Art Gallery of Ontario
Toronto, Canada

To support Riopelle/Mitchell: Face to Face, an exhibition co-organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. This exhibition is devoted to the personal and artistic relationship between American Joan Mitchell and Canadian Jean-Paul Riopelle, illuminating the roles these painters played within the Parisian and international abstract movements. The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual catalogue for English- and French-language readers.


How I came to be content being a misfit in the Christian community

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak for the first night of Southern Adventist University's Student Week of Prayer. The theme was "Radically Chosen," and we were asked to share about our experiencing choosing to follow God.

For me, choosing to follow God is intricately tied up with my sense of "identity." As a Mexican-American immigrant, I have spent most of my life hoping to "fit in" and building my sense of comfort off of how well I belonged. Nevertheless, I still have struggled with feelings of loneliness, isolation, and being miscast.

In the following message, I share how God taught me to be content being a misfit and why a little doubt and a little anger in your spirituality isn’t the end of the world when you’re being held by the most compassionate arms in the universe. (My message begins at 22:00)


Mudavadi: Raila-Uhuru agreement is selfish

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

The Governor hailed the two leaders for their courage in uniting the country after a prolonged divisive electioneering period that saw Odinga lead the opposition in refusing to recognize the legitimacy of President Kenyatta.

In their joint address, President Kenyatta said: "We will begin a process of discussing what ails us and what creates division amongst us".

"I heard the three complaining of being left out in the talks, but I am wondering why because they were the first to be approached but turned us down fearing that they would be branded traitors", the senator said.

Speaking at press conference in the capital Narobi, Mr Tillerson also stressed on the USA and Kenya's "shared fight against terrorism", referring to Kenyan troops serving in Somalia.

Toys R Us reportedly considering closing all U.S. stores
Citing a source who asked not to be named, Bloomberg reported that the search for a buyer for the company had not been successful. Joint administrator Simon Thomas said: "We've introduced heavy discounts across the entire Toys R Us store portfolio today".

The election season blunted growth in Kenya, East Africa's richest economy and a Western ally in a volatile region.

About 150 people were killed in the aftermath of the election, which Mr Kenyatta won after an opposition boycott. It does not bear the imprint of NASA Summit as it ought to be.

Consumer spending makes up more than two-thirds of the US economy and much of that is spent in stores and online. Talk of the tariffs brought warnings of a trade war from Europe and China.

Allies in Odinga's NASA coalition, including his running mate in last year's poll, Kalonzo Musyoka, said they were not aware of the meeting and promised to give a detailed statement later.

One lawmaker said Kenyatta, who is in his final term, and Odinga, who turned 73 in January, may be keen on securing their legacies with the new found unity of goal.

""The 'bridges" Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta are talking about and intend to build will turn Kenya into an authoritarian and despotic Kenyatta and Odinga Monarchy".

Brown and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra are directly named in the suit - and are ready for the fight. Schaaf issued an unusual public warning last month about an immigration operation in Northern California.

With the country at breaking point and growing political and economic injustices reigniting deeply ethnic hatreds, Raila Odinga chose yet again a path he often has: the path of negotiation rather than confrontation to right the wrongs and protects the people from the horrors that this drawn-out, looming conflict posed.

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Sensimmer Virtual Phaco Trainer for Cataract Surgery

Principal Investigator: P Pat Banerjee
Abstract: DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The SENSIMMER" Virtual Phaco Trainer for Cataract Surgery is a hardware and software solution aimed at a worldwide market of ophthalmology residency programs (including 118 programs in the US). It is developed by the US small business concern ImmersiveTouch-Sensimmer Inc. (Westmont, IL), in collaboration with the surgery simulation team at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) under PI Prof. Pat Banerjee, president of ImmersiveTouch-Sensimmer. The virtual trainer supports the teaching of cataract surgery by phacoemulsification ("phaco"). Phase I produced a prototype capsulorhexis trainer, now being perfected under an NEI-ARRA supplement. Phase II proposes to create a phacoemulsification trainer and to validate both trainers. Task 1. Validate post-ARRA Phase I capsulorhexis simulator. Validation was not funded in Phase I. Validation aims at showing face, construct, and concurrent validity of capsulorhexis. The scoring system of the capsulorhexis simulator includes the number of separate forceps grabs of the lens capsule membrane during capsulorhexis, the number of hits of the lens with the forceps, and the total time for the capsulorhexis. Qualitative factors such as optimal size and shape of the capsular tear and avoidance of errors such as radial tear, corneal incision stress, and corneal touches have recently been added. A system for scoring live operative performance and relating this to simulator performance still needs to be devised and validated. Task 2. Develop a Phase II capsulorhexis simulator. The Phase I simulator aims to simulate only a single standard case of capsulorhexis for verification. Commercialization will require a Phase II capsulorhexis simulator for individual patient variations. Patient variations can affect the visibility or accessibility of the anterior capsule and the rhexis edge (corneal opacity, vitreous opacity, deep set eye, anterior chamber depth, cortical cataract) as well as the mechanical stability or material properties of the eye and lens capsule (involuntary eye movement, posterior synechia = iris attached to lens, weak zonules, high vitreous pressure, capsular thickness and fragility in young vs. old, calcified plaque on anterior capsule). Task 3. Develop a phacoemulsification simulator. The trainee uses both hands and both feet: right hand = phaco handpiece;left hand = nucleus manipulator;right foot = phaco pedal;left foot = microscope adjustment. Real foot pedals (e.g., Alcon) will be used, and the phaco foot pedal will control three modes of the virtual phaco tip: (1) irrigation;(2) irrigation + aspiration;(3) irrigation + aspiration + ultrasound power. The SENSIMMER will simulate the phaco tip in virtual reality and model the instrument handle by the handle of the SensAble Phantom Omni haptic robot. The trainer will be capable of simulating standard surgical techniques (e.g., phaco chop;divide and conquer) and unusual clinical cases (e.g., weak zonules). The trainee will learn to control the rate of both fluid flow and ultrasonic power. Task 4. Validate the phacoemulsification simulator. Validation will again aim at demonstrating face, construct, and concurrent validity, as defined above. This will require developing scoring systems for both simulated and live phacoemulsification. The scoring system for simulated phacoemulsification will include factors such as total time for the operation, efficiency of instrument tip handling as measured by total tip path length, and appropriate use of phaco power settings to avoid thermal damage to the cornea. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: ImmersiveTouch-Sensimmer, Inc. develops innovative augmented virtual reality software SENSIMMER" for surgical training of residents in such fields as neurosurgery and ophthalmology. In collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Partnership proposes to develop and commercialize its training modules for cataract surgery. Following STTR Phases I and II, the SENSIMMER Virtual Phaco Trainer will include well developed modules for the two most difficult part-tasks of cataract surgery: capsulorrhexis and phacoemulsification.
Funding Period: 2008-07-01 - 2013-08-31
more information: NIH RePORT


Algebraic L-theory and Topological Manifolds by A. A. Ranicki

By A. A. Ranicki

This booklet provides the definitive account of the functions of this algebra to the surgical procedure category of topological manifolds. The crucial result's the id of a manifold constitution within the homotopy form of a Poincaré duality area with an area quadratic constitution within the chain homotopy form of the common conceal. the adaptation among the homotopy sorts of manifolds and Poincaré duality areas is pointed out with the fibre of the algebraic L-theory meeting map, which passes from neighborhood to worldwide quadratic duality buildings on chain complexes. The algebraic L-theory meeting map is used to provide a in basic terms algebraic formula of the Novikov conjectures at the homotopy invariance of the better signatures; the other formula inevitably components via this one.

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Extra info for Algebraic L-theory and Topological Manifolds

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The pair is B-contractible, C-Poincar´e and the boundary is D-Poincar´e). Deﬁne inverse isomorphisms ≃ Ln−1 (A, C, D) −−→ Ln (F ) ; (C, ϕ) −−→ ((C, ϕ), (C−−→0, (0, ϕ))) , ≃ Ln (F ) −−→ Ln−1 (A, C, D) ; (f : C−−→D, (δϕ, ϕ)) −−→ (C ′ , ϕ′ ) with (C ′ , ϕ′ ) the (n − 1)-dimensional symmetric complex in (A, C, D) obtained from (C, ϕ) by algebraic surgery on the n-dimensional symmetric pair (f : C−−→D, (δϕ, ϕ)) in (A, B, C). (ii) As for (i), with symmetric replaced by quadratic. 9 (ii) to obtain a quadratic structure on the eﬀect of surgery on a normal pair.

10 The n-dimensional for n ∈ Z. Proof The functor S 2 : B (A)−−→B (A) is an isomorphism of additive categories. g. g. 3. (i) The quadratic L-groups of Aq (R) for q = h (resp. p) are the free (resp. projective) versions of the 4-periodic quadratic L-groups of Wall [180] Ln (Aq (R)) = Lqn (R) (n ∈ Z) . ´ complexes 1. Algebraic Poincare 33 (ii) The symmetric L-groups of Aq (R) for q = h (resp. p) are the 4-periodic versions of the free (resp. projective) symmetric L-groups of Mishchenko [115] Ln (Aq (R)) = lim Ln+4k (R) = Ln+4∗ (R) (n ∈ Z) .

The total complex is the chain complex HomA (C, D) deﬁned by ∑ dHomA (C,D) : HomA (C, D)r = HomA (C−p , Dq ) p+q=r −−→ HomA (C, D)r−1 ; f −−→ dD f + (−)q f dC . Deﬁne Σn C to be the chain complex in A with dΣn C = (−)r dC : (Σn C)r = Cr−n −−→ (Σn C)r−1 = Cr−1−n . The nth homology group Hn (HomA (C, D)) (n ∈ Z) is the abelian group of chain homotopy classes of chain maps f : Σn C−−→D. The isomorphisms of chain objects ≃ (Σn C)r = Cr−n −−→ (S n C)r = Cr−n ; x −−→ (−)r(r+1)/2 x deﬁne an isomorphism of chain complexes Σn C ∼ = S n C.

