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How is the family represented in American horror films of the 1970s? Part 5
I have decided to post my dissertation on the representation of the family in American horror films of the 1970s in full over a series of posts. I hope that one day it may be of some vague use to someone somewhere somehow.
Part 1 of my dissertation on the representation of the family in American horror films of the 1970s is here. Part 2 on the monstrous families of films such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes is here. Part 3 on those charming rape-revenge films of the 1970s is here. Part 4 on the monstrous children of films like The Exorcist and The Omen is here.
Part 5: Monstrous Parents
'The horror film has obliquely moved from the representation of children as terrors to children as terrorized…' (Sobchack, 1987, p.181)
In the later years of the decade, reactionary horror returned with a vengeance in films such as John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) and Ridley Scott's Alien (1979). Monstrous parents were not new to the horror films of the 1970s, as Brottman (1996, p.18) points out, 'In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre… traditional values are refuted and negated by monstrous parent figures that destroy children.' However the parent figures of the later films are generally reactionary representations as Robin Wood argues of Halloween (1978) and Barbara Creed argues of Alien (1979). Carpenter's Halloween (1978) is the story of Michael Myers and his attempts to kill babysitters on Halloween night. He has just returned from a long stay in a mental hospital for killing his sister many years previously. Scott's Alien (1979) is the story of a group of people trying to survive a trip through space with a savage alien on board their space ship.
Halloween (1978) is seen by most to be the beginning of the 'stalker' film cycle as Vera Dika called it. She argued that 'parents, teachers, psychiatrists, or policemen. In the stalker film […] these traditional authority figures have lost their power…' (Dika, 1987, p.91). Michael's psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis, is represented as being utterly powerless to stop Michael's killing spree. The doctor is always behind Michael; he is shown inspecting a car and the clothes Michael has abandoned. He tells people 'don't underestimate him' and 'nobody listened'. There are numerous scenes of the doctor and the policeman searching houses and streets that Michael has already been to. In addition to this, the policeman does not even listen to the doctor the first time he warns him of the threat. The cop is also represented as a father who has no control over his daughter. In one scene his daughter is rude and disobedient towards him after she has put a cigarette out only moments before. In this scene the cop also blames children for the grave robbing and shoplifting that occurs around Halloween. Parents are also shown as being powerless later in the film where the little boy pulls out hidden comic books that his parents do not like him reading and the scene where a couple have a post-coital cigarette on one of the parent's bed.
As a result of this powerlessness of parents, Williams (1996, p.211) argues 'The monster now represents the return of a patriarchy violently punishing the younger generation.' Michael is first seen in his hometown driving a police car as he watches the young women. The camera is in the back of the car behind the bars suggesting that Michael is punishing these young people, as the police should be doing. Michael also takes the traditional fatherly role of stopping the family dog from barking when he kills it. The girls in the film are shown as liberated in that they talk about, sleep with and ask boys to dance with the exception of Laurie, the final girl who survives because she is a virginal, traditional female who is a good babysitter, unlike her friends. At the climax of the film, it is Laurie who protects the two children and nearly kills Michael. In addition to this, Michael arranges a dead girls body in front of the gravestone of his sister suggesting that he has killed them both for having sex and that he represents the return of patriarchy and the death of female sexuality.
Similarly Wood (1987, p.80) argues 'the monster… has become essentially a superego figure, avenging itself on liberated female sexuality or the sexual freedom of the young…'. Michael is always watching when bad things are happening; he is represented as an omnipresent and omniscient force. This is most clearly shown in the final shots of the empty house with the sound of Michael's breathing over the top. He sees the boy at the start of the film getting dressed and leaving the house after having sex and the audience sees this through his eyes. Michael is also shown watching the house as the parents leave, suggesting he is waiting to take over their duties of oppressing the young. He is always in the background or foreground of the shots, depending on where the people he is watching are in the frame. If the young characters talk about sex, Michael appears, behind a bush or in a doorframe. He is often somewhere in the frame watching as they drink, smoke and have sex.
Sobchack (1987, p.184) notes that 'Father is the synchronic repressed who, first powerfully absenting himself, returns to terrify the family in the contemporary horror film'. As a little boy, Michael stabs his naked sister with a large phallic knife suggesting incestuous desire. He is dressed in a clown suit and holds the knife demonstrating the corruption of innocence in that, his repressed sexuality has been awakened by seeing his sister have sex. The doctor describes Michael as 'purely and simply evil'. He also says Michael 'hasn't spoken for fifteen years' suggesting that he is full of repressed hatred and sexual thoughts that are confused in his mind, hence his wish to stab/penetrate people. 'Michael's body has attained maturity, his mind remains frozen in infantile fury…' (Clover, 1996, p.76). The camera is often positioned behind Michael and the entire opening shot is from Michael's point-of-view suggesting that the filmmaker wants the viewer to empathise with Michael and therefore confront their own repressed desires. Michael's white mask even appears from complete darkness in one shot suggesting he represents repressed desires emerging from the unconscious mind. In addition to this, the little boy refers to his fear of the 'boogeyman' throughout the film, a fear that adults have repressed. However this fear returns with the return of Michael, the return of the repressed.
The alien in Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) can also be seen as the return of the repressed. It has been argued that it represents male fears of female equality, male rape, castration, and male pregnancy. Creed (1993, p.23) argues 'The unacceptable, monstrous aspect of woman is represented in two ways: Mother as an omnipresent archaic force linked to death and Mother as the cannibalistic creature represented through the alien as fetish-object.' She describes the openings of the alien craft as vaginal and the tunnel in the film that leads to the room full of eggs is clearly meant to look organic and therefore represent the fallopian tubes leading to the ovary. In addition to this, the alien is phallicised with its protruding mouth, sharp pointy teeth and large phallic head. This shows the alien as a fetish object as it denies lack in the mother figure. The alien mother is also linked to death in that it lives to kill and even its blood is a defence mechanism that eats through the ship like acid.
In addition to this, the spaceship is also referred to as 'Mother' as this is what the ship's computer is called by the crew. Creed (1996, p.50) argues by the end of the film 'the "mother's" body has become hostile; it contains the alien whose one purpose is to kill and devour all of Mother's children'. At first the ship is represented as the mother as it wakes the crew from their sleep. The crewmembers are kept in little pods that are all connected to the ship in the centre. When they need to communicate with 'Mother', they individually enter a little room full of lights. The lights represent the undivided attention of 'Mother' to each of her 'children'. However once the crew disconnect from the mother ship in a smaller vessel, they find the alien and bring it back with them onto the mother ship.
Creed (1993. p.23) writes of 'Mother' that she is 'a treacherous figure who has been programmed to sacrifice the lives of the crew in the interests of the Company.' This is shown in the scene where Ripley communicates with the computer and the screen reads 'Crew Expendable'. It is also a female voice that informs Ripley of how long she has until the ship explodes. Like a baby in the womb, Ripley is represented as having no control over her environment at the end of the film when she shouts at 'Mother', 'I've turned the cooling unit back on'.
Ripley is represented as a terrorised child as when she asks for help from Ash, the science officer and father figure, she says 'any suggestions from you or Mother?' This links them as parental figures of the crew, but they are both ultimately treacherous as Creed suggests. The scene where Ash closes the doors so Ripley cannot escape is the reassertion of male dominance in the ship. Ash is controlling the ship's doors, and therefore also 'Mother' in a way, and he is attempting to control Ripley/woman. This scene links the control of women to pornography as when Ash attacks Ripley there are pictures of naked women on the wall behind him and he then tries to force her to choke on a pornographic magazine. It can even be suggested that the scene links pornography and violence towards women as it ends with Ash climaxing (spurting white liquid) after his attack on Ripley.
Wood argues that Ripley is monstrous and the whole film is reactionary because it plays as a male nightmare of female equality in the future. 'Having destroyed the alien, Ripley can become completely "feminine"—soft and passive, her domesticated pussy safely asleep' (Wood, 1984, p.199). Throughout the film she has shown little compassion for her crewmates and has even tried to take charge. However at the end, she is represented as a sleeping beauty in the stars, waiting to be rescued.
On the other hand, George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978) takes a far more progressive representation of the role of the mother in the family. 'The active and increasingly resourceful heroine of Dawn…learns in the course of the film to free herself from male domination and all the social formations (marriage, traditional family, dependency) that support it' (Wood, 2001). The title of the film appears on screen as the heroine is sleeping suggesting that women are the 'dead' that need to be woken. She starts the film completely dominated by men as seen in the first scenes at the television studio where her boyfriend tells her to be on the roof at nine and her boss argues with her about having the rescue stations on screen all the time. She takes the traditional maternal caring role in that she wants to make sure that people are safe. Later in the film the heroine dresses the wounds of Roger and we see her surrounded by clothes on the floor and skating round in circles, suggesting that she is trapped, frozen in the maternal, traditional female role.
However as the film progresses, so does the heroine. She is represented as liberated as when asked if one of the men is her boyfriend she replies 'most of the time' and when she is offered an abortion, she considers it, but ultimately rejects the idea. She wants to be treated as equal to the men and is clearly the first to realise the danger they are in. She tells them the mall is 'a prison too' and tries to not let them know she is suffering from morning sickness, saying 'it's my problem'. She learns to shoot and fly the helicopter, therefore taking control of her own life by using traditionally male dominated technology. She rejects the marriage proposal from her boyfriend, saying 'not now' and lies awake staring unhappily into nothing during their attempt at domestic bliss which amounts to their possessing of a bed, sofa, gun rack, plants and TV. It seems she is only really treated as an equal by the men after Roger is wounded and they let her run through the mall with them side-by side and armed with a gun.
These films featuring monstrous parent figures are generally far more reactionary than some of the other horror films in the earlier part of the decade. In particular the introduction of the 'stalker' cycle of films, of which Carpenter's Halloween (1978) and Scott's Alien (1979) can arguably both be considered a part, is the real beginning of the reassertion of patriarchal values that would continue in many of the horror films of the 1980s. However Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978) is a more progressive text in that it negates traditional family values.
Back to part 2 on Monstrous Families.
Back to part 3 on Rape Revenge films.
Back to part 4 on Monstrous children is here.
Part 6 on my conclusions is here.
Posted by ilovethatfilm at 08:22
Labels: 1970s, alien, dawn of the dead, dissertation, family, film studies, halloween, horror, monstrous parents, representation
Join me in conversation! Please leave a comment on your own pondering.
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Q: Bibliography entry color change How do I change the color of the following line in bibliography?
