text:
How to take back the night in 6 steps
Rate this article and enter to win
If you have ever attended an event designed to raise awareness of sexual assault and abuse, what did you think of it? Did you feel shocked or moved? Motivated to make your community safer? Or maybe it didn't work for you, and you wished it had been handled differently.
Events on this theme—like Take Back the Night, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, and the Clothesline Project—are designed to build a more positive climate around relationship and gender issues. Many college campuses and other communities host an event like this every year. In a recent survey by Student Health 101, 76 percent of students who responded said they had helped organize at least one of these events or were open to doing so. Addressing any sensitive theme requires us to recognize and avoid certain pitfalls that could undermine the effectiveness of the message. These tactics will help you plan an inclusive and powerful event.
1. Plan early, plan often |
Find your people
Effective events don't create themselves. Nor are they planned by just one person. Find allies who represent different communities within your campus. See 2. Find your allies.
Talk about your goals for the event
What are you looking to achieve? For example, you might aim to:
- Recognize and empower survivors of abuse and assault.
- Memorialize or protest specific incidents of assault.
- Reach people who have never engaged with this issue before.
- Get more people involved in a campus or community program or policy.
- Work with administrators to develop campus policy.
- Build connections and unity among people who might not normally find each other.
Talk about how you can meet your goals
- What key messages are you aiming to convey?
- In what ways can you deliver those messages?
- Who does your ideal audience include?
- How can you engage, inspire, and empower your audience?
Talk about how you can address your key themes
For example:
- Create a space in which people feel comfortable talking about their experience of sexual assault or related issues they see in your campus community.
- Hold a workshop on sexual empowerment: What this looks like and how to get it.
- Brainstorm about how to work as a community to create more positive sexual and social dynamics.
- Discuss and rally around proposed changes at your college or university that align with the goals of your event.
- Create a more social event in which diverse people feel comfortable and safe together.
Should it be a Take Back the Night event, or another event?
Among sexual assault awareness events, Take Back the Night is the most well known "brand". Consequently, some people may have certain expectations for what it should be. But planning a Take Back the Night event isn't very different from planning any other event meant to discuss sexual culture and misconduct. As an organizer, it's on you to figure out what those expectations are, and discuss them. What should change? What shouldn't? Ultimately, what's right for your campus?
+ Don't skip the Take Back the Night planning manual
2. Find your allies |
When you create a more empowered culture on your college campus, everyone benefits. Your event will be far more effective if people from every corner of campus participate and help promote it. Invite other groups to plan and sponsor the event with you.
Look for allies who are:
- United by a common desire to create an empowering event
- Able to help broaden your audience (for example, by telling an unexpected story, performing music, or involving groups who haven't been part of this before)
- Willing to take on different parts of the planning. What do you and the other organizers need help with?
Look for allies among different campus groups, organizations, and services:
- Greek organizations, including social, honor, academic, and service organizations
- Campus women's centers and gender centers
- LGBTQ+ groups
- Groups representing ethnically and racially diverse students
- Cultural houses and centers
- Religious and faith-based groups
- Residential groups, including RAs, peer educators, and international students
- Athletics clubs and teams
- Arts-based groups (e.g., drama, visual arts, music)
- Campus staff and faculty, such as counselors, victim advocates, or Title IX administrators
- Community organizations and services, including high schools
Students' stories
The importance of inclusion and diversity
In a recent survey by Student Health 101, students recommended ways to make Take Back the Nights more successful. One of their most recurring themes was the importance of diversifying the participant lineup and broadening the audience.
"If I were organizing an event, I would definitely try to find a more diverse group of people to present."
—Recent graduate, University of New Mexico
"I think the most effective message was the number of people that showed up."
—Recent graduate, University of New Hampshire
"I would do a poll to see what people wanted to hear about most or who from before choosing the speaker."
—First-year undergraduate, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
"The most important thing I saw [at the event] was a community that actively believed in and helped women."
—Second-year undergraduate, University of Miami, Florida
"I would try to have more outreach as well as include representation from all walks of life, including the LGBTQ community, to show that [sexual assault and misconduct] can happen all the time."
—Fourth-year online undergraduate, State University of New York, Empire State College
3. Set the right tone |
What kind of tone and mood will help accomplish your goals?
Take Back the Night and similar events can take different moods. An event may be somber (for example, small-group discussions that facilitate spontaneous sharing about personal experiences), or loud (for example, dynamic speakers addressing a sizeable audience).
Include varying stories
Every event on this theme should focus on inclusiveness:
- State explicitly early and often that sexual assault and harassment affect many different kinds of people and do not necessarily conform to a familiar narrative.
- Everyone whose life has been affected by sexual misconduct has their own story. Your event will become more powerful when different people share different stories.
Plan a cohesive itinerary
Any single event can involve several activities. How will the line-up and order of these various elements affect your audience's emotional experience?
Find an MC
At the event, you will need to make clear who's helping to guide it. Your MC is not there to dominate the event, but to set the right tone and keep things going smoothly. Consider:
- Who would establish that inclusive tone and messaging?
- Who can deal with things not going according to plan?
- Who might think about how the order of speakers or subjects could open up the event to certain conversations? These themes might include intimate partner violence, catcalling, people becoming sexually active after bad experiences, or what's important in your campus community.
Anticipate and address possible ethical and legal implications
- Your speakers should be ready and able to convey their experience and message in an effective way. There is always the possibility of unsupportive responses from the audience.
- All organizers should be aware of potential legal liabilities, confidentiality issues, and risk management issues. These can be effectively managed.
- Ask speakers not to share the names or identifying features of alleged perpetrators.
- Talk with your Title IX Coordinator in advance about what happens if a participant discloses an assault. Some faculty and staff are obligated in some circumstances to report possible incidents of sexual assault, and they may attend your event.
- Consider your policy on filming or recording the event. It's not unreasonable to ask people to turn off their cell phones.
- Talk with your fellow organizers about possible media coverage. If it's fellow students who are reporting for a campus publication, it might be easy to set up ground rules with them ahead of time.
+ For guidance, see the TBTN Planning Manual.
Link to other campaigns and events
TBTN or similar events can be a great opportunity to plan other educational events and promote relevant messages on your campus.
"My school was really big on normalizing sex in the first few weeks, so that we could have a very open policy on campus. It was nice to hear that no matter what your opinions are on having sex you were going to be accepted."
—Second-year undergraduate, Sarah Lawrence College, New York
Set the mood through a cohesive itinerary
"The event featured an improv group. The way they did things by trying to keep the mood light helped me learn about sexual assault prevention better."
—First-year undergraduate, Johnson & Wales University, Rhode Island
"It's a serious topic but it doesn't have to be a talked about in an angry manner. Don't spout a cause, try to have a conversation."
—Third-year undergraduate, Portland State University, Oregon
"I think the least effective [element of the event] was using fear messages, because it made people more inclined to look away."
—Second-year graduate student, California State University, San Bernardino
"It would have been more effective if it focused less on shaming sex and more on open communication and understanding."
—Second-year undergraduate, Mount Wachusett Community College, Massachusetts
+ Why consent is like a cup of tea
Think about gender
"I was there to learn and to support an effort to eliminate sexual assault of all types, but I left early because I felt unwelcome. Men are [also] victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse [and it is] under-reported because of the stigma. To engage a broader audience, it makes sense to avoid implying that only women get to have 'ownership' of this issue and that men are the ones to blame for all of it."
—Second-year undergraduate, Missouri University of Science and Technology
"Quit pathologizing [people] who are assaulted and start pathologizing people who assault. Sometimes I feel like women are being preached to that they need to do things differently, versus changing the system that allows some people to continue victimizing others."
—Second-year graduate student, Western Illinois University
4. Present varied stories |
Some TBTNs are known for powerful accounts of sexual assault shared by their participants. The last thing you want, however, is for participants to feel their stories have to fit a certain mold. Setting an inclusive tone will ensure that more people feel comfortable sharing their varied stories.
Key speakers
As you think about your goals, you may want to approach some people ahead of time to be speakers at the event. Seeking out varied stories from diverse people can be a subtle way to create a more welcoming space—a crucial element of a positive campus climate in which everyone feels empowered. Speakers' themes could include:
- Difficult experiences: stories of intimate partner violence or abuse, nonconsensual sexual acts, childhood experiences, harassment, and so on
- Empowerment: how they got out of a bad relationship or survived a sexual assault
- Recovery: what activities, messages, and resources helped them feel like themselves
Diverse speakers and participants
Lots of different people have personal experience with sexual violence and want to end it. Survivors can be of any gender, sexual orientation, or age. Some may have been assaulted as children, others as adults. Ensure that your event includes and supports people who describe and address different kinds of experiences in different ways. Include men and transgender people.
Understand the power of stories
"Hearing survivors' stories really made me want to be more involved in preventing sexual assault."
