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Monday, May 28, 2007
Scientists prove that Adam Smith was right and that Dick Cheney is brain damaged
Take that, Immanuel Kant:
When confronted with moral dilemmas, the brain-damaged patients coldly came up with "end-justifies-the-means" answers. Damasio said the point was not that they reached immoral conclusions, but that when confronted by a difficult issue -- such as whether to shoot down a passenger plane hijacked by terrorists before it hits a major city -- these patients appear to reach decisions without the anguish that afflicts those with normally functioning brains.
Perhaps, the ability to make non conflicted decisions about life and death situations should be counted among the unintended benefits of such brain injury. We spend billions of dollars every year teaching this skill to military and law enforcement recruits so that they can protect themselves and the rest of us from the predators of the world.
Leisurely contemplation may be a luxury law professors enjoy and expect. However, soldiers or police who hesitate because they cannot make up their minds as to which course of action to take get themselves and others killed.
Via SEED magazine I discovered a particularly important read, "Moral Minds" How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong, by Marc D. Hauser. This is beyond a fascinating read.
"If there is any issue more important in the current cultural agenda than understanding the mechanisms behind the human moral compass I don't quite know what it is. To date, Hauser's book is the more complete attempt to bring together philosophy, anthropology, cognitive science and neuroscience around that critical issue. The result is both daring and wise." - Antonio Damasio, prof. of neuroscience USC.
Bart, the brain-damaged like yourself push the world into greater and greater chaos and mayhem through your actions. The discussion here is about behaviors that decrease violence, not increase it.
Morality, broadly speaking, emerges as a function of greater and greater capacity for reason. Reason, more or less, is the ability to see the world clearly in spite of the obscuring influences of desire and aversion.
Professor Balkin,
Give credit where its due: "Scientists prove David Hume right (again)."
Add this to the previous scientific confirmations:
The Finite Divisibility of Space (Quantum Mechanics)
The Empirical Origin of Geometry (Non-Euclidean Geometry & General Relativity)
The Illusion of Design arising from non-teleological perfections occuring over vast amounts of time (Natural Selection)
"Scientists prove that Adam Smith was right..." "Take that, Immanuel Kant."
Jack, you barely started your post and I already have objections!
1. "Scientists prove..." I think that this oversells and overhypes the findings of the neuroscientists. First of all, the experiment described in the article had to do with only one moral phenomenon, altruism. Other experiments, such as those described by Green and Hauser, also study only a narrow set of moral problems, mostly highly emotive and unusual ones at that (such as trade-offs among human lives). These only scratch the surface of morality – and, so far as I can tell, they have nothing to say about moral issues that may be crucially important but are subtle rather than hot-button issues. For example, Kant thought we have a moral duty to cultivate our talents rather than idling and slacking our days away. None of the neuroscience experiments I'm aware of studies issues like that, or for that matter small-stakes issues of everyday interaction.
Second, some of the experiments strike me as scientifically questionable. For example, Marc Hauser and his collaborators study people's reactions to hypothetical moral dilemmas using a web-based survey called the "Moral Sense Test." The title of the test is already a confounder: it tells the subjects that their moral sense is being studied, which may put them on guard and elicit different reactions than the subjects would have if the test was labeled, for example, "Strategic Reasoning Test."
Third, I also have serious questions about what conclusions can be drawn about moral behavior in reality by studying people's reactions to hypotheticals posed while they are hooked up to brain-scanning machinery. (In scientists' jargon: whether the experiments have "ecological validity.") Remember Stanley Milgram's famous electrical shock experiments. When he posed the problem to audiences hypothetically, nobody in Milgram's audiences said they would administer the whole series of electrical shocks, and they guessed that only one in a hundred or one in a thousand people would do so – a clear tip-off that people think administering the shocks is wrong. Move them from the hypothetical to the reality, and almost two-thirds of the subjects administered the whole series of shocks. This suggests that responses to hypotheticals may be bad tests of real-life responses – or, at the very least, that it remains to be shown how good they are as tests. For decades, social psychologists have shown and argued that minute differences in people's situation can translate into large differences in behavior. Surely, that well-established "situationist" conclusion should make us wonder how much the difference between sitting in a laboratory hooked up to an MRI and any real-life situation might affect people's responses.
Let me be clear: these are genuine questions, not objections. Presumably, there are scientific ways to evaluate the ecological validity of the experiments. I just haven't seen it done.
2. Adam Smith's "sympathy" has a cognitive as a well as an emotional side, so it isn't totally different from Kant's idea that morality involves reason. In the opening pages of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith writes:
"Sympathy does not arise so much from the view of the [other person's] passion, as from that of the situation that excites it. We sometimes feel for another, a passion of which he himself seems to be altogether incapable; because, when we put ourselves in his case, that passion arises in our breast from the imagination, though it does not in his from the reality....
The compassion of the spectator must arise altogether from the consideration of what he himself would feel if he was reduced to the same unhappy situation, and, what perhaps is impossible, was at the same time able to regard it with his present reason and judgment."
So Smith's sympathy includes reasoning and judging "dispassionately" about the other person's situation as well as feeling it with that other person. That suggests that the experiments described in the article are as much a disproof as a proof that Smith was right.
3. The experiments show that when people help others they get a nice jolt from their pleasure centers. Does that mean that they are helping others simply in order to get psychic pleasure themselves? Nothing in the experiments suggests anything of the kind. Do we really think that Wesley Autrey jumped in front of a New York subway to save another because he consciously or unconsciously anticipated getting that pleasurable buzz?
If people are NOT acting well in order to get a psychic buzz, then nothing in the experiments rules out Kant's basic claim: that morality consists in acting from duty. It may be that people acting from duty get a psychic buzz. But to identify that with "moral motivation" may mistake cause and effect.
Mr. Luban,
The easiest rejoinder to your defense of Kant is that the duties which he wished to ground purely in reason were still just founded on sympathy & sentiments. Shame, in particular, seemed to be a big part of Kant's morality. You can see this in the *highly* emotive language he uses in discussing morality based on happiness rather than duty (paraphrasing from memory) he claims that grounding a morality on happiness would fill one with self-loathing.
The research enterprise has been viewed with interest by philosophers and theologians, but already some worry that it raises troubling questions. Reducing morality and immorality to brain chemistry -- rather than free will -- might diminish the importance of personal responsibility. Even more important, some wonder whether the very idea of morality is somehow degraded if it turns out to be just another evolutionary tool that nature uses to help species survive and propagate.
This kind of research should be threatening only to a Cartesian dualist, or anyone else who believes, with no scientific justification, that the human mind is separate and different from the very complicated chemical and electrical systems through which our brain operates.
These studies help us understand the subconscious mechanisms that together lead to conscious ideas. If the materialists are correct, our minds will eventually be understood as comprised entirely of complicated chemical and electrical neural computer elements. This only strengthens the idea that I am an entity, that makes decisions.
The abstract I is not removed from the physical brain chemistry — indeed, these are simply different levels at which the view certain phenomenon — so certainly an I should take responsibility for its actions.
I didn't read the full article, but I would suspect that the brains of sociopaths are physiologically divergent from normals in the area in question, as a result of either genetic or environmental factors (or both).
So perhaps Cheney is a sociopath.
The neurological studies are fascinating, but it's also interesting to tease apart the questions of 1) what they tell us that we didn't already know and 2) what it is about the neuroscientific data that is so seductive.
