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OAHSPEPALS
What Can A Man Do With Babes? [The Book of Shalam]
Jehovih said: Have faith in thy Creator; in a good work done unto My little ones, behold, I will provide. Whatsoever thou dost unto them, even so dost thou unto Me, wherein thou shalt not fail. Neither shalt thou strive to teach any adult man or woman who is without faith in Me. Behold, My people are infants in this era.
The Book of Jehovih's Kingdom on Earth 1:12-14
Hello, friends and neighbors, and welcome to Oahspepals. It's the show where two non-believers read through the Oahspe and try not to be jerks about it. We are your humble Sons of Jehovih. I'm Dave White and with me as always, the sar'gis to my su'is, Rob Brunskill.
Rob, how are you today?
I'm doing well.
Good. Anything exciting happening?
Oh, well, it's nice to be in the remote hidden location for the lodge.
If Rob sounds a little peevish today that's because we attempted to record this last week and had a catastrophic audio failure. So this our second try at recording this episode.
Now, for those of you not familiar with the Oahspe, it is a 1,000 page book written by dentist and Spiritualist John Ballou Newbrough through the process of automatic writing. Essentially, for fifty weeks, half an hour every day, he would sit down at his typewriter, and let the spirit of God flow through him, and type. (That's three pages a day – if they had NaNoWriMo in 1880, our boy Johnny B would be crushing it.) The result is a bible for our coming age, the Kosmon Era. Newbrough and some followers established a new religion based on this called Faithism, which eventually led them to establish an ill-fated colony in the desert of New Mexico.
Today we're reading The Book of Jehovih's Kingdom of Earth, which containeth within in the Book of Shalam. It was the last book in the original 1882 edition of the OAHSPE, though later printings add a supplementary "Book of Discipline" after it in the reading order.
If you'd like to read along with us at home, the specific text we're using is from The Light of Kosmon, a collection of the "doctrinal books" published by the British "Confraternity of Faithists" in 1939. It omits some 28 "historical books" between the Book of Jehovih and the Book of Judgment, or some 83% of the total text. (I only picked this version because it was a little easier on the eyes, to be honest.)
Rob, have you done the required reading?
Yes I have.
Right. Let's dive right into it. This is "The Book of Jehovih's Kingdom of Earth, which contains within it The Book of Shalam, all of which is ante-script." So there's a little footnote in this edition after the word "ante-script," explaining that it is… let's see what the footnote says exactly…
Well, the first thought is anti-script, you think anti-matter or something like that, it's not script, it's anti-script. But it's ante with an e, a-n-t-e.
Well, the actual definition is, "We understand by this term, and also by the book itself, what is set forth as being in the past, has net yet occurred." If only there was a word for some sort of writing that was about things that have yet to happen. It strikes me that there's probably some very common word for it but it's just on the tip of my tongue. I can't place it. Can you?
No, I can't. There's probably sonething, but ante-script will have to do.
I don't know about you, but my experience of reading this book was that it was very front-loaded. There was a lot of interesting thing going on at the beginning and then it tailed off real hard.
That is definitely the case.
So let's start off with Chapter One, where Jehovih starts his kingdom on earth. In the early days of the Kosmon Era we have a man called… Tae? Tai? I don't know how it's pronounced.
In my head I heard it as Tae.
Let's go with Tae, that's good enough. Tae is a man esteemed "wise and good above all others," a "representative man," and therefore he is called Tae. This seems like an absolutely meaningless etymology, so it's probably good to know that one of the big things in the Oahspe's cosmology is that all nations of the Earth were once united in a giant super-continent called Pan, which gave us all a universal or "Panic" language.
"Panic" is definitely a good word for this writing.
After the continent gets sunk beneath the waves and mankind gets split up, this is sort of a Tower of Babel thing where all our languages drift apart. In the original Panic language, "Tae" means "the highest general expression of something." So basically we're saying, "he's a good guy."
I can see where the author intended that to be the case.
Tae comes out of the land of "Uz," which is a term that appears repeatedly throughout the Oahspe. It's another Panic word, and it specifically refers to "the vanishment of things seen into being unseen," but in a general sense here it's being used to refer to the kingdom of those who reject Spirituality and Faithism and who've embraced the beast of materialism.
Yes. And a thinly-veiled reference to the U.S., I think.
And also, I think, to us.
Tae gathers around him a bunch of followers and he does what any righteous man does, he prays to Jehovih to tell him what to do. Jehovih tells him, "go found the Kingdom of Jehovih on Earth," and Tae's response is very much like Bill Cosby in his Noah sketch, he says, "and how do I do that?"
The gathering those around him, I did like: "Behold, O Jehovih, I have gathered together many men and many women, and they all profess a desire to found Thy kingdom. One desireth to be a teacher; another, to be a superintendent; another, an overseer; another, an adviser." (1:5-6) So, by my count, it's himself and he's got four other people with him.
At least four outher people. There's probably other people he's not mentioning. He doesn't have to mention Todd the Janitor and all the other people who are just helping out. But at least four people.
God admittedly here has given him a rather broad remit so he narrows it down a little for Tae: "Go, find some babies and take them out into the desert and raise them to be super-people."
Yes. I do like the specific quote: "Go, seek, and bring out of Uz orphan babes and castaway infants and foundlings." (1:9) So, yeah, basically, God saying, "What you need to do is start by rounding up a whole mess of kids."
That phrase, "orphan babes and castaway infants and foundlings" is repeated verbatim in the Oahspe any time he refers to the children of Shalam. John Ballou Newbrough loves his repetition and that's just one of the phrases he's going to beat into your head before this book is over.
Definitely loves his repetition.
Does he love his repetition?
He loves his repetition. And I do like Tae's response to that, which is fantastic if you take it out of context. "Tae inquired: What can a man do with babes?" (1:11)
I think I have definitely seen advertisements in the back of comic books and other magazines telling me what a man can do with babes, but it's a fair response. "What do I know from babies?" Needless to say, Jehovih gets a little peevish at that response and says, "cowboy up and git 'er done." Basically he gives a short little quote which we gave at the top of the episode, which is essentially, "Do my work and I will provide," which he ends with the phrase, "Behold, my people are infants in this era." (1:14) Which, okay, yes, he is specifically referring to the little babies but I also get an undercurrent of, "Holy crap, this is the best guy on earth and he cannot think for himself."
Yeah, that's definitely the case.
Let's get to chapter two, which I have subtitled, "Tae rounds up some babies and gets a girlfriend."
Or my subtitle, "Es."
So Tae gathers up a great number of orphan babes and castaway infants and foundlings and Jehovih sends him a woman named Es to take care of the children.
Tae's immediate question, "Knowest thou the care of infants? And she answered him, saying: In such labour, alas, I have had no experience, but I know Jehovih will guide me aright; otherwise He had not inspired my soul unto the work. All wisdom is possible through Jehovih." (2:6-7) So, going into an interview, "What are your qualifications?" then just looking at him and going, "Qualifications?"
"All wisdom is possible through Jehovih" is a very good attitude to have, "All things are possible in God." But there's also the phrase "The Lord helps those who help themselves," which the Faithists to not appear to believe in. If you are capable of anything, it is only because it is Jehovih acting through you.
In spite of the fact that Jehovih could conceivably impart this knowledge to anyone, note that it is only a woman who is allowed to take care of the babies. Faithism is very big on reinforcing traditional gender roles for some reason. A lot of 19th century cults and religions were very big on gender equality, it was a huge part of their appeal, so it's strange to see one where that isn't the case.
Tae likes the answers: "Such being thy faith, thou art the first chosen woman in the Father's new kingdom." (2:8) Initially he did say he had a whole bunch of men and women. But Es is the first chosen woman.
Maybe she's chosen in the same way that Tae himself is chosen.
It's worth noting that Es is the most important woman in the whole Oahspe. So important that she's only appearing here for the first time on page 805, and she is going to vanish for twelve pages before she appears again.
Also like Tae, her name is a concept, not an exact name.
"Es" is also "the spirit world," presumably because she is strong in faith and a gift from Jehovih. There is also a separate character in the Oahspe, Es the Daughter of Jehovih. I don't think they're the same character but don't quote me on that.
Obviously they've got a bunch of babies. Es can take care of the babies but she needs a support system. So what do the Faithists do here? They take out a classified ad in the newspaper.
This is a recommendation from God, though, because Tae has no idea that this is something he should do. He once again asks, "Hey, now it's me and Es an a whole buncha kids, what do we do?"
Well, you take out a want ad. "Wanted, fifty men and women, who are Faithists in Jehovih, and are willing to take part in founding the Father's kingdom on earth as it is in heaven!" (2:12) And they run this in the paper and how many job applicants do they get? A couple dozen?
They claim it to be thousands.
Wow. 'Tis a down economy so people are just jumping at those jobs.
Yeah. "Tae spake unto the multitude, saying: I called for fifty men and women, and, lo, here are thousands, willing to take part in founding the Father's kingdom on earth. " (2:16)
This of course is once phrased as a plea to Jehovih, and Jehovih is once again forced to give Tae the specific advice of, like, hey, maybe you should do some job interviews or something? Weed out the people who are just in it for the money and who are not really into it?
And I like how it's basically Tae saying to the multitudes that he put the job application out for, "Hey, anybody know what we're supposed to be doing here?"
That brings us to chapter three, "Tae conducts some job interviews." Which is the longest chapter in the book for no particular reason. He has a thousand people, he needs to winnow those down to fifty, so we get a bunch of individual job interviews.
First up we get Sutta, who appears to be either a CEO or an economist or a city planner of some sort, who promises to create harmonious relations between labor and capital without giving any specifics about how he's going to do that.
Well, it does say, "That the capitalist shall receive good profit on his capital; and the laborer high and uniform wages." (3:4)
I know that's the first thing I look for when I'm establishing a perfect society, to make sure that the capitalists are properly reimbursed.
And adjust them so that they can live side by side, equally, and neither above nor under the other. So it is sort of communist idea, we're all going to share equally in…
Sure, but if the capitalists are equal to the laborers, where's the capital coming from? It's a very strange idea of how things work.
Sutta is "followed by several others, who had similar plans, but each one doubted the other's capacity, as being qualified for the work." (3:8)
Everyone liked this, but no one could really agree on who should be the one to determine what is fair and equal.
Sutta is followed by Aborn, who gets things off to a great start by saying that Sutta is an idiot, that labor and capital are natural enemies, as are men and women.
"Aborn spake next. He said: I have heard Sutta's project. lt is a farce. Capital and labour cannot harmonize." (3:9)
