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Overview of Vital Records in Poland, Part II: Practical Implications of Historical Practices
Published on September 23, 2016 September 23, 2016 by Julie Roberts Szczepankiewicz
In my previous post, I gave an overview of the history of vital records in Poland. Today I'd like to go into a little more detail about the implications of that history. Originally I thought I'd offer some examples of vital records from the different partitions as well, but in the interests of keeping these individual blog posts to a reasonable length, I think I'll break it down a bit further and include those additional examples and observations in a "Part III."
1. First, there is no single, centralized repository for vital records in Poland (or in any other country, for that matter).
It sure would be nice if there were, but just as in the U.S., where you have to go to a town clerk's office to find a civil marriage record, and a parish to find a church marriage record, the same is true in Poland — more or less. The lines get a bit blurred because of the role that church officials played in acting as civil registrars, so sometimes it's not immediately apparent whether a given register is the original church register or a civil transcript. It's probably safe to say that the state archives have more civil records collections than they do church books, but the state archives do have plenty of original church books nonetheless, as you can see from this collection. Theoretically, church records more than 100 years old are supposed to be transferred to the appropriate diocesan archive, just as their civil counterparts are supposed to be transferred from the registry office to the appropriate state archive. However, some parishes choose not to comply with this, so it's not uncommon to find parish priests with 300 years' worth of vital records sitting in their office.
Because of this, you may have to get creative in order to get full coverage for your parish of interest, and check a variety of sources. Some diocesan archives are more forthcoming than others about what their holdings include, and some parishes and diocesan archives aren't very responsive to requests for records by mail, so I often find it's most expeditious to hire a local researcher to investigate holdings and obtain records from parishes or archives. For example, for my ancestral parish of Kołaczyce, records can be found in the parish, in the Archdiocesan Archive in Przemyśl, in the USC (civil registry office), and in the Sanok Branch of the Polish State Archive of Rzeszów (Figure 1):
Figure 1: Vital Records Coverage Table for Kołaczyce, Podkarpackie province, Poland
Repository Range of Years for Birth Records Range of Years for Marriage Records Range of Years for Death Records
Sanok Branch of the State Archive in Rzeszów
USC in Kołaczyce Presumably, 1916 to present Presumably, 1916 to present Presumably, 1916 to present
Archdiocesan Archive in Przemyśl 1746-1782; 1826-1889 1748-1779; 1826-1889 1762-1779; 1826-1889
St. Anne's Church in Kołaczyce 1784-present 1784-present 1784-present
As you can see from this table, there's quite a bit of overlap in the coverage, which is nice, but there are also a few gaps. The Archdiocesan Archive's collection only includes births through 1782, which suggests that birth records from 1783 are missing, since the parish collection of birth records begins in 1784. Similarly, there's a 4-year gap from 1780-1783 in both marriage records and death records. It's not clear why the State Archives have relatively few records and such a disparate range of years for the different vital events, but the fact that there's so much overlap in coverage means that researchers interested in this parish won't lack for material.
Coverage differs dramatically in different parts of Poland. If you're researching in Galicia, you're lucky, because coverage there is generally good. Researchers in Mazovia might have a different experience, however. Figure 2 shows the coverage table for another one of my ancestral parishes, Młodzieszyn, in Sochaczew County.
Figure 2: Vital Records Coverage Table for Młodzieszyn, Mazowieckie province, Poland
Grodzisk Mazowiecki Branch of the State Archive in Warsaw
USC in Młodzieszyn Presumably, 1916 to present Presumably, 1916 to present Presumably, 1916 to present
Diocesan Archive in Łowicz —- —- —-
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Młodzieszyn 1945 to present 1945 to present 1945 to present
This area suffered a great deal of damage during the Battle of the Bzura in 1939, and all the vital records from before 1885 were destroyed. All of them. Gone. The point here is that your mileage may vary quite a bit when it comes to the availability of records for your ancestral parish of interest. Records may exist dating back to the 1600s, or the only existing records may be relatively recent.
2. The existence of separate record books for each village within a parish in Austrian Poland/Galicia means that you can search for individual village names in sites like Baza PRADZIAD and Szukajwarchiwach, rather than searching only under the parish name.
For example, the village of Nawsie, which belonged to the parish in Kołaczyce, has its own collection of birth records here (births from 1859-1900) at the State Archive Branch in Sanok. As a corollary to this, since I know that my ancestors were from Kołaczyce, the other villages belonging to that parish would be the very next place I would look for records, if I could not find a record of a particular vital event in Kołaczyce itself. Note that this is only true for villages and parishes that were within Austrian Poland/Galicia. If I want to find records for the village of Wierzbno in Słupca County, Wielkopolskie province, which was in Russian Poland, I will not find them by searching under "Wierzbno" in Baza PRADZIAD, Szukajwarchiwach, or any other site which indexes or catalogues Polish vital records. Instead, I have to use a gazetteer to determine the parish, which is Kowalewo-Opactwo in this case. Records from Russian Poland and Prussian Poland typically note the home village(s) of the key participants within each record, but all the records are bound in the same book.
3. The existence of separate record books for each village within a parish in Austrian Poland means that you need to identify the present parish for the village, when requesting records from the parish itself.
As new parishes are created in Poland to serve the evolving needs of the community, parish borders change. When a village that belonged previously to one parish is reassigned to a new parish, all the old record books for that village are transferred to the new parish. As an example, my great-great-grandfather Andrzej Klaus was born in the village of Maniów in gmina Szczucin in the Małopolskie province in 1865. At that time, Maniów belonged to St. Mary Magdalene parish in Szczucin, so that is the church in which he was baptized. However, in 1981, a new parish called Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima and of the Rosary,was founded in the village of Borki, and the village of Maniów was assigned to this new parish. So when I visited Poland last summer, and wanted to see the original record book which contained Andrzej Klaus's baptismal record, that book was in the shiny new parish in Borki rather than in the centuries-old parish in Szczucin.
Of course, in this case the problem is somewhat academic, because these records are also available on microfilm from the LDS. However, it does frequently happen that the desired parish records that are not available online or on microfilm, and in that case, it is incumbent upon the researcher to determine the correct parish to write to before making an inquiry.
4. The fact that duplicate copies were created in every partition increases the likelihood that at least one copy survived.
There's a pervasive myth out there that "all Polish records were destroyed in the wars" that often keeps people from even trying to find those records. While it's true that many records were destroyed, there are plenty of records that survived, and in some places, it's possible to find both the civil and the church record for the same vital event. As an example, Figure 3 shows the church version of the 1843 baptismal record for my great-great-grandmother, Marianna Krawczyńska,1 from the parish of Zagórów, in what is now the Wielkopolskie province, but was at the time part of Russian Poland.
Figure 3: Baptismal record from Zagórów for Marianna Krawczyńska, born 1 February 1843.1
The record is in Latin, in paragraph form, and it's fairly brief. It's dated February 2, and in translation, it indicates that the same priest who was named in the preceding record baptized a female child named Marianna, born the previous day at 9:00 in the evening, daughter of Antoni Krawczyński and his lawful wife, Wiktoria Dęboska. (The spelling of Wiktoria's surname is usually standardized to "Dębowska" in modern Polish.) Godparents are also named.
In contrast, Marianna's civil birth record2 includes quite a bit more information (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Civil birth record from Zagórów for Marianna Krawczyńska, born 1 February 1843.2
The translation is as follows: "It came to pass in the village of Zagórów on the 21st day of January /2nd day of February, at 3:00 in the afternoon. He appeared: Antoni Krawczyński, shoemaker, of Zagórów residing, having 39 years of age, in the presence of Mikołaj Otto, shoemaker, age thirty, and Sylwester Bogusławski, farmer, age 41, both residing in Zagórów, and showed us a child of the female sex born in Zagórów in house number 113 (?), born yesterday at 9:00 in the evening of his wife, Wiktorya née Dęboska, age 37. To this child at Holy Baptism performed today, was given the name Maryanna, and her godparents were the aforementioned Mikołaj Otto and Antonina Bogusławska. All parties mentioned in this Act were of the Catholic religion. This act was read aloud to the declarant and witnesses, but signed by us only, because they do not know how to write. [signed] Fr. Mikołaj Wadowski, Pastor."
Although the key facts are identical between these two records, the civil version includes the names, ages, occupations, and places of residence of two adult, male, legal witnesses in addition to the age, occupation, and place of residence of the father. This particular record provides the address of the house where the child was born, although this information may be omitted, depending on the parish. The use of double dates for both the date of baptism and the date of birth was required by the Russian authorities, and reflects the fact that Poland and Western Europe had adopted the Gregorian calendar, while Russia and Eastern Europe persisted in using the old Julian calendar. The second date (Gregorian) is the one we use today.
This brings us to our next point:
5. Whenever both church and civil records exist for the same vital event, get both. One may be more informative or accurate than the other.
In Russian Poland and Prussian Poland, the civil transcrips were created in parallel, at the same time as the church record. So a record from the civil transcript ("Kopie księg metrykalnych") is likely to be as accurate as one from the parish register, ("Księgi metrykalne") though it might contain additional information, as shown with Figures 1 and 2. However, one would predict that discrepancies between the church and civil records might occur somewhat more frequently with civil transcripts ("Kopie księg metrykalnych") from Galicia, where church records were recopied at the end of the year. If a discrepancy were found between the civil transcript and the parish register for a vital event from Galicia, I would be inclined to trust the parish register over the transcript. In many cases, only one set of records (church or civil) is available, so you may not have the luxury of comparing the two.
6. If you're looking for a relatively recent record, and the state archive does not have it, write to the USC for the township where the village is located.
As an example, my great-great-grandmother had a sister, Barbara Mikołajewska, who died in 1926 in Juliopol, gmina Młodzieszyn, Mazowieckie province. Since her death occurred more than 80 years ago, it is classified as archival, and therefore anyone may request a copy whether or not they are a direct descendant. However, If you check the holdings of the state archives (e.g. Baza PRADZIAD, as discussed previously) you see that the the local archive for Młodzieszyn, which is the Grodzisk Branch of the State Archive of Warsaw, only has death records for Młodzieszyn going up to 1901. Records from 1926 have not yet been transferred to the local state archive, so this particular record was still found in the USC for Młodzieszyn. Tip: USCs can be rather slow to respond to requests for records, especially if you don't have an exact date for the event. You may have better luck with hiring a local researcher to visit the USC in person to obtain records for you.
In the next post, I'll provide some additional examples of vital records from all three partitions, as well as a few additional tips and observations. In the meantime, happy researching!
1Roman Catholic Church, Zagórów parish (Zagórów (Słupca), Poznań, Poland), Księgi metrykalne, 1592-1964, 1843 #31 birth record for Marianna Krawczyńska, p. 226.; 2161271 Item 5.
2"Akta stanu cywilnego Parafii Rzymskokatolickiej Zagórów (pow. slupecki)", Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe, Szukajwarchiwach (http://www.szukajwarchiwach.pl/), 1843, #31, birth record for Marianna Krawczyńska, accessed on 18 September 2016.
Categories Krawczyński, Polish archives, Tutorials, Zagórów
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Photo by Jan Antonin Kolar on Unsplash
Over the past (almost) three years, much of the medical debate has been centred around the COVID-19 pandemic. To this point, we are approaching 650 million cases of Covid with just over 6.6 million deaths from this infection.
But, the World Health Organisation has estimated that 16% of all deaths around the globe are directly linked to pollution, representing many more deaths than the COVID-19 pandemic. Pollution, in the view of many health experts, should be considered a major risk factor for the vast majority of diseases.
When you think of air pollution, you typically think of the dreadful smog experienced in many highly populated cities. Pollution also includes indoor pollution, especially from the burning of wood for heating and cooking but also, strangely, noise pollution as well.
The cost in Europe from yearly exposure to cigarettes is around €500 billion per year whereas the combined cost of inhaled air pollution and noise is estimated to cost €1 trillion on a yearly basis.
A study from Europe examined the health consequences of being exposed to nighttime aircraft noise. it has been estimated that 70 million people living in Europe on a daily basis, out of the estimated population of around 750 million, suffer noise from traffic and aircraft greater than 55dB. This is considered the limit beyond which there is an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and hypertension.
It is suggested that this form of noise pollution accounts for a significant number of cases of hypertension, hospital admissions and premature deaths on a yearly basis.
The study of aircraft noise estimated that 3% of cardiovascular disease was directly related to night-time exposure to aircraft noise because of its effect of inducing sleep disturbances and the strong link with poor sleep & cardiovascular events. It was estimated that, as one example, endothelial dysfunction (the malfunction of the cells that line blood vessels) is linked to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. This was clearly linked to aircraft noise. It was also demonstrated that noise pollution also led to the release of stress hormones leading to high blood pressure and disruption of the 24-hour circadian cycle.
A recent study published in the Journal "Neurology" examined the link between the common air pollutant PM 2.5., typically found in polluted air. It has been estimated that 90% of the world's population live in areas which expose them to greater than the recommended level of pollution. This study was a meta-analysis of 17 studies in people over the age of 40. It examined 91 million people of which 5.5 million i.e. 6%, had dementia. The study was adjusted for age, sex, cigarette smoking and education. The study found that the risk of dementia was increased 3% for every one microgram per cubic millimetre of exposure to PM 2.5. The US environmental pollution agency has estimated that an average exposure of PM 2 .5 up to 12 µg per cubic millimetre was safe and beyond that there were a variety of potential health issues.
Interestingly the researchers also reviewed exposure to nitrogen oxide which is the key component of smog, nitrous dioxide and Ozone and found that there was no real link to dementia in this particular study.
To date, pollution has been associated with a variety of cardiovascular diseases, dementia, respiratory diseases, increased risk for cancers, behavioural abnormalities in children and infertility, to name a few.
As I have stated on numerous occasions, the major issue on the planet is increasing population which leads to the flow on effect being pollution in the form of polluted air and excessive noise.
Albert Einstein once said, "we cannot solve our current problems with the same thinking we used to create them". It is my opinion that we need a serious rethink about how we are all living our lives & especially how we continue to overpopulate the planet because the 16% of deaths directly related to pollution will continue to increase unless we don't.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