As to the first question, the work of Damasio, Hauser, Greene, Jonathan Haidt and others on cognition, morality and empathy seems especially valuable because it helps demonstrate how closely emotion and cognition are interwined by showing that emotions aren't confined to any one area of the brain, but are implicated in a variety of cogntive functions. More specifically, it suggests that moral choices devoid of emotional input may be problematic--not just that the decisions are not accompanied by anguish, but that the decisions themselves are often disastrous. Damasio describes what happens when loss of affect is combined with intact reasoning as "acquired sociopathy."
But although the mapping of the brain functions is fairly new, the insights about reason and emotion are not. Psychologist Paul Bloom, in his interesting book Descartes' Baby, notes that "it is unusual for the techniques of neuroscience to provide insights that we had not already obtained through simpler means." So, I am as excited about this work as Jack is, partly because of its informational value and potential, but part of my excitement stems from the fact that it is causing many more people to take the role of emotion seriously now that science is weighing in and showing us color coded pictures of the brain (what NYU cognitive neuroscientist Elizabeth Phelps memorably called "the cognitive paparazzi.")
Bart writes:Perhaps, the ability to make non conflicted decisions about life and death situations should be counted among the unintended benefits of such brain injury. We spend billions of dollars every year teaching this skill to military and law enforcement recruits so that they can protect themselves and the rest of us from the predators of the world.
Such ends-justify-the-means reasoning (if you can call it that) all to often leads to behavior that includes them in the ranks of the predators from which we need protection.
I recall another recent study that showed that the most successful equities traders are those who have sociopathic tendencies:
(looking for more primary quotes).
This explains a lot.
The main problem that this overlooks is when those do not have the emotive capabilities (either through damage or training) use that for immoral or illegal (or in the administration's case, unconstitutional) decisions.
The risk for removing the emotional responses for our guardians is that we cannot remove the legal and moral dimensions, either; otherwise, the only justification becomes effect.
Nicholas: your response to Luban's defense of Kant only works if one presumes that the duties Kant specifies really are "founded on," rather than merely accompanied by, emotions (Luban's point #3). In other words, your response only works if we all concede from the outset that Kant just can't be right about this. Of course, if we always had the luxury of getting to assume that our targets just can't be right, there would be no pressing need to issue a rejoinder in the first place.
I'm not sure whether these findings pose much of a threat to Kant's theory. (Kant's theory might be a failure, but not because of these findings.) Kant is widely misinterpreted as saying that someone acting from duty cannot under any circumstances be motivated by her "inclinations"-- that is, her own subjective preferences, feelings, etc. But he doesn't say that. In his Groundwork, it sounds as if that's the claim he's making. But he explicitly concedes that frequently, a person's inclinations and sense of duty coincide. But Kant finds such cases uninformative for the question he's asking, which is whether or not the fact that inclinations and duties coincide means that they are just the same thing. Kant's focus on cases where inclinations and the sense of duty fail to coincide help him answer his question in the negative, i.e. that moral obligations cannot be identified solely with some set of facts about human nature. This is a feature, though, that Kant's theory shares with theories that differ significantly from his (such as utilitarianism).
I'm aware that temperamental inclination can exist concurrently with duty for Kant, and since I don't have my Kant with me (but have read both the Groundwork and most of the 1st Critique, including the moral parts), I'll avoid trying to defend the sentimental foundation of Kant's morals and turn to the more fatal difficulty with his duty based morality.
Kant wants a morality that is universally applicable to all rational beings. The problem for Kant with moralities based on happiness is that such moralities will lead to uncertainty, disagreement and conflict (up to and including war, according to Kant's 3rd Critique). With Euclid's Geometry as his model, Kant believes that pure reason can lead to a system of morals that could be universally agreed upon. Unfortunately for Kantians (though not Kant. who died too soon), non-Euclidean geometry proves that you can have logically rigorous systems based on differing axioms and pure reason can't supply a basis to prefer one set of axioms from another.
Ironically, the aspects of human living that we most identify with being human -- our emotions, love, maternal instincts, and yes, empathy, are really far more mammilian than they are confined to the human race.
What really makes us human as opposed to being merely mammilian, are the traits exemplified by Star Trek's Spock -- our higher order reasoning abilities.
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Stephen M. Griffin, Broken Trust: Dysfunctional Government and Constitutional Reform (University Press of Kansas, 2015)
Frank Pasquale, The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information (Harvard University Press, 2015)
Bruce Ackerman, We the People, Volume 3: The Civil Rights Revolution (Harvard University Press, 2014)
Balkinization Symposium on We the People, Volume 3: The Civil Rights Revolution
Joseph Fishkin, Bottlenecks: A New Theory of Equal Opportunity (Oxford University Press, 2014)
Mark A. Graber, A New Introduction to American Constitutionalism (Oxford University Press, 2013)
John Mikhail, Elements of Moral Cognition: Rawls' Linguistic Analogy and the Cognitive Science of Moral and Legal Judgment (Cambridge University Press, 2013)
Gerard N. Magliocca, American Founding Son: John Bingham and the Invention of the Fourteenth Amendment (New York University Press, 2013)
Stephen M. Griffin, Long Wars and the Constitution (Harvard University Press, 2013)
Andrew Koppelman, The Tough Luck Constitution and the Assault on Health Care Reform (Oxford University Press, 2013)
James E. Fleming and Linda C. McClain, Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues (Harvard University Press, 2013)
Balkinization Symposium on Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues
Andrew Koppelman, Defending American Religious Neutrality (Harvard University Press, 2013)
Brian Z. Tamanaha, Failing Law Schools (University of Chicago Press, 2012)
Sanford Levinson, Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance (Oxford University Press, 2012)
Linda C. McClain and Joanna L. Grossman, Gender Equality: Dimensions of Women's Equal Citizenship (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
Mary Dudziak, War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences (Oxford University Press, 2012)
Jack M. Balkin, Living Originalism (Harvard University Press, 2011)
Jason Mazzone, Copyfraud and Other Abuses of Intellectual Property Law (Stanford University Press, 2011)
Richard W. Garnett and Andrew Koppelman, First Amendment Stories, (Foundation Press 2011)
Jack M. Balkin, Constitutional Redemption: Political Faith in an Unjust World (Harvard University Press, 2011)
Gerard Magliocca, The Tragedy of William Jennings Bryan: Constitutional Law and the Politics of Backlash (Yale University Press, 2011)
Bernard Harcourt, The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order (Harvard University Press, 2010)
Bruce Ackerman, The Decline and Fall of the American Republic (Harvard University Press, 2010)
Balkinization Symposium on The Decline and Fall of the American Republic
Ian Ayres. Carrots and Sticks: Unlock the Power of Incentives to Get Things Done (Bantam Books, 2010)
Mark Tushnet, Why the Constitution Matters (Yale University Press 2010)
Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff: Lifecycle Investing: A New, Safe, and Audacious Way to Improve the Performance of Your Retirement Portfolio (Basic Books, 2010)
Jack M. Balkin, The Laws of Change: I Ching and the Philosophy of Life (2d Edition, Sybil Creek Press 2009)
Brian Z. Tamanaha, Beyond the Formalist-Realist Divide: The Role of Politics in Judging (Princeton University Press 2009)
Andrew Koppelman and Tobias Barrington Wolff, A Right to Discriminate?: How the Case of Boy Scouts of America v. James Dale Warped the Law of Free Association (Yale University Press 2009)
Jack M. Balkin and Reva B. Siegel, The Constitution in 2020 (Oxford University Press 2009)
Heather K. Gerken, The Democracy Index: Why Our Election System Is Failing and How to Fix It (Princeton University Press 2009)
Mary Dudziak, Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall's African Journey (Oxford University Press 2008)
David Luban, Legal Ethics and Human Dignity (Cambridge Univ. Press 2007)
Ian Ayres, Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-By-Numbers is the New Way to be Smart (Bantam 2007)
Jack M. Balkin, James Grimmelmann, Eddan Katz, Nimrod Kozlovski, Shlomit Wagman and Tal Zarsky, eds., Cybercrime: Digital Cops in a Networked Environment (N.Y.U. Press 2007)
Jack M. Balkin and Beth Simone Noveck, The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds (N.Y.U. Press 2006)
Andrew Koppelman, Same Sex, Different States: When Same-Sex Marriages Cross State Lines (Yale University Press 2006)
Brian Tamanaha, Law as a Means to an End (Cambridge University Press 2006)
Sanford Levinson, Our Undemocratic Constitution (Oxford University Press 2006)
Mark Graber, Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil (Cambridge University Press 2006)
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Sanford Levinson, ed., Torture: A Collection (Oxford University Press 2004)
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What's for Dinner #153 - July 4th Edition [Old]
Barbecue, grilling, cook out -- What's your July 4th tradition?