\bibitem{Alexander} J. W. Alexander, \textit{Functions which map the interior of the unit circle upon simple regions}, Ann. of Math., \textbf{17}(1915-1916), 12-22.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Thank you Mr Cerniglia for your reply. No doubt you have considered that soil as we have referred to it covers a multitude of things. Fine grained coral mixed with the decayed remnants of bird, fish bones and shells etc. is the soil of the island and that which encourages the growth of the flora of the island. Compounds such as mercuric ones etc. are known to become concentrated in animals at the upper levels of the food chain due to their natural selection of prey that provides the best dietary intake against the effort to harvest these. So if there is naturally occurring mercuric content in the various animals that form the links in that food chain then the higher species in the chain will be ingesting greater concentrations of a compound like a mercuric one. It follows therefore that as these species suffer mortality in some form either as prey or simply dying then when their bones and flesh break down the trace elements and molecular compounds will be deposited in areas around where the decay occurs. Over times there will be a gradual increase in any molecular compounds like mercury compounds in what we call the soil of the island. Mercuric compounds are reasonably stable and could probably associated with minor flooding events or rainfall be transported to and deposited on otherwise mercuric free objects such as glass etc. So while I think that your work on the classification and study of the availability of the various unguent containers that might fit the profile of the glass fragments is first class, I still wonder about the aforementioned natural contamination of these fragments in the environment of Nikumaroro especially as the species on land would appear to represent the top predators in the food chain that leads from the sea to the land. Therefore I would suggest that soil sampling from various localities needs to be addressed - unless it has been done and this form of contamination has been previously ruled out.
The 2 main arguments that came up, as I recall, were that 1) the level of mercury on such a small surface area of glass would indicate a proportionally large soil contamination, if soil contamination were the culprit. The amount was simply too large to be accounted for by environmental background levels, even had it been found in an urban area. The amount wasn't extremely high in terms of sheer volume, but it was high when compared to the small surface area tested, only a few square cm. Had these levels been detected on, say, an equivalent area of a laboratory countertop, Greg has demonstrated it is just large enough that a hazmat team would need to be called in for cleanup. 2) the type of mercury suspected, ammoniated mercury, will adhere to glass, whereas elemental mercury, the type found environmentally, will not.
Now, these are good arguments, and yours are too, Dan. They account for all the situations I can envision. But they can't account for situations I may not have envisioned. Feynman would probably have been in favor of a soil test. I'm not against it. It's just that we can more quickly disverify our hypothesis of a mercury-bearing cream having been in the jar if we can find evidence other glass on the site is similarly contaminated. It's just a matter of taking one step at a time. Sound reasonable?
Joe, if you don't mind me asking, how much mercury was found by the lab, and how big an area of the jar was tested? The only information I have seen in this post in which you are quoted by Randy Conrad as saying in an email that "Evans Analytical Group in Syracuse, New York has reported today that 3.4 micrograms per liter of mercury was detected from the ointment pot".
Perhaps this is not actually what you said, or what you meant? It's hard for me to understand from the quote, as written, how the measurement was performed or what the measurement results were, so it is hard to see how it was concluded that the amount of mercury present in the jar was unusually high. Can you state the lab results in units of mass per unit area (e.g., micrograms per square cm) ? That might help clear things up, at least for me.
The amount wasn't extremely high in terms of sheer volume, but it was high when compared to the small surface area tested, only a few square cm. Had these levels been detected on, say, an equivalent area of a laboratory countertop, Greg has demonstrated it is just large enough that a hazmat team would need to be called in for cleanup. 2) the type of mercury suspected, ammoniated mercury, will adhere to glass, whereas elemental mercury, the type found environmentally, will not.
Thank you Mr Cerniglia for your reply, but that isn't the question. My question was were soil samples taken from the area of the fragment finds and also from scientifically defined random sites on the island to determine exactly what is the average background mercury compound contamination, and for that matter other naturally occurring metallic contaminants, so that the amount found on the glass fragment can be placed within its probability range in the island environment. Only then, I suggest, can TIGHAR begin to define if the glass fragments are those of a vessel which at some time held a skin lotion of some mercury containing kind or contrarily held some other non-mercury based unguent. Please accept that I am not criticising your thorough work on establishing a comparative morphological and historical typology of unguent jars of this kind.
John, the answers to these questions would take a lot of time to produce and comprise at least several pages that I want to write when I present the final findings. In fact, they would probably be the main idea of the presentation. A high Hg reading is purely based on context. We haven't yet gathered all the contextual information, in the form of lab controls. We could decide in the end it wasn't high, but we still think it was.
In the meantime, you've prompted me to review my notes with Greg to double-check things. Thank you for your patience.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2013, 02:18:12 PM by Joe Cerniglia »
Quote from: Dan Kelly on February 24, 2013, 01:02:31 AM
Dan, yes, soil samples were taken from the area of the fragment finds, according to Dr. King. You'd have to ask Mr. Gillespie what other island samples are in TIGHAR's possession. They wouldn't have been collected with a scientific process in mind because we didn't know we might want to test samples for the purpose of looking at Hg at the time they were collected. Maybe this is work for a future expedition.
Andrew M McKenna
Here I am during the Maid of Harlech Survey.
I think your suggestion that ONLY after eliminating all variables regarding the ambient level of mercury contamination, can TIGHAR claim that the jar glass has an elevated level of mercury due to it's former contents to be somewhat unreasonable.
Yes it is true that, in theory, the 7 site might in fact be a toxic waste site contaminated by hazmat team levels of mercury sufficient to infuse the glass of the jar with a similar level of toxicity, but I think the odds are pretty small given what we know about coral atolls, the history of Nikumaroro, and what we know about the products sold in that particular jar. Coral atolls are not generally known for being repositories of heavy metals without significant external contamination, and the Phoenix islands are about as far away from sources of contamination as one can get.
You cite the concentration of mercury in the food chain as a possible source of contamination. What exact species of "top predators in the food chain that leads from the sea to the land" are you suggesting contributed to such potential contamination? Are we talking frigate birds, hermit crabs, coco crabs, tuna, dolphins, sharks, humans? The top predators in that gang generally don't consistently land themselves at the 7 site in sufficient quantity to provide hazmat team level of contamination. Keep in mind that we've only found evidence of a countable number of individuals of all species, so it isn't like the place is completely overrun with the remains of mercury laden top predators, there simply isn't that much remaining of any species.
Doing a bit web searching, I do find a study of seabirds with mercury concentration at Midway Island
That indicates contamination levels in the range of 2,000 PPB for frigate birds, and up to 7,000 PPB for red-tailed tropic birds, and near 20,000 PPB for black footed albatross and tops out at 31,900 PPB for the bonin petrel. I don't think we have either the albatross or the petrel at Nikumaroro, so we can cross those two off the list. There are studies showing humans who eat dolphin on a regular basis testing out as high as 19 PPM, but I don't think that these levels are high enough to infuse the jar glass with the level of mercury that was found in the lab.
Can you cite any reference for the concentration of mercury by top predators on uninhabited coral atolls that would result in contamination high enough to infuse glass with 3.4 micrograms of mercury per liter? Outside of a toxic waste dump, I doubt that the food chain mechanism could achieve such levels.
Joe, can you translate the lab findings of 3.4 micrograms per liter into PPM? I'm a bit hazy on how to relate the two.
We do have the wings - bones and feathers - from several frigate birds that were found at the 7 site. Since these are available (I think), it might be worth testing them to determine what the actual level of mercury in them as a substitute for testing of soil samples, but only if the cost is reasonable.
As far as I know, we did not take soil samples with the intent of testing them for mercury. We didn't know the issue existed at the time we were there, and it only exists because the type of jar we found is known to have been used for a product that contained significant levels of mercury. Seems to me that the simplest solution is to connect the known jar with the known mercury laden product, but yes that does still have some level of uncertainty. Completely eliminating all uncertainty is a difficult and expensive proposition, so we have to pursue what we believe is the most effective and reasonable lines of research. I personally don't think testing the soil samples at the 7 site, and randomly around the island would be a productive line of research given the resources required and the limited ability to pursue this project on site. You are of course welcome to help fund a trip out there to collect soil samples and test them.
So, while I can certainly be wrong, it is possible that the ambient level of mercury at the 7 site is extraordinarily high, enough so to infuse a piece of glass with hazmat team levels of mercury, I think the odds are incredibly small.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2013, 04:59:11 PM by Andrew M McKenna »
Quote from: Andrew M McKenna on February 24, 2013, 04:55:53 PM
Andrew, I think 3.4 micrograms per liter works out to 3.4 parts per billion (ppb).
You cite the concentration of mercury in the food chain as a possible source of contamination. What exact species of "top predators in the food chain that leads from the sea to the land" are you suggesting contributed to such potential contamination? Are we talking frigate birds, hermit crabs, coco crabs, tuna, dolphins, sharks, humans? The top predators in that gang generally don't consistently land themselves at the 7 site in sufficient quantity to provide hazmat team level of contamination. Keep in mind that we've only found evidence of a countable number of individuals of all species, so it isn't like the place is completely overrun with the remains of mercury laden top predators, there simply isn't that much remaining of any species. ...
Thank you Mr McKenna for your reply. You are probably aware the concept of top predator in the food chain is a relative value given the environment in which the definition is being applied. A goldfish bowl with one goldfish has by its nature a top predator which is the goldfish. Nikumaroro is basically a bird sanctuary which provides a nesting place for birds whose primary diet is sea food. In the marine environment the food chain, as you also no doubt aware, has many links in its species predation. The marine environment is also such that from the smallest creature consumed through each step there is a steady concentration of heavy metal contaminants until fish are consumed by sea birds which come back to islands like Nikumaroro and feed their young, defecate, die in all manner of ways etc.. Those processes then release some of the contaminants like mercury compounds back into the soil. Mr Kada has asked about the exact levels of this mercury, as I am I Vis-à-vis naturally occurring levels of these substances - the claim about about hazmat levels while sounding suitably dramatic is of little value as we have not defined exactly what is the level of mercury. I am not suggesting that the environment is hazardous at all, I am only suggesting that it is possible that there may be naturally occurring levels of heavy metal contamination.
Most soils have background noise traces of all sorts of elements, and given the sea bird faeces rich environment of Nikumaroro, and the natural concentration of heavy metal contamination characteristic of marine food chains, then I suggest that it is unwise to discount contamination from that source because the hypothetical Earhart/freckle cream/jar link is so enticing. Now Mr Cerniglia has said that samples were taken we would expect that these should have been retained and stored in a pristine way which would allow testing - there is no point in taking them if testing is not in the research program. Then, as I have suggested, this would either confirm or put to rest the idea that the mercury found in the jar fragment residue is of a level that exceeds the background contamination, if any, or is of a level compatible with simple contamination from the environment.
