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text:
My deep-seated, gut-level cultural conservatism
This evening I was browsing Barnes and Noble (which, like Starbucks, should buy an ad here) and happened to look up and see this sign exhorting me to "Discover Great New Writers."
I harrumphed to myself as I passed on, thinking, "If they are new, they are not great."
Which, I realized on another level — the level that listens to everything I say and holds it in scorn — is irrational prejudice. It's me thinking like a medieval man, thinking that all greatness occurred in the past, and if we see a distance, it was only because we stand on the shoulders of giants. Which is irrational — but, let me hasten to add, no more irrational than the idiotic modern idea that each generation is greater and wiser and more virtuous than the last, the foolish idea that just because our technology is smarter, we ourselves are. I utterly reject that modernist prejudice, and should do the same with its complement.
After all, great writers were all new once.
Still, I am hard-pressed to name a living writer of, say, fiction whom I regard as great. I tried, as I walked through the bookstore.
Patrick O'Brian, I thought. But no, he is dead, although his life did overlap mine. Ditto with Douglas Adams. Now, you are wondering that I consider those great, but I do. Matter of taste. O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels are not only, as other reviewers have said, the greatest historical fiction ever, they rank high among all fiction in my estimation. And Adams was the funniest writer of novels since Twain, again in my own necessarily limited estimation.
There is one living novelist I regard very highly, as you can tell from this recent post — John le Carré. But the last of his books that meant much to me was The Night Manager, and that was published in 1993. Although I did think The Constant Gardener was quite good. I just wasn't as fond of it as of his earlier stuff. (Also, it seems to me that as he gets older he gets… preachier, in a predictably political sense. Is it just me?)
I look around me and other people seem to take great delight in current authors. Back when I started an effort to get Columbia to read a book together years ago, we stopped after the first one, because the others on the committee that formed were enthusiastic about getting the sorts of authors who might be induced to come visit and speak. The committee had gone along with me on Fahrenheit 451, but after that they wanted writers that I, reactionary philistine that I am, had not heard of. Some of it, I think, was that they wanted writers who were less male, and white, and mainstream, but mostly they wanted authors who were less dead. And I wasn't having it.
Now, Belinda Gergel's somewhat more successful bid to have the same sort of program is picking books more like what my committee had wanted.
But are they great books? Well, that's in the eye of the reader, isn't it?
John Ashbery: He was a poet, and I didn't know it
My (successful) Quest for George Smiley
Top Five Southern Novels of All Time
Shakespeare, he's in the alley, but Dylan's got a Nobel Prize
Take it easy, y'all — Atticus is still Atticus
What does a 'like' mean, as we slouch toward post-verbalism (if that's what we're doing)?
No, Allen didn't get his 'groove' back with 'Midnight.' But wouldn't it be pretty to think so?
The diminishment of creativity over time
Coming soon: The Alvin Green graphic novel
Stand in the place where you live
This entry was posted in Art, Books, Confessional, Words on December 28, 2011 by Brad Warthen.
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29 thoughts on "My deep-seated, gut-level cultural conservatism"
Steven Davis December 28, 2011 at 10:36 pm
One thing I hate about the bookstores that have turned into libraries… you have to go to the middle of the stack, like selecting a slice of bread out of a loaf, to get a book or magazine that hasn't already been read at least once.
Phillip December 28, 2011 at 11:07 pm
"Greatness" ultimately is tested by time, so in a sense you are right, it's just so much advertising hokum simply to assert that such and such is "great." It's hard to say whose work will really still be read in 100 or even just 50 years' time. I'm not particularly widely read in contemporary fiction (still trying to catch up on classics) but I think there are some pretty good candidates for "greatness" among the living: Roth, for one, Cormac McCarthy comes to mind, Margaret Atwood, Naipaul, Rushdie, Coetzee. And are you counting non-English writers, for whom we must depend on translated versions? Saramago, Murakami? It seems to be a pretty rich time for novelists, and I was interested to see that in the NYT's 10 best of 2011, among the 5 fiction works were two by first-time novelists. Encouraging.
As for the One Book One Columbia thing, I think they're trying to keep a regional focus with the selections so far, which is fine. Obviously the South has a tremendously rich literary heritage and is still producing good writers; anything that helps us remember that is a positive.
Great? who knows, not for us to say ultimately. I'm just glad some people are still out there reading books.
Burl Burlingame December 28, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Pynchon?
Steve Gordy December 29, 2011 at 7:57 am
No writer can survive long enough to be considered "great" in your book, Brad, unless someone takes a chance on them. Are the only great political, business, or religious leaders all dead?
`Kathryn Fenner December 29, 2011 at 10:02 am
Well, Brad, given that you have far more experience with a handful of not-new writers and very little of "new" writers….
Amazon sends me books by mostly new writers to review (not like some fancy reviewer, but like an average reader who wants to know will he or she like this book), and I have found that most are excellent (there is a huge sorting process that takes place before books become part of the program, so this does not mean that new writers on the whole are better). I suggest that BN has to select which new writers to feature, so there is a similar process. I believe, and I'm not the first, that often, first novels are a writer's best shot, and contain the most "truth." You seem to prefer more formulaic, genre works (nothing wrong with that–you are reading for entertainment). I enjoy fiction books with a lot of "truth" in them and find that new writers often hit the nail on the head.
On the other hand, I am quite conservative in my musical tastes–though I have taken the trouble to listen fairly widely within classical and jazz genres. My poor piano teacher has a devil of a time getting me to learn pieces composed after 1791….
doug ross December 29, 2011 at 10:21 am
All those supposed "great" books are so great that the only way you can get anyone to read them is through mandatory requirements in the schools where someone else has to explain how great they are – no matter how dull, obtuse, and pretentious they may be. James Joyce, Flannery O'connor, The Great Gatsby, Dickens, The Scarlet Letter…ad nauseum. Blech!
Jesse S. December 29, 2011 at 11:30 am
Steven, I hate to break this to you, but you actually contracted cooties at the age of 8, when you refused to take your cootie shot.
I'm sorry to say -it's terminal. Medical science doesn't know when, but some day. I'm sorry, I really am.
Brad December 29, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Phillip writes, "I'm not particularly widely read in contemporary fiction (still trying to catch up on classics)…"
Yes! Absolutely! I could have written the same words myself!
Life is so short. I don't have enough time left to read all the greatest literature that's out there (especially because of my penchant for reading the stuff I love over and over), so I feel like I'm throwing away precious time when I spend it reading something new and relatively unproven.
And Kathryn, I do NOT "prefer more formulaic, genre works."
That's exactly the kind of prejudice that needs to be dispelled when referring to le Carre and O'Brian. You have to read them to know what I mean.