—Fourth-year undergraduate, University of West Georgia
"When they held the 'rape is not a joke' seminar they had students read their stories and tell their own stories. It worked. It was good! There was a shift in the audience, like people were starting to understand."
—Fifth-year undergraduate, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
Think about gender
"The most effective message to me was a rally I went to when I was in community college before transferring. It mentioned how it's not always woman who could be assaulted but can be a man as well. An actual guy came out to tell his story."
—Fourth-year graduate student, Park University, Missouri
Include hopeful stories
"The guest speaker was a victim of domestic violence and hearing her story and that she is now helping other women escape their similar situations was very inspiring."
—Third-year undergraduate, University of New Mexico
"I was able to step in other people's shoes for a moment and try to see sexual assault events not as simply a place to talk about a taboo topic and a super-bad thing, but also as a way for people to share the healing that came after."
—Fourth-year undergraduate, California State University, San Marcos
Make it easier to share
"It was effective to hear survivor stories in a safe space. We were sitting in auditorium seats with the lights very low. Anyone could start sharing their stories without feeling like everyone's eyes were on them."
—Third-year graduate student, University of Delaware
5. Make it about more than speaking |
Personal stories are at the center of almost every TBTN or similar event. But they shouldn't be the whole picture. Think of any good event that you've been to—even a talk about a serious subject. Was there food? Something to drink? Music? Did the event planners actively involve the audience? There's no reason why your event shouldn't have all these things. There are lots of models for successful events. It's up to you and your fellow planners to figure out what's right for your campus.
Some options include:
- A speak-out with music between every few speakers
- A march followed by snacks to encourage people to stay for conversation
- Conversation in a comfortable room where people can share their stories over hot chocolate
- Creative projects that address the themes in fresh or surprising ways (such as the Clothesline Project, which uses a display of clothing to push back on the myth that victims of sexual assault are responsible because of what they wear or say or do)
- Workshops or teach-ins on being an effective bystander or supporting a friend
Wrap up
And don't forget about ending the event! Help your audience wind down and feel hopeful. This could be another opportunity to bring in music, especially something that everyone can participate in. In addition, ensure that people who may need support know where to get it.
Make it interactive
"Events where I was participating rather than just spectating were most effective at teaching me new ideas and concepts. I remember this one event in which everyone was put in groups and we all shared our own experiences, laughed, cried, and bonded. I felt that was one of the most powerful learning moments in my life."
—Fourth-year undergraduate, California State University, San Marcos
Promote actionable strategies
"I think the most effective point I learned was how to be an effective bystander if I ever witnessed sexual assault. I feel it is useful because I will know what actions to take."
—Third-year undergraduate, University of California, Los Angeles
"Focus on behavior and actions that do not support the ideas that possible assaulters may have. Create an environment where it is obvious that rape and such are not acceptable, [where people] step up when that seems to be a problem. That was the most effective [message] because I had never heard of the argument for culture before. Usually such events are about specific actions and preventing yourself from being harmed."
—Fourth-year undergraduate, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Find different ways to say it
"I went to the Clothesline Project and I thought that the personal messages that each victim wrote on each shirt were very powerful. Their stories affected me and seemed so real and awful."
—Second-year graduate student, University of North Dakota
Wind down and wrap up
"The night would have been more effective if there was a debriefing after everyone shared their stories. Everyone who spoke was willing to be open and raw, so it is important to wrap up in a way that alleviated the heaviness. Take Back the Night should end in a way that is productive and hopeful of change."
—Graduate student, University of Delaware
Provide resources for follow-up
"When I was in the Queer club the most positive thing was that we were able to understand and connect with one another through our life stories. [Downside:] It made you think to the point of more depression, and sometimes to the point that we should have a one-on-one talk."
—Second-year undergraduate, Pasadena City College, California
6. If you want to keep it simple |
A costume-making party
Instead of people feeling like they have to put together a costume at the last minute for Halloween or some other event, and feeling uncomfortable in another sexy toga, you and friends can pool money to make costumes together. Felt, feathers, and paper can make a Robin Hood, iPhone, or any other number of easy costumes that people can feel comfortable and empowered in. Search online for costume ideas.
Consensual pizzas
Have you ever heard hooking up or sex described as being like eating a pizza? People decide together what toppings they'd like. They eat as much of eat pizza as they want. The pizza metaphor is less competitive and aggressive than the old metaphor that sex is like baseball (second base, home run, etc.). To host a consensual pizza-making event, stock up on pizza fixings, get access to an oven, and invite people to talk about consent. They'll come for the food and stay for the conversation.
Athletic performance and sexual performance
On many college campuses, small groups of athletes are getting together to talk frankly about sex and sports. How do athlete-students think about balancing relationships, their sports, and their academics? How can events reported in the mainstream media be used to help build a supportive campus community?
"The [sexual violence prevention event] that was probably most effective was targeting athletes, due to some of the behaviors seen in professional players. They pushed for men to step up and act like men…Additionally, they talked about everyone's responsibility to intervene if they suspect or see sexual assault occurring."
—Fourth-year undergraduate, Henderson State University, Arkansas
Event planning manual: Take Back the Night
Your guide to events: Take Back the Night
Why diverse stories matter: Good magazine
How to start a Clothesline Project: Clothesline Project
Organize to walk: Walk a Mile in Her Shoes
Addressing campus concerns: Know Your IX
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard: Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Broadway Business, 2010
Step Up! intervention program: University of Arizona


text:
Battle on the water in Speedboats.io! This multiplayer gogy game lets you compete in splashy warfare. You can zoom around small mountains and towering lighthouses during the hectic action. Arm your boat with new guns to deal more damage!
Speed. Cunning. Destruction. speedboats.io is a 3D arena shooter featuring lightning-fast boats with upgradable turrets. Burn your opponents to ribbons with the laser, blow them apart with the grenade launcher, or outmaneuver them and cause them to crash.
The controls are simple: use WASD or the arrow keys to move. Aim and shoot with the mouse.
Power-ups drop randomly when you destroy your enemies, so be aggressive and establish dominance early.
100 points are awarded for kills, with 25 bonus points for each consecutive kill in a streak. 50 points are deducted for crashing, being blown up by your opponents, or otherwise meeting your doom. Destroy your rivals and cheat death to move to the top of the rankings.
Power-ups are king, and killing other players is the only way to get them.
Laser: Lightning-fast shot speed and long range make this the perfect weapon for frying your enemies from a distance.
Grenade Launcher: Grenades are slow, but they have the highest damage of any weapon in the gogyy game. A skilled player can catch several opponents within the blast radius at once.
Machine Gun: Greatly increased shot speed. A few seconds of concentrated fire will vanquish any foe, but watch out for the recoil.
Explode-o-laser: Like the laser, but with a boom at the end.
Shrapnel Gun: Shoots a shell that explodes into pieces. The more pieces hit the target, the greater the damage.
Spread Gun: Fires bullets in an arc, similar to a shotgun.
Double Shot: Twin cannons.
Homing Shot: Heat-seeking projectiles.
Each power-up only lasts 30 seconds or until you die, so hit hard and hit fast! But be careful - crashing into objects will damage your boat.
Have fun at http://gogy.xyz/
Instruction to play:
How to play: Use WASD or arrows to control your boat, mouse to aim and shoot.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Translate original post with Google Translate
Very good Father, Source of Life, you love each one of your children and know them all by their names, open our hearts to the extraordinary brotherhood in which you have set us to serve one another. May our movement and the Eurojam project we are preparing be a peaceful and radiant sign of this brotherhood to the world.
Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, you call each one of us to come and follow you to see where you dwell, so that we may live in your presence. Give us the grace of leaving our comfort and our certainties, open the treasures of your heart to us, and kindle your fire in us for a patient and trustful charity all along the preparation of the Eurojam project.
Holy Spirit, Father of the poor, deprive us from all that could divide or prevent us from following Christ in our work. You are strength and mildness, you gather all men in the joy of communion, be the bond of our unity, the driving force of our labour, and make it fruitful for the glory of God.
Our Lady, crowned with stars, pray for us and guide us!
For French, German, Byelorussian, Spanish, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, and Czech translations click here.


text:
Finland is an easy country to visit. Finnish customs and manners are clearly European, with only a few national variations, and attitudes are liberal. There is very little chance of a visitor committing fundamental social gaffes or breaches of etiquette that would fatally damage relations between himself and his hosts. Such breaches are viewed by Finns with equanimity if committed by their own countrymen and with understanding or amusement if committed by foreigners. Codes of behaviour are fairly relaxed, and reputations – good or bad – are built up over time as the result of personal actions rather than conforming to norms or standards. It is difficult in Finland to make or break a reputation with a single social blunder.
Finland is a country where considerable weight is attached to the spoken word – words are chosen carefully and for the purpose of delivering a message. Indeed, there are very few other culture-specific considerations that visitors need be aware of. Finns place great value on words, which is reflected in the tendency to say little and avoid 'unnecessary' small talk. As the Chinese proverb puts it, "Your speech should be better than silence, if it is not, be silent."