Here at Casa Roxlet, it will be pork barbecue, slaw, tater salad and corn bread. I'm still working on the dessert, but it will likely be a blueberry pie from the new Alice Medrich book, and my own spin on the fabulous peach cream pie from Briermere Farms in NY where the cream is actually a mix of whipped cream and cream cheese.
What's for dinner tonight, and for the 4th?
Tonight is boy's night so I'm serving my husband and his friend grilled steaks, grilled corn on the cob, and mashed potatoes. I'm not bothering with a green veg bc they will just ignore it.
Tomorrow we are BBQing on the beach. So far we have burgers, hot dogs, chicken skewers, shrimp skewers, macaroni and cheese, tortellini salad, pasta salad, baked beans and fruit salad on the menu. Dinner tomorrow night may be chicken francese or it may be an order for pizza. Depends how tired I am when I get home from the beach.
Tonight, roasted chicken breasts, rice and spinach.
For the Fourth, cheeseburgers on the gas grill, toasted onion rolls, tomato, onion and, for him, lettuce. None on my burger, thank you. Probably French fries. Don't need anything else, except Old Glory flying.
Being American in name only, I wasn't really planning on celebrating the 4th until my boyfriend asked me this morning if I had any ideas for dinner tomorrow... So it sounds like it's going to be burgers on the grill, probably with cheese and a variety of other standard toppings. Potato salad on the side and perhaps a veggie of some sort. Maybe some beer, if everything else doesn't cost too much. Until he finds a job here, we're relying on my incredibly modest income and are having to be rather thrifty when it comes to food, especially since almost everything except for my spices and my home cured olives was left behind in the move.
Last night I made a smoky pha lad na with bok choy and the rest of the grilled chicken from the night before. Tonight, I have no idea what we're having. I'll have to hit the store and see what I see.
Going out for a German take on pulled pork today at a new resto in our hood tonight (http://www.katzorange.com/menu/).
Tomorrow we're invited over to our friends' place -- they live in Brooklyn but are in town for 2 weeks with their young daughter. We'll be bringing German beer, and I hear there's burgers & corn on the cob (!!!) on the menu! Alas, no fireworks here.
Shame, as I go a little apeshit over fireworks :-)
re: linguafood
it will be interesting to hear how the pulled pork is...
and it's super cute that you go apeshit over fireworks!
re: linguafood
Machaca is definitely not something I would've expected to see on a German menu. The matjes herring with raspberries and avocado, however, are an intriguing twist on a classic and oh how they are calling me!
re: linguafood
Wow, looking forward to a report on German pulled pork - as well as how the German corn on the cob is - that's a tough one to pull off well up there!
Would be happy to have your apeshit-ness replace me for the fireworks portion of tomorrow evening. Like the rockets red glare, but not the noise! I am just outside of SEA city limits (like, a block), and they have a fireworks ban - but not HERE. in my neighborhood and all south of me, all the teenagers are going crazy with huge booming stuff from the indian reservations... sigh.
re: linguafood
The pork was lovely -- it came in a big hunk that fell apart just digging at it with forks: marinated for 48 hours, then cooked sous vide, then finished in the oven. A bunch of accoutrements such as lemon-creme fraiche (totally unnecessary), the oven jus, seasonal veggies and an apple/cucumber salad. Did I mention they serve goose fat fries? :-)
No burgers the next day, but pizza instead at the best pizza joint in town. Fine with me.
re: linguafood
goose fat fries..... ack ack ack!
re: twodales
Yum! I tend to go the Mediterranean route as well in this 90+ degree weather! Do you make your own Greek dressing for your salad? I'm always on the lookout for a delicious dressing.
re: tiffeecanoe
I like this Greek dressing, in case you're looking for one: http://greek.food.com/recipe/kittenca...
re: ChristinaMason
thank you!
re: tiffeecanoe
Hi tiffeecanoe.....Greek Dressing. I generally sprinkle fresh or dried oregano over the salad and then drizzle some nice evoo and a bit of wine vinegar over the top. A few grinds of pepper and that is it. I figure all of the bits: the kalamatas, feta, cukes, tomatoes and whatnot should shine, so I keep it simple.
I will have to try Christinas's recipe some time.
re: twodales
definitely! While we're sharing - mine is basically 3T of lemon juice (or mix of lemon juice and basic white wine vinegar) poured into 2 mashed w/ salt garlic cloves, then 4T of Olive oil - sometimes a mild tasting one actually! Little oregano or fresh dill and pepper. YUM! I've been trying to recreate the dressing from my favorite sandwich/salad shop in Greektown in Chicago and I think I've finally come close with this one!


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- edulover learner
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- China
This conversation is closed.
What is your definition of good education?
Being a teacher at middle school for twenty-year.The question:What is the so called good education? It keeps haunting in my mind.I feel good to keep asking me the question.Because I really hope what my teaching can help young people to understand their lives better.As well as I know it is not a solo aspect to definite good education.But I would like you come to share your understanding of good education.Because I think it is never be enough to keep talking about education.As much as we can come together to communicate it.We need everyone join in talking education,we will see better education around us.Thanks.
Apr 21 2013: For me a good education begins with the discipline of learning the mechanic of how to study and do research; i.e. have an alert mind and body receptive to learning. Next is being exposed to as many varied subjects as possible so that at some future time, one has the fundamental knowledge to perk one's interest in continuing self education. Most importantly, one must master the basics of questioning everything so one seeks proven facts and not heresay/fiction. Add to that some common sense to separate expansive theories from reality.
Kohl Dothage
Apr 27 2013: One has a good education when one knows how to find the answers to his or her questions and uses those resources. In addition, he or she also knows how to formulate new questions.
- +2
Duane Thomas
Apr 24 2013: A good education begins with the question humans have been asking since the beginning of time…why? Understanding the reason we learn is key to a successful journey through the school system. Rather then absorbing information and regurgitating it onto a piece of paper only to forget it moments after its handed in, having the student understand why that piece of information is useful and how it fits into their lives is key.
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The social aspect of learning is also one of the most important elements of an education. Many of the most important lessons we learn in life happen right under our noses, without us ever knowing a change had occurred. The ability to socialize with a group of peers of the same age group greatly influences that person's social behavior (positive/negative) for years to come.
An understanding of the world outside the classroom is, in my opinion, one of the most overlooked elements in most school systems. Field trips, from my experience, always seemed like a day off from learning, a time to relax and just have fun. I believe learning outside of the classroom should become a staple in the day to day lives of students and the information gathered should be used to the teachers advantage in the next lesson.
Apr 25 2013: Hi dear Duane Thomas,how can the students understand why the piece of informaton is useful and how it fits into their lives ?any more idea about it in detail?should our teachers tell them:the piece of information is useful?who can know exactly the information fits into students' lives or not?