I'm inclined to agree with him. But he loses me when he says the best way to serve Jehovih is for Aborn personally to impregnate as many women as possible so they will have his superior babies.
His basic premise is that the only way people work together is if they're all blood related as family. I'm sure there are people out there who can assure you that all families always work together in harmony.
Aborn proposes that he be the one to impregnate all the women, "and others spake in like manner, but each one preferred himself as the prospective father of the offspring." (3:17)
Aborn is followed by Thurtis. She gives the gender-flipped version of Aborn's argument, that the best way to serve Jehovih is for her to have all the superior babies and also that while this is going on she should be treated like a goddess and all the men should leave her the hell alone.
I liked her first approach, which was "During the period of gestation, man should not approach woman." (3:20) Basically, all the men should go away and not come back until the baby is born.
Needless to say she is followed by a group of people, "then spake many of the women after the same manner, and each one doubted the other's capacity to fill the place, but recommended herself." (3:28)
All the women liked it, but they couldn't agree on who should be the chosen one.
Thurtis is followed by Amos, who I actually kind of liked because his section is brief and he's relatively honest.
I certainly liked the majestic way in which he introduces himself. It is a very majestic piece of scripture. "Amos spake next. He said: I have heard all these beautiful systems; I am ready for any of them. Behold, I am a landscape gardener." (3:29)
I think we should all introduce ourself that way when popcorning. "Behold! I am a user interface developer!"
Of course, the thing is, labor isn't included on his part.
He says he's a landscape gardener, well, not really a landscape gardener per se, just a guy who designs landscape gardens. If they want to employ him they're going to have to hire a bunch of people to do the actual gardening.
He generally represents all professionals. It was a fascinating choice to go with that and not the five hundred doctors and five hundred lawyers who had similar views.
Just when you think we are going to get every possible job interview under the sun, we cut those off short.
The last one they mention is, "Next spake a thousand teachers of the piano, each one offering to teach the young for the Father's kingdom." (3:33) That's where he starts realizing, you know what? I need to move on here.
I like that there are a thousand teachers of the piano, because earlier he said that only a thousand people total had shown up. So all these people are piano teachers on the side. But yes, at this point Tae gets the idea that maybe he should hurry this chapter along.
Next we get the recriminations. All the representatives of the major faiths of the world come and tell him that he's got it wrong and that he's going to hell.
We get five hundred priests of Brahma.
The Hindus say that the end of the world will be the second coming of Brahma, who will come in flames of fire from the east and west and north and south, and through the magic touch of his wand he will sort the castes of men into their proper order. That at least sounds vaguely Brahma-ish.
They are followed by Buddhists, who say the end of the world will be the second coming of Buddha, who will come with two swords and twelve spears and ten thousand brides.
Plus they add in the dis, "As for Brahma and his second coming, for that matter, he never came once." (3:43)
Oh burn! That's hard.
I like that he has two swords and ten thousand brides, because if we all know one thing Buddha is big on it's moderation. All things in moderation.
Yes. A moderate two swords and twelve spears and ten thousand brides. A moderate amount of brides.
He's Buddha. He can have any bride he wants, but he only brought the choicest ten thousand. They are followed by the Kriste'yans. Are you familiar with Kriste'yans?
I have never heard of Kriste'yans before.
Well, you know them better as Christians. A key tenet of the Oahspe is that all the world religions are actually false religions established by evil spirits who have usurped the teachings of true and wise individuals. So, there is a Jesus of Nazareth, and he did preach a beautiful gospel, but some time around the Council of Nicea his whole faith was stolen by an evil spirit named "Looeamong" who renamed himself Kriste, "The All-Wise" and made it a religion of violence. So, modern Christian? You worship an evil demon.
The Kriste'yans say that the second coming of Kriste will be the end of the world and he will come in a sea of fire with millions of archangels and conquer the world by the sword.
Once all the religions have spoken, Tae shuts them all down. "I called for such as had faith in Jehovih. I am not in the labour of founding a kingdom for Brahma, nor Buddha, nor Kriste, nor for anyone but the Creator, our heavenly Father… To all such I say, go your ways, I have no use for you." (3:59,61)
Seriously, guys, did you actually read the help wanted ad? We're not calling for your kind here.
Then he responds by kicking out the people who are only in it for the money. "Yonr faith being in money, I have no use for you. I called for those with faith in Jehovih! Therefore, go your ways also." (3:65)
And also, the self-appointed leaders should also just get out.
"Behold, the signs of the times show that, as to founding the Father's kingdom by words, sermons and lectures, they are worthless." (3:73)
That struck me as a quip against self-help gurus.
Deeds, not words.
By the time Tae is done kicking out everyone he doesn't like they're back down to the original fifty he was looking for and they're hired on the spot. Which brings us to chapters four through six, the founding of Shalam.
It's mostly Tae setting out his mission statement for Shalam, which is repeating what Jehovih told him to do back in chapter one: take a bunch of babies out into the desert and raise them to be perfect people.
This particular chapter struck me as, "It's prayer time! We're gonna talk about what we plan to do."
So they find the land of Shalam, and it is called Shalam because Tae said it would be called Shalam. That's the etymology given in the book. The exact quote is, "And Tae and his people went away to an unoccupied country, by the river Shalam, so-called because Tae had said: I take the babes the Uzians would not have, and I come to a place where the Uzians would not live, and yet I will make it a place of peace and plenty; therefore it shall be called Shalam." (4:2-3) It's possible that "Shalam" means "peace and plenty." On the other hand, unlike every other word in the book it is not given a clear etymology, which is unusual because John Ballou Newbrough loves telling you what secret words really mean.
I suppose it could be a warping of "salaam" or "shalom."
Tae then launches into a little screed against the modern world, which I found interesting from a modern perspective because his basic take is that it's not that people are evil, it's that people are not good, which reminds me of the discussions we're having about racism in this day and age.
I can definitely see that.
At this point the chapter devolves into a series of rituals and prayers. Everyone draws themselves into a sacred circle at either the Place of the Holy Covenant or the Place of the Sacred Covenant depending on which chapter you're looking at, and they make a covenant with Jehovih giving over their body and soul, forswearing the ownership of personal property and any self-interest, and bizarrely, not to criticize anyone over the age of fourteen.
Because when you're leading someone on a risky venture like this you don't want to hear a lot of criticism and talkback on the subject.
They also promise to be pacifists, vegetarians and teetotalers and to raise the babies to be their own kin; to know the glory of Jehovih; to develop their su'is and sar'gis — which is not explained but means ESP; to teach them books and instruments, trades and occupations, music and worship, dancing and gymnastics; and then to kick them out of the colony when they turn fourteen.
To a degree this struck me as their version of the Lord's Prayer, although it is definitely not short and snappy like the Lord's Prayer. I would hate to have to memorize something like this.
Once this covenant has been made Jehovih speaks through Tae, promises to provide for the Faithists of Shalam in the same way that they are providing for the babies, and tells them to proclaim the founding of Jehovih's Kingdom of Earth in the east and west and north and south. With both the literalism of Tae and the love of repetition of John Ballout Newbrough we get four verses where he does exactly that. They're phrased exactly the same except that the cardinal direction is different.
Let me hear all the east people go yeah! Let me hear all the west people go yeah! Tae definitely had a DJ side to him.
Chapter 6, verse 20 we get our first mention of Satan in the book. I should stress this is "satan" with a lowercase s. There is a capital S Satan in the Oahspe, but this is lowercase s satan meaning that it is probably just intended to be used in the general sense of adversary. "As satan, in the management of his soldiers for war purposes, hath demonstrated the advantage of power through discipline, let us be wise in the Father's kingdom, by discipline also, but in peace and righteousness." Essentially, I don't like the devil, he's evil, but he does make a couple good points about management.
We need order. Just not force and being violent.
After establishing a covenant with God, the Faithists establish a covenant with each other, creating a hierarchy for how the colony will run. This is not internally consistent with other ideas in the book, which argue that the best government is no government, but we'll let that slide for now. The basic structure is that everyone divides into groups of ten and the wisest man in each group is promoted chief. That's still going to lead them with at least five chiefs so they need a chief of chiefs. What would be a good name, you think, for the chief of chiefs?
Not sure, perhaps some sort of new creative name…
Super-chief.
Big chief. Something.
The name that they settle on is the c'chief, like this is some sort of weird Expanded Universe novel and they're all clone Jedi.
Or c'chias.
Then they actually get around to the process of organizing Shalam in chapters seven through ten. They split into all the groups that are necessary for the functioning of society. Do you know what those groups are off the top of your head there, Rob?
I actually have them written down here. We need architects, clothiers, dieticians, engineers, manufacturers, horticulturalists, agriculturalists, botanists, nurses, physicians, artists, musicians, bloggers, joggers, manicurists, pedicurists, sleepers, sweepers, pickers, grinners, lovers, sinners, jokers, smokers, midnight tokers… I think I wandered into a Steve Miller Band song.
You can forget everything after musicians there. That is the whole list. There are twelve different types of people that society needs and that ends after musicians. No second-class telephone sanitizers, none of that. To repeat the shorter list, that's: architects, clothiers, dieticians, engineers, manufacturers, horticulturalists, agriculturalists, botanists, nurses, physicians, artists, and musicians. I'm a little confused that there are three different types of people growing plants in that list.
For different purposes. They're growing plants for different purposes.
I suppose but what's the difference… If you've got a horticulturalist and an agriculturalist what do you need with a generalized botanist?
I suppose if they're going out into nowhere they expect to be finding plants they don't know about. No idea.
Since there are supposed to be ten people in each of these groups and there are only fifty-two people, that means they're doubling up on a lot of these jobs. It also means there are twelve chiefs out of fifty-two people.
Fifty-two is an interesting number at this point, because I'm recalling that at the very beginning of all of this, Tae went to God and said, "Look, I have a whole bunch of people with me, men and women, who want to found your kingdom on earth." Then God said go hire some people. Tae got fifty out of that. So, fifty, plus Tae, plus Es, that's fifty-two, but I'm left wondering what happened to the original people here.
I bet it's some sort of mergers and acquisitions thing where they make everybody reinterview for their own job.
Yeah, I guess that was the case.
They didn't make the cut. Sorry. Sucks to be you.