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The Trump Organization Just Told Congress Complying with Constitution Is ‘Impractical’

The Constitution has been clear for centuries on prohibiting presidents from enriching themselves. But that isn’t stopping the Trump Organization.

Earlier on Wednesday, it was revealed that the Trump administration wasn’t properly tracking payments foreign governments made to its businesses, like the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. This is despite Trump promising prior to his inauguration that all payments made by foreign governments to any of his real estate properties would be donated to the U.S. Treasury.

However, in an eight-page document sent in response to the House Oversight Committee asking about the tracking of payments from foreign governments, the Trump Organization’s attorneys stated that while all money identified as coming from other governments would be set aside to be tracked, it would be “impractical” to audit each payment to see whether or not it would violate the Constitution’s Title of Nobility Clause (also known as the Emoluments Clause).

That explanation didn’t sit right with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), the ranking member of the committee, who said the current arrangement raises “grave concerns about the president’s refusal to comply with the Constitution,” adding that foreign government payments “would not be tracked in any way and would be hidden from the American public.”

The Emoluments Clause doesn’t allow much room for leeway, stating explicitly that without Congressional consent, a president cannot accept any gifts or payments from foreign leaders without being in violation of the United States’ founding document:


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The Odyssey - Homer, Robert Fagles, Bernard Knox I'm not sure that I would have read this book on my own accord, although there's a copy that was my Dad's sat at my Mum's possibly waiting of me to give it a new home. But as it was a required read for University I bought a different copy sat down and read it. It took me four, half days to read it. The longest I've ever taken to read a book!

The Odyssey is an epic poem, although it doesn't read like a poem because it's translated from Latin into English, so you do lose the poem part of it (so I'm told). But I can't read Latin so I'll happily stick to the English version. The Odyssey is 24 books long. Yes, you did read that right there are 24 book's within The Odyssey. It's not broken down into chapters like other stories, I think this is because it would have originally have been told as an oral tale and passed down from mouth to mouth and in doing so you need to break it up. Also I see it as each book can stand alone and then when they're all brought together they complete the story.

Trying to sum up The Odyssey is really hard, there's so much in this 560 page book I could never really do it justice but I'm really going to try.

The Odyssey is mainly about hospitality, there are lots of references to food, in each book there is always a great meal/feast taking place because of the newcomers arrival has to be welcomed. They generally gave their guests food before they asked them their name! Sorry minor detour, The Odyssey is also about revenge, more than one person's revenge too!

The Odyssey is about what happened to Odysseus after his battle at Troy in the Illaid and some of the other characters. The first five books are the introduction to what has happened since Troy. Odysseus has disappeared, everyone from his hometown Ithaca, thinks he's dead with the expection of his wife Penelope, his son Telemachus (who was a baby when Odysseus left and is now a man of 20), and a few other people in Odysseus estate who have remained loyal to him.
In the last few years that Odysseus has been missing, men from Ithaca and around have come to court Penelope and to try and gain her hand in marriage but Penelope still loves and misses her husband whether he's dead or not and doesn't want to marry any of these suitors so she hatches a plan to pospone marrying any of them. Odysseus father is still alive and Penelope decides she will make him a shawl and when it's finished she will then chose a suitor but every night after she unpicks what she's made, she manages this for three years until one of her serving girls tells the suitors the truth of what she's doing and they make her finish it.
As Telemachus is now the head of the household it's his responsiblity to feed these suitors and give them somewhere to stay but Telemachus is now sick of these suitors eating him out of his stock, drinking his wine, bedding his serving girls and taking advantage of the situation. Oh and also not being very nice men either!

Athena talks to Zeus about letting Odysseus go back to his family after everything he has suffered and Zeus agrees so Athena goes to Telemachus in disguise and gets him to go visit the neighbouring lands to see if anyone knows anything about his father from the men who fought with him at Troy.
So Telemachus tells the suitors to leave his home, he gets verbally abused instead and goes sailing for news of this father without telling his mother or the suitors what he's upto.

Telemachus sails to Nestor and then Sparta where Melelaus and Helena (who have made up) live. Telemachus is then informed that the last news they heard of his father was that he was captured by the nymph Calypso.

Then we get to Odysseus back story about what has happened to him since he left Troy. Odysseus has spent seven years in captivity on Calypso's island. She is told to release Odysseus by the god Hermes, who has been sent by Zeus because of Athena's plea. Calypso gives Odysseus clothing, food and drink and wood so he can build a raft and leave. But the raft is wrecked by Poseidon, Odysseus swims to an island where, naked and exhausted, he hides in a pile of leaves and falls asleep. The next morning, awakened by the laughter of girls, he sees Nauicaa. He appeals to her for help. She encourages him to seek the hospitality of her parents. Odysseus is welcomed and is not at first asked for his name. He remains for several days, takes part in a pentathlon, and hears the blind singer perform two narrative poems. The first is an otherwise obscure incident of the Trojan War, the 'Quarrel of Odysseus and Achilles', the second is the amusing tale of a love affair between two Olympian gods, Ares and Aphrodite. Finally, Odysseus asks the blind singer to return to the Trojan War theme and tell of the Trojan Horse, a plot in which Odysseus had played a leading role. Unable to hide his emotion as he relives this episode, Odysseus at last reveals his identity.

After Troy, Odysseus and his twelve ships were driven off course by storms, they visited the Lotus-Eaters and whensome of his men ate the food they forget where they were going and never wanted to leave but Odysseus tied them up and dragged them back to the ship. Next they reached the home of the Cyclops, and after expecting some form of hospitality they were instead captured and some of Odysseus men were eaten by the Cyclops, Odysseus and only a few of his men managed to escape by hiding underneath the Cyclopes animals when he let them out after Odysseus had blinded the Cyclops with a wooden stake. While they were escaping, however, Odysseus foolishly told the Cyclops his identity, and Cyclops told his father, Poseidon, who had blinded him. Next they stayed with Aeolus, the master of the winds. He gave Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds, except the west wind, a gift that should have ensured a safe return home. However, the sailors foolishly opened the bag while Odysseus slept, thinking that it contained gold. All of the winds flew out and the resulting storm drove the ships back the way they had come, just as Ithaca came into sight.

After pleading in vain with Aeolus to help them again, they re-embarked and encountered the cannibalistic Laestrygonians. Odysseus’s ship was the only one to escape. Next they sailed on and visited the witch-goddess Circe. She turned half of his men into swine after feeding them cheese and wine. Hermes warned Odysseus about Circe and gave Odysseus a drug which was a resistance to Circe’s magic. Circe, being attracted to Odysseus' resistance, fell in love with him and released his men. Odysseus and his crew remained with her on the island for one year, while they feasted and drank. Finally, Odysseus' men convinced Odysseus that it was time to leave for Ithaca. Guided by Circe's instructions, Odysseus and his crew crossed the ocean and reached a harbor at the western edge of the world, where Odysseus sacrificed to the dead and summoned the spirit of the old prophet Tiresias to advise him. Next Odysseus met the spirit of his own mother, who had died of grief during his long absence, from her he learned for the first time news of his own household, threatened by the greed of the suitors. Here he also met the spirits of famous men and woman.

Returning to Circe’s island, they were advised by her on the remaining stages of the journey. They skirted the land of the Sirens, passed between the six-headed monster and the whirlpool Charybdis, and landed on the island of Thrinacia. There, Odysseus’ men ignored the warnings of Tiresias and Circe, and hunted down the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios. This sacrilege was punished by a shipwreck in which all but Odysseus drowned. He was washed ashore on the island of Calypso, where she compelled him to remain as her lover for seven years before he escaped.

Having listened with rapt attention to his story, the Phaeacians, who are skilled mariners, agree to help Odysseus get home. They delivered him at night, while he was fast asleep, to a hidden harbor on Ithaca. He finds his way to the hut of one of his own former slaves, the swineherd Eumaeus. Athena disguises Odysseus as a wandering beggar in order to learn how things stand in his household. After dinner, he tells the farm men a tale of himself.

Meanwhile, Telemachus sails home from Sparta, evading an ambush set by the suitors. He disembarks on the coast of Ithaca and makes for Eumaeus’s hut. Father and son meet; Odysseus identifies himself to Telemachus (but still not to Eumaeus) and they determine that the suitors must be killed. Telemachus gets home first. Accompanied by Eumaeus, Odysseus now returns to his own house, still pretending to be a beggar. He experiences the suitors’ awful behavior and plans their death. He meets Penelope and tests her intentions with an invented story of his birth in Crete, where, he says, he once met Odysseus. Closely questioned, he adds that he had recently been in Thesprotia and had learned something there of Odysseus’s recent wanderings.

Odysseus’s identity is discovered by the housekeeper, Eurycleia, as she is washing his feet and discovers an old scar Odysseus received during a boar hunt. He received the scar when he was hunting with the sons of Autolycus. Having seen the scar, Eurycleia tries to tell Penelope that the begger is really Odysseus, but Athena makes sure that Penelope cannot hear Eurycleia. Meanwhile Odysseus swears her to secrecy.

The next day, at Athena’s prompting, Penelope maneuvers the suitors into competing for her hand with an archery competition using Odysseus' bow. The man who can string the bow and shoot it through a dozen axe heads would win. Odysseus takes part in the competition himself. He alone is strong enough to string the bow and shoot it through the dozen axe heads, making him the winner. He turns his arrows on the suitors and with the help of Athena, Telemachus, Eumaeus and the cowherd all the suitors are killed. Odysseus and Telemachus hang twelve of their household maids, who betrayed Penelope and/or had sex with the suitors. They also mutilate and kill the goatherd, who had mocked and abused Odysseus. Now at last, Odysseus identifies himself to Penelope. She is hesitant, but accepts him when he mentions that their bed was made from an olive tree still rooted to the ground.

The citizens of Ithaca have followed Odysseus on the road, planning to avenge the killing of the Suitors, their sons. Their leader points out that Odysseus has now caused the deaths of two generations of the men of Ithaca, his sailors not one of which survived, and the suitors, whom he has now killed. The goddess Athena intervenes and persuades both sides to give up the vendetta. Because of Athena's help Ithaca is at peace once more ending The Odyssey.

