text:
Updated February 3, 2022 at 12:01 PM ET
President Biden said Thursday that ISIS leader Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi blew himself up as U.S. special forces conducted a pre-dawn raid against him in northern Syria — and that all Americans returned safely from the operation.
"Thanks to the bravery of our troops this horrible terrorist leader is no more," Biden said in remarks at the White House.
"Last night operating on my orders, United States military forces successfully removed a major terrorist threat to the world," Biden said.
The president said that al-Qurayshi was responsible for the recent attack on a prison in Syria holding ISIS fighters and called him the "driving force" behind the genocide of the Yazidis in northern Iraq.
A senior administration official who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity said that al-Qurayshi "detonated a blast, a significant blast killing himself and several others, including his wife and children. This is the same terrorist tactic of his predecessor," Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the official said, "taking his own life and his own family rather than face justice or stand and fight on his own."
"Both these terrorist leaders murdered their own families," the official said. "In this case, the blast was so large on the third floor that it blew bodies outside of the house and into the surrounding areas."
The official said that all casualties "at the site were due to the acts of ISIS terrorists."
Biden was briefed on the operation more than a month ago when it was determined that al-Qurayshi was living at the site, and again this week. He gave the go ahead on Tuesday morning, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley in the Oval Office. Biden and Vice President Harris monitored the two-hour operation in real time in the situation room. It ran according to plan, like "clockwork," an official said.
An ISIS lieutenant living on the second floor of the building and his wife were also killed as they engaged with U.S. forces, officials said, and that eight children "were removed from the site safely."
Toward the end of the operation, there was hostile engagement between a U.S. helicopter and local forces, a group with al-Qaida connections. At least two of those combatants were killed.
Earlier Thursday, the Pentagon, in a statement, said it carried out a counterterrorism mission in northwest Syria. U.S. officials confirmed to NPR that a helicopter had problems on the ground and had to be blown up in place.
The Syria Civil Defence, the rescue organization known as the White Helmets, tells NPR that 13 civilians died in bombings and clashes, including six children. The group said it received initial word of an airborne raid shortly after midnight, and clashes and bombings continued after the initial air raid. They lasted until 3:07 a.m., "when helicopters exited the scene."
The attack targeted a two-story building in the town of Atmeh near the Turkey-Syria border.
The Associated Press reportsthis was the largest strike in Idlib since the 2019 strikethat killed al-Baghdadi, which also killedcivilians. Residents in Atmeh told the AP they witnessed a large ground assault and that American forces used loudspeakers warning women and children to flee.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a statement thanked "the incredible work of our brave military service members, who work day and night to keep Americans safe. So many have suffered at the brutal hand of ISIS." He said senators would receive a classified briefing on the operation later Thursday with Austin and other senior administration officials.
In a statement issued Thursday, Austin noted the operation was designed and conducted to minimize civilian casualties. "We know that al-Qurayshi and others at his compound directly caused the deaths of women and children last night. But, given the complexity of this mission, we will take a look at the possibility our actions may also have resulted in harm to innocent people," Austin said.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Halliburton Energy Services has agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence in connection with the 2010 Gulf oil spill, the Department of Justice said Thursday.
Federal officials said in a news release that a criminal information charging Halliburton with one count of destruction of evidence was filed in federal court in Louisiana.
Halliburton has agreed to pay the maximum fine, be on probation for three years and continue to cooperate with the government's criminal investigation, according to the news release, which did not list the amount of the fine.
The Houston-based company has also made a $55 million voluntary contribution to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. It was not a condition of the court agreement, the news release says.
The company said in a statement Thursday night that it had agreed to plead guilty "to one misdemeanor violation associated with the deletion of records created after the Macondo well incident, to pay the statutory maximum fine of $200,000 and to accept a term of three years probation."
The Justice Department has agreed it will not pursue further criminal prosecution of the company or its subsidiaries for any conduct arising from the 2010 spill, Halliburton's statement said, adding that federal officials have also "acknowledged the company's significant and valuable cooperation during the course of its investigation."
The plea agreement is subject to court approval, the company said.
Halliburton was BP's cement contractor on the drilling rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The blowout triggered an explosion that killed 11 workers and spilled millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf.
According to the news release, Halliburton conducted its own review of the well's design and construction after the blowout, and established a working group to review "whether the number of centralizers used on the final production casing could have contributed to the blowout."
The casing is a steel pipe placed in a well to maintain its integrity.
Centralizers are metal collars attached on the outside of the casing. Centralizers can help keep the casing centered in the wellbore.
"Centralization can be significant to the quality of subsequent cementing around the bottom of the casing," the news release said.
Prior to the blowout, Halliburton had recommended to BP the use of 21 centralizers in the well, but BP decided to use six instead, the news release says.
Around May 2010, the news release says, the company directed a program manager to conduct two computer simulations of the Macondo well final cementing job "to compare the impact of using six versus 21 centralizers."
The simulations indicated there was little difference between using six and 21 centralizers, but the program manager "was directed to, and did, destroy these results," federal officials say.
Similar evidence was destroyed in a subsequent incident, in June 2010, the Justice Department said.
"Efforts to forensically recover the original destroyed Displace 3D computer simulations during ensuing civil litigation and federal criminal investigation by the Deepwater Horizon Task Force were unsuccessful," the news release said. "In agreeing to plead guilty, Halliburton has accepted criminal responsibility for destroying the aforementioned evidence."
In December 2011, BP asked a judge to sanction Halliburton for its handling of cement testing and Displace 3D modeling results. Halliburton claimed that its modeling results were "gone" and couldn't be found, an explanation that BP attorneys said was "at a minimum, highly suspicious."
"Purposefully destroying evidence because it is deemed to contain potentially unfavorable information that could benefit a litigation adversary is, by definition, 'bad faith' conduct," they wrote in a court filing.
The plea agreement and criminal charge both arise from a criminal investigation by the Deepwater Horizon Task Force into the spill.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans recently presided over a trial in the matter and could decide how much more money BP, Halliburton and rig owner Transocean Ltd. owe for their roles in the catastrophe.
Halliburton and BP have blamed each other for the failure of the cement job to seal the Macondo well.
During the spring trial, BP asked a federal judge to sanction Halliburton for allegedly destroying evidence about the role that its cement slurry design could have played in the blowout.
After the trial started on Feb. 25, Halliburton discovered cement samples at a Lafayette laboratory that weren't turned over to the Justice Department for testing after the spill. Halliburton lawyers called it a "simple misunderstanding" and accused BP of trying to create a "sideshow."
Halliburton announced in April that it was trying to negotiate a settlement to resolve a substantial portion of private claims it has faced since the Deepwater Horizon rig blast spawned America's worst offshore oil spill.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I have had to remain quiet about the continuing efforts by Nigeria's military, police and investigators to find the girls kidnapped in April from the town of Chibok by the terrorist group Boko Haram. I am deeply concerned, however, that my silence as we work to accomplish the task at hand is being misused by partisan critics to suggest inaction or even weakness.
My silence has been necessary to avoid compromising the details of our investigation. But let me state this unequivocally: My government and our security and intelligence services have spared no resources, have not stopped and will not stop until the girls are returned home and the thugs who took them are brought to justice. On my orders, our forces have aggressively sought these killers in the forests of northern Borno state, where they are based. They are fully committed to defending the integrity of their country.
My heart aches for the missing children and their families. I am a parent myself, and I know how awfully this must hurt. Nothing is more important to me than finding and rescuing our girls.
Since 2010, thousands of people have been killed, injured, abducted or forced by Boko Haram, which seeks to overwhelm the country and impose its ideology on all Nigerians. My government is determined to make that impossible. We will not succumb to the will of terrorists.
The abduction of our children cannot be seen as an isolated event. Terrorism knows no borders. This month, Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Britain and the United States established an External Intelligence Response Unit to share security information on such threats in West Africa. I propose that we build on this step to establish an enduring, worldwide commitment to destroying terrorism and those who finance or give safe haven to the terrorists.
In September, I will urge the U.N. General Assembly to establish a U.N.-coordinated system for sharing intelligence and, if necessary, special forces and law enforcement to confront terrorism wherever it occurs.
In Nigeria, there are political, religious and ethnic cleavages to overcome if we are to defeat Boko Haram. We need greater understanding and outreach between Muslims and Christians. We also know that, as it seeks to recruit the gullible, Boko Haram exploits the economic disparities that remain a problem in our country. We are addressing these challenges through such steps as bringing stakeholders together and creating a safe schools initiative, a victims' support fund and a presidential economic recovery program for northeastern Nigeria. We are also committed to ridding our country of corruption and safeguarding human and civil rights and the rule of law.
Something positive can come out of the situation in Nigeria: most important, the return of the Chibok girls, but also new international cooperation to deny havens to terrorists and destroy their organizations wherever they are — whether in the forests of Nigeria, on the streets of New York or sanctuaries in Iraq or Pakistan. Those who value humanity , civilization and the innocence of children can do no less.


