the banks of river Jamuna at the ancient site of Indraprastha. It was called Dinpanah, or the shelter of faith. But this shelter of faith did not provide shelter to Humayun for a long time. Sher Shah Suri soon defeated him.
Today these two gateways are the only remains of this first Mughal capital- Talaqi Darwaza and the Bada Darwaza. No remains of any other building are extant. It is likely that whatever construction was completed by Humayun was destroyed by Sher Shah Suri who built the rest of the buildings in the Purana Quila. Sadly all the astrological calculations went wrong for Din Panah, the first Mughal capital in India.
The first substantial example of the Mughal architecture is Humayun's tomb at Delhi and what an example that is.
Humayun's tomb is a landmark in the development of Mughal architecture. Had the Taj not been there, and that is a very big 'if', this would've been without doubt the greatest example of Mughal tomb architecture.
The sheer elegance of this building hits you in the face. The extravagance of the design, the epic proportions, the strength and the grandeur- Humayun's tomb is a triumph in stone.
It was built by Humayun's widow and Akbar's mother, Hamida Banu Begum, commonly known as Haji Begum. Built over eight years from 1564-1571, its cost was 15 Lac rupees.
Humayun's tomb stands in the middle of a char bagh, the Persian scheme of landscaping that was brought to India by Humayun's father, Babar. This was the first manifestation of the Mughal schemes of tomb gardens.
Babar had picked up his taste for these gardens during his stay at Samarqand. He built his pleasure pavilions and palatial mansions in the middle of these gardens. These gardens were symbolic of paradise and were a part of old Timurid traditions.
Babur's body was temporarily buried after his death in a similar Char Bagh at Agra before it was carried to Kabul.
It is said that Babar died for Humayun. Humayun at that time was sick and almost on his deathbed. The courtiers of Babar suggested that his should pray to Allah and make a pledge that if his son gets well, he will donate the famous koh-I-noor diamond. But Babur bargained with his life. 'Oh God, if a life may be exchanged for a life, I, who am Babur, give my life and being for humayun,' he said. A fever soon gripped him and as his condition worsened that of his son improved. Finally when Babar died on 26th oct 1530, Humayun had completely recovered.
The monument is square in plan, roughly 146 ft a side. The plan and design of the tomb are indicative of strong Persian, influence. For example, it is square in plan, but its corners are flattened.
The plan of the interior is, also different. Instead of the single square or octagonal chamber hitherto in vogue, there is a larger octagonal central chamber with a vaulted roof. Similar compartments smaller in size surround it on four corners.
Humayun was a kind, sensitive and intelligent king, but he lacked maturity. His story was a story of failures and attempts to rectify his failures.
The word Humayun means lucky, but the man Humayun was anything but lucky. He inherited a vast empire which was unconsolidated. To compound his problems, the treasury was empty. Add to it a legend called Sher Shah Suri, and you know the situation Humayun was in.
He spent a major part of his career as a leader in exile.
In 1555, after more than 10 years of Sher Shah's death, Humayun managed to regain the throne from his weak successor. He died just one year later when he slipped while coming down from his library. He was in a hurry to reach the mosque on time for prayers.
The different parts of the tomb are perfectly proportioned. A grand dome adds to the imperial beauty.
Haji Begum is also buried here, in the mausoleum she erected for her husband.
The lower part of the tomb is a graveyard for other, smaller, luminaries of the Mughal era. These include Mughal princes and rulers like Muhammad Azam Shah, Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi ud-Daulah, Rafi ud-Darjat, Ahmad Shah and Alamgir. It is said that the headless body of Dara Shikoh – the eldest son of Shah Jahan, is also buried here. Dara Shikoh was the favoured successor of Shah Jahan, who was killed by Aurangzeb. He was also responsible for the first translation of Upnishads into Persian. So towering was his personality, it is said, if he would not have been killed, India would have been a different place. But again, that is a very big 'if'. And history, sadly, is not about ifs, it is about the way things actually turned out to be.
This tomb is also the place where it all ended- the once-great Mughal empire and the grand hopes of the 1857 revolution. The last Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar was captured from here along with his two sons.
The real Mughal magic started with Humayun's son Akbar, a rebel, a reformer, a legend, an enigma.
All his historians gave different views of him. Abul Fazl almost deified him –gave him super-human powers; Badauni lamented his differences from Islam; Nizamuddin gave just a simple chronological account of his reign.
A study of his architecture gives us an insight into the man that he actually was.
Agra Fort was Akbar's first great architectural venture.