Finns have a very strong sense of national identity. This is rooted in the country's history – particularly its honourable wartime achievements and significant sporting merits – and is today nurtured by pride in Finland's high-tech expertise. Being realists, Finns do not expect foreigners to know a lot about their country and its prominent people, past or present, so they will be pleased if a visitor is familiar with at least some of the milestones of Finnish history or the sports careers of Paavo Nurmi and Lasse Viren. Finns would be happy if visitors knew something about the achievements of Finnish rally drivers and Formula 1 stars, or if they knew that footballers Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyypiä are Finns. Culturally oriented Finns will take it for granted that like-minded visitors are familiar not only with Sibelius but with contemporary composers Kaija Saariaho and Magnus Lindberg, and orchestral conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Sakari Oramo and Osmo Vänskä. While Finns are aware that Nokia is often mistakenly thought to be a Japanese company, this misconception is viewed forgivingly but with pity. They are proud that Linus Torvalds, the inventor of Linux, is a Finn.
Visitors should also be prepared to encounter the other side of the Finnish national character: Finns are chronically insecure about whether the wider world is aware of the achievements of this northern nation. Finns love reading things written about them abroad, and visitors should not feel uncomfortable being asked repeatedly what they think of Finland. However, although Finns are ready enough to criticize their own country, they do not necessarily wish to hear visitors doing so.
As far as religion is concerned, there are very few dangers for visitors to Finland, even on subjects that in other cultures might be particularly sensitive. Most Finns belong formally to the Evangelical-Lutheran Church (about 83%), while 1.1% belong to the Finnish Orthodox Church; but people in general are fairly secular in their views. Despite this, the Church and its ministers are held in high esteem, and personal religious views are respected. It is difficult to observe differences between believers and everyone else in everyday life, except perhaps that the former lead more abstemious lives.
There is a high degree of equality between the sexes in Finland, as can be seen in the relatively high number of women holding advanced positions in politics and other areas of society.
There are numerous women in academic posts, and in recent years visiting businessmen have also found increasing numbers of 'the fairer sex' on the other side of the negotiating table. The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland accepts the ordination of women, and there are women priests in numerous parishes. The first female Finnish bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is Irja Askola. She is reigning Bishop of Helsinki since 2010.
Chauvinistic or patronizing attitudes towards women are generally considered unacceptable, although such attitudes do persist in practice. Women do appreciate traditional courtesy, although ultimately they appraise men on the basis of their attitude towards equality. Women are usually independent financially and may offer to pay their share of a restaurant bill, for instance. A man may politely refuse such an offer, but it is equally polite to accept it.
In international contexts, or when using foreign languages, particularly English, Finns have become accustomed to politically correct language in which traditional masculine terms are replaced with gender-neutral ones (e.g. 'chairperson'); or the third person singular pronoun is offered in both forms (he/she) when they exist. In Finnish the latter problem does not exist. Instead, the third person singular pronoun hän covers both genders. There are also many titles ending with the suffix –mies (man) that are not considered gender-specific. It is appropriate for visitors to follow the established practice of whatever language they are using.
The conception that Finns are a reserved and taciturn lot is an ancient one and does not retain the same validity as it used to, certainly not with the younger generations. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that Finns have a special attitude to words and speech: words are taken seriously, and people are held to what they say. "Take a man by his words and a bull by its horns," says a Finnish proverb. A Finn will carefully consider what he (or she) says and expect others to do so too. He (or she) considers verbal agreements and promises binding, not only upon himself but upon the other party too, and he (or she) considers that the value of words remains essentially the same, regardless of when and where they are uttered. Visitors should remember that invitations or wishes expressed in a light conversational manner (such as: "We must have lunch together sometime") are often taken at face value, and forgetting them can cause concern. Small talk, a skill at which Finns are notoriously lacking, is considered suspect by definition, and is not especially valued.
Finns rarely enter into conversation with strangers, unless a particularly strong impulse prompts it. As foreigners often note, Finns are curiously silent in the metro, the bus or the tram. In lifts, they suffer from the same mute embarrassment as everyone else in the world. However, a visitor clutching a map will have no trouble in getting advice on a street corner or in any other public place, since the hospitality of Finns easily overrides their customary reserve.
Finns are better at listening than at talking, and interrupting another speaker is considered impolite. A Finn does not grow nervous if there are breaks in the conversation; silence is regarded as a part of communication. Finns usually speak unhurriedly, even in their mother tongue (the pace of newsreading on Finnish TV is a source of amusement for many foreigners), and although many Finns are competent in several foreign languages, they may be wary of the speed at which these languages are spoken. Nevertheless, Finns can become excited and voluble, given the right situation.
Having once got to know a stranger moderately well, Finns are quite willing to discuss any topic; generally not even religion or politics are taboo. Finland is one of the world's leaders in the reading of books and newspapers and the use of libraries, and thus the average Finn is fairly well informed on what is happening in Finland and in the world. Finland's membership of the EU has increased interest in other EU countries, and the common currency, the status of agriculture and the effects of Community legislation are viable topics of conversation wherever two or three Union citizens come together. Though Finns enjoy bitching about the niggling directives of 'Brussels bureaucrats' as much as the next man, in general they seem to approve of EU membership and recognise its benefits.
Shared hobbies are a natural topic for conversation and exchange of opinions in Finland as elsewhere, and it can be easy to strike up a lively conversation with a Finn about culture and the arts on the one hand and about sports on the other. Sports is a particularly feasible topic because in recent years Finns have enjoyed success in sports other than the traditional long-distance running and winter sports: there are now world-class Finnish footballers, racing drivers and alpine skiers, and consequently amateurs and enthusiasts in these fields too. Golf has established itself securely especially among urban Finns, even though they are obliged to abandon this pastime for the winter months. This deprivation is an eminently suitable topic for conversation on the part of a visitor who is familiar with the world of drivers and putters.
Information technology
The now ubiquitous mobile phone is revolutionizing the image of Finnish communication skills. The persistent, supposedly amusing ringing tones of the phones demonstrate how eager people are to talk to each other, especially when they are not face to face. One foreign journalist described a scene that he considered typically Finnish: a lone man sitting in a bar with a beer and speaking into a cell phone. A Finnish version of small talk? Communication without intimacy?
The use of mobile phones is governed in Finland, as indeed in other countries, by a loosely defined etiquette which forbids their use if disruptive or dangerous, so using a mobile phone is completely forbidden on aeroplanes and in hospitals. During meetings it is inappropriate. In pubs and restaurants it may be regarded by many as irritating but it goes on regardless. At concerts, at the theatre and in church it is barbaric and considerate people switch their phones off in those places.
Mobile phones have no doubt changed visitors' perceptions of Finland. Whereas a few decades ago a visitor might report back home on an uncommunicative, reserved and introvert Arctic tribe, the more common view today is that of a hyper-communicative people who are already experiencing the future that some fear and others hope for: a society where anyone can reach anyone else, no matter where or when.
All over the world, the Internet and e-mail have radically changed how people find information and keep in touch, and Finland is no exception. For young people, using the ever-increasing range of IT applications is commonplace, and it is also an important factor in shaping youth culture. Increasingly, politicians and corporate managers set up websites and maintain personal blogs to comment publicly on their lives and views.
A Finn's mother tongue is either Finnish, Swedish (5.6% of the population are Swedish speakers) or Saami (some 8,000 native speakers). Finnish belongs to the small Finno-Ugrian language group; outside Finland it is understood (and to some extent spoken) in Estonia. And in Sweden, too, Finnish is spoken among the large number of Finnish immigrants. Finns take care of their linguistic communication by maintaining a wide range of foreign languages in the school curriculum.
English is widely spoken in Finland and in the business community some companies use it as their house language. German is no longer widely taught but many Finns in their 50s or older learned it as their first foreign language at school. French, Spanish and Russian have grown in popularity both in schools and among adult learners. Membership of the European Union and the related practical and social demands have increased the need to study European languages, at least in the case of Finns who travel in Europe on business or are studying abroad.
Educated Finnish speakers, particularly those working in the public sector, speak Swedish to some degree whilst almost all Swedish-speaking Finns speak Finnish too. Only in some coastal areas and in the autonomous province of the Åland Islands is Swedish the dominant language, indeed in Åland it is the only official language. The status of Swedish as the joint official language of mainland Finland can be seen in the bilingual names of public institutions and in street signs, the latter case depending on the percentage of minority language speakers resident in a given municipality, and in the Swedish-language programmes on radio and TV. Swedish-speaking Finns have a distinctive culture, and their social mores are influenced by Scandinavian traditions moreso than amongst the Finnish-speaking majority.
Names and titles
When introducing themselves, Finns will say their forename followed by their surname. Women who use both their maiden name and their husband's surname will state them in that order. Although Finns are conscious and proud of any official titles they may have, they rarely mention these when introducing themselves. In contrast, they do expect to be addressed by their title in professional and official contexts: Doctor Virtanen, Managing Director Savolainen, etc. Foreigners, however, are not expected to follow this practice, with the exception of the titles "doctor" and "professor" if these are known to the speaker. Otherwise, foreigners can safely address Finns using the English practice of calling them Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Sir or Madam, as appropriate.