All these groups elect chiefs, Tae is elected c'chief as if there was ever any doubt of that.
Yeah. Big surprise.
I mean, he's the only named character other than Es in the book so far who is sticking around.
But it is important to point out that no one is above anyone here.
Except for the guy who makes all the decisions.
And what's his first decision? To tell everyone what their duties are.
He's going to tell them all how do do their own jobs. Most of these are pretty bland. He goes through the architects, clothiers, and dieticians, realizes he's getting a bit boring and punts it off to the next section.
In this particular chapter, chapter eight, he just tells the architects, clothiers and dieticians what they need to do. And not surprisingly it's the architects need to build houses, the clothiers need to make clothes, the dieticians need to feed everybody… And in every case it ends with, "Oh, and have the kids help you."
I'm a little sad that he cut himself off after the dieticians because I really wanted to see how he'd distinguish the instructions between the agriculturalists and the horticulturalists and the botanists.
We never quite get that distinction made.
Then he gives everyone a pep talk which includes the disturbing phrase, "All mortals are in an embryotic state, preparing for birth (commonly called death)." (8:26)
Chapter nine is largely about establishing the rules for the school where the children will be educated. It's sort of a Montessori school combined with a trade school with a heaping dollop of religious instruction.
He insists the kids are going to have it all. They'll have a garden, a conservatory, a laboratory, factory, orchards, fields, gardens, moats, stoats… I'm going off again. The last thing, the most important thing that they need to learn is angel communion. I believe this is where they give a little description of it where they put the kids in a circle that's a "holy circle" and while they're in the circle they can see and talk to angels. And that's how it works. That's a very concise and detailed explanation of how it works.
I am now reconsidering my pre-school and kindergarten experience, which was essentially just me being put in circles with other children.
Then we have the argument between the celibate. and the non-celibate members over who should have the important job of raising the infants. Should it be people who've already had children and raised some children, or should it be people who don't have children of their own?
This is a very important argument that they bring to Tae, and Tae's answer is, "What do you want an answer from me for? Come on."
Jehovih eventually speaks through him to give an answer, that answer is basically, "Everybody sucks at raising children so might as well let anyone do it."
He does task them with, hey, go out to Uz and look how the children are raised there and ask yourself, "Have they been raised right?" And generally the answer is no, nobody's been raised right, their parents all had something that they overlooked that let the children not be properly raised. Parents always have a blind spot for their kids.
So that's the answer. If parents always have a blind spot for their kids then obviously married couples who've raised kids before cannot be trusted to raise kids. So we have to put these kids in the hands of the celibate who have not previously raised kids. "Why, then, since those who have r aised children have been failures, ye shall surely not choose them. The celibate have made no failures, for they have not tried." (10:24)
Which for a moment seems clever and insightful, until you realize all the married people were in the context celibates before they had their children. It's like asking, "Well, who's the better doctor, a doctor who's had a patient die or somebody who's never gone to med school?" Well, the doctor's had a patient die but the person who's not gone to med school has never had a patient die so let's defer to the person who's never gone to med school.
That argument settled, we get to chapters eleven through sixteen, which can be summed up as "The land of Shalam flourishes."
Flourishes in some interesting ways. One of the first thing that Jehovih brings up is, "Behold, the ancients built their temples so durable that succeeding generations forgot the art of building. Better is it for man's talent to remain, than for stones and pillars of iron." (11:4) You know the problem with buildings? They're built too well.
Build your buildings to fall apart. You want a Ryan Home.
"For which reason, in kosmon, thou shalt not build imperishably in corporeal things; but rather leave the way open for succeeding generations to build also." (11:5) You know what, guys? Let's build stuff that's only going to last twenty years tops so that it has to be replaced. Scriptural planned obsolesence.
We get a detailed description of some of those buildings. The Temple of Jehovih has fountains and gongs, a Chinese-style prayer wheel, murals depicting astronomical phenomena and the Etherian Heavens, beautiful flags, and a throne of light (whatever the hell that is.) And what does Tae say when he sees that?
"Who but Gods could have made anything so beautiful with such cheap material!" (11:7)
That is a real backhanded compliment.
Never has something so grand been built with twine and paper mache.
All this tells me is that John Ballou Newbrough has never done set building for a high school musical.
The Uzians come to see the new kingdom, and they are both confused and impressed. The exact quote is, "Why was not this tried before? A people without a leader!" (11:11) They say this to Tae, who is standing right there calling all the shots.
We get a description of the Temple of Apollo. The most salient feature here is a mural of Apollo looking at a group of druks with long arms. And I suspect you do not know what druks are.
No. I kind of assumed based on the description and the implication that they were turned into something beautiful, man, that they were meant to be monkeys as a reference to evolution.
That's pretty close. Druks are generally sub-human people who seek to do evil. They're a step below Uzians, maybe, not just that they have turned away from Jehovih but are active malefactors.
There is also a fancy gymnasium and a bunch of buildings which clearly aren't as important because the author doesn't spend a page and a half describing them.
He gets twenty paragraphs in describing all these buildings in some degree of detail, and gets to, "And not the least interesting of all was the house of the Nurseries." (11:20) And that is the extend of the description of the not least interesting thing of all.
It's only the centerpiece of this entire project, but you know what at nursery looks like, I don't have to describe one to you.
The voice of Jehovih continually urges Tae and Es — who is showing up now after an absence of twelve pages — get more babies, get more babies, get more babies. Es the only one who actually does any of the work.
It's sort of handwaved over here, but she gets twenty to fifty new orphans a year.
That's a pretty good churn! At some point there are more than a thousand orphans in the colony.
In not that many years! Assuming that they started with maybe five hundred, if you add five hundred more… if you're adding fifty a year that's still ten years! If you're getting twenty, that's more. So ten to twenty-five years of orphans!
At one point the cows on their farm become sick. I don't know why they have cows, because they are vegans. So they feed the babies essentially a milk substitute made out of corn milk and slippery elm bark and flax seed and rice milk.
Well the first is just corn, they press the milk and boil it. But then the chemists — which, I didn't know we had chemists, I don't think chemists were previously on the job list, but they have chemists now.
Maybe chemists are part of the manufacturers. There are certainly no scientists in Shalam.
They make the water extracts from slippery elm bark combined with flax seed and rice milk. Now, out of curiousity I looked up some of these ingredients. We should probably note at this point for legal reasons that slippery elm bark may cause allergic reactions and skin irritation. Slippery elm should not be handled by pregnant or breastfeeding women.
So just the perfect thing for children to have.
As long as no pregnant or breastfeeding women are handling it.
This holy horchata does the trick in the book so the babies grow up big and strong.
Chapter twelve is the testimony of Es, which is about how great the babies are and also includes an argument over whether babies should have blankets or pillows.
Right away she points out there were too many to pick up and bottle feed each one, and to pick up and hold them all when they cried, so she just didn't do any of that. When asking God for advice, Jehovih said: "Thou shalt permit them to lie down, and to roll about." (12:5)
Benign neglect is the best sort of parenting.
Chapter thirteen is Tae talking about the babies, who are hot babies, hot fit babies who know anatomy and gardening and had ESP.
One of the more inspiring bits here is in the second paragraph: "And, moreover, they were of all shades of colour, and of all nations and peoples on the earth." (13:2)
A regular United Colors of Benneton.
I did notice they also had, "Simple tournaments embraced games of hunting and chasing; some of them taking the part of foxes or wolves, and others, the part of hunters." (13:11) I'm not exactly sure why pacifist vegans are doing hunting games.
Hey, it's a good skill to have.
I guess I could see wolves could be an issue, so you have to keep the population away for the general safety of the colony. Foxes, I'm not exactly sure what their risk is.
It's like X-Men. Wolverine chases a deer down in the forest, and just holds his hand up to it but doesn't pop his knives. He's doing it for the sport, man.
"At six years of age they were entered as apprentices to labour." (13:16)
Gotta get those children in the mines early. Not that there are any mines in Shalam.
And it is also the time that the children began to manifest their psychic powers.
We're going to get a detailed desccription of how the children use those psychic powers in chapter fourteen. Essentially it's the same ritual you described before, they sit in a circle and talk some garbage. There is a long and involved prayer that they recite. Here is my favorite quote from that prayer: "Sing unto the Almighty, O ye little ones; His eye guardeth over you; His hand reacheth to the uttermost places." (14:13) That sounds like a bad touch to me. You should be talking to your teachers about that.
Chapter fifteen, the kids get to put on a show.
An opera, no less.
I wouldn't say I've seen many children's dramatics, but I've participated in them and I know from experience that they are awful. So I really cannot imagine what a full opera written by children would be like.
Now, they did bring in angel ringers to help with the performance and the angels wrote, choreographed and composed all the performances.
Makes it a little more palatable that I'm not listening to a song written by a four year old.
"Instead of the crude and loud-sounding horns and hideous instruments used by the Uzians for their operas, the opera here was provided with an organ of full power, and with instruments of delicacy and sweetness, so that the most refined ear should not be shocked or pained by any crude or disgusting noise, so common in the Uzian orchestras." (15:4) Again, I will remind people, played by six year olds.
I will also remind you that if Jehovih is reaching into your uttermost places and showing you his organ of full power then you should probably talk to another adult about this.
"Now, as to the plays, whether in the opera or in the theatre, they varied on different nights, as to being adapted to young children, or to older adults." (15:5) A reminder again, performed by six year olds.
Wow, there is a lot of hardcore pornography in this play being put on by children but aimed by adults.
"So that, were it necessary to exhibit a drunkard on the stage, it was also shown how the drunkard was surrounded by dark spirits who inspired him to his course; and also was exhibited the struggle of the guardian angels to save him." (15:8) Again, performed by six year olds.
This is reminding me of those bits on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year where the kids from Mitchellbrook Primary School re-enact current events. It's all I have to imagine what it's like.