text:
pub trait FnOnce<Args>where
Args: Tuple,{
type Output;
// Required method
extern "rust-call" fn call_once(self, args: Args) -> Self::Output;
Expand description
The version of the call operator that takes a by-value receiver.
Instances of FnOnce
can be called, but might not be callable multiple
times. Because of this, if the only thing known about a type is that it
implements FnOnce
, it can only be called once.
is implemented automatically by closures that might consume captured
variables, as well as all types that implement FnMut
, e.g., (safe)
function pointers (since FnOnce
is a supertrait of FnMut
Since both Fn
and FnMut
are subtraits of FnOnce
, any instance of
or FnMut
can be used where a FnOnce
is expected.
Use FnOnce
as a bound when you want to accept a parameter of function-like
type and only need to call it once. If you need to call the parameter
repeatedly, use FnMut
as a bound; if you also need it to not mutate
state, use Fn
See the chapter on closures in The Rust Programming Language for some more information on this topic.
Also of note is the special syntax for Fn
traits (e.g.
Fn(usize, bool) -> usize
). Those interested in the technical details of
this can refer to the relevant section in the Rustonomicon.
§Using a FnOnce
fn consume_with_relish<F>(func: F)
where F: FnOnce() -> String
// `func` consumes its captured variables, so it cannot be run more
// than once.
println!("Consumed: {}", func());
// Attempting to invoke `func()` again will throw a `use of moved
// value` error for `func`.
let x = String::from("x");
let consume_and_return_x = move || x;
// `consume_and_return_x` can no longer be invoked at this point


text:
What is It?[edit]
pH is short for the Latin phrase pondus Hydrogenii or the 'weight of Hydrogen'.
(often incorrectly labelled the 'potential of Hydrogen' or the 'power of Hydrogen')
- Commonly said to be a measurement of how much acidic or alkaline water is.
pH is the measurement of the weight or amount of hydrogen (H+) and hydroxyl (HO¯) ions dissolved in water. It is the balance between the weight of these two types of ions which determine its pH value. In pure or distilled water these ions are in balance. H ions in a litre of pure water will weight 10-7 grams or 0.0000001 grams. So this figure is used to express the pH value.
However for ease of use it has been the convention of the chemistry profession not to write the whole number and to ignore the negative value and just write '7'.
In the natural world, pure water falling from the sky as rain water very quickly absorbs dust and other particles from the environment and so this unbalances the ratio of the two ions. The balance can either increase or reduced the ratio of Hydrogen to Hydroxyl. This unbalance is a very important chemistry measurement and is expressed in two terms.
Any time there is more HO ions present than H ions then the water is said to be alkaline.
For example, should the amount of H ions be reduced to say 10-8 grams, then the pH value is said to be 8.
Any time there is more H ions present than HO ions then the water is said to be acidic.
For example should the amount of H ions be increased to say 10-6 grams in a litre of water, then the pH value is said to be 6.
The pH of water is given a logarithmic scale from 1 to 14.
- A pH of 7 makes the water neutral. That is, it has either no ions in it or an equal amount of both types. Pure water (distilled or de-ionised) has no ions in it so it is considered neutral.
pH Disease[edit]
Water across the world varies enormously in its pH and aquatic animals adapt to live in water with its own pH. Most animals can adapt to different pH water if given enough time. But if exposed to a pH difference of, say, greater than 0.4 within a few hours, may suffer pH Shock and if severe can die.
- The rate at which animals can tolerate a pH shift varies greatly between species. But it is generally regarded that a rise of pH 0.4 or less within 2 hours is a safe rate for most animals.
pH and Breeding[edit]
Most aquatic animals need to be kept within their natural pH water in order to breed successfully.
One such popular tropical fish is the Neon Tetra. In the wild this fish lives in Amazon water with a low pH of about 5. But due to extensive captive breeding the animal has adapted to live in tap water with a pH around 7.2-8.
However animals keep their natural evolved internal body cells pH value regardless of the outside. So when the Neon tetra tries to breed it can't do so in water with a pH above 7. As soon as the eggs or sperm are released from the fish, the osmotic pressure between the high pH tank water and the water inside the cells of the sperm or eggs is too great and the eggs and sperm literally rupture and die. So breeders place this fish in low pH water in order to breed them.
pH in an aquarium[edit]
A typical pH for a freshwater aquarium is 6.5 to 8.0 depending on the tap water used. The pH of a marine aquarium is typically 7.9 to 8.5.
Measuring pH[edit]
pH is easy and cheap to measure with a test kit. There are lots of different brand water test kits to be found in aquarium shops. Generally liquid test kits are more accurate than test strips ones. For the serious aquarium owner there are electronic pH meters which give a constant accurate display on a meter.
- Beginners need to know the pH value of their tap water as this will determine the type of fish they can most easily raise (it is easier to match fish to local water than to adjust the tap water to match the fish). A telephone call to their local water supplier can supply this information or by asking their local fish shop.
pH over time[edit]
As your aquarium runs, the nitrifying bacteria in it produce hydrogen ions which slowly pull the water towards the acidic (depending on levels of KH) and consume carbonate, therefore lowering KH. If you also have bogwood or plants in the tank, these decay and produce humic acid which also slowly pulls it towards the acid. This is why you need to either do regular water changes with fresh water that has higher levels of KH than in your tank or add a substitute like bicarbonate of soda or add a substrate that naturally leaks out KH like coral sand or soil.
Old Tank Syndrome is often the name given to mature tanks that do not get their KH or pH levels monitored and perhaps do not get regular water changes and so eventually get to the point where the KH is used up and the pH crashes low leading to pH shock, the low pH causes the nitrifying bacteria to stop growing and and then high levels of free ammonia may accumulate.
- ph on Wikipedia
- pH in the aquarium by the OATA
- Water chemistry on The Krib
- Water ph
- What Is: pH: A Misunderstood Term by Timothy A. Hovanec, Ph.D (archived link May 2007)
- How Low Can You Go? Low ph and aquarium fishes by Randy Carey (archived link 2004)
- Tilapia are able to withstand long-term exposure to low environmental pH, judged by their energy status, ionic balance and plasma cortisol," by van Ginneken, van Eersel, Balm, Nieveen, Thillart, Journal of Fish Biology (1997) 51:795-806.


text: Ordering from your local @city_name florist guarantees that your special gift will be delivered on time and will be as fresh as possible. We offer a wide variety of flowers to choose from in shades of red, pink, and every color in between. In addition to beautiful flower bouquets, you can also treat them with gourmet chocolates, gifts, and more. If you know you want to send a gift, but aren't sure what to send, let us help! We can make suggestions and help you find the perfect gift.


text:
Limb-darkening with SAtlas
Grid of models providing intensity maps for spherically symmetric stars, showing the limb darkening effect. The models were computed with the SAtlas model stellar atmospheres for several spectral bands, from the visible to the near-infrared (BVRIHK, CoRot and Kepler). Data is provided for FGK dwarfs and red giants, for different combinations of effective temperatures, gravities, and masses. Once these parameters and the stellar angular size are defined, the outputs to the user are 1D profiles for the selected bands (ASCII, fits, and pdf figure) and the corresponding intensity maps if required.
The Limb-darkening with SAtlas service was created by A. Domiciano de Souza based on the model by H. R. Neilson and J. B. Lester.
The model is described in the following articles:
Spherically-symmetric model stellar atmospheres and limb darkening. I. Limb-darkening laws, gravity-darkening coefficients and angular diameter corrections for red giant stars
H. R. Neilson and J. B. Lester
DOI | ads -
Spherically symmetric model stellar atmospheres and limb darkening. II. Limb-darkening laws, gravity-darkening coefficients and angular diameter corrections for FGK dwarf stars
H. R. Neilson and J. B. Lester
DOI | ads
AMHRA's Limb-darkening with SAtlas service can be acknowledged by:
- Mentioning "This research has made use of the Jean-Marie Mariotti Center (JMMC) — MOIO AMHRA service at https://amhra.jmmc.fr/."
- And citing the two articles above.


text:
Chipotle is one of the handful of places I can eat out without any guilt. 100% of the pork carnitas they serve in their 870+ restaurants come from free-range pigs, like the ones Joel Salatin raises. Over the last decade, they've also worked hard to incorporate more grass-fed cows and pastured poultry.
Last night, ABC's Nightline aired a piece interviewing Chipotle's founder, Steve Ells, and Joel Salatin (the self-described Christian, Libertarian, Environmentalist, Lunatic farmer and hero of The Omnivore's Dilemma who recently wrote a guest post here on Why Local Food is More Expensive).
You've gotta watch this story.
Remember how excited I was to see Alice Waters on 60 Minutes? My one complaint was that Lesley Stahl painted Alice in an elitist, slightly eccentric light.
But you can't make elitist burritos. (Well, maybe you can, but you'd be hard pressed to call Chipotle — a nationwide fast food chain — elitist.)
The Highlights of The Story
- Joel Salatin's idea that a happy pig is one that gets to fully express its "pigness." In our culture, Joel says, we don't ask, "how do we make a pig happy?" We ask, "how do we grow them faster, fatter, bigger, cheaper? That's not a noble goal." The concept of the "pigness of the pig" became the Nightline story's over-arching mantra, the theme that tied it all together. I've got a feeling this would make Joel happy, as many other reporters picking and choosing sound bites of Joel's words have often ignored this key concept.
- When asked why he doesn't buy pork from factory farms, Steve Ells doesn't hesitate. "First of all, you can breathe here," he says, taking in a deep breath of verdant savanna surrounded by wallowing pigs. What a classic moment!
- Steve Ells originally started Chipotle because he wanted to show that just because you were serving food quickly didn't mean you had to sacrifice quality. "Just because it's fast doesn't mean it has to be a typical fast food experience. You can cook great pork, like the pork from Joel's farm, and you can spend hours braising it to perfection, but then it only takes seconds to serve."
- Even though Steve's food costs are slightly more expensive, he's built a business model that allows for that added expense. In other words, the only reason he's not serving 100% humanely raised, grass-fed, and pastured meats is because of a supply issue, not a cost issue.
Watch The Video
You can go watch the video on ABCs site!
This post is part of today's Real Food Wednesday carnival, hosted by Cheeseslave. After you're done watching the video, you should hop over to Cheeseslave's blog and see what other folks are saying today about Real Food!
(photo courtesy of ABC News)