The familiar form of address in Finnish (i.e. the second person singular pronoun sinä, as opposed to the formal second person plural pronoun te) is commonly used, not just between friends and acquaintances but among strangers too. It is usual nowadays for people in a workplace to address each other as sinä, up to and including senior management, at least in larger workplaces. Using sinä is common today in service occupations, too, although older people may resent the implied familiarity. However, young people still tend to address middle-aged or elderly people by the formal second person plural if they do not know the persons well.
Although the use of the familiar sinä is common, using first names requires a closer relationship. It is relatively easy to get onto first-name terms with a Finn, especially if it is evident that the parties will continue to meet regularly for business or pleasure. However, it is felt appropriate that the use of first names is specifically and mutually agreed upon. The use of first names is always proposed by the older or more senior person to the junior, or, in the case of equals, by the woman to the man; the agreement is enacted by shaking hands, making eye contact, with each party saying their first name aloud, and nodding the head. Raising a toast with schnapps, wine or champagne lends a festive air to the occasion.
Apart from this, Finns are not nearly as demanding in remembering names as many other people are. It is not usual to address people by name when greeting them (regardless of how familiar one is with them) or in the course of a normal conversation. Addressing by name has trickled into Finnish culture from the American practice, but as nice as it is to hear one's name spoken, Finns will not be offended if they are not addressed by name.
Businessmen and persons in public office are expected to distribute business cards as a means of ensuring their name and title are remembered. There are no special rituals related to exchanging business cards in Finland. For a visitor, receiving a business card provides a convenient opportunity to ask how a name is pronounced or what a cryptic title might mean.
When greeting, the parties shake hands and make eye contact. A deep bow denotes special respect – in normal circumstances, a nod of the head is enough. A Finnish handshake is brief and firm, and involves no supporting gestures such as touching the shoulder or upper arm. When greeting a married couple, the wife should be greeted first, except on a formal occasion where the hosts should first be greeted by the spouse to whom the invitation was addressed. Children are greeted by shaking hands too. Embracing people when greeting them is rare in Finland. A man greeting someone in the street should raise his hat; in the cold of winter, a touch of the hand to the brim of the hat is enough.
Finns can kiss as well as the next nation, but they rarely do so when greeting. Hand-kissing is rare. Friends and acquaintances may hug when meeting, and kisses on the cheek are not entirely unknown, although this habit is not generally found in rural areas. There is no special etiquette regarding the number of kisses on the cheek; however, most Finns feel that three kisses is going a bit far. Men very rarely kiss each other in greeting, and never on the mouth in the manner of our eastern neighbours.
Finnish cuisine has western European, Scandinavian and Russian elements. Table manners are European. Breakfast can be quite substantial. Lunch is usually eaten between 11:00 and 13:00, a typical lunch break at work lasting less than an hour. The once common long business lunches have shrunk to 90 minutes or two hours. Evening meals at home are eaten around 17:00 or 18:00. In most restaurants, dinners are served from 18:00 onwards. Many restaurants stop serving food about 45 minutes before they actually close, so it is worthwhile checking the serving times when booking a table. Concerts and theatre performances usually begin at 19:00, and audiences adjourn to restaurants at around 22:00.
Restaurant menus and home cooking rarely involve food that western visitors would not be acquainted with. Increased nutritional awareness has made the once heavy, fatty Finnish diet lighter, and the better restaurants can cater for a variety of dietary requirements. Ethnic restaurants, constantly increasing in number, have added to the expanding choice. Beer and wine are drunk with restaurant food in the evening, but at lunchtime these days they feature very little, if at all.
At a dinner party, the host determines the seating order if necessary. The guest of honour is seated to the right of the hostess (or the host, if it is a men-only dinner). This is a seat dreaded by most Finns, since the guest of honour is expected to say a few words of thanks to the hosts after the meal. Guests should not begin to eat until everyone has been served; usually, the host will propose a toast at the beginning of the meal, wishing his guests hyvää ruokahalua, the Finnish for bon appétit! It is not appropriate for guests to drink before this, unless the beginning of the meal is badly delayed.
Finns seldom make speeches during a meal, but they do so on formal occasions. In such cases, the speeches are made between courses. During the meal, the host may toast individual guests, or guests may toast each other, by raising their glasses and making eye contact. Once the toast is drunk, eye contact should be made again when lowering the glass to the table.
A meal normally concludes with coffee and postprandial drinks are served with it or immediately after. If the hosts allow smoking, this is the moment to bring out the cigars and cigarettes, unless of course the host has already allowed or suggested this earlier. When leaving the table, the guests should thank the hosts briefly for the fare when they get the chance, regardless of whether the guest of honour has done so or not.
Finns consume the equivalent of slightly over ten litres of pure alcohol per person per year, which is close to the European average. Drinking habits mainly follow Scandinavian and European practices.
However, consumption of wine and beer, as opposed to spirits, has increased in recent years, and as a result more decorous drinking behaviour has become more common. Consumption of alcohol at lunchtime is less common in the business world than it used to be, and in the public sector it is extremely rare.
Alcohol consumption varies somewhat, according to socio-economic differences and, to some extent, by region. The influence of central European or Mediterranean drinking habits is primarily visible among urban middle class young adults and slightly older Finns with tertiary education.
The import and sale of wines and other alcoholic beverages is largely controlled by the state-owned Alko organisation, and private individuals can only buy alcoholic beverages in Alko shops, with the exception of medium strength beer and cider, which can be bought in food stores. Alko is a major buyer of wines and stocks a wide and geographically representative selection of all qualities, including top labels. Many restaurants import their own wines directly from suppliers abroad.
In households wine is normally reserved for weekend meals, but meals prepared for guests or eaten in a restaurant usually involve wine. Often – and in the case of Swedish-speaking Finns, almost always – a meal is preceded by schnapps, a shot of vodka or aquavit in a tiny glass. This is considered an integral part of cold fish courses, and absolutely essential with crayfish. Swedish-speaking Finns have a custom of enlivening the occasion with a line or two of a drinking song before each shot of schnapps. Big dinner parties have an appointed toastmaster who determines the interval between shots and leads the singing. Finnish-speaking Finns have a less elaborate and less structured drinking etiquette, although there are schnapps songs in Finnish too. Schnapps is usually accompanied by mineral water, or sometimes beer, which is also commonly served with meals. Beer is also used to slake the thirst created by the sauna.
Visitors can approach Finnish drinking customs as they see fit. It is not necessary to drink a shot of schnapps in one gulp even if your neighbour does. So it is enough to raise the glass to one's lips without swallowing. It is also perfectly acceptable to request mineral water or non-alcoholic wine with a meal. Lunch is usually accompanied by non-alcoholic beverages in any case, and non-alcoholic drinks are usually provided. Abstinence is also supported by legislation; in Finland, the blood alcohol level for drunken driving is very low, and the penalties are severe.
Tipping has never fitted very comfortably into the Finnish way of life. This may have originally been due to the traditions of a religion which emphasized frugality; today, the rather blunt reason for not tipping is that the price paid includes any unusual instances of service or politeness i.e. the view taken is that "service is included". Tipping does nevertheless exist in Finland, and you can feel safe that while nobody will object to being tipped, very few will mind not being tipped.
As a rule, service is included in restaurant bills. However, an extra service charge is often added to bills which are to be paid by a customers' employers. Those who pay for their own meals and in cash often choose to round the bill up to the nearest convenient figure. This does not require any complicated arithmetic from the customer, as no one cares whether the tip really is 10-15% of the total bill.
Tipping at hotels is fairly rare. If you know that you have caused extra inconvenience for the room cleaner, it would be regarded as an appropriate to leave a tip. Receptionists should be tipped only by long-term guests at the hotel. Like their colleagues across the world, Finnish hotel porters will be glad to be tipped the price of a small beer. It is also OK to leave a few coins on the bar for the bar staff.
Taxi drivers do not expect to get a tip, but customers often pay the nearest rounded up figure to the actual fare. Major credit cards are usually accepted in taxis, and in this case tipping in cash is practical.
If you are the guest of Finnish hosts, you should leave any tipping to their discretion.
Smoking has decreased in recent years, and attitudes towards it have become more negative. The law prohibits smoking in public buildings and workplaces and, being generally law-abiding, Finns have adapted to this legislation. Nevertheless, smoking is still quite common, in all age groups. International trends have increased the popularity of cigars amongst a minority of tobacco smokers.
As have many other countries, Finland has banned smoking in most restaurants and other licensed premises completely.
Smokers are expected to be considerate. When invited to a private home, a guest should ask the hosts if they object to smoking, even if there are ashtrays visible. Smokers may be guided to the balcony, which may have the effect of reducing the intake of nicotine considerably in cold weather.