Duane Thomas
Apr 25 2013: I believe that age appropriate interactions with the world around them would give the students context to their studies. Developing an understanding of how the system works early on as well as seeing life in motion outside of the common home/school setting most students are accustomed to can serve to expand their world view. With these two pieces in place, I believe the students, even at a young age would be better able to associate classroom lessons to their current, or their future lives. Furthermore, teachers should always be providing guidance along with a dialog to the lessons, especially at an early age. Also to ensure the students understand how each piece of information is useful, the teacher must plan field trips or any other activities in advance with a purpose while explaining to the students along the way the reason for the outing.Apr 21 2013: The purpose of a good education goes far beyond educating a person for a specific job; it should give students a lifelong basis and curiosity to continue doing research and the innate desire to acquire facts on their own. It should instill the lifelong curiosity to learn not only subjects with which they are familiar but with subjects little known to them. It also allows for critical thinking and debating and is nevr stagnant....a lifetime yearning for learning for learning's sake.
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greg dahlen
May 1 2013: Well, for one thing, a teacher has to like to learn herself, ask questions and learn about new things. A real educator is open to the idea that they may learn something from their students, it is not all one-way.
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Comment deleted
Apr 21 2013: Good points. If I summarize - a person's capability to introspect and offer something meaningful!
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sibtain ali
Apr 21 2013: i never denied the significance of cognitive domain its the first and the fundamental step but not the final one ...... a balance if offcourse necessary..............and for facts i dont beleive in any theory but i firmly beleive "what feels right is often right and what feels wrong is more often wrong..............Apr 21 2013: good education is when one is trained to accepts that he/she isn't always right and can accept to learn from others, even from your least favorite people.
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Apr 21 2013: Education can be all about learning something which makes a human self-reliant. I think the whole idea of a school education is to offer kids with elementary and fundamental aspects of various subjects, subtly develop a passion for learning within them, thus enabling him/her to think critically, sensibly and emotionally about any issues that they come across in their life.
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"Learning by Doing" is very important. I felt it is too academic and theoretical in schools, so we must slowly shift to an environment where kids experience a lifestyle where they learn and grow
Apr 21 2013: When we come to talk about american's education,we all think "Learning from Doing" Dewey's educational ideas flowing every corner of america.At least some of my professors they had been to United state told us so.Is it going so?Does it like Confucius' ideas streaming in chinese blood?
Apr 21 2013: Don't know much about how effective "Learning from Doing" in America. I hail from India and I can see a transition is happening from academics to this model. It will eventually help kids to reflect!
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L.A. Hall
Apr 21 2013: I believe the genuine yearning of a good teacher is to imbue students with their own understanding of the world. First we've got to teach good teachers, then we've got to ensure that they're not just good teachers, but good people, too. Lastly, there's got to be an entire scholastic infrastructure -- librarians, advisors, I think it includes athletics too -- that has a common understanding of truth and morality, and that infrastructure -- paired with phenomenal teaching -- has got to support children's open-minded curiosity. Nothing is wrong. Everything is an opportunity.
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Apr 21 2013: Dear L.A.Hall,what do u mean:Nothing is wrong?:)
L.A. Hall
Apr 21 2013: We cannot reprehend students for behavior. Any 'wrongdoing' must be seen as an excellent learning opportunity, because it is. Our public education system must exercise infinite forgiveness. We cannot push down what is wrong. We must hold up what is right.Apr 22 2013: if we can better use the scientific method and teach this the better we all will be now and in the future some people dont even know what this method is . but abstract thinking would be a real start as well . education and knowledge still a wonder to enjoy and pass on .Apr 21 2013: Education is to weed out the old then create out the new.
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Apr 22 2013: hi yuandon huang,could you share with us in detail:what do you mean:the old and the new?are they connected?or aparted?Apr 21 2013: As a student,I think we need teachers who could not only impart their knowledge and experience to us but also inspiring us to do initiative study. In Chian, we have to recieve the force-feed education and we desire acquire the good education that means we don't like to study with indiscriminately.We should ,to large extent,have our rights to choose the coures which we really like it,especially in high school.
Apr 22 2013: hi Dear Xlong Caroline,thanks for the sincere sharing.The education reform in china is going to do so:open various courses for students to opt in their own interest at school.But if universities don't change their requirements to select,judge students.The reform action is just an empty talk.Apr 21 2013: Right now I am 16 years old. I have been in a very strict school for almost all my lifetime. In it, I received a "good" education meaning learning to be VERY responsible; however, I suffered and felt stressed very easily…
Nevertheless, this year, I went to another school. Some teachers were the "normal " ones, but I'm having this one teacher that is so geared up when giving his class… he's really, REALLY funny (but ONLY at the needed moments), he uses PowerPoint presentations for showing either notes we have to copy or images he explains very motivated, he sometimes brings items to enhance the given class, we students have our partners to whom we discuss some answers, and then share them to the class, and we also have this "Unit Question" where we relate what we're learning to our present society/world/ourselves… Although he teaches my least favorite subject, that's my favorite class. Because of him, I'm so interested in learning that I'm even writing here, on TED!
So, good education? Having a teacher who ENJOYS being one.
I hope this information is useful.
Apr 22 2013: hi,dear Sofia Carrillo,thanks for sharing with us how you understand'good education'.you told me being a teacher,how much I can do to promote'better education' for students.Apr 21 2013: The definition of good education is the ideal process of preparing one's mind to learn things. Please check this up because I just made this definition.
Apr 21 2013: heheheeh...thanks Dear Pabitra Mukhopadhyay:)your profile pic looks like a scholar:wearing glasses,a thinker.
Apr 21 2013: Thanks! :)Apr 20 2013: One in which the student can APPLY his education to the field he is educated in and produce a product or service that someone else would be willing to exchange (pay for) for.
Application and exchange
Apr 21 2013: do you mean good education means it is applied for people's life?and it can help us to exchange spiritual and pratical issue from each other smoothly?
Apr 21 2013: It is about learning a skill that someone else considers to be valuable and will pay for the product you produce.Apr 20 2013: I personally think that we need to keep very current and to not be so politically structured when choosing lessons for students, mainly middle school and forward. People are smarter these days, plus their parents are making a larger impact on the child's general education because they, themselves, are more intelligent.
I think the middle school but particularly high school level of education should include topics (preferably required but offered even) such as philosophy, astronomy, physics, etc. I realize many of these are college level courses, but only because we say so. I feel these should be included in middle to high school levels of education because kids seem bored - these topics are very interesting and have the untamed ability to spark interest and positive motivation in a student - similar to the effect of a great teacher.
Apr 21 2013: Thanks Kendle Yanusko:).I like the pic you showing in your profile,it looks very nice and sweet.children would like you the most for your angel's face and smiling.Apr 20 2013: to impart excelence in any one in field he desires.
Apr 21 2013: Thanks,sibtain ali:).I couldn't help giving your five for your brevity of the best wit about education.Could you share more about how can we teachers'to impart excellence in any one "?If you were a teacher...what would you do to achieve the aim you sharing with us?
Apr 21 2013: well in that case i am a lecturer in engineering college........look the purpose of education is to effect the affective domain of the learner...aka the way he uses his knowledge to to overcome problems in real lfe situations.......but todays education system gives amphasis on cognitive domain...aka...bookish knowledge......what iam trying to say is even after graduating with an hounours degree ,when the person go in his job he is unable to relate his knowledge with problems he is hired to solve for in his job....what can be done to to overcome this problems is to teach topics in class with the help of practical case studies.....making students aware of what problems they might face in job industrry........this one aspect to change .............about imparting exellence in one field i should say we must allow and motivate students to find what they love to do in there early age............this can be started in graduation level i wont say that it will work in primary level of education....
