text:
Citizens of the United Kingdom probably take it for granted that the quality of debate in the House of Commons is usually very high (Prime Minister's Questions being the dishonorable exception) and that all the questions raised in that place receive an answer.
How sad to see that this is a comfortable lie.
The Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions, Mark Hoban, directly answered only 10 questions, among the dozens that were put to him at the debate on Atos' handling of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) for Employment and Support Allowance on Thursday.
He added a handful of 'answers' that were not related to specific questions, and left a great deal of very important issues hanging.
It is interesting that Mr Hoban was the minister who attended the debate. Here in the UK we do, in fact, have a minister dedicated to the needs of disabled people. At the moment, that minister is Esther McVey. Where was she on Thursday afternoon and why did she not take part in this important debate?
Let's have a look at the questions that were graced with responses. I think we'll see the reasons for Mr Hoban's choices very quickly.
"We are, in effect, trying to put a sticking plaster on a gaping wound," said Labour MP Ian Lavery (Wansbeck). "Atos and the WCA are not fit for purpose. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that we should bin them both, and start again with the idea of looking after disabled people, rather than the opposite?"
Mr Hoban did not. "Much has been said about employment and support allowance not working—that is untrue," he said. "What we are seeing is people coming off ESA and getting into work. The number of working-age people on ESA and incapacity benefit in February 2012 was 2.56 million—the lowest level since the introduction of IB in 1995. Early estimates to September 2012 suggest that overall numbers for this benefit are falling and will for the first time be below 2.5 million."
So his yardstick for success was the number of people who have been cut off from benefit. That's very revealing.
"Professor Harrington [Malcolm Harrington, who was hired by the DWP to lead three independent reviews of the assessment system] has made it quite clear that the WCA, designed as a first positive step for work, is the right concept for assessing people who need our support. There is a need to improve it. No one doubts that, which is why we have implemented Professor Harrington's recommendations. The assessment we inherited needed refinement. That is why we accepted and have largely implemented more than 40 of his recommendations over the past two years. That is why twice as many people have gone into the support group in comparison with when ESA was introduced."
His colleague, Charles Walker (Con, Broxbourne), did not seem to share Mr Hoban's glowing opinion of these improvements to the system. He asked: "Does my hon. Friend share my fear that the reputation of Atos may be so damaged that it can never really be effective? Perhaps the time has been reached when we need to park Atos and move on in a different direction."
In response, the minister said: "Let me deal with the issue of Atos's capability. Atos deals with 100,000 cases every month and it consistency meets the quality thresholds. Only 3.6 per cent of assessments are below standard compared with a threshold of five per cent. It receives complaints about only 0.6 per cent of assessments. DWP decision makers return to Atos assessments that are inadequate for reaching a decision in only 0.2 per cent of cases."
Note that we are not told what these quality thresholds may be, so let's turn to the question from Natascha Engel (Lab, North East Derbyshire), who said: "The proportion of original Atos decisions that are overturned is shocking—it is about 30 per cent or 40 per cent. I would be grateful if the Minister replied to that point. Precisely how many people deemed fit for work by Atos have their decisions overturned on appeal and are signed off work?"
Get ready for a shock because this is where Mr Hoban departed from the script with which we're all familiar: "Let me be clear about the rate of successful appeals. Of all the fit-for-work decisions taken by the Department, only 15 per cent are overturned on appeal. Only 15 per cent of all the decisions we take, then, are overturned on appeal, which I think demonstrates that while we need to ensure that there is a proper appeals process, we should not be bandying around figures that misrepresent the level of successful appeals."
Only 15 per cent? Where did he get that figure? Other MPs quoted the 40 per cent figure in the debate, including some who had received it as a reliable figure in committee. Perhaps Channel 4's FactCheckers should get onto this one!
Look, here's Austin Mitchell (Lab, Great Grimsby) making that exact point: "As our Committee was told, 38 per cent of the cases that go to appeal—I advise all my cases to go to appeal—are successful in reversing the verdict. That demonstrates its inadequacy and the enormous cost in the reassessment process at appeal, a cost that is not taken into account in the Government's estimates of the savings produced by the system. [We'll come back to those costs later, although we won't get an answer to that question] Those reassessments are usually done with the help of the patient's own doctor, so I do not see why their doctor's view cannot be invoked and used at an earlier stage in the process. After all, the Government are giving more power to the doctors and claiming that they represent the patients. The doctors know the long-term conditions—they are treating the patient—so why are their views not taken into account by Atos at the start?"
The closest I could find to a response was in fact an answer to a question from Sheila Gilmore (Lab, Edinburgh East): "When we asked judges why they overturned DWP decisions, they said that an error in the Atos assessment was the primary reason for an overturn in only 0.3 per cent of cases. However, although it happens very rarely, I agree with her on one point: I would like to get more information from the judges." [I was later told that the prime reason for overturns is medical evidence from claimants' doctors that was ignored by the Atos assessors and DWP decision-makers]
Moving on to specific issues, of the seven questions asked by Michael Meacher (Lab, Oldham West and Royton), Mr Hoban answered only one. That in itself should tell you how selective the responses were, and how little real information was in fact released. Mr Meacher asked: "Will the Minister accept that the current criteria and descriptors do not sufficiently—or even at all—take into account fluctuating conditions, especially episodic mental health problems? How will he rectify that?"
"That is not the case," said Mr Hoban. "It gives people with a fluctuating condition the opportunity to explain how their condition varies over time. It is not a tick-box assessment, as some have suggested. There is a discussion between the health care professional and the person making the claim for ESA to determine how their condition varies over time. The questionnaire that customers are sent has been redesigned for that purpose, and people are now asked to give more details about how their fluctuating condition affects them as an individual. If a person cannot carry out a function repeatedly and reliably, they will be treated as unable to carry out that function at all. We all recognise that the capacity of people with a fluctuating condition can change, and it is important that proper regard should be given to that fact."
How interesting, then, that Stephen Timms (Lab, East Ham) asked when changes to the descriptors for fluctuating conditions and mental health conditions, which were recommended months ago by the disability organisations, would be implemented!
Mr Hoban said: "We have committed to a review of the descriptors for fluctuating conditions, and we are working closely with charities on that. We also need to ensure that any new descriptors are as good as, or better than, the existing ones, for the purpose of assessing someone's condition. That work is going on at the moment."
So either people with fluctuating conditions already have a glowingly redesigned new questionnaire to help them make their condition understood, or it is being reviewed at the moment. Which is it?
Former Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan (Con, Chesham and Amersham) picked up on the mental health issue with some questions of her own. Firstly: "More than 2,000 people have signed a National Autistic Society petition to Atos, which was launched following the 'Dispatches' and 'Panorama' investigations, with which many of us are familiar, into the company last year. The programme claimed that Atos was working to internal targets on the numbers of people being put into the work-related activity group, the support group or as being fit for work. Atos has indicated that it is open to working with the National Autistic Society and other charities, including in the context of this petition, but I have a specific question for the Minister. Will the Minister provide assurances that no such targets are in place?"
He did: "Several hon. Members suggested that Atos had targets for finding people fit for work or placing them in a particular group. Let me be absolutely clear—let nobody in or beyond the House be in any doubt—there are no such targets. There are no targets for who should be put into which group. Instead—hon. Members would want this—there are quality-control checks."
I do not believe this. I saw the 'Dispatches' programme mentioned by Mrs Gillan and it was stated loud and clear by an Atos trainer that there are targets, and they are harsh. A statement to the contrary by a representative of a government that has been more than economical with the truth? That's not going to cut any ice with me.
Mrs Gillan went on to address the work of new 'mental and cognitive champions' employed to advise Atos assessors: "How many of the mental and cognitive champions currently operating at Atos assessment centres have specific autism training? Do WCA assessors receive autism-specific training? If so, of what does it consist?"
Mr Hoban's response: "I can assure her that that is the case." But he avoided details.
She asked how he will monitor the effectiveness of the introduction of those mental and cognitive champions, but Mr Hoban slithered away from that question: "It is not for me to dictate the work that Professor Harrington's successor will undertake as part of the fourth review, but I think that that is a good suggestion. We need to look at the effectiveness of the recommendations that Professor Harrington has made."
Picking up on the mental health issue, Madeleine Moon (Lab, Bridgend) asked: "We are told that specific support staff for mental health will be provided. Are they in place? Are they aware of the trauma of post-traumatic stress disorder?"
Mr Hoban chose to wax lyrical for a moment: "It has also been said that the work capability assessment does not take full account of mental health conditions. Let me say a bit about that important issue. We have sought to improve the process and the support for the health care professionals who are undertaking the assessments. All Atos health care professionals receive specific and additional training in assessing mental health conditions—Atos has 60 mental health function champions in place to spread best practice."
Mr Hoban also went on to answer questions that were not, in fact, raised directly in the debate. Perhaps he has a guilty conscience! Let's look at them briefly.
"It has also been suggested that Atos health care professionals make decisions on benefit entitlement. They do not. Those decisions are made by DWP decision makers." We know from the previously-mentioned TV documentaries that DWP decision-makers just rubber-stamp the Atos assessors' recommendations in the vast majority of cases. This is not a reassuring answer.
"It has been suggested that GPs should make the assessment. The British Medical Association has been prayed in aid. Let me quote what the BMA said about that idea: 'However, it is not part of the GP's role to provide any opinion…on the patient's capability to work as part of this process. It is vital that these two roles are kept separate and that GPs are not asked to provide an opinion on their patient for the purpose of receiving the Employment and Support Allowance; doing so could damage the doctor-patient relationship.'" The BMA has already been approached to repudiate that remark; or at least to provide an explanation of what it meant.
"My hon. Friend the Member for Stafford [Jeremy Lefroy] talked about quality. The tribunal service can refer substandard reports back to Atos as an appeal for further action. It has exercised that right only 23 times in the past year. Rigorous checks are in place to ensure that quality applies." But this number does not include the amount of appeals that they allowed without reference back, of course.
Now here's his summing-up, with a few things he wanted to shoehorn in but didn't have the opportunity anywhere else: "Overall, the proportion of people with mental health conditions being awarded ESA has risen from 33 per cent to 49 per cent. We are seeing improvements and more will be introduced later this month on the categories of cancer treatment that allow people to go straight into the work-related activity group. These changes are happening. We should recognise that change is important and that it is happening.
