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text:
Formtastic::SemanticFormBuilder.required_string = proc { Formtastic::Util.html_safe(" <abbr title='required'>*</abbr>") }

# Set the string that will be appended to the labels/fieldsets which are optional
# Defaults to an empty string ("") and also accepts procs (see required_string above)
# Formtastic::SemanticFormBuilder.optional_string = "(optional)"

# Set the way inline errors will be displayed.
# Defaults to :sentence, valid options are :sentence, :list and :none
# Formtastic::SemanticFormBuilder.inline_errors = :list

# Set the method to call on label text to transform or format it for human-friendly
# reading when formtastic is user without object. Defaults to :humanize.
# Formtastic::SemanticFormBuilder.label_str_method = :humanize

# Set the array of methods to try calling on parent objects in :select and :radio inputs
# for the text inside each @<option>@ tag or alongside each radio @<input>@. The first method
# that is found on the object will be used.
# Defaults to ["to_label", "display_name", "full_name", "name", "title", "username", "login", "value", "to_s"]
# Formtastic::SemanticFormBuilder.collection_label_methods = [
#   "to_label", "display_name", "full_name", "name", "title", "username", "login", "value", "to_s"]

# Formtastic by default renders inside li tags the input, hints and then
# errors messages. Sometimes you want the hints to be rendered first than
# the input, in the following order: hints, input and errors. You can
# customize it doing just as below:
# Formtastic::SemanticFormBuilder.inline_order = [:input, :hints, :errors]

# Specifies if labels/hints for input fields automatically be looked up using I18n.
# Default value: false. Overridden for specific fields by setting value to true,
# i.e. :label => true, or :hint => true (or opposite depending on initialized value)
# Formtastic::SemanticFormBuilder.i18n_lookups_by_default = false

# You can add custom inputs or override parts of Formtastic by subclassing SemanticFormBuilder and
# specifying that class here.  Defaults to SemanticFormBuilder.
# Formtastic::SemanticFormHelper.builder = MyCustomBuilder

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Why Lana Del Rey Won't Use American Flag Imagery Anymore
Hint: it has something to do with Donald Trump.
By Erica Gonzales
Lana Del Rey VEVO / YouTube
Lana Del Rey is ditching her signature Americana aesthetic now that Donald Trump is in office. Though she initially built her brand on nostalgic, patriotic motifs—like the star-spangled backdrops, motorcycle rides through the American West, and even a Kennedys tribute we've seen in her earlier music videos—she's taking a break, considering the nation's current political climate.
Now that Trump is president, she says "it's certainly uncomfortable" to look at the country with that same romantic lens, Del Rey told Pitchfork in a new interview. Thus, she plans to skip the stars-and-stripes imagery when she goes on tour for her upcoming album, Lust for Life.
"I definitely changed my visuals on my tour videos," Del Rey explained. "I'm not going to have the American flag waving while I'm singing 'Born to Die.' It's not going to happen. I'd rather have static. It's a transitional period, and I'm super aware of that. I think it would be inappropriate to be in France with an American flag. It would feel weird to me now—it didn't feel weird in 2013."
We knew Del Rey's new record was going to be politically influenced from the moment she first announced it. (Even before she revealed new music, she was already joining witches around the world in casting spells on Trump.)
In a trailer for her upcoming album, she compared the political climate to "dark times" and a "tumultuous period." The track list offered more clues, with songs titles like "God Bless America - And all the Beautiful Women in It" and "When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing." The former is a tribute to women who "don't feel safe" in Trump's America, she told Pitchfork, and the latter calls out the "boisterous rhetoric" perpetuated by the administration.
You can hear the songs on Lana Del Rey's fourth studio album, Lust for Life, which was released on July 21.
From: Harper's BAZAAR US
Erica Gonzales Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more.
Leave Aaliyah's Music Alone
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Melissa Barrera Made You The Ultimate Playlist
Olivia Rodrigo's Second Album. Let's Discuss.
Need a New Podcast? Here's Where to Start
All Your Fave '90s Love Songs, Ranked
The 50 Best TikTok Songs for Your Next Vid
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Here Are the Best True-Crime Podcasts of 2021
Lana Del Rey Is at Her Most Lana Del Rey on "Honeymoon"
Lana Del Personally Replies to Album Leakers
Lana Del Rey and the Weeknd Sing "Lust for Life"
Your Favorite Lana Del Rey Album, Explained
Lana Del Rey's New Album Is Real and Coming Soon
Lorde and Lana Del Rey Will Compete for a Golden Globe

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


SAYREVILLE, NJ Oct. 23, 2015 – Today the Christie Administration joined states across the nation to mark the 25th Anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by President George H.W. Bush. Commissioner Harold J. Wirths of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development celebrated the historic milestone at an event with the New Jersey State Rehabilitation Council (SRC), the New Jersey Rehabilitation Association (NJRA) and the New Jersey Association of Persons in Support of Employment First (APSE). The ADA ensures equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities for access to businesses, employment, transportation, state and local government programs and services, and telecommunications.
The observance, appropriately held during National Disability Employment Awareness Month which is celebrated annually in October, featured a keynote address by Commissioner Wirths and a panel with people with disabilities, employers and advocacy groups discussing progress since ADA was signed into law.
The New Jersey Labor Department kicked off National Disability Employment Awareness Month by participating in the state's fifth annual Disability Pride Parade and Celebration Day held in Trenton. National Disability Employment Awareness Month seeks to promote community awareness of disability employment issues through a variety of activities including highlighting employers who have successfully mainstreamed workers with disabilities into their operations, praising the accomplishments of individual workers with disabilities and touring businesses using assistive technology to accommodate workers with disabilities.
Services at an event celebrating the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.


The Sundarbans is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world. The Sundarbans is a UNESCO World Heritage Site covering parts of Bangladesh and Indian state of West Bengal. So today, let us have a look at the Sundarbans National Park in West Bengal.
The Sundarbans National Park is a National Park, Tiger Reserve, and a Biosphere Reserve located in the Sundarbans delta in the Indian state of West Bengal. This region is densely covered by mangrove forests, and is one of the largest reserves for the Bengal tiger. The Sundarbans National Park is also home to a variety of bird, reptile and invertebrate species, including the salt-water crocodile. The present Sundarbans National Park was declared as the core area of Sundarbans Tiger Reserve in 1973 and a wildlife sanctuary in 1977. On May 4, 1984 it was declared a National Park.
The average minimum and maximum temperature is 20 °C and 48 °C respectively. Rainfall is heavy with humidity as high as 80% as it is close to the Bay of Bengal. The monsoon lasts from mid-June to mid-September.
The mangrove vegetation of Sundarbans consists of 64 plant species and they have the capacity to withstand estuarine conditions and saline inundation on account of tidal effects. In the month of April and May the flaming red leaves of the Genwa (Excoecaria agallocha) the crab-like red flowers of the Kankra (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza) and the yellow flowers of Khalsi (Aegiceras corniculatum) can be seen. Some of the other commonly found plants and trees in the park are Dhundal (or cannonball mangrove, Xylocarpus granatum), Passur (Xylocarpus mekongensis), Garjan (Rhizophora spp.), Sundari (Heritiera fomes) and Goran (Ceriops decandra).
Some of the birds commonly found in this region are openbill storks, black-capped kingfishers, black-headed ibis, Water Hens, Coots, Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, Pariah Kites, Brahminy Kite, Marsh Harriers, Swamp Partridges, Red Junglefowls, Spotted Doves, Common Mynahs, Jungle Crows, Jungle Babblers, Cotton Teals, Herring Gulls, Caspian Terns, Gray Herons, Common Snipes, Wood Sandpipers, Green Pigeons, Rose Ringed Parakeets, paradise-flycatchers, cormorants, Grey-headed Fish Eagles, White-bellied Sea Eagles, Seagulls, Common Kingfishers, Peregrine falcons, Woodpeckers, Whimbrels, Black-tailed Godwits, Little Stints, Eastern Knots, Curlews, Golden Plovers, Northern Pintails, White-eyed Pochards and Whistling teals.
The Sundarbans National Park houses a large number of reptiles as well, including estuarine crocodiles, chameleons, monitor lizards, turtles, including Olive Ridley, hawksbill, and green turtles; and snakes including pythons, King Cobras, rat snakes, Russell s vipers, Dog Faced Water Snakes, Chequered Killbacks, and Common Kraits.
The endangered species that lives within the Sundarbans are Royal Bengal Tiger, Saltwater Crocodile, River Terrapin, Olive Ridley Turtle, Gangetic dolphin, Ground Turtle, Hawks Bill Turtle and Mangrove horseshoe crab.
The only means of travelling the park is to by boat, down the various lanes formed by the many flowing rivers. Local boats or launches operated by the tourism department, namely M.V. Chitralekha and M.V. Madhukar. Apart from viewing the wildlife from boat safaris, visitors also visit the Bhagatpur Crocodile Project, a crocodile breeding farm, Sagar Island, Jambudweep, Sudhanyakali watchtower, Buriidabri Tiger Project, Netidhopani Watchtower, Haliday Island, Kanak, and Sajankhali Bird Sanctuary.
Forest lodge and forest rest-houses are available for accommodation at Sajnekhali, Bakkhali and Piyali. The cruise launches MV Chitralekha and MV Sarbajaya also have lodging facilities.
By Road: Sundarban National Park is well connected with Kolkata - Basant High way.
Other attractions close to the National Park.
Godkhali Port is located just opposite of Gosaba Island and Gosaba is the last inhabited islands towards Sajnekhali Wild life sanctuary and Sundarban Tiger project area of Sundarban reserve forest. The shortest route distance to Godkhali port from Kolkata is 82 km and 95 km from Kolkata airport (Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport).
Koikhali is nearer to the Haliday wildlife sanctuary and Tourists attractions like Bonnie camp, Kalas Island and beach, Haliday Island etc. of Sundarban reserve forest. Koikhali is 83 and 92 km away from Kolkata and Kolkata airport respectively.
Namkhana is 117 km away from Kolkata and 123 km away from Kolkata Airport. Namkhana is also connected with railway from Kolkata and distance is 109 km. This place is closer to Bhagabatpur crocodile project and Lothian wildlife sanctuary of Sundarban.
Railway distance from Kolkata to Canning is 45 km and 29 km away from Godkhali Port. Public transportations are available between Canning and Godkhali port.
So, this is in short about the Sundarbans National Park. It is a park with a difference.