And life seemed so calm & slow.
A time when it felt good to be me.
I wish I could go back to the past.
And the World just seems far too loud.
I hope we can go back home one day.
And may all our Christmases be one day by the sea.
Jane is a new Family Fund blogger, she has been a single parent for six years. She has three children, it was clear that her son was in need of great support & the long journey of numerous assessments began. He was diagnosed with Autism in April 2016. Read more of Jane's blogs at Coffee and Glow.
Read more of our Family Fund Blogs.


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Q: Removing or overriding Windows 7 system image in windows 8 Before upgrading my PC to Windows 8.1, I did a standard Windows 7 backup to a 1TB hard drive. Now that I am in Windows 8.1, I would like to create a new System Image Backup, however I don't think the backup wizard has detected the previous backup to override. Is there a way to do that?
Otherwise I wouldn't mind just deleting the old system image backup from my hard drive, however I thought I should check here if that is a safe thing to do?

A: Yes, it's safe to delete the old system image.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Dr Lionel Marinus (D.C) graduated as chiropractor from the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic in Bournemouth, England.
Dr Lionel Marinus started his career in Karate during 1965, and received the grade of Shodan in 1967. During 1969 he received Natal colours and participated in the SA Games placing second, and was selected for the South African Springbok team to compete against Britain. During October of 1969 Shihan Lionel captained the South African Shukokai Team at the World Championships in Paris. South Africa placed second losing to Japan. 1972 saw Shihan Lionel again being chosen to represent South Africa at the World Championships in Paris. Shihan Lionel left for the UK to study as a Chiropractor in 1980 and returned in 1984. During that time he returned to South Africa every year to perform courses and gradings. Shihan Lionel received South African National Springbok colours during 1969, 1970 & 1972. 1986 saw Shihan Lionel Coach the South African National Team against the USA. Early in 1987 Shihan Lionel was graded to 6th Dan and then 7th Dan during 1996. 8th Dan status was awarded during 2006 and 9th Dan was awarded in 2016 in Berlin. Shihan Lionel currently instructs regularly in Southern Africa as well as in Australia and Europe.
On return from the UK, Dr Lionel Marinus set up private practice in Blairgowrie. Being a top sportsman, Dr Lionel Marinus has years of experience working with the mechanics and functionality of the human body. This combination of understanding body movement in karate and chiropractic care is immensely beneficial for patients in his care.


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The Weird Galaxy With No Dark Matter
The strange galaxy is missing the invisible, mysterious matter present in pretty much every other galaxy in the universe.
By Avery Thompson
Gemini Observatory/NSF/AURA/Keck/Jen Miller
Billions of years ago, when the first galaxies formed, they didn't come together just anywhere. All this matter had to clump around something. That something turns out to be dark matter, which formed giant tendrils throughout the early universe. Today, every galaxy we've seen has some dark matter in it.
That galaxy, called NGC1052-DF2, was just discovered by astronomers and reported in a paper published in Nature. According to the paper, the galaxy has none of the characteristics observed in other galaxies—including our own—that hint at the existence of dark matter.
To be clear, astronomers have never spotted dark matter directly. It might be impossible to detect, as it's likely invisible to all forms of light and doesn't interact with anything else. But whatever it is, dark matter has mass, so we can detect its presence based on the gravitational effect it has on the rest of the host galaxy.
Specifically, astronomers can count the mass of the visible matter in a galaxy pretty easily based on how bright the galaxy is. Astronomers can also measure the total mass of a galaxy based on how fast it rotates. When these don't line up, it probably means there's something invisible that's adding extra mass to the galaxy. While we're not sure what it is exactly, we know it's there.
But in the case of NGC1052-DF2, it's not there. There's almost no difference between the two methods of measuring the galaxy's mass, which means the expected amount of dark matter is missing. According to the data, NGC1052-DF2 has only 1/400 as much dark matter as would be expected for a galaxy of its size. Just as strangely, NGC1052-DF2 doesn't seem to have a central black hole, which makes it again different from nearly every other galaxy in the universe.
It's possible that NGC1052-DF2 was formed from a collision between two other galaxies, or perhaps was made from some stars spit out from a larger galaxy. It's tough to say exactly what happened, but whatever process formed NGC1052-DF2 is likely very rare.
Source: Nature via Mashable
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A torment thrice three-fold to be crossed.
The worser spirit is a woman colored ill.
The fundamental story is that of Southampton struggling against Elizabeth to succeed her on the throne, with Oxford trying mightily to help him.
Once I had listed all the various words revolving around these two main characters (Southampton as protagonist and Elizabeth as antagonist), it suddenly struck me that I had actually overlooked the two most important and most frequently used words of them all: LOVE and TIME.