text:
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Counting my Blessings (in the airport)
I am sitting in the Portland airport with my hubby waiting for our flight back to San Diego....what a lovely trip home it has been. So many beautiful sites to see and times to share with family. I come back to my home on the Oregon coast A LOT - There is something about the rain, the green, the wild beaches and of course family- all have this strange pull for me that fulfills, refreshes and inspires me. Typically when I leave I cry A LOT, all the way to airport, at the airport and when I get home... but no tears today. For the first time in a very long time I am satisfied with the now, with what we have in front of us and I am so thankful for the ability to travel to the place that I love. We thought we would have been living in Oregon by now but fate has decided otherwise and our life it Southern California has surprisingly treated us well! I cannot help but be so grateful for the the many things we have. On the eve of a new year I am counting my blessings and getting excited for a fresh start for 2009! I am not one to make resolutions because I PLAN too much (like OCD too much) as it is but this year I have lots of little goals that I am excited to embrace....finally appreciating a marvelous/creative day job that I enjoy, painting collaboration with my husband, growing my purse business, pursuing illustration opportunities and lots more that I definitely will share when I am not in the airport and have more time. In the meantime I hope everyone out there is having a safe and happy holiday!!!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
More Holiday Pics...
When you grow up on the Northern Oregon Coast you become very accustomed to rain,cold, wind and operating normal when all of these elements occur. I come home a lot but this whole area never ceases to amaze and inspire me. We have been visiting our normal haunts, finding new places to explore and having adventures despite the rain and melting snow...more to come, more to share.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Freezing My Toes Off!
I am currently in Oregon at home on the north coast, freezing my toes off but must say that it is wonderful to home! It was a crazy journey here- almost missed the plane, icy roads, snow and missed exits but well worth the effort to be finally hanging with family. I have lots of projects to be working on and thinking about while I am here- preparing a demo for CHA, a SUPER exciting freelance illustration project planning a collaborative series of paintings with my husband for some future opportunities (did I ever mention my hubby is an amazing artist?) and lots of other creative endeavors that I have to at least be thinking about while enjoying my vacation. In the meantime I am excited to announce that I will be teaching at ArtUnraveled in August 2008- Classes will be up on the site in January and registration will begin in February.
I hope everyone is enjoying time with family and friends!!!
I hope everyone is enjoying time with family and friends!!!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Its About Time!
I am happy to report that I have FINALLY started to simmer down and take some much needed to time to hang out and enjoy San Diego and with my partner in crime-my husband! December in San Diego is actually one of the most beautiful months of the year- it is chilly but the sun is shining, the sky is clear and blue and the light is indescribable. One of our favorite little holiday traditions is to walk around the Coronado and visit the Hotel Del and watch the sunset. The location never fails to provide AMAZING light, fun photo ops and beautiful sunsets!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wonderful Opportunity
What a few weeks it has been over here in my world! I have been in the midst of chaos- so much going on I can barely keep my head and my emotions in check! One minute I am having fun - the next minute there are difficult issues and loved ones in pain and turmoil to love and support - the next minute I am getting more creative rejection (yipee), then I am off to my day job- smile and be professional Alisa - back to having fun - Christmas creating and shopping- and up and down and up and down things go. Lately I have been feeling a little lost, a little restless, looking to start some new things in the new year with my life and my art and though I am not sure what these things will completely include- the writing is on the wall and it is time for some big CHANGES!
Thankfully over the weekend I had one of those special moments that stopped me in my self obsessed tracks and sparked a different kind of inspiration- A friend of my brother who works for the International Rescue Committee in San Diego told him the story of Fartun, a 7 year Somalian refugee attending ESL classes in San Diego who comes to school in the same clothes everyday- binder clips holding up her skirt, one pair of pants and shirt, no jacket for the chilly weather, no socks - one thing to wear and to wash. As my brother told my husband and I her story, naturally my heart broke- I think all of our hearts broke and collectively the three of us decided on the fly that our gift to each other would be new clothes for Fartun. I got up and went directly to the store (this was not a situation to procrastinate with!) and spent a LONG time trying to find some appropriate things for a 7 year old to wear. I wandered the store for a few hours, looking through the kids section completely overwhelmed by what it means to have to nothing, to only have one of something. Not gonna lie- I was pretty rocked and held back tears as I looked through the racks of clothes- picking out clothes for a little girl who has none felt very daunting but I snapped out of it and succeeded with the task at hand and collected a pile of brand new clothes!! It was the VERY least that we could do but such an important thing for Fartun. I received this picture today from my brother and it made my heart break all over again- but this time with joy! It is so easy to get caught up in ourselves, so easy to take for granted the money that we spend, so easy to put off giving or making giving a priority. This wonderful opportunity to give to Fartun reminded me how small my own struggles are, how good it feels to do ANYTHING for someone in need and how important it is to stay connected to those struggling in our community.
The IRC has tons of amazing programs and opportunities to volunteer and to give for more information visit- thierirc.org
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Time for a Good Laugh!
I have my good friend Anna to thank for introducing me to ElfYourself because I am not sure that I have laughed this hard in a REALLY long time!!!! I just spent the last hour making a video with pics of my family!
Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Marketing Monsters
So for anyone out there who doesn't not know- I work by day at the University of San Diego in the Marketing department. I juggle a lot of stuff in my life and thankfully I have a creative job in a creative department with fellow creative souls!! As busy as the holidays get I just can't help making things for as many people as I can (its a problem!) and I decided for my 9-5 peeps I would create something straight out of the pages of my book Canvas Remix- Messy Monsters (which happens to be my favorite project ever). With a little painted canvas cut into whimsical shapes, two buttons and simple stitching you have funky little creatures full of character!! I decided to call them Marketing Monsters and created little gift tags for each creature! A fun cheap and easy way to create a small handmade gift!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Shop Update!
I've been very productive this weekend and am happy to say that I added some new ornaments and new clutches just in time for your Christmas shopping!! Check out my etsy shop!
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Cheap and Handmade!
I love Christmas because it always inspires my creativity!! I love making ornaments, decorating and creating all kinds of gifts for people. I have lived in San Diego for 7 years and often it is hard to get in the holiday spirit when it is sunny and 80 degrees in December!! Both my hubby and I have always been out of town for Christmas or too busy for decorating! After purchasing our first home this spring and all the hard work on our house I decided that this year we would get a tree, decorate and not be distracted by being busy...we would decorate OUR WAY!! Living in a beach town we decided to go for a funky beach cottage tree to match our white wood floors and cottage home!! Instead of buying a fresh tree I opted for a $20 fake tree from Target and then I spray painted it white (can you believe that fake white trees cost $199.00?!?!?!?) I sprayed the tree with white primer and while it was drying I created all the decorations! Like a garland made from junk mail painted pink, colorful hand painted painted glass balls, canvas flowers, ornaments that I have made through the years, a little silver tinsel and a hand sewn canvas star for the top! All hand made and very cheap- just what I like!!!!
Thursday, December 04, 2008
The Design Phase
I've been working on a whole bunch of new ornaments that I can't wait to share! It starts with what I call "the design phase" which is usually doodling or sketching simply and then the next step is creating and finding a way to make my sketches and everything in my head into something real! I am in the middle of this phase and will hopefully have a whole bunch of fun stuff t share in the next couple of days- stay tuned!!!
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Test of Stamina!
What a crazy week it has been!! Family drama to start the long weekend - Arizona for Thanksgiving - back to San Diego - family time in San Diego - working on art – more family time - meeting deadlines - up to Somerset Studios - back to San Diego - more family time and back to work....long sigh...deep breath...I can't believe it is December!!! The last week has been a test of my stamina, patience and my ability to multi task but we made it through and now it is time for the crazy build up for Christmas which means more activity, hustle and bustle and insanity!!! I will be adding some fun new stuff to my etsy shop very soon so stay tuned!!
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text:
Spiny Dogfish
Spiny Dogfish, Squalus acanthias, are small coastal sharks that can be found swimming in large packs. Their genus name translates as "a kind of sea-fish," an appropriate fit for a species that can be found exclusively in seawater. Their species name is Latin for "a prickly thing," referring to the characteristic spines found on their dorsal fins. The Spiny Dogfish is considered a vulnerable species by the IUCN due to a number of issues, including commercial fishing practices, the species' advanced age at sexual maturity, and a long gestational period.
Spiny Dogfish are small coastal sharks. Females tend to be larger than males, reaching average mature lengths of 30" to 42". Mature males measure 24" to 35" on average. Adult Spiny Dogfish weigh 6.5 to 20 lbs. The maximum recorded weight of a female was 21.6 lbs.1 Dogfish living in northern parts of their range tend to be larger on average than those in southern regions.2
Spiny Dogfish have a slate grey to brown dorsal surface and white or pale grey ventral surface. Immature fish have a row of small white spots on each side of their body that reaches from above their pectoral fins to above their pelvic fins. These spots usually fade away with maturity. The edges of the dorsal and caudal fins are pale in color at birth. Spiny Dogfish are covered in placoid scales that are similar in structure to teeth. Each scale terminates in a rear-pointing spine.
Spiny Dogfish have an elongated and slender appearance. Their long, pointed, flat snouts are lined with nearly continuous rows of small, flat, smooth teeth (28 upper and 22 to 24) with deeply notched cusps and oblique points that angle toward the corners of the mouth.3 They have large eyes and narrow anterior nasal flaps.
Spiny Dogfish have two dorsal fins, each with a prominent anterior spine that is mildly venomous. These spines are used as defense mechanisms. The second dorsal fin is approximately two-thirds the side of the first. The pectoral fins are triangular in shape, with curved margins and rounded rear tips.4 They control direction during swimming. The pelvic fins (which aid in stabilization along with the dorsal fins,) are located nearer to the second/rear dorsal fin than the first. Pectoral and pelvic fins are located on the sides of the body. Spiny Dogfish, like other Squaliform sharks, lack anal fins.5 The caudal peduncle has low lateral keels. The body of a Spiny Dogfish terminates in an asymmetrical caudal fin.
The name Dogfish came from fishermen who observed this species swimming in large "packs" chasing schools of smaller fish. Spiny Dogfish are gregarious and form schools of hundreds, or even thousands, of fish. These schools consist of fish of one sex that stay together as they grow (although small, immature males and females may be found in the same school.) Schools of immature fish are typically found offshore. Mature females usually school closer to shore.6
Female Spiny Dogfish reach sexual maturity at 18 to 21 years of age and can live to a maximum age of 40 years. Males reach sexual maturity by 11 years old and can live to a maximum age of 35 years.7 The advanced age of sexual maturity combined with a long gestational period make this species especially vulnerable to over-fishing.
Spiny Dogfish can be found on the continental shelf in shallow, northern inshore waters during the summer and deep, southern offshore waters in the winter. They inhabit temperate and boreal salt waters that are ideally 6° to 11°C. Although they prefer seawater, dogfish can tolerate brackish water.
Within their habitats, Spiny Dogfish are prey to by cod, goosefish, red hake, larger species of sharks including larger Spiny Dogfish, seals, and killer whales.
The Spiny Dogfish is an abundant species that can be found on the continental shelf in temperate and boreal waters around the world. They can be found as far north as Greenland, Iceland and the Bering Sea and as far south as Argentina, South Africa, Chile, and New Zealand8 at depths exceeding 2400'.9 The Spiny Dogfish is a highly migratory species whose movements are determined by water temperature. They move to inshore northern waters for the spring and summer and to deep, southern offshore waters for the winter.
Spiny Dogfish are voracious and opportunistic eaters that have become unpopular with fisherman due to their tendency to chew through commercial fishing nets, releasing and driving away schools of fish. They swim in predatory packs and attack schools of smaller fish. Their diets consist of deep-sea fish species including herring, mackerel, haddock, capelin, squid, jellyfish, octopus, smaller sharks and shark egg cases, shrimp, and crabs. Because of their slender appearances in the spring, it is believed that Spiny Dogfish rarely feed during winter months.10
Internal fertilization occurs in offshore waters during the winter months. Early on in development, the female's body secretes thin, transparent, horny shells. Each shell, called a candle, surrounds several ova within the ovaducts.11 Litters may contain between 1 and 15 pups (but on average 6 to 7,) with an average male to female ration of 1:1. The embryos develop internally for 22 to 24 months, known as ovoviviparous development. This is the longest gestational period of any vertebrate. For the first 4 to 6 months of development, the embryos receive nourishment from surrounding membranes. After these membranes break down, the embryos no longer have a placental attachment and receive nourishment from yolk-sacs for the duration of the gestational period. The young, referred to as pups, are born offshore during the winter months. The pups are born headfirst, measuring 8" to 13" in length. Dorsal spines are present at birth. To protect the mother from being injured, the pups' spines are covered in sheaths of cartilage during birth.12
Notes of interest
Spiny Dogfish are used to make oil and fish meal and are commonly used to make fish and chips.13
Spiny Dogfish may also be referred to as: Blue Dogs, Common Spinyfish, Grayfish, Rock Salmon, Spiky Dogs, Spur Dogs, and White-spotted Spurdogs.14
Spiny Dogfish are caught with longline, troll, trawl, sink gill nets, and jig handline gear.15
Spiny Dogfish are a popular species in the commercial fishing industry. The industry experienced a peak in 1974 when 27,400 metric tons collected. This was followed by a sharp decline in the 1980's, when only 5900 metric tons were collected. Commercial fishing of this species regained its strength in the 1990's and in 1996 over 28,000 metric tons were collected.16
1. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/ichthyology/gallery/Descript/SpinyDogfish/SpinyDogfish.html
2. http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/bottomfish/identification/sharks_skates_ratfish/s_acanthias.html
3. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/ichthyology/gallery/Descript/SpinyDogfish/SpinyDogfish.html
4. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Squalus_acanthias/
5. http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/bottomfish/identification/sharks_skates_ratfish/s_acanthias.html
6. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/ichthyology/gallery/Descript/SpinyDogfish/SpinyDogfish.html
7. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Squalus_acanthias/
8. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/ichthyology/gallery/Descript/SpinyDogfish/SpinyDogfish.html
9. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Squalus_acanthias/
10. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/ichthyology/gallery/Descript/SpinyDogfish/SpinyDogfish.html
11. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Squalus_acanthias/
12. http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/bottomfish/identification/sharks_skates_ratfish/s_acanthias.html
13. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Squalus_acanthias/
14. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/ichthyology/gallery/Descript/SpinyDogfish/SpinyDogfish.html
15. http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/bottomfish/identification/sharks_skates_ratfish/s_acanthias.html
16. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/ichthyology/gallery/Descript/SpinyDogfish/SpinyDogfish.html
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Part 2 of 5
The cost of an F-35 is currently increasing, more than likely to remain high, and very unlikely to even approach the low levels being articulated by Pentagon managers and documents.
But F-35 costs are clouded by the calculating ways that the Pentagon reports them.
The applicable empirical data – the most informative — have been obscured. They also call into question the long-range projection just made by the Defense Department in its new Selected Acquisition Report that total program costs for the F-35 will come down by $4.5 billion.
The detailed F-35 SAR, made available by the Project on Government Oversight last week, is widely viewed as the gold standard of a weapon program's cost.
It measures the F-35's cost in three different ways:
— The Program Acquisition Unit Cost (PAUC) divides the total acquisition expense, including research and development (R&D), procurement and military construction funds, by the total number of planned test and operational aircraft (2,457).
The result is stated in either "base-year" ($319 billion) or "then-year" ($391 billion) dollars. Base-year dollars means every dollar in a multi-year program is adjusted to match the inflation value for the year when the program was last "restructured" to address cost and performance problems. In the case of the F-35, the base year is currently 2012. Then-year dollars (also called current-year dollars) are the amounts actually appropriated or expected to be appropriated in the future; they are adjusted to whatever inflation value that pertains to the year they are appropriated.
Base year dollars are often preferred by advocates because they usually allow reporting a lower number (and, by implication, cost) than if mostly future, inflated ("then year") dollars are used.
The base-year PAUC for the F-35 is $108.2 million; the then-year PAUC is $133.0 million.
Except for one small thing: those sums do not include the engine. The Pentagon, in an unusual move, broke the program into two pieces – airframe and engine – beginning in 2011. If you want a fighter with an engine, add $21.8 million for the base-year PAUC and $26.2 million for the then-year PAUC. That makes the actual Program Acquisition Unit Cost for each F-35 (with an engine) $130.0 million in obsolete 2012 dollars or $159.2 million in actual appropriations, past, present and future.
— If using base-year dollars results in a unit-cost calculation that is embarrassingly high, or if you want to know just the fabrication costs of an F-35 (not also the costs to research, design, test and house it), the SAR also calculates the Average Procurement Unit Cost (APUC). This divides the total F-35 procurement budget (i.e. not including R&D and Military Construction) by the number of operational aircraft actually to be fielded (2443). Once again, you have to add in the separately accounted engine.
The F-35 APUC (with an engine) is $104.8 million in base-year (2012) dollars and $135.7 million in then-year (actual appropriation) dollars.
— But for some, even the base year APUC totals for the F-35 are still too high; $100-million-plus price tags can hurt any marketing plan. But not to worry: the SAR also lists something called Unit Recurring Flyaway (URF) costs. But, as the SAR does not tell you even in its small print, the URF does not include the support and training equipment, technical data, initial spare parts or even the gas and lubricants to make an F-35 useable. It also does not include the upgrades and fixes that testing and other flying experience reveals to be needed.
Bottom line: the unit recurring flyaway cost will not get you an F-35 you can fly away, not for combat, not for training, not even for the delivery hop.
A favorite of F-35 lobbyists and marketers, the URF for the F-35 aircraft is $65.9 million. Want an engine? Make it $76.8 million; that's in base year dollars; the SAR doesn't do the calculation in the slightly higher then-year dollars. Moreover, that ridiculously understated $76.8 million is only for the Air Force's A version; the pricier C model for the Navy has a URF (with engine) of $88.7 million, and the Marines' B model (with engine and lift fan) is $103.6 million.
Lockheed, among other interested parties, likes to cite the URF, but no flyable, useable F-35 in any operable force will ever be bought for that amount of money. URF unit costs are pure hogwash.
In fact, the average F-35 unit cost will be more than the $135.7 million then-year APUC, and it will even be more than the $159.2 million then-year PAUC. Those numbers are grounded in analytical quicksand.
— First, the PAUC's numbers depend on amortizing $55.2 billion then-year dollars of R&D across the officially predicted production of 2,457 F-35 units. It is an extremely enthusiastic expectation that the numbers produced will remain that high: the planned number has already come down from 2,866, and as Pentagon insiders and critical outside observers routinely predict, they will come down further—as actual costs, to be discussed later, sink in, and as the top line of the total defense budget comes down.
— Second and more importantly, both the PAUC and the APUC projections depend on an assumed "learning curve" that shrinks unit cost for each future F-35 produced based on assumptions of improved efficiency and economies of scale. This is supposed to occur as repetitive production-line experience builds up after the design stabilizes and procurement lots double and even triple: for example from the 29 scheduled to be produced in 2013 to 100 in 2018 and 120 in 2021 — even more if you add in foreign purchases.
The problem is that 60 years of actual U.S. military aircraft cost histories almost invariably show, the learning-curve efficiencies never occur as predicted. This has been reported in great detail by the extremely thorough and astute observations on weapons cost from Pentagon insider Chuck Spinney in various papers, including Defense Death Spiral, Plans/Reality Mismatch, and his final testimony to Congress.
As Spinney explains, the military aircraft's design never actually stabilizes, even after full-rate production starts, to permit the level of repetitive-action learning anticipated on the assembly line, as is the case with automobiles. At the Pentagon, other factors—the need to redesign and fix a progression of problems brought to light during tests and operations, a constant stream of add-ons imposed by the procuring bureaucracy, plus unforeseen economic and budgetary changes—mean that learning efficiencies and economies of scale never are as optimistic as initially predicted.
Case in point: we have just seen one example of unanticipated budget changes in the form of the reductions mandated by the Budget Control Act. The one prediction you can rely on is that the learning curve never bends as sharply as projected.
As a result, unit costs remain significantly higher than projected. Predictably, to "save money" and fit under budget limits, production lots are reduced—causing even more growth in per-plane costs. This recurring phenomenon is a major component of the so-called "death spiral," conventional wisdom that sprung directly from Spinney's work.
A newly-leaked report from the Pentagon's Deputy Assistant Secretary for System Engineering (DOD's top developmental tester) strongly intimated the inability of the F-35 program to meet learning curve expectations. The annual report, released by Inside Defense and others, reported various reasons for production delays, resulting higher unit costs. It said "the program has yet to demonstrate its ability to meet yearly production goals," as numerous manufacturing processes were not meeting efficiency targets due to the type of disruptions in production described above.
As a result of all this, another twist in the "death spiral" for the F-35 has just occurred.
In the SAR released last year, the F-35 program office projected production to ramp up to 110 units in 2018 and 130 in 2021 for the Air Force, Marines and Navy. But the new SAR quietly reduced the 2018 buy to 100 aircraft and the 2021 buy to 120 (the reductions came in the Navy buy). While representing only a 9% reduction for 2018, for example, it would nonetheless create a ripple of some as-yet undetermined cost growth in 2018 and, therefore, boost both the APUC and the PAUC for the entire fleet.
However, both the APUC and PAUC for the F-35 in the new SAR are lower than they were in last year's report. The Pentagon's logic suggests that as the economy of scale worsens, other factors intervene to bend the learning curve in a taxpayer-friendly way. As one observer with several decades of experience in weapons-cost growth remarked to me on the inevitability of the "death spiral" for the F-35: "And so it begins."
There are other questionable numbers in the 2013 SAR. The total—36-year—program acquisition cost is predicted to be $4.5 billion lower: decreasing from $395.7 estimated in 2012 to $391.2 estimated this year. As the new SAR explains in a section titled "Cost Variance," some costs went up (eg. airframe production costs increased by $1.2 billion) and others went down (eg. estimated initial spare parts for the Navy dropped by $408 million), to yield the net $4.5 billion decline.
However, the nature of some of the estimates raises serious questions.
Inflation ("Revised escalation indices. [Economic]") estimated all the way out to the year 2037 is predicted to have increased from last year for airframe and engine production by a net combined $5.0 billion. On the other hand, that amount is more than offset by predicted savings in prime and subcontractor labor rates of $7.9 billion, again out to the year 2037, and—strangely—the reduced labor costs are predicted only to occur in aircraft fabrication, not in engine production.
That such fantastically long-term estimates are recalculated—apparently selectively—from year to year gives a false impression of precision. In fact, the SAR expressly states "we project that it is equally likely that the estimates will prove too low or too high for execution of the program described."
Yet while the Defense Department professes an equal probability for being too high as too low, we know what the inevitable historical pattern is — and it is not for today's cost estimates to be too high.
In any case, to declare a $4.5 billion cost reduction — based largely on predicted labor rates in one sector of the aviation industry up to 25 years in advance — calls the validity of the prediction into serious question.
To predict a labor market being $7.9 billion lower than that predicted just one year ago suggests that such estimates can be produced on demand by simply tweaking a computer model, rather than exercising caution in anticipating the ultimate cost of a program that has already proven extremely problematic and subject to more increases than decreases.
In addition to having this optimistic bias toward the future, the SAR also exercises a dubious view of the past. It assumes $1.1 billion in savings based on "revised airframe and subcontractor estimates that incorporate the latest actual costs from early Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) lots." However, specific contract data and empirical annual cost data, which we'll tackle later, show those LRIP lots have been increasing in cost, not decreasing. An article at defense-aerospace.com cogently explains some of these issues.
So there you have it: PAUCs based on unachievable production numbers, APUCs derived from learning curves that never happen, URFs that assume that purchasers want to buy airplanes they cannot operate, prices translated into obsolete dollars, convenient declarations of savings to be realized 25 years from now, predictions proclaimed to be as reliable as a coin flip.
These and other dodges add up to a snake pit of misinformation about what an F-35 costs—past, present and future.
If the most authoritative document on F-35 unit costs has serious flaws, what data can objective observers rely on? Fortunately, the Pentagon comptroller's shop publishes a more reliable annual series of reports that provides more accurate insight on what an F-35 actually costs.
We've just wrapped up the F-35 forest following this two-day survey of its trees. We'll spend the next couple on our hands and knees, digging amid the cost-accounting weeds. Be ready to get your hands dirty.
Part 1: The Era of Good F-35 Feelings
Part 2: Alphabet Soup: PAUCs, APUCs, URFs, Cost Variances and Other Pricing Dodges
Part 3: The Deadly Empirical Data