This video covers the functions of the Housekeeping Screen. You use this screen to manage Clean, Dirty, Needs Inspection and Out of Order status for each room. This screen can be managed by the Front Desk, the housekeeper or by interface with a compatible phone system.


Recently, West Africa (and, in particular, victims and refugees from the Liberian civil war) has become an important focus of War Child's work. After seven long years, the civil war in Liberia has reached an uneasy peace. The population of Liberia has been decimated by mass killings and a whole generation of children have had their lives completely disrupted by the war. They face a bleak and uncertain future, ill-prepared for this new, peaceful phase in Liberia's history.
War Child has reacted to the situation by establishing healthcare programmes, food provision and clean water initiatives for Liberian refugees in Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana, and plans are currently underway to establish a children's village in Liberia.
The Pavarotti Liberian Children's Village will be on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia's capital. It will be funded by proceeds from 'Pavarotti and Friends in Concert for Liberia 1998' and will provide educational, medical, cultural, recreational and sports facilities for young people in Liberia.
'Pavarotti and Friends in concert for Liberia 1998' was the latest event in a long period of co-operation between Luciano Pavarotti and War Child, and featured Pavarotti, Stevie Wonder, the Spice Girls, Celine Dion, The Corrs, Jon Bon Jovi and many more.


Slate has a look at the latest global warming data - Global Oceans Break All-Time Heat Record; World on Pace for Warmest Year Ever.
The Earth's oceans have never been this far beyond the bounds of normal.
New data released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that Earth's oceans reached a level last month not seen since humans have been keeping comprehensive records. Global ocean temperatures in August 2014 warmed to "the largest departure from average for any month on record" according to a NOAA statement. The previous record was set just two months ago, in June 2014.
The NOAA data also showed the temperature of the Earth as a whole hit a new all-time August record last month, confirming similar results earlier this week from NASA and the Japanese Meteorological Agency, which use slightly different ways of crunching the numbers.
Additionally, the combined temperature of June, July, and August was also unprecedented in historical records. According to the JMA, four of the last five months have now been record-breaking for that particular month. (July was No. 2, just a hair behind the super-charged El Niño year of 1998.) The eastern United States is among the only land areas on Earth still running below normal for 2014, a legacy of the polar vortex outbreaks of earlier this year.
Later Thursday morning, NOAA expanded on the implications of the new records in a conference call, saying that on its current pace—and with the help of a newly resurgent El Niño—2014 is poised to become the warmest year ever measured.


text:
Q: Microsoft public repository rpm downloads failed with gpgcheck enabled with reposync I'm facing an issue to download the patches (rpm) from Microsoft public repository site with gpgcheck=1.
Repository site: https://packages.microsoft.com/rhel/7/prod/
To download all rpm I have followed the steps to import repository into my server and added same configuration in yum repo.s d directory.
[packages-microsoft-com-prod]
name=packages-microsoft-com-prod
baseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/rhel/7/prod/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc

On this path there are 2 keys "packages.microsoft.com/keys" in .asc format.
Using
reposync -g -p //appl/data/Patch/test/test_microsoft --download-metadata --repoid=packages-microsoft-com-prod

trying to downloads all rpm,
but I find there some rpm which are continuously failing because of missing key.
blobfuse-1.0.1-RC-preview-rhel74.rpm due to failed signature check.
testrpm-1.0.x86_64.rpm due to failed signature check.
hellomicrosoft-1.0-1.0.x86_64.rpm due to failed signature check.
libmsquic-2.0.2-1.x86_64.rpm, due to missing GPG key.
microsoft-r-client-mlm-3.5.2.rpm due to failed signature check.
microsoft-r-client-packages-3.5.2.rpm due to failed signature check.
mssql-cli-0.11.0-1.el7.x86_64.rpm due to failed signature check.
mssql-cli-0.12.0-1.el7.x86_64.rpm due to failed signature check.
mssql-cli-0.13.0-1.el7.x86_64.rpm due to failed signature check.
powershell-preview-7.1.0_preview.4-1.rhel.7.x86_64.rpm due to failed signature check

The following commands show that there are few rpm with KEY but no signature:
# rpm -K blobfuse-1.0.1-RC-preview-rhel74.rpm
blobfuse-1.0.1-RC-preview-rhel74.rpm: sha1 md5 OK
# rpm -K mssql-cli-0.11.0-1.el7.x86_64.rpm
mssql-cli-0.11.0-1.el7.x86_64.rpm: sha1 md5 OK

  [Manually transcribed from this screenshot].
Looking for the way to resolve this.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Blooming Charms introduces the Sterling Silver Circle of Life Peace Bracelet which will inspire you to leave the past behind and look ahead. For better motivation, look to the studded peace charm that forms a stunning centrepiece, while enhancing aesthetic appeal as well. Stunning pieces of jewellery that are made from high quality 925 sterling silver.


text:
Convicted baby killer Keli Lane claims her daughter is ALIVE
Serial killer Ted Bundy's stepdaughter speaks out
Christmas Eve Nightmare: Mum stabbed as she prepared the turkey
Pregnant mum hacked to death during family holiday
'Mum, I'm a monster': The tragic murder of Jessica Ridgeway
Husband sentenced to life after killing his wife and hiding her body in a suitcase
The baby-faced killer who stabbed his teacher
Chris Dawson pleads NOT guilty to murder of ex-wife Lyn Dawson
Baby dies after being forcibly ripped from murdered mother's womb
Aussie mum's hell: My 'perfect' husband was abusing my son
Psychic says: 'William Tyrrell is alive.'
Raped by a stranger - but then I kept his baby
Nurse arrested on suspicion of murdering 17 babies
He snapped his wife's neck then tried to frame his own DAUGHTER for her murder
Is this America's Keli Lane? Woman, 49, arrested on suspicion of murdering her newborn baby in 1993
The town has waited 26 years for answers. - by April Glover
In March of 1993, two papergirls in a small Ohio town named Geauga County found a tiny newborn boy on the side of a dirt road.
The baby boy - who was sadly deceased - still had his umbilical cord attached and had been crudely wrapped in a garbage bag.
Geauga Maple Leaf
A coroner later found the baby had been born alive, but there was no way of telling if he was dead at the time he was dumped.
With no-one claiming the poor child's body, the child was unofficially adopted into the township and was sweetly named 'Geauga's Child', even having it printed on his headstone.
'I always think about him,' one of the girls who found him, Cheryl Jenkins, told Cleveland19News last week. 'I've never forgotten that day. I mean, it's burned in my memory.'
For 26 years, townspeople visited the grave of 'Geauga's Child' and paid their respects.
Police investigators even placed a hidden camera in the hope they could find the child's mother or father. But the case grew cold.
clevelanddotcom on Twitter
As forensic science advanced, police decided to use DNA testing to try and locate a familial match for the child, using blood and tissue samples taken in 1993.
Using an online database, investigators were led to 49-year-old receptionist Gail Eastwood-Ritchey, who was married with three children and lived in Cleveland.
Last Thursday, Eastwood-Ritchey was officially charged with one count of aggravated murder and another count of murder.
'At that time, she admitted that she had birthed a child, placed him in a trash bag and left him in a wooded area,' Geauga County sheriff Scott Hildenbrand said.
'Her statement was that she hid the pregnancy and that nobody knew she was pregnant.'
The News-Herald on Twitter
According to the county sheriff, Eastwood-Ritchey also allegedly admitted to disposing of another newborn baby in 1991.
The father's child is believed to be her current husband.
Eastwood-Ritchey appeared in court on Monday and plead guilty to the charges. If convicted, she may face a life sentence.
The case is eerily similar to Australian woman Keli Lane, who was found guilty in 2010 of murdering her baby daughter Tegan in 1996.
April Glover