Apr 21 2013: wowo,sibtain ali,thanks .but I think affective domain and cognitive domain we should have a balance of teaching for both.Especially when I learnt "Carl Rogers's learner-centered teaching and Piaget's cognitive theory..." I felt aswesome for their great achievement in teaching and learning.
But now in china,eventhough we know how important affective domain education for children,we keep knoweledge orientation in exams to judge their talents.That's the main reason why some of children commit suicide..being a teacher,whenever I heard the bad new again and again,I couldn't help tearing,eventhough I never taught them,thought of them so young and chose this way to end their life,I always ask me:anything else I can try my best to do?


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It's never too late to "Green-Up" your holiday lighting or too early to start making plans for next year's decorations. �You can take advantage of the "after Christmas sales" that will be popping up all over or still use your HBPW LED Christmas Light Coupon.
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Test ID: F5DNA
Factor V Leiden (R506Q) Mutation, Blood
Useful For Suggests clinical disorders or settings where the test may be helpful
Factor V Leiden mutation testing should be reserved for patients with clinically suspected thrombophilia and: 1) APC-resistance proven or suspected by a low or borderline APC-resistance ratio, or 2) a family history of factor V Leiden.
Genetics Test Information Provides information that may help with selection of the correct test or proper submission of the test request
Tests for R506Q mutation only.
Clinical Information Discusses physiology, pathophysiology, and general clinical aspects, as they relate to a laboratory test
Venous thromboembolism includes deep vein thrombosis and its complication, pulmonary embolism. Plasma from 12% to 20% of venous thromboembolism patients is resistant to the anticoagulant effect of activated protein C (APC resistance). Essentially all patients with hereditary APC resistance have a single nucleotide mutation of the coagulation factor V (fV) gene (F5 rs6025), which encodes for an arginine (R) to glutamine (Q) substitution at position 506 of the factor V protein (fV R506Q). The factor V Leiden (R506Q) gene mutation test is a direct mutation analysis of patient blood leukocyte genomic DNA.
We recommend the coagulation-based activated protein C (APC)-resistance ratio (mixing with factor V-deficient plasma) as the initial screening assay for APC-resistance. Depending on the assay system, the APC-resistance ratio may be indeterminate for patients with a lupus anticoagulant or extremely high heparin levels.
Reference Values Describes reference intervals and additional information for interpretation of test results. May include intervals based on age and sex when appropriate. Intervals are Mayo-derived, unless otherwise designated. If an interpretive report is provided, the reference value field will state this.
Interpretation Provides information to assist in interpretation of the test results
The interpretive report will include specimen information, assay information, background information, and conclusions based on the test results (normal, heterozygous fV R506Q, homozygous fV R506Q).
Cautions Discusses conditions that may cause diagnostic confusion, including improper specimen collection and handling, inappropriate test selection, and interfering substances
This direct mutation analysis will not detect individuals with activated protein c (APC)-resistance caused by mechanisms other than the fV R506Q.
Special Coagulation Clinic and/or Medical Genetics consultations are available for DNA diagnosis cases, and may be especially helpful in complex cases or in situations where the diagnosis is atypical or uncertain.
Clinical Reference Provides recommendations for further in-depth reading of a clinical nature
1. Dahlback B, Carlsson M, Svensson PR: Familial Thrombophilia due to a previously unrecognized mechanism characterized by poor anticoagulant response to activated protein C: prediction of a cofactor to activated protein C. Proc Natl Acac Sci USA 1993;90:1004-1008
2. Bertina RM, Koeleman BP, Koster T, et al: Mutation in blood coagulation factor V associated with resistance to activated protein C. Nature 1994;369:64-67
3. Zoller B, Svensson PJ, He X, Dahlback B: Identification of the same factor V gene mutation in 47 out of 50 thrombosis-prone families with inherited resistance to activated protein C. J Clin Invest 1994;94:2521-2524
4. Hall JG, Eis PS, Law SM, et al. Sensitive detection of DNA polymorphisms by the serial invasive signal amplification reaction. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2000;97:8272-8277
5. Heit JA: Thrombophilia: clinical and laboratory assessment and management. In Consultative Hemostasis and Thrombosis. Fourth edition. Edited by CS Kitchens, BM Alving, CM Kessler. Saunders 2012


text:
- dan pearce
- London Uk
- United Kingdom
This conversation is closed.
Monsanto is an organisation that is poisoning the world.
We must spread the word that Monsanto is a criminal corporation and we must reject the use of GMO crops.
Oct 20 2013: This is complete nonsense I work at Monsanto. Used to work for one of their competitors and virtually nothing I read on the internet about them is true. It is stunning but inaccurate and corrupted the stories are. I don't know anyone who works at Monsanto who would work there if they thought any of it was true. The GM crops seed products have been used for 16 years and over billions of acres and not a single report of harm to people. I could go on and on but I suspect many wouldn't believe me but the facts speak for themselves. So many errors of facts on the internet spread by extremists who have an emotional almost religious belief in their cause. Organic Industrialist millionaires sponsor the anti Gm campaign because they can't justify their higher prices.
Monsanto doesn't control the food supply. They don't sell food. They have about 35% share of the corn and soy seed business in the US about the same as Dupont. They don't sell to 95% of the market. They license out their technology even to their main competitor - they don't keep it to themselves. They label all their GM products as GM. They are in favor of voluntary labeling.
They don't control the US government - if they did they would need to spend $60 million on getting a product approved. They don't sue farmers for accidental use of GM seed. They have sued about 100 farmers over 16 years out of a million customers a year. I can't even calculate that low percentage.
Indian farmers are not dying before of GM seeds. The Indian government says it is not true.
There is no terminator gene being used by anyone.
Monsanto doesn't ban GM food in its cafe in England. It doesn't have a cafe in England.
RoundUp beans don't produce tumors in rats. Many independent scientists and agencies have said a French study is incorrect in fact the data even says it cures cancer.
GM food is not full of allergens - it is tested to make sure it is not more than any food. I can go on for everOct 20 2013: The company called Monsanto today is not the same company - legally that was in business before 2000. So if you comment on that company its now called Pfizer.Oct 3 2013: So, I guess nobody likes Monsanto. OK, I have a talent for evoking the obvious.
So, I'll play devil's advocate..
It's been around awhile, it has made many crucial investments in a number of companies and has adjusted it's business model to meet investment needs. It has vigorously protected it's patents, it's big on R & D. It has carved out a niche market,
agricultural seeds. It hires a battery of lawyers to protect it's self interests. It has been described as unethical, I am not so sure, ethics is a human trait. Can a non person have ethics? It has been said to have exerted undue influence on governmental agencies, no surprise there.
But, after all s said and done, it is a large company with a great number of investors and it has made them money.
Well, you say, that is no reason for them to have done all the that has been described here. OK.
No one here has to use Monsanto's products, You can announce to the world your opinion about Monsanto.
But after all is said and done, today it is trading over $100 a share and has a market cap of over $20 Billion.
What am I saying... Nobody cares... most of the world are using Monsanto seeds and the investors are making money.
It is what it is.Oct 2 2013: GMOs have been proven to rapidly increase tumor growth.
I won't blame Monsanto because they seem untouchable due to their "political contributions".