"This is the right approach," he said in conclusion. "Demonising the work capability assessment does not help our constituents and does not address their concerns."
If you weren't shocked by that last sentence, you haven't been paying attention to the Atos debate. The whole point is that it is the Work Capability Assessment that does not help our citizens or address their concerns. Demonising it (he's stealing the word from protestors, who have been using it to describe the government's attitude to the sick and disabled it is persecuting) is the only way to fight what is happening. But I refer you to the Skwalker blog for a detailed analysis of that statement.
Those were all the questions that were answered by the minister. He did his best to paint a rosy, "nothing's wrong" picture of the system. But he did so by ignoring important statistics and questions raised by them.
Perhaps he hoped that nobody would notice – or that we would not be cheeky enough to put him on the spot.
Too bad. If that is the case, I intend to misbehave! In this spirit of mischief, let's look at the questions for which Mr Hoban had no answer, starting with those raised by Mr Meacher:
"How can pursuing with such insensitive rigour 1.6 million claimants on incapacity benefit, at a rate of 11,000 assessments every week, be justified when it has led, according to the Government's own figures, to 1,300 persons dying after being put into the work-related activity group, 2,200 people dying before their assessment is complete, and 7,100 people dying after being put into the support group?" (NO RESPONSE)
"Is it reasonable to pressurise seriously disabled persons into work so ruthlessly when there are 2.5 million unemployed, and when on average eight persons chase every vacancy, unless they are provided with the active and extensive support they obviously need to get and hold down work, which is certainly not the case currently?" (NO RESPONSE)
"It is true that Harrington has produced minor adjustments—implemented at a glacial place—but the underlying system remains largely undisturbed. The BMA and the NAO have therefore called for a thorough, rigorous and transparently independent assessment of the suitability of the work capability assessment. Will the Minister now implement that?" (NO RESPONSE)
"Will the Minister provide full and transparent details of the Atos contract? They should not be hidden by specious claims of commercial confidentiality when Atos is the sole provider of what is clearly a public service. Better still, given that Atos has failed so dramatically, why does he not in-source the work back into the NHS?" (NO RESPONSE)
"How will the Minister ensure that the medical expertise of disabled persons' doctors and related professionals is fully taken into account before assessments are completed?" (NO RESPONSE)
"I want to provide a full dossier to the Secretary of State so that he fully understands what is being done today in his name, and to bring a small delegation to see him from some of the excellent organisations of disabled people who have heroically battled to highlight and tackle the distress and pain caused by Atos. Can I please be assured that the Secretary of State will see such a delegation?" (NO RESPONSE)
Mrs Gillan asked: "What steps will the Government take to ensure that Atos collects existing evidence relating to a claimant's capability to work, which would create a more cost-effective and streamlined system?" (NO RESPONSE)
Natascha Engel asked: "How many people deemed fit for work who do not take their cases to appeal then find work?" (NO RESPONSE)
"Is it really for the best to sign people as fit for work when there are no jobs to be had?" (NO RESPONSE)
"How many of them are getting a job, and how many of them are just being signed over to destitution?" (NO RESPONSE)
Pamela Nash (Lab, Airdrie and Shotts) said: "The Minister's predecessor, the right hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell [Chris Grayling], made it clear in a Westminster Hall debate last September that he felt that Atos "should make recording available on a voluntary basis". However, not a single constituent of mine who has come to see me about work capability assessments has told me that they have been offered the prospect of having it recorded. In fact, one constituent told me that she had asked for her assessment to be filmed, following her previous assessment, which resulted in a report that bore little resemblance to that assessment. On that occasion she was found fit for work, but she subsequently won her appeal. She was informed that recording would indeed be possible, but that she would have to pay for a private, independent company to come in to record her assessment. Equipment was not made available to her. She had hoped to take a family member in to film the assessment, but was told that this would not be allowed or appropriate. How on earth is a person living on benefits—living on the breadline—supposed to be able to afford to pay a private company to record their assessment?" (NO RESPONSE)
"Will Atos reschedule an assessment date if the person concerned is told that equipment is not available on the original date?" (NO RESPONSE)
"In the event that a claimant refused to go through with an assessment without a recording, would they be sanctioned in terms of their benefits?" (NO RESPONSE)
Debbie Abrahams (Lab, Oldham East and Saddleworth) asked: "Why does the hon. Gentleman think the Department for Work and Pensions and Atos have been unable to accept the recommendations of the British Medical Association and the Royal Colleges for more specific diagnostic tests that would make the assessments more appropriate?" (NO RESPONSE)
Kevan Jones (Lab, North Durham) asked: "The first contract with Atos was introduced by the previous Government, but why did the present Government renew and extend that contract even though they knew about all the problems that he and others have raised in the House?" (NO RESPONSE)
"The system is also costing the taxpayer money, not only through the additional health care provision for those with mental health conditions but through the extra work load on GPs, the tribunal system, which is at breaking point, and the reassessment system. The other week a 60-year-old nurse with osteoporosis, who has spent 38 years in the NHS, came to see me. She failed the work capability test. She is 61 in April and is now being told that she will be retrained for a new career until she is 62, when she gets her pension. What on earth is the point in wasting money on individuals like that?" (NO RESPONSE)
"There are also cases such as the 21-year-old young lady who ended up in the local psychiatric hospital because she failed the Atos interview. What is the cost of that to the NHS?" (NO RESPONSE)
Kevin Brennan (Lab, Cardiff West) asked: "The head of Atos was recruited from Unum in the United States. Is it not disturbing that the lieutenant governor of California has stated that Unum was operating 'claims denial factories' for working men's compensation?" (NO RESPONSE)
Mrs Moon asked: "Atos received £112.8 million in 2010-11 for its DWP services. About 60 per cent of all claims are judged fit to work; 41 per cent of those people appeal, and 38 per cent of those appeals are successful. Last year, appeals cost £54 million. How can that be seen as value for money? How can this be seen as evidence of a supportive and caring Government in action?" (NO RESPONSE)
"Is sensitivity training available, because it has certainly not been made available to the ex-GP who works as an Atos assessor in my area?" (NO RESPONSE)
"Has the DWP looked at the cost—to Members, to citizens advice bureaux and to welfare rights organisations—of fighting this iniquitous system?" (NO RESPONSE)
Jeremy Lefroy (Con, Stafford) asked a couple of real questions, besides the non-existent one that Mr Hoban answered. They were: "There are cases in which people have had to wait for up to a year before winning appeals and then immediately face another work capability assessment, so the whole process starts again. Why cannot such people be given at least a considerable period of grace?" (NO RESPONSE)
And: "Do the health care professionals employed by Atos always take account of the fact that people have to get to work in the first place, or that, while they may be able to perform an action once, they may not be able to perform it repeatedly when it causes severe pain?" (NO RESPONSE)
Andrew Stunell (Liberal Democrat, Hazel Grove) asked: "Would not speeding up the appeal process also relieve stress and bring about certainty much more quickly?" (NO RESPONSE)
Sarah Newton (Con, Truro and Falmouth) (Con): "Does my hon. Friend agree that we must make Atos understand that in remote rural constituencies such as those we both represent some people have to travel long distances? That problem is leading to a lot of no-shows at the Truro Atos centre, which in turn is leading to lots of delays in assessments, thereby causing a great deal of anxiety." (NO RESPONSE)
Ian Mearns (Lab, Gateshead): "The Minister for disabled people, the hon. Member for Wirral West (Esther McVey), told this House that by October 2015 560,000 claimants will have had their assessments, and 160,000 will get a reduced award, 170,000 will get no award, and 230,000 will get the same support. How can we know the assessments are valid when we have had such a prediction?" (NO RESPONSE)
Iain McKenzie (Lab, Inverclyde): "What does the Minister think of Citizens Advice's detailed year-long study "Right first time?" on the controversial work capability assessment run by Atos, which has revealed evidence of widespread inaccuracies in the medical reports that help to determine whether individuals are eligible for sickness benefits? Citizens Advice also tracked a group of people through the process of claiming employment and support allowance and looked at how their claims were handled. The report's conclusions are stark: 37 individuals were tracked and had their reports examined, with serious levels of inaccuracy revealed in up to 43 per cent of the reports. That level is significant enough to have an impact on the claimant's eligibility for benefits—surely our sick and disabled deserve better than this." (NO RESPONSE)
"Is it not better to have an accurate, fair and just system of medical assessment, one that claimants know will treat them fairly and with the humanity they deserve, rather than a system that is, frankly, unfit for purpose and that uses a company, Atos, that instils fear and loathing in people, resulting in a system where people are continually appealing against decisions? We have already heard that the success rate against the decisions is about 60 per cent." (NO RESPONSE)
Heather Wheeler (Con, South Derbyshire): "When someone drops down dead within three months of being assessed as being perfectly capable of going back to work, what is the review process for Atos?" (NO RESPONSE)
Julie Hilling (Lab, Bolton West): "Why are Atos and the Department for Work and Pensions cruelly finding people fit for work or putting them in the work-related activity group when they are clearly unable to work?" (NO RESPONSE)
"People being placed in the work-related activity group is the next scandal. When people score 15 points and are found not fit for work, but are put in the work-related activity group, they will lose their benefit after 365 days. Is that another way of saving money, but one that also puts disabled people into abject poverty and causes them terrible stress?" (NO RESPONSE)
"Why do the assessors give more weight to work capability assessment descriptors than to professional medical assessments?" (NO RESPONSE)
"Why do they reassess people who have just won their appeal?" (NO RESPONSE)
"Why do they not record the number of people who die through illness or suicide when being rejected for disability benefit?" (NO RESPONSE)
"Why do they not track people who have been found fit for work and people who no longer receive benefit?" (NO RESPONSE)
"How much do all the botched assessments cost us?" (NO RESPONSE)
And Sheila Gilmore asked: "Research commissioned by the previous Government, which I understand is not being continued by this Government—the Minister might reassure us on that—found that 43 per cent of those found fit for work were neither in work nor in receipt of an out-of-work benefit a year later. We must ask where they are. What is happening to them?" (NO RESPONSE)
The conclusion? This is a government that is perfectly happy with a system that is throwing thousands of sick and disabled people to the wolves. It has made – or is making (Mr Hoban wasn't all that clear) – cosmetic changes in the hope of diverting our attention. As long as the claimant figures are coming down, they will be happy.
As long as claimant figures are coming down.
Yesterday, in my article The High Street implosion is just beginning, I advocated the 'constructive dismissal' of the Coalition government by making its work so difficult that it couldn't go on. If I was feeling mischievous, in the light of the evidence, I think I would suggest that we all ruin that drop in claimant figures by going out and filling ESA50 forms of our own – whether we deserve the benefit or not.
Clearly this government intends to keep Atos in work, so we may as well make it work hard!