Two lofty walls made of thick ore of sand and rubble and faced with large blocks of dressed red sandstone enclose the fort. The entire plan roughly resembles a semi-circle of 2.5 km in circumference.
The construction on this fort started in 1565. A daily labor of three to four thousand masons and eight thousand laborers took eight years to complete it. All this labour definitely shows up in the fort. It is elegant yet very strong. Masculine, yet with the feminine grace intact.
The queries of red and yellow sandstone at Agra's periphery provided most of the building material for Akbar's building projects, including this one.
Since Akbar was very young when his father died, he was under the protection of Bairam Khan. Bairam Khan dominated the kingdom during the early days of Akbar's reign. Akbar wanted to be free. Finally in 1560, when Akbar was 20, he compelled Bairam Khan to leave for Mecca.
Bairam Khan was stabbed to death by a Lohani Afghan on his way to Mecca.. This was the revenge of the Afghan. His father had been killed on a previous occasion by the Mughal troops under Bairam Khan's leadership.
Akbar came in power in the true sense only in May 1562 after the death of his foster mother Maham Anaga.
The walls of the fort are well constructed. The battlements, enclosures, machicolations and stringcourses have been skilfully designed.
Amar Singh Gate provides the main entrance to the fort. It was originally intended for private entry. At that time, it was known as Akbari Darwaza. It was renamed after Amar Singh Rathore of Marwar, who assassinated Salabat Khan, the Mir Bakshi of Shah Jahan in1622. He is said to have escaped by jumping the moat on his horseback from the top of this gate.
Amar Singh Rathore may have succeeded in escaping from this gate. But it would've been a tough job. This gate has remarkable strength and arrangements for defence purposes. It has a drawbridge, a crooked entrance with dangerous trap-points and a steep rise.
The decorative patterns in colored glaze have softened the appearance of the gate somewhat.
Just behind Amar Singh gate is Naubat Khana, a truly imposing and beautiful structure.
Naubat Khana has pillared pavilions overhead. The decorative patterns of this entry point makes it a site worth seeing.
According to Abul Fazl, Akbar built over five hundred buildings in the fort. That may be typical Fazl speak, with a great deal of exaggeration. But he certainly built a good number of buildings. Of these, only the Jahangiri Mahal is still extant. Ruins of another palace can also be seen next to it. Most of Akbar's buildings were destroyed by Shahjahan, who built his own structures over it.
Jahangiri Mahal, as a building, throbs with life.
Intricately carved sandstone, trimmed with white marble makes the facade an architectural treat. The octagonal turrets over the blind arches add to the magic.
On its west side is the so called Jodhabai's temple. She supposedly kept her idols in these recesses.
These brackets are the only specimen of its type in the whole medieval architecture of India.
Another courtyard overlooks the river. It has a number of beautifully built ancillary chambers.
The riverside bastions have terraces where the kings came to experience the cold waves of air.
Mughal architecture was inspired by a number of sources- Indian, Timurid, and even European.
These were the early days yet for Akbar and the great Mughals. The flowering had begun, but the bloom was yet to come.


It's been several months since my last Korean translation tip because, well, I've been busy translating… and have also spent this time working hard to improve my skills and credentials. I'm proud to say that this effort has resulted in an upgraded resume. Ta-da! – You can download it here.
So, before we start today's tip, I have a question….
You didn't stop and look at my resume when you read the first paragraph a moment ago, did you?
If you did, then in English you'd say "Yes, I did," and if you didn't, you'd say "No, I didn't".
But that's not how a Korean would reply.
A Korean would say, "No, I did," or "Yes, I didn't".
Confused? This difference happens because I asked a negative question.
When we reply in English, we ignore the fact that the question was negative and pretend it was positive. But in Korean, the answer strictly follows the logic of the question. If I asked you if you didn't look at the resume and you, in fact, didn't look at it, then, yes, you didn't look at it. Right?
Is my explanation clear now?
In translation, this little twist means that "yes/no" responses to negative English questions are translated to "no/yes" answers in Korean (or vice-versa), and a translator must be careful to get this right. In fact, regardless of the translation direction (i.e. EN>KO or KO>EN), sometimes the simplest solution is to just rewrite the question in the target language to get rid of the ambiguous negative construct.
BTW, yes, Koreans ask negative Korean questions ALL THE TIME and this frequently confuses non-Koreans (at least it confuses me!).
Korean Translation Tip – The logic in answering a negative yes/no question is reversed between English and Korean. This occasionally trips up careless translators. A good proofreader will be on the lookout to double-check, but the client can also help in advance by writing the source without negative yes/no questions.