So now I say we should attack the people who allow corporations like this to operate. The fact is we know GMOs cause cancer in organic life. We know GMOs help big business save money (like they don't have enough already). We know that simply asking will not work. I know that labeling poison is not the solution. Only people who are sick in the mind think this is ok. It just so happens that these people are the ones that "represent" the majority of us. They make choices based on profit margins that never have and never will benefit the thousand upon thousands of people they employ. Their most valuable resource is US. If they don't have us, they have nothing. We can blame people to try and achieve change, we can change our lifestyles to create change or we can cut off the leeches that do ungodly things to fellow beings. It is our choice and however we choose to go about changing the future will be our legacy. Set a great and powerful example for your children. Teach them something they will teach their children and one day they will live in the perfect world that we all dreamed about. All they will know is living, laughing, and loving. :D Have a good day everyone.
My logic mixed with some passion and angerSep 28 2013: I am someone who merely wishes to know what I eat. After all, you are what you eat, are you not?
Distrust? No, merely being responsible for myself. I had to make a snap judgment but it was temporary.
I merely sent an enquiry during my last decision to Monsanto themselves and they replied to say it does not affect at a cellular level. I will soon know more so I can make my decisions. I find your manner of overassuming my view on things intriguing.
Oct 1 2013: My apologies if I caused you to think I was over assuming your specific view. My intention was to speak more broadly... an editorial you.
Distrust or merely being responsible? In any case, you weren't sure about what you were eating and you wanted to know.Sep 27 2013: No, it isn't about labelling or Monsanto alone although proper labelling helps and Monsanto seems to be the only corporation identified by the media - making me curious. It really is about having safe food.
I am not talking about food that serves us for just a day but food which can bear its influence on us, our children and grandchildren... whether in terms of virility, fitness or some other manner in a decade or so from now. Just like those who look at chicken injected with hormones... I now look at modified crops and wonder how assured we can be.
Sep 27 2013: OK, you want safe food. Understand. You distrust the global system that provides food. Again, noteworthy. But...
You are not responsible for the world, only you and yours. So, what to do?
You have sounded an alarm of a perceived problem. That is all that can be asked.
Then there is you and your family.
Since the 60s, there has been a magazine called Mother Earth News which published a scenario where a family can be supported on... a couple of hectares ... and went into great deal on how that could be done. That principal still exists. You can sustain yourself and family without reliance on commercial food sources.
Good News and Bad News:
Good News: You will have control of your food sources and have little or no concern of quality, insuring a long and healthy life.
Bad News: Food production will become your life, consuming most of your waking hours, as shown in the history of sustainment farming.
And therein lies the problem.
Most people are willing to assume the risk of maybe some future hypothetical problem with GMO crops and go on with the lives they want to live which doesn't include farming.
A choice they made like the choice you make.Sep 26 2013: There's just one thing, population explosion in areas that cannot sustain any thing without tapping other areas resources?Sep 26 2013: I think Monsanto gave GMO's a bad name... and should be rejected because of that.Sep 26 2013: Understand you see the power of production as a benefit. I also agree regulation matters. It is an issue when regulation is not clear enough to be enforced. There is not as yet proof of negativity but usually proof takes time and by a decade or two later, we usually end up paying a price. Sometimes, abeit a heavy one.
Sep 26 2013: Point taken.
In the past, mankind's concerns with problematic solutions oft times fell to the "law of unintended consequences"
Remember DDT? A very effective insecticide that promised to eradicate Malaria and other insect born diseases, well, there were problems. And the anti DDT proponents won the day and the product was banned.
Malaria is back as deadly as ever, West Nile virus and a number of other insect borne disease have spread from their origins and now are spreading across across the world. Could DDT have been altered to control the side effects and remained effective against the spread of these diseases? We will never know and our efforts to find an effective replacement is not going well..
GMO crops have shown that they are more productive then the old crops and with our expanding population, that is a good thing. We have the capability to feed the growing population and preventing global food shortages. But what about side effects? There are claims that have yet to be substantiated. Anti-GMO people have claimed suppression by bribery, political influence and other illegal activities. . And that has yet to be confirmed. So, Does the world eliminate GMO as it did DDT as an example? We can treat malaria and other diseases with drugs with fewer losses.... is there an effective drug to cure hunger?
On a personal level, I don't use artificial sweeteners because I think they are bad for me. Others think I am being foolish and use these sweeteners. I accepted that. For those who are troubled with GMO crops, do what I do about sweeteners... don't use them.
Sep 26 2013: Speaking of DDT, I believe you'll find Mosanto's name in the bag. They were into weed killers? Well the anti DDT proponents did prevail in those days.
Oh, I definitely agree we should not use them but its really hard to know whether you are using GMO crops... when its not always labelled so
Sep 27 2013: So, it's not about food, it's about labeling...Oct 1 2013: The ban on DDT was partly Monsanto's fault actually. When they were notified of the problems with DDT they had an extended time frame during which they could have and were advised to, change the formula, make modifications and or voluntarily pull the product which would have allowed them to keep it. They refused these options and governments were left with no choice but a ban. These are political decisions government is not noted for its structure for nuance. In the case of GMOs, again Monsanto gave themselves this black eye (along with any other GMOs) by being aggressively dogmatic in their refusal to address the problems associated with some GMOs, then their Machiavellian political actions designed to force entire regions/countries into long term dependent relationships with them. There are corns grown in isolated regions of the Mexican peninsula which now bear the genetic markers of Monsanto GMO even though these people have never traded with Monsanto. Monsanto's response was to sue them for infringing on their patent. Monsanto has a very sick corporate mentality, and sadly we will all suffer, GMOs are being introduced (have been introduced) without proper understanding of their impact across generations or food supply chains. And they have chosen to be arrogant and often mean about the problems. The result may be bans which will be bad for us all. If I were them I would reorganize into smaller chunks and change my name among other things, but they need to be brought to heel or some one will end up bringing them down.Sep 26 2013: Two points....
Ok, I am not sure about the criminality thing. It is not illegal to manufacture cigarettes, whiskey, beer and wine and a lot of things that (one could make the argument) are dangerous. Spreading the word could open one to civil liability.
I can see that one could reject the use of GMO crops. Others accept and even embrace the concept that these crops can have beneficial effects in the solution of world hunger problems. There have been statements that GMO crops can have serious consequences if ingested. These comments have not been verified by regulatory agencies. It has been said that these agencies have been suppressed in their findings by GMO manufacturers through bribery and political corruption. Again, these accusations have not substantiated by competent authority. So, In any case, the use of GMO crops is a personal choice. If you eat these foods and you fall victim to some malady, then those who feel strongly about the rejection of GMO crops can say "told you so". If not, you can say "told you so".
Oct 2 2013: Monsanto is dangerous for the global health in a social and economical manner. It is not so much about their modified crops but about their policies with patents and their ways of monopolizing the food market on a worldwide scale.
Oct 2 2013: This is their true evil.Sep 26 2013: Monsanto Corporation is immune from lawsuits by virtue of a special act of Congress. That law is about to expire. Let's watch!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/24/monsanto-protection-act-expire_n_3985673.htmlSep 24 2013: If we were to use Obama's logic regarding bombing Syria, perhaps we should also bomb Monsanto and Dow Chemical too.
dan pearce
Sep 24 2013: Except that Monsanto & Dow own members of the Senate. Both Donald Rumsfeld & Hillary Clinton sit on the board of Monsanto. The entire US Senate is owned by corporations. Corporations in league with politicians equals fascism. They burned books in Hitler's Germany and now we have TED owned and censored by Monsanto.
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Oct 2 2013: Dan can you explain what you mean more precisely? I did not think to wonder who "owns" TED. The congress is bought and sold but who does own TED?
Oct 2 2013: Hi Sharon,
The best I can do is send you this link- hope it will be of help.