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Dossier 17: Middle Eastern Cultures: The Real Boundaries
September 1997 Attachment | Size |
Word Document | 96.54 KB |
number of pages:
170 Preliminary notes
The subject matter of this rather sketchy article is not the domain of a student of languages, but that of an anthropologist (here I would like to thank Berit Thorbj Rnsrud and Kjersti Bergheim for their constructive comments). This article is then a collection of thoughts that I have on the subject. I hope, nevertheless, that this article will be an inspiration to those who are better equipped to make more detailed studies on the subject.
The Issue
The problem with the use of the terms "Persian Culture", "Arab Culture", "Turkish Culture" etc., in my opinion, arises when it is assumed that political ideology, religion or language forms the basis for definitions and generalizations concerning "Culture". Of course politics, religion and language are elements of culture, but Culture is much more subtle and complex. There are innumerable elements that combine to form a people's Culture and sub-Cultures.
Here are also active the level of education, social status, wealth, occupation etc., and not least the way people view themselves and their environment. Sometimes the geographical area where a political ideology is accepted/applied or where a language or religion has become dominant coincides with the geographical base of certain "Cultural Clusters,"[1] but most often they do not coincide. The former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the Middle East are good examples of cases where they do not coincide.
It would be wrong to assume that certain cultural traits are necessarily common to people who are bound by a political ideology, a religion or a language, just as it is wrong to assume that people having many cultural traits in common also have a common religion, language or political ideology. Worse yet is when one projects modern ideologies and concepts back in time "creating history" based on modern "realities".
In order to illustrate the problems raised above we could ask the following questions:
Is Turkey Turkish in culture?
Is Iran Persian in culture?
Is the Arab World Arab in culture?
Most of the answers given to these questions are given in terms of political ideology, political entities, language, religion or a vague notion of culture. e.g. Turks are those who speak Turkish. Those who have Turkish passports. Arabs are those who speak Arabic, or who consider themselves to be Arabs or who identify with "Arab Culture" (usually defined as Arab literature and language) etc. Based on these answers, definitions for "Arab culture", "Persian Culture", "Turkish Culture" etc. are deduced irrespective of whether they correspond to realities on the ground or not.
Some examples of such deductions:
1) a political concept: Nation-State, applied on a political entity: The State of Turkey, to create: Turkish National State, based on: Turkish language, Turkish Nationalism, Turkish Identity. The deduction is made: Turkey is Turkish, and the inhabitants of Turkey are Turks, the Turks have the same Turkish culture.
The inhabitants of the state of Turkey share very many cultural traits. Yet far from all have a "Turkish" identity (even if many have Turkish names), or regard Turkish as "their" language (even if they speak Turkish), or share the same political ideologies as the ruling parties in Turkey (Turkish nationalism), or that all have the same religion.
2) a political concept: Nationalism, creates a political ideology: Arab Nationalism based on : Arabic language, past and present achievements etc. The deduction is made: there exists an Arab People (in the modern sense of the term rather than the classical sense), hence Arab Culture. Thereafter the "Arabs are a people who have a common Arab culture".
Note how Michael C. Hudson, an authority on Arab Politics, in his book "Arab Politics, The Search for Legitimacy" (1979) and under the chapter on "The Elements of Arab Identity" describes "The Core of Arabism: Ethnicity and Religion":
"The hallmarks of modern Arab identity are, on the ethnic dimension, Arabic language and culture, and on the religious dimension, Islam. On both dimensions, the inhabitants of the Arab world are overwhelmingly homogenous.
Ethnographers look upon language as a key defining characteristic of ethnic communities, although physiognomy, skin color, and common historical experiences are also important… According to the data from this atlas [the Soviet Atlas of ethnic communities], the Arab states are among the most homogeneous in the world; only the Sudan (with its non-Arab southern provinces), Morocco and Algeria (with their Berber communities), and Iraq (with its Kurdish population) fall around or below the world median and mean. Of the rest, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Yemenis and post-revolutionary Libya are almost completely Arab in language and culture; and very small ethno linguistic minorities are found in Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Kuwait, and the Gulf states...
The Arab world today is overwhelmingly Islamic. Save for the Sudan and Lebanon, each with nearly half of its population non-Muslim, the Arab states are either almost wholly Muslim or contain small but important Christian minorities of around 10 percent, as in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian community.
In emphasizing the ethno-linguistic and religious homogeneity of the Arab world (a point so obvious that its significance is sometimes overlooked), I do not mean to ignore the existence and political significance of the non-Arab, non-Muslim, and non-orthodox Muslim minorities in the Arab world." (p.38)
A common language, Arabic, leads Hudson to assume a common Culture for "Arabs". Then coupling language and religion, Hudson claims that the "Arab states are among the most homogeneous in the world."
Later in the chapter entitled: "The Republics of the Pan-Arab Core" he writes the following:
"In this chapter I compare the political systems of the pan-Arab core: Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian movement." (p.234).
From my point of view, what is interesting here is that what Hudson calls "the pan-Arab core" lies outside what is traditionally the centre of Arabism: the Arabian peninsula. Of course Hudson is speaking of politics, thus he uses the term "pan-Arab" rather than "Arab". Yet Hudson's concept of "pan-Arab core" leads some to make generalizations about Culture, seeing this "pan-Arab core" as the actual core of "Arabic Culture". As an example I could mention what is termed "Arabic food".
"Arabic food" seems to be equated with the type of food that is traditionally prepared/eaten in the geographical area that Hudson calls "the pan-Arab core". Therefore some are surprised to see how untypical "Arabic" is the food prepared/eaten on the Arabian peninsula - the home of the Arabs! Or having noted the high level of "homogeneity" that Hudson expresses, some are surprised at the amount of conflicts that exist in the area and at the lack of solidarity between the different areas within the "Arab world". By definition, it seems to be believed, "Arabs" are one people and are expected to act as such. This leads some to try to find answers for this apparently "anomalous behavior", blaming colonial powers, the uneven distribution of wealth in the area or what some term "Arabian tribalism".
Others take a more militant stance vis à vis Culture and identity. Note what Sati' al-Husri says (as quoted by Hudson under the heading: "The Roots of Arab Identity" p.39).
"According to Sati al-Husri, the most influential theorist of modern Arab nationalism, Every person who speaks Arabic is an Arab. Everyone who is affiliated with these people is an Arab. If he does not know this or if he does not cherish his Arabism, then we must study the reasons for his position. It may be a result of ignorance - then we must teach him the truth. It may be because he is unaware or deceived - then we must awaken him and reassure him. It may be a result of selfishness - then we must work to limit his selfishness..."
Elements of Culture
1) Political ideologies, religion, language
The Middle East has seen the appearance of many rulers and kings, kingdoms and empires, and has seen them disappear. Political ideologies are accepted by some and rejected by others. The Middle East has had many religions (three world religions) and these differ from area to area within the Middle East. There has been at least two main language shifts in the Middle East, without mentioning minor shifts that were restricted to certain areas and shifts within certain languages. Moreover political ideologies, religion and language are cross-cultural. Aramaic in pre- Islamic times and Arabic, Islam and Christianity are very good examples of cross cultural elements.
One should distinguish between different levels of "religion": deep levels comprising of that which people attribute to the supernatural in their interaction with their environment, and more superficial levels which are represented by the actual religions and cults, e.g. Christianity, Islam, Judaism etc. This can be exemplified by elements of religion that are common across religious boundaries in a certain "Cultural Cluster", but are not universally common within a certain religion. For example I could cite the high esteem in which the Virgin Mary is held in Lebanon by both Muslims and Christians. The terms "Virgin" and "Lady" are not new to Lebanon. These are found in texts that antedate Christianity by 2-3 millennia. The Virgin of Lebanon and the Lady of Lebanon are mentioned already in the texts from Ugarit dating from approx. 1400 BC. The divergent ceremonial rites used in funerals by different Muslim communities, could also be cited as an example. Being of the same religion does not imply that people understand or apply this religion in a similar way or that they behave in the same way.
2) Cultural contact
Likewise, one should distinguish between different levels of contact between peoples: a deep contact that is an integral part of the understanding of a certain people concerning the world that surrounds them, and more superficial contacts where peoples of different Cultures exchange ideas, languages, religion but where deep cultural change does not occur. This can be exemplified by cases of immigrants who live in ghettos in the host country keeping their own habits and for some never learning the language of the host country. They live as if they were back home with least possible adaptations to their new environment.
Spheres of influence: In terms of deep cultural contact we can divide the Middle East into four major spheres of influence:[2]
1. Mediterranean sphere of influence
2. Central Asian sphere of influence
3. Indian Ocean sphere of influence
4. African sphere of influence
3) Natural-occupational elements
The way humans have lived in their diverse habitats depended primarily on the nature of these habitats. Water has been a deciding factor in the shaping of human Culture. One can recite Arabic poems in the desert or on fertile land, but one can live as a nomad only in the desert, and can be a farmer where there is water and fertile soil.
In terms of the natural elements and especially in reference to water, the Middle East presents us with many contrasts. Very fertile lands are only a few kilometers away from some of the world's most arid deserts. Some of the world's most important rivers are a stone's throw away from areas with least water. Areas with high amounts of precipitation border on areas with hardly any precipitation at all.
The elements of nature together with other elements of culture combine to shape the different Cultures that exist in the different areas of the Middle East. The contrasts found in nature contribute in shaping "Cultural Clusters" that in certain cases differ drastically from each other. For the Bedouin in the desert, snow-covered mountains and the way people live there are just as foreign as is the desert and desert-life to a person who lives in these mountains.
A Scale of Shades
Yet even if at the opposite ends, Cultures in the Middle East differ drastically, there exists a whole range of shades in between. One can mention the desert cities, where the inhabitants are sedentary but are dependant on trade and to a lesser extent agriculture in order to survive. Such a city is Madina (Yathrib), which is a caravan city that thrived on commerce. Or Makka which is a religious centre and survived due to its role in religion. Again as a shade on this scale, we could mention the semi-nomads who settle on the borders of fertile land part of the year and farm this land, while they live as full nomads the rest of the year. In the same category but in another shade, we could mention the pastorals who keep sheep and goats, yet live in high mountains that are rich in water.
When we want to describe the Cultures of the Middle East we should not assume that "Culture" is defined solely in terms of political ideology, language or religion. Culture is much more subtle and complex.
As an illustration we can go back to the term "Arabic food". When we take into consideration that the Arabian peninsula has in general a different climate, flora and fauna from the Levant (the eastern coast of the Mediterranean), that the Arabian peninsula, open to the Indian Ocean, has very ancient ties and contacts with the Indian continent we would more easily appreciate the fact that the traditional food of the Arabian peninsula resembles more the traditional food of the Indian continent, while the traditional food of the Levant falls within the type of food that is common in the Mediterranean basin.
We should not take for granted that the geographical area where a certain political ideology is accepted/applied or where a language or religion has become dominant coincide with the geographical base of a certain "Cultural Cluster". Nor should we assume that people sharing many cultural traits necessarily share religion, political ideology or language. True, the Middle East has a distinct Culture of its own. Yet this Culture is neither Turkish nor Persian nor Arab nor Kurdish nor Armenian etc., it is Middle Eastern. The Middle East has cultural traits which it shares on the one hand with the Mediterranean basin and on the other hand it has traits that it shares with Central Asia and the Indian continent.
Lastly I would like to propose that the fact that the geographical areas where a political ideology is accepted/applied or where a language or religion has become dominant often do not coincide with the geographical bases of certain "Cultural Clusters" is a source for potential conflicts when it is disregarded, and can be a source for a solution (in case of a conflict) when it is taken into account. The interaction between the many different elements of culture is THE key to understanding the Middle East. The Middle Eastern mosaic, which is in my opinion the beauty of the Middle East, is a result of this interaction.
Source: The above item was posted on the Internet.
Its exact reference is as follows:
Newsgroups: soc.culture.lebanon
Subject: Re: Culture: lets discuss it (article).
[1] Borrowed from the linguistic: "Sprachbund". Here it denotes a group of people who live in geographically adjacent areas and who share a large amount of cultural traits, yet not necessarily forming a single ethnic group. The boundaries of such "Cultural Clusters" are not as sharp as the term seems to indicate.
[2] It is to be noted that the different cultures in the Middle East are in their turn "spheres of influence" for their neighboring cultures and to each other. One can mention the role of the Eastern Mediterranean in the cultural history of the Mediterranean. It is impossible to overlook the impact of the great centres of culture in Egypt and Mesopotamia on the rest of the Middle East.


