Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Animated Cotton Wool
Turn over an alder leaf at this time of year and you may find what look like small lumps of cotton wool stuck to the leaf blade and leaf stalk. Watch for a while and they move around. They’re insects – the nymphal stage of alder psyllids Psylla alni, which feed on the sap of the plant. The source of the ‘cotton wool’, which is really a mass of waxy filaments secreted by the insect, becomes apparent when these aphid-sized insects are examined under the microscope. The wax is produced by glands at the tail, so a psyllid that’s just begun to produce this material looks like its tail is on fire. The wax is a defence against water loss and predators. The nymphs have stubby wing primordia that eventually develop into fully-formed wings, by which time they will have shed their ‘cotton wool’ covering, ready to take flight and disperse. Psyllids are commonly known as jumping plant lice and different species tend to be associated with specific plant hosts. The alder psyllid is one of the larger species in the UK.
HOW SOLAR POWER WORKS
More energy reaches earth from the sun than could be converted by millions of power stations.
The sun’s energy costs nothing, but how can we use it?
We can use the sun’s energy to heat the water in our homes. One way this can be done is with a solar panel. This is a glass-topped box fixed to the roof of a building, facing the sun.
The inside of the box is painted black. Black is best at taking in, or absorbing, heat. Water flows through pipes inside the box. During daylight, this water is heated by the sun’s energy.
Heat can be produced by using mirrors to direct and concentrate the sun’s rays. One solar furnace in southern France uses a giant, curved mirror to collect sunlight from a series of smaller mirrors.
The mirror then directs the sun’s energy onto a huge furnace. A solar power station in the Mojave Desert, in the United States, uses 1,800 mirrors.
Solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells, are made of layers of a material that produces electrical energy when light shines on it. The solar cell converts the sun’s energy into electrical energy.
Watches and calculators can be fitted with solar cells. We say that they are solar powered, although they use indoor lighting, too. Larger solar cells provide electrical energy in places that are far from normal electricity supplies.
Most artificial satellites are also powered by solar cells.
Read more »
The sun’s energy costs nothing, but how can we use it?
We can use the sun’s energy to heat the water in our homes. One way this can be done is with a solar panel. This is a glass-topped box fixed to the roof of a building, facing the sun.
The inside of the box is painted black. Black is best at taking in, or absorbing, heat. Water flows through pipes inside the box. During daylight, this water is heated by the sun’s energy.
Heat can be produced by using mirrors to direct and concentrate the sun’s rays. One solar furnace in southern France uses a giant, curved mirror to collect sunlight from a series of smaller mirrors.
Watches and calculators can be fitted with solar cells. We say that they are solar powered, although they use indoor lighting, too. Larger solar cells provide electrical energy in places that are far from normal electricity supplies.
Most artificial satellites are also powered by solar cells.
THE HISTORY OF THE YOUNG KING OF THE BLACK ISLES Tales From the Arabian Nights
"You must know, my lord," said the wretched prisoner, "that my father, named Mahmoud, was monarch of this country. This is the kingdom of the Black Isles, which takes its name from the four small neighbouring mountains; for those mountains were formerly isles, and the capital where the king, my father, resided was situated on the spot now occupied by the lake you have seen. The sequel of my history will inform you of the reason for those changes.
"The king, my father, died when he was seventy years of age; I had no sooner succeeded him than I married, and the lady I chose to share the royal dignity with me was my cousin. I had so much reason to be satisfied with her affection, and, on my part, loved her with so much tenderness, that nothing could surpass the harmony of our union. This lasted five years, at the end of which time I perceived the queen ceased to delight in my attentions.
"One day, after dinner, while she was at the bath, I found myself inclined to repose, and lay down upon a sofa. Two of her ladies, who were then in my chamber, came and sat down, one at my head and the other at my feet, with fans in their hands to moderate the heat, and to prevent the flies from disturbing me. They thought I was asleep, and spoke in whispers; but as I only closed my eyes, I heard all their conversation.
"One of them said to the other, Is not the queen wrong, not to love so amiable a prince? Certainly, replied her companion; I do not understand the reason, neither can I conceive why she goes out every night, and leaves him alone! Is it possible that he does not perceive it? Alas! said the first, how should he? She mixes every evening in his liquor the juice of a certain herb, which makes him sleep so sound all night that she has time to go where she pleases, and as day begins to appear she comes and wakes him by the smell of something she puts under his nostrils.
"You may guess, my lord, how much I was surprised at this conversation, and with what sentiments it inspired me; yet whatever emotion it excited I had sufficient self-command to dissemble, and feigned to awake without having heard a word.
"The queen returned from the bath, we supped together, and she presented me with a cup full of such liquid as I was accustomed to drink; but instead of putting it to my mouth, I went to a window that was open, threw out the water so quickly that she did not perceive it, and returned.
"Soon after, believing that I was asleep, she arose with so little precaution, that she whispered loud enough for me to hear her distinctly, Sleep on, and may you never wake again! and so saying, she dressed herself, and went out of the chamber.
"As soon as the queen, my wife, was gone, I arose in haste, took my cimeter, and followed her so quickly that I soon heard the sound of her feet before me, and then walked softly after her. She passed through several gates, which opened upon her pronouncing some magical words, and the last she opened was that of the garden, which she entered. I stopped at this gate, that she might not perceive me as she passed along a parterre; then looking after her as far as the darkness of the night permitted, I saw her enter a little wood, whose walks were guarded by thick palisadoes. I went thither by another way, and concealing myself, I saw her walking there with a man.