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China has launched an investigation into some of the auto industry's biggest names.
State media reported Wednesday that China's top economic planning agency was investigating Chrysler and Audi for their "monopoly practices" -- and the companies would be punished soon.
The companies stand accused of charging Chinese customers inflated prices for cars and replacement parts.
Mercedes Benz is also under investigation. State media said regulators visited the company's offices in Shanghai earlier this week.
The authorities are also reported to be looking into the activities of 12 Japanese auto parts companies.
A spokesman for Daimler (DDAIF), which owns Mercedes, said the company was assisting authorities in their investigation. Audi, owned by Volkswagen (VLKAF), confirmed that an investigation was underway, but a spokeswoman said the company would not be able to comment further until it was over.
Chrysler parent Fiat (FIADF) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Foreign automakers have found China to be a massively important new market. The appetite for new cars -- especially luxury models -- has helped bolster the bottom line of companies facing weak demand in Europe and the United States.
Related: BMW sales top one million. Thanks China!
Some companies have responded to the increased scrutiny by slashing prices, presumably in an effort to appease regulators. Mercedes said it would cut parts prices by 15% on average.
The investigation is being carried out under China's anti-monopoly law, a statute that was enacted in 2008.
The law covers all companies operating in China, including powerful state-owned enterprises. It has already been used against foreign pharmaceutical companies and milk powder suppliers.
Related: Top 10 luxury cars in China
Automakers are not the only foreign companies under investigation.
Chinese authorities said last month that they're investigating Microsoft (MSFT) for possible violations. The government said the company had not fully disclosed information related to its Windows and Office systems.
Qualcomm (QCOM) has also been targeted in a similar probe. The company said China was looking into the company's licensing business, and that the investigation had hurt revenues.
-- Alanna Petroff in London contributed to this article.