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If Bashar al Assad's use of chemical weapons in a rebel-controlled suburb of Damascus is "undeniable," as Secretary of State John Kerry declared today, the United States should retaliate forcefully. It should recruit whatever allies it can—France and Great Britain have already volunteered—but it would be nice to have a nation or two that wasn't once an imperial power in the Middle East. And it should plan a military action that would discourage Assad–or any other government under attack—from ever using chemical weapons again.
There is, of course, an argument to be made for a more sustained American intervention in Syria's Civil War, but that is not relevant here. The reason to go after Assad is because he violated a Geneva Protocol, signed by the League of Nations and United States in 1925, and by Syria in 1968, against the use of chemical or biological weapons. Other weapons may be more deadly than poison gas, but what distinguishes it or germ warfare from other kinds of weapons is that they are primarily for use against civilian and not against opposing troops. They are weapons of terror. And if the Syrian government used chemical weapons against a Damascus suburb, then weapons of terror is exactly what it intended them to be.
By punishing Syria for their use, the United States and other countries would be enforcing an eminently worthwhile provision of international law. By not punishing Syria, the U.S. would indicate to Assad and other dictators in peril that they need not fear reprisals for using these weapons. That's why it's important to do something.
Here, however, are some counter-arguments that I've heard:
First, wouldn't a strike by the United States and other countries bring Assad's biggest supporters, Russia and Iran, deeper into the conflict and broaden the proxy war already occurring? Maybe, but not necessarily in a bad way. By showing that they were willing to take action against Assad, the U.S. and its allies might make Russia and Iran more amenable to getting the Assad government to negotiate with the rebels. By not taking action—particularly after Obama repeatedly declared that the use of chemical weapons was a "red line"—the United States and its allies would lead Assad and his supporters to believe that they can safely ignore the United States.
Second, wouldn't a significant military strike commit the United States to a more protracted intervention in Syria? No, because American intervention would be to enforce the 1925 protocol, not to help the rebels overthrow Assad. I have thought in the past that the United States and its allies should commit themselves to defeating Assad, who seems bent on destroying his own country in order to remain in power, but my impression is that the situation on the ground has deteriorated to the extent that an outright rebel victory—such as occurred in Libya—could lead to unpleasant consequences. The advantage of a one-time strike against Assad's use of chemical weapons is that it would cut short Assad's march to victory and might lead to negotiations, but not commit the United States to long-term intervention.
When I wrote last spring, after the first time that Assad was reported to have used chemical weapons, recommending that Obama act on the "red line" that he had established, several people accused me of resorting to the kind of arguments about American credibility that the Nixon administration used to prolong American intervention in Vietnam. I think a nation's credibility is important, but alone it is not enough to justify an intervention. In this case, what's at stake is America's willingness to enforce an international norm that is of benefit to the entire world. That's a cause on which America should rest its credibility.