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Place, Position and Future of Abkhazia in the Second New World Order, by Nikolai Zlobin
Paper read at the conference "Independence of Abkhazia and Prospects for the Caucasus" organized by the Friends of Abkhazia Civil Initiative. Istanbul, Bilgi University, 31 May 2009.
I will start by saying that Abkhazia became a big part of old history. By this I mean that Abkhazia is the ultimate example of the formation capacity of the international system that arose after the Second World War. From one aspect, it is the latest example and from another, it is the first example of how to cope with international problems apart from the old Yalta System. The Yalta system ended in Abkhazia and that is why I think Abkhazia would ever stay in world history as a turning point. Yalta's end started in Kosovo and has drawn to a close in Abkhazia. I am saying this, because I believe we can talk about history; we can talk about what happened in the past, about problems and mistakes, but I think it would be a big mistake to look for solutions in a system which no longer exist in the world. We are in a new world order. I call it the "Second New World Order." Yes, I believe that we are in a new world order and the international system has been renewed in the last sixty years since the Second World War. I think this is a point for rethinking very serious fundamental things, from international organizations to international law.
I would say I personally do not know what 'independent country' means anymore.What does it mean to be independent? From what? Independent from what? From the global economy? The current world crisis shows that nobody is independent from the global economy. Actually, I would argue that the Noble Prize for economics should be rescinded, because it is a disgrace to grant a Noble Prize for economics in this crisis. Independent from what? From international global companies? What does that mean that? I know one independent country in the world. The only really independent country in the world is North Korea. Should we want Abkhazia to become another North Korea? If we become independent to the extent that we are insulated and we are isolated, then we can say that the Chechens are more independent than Abkhazians. Chechens are much more independent than many other countries in the world. I think the first thing that Abkhazia should consider is why and what kind of independence it anticipates. What would this mean for Abkhazian national interests? It is necessary to answer this essential question, and then on the basis of the answer to consider what kind of instruments, mechanisms, legal regulations, etc., are to be developed.
I agree that recognition on the international legal stage is very important for Abkhazia, and that this is a wonderful thing, but Abkhazia must reckon that being engaged with this legal stage might also bring along disappointments. I mean, the international diplomatic failures that you would consecutively experience will bind you. Therefore, I do not consider that existing on the international legal stage as an "absolute must" condition.
Monopolies of Global Countries are over
It is assumed that the United Nations Security Council will strongly be on the side of Georgia. Why? Remember the 1991 Security Council did not do anything about the breakup of the Soviet Union. No one sought to maintain the territorial integrity of the Soviet Union. The Security Council remained indifferent while the biggest country of the world was collapsing. And now do you think it will take care of local problems. Why? As a matter of fact, I think that powerful countries do not or cannot play the roles they have traditionally played in the world. This is a new system, a new order. Regional countries, regional problems became much more important. There are North Korea, Iraq, the Caucasus, and Kosovo and so on. This is a global agenda. It is not American-Russian relations anymore. Global countries have lost their monopoly over the international global agenda. They do not know what to do. Russia and the United States show incredible levels of improvisation in international affairs. It is improvisation, bad improvisation, contentious causing worse improvisation. That is what we deal in international affairs now. This new order is much more complicated and challenging. When it is evaluated with old perceptions, maybe it should be called the 'order of disorder.' Or the 'chaotic order.' Thereupon, let me add that finding its own way in this order will not be very easy for Abkhazia.
You know I can tell you openly I think that we must use a double standard. If you want to be successful, you have to use standards as much as you like in foreign politics, but a single standard should only be found in criminal codes. If you steal something, you go to prison. That is it. International relations have to be much more flexible and that is what successful foreign policy should be; different standards based in national interest that can change and that is why Abkhazians must figure out what their national interest are now.
Let us talk about an overview of Caucasus. I agree with Sergei Markov and he gave a very good picture what the Caucasus should look like in ideal world. I would be supportive of that, but to speak from the outside of real politics, as he speaks from within, I would say that I do not view the Caucasus as a region. It is just geography. I see it as a combination of very different countries that have nothing to do with each other, with different economies, and different political directions. They are advancing with differing global perspectives. They are developing differently. I do not see what will shape the Caucasus as a region. Maybe I am missing something. I do not know, but I do not see how it can be shaped as a unified region. In my opinion, maybe it is just a hope such as Eurasia or it is whatever we have sought for centuries. This is a hopeless hope.
Does the Caucasus have common grounds?
I do not know what the future of Caucasus will be. I do not know how the countries there will adjust their positions, nor describe themselves, nor where they want to go. Will they become countries that look up to the West, the U.S.A. or the European Union such as Georgia and will they develop their affairs in this direction? Or will they be in new pursuits such as Azerbaijan, which is trying to improve its affairs with the Arab community and be one of the leading countries in the oil market? Or will they act to preserve their relationships with Russia while relating to Europe as Armenia does? So, is it possible for the countries in the Caucasus to advance in the same direction? I do not know.
There are good ideas and good wishes for the Caucasus. There are various anticipations in the matters of economic development, security, and consistency, but there is not any acceptable, concrete attitude regarding how to implement such wishes. For example, the territorial security system has been mentioned. It is theoretically a reassuring and convincing project, but when we ask how we can build this, we cannot reassuring and convincing project, but when we ask how we can build this, we cannot concretize it. You have so many troubles now and you are looking outside of this region for help and you want to be global you do not want to be regional. Of course you do not want to be regional. You do not want to be second rate cultures. So I think this is another problem for Abkhazia as well: to choose its policies that will lead it away out from the region. You do not want to spend all your life fighting Georgia and hoping Russia will help. So achieving recognition will not be enough. I support independence and recognition, but you cannot be contented with those alone. By the way, I do not agree with Sergei Markov in one matter: in my opinion, Abkhazia did not become independent last year. Abkhazia became independent 15 years ago after the war, and only last year Russia found a way to recognize it. That raises another question: why did it take them fifteen years to recognize an independent Abkhazia?
What does the independence of Abkhazia mean?
So my point is, what do Abkhazia's independence and recognition mean? What will they bring to Abkhazia in real terms? Years ago, we had a similar conversation with Lech Walesa, who was the president of Poland at the time. He caused many debates in the world by coming into power and with his tendency to make Poland an individual country independent from the Warsaw Treaty Organization. In particular the Soviet Bloc and many other countries said that they would not recognize Poland in its new form. He said to me, "we do not need official recognition. We need generals.'' I said, "What generals are you talking about?" and he said, "We need General Electric, we need General Motors. We need all these big companies to come here and to bring projects with money, people, and employment and so on. We are interested in factories which will be established in our country instead of recognition and opening our embassies in other countries."
I mean, how you describe independence and recognition is important. So when we talk about recognition do not repeat the mistakes Saakashvili made when he was so blind that he did not see anything beyond his goal of planting the Georgian flag in Sukhum(i). That was it. That was what he cared about, nothing else. There were so many ways of achieving a number of goals, I believe. But no, he was so blind that he just wanted one thing: getting Abkhazia back.
So I think international recognition is a good thing, but on the other hand I would argue that you may well count as successful without recognition, and as a matter of fact, if independence and recognition do not come integrated with a design for the future, if you cannot convince yourselves and the world of this, then you will never attain global recognition.
Anyway, there are also other matters I want to talk about among these serious issues that Abkhazians and Caucasians face. Sergey Markov is a philosopher; I am a historian. We attended Moscow State University at the same time, but studied on different floors. As a historian I would say that our mistakes began in 1991 when the nation was still the Soviet Union. I think our policies have been mistaken. I think the Soviet Union is still in the process of falling apart. The disintegration of empires is a long and painful historical process. The disintegration of the Soviet Union has not ended yet. In my opinion we will see more changes in political geography. We will see more borders shifting. We will see more countries created from the Soviet space. I am not sure that Russia will stay intact. This is a huge problem and Russian officials recognize it as one of the big problems facing Russian politics, how now to maintain territorial integrity and so on. I do not even consider a named situation, as permanent. I think we are in a global process of reshaping global political geography. It has not only happen in the old Soviet territory; it also happened in Europe, Yugoslavia, Germany, and Kosovo. The same things happened in Africa, and who knows what has happened and will happen in China, etc.
The international system based on outcome of World War II is over. That is it. We live in a different world, and Abkhazia is the first country which is free to say different things. So, Abkhazians should think very carefully about what and how they will connect to the international community. That is why I would say that I would be very careful as a friend of Abkhazia regarding long term commitments to anything now, because I do not know what will happen tomorrow. We have had so many examples recently, such as when you sign a treaty and the next day you know that this treaty is basically against your national interests because these have suddenly changed. I would be very careful about any long term promises, because the world is changing very fast, and with this economic crisis no one knows how it will affect the world. Who can say how political agendas will form in Russia for instance, or in the European Union, or in the Caucasus?
National interests of Russia – National interests of Abkhazia
I would argue that Russia's recognition of Abkhazia was great. I am supportive of it, but I would say that Russia recognized Abkhazia not because of Abkhazia, but because doing so served Russian national interests. Recognition has nothing to do with Abkhazia. Abkhazia is a place where Russia wants to be. Russia wants to be in the Caucasus. Abkhazia went for 15 years without recognition and I do not honestly know why if you asked me, but I suspect anyway that the war in South Ossetia and Abkhazia last year made Russia feel that she might lose influence in the region. Russia said, "Let's interfere. If we do not, then Western countries might come; the European Union might come; NATO might come..." In the end, Russia's selfish desire to be there has created a good result for Abkhazia, but it should be understood that this selfishness is not temporary and it did not end with the step in August. Russia will behave selfishly, of course. It is Russia. It is in Russia's national interests to be selfish, as every normal country would be. Well then, what should Abkhazia do? From my point of view, in order not to be dependent on the national interests of Russia, Abkhazia should base its policy stance on the national interests of Abkhazia, not on those of Russia.
The major features leading to the recognition of Abkhazia are the mistakes of Georgia and the interests of Russia. The Russian-Georgian crisis that has continued for years is the biggest factor contributing to instability in the Caucasus. Unless Russian-Georgian relations improve, the Caucasus never will be calm, I believe. If these improve, however, then what the role of the Abkhazia will be? This is another problem for the Abkhazians to think about. On the other hand I would also say that the United States and Russia have so far failed to manage to engage in a debate regarding American and Russian policy in the post-Soviet space. It is very difficult, and will remain very difficult.
In many ways I feel as though Russia enjoys a monopoly over Abkhazia now. Yes, Russia is completely in control of Abkhazia and I do not think it is healthy. In my opinion, Russia should loosen control, provide protection, and support Abkhazia as long as these actions do not conflict with the interests of Russia or put Russia in a difficult position regarding the security of Russia, but sooner or later everybody will question Russia's monopoly in the Caucasus. You know president Medvedev said that Russia has a so-called privileged interests in the post-Soviet space. The United States immediately said nobody recognizes your privileged interests in the post-Soviet space. There is no such thing anymore as privileged interests. It is not the Cold War anymore. We have independent countries of our own. They have a choice of what to do. I think it would be great, very healthy if other embassies were to open in Sukhum(i). I would like that very much. I am pushing for this goal in Washington as much as I can. I am probably the only person in Washington who advocates the official recognition of Abkhazia. You would be correct, however, to think: if America recognizes Abkhazia, would it seriously diminish Russian influence there? Do you think Moscow wants this? Why would Moscow advocate the international recognition of Abkhazia? They are not stupid. They want to keep a monopoly. Everybody would like to keep a monopoly. I urged Moscow to recognize Kosovo in order to break the Western monopoly in Kosovo. The West can do the same with Abkhazia.
I think that Russia will indirectly resist the recognition of Abkhazia on the international stage, because this does not suit the national interests of Russia. Russia wants to be in the Black Sea. Abkhazia is a great piece of land, strategically still important, trade-wise still important. You know better than I do. So that is another problem for Abkhazia and another problem for the West, because Abkhazia signed with Russia not just a treaty but a military treaty. These two countries became military allies, not just friends. That is a status. That is what NATO tried to do with Georgia and you know everybody was opposed to that. So Georgia did not become a military ally of NATO, but Abkhazia became a military ally of Russia. Thus Georgia's reasons for accession to NATO have become stronger. I hope that the United States does not endorse Georgia's accession to NATO by saying "an eye for an eye".
Goings-on behind the curtain
The events of last August also have backstage stories. Maybe you know, at first president Medvedev suggested that Abkhazia and South Ossetia should establish a confederation that Russia would recognize, because it would be better for Russia. I suppose Sergey Markov knows the details better than me. If Abkhazian hands were linked with those of South Ossetia all would have been a very different story, of course. South Ossetia is a failed state. Abkhazia is a successful state. I believe that Abkhazia proved itself to be a successful independent state for fifteen years, not because Russia finally recognized it, but because Abkhazia built an independent state. Abkhazia declined this suggestion of unifying with South Ossetia. Sergei Bagapsh [the Abkhazian President] did not want it. He scrutinized this proposal. Only Russia wanted it. Yes, this plan would have hindered the goal of South Ossetia to join Russia through union with North Ossetia, but Russia preferred it, because it eliminated the possibility of Abkhazia being truly independent and drifting away from Russia, which was more important for Russia.
As is apparent, political-strategic plans are multipronged. In order to understand the steps that Russia has taken, a multipronged examination is needed. Russia is not only a big country with its geography, armament, and economical potential but it is also a big country with its different political-strategic plans.
The negative attitude of the United States toward Abkhazia is due to a lack of understanding of Abkhazia, not being adequately aware of Abkhazia. The Americans are not completely unaware of Abkhazia, but they do not know what Abkhazia means for the national interests of the United States. The Americans do make many mistakes but in many ways they are also quite practical. Their policy toward Georgia was certainly a bad one. I agree that Saakashvili was a big mistake; American investment in Saakashvili was a mistake, a strategic mistake, but it will not be changed. With Saakashvili or without Saakashvili, unfortunately, Georgia will be a point of interest for Washington, because Washington as well wants to be in the Caucasus. There is no other nation other than Georgia that can fulfill American ambitions there. If you are a great country, if you are a big country, a superpower in the old terms, you want to be in the Caucasus because it occupies a strategic position. This is assuredly a basis for potential of conflict with Russia. If the United States and Russia do not negotiate their interests in the region, then Abkhazia will completely be on the side of Russia and Georgia will be on the side of the America. For the United States it is important to stay in Georgia through Saakashvili or someone else. Where else can America turn to?
Russia and the United States do seek to improve relations. President Obama dedicated this entire year to improving relations with Russia quickly. He will go to Russia for that purpose in the upcoming days. The two nations are working on a strategic treaty or on strategic nuclear missile reduction. So far it has not the steps taken in the Soviet period. Russia and the United States have a lot of these opportunities. Who is to know how and when their relationship will move beyond counting nuclear weapons only? Who can guarantee whether Abkhazia will become captive to the negotiations between these big men? Let us keep this question in a corner of our minds. Besides, I think we have to understand that the pursuit of American national interests do not abide by international laws. I think America is a promising partner for Abkhazia, but do not expect official recognition. That would not help anyway.
The view of the United States is changing
I think that Americans entertain some questions about Abkhazia. These are not about its affairs with Russia, its military agreements, or how Abkhazia positions itself and how it became independent. The United States has problem with Abkhazian demography and of course with refugees. Nonetheless, Washington is not insistent on seeing Georgia as a whole in which Abkhazia and South Ossetia must be included. I clearly observed this. They must have understood by now that Abkhazia and South Ossetia will never return or be forced to return to Georgia. Nobody has mentioned it yet, but they have understood this and they will understand it further. I am trying to say that there will not be any political power which tries to push you back anymore. This is the reality. I am going to say that you should not expect much from the U.S.A. It is a big entity. It is like a big elephant, and it turns very slow. But know that it changes. I have been able to see these changes for the last twelve months. As a significant major change, there is an appreciation of Abkhazia and of the Abkhazian people for having become an independent state. This view will open contacts even if there is no official recognition. We have to consider this. We have to evaluate this and if we cannot have a relation on an official level, we should make use of unofficial ways. Civil society for instance, the business world, the media... These could be pursued without any recognition.
In my opinion, Washington recently tried to tell Tbilisi that it has to rearrange its foreign policy, because Abkhazia and South Ossetia are not its regions anymore. The question of course is will Tbilisi hear this message? That is another question. Several times, particularly in November of last year, they failed to hear what Washington was recommending to them. I am not saying that they must listen, but even though they are not completely in the hands of Washington, they are also not in a position to oppose its will.
By looking at all of these dimensions, you must think about what Abkhazia's national interests really are and focus on being a "de facto" state, while not being limited to "de jure" recognition. Despite the difficulties that Abkhazia still faces, there is a great variety of options and opportunities. It can be a free trade area, buffer zone, demilitarized weapon-free zone, etc. It is necessary to determine the most realistic and the most effective options. Above all, Abkhazia exists as an independent country with or without Russia, and will keep on living as an independent country. Abkhazia proved that it has built an independent state. Now I think we face a new stage in the fight for independence, much more complex, much more delicate. You do not need fighters anymore. You need smart, wise politicians to deal with the current problems.
Nikolai Zlobin is director of the Russia and Eurasia Project at the World Security Institute. A former professor at Moscow State University, Zlobin joined the Institute in Washington, D.C., in 2001 as a senior fellow and director of Russian and Eurasian programs. He is a leading expert on international security; terrorism; relations between the United States and Russia, as well as the United States and the nations of the former Soviet Union; and the politics and history of Russia, Asia and Eurasia.
Nikolai Zlobin is the author of 11 books and more than 200 academic articles published in more than 15 languages, Zlobin's latest book, International Communications, was published in 2004 by M.E. Sharpe. His editorial opinions have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, International Herald Tribune, and the Chicago Tribune, among other publications. Read more...
The Circassian question and Abkhazia: historical factors and contemporary challenges by Arda Inal-Ipa
No, We're Not All Georgians Now, by Cernig
Some Thoughts on the recent fighting, by John Colarusso - 13 August 2008
Abkhazia in 2014: Back to the Future? By Liz Fuller
The Abkhazian paradox and the Montenegrin model, by Laurent Vinatier
Abkhazia Heads Into A Turbulent Summer, by Liz Fuller
Why I Apologize To Abkhaz People, by Ucha Nanuashvili
'Occupied' or 'Liberated' Territories? The Smoke and Mirrors of Caucasian Semantics, by George Hewitt
It is terrible, not to say a horror! By Inal Khashig
Nasty Nationalism, by E. Wayne Merry
Abkhaz Opposition Want to End Squabbling, by Anaid Gogoryan - IWPR
Bloom Off the Rose: Georgian "democracy" owes more to Josef Stalin than Thomas Jefferson, by John Laughland
Thanks to Everyone, Everyone Is Free. South Ossetia and Abkhazia are gradually gaining independence from Russia, by Marina Pervozkina
A Reply to Svante Cornell's Daily Telegraph Article (16 June 2009), by George Hewitt
8 March: International Day of Women: Women as Peacemakers, by Rene Wadlow
The Valid and Non-valid Application of Etymology/Philology to History, by George Hewitt
UN Membership: Recognition of Things as They Are, by Rene Wadlow
Fanning the Flames of Another War in the Caucasus?, by Eric Walberg
An attack on sovereignty, by Inal Khashig
How Obama Can Reform Russia Policy, by Anatol Lieven
"History Speaks Our Language!" A Comparative Study of Historical Narratives in Soviet and Post-Soviet School Textbooks in the Caucasus, by Vladimir Rouvinski
Abkhazian President Bagapsh in Ankara, by Hasan Kanbolat
Toolbox: Georgia's Territorial Integrity, by Alexander Cooley & Lincoln Mitchell
A thorn in the side of Georgia's Rose Revolution, by Robin Llewellyn
Azerbaijan's contribution to the isolation of Abkhazia
Abkhazia - The Black Sea Region's Best Kept Secret, by Bruce Talley
Baron Pyotr Karlovich Uslar: Inventor of the First Abkhaz Alphabet, by Stephen D. Shenfield
The Russian Consul killed in Abkhazia was trying to resolve disputes overhousing
Abkhazian delegation visits Jordan Chamber of Commerce
Alexander Rahr: Abkhazia and South Ossetia will not return to Georgia
The Georgian-Abkhazian Conflict – Time Works Against Georgia…: An interview with Rusudan Marshania
Abkhazia dependent and independent - Interview with Inal Kashig
Interview with Nikolai Zlobin, Director of Russia and Eurasia Studies at the World Security Institute
Abkhazia's Liberation and International Law, by E. K. Adzhindzhal
Some Thoughts on 'Abkhazia is not Kosovo', by George Hewitt
Why Independence For Abkhazia Is The Best Solution, by George Hewitt