subset: commoncrawl


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William Hazlitt, New Monthly Magazine, January, 1822; Table Talk, 1822
One of the pleasantest things in the world is going a journey; but I like to go by myself. I can enjoy society in a room; but out of doors, nature is company enough for me. I am then never less alone than when alone.
"The fields his study, nature was his book."
I cannot see the wit of walking and talking at the same time. When I am in the country I wish to vegetate like the country. I am not for criticizing hedge-rows and black cattle. I go out of town in order to forget the town and all that is in it. There are those who for this purpose go to watering-places, and carry the metropolis with them. I like more elbow-room and fewer incumbrances. I like solitude, when I give myself up to it, for the sake of solitude; nor do I ask for
"a friend in my retreat,
Whom I may whisper solitude is sweet."The soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty, to think, feel, do, just as one pleases. We go a journey chiefly to be free of all impediments and of all inconveniences; to leave ourselves behind, much more to get rid of others. It is because I want a little breathing-space to muse on indifferent matters, where Contemplation
"May plume her feathers and let grow her wings,
That in the various bustle of resort
Were all too ruffled, and sometimes impair'd,"that I absent myself from the town for a while, without feeling at a loss the moment I am left by myself. Instead of a friend in a post-chaise or in a Tilbury, to exchange good things with, and vary the same stale topics over again, for once let me have a truce with impertinence. Give me the clear blue sky over my head, and the green turf beneath my feet, a winding road before me, and a three hours' march to dinner -- and then to thinking! It is hard if I cannot start some game on these lone heaths. I laugh, I run, I leap, I sing for joy. From the point of yonder rolling cloud I plunge into my past being, and revel there, as the sun-burnt Indian plunges headlong into the wave that wafts him to his native shore. Then long-forgotten things, like "sunken wrack and sumless treasuries," burst upon my eager sight, and I begin to feel, think, and be myself again. Instead of an awkward silence, broken by attempts at wit or dull common-places, mine is that undisturbed silence of the heart which alone is perfect eloquence. No one likes puns, alliterations, antitheses, argument, and analysis better than I do; but I sometimes had rather be without them. "Leave, oh, leave me to my repose!" I have just now other business in hand, which would seem idle to you, but is with me "very stuff of the conscience." Is not this wild rose sweet without a comment? Does not this daisy leap to my heart set in its coat of emerald? Yet if I were to explain to you the circumstance that has so endeared it to me, you would only smile. Had I not better then keep it to myself, and let it serve me to brood over, from here to yonder craggy point, and from thence onward to the far-distant horizon? I should be but bad company all that way, and therefore prefer being alone. I have heard it said that you may, when the moody fit comes on, walk or ride on by yourself, and indulge your reveries. But this looks like a breach of manners, a neglect of others, and you are thinking all the time that you ought to rejoin your party. "Out upon such half-faced fellowship," say I. I like to be either entirely to myself, or entirely at the disposal of others; to talk or be silent, to walk or sit still, to be sociable or solitary. I was pleased with an observation of Mr. Cobbett's, that "he thought it a bad French custom to drink our wine with our meals, and that an Englishman ought to do only one thing at a time." So I cannot talk and think, or indulge in melancholy musing and lively conversation by fits and starts. "Let me have a companion of my way," says Sterne, "were it but to remark how the shadows lengthen as the sun declines." It is beautifully said; but, in my opinion, this continual comparing of notes interferes with the involuntary impression of things upon the mind, and hurts the sentiment. If you only hint what you feel in a kind of dumb show, it is insipid: if you have to explain it, it is making a toil of a pleasure. You cannot read the book of nature without being perpetually put to the trouble of translating it for the benefit of others. I am for this synthetical method on a journey in preference to the analytical. I am content to lay in a stock of ideas then, and to examine and anatomise them afterwards. I want to see my vague notions float like the down of the thistle before the breeze, and not to have them entangled in the briars and thorns of controversy. For once, I like to have it all my own way; and this is impossible unless you are alone, or in such company as I do not covet. I have no objection to argue a point with any one for twenty miles of measured road, but not for pleasure. If you remark the scent of a bean-field crossing the road, perhaps your fellow-traveller has no smell. If you point to a distant object, perhaps he is short-sighted, and has to take out his glass to look at it. There is a feeling in the air, a tone in the colour of a cloud, which hits your fancy, but the effect of which you are unable to account for. There is then no sympathy, but an uneasy craving after it, and a dissatisfaction which pursues you on the way, and in the end probably produces ill-humour. Now I never quarrel with myself, and take all my own conclusions for granted till I find it necessary to defend them against objections. It is not merely that you may not be of accord on the objects and circumstances that present themselves before you -- these may recall a number of objects, and lead to associations too delicate and refined to be possibly communicated to others. Yet these I love to cherish, and sometimes still fondly clutch them, when I can escape from the throng to do so. To give way to our feelings before company seems extravagance or affectation; and, on the other hand, to have to unravel this mystery of our being at every turn, and to make others take an equal interest in it (otherwise the end is not answered), is a task to which few are competent. We must "give it an understanding, but no tongue." My old friend C[oleridge], however, could do both. He could go on in the most delightful explanatory way over hill and dale a summer's day, and convert a landscape into a didactic poem or a Pindaric ode. "He talked far above singing." If I could so clothe my ideas in sounding and flowing words, I might perhaps wish to have some one with me to admire the swelling theme; or I could be more content, were it possible for me still to hear his echoing voice in the woods of All-Foxden.1 They had "that fine madness in them which our first poets had", and if they could have been caught by some rare instrument, would have breathed such strains as the following: --
"Here be woods as green
As any, air likewise as fresh and sweet
As when smooth Zephyrus plays on the fleet
Face of the curled streams, with flow'rs as many
As the young spring gives, and as choice as any;
Here be all new delights, cool streams and wells,
Arbours o'ergrown with woodbine, caves and dells;
Choose where thou wilt, whilst I sit by and sing,
Or gather rushes to make many a ring
For thy long fingers; tell thee tales of love,
How the pale Phoebe, hunting in a grove,
First saw the boy Endymion, from whose eyes
She took eternal fire that never dies;
How she convey'd him softly in a sleep,
His temples bound with poppy, to the steep
Head of old Latmos, where she stoops each night,
Gilding the mountain with her brother's light,
To kiss her sweetest."
Fletcher's Faithful Shepherdess.Had I words and images at command like these, I would attempt to wake the thoughts that lie slumbering on golden ridges in the evening clouds: but at the sight of nature my fancy, poor as it is, droops and closes up its leaves, like flowers at sunset. I can make nothing out on the spot: -- I must have time to collect myself.
In general, a good thing spoils out-of-door prospects: it should be reserved for Table-talk. L[amb] is for this reason, I take it, the worst company in the world out of doors; because he is the best within. I grant, there is one subject on which it is pleasant to talk on a journey; and that is, what one shall have for supper when we get to our inn at night. The open air improves this sort of conversation or friendly altercation, by setting a keener edge on appetite. Every mile of the road heightens the flavour of the viands we expect at the end of it. How fine it is to enter some old town, walled and turreted, just at approach of nightfall, or to come to some straggling village, with the lights streaming through the surrounding gloom; and then, after inquiring for the best entertainment that the place affords, to "take one's ease at one's inn"! These eventful moments in our lives' history are too precious, too full of solid, heart-felt happiness to be frittered and dribbled away in imperfect sympathy. I would have them all to myself, and drain them to the last drop: they will do to talk of or to write about afterwards. What a delicate speculation it is, after drinking whole goblets of tea --
"The cups that cheer, but not inebriate,"
and letting the fumes ascend into the brain, to sit considering what we shall have for supper -- eggs and a rasher, a rabbit smothered in onions, or an excellent veal-cutlet! Sancho in such a situation once fixed upon cow-heel; and his choice, though he could not help it, is not to be disparaged. Then, in the intervals of pictured scenery and Shandean contemplation, to catch the preparation and the stir in the kitchen [getting ready for the gentleman in the parlour].2 Procul, O procul este profani! These hours are sacred to silence and to musing, to be treasured up in the memory, and to feed the source of smiling thoughts hereafter. I would not waste them in idle talk; or if I must have the integrity of fancy broken in upon, I would rather it were by a stranger than a friend. A stranger takes his hue and character from the time and place; he is a part of the furniture and costume of an inn. If he is a Quaker, or from the West Riding of Yorkshire, so much the better. I do not even try to sympathise with him, and he breaks no squares. [How I love to see the camps of the gypsies, and to sigh my soul into that sort of life. If I express this feeling to another, he may qualify and spoil it with some objection.]2 I associate nothing with my travelling companion but present objects and passing events. In his ignorance of me and my affairs, I in a manner forget myself. But a friend reminds one of other things, rips up old grievances, and destroys the abstraction of the scene. He comes in ungraciously between us and our imaginary character. Something is dropped in the course of conversation that gives a hint of your profession and pursuits; or from having some one with you that knows the less sublime portions of your history, it seems that other people do. You are no longer a citizen of the world; but your "unhoused free condition is put into circumscription and confine." The incognito of an inn is one of its striking privileges -- "lord of one's self, uncumber'd with a name." Oh! it is great to shake off the trammels of the world and of public opinion -- to lose our importunate, tormenting, everlasting personal identity in the elements of nature, and become the creature of the moment, clear of all ties -- to hold to the universe only by a dish of sweet-breads, and to owe nothing but the score of the evening -- and no longer seeking for applause and meeting with contempt, to be known by no other title than the Gentleman in the parlour! One may take one's choice of all characters in this romantic state of uncertainty as to one's real pretensions, and become indefinitely respectable and negatively right-worshipful. We baffle prejudice and disappoint conjecture; and from being so to others, begin to be objects of curiosity and wonder even to ourselves. We are no more those hackneyed common-places that we appear in the world; an inn restores us to the level of nature, and quits scores with society! I have certainly spent some enviable hours at inns -- sometimes when I have been left entirely to myself, and have tried to solve some metaphysical problem, as once at Witham-common, where I found out the proof that likeness is not a case of the association of ideas -- at other times, when there have been pictures in the room, as at St. Neot's (I think it was), where I first met with Gribelin's engravings of the Cartoons, into which I entered at once, and at a little inn on the borders of Wales, where there happened to be hanging some of Westall's drawings, which I compared triumphantly (for a theory that I had, not for the admired artist) with the figure of a girl who had ferried me over the Severn, standing up in the boat between me and the twilight -- at other times I might mention luxuriating in books, with a peculiar interest in this way, as I remember sitting up half the night to read Paul and Virginia, which I picked up at an inn at Bridgewater, after being drenched in the rain all day; and at the same place I got through two volumes of Madame D'Arblay's Camilla. It was on the tenth of April, 1798, that I sat down to a volume of the New Eloise, at the inn at Llangollen, over a bottle of sherry and a cold chicken. The letter I chose was that in which St. Preux describes his feelings as he first caught a glimpse from the heights of the Jura of the Pays de Vaud, which I had brought with me as a bon bouche to crown the evening with. It was my birth-day, and I had for the first time come from a place in the neighbourhood to visit this delightful spot. The road to Llangollen turns off between Chirk and Wrexham; and on passing a certain point you come all at once upon the valley, which opens like an amphitheatre, broad, barren hills rising in majestic state on either side, with "green upland swells that echo to the bleat of flocks" below, and the river Dee babbling over its stony bed in the midst of them. The valley at this time "glittered green with sunny showers," and a budding ash-tree dipped its tender branches in the chiding stream. How proud, how glad I was to walk along the high road that overlooks the delicious prospect, repeating the lines which I have just quoted from Mr. Coleridge's poems! But besides the prospect which opened beneath my feet, another also opened to my inward sight, a heavenly vision, on which were written, in letters large as Hope could make them, these four words, LIBERTY, GENIUS, LOVE, VIRTUE; which have since faded into the light of common day, or mock my idle gaze.
"The beautiful is vanished, and returns not."
Still I would return some time or other to this enchanted spot; but I would return to it alone. What other self could I find to share that influx of thoughts, of regret, and delight, the fragments of which I could hardly conjure up to myself, so much have they been broken and defaced. I could stand on some tall rock, and overlook the precipice of years that separates me from what I then was. I was at that time going shortly to visit the poet whom I have above named. Where is he now? Not only I myself have changed; the world which was then new to me, has become old and incorrigible. Yet will I turn to thee in thought, O sylvan Dee, in joy, in youth and gladness as thou then wert; and thou shalt always be to me the river of Paradise, where I will drink of the waters of life freely!
There is hardly anything that shows the shortsightedness or capriciousness of the imagination more than travelling does. With change of place we change our ideas; nay, our opinions and feelings. We can by an effort indeed transport ourselves to old and long-forgotten scenes, and then the picture of the mind revives again; but we forget those that we have just left. It seems that we can think but of one place at a time. The canvas of the fancy is but of a certain extent, and if we paint one set of objects upon it, they immediately efface every other. We cannot enlarge our conceptions, we only shift our point of view. The landscape bares its bosom to the enraptured eye, we take our fill of it, and seem as if we could form no other image of beauty or grandeur. We pass on, and think no more of it: the horizon that shuts it from our sight, also blots it from our memory like a dream. In travelling through a wild barren country I can form no idea of a woody and cultivated one. It appears to me that all the world must be barren, like what I see of it. In the country we forget the town, and in town we despise the country. "Beyond Hyde Park," says Sir Topling Flutter, "all is a desert." All that part of the map that we do not see before us is a blank. The world in our conceit of it is not much bigger than a nutshell. It is not one prospect expanded into another, county joined to county, kingdom to kingdom, lands to seas, making an image voluminous and vast; -- the mind can form no larger idea of space than the eye can take in at a single glance. The rest is a name written in a map, a calculation of arithmetic. For instance, what is the true signification of that immense mass of territory and population known by the name of China to us? An inch of pasteboard on a wooden globe, of no more account than a China orange! Things near us are seen of the size of life: things at a distance are diminished to the size of the understanding. We measure the universe by ourselves, and even comprehend the texture of our being only piece-meal. In this way, however, we remember an infinity of things and places. The mind is like a mechanical instrument that plays a great variety of tunes, but it must play them in succession. One idea recalls another, but it at the same time excludes all others. In trying to renew old recollections, we cannot as it were unfold the whole web of our existence; we must pick out the single threads. So in coming to a place where we have formerly lived, and with which we have intimate associations, every one must have found that the feeling grows more vivid the nearer we approach the spot, from the mere anticipation of the actual impression: we remember circumstances, feelings, persons, faces, names that we had not thought of for years; but for the time all the rest of the world is forgotten! -- To return to the question I have quitted above:
I have no objection to go to see ruins, aqueducts, pictures, in company with a friend or a party, but rather the contrary, for the former reason reversed. They are intelligible matters, and will bear talking about. The sentiment here is not tacit, but communicable and overt. Salisbury Plain is barren of criticism, but Stonehenge will bear a discussion antiquarian, picturesque, and philosophical. In setting out on a party of pleasure, the first consideration always is where we shall go to: in taking a solitary ramble, the question is what we shall meet with by the way. "The mind is its own place "; nor are we anxious to arrive at the end of our journey. I can myself do the honours indifferently well to works of art and curiosity. I once took a party to Oxford with no mean éclat -- showed them that seat of the Muses at a distance,
"With glistering spires and pinnacles adorn'd --"
descanted on the learned air that breathes from the grassy quadrangles and stone walls of halls and colleges -- was at home in the Bodleian; and at Blenheim quite superseded the powdered Cicerone that attended us, and that pointed in vain with his wand to commonplace beauties in matchless pictures. As another exception to the above reasoning, I should not feel confident in venturing on a journey in a foreign country without a companion. I should want at intervals to hear the sound of my own language. There is an involuntary antipathy in the mind of an Englishman to foreign manners and notions that requires the assistance of social sympathy to carry it off. As the distance from home increases, this relief, which was at first a luxury, becomes a passion and an appetite. A person would almost feel stifled to find himself in the deserts of Arabia without friends and countrymen: there must be allowed to be something in the view of Athens or old Rome that claims the utterance of speech; and I own that the Pyramids are too mighty for any single contemplation. In such situations, so opposite to all one's ordinary train of ideas, one seems a species by one's-self, a limb torn off from society, unless one can meet with instant fellowship and support. -- Yet I did not feel this want or craving very pressing once, when I first set my foot on the laughing shores of France. Calais was peopled with novelty and delight. The confused, busy murmur of the place was like oil and wine poured into my ears; nor did the mariners' hymn, which was sung from the top of an old crazy vessel in the harbour, as the sun went down, send an alien sound into my soul. I only breathed the air of general humanity. I walked over "the vine-covered hills and gay regions of France," erect and satisfied; for the image of man was not cast down and chained to the foot of arbitrary thrones: I was at no loss for language, for that of all the great schools of painting was open to me. The whole is vanished like a shade. Pictures, heroes, glory, freedom, all are fled: nothing remains but the Bourbons and the French people! -- There is undoubtedly a sensation in travelling into foreign parts that is to be had nowhere else; but it is more pleasing at the time than lasting. It is too remote from our habitual associations to be a common topic of discourse or reference, and, like a dream or another state of existence, does not piece into our daily modes of life. It is an animated but a momentary hallucination. It demands an effort to exchange our actual for our ideal identity; and to feel the pulse of our old transports revive very keenly, we must "jump" all our present comforts and connexions. Our romantic and itinerant character is not to be domesticated. Dr. Johnson remarked how little foreign travel added to the facilities of conversation in those who had been abroad. In fact, the time we have spent there is both delightful, and in one sense instructive; but it appears to be cut out of our substantial, downright existence, and never to join kindly on to it. We are not the same, but another, and perhaps more enviable individual, all the time we are out of our own country. We are lost to ourselves, as well as our friends. So the poet somewhat quaintly sings,
"Out of my country and myself I go."
Those who wish to forget painful thoughts, do well to absent themselves for a while from the ties and objects that recall them; but we can be said only to fulfil our destiny in the place that gave us birth. I should on this account like well enough to spend the whole of my life in travelling abroad, if I could anywhere borrow another life to spend afterwards at home!
1. Wordsworth's house in Somerset, where Hazlitt visited Coleridge and Wordsworth in April 1798.
2. Added from the Author's MS. by W. C. H. [Hazlitt's grandson]