And in case you're thinking it's probably adults who are playing the drunkards, the kids are just there to play kids: "In the simple plays, where the children took their parts at first, they were taught, without books, by repeating after their teachers." (15:9) So the kids can't read, but they're being directed to play instruments, perform operas, and also play drunkards for the benefits of adults.
I would love to be in rehearsals. "Not-mommy, what's a prostitute?"
Chapter sixteen, as the kids get older Jehovih says, "put them to work."
By fourteen, they were "masters of all trades."
Well, there are only twelve trades worth knowing.
As the kids get older they reach a point where they have to be turfed out of the colony or choose to remain. That's not a fair choice as they've been isolated their whole lives, so they do the only sensible thing: they allow the children to have a rumspringa.
At the suggestion of God, saying: "The fourteenth year is My year. Behold, the harvest of My labourers, who came first out of Uz, is ripe unto deliverance." (17:1)
I realize the whole crop metaphor is very biblical, it still sounds really a little when you're talking about souls like there's some sort of evil monster that's harvesting children's souls.
And it doesn't get any better, because: "Tae represented the Voice of Jehovih, and Es the voice of the young brides and bridegrooms who were to speak in concert with her." (17:11)
I don't know whether I would rather have my soul harvested by God or become his bride or bridegroom. Then again he has already reached into my uttermost places and shown me his organ of full power, so…
I do find it interesting it is presented as a call-and-response between Tae and Es. The children are right there and could conceivably answer for themselves.
This is more of Newbrough's repetition. He loves repetition.
In my notes I skipped from paragraph eleven to paragraph fifty-six. Just wanting to note in a reminder, that basically their primary command when being graduated was: "Hereafter ye shall not reprove one another, nor reprove any person above fourteen years of age." (17:56) In other words, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Got it?
They take the kids on a field trip to Uz. This goes about how you expect. It's kind of a Buddha moment where they've been cloistered for their entire lives, they go out into the real world and see sick people and old people and dead people, and as a result they choose to reject the world.
Their first and most common comment or question is, "What's that awful smell?"
That's not the only question they ask. They're constantly asking the sort of annoying questions a five-year-old would ask you, non-stop throughout the whole field ship.
I do have the note that Uz has tiger fighting, which sounds awesome. I wish they would have elaborated on that. You cannot just drop tiger fighting in there and not explain it.
Other notable incidents: they go to talk to a preacher about ministering to the poor, and he closes his shades and tries to pretend that he's not home.
The normal response when a group of teenagers comes to your door and says, hey, we want to talk to you about the poor. Nope. Don't care who I am, I'm not coming out.
Needless to say they find the outside world super gross and decide to go back to their cult compound.
Chapters nineteen and twenty, because the colony is doing so well Jehovih commands them to go out and make more Shalams and convert the people of Uz. The most notable of which is the colony of Illaem in the land of Busiris, wherever that happens to be.
Hopefully not a medical condition.
Children and adults aplenty come to Shalam, but the adults are not admitted to join the colony, they're just given a hot meal and sent on their way.
Well, if they're really interested they are given the opportunity to do work under supervision, but yeah, if they don't work, if they don't show the proper motivation, they're out of there.
Only Faithists are allowed to stay.
I will point out that he seems to distinguish between the lazy, who are given a chance, and the poor, who are immediately fed and sent away. We don't want no poor, okay?
I'm reminded of one point at work where I was forced to read a white paper written by an ignorant CEO and one of his rules for business was, "Don't do business with poor people, poor people are poor for a reason." That is not a paraphrase, that is literally what he said.
Chapter twenty-one, Jehovih explains why no one other than the faithful can hear him. It's not a terribly interesting chapter, TBH.
My note for this chapter was "Yawn."
Pretty much the same for chapter twenty-two, which is all about, don't let adults join, just get children they're easier to indoctriniate.
Chapter twenty-two did have some clues on how to deal with the press.
"Some will seek to trap you on the subject of marriage, inquiring after this manner, to wit: Say ye celibacy is higher than marriage? Or, is marriage the higher? What say ye of marriage and divorce?" (22:8-9)
Well, the answer is: "We are no man's keeper; neither say we whether celibacy or marriage is the higher." (22:10) Even though they implied earlier that celibacy was. "We give liberty unto all to serve Jehovih on that matter, but in their own way. One marriage only do we permit to any man or woman. And though one the other die, yet the survivor cannot marry again. And as to such as are married, they can, at the option of either one, return to celibacy, by being publicly proclaimed in the temple of Jehovih." (22:10)
Only have one marriage, but it can be declared that you didn't have a marriage. That's how I took that.
Now, it should be interesting to not here that John Ballou Newbrough was married when he founded the Faithists, got divorced from his wife who was not a Faithist, remarried a woman who was a Faithist and for whom it was also her second marriage, and then after Newbrough died she married another Faithist.
Not at all confusing.
But that is a very Jesus-like evasion of the question. "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, render unto God what is God's." Don't take a position on which they're going to be able to nail you down and I probably shouldn't have said that in relation to Jesus.
But they are also asked, "Who is the leader? Who is the highest? Who is the head? Ye shall answer them, saying: Jehovih. We have no man-leader; no man who is higher than another. We are brothers and sisters." (22:12) We certainly don't have a ridiculously-named c'chief who tells everyone what their job is, who we should never question, ,and who we should overlook any shortcomings.
That's an interesting question because you'll note that even when Tae is making decisions it's not Tae making those decisions, it's Jehovih speaking through Tae. So I guess the argument is that Jehovih is really in charge and Tae is just a conduit. But it still seems like he's kind of in charge? Because Jehovih could speak through anyone but he only speaks through Tae.
And chapter twenty-three is kind of an anti-climax. They win. As the kids grow up they become perfect beings, pure of heart, healthy in body, wise in spirit, and the progenitors of a new race of man.
It's important to note that "none of these colonies were bound by written laws, nor had any of them leaders or masters, nor any government. save the Light of Jehovih." (23:18) They certainly didn't have a 900 page bible to go off of, they certainly didn't have 10% of their population acting as chiefs or c'chiefs…
All glory here is God's, people.
The Uzians see all that has happened in the land of Shalam and they leave their materialistic lives behind and become Faithists with kings and queens and everyone else abandoning their former lives and living as poor humble people. In the least realistic part of the book when they preach the word of the Oahspe, the lawyers give up their callings and declare that they have never done anything good in their lives. And as someone who comes from a family of lawyers and knows many lawyers, that is never gonna happen.
That's pretty much it. Their hippie commie paradise takes over the world.
We get a chapter on why Uz is doomed to fail, and then the Faithists become plentiful, Uz kind of dwindles away and boom! The end.
It's kind of nice to have an apocalypse where the world ends because is good and righteous as opposed to having some sort of war or divine retribution. Narratively, it's completely unsatisfying.
It just kind of peters out.
That's the end of the Book of Shalam, but that's not the end of the Book of Jehovih's Kingdom on Earth. There's a three chapter coda which is purportedly the records of the c'chiefs concerning the ascendancy of Shalam and the Faithists and the downfall of Uz, but it's really a sort of jeremiad against the current state of the modern world, repeating things that have been throughout the text.
Most of chapters twenty-four and twenty-five are given over to explicitly calling out the faults of the modern world and withdrawing Jehovih's protection from them. Though one wonders how much protection that was since he allowed the world to be taken over by evil spirits three thousand years in the past.
Specific things that the modern world is called out on: drunkenness and smoking and all manner of dissipation; letting others take blame for their own faults; allowing immoral activities to continue because the government profits off their taxes and license. The Faithists are coming for you, Pennsylvania State Lottery.
And the PA Liquor Board.
Jehovih reasserts his dominance and that he is the path to righteousness with a really awkward metaphor that makes no sense. "I made the way of life like going up a mountain; whoso turneth aside or goeth downward shall ultimately repent of his course, and he shall retrace his steps." (24:42) I don't know about you but usually one goes up a mountain and then back a down. It's very rare that I go down a mountain and then back up.
It's an interesting metaphor. You know, if you have a destination and you go away from it you're just going to have to go toward that destination again. One questions whether you're actually intending to go up the mountain to begin with.
The Uzians will be judged for their crimes; in chapter twenty-five we actually get another reference to Satan: "And now behold what hath been! The prince of devils came upon the Uzians, saying: I come not to send peace, but a sword. I come to set man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother." (25:11-14) Now, does that sound familiar to you at all, Rob?
That is because it is a paraphrase of Matthew 10:34-36. Those are words spoken by Jesus in canon Bible. So we're really leaning into the whole Kriste'yans are led by devils thing.
Chapter twenty-five verses nineteen and twenty call for the Faithists to separate from the world and society, and the final chapter call for all the unfaithful to vanish from the face of the earth.
"Thus Jehovih's kingdom swallowed up all things in victory; his dominion was over all, and all people dwelt in peace and liberty." (26:24)
Rob, any final thoughts?
Yeah. This is a real dense piece of writing in which a lot happens but not a lot is terribly interesting outside the first couple of chapters.
Now, I don't think we've discussed which book we're going to read next time.
No we haven't.
That's because we're not doing another one of these folks. This is a one-off. Enjoy it while it lasts. Rob, do you have anything you want to promote? Where can people find you online?
I don't actually have anything I want to promote at this time. You know what? There's this interesting podcast I'm going to be on. I should promote that.
Let people search that out themselves.
Today, so many podcasters around the world still need your help. And through Ko-fi, you can reach out to one of them by sharing just a little of your pocket change. It takes so little for you to become a special friend and the good it can do is more than you can imagine. For just the price of a cup of coffee a day, you can buy that podcaster the food, clothes, and education they so desperately need. As their sponsor, you can exchange photos and letters with your podcaster seeing how they grow and develop. Please call now and change the life of a podcaster forever. But don't do it for us. We're fine. Do it for Benito and Chris. They need it.
Apocrypals
The Light of Kosmon
Apocrypals Dr. John Ballou Newbrough Faithism Oahspe Oahspepals Presented by #13 Presented by #17 Shalam Colony
First Published: May 31, 2021
Last Edited: June 3, 2021
Presented by #17 (Rob Brunskill)
Rob originates from Uz, but is not, himself, Uz. Nor has he yet gone through uz, being somewhere in se'mu, but close to ho'tu. And if you immediately understood any of that without having to look anything up, I worry for you. Check out his episodes.