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Posted on 30/07/2019 1:44 PM | by NaijaHouses
Geared up to house hunt? It's a jungle out there: prepare for a flurry of paperwork, stampedes of shoppers competing for the equal digs, and other demanding situations before you get your hands on those residence keys. We might not lie: The manner may be complicated and annoying—that's why having a seasoned via your aspect could make all the distinction. What is a Buyer's Agent? Here are the tips - A Trusted Guide Who'll Help You Find a Home.
You would possibly have heard of customer's retailers, vendor's agents, list dealers, and so forth. You're a buyer, so what is a customer's agent? Proper to their call, client's sellers help home buyers each step of the way. They can also save you tons of money and time on the street to home ownership. Study on to find out how a customer's agent can help, and a way to discover the right one for you.
"A purchaser's agent will guide you through the house-buying transaction and be at your disposal for any questions or worries, Naija houses with partners consider. here are some of the matters a customer's agent can do:
Buyer's sellers are legally certain to assist consumers, while list sellers—the agent representing the home listing have a fiduciary obligation to the home supplier. This is why it is on your satisfactory interest as a consumer to get an agent who's there to symbolize you, Naija Houses. Think about it this manner: if you were getting sued, would you lease the equal legal professional because the person suing you? Of route no longer. You want someone who will diligently fight on your hobbies and rights.
Shall we embrace, as an example, you walked up to the listing agent at an open residence and gushed about how you like the house and want to buy it. However, you may want to transport quickly due to the fact you are awaiting your 2d baby and want to beautify the nursery pronto. OR the lease for your condo is up in more than one months. A seller's agent should then use these statistics in opposition to you by way of informing the seller that your clock is ticking. So they should not budge too much on their asking fee or in any respect.
But make this identical confession to the buyer's agent you are operating with, and it is all high-quality this expert would understand to maintain this information non-public from dealers (and their retailers) so it can't be used against you.
An excellent consumer's agent can ease your manner to homeownership and a terrible possible bring about a bumpy experience. As such, don't just take the primary customer's agent you meet, or blindly accept the recommendation from a chum. As a substitute, it is high-quality to interview at least 3 dealers and ask them some questions, such as the following:


