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Recursos Educativos en Inglés - Stories in English
Cuentos clásicos en inglés
Ethan Brand - Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)
Bartram the lime-burner, a rough, heavy-looking man, begrimed with charcoal, sat watching his kiln, at nightfall, while his little son played at building houses with the scattered fragments of marble, when, on the hill-side below them, they heard a roar of laughter, not mirthful, but slow, and even solemn, like a wind shaking the boughs of the forest.
"Father, what is that" asked the little boy, leaving his play, and pressing betwixt his father's knees.
"O, some drunken man, I suppose," answered the lime-burner; "some merry fellow from the bar-room in the village, who dared not laugh loud enough within doors, lest he should blow the roof of the house off. So here he is, shaking his jolly sides at the foot of Gray-lock."
"But, father," said the child, more sensitive than the obtuse, middle-aged clown, "he does not laugh like a man that is glad. So the noise frightens me!"
"Don't be a fool, child!" cried his father, gruffly. "You will never make a man, I do believe; there is too much of your mother in you. I have known the rustling of a leaf startle you. Hark! Here comes the merry fellow, now. You shall see that there is no harm in him."
Bartram and his little son, while they were talking thus, sat watching the same lime-kiln that had been the scene of Ethan Brand's solitary and meditative life, before he began his search for the Unpardonable Sin. Many years, as we have seen, had now elapsed, since that portentous night when the IDEA was first developed. The kiln, however, on the mountain-side, stood unimpaired, and was in nothing changed since he had thrown his dark thoughts into the intense glow of its furnace, and melted them, as it were, into the one thought that took possession of his life. It was a rude, round, tower-like structure, about twenty feet high, heavily built of rough stones, and with a hillock of earth heaped about the larger part of its circumference; so that the blocks and fragments of marble might be drawn by cart-loads, and thrown in at the top. There was an opening at the bottom of the tower, like an oven-mouth, but large enough to admit a man in a stooping posture, and provided with a massive iron door. With the smoke and jets of flame issuing from the chinks and crevices of this door, which seemed to give admittance into the hill-side, it resembled nothing so much as the private entrance to the infernal regions, which the shepherds of the Delectable Mountains were accustomed to show to pilgrims.
There are many such lime-kilns in that tract of country, for the purpose of burning the white marble which composes a large part of the substance of the hills. Some of them, built years ago, and long deserted, with weeds growing in the vacant round of the interior, which is open to the sky, and grass and wild-flowers rooting themselves into the chinks of the stones, look already like relics of antiquity, and may yet be overspread with the lichens of centuries to come. Others, where the lime-burner still feeds his daily and nightlong fire, afford points of interest to the wanderer among the hills, who seats himself on a log of wood or a fragment of marble, to hold a chat with the solitary man. It is a lonesome, and, when the character is inclined to thought, may be an intensely thoughtful occupation; as it proved in the case of Ethan Brand, who had mused to such strange purpose, in days gone by, while the fire in this very kiln was burning.
The man who now watched the fire was of a different order, and troubled himself with no thoughts save the very few that were requisite to his business. At frequent intervals, he flung back the clashing weight of the iron door, and, turning his face from the insufferable glare, thrust in huge logs of oak, or stirred the immense brands with a long pole. Within the furnace were seen the curling and riotous flames, and the burning marble, almost molten with the intensity of heat; while without, the reflection of the fire quivered on the dark intricacy of the surrounding forest, and showed in the foreground a bright and ruddy little picture of the hut, the spring beside its door, the athletic and coal-begrimed figure of the lime-burner, and the half-frightened child, shrinking into the protection of his father's shadow. And when again the iron door was closed, then reappeared the tender light of the half-full moon, which vainly strove to trace out the indistinct shapes of the neighboring mountains; and, in the upper sky, there was a flitting congregation of clouds, still faintly tinged with the rosy sunset, though thus far down into the valley the sunshine had vanished long and long ago.
The little boy now crept still closer to his father, as footsteps were heard ascending the hill-side, and a human form thrust aside the bushes that clustered beneath the trees.
"Halloo! who is it?" cried the lime-burner, vexed at his son's timidity, yet half infected by it. "Come forward, and show yourself, like a man, or I'll fling this chunk of marble at your head!"
"You offer me a rough welcome," said a gloomy voice, as the unknown man drew nigh. "Yet I neither claim nor desire a kinder one, even at my own fireside."
To obtain a distincter view, Bartram threw open the iron door of the kiln, whence immediately issued a gush of fierce light, that smote full upon the stranger's face and figure. To a careless eye there appeared nothing very remarkable in his aspect, which was that of a man in a coarse, brown, country-made suit of clothes, tall and thin, with the staff and heavy shoes of a wayfarer. As he advanced, he fixed his eyes--which were very bright--intently upon the brightness of the furnace, as if he beheld, or expected to behold, some object worthy of note within it.
"Good evening, stranger," said the lime-burner; "whence come you, so late in the day?"
"I come from my search," answered the wayfarer; "for, at last, it is finished."
"Drunk!--or crazy!" muttered Bartram to himself. "I shall have trouble with the fellow. The sooner I drive him away, the better."
The little boy, all in a tremble, whispered to his father, and begged him to shut the door of the kiln, so that there might not be so much light; for that there was something in the man's face which he was afraid to look at, yet could not look away from. And, indeed, even the lime-burner's dull and torpid sense began to be impressed by an indescribable something in that thin, rugged, thoughtful visage, with the grizzled hair hanging wildly about it, and those deeply-sunken eyes, which gleamed like fires within the entrance of a mysterious cavern. But, as he closed the door, the stranger turned towards him, and spoke in a quiet, familiar way, that made Bartram feel as if he were a sane and sensible man, after all.
:Your task draws to an end, I see," said he. "This marble has already been burning three days. A few hours more will convert the stone to lime."
"Why, who are you?" exclaimed the lime-burner. "You seem as well acquainted with my business as I am myself."
"And well I may be," said the stranger; "for I followed the same craft many a long year, and here, too, on this very spot. But you are a newcomer in these parts. Did you never hear of Ethan Brand?"
"The man that went in search of the Unpardonable Sin?" asked Bartram, with a laugh.
"The same," answered the stranger. "He has found what he sought, and therefore he comes back again."
"What! then you are Ethan Brand himself?" cried the lime-burner, in amazement. "I am a newcomer here, as you say, and they call it eighteen years since you left the foot of Gray-lock. But, I can tell you, the good folks still talk about Ethan Brand, in the village yonder, and what a strange errand took him away from his lime-kiln. Well, and so you have found the Unpardonable Sin?"
"Even so!" said the stranger, calmly.
"If the question is a fair one," proceeded Bartram, "where might it be?"
Ethan Brand laid his finger on his own heart.
"Here!" replied he.
And then, without mirth in his countenance, but as if moved by an involuntary recognition of the infinite absurdity of seeking throughout the world for what was the closest of all things to himself, and looking into every heart, save his own, for what was hidden in no other breast, he broke into a laugh of scorn. It was the same slow, heavy laugh, that had almost appalled the lime-burner when it heralded the wayfarer's approach.
The solitary mountain-side was made dismal by it. Laughter, when out of place, mistimed, or bursting forth from a disordered state of feeling, may be the most terrible modulation of the human voice. The laughter of one asleep, even if it be a little child--the madman's laugh--the wild, screaming laugh of a born idiot--are sounds that we sometimes tremble to hear, and would always willingly forget. Poets have imagined no utterance of fiends or hobgoblins so fearfully appropriate as a laugh. And even the obtuse lime-burner felt his nerves shaken, as this strange man looked inward at his own heart, and burst into laughter that rolled away into the night, and was indistinctly reverberated among the hills.
"Joe," said he to his little son, "scamper down to the tavern in the village, and tell the jolly fellows there that Ethan Brand has come back, and that he has found the Unpardonable Sin!"
The boy darted away on his errand, to which Ethan Brand made no objection, nor seemed hardly to notice it. He sat on a log of wood, looking steadfastly at the iron door of the kiln. When the child was out of sight, and his swift and light footsteps ceased to be heard treading first on the fallen leaves and then on the rocky mountain path, the lime-burner began to regret his departure. He felt that the little fellow's presence had been a barrier between his guest and himself, and that he must now deal, heart to heart, with a man who, on his own confession, had committed the one only crime for which Heaven could afford no mercy. That crime, in its indistinct blackness, seemed to overshadow him. The lime-burner's own sins rose up within him, and made his memory riotous with a throng of evil shapes that asserted their kindred with the Master Sin, whatever it might be, which it was within the scope of man's corrupted nature to conceive and cherish. They were all of one family; they went to and fro between his breast and Ethan Brand's, and carried dark greetings from one to the other.
Then Bartram remembered the stories which had grown traditionary in reference to this strange man, who had come upon him like a shadow of the night, and was making himself at home in his old place, after so long absence that the dead people, dead and buried for years, would have had more right to be at home, in any familiar spot, than he. Ethan Brand, it was said, had conversed with Satan himself in the lurid blaze of this very kiln. The legend had been matter of mirth heretofore but looked grisly now. According to this tale, before Ethan Brand departed on his search, he had been accustomed to evoke a fiend from the hot furnace of the lime-kiln, night after night, in order to confer with him about the Unpardonable Sin; the man and the fiend each laboring to frame the image of some mode of guilt which could neither be atoned for nor forgiven. And, with the first gleam of light upon the mountain-top, the fiend crept in at the iron door, there to abide the intensest element of fire, until again summoned forth to share in the dreadful task of extending man's possible guilt beyond the scope of Heaven's else infinite mercy.
While the lime-burner was struggling with the horror of these thoughts, Ethan Brand rose from the log, and flung open the door of the kiln. The action was in such accordance with the idea in Bartram's mind, that he almost expected to see the Evil One issue forth, red-hot from the raging furnace.
"Hold! hold!" cried he, with a tremulous attempt to laugh; for he was ashamed of his fears, although they overmastered him. "Don't, for mercy's sake, bring out your devil now!"
"Man!" sternly replied Ethan Brand, "what need have I of the devil? I have left him behind me, on my track. It is with such halfway sinners as you that he busies himself. Fear not because I open the door. I do but act by old custom, and am going to trim your fire, like a lime-burner, as I was once."
He stirred the vast coals, thrust in more wood, and bent forward to gaze into the hollow prison-house of the fire, regardless of the fierce glow that reddened upon his face. The lime-burner sat watching him, and half suspected his strange guest of a purpose, if not to evoke a fiend, at least to plunge bodily into the flames, and thus vanish from the sight of man. Ethan Brand, however, drew quietly back, and closed the door of the kiln.
"I have looked," said he, "into many a human heart that was seven times hotter with sinful passions than yonder furnace is with fire. But I found not there what I sought. No, not the Unpardonable Sin!"
"What is the Unpardonable Sin?" asked the lime-burner; and then he shrank further from his companion, trembling lest his question should be answered.
"It is a sin that grew within my own breast," replied Ethan Brand, standing erect, with a pride that distinguishes all enthusiasts of his stamp. "A sin that grew nowhere else! The sin of an intellect that triumphed over the sense of brotherhood with man and reverence for God, and sacrificed everything to its own mighty claims! The only sin that deserves a recompense of immortal agony! Freely, were it to do again, would I incur the guilt. Unshrinkingly I accept the retribution!"
"The man's head is turned," muttered the lime-burner to himself. "He may be a sinner, like the rest of us--nothing more likely--but, I'll be sworn, he is a madman too."
Nevertheless he felt uncomfortable at his situation, alone with Ethan Brand on the wild mountain-side, and was right glad to hear the rough murmur of tongues, and the footsteps of what seemed a pretty numerous party, stumbling over the stones and rustling through the underbrush. Soon appeared the whole lazy regiment that was wont to infest the village tavern comprehending three or four individuals who had drunk flip beside the bar-room fire through all the winters, and smoked their pipes beneath the stoop through all the summers, since Ethan Brand's departure. Laughing boisterously, and mingling all their voices together in unceremonious talk, they now burst into the moonshine and narrow streaks of fire-light that illuminated the open space before the lime-kiln. Bartram set the door ajar again, flooding the spot with light, that the whole company might get a fair view of Ethan Brand, and he of them.
There, among other old acquaintances, was a once ubiquitous man, now almost extinct, but whom we were formerly sure to encounter at the hotel of every thriving village throughout the country. It was the stage-agent. The present specimen of the genus was a wilted and smoke-dried man, wrinkled and red-nosed, in a smartly cut, brown, bob-tailed coat, with brass buttons, who, for a length of time unknown, had kept his desk and corner in the bar-room, and was still puffing what seemed to be the same cigar that he had lighted twenty years before. He had great fame as a dry joker, though, perhaps, less on account of any intrinsic humor than from a certain flavor of brandy-toddy and tobacco-smoke, which impregnated all his ideas and expressions, as well as his person. Another well-remembered though strangely altered face was that of Lawyer Giles, as people still called him in courtesy; an elderly ragamuffin, in his soiled shirt-sleeves and tow-cloth trousers. This poor fellow had been an attorney, in what he called his better days, a sharp practitioner, and in great vogue among the village litigants; but flip, and sling, and toddy, and cocktails, imbibed at all hours, morning, noon, and night, had caused him to slide from intellectual to various kinds and degrees of bodily labor, till, at last, to adopt his own phrase, he slid into a soap-vat. In other words, Giles was now a soap-boiler, in a small way. He had come to be but the fragment of a human being, a part of one foot having been chopped off by an axe, and an entire hand torn away by the devilish grip of a steam-engine. Yet, though the corporeal hand was gone, a spiritual member remained; for, stretching forth the stump, Giles steadfastly averred that he felt an invisible thumb and fingers with as vivid a sensation as before the real ones were amputated. A maimed and miserable wretch he was; but one, nevertheless, whom the world could not trample on, and had no right to scorn, either in this or any previous stage of his misfortunes, since he had still kept up the courage and spirit of a man, asked nothing in charity, and with his one hand--and that the left one--fought a stern battle against want and hostile circumstances.
Among the throng, too, came another personage, who, with certain points of similarity to Lawyer Giles, had many more of difference. It was the village doctor; a man of some fifty years, whom, at an earlier period of his life, we introduced as paying a professional visit to Ethan Brand during the latter's supposed insanity. He was now a purple-visaged, rude, and brutal, yet half-gentlemanly figure, with something wild, ruined, and desperate in his talk, and in all the details of his gesture and manners. Brandy possessed this man like an evil spirit, and made him as surly and savage as a wild beast, and as miserable as a lost soul; but there was supposed to be in him such wonderful skill, such native gifts of healing, beyond any which medical science could impart, that society caught hold of him, and would not let him sink out of its reach. So, swaying to and fro upon his horse, and grumbling thick accents at the bedside, he visited all the sick chambers for miles about among the mountain towns, and sometimes raised a dying man, as it were, by miracle, or quite as often, no doubt, sent his patient to a grave that was dug many a year too soon. The doctor had an everlasting pipe in his mouth, and, as somebody said, in allusion to his habit of swearing, it was always alight with hell-fire.
These three worthies pressed forward, and greeted Ethan Brand each after his own fashion, earnestly inviting him to partake of the contents of a certain black bottle, in which, as they averred, he would find something far better worth seeking for than the Unpardonable Sin. No mind, which has wrought itself by intense and solitary meditation into a high state of enthusiasm, can endure the kind of contact with low and vulgar modes of thought and feeling to which Ethan Brand was now subjected. It made him doubt--and, strange to say, it was a painful doubt--whether he had indeed found the Unpardonable Sin, and found it within himself. The whole question on which he had exhausted life, and more than life, looked like a delusion.