So many people of the sort who delight in being up on the latest writers, who pride themselves on their discerning tastes in literature, would disdain spy novelists as being like mystery writers, and O'Brian as a writer of the literary equivalent of "costume dramas," but I submit that such people have not read le Carre and O'Brian, or, if they have retained them and still harbor such prejudice, they are lacking in discernment.
There is much familiarity in O'Brian's novels that arise from the well-regulated nature of life on a sailing ship, and in fact the routine of such ships — certain activities at certain times of the day, menus rigidly set according to the day of the week — is like a character in the novels, a character that soothes the deeply conservative souls of the characters, who tend to like certain things simply because they are used to them.
But against that background, ANYTHING can happen. The plots are as unpredictable as the sea itself, and every one of the novels is strikingly different from the rest. In fact, rather than repeat, they complement each other, and critics tend to speak of them as one, extended, remarkable, even unique, work.
The life aboard ship is cyclical, but the characters move and develop in a linear fashion from one book to the next.
`Kathryn Fenner December 29, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Ah, brad, but what if you are overlooking a writer or genre you might like even more?
@ doug ross (are you the same person as Doug Ross?) — Sorry you don't like or weren't adequately assisted in liking such accessible classics as Flannery O'Connor (A Good Man is hard to Find seems like something you *would* like) and The Great Gatsby (but the rich are not like you and me, are they?). James Joyce is pretty inaccessible, as is the first chunk of the Scarlet Letter. Dickens is over-rated, imho.
Perhaps if you tried some now, you might find you enjoy them. Perhaps you're just not a fiction reader.
Writing that, I get to thinking about one writer I like who IS formulaic — Martin Cruz Smith. He is also, it should be noted, a writer of mysteries.
To begin with, his stories often follow the standard pattern of detective stories (even when the protagonist is not technically a detective): The protagonist is ordered or coerced into investigating a crime. He is deeply reluctant to do so, not least because the case is a political minefield; anything that turns up can be very dangerous to him. But then he gets hooked on the case, and starts pursuing it with obsessive intensity. This happens just as the powers that be tell him to back off. He ignores this, and plunges forward, very nearly to his own destruction. His survival in the end is amazing.
You've read this book many times. Or seen the movie.
Within that structure, there are familiar characters: The protagonist himself, who is a deeply cynical misfit. The sharp-witted and sharp-tongued woman who has an adversarial relationship with the protagonist, but with whom he becomes sexually entangled. The assistant he does not want, who deeply respects authority and is shocked by his cynicism, to the point (sometimes) of turning from admirer of the legendary protagonist to bitter enemy. The rather large woman, a manual laborer, physically strong as a man but with a very womanly tenderness, who steps in to save him at a critical moment (and actually carries him to safety in two novels I recall). The powerful, athletic adversary who could easily beat the protagonist to a pulp (and inevitably does, at some point), but whom the protagonist can't stop himself from antagonizing.
And yet, the books are wonderfully written, and each has a uniqueness — which arises from the setting. Take the Arkady Renko books, for which he is best known. In the first, Gorky Park, he vividly paints the world (then mysterious to Western readers, during the Cold War) of a homicide investigator in the Soviet system. In the next book, the detective has been banished to be a laborer on a fishing factory ship in the Arctic regions. In the next, he finds himself in Munich, dealing with Westerners in the final days of the Cold War. Then, it's Cuba. After that, the radioactive wasteland around Chernobyl.
In each one, the unfamiliar (and most remarkable) character is the highly detailed world in which the protagonist finds himself, and you read on because of that.
And they are beautifully written.
But that's the only favorite writer I can think of who is, book after book, truly formulaic.
Scout December 29, 2011 at 3:08 pm
I am a fantasy junkie and I make no apologies for it. Guy Gavriel Kay is a master of historical fantasy.
Lora December 29, 2011 at 3:31 pm
I had to go to my Audible.com list for you Brad, because, as you now, I'm totally wrapped up in Trollope right now. Though not new, Neil Gaiman and Maeve Binchy are favorites. To me, the best writers not only offer up a good story, but also engage their characters in great conversation. That's why I'm such a fan of Austen and Trollope.
Phillip December 29, 2011 at 3:56 pm
@Doug, one of the great joys available in life is to discover that some of the stuff that one's teachers merely averred was "great" (as opposed to illustrating its greatness, or somehow bringing it to life) really IS great in spite of the boring way it was presented at the time, or perhaps more accurately, reveals something different to the person in midlife as opposed to a twenty-year-old. Doesn't have to be just literature, either. Anything: the natural sciences, languages, music, visual art, etc. And the great thing about arriving at that stage is that one does not have to simply accept a work's greatness but can judge according to one's own taste…so maybe you don't like this one but that one somehow speaks to you more personally.
I guess what I am trying to say is there is such diversity within any art form across so much time, that my fondest hope for anybody would be not to paint everything too broadly with the same brush, and not to have their memories of the unexciting introduction they may have had to certain literature close them off forever from selected avenues of joy and discovery.
Doug Ross December 29, 2011 at 4:12 pm
@kathryn
Greatness should not require explanation. I've seen what my three kids have read in English classes thru high school and college. Most of it is stuff people wouldn't read unless forced to.
Give me John Irving any day over any of them…
Responding to Doug…
Ah! But that's my very point. I think if you looked at what kids are required to read today, it would be very different from the stuff we were required to read, and much closer to the sort of thing that book clubs are into today.
Or perhaps you're referring to the few canonical books still taught, such as the aforementioned Melville…
Steven Davis December 29, 2011 at 4:32 pm
Jesse S. – What are you talking about? I'm just stating that when I buy a book or magazine I don't want to pay for a new book and get one that looks like it came from the library.
YES, Phillip!
I discovered, 40 years late, that "Moby Dick" was pretty awesome.
Although I must confess that, after being fascinated for the first 100 or so pages, I sort kinda misplaced the book and didn't get back to it…
This feels just like school, you know?
But this time, I have a great excuse. Shortly after I wrote that blog post telling everybody I was finally reading Moby Dick, and enjoying it, I got laid off.
That was rather distracting.
@ Doug– I certainly required explanation to comprehend mathematics and many other great areas—and certainly benefited greatly from my education in English Literature at the USC Honors College and upper level courses. Just yesterday, another commentator in this thread explained something to me that significantly enhanced my appreciation for his area, although I have spent more than 40 years studying it.