It is quite simple really and creates another means of assessing the freckle cream jar idea. It doesn't confirm, as you and all of us are aware, that the jar was bought to the island by Earhart but it does at the very least confirm the jar's purpose.
. . . the type of jar we found is known to have been used for a product that contained significant levels of mercury.
This is my personal opinion only (and I will be hooted down for sure):
As Randy Conrad has recently pointed out, and as far as I am aware, there has been no evidence found anywhere that Dr. Berry's Freckle Product was ever sold in clear-glass Hazel-Atlas No. 1995 jars, which is what was found on the island. Joe Cerniglia should, please, correct me if this is not true. I of course understand that if the word "type" is taken generally enough to mean "similar size and shape" only, the statement is not untrue; but it still sounds a bit of a stretch to me.
Nikumaroro is basically a bird sanctuary which provides a nesting place for birds whose primary diet is sea food. In the marine environment the food chain, as you also no doubt aware, has many links in its species predation. The marine environment is also such that from the smallest creature consumed through each step there is a steady concentration of heavy metal contaminants until fish are consumed by sea birds which come back to islands like Nikumaroro and feed their young, defecate, die in all manner of ways etc.. Those processes then release some of the contaminants like mercury compounds back into the soil.
Let me get this straight. You're suggesting that the mercury found on the jar is from bird dung? We're talking about the broken jar whose pieces were found buried in coral rubble (not guano) What gave you the idea that Nikumaroro is basically a bird sanctuary? Yes, there are plenty of birds there but it's no more a bird sanctuary than it is a crab or shark sanctuary. There isn't now and there apparently never was a significant guano deposit anywhere on the island - unlike, for example, McKean Island (now THERE'S a bird sanctuary). I'd wager that the Seven Site has no more bird droppings per square meter than your back yard.
It is, of course, possible that on some day long ago when the jar was sitting on the ground, upright, undamaged, with the lid off, some bird with mercury saturated poop and a Norden bombsight managed to score a direct hit. If that's your hypothesis we could probably help you devise an experiment to test it.
Quote from: Ric Gillespie on February 24, 2013, 08:14:29 PM
Thank you for your prompt reply Mr Gillespie. Well you might care to correct the Wikipedia entry regarding the bird sanctuary. Apparently that says that ...
"The island is part of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, and as such, has been named an Important Bird Area.".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikumaroro
However that aside. It seems to me that getting a straight answer about the background levels of heavy metal contamination in what passes for soil on the island is an impossibly difficult question for people to answer. Mr Cerniglia tells us that soil samples were taken, now I can think of no reason other than analysis why samples would be taken, unless TIGHAR was considering selling them in little bottles as a fund raiser, so were tests done on the soil and what was the result. I can't find any references to tests in your excellent Ameliapedia but perhaps I have missed them. And if I have have then that's me with egg on my face.
Now I do respectfully submit that Dr Berry's freckle cream relied on mercury to do its advertised job so I would think that finding a mercuric compound on the glass residue of a jar that is suggested by TIGHAR to have arrived with Earhart on the island (bearing in mind her apparent problem with freckles) was a big boost to TIGHAR's quest. And if I am not mistaken from the accounts I have read it still is, but just as one swallow a spring does not make, so too a trace of a mercuric compound does not a freckle cream make unless that trace can be ruled out as coming from heavy metal compounds arriving on the island through the digestive processes of sea birds. And the latter I respectfully suggest can only be ascertained if appropriate random sampling is done. In a reply to my earlier question about this matter Mr Cerniglia mentioned the question asked by an analyst he approached ... "You are in good company in your suggestion. The lead scientist at the lab has also suggested this as a possible experiment." http://tighar.org/smf/index.php/topic,261.msg23841.html#msg23841
Therefore the question seems to be a fairly common sense one asked by people who are thinking about the mercury traces on the glass fragment. Personally I see no problem with analysing soil samples to ascertain this data if those samples still exist other than the cost. If they don't then whenever TIGHAR revisits the island perhaps the sampling could be done. It is a sort of belt and braces approach to shore up TIGHAR's argument.
Well you might care to correct the Wikipedia entry regarding the bird sanctuary. Apparently that says that ...
To continue in the quibbling spirit of this thread - "an Important Bird Area" is not the same thing as "basically a bird sanctuary." The Wikipedia entry is a general statement. Niku is an Important Bird Area because it's part of the PIPA. My comment is a specific statement - based upon direct observation over periods of several weeks in 1996, 2001, 2007, and 2010 - about bird activity at the site where the buried jar fragments were found. In my opinion, the notion that the mercury detected on the jar might be attributable to a general saturation of the site with bird droppings is on a par with speculation about a transvestite Coastie being responsible for compact mirror and make-up. We welcome serious suggestions of alternative hypotheses but this is just harassment.
However that aside. It seems to me that getting a straight answer about the background levels of heavy metal contamination in what passes for soil on the island is an impossibly difficult question for people to answer.
Let me help you with that. Straight answers are my specialty.
In the process of collecting and bagging artifacts we inevitably end up with detritus in the bottom of the bag. Some of the artifacts collected during Niku VI (2010) - such as the jar - were collected using sterile protocols because we hoped to get "contact DNA." "Dirt" from the bottom of such bags is the closest thing we have to scientifically collected soil samples.
Now I do respectfully submit that Dr Berry's freckle cream relied on mercury to do its advertised job so I would think that finding a mercuric compound on the glass residue of a jar that is suggested by TIGHAR to have arrived with Earhart on the island (bearing in mind her apparent problem with freckles) was a big boost to TIGHAR's quest.
Another quibble. TIGHAR has not suggested that the jar arrived with Earhart. It would be accurate to say, "TIGHAR has suggested that the jar MAY HAVE arrived with Earhart." That possibility is intriguing to the public and media and that has been a big boost to TIGHAR's quest - as well it should be. It's not the jar, it's the boost that you seem to have a problem with.
And if I am not mistaken from the accounts I have read it still is, but just as one swallow a spring does not make, so too a trace of a mercuric compound does not a freckle cream make unless that trace can be ruled out as coming from heavy metal compounds arriving on the island through the digestive processes of sea birds. And the latter I respectfully suggest can only be ascertained if appropriate random sampling is done. In a reply to my earlier question about this matter Mr Cerniglia mentioned the question asked by an analyst he approached ... "You are in good company in your suggestion. The lead scientist at the lab has also suggested this as a possible experiment." http://tighar.org/smf/index.php/topic,261.msg23841.html#msg23841
Labs are always in favor of doing more tests. No matter how many tests we do, it will never be more than a possibility that the jar contained freckle cream. We already have enough information to say that freckle cream is a reasonable possibility. We don't know that Earhart used freckle cream and, unless we find some primary source reference that has not turned up yet, we'll never know.
The investigation of other material recovered from the Seven Site has pointed up a need for soil samples, so that will be one of the tasks for Niku VIII anyway.
Thank you Mr Gillespie for your reply. I am happy to see that soil samples are a recognised objective for later visits. The general tenor of your post is to downplay the importance of the freckle cream jar (if that is what it is) and its relationship with Earhart claiming, if I read the meaning of your statement correctly, that it is the media that has placed the emphasis on it rather than TIGHAR and it was just a happy chance that this resulted in good publicity for TIGHAR. May I say that is fortuitous indeed.
However as birds are resident on the island and your comments re deposition of any mercuric compounds in their droppings are, as you say "In my opinion, the notion that the mercury detected on the jar might be attributable to a general saturation of the site with bird droppings is on a par with speculation about a transvestite Coastie being responsible for compact mirror and make-up.", simply your own speculations we can agree to differ simply because as it appears no soil analysis has been performed to either confirm or reject natural background mercuric contamination then at the moment there is no firm answer regarding the mercury source.
I apologise if you see harassment in this line of questioning, I simply see it as expanding the data analysis to wring as much from it as possible thus ascertaining if it provides a complete picture or is in need of further expansion. Something you have conceded in stating that "The investigation of other material recovered from the Seven Site has pointed up a need for soil samples, ...". I would hope that these samples would comprise a set taken from locations elsewhere on the island for comparative purposes to properly discern if there are unique features at the Seven Site that may have a bearing on the search or if they are simply part of the normal composition of the island's soil.
Daniel Paul Cotts
In my opinion, Dan has an interesting idea. As I read it, he is not saying the Hazel-Atlas jar was directly contaminated by guano, but rather he is wondering whether Niku's 'soil' (let's call it that) may be sufficiently high in mercury content that soil contamination might explain the mercury measurement reported by Joe (via Randy). Andrew McKenna has pointed out that seabirds can have high levels of mercury in their tissues, and so it seems plausible to me that, as Dan suggests, seabirds have deposited enough mercury on Niku over the centuries to significantly raise Niku's soil mercury concentrations; this would parallel the environmental cycling of phosphorous, where there have been studies showing that seabirds are major contributors of phosphorous to the soils of some islands and coastal areas. Obviously, the higher the mercury contamination level of the Hazel-Atlas jar, the less likely the possibility that Niku soil plays a role in the mercury measurement results obtained on the Hazel-Atlas jar.
Another thing to consider in interpreting the mercury results of the Niku Hazel-Atlas jar is how it was handled and stored. If people who handled the Niku Hazel-Atlas jar also handled Dr. Berry's Ointment jars obtained from ebay or from other sources without taking precautions, cross contamination of the Niku jar with mercury from these other jars is a possibility. By the way, given what we know about the composition of Dr. Berry's ointment (12% mercury) I would hope all those who handle these freckle cream jars are being careful.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In fact, I am always busy with lots of care work at home and other duties since I am the president of the self-help group.
Liliose Munyana is a 42-year-old married woman who lives in Musanze District, Rwanda. She has three children: two daughters (aged 20 and 8) and a son (aged 4). Liliose attended Higher Secondary school and her daughters both now attend school. She is a member of ActionAid's Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE) programme and also works on her own farm. She typically does eight hours of paid work a day and her husband, aged 47, is a teacher of Year Nine basic education.
At home, Liliose does most of the care work including caring for cooperative animals, cleaning, washing clothes, cooking, fetching water, farming, and taking care of the children. She also takes care of the elders in her family, who live separately from them.
Even my husband replaces [me] when he is around. For example, in the past, when I had left for VUP [Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme – the Government of Rwanda's flagship social protection programme] training where I spent two weeks, he is the one who took care of the family and performed all care work at home, like cooking and looking after the children.
Combining both paid and unpaid care work has made me feel so overworked since it is a lot for me. Combining both has also caused me to get home late since most of the time I have to attend discussions [about] different issues of the group.
Liliose feels that childcare should be shared among the community. She also thinks that the funds she gets from the WEE programme should be raised, as she needs more funds in order to sustain her family. She would also like the government to provide loans and fertilisers to increase agricultural yields and to provide clean water in the village.