text:
Zairinuk Holdings
A Global Entertainment Company
Zairinuk is an international consulting and promotions firm located in the heart of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, California. With an ideal proximity to Hollywood, Zairinuk specializes in booking and promoting various concerts and entertainment events.
Terry T. Kunimune, the owner and chairman of the company, has three decades of experience with promoting a wide range of entertainment events, including concerts and sports events. Most notably, Mr. Kunimune arranged and promoted Michael Jackson's World HIStory Tour in Japan in 1996 before Michael was invited by the Sultain of Brunei for his private birthday concert.
(Mr. Kunimune pictured in the background, to the right of MJ)
After Michael's passing, Mr. Kunimune also developed a very close professional relationship with Michael's mother, Katherine Jackson. Together, Mrs. Jackson and Mr. Kunimune established a children's foundation ("Michael Jackson's Childrens' Foundation") in Japan to help unfortunate families and children who had been affected by the tsunami which impacted the eastern part of the country in March 2011.
In November 2017, the King of the country of Georgia awarded Mr. Kunimune a medallion for his achievements, including the relief efforts undertaken by his children's foundation in Japan. Mr. Kunimune believes that music, art, and sports are man's greatest tools in establishing a bridge to global peace. Indeed, this is his everlasting passion in life.
3091 N Lima Street
Burbank, CA 91504, USA
Zairinuk.com, the Zairinuk brand, and the Zairinuk logo are trademarks of Zairinuk Holdings in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks, trade names or company names referenced herein are used for identification purposes only and are the property of their respective owners. Copyright © 2019 Zairinuk Holdings. All rights reserved.


Burr Ridge painting isn't like painting in other Chicago suburbs. Superior quality requires highest standards.
Keep their home looking its best.
Both the homes and families that live in this prestigious community have style and class.
Klasek painting has been servicing Burr Ridge for over 20 years. We've painted lots of homes, inside and out. And, we've had the pleasure of meeting many wonderful families.
We've seen their kids start kindergarten and before we know it they're going to prom!
You can't fail to be impressed when driving through these beautiful neighborhoods.
No two homes are the least bit alike. The homes are more than simply well kept. They're immaculate.
That makes sense because upkeep is a number one priority.
Drew Avenue: large two and three story custom homes in beautiful settings.
Kenmare Drive: gorgeous homes from Tudor to modern with large multi-car garages.
Burr Ridge Club Drive: features substantial estates – best of the best.
Most homes in Burr Ridge were built in the late 1940s up to present. There are a still a few parcels for sale to build custom homes.
The interior of these homes is as unique as the exterior.
Klasek Painting is skilled at painting all interiors.
Thank you for taking a tour of lovely Burr Ridge with us. We hope you've enjoyed the tour.


With heritage checks coming steadily back into fashion, we find ourselves wearing them day in and day out. Cut from a fluid, crinkled-effect ink-blue and burgundy fabric, this dress combines a chic cowl neckline with a striking panelled hem that's trimmed with buttons along the side. Wear yours with block-heeled sandals over the summer, switching to a tall boot once temperatures drop. Model is 5'10in and wears a UK size 8. The length from side neck point to front hem measures 116cm/45.5in.