@ Brad– just because something is genre doesn't mean it's formulaic, or that being formulaic makes it bad–ever listened to any Classical period composers, like Mozart or Haydn–there is a certain formula, but the way they tweak and tease it makes it great. Heck, Wm.Shakespeare adhered to formulas–especially in the sonnets, and not many dispute his greatness–Doug Ross aside. Jane Austen perhaps wrote the first romantic comedies, and I just finished a hoot of a romantic comedy/farce by Sophie Kinsella that was surpassingly enjoyable.
Jesse S. December 29, 2011 at 5:40 pm
Just being silly.
I think I've encountered maybe 2 or 3 book in a book store that were in poor condition.
Magazines are a totally different story, I think I'm more annoyed with people who just leave them on the floor for others to use as a door mat than previous readers.
No, Brad, I am referring to the old stuff that few people actually care to read.
Ralph Hightower December 29, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Google "Randy Pausch". He died a year or two before Steve Jobs did of the same pancreatic cancer.
Randy wrote a book and gave a "Last Lecture" at Carnegie Mellon; the video is available at CMU and YouTube. He was a professor of Computer Science at CMU.
One of Space Shuttle Challenger's astronauts, Christa McAuliffe was fond of saying "I touch the future. I teach."
Sadly, the technology section at Barnes and Noble is lacking. There are plenty of books on how to use programs, like Photoshop, or use devices, like a DSLR or iPhones. But they lack books on creating programs or learning new technologies for development.
It's an age of consumerism, which is what Jobs promoted.
Burl Burlingame December 30, 2011 at 12:30 am
I read Moby Dick in third grade. The reason is a typical military-dependent one. Our base library in Taiwan didn't have a childrens section. All the books were in alphabetical order, and that was the only filing. The first book I ever read was "Treasure Island." I skipped the whole Dick and Jane thing.
On the other hand, I came to "War & Peace" and "Gone With the Wind" late in life, and they are way-cool books.
Cotton Boll Conspiracy December 30, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Brad,
I think it's important to consider that even if you go back, say, to when books began being written in the author's vernacular, such as Dante's Divine Comedy (around 1300), there are likely no more than 100 or 200 individuals whom would generally be classified by the large majority of people as great writers.
That doesn't mean there isn't a whole group of near-greats or very-very goods, but it's like the baseball Hall of Fame in that something like 12,000 men have played the game, all of whom had to be pretty darn good to get to the Majors, but only about 240 made it into the Hall.
So it's not surprising that you, or I, for that matter, would consider there to be few truly great living writers out there today. When they have to go up against the likes of Tolstoy, Dickens, Hemingway, etc., it's pretty tough sledding.
But that doesn't mean talented living writers don't exist and that their works aren't worth reading.
Steve Gordy December 30, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Lately I've been reading Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn as research for my current book project. This is probably not a good thing for one who suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder; the weather's dark enough without my reading material making it worse.
One thing to remember about the older Great Books–educated people were educated in different things than we are, for the most part. I didn't study Greek or Roman literature to any extent in school, and certainly did not read Latin. Also, educated people had a lot less competing for their attention, so could delve deeply and take their time. We want to polish off a book while waiting for our airplane to take off or land….
Nick Nielsen January 1, 2012 at 10:02 pm
The sign didn't say "New Great Writers", did it?
Much ado about nothing, Brad. 😉

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text:
Title 29. LABOR
Chapter 12. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Section 553. Assistant Secretaries; appointment; duties
29 U.S. Code § 553. Assistant Secretaries; appointment; duties
There are established in the Department of Labor nine offices of Assistant Secretary of Labor, which shall be filled by appointment by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Each of the Assistant Secretaries of Labor shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Labor or required by law. One of such Assistant Secretaries shall be an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
(Apr. 17, 1946, ch. 140, § 2, 60 Stat. 91; Pub. L. 87–137, § 1, Aug. 11, 1961, 75 Stat. 338; Pub. L. 91–596, § 29(a), Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1618; Pub. L. 99–619, § 2(b)(1), Nov. 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 3491.)
Provisions of this section which prescribed the basic annual compensation of the Assistant Secretaries were omitted to conform to the provisions of the Executive Schedule. See section 5315 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Section was formerly classified to section 611b of Title 5 prior to the general revision and enactment of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, by Pub. L. 89–554, § 1, Sept. 1, 1966, 80 Stat. 378.
1986—Pub. L. 99–619 substituted "nine offices" for "five offices".
1970—Pub. L. 91–596 increased the number of Assistant Secretaries of Labor from four to five and inserted provision that one of such Assistant Secretaries be an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
1961—Pub. L. 87–137 increased the number of Assistant Secretaries of Labor from three to four.
Amendment by Pub. L. 91–596 effective 120 days after Dec. 29, 1970 see section 34 of Pub. L. 91–596, set out as an Effective Date note under section 651 of this title.
For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of Labor, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of Labor, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 6, of 1950, §§ 1, 2, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1263, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Assistant Secretaries for Administration and Management and Public Affairs
Pub. L. 112–166, § 2(i)(1), Aug. 10, 2012, 126 Stat. 1285, provided that:
"Notwithstanding section 2 of the Act of April 17, 1946 (29 U.S.C. 553), the appointment of individuals to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management and the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs within the Department of Labor, shall not be subject to the advice and consent of the Senate."
References in Other Laws
Pub. L. 99–619, § 2(b)(3), Nov. 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 3491, provided that:
"Any reference in any law, regulation, certificate, directive, or other document to the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment in force on the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 6, 1986] shall be deemed to be a reference to the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training."
Present Incumbent
Pub. L. 99–619, § 2(f)(2), Nov. 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 3492, provided that:
"The incumbent in the position of Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment on the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 6, 1986] may serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training at the pleasure of the President after such date and the amendments made by subsection (b)(2) [amending section 5315 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees] shall apply to such incumbent."
U.S. Code Toolbox


The Dog-Path Garden reaches along the water race between Middle Bridge and Willow Tree Bridge. During my first digging sessions I watched Taj-dog snuffling along the water's edge, poking his nose into the messy grasses. This is how I coined the phrase 'dog-path'.
The building of the first proper bridge opened up a huge new garden area, and my first plans were rather watery. I imagined marginals, swathes of water-loving foliage plants, and so on. But gradually, in small ways, my grand dreams were remodelled.
My original dog-paths were water-side, just wide enough for a streamlined dog to travel along, and thus the garden was named. Rusty, the current Moosey dog, tends to travel in the water, rather than use the dog-path his predecessor designed. I love the different features of the Dog-Path Garden, even if the path itself is a shadow of its former self. Enjoy yourself, but take care not to wobble off the path and into the water - it's usually quite cold!