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Jeffrey Epstein's autopsy showed he died by suicide, the medical examiner says
Michelle Mark
Jeffrey Epstein.
Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide, New York City's chief medical examiner ruled on Friday.
The news comes nearly a week after Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell. He had faced federal charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy.
The medical examiner had previously stopped short of ruling on a cause of death, determining only that Epstein had broken multiple bones in his neck. Officials said Epstein hanged himself from the bunk in his cell.
New York City's chief medical examiner ruled on Friday that the financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide, The New York Times reported.
Previously, officials had referred to Epstein's death as an "apparent suicide," and the autopsy report had stopped short of formally announcing the cause of death but determined that Epstein had multiple broken bones in his neck.
The broken bones had fueled speculation that Epstein's death was caused by foul play, but medical experts had warned against such theories, saying the injuries were consistent with hanging.
Read more: Despite the conspiracy theories, broken bones in Epstein's neck aren't proof he was murdered, medical experts say
Officials said Epstein tied a bedsheet to the top bunk in his cell, then leaned forward forcefully enough to break the neck bones, according to The Times.
Epstein was arrested on July 6 and charged with one count of sex trafficking and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Federal prosecutors alleged he abused dozens of girls as young as 14 over a period of years. Epstein pleaded not guilty.
Jail officials have drawn heavy scrutiny for their actions in handling Epstein. He was placed on suicide watch in late July after he sustained minor neck injuries in an apparent suicide attempt, but he was put back in a special housing unit just days later.
The guards tasked with monitoring Epstein are also suspected of falsifying records that showed how often they were checking on Epstein, according to media reports. Though the guards were supposed to monitor him every half hour, they fell asleep for several hours after working extreme overtime shifts, The Associated Press reported, citing a person with knowledge of the jail's practices.
If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or has had thoughts of harming themselves or taking their own life, get help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress, as well as best practices for professionals and resources to aid in prevention and crisis situations.
More: Jeffrey Epstein Suicide New York City YahooAdd