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Show All Answers
Defined – Person means all domestic and foreign corporations, associations, syndicates, joint stock corporations, partnerships of every kind, clubs, Massachusetts, business or common law trusts, societies, and individuals transacting and carrying on any business in the city.
An application must be submitted prior to the commencement of any business activity within the city limits. Upon approval of the application and payment of the prescribed tax, the City of Seaside will issue a Business License.
There are a few options for obtaining a Business License application for contractors and other business types. You will need to view our
If the City deems the organization exempt, a letter of exemption will be issued.
Failure to pay business operations taxes by August 31st will result in a penalty of 50% of the business operations tax due.


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There's more than one way to do things | |
PerlMonks |
Re^15: Hash order randomization is coming, are you ready?by demerphq (Chancellor) |
on Dec 04, 2012 at 10:01 UTC ( [id://1007043] : note . print w/replies, xml ) | Need Help?? |
With respect, that is garbage With respect I think you are under informed. See SipHash and the documented attacks on various hash functions. A strong hash does not allow one to predict the hash value of a given string even if one knows the hash value of any other string assuming one does not know the seed. . If the "attacker" has sufficient access to be able to determine the per-process seeding Exposing key order provides an attacker information that can be used to eventually deduce the seed. Randomizing per hash means that this information is useless. We know that much code exposes key order without realizing it. Would copy/pasting taking so much timeand effort? Would *reading* what has been written be so much time and effort? I don't mind explaining if you genuinely do not understand what has been said, but the impression I have is that you are unwilling to read what has already been written and would prefer to interrogate me about the same points while being offensive in the process. Eg, using big bold to repeat things I already said, ignoring what has been said (such as "per process randomization") and accusing me of talking garbage.
--- $world=~s/war/peace/g
In Section


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The East Burke Market is where the locals start their days with Green Mountain Coffee, baked goods from Hollyberrys and our homemade breakfast sandwiches. The East Burke Market has long been where the locals meet to talk about the past, the future and what the world is coming too. (and a whole lot of laughter, too) We're open daily from 5:30am to 8:30 pm and we stay open until 9pm on Friday and Saturday nights. If you need gas, our pumps are open for "pay at the pump" 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
Stop in, get some coffee, visit with folks, enjoy the fire and find what you need. And if you don't find what you need, please ask and we'll be happy to get if for you if we can.


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Award-Winning Journalist and Former Editor and Editorial Director of Crain's New York Business to Address Nearly 1,200 Graduating Students
Award-Winning Journalist and Former Editor and Editorial Director of Crain's New York Business to Address Nearly 1,200 Graduating Students
Journalist and educator Greg David has been selected to be the keynote speaker for the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies (NYU-SCPS) graduate and undergraduate Convocation ceremonies, which will take place on May 14.
David served as editor and editorial director of Crain's New York Business over a 25-year period, later assuming the position of director of the business and economics reporting program at the Graduate School of Journalism of the City University of New York. He continues to write a weekly print column and a daily blog, "Greg David on New York," for Crain's. In addition, he makes frequent guest appearances on WCBS Newsradio 880, WNYC's "Financial 411," WNBC-TV and other media outlets. He has won numerous awards, as an individual and as a team member, for his reporting and editing during his highly successful 42-year career in journalism.
His new book, Modern New York: The Life and Economics of a City (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), is an economic history of New York City that explores its financial ups and downs over the last half century, and delineates how Wall Street and the policies of the City's former and current mayors have played key roles in its development.
"We are delighted to have Greg David as our Convocation speaker. His research and insights about New York City will have special significance for our graduates. They will appreciate the quality of his work, and will enjoy the way in which they can relate his deep understanding of this city to the NYU-SCPS fields of study," commented Bjorn Hanson, NYU-SCPS Interim Co-Dean; and Divisional Dean, Clinical Professor and HVS Chair of the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management.
"Greg David's award-winning journalism has provided a revelatory view of this great City in which we learn, live and work," said NYU-SCPS Interim Co-Dean and Vice Dean Dennis Di Lorenzo. "Much like NYU-SCPS, he is truly 'in and of the City.'"
The 2012 NYU-SCPS Convocation will take place on Monday, May 14 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. A total of 1,153 students will be awarded degrees or certificates, including 783 master's degrees, 45 graduate certificates, 292 bachelor's degrees and 33 associate's degrees.
Detailed information regarding Convocation is available here.
About the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies
Established in 1934, NYU-SCPS (scps.nyu.edu) is one of NYU's several degree-granting schools and colleges, each with a unique academic profile. The reputation of NYU-SCPS arises from its place as the NYU home for study and applied research related to key knowledge-based industries where the New York region leads globally. This is manifest in the School's diverse graduate, undergraduate, and continuing education programs in fields such as Real Estate and Construction Management; Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management; Global Affairs; Philanthropy and Fundraising; Graphic Communications Media, Publishing, and Digital Arts; Human Capital Management, Marketing, and Public Relations; with complementary strengths in the Liberal and Allied Arts; Translation and Interpreting; Management and Information Technology; and Finance and Taxation. More than 100 distinguished full-time faculty members collaborate with an exceptional cadre of practitioner/adjunct faculty and lecturers to create vibrant professional and academic networks that attract nearly 5,000 degree-seeking students from around the globe. In addition, the School fulfills the recurrent continuing higher education needs of local and professional communities, as evidenced by 55,000 annual enrollments in individual courses, specialized certificate programs, conferences, workshops, seminars, and public events. The School's community is enriched by more than 25,000 degree-holding alumni worldwide, many of whom serve as mentors, guest speakers, and advisory board members.