When a sturdy wooden bridge was built across the water race in 1999, work on the Dog-Path Garden began at once. The old gorse hedge was gone, and the double row of gum trees were felled and cleared away. Goody! I immediately went into full water-feature mode.
The Dog-Path Gardens are always changing, as trees and rhododendrons grow larger each year. Maybe some Pittosporums will be chopped down, or limbed up. Here are my most recent images of the Dog-Path Garden. You'll see that many feature the autumn tree colours. So beautiful!
It's a rare occurrence that I know the proper name of one of my unusual plants. This slowly spreading foliage iris, Iris confusa 'Chengdu', was bought from a small nursery south of Moosey's Garden, in Dunedin. What pretty pale blue flowers!
Possibly the most beautiful small specimen tree in the Moosey garden is a Cercis Forest Pansy. It has wine-red heart shaped leaves which colour spectacularly at the first hint of autumn.
Rusty the dog Likes to come with me when I'm photographing the garden. In autumn that means a lot of trips around the Dog-Path Garden, where the autumn trees and shrubs are changing colour almost daily. It's a beautiful season!
A Cornus (Dogwood) tree has a space by the Dog-Path, sheltered from the southerly winds by existing Pittosporums. My records name it as Cornus florida. These photographs track its growth, and show off its beautiful autumn colours.
Birdbaths in my garden are not very relaxing places for the birds. They have to be more ornamental than functional, with a number of rather athletic cats in residence.
I created the spiral brick courtyard and path in the Dog-Path Garden in autumn, just after the big Christchurch earthquake. The space was airy and light, as the nearby Copper Beech tree was transitioning into leafless winter.
This garden bench, an original rustic beauty, has been in the Dog-Path Garden for years and years. Its overhanging Pittosporum has grown huge, and the Iris japonica has gone forth and multiplied. And finally, after years of being broken-down, the bench is able to be sat on again.
Halfway along the Dog-Path, by the water race, I've installed simple seat, using an old wooden picnic table top. There are sedums planted underneath and a pink Iceberg rose behind.
The Moosey Rhododendron Festival continues into late spring as more new rhododendrons start to flower. In the middle of the Dog-Path Garden a few of these colourful shrubs shelter, snug underneath the limbed-up Pittosporum trees.
It's ironic that two of my worst invasive plants are both Euphorbias. And they are both colonising the Dog-Path Garden. Aargh! Should they stay or should they go?
I love letting the perennial Nicotiana Sylvestris plants self seed throughout the garden. If I don't like their position, they're very easy to remove - I've had to move them from the Dog-Path Garden paths.
It's too easy to be seduced by the beautiful flower colour of spring rhododendrons and summer roses. Let's give the trees in the Dog-Path garden the praise they deserve - like this slow growing Cornus (or Dogwood) with beautifully variegated foliage.
Gradually, sensibly, all my deciduous Azaleas are being relocated underneath the Copper Beech tree in the Dog-Path Garden. This area is shady all summer long. So it's roses out, Azaleas in - sometimes a direct swap of locations.
The main Dog-Path Garden path runs along the water race. The level of water has risen these last years, and anyone walking along this waterside dog-path needs to take care. Don't fall in!
Looking downstream, the water race burbles along past the plants, shrubs, and flaxes of the Dog-Path Garden. This is a busy garden, full of surprises, and worth visiting on a hot summer's day.
A Copper Beech tree is growing slowly but surely in the middle of the Dog-Path Garden. Perhaps I'll still be here gardening in twenty year's time, when it will be majestic and fully mature. As I should be, by then!
Some of the delights of late spring in the Dog-Path Garden are very, very blue! They're lupins, which grow on the top of the small stone wall near the water. Lots of self-seeding goes on - helpful when the mother lupin plants start getting too tired.
Here are two seasonal photographs of the start of the Dog-Path Garden looking downstream towards Middle Bridge. Spring, summer, or autumn - it's impossible to choose one season over another. But I must try and find a summer picture of the bridge, when the Dogwood tree is greener than green.
The Koru sculpture sits in a small area of the Dog-Path Garden, originally with Rhapsody in Blue roses and Rosemary for company. The Koru shape is a stylised fern frond, and symbolises new growth.
Trees in the Dog-Path Garden were chosen for their contrasting leaf colour. So there are light greens, and reds, variegations, exotic and deciduous, some limbed up to give space to the flowering shrubs underneath.
The Dog-Path Garden is a real mixture. Much of it is a shrub and tree-filled woodland. But there's an open sunny area, just past the brick koru courtyard. In here I've planted roses. I just couldn't resist!
Cornflowers, roses, and assorted foliage plants might jostle for space in the Dog-Path Garden, but the spiky New Zealand Phormiums, or flaxes, dominate the look of the borders.
Two varieties of long-stemmed sedums flop over the little stone wall by the dog-path and its seat. One has pink flowers and wine coloured foliage, while the other has subtle variegations of cream and pale green. It has creamy-white flowers.
Further along the grass side of the Dog-Path Garden I've planted a Cotinus - we also call this a Smoke Bush. The leaves are a deep purply-wine colour, and are shown here in a stunning close-up photograph.
Here are the clumps of variegated Iris Japonica which I've used to fill in some spaces between the old tree stumps in the Dog-Path Garden.
My web-master son loves taking close-up photographs of the garden. He is crazy about insects and insists on photographing them at every opportunity. It's sensible to let ones web-master show-off - from time to time!
While the Dog-Path Garden matures I'm happy to fill it up with a mixture of all sorts of plants. Two bargain bin perennials, a Gaura and a purple Verbena are doing really well here.
My early photographs of the Dog-Path Garden naturally contain pictures of the early Moosey cats. They helped me so much in my garden, sitting on the stumps and wandering along the paths.


text:
Cathedral of the Pines:
From inclusiveness to intolerance,
and finally to exclusivism
This is an essay about the history of religious tolerance exhibited by the Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge NH. If you are interested in visiting the Cathedral and are interested in its location, services and events, please consult their official web site at: http://cathedralpines.com/
Throughout this essay, references to WADL, a Neopagan education group, have been replaced by The Alternative Religions Educational Network (AREN), WADL's successor organization.
The parents Lt. Sanderson Sloane, placed their scenic parcel of land near Rindge, NH into a private trust, as a memorial to their son who was killed in World War II. It was later converted into a non-profit private foundation, called the Cathedral of the Pines. It offers a spectacular panoramic view of New Hampshire's Monadnock mountains. According to some of the Cathedral literature it is "...a place of spiritual nourishment for people of all faiths and a national memorial to patriotic sacrifice....In 1957, by unanimous vote, the Congress of the United States recognized the [Cathedral's] Altar of the Nation as a national memorial to all American war dead." The altar is built from stones from every state in the union and soil from each country where Americans fought. Many groups, including members of the Baha'i Faith, Hindus, and Quakers have held services there. So have many non-religious groups, including the Alcoholics Anonymous, American Legion, the Boy Scouts of America, the Masonic Order, National Grange, Rosicrucians (a non-religious metaphysical order), etc. It has been in business for 50 years and receives about 100,000 visitors a year.