Sadly Odysseus journey is not complete as he stiil has to fullfil what he was told when he visited the underworld, Odysseus is still fated to wander. He can't rest until he wanders so far inland that 'he meets a people who have never heard of an oar or of the sea. He then must build a shrine and sacrifice before he can return home for good.'

I thought The Odyssey was ridiculously long but after Book 5 I really started to enjoy reading it and quite liked the part where Odysseus came home to Ithaca and what happened afterwards. What I didn't like was the ending, it felt really abrupt and that more was still coming but sadly nothing did.

I wasn't sure about Odysseus because at the start of the book he really does come across as a hero and well liked by everyone but when he meets the Cyclops he comes across as a bit of a jerk and in need of someone to knock him down to size a bit but that doesn't happen. Even after evething Odysseus goes through when he returns home he goes back to his cocky, arrogent self which made it really hard to see Odysseus as a hero. A blood thirsty warior sure no problem but not a hero!
I loved Penelope, Athena and Telemachus and the other characters who had small parts. And really your meant to hate the suitors which wasn't hard to do.

I don't know if I'd recommend The Odyssey, I don't think it's a book for everyone and I don't think it's a must read because it's classed as a Classic but I think some people will enjoy it. I think this is a great book to study because it shows us lots of different things that no longer happen in this world. The whole hospitiality side of the book was something I really liked and enjoyed. Also it was great to read a book for study that mentioned the gods, although it's not something we've really discussed.

Overall, The Odyssey is a good book that some people will enjoy and some people won't. And if you've read all this you deserve a freaking medel and a cookie as a thank you! :)


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Can I go over the speed limit if it’s an emergency?

By: Ticket Lawyer on October 10, 2017

Police officers seem to do it all the time. Even without any apparent emergency, it’s not uncommon to see police flying down the road at outrageous speeds, only to see that same police cruiser parked outside a coffee shop when you catch up a few minutes later. Police, of course, are given exemptions by the law as long as they meet certain criteria to prove that they disregarded the law because of an emergency. But can the regular law-abiding driver do the same? What if you needed to get to the hospital in an emergency? Or what if you are a surgeon, and must race to the hospital to do life-saving work? In those cases, can you go over the speed limit if it’s an emergency?

Surprisingly, the courts are not often lenient on allowing drivers to speed even in cases of presumed emergency. There’s even a case of a police officer being convicted of speeding-related offences because of his actions involving a police pursuit!

My wife is extremely pregnant, officer. We need to get to the hospital NOW!

This case involved a driver whose wife began having contractions as they were driving home. She was also bleeding, and neither the driver nor his wife had a cell phone they could use to call for emergency help.

The driver decided he had no other choice but to speed to a hospital in another town where a caesarean section could be performed. He was pulled over less than 30 minutes into the drive. The couple asked the officer for an escort, but were denied and given a speeding ticket instead. Shortly after, the couple were pulled over again, for speeding. This time the officer called for an ambulance.

The driver even presented a note from the doctor, who said it was “unavoidable” for the couple to speed to the hospital. The court disagreed. The man was fined about $400 and had his licence suspended.

On appeal, the court upheld the sentence and said that “at these speeds the accused was a clear danger” to himself and others on the highway; and even suggested that the driver – who didn’t have a cell phone – should have just driven to the closest hospital to flag down an ambulance.

I am a doctor, officer. And they need me at the hospital!

This case from 2015 involved a doctor who, already on his way home from work, received a call that he had to get back “right away” for a patient who was severely ill. He was pulled over by Vancouver police and issued a ticket.

The doctor was convicted of the offence when the matter came to a hearing. His lawyer, aware of the law, negotiated a very advantageous plea agreement and the doctor instructed his lawyer to take the deal. Then he has second thoughts. The doctor appealed his guilty plea, but he did not appeal his conviction in time. In dismissing his appeal the court addressed the merits his defence for speeding:

“The defence essentially is that, as a physician who is needed to come to the aid of a seriously ill patient, he is excused from those provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act relating to speeding.

In my view, his defence has no merit.”

But for police officers, it’s OK to speed, right?

Yes and no. Section 122 of the Motor Vehicle Act provides exemptions for emergency vehicles to exceed the speed limit, to go past a stop sign or red light without stopping, to travel in opposing lanes, and to stop or stand in traffic, as long as regulations are followed.

You can see the regulations here: they govern topics such as considerations for engaging in a police pursuit, emergency response by police officers and other emergency vehicle operators, rules for entering an intersection, among other concerns.

Having said that, police officers cannot ignore traffic laws if there is no emergency, even if they are driving their police vehicles and are on-duty.

An RCMP officer in BC found out the hard way when he was pulled over by another Mountie. The officer who pulled him over didn’t know he was a cop at first – the officer who received the ticket was in an unmarked vehicle – but decided to give him a ticket for speeding anyway.

How fast was the speeding cop going? 147 km/h in a 110 km/h zone. Not even enough to qualify for excessive speeding. But rules are rules. The officer who received the ticket challenged it, arguing that he was on-duty and on the way to a work-related course in Vancouver.

The officer said he had cruise control set at 130 km/h, since he thought there was a 20 km/h “grace or tolerance” for the speed limit, and was going downhill at the time.

The court found the officer guilty. It found that the officer failed to perform a risk analysis set out in the regulations for the s. 122 exemption and couldn’t justify exceeding the speed limit at the time.

What if lights and sirens are on to pursue a fleeing crook?

In most cases, yes, officers would be allowed to speed to pursue a fleeing criminal. However, it’s about the circumstances and whether risk assessment factors were accounted for. In an Ontario case, a police officer was found guilty of stunt driving after travelling at 191 km/h in a 80 km/h zone (stunt driving can be defined as 50 km/h over speed limit), while pursuing a gas thief.

It was undisputed that there was, at some point during the night, a police pursuit of a gasoline thief. It was also undisputed that the officer was travelling at that speed in response to the gasoline theft. However, the case came down to how there was a call from dispatch in a neighbouring jurisdiction for all pursuing units to “terminate” the chase.

It was a few minutes after this call from dispatch that the officer in question, while speeding at 191 km/h, crashed into a ditch. The court found the officer was reckless and lacked consideration for the safety of the public and for himself. It said that even though the call for officers to “terminate” the pursuit came from a neighbouring police jurisdiction, the officer was bound to follow that instruction.
While this case occurred in Ontario, like almost every other police jurisdiction in the world, this officer was permitted to speed – but had to meet certain criteria to do so.

What if it was necessary to speed? If there was no other choice?

It’s easy to imagine a number of scenarios where there is no other choice but to get somewhere quickly. After all, this is the same reason emergency vehicles are given an exemption. So what if there was a life-threatening issue that could only be resolved through speeding?

The law is not clear on this matter. On the one hand, speeding is what is referred to as an “absolute liability” offence. An absolute liability offence is an offence where there’s no requirement to prove you intended to break the law, or that you had failed to take reasonable care to not break the law. In other words, regardless of the reason you broke the law, you’re still guilty.

However, even in absolute liability cases, it is possible for an accused to claim a defence of necessity. A leading case on the defence of necessity was established in 1984. And among its considerations, the ruling had determined that the defence of necessity requires that there is “no reasonable legal alternative” to breaking the law. In other words, breaking the law was “inevitable, unavoidable” and there was “no reasonable opportunity for an alternative course of action that does not involve a breach of the law.”

As you can imagine, it can be difficult to prove that speeding was an absolute necessity and that there was really no alternative whatsoever but to speed. The important point, however, is that there is a defence for going over the speed limit if it’s an emergency. As BC Driving lawyers, we are some of the sharpest minds in driving law, and are very familiar with these defences. Give us a call. 604-608-1200.


Καταλύματα επιλεγμένου ξενοδόχου

Βρίσκεσαι στην:

Ελλάδα Κρήτη Ρέθυμνο Ρέθυμνο Ρέθυμνο

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Villa Makena

Περιγραφή ξενοδόχου

Villa Makena

Διεύθυνση: Perama, Rethymno, Crete
Τηλέφωνο: +302810330025
Email: info@leaderstay.com

Γενική περιγραφή

Makena Villa is a semi detached split - level house of 120 square meters and it has the possibility of accommodating up to 6 individuals using the 2 couches as a bed. There are three bedrooms upstairs including the baby room and an equipped bathroom and a veranda with immense view. The ground floor is a big space including living room, dining room, a completely equipped kitchen with oven, refrigerator, kettle, coffee-maker, juice maker, toaster etc as well as a WC with shower, and a big veranda. It is located on the top of a green hill, where only the chirping of birds can disturb the silence. The villa is 800m away from the village of Perama which can be found in the middle of the island of Creta in the county of Rethimnon. It is surrounded by a marvellous garden 2.000 square meters, appropriate for people who love peace and nature with a lot of varieties of flowers and trees. The swimming pool in the middle of the garden, is surrounded by 600m2 of grass is ideal for relaxation and games in water, as it also has water massage.

mountain rural village

Παροχές ξενοδοχείου

activities guide, air condition, audio tape player, books, books adult, books kids, bottled water, CD, central heating, clothes washer, cold water dispenser, cook, DVD, events allowed, games adults, games kids, hair dryer, highchair, hot tub, iron, iron board, laundry soap, linens provided, local activities guide, local maps, mosquito magnet, mosquito net / curtains, paper towels, radio, safe, satellite or cable, soaps basic, sofa bed, sun bed, tiled stove, toilet paper, towels provided, toys kids, TV, 4 ring stove, blender, coffee maker, cooking utensils, crockery, dish washer, freezer, glassware, grill, hob, kettle, kitchenette, oven, refrigerator, spices, toaster, barbecue, bed chairs, childs swing, garden, garden chairs, gated community, outdoor grill, outdoor grill charcoal, outdoor shower, oven, patio stone - concrete, porch - lanai, terrace, jetted tub in bathroom #1, shower in bathroom #2, shower in bathroom #1, shower combi in bathroom #1, tub in bathroom #1,

Παιδιά κι επιπλέον κρεβάτια

2 baby crib in double bedrooms #2,

caretaker, housekeeper, maid,

Χώρος στάθμευσης

parking on street, private parking,

beachcombing, bird watching, deepsea fishing, hiking, hunting small game, jet skiing, luaus, mountain climbing, paddle boating, sight seeing, snorkeling, sound - bay fishing, cycling, fishing, horse riding, mountain biking, mountaineering, scuba diving or snorkeling, surfing, swimming, tennis, walking, water skiing,

Πολιτική ξενοδοχείου

Γενικά The reservation is valid if you receive e-mail confirmation of your Prepayment for the next 24-48 hours from the Villa manager
Check in 12:00:00
Check out 10:30:00
Ακύρωση κρατήσεων

Cancellation more than 4 weeks before check-in: 25% of totalprice not returned. Cancellation 4 weeks or less before check-in: 100% of totalprice not returned.