All the best, DanSep 24 2013: Here are a couple of things you all should read:
Don't take my word for it, find out for yourself!Sep 24 2013: I'm not sure if the genetically engineered food Monsanto produces is all that bad. It's not like the DNA from the altered plant matter can survive digestion, and incorporate itself into our own DNA to replicate and cause mutation. We're not even within the plant kingdom, so harm caused by genetic engineering is virtually impossible. The real concern should be directed toward pesticides and chemical fertilizer. These products are important in maintaining productivity among crops, but tighter regulation of pesticides couldn't hurt.
Oct 2 2013: The genetic material they use to modify the plant is often animal or bacterium such as E coli. They use fish genes to make better tomatoes. I am not saying all GMOs are bad, just be cautious of assuming they are only using plant material. It is the tweaking of the bacterium into things designed to modify the genetic material of something else that is alarming.
Lejan .
Sep 24 2013: Agreed!Sep 22 2013: I don't know Monasto very well as a corporation, but I do know genetically modified foods.
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They're more profitable for everyone involved, are more resistant to pestilence and crop failure, and have the potential to raise the world's food production ceiling to a point we won't be forced into regulating the population via controlling births just to avoid a global famine.
Genetically modified food is usually also scrutinized more heavily than the natural stuff, which actually makes it safer.
Rejecting genetically modified food is akin to deciding all the cars and airplanes were a mistake and going back to horses. Its as "natural" as it is stupid.
Sep 25 2013: what if it affects you at a cellular level if you eat of it?
Sep 25 2013: Define affects me on a cellular level.
If I eat a chicken, than some of the chicken's biomass is absorbed into my own cells. It doesn't change my DNA or anything, I'm just absorbing the raw materials. If I eat a genetically engineered chicken, than the same thing happens except the new chicken has a few extra proteins in it.
Now, unless this new chicken was engineered to manufacture bio-weapon grade viruses, the effect on my own cell's DNA should be non existent.
The only way a genetically modified food will ever be dangerous is if its improperly tested, or if its maliciously designed (say, addictive). Proper regulation can solve both problems, while still retaining the myriad advantages of genetically modified organisms.Sep 25 2013: That's interesting. Have you watched "Seeds of Death: Unveiling the Lies of GMOs (2012)?" I have. I have no clue what to think of it. The Pusztai affair was discussed in it and it made me uncomfortable.
Sep 25 2013: The problems are all with the regulation, not fundamental to the technology.
Of course, with big business owning many a politician in a great deal of countries, the regulation may not happen.
Still, focusing on the GMOs as opposed to the regulation is like treating the runny nose of a man with the flu, as opposed to trying to cure the disease itself. Its a symptom of a bigger problem, not the problem in of itself.
And by the way, I haven't watched it. It doesn't help that the title is already making it sound like propaganda. I deal in researches and data, not hearsay.
What I do know for certain, is that current biotech will eventually reach a point it can't support the earth's ever increasing population. GMO research may well change that, and save us a global famine in the process.Sep 22 2013: Please show us your data linking GMOs to health risks. Otherwise, you're engaging in what TEDx recently described as pseudoscience "red flag" behavior in this open letter, http://blog.tedx.com/post/37405280671/a-letter-to-the-tedx-community-on-tedx-and-bad-science
TEDx specifically included GMO alarmism in its description of pseudoscience "red flag" behavior when it described it as follows:
Has failed to convince many mainstream scientists of its truth
Is not based on experiments that can be reproduced by others
Contains experimental flaws or is based on data that does not convincingly corroborate the experimenter's theoretical claims
Comes from overconfident fringe experts
Uses over-simplified interpretations of legitimate studies and may combine with imprecise, spiritual or new age vocabulary, to form new, completely untested theories.
Speaks dismissively of mainstream science
Includes some of the red flags listed in the two sections below
IF you wish this conversation to be taken seriously, you'll back up your claim with verifiable data and cogent argument.
Lejan .
Sep 24 2013: What about the idea that no private company should be allowed to take away my personal choice not to eat GMO's and to know for sure whats in my food?
- +1
The given policies in labeling and the given fact of uncontrolled cross-pollination is reason enough to me not to allow those technologies to be released into nature.
By the way, given your listed 'red flags' no contrary information would be considered 'valid' by you anyway, and treated conveniently as part of an overall 'conspiracy theory' on GMO's.
If you decide to put GMO's in your body, thats fine with me, but do allow others to make their choices as well. So far, this freedom of choice has been taken away and is impossible to guarantee by the 'nature' of this technology! That alone is reason enough not to allow private companies to change the natural gene-pool of this planet by their artificial changes.Sep 22 2013: I thought they lowered their european interests when their products were rejected?


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We lock and unlock our mobile phones dozens of times in a day. Now imagine getting reward points every time you unlock your phone. Hang on, this..
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Eclectic Approach Closes Out Downtown Summer Nights With A Big BANG!
Seattle based pop/alt-rock group Eclectic Approach closed out 2013's Downtown Summer Nights with a crazy show to go out with a bang. The group who has been blowing up all over the place, which included a performance on Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel and also being named the top unsigned band by MTV's OurStage.com. EA made sure not to


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Which book shall I get?
When I switched from VB to C++ I found Complete Idiot's Guide to C++ very helpful. It takes you through the language and onto initial OOP concepts. That should be a good base to have, even if the course ended up using Java those basics should still be a big help.


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Jonathan Saunders Spring 2014
"It's free-spirited, more casual I suppose—the way my friends want to dress." Jonathan Saunders didn't need to offer any more of an intellectual justification for the collection he'd just shown at Tate Britain—designers don't, when their audience just gets it. After ten years in fashion, Saunders has settled down with the women he dresses—hip yummy mummies; the thirty-to-fifty-somethings who check his collection out for pieces to perk up the daily grind, and the occasional not-too-done-up evening thing to show off a still-hot body. In his tenth-anniversary collection, he took them with him to a place beyond his fail-safe printed knee-length shifts and tight-waisted dirndl dresses. Those were very nice, too, but honestly, heading towards a bit of a rut. A fashion-conscious, sensible woman sees the danger of ruts. She's probably of an age when the nineties were her first fashion heyday, and now that there's all this talk about the "return" of the decade, she could fancy recapturing a bit of it. On the other hand, there's no going back in a wise woman's wardrobe. A limp literal slip is her daughter's bill—not hers. So: What she needs is someone on her wavelength to demonstrate how loosening up can look new and polished.
Jonathan Saunders is that man. His collection breaks down into a huge range of coordinates, from satin flower embroidered bombers and fluid sweatpants, to knee-length baggy shorts (which will be ubiquitous next summer), to high-waisted short suede skirts, semi-sheer flower-embroidered shirts, printed cardigans, and many options in dresses. He brings with it the slightly peculiar, strangely compelling color sense which sets his pieces apart and makes other women view a Saunders wearer with a slight pang of envy: odd combinations and degraded treatments of ice blue, ochre, beige, orange, ballet-slipper pink, burgundy. Details also draw the eye in: cheongsam-like side-slits in skirts, trimmed with rouleaux bows; the fine multistrap necklines of dresses which upgrade them from being generic slips. It was a well-thought-out, pragmatic yet sophisticated move on for Jonathan Saunders, and a collection dense with pieces that can be pulled out and worn whichever way by many kinds of women.


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Welcome to Syrphidae Community Website
This is the home of Flower Flies (Syrphidae) where participants will edit and maintain their classification, upload images, share bibliographic resources, among other activities.