The initial event exhibiting religious intolerance:
In 1995-APR Diane DesRochers, New England Regional Director for AREN, and High Priestess of the Temple of AppleMoon Coven and Teaching Grove, Inc. of Groton MA asked to schedule a handfasting ceremony at the site. This is similar in the Wiccan religion to marriage in other faiths. Permission was rejected on the basis that the Cathedral believed that their religion, Wicca, was not recognized as a religion by other mainstream faith groups.
Ms. DesRochers wrote the Cathedral, formally requesting their reasons for being denied rental of the facility. The Cathedral responded by mailing her a copy of a page from their operating manual. It stated that "...services of worship, etc., must be conducted by clergy who are graduates of an accredited school of theology with at least a Master's level degree and who are ordained in a recognized religious process." This requirement seemed unduly restrictive, excluding many Fundamentalist and other Evangelical pastors who often only hold a diploma from a Bible school. It would also exclude Buddhist and Hindu priests, Native American elders, etc. Quakers, who have no clergy, would also presumably be refused access -- which indeed was hardly the case!
An officer of the Cathedral* had labeled Wiccans and Pagans a "Godless lot" who were trying to make a mockery of the Cathedral and of "Almighty God." He has since denied making such a statement. 5 In an attempt to dissipate any stereotypical misapprehensions they might have had, AREN-New England, along with other area Wiccans and in collaboration with Art Ketchen of Nashua, NH, president of First Amendment Legal Defense Fund: Citizens Against Censorship, invited the Cathedral's executive director and trustees, along with other area clergy, to attend a town meeting where they could address all their concerns in open dialogue. The hope was that, by witnessing a Bardic Circle, they might be impressed with the beauty of the music and rituals. They might also understand more accurately the beliefs and practices of the Witches. Media representatives, one Quaker, several Unitarians and many Neo-Pagans came to the meeting, but the Cathedral trustees and executive director declined to attend.
In order to show that Wiccans were indeed recognized by other faiths and by the federal and state governments as well, AREN submitted:
The Department of the Army's "Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Religions: A Handbook Supplement for Chaplains, compiled by Dr. Gordon Melton, a Methodist minister and director of the Institute for the Study of American Religions. This book contains a chapter on Wicca;
A letter from Dr. Melton, giving a brief description and history of the rise of the Craft in this country and his acknowledgment of Wicca as a legitimate spiritual path;
A copy of Public Law 100-606, popularly referred to as the "Genocide Convention Implementation Act of 1987" ("the Proxmire Act");
A copy of programs and schedules from the 1993 Parliament of World Religions to which elders in the Wiccan and Neo-Pagan Community were invited. Notable among the groups offering presentations were Circle Sanctuary with Selena Fox, Covenant of the Goddess, and EarthSpirit with Andras & Dierdre Corbin;
A letter from Pete "Pathfinder" Davis, a Witch, who is founder and arch priest of Aquarian Tabernacle Church which has chartered covens throughout the United States. He is president of the statewide Interfaith Council of Washington;
A copy of a letter from the office of the MA secretary of state, acknowledging Temple of AppleMoon Coven & Teaching Grove, Inc. as a non-profit religious organization and Ms. DesRochers as a recognized clergyperson authorized to perform legally binding marriages.
The Manchester Union Leader, a nationally know regional paper, in an amazing display of religious intolerance and ignorance, blasted Ms. DesRochers in particular and all Witches and Pagans in general. In an apparent reference to Wiccans, followers of Native Spirituality, Hindus, Buddhists, etc., the editor stated that "...Pagans, people who are neither Christians nor Muslims nor Jews and who indeed have no religion, obviously have a right to conduct their heathen ceremonies. But they have no right to mock people of religious faith by conducting them in houses of God...Is this discrimination? Sure, but not in the invidious sense of depriving witches of some legitimate right, such as the right to venerate and worship syzygies or kumquats." [A syzygy is an astronomical term which refers to orbiting bodies; when used to refer to the moon, it would define the times of new and full moons. Wiccans do not worship the time of the new and full moon; they simply conduct their rituals at those times. A kumquat is an edible fruit.] Shortly after the editorial was printed - after the paper had been deluged by outraged callers and letter-writers - its author took early retirement.
Involvement of the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights:
An apparent breakthrough occurred in March of 1996 when a meeting was held involving New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights investigator Katherine Daly. Also present were Diane DesRochers, acting for AREN-New England, and Gretchen Ziegler, a Cathedral representative, accompanied by their lawyer. The Cathedral made a compromise offer that would allow access by Wiccans and other Pagans to the site. They didn't want Wiccans using their consecrated areas, like the Altar of the Nation, but were willing to give them a choice of several undeveloped sites on Cathedral property which local Pagans could then clear and consecrate for themselves. Several weeks later, Katherine sent both sides first-draft copies of a formal agreement for study and comment. Willing also to compromise, AREN-New England's objections were few and minor, such as asking them to refer in the agreement to "Witches, Pagans and other Earth-centered religions" rather than just "Witches and Pagans."
But then, in another complete about-face, the Cathedral's trustees voted to continue refusing any access at all, hoping to legalize their decision by changing their by-laws and reincorporating as a religious organization. They argued that the memorial was founded upon a belief in "God Almighty" and they alone would decide which religions could worship there. An official* of the Cathedral later told a reporter for the Manchester Union Leader that under their new charter they would, from now on, only be granting access to those who "worship the god of Abraham." This would presumably include Jews, Christians, Muslims and followers of the Baha'i faith - but few others! Followers of Buddhism, Deism, Hinduism, Jainism, Santeria, Shinto, Taoism, Vodun, Unitarian Universalists, Zoroastrianism, and hundreds of other religious would be excluded. By taking this action, the trustees converted their "national memorial to all American war dead" to a memorial only to those soldiers who died in battle who happened to follow an Abrahamic religion -- one which reveres Abraham as a patriarch.
Preliminary finding of the Human Rights Commission:
On 1996-SEP-23, one of the Human Rights Commissioners issued a preliminary finding. They concluded that the cathedral was a war memorial open to the public, not a church, and could not legally discriminate against Wiccans and Pagans. Letters were sent to both parties, instructing each to submit suggestions for an acceptable agreement. The New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union waited in the background, prepared to resolve the matter in court if necessary. EREN's response was essentially the same as suggested in the Commission's original agreement. The Cathedral suggested Ms. DesRochers drop all charges!