25% deposit on booking date and a balance of 75% 4 weeks before the check-in.

Αποδεκτές πιστωτικές κάρτες Visa, Mastercard
Κατοικίδια allowed

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Not all Composites are Created Equal

Composite decking has become a most popular decking option. The primary reason for this is the low maintenance and long lifespan of today’s composites. But the word “composite” is used in a very general sense, and in reality, any product that is made from combining multiple materials is technically a composite. In the case of decking, this tends to be wood fibers and plastic. But even at that, it comes in a variety of options.

While there are hundreds of composite decking manufacturers, only a few really dominate the industry.  Trex is the industry leader and the original composite decking manufacturer. Trex is the most widely distributed composite decking and can be purchased from many local lumber yards, and pretty much all box stores (although they only typically carry the low-mid range lines or limited sizes). Trex not only manufacturers decking, but also railing, lighting, and other deck accessories.

Fiberon is another industry giant that produces stunning composite decking and railing.

Another composite decking giant is TimberTech. Their products are stunning and some of the higher lines do a very good job of replicating rustic handscraped hardwood.

MoistureShield is a great option for those looking for a more affordable composite deck option. MoistureShield is one of the very few composite decking materials approved for use in ground contact or water submersible applications, due to their unique manufacturing process.

If you have questions about what lumber yards carry these different types of composite decking, please Contact Us and we’d be happy to help!


Basic Info

Graphic Novels Library Malta GNLM

GNLM is an NGO and youth organisation with the aim to promote the educational side of comics. We aim to introduce graphic novels and comics into libraries and schools to promote literacy and make education fun by using subjects and characters that students can relate to.Mission Statement:Education through Comics and Pop Culture.Description:To promote Literacy and Information Literacy tools through comics and graphic novels.To promote cultural awareness in other mediums such as Films, Arts and Literature.To have a place where educators or interested parties can meet and discuss topics of interest that fall under the “Geek” or “Nerd” labels while connecting and engaging people with similar interests.To create a space to share thoughts.To be a resource to teachers, parents, academics, etc…. aiding people to better understand the comics culture and how they can use comics to educate or teach skills that are essential to a National Literacy Framework.To assist in presentations, discussions and organise workshops to students and educators alike on how comics, films, arts, literature can be used as an educational tool in any related subject.To promote local artists who want to collaborate with us in creating a market for comics, films and art produced locally.For more information check out our Facebook page or send an email at gnlmalta@gmail.com


Nova Scotia Apples - Waxing
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Nova Scotia Apples

All About N.S. Apples
Eating and Cooking | Apple Attractions

Eating and Cooking

Consumers are becoming more health conscious, and as a result, a new awareness of fresh fruits and vegetables has developed. This has created an increased demand for, and consumption of, fresh produce. In order to ensure that consumers are receiving the best possible product, the industry is continually trying to improve their products to ensure the longest shelf life and best nutrition possible. The use of protective coatings on apples is one method used in this effort.

The Chinese were using waxing processes on fruits as early as the twelfth century, but it wasn't until 1922 that waxing was introduced for widespread use. A thin, wax-type coating is applied to apples as a means of protection.

As fruits and vegetables ripen in the field, most develop a natural wax-like protective layer called a cuticle for protection from the sun's rays. After harvesting, many produce items (including apples) are washed to remove any dirt or dust. Unfortunately, this washing process also removes the waxy cuticle.

Apples are 80-90% water by weight. If they are left without the cuticle, the water quickly begins to evaporate, resulting in a poor product in a relatively short period of time. To maintain freshness and appearance, wax-type coatings may be used. The amount of protective coating is very small. For example: four litres of coating is all that is required to protect five tons of apples - that is approximately 30,000 medium-sized apples.

Naturally, the industry's foremost concern is consumer safety, including the safety of substances used as protective coatings. These coatings may be evaluated by Health Canada to ensure the safety of the product. If, however, you are still concerned about protective coatings, washing in warm water will remove most of the coating and peeling the fruit will completely remove any coating used.


PBY Catalina was an American and Canadian-built flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s. PB is a Patrol Bomber and the Y was Consolidated Aircraft’s manufacturer identification. It could be equipped with depth charges, bombs, torpedoes and .50 caliber machine guns and was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. The PBY Catalina was the most successful flying boat ever produced. First flown in March 1935, they were in production for over ten years and were designed and built by the American aircraft manufacturers, Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California with numerous versions - PBY-1 to PBY-6A

The Catalina in RAAF service, despite its vulnerability due to lack of speed, was a front line aircraft effectively taking the fight to the Japanese through its long distance mine laying flights.  Famous were the "Black Cat" Catalina’s which, painted matt black, roamed the western Pacific from December 1942 finding Japanese ships by radar at night and picking Allied survivors from ships and aircraft in boats and dinghies. RAAF Catalinas were famous for their precision laying of mines in enemy water ways and harbors. In this role it performed a substantial contribution towards victory for the Allies in the Pacific War by blockading essential oil ports and closing the "back streets" to Japan.  View the AUS web site.


Bioethics Blogs

Evidence and the Marketing of the HPV Vaccine

Abby Lippman, Alana Cattapan, and Kelly Holloway argue for rigorous, conflict-free research into the safety and effectiveness of the HPV vaccine and for a critical approach to its use.

In a recent post on Impact Ethics, Juliet Guichon focuses on the Calgary Catholic School Board’s inclusion of a letter from Catholic authorities in the information and consent packages for the in-school administration of an HPV vaccine. Guichon objects to one of the claims in the letter—that the vaccine is not the best way to prevent cervical cancer. She insists that the vaccine is “safe and effective.” Although Guichon’s overall goal to prevent cervical cancer is a laudable one, her unequivocal endorsement of the HPV vaccine as “safe and effective” can be challenged. The vaccine may have been deemed safe and effective enough for distribution, but we simply do not know enough about it at this stage to make any definitive claims.

To be clear, we agree with Guichon that all who are offered an HPV vaccination in-school or elsewhere (and their parents) must be given accurate and full information in order to make truly informed choices. But we have concerns about evidence and the marketing of the HPV vaccine, particularly as HPV vaccination programs have been made a systematic part of public healthcare in several provinces.

To start, many of the studies supporting the safety and effectiveness of the HPV vaccine are compromised by conflict of interest. Nearly all of the research cited by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in its 2014 opinion paper endorsing the use of the vaccine was partially or completely funded by Merck (the makers of one HPV vaccine, Gardasil) or by GlaxoSmithKline (the makers of a similar HPV vaccine, Cervarix).


Our vegetables are doing well and the corn is coming along. 3 weeks ago this drought has caused us to break out 2300 feet of hose in order to keep the crops watered which is no small task, it takes many hours to water one section of crop. I have been focusing on the squash, cukes, tomatoes, beans, chard and kale. We have lost a small part of our corn crops due to no water. Unfortunately, it almost impossible to water corn with a hose. We are working hard to save the funds to put irrigation in place and the struggle is real. Not enough water means not enough crops and that means not enough money to invest in our farm in that magnitude, it will happen one day, so thankful I have a lot of hoses.

Here is our favorite pesto recipe.

Makes about 1 cup
10 garlic scapes, finely chopped
About 1/2 cup olive oil Sea salt


Modern Art Oxford.

Modern Art

Modern Art Oxford

This gallery was originally founded in 1966 and is World renowned for producing exhibitions that are innovative and influential.

It is a reflection of contemporary visuals culture and represents society today, thus relating the new with the old when referencing back to Rivers Pitt Museum. It is a platform to allow artists to create new relationships with a 21st century audience.

Kiki Kogelnik: Fly Me to the Moon

Fly Me To The Moon were produced by Kogelnik during her time in New York in the 1960s and 1970s. The artwork relfects the time of the cold war era and the race for Space was clearly a priorty for Russia & America. During this time, there were growing concerns for nuclear war.

Maybe Kiki at this time reflected what would happen to mankind if this was to have ever occured. It reminds me slightly of previous genocide images that you see, relating to organisation of the figures, and yet one could say the "radio-active colours" are representational of nuclear threat.

images : B. Stewart (2015)

Josh Kilne

It was like the Teletubbies had grown up into Stormtroopers and where now feeding a different type of message.

I felt that the exhibition was Yet all of the people who were projected on the video, were morphed into a generic looking person.

Kline uses Obama President’s 2009 inaugural speech which has augmented with facial substitution software,

Kline is highlighting the breakdown of privacy rights within the 21st century. The real identity of the people is never shown, and it was eerie in the sense of a feeling of a "new world order"

How does it relate to Pitt Rivers

In a 100 years from now, are anthropologists going to be looking at Artists work to help study our culture, thinking and social demographic?

The answer would be yes... Everything that we create that identifies the cultural thinking and ethos at the time, would be considered an artefact.iki & Kilne have about 50 years between them, but yet the fear of political and social change is still there, whether it be nuclear war or privacy rights, these artists are reflecting it, in their art. The art work will one day become an artefact.

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Beck Stewart Images- Artists Exhibitions Credited in blog

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Total Number of words made out of Chorus = 35

Chorus is an acceptable word in Scrabble with 11 points. Chorus is an accepted word in Word with Friends having 12 points. Chorus is a 6 letter medium Word starting with C and ending with S. Below are Total 35 words made out of this word.