"Leave me," he said, bitterly, "ye brute beasts, that have made yourselves so, shrivelling up your souls with fiery liquors! I have done with you. Years and years ago, I groped into your hearts, and found nothing there for my purpose. Get ye gone!"
"Why, you uncivil scoundrel," cried the fierce doctor, "is that the way you respond to the kindness of your best friends? Then let me tell you the truth. You have no more found the Unpardonable Sin than yonder boy Joe has. You are but a crazy fellow--I told you so twenty years ago--neither better nor worse than a crazy fellow, and the fit companion of old Humphrey, here!"
He pointed to an old man, shabbily dressed, with long white hair, thin visage, and unsteady eyes. For some years past this aged person had been wandering about among the hills, inquiring of all travellers whom he met for his daughter. The girl, it seemed, had gone off with a company of circus-performers; and occasionally tidings of her came to the village, and fine stories were told of her glittering appearance as she rode on horse-back in the ring, or performed marvellous feats on the tight-rope.
The white-haired father now approached Ethan Brand, and gazed unsteadily into his face.
"They tell me you have been all over the earth," said he, wringing his hands with earnestness. "You must have seen my daughter, for she makes a grand figure in the world, and everybody goes to see her. Did she send any word to her old father, or say when she was coming back?"
Ethan Brand's eye quailed beneath the old man's. That daughter, from whom he so earnestly desired a word of greeting, was the Esther of our tale, the very girl whom, with such cold and remorseless purpose, Ethan Brand had made the subject of a psychological experiment, and wasted, absorbed, and perhaps annihilated her soul, in the process.
"Yes," murmured he, turning away from the hoary wanderer; "it is no delusion. There is an Unpardonable Sin!"
While these things were passing, a merry scene was going forward in the area of cheerful light, beside the spring and before the door of the hut. A number of the youth of the village, young men and girls, had hurried up the hill-side, impelled by curiosity to see Ethan Brand, the hero of so many a legend familiar to their childhood. Finding nothing, however, very remarkable in his aspect--nothing but a sun-burnt wayfarer, in plain garb and dusty shoes, who sat looking into the fire, as if he fancied pictures among the coals--these young people speedily grew tired of observing him. As it happened, there was other amusement at hand. An old German Jew, travelling with a diorama on his back, was passing down the mountain-road towards the village just as the party turned aside from it, and, in hopes of eking out the profits of the day, the showman had kept them company to the lime-kiln.
"Come, old Dutchman," cried one of the young men, "let us see your pictures, if you can swear they are worth looking at!"
"O, yes, Captain," answered the Jew--whether as a matter of courtesy or craft, he styled everybody Captain--"I shall show you, indeed, some very superb pictures!"
So, placing his box in a proper position, he invited the young men and girls to look through the glass orifices of the machine, and proceeded to exhibit a series of the most outrageous scratchings and daubings, as specimens of the fine arts, that ever an itinerant showman had the face to impose upon his circle of spectators. The pictures were worn out, moreover, tattered, full of cracks and wrinkles, dingy with tobacco-smoke, and otherwise in a most pitiable condition. Some purported to be cities, public edifices, and ruined castles in Europe; others represented Napoleon's battles and Nelson's sea-fights; and in the midst of these would be seen a gigantic, brown, hairy hand--which might have been mistaken for the Hand of Destiny, though, in truth, it was only the showman's--pointing its forefinger to various scenes of the conflict, while its owner gave historical illustrations. When, with much merriment at its abominable deficiency of merit, the exhibition was concluded, the German bade little Joe put his head into the box. Viewed through the magnifying glasses, the boy's round, rosy visage assumed the strangest imaginable aspect of an immense Titanic child, the mouth grinning broadly, and the eyes and every other feature overflowing with fun at the joke. Suddenly, however, that merry face turned pale, and its expression changed to horror, for this easily impressed and excitable child had become sensible that the eye of Ethan Brand was fixed upon him through the glass.
"You make the little man to be afraid, Captain," said the German Jew, turning up the dark and strong outline of his visage, from his stooping posture. "But look again, and, by chance, I shall cause you to see somewhat that is very fine, upon my word!"
Ethan Brand gazed into the box for an instant, and then starting back, looked fixedly at the German. What had he seen? Nothing, apparently; for a curious youth, who had peeped in almost at the same moment, beheld only a vacant space of canvas.
"I remember you now," muttered Ethan Brand to the showman.
"Ah, Captain," whispered the Jew of Nuremberg, with a dark smile, "I find it to be a heavy matter in my show-box--this Unpardonable Sin! By my faith, Captain, it has wearied my shoulders, this long day, to carry it over the mountain."
"Peace," answered Ethan Brand, sternly, "or get thee into the furnace yonder!"
The Jew's exhibition had scarcely concluded, when a great, elderly dog--who seemed to be his own master, as no person in the company laid claim to him--saw fit to render himself the object of public notice. Hitherto, he had shown himself a very quiet, well disposed old dog, going round from one to another, and, by way of being sociable, offering his rough head to be patted by any kindly hand that would take so much trouble. But now, all of a sudden, this grave and venerable quadruped, of his own mere motion, and without the slightest suggestion from anybody else, began to run round after his tail, which, to heighten the absurdity of the proceeding, was a great deal shorter than it should have been. Never was seen such headlong eagerness in pursuit of an object that could not possibly be attained; never was heard such a tremendous outbreak of growling, snarling, barking, and snapping--as if one end of the ridiculous brute's body were at deadly and most unforgivable enmity with the other. Faster and faster, round about went the cur; and faster and still faster fled the unapproachable brevity of his tail; and louder and fiercer grew his yells of rage and animosity; until, utterly exhausted, and as far from the goal as ever, the foolish old dog ceased his performance as suddenly as he had begun it. The next moment he was as mild, quiet, sensible, and respectable in his deportment, as when he first scraped acquaintance with the company.
As may be supposed, the exhibition was greeted with universal laughter, clapping of hands, and shouts of encore, to which the canine performer responded by wagging all that there was to wag of his tail, but appeared totally unable to repeat his very successful effort to amuse the spectators.
Meanwhile, Ethan Brand had resumed his seat upon the log, and moved, it might be, by a perception of some remote analogy between his own case and that of this self-pursuing cur, he broke into the awful laugh, which, more than any other token, expressed the condition of his inward being. From that moment, the merriment of the party was at an end; they stood aghast, dreading lest the inauspicious sound should be reverberated around the horizon, and that mountain would thunder it to mountain, and so the horror be prolonged upon their ears. Then, whispering one to another that it was late--that the moon was almost down--that the August night was growing chill--they hurried homewards leaving the lime-burner and little Joe to deal as they might with their unwelcome guest. Save for these three human beings, the open space on the hill-side was a solitude, set in a vast gloom of forest. Beyond that darksome verge, the fire-light glimmered on the stately trunks and almost black foliage of pines, intermixed with the lighter verdure of sapling oaks, maples, and poplars, while here and there lay the gigantic corpses of dead trees, decaying on the leaf-strewn soil. And it seemed to little Joe--a timorous and imaginative child--that the silent forest was holding its breath, until some fearful thing should happen.
Ethan Brand thrust more wood into the fire, and closed the door of the kiln; then looking over his shoulder at the lime-burner and his son, he bade, rather than advised, them to retire to rest.
"For myself, I cannot sleep," said he. "I have matters that it concerns me to meditate upon. I will watch the fire, as I used to do in the old time."
"And call the devil out of the furnace to keep you company, I suppose," muttered Bartram, who had been making intimate acquaintance with the black bottle above-mentioned. "But watch, if you like, and call as many devils as you like! For my part, I shall be all the better for a snooze. Come, Joe!"
As the boy followed his father into the hut, he looked back at the wayfarer, and the tears came into his eyes, for his tender spirit had an intuition of the bleak and terrible loneliness in which this man had enveloped himself.
When they had gone, Ethan Brand sat listening to the crackling of the kindled wood, and looking at the little spirts of fire that issued through the chinks of the door. These trifles, however, once so familiar, had but the slightest hold of his attention, while deep within his mind he was reviewing the gradual but marvellous change that had been wrought upon him by the search to which he had devoted himself. He remembered how the night dew had fallen upon him--how the dark forest had whispered to him--how the stars had gleamed upon him--a simple and loving man, watching his fire in the years gone by, and ever musing as it burned. He remembered with what tenderness, with what love and sympathy for mankind, and what pity for human guilt and woe, he had first begun to contemplate those ideas which afterwards became the inspiration of his life; with what reverence he had then looked into the heart of man, viewing it as a temple originally divine, and, however desecrated, still to be held sacred by a brother; with what awful fear he had deprecated the success of his pursuit, and prayed that the Unpardonable Sin might never be revealed to him. Then ensued that vast intellectual development, which, in its progress, disturbed the counterpoise between his mind and heart. The Idea that possessed his life had operated as a means of education; it had gone on cultivating his powers to the highest point of which they were susceptible; it had raised him from the level of an unlettered laborer to stand on a star-lit eminence, whither the philosophers of the earth, laden with the lore of universities, might vainly strive to clamber after him. So much for the intellect! But where was the heart? That, indeed, had withered--had contracted--had hardened--had perished! It had ceased to partake of the universal throb. He had lost his hold of the magnetic chain of humanity. He was no longer a brother-man, opening the chambers or the dungeons of our common nature by the key of holy sympathy, which gave him a right to share in all its secrets; he was now a cold observer, looking on mankind as the subject of his experiment, and, at length, converting man and woman to be his puppets, and pulling the wires that moved them to such degrees of crime as were demanded for his study.
Thus Ethan Brand became a fiend. He began to be so from the moment that his moral nature had ceased to keep the pace of improvement with his intellect. And now, as his highest effort and inevitable development--as the bright and gorgeous flower, and rich, delicious fruit of his life's labor--he had produced the Unpardonable Sin!
What more have I to seek? What more to achieve?" said Ethan Brand to himself. "My task is done, and well done!"
Starting from the log with a certain alacrity in his gait, and ascending the hillock of earth that was raised against the stone circumference of the lime-kiln, he thus reached the top of the structure. It was a space of perhaps ten feet across, from edge to edge, presenting a view of the upper surface of the immense mass of broken marble with which the kiln was heaped. All these innumerable blocks and fragments of marble were red-hot and vividly on fire, sending up great spouts of blue flame, which quivered aloft and danced madly, as within a magic circle, and sank and rose again, with continual and multitudinous activity. As the lonely man bent forward over this terrible body of fire, the blasting heat smote up against his person with a breath that, it might be scorched and shrivelled him up in a moment.
Ethan Brand stood erect, and raised his arms on high. The blue flames played upon his face, and imparted the wild and ghastly light which alone could have suited its expression; it was that of a fiend on the verge of plunging into his gulf of intensest torment.
"O Mother Earth," cried he, "who art no more my Mother, and into whose bosom this frame shall never be resolved! O mankind, whose brotherhood I have cast off, and trampled thy great heart beneath my feet! O stars of heaven, that shone on me of old, as if to light me onward and upward!--farewell all, and forever. Come, deadly element of Fire--henceforth my familiar friend! Embrace me, as I do thee!"
That night the sound of a fearful peal of laughter rolled heavily through the sleep of the lime-burner and his little son; dim shapes of horror and anguish haunted their dreams, and seemed still present in the rude hovel, when they opened their eyes to the daylight.
"Up, boy, up!" cried the lime-burner, staring about him. "Thank Heaven, the night is gone, at last; and rather than pass such another, I would watch my lime-kiln, wide awake, for a twelvemonth. This Ethan Brand, with his humbug of an Unpardonable Sin, has done me no such mighty favor, in taking my place!"
He issued from the hut, followed by little Joe, who kept fast hold of his father's hand. The early sunshine was already pouring its gold upon the mountain-tops; and though the valleys were still in shadow, they smiled cheerfully in the promise of the bright day that was hastening onward. The village, completely shut in by hills, which swelled away gently about it, looked as if it had rested peacefully in the hollow of the great hand of Providence. Every dwelling was distinctly visible; the little spires of the two churches pointed upwards, and caught a fore-glimmering of brightness from the sun-gilt skies upon their gilded weather-cocks. The tavern was astir, and the figure of the old, smoke-dried stage-agent, cigar in mouth, was seen beneath the stoop. Old Graylock was glorified with a golden cloud upon his head. Scattered likewise over the breasts of the surrounding mountains, there were heaps of hoary mist, in fantastic shapes, some of them far down into the valley, others high up towards the summits and still others, of the same family of mist or cloud, hovering in the gold radiance of the upper atmosphere. Stepping from one to another of the clouds that rested on the hills, and thence to the loftier brotherhood that sailed in air, it seemed almost as if a mortal man might thus ascend into the heavenly regions. Earth was so mingled with sky that it was a day-dream to look at it.
To supply that charm of the familiar and homely, which Nature so readily adopts into a scene like this, the stage-coach was rattling down the mountain-road, and the driver sounded his horn, while echo caught up the notes, and intertwined them into a rich and varied and elaborate harmony, of which the original performer could lay claim to little share. The great hills played a concert among themselves, each contributing a strain of airy sweetness.
Little Joe's face brightened at once.
"Dear father," cried he, skipping cheerily to and fro, "that strange man is gone, and the sky and the mountains all seem glad of it!"
"Yes," growled the lime-burner, with an oath, "but he has let the fire go down, and no thanks to him if five hundred bushels of lime are not spoiled. If I catch the fellow hereabouts again, I shall feel like tossing him into the furnace!"
With his long pole in his hand, he ascended to the top of the kiln. After a moment's pause, he called to his son.
"Come up here, Joe!" said he.
So little Joe ran up the hillock, and stood by his father's side. The marble was all burnt into perfect, snow-white lime. But on its surface, in the midst of the circle--snow-white too, and thoroughly converted into lime--lay a human skeleton, in the attitude of a person who, after long toil, lies down to long repose. Within the ribs--strange to say--was the shape of a human heart.
"Was the fellow's heart made of marble?" cried Bartram, in some perplexity at this phenomenon. "At any rate, it is burnt into what looks like special good lime; and, taking all the bones together, my kiln is half a bushel the richer for him."
So saying, the rude lime-burner lifted his pole, and, letting it fall upon the skeleton, the relics of Ethan Brand were crumbled into fragments.
🔆 Otros cuentos:
- Narcissus - Narciso
- Beauty and the Beast - La Bella y la Bestia
- Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves - Alí Babá y los Cuarenta Ladrones
- The Ugly Duckling - El Patito Feo
- The Three Little Pigs - Los Tres Cerditos
- The Princess And The Pea - La Princesa y el Guisante
- The Hare and the Tortoise - La Liebre y la Tortuga
- The Frog King - El Rey Rana
- The Horse and the Wolf - El Caballo y el Lobo
- The Fox and the Grapes - La Zorra y las Uvas
- The Brave Little Tailor - El Sastrecillo Valiente
- Sleeping Beauty - La Bella Durmiente
- The Wolf and the Seven Kids - El Lobo y los Siete Cabritos
- The Vain Crow - El Cuervo Vanidoso
- Little Red Riding Hood - Caperucita Roja en inglés
- Rapunzel - Brothers Grimm - Cuento en inglés
- Rumpelstiltskin - Brothers Grimm - Cuento en inglés
- The Twelve Dancing Princesses - Brothers Grimm
- The Emperor's New Suit - Hans Christian Andersen
- The Selfish Giant - Oscar Wilde - El gigante egoísta