A Unitarian Universalist minister living in nearby Peterboro, NH published an open letter to the Cathedral in a local newspaper, The Monadnock Ledger. In it, he asked the trustees to remove his name from their list of participating clergy, announcing that, so long as they pursued their discriminatory policies, he would no longer officiate at any Cathedral ceremonies. According to an Associated Press article, a Boston College professor had also told Cathedral trustees, unless they reopened their doors to ALL religions once more, he was demanding return of his father's portrait and Congressional Medal of Honor which he had donated to their war memorial museum.
Policy reversal by the Cathedral:
Bending to this and similar pressure from a number of outraged citizens, Cathedral trustees finally decided to return to the intent of the original incorporation, allowing equal access to Cathedral facilities for persons of ALL faiths, including Earth-centered religions! Less than a month before the final hearing date of 1997-MAR-4, set by the Commission, Cathedral trustees suddenly and unexpectedly announced to the Human Rights Commission that they were backing away from their previous exclusive stance. They also confided to Katherine Daly, that plans were in the works to host "an interfaith educational conference."
A public signing of agreement papers was held on Tuesday, 1997-MAR-4 at the Nashua (NH) City Hall Auditorium with Members of the media present. The signing was amicable - the best of all possible outcomes. Diane DesRochers, speaking for AREN-New England, offered whatever volunteer help she could muster to the planning, publicity and execution of the Cathedral's proposed interfaith conference. She also announced that AREN-New England would in turn be hosting a memorial gathering at the Cathedral on the weekend after Memorial Day (USA) in 1997 to remember Wiccans, other Neo-pagans and followers of other Earth-Centered religions who have served in the armed forces of their respective nations.
William "Chip" Strickland, the Cathedral's lawyer, said "The cathedral will be open to people of all faiths." Diane DesRochers, of AREN-New England and High Priestess of AppleMoon Coven in Groton, MA, said that the decision of the cathedral's trustees was "...extremely appropriate...It is agreeing to allow us equal access with all other faiths."
Not everyone was happy with the decision to admit all faiths to the cathedral. Rev. Benjamin Swan, pastor of the Monadnock Full Gospel Church in Rindge, said allowing Witches "...is so openly just against Christian values, against family values. It's a very sad thing."
Excerpts from the Settlement Agreement:
The New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights, Cathedral of the Pines Foundation and Ms. Diane DesRochers signed a NHCHR settlement agreement PAR 5596-95. Key sections are:
4b: The Cathedral will assure access to the Cathedral, for individual and corporate worship to members of the Wicca Religion, as well as other religions, subject to reasonable fees, the rules of the Cathedral, and the public laws. The Cathedral's fees and rules shall be applied without regard to the religion of any party or group seeking access to the Cathedral.
5b(i): Both parties acknowledge and agree that...Those Wiccans and neo-Pagans who are to conduct services at the Cathedral, whether public or private, must be recognized as qualified clergy or the equivalent thereof under the standards of their faith and any applicable state law.
The Cathedral's Board issued a statement at the time that the agreement was signed. It said in part:
"We, the Board of Trustees of Cathedral of the Pines Foundation, reaffirm our founding principle stating that Cathedral of the Pines shall be 'a place where all people may worship without regard to religious denomination'. We want the Cathedral to be a place where we all act according to the ideals that define us as a nation. Further, we want the Cathedral to be a place that celebrates the values we all share in common, that allows us to accept differences and that promotes a community whose members strive to understand and respect one another.
Finally, we want to express two hopes. The first is that the community we serve will understand why we have taken this position and will support us. The second is that this community forgive us for our role in generating a discussion which included too many sparks of hatred and misunderstanding. Those of our words and actions that contributed to this result are not worthy of a place with the ideals which we represent.
AREN Memorial Circle
The Alternative Religions Education Network-New England (AREN-New England) organized a "Memorial Circle to Remember Witches and Pagans as well as followers of other Earth-centered spiritual paths who have stood in military service to their homelands." It was planned for Sunday, 1998-MAY-31 at the Cathedral of the Pines, NH, but had to be delayed, until AUG-2 because of extreme weather conditions. Diane DesRochers, New England Regional Director for AREN toured the Cathedral's facilities with Bill Sloane, chairman of their board of trustees, in order to choose the best location for the memorial Circle. They jointly agreed to create on the Cathedral grounds "a wild place, a grove where wildflowers and herbs could grow in a natural setting, a place where visitors could walk a pathway among them in silent meditation."
Ms. DesRochers commented: "The site for the grove has been chosen. It is close to the main parking area, just off a paved pathway and will be handicap accessible. No trees will need to be felled, there already is a natural open area where we will be creating a small labyrinth in the shape of the Tao symbol. A pathway, marked out in stones will meander through the grove, converging on the Tao labyrinth. Wildflowers and herbs will be planted throughout the grove area."
Reversion to Judeo-Christian exclusivity:
A visitor to this website sent us an update on the status of the Cathedral of the Pines. It seems that the massive ice storm of 2008-DEC destroyed most of the trees, leaving it no longer a natural cathedral. The Wiccan site was bulldozed and no longer exists.
The Cathedral of the Pines is now a more formal garden type amphitheatre with mainly Judeo-Christian symbols and monuments. In the spring of 2009. our visitor reported that:
"... the Good Karma faith flags posted in the inside worship area were obscured and a Hindu painting once ordaining the area has been removed."
Sadly, a once innovative natural cathedral recognizing the sacrifice of soldiers of all religions has reverted to a display observing only the sacrifices of Judeo-Christian military. Pity. Such a lost opportunity.
Author's comment:
The Cathedral started out as a noble concept: a spiritual place where persons and groups of all religious faiths could come together. It mirrored warfare itself: an environment in which soldiers of all faiths fought together against a common enemy. Shrapnel, bullets and high explosives killed Baptists and Wiccans, Atheists and Episcopalians, Buddhists and Lutherans without first inquiring of their religion. This Cathedral was intended to be a memorial to all. To have denied representatives of non-Abrahamic faiths access to this memorial is to devalue their fellow worshippers' supreme sacrifice. They also died so that others might live freely. Religious freedom is one of the most important freedoms that we enjoy. The trustees' initial decisions were profoundly disrespectful of the religious diversity of the American people. It is encouraging that, under threat of a lawsuit and pressure from persons of many religions, they decided to restore the original inclusive nature of the Cathedral. It is sad that they have largely reverted to their original policy.
* We have withheld the name of the official because of threat of legal action.