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A third of the way into Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave, the camera pulls back wide, stops, and lingers. There, center frame, under a tree, is a man, hanged by his neck just low enough that his toes touch the mud beneath him. Minutes pass like hours. It's the most excruciating scene in a movie full of them, one that follows Solomon Northup, a real-life freeborn black violinist from Saratoga Springs, who in 1841 was kidnapped, shipped to Louisiana, and sold into slavery. As punishment for fighting an overseer, Northup, played by British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, hangs there from morning till dusk, gasping for breath and straining to maintain contact with the ground while, behind him, his fellow slaves quietly go about their work.
"That was the most interesting scene to me," says Ejiofor over breakfast at the Crosby Street Hotel, shortly before a flight home to London. "It's not just that nobody's going to help him and nobody's going to try and cut him down, it's that nobody even considers it. They hardly turn in his direction!" To get it on film, Ejiofor hung for an entire day in the Louisiana heat—with short breaks, of course, "and a safety line, because otherwise that would be craaazy." His mind kept returning to a line from Northup's 1853 memoir, on which the film is based: "I would gladly have given a long year of service to have been enabled to exchange the heated oven, as it were, wherein I stood, for a seat [in the shade]." This, Ejiofor believes, was Northup's "transformative moment," when he gave up hope of escape and began focusing on simply surviving with his sanity intact. "It's a moment of absolutely understanding his own resolve," says Ejiofor. "It moves from a journey about a man who thinks he's in a battle for his freedom to one about a man who's in a battle for his mind."
The role brings Ejiofor, 36, full circle: His professional career began seventeen years ago, when he dropped out of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art to play a translator for the insurgent slaves in Steven Spielberg's Amistad. McQueen says Ejiofor was his first and only choice for the role: "He has a certain kind of elegance I've only seen with Harry Belafonte or Sidney Poitier. He's a gentleman; his humanity within the depths of depression shines through." Ejiofor has helped ground sci-fi movies like 2012 and Children of Men and given well-reviewed performances on West End stages as Othello and as Patrice Lumumba, the Congo's quickly assassinated first prime minister, in this summer's A Season in the Congo. But 12 Years a Slave is the biggest showcase he's ever had, one that many predict could earn him an Oscar nomination and make him a household name, even if it's one likely to be mispronounced. (It's CHEW-eh-tell EDGE-ee-oh-four, by the way.)
Ejiofor shares more than poise with Northup, though; they have some history in common, too. Like McQueen, whose ancestors were slaves from the West Indies, Ejiofor considers himself part of the diaspora. His immigrant parents identified as Igbo, an ethnic group from southeastern Nigeria, hundreds of thousands of whom were shipped west from the port city of Calabar. "I feel very connected to slavery in a general sense," says Ejiofor, whose first name means "God brings" in Igbo. To get to set of 12 Years near New Orleans last summer, Ejiofor actually took the same route, by plane, as Igbo slaves, from the Calabar set of Half of a Yellow Sun, another historical epic, based on the novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in which he plays a professor who becomes a refugee of Nigeria's Biafran war in the late sixties.*
I ask Ejiofor if that shoot was as intense as 12 Years. "It was intense in a different way. I was sort of reliving my grandfather's experience of the war," he says. "It was a very dark time in Nigerian history, and my family was right there, and they were on the run, dodging bombs, fleeing from village to village, trying to stay alive." Ejiofor spent much of his childhood hearing stories about the war and visiting relatives in Nigeria. He still has a scar on his forehead from a car crash there when he was 11. It killed his father, a doctor and a musician, at 39. "So, uh, yeah, there was an intensity to [Half of a Yellow Sun]," he says with a slight laugh.
He prepped for 12 Years by reading up on the history of slavery and learning the violin. He plays guitar and remembered enough from childhood piano lessons to take a role as a bandleader in Starz's upcoming thirties-set mini-series Dancing on the Edge—"but violin is hard! God in Heaven!" he says. "The first time I picked it up, I was just struggling to make a sound. I was like, I don't know how this is going to be possible." Now, he says proudly, if you turned down the sound of the professional violinist on the film's soundtrack, "you would hear something that sounds pretty similar. You'd be able to recognize the song being played by my rather scratchier version."
On the set, he also cut timber, hacked sugarcane, and picked cotton. "There's a catharsis in cutting down trees," he says. "But there's absolutely none of that in picking cotton. It's maddening! It's fiddly, and it pricks your fingers, and it's something that's a very hard skill if you have no alacrity for it"—which Northup doesn't. As a result, he's frequently whipped at the hands of a plantation owner played by serial McQueen collaborator Michael Fassbender (Hunger, Shame).
Making matters worse was the "burning, boiling heat." On Ejiofor's first day of shooting, picking cotton in direct sunlight, the temperature was a humid 108 degrees. "I found out that that was a record-breaking day, which was of great relief," he says, "because I was like, If this is normal, I don't know how we can shoot a film here." "I don't know if you've ever been in Louisiana in August, but it is oppressive, the heat and humidity," says Brad Pitt, a 12 Years co-producer who has a small part as a Canadian abolitionist. "I felt for him. I would see him in between takes, and he'd be standing out in the field, and he just had to maintain this pitch of suffering and longing and waiting. I think he gives a master performance. I've seen it many times now, and I still get choked up. It's crushing."
Next up for Ejiofor is a winter shoot for the sci-fi film Z for Zachariah, in which he, Chris Pine, and Amanda Seyfried will reportedly play survivors of a radioactive event. Until then, there's awards-season schmoozing and maybe a little sailing. He races yachts but says he won't consider himself a true seaman until he's made a lengthy trip alone to Hawaii. "Then I can get my eye patch."
According to McQueen, it took Ejiofor some time in New York to shake off the emotional stresses of playing Northup, so it's not surprising when Ejiofor says he hopes his next roles will be lighter. "As an actor, you express certain things because they need to be expressed, and then you don't really feel a need to do it again. I want to feel something else, you know?" Maybe something like Love Actually, in which he and Keira Knightley played happy newlyweds? "Ah, the Love Actually days," he says wistfully. "That was 2003—that's a ten-year break! How about a nice, gentle rom-com?"
*This article originally appeared in the October 21, 2013 issue of New York Magazine.
*This article has been corrected to show that Ejiofor flew from the set of Half of a Yellow Sun to the 12 Years a Slave set, not the reverse.


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Nintendo's had better years. The 3DS was the best-selling console in the U.S. in May, but the Wii U is looking more and more like a touch-enabled albatross around its neck. Some wondered why Nintendo hasn't cut staff to shore up its bottom line at its 73rd Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.
"If we reduce the number of employees for better short-term financial results, however, employee morale will decrease, and I sincerely doubt employees who fear that they may be laid off will be able to develop software titles that could impress people around the world," Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata responded.
We barely go a week without reporting layoffs or studio closures, but Iwata thinks–at least for Nintendo–that would be counterproductive.
"I also know that some employers publicize their restructuring plan to improve their financial performance by letting a number of their employees go, but at Nintendo, employees make valuable contributions in their respective fields, so I believe that laying off a group of employees will not help to strengthen Nintendo's business in the long run. Our current policy is to achieve favorable results by continuously cutting unnecessary expenses and increasing business efficiency."
On the other hand, he was noncommittal about the quality of Nintendo's cafeteria food: "Opinions vary considerably," he said in response to one (we imagine slightly glib) shareholder.


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Facts about TFFC
The Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center is an $18 million facility built without the use of state funds even though it belongs to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, an agency of the state of Texas. Many public and private entities worked with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation to raise this money.
Much of the money came from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Fund, a federal program funded by a tax on purchases made by hunters and anglers. The City of Athens provided a financial package worth $4,063,000, the largest single gift ever made to a conservation project in the state of Texas. Additional support came from the ShareLunker Foundation, Inc., the Athens Municipal Water Authority, the Athens Economic Development Commission and a number of private corporations.
Grants from corporations, conservation organizations and individuals continue to be a vital source of funds for TFFC programs. Contributors include the Dallas Safari Club, Trinity Valley Electric Corporation, Exxon/Mobil Corporation, the Freshwater Anglers Association, the Hillcrest Foundation, the Effie and Wofford Cain Foundation, Texas Black Bass Unlimited and TXU. The Texas Department of Transportation funded much of the work on the wetlands trail. Bass Pro Shops founder John L. Morris provided TFFC with a challenge grant of up to $650,000 for money raised during 2004-2005 for a new education building. Click here for a more complete list of donors.
TFFC houses a hatchery, laboratory, aquarium, and education center focusing on underwater wildlife in the state's freshwater streams, ponds and lakes. It serves as home base for the ShareLunker program, which invites anglers to donate trophy-sized largemouth bass for research and breeding purposes. Annual visitation is more than 60,000. A third of our visitors attend with school and youth groups.
Visitor Services
- Daily interactive dive show
- Narrated tram tours of the production hatchery
- Opportunity to fish for rainbow trout or channel catfish (instruction, bait, and fishing rods provided)
- Self-guided wetlands trail
- Educational programs for groups
- Gift shop with snacks
- Picnic areas, covered and open
- Meeting facilities (theater area with audiovisual setup, enclosed and open-air pavilions, tents available)
- Named for Athens resident Edwin L. Cox, Jr., former chairman of the Parks and Wildlife Commission
- Opened in November 1996
- State-of-the-art hatchery production facility with 45 ponds covering 37 acres, completed in spring 1999
- Built as a joint venture with the Parks and Wildlife Foundation of Texas, ShareLunker Foundation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the City of Athens, Athens Economic Development Corporation, Athens Municipal Water Authority, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and many private contributors.
Facility Facts
- 106 acres
- 23,000 square foot Visitor Center
- 300,000 gallons of aquaria
- 24,000 square feet of indoor hatchery and laboratories
- 1.2-acre public fishing pond
- 0.8-mile wetland trail
- 26,000-gallon dive tank aquarium
- 56 species of fish, reptiles, and mammals on display in natural habitats [Reservoir exhibit]
- 162 species of plants, shrubs, and trees
- 10,000 square feet of wildflower displays (seasonal)
- 45,000 square feet of bedded plants
- TFFC Director
- Tom Lang, (903) 670-2224
- ShareLunker Program
- Natalie Goldstrohm, (903) 670-2285
- Exhibits Curator
- Roy Drinnen, (903) 670-2239
- Reservations/Hours/Admission
- (903) 676-2277