I bet Korean/English isn't the only language pair with this negative yes/no question reversal. How about the languages you speak? Do you face this issue?
Latin has specific markers for whether a question is negative or positive and these marker come at the very beginning of the question. But, it then follow the English yes/no patern. So you have to pay attention to the question marker and what the person is asking; if the question is long sometimes I forget and then am not sure how to answer.


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The Plans tabs contains all leave and absence plans that you have set up. From here you can create a new plan, assign to employees and assign to contractors. You can also click in to the different plans and read more about them.


text:
The Real Metaphysical Club
The Philosophers, Their Debates, and Selected Writings from 1870 to 1885
Frank X. Ryan - Editor
Brian E. Butler - Editor
James A. Good - Editor
John R. Shook - Introduction
SUNY series in American Philosophy and Cultural Thought
Release Date: January 2020
A full account of the Metaphysical Club, featuring the members' philosophical writings and four critical essays.
The Metaphysical Club, a gathering of intellectuals in the 1870s, is widely recognized as the crucible where pragmatism, America's distinctively original philosophy, was refined and proclaimed. Louis Menand's bestseller about the group was a dramatic publishing success. However, only three actual members—Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Charles S. Peirce, and William James—appear in the book, alongside other thinkers who were never in the Club. The Real Metaphysical Club tells the full story of how this influential group shifted the course of philosophy in America. In addition to pioneering pragmatism, the group explored radical empiricism and idealism, and formulated personalism and process philosophy, equally important developments. This volume contains the important writings dating from 1870 to 1885 by the real members of the Metaphysical Club. The first section centers on pragmatism and science; the second part collects writings of the lawyers; and the third part covers idealist and personalist philosophers. Many of these writings have never been reprinted before, and nothing like this impressive collection has ever been attempted. A general introduction provides a narrative history, and the editors' three introductions to the volume's sections vividly bring to life the intense meetings, sustained debates, and pioneering thought of the Metaphysical Club.
"Highly recommended." — CHOICE
"The Real Metaphysical Club includes some very important thinkers that don't always make it into anthologies of American philosophy. The period is also important. 1870 to 1885 is critical to the development of classical American philosophy. It precedes it and sets its direction. The book accomplishes its goal of giving the reader a sense of the period by arranging the works in a very interesting way. The readings and introduction are very readable and would be helpful to both graduate and undergraduate students as well as general readers interested in American Thought." — James M. McLachlan, Western Carolina University
Frank X. Ryan is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Kent State University and the author of Seeing Together: Mind, Matter, and the Experimental Outlook of John Dewey and Arthur F. Bentley. Brian E. Butler is Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina Asheville and the author of The Democratic Constitution: Experimentalism and Interpretation. James A. Good is Dean of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Business, and Economics Division at Lone Star College-North Harris. He is the coeditor (with John R. Shook) of John Dewey's Philosophy of Spirit, with the 1897 Lecture on Hegel.
A Note on the Texts
A Narrative History of the Metaphysical Club
John R. Shook
Part I: Science and Pragmatism
Science and Pragmatism: An Introduction
Frank X. Ryan
Chauncey Wright
Charles Peirce's Berkeley Review. The Nation 13 (30 November 1871): 355–56
Evolution by Natural Selection. Review of Darwin and Mivart. North American Review 115 (July 1872): 1–31
Cause and Effect. Dated 1874
The Evolution of Self- Consciousness. North American Review 116 (April 1873): 245–310
Notes on Nihilism. Dated 1874
Fraser's The Works of George Berkeley. North American Review 113 (October 1871): 449–72
Mr. Peirce and the Realists. The Nation 13 (14 December 1871): 386
The Fixation of Belief. Popular Science Monthly 12 (November 1877): 1–15
How to Make Our Ideas Clear. Popular Science Monthly 12 (January 1878): 286–302
Taine's On Intelligence. The Nation 15.374 (29 August 1872): 139–41
Against Nihilism. Dated to 1873 or 1874
Maudsley's Responsibility in Mental Disease. Atlantic Monthly 34.203 (September 1874): 364–65
Tait and Stewart's The Unseen Universe. The Nation 20.517 (27 May 1875): 366–67
Wundt's Grundzüge der physiologischen Psychologie. North American Review 121 (July 1875): 195–201
Lewes's Problems of Life and Mind. Atlantic Monthly 36 (September 1875): 361–63