Diane Des Rochers, "The Farmer, a Mule and a Two-by four: An Update on AREN's Battle Against the Pagan-Phobic Discriminatory Policies of Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge, NH, Witches' Anti-Discrimination League, P.O. Box 384, Groton, MA 01450-0384.
Jim Finnegan, "The Pagans Are Peeved", Editorial, Manchester (NH) Union Leader, 1995-JUN-29
Katharine Webster, "Nondenominational cathedral agrees witches may worship", Associated Press, 1997-MAR-3
The Cathedral of the Pines' mailing address is: Cathedral of the Pines Foundation, 75 Cathedral Entrance, Rindge, NH 03461. Contributions are tax deductible in the US. Their official web site is at: http://cathedralpines.com/ Their Email address is [email protected]
Private Email to the OCRT.
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text:
Twirlstars' huge thank you
PUBLISHED: 15:19 27 January 2009 | UPDATED: 22:56 15 June 2010
On behalf of everyone at the Honiton Twirlstars, I would like to thank all the kind shopowners who have donated draw prizes over the past year. The money raised is going towards new uniforms and equipment for our troupes and towards the cost of transport
On behalf of everyone at the Honiton Twirlstars, I would like to thank all the kind shopowners who have donated draw prizes over the past year. The money raised is going towards new uniforms and equipment for our troupes and towards the cost of transporting the girls to competitions, fetes and carnivals. None of this would be possible to do without our local bus company, Crudge Coaches. We would like to thank Mr and Mrs Crudge and their daughters, Nicki and Laura, along with our lovely bus drivers, Lorraine and Mike, who always make sure we get to our destination safe and on time.We have been very lucky this year to be sponsored by Mr Capon, of Otter Windows, who has supplied us with fleece jackets to keep us warm this winter. We would like to thank Stags auctioneers for their generous donation of the cattle market for our car boot sales (starting again in June).We also received donations from South West Water and Mr Marker of the Coombe Estate Trust. Our troupe had light-up batons for Honiton Carnival. We would like to thank Sue Higgs and the Lyme Regis Majorettes, who saved the day by loaning us some when we had supply setbacks.Thank you to Mr and Mrs Alan Rowe for all your support and your donation - it was great fun cheering you on your way in March 2008. Sadly, we have had to say goodbye to a few of our committee members this year - Amanda Pugsley, Tina Nidd and Sharon Wilson, who have moved on to new ventures. Thank you for all your hard work and support over the past three years and we wish you every success for the future and look forward to seeing you next carnival season.We would also like to thank all our parent helpers Abbe, Emma, Nick, Nicki, Maria, Paul and Trudy who helped with fundraising and also at carnivals; Mark Polkey, Martin Enticott and Paul Inkpen, our roadies for the 2008 Carnival season, along with Aaron, Andy, Lisa Rachel and Rhonda, our carnival walkers ensuring the girls are safe at all times.And finally I would like to thank our majorettes and their parents for all their efforts. Without such a good team, we would not have gone as far as we have.Dawn EnticottChairpersonHoniton Twirlstars


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GPO's longstanding federal printing monopoly may be history
By Timothy Sprehe
For federal printing, the stuff hit the fan May 31.
That's the day Walter Dellinger, assistant attorney general and head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, issued a memorandum to the General Services Administration titled "Government Printing Office Involvement in Executive Branch Printing." Dellinger's opinion, in a nutshell, is: "Executive branch departments and agencies are not obligated to procure printing by or through GPO" because federal printing laws are unconstitutional.
Back in 1993 the Joint Committee on Printing decided to close down GSA's Centralized Field Reproduction and Printing Services, whose 17 printing and copying centers were peddling their wares to other agencies throughout the country.
JCP revoked the centers' charters, ordered them closed by the end of the year and instructed GSA to deliver all equipment to GPO.
GSA's lawyers had maintained that GSA has general authority to provide printing services to other agencies. From a legal standpoint, GSA felt it was on safe ground in selling its services around the government.
When JCP dismissed GSA's legal opinions, GSA wrote to the attorney general asking for a legal analysis of the constitutional implications of the involvement of GPO in executive branch printing and duplicating. GSA wanted to know whether GPO could undertake any decision-making role in printing for executive branch agencies and what liability contracting officers might run if they acted contrary to JCP and GPO dicta.
The new DOJ opinion invokes the doctrine of separation of powers, which says the legislative branch makes the laws, the executive branch carries them out, and the two must not trespass upon one another's powers.
The legislature exercises its powers by making laws and must not attempt to administer them. The executive exercises its powers by administering the laws and must not attempt to make them. When the two branches disagree, the third branch of government, the courts, adjudicates the difference.
Printing executive branch documents is an executive function. Because GPO is a legislative agency, an arrangement that calls for GPO to control executive branch printing violates the separation of powers and is therefore unconstitutional.
DOJ is the executive branch's lawyer, so the opinion is telling agencies they need have no fear if they buy their printing from sources other than GPO. DOJ goes a step further by considering what might happen to a contract officer who signs off on a non-GPO printing procurement: "We perceive little or no risk of liability or sanction to contracting officers who act consistently with this opinion."
This legal opinion holds the potential to blow federal printing wide open. Agencies now have a license to buy their printing from the least expensive and best source, whether it's GPO or the local Kinko's.
The Office of Management and Budget could now remove printing as the sole exception to the policy in OMB Circular No. A-76, Performance of Commercial Activities.
The federal document sales program operated by GPO's superintendent of documents depends on GPO's ability to ride agency print orders coming through GPO for low-cost copies. The federal depository library program also depends on documents flowing through GPO for its supply source.
These two programs have already been hit by the fact that many electronic publications such as CD-ROMs are originating in executive agencies and do not come through GPO.
When the print orders finally stop coming through GPO, document sales and the federal depositories are going to be in even bigger trouble, if not total chaos.
I stand up and cheer at the possible breakup of GPO's printing monopoly. In my view, the existence of GPO as the monopoly provider of federal printing is arguably the longest running, legally condoned mismanagement scandal in the history of U.S. government.
At the same time, one must acknowledge that some agencies continue to receive excellent assistance from GPO. For some kinds of repetitive jobs, GPO's services apparently cannot be beat. I hope the agencies that want to can continue to enjoy this service.
But if we assume agencies will begin to exercise free choice in buying printing, GPO stands a good chance of closing its doors sometime soon for lack of business.
When this happens, the government will have to invent new machinery, appropriate to our electronic age, for selling government documents because the superintendent of documents does represent one-stop shopping, and that is valuable enough to retain.