5 letter Words made out of chorus

1). hours 2). hocus 3). crush 4). scour

4 letter Words made out of chorus

1). crus 2). ouch 3). sour 4). orcs 5). rhos 6). such 7). rhus 8). hour 9). rush 10). curs 11). rocs 12). cosh 13). ours

3 letter Words made out of chorus

1). roc 2). rho 3). our 4). ors 5). orc 6). ohs 7). cur 8). cos 9). cor 10). sou

2 letter Words made out of chorus

1). uh 2). so 3). sh 4). os 5). or 6). oh 7). us

Also see:- Words starting with Chorus

Chorus Meaning :- A band of singers and dancers. A company of persons supposed to behold what passed in the acts of a tragedy- and to sing the sentiments which the events suggested in couplets or verses between the acts; also- that which was thus sung by the chorus. An interpreter in a dumb show or play. A company of singers singing in concert.

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Note There are 2 vowel letters and 4 consonant letters in the word chorus. C is 3rd, H is 8th, O is 15th, R is 18th, U is 21th, S is 19th, Letter of Alphabet series.


Promoting Good Governance.

US Republicans Unveil Replacement For Obamacare

Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Paul Ryan
Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Paul Ryan

US House Republicans have unveiled a long-awaited plan to replace The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, the signature healthcare law of former US President Barack Obama.

The proposed legislation would repeal penalties for those who do not buy health insurance.

It would also replace income-based subsidies to help with the cost of premiums with age-based tax credits.

Democrats immediately criticised the plan, saying it would drive up the costs of health care.

Obamacare has helped over 20 million previously uninsured Americans to get health insurance.

However increases in insurance premiums have irked many Americans.

The plan from Republicans in the US House of Representatives would reduce the role of the federal government in helping Americans afford healthcare.

“Today marks an important step toward restoring healthcare choices and affordability back to the American people,” the White House said in a statement.

President Donald Trump looked forward to working with Congress to repeal and replace the law, it said.

The president has described Obamacare, which was passed in 2010 and is seen as Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement, as “a disaster”.

The Republican Party has majorities in both chambers of Congress but divisions remain on the details of what should replace the Affordable Care Act, which is popular in many states, including some governed by Republicans.

The plan is expected to cover fewer people than those who gained insurance under Obama.

A group of four Republican senators have already said that a draft of the legislation they reviewed did not adequately protect low-income people who received Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

The proposal unveiled would preserve some popular elements of the existing law, including allowing young people to remain on their parents’ insurance plans until the age of 26.

Insurers would also remain banned from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.

While penalties for those who don’t buy health insurance would be scrapped, those who let their coverage lapse could see their premiums raised by 30% by insurers.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said the bill would “drive down costs, encourage competition, and give every American access to quality, affordable health insurance”.

He said no one would have “the rug pulled out from under them”.

But some conservatives have already voiced concerns that the bill does not go far enough.

“It still looks like Obamacare-lite to me,” said Senator Rand Paul.

On the Democratic side, US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the plan would “force Americans to pay more, all so insurance companies can pad their bottom line”.

He also criticised measures that would block for one year federal funding to Planned Parenthood, an organisation opposed by many in the Republican Party because it provides abortions.


Methodical literature in physics class 7-8

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Methodical literature on school physics course, widely represented in the press made quite traditional: it is either a set of ready-made solutions to problems, or tests for the exam.

This handbook is offered to students of pedagogical high school department of physics, young teachers of physics, as well as entrants in the technical college for self-study for the exam.

The manual for 7,8,10,11 grade offered:
1. Analysis of typical mistakes entrants to higher education.
2. An algorithmic approach to solving typical problems and the study of some theoretical issues, usually causing difficulties for students.
3. Each section ends with physics:
a) the reference work on the two options.
B) the question of the quiz.
B) questions for the competition.
D) tests for the exam.

In solving a magnetism applicants often can not show graphically that the current conductors are repelled when currents flow in them in opposite directions and are attracted when currents flow in one direction.
In addressing this issue should observe the following procedure (algorithm):
1. Draw the wire cross section and specify the direction of the currents in them.
2. After each conductor to conduct a magnetic line of force from the neighboring conductor and indicate its direction.
3. Build the magnetic induction at the points of power lines passing through each conductor.
4. Using the left hand rule, to build strength Ampere for each conductor.

Physics teacher SGTU (Saratov State Technical University) Snopko KN

Additional information

Methodical package designed K.N.Snopko, compares favorably with the traditional benefits of the initial course of physics in the content package includes an outline introductory course in physics subject images and letter formulas and definitions of terms.

This form of abstract freedom of the teacher leaves the verbal processing of the subject. This, in turn, contributes to the formation and deposition in the minds of the student of physical knowledge in the same adequate form: the objective image and symbolic form. The package offers a variety of forms and techniques for working teachers - from written tests to quizzes and crosswords. It is assumed that the examples of different ways of training activities for young teachers will not methodical regulations, and samples for which he will be able to enrich and accumulate their own experience, to form "their" package.

The variety of forms of employment offered to the students not only contribute to their entertaining, and creates conditions for the development of scientific knowledge of the physical. In particular, the package contains such characteristic is the physical form of knowledge work as a "thought experiment" on the level of difficulty, accessible seventh-graders (known role in the history of theoretical physics has played a thought experiment moving observer at Einstein).

Thus, the approach to teaching physics, proposed K.N.Snopko, is in line with modern trends in the development of scientific knowledge and deserves full support.

Physicist, PhD, methodology consultant Pugs N.N.Slonov

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Houston American Energy Co. (NYSEAMERICAN:HUSA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 29th, there was short interest totalling 3,080,699 shares, an increase of 2.5% from the June 15th total of 3,005,056 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,970,473 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 6.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

HUSA traded up $0.01 on Wednesday, reaching $0.26. 517,352 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 569,404. Houston American Energy has a twelve month low of $0.22 and a twelve month high of $0.76.

Houston American Energy Company Profile


Tuesday, 24 July 2012

                        The day after Christmas 2004, it was an ordinary morning for all of us but the pet dogs, until we learned about nasty tsunami that had just struck East Indian coastline. Running amok and howling they seemed restless. We are housed at least 7 km from nearest seashore for any kind of signs to be felt apparently. Later, I came to know from my friends that we are not the only to witness this extraordinary pet behavior. Although I’ve heard about animal intuitive prediction of natural calamity before2 this direct witness urged me to learn more about this phenomenon. This phenomenon has been observed throughout the history and has heavily tinted our folklore. And this phenomenon has been venerated and harnessed adeptly by many Human societies3 familiar with and are prone to natural calamity

                    The question that rises at once on one’s mind is ‘How is this possible?’ Well, the researchers have a great deal of struggle with answering that one and the claims are as diverse as, explaining it as an inborn capability which are genetically embedded, to, much familiar hypothesis of associating the behavior with senses4. The next question would be ‘Why is this capability restricted to animals?’ Inclined towards hypothesis of natural calamities being sensed by the animals, I’d try to answer the second question in this article with backing of scientific facts.

                  According to the hypothesis animals can either, predict earthquake by sensing the subtle pre-earthquake seismic tremors5 (p-waves), slight biochemical or electromagnetic anomalies. This is generally performed by lower organisms like Invertebrates, Amphibians, Birds and Reptiles taking advantage of their low body mass, Or by observing these lower organisms intuitionally and making an authentic warning out of it, which is indeed done by higher organisms like mammals6. Almost all animals either sense or intuitionally observe the animals sensing it, except human beings7.
There are arguments saying that this is an ability evolved by natural selection after number of earthquake encounters by those species indigenously not an evolutionarily retained one from lower ancestral organisms. These arguments are made flimsy by plenty of available anecdotal references stating animals from region unfamiliar with earthquake having reacted positively during the incident which they were unaware of, for past thousands of generations. This hardly gives any scope for evolution by selection to occur. So it can be assumed as essentially a common behavior of more or less all animals, an aspect of some primitive ancestral organism evolutionarily retained through all evolutionary lineages leading to modern species. This assumption makes its absence in human beings is rather shocking. The incapability of human beings to sense the earthquake or any other seismic calamity, directly, is understandable but the unawareness about the natural world around us intuitionally can only be understood by rendering a close peek at our evolution.

                       To understand this phenomenon we need to ensure this behavior in our closest living evolutionary cousin, The Chimpanzee8. Chimpanzees of Central African tropical rain forests 400 miles off Gombe national park living in and around active volcanic mountains are prone to both tremors and volcanic eruptions. Though no authentic researches are done in above aspect of Chimpanzees they can be assumed to do so, as they are more intuitionally motivated than human beings, quoting from Roger Fouts’ “Next of Kin” ‘Chimps while revealing immensely great sequential thinking capability amazingly close to Human beings, through ASL (American Sign Language) thought to them, on the other hand posses sound animal instincts and high level sensory coordination which explains their uncanny ability as successful tropical forest survivors’

                 The researches on human evolution confirms that it was possibly spurred by the geographical isolation (one of the major evolutionary stimuli enlisted by neo-Darwinists Alfred Russell Wallace and August Weismann) of the tropical forest dwelling common ape ancestor, of both Human beings and Chimpanzees, from its natural habitat to relatively dry, prehistoric, savannah ecosystem. The reason for this isolation is blamed on the contemporary rise of Ethiopian rift valley which might had denied part of the region from monsoon rain, blocking its route.

                    Only a small population was isolated from the main population. Consequently they were forced to inbreed (Mating between close family relatives), a situation known in scientific community as ‘genetic bottleneck’9. This sudden exposure to a different ecosystem pushes the population to a state of desperation to find its own ecological niche, necessitating whole new survival tactics.

                        The species is forced to an intense unidirectional natural selection; this is facilitated by the ‘genetic bottleneck’ phenomenon. This natural selection resulted in an array of anatomical evolution for both hunting and gathering of new food resources, physiological evolution which can be attributed to the efficient assimilation of food and maintenance of homeostatic (Temperature balance, Water balance, Osmotic balance and so on ) balance compulsory for the new environment. And lastly neurophysiologic evolution, the one we are going to deal with, in this article.