text:
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Mr. T -- To Be Inducted In WWE Hall of Fame, Fool
Mr. T To Be Inducted Into WWE Hall of Fame, Fool
Mr. T pities anybody who isn't in the WWE Hall of Fame ... because after playing a pivotal role in launching WrestleMania 30 years ago -- the 80s star is finally getting his due.
Vince McMahon says ... T will be this year's celebrity inductee into the Hall of Fame, telling TMZ, "His WWE appearances were instrumental in helping to establish WrestleMania as the pop-culture phenomenon it is today."
Mr. T famously said he turned the WWE down for a H.O.F. spot in 2009 ... but now the two sides have buried the hatchet -- and the "A-Team" star will take his rightful place in the celebrity wing.
If you're too young to remember -- Hulk Hogan and T teamed up at the inaugural event ... he also took part in a special boxing match at WrestleMania II against Roddy Piper.
The Hall of Fame ceremony airs on April 5 ... and will air in its entirety on the WWE Network.
No word on who's inducting T.
With Hogan recently returning to the company though -- we're guessing he's a lock, brother.


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text:
Published 12:00 am Thursday, April 4, 2013
CHINA GROVE — Members of the honors chorus at Jesse C. Carson High School will raise their voices and see the sights in the Big Apple this week.
About two dozen students left Wednesday evening on an overnight trip to New York City, and they will start the return journey home Saturday evening.
"It's our senior year and our first trip," said senior Jaelen Brown, who sings as both a bass and a tenor. He said he has been in the chorus all four years of high school. "We go to Carowinds competitions, but this will be our first big trip to go out of state and sing."
Taylor McCulloh, a sophomore alto, agreed.
"I think it's cool since we're from such a small town, and we're going to the big city," McCulloh said. "I've been there once, and I've been dying to go back ever since."
Carson High School is six years old, and this is chorus teacher Megan Wyatt's fourth year there. Her first class of freshmen are now seniors, so she decided that now is the time for them to visit New York. Future groups might go to different destinations.
"It has taken me time to build an ensemble, with a group of kids I felt I could trust," Wyatt said.
She said she organized the trip because she wanted to give the students the same kind of experience she had when she was in high school. Many of them have never been to New York, so this opportunity is very exciting for them.
That includes Millie Helle, a senior second soprano.
"Most kids don't get to experience this," Helle said. "My mom went to New York when she was in high school, so I really wanted to go."
The honors chorus will perform at St. Malachy's Roman Catholic Church on Broadway right before mass.
"It's also called the 'actor's chapel,' " Wyatt said. "People that did Broadway, probably back in the '30s and '40s, didn't want to go home afterward, so they would go to the church and sing and have one-man shows."
That's a performance students said they have been looking forward to for months.
"All these famous actors and singers performed at the same place we'll be performing," said Anthony Cataldo, a junior bass.
Cataldo said it's his dream to one day perform in a Broadway theater show, so singing in a church on the same famous street will be a thrill.
During a recent chorus class, the students buzzed with excitement over the trip and the songs they would be singing.
"The first song we were doing, which is level five, we just don't sound right singing it," Helle said. "Then we chose 'Stumble My Feet,' which is a level six song."
That means it's harder, the students explained, but they love its fast rhythm and soaring harmonies.
"We're working hard on every song," Brown said. "We're trying to sound like grown men and women when we go, instead of boys and girls."
The students also will get the chance to see a Broadway performance of "Phantom of the Opera" and tour famous landmarks of New York City, including the Empire State Building, the Trump Tower, Radio City Music Hall and Ground Zero.
McCulloh said she's looking forward to seeing the "little church that stood" — St. Paul's Chapel — which now houses a tribute to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the firefighters who served that day.
"That's really cool for me, because I'm actually a firefighter at Locke Volunteer Fire Department," McCulloh said.
The four students interviewed all thanked Wyatt, saying she helped them raise enough funds to afford the $569 cost.
"If it wasn't for her help, half of us wouldn't be going," Brown said.
She and the choral students have had some "stressful" times in class, they said, but she has been a great instructor. Her guidance has prepared them well for competitions and performances like this.
Cataldo, who also participates in a theatre group that meets at the same time, said Wyatt has allowed him to go back and forth between the two, and she works with him outside of class to make sure he keeps up.
"I couldn't ask for a better teacher," McCulloh said. "She's done so much for us that words can't express it."
Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.
Twitter: twitter.com/posteducation
Facebook: facebook.com/Karissa.SalisburyPost