text:
Socio-cultural and magico-religious practices in plant medicines preparation and use
Economic considerations in the use of TM
Authors' informations
Preparation and use of plant medicines for farmers' health in Southwest Nigeria: socio-cultural, magico-religious and economic aspects
Taiwo E Mafimisebi1Email author and
Adegboyega E Oguntade1
© Mafimisebi and Oguntade; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010
Agrarian rural dwellers in Nigeria produce about 95% of locally grown food commodities. The low accessibility to and affordability of orthodox medicine by rural dwellers and their need to keep healthy to be economically productive, have led to their dependence on traditional medicine. This paper posits an increasing acceptance of traditional medicine country-wide and advanced reasons for this trend. The fact that traditional medicine practitioners' concept of disease is on a wider plane vis-à-vis orthodox medicine practitioners' has culminated in some socio-cultural and magico-religious practices observed in preparation and use of plant medicines for farmers' health management. Possible scientific reasons were advanced for some of these practices to show the nexus between traditional medicine and orthodox medicine. The paper concludes that the psychological aspect of traditional medicine are reflected in its socio-cultural and magico-religious practices and suggests that government should fund research into traditional medicine to identify components of it that can be integrated into the national health system.
Rural Dweller
Medicinal Preparation
Evil Spirit
Health, wellness and economic growth are important in the overall development of a people. A state of health is said to exist when there is perfect harmony between humans and their environment. As a step forward to the desired goal of health for all in 2015, there is increasing interest in the development and use of products of traditional medicine (TM) [1]. Africans even in urban areas often 'supplement' the care they receive in clinics and hospitals with treatment from traditional healers [2, 3]. It is estimated that traditional medicine provides 80%-90% of healthcare in Africa [1].
Nigeria, like any other typical African country, is an agrarian economy in which agriculture and agro-allied enterprises are the most popular income-generating activities providing employment for up to 90% of the rural dwellers [4]. The rural populace, which constitutes about 70% of the country's total population and provides virtually all of the nation's home-produced food, usually has little or no access to quality orthodox medicine (OM). In addition, disease incidences are higher in the rural areas because of higher levels of illiteracy, poverty and ignorance [5]. These rural dwellers rely almost exclusively on TM for their healthcare needs in order to remain economically active. Were it not for TM therefore, it is probable that the food problem in Nigeria would have been more acute than it presently is [4, 6–9].
According to WHO [1], TM is the sum total of all knowledge and practices, whether explicable or not, used in diagnosis, prevention and elimination of physical, psychological, mental or social diseases relying exclusively on past experience and observations handed down from generation to generation whether verbally, in writing or by other means. Awah [3] extended this definition by stating that TM "refers to practices and approaches that apply - separately or in combination - plant-, animal- and mineral-based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises to diagnose, prevent and treat illnesses, or maintain or enhance well-being". For Africa, TM is a holistic concept which covers nature, the sociological environment whether living or dead and the metaphysical forces of the universe [10–12]. A further extension defines TM "as alternative or non-conventional modes of treatment often involving the use of herbs in a non-orthodox manner as well as the process of consulting herbalists, mediums, priests, witchdoctors, medicine men and various local deities when seeking a solution to diverse illnesses "[13]. TM, often referred to as indigenous medicine in Asia, is as old as creation itself. The importance of plants for medicinal purposes is revealed in many verses of the Bible among which Ezekiel 47:12 ''the fruit of trees shall be for eating and the leaves for medicine" is very notable. Both plants and animals have been used as sources of medicine since pre-civilization period [14–16]. Even in modern times, animals and plants continue to play an indispensable role in healthcare [17, 18]. Plant and animal parts form important ingredients in preparing medicines which can be curative, protective or preventive [19]. Thus, a considerable percentage of currently available non-synthetic and/or semi-synthetic pharmaceuticals used in OM comprises of drugs originating from higher plants [20, 21] followed by microbial, animal and mineral products [22]. OM is defined as medicine based on scientific methods and taught in western medical schools [13]
From time immemorial, Nigerians depended almost exclusively on TM for their healthcare needs and there were enough plants to sustain its practice. There was no record of OM practice in Nigeria before 1873 when the Lagos General Hospital was established. Following this, a make-shift temporary civil hospital was built in Asaba (now in Delta State of Nigeria) in 1888. A Government Hospital was also built in Calabar in 1898 as a result of the wide impact the first two hospitals made on the indigenes and the colonial personnel and their families. As OM received official and government promotion and funding, people were made to believe that it was a better alternative to TM. TM was thereafter adjudged by the colonial authorities to be dangerous and inimical to health. Sermons by some sects in the Christian religion also equated TM to idol worship [2, 23]. Furthermore, some deficiencies inherent in the practice of TM such as lack of standardization of the prescribed dosage are making a growing number of elites to disdain it. As a result, the practice of TM was completely left unorganized and scientifically undeveloped.
TM like OM aims at healing or preventing diseases. In this respect, there is a congruence of objective between both types of medical systems with the point of departure being their concept of the causes of diseases, approach to healing and healing method used. The basic concept of OM centres on the result of experiments, and diseases that are regarded as being caused by physio-pathological agents. TM however considers humans as an integral somatic and extra-material entity and in many developing countries, it is accepted that diseases can be due to supernatural causes arising from the displeasure of ancestral gods, evil spirits, evil wind, the effects of witchcraft, the effects of spirit possession or the intrusion of an object into the body. TM is therefore a system which places greater emphasis on psychological causes of disease than does OM [3, 10, 13, 24].
Furthermore, TM is part of the culture of the people that use it and as a result, it is closely linked to their beliefs. Majority of the practitioners of TM in Nigeria are people without western education who had the practice handed down to them by their forefathers through informal training, verbal communication and folklores. Others acquire their capabilities through dreams and sometimes, supernatural forces [10–12, 24]. Therefore, embedded in TM are some socio-cultural and supernatural or magico-religious practices. It is believed that the magico-religious practices must be observed for medicinal preparations to be potent. It is also widely held by the practitioners that the non-observance of these magico-religious practices will cause the medicines not to produce the desired effects. In addition, the practitioner may incur the wrath of the gods and may, as a consequence, suffer some calamities either mild or severe.
Some of these practices are considered in some detail below. Where possible, scientific explanations are advanced for some of them and comparisons are made with what is obtainable in OM to clearly bring out the nexus, if any.
1. TM practitioners often observe the physical and biochemical reactions of plants and interpret them as esoteric phenomena [10, 25]. An example is a plant called touch -me -not, Mimosa pudica; which closes up when touched [26] and pitcher-an insectivorous plant-which has a mechanism for trapping and enzymes for digesting insects which land on it for nectar collection. TM practitioners think that plants sleep during the night and are awake during the day. This is their interpretation of the physiological and bio-chemical processes going on within plants.
2. Arising from the perception that plants sleep in the night and are awake in the day, TM practitioners believe that for some medicines to be potent, collection of whole plant or plant parts for medicinal preparationsshould be made before 6.00 pm in the evening. The reason given for this by practitioners is that 'the forces which produce active ingredients that make plant medicine potent and efficacious would have gone to rest by evening time. Considering the fact that these practitioners do not know about photosynthesis and the active ingredients which it yields in plants, one will be forced to respect their opinions and beliefs about plants [12]. Elementary science confirms that the leaves of a potted plant that is removed from sunlight for up to 24 hours will test negative for the presence of starch [27]. The practice of fetching plant leaves for some medicinal preparations before sunset is a cultural belief by practitioners of TM that scientific evidence supports.
Sometimes, the practitioners specify that a particular plant part to be used for some medicines be collected at specific time of the night for it to have the desired efficacy. This practice cannot be dismissed as totally absurd when it is considered that there is diurnal variation in the concentration of some plant constituents [10, 28]. The practitioners may have found that collections made at night are more effective than those made during the day for some plants through repeated preparation of the same medicine with plant parts collected at different times. For example, the volatile oil-containing Siam weed (Chromolaena odoratum L.) loses its oil content probably due to evaporation, in bright sunlight, but the concentration is at a peak from sunset to midnight [29]. It may also be for increased concentration of active components that some flowers are more flagrant at night compared with the day [10].
In the preparation of certain traditional remedies, TM practitioners specify that the dead leaves that have fallen off the plant be picked for use rather than the green leaves still turgid on the tree. This is usually the case with paw-paw (Carica papaya L.), banana (Musa spp.), orange (Citrus spp.) and Mango (Magifera indica) leaves. According to the practitioners, the dead leaves are usually brown and richer in some active agents than the green leaves. They also assert that the plant would have passed into the dying leaves, certain unwanted metabolites which are required for the medicine. Scientists have confirmed that the shed leaves of some plants are richer in phenolic substances and waste metabolites [30].
In some other cases, fresh young leaves rather than the older leaves are specified for use in TM. For a mild purgative, for example, it is the young leaves of Cassia alata L. that are prescribed. Young leaves of plants are known to be richer in certain constituents than the old leaves [30]. Some transformations of the constituents take place in the leaf as it grows older. For example, the young tiny leaves of Ocimum gratissimun are richer in essential oil than the older, bigger leaves [10]. Thus, it is obvious that the uneducated TM practitioners know where to get the active principles needed for their medicinal preparations in their highest concentrations without the knowledge of western science. Another interesting differentiation of medicinal plants is in terms of location. For example, TM practitioners in Nigeria recommend the mistletoe that is growing on cocoa trees to be used for medicinal preparation for the treatment of hypertension as opposed to the same plant growing on oil palm or any other tree.