                          Comparing the brain of human being with Chimpanzee brain- which shows little development in size from fossilized common ancestral species- gives us a general idea about our own neurophysiologic evolution. Chimpanzees have an average brain mass of 420 g which is much lower than the average Human brain mass (1300-1400 g), even if their low body mass (25-45 kg) is taken into consideration. That is, the brain mass / body mass ratio of Chimpanzee is much lower than ours10. In addition to that, in Human brain neurons have more number of interlinking synapses, which counts 1000 to 10,000 in each neuron. Human brain has enlarged version of all four major lobes with remarkably so, the frontal lobe.

                      The functions of these lobes are vaguely divided. Eminent neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran explains them as follows: The occipital lobe in the back is concerned with vision. The temporal lobe is concerned with hearing, emotions and certain aspects of visual perception. The parietal lobes of the brain- at the sides of the head-are concerned with creating a three-dimensional representation of the spatial layout of the external world and also of your own body within that three – dimensional representation. And lastly the frontal lobes, perhaps the most mysterious of all. They are concerned with some very enigmatic aspects of the human mind and human behavior such as your moral sense, your wisdom, your ambition and other activities of the mind which we know very little about”.

                As he points out the functions of frontal lobe is a little known but is, more or less, concerned with what one would dare calling ‘Humanness’. Though development of frontal lobe particularly “Broca’s area” contributed more to the human evolution and eventually ‘civilization’, the development of other three lobes which endorsed the former, is crucial. Particularly the development of TPO junction (Temporo-Parieto-Occipital junction), the one which is primarily involved highly coordinated linguistic activities like reading, writing, speaking, listening.

                        As you can notice, all of these are combined activities of; processing the sensory signal which involves language to a final sensory representation, then channeling them to various regions of the cerebrum where various interpretations are made pertaining to the connotations or implications it carries. These interpretation made are based on acquired knowledge from different sources and experiences and they depend on the region of cerebrum interpreting it, for example reading a word ‘apple’ would be interpreted by inferotemporal region as ‘a fruit of some kind’; on the other hand, in Wernicke’s region or other temporal regions the word evokes subtle nuances like ‘I can eat it’, ‘I can smell it’, ‘keeps the doctor away’ and so on. The linguistic interpretations are made primarily in temporal region of the brain. As one can see, these interpretations are mere abstractions and are not coherent. In human brain, cross-modal abstractions are formed, almost all the time, offering metaphors, allusions and other kinds of abstractions, for example roundness of apple evoking the thought of football. This is a kind of abstraction Chimpanzees are not known to form so far, though capable of other high level mental abstractions.

                     V.S.Ramchandran suggests that triggering of language evolution might be by this phenomenon in the brain. He advocates this supposition revealing the amazingly analogous relation between language and synesthesia11. This can be observed by noticing your mouth movement while pronouncing words like ‘teeny weenie’, ‘little’, ‘diminutive’ you can see your mouth is actually miming the smallness of the object. It might sound absurd that this small phenomenon might have triggered evolution of language but ‘that’s all it takes’, he says.
        The presence of qualia(the ineffable subjective sensation, in words of V.S.Ramchandran)a rather complicated phenomenon, helps managing these complex range of interpretations made and ushers one such interpretation, by encoding them with itself, towards amygdala-the gateway to limbic system-in the form of abstract thought.

                Limbic system of the brain is where emotions are laden and reflexes are originated. Qualia non-arbitrarily select one such interpretation which is biologically worthy ushering to amygdala.

                Qualia collectively is a phenomenon which, in my words, evolved in conscious brain to anchor the abstract interpretations of specific biological significance to the limbic system.

For example, apple in a salad bowl invokes interpretations of it as a food with more priority and apple poised in a decorated basket in a posh hotel conference table invokes interpretations of it as an object for beautification with more priority, of course in addition to those made in the first circumstance. This is where qualia contributes by the supporting ‘food interpretation’, essential for the species survival. Reflexes originated are the result of analyzing done in the limbic system with aid of memory, emotion and learning. Reflexes are then directed back to cerebrum where reactions are ‘negotiated and planned’ either, in terms of language which takes place in left frontal lobe generally and in the other frontal lobe for 20% of left handers, or in terms of physical activities in other regions. This ‘negotiation’ is very arbitrary, that is, person has control over it. The reflexes can be manipulated, neglected and even turned down in certain occasions, like the ornamental apple in our example which is not eaten, unless the person is audaciously hungry. The whole process is not just single to and fro signal transmission but relayed innumerous times with constant sensory updates.

                    This process of dealing with sensory representation is the same in all other mammalian brain with cerebral growth, except for the number of interpretations being lesser, less linguistic processing or planning of reaction and so is the manipulative nature of cerebrum on reflexes12. Humans also posses comparatively higher number of mirror neurons13, essential for any kind of conversation to proceed.

                 This neurophysiologic evolution was very much needed but hadn’t been uniform like other evolutionary traits, as there were descendant species which were microchepalic (smaller head size, which is in turn, smaller brain size) than its ancestors, though the evolution was not just in brain’s volume. Although our predecessor hominids like Homo erectus, Homo habilis had considerable development in brain size than their ancestors, the surge took place at some time roughly around 52,000 BP in Homo sapiens14, which is approximately 6 to 6.5 million years after the split from ancestral species. This is a result of sudden developmental growth of cerebral region or, more crudely, grey matter of the brain. Grey matter or cerebral region of our brain is responsible for the sequential thought (thinking in successive steps), while more evolutionarily ancient unhemisphered white matter constituting parts like hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, as I had mentioned earlier, is responsible for the origin of emotional reflexes with the help of learning and memory.

                     The developmental growth in cerebrum adjoined by the elongation of vocal cord gave us the upperhand over other savannah predators by improving our lingual and linguistic skills, enabling the co-ordination required for hunting in groups, and tool making ability which is highly sequential. Making of a tool involves thinking in number of steps, for example making a stone dagger is a result following abstract thoughts in sequence;

1.     I must hunt to get meat that I can eat
2.     I need a stone to stab the animal
3.     The stone stabs better if sharp
4.     The stone can be sharpened by chipping with another stone.
5.     The stone for chipping can be made by polishing it with another.

The sequential thought to our extent is a feat no animal has achieved so far, for instance, chimpanzees are known to use and even making15 tool but not using a made tool to furnish another. Now, before we start boasting ourselves about art, literature ultimately ‘The civilization’ that sequential thought has accomplished, there are certain drawbacks which we must confront.
            We above discussed the vaguely simplified procedure as to, ‘How conscious sensory representations are dealt with, in the brain?’ . There is another sensory pathway particularly in vision which is much more primitive called ‘the unconscious old pathway’ as opposed to ‘the new pathway’( the one we are conscious of).

Both old and new visual sensory pathways are shown above
(The pathway to superior colliculus is ‘old’)

                The old pathway is the primal pathway the first to evolve among primitive animals, ones those possessed just limbic system of the brain. This pathway serves all the survival needs for the organisms which are both less complex and unable to afford the energy lavish cerebral operation. In higher organisms, this old pathway is involved in essential unconscious physical orientation like locating object spatially in the visual field, reaching out for it or swiveling the eyeballs towards it. In addition to these, in Human beings, it also does the job of snapping one out of his sequential thinking, of any sort, when needed.

                                         This can easily be understood by visualizing the following everyday incident, imagine a person having an animated argument with his friend, both walking down a busy street, the person is not conscious about the things happening in the street, the noises of the busy traffic, walking through with the help of his unconscious old pathway to limbic system, until he sees or hears something peculiar like a dog or a pit laying on the way. It is the old pathway that receives this sensory alert and gives rise to alerting impulses with the help memory, learning, basic emotions and rather mysterious ‘intuition’. Such alerting impulses from unconsciously informed limbic system is relayed to cerebrum where it is negotiated by sequential abstractions before the respective sensory region is activated, the visual cortex, in above conceived incident. It is after this activation the persons’ consciousness is retrieved and he/she is aware of the situation. Such unconscious negotiation is necessary for higher animal to avoid negligible alarms to interrupt their thought process

                                 For example; one need not to stop an argument just because a housefly flying cross by but should consider stopping if it is a wasp. It should be understood that this negotiation is not just memory and learning based (which even limbic system can deal with) but involves logical thinking and other cerebral sequential abstractions. These cerebral abstractions analyze secondary details like ‘distance at which the wasp is potentially dangerous’ or ‘its direction of flight’. The old pathway is active not only when the person is out of his sensory consciousness but all the time. But when the person is sensuously conscious he or she need not rely on limbic alarms except intuitional ones.

                     Hence one can speculate that, unlike other unconscious limbic alarms (the dog’s on the way) which are learning or memory based, Intuitional alarms (migration or odd behavior of lower organisms prior to earthquake) are turned down to a great extent by negotiating sequential abstractions since they might not find them convincing and logical and are almost wholly blinded by overcrowding of other abstractions, remember, the individual is not conscious of these events in proceed. The animals with less cerebral brain mass/total brain mass ratio has less abstractions  negotiating with the intuitional alarm, so less is the possibility of it being neglected, hence translated almost completely to physical activity and in animals with no cerebral development, from limbic impulse directly to physical activity. The same intuitional alarms displayed by nature would hardly be observed by conscious sensory representation even if observed cannot be interpreted into an authentic warning without access to intuition embedded in limbic system.
                  The speculation of this article simply says that there is a greater possibility of intuitional alarms being neglected, in Human beings, and not that it will always be neglected. Our intuitions are not wiped out completely but are greyed gradually from childhood along with proportionate increase in grey matter, the cerebrum. The toll levied on the civilization.

1.     The intuitions discussed in this article are limbic intuitions and not cerebral intuitions.  The former deals with preliminary survival strategies while the latter with species’ specializations. We harbor a great deal of linguistic intuitions which are cerebral.

2.     Anecdotal evidences cannot be considered as good scientific proof. In fact there is some very serious debate going on whether the so-called canine premonition of seismic events is nothing but a backward reading of the dog behavior by humans. For example, how many times dogs barking and screeching happen and what is the statistically significant anomaly in dog behavior before seismic event? But there are also scientists –many- who have studied dog behavior and suggest that there is a high correlation between anomalous canine behavior and a seismic event.