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Hotly Debated EEOC Conciliation Regulations Scheduled To Become Effective
Andrew Maunz, Paul Patten
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) amended regulations on required steps in the conciliation (settlement) phase of the EEOC administrative process for claims brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act are scheduled to become effective on February 16, 2021.
The stated goal of the new regulations is to conciliate more cases by providing respondents (and, in certain circumstances, charging parties) the factual and legal basis for the EEOC's reasonable cause finding. While this goal appears laudable, it is clear from some public comments that there is fierce opposition to the new regulations from some stakeholders and the regulations are not favored by a significant portion of the EEOC's workforce. Much of this controversy stems from perceptions of how the new regulations might affect a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Mach Mining, LLC v. EEOC, 135 S.Ct. 1645) siding with the EEOC.
The EEOC is required by relevant statutes to attempt to conciliate or settle a matter with a company after the agency has determined a reasonable cause exists to believe that discrimination or retaliation has occurred. If conciliation fails, then the EEOC can file a lawsuit.
During 1972-2015, some companies mounted "failure to conciliate" defenses in EEOC litigation, arguing an EEOC lawsuit should be dismissed because the agency did not properly conciliate. Defendants argued the EEOC made no effort at all to conciliate or it failed to provide sufficient information to the company in conciliation. Litigation over conciliation could be time-consuming and sometimes included discovery into the EEOC's investigation, as well as conciliation practices. On rare occasions, companies were successful in having a case dismissed due to the EEOC's failure to conciliate. Understandably, in litigation, the EEOC prefers to train its microscope on a company's employment practices and not have a microscope examining its own investigation or conciliation.
In 2015, in Mach Mining, the Supreme Court issued a ruling favorable for the EEOC. There were several key aspects:
Favoring employers: the EEOC was required to provide information about its reasonable cause finding to a respondent company during conciliation.
Favoring the EEOC: the EEOC needed to provide only basic information about the claim to a respondent company as part of conciliation.
Favoring the EEOC: courts were not to hold the EEOC to a good faith standard during conciliation negotiations.
Favoring the EEOC: Title VII confidentiality provisions forbid courts from considering evidence of what was said and done during conciliation.
Diminishing payoff from a failure to conciliate defense: even if a respondent company succeeded with a failure to conciliate defense, the only appropriate remedy is to order the EEOC to reengage in conciliation, i.e., a lawsuit will be stayed and not dismissed.
Comments From EEOC Employee Union, EEOC Alumni
The National Council of EEOC Locals, the exclusive representative for bargaining unit employees at the EEOC, filed comments opposing the proposed conciliation standards. The union wrote that the regulations would open the door for tactics the Supreme Court rejected in Mach Mining: long and protracted litigation regarding not only the EEOC's conciliation efforts, but also the sufficiency of the EEOC's investigation efforts as a whole.
Mach Mining also was a prominent subject in comments filed by a group of 33 EEOC alumni, many formerly holding high-level management roles with the EEOC, and some having worked for the EEOC as recently as 2020. The EEOC alumni complained that the information the EEOC was obligating itself to provide in conciliation was burdensome and would put the EEOC at a litigation disadvantage. The EEOC alumni also claimed the proposed regulations would permit respondent companies to seek judicial review of whether the EEOC followed the proposed regulations and avoid Title VII's prohibition against disclosing conciliation communications. The EEOC alumni contemplated that EEOC trial attorneys would not be able to use case law in litigation if the EEOC did not use the case law in conciliation and that the regulations necessitated across-the-board waiver of all attorney-client privilege the EEOC would otherwise be able to assert in litigation.
EEOC's Response to EEOC Alumni, Plaintiff-Aligned Comments
In response to criticism from the EEOC's union and alumni, and in other parts of the Final Rule material, the EEOC indicated the new conciliation regulations would preserve the holdings of Mach Mining that favored the EEOC:
The Final Rule requires the EEOC to provide only basic legal and factual information about the underlying claim and the regulations were aligned with Mach Mining's requirement that the EEOC provide respondents with the person or categories of persons it has harmed. The EEOC stated that the new regulation does not require it to "lay all its cards on the table."
The EEOC was not committing to a "good faith" standard in conciliation.
The Final Rule permitted the EEOC to continue to assert all privileges it is entitled under the law, and that confidentiality provisions of Title VII remained intact as a barrier to a probing judicial review of conciliation.
In announcing the Final Rule, the EEOC did not address Mach Mining's ruling that the remedy for a failure to conciliate was limited to a stay in litigation (the Final Rule itself does not address this issue specifically). The Final Rule materials state that the EEOC had determined the Final Rule will not unnecessarily open its conciliation process to judicial review or collateral attacks from employers.
The EEOC took into account some criticism from employee aligned groups. The original proposed regulations required the EEOC to disclose material information that caused it to doubt its determination of reasonable cause. The EEOC decided to remove this requirement from the Final Rule. The EEOC asserted the sufficiency of existing protocols requiring field personnel not to enter a reasonable cause finding where the facts or law do not support the finding.
EEOC's Response to Suggested Changes from Employer Groups
The EEOC disclosed 13 changes suggested by commenters supporting the proposed regulation. A sampling of the proposed changes and the EEOC's response include:
The proposed rule permitted the EEOC to not disclose in conciliation the identity of alleged aggrieved individuals if those individuals requested anonymity. Jackson Lewis and other commenters suggested this exception was too broad and individuals who were not current employees (former employees or applicants) should be identified in all instances. The EEOC declined to implement this requested change.
There was some ambiguity as to whether the EEOC would be required to identify harassers, at-fault supervisors, and potential class size in conciliation. Jackson Lewis and employer-affiliated groups requested the language of the Final Rule make clear the EEOC would be required to make these disclosures. The EEOC has revised the language of the Final Rule to implement this suggested change.
The proposed rule permitted charging parties and aggrieved individuals to obtain the same information provided to a respondent on request. Jackson Lewis and employer-affiliated groups suggested that disclosures should be limited to the individual who makes the request. In other words, in a case with numerous aggrieved individuals, the charging party would receive information about the charging party's claims, not other aggrieved individuals'. The EEOC revised the Final Rule such that any information provided to the respondent, except for information about another charging party or another aggrieved individual, will be provided to the charging party upon request.
Jackson Lewis noted that in some conciliations, the EEOC seeks the respondent's agreement to permit the EEOC to issue a press release regarding conciliation. Jackson Lewis argued that this practice was inconsistent with the spirit of the provisions of Title VII restricting disclosure of things said and done during conciliation. The EEOC declined to make this requested change, stating that publication of conciliation results often furthers the EEOC's objectives.
The Final Rule applies to all conciliations involving reasonable cause findings issued February 16, 2021, and later. Since the rule was published in the Federal Register prior to January 20, 2021, it is not subject to the Biden administration's regulatory freeze and remains scheduled to become effective. Furthermore, any alteration or repeal of the rule would require a majority approval of the EEOC's Commissioners and would likely necessitate the EEOC engaging in the rulemaking process again.
Congress has options under the Congressional Review Act to vote to rescind the rule (and other recently implemented rules), but this would require a majority in both houses and the President's signature within the limited time described in the law.
Jackson Lewis attorneys will continue to monitor EEOC conciliation practices. The Final Rule was approved by a 3-2 vote, with the three Republican Commissioners approving the Final Rule and the two Democrats opposing it. Since the vote, President Joe Biden appointed Democratic Commissioner Charlotte Burrows Chair of the Commission. On January 27, 2021, the EEOC announced that it had terminated an EEOC conciliation pilot program that required stricter conciliation accountability from EEOC field offices to headquarters. In light of the EEOC's change in leadership, it will be important to watch the implementation of the new conciliation rule.
New Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) Software Launched By EEOC
EEOC Terminates Mediation Pilot Program Eight Months Early
Philadelphia Expands Limits On Employers' Use Of Applicant or Employee Credit Histories
EEOC FY 2020 Annual Performance Report: Recoveries Up, But Fewer Lawsuits Filed
Minneapolis and St. Paul to Require Proof of Vaccination or Negative Test for Certain Businesses
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Smoke, fire, water spray, dust, and more all have something in common. They all benefit from a good particle system. For the uninitiated, a particle system is essentially the management of a collection of non-static points in 3D space. In most common examples, each point, or particle, goes through an entire life cycle from "birth" through "death". Adjusting the parameters that affect a particle's life cycle allows the creation of various effects. The key ingredient of a particle system that makes the generated effects look so realistic is chaos; a bit of randomness in the behavioral modification of the particles. This paper dives into creating a particle system that takes full advantage of Intel® Architecture.
Sometimes a well-architected, well-implemented particle system isn't enough when it comes to performance. Wouldn't it be nice if it were possible to design all the math and physics behind these brilliant effects in such a way that the processor could handle four times the workload? If you are developing for the PC platforms, and your target is Intel® Pentium® III or Pentium® 4 processors, look no further than the Streaming SIMD Extensions.
Streaming SIMD Extensions, or SSE, allow the operation of instructions on up to four pieces of data simultaneously with a single instruction; hence the acronym SIMD: Single Instruction Multiple Data. Arranging and organizing the data optimally allows for the maximum benefit from these instructions. Hundreds of applications exist for SSE. Here we focus on one that is near and dear to the game programmer's heart.
The composition of most particle systems is basically the same, though implementation details may differ a great deal. Most often, the particle is set up as a single class or struct, depending on the language. Conceptually the particle system is the class responsible for managing a linked-list or array of particles. With each frame, the particle system must update the parameters of each particle by applying the rules that govern a particular effect. The particle system class is also responsible for rendering the particles with each frame. Before we discuss the intricate details of the particle system class, though, we must first review necessary considerations for composing the particle class.
Probably the biggest mistake made when designing a particle system is overlooking the importance of memory management. As I mentioned earlier, a common appr oach is to create a linked list or something of similar nature to maintain the particles, which can be bad for performance, and is a potential source for cache thrashing. Since I am starting with an empty canvas, and one of my design requirements is performance, I'll begin with a bottom-up approach by designing a particle class in structure-of-array (SoA) format that takes full advantage of SIMD instructions. If you already have a particle system that uses a more conventional array-of-structures (AoS) format, you may still take advantage of SSE by passing your particles through a conversion routine, performing the appropriate calculations, and converting the data back to AoS format. You will incur a performance penalty by rearranging your data on the fly, but the penalty may only be slight in light of the gain from using SSE.
With SoA, memory is allocated within the particle class so that each element of a particle can be arranged in an array. Using this structure is only slightly different than using an AoS format, in the sense that in AoS format, an element would be accessed as mParticleArray[i]->position.x , whereas in SoA format, the same element would be accessed as mParticleArray->x[i].
In addition to proper arrangement, memory must also be aligned to a 16-byte boundary for maximum SIMD friendliness. In general, data structures should be aligned to natural boundaries whenever possible, because the processor requires two memory accesses to access unaligned data (e.g. a doubleword that crosses a 4-byte boundary). A natural boundary for a double quadword (128-bits) is any address that is evenly divisible by 16. We will be working on 4 single-precision floating-point values simultaneously, so a 16-byte boundary is a wonderful fit (4 single-precision floating-point values, each 32-bits == 4 * 32 = 128-bits == 1 double quadword). Aligning dynamic memory is easily accomplished with the intrinsic for allocating memory, _mm_malloc().
As with any other dynamic memory allocation, be sure to release the memory once it is no longer needed. In the case of the particle class, this is when an instance of the class is destroyed. Freeing memory allocated with _mm_malloc() is accomplished through the intrinsic, _mm_free().
Now that we have a particle class defined, and memory management is under control, let's move back up a level to the management of the particles.
We would like to design a bit of flexibility into the particle system class because it can be effective and useful for several visual effects such as smoke, sparks, water, etc. The easiest approach is to adopt an object-oriented design with a base particle system class and specialized particle systems derived from that class. For example, smoke and sparks are very different in nature, but they both fit well into a particle system. The main difference between the two is the way in which they are affected by the environment in which they exist, and perhaps the manner in which they are rendered. Sparks consume oxygen, fall towards the ground, and burn out fast. In a more sci-fi environment, sparks may explode in space and remain unaffected by gravity and/or atmosphere. Smoke, on the other hand, may rise, fall, or remain static depending on temperature and composition. More advanced particle systems might include features such as collision, and support to include the particle system as part of an object hierarchy. For the sake of simplicity, the particle system class implemented here does not have such features. However, adding advanced features is easy given a good general design.
Rendering a particle system in Direct3D* whose particles are arranged in SoA format is similar to rendering one whose particles are arranged in AoS format. For each frame, lock and fill a dynamic vertex buffer, unlock, and draw. The only variation is the way we extract the data from the particles with which we fill the vertex buffer. Here is where we see the first big advantage of using a SoA and SSE. Without using SSE, we would have to iterate through a loop n times, (where n is the number of particles) and set each vertex of the vertex buffer one at a time. SSE, however, allows us to run through a similar loop (n / 4) times, setting four vertices of the vertex buffer at once. That means only doing a quarter of the work! The same thing is true for updating the properties of particles in the particle system update method, which we will review in more detail in the next section.
The example project included with this article locks and fills an entire single vertex buffer with all the particles each frame using the D3DLOCK_DISCARD flag, and then only makes one call to DrawPrimitive() or DrawIndexedPrimitive(). DrawPrimitive() is used when we let the API handle the details of expanding single points to quads and texturing those quads for rendering by setting the render state D3DRS_POINTSPRITEENABLE to TRUE. DrawIndexedPrimitive() is used when the application directly add resses these tasks with D3DRS_POINTSPRITEENABLE set to FALSE.
Load the three components of the position vector (x, y, and z) of four particles into XMM registers.
Unpack and shuffle the data into xyz format.
Check the life flag for each of the four particles. If the particle is alive, then stuff the extracted data into the vertex buffer. Otherwise, ignore it.
The code for the above algorithm is rather straight-forward, and is shown in Listing 4 (below).
Transform a vertex into eye-space (i.e. camera-space).
Calculate the screen-space point size.
Convert the transformed vertex from eye-space to screen-space (i.e. map the transformed vertex to the viewport).
Calculate and store in the vertex buffer the position and texture coordinates of the 4 corners of a quadrilateral.
After completing steps 1-4 for all particles, generate the indices that describe the triangles that make up the quadrilaterals, and store those indices in an index buffer.
Furthermore, the example project included with this article, which you may download with full source, includes examples of both the x87 and SSE implementations of these algorithms.
Updating particles follows a similar pattern to rendering. Again, organizing the data in SoA format enables the update method to do just a quarter of the work of a conventional update method. Also note that the update method of the base particle system class is void. The derived particle systems (sparks, smoke, explosions, etc...) must each implement their own update method, overriding the base class method, because each system is so specialized. The attached example project includes a simple spark system with a relatively simple Update().
Each particle's life begins with a "random" energy value, and that energy wanes with time until the particle eventually fades out. When a particle dies, it can either be reborn as a new particle, or be gone forever. In the example project, the spark system stays alive indefinitely; however, choosing otherwise is a simple flip of a Boolean value. If you chose to implement a particle system with a short life span, it may be useful to keep track of how many particles in the system are alive. That way it becomes very easy to send a message to a particle system manager to release resources when all the particles in a system terminate.
Load the three components of the position vector (x, y, and z) of four particles into some temporary variables of type __m128.
Load the three components of the velocity vector and acceleration vector similarly.
Update the velocity, position, color, life flag, energy, etc. of each particle.
Store back the updated information into the appropriate elements.
If a particle has died and the particle system life span is indefinite, respawn dead particles.
You can see the code for the above steps in the spark system implementation file in the downloadable example project.
The first and arguably most important part of creating a particle system is a good design. Be clear on the requirements of your particle system, but keep in mind flexibility, as well as the things that are important from a processor architecture perspective. Include performance in the design and testing of the particle system. Data organization and management is key, and SSE can help provide big wins in this space. Typically, no major algorithmic modifications are necessary to use the improvements SSE provides. Furthermore, the compiler intrinsics allow the programmer to easily write SSE code without going to the assembly level. Adding SSE support to your particle system may improve performance, allowing you to render more particles at the same frame rate, creating some awesome visuals! So download the example project presented here, add some features or change the characteristics of the particle system, and add some excitement to your 3D engine today!
// Lock the vertex buffer.
Will Damon was a Technical Marketing Engineer within Intel's Software Solutions Group. He has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University*, where he graduated with honors. He has been with Intel for over a year, helping game developers enable their titles to achieve the highest performance possible on Intel® Pentium® 4 processor-based PCs. He welcomes email regarding optimization, mathematics, physics, artificial intelligence, or anything else related to real-time 3D graphics, and gaming.