John Woodman is an English painter. He has exhibited across the United Kingdom and internationally, in such places as Westminster Abbey. In 2010 he was an artist in residence in the McGuffey Art Centre in Virgina, USA. He has worked on a number of projects with American poet and classicist Ben Jasnow, including Ancient Songs, Modern Muses which was exhibited in the Bridge PAI in Virginia in 2013. His work has been chosen for the Discerning Eye Prize and he graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 2006.
His most recent exhibition took place in Westminster Abbey and involved an artistic event revolving around the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.
Click the images below to see photographs of his solo exhibitions, or click here to see a more detailed Exhibition History.


text:
ASU Ranked #1 for Innovation for the 5th Year Running – #High5AZ
Posted on Mon/9/September Mon/9/September by AZBio
For the fifth year in a row, Arizona State University has been named the most innovative school in America.
U.S. News and World Report has named ASU as the most innovative university all five years the category has existed. The widely publicized annual rankings by the magazine, comparing more than 1,500 institutions on a variety of metrics, were released today.
The five-time ranking was based on a survey of peers. College presidents, provosts and admissions deans around the country nominated up to 15 schools that are making the most innovative improvements to curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities, according to the magazine.
ASU President Michael M. Crow said the honor is the result of the work of thousands of people tackling challenges in new ways.
"The tremendously creative minds and efforts of our students, faculty and staff elevate who we are. This recognition would not have been possible without the myriad contributions across our ASU community," Crow said. "This is a moment to show our appreciation for the extraordinary work being done at ASU — work that positively impacts not just the university, but the state of Arizona and far beyond."
ASU is inviting the community to join in a social media campaign that highlights its shared successes by offering a virtual "high-five" using the hashtags #High5ASU and #High5AZ.
Video by Jordan Currier/ASU
After ASU, U.S. News and World Report ranked the most innovative universities for 2020 as Georgia State University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology and Stanford — the same top-five rankings as 2019. Rounding out the top 10 this year are Purdue, Carnegie Mellon, California Institute of Technology, Northeastern and the University of Maryland – Baltimore County.
Read more at ASU News:
https://asunow.asu.edu/20190908-asu-news-number-one-innovation-us-news-fifth-consecutive-year
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Noted cardiothoracic surgeon joining the… →