3. In some cases, during the process of harvesting whole or plant parts for TM, practitioners sing the praises of the gods that gave these plants for human use and the 'strong and awakening spirits' working in these plants to produce efficacy when they are used as sources of medicine. This is done by chanting incantations which are a set of practical real life facts arranged in poetic and rhythmical manner such that it becomes pleasant to the ear. Sometimes, an incantation takes the form of a play on words (pun) delivered orally in poetic form apparently to induce the spirit controlling a particular plant to conjure up efficacies into the part to be used for preparation of medicine [10]. This practice is akin to the recitation of certain portions of the Bible or Quoran or other religious books in faith healing in many parts of the world [31].
Incantations are not limited to the time of procuring materials to be used for medicine alone. They are said at different stages (during the arrival of a patient, diagnosis of ailment, preparation of medicament, administration of medicament, after signs of healing have been noticed and during the discharge of a patient). Some incantations said when preparing a medicine are all encompassing including naming all the components of the medicinal preparation and the roles that they are supposed to play [10]. By the play on words, parts of the names of the constituents are transformed in the verse to active effects desired of the medicine as shown in the following example by Verger [32]:
Ewe ooyo aje, ba wa yo arun kuro ni iha
Ewe awusa, sa arun iha kuro
Iye agbe, gbe arun iha kuro
Iye aluko, ko arun iha lo
Ooyo aje leaf chase away (yo) for us the disease out of the flank
Awusa leaf heal (sa) the flank disease so it may go away
Agbe feather carry (gbe) the flank disease off
Aluko feather pick (ko) away the disease out of the flank
Another popular example is
Ohun ti a ba wi fun ogbo ni ogbo n gbo
Ohun ti a ba wi fun ogba ni ogba n gba
Ohun ti mo ba wi fun iwo lagbaja ni kio gba
Whatever we tell ogbo (the leaf of Parquetina nigrescens Baill) it hears (gbo) or does not refuse
Whatever we tell ogba (a fenced precinct of a domicile) it accepts (gba)
Whatever I tell you (any individual named here) you must accept (gba).
As observed by Sofowora [10], it is erroneous to assume that incantatory effects depend exclusively on the alliterative nature of the verses, for there are verse forms (at least in the Yoruba language) that are heavily alliterative but not incantatory. The efficacy of an incantation is derived from it evocative power. Thus, if a practitioner of TM invokes the 'original' name i.e. from 'the source or the circumstances of the existence of a particular being (deified or not) into a medicine, the medicament takes on magical or conjuring forces.' For example, a violent lunatic may have to be induced into deep sleep through incantations so that treatment can be administered. Also, when an attacker or assailant attacks a practitioner of TM unawares especially in a secluded place, the first and most practicable defense is the use of incantations which can hypnotize the attacker and lead to his/her capture or withdrawal [33].
It is believed that some traditional medicines can only be effective when an incantation is recited during their preparation and administration. The incantation and the potion together form the treatment and neither alone can effect a cure or elicit the desired response. It should be noted that the effect or function of an incantation in producing a cure in TM cannot be easily proved experimentally [11]. For this reason, ethno-medical research in many institutions has been limited to those aspects of traditional healing methods which do not involve incantations. The more powerful the medicine or the situation to be controlled is, the more the need for incantations. Incantations are practiced to an extent that one can easily believe the claim by some TM practitioners that a supernatural power exists. Some scientists have been tempted to group incantations into the esoteric area of the occult or trans-physical science. They see it neither as a placebo effect nor mere magic [10]. Incantation chanting is not limited to Africa as it is also said to be practiced by the aborigines of Australia, Amerindians and various Asiatic peoples [10, 34].
4. Consultations before admitting patients or commencing treatment are common in TM. Sequel to the belief that diseases can be caused by supernatural forces [3], a TM practitioner may consult an oracle or the gods about the patient to find out the cause of the disease and the appropriate remedies and treatment. If the practitioner receives a favourable response, s/he admits the patient and commences treatment otherwise the patient and the people that brought him/her are turned down. The purpose of the consultation is to seek the express permission from the gods to treat especially sub-somatic cases.
The art of diagnosis through oracle is common in Nigeria using the 'Ifa oracle' priests. The TM practitioners (over 80% of which has knowledge of consultations using the Ifa oracle) throw the "opele" (a stringed object of divination) on a wooden tray and each arrangement of the "opele" is characteristic of a specific "Odu" or chapter in a series of poems or verses which the priest or TM practitioner has learnt during his/her training. By reciting the appropriate "Odu" corresponding to a particular pattern, it is believed that the story told in the chapter (of which there are 256 indicates the illness of the patient as well as the remedies and sacrifice(s) to be made [35]. Variations in this theme are known all over Africa [10].
Another form of diagnosis is done through trance. TM practitioners possessing this ability enter into a trance as soon as a patient arrives or when people come to consult them about an ancestral problem. While s/he is in a trance, the words spoken by the practitioner are noted and usually the callers (patients and the people that brought them) give a positive sign or response to let the practitioner know whether or not s/he is giving a correct diagnosis of the problem. This ability is used by TM practitioners not only to identify an illness but also to prescribe an appropriate treatment for it. In some cases, the practitioner can actually communicate with spirits in her/his trance. In this case, s/he will attempt to link up with the spirit of the person who may be responsible for the problem or knows of its cause. Through the practitioner, the spirit narrates what is wrong, as well as the sacrifices necessary to appease the gods [10].
Another form of diagnosis is watching from a mirror or a pot filled with water, which, after been ordered to do so through incantations, serves like a television screen by transmitting the medical history of the patient and the series of events leading to the present ailment. The dramatis personae of this spiritual "film or movie" are carefully noted for their roles. After this, the practitioner, in cases of sub-somatic diseases, links up with the spirit of the patient or that of his ancestors through praise-singing incantations and appeasing sacrifices to help suggest the treatment. The cure to some ailments may be appeasing living or dead persons who have been offended by the action or inaction of the patient [3].
5. Arising from point number 4 above, the gods or Ifa oracle may reveal to a TM practitioner certain conditions which must be observed during preparation of medicament and treatment of any complex case brought to him/her. S/He might for example be informed that s/he cannot fetch the components of the medicament by him/herself. S/He might be told to send a young boy or girl who is a virgin or who is "clean" (free of any manipulations by evil spirits). In this particular case, the practitioner may accompany the young boy or girl to the various places where the materials for the medicine may be found and actually show it to him/her, but s/he would have to allow the errand boy or girl to fetch the materials. Sometimes, the errand boy or girl will be required to keep mute until the materials have been delivered to the practitioner in his/her herbal home. If the "keep mute" order is violated, the fetched plant part is discarded as it is believed that medicine prepared from it cannot be efficacious. The process of fetching plant parts will then be repeated. The practitioner or the patient might also be told to abstain from sex, certain food items and avoid going to specified places for a specified time period till the patient had started showing signs of recovery. It is believed that the spirits controlling some plants and ailments are very sensitive to uncleanness and desecration and could prevent the efficacy of some components of TM if the conditions stated above are not strictly adhered to. The consequences are that the medicine will not be efficacious and the practitioner may also be punished in several ways for disobeying the instructions of the gods.
6. The number of various materials fetched to form components of a medicine is specific for male and female at least in the Yoruba speaking areas of Nigeria. While for males the number is nine or a multiple of it, for females, the number is usually seven or multiples of seven. The same number of nine and seven are applicable to male and female children, respectively. Thus, if the leaves of certain plant species are to be fetched for decoction, concoction or cold extract or incisions are to be made on certain parts of male or female bodies, for application of medicament, the practitioner is required to hold tenaciously to the number for the respective sex or the treatment is rendered inefficacious.
7. Ritual rites are also common with TM especially in the treatment of complex ailments such as barrenness, mental disorder, leprosy and consistent ill luck or calamity. Ritual rites are forms of procedure and/or sacrifice necessary to appease the gods in a particular form of treatment or situation. Rituals can involve presentation of cooked or raw foodstuff with money or local gin, sacrificing an animal or performing certain dances at specified time of the day or night at designated places usually a shrine, groove, forest, T- or X-junction or near a river. These locations are believed to be the habitation for ancestral spirits. Instructions for efficacy of rituals can also include eating only certain foods or parts of food and abstaining from certain things. Ritual rites are usually carried out by the patient or a specified relative of the patient under strict guidance by the TM practitioner to ensure compliance. In order to ward off the spirit of smallpox in a village, ritual rites are often thought to be necessary. Sacrifices are placed at various points around the village supposedly to keep the evil spirits from entering the village or to drive them away and prevent them from returning. These rites create the right milieu for the traditional treatment of which they are part, and no TM practitioner would risk waiving them. Ritual rites can be for protective, preventive or curative purposes [10, 36].
8. Although, a traditional medicament may contain only a single active item, it is often a multi-component mixture that is prepared and administered and the practitioners have a reason for this. Some of the components function as preservatives, others do the work of flavouring agents while others are colourants. The practice of adding non-medicinal components to a preparation is not uncommon in modern pharmaceutical practice, where paediatric preparations, for example, are not only flavoured but are also coloured. Multi-component preparations are also preferentially prescribed in TM because in a single decoction, the patient is treated for all his ailments. This contrasts sharply with OM where the patient may have three or four different tablets/capsules to take, as well as receiving an injection. Both TM and OM methods of prescription practice can result in drug interaction problems. Whereas in the traditional decoction, drug-drug interaction takes place in the cooking pot, in OM practice, mixed drugs are more likely to interact inside the patient's stomach, if the doctor or prescriber does not take adequate care [10].