text:
Per Nørgård (* 13. července 1932 Gentofte) je dánský hudební skladatel.

Život
Narodil se v dánském Gentofte. Studoval u Vagna Holmboe na Královské dánské hudební akademii v Kodani a pak u Nadii Boulanger v Paříži.

V začátcích byl silně ovlivněn severským stylem Jeana Sibelia, Carla Nielsena a Vagna Holmboe. V 60. letech 20. století začal zkoumat moderní techniky centrální Evropy a nakonec vyvinul serialistický kompoziční systém, založený na "nekonečných úsecích", který pak použil v díle Voyage into the Golden Screen, ve své druhé a třetí symfonii, díle I ching a dalších pracích konce šedestátých a také v sedmdesátých letech. Později jej zaujal švýcarský malíř Art brut Adolf Wölfli, který inspiroval mnoho Nørgårdových prací, včetně jeho Čtvrté symfonie, opery Det Guddommelige Tivoli nebo díla Papalagi pro sólovou kytaru

Nørgård skomponoval díla všech hlavních žánrů: šest oper, dva balety, osm symfonii a jiné kusy pro orchestr, několik koncertů, chorálové a vokální díla, mimořádně velké množství komorních skladeb (včetně deseti smyčcových kvartetů) a několik prací pro sólové nástroje. Skladby pro sólové nástroje obnášejí množství skladeb pro kytaru, většinou psané pro dánského kytaristu Erlinga Møldrupa: In Memory Of... (1978), Papalagi (1981), serie suit nazvaná Tales from a Hand (1985–2001), Early Morn (1997–98) a Rondino Amorino (1999).

Jedním z jeho nejdůležitějších děl pro sólové perkuse je I ching pro dáského perkusionistu Gerta Mortensena. Také složil hudbu k několika filmům, jako například The Red Cloak (1966), Babettina hostina (Babettes gæstebud) (1987) nebo Hamlet, princ dánský (1993).

Skladatelovou Osmou symfonii uvedel ve finském Helsinském hudebním centru finská Helsinská filharmonie s dirigentem Johnem Storgårdsem. Heikki Valska z Finského rozhlasu symfonii popsal jako "velmi světlou a lyrickou" a také "přístupnou". na své premiéře byla dobře přijata publikem.

Je také plodným autorem. Napsal mnoho článků, které se zabývají hudbou z technického nebo z filozofického hlediska.

Ocenění
 1974: Hudební cena Severské rady (udělovaná Severskou radou), za jeho operu Gilgameš
 1996: Hudební cena Léonie Sonning

Odkazy

Reference

Související články
 Serialismus

Externí odkazy

 Oficiální stránky skladatele

Dánští hudební skladatelé
Narození v Gentofte
Narození v roce 1932
Narození 13. července
Žijící lidé
Muži

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Here we review the Muad-Dib (pronounced Maw-Deeb) by Magic Flight. Magic Flight makes the legendary Launch Box, so this is there first foray into the concentrate market. How does this device compare to the Launch Box? Is this a unit to replace your vape pen or your dab rig? Join us as we answer these questions and go over the specifics of the device.
A special thanks to Joe at Magic Flight for sending me this unit to review!


text:
package hevs.especial.utils

import java.io._

/**
 * Some helper methods to work with files and folders.
 *
 * Code adapted from [[https://code.google.com/p/helgoboss-commons]].
 *
 * @param file the file to work with
 *
 * @version 1.1
 * @author Christopher Metrailler (mei@hevs.ch)
 */
class RichFile(file: File) {

  /**
   * Write test to a file.
   * @param text the text to write to the file
   * @return true if write succeed, false otherwise
   */
  def write(text: String): Boolean = {
    try {
      val fw = new FileWriter(file)
      fw.write(text)
      fw.close()
      true
    }
    catch {
      case e: IOException => false
    }
  }

  /**
   * Check if the folder exist and if not create it. If it already exist, delete all files.
   * @return `false` if the folder cannot be created, `true `otherwise
   */
  def createEmptyFolder(): Boolean = {
    if (createFolder()) {
      return false
    }
    else {
      // Delete all files in this existing directory
      deleteFilesRecursively()
    }
    true
  }

  /**
   * Create a folder if it does not exit. Do nothing if already exist.
   * @return `false` if the folder cannot be created, `true `otherwise
   */
  def createFolder(): Boolean = {
    if (!file.exists()) {
      if (!file.mkdirs())
        return false
    }
    true
  }

  /**
   * Delete all files in a directory, but not the directory itself.
   */
  private def deleteFilesRecursively(): Unit = {
    def deleteFile(subFile: File): Unit = {
      if (subFile.isDirectory) {
        val del = deleteFile _
        subFile.listFiles.foreach(del)
      }
      subFile.delete
    }

    val del = deleteFile _
    file.listFiles().foreach(del)
  }
}

object RichFile {

  import scala.language.implicitConversions

  // Convert any file to a [[RichFile]]
  implicit def file2RichFile(file: File): RichFile = new RichFile(file)
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Governor's Press Release
ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 13, 1998) -- A project to reduce stormwater to Broad Creek watershed from the Heritage Office Complex in Anne Arundel County soon will receive a financial boost thanks to Board of Public Works approval today of a State grant for $115,000.
"The construction of stormwater management areas will allow vegetation to absorb critical nutrients and pollutants from the runoff," said Governor Parris N. Glendening. "We must continue to work together to improve the quality of our waterways and protect the Chesapeake Bay."
In addition to the State grant, the County will contribute $45,000. Construction began in March 1998 and will be complete this month.
"This project will provide water quality enhancement of stormwater runoffs from Heritage Office Complex parking areas, located in Anne Arundel County," said County Chief Administrative Officer Thomas C. Andrews. "The improved water quality will in turn protect, restore and enhance living resources habitat in the Broad Creek watershed and ultimately in South River."
Chaired by Governor Glendening, the Board of Public Works also is comprised of Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein and Treasurer Richard N. Dixon. The Board is empowered by the General Assembly to approve construction and consultant contracts, equipment purchases, property transactions and other procurement actions.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Kurzawa Moments SBC
Kurzawa Moments SBC is available. 2 squads required. It seems he won´t be in the next TOTW then. Remember he was one of the contenders to be in TOTW 17. Anyway, check out requirements, price, and review.
Superbike World Championship Screens
POSTED February 24 | VIEWS 5019
Tradewest Games confirmed that SBK X Superbike World Championship will be launching in the UK in May 2010 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC DVD. he game from renowned Italian developer, Milestone Studios, and published by Black Bean Games is now in its fourth generation and SBK X harnesses the thrills and exhilaration of this international racing series in bullet-fast, high-definition glory. Check out these screenshots.
The Superbike World Championship, also known as SBK, is the international racing series that features real motorbikes available in showrooms for Joe Public to buy. It's this relevance to the everyday biker that has catapulted SBK's popularity in the UK and other countries around the world since it began in 1988.
Motorbike racing as a videogame offers a radically different and spine-tingling challenge for players compared to car racing games. Remove the sure footing of four wheels, introduce sub-two-second 0-60 acceleration, tarmac flying past you at 180MPH, and you've got a taste of what's in store.
The challenge for the developer has always been to digitally recreate what are essentially two purely analogue machines working in perfect unison: the rider and the bike. For example, the rider's position affects cornering, acceleration and braking, whilst the bike's weight has to be shifted and power carefully applied at the rear wheel to deliver the blistering speeds these bikes are capable of on the tracks.
Most importantly, Milestone have worked all this control into a simple and accessible arcade mode, making it possible for anyone to pick up and play, but with enough depth and detail to satisfy committed petrol heads and bike tuners thanks to the full simulation mode.
SBK X features 1000cc and 600cc machines from Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, MV Agusta, Suzuki, Triumph, and Yamaha with the 14-track racing roster, which includes Germany's notorious Nürburgring.
Check out the latest screenshots from SBK X: Superbike World Championship. The hum of the track below you, the hiss of the wind tearing past you, the roar of the engine beneath you: this is the reality of Superbike World Championship.
Posted ON SEPTEMBER 21 | SBK X: Superbike World Championship
SBK X: Superbike World Championship Screens
SBK X Superbike World Championship will be launching in the UK in May 2010 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC DVD.
Posted ON APRIL 21 | SBK X: Superbike World Championship


It's time again for the national Census. Oakland Rising is working with it's coalition partners to ensure that everyone is counted -- especially low-income people, communities of color, undocumented immigrants and formerly incarcerated persons.
Instant Runoff Voting Passes City Council!