Hello, My name is Joshuah Horn. I am a freelance artist working in the comic industry. I have done work for a variety of clients: Highnoon Magazine, as a writer and artist, on "The Ex-Terrestrial" as an artist and as an assistant on coloring for Dark Horse's "Kull The Conqueror". I also work on traditional illustration which can be seen in a variety of magazines and books.


UPS battery is an uninterruptible power system (UPS) battery that is critical in data center power system. This battery is a complete power protection solution that provides emergency standby power.
Technavio's analysts forecast the Global UPS Battery Market for Data Center Industry to grow at a CAGR of 7.53% during the period 2018-2022.
The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the UPS battery market for data center industry. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of lead-acid batteries and lithium-ion batteries.
Technavio's report, Global UPS Battery Market for Data Center Industry 2018-2022, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.


After aptly being named one of the biggest trends of 2019, oat milk is hitting grocery stores! Whether you've heard your friends talking about making the switch over from almond milk, or you've splurged on a pricey chai latte with oat milk at your local coffee shop (yes, it's worth it), it's impossible to ignore the plant-based milk's takeover. Now, Coffee-mate's new Natural Bliss Oat Milk Creamer has hit stores and it's landed itself right at the top of our grocery list!
At just 25 calories per serving, the non-dairy creamer is made with water, oat flour, cane sugar, coconut oil, pea protein, baking soda, gellan gum, and natural flavors. Its rich flavor is guaranteed to make mornings go a whole lot smoother. Pick up the new Natural Bliss creamer during your next grocery run, and catch up on all things oat milk here.


Helback Corporation, also know as, Affordable SEO is a Toronto based digital marketing company specializing in SEO, Google AdWords, professional web development for small businesses. Our team of professional search engine optimization experts have years of global experience and have optimized hundreds of sites with tremendous success. Our SEO Toronto experts are Google Qualified and only utilize White Hat techniques. We offer professional Search optimization services with guaranteed results. Our prices are very affordable and extremely competitive.


Taj Al Safa Company was established in 2003 and has grown to be one of the largest companies to participate and work in the contracting and trading industry in Iraq. Our creative and innovative work team uses modern systems and methods for their contracting and designing needs for road, sidewalk, residential and trading construction and compounds.
Donia Al-Nahrain is one of the largest export and import trading companies in Iraq that associates with international suppliers. As a company we strive to be innovative and thus enjoy good business relations with many companies around the world and have opened many regional offices in strategic countries.
Al Nabaa Al Sar Company is one of the region's major transportation and infrastructure contracting companies with a huge range of equipment at its disposal. We are located in the Al Jadiryia District of Baghdad, Iraq. Within seven years we have been awarded a massive number of projects covering infrastructure projects (civil construction) and transportation missions (oil services).


II.1.5) Short Description of the contract or purchase(s) The setting up of a contract for the provision of catering services at Burton Borough School, Newport,Shropshire, for a period of up to 4 years commencing 0.00 hours on 18th July 2009, with the option of a possible extension to the contract period of a further 3 x 12 month periods.School catering services.
II.2.1) Total quantity or scope (including all lots and options, if applicable) See Invitation to Tender documentation.
If yes, description of these options An option to extend the contract period by up to 3 x 12 month periods.
III.1.1) Deposits and guarantees required (if applicable) See Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and Invitation to Tender Documentation.
III.1.2) Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions regulating them See Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and Invitation to Tender Documentation.
Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals: Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals: In accordance with Regulation 32 information about contract award procedures and the application of the standstill period prior to contract award) and Regulation 47 (Enforcement of Obligations) of the Public Contracts Reulations 2006.


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Published on March 30th, 2001 | by irm | Full size image
Calcutta Ratha Yatra – The Biggest Ever
The huge parade was just about to begin moving when something amazing happened. A white dove immediately descended from nowhere and landed on the main float which had a deity of Srila Prabhupada, and suddenly perched itself at Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet.
Ratha-Yatra Festival at Jagannatha Puri
The world famous annual Calcutta Ratha-Yatra was held on July 3rd on a bigger and better scale than ever before. The preparations for this mammoth affair actually began in March since it takes a full three and a half months to prepare for the biggest ISKCON festival. In the run up to the preparations we were worried that the bad publicity about the Gurukula abuse law-suit would hurt us badly since in West Bengal it was in the papers every day for almost 2 weeks. However due to Lord Jaganntha's mercy as well as the intensive media campaign we had undertaken to protect Srila Prabhupada's reputation, the public turned out in huge numbers, to make this Ratha Yatra the biggest yet. Further evidence that we had managed to combat the negative publicity was the fact that we managed to collect 20% more in donations than the previous year to stage the festival. In the run up to the festival huge Billboards had been put up and a 70 page coloured souvenir had been sent out to over 15000 members.
On the parade itself the Raths were preceded by beautifully designed floats, sponsored by the leading industrial houses of Calcutta. Sattvik prabhu had meanwhile prepared the three huge 50 foot Raths with telescopic canopies. The Government minister of communication, Thapan Sikdar, was honoured to inaugurate the Rathayatra festival. He gave a very moving speech where he said that Srila Prabhupada is the most important spiritual leader that India has ever seen, and that what he has done no one else has been able to achieve! To get some idea of how huge the festival was, the main parade itself stretched for over 1.5 kilometers. The other dignitaries present were Aditya Kashyap, International Marwadi Federation president S.N. Bajaj, former chief justice of Gujarat G.N. Roy and Gordhanbhai Jerambhai.Trinamul Congress mayoral candidate Subrata Mukherjee performed the last arati at 7 pm.
The huge parade was just about to begin moving when something amazing happened. A white dove immediately descended from nowhere and landed on the main float which had a deity of Srila Prabhupada, and suddenly perched itself at Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet. The dove was pure white with sparkling eyes, and the crowd immediately saw this as an auspicious sign and they immediately began to converge on the float. I was therefore forced to hold up the parade. This dove however was no ordinary dove. Unlike normal birds which will flee if approached by even one human, this dove stayed fearless as the whole mass of humanity thronged around it in their thousands.
Rather it appeared to simply glance at them mercifully, as the crowd stared at it. This went on for a full 12 minutes!! It was a never before seen spectacle. A pure white dove descended from nowhere, sitting at Srila Prabhuada's lotus feet, bringing everything to a stand-still as it became surrounded by thousands of people. And it did not flinch at all. Finally the dove flew up onto another part of the float, and turned around and bowed its head as if paying obeisance's to Srila Prabhupada and then flew away as the crowds in their hundreds who had gathered around the float gasped at this outstanding sight. Chaitanya das, a leading Bhakti Caru Maharaja disciple remarked that "this is incredible – Srila Prabhupada is pleased", whilst the crowd immediately began to offer all sorts of reasons behind this good omen such as "some great devotee had come to get the blessings of Srila Prabhupada" or "this marks a new era for ISKCON" etc. etc.
After giving out 350,000 packets of prasadam, the carts finally reached the festival site where we had built a 5000 thousand square foot 70 foot high temple modelled along the lines of the Jaganatha Temple at Purim, to house Lord Jaganatha for the nine day festival during which we expect to host almost a million people who will come from all over Bengal and India. Spread over a 150,000 square foot area, the festival site boasts a yajnashala, a float exhibition, book stalls and also free prasad sponsored by Life Members.
Finally we will have the ulta (or return) Ratha Yatra at the end of the nine days which will be even bigger than the first day of Rathayatra. Thus the festival is still in full-swing, and we hope to have some more news and pictures, so please watch this space. The parade had specifically been boycotted by the Mayapur authorities, who normally sent many devotees to help. (Though Dayarama Das, the Director of Mayapur, was unable to stay away and was caught hiding from a high-rise building, taking a peep!) However this had no effect since over 80 devotees came from Banglore to assist and participated in a huge kirtan that enlivened the whole festival.
Srila Prabhupada instructed in 1977 to make the Rathayatra in Calcutta the biggest in the world and disliked it when devotees went to Puri and would say " why are they going to Puri when my Rathyathra is in Calcutta". By his mercy we have somehow managed to make this Rathayatra the largest in the world, and the devotees no longer go away to Puri, but participate in Srila Prabhupada's Ratha Yatra. Srila Prabhupada may apparently not be physically here, but as far as we are concerned, he is still here pulling the Ratha, just as he did in the same city when he was 5 years old, when he inaugurated the first Calcutta Ratha Yatra.
To manage to hold any sort of festival at all right in the midst of the worst publicity in ISKCON's history was in itself an achievement. But to do so with increased pomp, splendour and participation from all the public as well as all the local political leaders clearly demonstrates that no one and nothing can stop Srila Prabhupada's mission as long as we adhere strongly to his divine instructions.
From: Adridharana Dasa, Temple President ISKCON Calcutta
Tags: Bhaktivedanta Swami, Calcutta, Hare Krishna, India, Prabhupada, Ratha Yatra, Ratha Yatra Festival, travel India
Krishna Hypnotizes His Devotees (MP3 Audio) →
We Want to Unite the Nations →
The more the books are distributed, the more the ignorance will be smashed. →
Perfect Civilization Vs. Modern Civilization (MP3 Audio) →
Krishna Hypnotizes His Devotees (MP3 Audio)	May 16th | by HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
The Worship of Srimati Tulasi Devi	May 15th | by mahesh-das
We Want to Unite the Nations	May 15th | by HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
The more the books are distributed, the more the ignorance will be smashed.	May 14th | by HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Perfect Civilization Vs. Modern Civilization (MP3 Audio)	May 14th | by HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
KRSNA, The Supreme Personality of Godhead PDF Download