Chauncey Wright. The Nation 21 (23 September 1875): 194
Remarks on Spencer's Definition of Mind as Correspondence. Journal of Speculative Philosophy 12.1 (January 1878): 1–18
The Sentiment of Rationality. Mind o.s. 4 (July 1879): 317–46
G. Stanley Hall
Philosophy in the United States. Mind o.s. 4.3 (January 1879): 89–105
Part II: Law and Pragmatism
Law and Pragmatism: An Introduction
Brian Butler
Nicholas St. John Green
Proximate and Remote Cause. American Law Review 4.2 (January 1870): 201, 203–204, 210–16
Insanity in Criminal Law. American Law Review 5.4 (July 1871): 704–709
The Power of the Will over Conduct. Criminal Law Reports, Volume 1 (New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1874), 390
The Maxim that a Man is Presumed to Intend the Natural Consequences of His Acts. Criminal Law Reports, Volume 2 (New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1875), 244–46
Reasonable Doubt. Criminal Law Reports, Volume 2 (New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1875), 437
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Codes, and the Arrangement of Law. American Law Review 5 (October 1870): 1–13
Notice of Pollock on Austin's Definition of Law. American Law Review 6 (July 1872): 723–25
Primitive Notions in Modern Law. American Law Review 10 (April 1876): 422–39
The Common Law (Boston: Little, Brown, 1881), chap. 1, 1–5, 34–38
Joseph Bangs Warner
Holmes's Common Law. American Law Review 2 (May 1881): 331–38
Part III: Varieties of Idealism
Varieties Of Idealism: An Introduction
James A. Good
Cosmic Theism. Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1874), vol. 2, 411–31
Charles Carroll Everett
The Known and the Unknowable in Religion. The Unitarian Review and Religious Magazine 3 (May 1875): 445–56
James Elliot Cabot
Some Considerations on the Notion of Space. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy 12 (July 1878): 225–36
Thomas Davidson
Individuality. Dated to 1878 (from 22 October 1878). In Sketches and Reminiscences of the Radical Club of Chestnut Street, ed. Mary Elizabeth Fiske Sargent (Boston: J. R. Osgood, 1880), 334–38
Borden Parker Bowne
The Cosmic Philosophy. Review of Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, by John Fiske. Methodist Quarterly Review 58 (October 1876): 655–78
Realism, Idealism, and Phenomenalism. Metaphysics: A Study in First Principles (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1882), 450–87
Francis Ellingwood Abbot
The God of Science. Scientific Theism (Boston: Little, Brown, 1885), 202–18
George Holmes Howison
Is Modern Science Pantheistic? Journal of Speculative Philosophy 19 (October 1885): 363–84
Index of Names
Process Philosophy
4-7325-3/4-7324-6(AK/RM/KRS)


Amoris laetitia in n. 83, says that the Church "firmly rejects the death penalty." The theologians censure a theoretically possible interpretation of this that would understand it "as meaning that the death penalty is always and everywhere unjust in itself and therefore cannot ever be rightly inflicted by the state." Such a meaning would contradict Church doctrine. Read in context, I don't see anything suggesting that the text would mean anything so absolute. As it is speaking about the Church's mission to defend life, the straightforward meaning of saying that the Church "firmly rejects the death penalty," would be that the Church holds with conviction that the death penalty should not be employed today.
Though it is not relevant to what the common Catholic would understood the text to mean, evidence for this reading is the way Pope Francis elsewhere describes Pope John Paul II's and the Catechism's position on capital punishment. E.g., in his address to the delegates of the international association of penal law, Pope Francis, referring to their statements that the cases where it is necessary to kill an offender are rare, if not practically nonexistent, says that "Pope John Paul II condemned the death penalty, as does the Catechism of the Catholic Church." So the weaker language of "firmly rejects" is adequately interpreted in this sense of being practically never necessary.
Pope Francis has repeatedly spoke out stronger against the death penalty. One may disagree with the prudence of this. But as there are not real indications that he intends to use the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia to further opposition to the death penalty or to change Church teaching on it, it would seem more well-advised to address those stronger statements, rather than raising concerns about what the statement "firmly rejects the death penalty" could be interpreted to mean.
Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., was elected today to the papacy, taking the name of Francis. He is the first Jesuit to be elected as pope. He gave a brief public address, beginning with an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for Bishop Emeritus of Rome Benedict XIV, asked the people to pray for him, and gave the first papal blessing. Read the first public words of Pope Francis.
Posted on March 13, 2013 March 13, 2013 Categories UncategorizedLeave a comment on Habemus Papam!