Therapeutic Beds – What Is A Therapeutic Bed?
Electric Adjustable Orthopedic Beds for joint comfort and support.
How Can Disabled Beds Offer Support And Comfort?
What is a Hospital Bed Mattress?
Orthopedic Bed > Therapeutic Beds – What Is A Therapeutic Bed?
Therapeutic beds are often used by individuals to alleviate muscle, bone and joint pains. These beds are extremely useful to provide maximum comfort for better sleep. You can use these beds to alleviate or prevent degenerative muscular or skeletal conditions. You can also just simply use it if you want to experience more comfort when you sleep.
When they were first manufactured, these specialized beds had hefty price tags. However, because there are now many companies manufacturing the product, its costs are now offered at competitive rates so that more individuals can experience the true comfort and support that these beds offer.
Back pain is extremely common among many individuals. This type of condition may occur due to position, excess weight, carrying excess cargo, medical conditions or sleeping in the wrong mattress. A therapeutic bed can easily alleviate the pain from such a condition. These beds have specialized mattresses that are flexible and easily conform to the natural "S" shaped curvature of the spine. It provides more support providing relief for the user.
Often, a therapeutic bed will also be adjustable. You can easily raise or lower the head, back or foot portion of the bed. You can raise the head of the bed to read, watch television or eat in bed. You can even raise the foot portion to rest tired feet and prevent varicose veins. You can also adjust the height of the bed to facilitate a safe and more convenient transfer in and out of the bed.
Most therapeutic adjustable beds also have additional features rather than just being able to change bed position. Some beds can come with heat therapy. This is especially useful during cold and chilly weathers. You would be saved from having to put a heating blanket over the bed a few minutes or hour before lying down.
You simply push a button and heat therapy can start to provide you with more heat during winters. Some adjustable beds also have mattresses that lessen heat when weather might be too hot. Mattresses like memory foam, latex or gel mattresses lessen the heat between the user's body and the bed. This prevents you from tossing and turning to find a colder and more comfortable position during summers.
Massage therapy is also another great advantage of therapeutic mattresses and beds. Massages can come in handy to rub weak and tired muscles. Therapeutic adjustable beds can offer massages at varying speeds. You can even specify what part of the body needs massaging.
You can choose a simple back or leg massage or an overall head to foot massage. Some beds are also equipped with memory buttons that automatically starts the last massage you used with a single push of a button. Some features also include massage timers which automatically ends the massage at the specific time you have set.
The use of a therapeutic bed in homes has become more common. This is also largely due to more and more people wanting to experience the best comfort while they sleep and relax. Although it may be a little pricier than traditional beds, the benefits you get to experience from therapeutic beds are well worth the price.