The government will also have to invent a contemporary version of the federal depository library system in order to guarantee that the public, throughout the country, has access to information about the workings of its government.
Let's hope that none of the new inventions entails giving some agency a monopoly over government information distribution.
Sprehe is president of Sprehe Information Management Associates, Washington, D.C. He can be reached via the Internet at jtsprehe@intr.net. This column can be read on FCW's home page at http://www.fcw.com.


The Banting Building offers high quality learning facilities for our engineering students, housing our engineering faculty and facilities in one central location. You'll find classrooms, labs and workshops here. The building is named in honour of E. Angus Banting, the first Professor of Agricultural Engineering at the NSAC (1937-52).


text:
Ogonnelloe () is a civil parish in east County Clare, Ireland, situated on the R463 regional road between Scariff and Killaloe and in the surrounding hills. It forms part of the Catholic parish of the same name.

Location
The parish is in the barony of Tulla.
It is  northwest of Killaloe on the road to Scarriff.
It lies on the south side of Scariff bay, which opens into Lough Derg.
Most of the parish lies in a valley, with high hills in the background.
The parish covers .
Most of the land is suitable for farming, but there is some mountain bog.
As of 1837 there was the ruins of an old church at Ballybrohan, and the ruins of Cahir castle on a small island about  from the shore.

Townlands are Aughinish, Ballybran, Ballybroghan, Ballyheefy, Ballyhurly, Ballylaghnan, Ballynagleragh, Bealkelly (Eyre), Bealkelly (Purdon), Caher, Carrowcore, Carrowena, Carrowgar, Islandcosgry, Rahena Beg and Rahena More.

People
Dr. Joseph Stuart, deceased, former President of the GAA (1958–1961)

References

External links
 Ogonnelloe hurling club
 Ogonnelloe national school

Townlands of County Clare
Populated places on the River Shannon
Civil parishes of County Clare
Parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Bleeding – Normal oozing may occur for up to 24hours or more following surgery and is controlled by firm biting pressure on gauze pads placed over the tooth socket. Keep gauze packs in mouth for 1-2hours or until bleeding stops. If bleeding is brisk and fills the mouth quickly, call the number listed below.
Swelling – Swelling and sometimes bruising is common after surgery. The maximum swelling, pain and jaw stiffness normally occurs 2-3days after surgery. Apply ice packs fifteen minutes on and then fifteen minutes off until bedtime the day of surgery and the day after. This will keep the swelling to a minimum. Also, keep your head elevated until bedtime.
Pain – The greatest amount of discomfort is in the first 6-8 hours after surgery. Never take pain medication on an empty stomach. Take one pain tablet immediately after you receive your prescription along with a glass of fluids then follow directions for further medication. If itching or a rash develops, stop taking all medications and call the number listed below immediately. If a dull pain along with an earache starts on the 3rd or 4th day call for an appointment immediately.
Muscle Soreness – Difficulty in opening the jaws is common after any extraction but particularly 2nd or 3rd molar extractions. Anti-inflammatory medication, such as Advil, helps greatly. Rest is ideal for any muscle soreness and a soft diet will decrease problems. Moist heat on the area can be used after 36 hours.
Mouth Care – No rinsing or smoking for 24 hours following surgery. The day after surgery, rinse with a glass of warm water mixed with one teaspoon of salt five times a day for at least a week. You should brush and floss as usual, avoiding surgical sites. The corners of your mouth may dry and crack. Keep them moist with a petroleum based gel.
Diet – It is important to maintain good nutrition following surgery. Eat a lukewarm, soft diet the day of surgery. Do not drink through a straw. Eat whatever you can the day after surgery. Drink as much fluids as you can for the next few days.
Infection – If swelling or discomfort worsens after the 4th day following surgery along with a foul taste, fever, or difficulty swallowing, contact the number listed below immediately.
IF FOR ANY REASON YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR CONDITION, NOTIFY YOUR DENTIST.


text:
"Drought affected the crop varieties we used to grow. It also increased attacks by pests and diseases, and we did not know how to manage them. One could plant but not harvest at all," says Salum Lipeni, a farmer from Lindi, Tanzania.
"I was spending much time to plant on a big farm size, but I harvested very low yields," added a farmer Paulo Masadu from Dodoma.
Paulo Masadu, a farmer from Dodoma
Climate change is currently a serious issue that affects many areas of life, including human and economic development; agriculture is one of the sectors most affected.
Yet agriculture is key for economic growth and income and food for millions of people in many developing countries. However, another group of farmers is celebrating new knowledge gained on how to cope with climate change.
"I have adopted the contour technology on my farm so that I can have rainwater for my crops and have a higher yield for food. I also use improved seed varieties," says Harieth Mwendi, a farmer in Dodoma.
"I like this farming a lot, especially the tied ridges technology because even with few rains, one can manage to harvest compared to our traditional farming where we used to lose all the crops," says Monica Meshack.
These farmers are beneficiaries of a project seeking to build capacity in the country to implement climate-smart agriculture, which enables agriculture to increase productivity, become resilient to climate change(adaptation), and where possible, contribute to efforts to slow down climate change (mitigation.)
The project funded by the United States Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has brought together various experts to build capacity in the country to educate farmers on climate-smart agriculture that is specific to their agricultural zones and in line with climate/weather forecasts. Technical support is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is one such partner working to identify the best-bet agricultural practices and technologies to withstand climate change in collaboration with stakeholders and demonstrate what is appropriate for the regional production system.
IITA has established field demonstration plots in various agroecological zones, including Unguja, Pemba, and Lindi for Coastal Region, Iringa Region for the highlands, and Dodoma and Morogoro regions for the semi-arid zones.
IITA is demonstrating climate-smart agriculture technologies and practices to the farmers. These include improved varieties that are drought tolerant and water and soil conservation technologies such as chololo pits, tied ridges, and terraces The project is also working with farmers to help them try out these practices and technologies in their fields to validate them.
The Nghumbi village chairperson, Yona Nashon, noted that the farmers have accepted the CSA practices and technologies because of the benefits seen in their semi-arid lands.
Yona Nashon, Nghumbi village chairperson
"These technologies help farmers to be resilient to climate changes which affect our region. You will find a farmer planting on a small farm size but producing a lot of yields compared to those practicing traditional farming."
Currently, the project is implemented in a total of nine mainland and Zanzibar districts, and has provided training to over 1,500 hundred farmers. The project is implemented by IITA in collaboration with the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
climate changeTanzania
By Evans Samuel
Evans Samuel
Rwandans benefit from IITA Women's Group scholarship for the first time
Africa RISING Project leads take part in Sustainable Intensification Cross-Learning Tour