Being energy efficiency doesn't have to be hard. There are little things we can do "on the daily" to make a positive impact on the environment, our health and even our budget. With Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and other food-filled holidays around the corner, we're sharing our gratitude by sharing some healthy energy tips.
The holidays are the time of year when we let our hair down, and let our belts out a notch. Whether what you're cooking up is on the nice or naughty list of holiday foods, what you do in the kitchen and the rest of your home can offset any potential food guilt.
Lower your thermostat before guests arrive. All those friends and relatives generate heat, so there's no sense wasting yours!
Don't put hot foods and liquids in the fridge. They just make it work harder and waste energy. Let them cool!
Many of us will hit the gym a bit harder during the holidays to ward off unwanted pounds. But have you ever imagined the impact of greener gyms on the environment? For instance, in 2010, one Oregon gym produced 36% of its own electricity through the use of energy-generating equipment and solar energy. What's that equate to? About 74,000 pounds of carbon emissions, 81,400 miles not driven, or 15 acres of trees planted. Treadmill time well spent!
Ask your gym owner or manager what they're doing to promote greener workouts, or consider purchasing an energy-efficient bicycle power-generating kit for your home gym. See how our friends in the UK conceptualize the green gym, or check out this post written for the energy-conscious fitness fan.
In addition to the type of gym we choose, we can be even more energy and time efficient depending on the type of exercise we do. A recent study revealed that seniors who run regularly also tend to walk as efficiently as a person in their 20s! So what does that mean to seniors and people of all ages? It seems running as compared to walking keeps you younger from an energy efficiency standpoint. Don't ask us to explain the biochemistry of it, all we know is that it has something to do with muscle cells, mitochondria, and the amount of energy generated. Bottom line takeaway: get moving, and get moving quickly!
So enjoy the holiday season and be thankful. Implementing some of these holiday energy tips will enable you to celebrate and "Mangia!" to your heart's, belly's, and eco-conscious mind's content!
WegoWise's Friday Links: It's a Scorcher!


text:
Latin American states join efforts to help fleeing Venezuelans
Solider patrols Brazil's border with Venezuela
Representatives from eleven Latin American states have met in Ecuador and agreed to relax passport requirements for those fleeing Venezuala
"We are convinced by the geography that it is necessary that we join efforts."
Raul Sanguenza Chilean official
Shortages of food and medicine, have led to hunger, and disease and hyper-inflation has crippled the economy, pushing over two point three million Venezuelans to leave.
Migrants with expired passports will now no longer be refused entry at their borders.
Venezuela called the meeting "xenophobic" and boycotted it.
"We are convinced by the geography that it is necessary that we join efforts. It is necessary that we share the burden among ourselves," says Chilean official Raul Sanguenza. "Either we come out of this crisis together, which is the most important one that the region has had, or nobody will come out unscathed from it."
One group of Venezuelan migrants in Lima are unusual: they now want to go back home and are queing up at the Venezuelan embassy in Peru's capital to be repatriated.
"The truth is we cannot really stay here (in Peru) and pay the rent because we cannot afford it," says Venezuelan citizen Armando Salazar. "We cannot get jobs and so we prefer to go back and fight in our country."
Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro blames quote propaganda for compelling people to flee the country.
But now many Venezuelans will no longer have to pay expensive bribes to get a new passport.
And it's likely that many of those with expired passports will vote with their feet and seek better lives elsewhere on the continent.
Brazil: Army patrols at Venezuelan border
Venezuela exodus is a world crisis
Venezuela exodus: 'People are leaving in order to survive'
US politicsnewsWorld NewsDonald TrumpFranceclimate changeSpainGermany


text:
Cup Final News
Hampshire and Essex join blind cricket
This season will see two new teams and one renamed side playing in the BCEW league and BBS Cup as well as a new competition, the BCEW Twenty20 cup launched.
The big news is that the former players of London Sports voted unanimously to leave the club and form Essex Tigers VICC. This gives the new side strong links with both Essex county cricket club and county cricket board as well as improved development and financial situations.
Hampshire VICC have also joined up as a brand new side. Development work has been going on in the couty for some time now and in September they felt they were ready to apply for entry to both the league and cup competitions.
Northants VI.XI.NS are also no more, the club have changed their name to Northants Steelbacks to mirror the able-bodied county side.
The BCEW league this year is comprised of 8 teams playing each other once in a straight forward round robin format, so each side will play 7 league games. The entrants are: Birmingham SCVI, Essex Tigers, Hampshire VICC, Metro, Northants Steelbacks, South Wales Dragons, Sussex Sharks and Warwickshire Bears.