Syrphidae (Diptera: Cyclorrhapha), commonly called hover or flower flies, is a very large world-wide family of some 6,000 known species, placed into more than 300 distinctive groups. Three subfamilies namely Microdontinae, Eristalinae and Syrphinae are currently recognized in the family. Almost all adult syrphids visit flowers for pollen and nectar. Larvae, on the other hand, are found in a very diverse array of habitats, including fungal fruiting bodies (mycophagy), dung, nests of social Hymenoptera, decaying wood and water bodies of several types (saprophagy: the famous rat-tailed maggots), mining in leafs and stems of numerous plant families (phytophagy), and as predators of arthropods. Larval stages of this family exhibit a very diverse array of feeding modes with complex morphological and behavioral adaptations.
This group of important pollinators is poorly treated in the Encyclopedia of Life despite the fact that flower flies play a crucial ecological and economic role as bio-control agents of plant pests, re-cyclers of dead plant and animal matter, pests of some ornamental plants, and pollinators. Syrphids have also been used as bio-indicators of environmental health and change and as an indicator group to demonstrate the effects of climate change on pollinators.
This Scratchpad will provide a popular framework to disseminate the knowledge generated from our current studies on Syrphidae systematics and phylogenetics. Classification below the family level remains a very important question to solve. The last revision of the Syrphidae species-groups was done more than 60 years ago (Hull 1949) and the newest classification elaborated by our team has not yet published.
Recent Pages
millerse - 2014-07-18
Our Science focuses on flower flies (Insecta, Diptera: Syrphidae), a large world-wide group of s
Recently Added Literature
Illustrations of natural history: Wherein are exhibited upwards of two hundred and forty figures of exotic insects, according to their different genera ... With a particular description of each insect...
millerse - 2014-07-21
... Species insectorum : exhibentes eorum differentias specificas, synonyma auctorum, loca natalia, metamorphosin: adiectis observationibus, descriptionibus ...
millerse - 2014-07-21
Mantissa insectorum: sistens eorum species nuper detectas, adiectis characteribus genericis, differentiis specificis, emendationibus, observationibus
millerse - 2014-07-21
Recently Added Taxon Descriptions
Ximo - 2014-07-26
Ximo - 2014-07-26
Ximo - 2014-07-26


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Edible Landscaping
Paperback, 384 pages
More than 300 color photographs, 7 color garden-plan illustrations, and 20 black-and-white illustrations.
Since Rosalind Creasy popularized the concept of landscaping with edibles a quarter-century ago, interest in eating healthy, fresh, locally grown foods has swept across the nation. More and more Americans are looking to grow clean, delicious produce at home, saving money and natural resources at the same time. And food plants have been freed from the backyard, gracing the finest landscapes – even the White House grounds!
Creasy's expertise on edibles and how to incorporate them in beautifully designed outdoor environments was first showcased in the original edition of Edible Landscaping (Sierra Club Books, 1982), hailed by gardeners everywhere as a groundbreaking classic. Now this highly anticipated new edition presents the latest design and how-to information in a glorious full-color format, featuring more than 300 inspiring photographs.
Drawing on the author's decades of research and experience, the book presents everything you need to know to create an inviting home landscape that will yield mouthwatering vegetables, fruits, nuts, and berries. The comprehensive Encyclopedia of Edibles – a book in itself – provides horticultural information, culinary uses, sources, and recommended varieties; and appendices cover the basics of planting and maintenance and of controlling pests and diseases using organic and environmentally friendly practices.
Rosalind Creasy is a landscape designer, garden writer and photographer, and leading authority on edible landscaping. She is the author of numerous acclaimed Sierra Club Books, including the groundbreaking original edition of Edible Landscaping (1982) and Cooking from the Garden (1988), both Garden Writers Association award winners. In addition to sixteen other gardening titles, she has written for countless national publications, including the Los Angeles Times, Organic Gardening, and Fine Gardening. A much sought-after speaker and consultant, Creasy lectures extensively and serves on the board of directors of the Seed Savers Exchange.
Praise for Edible Landscaping
"This new edition of Edible Landscaping is exactly the book we need now, a volume that is itself as beautiful as it is useful. "
—Michael Pollan, author of Food Rules,In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and other acclaimed books
"Creating an edible landscape for your home is one of the most rewarding things you can do for yourself and your family. This beautiful volume is an inspirational handbook for the uninitiated and expert alike."
—Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse and the Edible Schoolyard programs, and author of In the Green Kitchen


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Home > Sports Memorabilia > MLB Team Gear & Collectibles > Chicago Cubs > iPhone 4/4S Faceplate—Chicago Cubs
iPhone 4/4S Faceplate—Chicago Cubs
Protect your iPhone® 4/4S with this great faceplate.
Our officially licensed MLB iPhone® 4 and 4S Faceplate are a great way to protect your phone while showing off your MLB pride!
The 2 piece faceplate snaps easily into place and holds securely to the phone without adding a lot of bulk to your phone. The faceplate allows for complete access to all of the great functions on your phone. The faceplate is molded in the teams primary color with the logo printed on the back.
Dimensions: 4" L x 0.5" W x 7" H; 0.04 lbs.
iPhone 4/4S Faceplate—Chicago Cubs
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Refinery 29
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Here's a cold hard truth: Winter isn't pretty. While Olivia Palermo manages to look effortlessly cool in the middle of a polar vortex, the rest of us struggle with static-charged hair, chapped lips, windburned cheeks, cracked hands, flaky scalps, scaly legs, and a generally drab complexion.
Perhaps more irritating than Palermo's snow-time sartorial superiority is feeling like the rest of us mere mortals have zero control over the winter weather that wrecks our skin and hair. But, there's no need to feel like victims at the whims of Al Roker's forecast. We asked the best in the beauty business for their proven tactics to battle the winter weather — so you can feel hot, no matter how low the mercury goes.
Illustrated by Sydney Hass


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Duncan Hutch and Buffet
Item#: 336428G
custom made, allow 8-10 weeks, ships Premier Home Delivery, custom items may not be returned
Product Actions
We offer many finishes and hundreds of beautiful fabrics to help you express your personal style.
The Details
Duncan Hutch and Buffet
Dimensions: 68"w x 19.25"d x 85.25"h
Item#: 336428G
New Country by Ethan Allen
Handcrafted in our American workshops. The simplest of lives. The prettiest of dishes. The friendliest of dining areas. This combination is an approachable statement piece for a kitchen, great room, or dining space. The Duncan hutch is a great excuse to show off your collected china, and the crown molding and corner rosettes on top are complemented by the scored door fronts below. Artfully distressed by hand, the Duncan buffet offers storage galore, including a silverware insert in one drawer.
- The Duncan Hutch and Buffet is composed of: Duncan Hutch (336428) and Duncan Buffet (336426)


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//RAS Americas account
Process plants belong to the largest and most sophisticated building structures of mankind.
Linde has a worldwide reputation as a manufacturer of industrial equipment in single and serial production.
Gases from Linde
Liquified natural gas is the way forward - Linde taps into new markets.
On-site business in growth markets.


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"The Ultimate Guide to Sex After 50" by Joan Price. Cleis Press, 2015. 396 pages. $22.95.Yes, it's true. There's plenty of romance after 50. And because I'm writing for family newspapers, I won't get graphic. Understand that romance, in this instance, is a euphemism.
American IdolSeason 11 winner
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has taken his firmest step yet toward running for president, launching an organization that allows him to raise money for a potential 2016 campaign.
Original Post Located at:A Voice Of Reason - by Sherry Petro-SurdelOrginal Author:
Get ready to see David Tennant's bad side.The Broadchurch star has been tapped to...
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Relishing no longer being in the "villain" role, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman is painting his team's Super Bowl opponent as occupying that position.
Emma Watson is going to play Belle in Disney's upcoming live-action version of Beauty and the...
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