The home is to a great extent the focus of social life in Finland – to a greater extent at least than in countries where it is more common to meet over a meal in a restaurant. There are cultural, and also economic, reasons for this. A growing interest in cooking and wines has led to an increase in entertaining in the home. A foreign visitor need have no qualms about being invited into someone's home; he can expect a fairly relaxed and informal atmosphere, and sending or bringing a bunch of flowers or a bottle of wine for the hosts will be appreciated.
A greater cultural challenge for the visitor is accepting an invitation to one of the innumerable summer dwellings that dot the seashores and lakeshores of Finland. One in four Finns owns a summer cabin, and for many, it is regarded as a second home. Sociologists like to explain that the summer dwelling is a tie that Finns maintain to their rural past; and it is true that many Finns transform into surprisingly competent fishermen, gardeners, farmers, carpenters or foresters when they withdraw to their summer homes.
A guest is not expected to take part in this role-play, at least not actively. On the other hand, he is expected to submit without complaint to the sometimes primitive conditions at the summer residence, since not all of them have electricity, running water, a flushing toilet or other urban amenities Many families consider that even a TV set is incompatible with genuine summer cabin life.
A guest is expected to dress casually but practically when going to a summer cabin. The hosts will have rubber boots, raincoats and windcheaters that are worn as the weather dictates or when going fishing, picking mushrooms or walking in the forest. An experienced guest understands that under these conditions the hosts, particularly the hostess, have to go to a lot of trouble to give the guest an enjoyable stay. Help with routine chores is greatly appreciated: peeling the potatoes or the onions is a job the guest can safely offer to undertake.
The best reward for the hosts is that guests enjoy themselves, rain or shine. As for correctness, it would be polite for a guest to raise the question of departure at breakfast time on the third day, and only agree to stay longer if the hosts protest with particular conviction.
Time and the seasons
Although seasons occur everywhere, in Finland they mark the progress of the year with striking conspicuousness. Extending far beyond the Arctic Circle, Finland enjoys such extremes of temperature and daylight that it would not be too far-fetched to say that there are two cultures in Finland: one dominated by the almost perpetual daylight of the summer sun and surprisingly high temperatures, and the other characterized by mercilessly cold winters and Arctic gloom that only briefly gives way to twilight during the day.
Even though summer comes every year, it is considered so important that virtually the entire country 'shuts down' for the five or six weeks that follow Midsummer, which falls in late June. After Midsummer, Finns move en masse to their vacation homes in the countryside and those who do not spend their time out of doors, in street cafés and bars, in parks and on beaches, being social and feeling positive. Business and personal correspondence may be temporarily shelved, e-mails cheerfully return 'out of the office' notifications for a month or more, and conversations between acquaintances revolve more around how the fish are biting or how the garden is doing than around important issues of international politics or the economy. It is easy for a visitor to observe that in summer Finns are especially proud and happy to be Finns and to live in Finland, and encouraging these feelings is welcome.
With the advent of winter, Finns close down their summer dwellings, store their boats in dry dock, put snow tyres on their cars, stash their golf gear in the basement and check their skis. Whereas the rural ancestors of today's Finns whiled away the long winter days in making and repairing tools for summer, their descendants labour in offices to make their country an increasingly efficient and modern high-tech marvel.
Finns are punctual people and, in one sense, prisoners of time. As is the case elsewhere in the world, those holding the most demanding jobs have tight daily schedules; missing appointments can cause anguish. Agreed meeting times are scrupulously observed, to the minute if at all possible, and being over 15 minutes late is considered impolite and requires a brief apology or an explanation. Concerts, theatre performances and other public functions begin on time, and delays in domestic rail and bus traffic are rare.
In general, busy lifestyles have come to stay and a diary full of meetings and negotiations is a matter of pride and a status symbol in Finland rather than a demonstration of poor scheduling. In such an environment, the time allocated for the entertaining of guests is one of the most important indicators of the value attached to the occasion. When a Finn stops glancing at his watch and suggests something more to eat or drink, or even a sauna, the visitor can rest assured that a lasting business relationship, or friendship, is on the cards.
Finns like celebrations and Finland's calendar of official festivals is not very different from that of other European countries. One major difference is that the Protestant Lutheran calendar does not accommodate all the feast days of Catholic tradition. Visitors may find it strange that Finns have calm and serious festivities on occasions that would be boisterous and joyful in continental Europe.
Christmas, and Christmas Eve in particular, is very much a family festival in Finland, usually spent at home or with relatives. Customs include lighting candles by the graves of deceased family members. Finns wish each other 'Merry Christmas', but equally often they say 'Peaceful Christmas'. Christmas Day is generally a quiet day and Christmastide social life does not restart until Boxing Day.
December 6 is Independence Day, an occasion marked with solemn ceremonial observances. It is a day for remembering those who fell in the wars to protect Finland's independence, which was achieved in1917. In the evening, the President of the Republic hosts a reception for some 2,000 guests – including the diplomatic corps accredited to Finland – and watching this reception on TV has evolved into a favourite pastime for the entire nation.
In wintertime, Shrove Tuesday is just about the only festive occasion where public merrymaking can be observed, though even this is not even a pale reflection of the carnivals held in more southerly lands. Logically enough, the most flamboyant annual parties in Finland occur at a warmer time of year. May Day, internationally a festival day for workers and students, can with justification be described as a northern version of Mardi Gras, and Midsummer – the 'night of no night' – is an occasion for uninhibited rejoicing, as for most Finns it marks the beginning of summer holidays and a move to the summer dwelling in the countryside.
The sauna
A nation of five million people with 1.5 million saunas has no need to acquire a formal sauna education – learning to bathe in the sauna comes as naturally as learning to speak. Visitors would do well to have their first encounter with the sauna in the company of a Finnish friend or acquaintance, rather than following a mechanical set of instructions that reduces sauna bathing to a drill by numbers.
In Finland, both men and women bathe in the sauna, but never together except within the family. There are no mixed public saunas in Finland. A visitor hesitant about having a sauna should remember that if it has been heated specially for him or her, it is a matter of pride for the hosts, and only medical constraints are an acceptable reason for not trying it.
Having a sauna is something natural to all Finns, yet people do have their own ways of bathing in the sauna. But Finn would never say to another that he is 'doing it wrong'. It is a matter of preference. This is a good principle to follow for the visitor too: listen to your own body and follow your own rhythm in moving between the hot room, the washing room and the open air, perhaps including the lake or the sea. It is helpful to follow what others are doing, but avoid extremes: some Finns feel the need to demonstrate their tenacity by sitting in a scalding hot sauna for inordinately long periods. In such a situation, a wise visitor will quietly slip out to consume some liquid and enjoy the scenery. On the other hand, it can be equally rewarding to surrender to unknown rituals with an open mind. The feeling of being slapped on the skin with a bundle of soft birch leaves in the heat of the steam room can be a pleasant therapeutic experience.
The sauna is no place for anyone in a hurry. When the bathing is over, it is customary to continue the occasion with conversation, drinks and perhaps a light meal. A guest's comments on the sauna experience will be listened to with interest, After all, this is a subject that Finns never tire of talking about.
By professor Olli Alho, November 2002, updated March 2010
Illustrations by Mika Launis


text:
Perpetual Starlight
The Website of David A. Reitzes
Come and set a spell.
Read articles, fiction, plays,
and assorted other musings.
Music by David and Peter Reitzes
Jazz Best of the Best
JFK Assassination
CD-R Music Trading
Meet the family
Support this site!
Search this site
powered by
E-mail me


text:
Today, the United States is taking action to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions with respect to Iran that were lifted in connection with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of July 14, 2015 (the "JCPOA"). These actions include reimposing sanctions on Iran's automotive sector and on its trade in gold and precious metals, as well as sanctions related to the Iranian rial. These measures will take effect on August 7, 2018.
All remaining United States nuclear-related sanctions will resume effective November 5, 2018. These include sanctions targeting Iran's energy sector, including petroleum-related transactions, as well as transactions by foreign financial institutions with the Central Bank of Iran.
The United States is fully committed to enforcing all of our sanctions, and we will work closely with nations conducting business with Iran to ensure complete compliance. Individuals or entities that fail to wind down activities with Iran risk severe consequences.
I am pleased that many international firms have already announced their intent to leave the Iranian market, and several countries have indicated that they will reduce or end imports of Iranian crude oil. We urge all nations to take such steps to make clear that the Iranian regime faces a choice: either change its threatening, destabilizing behavior and reintegrate with the global economy, or continue down a path of economic isolation.
My actions today – including my signing of an Executive Order entitled "Reimposing Certain Sanctions with Respect to Iran" – are consistent with National Security Presidential Memorandum-11 of May 8, 2018, announcing the withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA.
The JCPOA, a horrible, one-sided deal, failed to achieve the fundamental objective of blocking all paths to an Iranian nuclear bomb, and it threw a lifeline of cash to a murderous dictatorship that has continued to spread bloodshed, violence, and chaos.