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Williamsburg displaying adoption fabrics from London
By Steve Szkotak
May 35, 2013 / AP hamptonroads.com
When poverty or social mores forced a woman to abandon her infant at London's Foundling Hospital during the mid-18th century, a piece of fabric left with the child signaled the mother's intention to reclaim her baby. Among the thousands who left fabric pieces, few were able to return for their children.
Those simple but poignant swatches will be exhibited starting Saturday at Colonial Williamsburg. A woolen heart, a silver ribbon and a patchwork needle case are among the fabrics — called tokens — on loan from Coram, a British children's charity, for the yearlong exhibit "Threads of Feeling."
It offers a glimpse into the social history of London and the clothing of that period.
"The tokens themselves are rare survivors of what were once beautiful yardages of fabrics," said Linda Baumgarten, curator of textiles and costumes at Colonial Williamsburg. "Fabrics survived from the 18th century, but we seldom know exactly who used them and when they were made. These swatches are dated by when the baby was brought in."
The swatches often reflect what the child's mother wore, as baby clothes usually made from used adult pieces.
"You have great beauty as well as a parallel story of family life," Baumgarten said.
The Foundling trove, representing the largest collection of everyday textiles surviving in Britain, is the centerpiece of the exhibit.
The exhibit features token-filled billet books, each opened to a swatch and its backstory — the fabric type, the infant's arrival at Foundling. Artist William Hogarth's depictions of the clothes, embroidery and fabrics worn during that period also are part of the exhibition.
The infants were brought to Foundling Hospital often because impoverished mothers could not care for them. Babies also were left during families emergencies, or because they were illegitimate.
"This was sort of the social service safety net for London," Baumgarten said.
The fabrics were a child's identifying record, which today would be an entry in a computer database. They were provided by the mother, who would be anonymous, or snipped from the child's clothing by nurses. Tokens were attached to registration forms and collected in ledgers.
Children's given names also were changed at Foundling.
"The Foundling Hospital became the infant's parents, and its previous identity was erased," said exhibition curator John Styles, a research professor in history at the University of Hertfordshire.
Many mothers left notes or letters imploring the hospital to care for their child. A baby occasionally would be reclaimed, and the pieces of fabric entered in the ledgers would help reunite mother and child.
"These stories pack powerful, emotional punches, sure to resonate with parents," said Ronald Hurst, Colonial Williamsburg's chief curator.
Not every woman came to Foundling Hospital with the intention of returning for her child. Of the 16,000 babies who were brought to the hospital during the mid-18th century, only one-fourth had tokens signifying a temporary placement. Of that number, fewer than 200 mothers returned to reclaim their children, Baumgarten said.
The displayed heart token, which dates to 1758, was pinned to a girl's cap. The rounded, ruby-colored wool also includes a piece of linen.
A flowered silver ribbon identified a boy, admitted in 1756. It includes the note: "This Silver Ribbon is desired to be preserved as the Childs mark for distinction."
The patchwork needle case, made from printed and woven fabrics, featured a heart and the initials "SC." The boy admitted in 1767, was given the name Benjamin Twirl. His mother, Sara Bender, reclaimed him in 1775.
The hospital was founded by a sea captain, Thomas Coram, who was distressed by all the babies he saw abandoned on London's streets, Baumgarten said. A popular charity, one of its benefactors was George Frideric Handel, who conducted concerts to benefit the hospital.
The hospital ceased most of its London operations in the 1950s. Its former site is now a playground for children.
Besides the Foundling exhibit, items from Colonial Williamsburg's collections will be exhibited. They include a maternity ensemble dating from the late 1800s and an infant's gown and cap.


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Wearing one of my favorite color combos here- pastel pink and minty green! It reminds me
somewhat of the colors you'd see in a sorbet ice cream, which is one of the reasons I like
it so much. Anyways on this day me and my love Christina had a day of roaming around
town to showrooms and such. In between appointments we had the chance to snap a few
photos on side streets and in Bryant Park. It is such a pretty park, sort of like a little cove of
peace in between all the giant skyscrapers and the Midtown madness.
Anyways, I hope you all had a lovely weekend and happy Monday!


text:
I guess it's not just the desktop version of Windows that people are confused about these days. But at least this time it's not Microsoft's fault.
Over the past few days, a number of news reports have sprung up claiming that Microsoft was getting rid of the Windows Mobile brand and was changing it to Windows Phones. The Windows Mobile 6.5 name would be the first to go.
That's not what's happening.
Windows Phones is simply an umbrella marketing term for Microsoft's overall smart phone efforts (e.g. the entire smart phone platform). Not coincidentally, I used this name in my own article, way back in February, describing Microsoft's efforts this year to advance its smart phone platform: Windows Mobile 6.5, My Phone, and Windows Marketplace.
Microsoft confirmed this is still the case with the following statement:
"Microsoft started using the term Windows Phone within the industry at Mobile World Congress on February 16, 2009. It is a simple way for consumers to identify the new generation of Windows phones that will be available this fall through our mobile partners; and will include new services on them such as My Phone and Windows Marketplace for Mobile.
Huh. Those are all the things I mentioned in that aforementioned article. It's like nothing has changed. Oh! That's because nothing has changed.
The operating system is still Windows Mobile, folks. Microsoft confirmed this as well.
"We will still use the term 'Windows Mobile' to identify the operating system releases (e.g. - 6.1, 6.5)."
OK, enough with the silliness. That's what you get for trusting a site like The Inquirer. Or, sadly, PC World. Come on guys. At least try.


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Conceptual artist Lisa Park has been experimenting with a specialized device called a NeuroSky EEG headset that helps transform brain activity into streams of data that can be manipulated for the purposes of research, or in this case, a Fluxus-inspired performance art piece titled Euonia (Greek for "beautiful thought"). Park used the EEG headset to monitor the delta, theta, alpha, and beta waves of her brain as well as eye movements and transformed the resulting data with specialized software into sound waves. Five speakers are placed under shallow dishes of water which then vibrate in various patterns in accordance with her brain activity.
While the system is not an exact science, Park rehearsed for nearly a month by thinking about specific people whom she had strong emotional reactions to. The artist then correlated each of the five speakers with certain emotions: sadness, anger, hatred, desire, and happiness. According to the Creator's Project her hope had been to achieve a sort of zen-like state resulting in complete silence, however it proved to be ultimately unattainable, a result that is actually somewhat poetic.
It's important to note that artists have long been using EEG devices to create "music with the mind". Composer and experimental musician Alvin Lucier had a somewhat similar performance called Music for Solo Performer back in 1965. Read more about Euonia over on the Creator's Project.
Lisa Park: website
Creator's Project: website
Via: thisiscolossal.com


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The orthoptera collection is experiencing a substantial expansion. Initially, 8000 recordings by Baudewijn Odé, from all over Europe, will be added online, effectively tripling the grasshopper collection. This opus showcases over 300 species, including 17 new additions. In the following weeks and months, we'll further enrich the collection with over 10,000 recordings from renowned specialists, made possible by a generous grant from NLBIF. Featured here is Eumodicogryllus theryi, a newly added species whose distinct sound, now published, promises to enhance its detection and study.
Major boost for European orthoptera
What is xeno-canto?
xeno-canto is a website dedicated to sharing wildlife sounds from all over the world. Whether you are a research scientist, a birder, or simply curious about a sound that you heard out your kitchen window, we invite you to listen, download, and explore the wildlife sound recordings in the collection.
But xeno-canto is more than just a collection of recordings. It is also a collaborative project. We invite you to share your own recordings, help identify mystery recordings, or share your expertise in the forums. Welcome!
Latest News
Julien Birard is the only recordist contributing from Chad so far, and he adds another set of recordings. Excellent. Thanks for sharing!
... another set by Dante Buzzetti, from Brazil, who has been doggedly digitising his cassette tapes for 5 years now. His collection of recordings is one of the many gems hidden in Xeno-canto. Many more to follow hopefully!
.... we were down for more than a day! Sorry about that. Manpower arriving at monday morning seems to have sorted it pretty quickly. We'll have a proper look.
... apparently a server crashed, the silicon bits. We're on a different server now.
1 replies :: Your reply
A cool article in The Guardian on Seán Ronayne, from Irish Wildlife Sounds on his mission to document Irish bird song. He's been sharing his recordings here on XC for years. Keep it up, Seán!
Random Recording
Try this!
Make your recordings count
XC recordist Dan Lane has written an article on how to make your recordings most valuable to others. Check it out!
Latest Articles
- meine XC-ids .. schnellwhlordner ..gezeigt in kurfilm..playliste u-tube by bzcuhlA03n
- the year 2013 of me in augsburg .. gathered by former..tutors-in-XC ... . by bzcuhlA03n
- Exploring duration as an acoustic cue to distinguish between Sylvia atricapilla (Blackcap) and Sylvia borin (Garden warbler) by Sidney Martin
- divergent weather..affairs at shown here XC-ids in bobingen/bayern by bzcuhlA03n
- more or less well analyzed Tits of me by bzcuhlA03n
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text:
Welcome to the karlwolfe.org Symbol & Dream Dictionary Wiki!
This dictionary is the culmination of over 30 years of work by Dr. Karl Wolfe, his clients, and his peers.
This online community search engine was provided free of charge and made publically available by Dr. Wolfe during the final years of his life. It is now maintained post-mortem by Andrew Daniel for the benefit of all.
How To Use The Dictionary
Enter your term into the search box in the upper right corner of the page to find the term you're looking for.
You will find suggestions as you type, and related terms on each page. Synonyms and related keywords are also included.
By Letter or Without Synonyms
You can use the advanced search page Special:AllPages to setup your range of terms. For example, here are only words starting with A without synonyms.
Random Terms
You may also click the Special:Random link to the left to see a new, random term each time.
Notice: New accounts are currently disabled.
If you have additional meanings, you may add them to the list on each page.
Create an account (or login) first and click the 'edit' tab and you will be able to add your own meaning. Your changes may need to be approved before showing up.
Please do not delete or modify other definitions (except spelling or grammar fixes).
For further instructions, please Google "how to use media wiki" or "how do wikis work".
Complete List Of Terms
You may also browse our complete list of terms - over 6200 - including word-variations.


text:
Sean Penn Sued -- Photog Claims Death Threat
Sean Penn Sued Photog Claims Death Threat
Sean Penn threatened to kill a paparazzo if he ever ran into him again ... this according to a new lawsuit filed by the photog.
Jordan Dawes alleges he was filming a documentary about paparazzi last October in Brentwood, CA when Penn suddenly began "kicking and punching" him.
In the suit, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Dawes says Penn broke his camera and then said "the next time I see you, you will be in a box."
As we first reported, Dawes said he had to have knee surgery ... the result of the alleged attack.
Penn was charged with criminal battery and vandalism over the incident back in February. That case is pending.