Some of you may remember when I blogged about the Augustine Committee (you can click this link if you don't remember!).
Recently, the findings of the committee were announced. If you are interested you may read the full report here.
If you are not interested in reading the full report (which I admit, for a non-space-enthusiast may be slightly dull!)...I will summarize the main points.
1) "The right mission and the right size."
Basically, as it stands now, NASA's Human Space Flight endeavor is on an unsustainable trajectory. There is simply not enough money available to support the future programs in the time frame allotted. Money is being eaten up by possibly extending the space shuttle, which means further development on the Ares program is limited...and therefore slow.
2) Something I've been advocating since the 7th grade..."International Partnerships"
Yes, even back in 7th grade I saw the potential to create peaceful relationships with other countries through the medium of space travel and exploration. Not surprisingly, this point was emphasized as a means of creating safer and applicable rockets faster! Hurray for peace!!
As many of you know...the space shuttle is scheduled to be retired end of FY 2010. To ensure safe flights the committee is recommending pushing this retire date to the second quarter of 2011 and to budget for that as appropriate. Safety = Good Idea!
Yes the Gap...not the store, but the abyss between the shuttle's retirement and the inception of the next man-rated vehicle (whatever that is decided to be) is a slight sticking point. Any commercial development of a man-rated vehicle would take a significant chunk of time. The committee decided the best way to decrease the gap is to extend the life of the shuttle program.
5) Extending the International Space Station: duh?!?!?! You think we're going to retire that thing in 2016?!?!?!
So...yes...the committee decided we should extend the ISS life from its initial decomissioning date of 2016...am I surprised?!?! NO!
No...more like a Sumo-rocket. Yes this is needed to launch giant payloads for trips to the moon or Mars. Ares-V is the current design planned...but this may change, stay tuned!
With the right incentives, commercial companies can definitely accomplish this task...and this would give NASA a chance to focus on engineering new technology and to creatively make new discoveries...which are both in the "questions" NASA is trying to answer (I will discuss these later!).
Basically we need to adequately fund a space technology program to enable progress in exploration. Umm...not really sure what to say about this one...except...DUH!
Actually I think the committee said it best: "Mars is the ultimate destination for human exploration; but it is not the best first destination. Both visiting the Moon First and following the Flexible Path are viable exploration strategies. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive; before traveling to Mars, we might be well served to both extend our presence in free space and gain experience working on the lunar surface."
So, I realize this was a long post, but I feel analyzing and understanding where our country is going in terms of space travel is very important. NASA's annual budget is close to 16 billion dollars. This is the smallest budget of any US government agency, and it actually has largest return. For every dollar NASA gets in its budget, seven dollars are spent in the economy - on labor, research, instrumentation, fuel, education and public outreach. It's a big expense but when you think that the cure for cancer, or the next home for the world's growing population may come from space, perhaps it's worth it after all.


I think you got a pouint I make a lousy $9 an hour now but in a few months I am going to get a jop as a help desk making around a grand a week to start. A lot of women want a guy who can support them and have their crap together. Money is a factor. Actually my last realtionship failed becuase she was a control freaka nd wanted me to get that better job move in with her nad help pay her rent/ I am a free spirit. And to pay someone else's bills when you are not married is BS. In addition when you workin retail a lot of people judge you and look down upon you. Who looks down upon you? jobless housewives living off their husband's teats! Women in their 20's want some beefcake of a guy, the type you;'d see in a sports magazine. women in their 30's and up want a man to take care of them financially.
Honestly... money doesn't really hold much sway with me.. however I'm not interested in supporting another adult..so he's have to be able to pay his own way. Also he'd have to be doing something he liked... nothing worse than someone who comes home and ****es constantly about their work.
I only have one thing to say in this regard - I've never know women to be free. Also if I was living in a box under a bridge, I don't think I'd have too many female visitors!
Also if I was living in a box under a bridge, I don't think I'd have too many female visitors!
Yeah, I'd pass... but I'd give you my change if you were panhandling!
Money is a factor, more so the attitudes towards money. If he lived on the streets but has enough in him to build a better life for himself first, then those he loves, sure I would date him. If he's so rich that he take people for granted, no thanks, I'll just buy him a dog and give a call to animal society, he might end up abusing the poor dog.
Whether filthy rich or not, money is temporal, it can vanish at any time. As much as I can, I avoid getting into trouble, esp financial ones. I expect him to be the same. So if he's broke, living under the bridge, I can buy him a burger or a few dollars but he'll need a lot of convincing to have me in his equation.
Of course money is A factor. But it isn't THE factor, for me and most women I know.
Other had said similar things, but here goes.
Having had to dig myself out of massive credit card debt and grown up in a dysfunctional household where money was the main thing argued about, yes, money would be a factor for me. I have my own income and a modest retirement plan, so I am not looking for someone to sponge off of, and I don't NEED a man to depend on. However, I would also look at whether the person was handling money responsibly, instead of blowing it on nonsense such as booze and other crap. I am overhelmingly unimpressed with men who walk into bars flashing dollar bills. (As unbelievable as it sounds, I heard one woman actually swooned over this display by one man. Insert gagging sound here.) Also, is that person making sure to save up for retirement (not very many Americans do this), or is he spending compulsively? At the same time, if he is a real tightwad, I would wonder why on Earth he is bothering dating at all, since he apparently is stingy. Perhaps getting his affairs in order, finances and all, would be more productive use of his time. The money issue is more than a number in one's checking account; it also tends to be psychological.
I always made good money and never told women what I made. Some of them didn't like me because I got dirty for a living but they had false expectations about car sales man that stay clean and must make great money (and be honest to lol). So be it they will get a jerk. But when I have had money problems and told the women I met, they didn't seem to care as long as I wasn't stuck in a dead end no life living with my parents situation. Most women these days want a guy that can support himself but, they make their own money so it doesn't matter what he makes.
How much do you make that would make you such a great catch all of a sudden?
On the same note how many guys want to date a woman that is completely broke. I prefer a woman that has a career not just a job. But I will still go out with a woman that has just a job.
There's a thread on dating someone on welfare, off-hand, I'm not sure which forum... just search it.
If the forum postings can be believed, and I'm inclined to believe them on this subject, men care less about how much money a woman makes than women care about how much a man makes. Men, in general, don't mind if she makes less than he does, while the majority of woman prefer he makes at least as much as they do.
I don't think it means most women are less generous than most men are, IMO the cause is likely the tail-end of the traditional "male provider" thinking that hasn't quite caught up with the realities of social change.
Sounds like a plan!!!! Why don't we try this then! Ready?
I'm in the top 10% wage bracket in the US. I'm attractive, intelligent, great sense of humor, very outgoing and adventerous, disease and baggage free....BUT....."ALL MEN" want from me is my money. They're all looking for a free ride and I'm sick of the gigalos! LOL! sounds pretty ridiculous ehhh?
When a man says that all women want is his income there's a very good reason for his assumption. It's because his income is ALL he has to offer. He's a fat, cross-eyed, pimply faced dork with the IQ of a box of dog hair, he wouldn't know fun if he tripped over it, he's BORING to the max, he's totally rude and inconsiderate, especially to his Mother and small children and animals. He has a few bucks in the bank....but he's morally bankrupt.
Is THIS the way it is guys? Can you TRULY say that you have NOTHING to offer a lady EXCEPT money?????
No! I own my own house and car. I raise my daughter without any help from my ex!!
Does the man I intend to be with need a job? YES! Does he need to be able to support himself? YES Does he need to support me or my child...NO!
Money isn't an issue for me. I have my own. I care about a man's character.
I can say that money is not a factor for sure. If he has a job that he enjoys, can function in society and is not in huge debt Im ok with that. money is not everything..all good things come to those who wait.
No, absolutely not. What's more important is how they treat you and not what they can buy you.
Let me answer that this way: Its really not (only speaking for myself here) the 'quanity' that he makes, but rather that he has a job at all. I refuse to date someone who wont work (not talking about lay-off situations or illness or anything along those lines,,thats a whole other topic). As long as he is helping to contribute in all aspects of the monetary part of the relationship (bills, vacations, the occassional nights out, etc,,) thats all that matters to me. Its a joint effort.
I remember days when the ex was without a job and he was like a 'tiger in the cage'.
As long as my potential suitor holds the job that he enjoys, we are on the same page.
I just moved up into a whole new career level.....and coincidentally, I've had 4 ex girlfriends coming back around....even the ex wife tried to contact me. Now where was their interest when I was makin' 9 bucks an hour?
Wow. I think what's goin' on here is something in your womanchosing algorithim is out of whack.
I have 2 young boys that i love with all my heart and soul and i be damned if i will let some gold digger take anything away from them.
ABSO-Freakin-LUTELY! I don't care how many Harvard lawyers write up a prenuptial agreement...I wouldn't trust one.....particularly when my children's and grandchildren's future "security" is at stake! If they want a "committment"...fine...buy a house in the neighborhood and "visit" as frequently as they want....just don't be receiving any mail at MY address.
I'm glad some of you are making lots of money! Maybe you aren't going to be financial burden to someone. Not many want to support anyone, if they themselves are struggling to survive. That would take real love.
Boy, ain't that the truth!!! My "poor" cousin lives in NYC (Long Island), she earns over 200K a year and can't afford to go on a vacation. My daughter lives in Ohio, earns around 70% of what I did before I retired (slightly over 2x the "average" income) ...and she can't afford a vacation! LOL! since I got rid of "men" that I have to support.....now I can afford to take BOTH my poor female kinfolk to Ireland this summer (I'm paying for the trip, but they have to buy their own beer!) LOL! My ex is whining.....you never took ME to Ireland! LOL! Well, duhhhh. In the 20 yr marriage, the issue was NEVER that I always made somewhere between $5-9 More an hour than he did...but rather the fact that he thought the obligatory 2080 hrs a year was more than sufficient....while the average number of hours that I worked...at my JOB (not including the housework, raising kids etc.) averaged over 2850 hrs a year. In the 20 yr marriage.....he worked 20 yrs......I worked 24 yrs (no dang wonder I feel old!) LOL! The whole point is, that it's NOT the amount of money one earns.....it's their attitude and goals. Those who think that doing only what's "mandatory" will end up with little in life.
To me, money is merely a medium of exchange - a symbol, if you will, which may provide an indicator of how successful a person is; how driven; how hard he/she works; and how well he/she manages funds. So, money *is* a factor, but not the only consideration.
I provided the bulk of the financial support during my 16-year marriage. The lesson I learned is that I cannot be happy with a man who lacks ambition or a plan for the future. I'm not the classic Type-A personality, but I've worked hard all of my life to provide for my children and myself. If I can make it, as a single woman raising children, then a man with ambition and intelligence can be successful and financially secure, too.
Why does financial security matter to me? I've lived from paycheck to paycheck before, and I've no desire to ever do it again. I want to be able to go on a vacation once in awhile, and go out to nice dinners frequently. I don't want to pay a man's way, and I don't want to feel guilty if I suspect that he's overextending himself to keep pace with me.
I read an article once that explains that men are attracted to a woman who is beautiful, and who they presume will bear him beautiful offspring. Women, on the other hand, are attracted to men who provide security. By the way, the same preferences hold true even when a man is beyond the child-rearing age, and for women who can provide for themselves. Maybe it's so deeply ingrained that we cannot avoid searching for these inherent traits?
dude ,they will say or post anything , but the bottom line is the majority are more interested in the contents of a mans wallet over the content of his character,all you have to do is read the profiles,read the ones on here and the ones on yahoo personals and youll see its true,its sad but true!
I've sort of seen this whole thing from two different perspectives. Before my first divorce I was a millionaire, on paper anyway. Most years I was earning between $250,000 and $350,000, and carried very little debt. I had the big house in the country club, a brand new Hummer in the driveway, my wife in a brand new Lexus I had given her as a gift, my kid in the best private school, and I day traded with almost six figures for fun. While I wasn't really RICH, I was definitely in Al Gore's "top 2%".
That was all several years and two ex's ago. Now I'm more an average Joe. I still earn decent money, but carry some debt - so, I'm no longer in the country club, I'm no longer vacationing overseas, and I'm no longer taking women out on ridiculously extravagant dates. In other words, I'm solidly middle class.
Yes - without a doubt, after my first divorce when I was still living in the country club and rolling in dough, it was MUCH easier to date the little hotties. But who wants them? Who wants to be with a golddigger, no matter HOW hot she is? Let's face it - a 23 year old model isn't usually going to date a 39 year old guy for the right reasons, and if it's not for the right reasons, why BOTHER? Those kinds of situations are NOT satisfying, and rarely turn out well. If you're a man, you get taken for your money, like I did. If you're a woman, you get traded in on a younger model as soon as your age starts to show.
These days, I am SO not a target for a golddigger, and believe it or not I'm actually kind of glad about that. The thing is, I may not date as many hot women as I used to, but you know what? Sometimes I STILL date some FINE women. I almost never date anyone under 30 anymore, and that's very deliberate, but the best thing about my experience is that now I know for the most part the women I see are mostly interested in me for the right reasons.
Now, I believe that for a GOOD woman, for an honest woman, for one with character and integrity - almost regardless of her looks - money may be a FACTOR, but it isn't the be all end all. Yes, a man should be able to pay his bills, and yes, it IS nice to be with a man she can feel proud of and who can afford a few of the finer things in life once in a while - but no, those kinds of women DON'T get with a man for ONLY that reason.
Those are the women I want to date.