The BBS Cup has 10 entrants, the 8 mentioned above plus Eastern Vipers and Northern Galloways.
The new competition is the BCEW Twenty20, this will be made up of 7 of the 8 BCEW teams, with Essex unable to enter this seasons Twenty20. Instead the 8th team are a combined team called London Vipers formed only for this competition. The competition will be made up of 4 quarter finals with the winners qualifying for a finals day at Leamington Spa CC on September 19th. This day will include semi-finals followed by a final.
England are hoping to play a summer series but this is not yet confirmed and blind cricketers will be appearing at at least two matches during the able-bodied Ashes series this summer, including a demonstration during the Lords test.
So it's set to be a packed summer and once fixtures are confirmed at the end of February we will publish the full fixture list on this website.


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Brain structure of infants predicts language skills at 1 year
News releases | Research | Science | Social science
Molly McElroy
A 1 year old baby participates in a language test at UW's Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences.UW
Using a brain-imaging technique that examines the entire infant brain, researchers have found that the anatomy of certain brain areas – the hippocampus and cerebellum – can predict children's language abilities at 1 year of age.
The University of Washington study is the first to associate these brain structures with future language skills. The results are published in the January issue of the journal Brain and Language.
"The brain of the baby holds an infinite number of secrets just waiting to be uncovered, and these discoveries will show us why infants learn languages like sponges, far surpassing our skills as adults," said co-author Patricia Kuhl, co-director of the UW's Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences.
Children's language skills soar after they reach their first birthdays, but little is known about how infants' early brain development seeds that path. Identifying which brain areas are related to early language learning could provide a first glimpse of development going awry, allowing for treatments to begin earlier.
"Infancy may be the most important phase of postnatal brain development in humans," said Dilara Deniz Can, lead author and a UW postdoctoral researcher. "Our results showing brain structures linked to later language ability in typically developing infants is a first step toward examining links to brain and behavior in young children with linguistic, psychological and social delays."
In the study, the researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to measure the brain structure of a mix of 19 boys and girls at 7 months of age. The researchers used a measurement called voxel-based morphometry to determine the concentration of gray matter, consisting of nerve cells, and of white matter, which make up the network of connections throughout the brain.
The study is the first to relate the outcomes of this whole-brain imaging technique to predict future ability in infants. The whole-brain approach freed the researchers from having to select a few brain regions for study ahead of time, ones scientists might have expected to be involved based on adult data.
Five months later, when the children were about 1 year old they returned to the lab for a language test. This test included measures of the children's babbling, recognition of familiar names and words, and their ability to produce different types of sounds.
"At this age, children typically don't say many words," Deniz Can said. "So we rely on babbling and the ability to comprehend language as a sign of early language mastery."
Infants with a greater concentration of gray and white matter in the cerebellum and the hippocampus showed greater language ability at age 1. This is the first study to identify a relationship between language and the cerebellum and hippocampus in infants. Neither brain area is well-known for its role in language: the cerebellum is typically linked to motor learning, while the hippocampus is commonly recognized as a memory processor.
"Looking at the whole brain produced a surprising result and scientists live for surprises. It wasn't the language areas of the infant brain that predicted their future linguistic skills, but instead brain areas linked to motor abilities and memory processing," Kuhl said. "Infants have to listen and memorize the sound patterns used by the people in their culture, and then coax their own mouths and tongues to make these sounds in order join the social conversation and get a response from their parents."
The findings could reflect infants' abilities to master the motor planning for speech and to develop the memory requirements for keeping the sound patterns in mind.
"The brain uses many general skills to learn language," Kuhl said. "Knowing which brain regions are linked to this early learning could help identify children with developmental disabilities and provide them with early interventions that will steer them back toward a typical developmental path."
Todd Richards, a UW professor of radiology, was another co-author. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Santa Fe Institute Consortium.
For more information, contact Kuhl at 206-685-1921 or pkkuhl@uw.edu or Deniz Can at 206-221-6415 or dilara@uw.edu.
Tag(s): I-LABS
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Nico van Straalen awarded with JU honorary doctorate
On 19 November 2019, eminent Dutch biologist Prof. Nico van Straalen received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa of the Jagiellonian University.
The distinction was conferred upon the researcher for significant merits in teaching young Polish scholars, great contributions to the development of ecotoxicology, many years of support for Jagiellonian University research teams worldwide, distinguished teaching achievements, and world-class scientific achievements and popularisation of science in such fields as physiology, zoology, population ecology, genetics, evolutionism and ecotoxicology.