3.     Both Chinese and African literature, folklore features abundant allusions and direct references about prediction of earthquake by observing animal behavior.

5.     Every earthquake comes as pair of two wave actions, first the very mild p-wave which is followed by the destructive S-wave. P-waves travel 2-4 km per second faster than S-waves. Among mammals P-waves can be sensed by vibration sensitive borrowing animals like Rodents and infrasound sensitive animals like Elephants.

6.     The mammals which cannot sense P-waves predict forthcoming earthquake by observing other animal those can sense it. These observations are made without consciousness which I would explain in latter part of the article.

7.     I intentionally added the word ‘intuitionally’ to avoid being confused with traditional knowledge educated through generations. Intuitions cannot be thought and are authentic.

8.     Chimpanzees are genetically found to be the closest living evolutionary cousin, though possesses just 22 chromosomes which is one less than us, shares 97.3% of same genetic code. This is surprisingly close that both genetic codes are more similar than many indistinguishable bird species.

9.     Under such condition, genetic diversity of the population is largely reduced; with less individual genetic anomalies, the population is destabilized regarding species’ evolution. As we all know, the steadiness of a species in terms of evolution is established by the random crossbreeding of individuals with genetic divergence.

10.                        The brain mass / body mass ratio of average Chimpanzee=420g/35000g =0.012 or 1.2%(approximately)                                                                            The brain mass / body mass ratio of average human (male) =1400g/65000g=0.022or2.2% (approximately)

11.                        Synesthesia is a phenomenon of which the person associates different sensory representations. For example associating number ‘5’ with color ‘red’ or ‘shape of a saw’ with sound ‘kiki’.

12.                        The natural habitat of chimpanzee the tropical forest is not challenging enough to reveal their sequential thinking ability completely. Those we know were only brought to light by creating artificial scenarios. Both behavioral scientists and neuropsychologists have no idea of chimps complete potential.

13.                        Mirror neurons are neurons which are responsible for proxying into other’s mental condition and sharing their thoughts by jumping from our own self, pausing the attributes which defines self like embodiment, agency, unity, continuity momentarily.

14.                        The researches on human evolution suggests that the so called great evolutionary leap (52000 BP) must have happened not only because of natural selection, which had been their ever since the split, but majorly because of sexual selection which is a stronger selection. Sexual selection can occur only in species practicing monogamy which had just been into practice among hominids around that time, Possibly due increased dependence of the hominids on food gathering, which women mastered, due to uncertainty of hunting at that time of ice age when lot of herbivorous species were driven to extinction.  As we know chimp communities practice polygamy, I think, it is less likely for such a surge in brain size to happen unless species goes through severe natural selection and practices monogamy which cannot be anticipated from their present tropical habitat.

15.                        The tool using and making capability of Chimps first discovered by Jane Goodall is broadly discussed in her critically acclaimed book ‘In the shadow of man’.

             I am extremely obliged to Mr.Aravindan Neelakandan, a thorough reader of science, who encouraged me a lot on writing this article, suggested some good books which helped me overcome my prejudice on Chimps as mere hairy apes and whose valuable comments helped me improve the article and formulate the notes which is a result of dialogue we had.

1.     Next of Kin –Roger Fouts ; William Morrow and Company, 1997
2.     Seven million years – Douglas Palmer; phoenix publishers, 2006
3.     Naked Ape – Desmond Morris; 1967
4.     The Emerging mind –Vilayanur. S. Ramachandran; Profile books ltd, 2004
5.     Phantoms in the brain - Vilayanur. S. Ramachandran; Quill William Morrow, 1998
6.     Apes, Men and language –Eugene Linden; Pelican books,1976
7.     The Dragons of Eden- Carl Sagan; Ballantine books, 1977
8.     The Third Chimpanzee – Jared Diamond;1999
9.     In the shadow of man- Jane Goodall
10.                        http.news.nationalgeograpic.com

  1. dear aji,
    i was just thinking and observing my thoughts over what you wrote. this loss of perceptional ability is closely related with the collective consciousness, which is very strong in primates and other lower spectral beings. i was just thinking is there any measure to retain or rediscover these hidden abilities and bring back it to surface. may be a secluded environment (like the island - robinson crusoe lives:))can help. will read vilaiyanur come back to you. .and on recognition and recalling part.. it suddenly reminded of my first year ayurvedic syllabus:) there are some interesting points there regarding perception and memory..which i will refer and write back to you on some other occasion...

    1. thank you
      i have not much idea about collective consciousness, how it can be looked upon from science, can it deduced into shared intiution or communication going on beyond human perceptional range, or is it mirror nuerons in high level activity.
      And with the robinson crusoe I think he's forced to cerebral activity as much as we are. where as in tribal shamans it's a different case

      thank you again and i'd love to be in touch with you

  2. /Dear Aji

    Please check grammar here: //Worshipped and exploited adeptly by many Human societies familiar with and are prone to natural calamity. // I think you should make it part of previous sentence. You may consider this: // This phenomenon has been observed throughout the history and has heavily tinted our folklore. And this phenomenon has been venerated and harnessed adeptly by many Human societies3 familiar with and are prone to natural calamity.//

    //The next question would be ‘Why is this capability restricted to animals?’ // Are not we humans animals too? :) 'non-human animals' may remove any hint of anthropo-centrism.

    //lower organisms// somewhere you can make it clear that what you mean is organisms in the lower or more ancient branches of phylo-genetic tree.

    A better rephrasing may be : There are arguments saying that this is an ability evolved by natural selection after frequent earthquakes acted as selection force on those species indigenous to those geographic zones and not an inherently retained one from lower ancestral organisms.

    On the whole the article has come out wonderfully and a new and a brave hypothesis.
    You have started the article by saying it is a hypothesis which is a wee-bit higher and rigorous than speculation,and have ended the article by saying this is speculation. You should stick on to either one of this. Though essentially this comes more in the category of speculation, this can be upgraded as a hypothesis if you can suggest and design a controlled experiment to check your hypothesis/speculation. The experiment should tell what outcomes are expected in case of the testing hypothesis being true or false.If you can make this suggestion in the end, then this article actually becomes an important first step in the search for a mystery.

    Once again a great work and an important start.

    and with luv/

    thank you uncle and i will makes those corrections. only a thorough reading can make these observations possible. I am immensly grateful for that

  3. Dear Ajithan,

    Well written article and a warm welcome to science writing!

    Yesterday I had written my comments in English but couldn't able to post in the old blog, hence I translated it into Tamil and shared for a discussion in a group. I copy it here.

    அஜிதன் 'the toll levied on the civilization' என்று முடித்திருந்தார். ஒருவகையில் அது உண்மையும் கூட. பழங்குடிகள் இயற்கைப் பேரிடர்களை நேரடியாகவோ, அல்லது அவ்வாறு அறியும் திராணி கொண்ட பிற உயிரிணங்களை அவதானிப்பதன் மூலமோ உணர்ந்து கொண்டு தப்பிக்கிறார்கள் என்பது உண்மையானால் சக மனிதர்களான நம்மால் அவ்வாறு புரிந்து கொள்ளப்பட முடியாததன் காரணம் 'நாகரிகமடைந்த' நமது மூளை அந்த எச்சரிக்கைகளை அலட்சியப்படுத்துவது தான். எடுத்துக்காட்டாக இன்னும் 'நாகரீக' வெளியுலக தொடர்பில்லாத, அசலான பழங்குடி வாழ்க்கை வாழும் அந்தமான் பழங்குடிகள் சுனாமியில் தப்பித்தார்கள், ஆனால் பக்கத்திலேயே வாழும் நிகோபார் தீவுகளின் நாகரீகமடைந்த நவீன உலகின் கருவிகளுக்குப் பழகிய பழங்குடிகளால் அது முடியவில்லை.

    இதன் ஒரு எளிய மாதிரியாக, இன்றும் காடுகளில் வாழும் நாகரிகமடைந்த ஆதிவாசிகள் சில குரங்குகள், பறவைகளின் ஒலியைக் கொண்டே காட்டில் ஊடுறுவும் பிற மிருகங்கள் அல்லது எளிய அபாயங்களை (காட்டுத்தீ...) ஊகித்து அறிவதை கவனிக்கலாம். இயற்கையுடன் இயையாத நம்மால் அதுவும் முடிவதில்லை. எனவே 'நாகரீகம்' புலன்கள் வழி அறியும் உள்ளுணர்வை மூடிவிட்டது என்றே கொள்ளலாம்.