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Hair Care Routine For Curly Hair
Hey You Guys! I finally finished my hair care routine article!!! :yahoo: It took a while, but now that it's complete, I'm so excited to share this with you guys. I'm going to jump right into it, so here goes.
I wash my hair every day. Yes, everyday, but, I don't use shampoo. I co-wash every day and use a shampoo only if my hair feels particularly dirty or if I've gotten stuff in it by accident, or if people have touched it during the day (I HATE it when people don't even ask before they touch your hair!!!) and yes, I am a pretty obvious germaphobe. Now, what is co-washing, you may ask. Well, "co-wash" stands for "conditioner-wash." That's right, I wash my hair with only conditioner.
You may be skeptical and might wonder whether conditioner is sufficient to clean hair effectively. The answer to that question? Absolutely! More than the conditioner itself, it's the scrubbing action that really lifts all the dirt off my scalp and takes it away to be rinsed off.
This is how I co-wash:
- I take a good amount of silicone-free conditioner in my palm and water it down a bit with water till I get a thinner, but not watery consistency.
- Then, I apply it generously all over my scalp, and make sure every area is covered.
- Now, I proceed to the scrubbing part of it. With my fingertips, I gently but firmly and in circular motions, scrub the conditioner into my entire scalp for about 10 minutes. I make sure to not use my nails, but only the pads of my fingers.
- If I have sweated a lot that day, I add a bit of baking soda or lemon juice into the conditioner (if I have sweated crazy a lot, then I just shampoo :tongue: )
- Now that the 10 minutes are up, I rinse it all out of my hair, and use conditioner one more time, this time in the normal way you would use it.
This makes my hair feel very clean, without stripping it of moisture, and I haven't suffered any problems by doing this. Around once a month or so or whenever I feel my hair has gotten particularly dirty that day, I use a shampoo. Now here, I try avoiding a shampoo with sulphates and silicones; silicones definitely no, and sulphates are fine if I don't have any other choice, even though they're a bit drying.
In the 5th step of co-washing that I wrote above, I said that I use conditioner again. This time too, it is a silicone-free conditioner. First, I make sure my hair isn't dripping wet, or else all the conditioner I put in further will merely run down my body and not really act upon my hair. I gently get the excess water out of my hair with my hands, and then apply it on my hair till my roots, but not on my scalp. Of course, when you apply anything on your hair till your roots, it will touch your scalp. What I mean is that I don't specifically put it on my scalp, as it's my hair that needs the moisture, and not really my scalp. I rinse it out after say 5 minutes or less.
Once out of the shower:
Once I'm out of the shower, having rinsed off all the conditioner completely, my hair is super-soft and, well, wet. It is curly, but I want to define my curls even more. This is what my hair looks like right after the shower with nothing in my hair.
It shouldn't be dripping wet, but should still be wet, fully wet. Just see it doesn't drip or else all the product you put in after this will just drip all over your house, and you'll have nicely conditioned hardwood floors instead of regular ones. :toothygrin:
Next, I take a good amount of conditioner in my hands, and proceed to define my curls.
Defining Curls:
I take a big dollop of conditioner and that may seem like a lot, but it isn't, really, considering it has to actually get distributed on each and every strand of my hair.
This is how much I take for one use:
Aaaaand, it's falling off the side of my palm, and I didn't even notice, I was too busy fiddling with my camera :toothygrin:
Now, I've scooped it back into my palm :tongue:
To define my curls, I basically first apply the conditioner to all my hair and work it through. Note – great workout for arms. :tongue:
Then, I rake all my hair downward, so that any tangles that might have remained are eliminated. When I first started doing this, I used to have loads of tangles at this stage. Then, as I got used to it and my hair became healthier, I started seeing a reduction in the number of tangles in my hair. Today, for instance, I sometimes find absolutely no tangles in it. Don't worry if you find a whole load of tangles in there, it takes some time getting used to 🙂
Then, I scrunch my hair. By doing this, I obtain frizz-free, defined curls. Imagine holding a scrunched-up piece of paper in your hands, and trying to get it to be even more crumpled. You'd kind of make a fist and scrunch it together, right? It's the same with my hair, I grab sections of my hair (yes, this is as fun as it seems to be :)) ), and scrunch in an upward motion. I do this for each and every part of my hair.
Final Setting:
When my hair was shorter, after I scrunched it, my hair would be a mass of ringlets tightly adhering to my head. Now that it's longer, the length weighs it down, and it doesn't stick to my head so tight, but instead forms spirally curls. See?
At this point, your hair should still be wet, and not even half-way dry. It should be fully wet.
Oh, I don't know why I was pulling that face. I think I was annoyed with my camera. :haanji:
After this, there can be two things I do. If I want more defined curls, I let them dry for about an hour and then go on to the next step. If I want them a bit loosened and longer (because of the loosened curl pattern), I go directly to the next step, with my hair still pretty wet.
Then, I wrap my head in my regular (currently henna-stained) towel. It has doggies and doggy bones on it too!!! :toothygrin: This I do directly if I want looser curls or I wait for an hour or so if I want tighter curls, as I said above already.
The Next Morning:
I normally wash my hair at night. I sleep with my towel on. Yes, this does flatten my hair a bit, but it isn't a problem. In the morning, I just take the towel off, fluff my hair up and I'm done!!! I don't mess with the length of my hair at all, by fluffing my hair up, I mean I stick my hands gently under all my hair, and fluff up only by waving my hands about in the roots for a bit, very weird sentence! :tongue: and tah-dah!!! :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:
It will take you some time to find out what works for your hair. It took me about a whole five months to figure out how much conditioner I needed, how to wash my hair, how often to co-wash it, how wet it needs to be when I apply my leave-in etc.
Though this seems utterly tedious, I promise it's not. It takes me only five minutes to do, because I've gotten so used to it. Initially, it will take you a lot more time, but with practise and as you understand better what YOUR hair needs, you will take less time, I promise.
I have shared my hair routine here in the hope that those of you who have curly hair and are unsatisfied with it may find something that finally works for you, to show off those gorgeous curls of yours!
Much love,
Hairstyle: Hairstyles for Long Hair
Skin and Hair Care Tips for Monsoons
Hair Color: More on Hair Coloring
Sunsilk Hair Fall Solution Shampoo and Conditioner
9 Hair Care Tips for Long Hair for Indian Women
Rose Water for Hair Care
8 Quick Hair Care Tips
Hibiscus for Hair Care
Hair Care 4: Tips for Dry Hair
Hair Care: The Body Shop New Eco-Conscious Rainforest Hair Care
My Skin Care and Hair Care Routine
Hair Care Tips for Strong Healthy Hair
Hair Care : Do It Yourself Hair Protein Pack
Hair Care 3: Tips for Healthy Hair
5 Awesome DIY Hair Care Tips
Hair Care 2: Shampoo and Conditioner
Winter Skin and Hair Care Tips
Hair Care Tips for Color-Treated Hair
Split Hair Ends: Home Remedies and Treatment
6 Steps to a Happy Head


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Related links:
For comparison, read about the formation of Jupiter's atmosphere.
Earth's Primordial Atmosphere
Scientists ask many questions. One of the questions they like to ask is "Where did the atmosphere come from?" As always, scientists chip in with many different, and sometimes conflicting answers. Some scientists say that there was no atmosphere to start with, that the Sun, in its T-Tauri phase blew away the atmosphere with a strong wind. Other scientists point to evidence that comets may have brought water vapor to Earth and the other terrestrial planets. Different scientists think that the very first atmosphere of the Earth must have been made of the same material as the sun and stars, with the same relative amounts of each element as those bodies. They say that it was too hot for gases to condense or rain to the ground, so there was no ocean. One thing they seem to agree upon however, is that the atmosphere we started with is nothing like the atmosphere we have today. You may ask, "How do they know that?"Well, one way to tell is by measuring the amounts of different elements. What scientists learned from these measurements is that the amount of nitrogen in the Earth's atmosphere is 10,000 more that it should be if the atmosphere was the same as the sun and stars. This means that all the extra nitrogen in the Earth's atmosphere is new and must have come from somewhere. Moreover, with small planets like the Earth, Mars and Venus the atmosphere will eventually drift away unless it is replenished somehow. Scientists call the new atmosphere a secondary atmosphere, and they think all the new gases came from volcanoes. This suggests that, with Earth at least, the atmosphere is continually replenished by volcanic activity.