'Professor Nico van Straalen is one of the most recognisable scientists in the Netherlands and a great science communicator. He is published weekly in several large papers, where he presents his impressive knowledge in a form accessible to a vast group of readers', said Prof. Ryszard Laskowski from the JU Institute of Environmental Sciences in his laudatory address.
'Professor van Straalen is also a distinguished academic teacher, lecturing not only at his home university but also at other universities in the Netherlands and around the world. This spring, he visited the Jagiellonian University to teach two great courses in evolution and ecotoxicology. He has supervised theses of numerous university graduates as well as 70 doctoral dissertations, including the works of three doctoral students of the Institute of Environmental Sciences of the Jagellonian University. Professor van Straalen was the co-supervisor of their doctoral proceedings, which became a starting point for these graduates to continue their research in the academic institutions of Canada, the United States and Portugal. The students of Professor van Straalen work in a dozen world countries. Many of his methods have now become a standard in ecotoxicology research and in ecological risk assessment', Prof. Laskowski added.
'I'm very honoured. I consider it not only as a personal achievement, but also as an achievement for our collaboration with the Jagiellonian University. Governments should base their decisions on environment on scientific evidence. We will make sure to provide them with a solid scientific base though our research', said Prof. Nico van Straalen.
Professor Nico van Straalen was born on 27th November 1951 in Berkhout in the Netherlands. In 1970–1979, he studied biology at the Free University of Amsterdam. His lifetime connection with his home university began right from the start of his academic career, when he became a student-assistant teacher. His academic output comprises 273 publications in the JCR journals. The number of citations of the4se works has exceeded 7,850 (with references in about 5,800 scientific articles), with the H-index of 43. In the last few years, the works of Professor van Straalen have been cited more than 500 times per year. Professor van Straalen has also authored 11 books, including the fundamental course book An introduction to ecological genomics and a few essential works in ecotoxicology. He is one of the few scientists who can be regarded as the founders of the contemporary ecotoxicology.
Teaching and learning arrangements in the spring semester 2020/2021
Professor Candan Badem comes to Kraków as the first SAR fellow in Poland
Prof. Jan Potempa awarded the honorary doctorate of the University of Amsterdam
Pompeu Fabra University joins The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities


Have you ever reflected on a hesitation?
Have you ever asked yourself, am I afraid or am I just playing it safe?
I think about this question on the daily. So tonight, I wrote a poem about the difference.
Here is a little poem that will be included in my book (going to self-publish it soon be on the lookout).
To me this is precisely the difference. Safety involves legitimate concerns. For one to not hold their breath while underwater is just crazy. It does not make any sense. However, sometimes as humans we get carried away. We allow the safety to morph into irrational and frightening fears. Hence, when we are living our lives, fear pops up.
It is irrational for one to hold their breath in the shower; however, the feared mind thinks otherwise. Just like when you are underwater, in the shower you are soaked. In the shower the water is weighing you down.
Friends, today I encourage you to not hold your breath in the shower. I pray that you will reflect on all of your actions and spot the difference.


Product prices and availability are accurate as of 2019-04-22 17:53:52 UTC and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on http://www.amazon.com/ at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
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In selected patients, Dr. Hoefflin simulataneously performs an elegant fat grafting procedure to augment or enhance particular facial regions. Both procedures are minimally invasive techniques that allow Dr. Hoefflin to sculpt the face and diminish premature signs of aging. The most common areas for fat grafting are the midface, undereyes, cheeks, lips or nasolabial folds.
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Sony 42.4 MP BSI Exmor Sensor
The 42.4 MP sensor on the A7R II is only marginally higher in resolution compared to its predecessor or its Nikon competitor, the D810 – by only 6.1 MP, which means that the physical size of pixels has not changed that much. And as you will see in the illustration below, the 8.2 MP difference with the Canon 5DS / 5DS R cameras is also not as big as it seems either:
Canon 5DS / 5DS R 50.6 MP 4.14 µ 8688 x 5792
Sony A7R II 42.4 MP 4.51 µ 7952 x 5304
Nikon D810 36.3 MP 4.88 µ 7360 x 4912
Sony A7R 36.3 MP 4.88 µ 7360 x 4912
Sony A7 II 24.3 MP 5.97 µ 6000 x 4000
Sony A7S II 12.2 MP 8.40 µ 4240 x 2832
From the above chart, we can see that the pixel size difference between the first four cameras above 24 MP is actually pretty small – it ranges from 4.14 microns to 4.88 microns, which is less than a micron. The big differences in pixel size are when we go drastically lower in resolution to 24.3 MP or especially 12.2 MP on the Sony A7S, which has a pixel size of 8.40 microns – almost twice bigger in comparison. What does that mean? Well, at pixel-level, i.e. when you are looking at images at 100% view, the camera with the largest pixel size will output the cleanest image, particularly at higher ISOs. That's where the Sony A7S II is unmatched when compared to other cameras. If you are wondering about low vs high resolution cameras, please see my article explaining the advantages and disadvantages of low vs high resolution cameras. And I have also written a detailed article about camera resolution, where you can get a detailed perspective on the effects of camera resolution.