As the cooler months are settling in our vets are definitely feeling the cold! Like us, cats and dogs can feel the cold as well and chronic pain like arthritis can be more pronounced. We have a lot of success stories on dogs that respond very well to arthritis treatment but we would like to discuss our feline friends as well!
Bailey presented to the clinic as she was having issues urinating properly on and off for 3 weeks. But being true to the Labrador in her- no issues with her appetite! . On examination Bailey's bladder felt abnormal – like it contained a handful of sand. A urine sample was taken and assessed under a microscope that revealed some bacteria present in the urine but no crystals. For diagnosis of the problem imaging was required (ultrasound and/or x-rays are required).
It will be impossible to fully illustrate Charlie's personality and her will to live in this short story, but you can see her spark and spunkiness jumps out of her photos! (Click here).
Did you know you might not even know your cat had Aids (FIV)!
Does your cat spend time outside, ANY TIME AT ALL? If you answered yes, your cat is at risk of FIV - a debilitating, painful and life threatening virus.


Do we Define Politics, or Are Politics Defining US?
In the latest episode, I break down a couple of stories that are currently dominating the election cycle and ask where is the discussion based around principles? I am also wondering if we are being defined by politicians, or do the people still define their politics? Lastly, I debut my new segment called Life In Utopia and this week's question is one I got a lot this week – Why are you not working for The Blaze and Glenn Beck?
Please consider checking out this show as I know it will give you plenty to think about. Also please subscribe, like, comment and share this content. God Bless.


EBC Ultimax Brake Discs The latest super quiet slot pattern for prestige and premium cars requiring discs that are almost totally silent featuring the latest chemically applied corrosion resistant black finish. This black coating has been tested with the industry standard salt spray test and proven to last anywhere between 2 and 5 years depending on conditions and represents the ultimate in disc rust prevention. Please note: The illustration shows a disc after it has been used for a period of time and the pad has rubbed off the black coating in the braking area.


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Located in the heart of the San Fernando Valley on the corner of Sherman Way and Van Nuys Blvd. A handicap accessible facility with ample free structured parking. New locations in nearby cities soon opening.


Apple Airplay...mirror your screen on your TV - Cloud 9 AV Inc.
Apple recently released OS X Mavericks and most MAC users can update for Free. Find out more from apple by clicking the link at the bottom.
This update is not that big of a deal but my favourite feature has to be screen sharing or as Apple calls it…mirroring.
If you don't have an Apple TV ($109 CAD) and you use a MAC at home, you are missing one of the best features available to you. With most current MACs, iPADs, iPhones and even iPod Touch devices you can very easily share what you have on your screen with everyone in the room on your HDTV…wirelessly.
Yes, simply use Apple Airplay to send what you have displayed on your screen to your 65″ LED in your family room or your 120″ projection system in the basement.
This is perfect for sharing your photos with friends and family…but make sure you also serve them wine since not everyone thinks your family trip is that interesting. As long as you do…that's what counts.
What do you need for Mirroring or Airplay on Apple TV?
Not sure how to get started or want help with other home technology, please give us a call. We would be happy to help.


text:
THE COLLEGE TRANSFER GURU
TRANSFER COLLEGE
The College Transfer Guru
Steve Burleigh has assisted families throughout the U.S. and internationally as well as Southern California (especially in the Los Angeles area). He is the ultimate college transfer guide and works with students across a wide spectrum of intricacies from disenchanted college freshman to student athletes, from scholarship transfers to community college credit equivalencies. In every area of the college transfer process, Steve will help you navigate the details and get admitted to your new college. He is an experienced college distance counselor with more than than ten years specializing in college transfer circumstances, nuances, applications, college credit transfers and admissions. Whether you are the parent of a special needs student, a student with learning differences. or you are simply a transfer in any background, including performing and visual artists, athletes, and all major areas of study--Steve specializes in the details of your college transfer requirements.
He holds a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and the Certificate in College Counseling from UCLA Extension where he now teaches a course in the online certificate program entitled The Business of Educational Consulting. He started the Los Angeles independent college counseling firm College Pathways® eleven years ago. He is a member of the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC), the Western Association of College Admission Counselors (WACAC), and the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA). He is a frequent participant in the WACAC California Legislative Conference and has volunteered at programs such as StepUp Women's Network, Los Angeles Unified School District's Summer College Boot Camp, and several summers volunteering with College Summit Summer Workshops. He is a frequent presenter of college information workshops at libraries in the Los Angeles area including Westwood, Santa Monica, Compton, and Calabasas, as well as at local service organizations including Kiwanis and Rotary. Prior to founding The College Transfer Guru he was an award winning film and television producer. He is the recipient of the George Foster Peabody Award for Outstanding Television Programming, the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie, and producer of a Humanitas Award winning film. His films have been official selections at several prestigious film festivals including Sundance (Official Opening Night Film), Tribeca, Chicago, Seattle, Nantucket, Hamptons, San Francisco, and Montreal First People's Film Festival. He recently combined his counseling and film backgrounds to create a series of informational videos on college transition issues, the first of which is Admission Zen: The Stress Free Path to Getting Into College, which is available on Amazon and distributed nationally to schools and libraries by several book and video distributors.
Call Now for your
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Full of the infectiously melodic mix of bluesy rock 'n' roll and rootsy brown-eyed soul that's long endeared Los Lonely Boys to its fan base, the album adds an expansive range of new sonic elements, like touches of reggae grooves, rustic acoustic textures and baroque pop.
The Los Lonely Boys will perform a unique acoustic set in Royce Auditorium.
Tickets are $40/$35 - Student tickets are $12 at the door only. Ticket prices include fees. Subscribe to all four concerts in the series and save!