text:
Uolimann, Wolfgang (d. 1528)
Wolfgang Uolimann (Ullmann, Ulmann, Ulimann), a Swiss Brethren leader in St. Gall and Appenzell. His real name was Wolfgang Schorant. His father, a respected citizen, was a guild master in St. Gall. Uolimann had been a monk in the monastery of St. Lucius in Chur. Obviously the Reformation made a powerful appeal to his religious sensibilities. The evangelical sermons of Johannes Kessler, though they were private, profoundly affected the populace. In 1524 Uolimann also openly espoused and preached the Gospel in the open air near the Mangen church in St. Gall.
Soon differences of opinion became apparent within the Protestant circles. Lorenz Hochrütiner who had been baptized in Zürich by Conrad Grebel, sponsored a discussion of baptism on the death of Jesus (Romans 6) and took a position against infant baptism. Soon afterward, Uolimann met Grebel in Schaffhausen, and was baptized by him by immersion in the Rhine. The founding of the Swiss Brethren congregation in St. Gall followed naturally, and at the same time the break with Zwingli's church occurred. On 18 March, Uolimann proclaimed to a large company assembled in the weaver hall (Weberstube) that the heavenly Father had revealed to him that he should avoid the church as a place of lies, where the truth had never been proclaimed nor was being proclaimed now.
The two evangelical parties were now clearly defined: the representatives of the Reformed Church with infant baptism, and the representatives of the Brethren with believers' baptism. In the end, however, under the powerful intervention of Vadian, the Anabaptist movement was suppressed. In April 1525 the Brethren were summoned to the council to answer for their teachings on baptism. Uolimann skillfully defended the Anabaptist position saying that infant baptism was a later institution of the church without Scriptural foundation; that adult baptism implied the obligation to die to vices, live to Christ, and be obedient; their rejection of infant baptism he based on Jesus' command to the disciples to teach, believe, and baptize. This order was maintained about two hundred years, until the time of Cyprian and Tertullian. Formerly baptism had been performed at Easter or Pentecost, then later entirely according to human understanding and not according to the Scripture. Uolimann was at first requested "for the sake of brotherly love to wait with the deed." When he refused, the request was changed to a command with the threat of expulsion in case he did not comply.
The tension continued to mount, leading to two further debates. When the opponents sought to justify infant baptism by reading Zwingli's Taufbüchlein (Vom Tauff, vom Wiedertauff und vom Kindertauff), Uolimann countered by saying, "If you have Zwingli's word, we want to have God's Word." In June 1525 the Brethren were forbidden to hold any more meetings in or around the town. Since Uolimann did not comply he was sentenced to banishment on 17 July, but was later pardoned upon his oath. His activity in the brotherhood was several times punished by sentence of imprisonment. Although he was a radical innovator, he cannot be held responsible for the excesses that made their appearance in the Anabaptist group at St. Gall.
Little is known of Uolimann's further career. In 1528 he went to Basel in the Anabaptist cause, but was ejected from the city. He led a group of Anabaptists to Moravia, and was leading a second group from Appenzell to Moravia in 1528, when they were seized in Waldsee in Swabia. Uolimann and ten other men were beheaded and the women drowned. Those who recanted were sent home. The Chronicle of the Hutterian Brethren records of them, "They testified thus manly and valiantly with their bodies unto death, that their faith and baptism were founded upon divine truth."
Braght, Thieleman J. van. Het Bloedigh Tooneel of Martelaers Spiegel der Doops-gesinde of Weereloose Christenen, Die om 't getuygenis van Jesus haren Salighmaker geleden hebben ende gedood zijn van Christi tijd of tot desen tijd toe. Den Tweeden Druk. Amsterdam: Hieronymus Sweerts, 1685: Part II, 17.
Braght, Thieleman J. van. The Bloody Theatre or Martyrs' Mirror of the Defenseless Christians Who Baptized Only upon Confession of Faith and Who Suffered and Died for the Testimony of Jesus Their Saviour . . . to the Year A.D. 1660. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1951: 427. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm.
Cramer, Samuel and Fredrik Pijper. Bibliotheca Reformatoria Neerlandica, 10 vols. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1903-1914: v. VII, 26, 516.
Egli, Emil. Die St. Galler Täufer. Zürich, 1887.
Geiser, S. Die Taufgesinnten-Gemeinden. Karlsruhe, 1931.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. IV, 393-394.
Peachey. Die soziale Herkunft der Schweizer Täufer. Karlsruhe, 1954: 25 ff. 37, 75, 109, No. 19.
Wolkan, Rudolf. Geschicht-Buch der Hutterischen Brüder. Macleod, AB, and Vienna, 1923.
Zieglschmid, A. J. F. Die älteste Chronik der Hutterischen Brüder: Ein Sprachdenkmal aus frühneuhochdeutscher Zeit. Ithaca: Cayuga Press, 1943: 48.
|Samuel Geiser
|Date Published
Cite This Article
MLA style
Geiser, Samuel. "Uolimann, Wolfgang (d. 1528)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 22 Sep 2023. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Uolimann,_Wolfgang_(d._1528)&oldid=143834.
APA style
Geiser, Samuel. (1959). Uolimann, Wolfgang (d. 1528). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 September 2023, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Uolimann,_Wolfgang_(d._1528)&oldid=143834.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 787-788. All rights reserved.
©1996-2023 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.