Many, many moons ago, way back in July 2008, I released podcast episode 147 as a tribute to my old 100-400mm lens. I'd just sold the lens and felt compelled to share some images shot with that lens, in honor of its passing. Although I've sold lenses since then, that I really felt enabled me to do so much in my photography, it wasn't until last Saturday when I sold a bunch of lenses again, that I felt compelled to do this once more.
I actually sold three lenses last weekend. The 14mm f/2.8L II, the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM and the 50mm f/1.2L lens. Honestly, I won't miss the 50mm f/1.2 at all. I try to be careful with what gear I buy, but once I've bought something, I also like to keep tabs on how much I actually use it.
Lightroom is an amazing tool in many ways, and one of its features that I really like is the Metadata filter, especially in this case, because it enables us to filter our images based on the lenses that we use. In the Library module, if you click on the Metadata filter in the Filter bar at the top of the grid view, then select Lens in one of the columns, you will get a list of all the lenses that you have made photographs with, and can click on the lens to get a filtered view of those images.
With this view, you can see how many images you've made with that lens, and also with another filter column, see the apertures that you've shot with as well. It turns out that I wasn't using the 50mm below f/2.8 very much at all, even though I love the shallow depth of field it gives us. I know that part of the reason for that was because of the lenses flaky focusing. Basically, the lens back-focuses as you get close to your subject, which introduces insecurity.
I was never confident that I was going to nail focus on close subjects, so I increased the depth of field a little as insurance. That kind of defeats the object of owning an expensive wide aperture lens. I could also see from my filtered view that the last time I used the 50mm outside of my studio, was October 2012, which is also a good indication that I simply do not need this lens anymore.
Conversely, I have used the 14mm and 16-35mm lenses a lot, but now that I have the new Canon EF 11-24mm lens, I know that I will no longer use the 14mm prime and 16-35mm lenses, so I decided to sell these, and put the money towards the 5Ds R that I'll be hopefully picking up in June when it's released. And it seemed like a good time to take stock of my other lenses, and say goodbye to the 50mm at the same time.
I used the Lightroom filter to list up all of the images in my final selects folders, that I shot with the 14mm and 16-35mm, and from each list, I selected 10 photos. Today we're going to look through the first 10 images from the 14mm f/2.8L lens, with the reasons why I found these images so special, to me at least, and next week we'll look at 10 photos from the 16-35mm f/2.8.
First up, here is a photo from the very first time I used the 14mm prime lens. This first image was actually shot with a friend's copy of this lens. I'd met up with him to photograph in a local park together, and he lent me his 14mm f/2.8 lens to take a look at, and I fell in love with it instantly. I actually almost swung by the camera store on the way home and bought my own copy, but I resisted for another week to give myself a chance to change my mind, but I didn't.
For this photo, I mounted the camera on a tripod, pointing straight up, and then with Live View turned on, so that I could see the photo to compose, I closed the tripods legs together, and pushed the camera up between three tree trunks, that we literally all right next to each other, and I released the shutter with a cable release. I fell in love with the way the 14mm lens distorts reality. The three trunks of the tree were really only inches apart, with barely enough room for the camera between them, but in this image, they look much further away from each other.
Close inspection showed a tiny bit of chromatic aberration in the corners of the photograph, but not enough to worry about, and the rest of the image was absolutely tack sharp. Once I'd confirmed the image quality on the computer, I was pretty much certain that I'd pick my own up the following weekend, and I did just that.
The following winter, in February 2009, I found myself on the side of a mountain with my tour group in Hokkaido. We were still doing a Landscape leg of the tour at the time, and this next photograph was in the Tokachi Mountain range, near Biei, where we now visit on my new dedicated landscape photography Hokkaido tour. I remember looking down into this valley, with the deer tracks and winding river at its foot, and just thinking that we'd found heave on earth, so that's what I called the photograph.
The reality is that the valley isn't nearly as large and deep and grand as this image would have us believe, but I was amazed at just how beautiful it looked through this lens as I started to frame up the scene.
Sometimes, new gear can lead us to develop new areas of our photography. I enjoy pointing my camera up into a canopy of trees, but I had been doing that with my wide angle lenses for a while before I got the 14mm. As I heard the distant sound of the engines on the airship overhead in this next image though, I kind of stumbled upon a new type of photograph for me.
This was shot in the main street of the Ginza shopping area in Tokyo, and I just loved the way the 14mm made the airship look so small, and pushed the bottom of the buildings away as it did with the earlier tree trunks, but then we see them lean back in again as they reach for the sky. I have continued to use this technique on buildings quite a lot, as you can see in my City Portfolio, which I updated last week, with some new work from the 11-24mm f/4 lens.
I don't do a lot of street photography, but I know some of you will remember my work from my visit to the Tsukiji Fish Market, on which I also took the 14mm lens, and captured a number of images, of which this is one of my favorites. I'm working through these in chronologic order, and this image brings us up to April 2012 (below). Again, I like the distortion of the 14mm, bringing elements from all over the place into the frame, almost like a black hole.
For me living in Japan for the best part of the last 24 years, the Japanese characters a people in this image are nothing special, but the slightly grungy processing I used on this set of images and the wet floor with the character walking away into the light, and the slightly suspicious look of the guy with the blue apron on, all give this image a bit of a Bladerunner feel for me, which is one of the reasons I like it so much. I guess the perspective is just a little bit otherworldly compared to the images from the same location shot with longer focal lengths.
And talking of otherworldly, I couldn't resist including this shot of the giant spider near the Mori Tower at Roppongi Hills here in Tokyo too. I love how the Japanese build these wacky art pieces into everyday life. People of course notice it, but as you can see from this photograph, these things just become a part of the scenery, and people just get on with their day, not really paying much attention to the fact that they're walking past a giant steel spider.
I found the next photo as I was looking through my filtered Lightroom view of all of my images from the 14mm lens. I don't think I've every shared this publicly, and while I don't necessarily think it's a hidden gem, I found it pleasant enough to look at, that I decided to include it in this tribute collection today. This is a photo of that famous bamboo grove in Kyoto, and I once again used the extreme perspective of the 14mm lens to exaggerate the tallness of the bamboo, making it lean in towards the top of the frame (below).
In May 2013 I did my first tour of Namibia with friend Jeremy Woodhouse, and my first visit to the amazing deserted diamond mine town of Kolmanskop, where I made this next photograph (below). As you can see, the buildings are gradually decaying, with the roof of this house totally gone, and the blue sky visible through the ceiling slats and floorboards on the second floor room above.
Once again, I used the wide angle of the 14mm to exaggerate the form of the room. This was only a relatively small room too, so it was necessary to include both the sand dune that we can see through the doorway as well as the walls and ceiling. I wanted to include not just the light hitting the wall, but also I wanted to show where that light was coming from, through the slats.
I also like how this scene offered both the cool blue of the old painted wall, and the orange sand and orange wall in the second room by contrast. If you look at these two colors on a color wheel, you'll see that they are actually complementary colors, which is quite amazing really, especially when we consider that it's doubtful that the German settlers here ever imagined having a sand dune in their living room when these houses were built.
From Namibia to Iceland now, as we look at a photograph from my first Iceland Tour in 2013 (below). I chose this photo to represent another way in which very wide angle lenses affect a scene. I noticed a bit of texture in the sky, with these lines leading towards me, but when you shoot these with a wide angle lens like the 14mm, they seem to radiate out, almost as though they are radiating from the main subject, which in this case is the church.
I just find this pleasing, and interesting, that we can use the perspective and field of view like this to create something that is otherwise just not possible with longer focal lengths. I actually shoot a lot of my landscape work with longer focal length, but since buying the 14mm I don't think I have left the house without it for any photography trip, or even relatively casual visits to parks or other locations around Tokyo. That to me is the sign of a useful lens, and why I felt compelled to do this tribute to the 14mm today.
In many ways, the photographs that we are viewing today also represent some major milestones in my personal history. Four years ago, I had three locations on my bucket list. Antarctica, Africa and Iceland. On my way back from my first visit to Antarctica, I started to have the uncinate fits that lead us to find that pesky brain tumor that almost whisked me away in 2011.
The first time I cried when I found out about the tumor was when I realized that I might die without having visited Africa. Luckily for me, my friend Jeremy Woodhouse saw to that when he invited me to Namibia with him in 2013, and Tim Vollmer sorted out the Iceland part when we partnered for my Iceland tours. There was something else that I always wanted to see with my own eyes though, and that was the aurora borealis, which we can see in the next photograph, from my first visit to Iceland.
Here is the last of the ten photographs that I chosen to look at today, from my first dedicated Hokkaido Landscape Tour that I ran this January with my friend David duChemin. Again here I used the extreme perspective of the 14mm to distort the bow of this fishing boat, making it look bigger than it really was, with the boat quickly getting smaller as it runs off into the distance. The reality is that I was literally sitting almost under the front of the bow of this boat, but the wide angle pushed it away, and once again gave us that beautiful radiating cloud formations in the sky.
OK, so that's the ten. Quite a simple run through of these images, but I really wanted to do this, as a retrospective of some of the best work that the 14mm f/2.8 II lens helped me to create. Sure, it's not just about the gear, but you can't escape the fact that it's our gear that enables us to do some types of photography.
The "zoom with your feet" phrase that seems to be so popular these days kind of goes out of the window when you start to talk about extremes like this. Sure, I could have moved backwards and shot some of these images with a longer focal length, but they would not have had the same distorted perspective that I love, and as far as I know, they haven't invented a 24-70mm lens yet that can see through walls, so the only way to get the indoor sand-dune shot that we looked at earlier, was with the 14mm, or at least my 16-35mm, which we'll look at next week.