So with the Sony A7R II featuring a high-resolution 42.4 MP sensor, how does that compare to other cameras? Take a look at the below illustration to see where the A7R II stands compared to other modern full-frame sensors:
Sensor Resolution Comparison
As you can see, 42.4 MP is not a huge jump from the 36.3 MP sensor and the difference is also quite small when we look at Canon's 50.6 MP sensor, so the resolution differences between these cameras is not as big as it may seem at first. In fact, we are only dealing with less than 9% difference in image width (8688 vs 7952 pixels).
Now, what does this all mean for such needs as landscape or architecture photography? Well, if you are jumping up from a 24.3 MP sensor, it does represent a big change in overall resolution, but if you are moving up from a 36.3 MP camera, then it is a pretty marginal increase. The more important difference between the A7R II's sensor and its predecessor is not resolution – it is the difference in sensor technology. The Sony A7R II has a backside-illuminated sensor (BSI), which is supposed to deliver better performance at higher ISOs. Take a look at the differences in sensor technology between a conventional and a BSI sensor:
Sony A7R II BSI Sensor
The BSI sensor technology has already been available on smaller cameras, like the Apple iPhone 6 for sometime now and it is the first time the technology is making its way into a full-frame sensor. Because of this change, Sony promises better performance in handling noise and thus has increased its native ISO sensitivity range to ISO 25,600 (the Sony A7R's native ISO was capped at 6,400) – a two stop difference. The big question is, does the A7R II actually deliver a two stop improvement? The answer is provided in the camera comparisons section of this review.
11+7 Bit RAW vs Uncompressed RAW Analysis
Another area that I criticized on the original Sony A7-series cameras was 11+7 Bit Lossy RAW compression, which resulted in banding / posterization issues and weird artifacts, as seen below:
While Sony finally addressed our complaints by providing the ability to shoot true RAW without any weird compression algorithm using the "Uncompressed RAW" option, the solution created another problem – massive files that seriously bog down the camera. I am not exactly sure why Sony decided to go from one end of the extreme to another, but it felt like it was more of a "in your face" type of a response, with Sony highlighting that lossy RAW was the best option in the first place. While having the ability to shoot uncompressed RAW is far better than not having anything, I really hope that Sony will add another option into its camera menu, allowing to shoot in Losslessly Compressed RAW format. Losslessly compressed RAW files are much smaller than uncompressed RAW and if Sony can figure out a way to compress files effectively, that option should not slow down the camera as much.
If you find it unbearable to use uncompressed RAW, you are probably shooting with an older generation SD card that has a very slow write speed. Until Sony comes up with the right solution, my recommendation is to get fast 90 MB/sec+ memory cards in the meantime.
Colors and Dynamic Range
When it comes to colors and dynamic range, the Sony A7R II definitely shines and you can expect to see very impressive results when processing images. If you are a Lightroom user, Adobe has already built Sony camera profiles in the latest version of the software and you can always fine-tune colors to your liking with new profiles using third party tools. The image samples in this review were processed in Lightroom with mostly Camera Standard profile and except for a few images that needed to be taken into Photoshop, I did not spend more than a couple of minutes per image.
As for dynamic range, you have a lot of legroom for tweaking those RAW files in terms of recovering shadows and highlights, even though they are compressed. This is not surprising, because Sony sensors are known to be excellent in this regard. That's why most manufacturers prefer to use Sony sensors in their cameras – their performance is currently unrivaled for consumer products.
Here is a before and after example of an image that I quickly processed in Lightroom:
It was a 30 second exposure after sunset and it turned out to be pretty dark. Recovering the image was easy – I just dialed +2.0 exposure, +50 shadows and dropped highlights down to -50. As you can see there is more than enough information to be able to work with the image. Although at 100% view it is a bit noisy (which is expected after heavy recovery), all the details are still there and I could run a single pass of noise reduction to make the image look good. Although it is not the best example of dynamic range recovery, you can get the idea of the RAW file leverage one gets with Sony sensors…