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The Modern Federal Manager
Today's successful career federal executive defies the stereotype of the paper-pusher of the past.
Talk about timing: Just as the Federal Bureau of Investigation's massive new financial management system went live in October 2013, the government shut down. The debut of the project Richard Haley has shepherded since he arrived at the agency in 2005 coincided with the first government closure in 17 years. For the federal workforce, 2013 was the nadir in a series of low points during the past few chaotic years: More proposals to cut pay and benefits, the advent of sequestration, furloughs, and then a government closed for business at the start of a new fiscal year.
Employees were "maxed out," between sequestration and the shutdown, says Haley, chief financial officer of the bureau, whose mission becomes more complicated as the world becomes more dangerous. But the FBI's migration to the Justice Department's Unified Financial Management System went as expected: the agency's 32-year-old financial system went dark in mid-September, and UFMS went live on Oct. 7, a week into the shutdown. It was a carefully planned and executed project that the FBI had tested in a select few field offices in 2012, before last fall's large-scale final implementation.
"If this was a marathon, we did it in the Alps," says Haley, a senior executive who received a Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive in 2008.
Today's federal managers feel like they are constantly running, mostly uphill. The fiscal uncertainty of the past few years is partly to blame, but it's also a result of a swiftly changing world and the modern economy. There are more demands than ever on government, but agencies still struggle to modernize their operations and management. Sometimes that's a result of fewer resources; more often, it's because of a lack of vision, as well as the inertia that permeates government when Congress and the administration are locked in perpetual battle.
The era of the paper-pushing federal manager who sticks to the script is mostly over. Now more than ever, the government needs career leaders who can pitch ideas like the hard-charging ad exec Don Draper of Mad Men, manage a workforce with Oprah Winfrey's high emotional IQ, and accomplish tasks on deadline and under budget with the business savvy of billionaire investor Warren Buffet. Ideal leaders also should understand the federal budget and procurement processes, be able to navigate complicated financial management and IT systems, and deal effectively and diplomatically with Congress. None of those responsibilities are simple or easy. There are many federal managers with these attributes and more, Haley and the Treasury Department's Patricia Pointer among them. Neither career executive has worked much, if at all, outside government, yet they defy the stereotype of the lifelong fed. For every private sector management guru who sails into an agency to show 'em how it's done, there is a Haley or a Pointer already getting it done in government.
Early AdaptEr
The FBI's relatively smooth transition to a contemporary, integrated financial management system is in stark contrast, for instance, to the disastrous initial rollout of HealthCare.gov. It's not that the FBI's migration to the UFMS has been without problems, Haley says. But his team anticipated challenges, and then set to problem-solving. The idea wasn't to avoid mistakes; it was to test systems in a safe environment in stages before an agencywide migration, and learn from both setbacks and successes.
"In the IT world, there are enough failures to go around in the different agencies," Haley says. "We have had our share of them. The landscape is littered with that." Haley and his leadership team were in constant contact with the offices that participated in the 2012 pilot, gauging what worked and what didn't, listening to employees' experiences working with the system, and tweaking things along the way. Later, during the rollout, those pilot employees became the de facto trainers, educators and evangelists for the UFMS when the full migration occurred. That has made a big difference so far in convincing employees to accept and embrace the new system.
"They were messaging to their peers, which is powerful," says Haley. In other words, employees could rely on their colleagues' candor instead of leadership propaganda. Haley's team also set up a help center to field employee questions about the new financial management system, inspired partly by Lands' End, a company that sells clothes, shoes and outerwear. Haley says a member of his team memorized the retailer's customer service number and called it during at least one meeting to illustrate the company's thorough approach to problem-solving—an approach the FBI sought to emulate. "I'm going to pull you in instead of push you away," is how Haley describes it.
Born in Morgantown, W.Va., Haley comes across as the anti-bureaucrat. He's accessible, his speech is noticeably jargon-free, and he is comfortable talking at length with a reporter without a public affairs official present. This is all pretty unusual, especially for someone who started his career as an Army intelligence officer, began his government service as a presidential management intern in the 1990s, and worked at the Commerce Department and Justice before accepting the job of FBI budget chief. Haley prefers to communicate information rather than withhold it, and his collaborative yet disciplined approach to project management is especially well- suited to these uncertain times in government.
Kris van Riper, a managing director at CEB, a best practices advisory company, says "change agility," or the ability to adapt quickly and strategically to fluid situations, is especially important now in government. "The attributes of the most effective managers look different now than they did five to 10 years ago," says van Riper. "I don't know that the things in the past that made them successful will be the same ones now." She says many federal managers who "grew up in the government" probably wouldn't have scored as high a decade ago in the change agility category.
In his previous job, Haley served as the deputy budget director for the Justice Department, so he wasn't exactly a government neophyte. "I was probably the biggest pain in the ass for the FBI" in that job, says Haley. He had to reach out to every law enforcement component of Justice for financial data, and they all responded except the FBI. "Oh my gosh, this place [FBI] was the bane of my existence," Haley says. He was reluctant to move to the FBI, but he took a chance and remained open, despite his frustrating professional experience with the agency. Haley says the complexity of the FBI's operations and missions "blew me away when I got here," and put his perspective of the agency in a new context. Haley came to the FBI as a seasoned manager, but he didn't allow his institutional knowledge or experience to become blind spots; his view of the agency evolved based on what he learned on the job.
Leaning Out
Not many career executives can say they reorganized an agency—one of the most complex undertakings in government. The logistical, political and emotional landmines of such a project require every management skill you can think of, and then some. At Treasury, Pointer helped merge the now defunct Office of Thrift Supervision with the department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in 2011. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act required the elimination of OTS, which left it up to Pointer, deputy comptroller of human resources at OCC, and her team to acquire or "integrate," as she puts it, up to 1,100 employees. OTS employees had to be transferred to positions that were the same as their abolished jobs, to the extent possible. If that wasn't an option, OCC helped those employees find jobs in other agencies, like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In the end, Pointer's organization absorbed 800 employees from OTS.
Two years later, Pointer does not consider the transition, or her work, finished. "We continue to work through integration issues and challenges," she says. During the reorganization she collected employee feedback through internal surveys and uses the data to continually improve communication between leadership and the workforce. Pointer says the agency has scored high on engaging employees, but she's not getting complacent with that success and continues to keep her eye on recruitment and retention. The integration with OTS forced OCC managers to be frugal in hiring during the last few years as they simultaneously worked to stay ahead of a potential retirement wave and build up the examiner workforce. Right now, Pointer says, 15.9 percent of examiners—two-thirds of the agency's workforce—are eligible to retire. In 2017, 35 percent of that population will be eligible for retirement.
"If we don't do something, we will be in a crisis mode," says the third-generation public servant who started her career in education and began working for the federal government in 1989. During the last decade, the agency has hired between 75 and 150 entry-level examiners each year. Over time, OCC has planned for its future human capital needs while also incorporating the more immediate demands of a major reorganization. Pointer says it's about trust and empowering employees with the skills and abilities to perform. We have to give them the "discretional autonomy" to do their jobs, she says. "For managers, our role is to be an enabler, to get the best out of our people," adds the Maryland native. That includes "providing a safe place to encourage creativity and innovation . . . and a work environment where it's OK to make mistakes, and employees can make mistakes."
The time for errors, and learning from them, is ideally before a project goes live or goes completely off the rails. It's unrealistic, not to mention foolish, to expect a major undertaking, like migrating to a new financial system or reorganizing an agency's workforce to be completely error-free. Haley and Pointer both know that, which is why they prepare for and build in time for mistakes. That's also why they constantly seek feedback from their "customers." They cannot anticipate every problem, so they need to maintain a dialogue with users to uncover unforeseen issues. That approach to management is what's known as continuous process improvement, a strategy that favors ongoing incremental changes to increase efficiency and effectiveness in work flow. It's particularly important in government, where transparency and accountability for taxpayer funds must be the top priority.
"Government management should be nonpartisan, but it's not," says Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. The ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee blames Congress for a lack of oversight over executive agencies, and the politics that go into selecting people "who don't have the skill set of running large organizations" to lead agencies. Coburn says some senior executives have good management skills, and some don't, but by and large, they are better suited to leadership roles in agencies than many political appointees. "They actually know what they are doing, they don't have a learning curve," he says. "They also know where the skeletons are buried."
Haley and Pointer probably know where a few skeletons are buried. It's hard not to when you've spent a considerable amount of time in government rising through the ranks. It's yet another facet of the increasingly complicated job federal managers face today—a job that has more in common with current high-profile industry leaders than the paper-pushers of the past. Miguel Helft wrote this description of Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg in an Oct. 28, 2013, profile in Fortune magazine:
"There's no one job description for COOs, but they are almost always inward-facing bureaucrats who make sure the trains run on time, cut a low profile and toil in the shadow of their bosses. [Sandberg] does keep the trains on time, for sure. But she's also a chief deal maker and an ad sales honcho responsible for Facebook's revenue; she taps her influential network to open doors; she travels the world to meet with politicians; and channels the desires of the world's biggest marketers in a language Facebook's engineers understand."
Sure, federal managers earn a lot less money than Sandberg, in much less glamorous jobs. But today's federal executives have just as many responsibilities and roles to play, if they hope to be successful.
Management 101
Pay and benefits are important to employees, but compensation does not determine job satisfaction and success. Workers crave empowerment, says Kris van Riper, a managing director at CEB, a best practices advisory company. Leaders who can connect employees to the organization's mission and clarify how that mission works have the greatest success in engaging employees, she says. How can managers get the best from their workforce?
Help Employees Prioritize Work
If an employee is struggling to complete assignments, help them prioritize their workload. Managers tend to try to simplify complex jobs, or do the work themselves, if an employee is having trouble with a task. That's a fool's errand, says van Riper. "Narrowing tasks for employees doesn't improve engagement," she says. "What does is helping people navigate."
Be More Proactive Than Reactive
Don't wait until there's a crisis to introduce yourself to the office. Walk around, talk and listen to the rank and file, and observe. Soliciting feedback from workers should be ongoing, not something you do every six months, or when there's a problem. Keeping up with what's going on and how people are doing doesn't need to be a formal process. People will be more candid if they are used to frequent, informal interactions—and that will be invaluable when problems crop up.
Clearly state job expectations as well as short- and long-term goals. This is common sense, but many managers still fail to do it well, or at all. Discuss the agency's mission and how the employee's responsibilities fit into it. And if you don't know something, or have little information to share, then say that. In the absence of communication, people tend to assume the worst.
NEXT STORY: Chief Challenges


text: The Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) include of the U.S.A. Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russian Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS), the upcoming European Galileo and the Chinese COMPASS system. The fundamental of satellite navigation is the simultaneous observation of at least four satellites with known coordinates. The measurements are carried out through correlation of the received satellite signal with an identical signal generated in the ground receiver. The difference between the received and the generated signal is directly proportional to the travel time of a signal from satellite to the receiver. As the satellite and receiver have different clocks, in addition to the three unknown coordinates of the receiver, an additional unknown appears in the observation equation. Therefore, only the simultaneous observation to at least four satellites enables the equation to be solved for all positioning parameters, i.e. for longitude, latitude, height, and clock correction.


text:
ENGLEWOOD, CO—After months of being taught to develop courage, inner strength, and other values of the martial arts, Daniel Finkelstein finally achieved the self-confidence necessary to stand up to his parents and quit taking karate lessons, the area sixth-grader reported Monday.
Finkelstein, 11, who was bullied into beginner's classes at Dragon Karate and Tae Kwon Do Academy by his father in July, reportedly drew on a number of recently acquired skills, including poise and self-assurance, when confronting his parents about how much he despised karate.
"Before karate, I used to let everyone—my mom, my dad, even my grandma—push me around," Finkelstein said. "They would tell me what to do and I would just roll over and do it, because they were bigger than me and I was scared."
"If it wasn't for the focus and determination I learned in karate, I would still be in karate right now," he added.
According to Finkelstein, having to punch, kick, and spar with boys twice his size gave him newfound resolve, which the once submissive child would use when he decided he no longer wanted to have to punch, kick, and spar with boys twice his size.
"I never thought I had it in me," said Finkelstein, who claimed he was prepared to use physical aggression only as a last resort to drop out of the martial arts class. "It was just like Sensei Steve used to say: 'Only by believing in yourself can you overcome the obstacles that lie ahead.'"
Added Finkelstein: "Thank God I don't have to listen to that crap anymore."
The white-belt also said the lessons he learned could prove valuable should he need to protect himself against any future involvement in swimming or violin lessons.
"It's like there's nothing I can't quit now if I just put my mind to it," Finkelstein said. "I bet one day I'll quit going to algebra class, just like my older cousin did."
"Sensei" Steve Guardino, Finkelstein's former instructor, said he had noticed a distinct difference in the boy since he began, and subsequently stopped, attending the karate course.
"When Daniel first showed up to class, he was like many of the other kids we see—timid, unsure of himself, and very insecure," Guardino said. "But look at him now: He's gone."
Finkelstein, who had little athletic inclination before taking karate, has now reported significantly increased energy to avoid taking part in activities he doesn't like.
"When someone suggests doing something lame, I'm the first one off my feet and headed out of that room," he said. "It feels amazing."
Daniel's parents, Samantha and Robert Finkelstein, said they were still shocked at the change in their son.
"Not only is Daniel more confident these days, but he's more assertive, better at expressing what he wants and doesn't want, and incredibly determined—it's like he's a whole new kid," Mr. Finkelstein said. "I knew we should've put him in soccer instead."


text:
"The blink element is a non-standard presentational HTML element that indicates to a user agent (generally a web browser) that the page author intends the content of the element to blink (that is, alternate between being visible and invisible). Despite its initial popularity amongst home users in the 1990s, it has since fallen out of favor due to its overuse and the difficulty it presents in reading," explains Wikipedia.
{ via Search Engine Roundtable and Ilya Grigorik }


text:
Anthony Gucciardi
Monsanto is doing its absolute best to ensure that you do not know what you are putting into your mouth, now confirmed to have donated $4.2 million in an attempt to fight the California GMO labeling initiative that could very well put them out of business. You see, if people actually knew that they were consuming genetically modified ingredients, they would simply stop buying the engineered products on a massive scale. Monsanto simply cannot have that, which is why it is doing its best to squash any possibility of a successful labeling initiative (along with a conglomerate of corporate entities).
It is already well known that the general public is highly supportive of GMO labeling in general, with many polls finding that around 93% of the population is supportive of knowing what is in their food. Monsanto obviously does not care much about the general public, however, as exemplified by the company's utter lack of concern over public health and baseline human rights. And if over 90% of support is not enough, then there is the Just Label it Campaign. While the actual end result of the mission is debatable, the massive support is not.
The GMO labeling campaign was backed by over 1 million signatures from around the country, all individuals who were seeking to help others learn what is in their pantry.
Whether its censoring research on their GM products, ignoring evidence that links the engineered crops to serious biological and environmental damage, or managing 'slave-like' workers on their corn fields for withheld pay, Monsanto has continually shown its true allegiance does not lie with the citizens of the world. The biotech giant has already made several moves to crush GMO labeling initiatives in the past.
Back in April following the announcement of a bill centered in Vermont known as the 'VT Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act' that would require the labeling of genetically modified ingredients, Monsanto threatened to sue the entire state in order to prevent its passing. As a result, the bill went on hold despite a majority (6 to 5) of Agriculture Committee members actually supporting the passage of the bill. Officials actually refused to take a vote. It sounds like mafia-styled intimidation, but it is actually just business as usual.
Instead of allowing Monsanto to win once more through intimidation and financial influence, vote "YES" on the 37 Right to Know California GMO labeling initiative.


text:
I'm a grad student getting close to submitting my first journal article (which will be single-authored). My understanding is that it's standard practice for authors to transfer the copyright of their paper to the journal in which it is published. I want my article to be published in a journal, but I don't want to transfer the copyright -- I want the article to be in the public domain. How will editors to behave towards such a request? Also, when should I bring up the topic: when I submit the article, or after it's accepted and I'm asked to sign a copyright transfer?
Some grants apparently have a stipulation that articles written as part of the grant research must be released into the public domain (e.g. grants funded by the US government). In this case, authors presumably sign a consent to publish, instead of a copyright transfer. Hence, there's at least some precedent for what I want to do, though I want my article in the public domain purely because of my personal views on the ethics of copyright.
I couldn't find too much information about this topic by googling. Oleg Pikhurko has a page discussing his attempt to have his articles revert to the public domain after a period of years, as opposed to instantly. It didn't work out particularly well in his case.
I'm not sure how much I'm willing to have my ethical ideals damage my career (e.g. by having publications delayed and/or being banned from submitting to journals).


text:
September 11, 2001: Gay Victims & Heroes
Updated for 2024: In Loving Memory of Paul "PJ" Nash
Dedicated to
The Lovers Who Awaken Each Morning
without Their Gay Patriot & Hero beside Them
This is where we really go when we die:
Into the hearts of those who remember us,
And all our hearts are bursting with [them]. -- Martin Amis
=== I n M e m o r i a m ===Among the openly Gay people known dead at the World Trade Center is New York Fire Department Catholic chaplain Father Mychal Judge. Judge, 68, was killed while ministering to a fallen firefighter at Ground Zero. Judge's helmet was presented to the Pope, and Judge was chosen Grand Marshal of the 2002 Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade. There is also an initiative to elevate Fr. Mychal to sainthood. In June 2002, the president signed the Mychal Judge Act, granting federal money to certain survivors of victims of 9/11, including same-sex partners.
Medal of Freedom Nominee
Voted Person of the Year 2001
Arthur Ashe Courage Award:
Mark Bingham, 31, a Gay passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania, helped to thwart the plane's hijackers. September 16 is officially designated Mark Bingham Day in San Francisco.
40-year-old Carol Flyzik's plane, American Airlines Flight 11, never made it to California. It was the first of two to crash into the World Trade Center. Flyzik, who was a registered nurse and a member of the Human Rights Campaign, is survived by Nancy Walsh, her partner of nearly 13 years.
David Charlebois, the co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon, was openly Gay, the Washington Blade reported. Charlebois was a member of the National Gay Pilots Association. Charlebois is survived by Tom Hay, his partner of almost 13 years.
Graham Berkeley, 37, a native of England who lived in Boston, boarded United Airlines Flight 175 on Sept. 11 on his way to a conference in Los Angeles. He died when the plane became the second hijacked airliner to crash into the World Trade Center. -- Washington Blade
Pamela J. Boyce, 43, is only one of several dozen World Trade Center workers who have officially been confirmed dead. Boyce, a resident of Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, worked on the 92nd floor of One World Trade Center as assistant vice president of accounting for the New York office of Carr Futures. She is survived by her partner Catherine Anello.
A Gay couple on their way home to Los Angeles from Boston were killed when United Airlines Flight 175 was hijacked Tuesday and crashed into the second tower of New York's World Trade Center. Ronald Gamboa, 33, and his partner of 13 years, Dan Brandhorst, 42, were traveling with their 3-year-old adopted son, David. Brandhorst and Gamboa were founding members of the Pop Luck Club, an L.A. organization for Gay men interested in adopting children. -- planetout.com
James Joe Ferguson, 39, director of geography education outreach for the National Geographic Society, was on American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon. Ferguson was traveling on a National Geographic-sponsored educational field trip to the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary off Santa Barbara, Calif.
Openly Gay flight attendant Jeffrey Collmans American Airlines Flight 11 (from Boston) smashed into the north tower of New Yorks World Trade Center. Collman is survived by Keith Bradkowski, his partner of 11 years.
41-year-old John Keohane was at work near the World Trade Center when the planes hit. He was killed by falling debris. Keohane worked at One Liberty Plaza near the World Trade Center and died when the towers collapsed. After the planes hit the Trade Center towers, Keohane met Mike Lyons, his partner of 17 years, on the street, and called his mother from his cell phone. "They were just in the streets like everybody else," Keohanes sister, Darlene Keohane, told The San Francisco Chronicle. "As he was talking, he had thought a third plane crashed into the building." What Keohane thought was a third crash was really the collapse of the South tower of the World Trade Center. While Lyons survived, Keohane was killed by falling debris. Tragically, Lyons committed suicide March 1, 2002, on his 41st birthday.
Defense of Freedom Medal Recipient:
Sheila Hein, 51, was working for the U.S. Armys management and budget office in the Pentagon when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into it. Peggy Neff is Hein's partner of 18 years. Virginia's Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund administrators refused to accept the couple were anything but "friends." However, in January 2003, "the federal government's 9-11 Compensation Fund approved what is said to be the first payment to [Neff], a person in a gay relationship whose partner was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks." -- 365Gay.com
"Roxy Eddie" Ognibene, a beloved member of the Renegades of New York's Big Apple Softball League, was tragically lost in the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack. He worked as a bond trader for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods on the 89th floor of WTC 2. -- Jerry Rosco, Renegades for Outsports.com
Larry Courtney and Eugene Clark were partners for 11 years. Clark, 47, worked for Aon Consulting on the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center's south tower. Clark sent Courtney a voice message: "I'm OK. The plane hit the other tower. And we're evacuating." Clark is still missing. -- Victoria Scanlan Stefanakos (advocate.com)
Bill Randolph's lover of 26 years, Wesley Mercer, 70, is among three security personnel from Morgan Stanley still missing in the World Trade Center rubble. Mercer, who was vice president of corporate security, was drinking coffee on the ground floor of the WTC when the first plane hit. He rushed to the 44th floor to supervise the evacuation of employees. All 3,700 employees escaped harm. Then Mercer, a decorated Army veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, returned to the 44th floor to make sure no one was left behind. Unlike other surviving partners, Mr. Randolph is not eligible for the full range of benefits, from pensions to Social Security payments to special memorial funds available to victims of Sept. 11. -- advocate.com
Luke A. Dudek, 50, was the food and beverage controller at Windows on the World. Dudek is survived by his partner of 20 years, George Cuellar. Cuellar said his partner loved Cuellar's flower business so much that after years of renting space, this year they bought their own property for the business. He said Dudek spent a week of vacation in September completing renovations. Dudek's first day back to work in New York was Sept. 11. He died in the attacks on the World Trade Center.
Since Sept. 11, friends of Michael Lepore, 39, a project analyst at Marsh & McLennon, have been pruning his rosebushes, clearing wayward ivy off stone walls, planting bulbs for next spring. It is the perfect act of kindness, said Mr. Lepore's partner of 18 years, David O'Leary. Their house and garden in Yonkers had been Mr. Lepore's pride and joy and are now Mr. O'Leary's primary source of comfort. -- The New York Times via H. S. Levine, NYC
John Winter and his lover William Anthony Karnes, 37, lived within sight of Karnes' office at Marsh & McLennon on the 97th floor of the World Trade Center Tower One. Walking to the office together, the couple had timed the "commute" at just 11 minutes. On the morning of September 11, Karnes, who went by "Tony," left for his office at about 8:30. At 8:45, Winter heard what sounded like a calamitous thunder clap. When he looked out his apartment window, he could already see his future. Karnes was killed in that morning's tragedy. In dealing with the aftermath, Winter says that he was "fortunate [in having] a good relationship with Tony's family in Knoxville." -- Paul Schindler (lgny.com)
New York resident Tom Miller lost his partner Seamus O'Neal in the World Trade Center attack. "I did not have the luxury of grieving without having to defend myself and prove who I am and who we were," Miller said. "If down the road anyone can be spared that torture, that would be excellent," he said -- Dan Kerman, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network
Elba Cedeno lost her partner of six years, Catherine Smith, 44, who worked on the 97th floor of one of the World Trade Center towers. They both had wills, which will ease the process of Cedeno taking sole ownership of their home. But Cedeno said she is angry that she will not qualify to receive any of Smith's Social Security benefits. "This was my soul mate. We planned to live the rest of our lives together and retire together," Cedeno said. -- AP via contaxguide.com
Emergency aid kept Margaret Cruz afloat after the loss of her partner of 18 years, Patricia McAneney. Ms. Cruz documented her finanacially interdependent partnership and prevailed with the Crime Victim's Board, the Red Cross and the New York State charitable fund. A total of $80,000 went to Ms. Cruz. McAneney, 50, was the fire marshal of her floor of 1 World Trade Center, where she worked for the insurance company Guy Carpenter. -- Jane Gross via Lucy at fiancesof911.com
Waleska Martinez, 37, a computer whiz in the Census Bureau's New York office, was aboard flight 93 that crashed outside Shanksville, PA. In his book, Among the Heroes, Jere Longman "unobtrusively quotes [Angela Lopez, her] same-sex partner." Lopez said, "She was my longtime companion, best friend and soul mate." -- NY Times Book Review, 9-8-02, p. 13.
Renee Barrett, injured in the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, died on October 18 of her injuries. Barrett was a member of [the Gay] Metropolitan Community Church of New York. She leaves behind her life partner Enez Cooper and her 18-year-old son, Eddie, who lived with them. Renee was an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald, and was in Tower 1 at the time of the attacks. Though critically burned she escaped the building prior to its collapse, and had been hospitalized at Cornell-Presbyterian Hospital.
Francis S. Coppola, a New York City detective whose partner, a firefighter named Eddie, died in the attacks, summed up the bipolar feelings many GLBT people have had about Sept. 11. "I have never been more proud of being an American or a New Yorker, but at the same time it has made me sad. The greatest country in the world, and yet we are treated like second-class citizens.... The great love of my life died doing what he did best and what he loved to do: helping others. I have never been an activist or ever wanted to be one; however, it is time we stand up and be counted and demand equality -- nothing more or nothing less." -- Tom Musbach, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network
As the days went by, we learned that some of the missing rescue personnel were gay, and that many of their lovers, some of whom are cops and fire fighters, were grieving in silence for fear of outing them. There were also gay cops that lost family members that were rescue personnel. We all learned too quickly and in too cruel a way that the closet is a terrible place to grieve... -- Edgar Rodriguez, NYPD (in the former Lesbian & Gay New York)
Matt Foreman, former executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda, says advocates have already identified 24 surviving partners from the Trade Center attack, and believe that there may be as many as 50 in total, based on surveys about gay and lesbian participation in long term relationships. -- Paul Schindler in Lesbian & Gay New York
September 11 Designated
Patriots' Day
A Day of Remembrance
Let's celebrate our many known and unknown Lesbian and Gay patriots and heroes! -- Paul J. Nash
In Memoriam
- Lepore,
- O'Neal,
- Dudek, and
- Mercer (WTC),
- Smith,
- McAneney,
- Barrett,
- Boyce, and
- Karnes (1WTC [North Tower])
- Ognibene
- Firefighter Eddie (2WTC [South Tower])
- Flyzik (AA11 Boston-California into North Tower first, passenger) and
- Collman (flight attendant)
- David,
- Dan, and
- Ronald Gamboa-Brandhorst (UA175 Boston-Los Angeles; into second Tower) and
- Berkeley and
- Clark
- Ferguson (AA77 Pentagon, passenger) and
- Charlebois (co-pilot)
- Hein (Pentagon)
- Martinez
- Bingham (UA93 Pennsylvania)
- Keohane (Ground Zero South Tower), and
- Judge (Ground Zero FDNY chaplain)
Take the joy out of homophobia:
Have lots of Fun and Make lots of Gay Love
Return to Top of Page
Return to Urania Manuscripts: Gay History in Translation
Return to Celebration 2024: First Gay Activist (Karl Heinrich Ulrichs)
Return to Memory Book 2000: Commemorating the 175th Jubilee Birthday Anniversary of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (First Gay Activist)
* Bicentennial Celebration: Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825-1895): 200 Years of Pride in 2025: Ulrichs Bicentennial Celebration
This website received a critical analysis by Sarah J. Griffiths (2019). Gay Victims & Heroes: Narratives of identity in online 9/11 memorials. In M Hoondert & S.Van der Beek (Eds.), Ritual in a Digital Society. (Netherlands Studies in Ritual and Liturgy 21), 109-122.
Visitors since September 18, 2001
(C) 2001 by Lombardi-Nash. No reproduction without permission (e-mail)
In Loving Memory of Paul "PJ" Nash


text:
You know what's entirely overrated? Snowmobiles, that's what. They think they're so freaking great, cutting through snow and ice at high speeds. Supercars can do it just as well, even if the cost of entry is just a tad bit higher.
Just ask Swedish professional skier and extreme sports athlete Jon Olsson, who has a history of building crazy four-wheel-drive supercars that can obliterate snow like there's no tomorrow. One of them is a Lamborghini Gallardo "ski transporter" we wrote about in 2011, and now you get to see it in action.
As you can see from the video, even the harshest of winter weather is no match for this beast — even when you have to dig it out of the white stuff just a bit.
Which supercar would you hoon in the snow?


text:
This is related to an old question of mine - Issues with osgeo - qgis.core and arcpy modules
Now in new versions of all the software QGIS Lisboa (1.8), ArcGIS 10.1 and pyScripter 2.5.3. They all use python 2.7
I can't get the following to work.
>>> import osgeo
>>> from osgeo import ogr
arcgis 10.1 and pyscripter fail here.
>>> import os
>>> os.chdir(r'L:\Data_Admin\QA\test_data\Boundaries\Local_Govt\TRC\TAB')
>>> driver = ogr.GetDriverByName('MapInfo File')
>>> fn='trc_boundary.tab'
>>> dataSource=driver.Open(fn,0)
>>> layer = dataSource.GetLayer(0)
feature = layer.GetFeature(0) extent=layer.GetExtent() extent (-12895.844282306107, 376810.87105960253, 7944810.84780738, 8222992.984638059) numFeatures=layer.GetFeatureCount() geometry = feature.GetGeometryRef() Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'GetGeometryRef'
QGIS python shell fails here. Not sure why - I checked http://www.gdal.org/ogr/classOGRGeometryCollection.html but it is not helpful.
PYTHONPATH=C:\Python27\ArcGIS10.1;C:\OSGeo4W\apps\python27; C:\Program Files (x86)\Quantum GIS Lisboa
I have installed the gdal python bindings for arcgis but then where is ogr?
also I can't seem to run
from osgeo import gdal
dataset = gdal.open("c:/abc.img")
Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'open'


text:
Biopuncture Treatment in Estero, FL
Chronic pain can be difficult to overcome, with individuals often feeling as though they've run out of options. For those who think they've tried every form of pain relief out there, biopuncture can be the answer. An injection therapy that targets specific acupuncture trigger points on the body with diluted natural remedies, biopuncture is a combination of homeopathic remedies and acupuncture. With benefits for a number of other health conditions, biopuncture isn't just for pain relief. In accordance with holistic practices that seek to heal the root of problems and not the symptoms, biopuncture works by stimulating the body to detoxify and heal itself. Unlike conventional pharmaceuticals that work by suppressing symptoms, biopuncture rekindles the body's innate healing mechanisms. With biopuncture you don't become dependent, and your healthcare provider will counsel you on maintaining your wellbeing after treatment so that you can continue to see results.
To schedule a consultation with a qualified healthcare provider in Estero that specializes in biopuncture, call (239) 425-2900 or contact Root Causes Holistic Health & Medicine online.
What Does Biopuncture Treat
Biopuncture therapy is primarily used to treat chronic pain, acute musculoskeletal problems, trauma and sports injuries. However, there are a number of other conditions that can also benefit from biopuncture. These include:
- Allergies
- Respiratory problems
- Inflammatory illnesses
- Headaches
- Tendonitis
- Eczema
- Gastritis
- Sinusitis
- Cystitis
- Bronchitis
- Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction (TMJ)
- Rheumatoid arthritis
What to Expect During Your Biopuncture Therapy Session
During your session, your biopuncture practitioner will decide which solutions are needed to alleviate your health concerns. They will then inject these solutions into specific points on your body, depending on your condition. Needles are small and relatively painless. These solutions are produced in pharmaceutical-grade laboratories, under the same standards as pharmaceutical products. In biopuncture therapy, commonly used botanical solutions injected include:
- Arnica - eases muscle pain
- Echinacea - boosts the immune system
- Comfrey - reduces joint pain
- Peppermint - relieves gastrointestinal issues
- Lymphomyosot - detoxifies the lymphatic system
- Spascupreel - treats muscular spasms
- Traumeel - aids in treating inflammation
- Zeel - helps with arthritis
While these solutions are diluted, tested and safe, this does not detract from their potency. Immediate relief can be obtained, however, it usually takes a couple of days for the effects of biopuncture to fully manifest. One of the benefits of biopuncture is that it can be greatly beneficial for those who cannot tolerate the side effects of traditional pharmaceutical methods of pain relief. As a holistic therapy, biopuncture can be used both in place of and in conjunction with traditional medical therapies.
Biopuncture Post Treatment
Typically, biopuncture therapy takes several weeks to take effect, when relief is not immediate. When conditions have been present for months or years, healing can take longer to present, simply because of the extent of injury. Sometimes symptoms will immediately worsen after injection. This is a noted condition, called the "reaction phase" and is a good indicator that the body's self-healing process has been activated and that healing is underway. Your healthcare provider will also work with you to ensure that healing continues and wellness is maintained for overall health after your biopuncture treatments.
You can achieve relief from pain today. To schedule a consultation with a qualified healthcare provider in Estero that specializes in biopuncture treatment, call (239) 425-2900 or contact Root Causes Holistic Health & Medicine online.
Root Causes Holistic Health & Medicine
Address12734 Kenwood Ln
Suite 84
Fort Myers, FL 33907
(239) 425-2900
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Wed: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Fri: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Areas We Service:North Naples, FL, Punta Gorda, FL, Immokalee, FL, Naples, FL, Bonita Springs, FL, Cape Coral, FL, Estero, FL, Fort Myers Beach, FL, Lehigh Acres, FL, North Fort Myers, FL, Saint James City, FL, Sanibel, FL, San Carlos Park, FL, Tice, FL
Read More+


text:
A new Tables in Wonderland event at The Wave has been announced for January 20th. This is for Tables in Wonderland Members and guests only.
Tables in Wonderland Presents:
The Wave… of American Flavors Discovery Dinner
Date: Thursday, January 20, 2011
Time: 6:30 p.m. Reception; 7 p.m. Dinner
Location: The Wave… of American Flavors at Disney's Contemporary Resort. Please meet at restaurant's main podium
Dress: Casual Evening Attire
Price: $92 per person, includes tax and gratuity
For reservations, e-mail [email protected] with the following information: your interest to book, your name, daytime phone number, home address, and the number of people in your party. You will be notified on a "first-come, first-served" basis. Your credit card will be taken over the phone once your reservation is confirmed. The event is limited to 50 Guests.


text:
Well then. There are a crapload of people playing Call of Duty: Black Ops II online right now. On Xbox Live alone, between Zombies mode and regular multiplayer, there are more then 800,000 playing:
This Adventure Game Wants You To Leave Society
And bear in mind, that's just Xbox Live. Factor in PlayStation Network and PC players, and you've got even more. That's a looooot of shootin'.


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Chaparral is re-writing the rules on outboard boating. The 270 SSX Outboard is a trendsetter in design, performance, and function. The helm features an all new glass dash with dual touch screen displays. The cockpit is open, spacious and features a multi-position sun lounger aft. The open concept design carries forward into the bow area which features hinged storage beneath luxuriously appointed upholstery. Chaparral went to great lengths to create a powerful and agile craft that glides through the water with minimal noise.
Pricing includes a trailer and PDI. Additional fees for freight, fuel, admin/licensing, taxes apply.