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Thursday, July 11, 2013
On credits
Samuli Ollila is currently writing a manuscript comparing the order parameters measured from NMR experiments to those calculated from the Berger POPC lipids, and he will share it via this blog in August 2013.
During the project, the manuscript will be improved based on contributions to this blog. In particular, we hope to find an improved force field, but we stress that contributions can be anything that improves the scientific content. In the end of the project, the manuscript will be submitted to an appropriate peer reviewed journal.
Everyone who has contributed to the project by communicating via this blog will be offered coauthorship. The final decision on authorship will be to the invited individuals themselves. They should base their decision on self-assessment of their scientific contribution to the project.
We hope that all communications would be written such that they are assignable to a person and affiliation, as this will remove unnecessary ambiguity upon publishing.
Based on discussions in this blog, Samuli will handle the correspondence with the journal. The order of all names in the final manuscript will be alphabetical.
Finally, it is the responsibility of the people communicating via this blog to make sure that in case they write something in which other people have had a scientific contribution (such as supervisors writing comments based on discussions with their students), the identities of all contributors should be made known. These secondary contributors will also be offered coauthorship in the manuscript.
Markus Miettinen,
FU Berlin
Samuli Ollila,
Aalto University
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It is not often you can say this, but The Avengers is one $200 million-plus event flick where not a single cent has been wasted.
The special-effects work is spectacular, especially during two truly awesome set-piece battle sequences.
The first, aboard an airborne weapons carrier, is brilliant enough.
The second, an all-stops-out skirmish on the streets of a busy city, will leave viewers gasping.
Overall, The Avengers is a fist-pumping cause for celebration for comic-book hard-liners and action fans alike.
About Me
- Russell Blackford
- Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019); AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021); and HOW WE BECAME POST-LIBERAL: THE RISE AND FALL OF TOLERATION (2024).
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Sun-Herald review of The Avengers
6 comments:
- Richard Wein said...
I was a bit surprised by your earlier comment, given that Rotten Tomatoes has a whopping 96% rating for the film. But as a big Whedon fan I expect I'll enjoy it, even if it is too heavy on the action. (I really want to see a Whedon musical!)
BTW did you see it in 3D? I've never seen a film in 3D, and was wondering whether to make this my first one. - 29 April, 2012 00:09
- Russell Blackford said...
I actually saw it in 2-D.
I had the choice, but I still tend to prefer 2-D ... with 3-D at its current stage of development. But by all means give it a try (and please report back on the experience if you do). - 29 April, 2012 00:22
- Russell Blackford said...
And again, I did actually enjoy it and would probably even watch it again. But I think it's flawed in ways that would make it a less attractive proposition to someone who is not already a fan of the characters. Judged by that standard, X-Men: First Class, for example, seemed to me to be much better.
But as I said in a discussion on Facebook earlier today, I had that lump-in-the-throat feeling at times while watching The Avengers. But then again those times tended to character beats that would be much less meaningful for someone who is not already a fan of Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, etc., etc. - 29 April, 2012 00:28
X-Men: First Class was pretty awesome but in my opinion was on par with the Avengers.
By the way, I saw it in 3D. I think it probably heightened the experience but not by much. - 29 April, 2012 11:45
'X-Men: First Class, for example, seemed to me to be much better.'
I agree entirely. There again, The Avengers was reasonably true to what I remember of the comics, i.e. all about the big, sprawling set-piece battles. And it was pretty enjoyable, on its own terms.
(I fear my expectations may have been skewed by Mark Millar's treatment in The Ultimates!) - 29 April, 2012 16:04
"an all-stops-out skirmish on the streets of a busy city"
A what what in the how, now? - 30 April, 2012 09:23


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I've asked this question of people who know lots more than me about telecommunications economics. And they say 'double marginalisation'. Anyway, David Levine is a clever fellow and he's had a crack at answering this. It's an outrage of course. And is so egregious the Gupment should do something about it. A rule that you couldn't charge more than – say – three times cost would undo most of the damage. And how about a bit of corporate social responsibility? If rich business people are paying these fees and don't care to buy themselves a local SIM card that's one thing. But Levine suggests a lot of the explanation lies in the capacity to trick people into paying $1,000 or so when they leave their data roaming on and then have to cough up when they get back. So large companies with reputations to maintain are tricking their customers out of a thousand dollars or so every chance they get. Not a good look.
David's blog post is here on his own blog and also reproduced below the fold (It's OK, as you'll notice from the title of his blog he's against IP).
Why are international data roaming rates so high? There does not seem to be a lot of careful analysis. I have found one EU study – in which I have been unable to find one interesting or relevant fact or analysis. So here are my own back of the envelope calculations.How high are international data roaming rates? I have direct evidence from two providers: an Italian provider TIM charges about $10 per megabyte; a U.S. provider T-mobile charges $15 per megabyte. The typical business user uses receives about 15 megabytes per day of email. My smartphone uses about four times this. By way of contrast, you can buy a SIM from Vodafone UK with 30 megabytes of data for about $30. Wifi at the airport or a hotel runs about $10-$60 per day. Over-the-air prices charged to local customers is much lower: TIM charges $25 per month for 5 gigabytes of data, of which probably about 2 gigs is actually used, so the effective rate is about $0.0125 per megabyte. T-mobile in the US charges a similar amount for similar service.,
We can summarize the data this way: for a five day trip the typical smartphone user will pay about $1000 for international roaming or about $100 for wifi. The local user pays about $4 for the same service. In other words, the markup over the competitive cost is about 250, and the markup over close substitutes is about 10.
No doubt some small number of customers are very wealthy and happy to pay several hundred dollars a day for the convenience of keeping the same phone number, not buying a new SIM, not having to locate wifi and so forth – despite the tenfold cost reduction by doing so. Surprisingly only 40% of international roamers turn off their data roaming. In the end it seems reasonable to conclude most people use data roaming not on purpose, but by mistake. Notice that TIM advertises their price as 0.8 cents per kilobyte – which doesn't sound like much, and has meaning only if you have some idea how much data you use. When I was lost in Paris, knowing the high cost of roaming, I turned on the data service to locate myself on the map. I expected it would be expensive. What I did not expect is that a single viewing of the map would cost 100 euros – cleaning out my account and making my phone unusable in the process.
No doubt telephone companies are good at setting prices to maximize their profits. Apparently such a large number of people accidentally turn on their data services that it is profitable to charge them 250 times marginal cost rather than charge a much lower fee to the much larger group of people who would be willing to pay for the service. Such a business strategy is possible only with substantial monopoly power and illustrates well of the problem of monopoly. Each international roamer pays a thousand dollars once for which they receive practically no value. After that they know to keep the data service turned off.
How can such a business strategy be profitable? The answer lies in the phenomenal growth rate of smart phones. Smart phone sales are growing at about 50% per year. If the stock is growing at a constant rate, it must also be growing at 50% per year. Suppose the typical international roamer spends one month per year roaming, and pays $1000 for one week before shutting off the service forever. If they were willing to pay $50 per week, then charging that would bring in $200 for each member of the entire stock of roamers. Since the stock of roamers is two and a half times the number of new roamers charging $50 per week would bring in $500 rather than $1000.
The international roaming market, lacking competition, is dysfunctional: rather than providing a useful service it taxes consumers one-time lack of awareness of prices. Eventually this will sort itself out: the market for smartphones is not likely to grow at 50% a year forever. Once smartphones start to satiate the market and growth drops to more modest levels – by the calculation above, about 25% per year – it will be profitable to start charging for services received rather than for consumer errors. A similar transition took place in the within U.S. market for voice roaming years ago; originally roaming outside the local area code was extremely expensive; now all providers offer national coverage.
There is an irony in all this. The market for selling smartphones is relatively competitive, and likely the international roaming "profit" is largely given back to consumers in the form of lower prices for contract smart-phones. Relatively rich international roamers subsidize smartphones for their less wealthy and well-travelled brethren.
There is a case for government price regulation here. Of course as smartphone sales diminish, government price regulation will enhance rather than reduce collusion. Ironically the lack of competition in the mobile phone market is largely due to government policy. Governments – wishing to control the flow of information – tightly control bandwidth. Some of this is done through monopolies given or sold to television stations, usually with a quid pro quo in the form of free or subsidized political advertising as well as restrictions on content. As another example, free wifi is not an option in Germany as the government insists on knowing exactly who is logged on to the internet. Copyright law also plays a role here, as the copyright oligarchs are eager also that nobody access the internet anonymously.
A sharper analysis should probe the source of the monopoly power in roaming. Why cannot different mobile providers in the country you are visiting compete to offer you lower data rates? Unregulated countries like Panama greet visitors with giant signs promising lower long-distant rates if you roam with them. The reason this kind of competition is not more broadly possible is because SIM cards are tied to your home provider. Other mobile providers can bill you only through that same home provider. In other words: what your home provider has is a monopoly over your good credit record and means of payment. On the face of it this sounds absurd, and it is a wonderful illustration of the fact that not all property rights are created equal. Some property rights (copyright anyone?) serve to foster monopoly, while other property rights foster competition. This has been recognized in most countries to a limited extent: you now own the property rights in your phone number. But your phone company still owns the rights to your reputation.
There many organizations who compete for the rights to your reputation: Amazon, Google Checkout, PayPal, credit card companies, mobile phone companies, and banks all compete to provide you with direct online payment. The problem is that the SIM card technology prevents mobile providers from billing any organization other than your phone company. Here is a modest proposal. The SIM card standard was imposed (as part of the GSM standard) by European governments. So let them modify the standard to require that the user be allowed to provide alternative means of billing to over-the-air telecommunications providers: the small eagerly wishing to sell providers should be able to recognize my Google Checkout to bill me for cheap data service while I keep my usual phone number. The problem of roaming costs should quickly vanish in the dust of competition.
- I am grateful to a conversation with Philippe Jehiel of the UCL although he is in no way responsible for this. After going through numerous alternatives, we agreed that the most likely explanation for high data roaming rates is exploitation of consumer error in the face of a rapid influx of new consumers. The data on growth in the smartphone market seems to bear this out.[↩]