9. TM products can be prepared in several forms. They can be liquid (e.g. decoctions, infusions, oily mixtures, gargles etc), solids (e.g. powders for internal administration with hot maize pap or other drinks), semi-solids (e.g. certain crude balsams, resins, latex) or gaseous (e.g. steam inhalation preparations, fumigations like incense, etc). Intra-uterine mode of drug administration is also applied in the cure of certain STDs and in induced abortion. The intravenous route of administration is conspicuously absent in the application of TM. The equivalent of subcutaneous injections or vaccinations in OM is also found in TM. Incisions are made on the skin (face, chest, ankle, back or sides) with a razor blade or a sharp object and a powdered drug is rubbed into the incision, presumably to allow direct absorption of the active constituents of the drug through the capillaries. The incisions (1-2 cm long) are usually deep enough to cause bleeding [37]. The drug which is rubbed into the incision is usually made by burning various herbs together giving an almost charcoal-like product. This may be a way of concentrating the active ingredients which is absorbed onto the charcoal residue. The charring is however also capable of causing degradation or decomposition of any active principles in the plant material. External applications include traditional cosmetics (coconut oil, palm kernel oil) as well as dermatological preparations dissolved into these oils, which are rubbed onto the skin.
10. TM practitioners also practice specialization and referral health system. A practitioner will at first accept all non-complex cases and some complex cases after consultations. If however there are no noticeable signs of recovery by the patient after some trials in a complex or non-complex case, the practitioner will refer the patient to another practitioner who is a specialist in that particular ailment. If the family of the patient gives their consent, the patient is moved to the specialist immediately. Also, where the leaves for producing a particular medicament is not available in the community of the TM practitioner, s/he sends a message or goes personally to another practitioner in a near-by community to get the leaves or the medicament which is already made by another practitioner. Instances abound now in which TM practitioners refer cases to OM practitioners especially where s/he is aware that one exits nearby. OM practitioners, who have started to appreciate and acquire knowledge from TM practitioners, are also known to discharge their patients advising that the relatives seek help from TM practitioners. They do this once they are convinced that a medical case goes beyond the confines of OM. This is a good development to support the call for integration of the two medical systems in Nigeria.
11. Finally, in recognition of the fact that over-harvesting of plants for TM impacts negatively on the ecosystem and may lead to extinction of extremely important medicinal plants, certain cultural practices of TM practitioners in particular and indigenous people in general, promote conservation of plants [2]. The cultural taboos in some ethnic groups are compatible with the principle and practice of conservation of medicinal plants. Among the Yoruba and many other ethnic groups of Nigeria and Ghana, it is generally believed that the forest is not only a gift from the ancestors but also their abode and so must not be set on fire [38, 39]. Any person who commits such a great offence even if inadvertently, is expected to own up and present specified animals to the priest in charge of the affected forest for sacrifice to appease the gods and prevent calamitous consequences. Such serial calamities commence with the offender, moves to members of his immediate family, the extended family and then other community members and stops only when the required sacrifices have been done.
A taboo in Nigeria prevents the use of wooden baton to remove the bark of certain important medicinal plants. Under no circumstance should a metal be used on some other plants. A particular forest may be closed for exploitation of medicinal plants and other resources at certain times of the year when some very important festivals are on. Such festivals can last up to four months thus giving enough time for regeneration of some exploited plants. As different forests are closed at different times of the year, procurement of medicinal plants is not totally stopped. The preservation of many important trees such as Garcina kola, Enantia chlorantha, Okoubaka aubrevielli, Melicia excelsa, Bombax buonopozense and Ceiba pentandra in forests or on farmlands have been made possible through the belief that these plants harbour some spirits of a community' ancestors and as such should not be cut down without first appeasing these spirits. Such trees have white or red cloth tied round the base and are usually points for conducting rituals, ceremonies and sacrifice presentation. The materials needed for appeasing the spirits are usually very difficult to procure (e.g. an animal of specified age with totally white or totally black fur without spots or wrinkles) and this presents a barrier to indiscriminate felling of such trees [2, 12, 38, 39].
Rather interestingly, many of the remedies used in TM have been evaluated by scientists and evidence from research confirms the efficacy claimed for certain herbal remedies [10, 17, 40]. Such research requires the setting-up of an animal model where possible, and testing the herb or component thereof in the particular form in which they are used or in close approximation (alcohol extract where palm wine or local gin is used). The basic objective of such research is establishing that some of the practices and remedies used in TM are not totally useless or worse still, without scientific bases. For example, it has been found that most of the traditional medicaments used to heal wounds possess some anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties [10]. Some of these TMs are now being packaged in more acceptable forms, subjected to laboratory tests and given approval for public use by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in Nigeria [41].
Average household income in most of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is extremely low compared to that of other developing and developed economies. For example, the per capita income for Nigeria is estimated at $560 as against $37740, $43560, $38950, $15840 and $4770 for UK, USA, Japan, Korea and South Africa, respectively. There is a significant level of poverty in SSA and, especially, Nigeria. Per capita consumption expenditure is less than USD1.00 per day [42]. The level of poverty has excluded a significant proportion of the population, especially in the rural locales, from accessing modern health care facilities even when it is available. Poor access to OM is also compounded by very low public expenditure on health, amounting to about USD14.00 per person per year. The inadequacy of public health infrastructure is one of the major reasons for poor quality of service in public health institutions. Consequently, the infant mortality for the region is reported to be 55% higher and life expectancy about 11 years lower than the rest of the world's low-income developing countries. Maternal mortality is double that of other low- and middle-income developing countries [43]. Private healthcare facilities are comparatively more efficient in terms of quality of service but charge fees that are far beyond the level the average farming household could afford. Many rural and farming households would therefore be without any form of healthcare facility without the TM [12]. The combination of high level of poverty, inadequate public health infrastructure and high cost of private health care services has confined the larger proportion of both the urban and especially the rural populace to patronizing TM [5, 11, 12].
The most common ailment affecting the people is malaria which has been reported as leading to drastic reduction in agricultural productivity [9, 44, 45]. According to the WHO [46], malaria is now resistant to Chloroquine therapy. The recommended Atesunate Combination Therapy (ACT) is hardly ever offered free in most public healthcare facilities. The average cost of malaria treatment based on ACT is estimated to be about N1,500 (USD 10.00) inclusive of cost of laboratory tests. This is a princely sum for the average Nigerian in the rural areas which are characterized with low household incomes [8, 47–49]. A TM therapy for the same ailment will cost on the average N200 or could even be procured for free, if the person could collect the medicinal plants and prepare the medicament personally. When the ailments are complicated such as internal organs mal-functioning, mental illness or barrenness, the cost implications are far beyond the income capacity of the average citizen. In such instances, TM is the only option available for obtaining some remedy at affordable costs. Hence, a large proportion of Nigerians, especially those living in rural areas, continues to patronize TM [5]. TM continues to grow because traditional healers are considered successful in curing a large number of illnesses [2, 23].
1. In summary, the reasons adduced for the rise in the uptake of TM in Nigeria are:
Inadequate modern medical practitioners. The ratio of TM practitioners to the total population is estimated at 1:250 while that of OM practitioners is 1:26,000 [50–52].
2. High and rising proportion of fake and adulterated synthetic drugs which makes a lot of people to crave for natural products [53].
3. The resistance of some pathogenic organisms to synthetic drugs (e.g. Plasmodium falciparum to chloroquine).
4. Facilities are inaccessible for much of the population. In some urban areas the average waiting time at a hospital or clinic can be as much as eight hours.
5. The staff are poorly trained and ill-motivated.
6. Many staff members, believing they hold superior knowledge, treat patients inconsiderately.
7. Patients are frequently not told the nature and causes of their illnesses.
8. There are inadequate technical services leading to poor quality care.
9. The treatment costs too much, even in public hospitals and clinics.
10. Governments spend a large proportion of the per capita GNP on OM.
11. Treatment is divorced from the patient's culture, family and community.
12. The treatment only addresses a patient's biological manifestation of the illness and does not attempt to heal spiritual aspects of illness [52].
Arising from increased use, the practice of TM is now being modernized and popularized in Nigeria culminating in increasing number of herbal homes and growing confidence in TM. A crop of educated practitioners now exploits plants for large-scale production of TM products. The hitherto unregulated activity is now being checked to maintain standard by government agencies to eliminate quacks. There is increasing number of NAFDAC-certified TM products being sold to the public [41]. To complement this effort, State Governments have also come up with Traditional Medicine Councils to oversee the affairs of practitioners. These steps are serving to instill the confidence in many Nigerians to patronize TM. If the present trend in patronage continues, Nigeria may soon be ranking favourably with China, India and Korea in terms of the proportion of her GDP accruing from TM. The constraints to achieving this are the low level of herbal knowledge transfers to the succeeding generation of Nigerians and rapid bio-diversity loss arising from scientifically unsustainable methods of harvesting medicinal plants [2, 17].