  4. அல்லது இப்படியும் யோசிக்கலாம். பரிணாமத்தில் நாம் அடையும் வளர்ச்சி என்பதே ஒரு சமரசம் தான். வளர்ச்சியின் போக்கில் புதிய பண்புகளைப் பெறுவது போல் இருக்கும் சில பண்புகளை இழக்கவும் செய்யலாம். உதாரணமாக மனிதனுக்கு நெருக்கமான ஒரு பேரிணக் குரங்கிலிருந்து பிரிந்து பரிணாம பாய்ச்சல் அடைய முக்கியக் காரணம் திடீரென்று மூன்று மடங்கு பெரிய மூளை வளர்ச்சி வாய்க்கப் பெற்றது தான். இந்த மூளை வளர்சியால் தான் நமது தொடர்புறு சிந்தனைத் திறன் வளர்ச்சி அடைந்து இன்றைய 'முன்னேறிய' நிலையில் இருக்கிறோம். ஆனால் உடல் நிறை:மூளை அளவு விகிதாச்சாரப்படி பெரிய அளவு மூளை இல்லாத பிற உயிரிணங்களிடம் இருக்கும் சில பண்புகளை நாம் இழந்திருக்கலாம். உதாரணமாக பார்த்தல் எனப்து வெறும் வடிவங்களைப் பார்ப்பது மட்டுமல்ல. சில உயிரிணங்கள் புற ஊதா, அகச்சிவப்புக் கதிர்களைப் 'பார்க்கும்' சக்தி கொண்டவை (சில பாம்புகள், மூட்டைப்பூச்சி..), மீயொலி (ultrasound; வௌவால், டால்ஃபின்...) அல்லது அகஒலியை (infrasound; யானை, திமிங்கிலம், காண்டாமிருகம், ஒட்டகச்சிவிங்கி, இன்னும் பெரும்பாலான பெரிய உயிரிகள்...) 'கேட்கும்' திறன் கொண்டவை, இப்படியே வாசனை நுகர்தல் (உதாரணமாக மனிதர்களை விட மிருகங்கள், பூச்சிகள், சில தாவரங்கள் ஆகியவை ஃபெரமோன்கள் என்னும் வேதிப்பொருட்களின் மனத்தை உணர்வதன் மூலம் தொடர்பு கொள்ளுதலில் பலமடங்கு அதிகம் திறன்படைத்தவை), சுவைத்தல், தொடு உணர்ச்சி , திசையறிதல், பூமியின் காந்தப்புல அடர்த்திக்கு ஏற்ப இயைதல் ஆகியவற்றிலும் மனிதனை விட நுண்மையான உணர்வுகளை மிருகங்கள் தக்கவைத்துள்ளன. நமது பரிணாமப் பங்காளிகளான சிமபன்ஸி உள்ளிட்ட பேரிணக்குரங்குகளிலும் இவற்றில் சில குணங்கள் உண்டு. ஆக, சிக்கலான நரம்புமண்டல அமைப்பு மற்றும் பெரிய மூளை வளர்ச்சியினால் சில சிறப்புப் பண்புகளை (பேச்சு, சிந்தனை etc.,) பெற்ற நாம், எளிய மிருக நிலையில் உள்ள சில நுணுக்கமான புலனறிதல்களை இழந்துள்ளோம்.

    இதன் அடிப்படையில் 'மனிதனால் மட்டும் ஏன் இயற்கையின் பேரிடர்களுக்கு முந்தைய கன மாற்றங்களை உணரமுடிவதில்லை?' என்ற கேள்வியைக் கேட்டால், பதில் மிக எளிமையாக 'உணர முடியாது, ஏனென்றால் அந்த நுண்புலன்கள் அவனிடம் இல்லை. (பரிணாமத்தில் இழந்துவிட்டான்)' என்று சொல்லப்படலாம்.

    ஒரு மண்புழு ஏன் நாவல் எழுதவில்லை என்று கேட்கமுடியாதில்லையா? அது போலவே மனிதனிடம் இல்லாத ஒரு நுண்புலனின் பண்புகளை அவன் ஏன் கொண்டிருக்கவில்லை என்ற கேள்வியையே கேட்க முடியாது.

    மிருகங்கள் இயற்கையை 'அறிவதில்லை', அதன் பகுதியாக இருக்கிறது. பரிணாமத்தில் 'நாகரீகமடைந்த' மனிதன் இயற்கையின் 'பகுதி'யல்ல, இயற்கையின் பின்னலிலிருந்து விலகி அதை 'அறிந்து' திறமையாகப் பயன்படுத்த முயல்பவன்.

    கொஞ்சம் தத்துவார்த்தமாக சொல்ல முயற்சித்தால், "அறிவுத்திறனால் இயற்கையை அறிந்துகொள்ள, கருவிகளால் அதன் மாற்றங்களை ஊகிக்க பரிணாமத்தில் மனிதனுக்கு வாய்ப்பு கொடுக்கப்பட்டதால், நுண்ணுணர்வால் இயற்கையை உணர்ந்து கொள்ளும் திறன் இயற்கை விதியாலேயே பறித்துக்கொள்ளப்பட்டது" என்று சொல்லுவேன். இழந்ததும், அடைந்ததும் எல்லாம் ஒரு விதியால் சமம்.

    நண்டு தன் வளையை களிமண்ணால் மூடுவது, தட்டான்கள் கூட்டமாகப் பறப்பது போன்றவற்றை வைத்து மழை வரப்போவதை உணர்தல், நாய்கள் அசம்பந்தமாக ஊளையிடுதல், காக்கைகளின் கூட்டமான கரைச்சல் உள்ளிட்ட பறவைகளின் விபரீதமான ஒலி, அசௌகர்யமாக நிலைகொள்ளாமல் தவிக்கும் மாடு, இன்னும் இது போன்ற பிற உயிரிணங்களின் அசாதாரணமான நடத்தைகளின் மூலமாக இயற்கையின் வழக்கத்திற்கு மாறான போக்கை ஊகிக்கும் அறிவு மரபாகவே நம் நாட்டில் உண்டு. சகுணம் என்ற பெயரில் அவை ஒரு அறிவாக வழிவழியாக கைமாற்றப் பட்டு வந்தது. அதில் ஒன்றிரண்டு வெறும் நம்பிக்கைகளாகவும் இருந்துவிடும். அதனால் அந்த ஒட்டுமொத்த அறிவையே 'பல்லி சொல் பலன்' கிண்டல் வரிசையில் சேர்த்து 'மூடநம்பிக்கைகள்' என்று உதாசீனப்படுத்தி விடுதல் நம் தூய அறிவியல்வாத மேதைகளின் வழக்கம். விளைவாக கிராமத்தில் கூட இன்று இத்தகைய நுண்ணுணர்வு கொண்டவர்களைக் காண்பது அரிது.

  5. Krishnan
    /The article haven't chosen to give examples or proofs of available human intuition (among tribes, children etc) presently or before to add more substance to that line of analysis./

    shamanic acts among tribal communities nevers cease to fascinate me. almost all these acts involve choking themselves and loud music. choking breath leads to less oxygen supply to brain partially shutting down energy lavish cerebrum. hearing is more related to limbic system. the louder it gets, more of adrenaline and other harmones are secreted, more is the activity of limbic system, region responsible for intiution

  6. //. choking breath leads to less oxygen supply to brain partially shutting down energy lavish cerebrum.//

    Aji ... wonderful observation... Never thought in this angle. In fact in almost all Near Death Experiences (NDE) lack of oxygen supply plays an important role. What better way to awaken our species' hidden sleeping forgotten potentials than simulate Near Death situation. Great Going!

  7. I saw this site quite accidentally and exited to read this article. I noticed in your profile that you are still an undergraduate student. The language and presentation shows maturity of a senior research scholar. I wish to appreciate you for your natural brilliance and erudition.

    I am not a man of science. My interests are in yoga and mysticism. I don’t know whether you are interested in it or not -probably not, because it needs an age and experience to enter in these kind of thoughts.

    As per our yoga tradition which is an integral part of Eastern mysticism we have four levels of mental existence. Jagrat, svapna,sushubti and durya. I may compare them with the modern psychological terms conscious, subconscious, unconscious and collective unconscious. Well, actually there is sharp difference between these eastern concepts and western terms. Western psychology assumes these states as structures and we think them as functional modes.

    According to yoga tradition we are existing in all that four levels at the same time. But one is screening the other. We can say, durya is screened by sushubti and sushubti by svapna. Jagrat covers everything as an iron curtain and it presents itself as the only self we have. Jagrat is made up of logical thought, signs and symbols, images and its endless associations. Language is the presentable form of jagrat.

    Jagrat is a creation of culture. According to yoga sastra human beings created their jagrat and continuously making it stronger. Every living thing has day to day life, so it must have a jagrat. But in the case of lower level beings their jagrat is weak, so their other inner selves are stronger. Animals have more mundane life than insects. So their jagrat is stronger than them. So naturally their svapna and sushubti are weaker.

    This is the explanation of yoga sastra for your question. When we began to build our jagrat or conscience for our survival we lost our connection with the durya, the collective unconscious. We lost our intuitional powers as well.

    This may not seem as science, but a religious belief, but yoga says one can suspend his jagrat slowly by practice and attain the inner existence gradually. He can reach and be in durya state, merged in collective unconscious. On that stage he may predict earthquake like an animal or insect. As per our tradition the highest state for a man

  8. Not for this discussion but for general understanding

    Carl Jung on Yoga

  9. Hi ajithan!
    It is a thought provoking article! Inbreeding exposes the homozygous allele in which mutational effects can be expressed, but not in out breeders where they are being masked under heterozygous conditions. So change in genetic function is itself an adaptive mechanism. Human beings live in natural habitats are more predictive to environmental changes! Way to go ajithan!


Saturday, November 8, 2008

ABCFM Papers

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, known as the ABCFM for short, was the philanthropic mission society that supported the Stockbridge Mohicans from 1828 to 1848. In fact, the ABCFM supported many missionaries throughout the world over a period of...I don't know, I think they were established around 1810 and probably lasted about 100 years. Anyway, in my post yesterday, I mentioned primary sources. The ABCFM Papers are primary sources that I have been using in my research. They are kept at Harvard's Houghton Library and people like me that live too far away from Harvard can get microfilm of the ABCFM Papers via interlibrary loan. Most of the ABCFM Papers that concern the Stockbridges consist of correspondence to and from the Rev. Cutting Marsh, missionary to the tribe from 1830 to 1848. But at times some of the Indians would come into conflict with Rev. Marsh and when that happened, the Indians - as individuals or as a group - would take the time to write their own letters to the ABCFM.

In his last years as the missionary, Rev. Marsh's effectiveness was compromised, due partly to his own personality, but also as a result of bitter partisanship within the Stockbridge Nation. Marsh had once hoped that Jeremiah Slingerland, a member of the tribe studying to become a minister, would take his place. Slingerland did return to his people and the two men had something like a honeymoon period, but they eventually came into conflict and Marsh asked the ABCFM not to support Rev. Slingerland as his successor.

One of the things that Marsh objected to was that Slingerland had taken sides in the ongoing tribal partisanship, something that he had struggled with himself. As the small Stockbridge Nation split into two parties, the ABCFM not only decided not to support Rev. Slingerland, but they withdrew their support to the tribe altogether.

If you're wondering about the nature of the conflicts, Marsh's ideas about Rev. Slingerland, and how Christianity managed after the ABCFM pulled its support, stay tuned, because I've been working on a paper about it.

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