Since the deal was reached, Iran's aggression has only increased. The regime has used the windfall of newly accessible funds it received under the JCPOA to build nuclear-capable missiles, fund terrorism, and fuel conflict across the Middle East and beyond.
To this day, Iran threatens the United States and our allies, undermines the international financial system, and supports terrorism and militant proxies around the world.
By exiting the JCPOA, the United States is able to protect its national security by applying maximum economic pressure on the Iranian regime. To date, my Administration has issued 17 rounds of Iran-related sanctions, designating 145 companies and individuals. Since my announcement on May 8 withdrawing the United States from the JCPOA, my Administration has sanctioned 38 Iran-related targets in six separate actions. Reimposition of nuclear-related sanctions through today's actions further intensifies pressure on Tehran to change its conduct.
As we continue applying maximum economic pressure on the Iranian regime, I remain open to reaching a more comprehensive deal that addresses the full range of the regime's malign activities, including its ballistic missile program and its support for terrorism. The United States welcomes the partnership of likeminded nations in these efforts.
The United States continues to stand with the long-suffering Iranian people, who are the rightful heirs to Iran's rich heritage and the real victims of the regime's policies. We look forward to the day when the people of Iran, and all people across the region, can prosper together in safety and peace.


text: This background wallpaper is free for personal and non-profit use in exchange for a link back to this site. Download any images you wish to use. If you use them, it is assumed you have read and agreed to terms of service. If you are a business or commercial web site you MUST purchase a license.This wallpaper is copyright © 1998-2002 by Castleberryarts.com. These graphics may not be included in any other collection or archive.


text:
Friday Fun Facts - 4/13/2012
Here are this week's Friday Fun Facts about Diana Gabaldon's books.
1) Lord John and Percy viewed this 17th-century portrait of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, at an art exhibit in BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE. I think this scene is much more effective if you read it with this picture in front of you.
"Look at that," [Lord John] said, nudging Percy.
It was the famous Larkin portrait of George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham. The duke, slender as a sylph in white silk hose, and bejeweled like a dagger hilt, gave them back a grin of slightly frenetic gaiety, below a pair of knowing eyes.
After a long moment, Percy turned to him, with a nod at the portrait.
"What do you think?"
"No doubt about it, I should say."
They looked at the portrait together, standing quite close; he could feel the warmth of Percy's arm brushing his.
"Odd, how it shows on some men, but others--" Percy shook his head, then glanced at Grey with a smile. "Not you, John."
"Nor you."
(From LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 19 ("Pictures at an Exhibition"). Copyright© 2007 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
2) Baboons really do have red behinds. <g> This scene from VOYAGER always makes me laugh, but I didn't realize until this week, when I finally took the time to look it up, just how apt Claire's comparison was.
"A baboon," I said, enjoying the sight of his muscular back flexing as he scrubbed, "is a sort of very large monkey with a red behind."Here's an article explaining why baboons have red bottoms.
He snorted with laughter and choked on the willow twig. "Well," he said, removing it from his mouth, "I canna fault your observations, Sassenach." He grinned at me, showing brilliant white teeth, and tossed the twig aside. "It's been thirty years since anyone took a tawse to me," he added, pressing his hands tenderly over the still-glowing surfaces of his rear. "I'd forgot how much it stings."
(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 33, "Buried Treasure". Copyright© 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
3) Here's the Pitlochry Dam and Fish Ladder, mentioned in AN ECHO IN THE BONE. (Click on the photo for a bigger view.)
Brianna paused by the fish-viewing chamber. It wasn't yet the breeding season, when--she'd been told--the great salmon swarmed through the chutes of the fish ladder that allowed them to climb the dam at Pitlochry, but now and then a silvery flash shot into view with heart-stopping suddenness, fighting strongly against the current for a moment before shooting up into the tube that led to the next stage of the ladder. The chamber itself was a small white housing let into the side of the fish ladder, with an algae-clouded window. She'd paused there to gather her thoughts--or, rather, to suppress some of them--before going in to the dam.
(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 46, "Ley Lines". Copyright© 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
4) It seems to me that it would be awfully difficult for someone from our own time to survive on their own in the wilderness of the 18th century, foraging for food in the woods and so on.
Fortunately for Otter-Tooth--if it was indeed he--he had been familiar with a number of edible plants, and seemed extremely pleased with himself for recognizing pawpaw and persimmon.I have to say, I sympathize with Otter-Tooth's predicament here, and I think Claire's being rather hard on him. I don't suppose Robert Springer had ever seen the "exotic" fruits pictured above in his local supermarket! (I haven't either, for what it's worth. <g> Which is one reason I'm including the pawpaws and persimmons on this week's list.)
"Recognizing a persimmon is no great feat, for God's sake," I said. "They look like orange baseballs!"
"And they taste like the bottom of a chamber pot," Jamie added, he not caring at all for persimmons. "Still, he was hungry by that time, and if ye're hungry enough..."
(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 109, "The Voice of Time". Copyright© 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
5) White phosphorus (pictured above) was used to make matches, starting in 1831, but it was so toxic that its use was banned by many countries by the end of the 19th century. Here's a fascinating video showing what it can do. (The video is a little long, but the interesting part is in the first 4 minutes.)
It definitely doesn't seem like the sort of thing that's safe to keep in a small cabin with an inquisitive toddler! I love Roger's reactions in this scene:
"And you intend to do...what with it?" he asked, trying to keep any note of foreboding from his voice. He had the vaguest memories of hearing about the properties of phosphorus in his distant school days; he thought either it made you glow in the dark or it blew up. Neither prospect was reassuring.I hope you enjoyed these Friday Fun Facts! Look here to see all of my Friday Fun Facts blog posts. And please stop by next week for more!
"Wellll...make matches. Maybe." Her upper teeth fastened momentarily in the flesh of her lower lip as she considered the jar. "I know how--in theory. But it might be a little tricky in practice."
"Why is that?" he asked warily.
"Well, it bursts into flame if you expose it to air," she explained. "That's why it's packed in water. Don't touch, Jem! It's poisonous." Grabbing Jemmy round the middle, she pulled him down from the table, where he had been eyeing the jar with greedy curiosity.
"Oh, well, why worry about that? It will explode in his face before he has a chance to get it in his mouth." Roger picked up the jar for safekeeping, holding it as though it might go off in his hands. He wanted to ask whether she were insane, but had been married long enough to know the price of injudicious rhetorical questions.
(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 12, "Further Mysteries of Science". Copyright© 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
UPDATE 4/13/2012 4:32 pm: I was delighted to see the following comment by Diana Gabaldon on Facebook:
"Karen-- You're kidding; you never saw baboons at the zoo? <g> Congratulations on another entertaining week--I'm _very_ impressed at you digging up not only the Duke of Buckingham, but also Pitlochry dam!"