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Book three in the Darklander Lovers series.Warlocks in Lance s family have been cursed for generations Revenge pumps in his veins along with his drive to succeed in the human corporate world During a blind date with his coworker, he discovers she s a witch belonging to the same family who cursed his.Cindy fought to escape her gray Darklander world to prove herself in theBook three in the Darklander Lovers series.Warlocks in Lance s family have been cursed for generations Revenge pumps in his veins along with his drive to succeed in the human corporate world During a blind date with his coworker, he discovers she s a witch belonging to the same family who cursed his.Cindy fought to escape her gray Darklander world to prove herself in the human realm with her business smarts She dresses down, doesn t use her magic and is a force to be reckoned with.Ignoring the sizzling passion her demanding warlock lover evokes in her might prove to be the hardest challenge in her life But enjoying being controlled in the bedroom doesn t mean she has to give up all she s fought for.
This is the 3rd book in my Darklander Lovers series and I must say I loved writing a head strong witch and one pissed off warlock. Hope you enjoy.


text:
Gething MAY be a surname or a well used Welsh forename and may refer

 Glyn Gething (1892–1977), Welsh rugby union player
 Michael Gething, Australian official
 Richard Gething (c.1585–c.1652), English calligrapher
 Vaughan Gething (born 1974), Zambia-born Welsh politician

See also
 Gethin

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
FrancoAngeli is one of the largest Italian publishing houses specialized in books and journals for university and post-university studies, as well as for professionals.

Based in Milan and founded in 1955, it has one of the largest Italian catalogues, with more than 17,000 titles and more than 30,000 authors. Each year it publishes more than 1,000 new books and more than 80 journals.
The main fields of its publishing activity are: management, psychology, sociology, education, vocational training, economics, business administration, social services, medicine and health, architecture, design, environment, politics, and law.

The founder, Franco Angeli, died November 3, 2007, at the age of 77 years. On November 2, 2008, his name was entered in the "Famedio" (Pantheon) of Milan.

References

External links

Italian companies established in 1955
Publishing companies established in 1955
Companies based in Milan
Book publishing companies of Italy


text:
Ask an Expert – Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
As part of the World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, the Guardian has pulled together a panel of experts to answer the 'top ten' questions posed by readers. Readers are asked to submit their questions to panellists, who include Prof. Sir David King, and Pavan Sukhdev, leader of the TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and the Environment) study, with the answers appearing online within the next couple of weeks.
This year, the theme of the World Forum, run by the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University, is 'Ecosystem Services: From New Commitments to Strategic Action'.
New research shows that current national red squirrel conservation strategies likely to undermine species survival in future
Funding | 12 January 2022
Red squirrel conservation strategies in the UK and Ireland, that favour non-native conifer plantations, are likely to negatively impact red squirrels.
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Urban gardens are a dependable food source for pollinators through the year, study suggests
Publications | 05 January 2022
Gardens in cities provide a long and continuous supply of energy-rich nectar from March to October.
READ MORE about Urban gardens are a dependable food source for pollinators through the year, study suggests
The sky's the limit: Using airborne DNA to monitor insect biodiversity
Scientists at Lund University have discovered for the first time that it is possible to detect insect DNA in the air. This offers scope for exploring a whole new way to monitor terrestrial biodiversity.
READ MORE about The sky's the limit: Using airborne DNA to monitor insect biodiversity