Despite the deficiencies inherent in TM and the funding of OM to the exclusion of TM by governments in Nigeria, a number of factors are at present compelling an increasing number of people to turn to TM for solutions to their health problems. The fact that TM practitioners in Nigeria are often uneducated and had it handed down to them by informal and sometimes supernatural means has made the practice to be closely interwoven with their culture and beliefs. This probably explains the emergence and observance of some socio-cultural and supernatural or magico-religious practices which have become part and parcel of the practice of TM in Nigeria. Some of these practices can be explained with the principles of modern science and are therefore in conformity with the practices in OM. Others go beyond the realms of ethno-botanical research as their roles in the potency of medicines prepared for use cannot be proved. It is believed that there are medicinal preparations that will not be potent without the observance of these practices even if all active ingredients are present. A popular example is the role of incantations in the treatment of complicated cases of ill-health. Some OM practitioners and other educated elites however dismiss some of these practices as mere manipulations of the psychology of the patients by the TM practitioners.
There is a need for increased oversight function on TM in Nigeria which, among others, should streamline practices and minimize variations which are tied to the local culture and beliefs of the practitioners. This is a sine-qua-non for the integration and co-recognition of the TM and OM systems of healthcare. This step will necessitate the training of TM practitioners to improve their skills and make them eliminate practices which they truly know have no implications for the potency of their medicaments. This will further enhance their utilization of the referral system in dealing with high-risk cases. There should also be the willingness on the part of health policy makers in Nigeria to gain a better understanding of TM and fund research activities to evaluate them. This will help identify various practices that can be adapted into OM system and those that are unnecessary or harmful that should be discouraged in line with the suggestion by Odugbemi [54].
TE holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics and is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics & Extension, The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. He is also Acting Associate Director (Consulting) in the University's Centre for Research & Development, a position which widens his opportunity of working with peasant farmers on poverty-reduction projects all over the country. His experience of working with poor farmers, who are constantly in search of good health and cost-reducing production techniques, led to the idea for this paper. TE is the son of a traditional ruler in Nigeria who by tradition is the custodian of the cultural beliefs and practices of his people. He grew up in the palace and observed some of the TM practices first-hand.
AE holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics and is an Associate Professor in the same department and university as TE. He was a one-time Acting Director of the Centre for Research & Development of The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. He is widely experienced in handling rural development projects directed at enhancing the welfare of small farmers.
Thanks are due to Dr. Karen Hall, Coordinator of the South Carolina Naturalist Program at the Department of Biology, Clemson University, USA, who invited the lead author to present an earlier version of this paper in her Plant Medicine and Magic Class. She sought and got partial travel support for the author. I also wish to thank Laurie Jodice and staff and students of Clemson University that attended the lecture particularly those who posed illuminating questions which helped in improving on the quality of the paper to yield the present version.
Declaration of Competing interests
TE conceived the study, collected and read up the literature materials needed and coordinated the drafting of the manuscript. AE took part in reading some of the literature materials and manuscript drafting and revision. All authors read and approved manuscript.
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
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Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has died, band says
Home › Forums › World › Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has died, band says
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Taylor Hawkins, the golden-locked musician who for more than two decades drummed for the Foo Fighters on their way to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, has died, the band said Friday — an announcement made shortly before the group was to play in Colombia. He was 50.
The cause of death was not disclosed.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/25/entertainment/taylor-hawkins-foo-fighters-obit/index.html
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Tilian Pearson on Hiatus From Dance Gavin Dance Amid Misconduct Claims – Billboard
Dance Gavin Dance announced on Friday (June 3) that vocalist Tilian Pearson will be stepping away from the rock band to "seek professional help" following recent sexual misconduct allegations.
"The recent allegations against Tilian are something we take very seriously, and we have been in deep discussion regarding the appropriate action," the statement shared to Instagram read. "Effective immediately, Tilian will be stepping away from the band in order to seek professional help."
The statement added that the rest of the band members will continue to perform at their scheduled tour dates this summer, and will also release their album Jackpot Juicer on July 29 as planned. "We all worked incredibly hard on this album, and it is also the last recorded body of work from Tim – we want to be sure we give it the full release attention that it deserves to honor his legacy from him."
Tim Feerick, the longtime bassist for Dance Gavin Dance, passed away in April with no immediate cause of death given.
"We know that this is a very upsetting and trying situation for all those affected, and we ask people to please be as understanding as possible while everyone works through this," Dance Gavin Dance's statement concluded. "We appreciate you always."
On June 1, a Reddit user shared a detailed account of her alleged interactions with Pearson leading up to Dance Gavin Dance's performance at SwanFest in Sacramento, Calif., on April 23. The woman claims she got in touch with Pearson through a DM on Instagram , which she felt while she was "definitely under the influence of something."
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The two then exchanged numbers, according to her account, and agreed to meet to go on a "date" three days before the festival. She said that both she and Pearson were intoxicated from alcohol before they went back to the singer's place of residence.
"I knew he was pretty drunk and going through an extremely stressful time, so I helped him through it, and I was genuinely happy to do so. I was comfortable enough now to finish what I started, but at one point this man had decided to straight up slap me across the face," she alleged. "Obviously, it was in an attempt to be ~sexy~ but it ended up REALLY hurting. I voiced this like, 'Hey, uh. That's cool and all but could you ask next time, and maybe not do it as hard?' He heard me, hesitated for a second, and then did it again. I mean. Hard enough to throw my hearing out of whack and have me black out for a few seconds – it wasn't cool."
Following SwanFest, the woman said she and Pearson kept in touch, and at one point, the singer urged her to meet up with him at his AirBnB while he was intoxicated. Pearson then made the woman physically uncomfortable, she alleged.
"He wouldn't say anything, just grab me and put me back on," she claimed in her post. "It physically hurts. It wasn't okay, and I voiced that it wasn't … After all that, I didn't really want to stay the night with him, but he insisted. He gets into this weird 'snuggling' position and I … legitimately could not move. I was starting to get a little freaked out and tried to tell him I should leave, but again. He wouldn't let me. He kept insisting I had to stay the night with him, and he wouldn't let me go."
Also Read Avoiding the inevitable won't help you get ahead. Take a chance and try something you've never done.
Pearson denied the allegations in his own Reddit post, which has since been deleted but shared by loudwire, saying that he was "very vulnerable" during the alleged encounter, and "every sexual act was purely consensual."
"I take the subject of sexual assault seriously, and I want to firmly reiterate that there was no moment of anything happening that was not consensual," he wrote. "I understand that in a new sexual relationship, there is a period of figuring each other's preferences out, but there is not a doubt our physical contact ever crossed boundaries into anything resembling assault."
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Maintenance and Tech, The Hack Mechanic
The Rules of Repulsion
Rob Siegel
Last week, I wrote about "The Rules of Attraction." In it, I talked about what pulls us toward a hobby or a passion in general, then looked specifically in the car world at what causes us to be lifelong devotees of a single make and model. I espoused that it's a combination of an emotional connection to the car, the car's exterior look, the interior vibe, and how it drives.
At the end, I quipped that I should write a companion piece about "The Rules of Repulsion"—or what makes us sell cars. I was joking at the time, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that there's meat here.
Peter Egan famously wrote in the March 2013 Road & Track, "I've discovered that a dull car is a lack of joy forever. It weighs on the soul, and you can't forget for one moment that you aren't having any fun. You look down the hood, and it's like having an apartment with an ugly view. You want to close the curtains, but you can't, because you're driving." I can't say that I've ever sold a car simply because I thought it was boring. Maybe my standards need to be higher.
To dissect The Rules of Repulsion, I think you first need to draw a clear delineation between daily drivers and enthusiast cars, as the expectations for them are so vastly different that it results in different sets of rules.
For about 30 years, I had a five-mile commute from my long-time job. That dropped to zero miles six years ago when I began working from home. This, combined with the fact that I like working on cars, meant that, for my entire faux-adult life, I was willing and able to make the trade-off of not paying for a new or nearly new car, enabling me to own and daily-drive older cars instead, and put the money saved into non-daily enthusiast cars. With the exception of short periods, my daily drivers have been eight-to-20-year-old, high-mileage BMWs. I can justify it by talking about the appealing combination of performance, handling, and other factors, but hey, we like what we like.
It differs a bit with my wife's cars. For years, those did double duty as the family haulers, so, no, they weren't the 150,000-mile cars I was accustomed to buying and driving myself. For her, I'd typically look for two-year-old, sub-10,000-mile cars that were being sold at below market value. The Toyota Previa five-speed was because the seller's wife never warmed to the stick. The Mazda MPV was a salvage vehicle due to light hail. The first Honda Fit purchased after gas prices spiked, then went back down, and the family was happy to go back to driving their SUV. The second Fit was another salvage vehicle, lightly damaged in a curb strike and repaired.
Whether it was my daily driver or my wife's car we were turning over, the reasons were remarkably similar, and it wasn't ever something as dramatic as the car dying and leaving us in the lurch or a catastrophically high repair bill. Instead, it simply was time. (Well, OK, with two of the family cars, it was because my oldest son wrecked them, but we won't talk about that.)
My wife's cars would typically last longer because we'd buy those newer and with far fewer miles on them. Typically, mine are already well into the autumn of their life when I get them, and thus they have less room before they run out of road and reach the point of decrepitude. But with any non-collectible car, if you own it long enough, that point does inevitably come like death and taxes. Yes, you can keep a car running forever, and keep patching rust, but it usually reaches a point where it makes less and less sense. This is particularly true on a daily driver.