Great style meets next-level organization (complete with 12 pockets and an extra roomy interior). With a sleek, sophisticated silhouette that transitions seamlessly from boarding the plane to the boardroom, it's the ultimate business travel or overnight bag.
The Large Abbey looks like a purse, but has an easy-to-clean interior and exterior, plus tons of pockets.


The Chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Technology, Assist. Prof. Dr. Dari Yousif Mahmoud Tolba, met the first new students admitted to the Department for the 2017-2018 academic year for the morning study in the presence of the meeting of the administrative assistant of the department. Assist. Prof. Dr Kanaan Ali and the Head of the Educational Guidance Unit Assist. Prof. Dr. Sandas Damad and the Director of the Registration Division. At the beginning of the meeting, he welcomed them and wished them a successful academic life to be true students and builders capable of assuming the responsibility entrusted to them to serve our dear country. Which represents the stage of building and character formation, in which the character of the student is refined in accordance with the nature of the engineering study.
The students were briefed on the set of laws, regulations and university instructions concerning the discipline of students and uniform, the relationship of the student with the educational institution in which he is studying, his colleagues and his teachers, as well as the distribution of a profile containing the profile of the department, vision, mission and objectives of the department.


text:
FOLEY, BRENDAN PATRICK
Name: Brendan Patrick Foley
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Udorn
Date of Birth: 27 March 1932
Home City of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 24 November 1967
Loss Coordinates: 184800N 1034000E (UF595790)
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel In Incident: Ronald M. Mayercik (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of
NETWORK 2017.
SYNOPSIS: In violation of the neutrality of Laos accorded at Geneva in a 14-
nation conference July 23, 1962, the North Vietnamese and supporting
communist insurgent group, the Pathet Lao, lost no time in building
strategic strongholds of defense in Northern Laos and establishing a steady
flow of manpower and material to their revolutionary forces in South Vietnam
via the Ho Chi Minh Trail on the eastern border of the Laotian panhandle.
As a result, the Royal Lao sought help from the U.S. in stopping both
initiatives. It was strategically important to do so, although every
initiative had to be cleared through the U.S. Ambassador at Vientiane, so
that the delicate balance of "look-the-other-way-neutrality" engaged in by
the nations involved (including China) could be preserved.
U.S. support of non-communist activity in Laos fell into 3 general groups:
1) U.S. Army and CIA bolstering the Meo (Hmong) army led by Gen. Vang Pao;
2) Strategic U.S. Air Force bombing initiatives on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
(Operations Commando Hunt, Steel Tiger, etc.); 3) Air Force bombing
initiatives in northern Laos (Operation Barrel Roll, etc.) against communist
strongholds there, and in support of the Royal Lao and Vang Pao.
Maj. Brendan P. Foley and 1Lt. Ronald M. Mayercik comprised the crew of an
RF4C Phantom jet sent on a photo reconnaissance mission over the Plain of
Jars in Northern Laos on November 24, 1967. Foley was the pilot, and
Mayercik manned the camera and technical equipment for the mission. Their
aircraft, flying alone, was on a routine weather reconnaissance mission. The
aircraft was shot down southwest of the Plain of Jars, and both men were
listed as Missing In Action.
American involvement in Southeast Asia drew to a close as a result of the
Paris Peace Accords signed in 1973 with the Vietnamese. Although the U.S.
had committed millions of dollars to a "secret war" in Laos, it did not
negotiate with Laos to free American POWs held in Laos. As a result, not one
American held in Laos was released at the end of the war or in the years
In 1979, Sean O'Toolis, an Irish-American, was touring Bong Song Camp, 40
miles south of Hanoi, on an IRA gun-buying mission, when he alleges he met
and spoke with American POWs Brendan Foley and Wade Groth, who were prison
workmates. He also claims to have spoken to men named MacDonald, Jenning and
an O'Hare or O'Hara. He brought a message to Foley's brother and
fingerprints of Foley and O'Hara. He identified old photos of Groth, and
gave believable descriptions of Foley and Groth. Neither family knows
whether or not to believe O'Toolis, as much of his account of his travels
seems incorrect.
Foley and Mayercik are two of nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos. The
Pathet Lao, stated on several occasions that they held "tens of tens" of
American prisoners, but Laos was not included in the Paris Peace agreements
ending the war. As a consequence, no American POWs held in Laos were
negotiated for. Not one American held in Laos has ever been released. Men
like Foley and Mayercik were abandoned to the enemy.
captive. Whether Foley and Mayercik are among them is not known, but they
certainly do not deserve the abandonment they received at the hands of the
country they so proudly served.
Brendan P. Foley was promoted to the rank of Colonel and Ronald M. Mayercik
to the rank of Captain during the period they were maintained Missing in
Action.
DDN 'Mother of the Year,' who raised kids after husband declared MIA in Vietnam War, dies at 83 12/02/17 Mary "Betty" Foley
MyDaytonDailyNews
"When my mother became active in the POW-MIA issue, we were proud of her," said Kevin, who was 13 months old when the family was notified his father was missing. "But I can tell you that she never let it interfere in family life. She always seemed to put our needs ahead of everything." The mother said ...


Olivia and her twin sister Gloria were given over to their uncle after their father died. Her uncle had sixteen children of his own and three other orphaned children to care for. Because he was unable to care for the twins properly, he applied to social services for help and Rafiki Foundation was contacted. Olivia and her sister arrived at the village in 2008. Olivia now enjoys a hopeful future and a loving Rafiki family! Olivia's favorite subjects are math and science because they are practical subjects. Whenever she solves algebraic expressions, she is intrigued by God's logic and orderliness. Olivia has asked for assistance with social studies, history, and language arts. She is reading as widely as time permits to get caught up with these weaker subjects. She understands that the process of education can sometimes be bitter, but the fruit of education is sweet. When Olivia relaxes from her studies, she likes to do so by drawing and painting.


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Class Act: Prattville English teacher gets creative in the classroom
By Jasmine Williams
PRATTVILLE, Ala. (WSFA) - When it comes to getting creative in the classroom, this Prattville English teacher takes the cake!
Michael Donahue teaches 10th grade English at Prattville High School. He starts the day with an attendance song, singing each student's name while playing the guitar. From there, push-ups, art, and more, anything, to get his students excited about learning.
"I like to draw on the board and get creative," Donahue said, "I had a troubled high school career myself and had a lot of teachers help me through, and I wanted to be like them."
He's been at Prattville High School since 2016. He said he tries to bond with his students on a personal level.
"I like to hang out in class and talk to them and get to know them," Donahue said. "That's absolutely my favorite thing about teaching."
Congrats, Donahue, you're this week's Class Act!
Copyright 2021 WSFA 12 News. All rights reserved.
Community meetings to be held on MPS superintendent search
Ivy Classical Academy coming to Elmore County
New charter school coming to Prattville
Auburn dean lone remaining finalist for presidency
State superintendent reacts to governor's State of the State address


text:
"Right-to-Die" bills introduced in Annapolis
By: Trang Do
State lawmakers will once again debate whether to pass "Right-to-Die" legislation in Maryland. Del. Shane Pendergrass, of Howard County, and Sen. Ron Young, of Frederick and Washington Counties, introduced new bills in the House and Senate, respectively Thursday.
The bill is similar to last year's "Death with Dignity Act," which never came up for a vote despite months of debate. The intent is the same, to allow very ill people to end their lives on their terms.
More than one hundred supporters of the bill traveled to Annapolis to see it introduced. The "End of Life Options Act" would allow mentally sound, terminally-ill adults, who have less than six months to live, to get a prescription for medication that would allow them to die in their sleep.
Supporters included Kelly Lange, an Annapolis woman with metastatic breast cancer.
"Most recently, my friend Marlene passed away in excruciating pain and it's something that I would like to potentially avoid," she said. "And have a little control at the end over something that I otherwise have no control over."
A 2015 Goucher Poll found that 60 percent of Marylanders support the bill. A number of religious and pro-life groups oppose it, calling it "physician-assisted suicide." If lawmakers pass the bill, Maryland would join five other states, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont and California, that authorize this end-of-life option.


Gu Byauk Gyi Temple, near Wetkyi-In village, lies to the north of Anawrhta road.
The temple faces east with a sikhara, double-vaulted halls, and a spiral stair. It's famous for its frescoes and stucco works. The interest attaching to this temple lies in the fine mural paintings on the interior walls depicting scenes from the jakatas. The complete series was painted half on the northern wall and half on the southern wall of the vestibule. The legends describing the scenes are in Pali and archaic Myanmar. Most of the panels were, however, lost through the vandalism of a German, who removed them to be placed in a museum in Germany in 1899.