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Real Caramel Dip
This gallery contains 2 photos.
It is apple season and my kids absolutely love dipping apples in caramel. I used to buy the Marzetti caramel dip thinking was giving my kids a healthy snack because they were eating apples. The apples might have been healthy, … Continue reading


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Итальянская коалиция за гражданские свободы и права (CILD)
The Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties (CILD) was founded in 2014, building on the idea that human rights and civil liberties are deeply connected, interdependent and inseparable.
Based on this premise, a large number of civil society organizations in Italy have decided to create a new national actor in this field. Those organizations are presenting themselves with one voice, speaking to institutions, media, and to the public opinion.
As the first Italian experiment in freedom contamination, the coalition aims at boosting efforts by intertwining the work on different thematic areas:
- fighting against racism and xenophobia;
- battling against every form of discrimination based on gender or gender identity;
- changing the public opinion perception on immigration;
- expanding the definition of citizenship;
- overcoming prejudices against Roma, Sinti, and traveler people;
- creating a criminal justice system that is more respectful of fundamental rights;
- advocating for transparency in the public administration and fighting against corruption;
- extending human rights and civil liberties beyond traditional boundaries.
CILD supports and empowers civil society groups working on some of the most pressing human rights issues faced by the country today, through a combination of media capacity building strategic communication, advocacy and public education.
The organization is funded by Open Society Foundations and Oak Foundation.


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Painting Large Wildlife Painting - Elephants At Dusk - Large Wall Art - Elephant Painting by London Artist
Painting Large Wildlife Painting - Elephants At Dusk - Large Wall Art - Elephant Painting by London Artist
Welcome to LondonPaintings.co.uk My name is Ryan Louder I am a London based artist. I am passionate about creating emotive and meaningful art. Each piece is a personal reflection of my heart and soul, and I am excited to share it with you.
I am pleased to offer high-quality reproductions of my artwork, from Hahnemuhle paper prints to canvas prints that closely resemble the feel of the original artwork. After years of searching, I have handpicked the best materials and printers to ensure that each print is of the highest quality.
Whether you are looking for a stunning print to adorn your wall or a one-of-a-kind original painting, I am here to assist you. I can recreate any of my paintings for you, guaranteeing that each piece is unique and special.
For commissions or inquiries about the availability of original pieces, please message me. I can recreate any painting at any size. Alternatively, select the deposit for a commission, and I will message you directly. Please allow 4-6 weeks for completion.
All of my artworks come with free shipping, so you can enjoy your new piece without any additional costs. If you have any questions or special requests, please do not hesitate to message me. I am always happy to help and will respond as soon as I can.
Details of Framed Print:
- Framed Print / 2.0mm Mount / Float Glass
- Glaze: Float Glass
- Frame: Box
- Paper Type: Hahnemühle German Etching
- Substrate Weight: 310gsm
- Mount: 2.4mm
- Product size: 45x60cm
Details of Canvas Print:
- Stretched Canvas on a 19mm Standard Stretcher Bar, 18x24 inches / 46x61 cm
- Wrap: Black
- Edge: 19mm
- Frame: 19mm Standard Stretcher Bar
- Paper Type: Standard Canvas (SC)
- Substrate Weight: 400gsm


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Hello! I'm Jon King, DDS, of King Dental Group in Santa Barbara. I have been practicing quality general and cosmetic dentistry since 1967. Today's post focuses on malocclusion, or bad bite.
Malocclusion is the dental term for a problem in the way your top and bottom teeth come together. The ideal bite is when the upper teeth are slightly forward of the lower teeth. You have probably heard of "overbites" and "underbites" but the two arches can be misaligned in many other ways as well. Crowded teeth can also cause a bad bite, as well as the opposite situation – teeth that are too far apart.
If the misalignment is very slight, there are often no related issues. However, if the malocclusion is moderate to severe, the patient is at risk for many other health issues such as difficulty chewing and speaking, headaches, hearing problems, increased decay, jaw pain, and gum disease.
The domino effect of these troubles can get pretty serious. For example, chewing difficulty can trigger ulcers and gum disease increases the risk of stroke and heart disease. Consider also how these problems can impact a patient's emotional well-being and capacity to perform their job.
Putting health issues aside, these problems can get pretty pricey to treat.
There are several effective treatments for malocclusion, but first you need a diagnosis. If you suspect that you have a misaligned bite, I hope this post has given you some good reasons to talk to Dr. Jon King. Call 805-687-1548 to schedule a consultation and exam.
Contact King Dental Group:
Location (Tap to open in Google Maps):
1919 State St Ste 205
Santa Barbara, California


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Curcumin, one of the principal components of the Indian spice turmeric, seems to delay the liver damage that eventually causes cirrhosis, suggests preliminary experimental research in the journal Gut.
Curcumin, which gives turmeric its bright yellow pigment, has long been used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine to treat a wide range of gastrointestinal disorders.
Previous research has indicated that it has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties which may be helpful in combating disease.
The research team wanted to find out if curcumin could delay the damage caused by progressive inflammatory conditions of the liver, including primary sclerosing cholangitis and primary biliary cirrhosis.
Both of these conditions, which can be sparked by genetic faults or autoimmune disease, cause the liver's plumbing system of bile ducts to become inflamed, scarred, and blocked. This leads to extensive tissue damage and irreversible and ultimately fatal liver cirrhosis.
The research team analysed tissue and blood samples from mice with chronic liver inflammation before and after adding curcumin to their diet for a period of four and a period of eight weeks.
The results were compared with the equivalent samples from mice with the same condition, but not fed curcumin.
The findings showed that the curcumin diet significantly reduced bile duct blockage and curbed liver cell (hepatocyte) damage and scarring (fibrosis) by interfering with several chemical signalling pathways involved in the inflammatory process.
These effects were clear at both four and eight weeks. No such effects were seen in mice fed a normal diet.
The authors point out that current treatment for inflammatory liver disease involves ursodeoxycholic acid, the long term effects of which remain unclear. The other alternative is a liver transplant.
Curcumin is a natural product, they say, which seems to target several different parts of the inflammatory process, and as such, may therefore offer a very promising treatment in the future.
Story Source:
Materials provided by BMJ-British Medical Journal. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Anna Baghdasaryan, Thierry Claudel, Astrid Kosters, Judith Gumhold, Dagmar Silbert, Andrea Thüringer, Katharina Leski, Peter Fickert, Saul J Karpen, Michael Trauner. Curcumin improves sclerosing cholangitis in Mdr2-/- mice by inhibition of cholangiocyte inflammatory response and portal myofibroblast proliferation. Gut, 2010; 59: 521-530 DOI: 10.1136/gut.2009.186528
for further reading on its benefits