text:
BitScope Blogs |
Raspberry Pi Applications built with BitScope Blade.BitScope Blade Reloaded is our computing infrastructure platform for Raspberry Pi. It is available in three editions; Uno, Duo and Quattro which power and mount one, two or four Raspberry Pi and support the use of Raspberry Pi and BitScope accessories including HATs, displays, cameras and other devices. Blades may be used stand-alone or combined to build large computing platforms. In this post we'll focus on some stand-alone examples. What does Blade do ?BitScope Blade solves the "power and mounting problem" using Raspberry Pi. A common problem when using single board computers like Raspberry Pi is how to power it reliably. The other common issue is how to mount it robustly. These problems become more challenging when peripherals and expansion hardware such as HATs and USB are used. BitScope Blade solves these problems making it easy to build small stand-alone servers, routers and workstations up to full sized compute clusters, private clouds, industrial IoT, edge and fog computing platforms, industrial data acquisition and control systems. HATs and almost any other peripheral compatible with Raspberry Pi may be used with BitScope Blade. Blade Uno, the ideal "motherboard" for Raspberry Pi & HATThe simplest Blade application is a motherboard for Raspberry Pi, a HAT and optionally one or more USB devices. For example, this BitScope Blade Uno↗ is configured with Raspberry Pi, Pimoroni Explorer HAT↗ and BitScope Micro↗ to build a complete self-contained mixed signal test and measurement system. Blade Uno provides power and mounts the Raspberry Pi, the HAT and BitScope. It accepts any source of power from 9V to 48V (so long as it's 10W or more) with power connected via the 2.1mm socket or via the Blade tabs. Additional accessories such as Raspberry Pi Display and one HUB Expansion Card or other SPI, I2C Serial or GPIO connected devices can also be used. The entire assembly can be mounted via the Blade's M3 mounting tabs or simply sat on a flat surface using the stand-offs. The Raspberry Pi network port is available for network connections and/or a monitor (via HDMI), keyboard and mouse (via USB) and audio (via the 3.5mm). Full access to all the Raspberry Pi I/O is avaiable via the Explorer HAT. A "hat tip" to Pimoroni for an exceptionally handy HAT! We use this setup to help teach new users about logic protocols with BitScope Logic and BitScope Micro :) Blade Duo, the ideal platform for tiny redundant "micro-servers".For example, this Blade Duo mounts a pair of Raspberry Pi 3 and WDLabs' PiDrive↗ mounted on the back. The PiDrive is perfect for this (see our earlier post about building servers with Raspberry Pi). The PiDrive is powered via a Raspberry Pi and Blade Duo ensures there is plenty of power to drive it. Blade Duo has the same HUB Expansion and I/O as Blade Uno and it offers auxiliary power connectors for external devices underneath each Raspberry Pi. Using the Raspberry Pi 3 built-in WiFi the pair of Raspberry Pi can be networked to each other and/or a connected network switch or WiFi access point to configure them as a pair of servers or a router and server pair. The range of applications is huge, essentially anything you can think of using a pair of Raspberry Pi, e.g. UTM gateways, WiFi access points, VPN IPSec routers etc. We'll post more about this soon. Blade Quattro, the industrial cluster platform for Raspberry PiA more sophisticated application for BitScope Blade, using Quattro, is a four node compute cluster. Blade Quattro extends Blade Duo to power and mount up to four Raspberry Pi. Compute cluster applications such as a small private clouds, a build or render farms, web CMS any many other multi- node applications compatible with Raspberry Pi can be used. Multiple Blades (of any edition) can be used to build very large compute clusters and a range of rack mount solutions are available to enable to physical construction, commissioning and deployment of large cluster computing systems of up to hundreds of nodes. For an excellent example of a small cluster built with Blade Quattro, check out Andy Clark's recent series in element14 about his Render Farm↗. In future posts we'll describe cluster computing examples ranging from 2 nodes to 200 that can be built with BitScope Blade Quattro, Duo and Uno. We'll also publish details of some software solutions such as Docker and explain some of our own tools designed to make Raspberry Pi programming and cluster management with Blade easy. We designed BitScope Blade to unlock the huge potential of Raspberry Pi for use in industrial applications. Nothing beats Raspberry Pi on price/performance, availability and viable software solutions. We look forward to seeing what applications you decide to build with Blade! Visit BitScope in element14 Community for more. GF10G Related Posts |
Copyright © 2023 BitScope Designs


text:
Looking for a real sports car? Then you have to have a closer look at the Merceds-AMG GT S. The AMG GT S is powered by a 4 liter V8 Biturbo engine that delivers 510 hp and when driving fast the AMG GT S feels like glued on the road.
I took this AMG sports car for a drive on a German Autobahn to reach the top speed of 310 km/h. If you want to see how it feels to drive really fast please take a seat and fasten your seat belts. Let us enjoy the AMG GT S on the unlimited A92 in Bavaria during this 360 degree test drive at full speed. Source: http://360-testdrive.com
Top Speeds:
03:50 min – 250 km/h
04:01 min – 270 km/h
04:28 min – 270 km/h
05:59 min – 250 km/h
09:09 min – 250 km/h
10:17 min – 295 km/h
13:22 min – 250 km/h


text:
Recycling: You May Be Doing It Wrong
As more things are able to be recycled, the world of recycling grows ever more complicated
Recycling technology has improved a lot over the last decade, which in a way has made the logistics of what you can and can't toss in the recycling bin a lot more confusing.
"All garbage goes somewhere; it does not go away. So we must all take more responsibility to sort our discards into the proper bins," says Robert Reed, a spokesperson for Recology. Recology runs recycling collection programs along the west coast including San Francisco's highly successful program, which recycles about 80 percent of the city's waste.
Doing a bit of research before you try to recycle can make all the difference. Recycling rules of course vary from one municipality to another, but here are a few ways to improve your recycling routine.
Don't put your recyclables in a plastic bag.
It's not that we don't have the technology to recycle plastic bags. They just cause a lot of issues in the recycling process. Though the type of plastic (#2 and #4) that's used to make plastic bags is recyclable, throwing them in with the rest of your recycling has ramifications down the line. "Plastic bags cause problems in all of our operations," says Reed. "They wrap around and jam recycling equipment. They contaminate paper bales. They cause problems at our compost facilities. They blow off of landfills and wind up in waterways and oceans and seas."
If you accumulate a lot of plastic bags, your best options might be recycling programs that focus exclusively on them. Many grocery stores collect plastic bags, and some city recycling programs offer plastic bag pick-up or drop-off programs. In some cases, recycling programs may ask users to put items like packing chips or shredded paper in plastic bags.
You can now recycle plastic bottle caps.
Traditionally, plastic bottles with caps on caused problems at recycling sorting facilities. Bottles are made from a #1 plastic plastic, while caps are made from a #5 plastic called polypropylene, which melts at a different temperature during the recycling process and would need to be processed separately. Also, a tightly screwed on cap can stop up a bottle full of air, which takes up more transport space. Caps can even be a hazard to workers: they can shoot off unexpectedly during compression.
But times have changed. Processing equipment has improved—the projectile cap is no longer an issue, and caps and bottles are divided into separate streams in sorting facilities. In some cases, tossing bottles and caps into a bin separately is worse. If an unscrewed cap slips through the mechanical sorting line, it will also likely end up with trash headed for a landfill. They're also hard for sorters to spot separately.
You probably still can't recycle styrofoam.
Styrofoam or expanded polystyrene is made of plastic #6. The general rule is the higher the number of plastic, the harder it is to recycle. Yet recycling companies have gotten pretty good at handling higher numbered plastics (you can even throw #12 shampoo bottles in the recycling bin these days). However, just because plastic #6 is recyclable doesn't mean that your local recycling center accepts expanded polystyrene. In fact, it probably doesn't.
Expanded polystyrene easily gets contaminated—whether from food or from the dirt and grime it might interact with during transport. Most recycling facilities don't deep clean materials, and styrofoam can absorb a lot of dirt. There's also less of a market for styrofoam than other recyclables.
Styrene is petroleum product, meaning it's flammable and hard to break down. That makes the recycling process more complicated, but not impossible. According to the Expanded Polystyrene Industry Alliance 93 million pounds of styrofoam were recycled in 2012. Some communities have special expanded polystyrene drop off centers, and commercial companies have adopted special programs to recycle their styrofoam.
The styrofoam that does end up in a landfill takes 500 years to break down, so doing your best to reuse packing chips and styrofoam items—or even better, using degradable packing peanuts made out of milk and clay or plant material—would be best for the environment.
Shredded paper is recyclable. However…
Shredding paper reduces the grade of the paper, and thus its quality and value. The grade depends on the length of the fiber, and recycling facilities separate paper into bales based on grades. Shredding paper turns it from high grade (letterhead and printer paper) to mixed grade, which includes telephone books and magazines.
Not all recyclers take mixed grade paper, and most curbside pick up programs determine what they can and can't take based on the length of the shreds. Some recycling companies will only take long shreds; others won't accept shreds at all. Many collectors ask that you contain the shreds in plastic bags, so if your curbside collection service doesn't take plastic bags, they probably don't take shredded paper. If the paper has been reduced to confetti, your best bet might be composting.
You couldn't recycle a pizza box even if you wanted to.
Though they often display recycling symbols and cardboard itself is recyclable, pizza boxes are often not accepted in local pick-up programs. Why? It all comes down to the grease. The food and grease that accumulates on the box makes the paper product unrecyclable—that is unless you can remove the pizza remnants from the box. With grease, that's pretty much impossible.
This problem isn't unique to pizza boxes, though. Most food containers run into a similar issue, whether it's a smoothie bottle or a take-out carrier. Recycled items don't have to be pristinely clean, and food residue can render recycled materials less valuable. More than metal or plastic, paper absorbs oil and residue from food, so it's harder to get out. Beyond pizza boxes, paper napkins, plates, and towels are all non-recyclable for this reason.
Just because you can't recycle them, doesn't mean you can't compost them. Paper napkins and towels can go in the compost bin. "Soiled paper contains short fibers, which microorganisms in compost love, and soiled paper absorbs moisture in compost collection bins, which helps control odor," says Reed.
Most juice boxes and milk cartons aren't recyclable.
These containers are mostly paper, but they have an ultra-thin plastic coating low-density polyethylene or LPDE (a #4 plastic). Some juice boxes also include an aluminum foil lining. Though these items are individually recyclable, it can be quite hard to separate these linings from the carton, hence why many curbside recycling programs don't accept juice boxes. Some facilities have "hydro-pulping" machines that can achieve this separation seamlessly, but others don't.
Will recycling always be this complicated? Perhaps not: Some cities such as Houston are considering plans in which residents use an all-in-one bin—they would dump garbage, recyclables and compost in one container, and the container's contents would be sorted automatically at a waste facility. Houston is currently examining proposals for technology that could accomplish this without increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
But until such automated technologies are developed, the above points will remain general rules of thumb. Before trucking it all the way to the dump or your local recycling plant, always look up your local regulations. It'll save you the trouble, and the gas.