This is a cool standard little Sherlock dab rig that stands about 6 inches tall. This one has a nice long neck to keep water from splashing up and features a sweet fumed marble that not only looks awesome, but makes holding this rig more comfortable. The joint size for this Sherlock dab rig is 18mm. The rig comes with a glass nail and dome included in the order. The color for this one is mostly all clear, but the stripe colors and fumed marble color do vary.


text:
Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe
Title: - Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe
Author: Evolving Universe .
MD5 Hash Code: 3a2626176f227374124ae6e7a67a1976
Finally I can download and read Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe Thank you!
Related Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe Books


text:
Relating with your ex after marriage
DOLAPO AKITOYE writes about the suitability or otherwise of relating with one's ex after marriage
It is a thing of joy to be married to the person one loves, but some partners, who, despite being married, are still tied to their exes. They just cannot let go. Rather than break such bond, they continually give reasons why they cannot do away with such relationships. Some of them even say that the relationships are harmless and their partners should not lose sleep over them.
This situation is one that many people face in modern society. Keeping in touch with an ex is a big issue because people do it for several reasons.
READ ALSO: Ways to spice up your relationship
A woman, only identified as Dupe, still keeps in touch with her ex because she has a baby for him. She told SUNDAY PUNCH, "I keep in touch with him as a result of friendship and also because I have a child for him. However, that does not give him the right to call me anyhow or at his will."
She added that they could not discuss anything else other than the welfare of their child, stating that her ex was also aware of the boundary.
Asked if the situation was so vital to warrant keeping in touch with her ex, Dupe said her husband understood. She said, "My spouse trusts me and understands the situation."
Some people believe that there is nothing bad in staying in touch with one's ex-lover after the relationship ended, especially if it didn't end on a bad note. They, however, noted that it could be a problem if either or both of them were married and refused to carry their partners along.
Another woman, Mrs. Peju Osazuwa, told SUNDAY PUNCH that she kept in touch with her ex out of friendship. She noted, "We were friends before we started dating and when the relationship did not work, we returned to our former state as friends."
Asked how her spouse felt about it, she stated that he was indifferent to it because of his trust in her.
But there are those who believe that keeping in touch with an ex-lover after marriage is not proper or advisable.
Speaking on the matter, a psychologist, Prof. Oni Fagboungbe, said every human being had emotions capable of provoking jealousy.
The don stated, "Human beings have emotions. We have feelings; so, it can easily provoke a behaviour amounting to jealousy. It can cause a lot of psychological dislocations such as mistrust, suspicion, loss of confidence and so on.
"Suspicion is very delicate in a marriage because it will breed mistrust and where there is mistrust, it may have a spiral effect on other things. It can also affect matrimonial effect."
While there are some spouses who do not mind their partners maintaining a relationship or friendship with their exes, there are others who are not comfortable with the idea.
Mr. Okechukwu Ochuko keeps in touch with his ex-lover, but he told our correspondent that his wife was not comfortable with it. He, however, said he would continue talking to her ex as long as "it is just to say hello because she had friends before I met her."
It is the same with Mr. Love Itseghosimhe who said he maintained friendship with his ex because of the mutual trust they shared when they were together.
"There is nothing personal in the friendship. My wife might not be too comfortable with the idea but there is a level of understanding between my wife and me. Most importantly, I don't allow anything affect my marriage. My conversation with my ex is on a platonic level with nothing deep attached," he added.
READ ALSO: The psychological impact of self-doubt, fears
A marriage counsellor, Bose Fawehinmi, noted that it was not advisable to maintain friendship with one's ex after marriage.
Fawehinmi said, "It is not advisable to keep in touch with a previous partner because if you have said a relationship is over, you being in contact means that both of you probably have something going. It may not be emotional or romantic but it is not right.
"Your life does not depend on that relationship. You need to let it go. Whatever it is that you feel is a benefit you want to derive by still being in touch with the person, you can sacrifice it for the peace of the new relationship you are in. This is because your partner is going to feel insecure."
She added that being friends with an ex could lead to morally questionable behaviour without being done intentionally.
"It can actually be an avenue for you to start something again because an old friend is always somebody you feel safe with. If you have issues and your spouse is not able to offer you comfort or understanding at the time, that person will seem to be just there.
"So, it's easy for you to run back and divulge your issues to the person. Of course, it could be friendly and 'no strings attached' but it could lead to emotions running wild again."
According to Fawehinmi, keeping in touch with an ex-lover can leave room for comparison.
She stated, "Another reason why you should not maintain a relationship or a friendship with an ex is that it can give you the opportunity to keep comparing your ex with your partner. The person you are currently with will be different from your ex; so, the more you see your ex, the proximity will remind or reinforce what you are missing."
She advised that in order to keep the peace in one's marriage and home, it was important to fully detach from one's ex.
She added, "If you are with someone new, be fully committed to that person and don't be playing around with emotions. You might say you don't want to feel anything for this person but what if the person is feeling something for you? You can only control yourself but cannot control the other person's feelings.
"Also, that person's relationship suffers because if the partner of that person sees that he or she is still talking to the ex, it might cause problems."
Saying nobody would welcome his or her partner's ex hanging around a marriage, Fawehinmi stated if one didn't want to be a homebreaker, the best thing would be to leave one's ex alone for peace to reign.
Cuddling styles and what they say about your union
Procrastinating can undermine your relationship
An emotional affair is an infringement on your vows
VIDEO: Physically-challenged couple find perfection, completion in each other
Relationship sweeter when money is involved — Mojisola Adebanjo
What will you do if your spouse dislikes attending events with you?


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Selected Articles: A selection of free marketing articles, chosen by Ilise Benun, author of The Art of Self-Promotion.
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My name is Tara Seale, and I am a high school English teacher. My teaching career began during the 2005-06 school year. That same year, Will Richardson published Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, and Apple enhanced podcasts making it more than just an audio upload. I felt the weight and speed of technological changes. Effective communication was evolving at an accelerated speed, and I knew I needed to enhance my technology skills. After much reading and research, I decided the best way to learn how to communicate using 21st century technology was to dive in and make mistakes. I created a blog, naming it ambitiously Enhanced English Teacher Blog. My first post was tentative and nervous, only two sentences long, but I persevered.
Becoming more technologically proficient is only one undertaking in my quest to enhance my teaching practices. I created this website to display the artifacts of my ongoing journey, provide honest commentary about my experiences, and document my determination to become an Enhanced English Teacher.


I have been crappie fishing for over 30 years. My mother started me off at an early age, I can remember as a teen I would hide my fishing poles in the bushes, and when it was time for school I'd sneak to the lake instead of class. As I got older I leaned more towards crappie fishing. I have a passion for taking children fishing, exposing them to the outdoors and teaching them the love of nature. In 2010 I started fishing competitively, and in 2011 I started my Crappie Addiction Guide Service. I enjoy teaching and sharing my knowledge with my clients. At the end of the trip I'm happy seeing the smiles on their faces as they have had an experience of a lifetime.


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Food Regulators Unable to Identify Source of Romaine Lettuce Contamination
Posted: Feb 13, 2019 4:48 PM CDT
U.S. food regulators say they weren't able to identify a contamination source for a food poisoning outbreak that prompted them to warn people to avoid romaine lettuce this fall .
The Food and Drug Administration says it wasn't able to determine how a water reservoir on a Santa Barbara County, California, farm became contaminated with E. coli. It also says the water reservoir doesn't explain how lettuce from other farms may have been contaminated.
The FDA says leafy greens' short shelf-life makes it difficult to investigate such outbreaks. It notes food safety has been a longstanding issue with leafy greens, and that the industry should review operations to minimize risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is always risk of foodborne illness when eating raw produce.
Categories: News, On Your Side
Montgomery Public School Board Revisits the Idea of Charter Conversion Schools
Trenholm State Community College President Announces Retirement


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Achievements of Modern Radioelectronics / №12 - 2018
Investigation of the effect of bit interleaving on bit-error-rate performance of HF OFDM system with convolutional coding
DOI 10.18127/j20700784-201812-04
Keywords: interleaver HF OFDM convolution code Viterbi algorithm
К.V. Gorokhov – Leading Engineer, JSC «RPC «Polyot» (N. Novgorod)
E-mail: histat@rf.unn.ru
А.V. Kolobkov – Ph.D. (Eng)., Deputy Head of the Scientific and Technical Center, JSC «RPC «Polyot» (N. Novgorod)
E-mail: antvk@mail.ru
D.V. Khiteva – Post-graduate Student, Software Engineer, JSC « RPC «Polyot» (N. Novgorod)
E-mail: geheimberater@yandex.ru
Multipath signal propagation leads to signal distortion in HF channel. These distortions are characterized by the dispersion of the signal in time and frequency. This degrades the reliability of the transmission due to errors that are grouped into packets. Interleaving allows converting group errors into single errors that are easily corrected by noise immunity coding. The aim of the paper is to
determine the best way of interleaving in HF OFDM system with PSK and convolution coding. In the paper the influence of the length and type of the interleaver on bit-error-rate performance of OFDM system is investigated by simulation.
We simulate OFDM system with 140 subcarriers in the band of 3100 Hz from which only 128 active subcarriers are modulated with PSK. The convolution encoder has octal constitutive coefficients of (133, 171) and the code constraint length of 7. HF channel is simulated within the framework of two-path Watterson model. In the receiver, after corresponding deinterleaving of the soft decisions of the demodulator, they are decoded by the Viterbi algorithm.
In the paper block and random interleavers are investigated. Increasing the interleaver length improves bit-error-rate performance of OFDM system. But a large interleaver length results in a large delay. The optimal interleaver length must be determined to provide a trade-off between bit-error-rate and channel delay. It is established that the optimal interleaver length is equal to ten times of coherence time. The optimal interleaver lengths are 32, 64 and 256 OFDM symbols for the Doppler spread 6,6, 3,3 and 1 Hz, respectively. Using interleavers longer than 10 seconds at lower fading rates is not advisable because of the excessive increase in the block of transmitted data. PSK constellation size does not affect the choice of interleaver characteristics.
Frequency selectivity of the signal affects the block interleavers. It is necessary to adapt block interleavers parameters to the multipath interval. Consequently, it is necessary to build a system with feedback, which greatly complicates the OFDM system. Random interleavers do not need this.
Cai X., Giannakis G.B. Bounding performance and suppressing intercarrier interference in wireless mobile OFDM // IEEE Transactions on Communication. 2003. V. 51. № 12. P. 2047–2056.
ARINC Specification 635-2. HF Data Link Protocols. 1998.
MIL-STD-188-110S. Interoperability and Performance Standards for Data Modems. 2011.
IEEE Std. 802.11a. Wi-Fi. 1999.
IEEE Std. 802.16. WiMAX. 2002.
Schulze H., Luders C. Theory and Applications of OFDM and CDMA. England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 2005.
Novikov R.S. Analiz ehffektivnosti metodov peremezheniya dannihkh dlya pomekhoustoyjchivihkh kodov v kanalakh svyazi s pomekhami // Vestnik nauki i obrazovaniya Severo-Zapada Rossii. 2015. T. 1. № 1. S. 1–7.
Prasad V.G.S., Hari K.V.S. Interleaved Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (IOFDM) System // IEEE Transactions on signal processing. 2004. V. 52. № 6. P. 1711–1721.
Klark G.C., Cain J.B. Error-Correction Coding for Digital Communication. New York: Plenum Press. 1981.
Watterson C.C., Juroshek J.R., Bensema W.D. Experimental confirmation of an HF channel model // IEEE Transactions on Communication Technology. 1970. V. 18. № 6. P. 792–803.
Nguyen V.D., Kuchenbecker H.-P. Block interleaving for soft decision Viterbi decoding in OFDM systems // IEEE 54th Vehicular Technology Conference. 2001. V. 1. P. 470–474.


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'Bama responds
March 04, 2010 in Basketball
Great win at Columbia over South Carolina, 79-70. South Carolina led 31-17 at the 8:33 mark of the first half, but 'Bama didn't quit. With JaMychal Green suspended and Senario Hillman coming back from suspension, the Tide played inspired basketball. Anthony Grant called it "a great character win for our basketball team." It was.
Junior guard Charvez Davis drilled a three-pointer with 5:51 left in the game to put the Tide ahead for the first time, 62-59. Alabama went on a 9-2 run to close out the game.
Mikhail Torrance and Justin Knox each had 17 to lead 'Bama. Knox played a great game, also pulling down seven boards. Chris Hines had seven points and 14 boards for the Tide. Tony Mitchell finished with 13 and Hillman added 12. The Tide outrebounded USC, 49-26.
Alabama shot 45 percent for the game and was seven-of-17 from trifecta. Torrance was six-of-six from the charity stripe many of them late in the game. He showed a lot of senior leadership. And the young players, Mitchell, Hines and Davis performed.
Maybe the Tide can grab some momentum heading into the SEC tourney. They have Auburn Saturday at home at 12:30 on the SEC Network- WTTO. Channel 9 on Mountain Brook Cable.
← Other games last nightUAB drop ninth straight to Memphis →


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Joseph A. Tomon, Jr. Funeral Home & Crematory
Pre Funding & Pre Planning
Roberta "Birdie" Glover
Roberta "Birdie" Glover, 93, formerly of North Sewickley Township, passed away on Wednesday, August 8, 2012 at the Haven Convalescent Home in New Castle. Born in Ellwood City on September 25, 1918, Birdie was the daughter of the late Thomas and Pearl Reynolds Haynes. She married Charles Owen Glover, who preceded her in death in 1979. She was a member of Wiley Hill Baptist Church. Everyone who knew and loved Birdie will always remember her wonderful baking, especially her pies and rolls. She was an avid gardener and her flowers always brightened the neighborhood. Birdie is survived by her chidren and their spouses, Karen and Donald Mattern of Wellsville, OH, Sharon Kathleen Parks, Daniel and Marcia Glover and Thomas K. Glover, all of Ellwood City, 17 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. In addition to her parents and her husband, she was preceded in death by three children, Robert Owen Glover, Nancy J. Reno and Joan R. Casuccio, three grandchildren, Sherry Reno, Anthony C. Casuccio and Bobby Parks, and a son-in-law, Troy James Parks. Visitation will be held on Thursday, August 9th from 4-8 PM at the Joseph A. Tomon, Jr. Funeral Home and Crematory, 97 Grim Avenue, Ellport. A funeral service will be held at the funeral home following the visitation at 8:00 PM Thursday evening with Rev. Bruce A. Ballantine of the First Presbyterian Church of Wooster. Interment will take place in Locust Grove Cemetery.
Robin Houk Lordi
Birdie! What a great picture of you..this brings back so many childhood memories of you and Joan! I would like to offer my sympathy to your family(I am so sorry for your loss Danny,Tommy,Susan and all) xx
Brenda Carr
Birdie, How I have loved you all my life. You have always treated me like one of the family, and I Thank You for that.You will never be forgotten. God Bless you and your family. Love you, Brenda
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The Stolen Angel
by Sara Blaedel
Read by Christine Lakin
#1 internationally bestselling author Sara Blaedel returns with a captivating new suspense novel: Detective Louise Rick encounters her most troubling case yet as she goes up against an extremely wealthy-but psychologically twisted-sociopath targeting vulnerable young women.
When the granddaughter of the wealthy Sachs-Smith family is kidnapped, Louise's skills as a trained negotiator are put to work. She is tasked with helping the desperate mother negotiate what soon turns into a life-or-death situation. The kidnappers will only exchange the deathly ill little girl for an infamous stained glass panel–known as the Angel of Death–that has been in the family for generations. But there's a problem… the Angel, worth millions, was recently stolen from the family home.
Racing against the clock as she matches wits with a criminal mastermind, Louise will be taken to the depths of human depravity. She's about to learn the hard way that money can buy absolutely anything. But will she be able to find the little girl before her time runs out?
Sara Blaedel's latest suspenseful and emotionally powerful thriller will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.
On Sale: January 2nd 2018
AudioBooksNow.com
AudioBookstore.com
Downpour.com
NookAudioBooks.com
"Crime-writer superstar Sara Blaedel's great skill is in weaving a heartbreaking social history into an edge-of-your-chair thriller while at the same time creating a detective who's as emotionally rich and real as a close friend."—Oprah.com
"One of the best I've come across."—Michael Connelly
"Sara Blaedel is a force to be reckoned with. She's a remarkable crime writer who time and again delivers a solid, engaging story that any reader in the world can enjoy."—Karin Slaughter
"Another suspenseful, skillfully wrought entry."—Booklist on The Killing Forest
"Engrossing...Blaedel nicely balances the twisted relationships of the cult members with the true friendships of Louise, Camilla, and their circle."—Publishers Weekly on The Killing Forest
"Blaedel delivers another thrilling novel...Twists and turns will have readers on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happens next."—RT Book Reviews on The Killing Forest
"For readers who gorge on captivating characters and chilling suspense, THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS is a tantalizing treat. Enjoy yourself, America."—Sandra Brown on The Forgotten Girls
"Sara Blædel is at the top of her game. Louise Rick is a character who will have readers coming back for more."—Camilla Läckberg
"Crackling with suspense, atmosphere, and drama, THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS is simply stellar crime fiction. I loved spending time with the tough, smart, and all-too-human heroine Louise Rick--and I can't wait to see her again."—Lisa Unger
"Will push you to the edge of your seat [then] knock you right off....A smashing success."—BookReporter on The Killing Forest
"This is a standout book that will only solidify the author's well-respected standing in crime fiction. Blaedel drops clues that will leave readers guessing right up to the reveal. Each new lead opens an array of possibilities, and putting the book down became a feat this reviewer was unable to achieve. Based on the history of treating the disabled, the story is both horrifying and all-to-real. Even the villains have nuanced and sympathetic motives."—RT Times on The Forgotten Girls - Top Pick **Nominated for a Reviewer's Choice Award**
"Gripping."—Washington Post on The Forgotten Girls
"Tautly suspenseful and sociologically fascinating."—BookPage on The Forgotten Girls
"Tightly knit."—Kirkus Reviews on The Forgotten Girls
"Chilling...[a] swiftly moving plot and engaging core characters."—Publishers Weekly on The Forgotten Girls
"Sara Blaedel's THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS is an emotionally complex police-procedural thriller ...With a gripping premise, fast-paced narrative and well-developed characters, THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS is an incredible read."—FreshFiction.com


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Berlin Brandenburg Airport Closed January 25 2023: Travel Alert
Take my breath away.
Should Airlines Be Required to Equip Airplanes With Epinephrine Autoinjectors?
· April 28, 2018 ·5 Comments·7 min read
As a result of severe reactions which have occurred aboard airplanes during flights in recent years, a movement for the call of airplanes to be required to be equipped with epinephrine autoinjectors has been growing.
"Believe it or not every airline in Australia carries easy to use autoinjectors and has nurses train airline personnel and on how do use them", Lianne Mandelbaum — who is the founder of The No Nut Traveler — said to me recently. "They also have an airline specific action plan that is easy to follow in their manuals."
An epinephrine autoinjector is a medical hand-held device carried by those who have severe allergies and is used for the injection of a minimum of one measured dose of epinephrine — which is another term for adrenaline — by means of auto injector technology. It is most commonly used for the treatment of a severe reaction to peanuts known as anaphylaxis, which can result in serious injury or death.
Two Recent Incidents as Examples
Gianluca Ingrassia suffered a dangerously severe allergic reaction aboard an airplane operated by American Airlines during a flight from Aruba to New York on Tuesday, February 27, 2018. His mother had no idea that her son — who is ten years old — was allergic to nuts until the incident occurred.
Here is the story as told by Francine Ingrassia in her own words on Facebook:
I'm sharing my story to RAISE Awareness. My son had Serious Anaphylaxis symptoms on our flight home last night. He ate one cashew from the nut mix he was served on our flight and within minutes he had severe stomach pain , chest pain and stridor breathing. If it was not for the quick thinking stewardess on the plane. The nurse who admistered the epi pen and cared for him the entire trip and passengers who gave us their epi pens this would have been fatal.
American Airlines had no epi-pens in their medical kits. We were not aware of any allergies that our son had with cashews before this flight. The pilots were prepared to do an emergency landing in the Dominican Republic.
The scariest thing was that American Airlines did not have an epi pen in their medical kits and served nuts on a plane? We need to change this. Shame on American Airlines for not having an epi pen in their medical kits.
I am forever grateful , Nurse Kelly who saved my sons life & sat with us the entire flight, the 2 passengers who gave us their epi pens, the quick thinking stewardess , the pilots and the paramedics who boarded the plane once we landed to check his vitals. Things could have been very different if it wasn't for all these angels completely aligned. My heart is bursting and I thank God for watching over us.
Please feel free to share my story, together we can save lives.
Ingrassia hopes that by spreading the word pertaining to the incident involving her son — which could have been fatal without intervention — a federal bill which would have required airlines to stock each plane with at least two packs of epinephrine autoinjectors and train air crew members on how to use them will be revived. That bill — which was known as S.1972 – Airline Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act of 2015 — failed to pass and become law.
In a more recent incident, Christian Calvert suffered from a severe allergic reaction which was allegedly triggered by peanut dust in the air during a flight from Atlanta to Houston — despite the parents having informed both a customer service representative while booking a reservation for a flight operated by Southwest Airlines and agents at the ticket counter when the family arrived at the airport.
"She (an attendant) handed me some peanuts and that's when, as a mom, I just basically broke down — 'what do you mean?'" said Chelsia Calvert — who is the mother of the nine-year-old boy and wondered how many bags of peanuts were handed out aboard the airplane — according to this article written by Leigh Frillici of KPRC Click2Houston. "And so with his throat closing up, we're making decisions like, OK, we have to do this because this is life or death."
Fortunately, the family was equipped with an epinephrine autoinjector and quickly administered it to Christian — but did representatives of Southwest Airlines ignore the multiple warnings by the parents of the peanut allergy of their son?
"Can you imagine flying home from a family vacation and having a first-time anaphylactic reaction in the air?" Lianne Mandelbaum asked in this article. "Did you know that airlines are not required to stock their planes with easy-to-use auto injectors that any adult or child could operate?"
Mandelbaum believes that the time has come "for the airline industry to share responsibility for the safety of food allergic passengers and develop a clear and consistent approach. It is also necessary to educate all airline staff on the severity of food allergies and to be prepared in the event of an emergency by labeling emergency medications and having easy to use auto injectors onboard."
This is not an unreasonable request. The Federal Aviation Administration issued this final rule on Thursday, April 12, 2001 which required airlines based in the United States to carry automated external defibrillators and enhanced emergency medical kits on all domestic and international flights within three years. The rule — which responds to the Aviation Medical Assistance Act of 1998 — affects airplanes which weigh greater than 7,500 pounds each and have at least one flight attendant aboard.
Allergy Statistics
"Private insurance claim lines with diagnoses of anaphylactic food reactions rose 377 percent from 2007 to 2016," according to data from FAIR Health, which is a national independent nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information. The study "found that peanuts were the most common specifically identified food causing anaphylaxis, accounting for 26 percent of those claim lines. Tree nuts and seeds followed closely at 18 percent. Also common were egg allergies, crustacean allergies (e.g., allergies to shrimp or lobster) and dairy allergies, making up, respectively, 7 percent, 6 percent and 5 percent of claim lines. The most common category, however, was "other specific foods" (33 percent), which typically means the food causing the anaphylactic reaction is unknown."
Air TravelFood and BeveragesHealth and Environment
Which Airlines Serve the Most Healthful Food?
This infographic from FAIR Health gives an illustration of a growing health concern pertaining to anaphylaxis.
Source: FAIR Health.
Another study from last year "shows that slightly more than half of American adults report developing at least one food allergy after the age of 18." The findings were drawn from a population sample of greater than 40,000 adult Americans.
"Once a serious allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) starts, the drug epinephrine is the only effective treatment", according to this article of facts and statistics from Food Allergy Research and Education, which is an advocacy organization that works on behalf of the approximately 15 million Americans who suffer from food allergies and includes 5.9 million children younger than the age of 18.
Other interesting facts and statistics include:
Every three minutes, a food allergy reaction sends someone to the emergency room.
Each year in the United States, 200,000 people require emergency medical care for allergic reactions to food.
Childhood hospitalizations for food allergy tripled between the late 1990s and the mid-2000s.
Approximately 40 percent of children with food allergies have experienced a severe allergic reaction such as anaphylaxis.
Greater than 170 foods have been reported to cause allergic reactions.
Eight major food allergens — milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, wheat, soy, fish and crustacean shellfish — are responsible for most of the serious food allergy reactions in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the prevalence of food allergy in children increased by 50 percent between 1997 and 2011.
No cure currently exists for food allergies. The only way in which food allergies can be managed is by avoiding the problem foods and learning to recognize and treat the symptoms of reactions.
My guess is that the costs of supplying epinephrine autoinjectors aboard airplanes — as well as training members of flight crews on the proper way to administer them to passengers in need — is the main obstacle to airlines voluntarily equipping them for all flights.
For the sake and safety of passengers who suffer from severe allergies, I hope that they get to see the day when all airlines supply epinephrine autoinjectors aboard all airplanes for all flights.
A list of past articles which I have written at The Gate that deal with the topic of food allergies — and a couple of additional articles about being embarrassed by allergic reactions — include:
Privacy of Allergy Sufferers Being Abused by Airlines?
Can You Correctly Guess Which Are the Eight Major Food Allergens?
Is the Food Allergy Policy of American Airlines Considered Discriminatory?
Preventing Peanut Allergies: Hope for the Future?
Product Recall: Think Twice Before Eating That Cookie or Cake Product Aboard an Airplane?
Passengers Applaud as Boy Allergic to Dog is Removed From Airplane
Update: Misinterpretation of Applause From Passengers Over Allergic Boy? What Really Matters is…
Updates: Father of Allergic Son Dies; Brussels Airport; New Zealand Flag Results; Free Hotel Night Contest
Peanut Allergy of Son Results in Family Leaving the Airplane Prior to Flight
Peanut Allergy Policies of Airlines: A Comprehensive List
From the Peanut Gallery: Should Food Allergies Determine What is Served Aboard Airplanes?
A Patch to Deal With Peanut Allergies?
Nut Allergies: Both Sides of This Issue In the News
Health and EnvironmentNews
Health and EnvironmentTips
Should Pets Only Be Allowed On the First Floor of a Hotel Property?
Don't let this get your dander up.
Standard Time 2022 Reminder: Clocks Turn Back One Hour
Now you can regain that hour of sleep you lost this past Spring.
The family on the Southwest plane incorrectly believed that peanut "dust" (sic) causes anaphylactic reactions. The antigen actually must be ingested. (Btw, a milligrams of epi is nothing to mess around with. Your heart rate will hit 200, along with your blood pressure, and you can stroke out) You can make airplanes peanut free, but there will always be other antigens out there to cause anaphylaxis, like cashews. Those who have been diagnosed with allergies need to take responsibility for what they ingest and carry appropriate countermeasures, not shift responsibility to airlines to make airplanes antigen free, which is impossible.
I do not believe that anyone would disagree with you that people diagnosed with allergies should take responsibility for protecting their health, Steve — but cases have been documented in which people who suffered from attacks did not know that they even had allergies; which is one good reason for equipping airplanes with epinephrine auto injectors.
Thank you for providing some useful information. The significant increase in heart rate was something new which I learned from your comment…
I thought U.S. carriers do carry these. I'm not sure if they're required, but sounds like a good idea to do regardless of requirement.
Rjb says:
I see no reason why Epi pens are not standard equipment on every us airliner. They should cost about $10 if it weren't for the US Congress and their ongoing protection racket for drug makers.
Thank you, Rjb. I really had no idea how much those devices would cost.