The delineation between DDs and enthusiast/project cars is crucially important precisely because a daily driver needs to be exactly that—you need to be able to jump in it and drive it. Sure, it may occasionally need normal-wear-and-tear repairs (brakes, shocks, exhaust, suspension, etc.), and you may knock those off yourself efficiently, adroitly, and cost-effectively, but when it reaches the point where it needs an engine, or a transmission, or major rust repair, you look at the time, effort, and expense required, look at what else you could buy as a DD, consider what new technology that may get you (that used to be airbags and ABS; now it's blind-spot detection and collision avoidance), and may well make the decision that it's time to let old Bessie go. In contrast, if it's a project car, you can roll it into the garage, close the door, and begin slowly chipping away at the needed repair as time allows.
Here in Massachusetts, the rust thing is crucial for DDs, as an inspection technician can fail a car for any hole in the body. So, when you see rust blisters forming on the wheel arches or the rocker panels of your daily driver, it's a warning to start thinking about another car. You may make it through the next inspection, but maybe not the one after that. Even without the inspection issue, when rust blossoms, it's very difficult to stop.
As I noted a few weeks ago, it's harder and harder to find shops willing to take on spot rust repair. You could roll the dice and find someone on Craigslist who advertises that they'll repair rust and spot-paint inexpensively it at your house, but in a you-get-what-you-pay-for world, the odds are that the repair will show. Short of the kind of a bare-metal body restoration that a valuable vintage car might get, rust will come back. On an enthusiast / project car, you can slow the process enormously by simply keeping the car dry (e.g., certainly not driving it in the snow and salt, and even keeping it out of the rain), but the very meaning of "daily driver" is that it's the car's job to make the appointed rounds, regardless of the snow or rain or gloom of night.
I'll sometimes do a needed repair beneath a daily driver—something such as exhaust replacement—and even when I don't see rust-through, sense that it's time to move the car along. For decades, nearly all cars have had galvanized bodies and some form of undercoating. In addition, plastic cladding protecting the underbody became increasingly common, so rotted frame members and holes in the floorboards aren't as ubiquitous as they once were. However, there is a lot of metal under a car in addition to the frame and floorboards, so—particularly in a region where snowy roads are salted—it's not uncommon to crawl under an older high-mileage car and see rust absolutely encrusting every metal component … the trailing arms, the fasteners holding on the shock absorbers, the metal brake lines, the hose clamps, on and on. I'll sometimes complete that one repair (for example, hanging an exhaust that I've already purchased), then move the car along.
All that having been said, there are six daily drivers that stand out in my mind in which, instead of having the "it's time" epiphany, I made a specific decision to sell them and was happy to see them go.
1970 Triumph GT6+
My GT6 was, um, legendary. Rob Siegel
This goes back all the way to the beginning. I bought my GT6 in 1976 at the end of my senior year of high school. It was only a six-year-old car, and the degree to which metal fatigued, parts broke, rust exploded, and electrons traveled on unexpected paths was truly astonishing. On the one hand, even though the car was my daily driver for three years, it's perhaps a bit unfair to include it in this list, as by modern standards, nearly all cars from that period were junk. But on the other hand, it ran less than half the time I owned it, I was a poor college student, it bled me dry, and even though I loved it, there was no choice but to let it go, and once I did, I can't say I shed a tear for it. I mean, I suddenly had beer money.
1999 Chevy Metro
Man, it felt good when I stopped driving this. Rob Siegel
In 2008, as gas prices spiked, I bought a well-used 1999 Chevy Metro—the little 1800-pound Geo Metro / Suzuki Swift hatchback with the three-cylinder 55-horsepower engine and a Chevy bow tie on the hood. It was a rather odd experiment to see if you needed to pay Prius prices (which, as a then-new car, were extremely high) to get Prius levels of fuel economy. On a college visitation road-trip swing with my middle son, I found that, if I held it at 55 mph, it actually did get over 50 mpg on the highway. Around town, if I drove it as if there was an egg on the accelerator pedal, it got nearly 40 mpg, but as I started to scoot around more in it, that dropped closer to 30.
The metal on the car was so light and thin that trying to remove fasteners to replace the shifter bushings caused shift linkage components to bend. I got tired of my little experiment and gave the car to my oldest son. Since I had other much cooler cars, he was not pleased, and initially accused me of, well, I can't use the appropriate slang, so let's just say "impeding with his ability to reproduce." However, one day he called me and said, "Dad, I just drove the Metro from Boston to New York to Amherst, and I think I used $15 in fuel!" He went into AmeriCorps for a year, and the car landed back in my driveway. I was happy when someone else snatched it up to pursue dreams of non-hybrid hyper-mileage.
1991 Toyota FZJ80 Land Cruiser
Loved it, but it was too thirsty to survive. Rob Siegel
At the opposite end of the scale from the Metro was the 1991 Toyota Land Cruiser. It strains the bounds of truth to call the TLC a daily driver, but I've included it because it was a car I moved along for a very specific reason. After decades of using a series of Suburbans to take the family on our annual Nantucket beach vacation, with my older two sons gone I thought I'd try something smaller.
The earlier, boxier Spartan Toyota FJ60 Land Cruisers had already become enthusiast vehicles, but the 1990s FZJ80 TLCs—the ones that were badged as Lexus LX450s in 1995 and '96—were still relatively inexpensive, and their reputation for reliability was unmatched. So I bought one. It was a very cool vehicle. I loved the fact that it was actually built for off-roading; it had front trailing arms nearly as long as my leg, and ball joints the size of grapefruits.
Instead of selling it after the beach vacation or pulling it off the road, as I usually did with the Suburbans, I kept it around, letting my middle son use it while he was home for the holidays. Then, one day, he asked, "Dad, what's up with the gas mileage in the Land Cruiser?" In truth, I'd never measured it, just as I'd never measured it with the Suburbans. Why would I? I bought them for a purpose, they were necessary for that purpose, and they sucked what they sucked. But it turns out that, with the FZJ80, the combination of a 6000-pound vehicle with all-wheel-drive, 212-hp engine, and a primitive digital engine management system yields only 11 miles per gallon—certainly worse than the Suburbans.
These days, electronics and software do a great job of maximizing power and fuel economy, but in 1993, not so much. Like Walt Whitman, I have no problem with contradictions ("I am large. I contain multitudes."), but if I'm going to drive a vehicle that gets 11 mpg, it should have a name that ends in "i," curves like Raquel Welch, and leave smoking acrid tire plumes in its wake. With no more soft sand to drive on, and with the fuel bill so out of whack for running errands that none of us wanted to drive it, the TLC went bye-bye.
1999 BMW 528iT Sport Wagon
Cool car, but it had to go. Rob Siegel
My '99 BMW 528iT stick sport wagon had a lot going for it. It was a sport package car, which gave it a slightly hunkered-down suspension. It was a five-speed, rare in an E39 wagon. It had the pneumatic rear suspension, so if you threw bulk in the back, it would pump itself up to the proper ride height. It was a good-sized wagon—about the size of an old Taurus—and handled better than a vehicle that size had a right to. Unfortunately, it was one of those cars that, when you bought it, you signed up for the repair-of-the-week plan and didn't know it.
Things kept going wrong with it. Small things. Then big things. First, the rear pneumatics failed. Then, in freezing weather, the oil separator froze, sending oil into the intake manifold and nearly hydro-locking the engine (in fairness, this can happen on many cars with a similar oil separator design). Then, after I resurrected the car, on its maiden voyage one of the front springs broke and punctured a tire. I finally realized that the car's needs were that of an enthusiast car when I needed it to be a daily driver.
I liked it a lot but didn't love it so much that I could buy something else to daily drive and relegate it to pampered enthusiast car status. So I sold it.
2003 BMW 325XiT Wagon
Having to do this did not exactly endear me to the 325XiT. Rob Siegel
My smaller replacement for the E39 528iT wagon, the E46 325XiT wagon wasn't a repair-of-the-week plan car, but I never loved it. Like the E39 wagon, it was a five-speed sport package car, but although the all-wheel drive was great in snow, it made the characteristically snappy BMW steering feel a bit numb. And when the front CV joints started clicking during turning, as they invariably will do on a front-wheel or all-wheel drive car, pulling the front axles to replace them was so onerous that I never wanted to do the job again on that or any other AWD BMW.
And snapping a bolt while replacing the front struts, and then having to drill it out, added to the feeling that, as a daily driver it was too needy. As rust began to blossom on the car's rear fender lips, I sold it. I will admit, though, that I continue to be on the lookout for the rear-wheel-drive stick version of this wagon. Unfortunately, there aren't many, and they're highly sought after.
Great car. Just not for me. Rob Siegel
The X5 I found was a triple unicorn. It had an uber-rare six-speed manual transmission. It had the sport package with the less wallowy suspension and the sport seats. And it had the dealer-installed tow package—so, if necessary, I could use it to haul home my latest crime of opportunity. It had 270,000 miles on it, but you would've thought it had only 70,000. The interior was amazing, the exterior was pretty, and since the car had lived most of its life in North Carolina, the undercarriage was rust-free. It made so much sense on paper. I bought it and basically abandoned my 2003 E39 530i stick sport, which had been my daily, in my driveway.
It really was a great interior. Rob Siegel
I liked the X5, but I never really warmed to it. Like the 325XiT wagon, I just wasn't crazy about the steering feel as compared with the rear-wheel-drive BMWs I've driven for decades. And I'm not a guy who wants the height and bulk of an SUV over a sedan.
I bought it in the fall of 2019. When the pandemic stormed through in March 2020, the last thing I was hot to do was drive around looking at dead cars I could tow home. I floated it for sale on Facebook, and an acquaintance who was looking for that exact option package snatched it up. A transport arrived, and in a contactless remote purchase, it was gone. When I transferred the plates back to the E39 530i stick sport sedan and drove it, I felt, "Ah … this is so much better."
So, "Rules of Repulsion?" Obviously, I wasn't actually "repulsed" by any of these cars. I mean it's not like one of them was a Pontiac Aztek. (Yo. Rob. A Chevy Metro?) And, as Captain Hector Barbosa said in Pirates of the Caribbean, "They're more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules."
Rob Siegel's new book, The Best of the Hack MechanicTM: 35 years of hacks, kluges, and assorted automotive mayhem, is available on Amazon. His other seven books are available here, or you can order personally-inscribed copies through his website, www.robsiegel.com.
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