text:
Hugo Chavez
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN, 18 Mar 2013
Paul Craig Roberts – TRANSCEND Media Service
On March 5, 2013, Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela and world leader against imperialism, died. Washington imperialists and their media and think tank whores expressed gleeful sighs of relief as did the brainwashed US population. An "enemy of America" was gone.
Chavez was not an enemy of America. He was an enemy of Washington's hegemony over other countries, an enemy of Washington's alliance with elite ruling cliques who steal from the people they grind down and deny sustenance. He was an enemy of Washington's injustice, of Washington's foreign policy based on lies and military aggression, bombs and invasions.
Washington is not America. Washington is Satan's home town.
Chavez was a friend of truth and justice, and this made him unpopular throughout the Western World where every political leader regards truth and justice as dire threats.
Chavez was a world leader. Unlike US politicians, Chavez was respected throughout the non-western world. He was awarded honorary doctorates from China, Russia, Brazil, and other countries, but not from Harvard, Yale, Cambridge, and Oxford.
Chavez was a miracle. He was a miracle, because he did not sell out to the United States and the Venezuelan elites. Had he sold out, Chavez would have become very rich from oil revenues, like the Saudi Royal Family, and he would have been honored by the United States in the way that Washington honors all its puppets: with visits to the White House. He could have become a dictator for life as long as he served Washington.
Each of Washington's puppets, from Asia to Europe and the Middle East, anxiously awaits the invitation that demonstrates Washington's appreciation of his or her servitude to the global imperialist power that still occupies Japan and Germany 68 years after World War II and South Korea 60 years after the end of the Korean War and has placed troops and military bases in a large number of other "sovereign" countries.
It would have been politically easy for Chavez to sell out. All he had to do was to continue populist rhetoric, promote his allies in the army, throw more benefits to the underclass than its members had ever previously experienced, and divide the rest of the oil revenues with the corrupt Venezuelan elites.
But Chavez was a real person, like Rafael Correa, the three-term elected president of Ecuador, who stood up to the United States and granted political asylum to the persecuted Julian Assange, and Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia since the Spanish conquest. The majority of Venezuelans understood that Chavez was a real person. They elected him to four terms as president and would have continued electing him as long as he lived. What Washington hates most is a real person who cannot be bought.
The more the corrupt western politicians and media whores demonized Chavez, the more Venezuelans loved him. They understood completely that anyone damned by Washington was God's gift to the world.
It is costly to stand up to Washington. All who are bold enough to do so are demonized. They risk assassination and being overthrown in a CIA-organized coup, as Chavez was in 2002. When CIA-instructed Venezuelan elites sprung their coup and kidnapped Chavez, the coup was overthrown by the Venezuelan people who took to the streets and by elements of the military before Chavez could be murdered by the CIA-controlled Venezuelan elites, who escaped with their own venal lives only because, unlike them, Chavez was humanitarian. The Venezuelan people rose in instantaneous and massive public defense of Chavez and put the lie to the Bush White House claim that Chavez was a dictator.
Showing its sordid corruption, the New York Times took the side of the undemocratic coup by a handful of elitists against the democratically elected Chavez, and declared that Chavez's removal by a small group of rich elites and CIA operatives meant that "Venezuelan democracy is no longer threatened by a would-be dictator."
The lies and demonization continue with Chavez's death. He will never be forgiven for standing up for justice. Neither will Correa and Morales, both of whom are no doubt on assassination lists.
CounterPunch, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, and other commentators have collected examples of the venom-spewing obituaries that the western presstitutes have written for Chavez, essentially celebrations that death has silenced the bravest voice on earth. http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/03/08/obituaries-for-hugo-chavez/
Perhaps the most absurd of all was Associated Press business reporter Pamela Sampson's judgment that Chavez wasted Venezuela's oil wealth on "social programs including state-run food markets, cash benefits for poor families, free health clinics and education programs," a poor use of money that could have been used to build sky scrappers such as "the world's tallest building in Dubai and branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums in Abu Dhabi."
Among the tens of millions of Washington's victims in the world–the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Mali, with Iran, Russia, China, and South America waiting in the wings for sanctions, destabilization, conquest or reconquest, Chavez's September 20, 2006 speech at the UN General Assembly during the George W. Bush regime will stand forever as the greatest speech of the early 21st century.
Chavez beards the lion, or rather Satan, in his own den:
"Yesterday, the devil himself stood right here, at this podium, speaking as if he owned the world. You can still smell the sulfur."
"We should call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world. An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: 'the Devil's Recipe.'"
The UN General Assembly had never heard such words, not even in the days when the militarily powerful Soviet Union was present. Faces broke out in smiles of approval, but no one dared to clap. Too much US money for the home country was at stake.
The US and UK delegations fled the scene, like vampires confronted with garlic and the Cross or werewolves confronted with silver bullets.
Chavez spoke about the false democracy of elites that is imposed by force and on others by "weapons and bombs." Chavez asked, "What type of democracy do you impose with Marines and bombs?"
Wherever George W. Bush looks, Chavez said, "he sees extremists. And you, my brother–he looks at your color, and he says, oh, there's an extremist. Evo Morales, the worthy president of Bolivia, looks like an extremist to him. The imperialists see extremists everywhere. It is not that we are extremists. It is that the world is waking up. It is waking up all over and people are standing up."
In two short sentences totaling 20 words, Chavez defined for all times early 21st century Washington: "The imperium is afraid of truth, is afraid of independent voices. It calls us extremists, but they are the extremists."
Throughout South America and the non-western world, Chavez's death is being blamed on Washington. South Americans are aware of the US congressional hearings in the 1970s when the Church Committee brought to light the various CIA schemes to poison Fidel Castro.
The official document presented to President John F. Kennedy by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, known as the Northwoods Project, is known to the world and is available online. The Northwoods project consisted of a false flag attack on American citizens in order to blame Cuba and create public and world acceptance for US-imposed regime change in Cuba. President Kennedy rejected the proposal as inconsistent with morality and accountable government. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods
The belief has already hardened in South America that Washington with its hideous technologies of death infected Chavez with cancer in order to remove him as an obstacle to Washington's hegemony over South America.
This belief will never die: Chavez, the greatest South American since Simon Bolivar, was murdered by Washington. True or false, the belief is set in stone. As Washington and globalism destroy more countries, the lives of elites become more precarious.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood that security for the rich required economic security for the underclasses. Roosevelt established in the US a weak form of social democracy that European politicians had already understood was necessary for social cohesion and political and economic stability.
The Clinton, Bush, and Obama regimes set about undermining the stability that Roosevelt provided, as Thatcher, Major, Blair, and the current prime minister of the UK undermined the social agreement between classes in the UK. Politicians in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also made the mistake of handing power over to private elites at the expense of social and economic stability.
Gerald Celente predicts that the elites will not survive the hatred and anger that they are bringing upon themselves. I suspect that he is correct. The American middle class is being destroyed. The working class has become a proletariat, and the social welfare system is being destroyed in order to reduce the budget deficit caused by the loss of tax revenues to jobs offshoring and the expense of wars, overseas military bases, and financial bailouts. The American people are being compelled to suffer in order that elites can continue with their agendas.
The US elites know what is coming. That is why they created a Nazi-style Ministry of the Interior known as Homeland Security, armed with enough ammunition to kill every American five times and with tanks to neutralize the Second Amendment rights of Americans. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34259.htm
Pistols and rifles are useless against tanks, as the Branch Davidians found out in Waco, Texas. The protection of a small handful of elites from the Americans they are oppressing is also the reason the police are being militarized, brought under Washington's control and armed with drones that can assassinate the real leaders of the American people who will be, not in the legislative, executive, or judicial chambers, but in the streets. http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-militarization-of-law-enforcement-in-america-use-of-military-technology-and-tactics-by-local-level-police/5326303
Internment camps in the US appear to be real and not a conspiracy theory. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfkZ1yri26s
The threat that the US government poses to its own citizens was recognized on March 7, 2013, by two US Senators, Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY), who introduced a bill to prevent the US government from murdering its own citizens: "The Federal Government may not use a drone to kill a citizen of the United States who is located in the United States" unless the person "poses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to another individual. Nothing in this section shall be construed to suggest that the Constitution would otherwise allow the killing of a citizen of the United States in the United States without due process of law." http://www.cruz.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=339952
The "indispensable people" with their presidents Bush and Obama have begun the 21st century with death and violence. That is their only legacy.
The death and violence that Washington has unleashed will come back to Washington and to the corrupt political elites everywhere. As Gerald Celente says, the first great war of the 21st century has begun.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. His latest book, The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West is now available.
Go to Original – paulcraigroberts.org
DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. "GO TO ORIGINAL" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "GO TO ORIGINAL" links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Read more
Click here to go to the current weekly digest or pick another article: