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Table of Contents
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Summer and winter toboggan run - Allgäu Coaster Söllereckbahn
Start: Söllereckbahn, approx. 5 min. Walk. Length about 850m. Walserbus line 1 - stop Söllereck.
The Alpine Coaster has a winding track with built-in waves and finally crosses the main road. The 2-seater sled can reach a speed of up to 40 km / h, but with brakes anyone can set their own pace. After that, you will automatically be transported back to the starting point with the mountain lifter. Children up to 7 years only when accompanied by an adult. For safety reasons, small children under 3 years of age are not allowed to travel.
Opening times
Open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ContactAllgäu Coaster - Oberstdorfer Bergbahn AG
Kornau-Wanne 7
87561 Oberstdorf Phone 0049 8322 9875-40
- E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
- Website: http://www.ok-bergbahnen.com

subset: commoncrawl


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Chantel Weeks, MCP, LPC
Do you find it hard to complete tasks? Is there something missing from your life? Emotional Wellness can be affected by a lot of different things. Sometimes we just struggle to sit with our feelings, and other times we don't know where to start to even accept why we feel the way we do. Depression, Anxiety, Postpartum issues, Relationship Struggles, Domestic Violence, Trauma, Sexual Assault, even Politics, Global Crisis, and sometimes just everyday living can really start to play a role in our mental health. Let's work together to process feelings, to help you feel empowered to take back your emotions and your life so that you can be the best possible version of yourself.
Do you often feel tired, unmotivated, and even uninterested in the things that once brought you joy? Our Physical health is so much more than just exercise and eating well. Sometimes the best thing to make us feel better is working on other aspects of our health. Sometimes it is focusing on how to incorporate mindfulness into our daily routine. Together we can start to come up with goals, with focus on how to incorporate the things that you once loved back into your life. We can work on a plan to overcome the fatigue, to push through the stressors and to make it where you feel like YOU again.
With things being stressful in the world right now, is it often normal to feel alone and isolated. It is a well-known fact that we are social creatures at heart, sometimes that might mean with only certain people, family, or even animals at times. We need to be able to connect to others to feel like we aren't alone in this world. Social Wellness is huge and sometimes we find ourselves turning down social events, things we know we would probably enjoy, but anxiety takes over and we just can't make ourselves go. There are times when we feel down, worried, stressed, and just need an outlet to visit with someone, anyone, that can help us navigate through that path. Together we can work on how to improve social aspects of your life. Let's get to a place where we process, engage, talk, laugh, cry, cuss, scream if you need to, so that you can learn to connect with others instead of letting your emotions control you.
Being well with yourself is so much more than religion, it's a spiritual process. I believe that we are supposed to have passion. A fire that burns within us to do more for ourselves, for our family, for our community and often that is the first thing that we let go when things get rough. It is often challenging to find time to meditate, to pray, to be creative, especially in a world where we work, where we take care of our kids, or families. I believe in using holistic methods to help learn a balance when it comes to finding time for ourselves. I believe that being in nature, doing things that not only benefit us but emotionally connect us to the world is something we can all have. I think being spiritually well means finding yourself again, finding goals, and hopes and dreams and learning to grab life when you can. This is something that we can focus on, we can meet and talk and process so that you can move forward and begin to heal, feel empowered, feel joy and most of all find the PEACE you deserve.
My Approach
I believe that we all struggle from time to time. I think that we forget to take care of ourselves. Often when things get hard, we try to take care of everyone else, we try to push through, and we try to make it work. I think that sometimes we forget to feel EMPOWERED we forget to find our PEACE. I utilize a variety of methods primarily Solution Focused Techniques and Cognitive Behavioral Techniques to work with you to move forward and make the changes that will stay, to look at the past as a platform, and find the solutions that will work. I also see all my clients 100 percent Virtual, because I believe that it works better to see you where you are, no drive time, no stressing about coming into the office, just a simple click and we can connect.
About me
My name is Chantel Weeks, I am the face behind Empowering Peace Counseling PLLC, I am a Licensed Professional Counselor In the State of Oklahoma and have been licensed since 2018. I believe in being authentic and genuine. I am not only a therapist but a mom, a wife, a huge fan of anything Harry Potter, an honorary Gilmore Girl, and a lover of all things Pumpkin.
Getting Help Is Hard, But The Rewards Can Be Magical
I have several years experience working with a variety of ages. Currently I see individuals for therapy from ages 15+. I have an extensive background working with survivors of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, as well as individuals suffering from Anxiety, Depression, Low Self Esteem, Pregnancy, Women's Issues, Miscarriage, and Life Transitions. I think that EVERYONE can benefit from therapy and that we all essentially want to be overall healthier.
Domestic Violence
Sexual Assault
Self Esteem


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All you want to know about ELSS tax scheme
Tax planning is a fundamental part of financial planning, it helps to reduce tax liability and attain economic stability.
Equity Linked Saving Scheme (ELSS) helps to save taxes under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act.
ELSS is a tax saving instrument with the lowest lock-in period of 3 years
Potential for getting Better returns with SEBI mandate of minimum 80% investment in equity related instruments
Ideal for seeking long term capital appreciation inspite of 10% Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) Tax
Redemption is not compulsory after a period of 3 years
Irrespective of the total amount of investment in an ELSS fund, The benefits would be limited only to ₹1,50,000.
Tax benefits up to ₹150,000 are inclusive of other benefits such as PPF, life insurance, repayment of home loan principal, etc.
Some Known schemes:
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Basic details:
One can start with a minimum amount of Rs. 500 in a SIP and there is no upper limit.
With Minimum rate of Interest to 12% and a minimum lock-in period of 3 years.


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Last Updated on January 12, 2023 by Mary J. Grice
Grandparents are the oldest and most important people in the family. And the gift for them should be as warm and sincere as the family's attitude to elderly relatives.
Let gifts to grandparents for 90 years be not the most practical: the main thing is to bring joy to dear people!
Best 90th Birthday Gift Ideas for Woman
Warm Gifts
It is especially important for the elderly to be warm. Everyone wants to take care of elderly relatives, to make them feel warm and comfortable. Warm products are exactly what you need to warm your grandmother with your love. Ideas:
- Electrically heated blanket. This is a warmer product than a regular blanket. Such a present is important because it will save a 90-year-old woman from dampness, which is dangerous for the health of the elderly. It will help your grandmother keep warm in the coldest weather.
- Electric fireplace. You can give a woman for her 90th-anniversary household appliances, for example, an electric fireplace. This is a good idea for a jubilee gift that will provide your grandmother with home comfort, make the apartment warmer. Also, such a fireplace is completely safe.
- Down shawl, stole scarf. Choose a warm, soft, comfortable shawl made from natural materials such as goat down. It is very light, but at the same time, it warms well. If you choose a large size shawl, it can be used as a blanket or blanket.
- Sheepskin vest. Another example of a gift that is inexpensive but tasteful, which will warm the grandmother.
- Sheepskin slippers. Keeping your feet warm is important at any age, but especially in the elderly. Warm slippers made of eco-friendly material are a product that will protect your feet from the cold.
Another idea for a warm presentation is a set that includes slippers and a bathrobe made from natural materials.
What else can you give a woman for 90 years? In old age, it is important to monitor your health to give a present that will help your grandmother stay energetic and healthy. For example, it can be an electronic tonometer. For the grandmother to remain active even now, you can choose a special simulator for her for the elderly.
Original Gifts for Grandmother
A woman at the age of 90 remains a woman who loves beautiful, elegant things. You can please her with such gifts:
- Exquisite jacquard tablecloth. A beautiful tablecloth is a classic gift for women. For example, a product with textured floral embossing.
- Jewelry box. An elegant jewelry box, for example, antique metal or noble wood, is a gift that will be useful to a grandmother, who by the age of 90, has probably accumulated a lot of jewelry.
- Decoration. For such a serious anniversary, jewelry made from natural metals and stones is presented. Choose classic models. The decoration can be completed with engraving.
- Classic tea service. It can be an exquisite porcelain tea set, laconic ceramic, luxurious set for the whole family.
- Gift box with flowers and sweets. A truly feminine gift – flowers and sweets. The birthday girl will certainly be pleased with a large box or basket with fresh flowers and sweets.
- A set of chocolates with a box in an individual design. A beautiful and memorable present – a box of chocolates with a unique design, for example, "To Beloved Granny".
You can give your grandmother not only a gift but also a family pastime, for example, going to the theater together.
A 90-year-old grandmother can also be presented with books, high-quality perfumes, pieces of furniture, for example, an elegant armchair.
How to Choose a Gift for 90 Years for a Man?
Grandson giving grandfather a gift
For 90 years old grandfather can give:
- Back massager. Many elderly people are worried about back pain, so a massager that can be attached to any chair will become a useful and necessary present for grandfather. It will help relieve back pain.
- Rocking chair. Few elderly people will refuse to receive a classic rocking chair as a gift, in which grandfather can comfortably sit and relax. Give preference to chairs made of natural wood – they fit perfectly into any interior.
- Scandinavian sticks. If you want your loved one to lead an active lifestyle as possible, you can give your grandfather 90-year-old Scandinavian sticks for his birthday: they will help the birthday boy stay active, give him a boost of energy.
- Cup holders. Glasses in metal cupholders are a primordially Russian object of the tea tradition. Present your grandpa with a nickel-plated cup holder, which you can buy in many utensil stores today.
- Orthopedic mattress. It is a useful gift for the health of an elderly person. The orthopedic mattress creates conditions for a comfortable sleep without back pain.
- Walking stick. A cane is a real gentleman's accessory, a useful item that will help an elderly person walk more confidently.
Final Thought
What else can you give your grandparents for 90 years? Memorable gifts, such as a video card or video presentation from the whole family. Each close relative can record a video greeting with the warmest wishes. Such a touching present from the family will be very important for grandparents.
You Are Also Interested in


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Controversy over Mass-Energy-Equivalence & Photon Mass
Wolfgang G. Gasser
Original discussion – See also: E = mc2 versus E2 = m2c4 + p2c2
By zosima (here):
Mass-energy equivalence means that even though a photon is massless, it has energy.
This could be the most concise formulation of a central contradiction of modern orthodox physics: Equivalence between mass and energy on the one hand, but energy without mass on the other hand. How is it possible that educated persons accept such a huge inconsistency?
I wrote:
Equivalence between mass and energy on the one hand, but energy without mass on the other hand.
Dancing David brought forward this analogy:
Equivalence between fur and dogs on the one hand, but dogs without fur on the other hand.
If we take seriously the equivalence between fur and dogs we conclude:
- a fur without corresponding dog or a dog without corresponding fur is impossible
- a fur corresponds nevertheless to a dog without a fur
- fur and fur are two different concepts
By zosima in #23:
I'll admit my original statement was poorly phrased and I should have said 'rest mass', ...
Zosima's original statement:
Mass-energy equivalence means that even though a photon is massless it has energy
If we replace mass with restmass we get:
Restmass-energy equivalence means that even though a photon has no restmass it has energy
This version is obviously wrong, because there is no equivalence between restmass and energy. Equivalence only reigns between (relativistic) mass and energy. The alternative
Equivalence between (relativistic) mass and energy means that even though a photon has no restmass it has energy
doesn't make a lot of sense, because of the confusion between two different mass-concepts (mass and restmass).
By zosima in #44:
... soul juice ...
"Soul juice" is a contradictio in terminis in the same way as
· the quadrangle-area of a triangle (i.e. the area of a triangle with four angles and four straight sides)
· the rest-mass of a photon (i.e. the mass of photon at rest).
Juice is a paragon (an ideal incarnation) of divisibility or continuous
changeability in quantity. Soul on the contrary is an embodiment of indivisibility
and discreteness (see also: The relationship between quanta and psychons).
Interestingly, according to QED, photons in a transparent medium propagate always at c, and are regularly absorbed and reemitted so that a propagation speed of c/n is the result (n is the refractive index). There has been an interesting discussion on this aspect of QED on sci.physics.research: The speed of a photon. On my opinion see: Was QED intended as a joke?
A modern ('skeptic') variant of dogmatic belief: "the basic principles of physics are exactly what scientists say they are"
By Reality Check in #49:
You do not really need QED to understand this. ... QED does not say that photons always travel at c. Special Relativity states that photons that are not interacting with anything (in a vacuum) always travel at c. When the absorption and emission by atoms is added then the effective speed of photons is changed. This is where QED comes in.
The attempt to attribute the explanation of the
photon speed in transparent materials by absorption
and emission to Special Relativity must be considered deliberate
disinformation. Special Relativity is in this respect based on Maxwell's theory
and Maxwell's theory explains different propagation speeds of electromagnetic
waves by different permittivity and permeability values.
By claiming that "the light has an amplitude to go faster or slower than the speed c, but these amplitudes cancel each other out over long distances" (QED, p89-90), Richard Feynman somehow repeated the error of Niels Bohr (BKS theory), who had opposed the assumption of orderliness in emission and absorption processes of electromagnetic wave quanta by denying conservation of momentum and energy in single events. Both Bohr and Feynman were scientists in the theological tradition, preferring impressive counter-intuitive explanations to unprejudiced realistic ones.
P.S. "reemitted" suggests that the same photon that was absorbed is emitted. This is not correct.
Whether we consider the reemitted photon the same or a different photon, is irrelevant. Relevant however is that the reemitted photon must have exactly the same energy and momentum as the absorbed photon.
It is a different photon or even multiple photons, e.g. an electron absorbs a photon with a certain energy and ends up in an energy state that can decay via intermediate energy states back to the original energy state. Each decay emits a photon.
You confuse the extremely regular behavior of light in optical
lenses with scattering of photons e.g. in the atmosphere, where momentum and energy of photons actually are changed.
If continuous absorption and reemission of photons were a genuinely physical explanation of the reduced speed in transparent media, then it would be possible to answer such questions as: How often (on average) is a 450-nm-photon absorbed and reemitted when traversing 1 cm of diamond?
By the way, in principle it is possible to label each atom of a given diamond with a unique number. If photons traversing this diamond actually were more than half of the time (ndiamond > 2) at rest (i.e. transformed into energy and momentum of carbon atoms), then it would in principle be possible to determine the path of a photon by enumerating the label-numbers of the atoms where the photon rested.
Yet on the other hand, QED makes the absurd claim that photons somehow use all possible paths.
Science of yesterday degenerates into religion of today and superstition of tomorrow
"The situation is especially strange as the path-integral method of QED is essentially the same as Huygens principle. So in this respect, QED is not even self-consistent!" (See)
By Reality Check in #49:
The path-integral method of QED is not essentially the same as Huygens principle. The path-integral method integrates over all possible paths and is a quantum theory. Huygens principle adds up the waves from each point of an advancing wave front and is a classical theory.
A quote from Wikipedia:
Huygens principle follows formally from the fundamental postulate of quantum electrodynamics – that wavefunctions of every object propagate over any and all allowed (unobstructed) paths from the source to the given point. It is then the result of interference (addition) of all path integrals that defines the amplitude and phase of the wavefunction of the object at this given point, and thus defines the probability of finding the object (say, a photon) at this point.
We could also invert the order and say that the path-integral method of QED follows from Huygens' Principle by formalization. Even the deficiencies are the same. Two quotes from mathpages.com:
From this simple principle Huygens was able to derive the laws of reflection and refraction, but the principle is deficient in that it fails to account for the directionality of the wave propagation in time, i.e., it doesn't explain why the wave front at time t + Dt in the above figure is the upper rather than the lower envelope of the secondary wavelets. Why does an expanding spherical wave continue to expand outward from its source, rather than re-converging inward back toward the source?
In any case, the Huygens-Fresnel Principle has been very useful and influential in the field of optics, although there is a wide range of opinion as to its scientific merit. Many people regard it as a truly inspired insight, and a fore-runner of modern quantum electro-dynamics, whereas others dismiss it as nothing more than a naive guess that sometimes happens to work. For example, Melvin Schwartz wrote that to consider each point on a wavefront as a new source of radiation, and to add the radiation from all the new sources together, "makes no sense at all", since (he argues) "light does not emit light; only accelerating charges emit light". He concludes that Huygens' principle "actually does give the right answer" but "for the wrong reasons". However, Schwartz was expressing the classical (i.e., late 19th century) view of electromagnetism. The propagation of light in quantum field theory actually is consistent with the very interpretation of Huygens' principle that Schwartz regarded as nonsense.
A third quote from the same page:
It could be argued that the "path integral" approach to quantum field theory – according to which every trajectory through every point in space is treated equivalently as part of a possible path of the system – is an expression of Huygens' Principle.
By wogoga in #51:
By the way, in principle it is possible to label each atom of a given diamond with a unique number. If photons traversing this diamond actually were more than half of the time (ndiamond > 2) at rest (i.e. transformed into energy and momentum of carbon atoms), then it would in principle be possible to determine the path of a photon by enumerating the label-numbers of the atoms where the photon rested.
By Ziggurat in #55:
No. It is in principle possible to label each carbon nuclei in a sample of diamond. It is most definitely NOT possible, even in principle, to label each electron in a sample of diamond. And electrons, not nuclei, dominate the interaction of light with matter. So you're simply wrong.
Your defense of the weird QED explanation of sub-luminal propagation speed of photons in transparent media is in the lines of Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr, who introduced immunization stratagems (uncertainty principle, complementarity) in order to defend their prejudices against genuinely physical objections (e.g. from Albert Einstein).
"Bohr rejected Einstein's particle of light, proposed in 1905, until well into the 1920s" (see). After evidence had shown more and more that Einstein was right, Bohr (and others) succeeded in transforming Einstein's physical photon-concept into a theological concept. Einstein then fought the theological properties attributed to quanta. Nevertheless, the supporters of the Bohr-fraction succeeded in convincing the world that Einstein (instead of Bohr) was the obstructionist in recognizing the reality of quanta.
What Ziggurat actually means is this:
I concede that physical reasoning (e.g. conservation laws, possibility of images in space and time) is applicable in the case of carbon atoms. However, such physical reasoning is not applicable in the case of electrons, because electrons are quantum objects, and quantum objects are not subject to physical reasoning.
why should it not be possible to label the electrons of a diamond? It may be
difficult or impossible to distinguish between the electrons of an electron
pair. But from the fact that (normal, ideal) diamonds have a very regular
crystal structure and are excellent electrical insulators, we conclude (by
physical reasoning) that the two electrons of each carbon bond are essentially
stationary. So if it is possible to label the carbon atoms, then it is also
possible to label the carbon bonds and therefore the electron pairs.
So what Ziggurat advocates is this:
A photon traversing a diamond takes on the one hand all paths, i.e. the photon comes close to every single electron pair of the diamond. On the other hand, the photon is absorbed and reemitted by a sequence of (labeled) photon pairs.
Such a physical absorption and reemission is obviously inconsistent with the photons-use-all-paths claim. But in theology (as opposed to physical reasoning), there is always a solution. In analogy to virtual particles one can introduce virtual absorption and reemission. So photons are virtually absorbed and reemitted by all electron pairs of the diamond. In media with refractive index n > 1 in general, such virtual stops happening everywhere are assumed to reduce the speed from c between two stops to c/n over many stops.
By Ziggurat in #73:
There are electrons in diamond which are delocalized. Diamond is a transparent insulator not because all the electrons are localized, but because the bands are full, and you cannot excite an electron without adding a significant amount of energy. Were electrons simply stationary and inert as you suggest, with every electron just stuck on one atom, carbon wouldn't even solidify, let alone turn into the hardest substance known.
Look at any visualization of the crystal structure of diamond. The nuclei have a strong positive charge (6 protons versus 2 electrons), whereas each of the four bonds surrounding a carbon atom consists of an electron pair. The negative charge of such a pair is a strong adhesive force between two neighboring nuclei. The hardness of diamonds is due to the short distance between the positive nuclei and the negative electron pairs, resulting in huge electrostatic attraction. Because the electron pairs are (physically) stationary, a diamond is a good insulator and can only be deformed by breaking the bonds between atoms and thus resulting in fragmentation of the crystal.
By Reality Check in #72:
Just in case you are interested here is one of the tests of the fact that photons follow all paths in a system: Elitzur-Vaidman bomb-tester
Wikipedia on Elitzur-Vaidman bomb-tester:
Start with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and a light source which emits single photons. When a photon emitted by the light source reaches a half-silvered plane mirror, it has equal chances of passing through or reflecting. On one path, place a bomb for the photon to encounter. If the bomb is working, then the photon is absorbed and triggers the bomb.
On Mach-Zehnder interferometer:
The Mach-Zehnder interferometer is a device used to determine the phase shift caused by a small sample which is placed in the path of one of two collimated beams (thus having plane wavefronts) from a coherent light source.
On collimated light:
Collimated light is light whose rays are nearly parallel, and therefore will spread slowly as it propagates. The word is derived from "collinear" and implies light that does not disperse with distance. ... Collimated light is sometimes said to be focused at infinity. Thus as the distance from a point source increases, the spherical wavefronts become flatter and closer to plane waves, which are perfectly collimated.
On coherence length:
In physics, coherence length is the propagation distance from a coherent source to a point where an electromagnetic wave maintains a specified degree of coherence. The significance is that interference will be strong within a coherence length of the source, but not beyond it. ... Helium-neon lasers have a typical coherence length of 20 cm, while semiconductor lasers reach some 100 m. Fiber lasers can have coherence lengths exceeding 100 km.
In addition to an arbitrary use of statistics, the central fallacy of such experiments lies in the fact that photons are 'social particles', which tend to come into existence and travel together in the same state. Wikipedia on stimulated emission:
In optics, stimulated emission is the process by which, when perturbed by a photon, matter may lose energy resulting in the creation of another photon. The perturbing photon is not destroyed in the process (cf. absorption), and the second photon is created with the same phase, frequency, polarization, and direction of travel as the original.
already the central premise of this QM thought experiment, namely that one single
photon functions as two collimated beams of coherent light, is an impossibility.
Coherence is a property only of groups of photons and not of single photons. A
single photon cannot have different phases, frequencies, polarizations, and
directions of travel. (Yes, I know, Heisenberg's authority ...).
On the one hand, it is very astonishing how little research has been done on coherence of light. On the other hand, this is understandable, because the acknowledgement that photons normally appear as coherent groups undermines even on the theoretic side the beloved strangeness of the world of quanta. Interference effects which are now assumed to result from interference of photons with themselves can then easily be explained by interference between photons belonging to a same coherence group, but having taken different paths before reuniting again.
So the meaning of this interesting quote (Wikipedia on Bell test experiments)
Nevertheless, despite all these deficiencies of the actual experiments, one striking fact emerges: the results are, to a very good approximation, what quantum mechanics predicts. If imperfect experiments give us such excellent overlap with quantum predictions, most working quantum physicists would agree with John Bell in expecting that, when a perfect Bell test is done, the Bell inequalities will still be violated.
actually is this (see also):
We must admit that strictly speaking, these experiments are imperfect (i.e. not good enough in order to decide the question). However, we as working quantum physicists devoutly believe that also perfect experiments would confirm that Bohr is right and Einstein wrong.
By Reality Check in #84:
There are plenty of single photon emitting devices around. ... But if you want something more to misinterpret completely then have a look at Wheeler's delayed choice experiment (also experimentally verified).
All the 'delayed choice' stuff of such quantum interference experiments only serves as a distraction from the essential weaknesses of such experiments. The latest experiment seems to be Experimental Realization of Wheeler's Delayed-Choice Gedanken Experiment, Science, 2007 (preprint). The authors use a 'single-photon source' "based on the pulsed, optically excited photoluminescence of a single N-V color center in a diamond nanocrystal". The following quotes are from a page dealing with exactly this 'single-photon source':
We consider the
emission of a single nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) colour centre in diamond, a
system which has an unsurpassed photostability even at room temperature.
The N-V centres consist of a substitionnal nitrogen atom (N) and a vacancy (V) in an adjacent lattice site. They are created by irradiation of a diamond sample with high-energy electrons followed by annealing at 800°C. At small electron exposure doses, the N-V centre density is small enough so that single N-V colour centres can be spatially isolated and detected using standard confocal microscopy. Their fluorescence then appears as bright spots when the sample is scanned with strongly focused green laser radiation.
The fluorescence spectrum of the colour centre consists of a narrow zero phonon line (ZPL) at approximatively 1.945 eV (wavelength 637.7 nm) and a broad phonon wing with a width of about 300 meV (wavelength of about 100 nm FWHM).
So 'single-photon sources' can be bright spots with a continuous spectrum primarily in the range between 600 nm to 800 nm.
... Furthermore,
the small volume of diamond excited by the pumping laser yields very low background
light. Such property is also of crucial importance for single photon
emission, since residual background light will contribute to a non-vanishing
probability of having more than two photons within the emitted light pulse.
Nanostructured samples are prepared by starting with type Ib synthetic diamond powder (de Beers, Netherlands). The diamond nanocrystals are size-selected by centrifugation, yielding a mean diameter of about 90 nm.
is said to be a Type 1b diamond, if the nitrogen atoms are evenly spread out
throughout the carbon lattice (source). This type
contains 500 ppm of nitrogen (source).
The density of diamond is 3.5 g/cm3 and the weight of 6 x
diamond atoms is 12 g. A spherical diamond with a diameter of 90 nm has a
volume of 0.38
x 10-15
cm3 and a weight of 1.34 x 10-15
So typical nano-crystals consist of around 67 million atoms and around 33 thousand potential 'color centers'. In addition to that, it seems that even more than one nano-crystal is used:
A polymer solution containing selected diamond nanocrystals is deposited by spin-coating onto the surface of a dielectric mirror, resulting in a 30-nm-thick polymer layer holding the nanocrystals.
'Single photons' emitted by the N-V colour centre are produced in this way:
Under pulsed excitation with a pulse duration shorter than the excited-state lifetime, a single dipole emits photon one by one. To excite the N-V colour centre in such conditions, we use a home-built pulsed laser at a wavelength of 532 nm. The laser system delivers 800 ps pulses with energy 50 pJ.
The energy of a 532-nm-photon is 3.7 * 10-19 Joule. So a pulse of 5 * 10-11 Joule still consists of 1.3 * 108 photons. The belief that such a pulse results in the emission of exactly one suitable photon is rather wishful thinking, especially if we also take into account (quotes from WP):
If an atom is already in the excited state, it may be perturbed
by the passage of a photon which has a frequency v corresponding to the energy
gap of the excited state to ground state transition. In this case, the excited
atom relaxes to the ground state, and is induced to produce a second photon of
frequency v. The original photon is not absorbed by the atom, and so the result
is two photons of the same frequency. This process is known as stimulated
emission. The rate at which stimulated emission occurs is proportional to the
number of atoms in the excited state, and the radiation density of the light.
The base probability of a photon causing stimulated emission in a single
excited atom was shown by Albert Einstein to be exactly equal to the
probability of a photon being absorbed by an atom in the ground state.
The critical detail of stimulated emission is that the induced photon has the same frequency and phase as the inducing photon. In other words, the two photons are coherent. It is this property that allows optical amplification, and the production of a laser system.
If the higher energy state has a greater population than the lower energy state (N1 < N2), then the emission process dominates, and light in the system undergoes a net increase in intensity.
Reaction to thread "Relativity Revised"
By Unlike a Bull:
Interesting that relativistic mass has fallen by the way-side.
By Ziggurat (original):
You can use E2 = m2c4 + p2c2 instead, where m is the invariant mass. In the case of zero velocity (p=0), that obviously reduces to the more familiar E = mc2, but it works at nonzero velocity without needing to introduce relativistic mass.
In relevant, fundamental situations, the concept relativistic mass with E = mc2 is simpler and thus more elegant than its revisionist reinvention E2 = m2c4 + p2c2. For instance, the very basic concept center of mass does not have to be forbidden or redefined, as it is now the case in orthodox mainstream physics.
It also works for massless particles like photons.
E2 = m2c4 + p2c2 actually works (astonishingly) well for photons in vacuum, where light propagates at speed of light c. In water or glass however, photons do not propagate at c, so the application of the revisionist formula based on a mass concept quite similar to the pre-relativistic concept becomes quite complicated and thus ugly.
By Hellbound in #93:
To pull the meat out of this, E² = m²c⁴+ p²c² is not revisionist at all, it's Einstein's original equation.
It is obvious that E² = m²c⁴+ p²c² is not Einstein's original equation. Quote from Einstein, 1905:
If a body gives off the energy E in the form of radiation, its mass diminishes by E/c2. The fact that the energy withdrawn from the body becomes energy of radiation evidently makes no difference, so that we are led to the more general conclusion that:
The mass of a body is a measure of its energy-content; if the energy changes by E, the mass changes in the same sense by E/9x1020, the energy being measured in ergs [10-7 Joule], and the mass in grams.
It is not impossible that with bodies whose energy-content is variable to a high degree (e.g. with radium salts) the theory may be successfully put to the test.
If the theory corresponds to the facts, radiation conveys inertia between the emitting and absorbing bodies. (DOES THE INERTIA OF A BODY DEPEND UPON ITS ENERGY-CONTENT?)
I've also found the following quote from Einstein (1948):
1) It is not good to introduce the concept of the mass M = m/(1-v2/c2)1/2 of a moving body for which no clear definition can be given. It is better to introduce no other mass concept than the 'rest mass' m. Instead of introducing M it is better to mention the expression for the momentum and energy of a body in motion.
2) Page 528: The sentence … (in Okun, The concept of mass, Phys. Today,1989)
There is no doubt that in many situations it makes much more sense to mention both momentum and (kinetic or total?) energy than to only mention relativistic mass. For instance in a particle accelerator, an electron can have the same relativistic mass as a proton, yet by knowing both momentum and energy, we can distinguish between electron and proton.
The question is whether 1) refers to a special case or whether Einstein recommends it as a general rule, which would undermine his previous "center of mass" arguments for mass-energy-equivalence.
In any case, Einstein uses "the mass" for relativistic mass, and " 'rest mass' " for what has been renamed to "invariant mass" (nevertheless varying depending on temperature, chemical state, rotation and so on).
the consequent application of the mass-energy equivalence E=mc2,
the question of energy, mass and momentum of photons in transparent media with
refractive indices n is clear and simple.
Under normal conditions, photons leave a window with the same energy they enter. If the photon would transport less or more energy inside than outside, an accumulation of energy at the entry or exit side of the window would be the result. So we conclude that transported energy E = h f and (relativistic) mass m = h f /c2 in a medium are the same as in vacuum.
Momentum is transfer of mass, resp. of total transferred energy. From simple (both classic and "relativistic") center-of-mass reasonings we conclude that momentum p is proportional to both transferred mass m and transfer velocity v. For a photon in vacuum we get this momentum:
pvac = m v = h f /c2 c = h f /c
In a transparent medium with refractive index n, transfer velocity is lower: vn = vvac / n (whereas transferred energy remains unchanged). As momentum we get:
pn = pvac / n = h f /c /n
In the case of a glass with n
= 3/2, momentum of a single photon is reduced to 2/3, whereas relativistic
mass and transferred energy are unchanged.
The applications of E² = m²c⁴+ p²c² (and of QED) for photons in a medium with refractive index n becomes quite confusing. (See for instance posting #90.) In this "revisionist" formula the meaning of m is invariant mass:
m = sqrt[E² - p²c²] /c² = sqrt[(h f)²-(h f /n)²] /c² = h f /c² sqrt[1-n-2]
In the case of diamond with n=2.42, the
invariant mass m turns out to be sqrt[1 - 1/2.422] = 91% of the relativistic mass. What is the assumed concrete physical effect of this 91% of relativistic mass?
Does anybody know?
According to Minkowski, who could be the main responsible for this "revisionist" mass concept, momentum of a photon in a refractive medium is not pn = pvac / n but pn = pvac * n. (See The enigma of optical momentum in a medium). Thus invariant mass m = hf/c2 sqrt[1-n2] would be even imaginary as 1-n2 < 0. See also Momentum of waves in general.
The Lorentz transformation is comparable with the circle of pre-Keplerian astronomy: very productive, but eventually wrong
By wogoga in #94:
It is obvious that E² = m²c⁴+ p²c² is not Einstein's original equation. Quote from Einstein, 1905:
If a body gives off the energy E in the form of radiation, its mass diminishes by E/c2. ... The mass of a body is a measure of its energy-content; ... (DOES INERTIA ...)
By Reality Check in #99:
Wrong: Einstein, 1905 does not even contain E=mc2.
No comment!
By Reality Check in #108:
Is this you admitting your mistake in thinking that Einstein's actual 1905 SR paper does not contain E=mc2 by quoting a part of another paper published in 1905 that does contain E=mc2?
I was dealing with "Einstein's original equation" of "1905" (see #94). Here you replace it with "actual 1905 SR paper".
But even in this actual 1905 SR paper (published in September, two months before the mass-energy paper) we find this formula for the kinetic energy of an electron (replacing W by Ekin, V by c and Greek Mu by m):
Ekin = m c2 { (1-v2/c2)-0.5 - 1 }
By Dancing David in #121:
A photon has no rest mass, a photon at rest doesn't exist.
Thus also you have been led by logical necessity to the conclusion that we do not absorb photons in our eyes!
The refractive index of our vitreous humor n = 1.336. Propagation speed c/n is therefore around 224,400 km/s. If such a vitreous humor moves to the left at 224,400 km/s, and a photon in it moves to the right, then according to SR, the photon is at rest. See: Fizeau experiment – Derivation in special relativity. With a diamond (n = 2.42) a speed of roughly 40% of c would be enough to produce a photon at rest.
Also the question concerning the concrete physical effect of the invariant mass of a photon in the vitreous humor of the eye is still open. This invariant mass turns out to be 66.3% of Einstein's relativistic mass (see #100).
Contradiction over.
Wishful thinking!
By wogoga in #130:
With a diamond (n = 2.42) a speed of roughly 40% of c would be enough to produce a photon at rest.
By Ziggurat in #137:
No. According to QED, a photon traveling through a material with n>1 will take a curved path on the microscopic level. In a reference frame where the macroscopic velocity of light has been reduced to zero, what this essentially means is that the light is moving in a circle, but it's still moving, and still moving at c.
You assume here that a photon takes "a curved path" at speed c, circling around a point moving at v = c/n in a frame at rest, or circling around a point which is at rest in a frame co-moving at v = c/n. Your ad-hoc-hypothesis is only a further attempt to explain away the empirical fact of a propagation speed less than c. The necessity to replace the empirical propagation speed c/n by a 'theoretical' speed c only stems from the ineffective concept 'invariant mass' (and related dogmas).
In #100 I have shown that in case of propagation at v = c/n in diamond, this revisionist mass concept leads to an 'invariant' photon-mass of 91% of the relativistic mass, if we believe in Abraham's momentum, and even in an imaginary value if we believe in Minkowski's momentum.
The assumption that photons are always moving at c rescues the 'massless-ness' of photons in action. If photons are assumed to move only in direction of propagation with phase conservation, then they must rest from time to time. Thus, if a pulse of 100 photons of visible light enters a diamond, the pulse is reduced to around 40 photons in action with no 'invariant mass', whereas around 60 'photons' are sleepers adding invariant mass to their sleeping spots. (As even the 'massless' non-sleeping photons contribute 'invariant mass' to the diamond, one has to conclude that "invariant mass is in general not an additive quantity"WP).
Your ad-hoc-hypothesis of photons taking "a curved path" at speed c near a center of propagation moving at c/n resolves the problem of sleeping photons. Photons never rest, only regularly change directions. In order to change direction a photon can exchange momentum with the atoms of the diamond. But how on earth can a photon keep track of all these momentum changes on microscopic level so that momentum remains unchanged on macroscopic level?
Eventually, all such problems stem from the elimination of the concept instantaneous-action-at-a-distance from physics. Then complicated reincarnations of theological concepts (such as virtual particles with properties attributed in past only to gosts, angels and so on) were introduced in order to explain what previously had been explained in a simple and transparent way by Newton, Coulomb, Ampère and others.
And based on instantaneous-action-at-a-distance, common sense (i.e. reasoning in the tradition of natural science as opposed to theology) must not be given up in order to explain emission and absorption of photons. When a photon emerges, energy from a region much smaller than spatial extension of the photon is transferred more or less instantaneously to the whole photon. Atoms 'eat' and 'excrete' photons whose wavelengths are several orders of magnitude longer than their own radiuses.
Any quantum concept remains a theological concept, as long as simple quantitative questions cannot be answered, such as e.g.:
· How many virtual photons are involved in a force of 1 Newton between two electrically charged spheres?
· How many times does a photon change from sleeping to in-action (or change direction in case of the always-in-action hypothesis)?


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Deal Watch: BioCryst Shareholder Dissent Scuttles Planned Merger With Idera
Executive Summary
AZ's MedImmune to use 4D's AAV vector technology to deliver therapies for chronic lung disease, while Roivant spinout Dermavant licenses Phase III-ready autoimmune candidate tapinarof from GSK.
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With Phase III data in 2,800 patients for reducing frown lines, ReVance anticipates filing RT002 for US approval in 2019. ABL licenses two bispecific antibody candidates to TRIGR, while Sun looks to expand in dermatology with Pola buyout.
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Private Company Edition: Westlake Village BioPartners launched with $320m and Harper as a managing director; UK-based Ahren unveiled a $100m-plus "deep science" fund; and UCSD partnered with Deerfield to finance drug programs. In new financings, Allogene leads with $120m.


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I never want to be so woke that I'm unwilling to celebrate small victories.
A weird thing happens on social media whenever Black people publicly celebrate anything justice-related: Other Black people come around to remind us that America still ain't shit and we shouldn't get too happy. I understand it, of course. I get the impulse to be cynical for the sake of being cynical; I just think it's weird that anyone thinks Black people need to be told not to get complacent—because when have we ever?
Last summer, Black people led the largest wave of protests against systemic racism America has seen in recent years, and we did it after the killers of Walter Scott, Botham Jean and Markeis McGlockton were convicted of crimes and sent to prison. After each of those cases ended in convictions, Black people expressed joy, but literally, none of us decided that we could kick back with a can of tea and a bag of Skittles and just enjoy post-racial America.
If Black people are excited and joyous over Dereck Chauvin being found guilty of murdering George Floyd, it's because we know what country we live in. We know well that one guilty verdict won't end Black death at the hands of white supremacy.
I was surprised by the verdict, even though I would have bet good money that Chavin was going to be found guilty. I watched the trial. I saw the Dollar Store-ass defense Chauvin's Party City-ass lawyers put on. I watched as multiple medical experts and fellow Minneapolis police officers testified against Chauvin while the defense called in a guy from Maryland—who is currently facing a lawsuit accusing him of helping cops cover up a Black death similar to Floyd's—so that he could speculate based on zero evidence that carbon monoxide was a likely factor in Floyd's death. Chauvin's defense team was as pitiful as Ted Cruz's struggle beard.
So, I knew Chauvin was going to be found guilty—and yet, I still breathed the same sigh of relief I would have breathed if I were on the edge of my seat fully expecting a murderer to be set free.
Even if it were true that Black people developed a temporary case of negro amnesia after single, anecdotal instances of racial justice, we wouldn't be able to enjoy that ignorant bliss for a day before we were reminded that America is still gon' America.
In fact, before Black people had time to raise even a single roof in celebration of the announcement of Chauvin's guilty verdict, news was breaking out of Columbus, Ohio that 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant was shot and killed by a police officer. But we didn't even need that to happen for us to be snapped into the Black reality our minds never really left.
We went into hearing the verdict knowing that all of the months of protesting and the national spotlight on systemic racism in policing, especially in Minnesota, wasn't enough to save Daunte Wright's life. And we knew then as we know now that Chauvin's conviction doesn't mean we can expect that Kimberly Potter will suffer his same fate.
To be clear, I'm not here to admonish Black people for not getting happy after the verdict. A lot of us are too numb to be moved by rare instances of justice and that feeling or lack thereof is also valid. I'm just saying, for those who are feeling joyous right now, my advice is to hold on to that feeling for as long as you can. You won't feel this way for long enough—America will see to that—but it's OK to feel satisfied right now.
Sometimes holding onto your joy means avoiding social media altogether, because any given comment section can and will devolve into dumpster fires of Black pain and frustration mixed with malicious whiteness. Sometimes it means finding other Black people who share your joy for justice to exchange that positive energy with.
For my petty ass, Black joy is maintained by backstroking in white tears.
Years ago, I wrote a piece for the Washington Post in which I explained that there is no point in us continuing to argue with white people about anything race-related and that we would be better served in just breakdancing to the white anxiety that always grows alongside the movement for Black lives. In other words: Let them die mad while we keep fighting a fight that they don't understand.
So when Fox Noose host Tucker Carlson—the white nationalist who uses Mitch McConnell's neck as a Klan hood (I heard)—complained that "The jurors in the Derek Chauvin trial came to a unanimous and unequivocal verdict this afternoon: 'Please don't hurt us,'" and that "Everyone understood perfectly well the consequences of an acquittal in this case," because "after nearly a year of burning and looting and murder by BLM, that was never in doubt," I was perfectly content in letting him believe that load of white nonsense is true.
I mean, it's true that, especially over the last year, we have made it clear that "no justice, no peace" is more than just an empty platitude, so if that causes Carlson to cry himself to sleep at night believing that jurors convicted Chauvin under duress, I'm good with letting him believe it and adding his extra-salty white tears to my glass.
Let people like Rep. Marjorie "Anglo-Saxons R' Us" Taylor Greene (R.-Ga.) believe that an absence of activity in Washington D.C. somehow proves that BLM is a terrorist organization.
Let people like Tammy Laryngitis-for-wypipo complain about hypothetical riots that never actually happen in response to justice.
Let people like honorary white person Candace Owens cry white-tears-for-house-negroes over what she calls the "mob justice" that convicted Chauvin.
All of this Klan-ish commentary serves as an instant reminder to us that Chauvin's conviction doesn't mean America has changed, so if indulging in white conservative misery, or ignoring it altogether, is what helps you hold on to your joy, do that.
Tuesday was a good day. Today, it's still OK to celebrate. White supremacy will still be here tomorrow, the next day and the day after that.
We're never allowed to forget; we are allowed to be happy in the moment.


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mystim Flexing Flavio prostate massager
Bravio, Flavio!
No matter what course he is on, Flavio always comes around,specially when he is cruising around your prostate. Unbelievable how far this prostate stimulator (including its baffles) can be bent and wangled into simply all directions.
Bent or not – when it comes to electric stimulation Flexing Flavio is always in the best form ever. It gets excitingly intensive when this innovative bi-polar electro-sex prostate stimulator plays out its striking feature. The streamlined form and the impressive tip will drive you crazy at full speed. And don't forget: Winner cums first.
* To activate the poles, you will need an electrical device like Mystim Tension Lover, Mystim Pure Vibes or Cluster Buster. These are NOT included in the package.
Flex & Stay technology
The secret of the mystim Flexing Flavio prostate massager's impressive flexibility is the Flex & Stay technology. Just push it in the form you like it and it will stay like this until you give it a new hot twist. Try that with your schlong … or maybe not!
Life is too short to beat around the bush, so let's get started, shall we? Simply plug the right cords (not included) into the toy's port! But before you insert Flexing Flavio and (optionally) switch on the electrical stimulation, you might want to treat him with something slippery: a water-based lubricant, or a lubricating gel. Trust us – it'll be the cherry on top of your prostate massage.
Well, do you match the famous 20cm? Don't worry - Pubic Enemy No 1 most certainly will fit your member, as well. The length can be individually adjusted in four steps and the diameter of the clamp can be fixed to six different sizes. No need to puss out just now.
- Length: 3.54" (9cm)
- Diameter: 0.51 - 1.18 (1.3 - 3cm)
- Weight: 105g
- 2 pole (bi polar) for optional e-stim option
- Streamlined form
- Flex & Stay technology
Materials: Medical Platinum silicone
- Hygienic
- Colour: Black
- Powered by: Connection via 2mm socket (female)
- Warranty: 2 years


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Shopian: Export of apple has resumed after it was suspended due to Covid-19 lockdown with owners allowed to send fruit to the different parts of India. A store owner from Shopian told Kashmir Reader that from Friday they are going to start the export of apple with limited quantity to other parts of India. "The rates will be decided once the trucks reach their respective stations," he said. Another trader dealing with fruit said that a limited number of trucks have been allowed to move following advisories and guidelines.
According to a document accessed by Kashmir Reader, directorate of Horticulture has also written to the law enforcing agencies about the hassle-free movement of vehicles and employees carrying high-density apple plantation so that the plants would not sprout and result in losses.
According to official figures, around two lakh apple trees are being imported from different countries to Kashmir while around three lakh are being transplanted to district-based nurseries since they have been imported last year and put for quarantine. The data also reveal that 150 hectares of Horticulture land are being brought under high density this year. "I think the plantation drive may get affected this year as it isn't possible to distribute them in districts and conduct the drive-in time of Covid-19 crisis," a top official from the directorate told Kashmir Reader.


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Washington – A sweeping Medicare for All proposal was given its first public hearing Tuesday, but isn't likely to become law anytime soon.
Still, the hearing before the House Rules Committee allowed progressive House Democrats to promote a controversial proposal that has split their party – as well as Connecticut's all-Democratic congressional delegation.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5th District, are co-sponsors of Medicare-for-All plans that would replace private insurance and Medicare and Medicaid with a universal, "single-payer" health plan for all Americans that is run by the federal government and most likely paid for through new taxes on individuals and businesses.
Other members of Connecticut's congressional delegation support more modest changes, mostly Medicare "buy in" plans that would allow Americans to purchase coverage in a health care plan modeled after the one that covers those who are 65 and older.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, for instance, plans to reintroduce a bill Wednesday that would automatically enroll Americans who are uninsured or do not have employer-sponsored insurance—including those who purchase coverage on the individual market—into a "Medicare for America" plan. Unlike traditional Medicare, DeLauro's plan would offer full coverage for prescription drugs, dental, vision, and hearing services.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., also plans to reintroduce his Medicare buy in plan on Wednesday.
Murphy's plan, co-sponsored by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., would give people who qualify for Affordable Care Act subsidies the option to purchase a new Medicare "Part E" plan. It would use the same network of doctors and hospitals who now serve Medicare patients, but would include other non-elderly medical services, including pediatrics and maternity.
Neither DeLauro's or Murphy's bills would have a big impact on the private health insurance marketplace, nor would they change Medicaid or traditional Medicare.
But others are seeking a much bigger overhaul of the nation's health care system, saying a piecemeal approach won't work.
"We are involved in a great struggle not unlike, to be honest with you, the struggles of the labor movement, the struggles of the civil rights movement, the struggles of the women's movement, the struggles of the gay community, the struggles of the environmental movement," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the chief sponsor of a Medicare for All plan in the Senate. "This is what we're about."
Blumenthal is a co-sponsor of Sanders' bill, as are several of the leading contenders for the 2020 Democratic nomination for the White House, including Sens. Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren.
However, former Vice President Joe Biden, another Democrat running for the White House, on Monday said he supported giving Americans an option to buy into a Medicare-based insurance plan.
At Tuesday's Rules Committee hearing on the House Medicare for All proposal, sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and supported by Jahana Hayes and more than 90 other House Democrats, Republicans panned the plan as too expensive and likely to erode the quality of health care in the nation.
The top Republican on the committee, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., called the proposal a "radical bill" and said its sponsors "have not told us how much this massive new program would cost, who would pay for it, and how much taxes would have to go up" to cover the program's costs.
The Congressional Budget Office plans to release a report Wednesday on the costs of single-payer coverage. A Republican witness at the hearing predicted it would cost between $32 trillion and $39 trillion.
Meanwhile, witnesses invited to testify by Democrats told compelling stories about the shortfalls of the current system, in which 173 million Americans are dependent on employer-based coverage and the cost of medicine is out of reach for many of the uninsured.
Ady Barkan, a health care activist dying of ALS, told of raising money to pay for medical care through a "GoFundMe" page.
"We should have a national safety net to help us when we fall," Barkan said through the aid of a computer because he can no longer speak.
Farzon Nahvi, an emergency room physician in New York, told of patients who had to forego critically needed care, including one with appendicitis, because they could not afford it.
"If you ask any ER doctor, nurse, or janitor in this country, you will hear countless stories of patients who came to seek medical care only to walk out in the middle of their treatment," Nahvi said. "The reality for many people in this country is that seeking medical care means weighing their health against their wallet."
The bill considered in the House Rules Committee Tuesday is not expected to advance and many never even receive a hearing in the congressional committees that oversee Medicare.
Even if the measure were to advance through the House, the legislation would have virtually no chance of prevailing in the Republican-controlled Senate.
But the issue of health care is important to voters, polls show, and will continue to be a top priority among Democrats, especially since the future of the Affordable Care Act is uncertain.
On Wednesday, lawyers will file briefs in a case before the 5th District Court of Appeals in New Orleans that seeks to overturn a lower court ruling that invalidated the ACA.
The Trump administration has joined that lawsuit on the side of those who seek to scrap the ACA and President Donald Trump, appearing at a National Rifle Association conference in Indianapolis last week, repeated his intention to eliminate the health care law.
"The Trump administration's assault on the American health care system has reached unprecedented levels," said Murphy at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol Tuesday.
Murphy said Republicans once vowed to repeal and replace the ACA, but now there's no talk of providing an alternative.
"They no longer attempt to perpetuate that ruse on the American people," he said.


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Posted On: June 2, 2021
Mobile County students were able to creatively express themselves as the Color By Kids Art Competition made its return this year.
This year's 38th Annual Color By Kids Art Competition explored art submissions from grades K-12 in the local area. Springhill Medical Center and the SMH Auxiliary honor winners from Mobile County public and private schools. The annual contest was paused last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this year's competition resumed without the annual reception.
The organization worked with two accomplished local artists who judged the 150+ art entries in the four grade categories. All winners received certificates, gift cards for art supplies, and checks for their individual schools to support their art programs. The first-place winners in each category also received plaques for their schools to display in trophy cases.
The Color By Kids Art Competition serves dual purposes. It promotes children's art in Mobile County and supports the hospital's mission to be the best community-centered health care provider in the area.
Winning artwork has been professionally framed and is on exhibit this summer at various locations. Springhill will prominently display the work in the main lobby for a year to be enjoyed every day by patients, visitors, and staff members until next year's Competition. Winning artwork from prior years remains on display as part of the permanent collection at Springhill.
Springhill Medical Center congratulates the winners of the 2021 Color By Kids Art Competition.
2021 Color By Kids Winners
Elementary: Grades K-2
|Third Place:
|Tallulah Frank, 2nd grade
|St. Paul's Episcopal School
|Title: Dizzy
|Second Place:
|Cecil Grace Dennis, 2nd grade
|St. Paul's Episcopal School
|Title: Cuteness
|First Place:
|Charlotte Koen, 2nd grade
|St. Mary Catholic School
|Title: Out In Space
Elementary: Grades 3-5
|Third Place:
|Luke Terry, 5th grade
|St. Paul's Episcopal School
|Title: Toxic Pumpkins
|Second Place:
|Christian Thompson, 4th grade
|St. Paul's Episcopal School
|Title: I'm Outta This World
|First Place:
|Sophie Hewitt, 4th grade
|St. Mary's Catholic School
|Title: Piggy
Middle School: Grades 6-8
|Third Place:
|Donna Hua, 7th grade
|St. Paul's Episcopal School
|Title: Blooming Temperature
|Second Place:
|Chloe Parker, 7th grade
|St. Paul's Episcopal School
|Title: Melting Summer
|First Place:
|Ella Witt, 8th grade
|St. Paul's Episcopal School
|Title: Morning Mist
High School: Grades 9-12
|Third Place:
|Angelica Villegas, 10th grade
|Theodore High School
|Title: The Scenery Under the Cherry Tree
|Second Place:
|Ariana J'nell Hodges, 10th grade
|Theodore High School
|Title: Gentle
|First Place:
|Taylor Martin, 12th grade
|Satsuma High School
|*Title: Zentangle Opossum
|*pictured right


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London power metal band Grimgotts have just released the lyric video "Rise Again." The song is taken from their upcoming album 'Sagas' which is being released in August.
The band commented "We're beyond happy to release our latest track 'Rise Again', a song about great heroes in a distant land and the battle against evil. We were inspired by all things epic, over the top and powerful! If you're into epic metal, fantasy literature and catchy anthems, this might be for you!"
Watch the video here: [LINK – also embedded below]
About Grimgotts:
Fans of Rhapsody of Fire, Dragonforce, Sonata Arctica, and Alestorm will be signing up to set sail with London symphonic power metal band Grimgotts. Originally formed in 2015 as a Harry Potter parody outfit, Grimgotts has since graduated into their own original fantasy realm: the mythical land of Andria. Their well-received albums Lions of the Sea(2017) and Dragons of the Ages(2019) chronicled epic battles between men and dragons on Andria's high seas.
And now the band is on the eve of releasing the EP Sagas, which will continue the ahem, saga, of Andria. Due out on August 14th, 2020, its four tracks feature blistering keyboard work and rousing vocal lines that will raise the fists and drinking horns of their audience.
Having supported the German power metal band Victorius and Australian folk metallers Lagerstein, and with a killer discography that's only growing, Grimgotts is on their way to taking over the Andrian oceans, if not planting their flag on the European power metal scene.
As Carl Fischer of GBHBL.com puts it, "May those UK metal pirates continue to invade our minds and enhance our senses with their imposing and symphonic music for many years to come, always fighting for glory, for freedom and for metal!"
This EP is part of a trilogy of releases (Tales, Sagas & Legends) that will be released as one full album later in the year.
Listen to Tales: [LINK]
·Andy Barton – vocals
·David Hills – Guitars
·Fabio Garau – Keys
·Nelson Moreira – Bass
·Mo Abdelgadir – Drums
Connect With Grimgotts:
·Facebook: [LINK]
·Bandcamp: [LINK]
·Spotify: [LINK]
Press release courtesy of Dewar PR


text: A LARGE PAIR OF MEIJI PERIOD JAPANESE CLOISONNE VASES LATE MEIJI PERIOD c1900. GREEN ENAMEL ON INTERIOR AND FOOTRIM WHICH MAY BE ORIGINAL. CONDITION IS VERY GOOD - ON SMALL DENT ON FOOTRIM AS SHOWN WITH ASSOCIATED MINOR ENAMEL LOSS. OTHER FOOTRIM IS SLIGHTLY FLATTENED. HEIGHT 31 CM , WIDTH 12.5 CM APPROX.The item "A LARGE PAIR OF MEIJI PERIOD JAPANESE CLOISONNE VASES" is in sale since Saturday, October 10, 2020. This item is in the category "Antiques\Asian/Oriental Antiques\Japanese\Cloisonne". The seller is "rupcons-0" and is located in Taunton. This item can be shipped worldwide.


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Last login: Sat Oct 8 11:45:55 on ttys005 Daniels-MBP:~ danielgumbiner$ curl http://web.archive.org/web/20130810042208/http://90days90reasons.com/103.html
90 Days, 90 Reasons Staff
REASON 103: Mitt Romney is out of touch with the average American.Mitt Romney told kids in Ohio that they should borrow money from their parents to start a business to help them pay for college. Nothing could be more demonstrative of how out of touch he is with the everyday American—99% of the kids in this country can't borrow money from their parents, because their parents need that money to survive.
Obama cares about women's health and he proved it. read essay →
Thanks to President Obama, nearly 50 million American women have access to contraception and preventive health services. read essay →
President Obama appointed the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice in US history.read essay →


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Fatigue analysis approaches for vehicle components made of rubber
- 1 Department of Applied Mechanics – University of Széchenyi István, Győr, Hungary
Generally, the most frequently used structural materials are metals which have high strength and stiffness. However, there are many cases, when other important properties come to the fore as well as high deformation by elastic behavior, high viscosity namely good damping effect. Vehicle components made of rubber usually exhibit large deformations. One of the most important properties of rubber is the ability to withstand large strains without permanent fractures. This feature makes it ideal for many engineering applications. On the other hand, the task becomes more complicated because of some features of rubber parts. The temperature of rubber increases significantly after deformations. Material properties of rubber change after these above mentioned temperature changes. Thus it is necessary to understand the mechanics underlying the failure process. This paper summarizes the applied equations and the basic physical laws which are responsible for the theoretical background of the strain and temperature changes and the analysis approaches that are available for predicting fatigue life in rubber, especially in vehicle components made of rubber.
- Bonet, J., Wood, R. D.: Nonlinear Continuum Mechanics for Finite Element Analysis, Camebridge University Press (1997).
- Holzapfel, G. A.: Nonlinear Solid Mechanics, John Wiley&Sons, Chichester, (2000).
- Ogden, R. W., Large deformation isotropic elasticity: on the correlation of theory and experiment for incompressible rubberlike solids, Proc. Royal Society of London, Series A 326, pp. 565-584. (1972)
- Ogden, R. W., Elastic deformations of rubberlike materials, H.G.Hopkins and M.J. Sewell, eds., Mechanics of Solids, the Rodney Hill 60th Anniversary Volume, (Pergamon Press, Oxford), pp. 499-537, (1982).
- Reese S., Wriggers P.: A material model for rubber-like polymers exhibiting plastic deformation: computational aspects and a comparison with experimental results, Computer methods in applied mechanics and engineering, Vol 148, pp. 279-298, (1997).
- Böl, M., Reese, S.: Finite element modelling of rubber-like polymers based on chain statistics, International Journal of Solids and Structures, Vol 43, pp. 2-26, (2006).
- Pere, B.: Solution of Coupled Thermomechanical Problems Using p-FEM, 8th European Solid Mechanics Conference (ESMC2012), (CD-ROM, 2 pages), Graz, Austria, 9-13 July (2012).
- Holzapfel, G. A., Simo J., C.: Entropy elasticity of isotropic rubber-like solids at finite strains, Computer methods in applied mechanics and engineering, Vol 132, pp. 17-44. (1996).
- Égert J., Pere B.: Finite Element Analysis, Universitas Győr Nonprofit Kft., Hungary, Győr (2011).
- Lake GJ. Fatigue and fracture of elastomers. Rubber Chemistry and Technology 1995;68:435–60.
- Thomas AG. The development of fracture mechanics for elastomers. Rubber Chemistry and Technology 1994;67:G50–G60.
- Ellul MD. Mechanical fatigue. In: Gent A, editor. Engineering with rubber, How to design rubber components. Munich: Carl Hanser Verlag; 1992. [chapter 6].
- Lake GJ, Thomas AG. Strength. In: Gent A, editor. Engineering with rubber, How to design rubber components. Munich: Carl Hanser Verlag; 1992. [chapter 5].
- Lake GJ. Aspects of fatigue and fracture of rubber. Progress of Rubber Technology 1983;45:89–143.
- Gent AN. Strength of elastomers. In: Eirich FR, editor. Science and technology of rubber. New York: Academic Press; 1978. p. 419–54.
- Mars WV, Fatemi A. Factors that affect the fatigue life of rubber: a literature survey. Rubber Chemistry and Technology; in press.
- Wöhler A. Wöhler's experiments on the strength of metals. Engineering 1867;2:160.
- Cadwell SM, Merrill RA, Sloman CM, Yost FL. Dynamic fatigue life of rubber. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Analytical Edition 1940;12:19–23.
- Gent AN, Lindley PB, Thomas AG. Cut growth and fatigue of rubbers. I. The relationship between cut growth and fatigue. Journal of Applied Polymer Science 1964;8:455– 66.
- Lee MP, Moet A. Analysis of fatigue crack propagation in NR/BR rubber blend. Rubber Chemistry and Technology 1993;66:304–16.
- Roberts BJ, Benzies JB. The relationship between uniaxial and equibiaxial fatigue in gum and carbon black filled vulcanizates. In: Proceedings of Rubbercon '77, vol. 2.1. 1977. pp. 2.1–2.13.
- Roach JF. Crack growth in elastomers under biaxial stresses. Ph.D. Dissertation. USA: University of Akron; May 1982.
- Griffith AA. The phenomena of rupture and flow in solids. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A 1920;221:163–98.
- Mars WV, Fatemi A.A literature survey on fatigue analysis approaches for rubber. In: International Journal of Fatigue, Vol, pp. 949-961. 24., 2002.


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NetEase, the Chinese portal slash online gaming curator released its first ever Android-based mobile game Fanshudazuozhang (翻书大作战), a casual game that asks players to push forward the game character in case it get hurt by ever falling book pages.
The game is also available on iOS platform for both iPhone and iPad.
Ding lei, founder and CEO of NetEase once commented in the conference call for Q2 financial results saying the company is looking to mobile phone as well as other mobile device market.
Fanshudazuozhang which was inspired by the behavior of flipping through book pages, is the Guangzhou-based company's first trial on mobile platform. According to NetEase, the game will be made available in 13 languages.
You can download it here and get your hands on it.


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…Scientific strategies for an emotionally authentic holiday season
Whoever wrote "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" never had to spend an entire Christmas alone while cheers and laughter erupted from the apartment down the hall.
Fortunately, psychological research suggests some effective strategies for the holiday blues—and flags some especially unhelpful ones. The upshot is that sadness and other tough emotions are not afflictions that we should try to avoid or overcome. Instead, if properly understood, they can help contribute to a healthy—and happy—life.
Here are four strategies to help you craft your own happiness recipe this holiday season (and the rest of your year).
- Don't force cheer.
At family gatherings with cousins you secretly can't stand and in-laws who dole out backhanded compliments, it can be tempting to put on a happy face while you seethe inside. Indeed, that might even seem like the most mature response—no drama, no conflict.
But a 2011 study by researchers at Michigan State University and West Point might make you think twice. They followed dozens of bus drivers for two weeks, looking to see when they flashed fake versus genuine smiles at their passengers. (Bus drivers do a lot of smiling, it turns out.) The results show that on days when the drivers tried to put on an act and fake a good mood, their actual moods got worse. This was especially true for women.
Similarly, a 2012 study led by Maya Tamir of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that people who wanted to feel happy even when a situation called for a different emotional response, like anger, actually reported less happiness overall. And research by Iris Mauss of UC Berkeley suggests that people who really want to be happy actually derive less happiness from positive experiences, apparently because their expectations are too high. Again and again, trying to force happiness seems to backfire. Read Full Article Shop


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| Playoffs at WSC/WPC 2017
|WSC and WPC 2017 -> General Discussion about WSC and WPC 2017
|33 posts • Page 1 of 2 • 1 2
2021 World Sudoku+Puzzle Convention Organizer
Posts: 1728
Location: India
Poll closedThank you to everyone for voting and providing input on this topic. We will discuss the polling results and comments, factor that in to our decision and announce it on 31st March. In the meantime, please look at our other ongoing interactive initiative, the Puzzle Innovations Contest. We will have announcements of more interactive contests and discussions soon, so check back regularly.
Posts: 16
Location: United States
|I just want to say that I strongly agree with forcolin's statement that "the playoffs should be videoed and broadcast for the audience (and potentially for TV recording/broadcasting)" and I hope the organizers take that into account if there are playoffs. I fully support something like having a camera focused on each solver's puzzle, while puzzle authors/experts provide live commentary, which is what I hear was well-received at the 2010 Philadelphia WSC.
This is more tentative, but I wonder if live-streaming the playoffs would be a good idea. I dunno whether people not at the WSC/WPC would be interested in watching, but if you had live commentary while puzzles are being solved, and maybe interviews with the finalists or more commentary during downtime, I imagine it could be very entertaining (at the very least, I have a bunch of friends who'd enjoy watching something like this). You could also keep the videos for posterity, which helps with another publicity problem: there are almost no videos of previous years' championships, at least none that I can find. I would love to be able to search youtube for "world puzzle championship" and find videos of top puzzlers competing, but doing that right now only gives me some WSC 2012 videos and Stefano's recording of the WPC 2014 team playoffs.
2021 World Sudoku+Puzzle Convention Organizer
Posts: 1728
Location: India
Poll conclusionThe voting for this topic has been very closely contested, so we discussed it very carefully. There were three main factors leading to our decision.
- The votes for the option of Playoffs vs No Playoffs are divided equally.
- There has been a lot of valuable discussion on the pros and cons of all playoff formats that have been tried out over the years, so reaching a consensus on a universally agreeable system is still a work in progress.
- We were angling towards not having playoffs originally and have thought of good alternatives to achieve the same goals and are confident that we can execute them.
With all this in mind, we have decided to confirm that there will be no playoffs at WSPC 2017. As for what to do with the time saved, here the majority is clear, so we will not add too much extra solving time, and focus more on spacing the rounds nicely. Thanks again to everyone who voted.
Posts: 2
Location: Serbia
|Oh, what a terrible news! Actually, for me this is not so bad because I've never done much in the playoffs, but I am afraid that this decision could kill the essence of sudoku and puzzle world championships. I still hope that you will reconsider the decision and change it.
2021 World Sudoku+Puzzle Convention Organizer
Posts: 164
Location: Slovakia
|Spacing the rounds nicely? I can't believe it...
This is the World championship, not a holiday.
Edited by greenhorn 2017-04-01 3:56 PM
Classics & Regions (PR 2016/17) Author
Posts: 170
Location: Germany
|Just as a counter point, I like to hear the focus on spacing the rounds nicely. The schedule is one of the things that made me enjoy Beijing and London quite a bit more than Sofia and Senec. It would be good if you did not feel to have to say cut a team round from an adequate hour to 40 minutes just to fit in the schedule, and instead give a few more teams the chance to finish!
Posts: 225
Location: Thailand
|Playoffs give solvers, say, in positions 10-20 some incentive to try hard during the last few rounds to gamble and play aggressively to qualify for that top 10 finals.
Without this, would be a shame :(
|Yuhei Kusui
Posts: 42
Location: Japan
prasanna16391 - 2017-03-31 6:04 PM
- We were angling towards not having playoffs originally and have thought of good alternatives to achieve the same goals and are confident that we can execute them.
At the present moment I can't say excluding play-off is a bad decision because I don't know what "good alternatives" are; they should be revealed as soon as possible, as new ideas require plenty of time to be understood.
Edited by Yuhei Kusui 2017-04-03 12:24 PM
|Playoffs is equivalent to the finals of a Championship.
And playoffs must involve a good majority (if not all) of the participants. But, off late, very few people turn up for the playoffs...because there is probably nothing to watch. Except for the players and the organizers, others have minimal involvement with the event. Except for the knockout playoffs in 2012, which appealed to some extent to the audience.
So, it may not be a bad idea to have a championship without a playoff and see how it works.
And, having multiple playoffs - for Sudoku GP, WSC, Puzzle GP and WPC - brings down the interest levels as well. In 2016 also, there were a bit too many playoffs perhaps. The two playoffs for the GP should be good enough and the remaining time can be utilized to probably execute something more interesting and, more importantly, which involves a majority of the community.
Posts: 2
Location: Serbia
|I agree with Anonymous that maybe there is too much playoffs. I suggest to cancel live GP finals from 2018. Grand Prix is a tournament, an excellent one, but only a tournament and we are bringing it here because it is an annual world meeting. Please, be honest with yourself, who wants to replace their participation in world championship finals with the participation in the tournament playoff?
WSC and WPC playoffs are great culmination of biggest world events and they must be preserved. Formats of the playoffs should be altered every year since, as I already said, the perfect system is not invented yet.
Posts: 1
|I agree
Diagonal Vision Author
Posts: 337
Location: Switzerland
|It's a courageous decision, that breaks the tradition.
Please let me do a few comments (in english, sorry for the non english-speakers):
So in my opinion, if one of the playoff should be remove, it's better to be the world championship playoffs than the GP finals. I agree with the fact we need such competition with the best players during WSC/WPC, it can be excited, but it also should be used by the WPF to make more advertizing/promotion.
2021 World Sudoku+Puzzle Convention Organizer
Posts: 1728
Location: India
Fred76 - 2017-04-09 3:11 PM
Hi Fred,
I checked in with the WPF Board on behalf of the organizing team earlier this year about a few things, including this topic of whether playoffs are a must. I also communicated to them that we plan to have a poll to this end. The Board confirmed that playoffs need not be held and that the organizers can make a decision either way, and it was only after this that we started the poll.
2021 World Sudoku+Puzzle Convention Organizer
Posts: 1728
Location: India
Yuhei Kusui - 2017-04-03 12:17 PM
At the present moment I can't say excluding play-off is a bad decision because I don't know what "good alternatives" are; they should be revealed as soon as possible, as new ideas require plenty of time to be understood.
Hi Yuhei,
The alternative we are thinking of has been mentioned before, but I will elaborate once again. We are going to have an evening event, a Player vs Player knockout event open to everyone. As I have indicated before, we have a set system for this which worked at the National level last year and we are confident we can replicate that. This event will be exciting, fun, can be used for media and publicity, and most importantly, everyone can participate without worrying too much about 'fairness' and 'choosing a worthy World Champion'.
Posts: 18
Location: United States
|I'm very very late to this discussion but I highly approve of the removal of playoffs. In my opinion, the playoffs have never been a good indication of choosing the best solver. Everyone has just gone through a dozen rounds of competition, and the dozen rounds are then condensed into less than 5 minutes of playoff advantage time. It would be like if you gave students a test, and the first 100 questions were worth 5% of their grade while the last 10 questions were easier questions and worth 95% of their grade.
The advantage of playoffs have always been for the spectators, to see what the best puzzle-solvers in the world can do, and a little bit for the players in position 10-20 to feel like they still have a chance of catching up and getting just the right amount of luck. But as the WPC puzzles become less and less accessible to the majority of casual viewers, they cannot understand what they are seeing in the playoffs. Without the playoff-solving being on camera, there is even less for the viewers to see. Ever since I stopped being good enough to qualify for playoffs, I discovered that I really didn't enjoy watching the playoffs. I would much rather take the playoff puzzles and solve them by myself. :)
|33 posts • Page 1 of 2 • 1 2
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Copyright © Dorian Scott Cole, 2000
The Universe Is Flat
It has long been widely understood that perception rules the universe. For example, long ago people perceived that the earth was flat. The idea that one might reach a distant land in a shorter time by sailing in the opposite direction was unthinkable and postponed the discovery of many new lands. Sailors ventured into the vast ocean with fear, growing more cynical and fearful as their supplies diminished and day after day all that could be seen was more water. One risked falling off the edge of the world, and the threat of mutiny grew stronger as imagination fueled terror with each passing day. Perception ruled, and perception had nothing to do with reality.
So, the universe is flat. Any why not - perception rules and perhaps the appearance of the universe is only a matter of perception. What do we know? we have never been "out there." No space ship has ever sailed around the universe.
Just as the perception that the earth is flat prevented the discovery of new lands, perception affects our daily lives, and even affects our words. Perception affects how we speak and what we believe our words to mean.
While today we know that the earth isn't flat, perception still easily misdirects us. Perception is frequently used by others to control us or prevent us from discovering the truth. I recently (this summer) called a benefits group to ask about a long delinquent benefit reimbursement. I got a recording: "Due to an unusually heavy volume of claims..." I get the same story every summer. In other words, half the department is on vacation and they really don't care if I get reimbursed - my situation is irrelevant to them - but I'm supposed to believe that suddenly half the world is sick and they are working miserably hard to meet my needs, late.
I called another division of the same company to ask about another check which they were supposed to send. I really don't need the money for anything, I just like to spend my time calling them. A person had pleasantly informed me last week that she would "expedite" it for me. She was no longer there. Another cheerful voice this week told me what I wanted to hear. I know responsibility and customer service when I see it, and this is a direct miss. Of course I realize from long experience with this benefits company that they just don't care, but they desperately wish me to have the perception that they do care and they work very hard at creating this perception.
Misperception has been a natural fit for the Internet. I recently sent a series of six e-mail messages to one dot-com company trying to straighten out a small problem. I received either a precomposed response or a "we're looking into it" response each time, which was brilliant testimony to the fact that they neither cared nor were even trying. Customer service with dot-coms does not yet compete with brick and mortar businesses. They have currently deluded themselves with the misperception that an Internet based business carries no overhead.
Of course the brick and mortar business started this trail of lies, and bureacracies have refined it to an artform. My daughter sent to her birth state for a new birth certificate. Her first attempt was by mailing a form that she got over the Internet. They forgot to mention (or she didn't notice) that the request required accompanying identification, so within a few weeks they sent it back, unprocessed. I would mention the specific state, but my perception is that they would permanently lose the birth certificate.
Once an organization reaches the critical mass of a bureaucracy it gains a new mission. This new mission has been perceived as "To perpetuate its own existence." This is a misperception. The real new mission is "To perpetuate its existence as an entity that does nothing except bungle." It perpetuates its existence by covering things up. If it gets caught, it intimidates.
My daughter next sent the request by overnight mail and placed a postage paid overnight envelope within so they could send it right back. Her perception was that they would recognize the envelopes, the original form, understand the urgency, and expedite the processing. Wrong. She assumed that the people in a bureaucracy care enough to do a job properly and that the government agencies exist to provide a responsible service. Where did we ever get such misperceptions?
Perception is as perception does. For example, consider the national shortage of spoons. Perhaps it is an international shortage - I haven't been out of the country for a while so I haven't studied this in international scope. Even mentioning it creates a perception that it is an international reality. Why is there a national shortage of spoons?
I began to realize when my children were young that there was something going on with spoons. One day we had a full set of spoons in the utensil tray. Over the next year or two, we realized that there was a spoon shortage. My perception was that we had a full set at one time. We habitually don't throw spoons away. Yet month after month, spoons slowly but steadily disappeared, never to be seen again.
I comforted myself with the possibility that perhaps the spoons were going the way of the disappearing pencils and combs. Or even more likely, they had taken up residence with the disappearing socks - those that go into the washing machine in pairs and come out divorced, never to be loved again. I even considered that perhaps my own children were taking the spoons into the yard to dig, leaving them there in their carelessness, or even hiding spoons in the living room couch. But I finally turned away from the very possibility of these two theories. I would not want to think my own children capable of such things.
I put 2 and 3 together and realized that spoons were the object of a conspiracy when I noticed they were missing at many restaurants. My wife and I would sit down and order coffee. The waitress would dutifully bring the coffee, and before she could disappear we would blurt out, "We need cream," and she would disappear for ten minutes, and then we would realize - dupes that we are - that we had been distracted by the cream which prevented us from noticing that there were no eating utensils.
After the waitress passed by, efficiently dropping off the creamer without missing a step, we would then patiently watch for her to look our direction again and then place our order for utensils. Begrudgingly she would deliver them as she passed by with her next order. We would smile politely, knowing that the hard working person was doing her best serving pancakes to kids, and gratefully unroll our utensils from the napkin. No spoon. This happened so often that it became predictable. I can't tell you how often, after fifteen minutes of waiting for a spoon, I stirred my coffee with the end of a fork.
I was soon into creating theories for the national spoon shortage:
Soon I had more theories than spoons.
I also know that whoever is behind the spoon conspiracy also causes the pronunciation of certain words to change. As I look back now, I see the dawning of this conspiracy when suddenly the words "strength" and "length" had their "g" stolen from them to become "strenth" and "lenth." Soon this pronunciation was fashionable. I haven't purchased a new tie in twelve years - you see how well I follow fashion, so you can guess how I pronounce these words. When "ng" occurs in a word, it is pronounced at the back of the throat. Say these words: young, tongue. Now say this: stre ng th. See, it can be done. Now, my personal theory is that this conspiracy came from one of four sources:
Word meanings do run aground, crash and burn, even when people steer with the best of intentions. Take for example the word "secreted." At this point you probably don't know exactly which word I mean. This word has two pronunciations and two meanings.
One meaning comes from the word secret, which means hidden or discreet. A person might be "secreted" away in the middle of the night. Secret(ed).
The other meaning of the word "secreted" comes from the word "secrete" which means that something more or less oozes out of something else. Flowers secrete nectar. Oil glands secrete oil to lubricate the skin. Thus, oil is "secreted" from a gland. Secrete(d).
Now, imagine my surprise when a person in the Witness Protection Program described being secrete(d) into a van by the US Marshall's Service. I wonder if that hurts - being oozed into a van. Gives uzzi a whole new meaning. "You want to get an uzzi! You want to be secrete(d) into a van?" Good reason not to do anything to get yourself into the Witness Protection Program. Ouch.
I, too, am sometimes fooled by perceptions. I have used the phrase "niche market" for years.
I was blithely pronouncing it "nich," undoubtedly having learned the pronunciation by osmosis
from the fools with whom I associate. But then I happened upon some enlightened person who
pronounced it "neesh." Soooo, I perceived, this word must be of foreign origin and I have been
pronouncing it erroneously. Over the next few days I intelligently pronounced it "neesh," to
as many people as would listen. But as the days progressed I had this nagging feeling that
something wasn't quite right. So I looked up the word in the dictionary:
The universe is indeed flat. It is simply a matter of perception. For example, consider an image on a piece of paper. Shadows and size give the image a perception of dimensions, but the paper is actually flat and has no depth. Spiral galaxies appear to be flat when viewed on their edge. Perhaps when viewed from a great distance, we can see that the universe is flat as a pancake. At this point it really makes no difference whether it is or it isn't, it is our perception that we have to live with. Spread the poison.
- Scott
(Perceived writer's differentiation: "Unlike 'em other writers, I no the hole alfabit.")
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