"I did not fail to lend the most attentive ear to their discourse, and heard her address herself thus to her gallant: I do not deserve, she said, to be reproached by you for want of diligence. You well know the reason; but if all the proofs of affection I have already given you be not sufficient to convince you of my sincerity, I am ready to give you others more decisive: you need but command me, you know my power; I will, if you desire it, before sunrise convert this great city, and this superb palace, into frightful ruins, inhabited only by wolves, owls, and ravens. If you would have me transport all the stones of those walls so solidly built, beyond Mount Caucasus, the bounds of the habitable world, speak but the word, and all shall be changed.
"As the queen finished this speech she and her companion came to the end of the walk, turned to enter another, and passed before me. I had already drawn my cimeter, and the man being next me, I struck him on the neck, and brought him to the ground. I concluded I had killed him, and therefore retired speedily without making myself known to the queen, whom I chose to spare, because she was my kinswoman.
"The wound I had given her companion was mortal; but by her enchantments she preserved him in an existence in which he could not be said to be either dead or alive. As I crossed the garden to return to the palace, I heard the queen loudly lamenting, and judging by her cries how much she was grieved, I was pleased that I had spared her life.
"As soon as I had reached my apartment, I went to bed, and being satisfied with having punished the villain who had injured me, fell asleep.
"Next morning I arose, went to my closet, and dressed myself. I afterward held my council. At my return, the queen, clad in mourning, her hair dishevelled, and part of it torn off, presented herself before me, and said: I come to beg your majesty not to be surprised to see me in this condition. My heavy affliction is occasioned by intelligence of three distressing events which I have just received. Alas! what are they, madam? said I. The death of the queen, my dear mother, she replied, that of the king, my father, killed in battle, and of one of my brothers, who has fallen down a precipice.
"I was not displeased that she used these pretexts to conceal the true cause of her grief. Madam, said I, so far from blaming, I assure you I heartily commiserate your sorrow. I should feel surprise if you were insensible to such heavy calamities: weep on; your tears are so many proofs of your tenderness; but I hope that time and reflection will moderate your grief.
"She retired into her apartment, where, giving herself wholly up to sorrow, she spent a whole year in mourning and lamentation. At the end of that period, she begged permission to erect a burying-place for herself, within the bounds of the palace, where she would continue, she told me, to the end of her days: I consented, and she built a stately edifice, and called it the Palace of Tears. When it was finished, she caused the object of her care to be conveyed thither; she had hitherto prevented his dying, by potions which she had administered to him; and she continued to convey them to him herself every day after he came to the Palace of Tears.
"Yet, with all her enchantments, she could not cure the wretch; he was not only unable to walk or support himself, but had also lost the use of his speech, and exhibited no sign of life except in his looks.
"Every day the queen made him two long visits. I was well apprised of this, but pretended ignorance. One day my curiosity induced me to go to the Palace of Tears, to observe how my consort employed herself, and from a place where she could not see me, I heard her thus address the wounded ruffian: I am afflicted to the highest degree to behold you in this condition, she cried, I am as sensible as yourself of the tormenting pain you endure; but, dear soul, I am continually speaking to you, and you do not answer me: how long will you remain silent? Speak only one word: alas! the sweetest moments of my life are these I spend here in partaking of your grief.
"At these words, which were several times interrupted by her sighs, I lost all patience: and discovering myself, came up to her, and said, Madam, you have wept enough, it is time to give over this sorrow, which dishonours us both; you have too much forgotten what you owe to me and to yourself. Sire, said she, if you have any kindness or compassion for me left, I beseech you to put no restraint upon me; allow me to indulge my grief, which it is impossible for time to assuage.
"When I perceived that my remonstrance, instead of restoring her to a sense of duty, served only to increase her anguish, I ceased speaking and retired. She continued every day to visit her charge, and for two whole years abandoned herself to grief and despair.
"I went a second time to the Palace of Tears, while she was there. I concealed myself again, and heard her thus cry out: It is now three years since you spoke one word to me; you answer not the proofs I give you of my devotion by my sighs and lamentations. Is it from insensibility, or contempt? O tomb! tell me by what miracle thou becamest the depository of the rarest treasure the world ever contained.
"I must confess, my lord, I was enraged at these expressions; for, in truth, this adored mortal was by no means what you would imagine him to have been. He was a black Indian, one of the original natives of this country. I was so enraged at the language addressed to him, that I discovered myself, and apostrophising the tomb in my turn, I cried, O tomb! why dost thou not swallow up that monster so revolting to human nature, or rather why dost thou not swallow up this pair of monsters?
"I had scarcely uttered these words, when the queen, who sat by the black, rose up like a fury: Miscreant! said she, thou art the cause of my grief; do not think I am ignorant of this, I have dissembled too long. It was thy barbarous hand that brought the object of my fondness into this lamentable condition; and thou hast the cruelty to come and insult me. Yes, said I, in a rage, it was I who chastised that monster, according to his desert; I ought to have treated thee in the same manner; I now repent that I did not; thou hast too long abused my goodness. As I spoke these words, I drew out my cimeter, and lifted up my hand to punish her; but regarding me steadfastly, she said with a jeering smile, Moderate thine anger. At the same time she pronounced words I did not understand; and afterward added, By virtue of my enchantments, I command thee to become half marble and half man. Immediately, my lord, I became what you see, a dead man among the living, and a living man among the dead. After this cruel sorceress, unworthy of the name of queen, had metamorphosed me thus, and brought me into this hall, by another enchantment she destroyed my capital, which was very flourishing and populous; she annihilated the houses, the public places and markets, and reduced the site of the whole to the lake and desert plain you have seen; the fishes of four colours in the waters are the four kinds of inhabitants, of different religions, which the city contained. The white are the Mussulmans; the red, the Persians, who worship fire; the blue, the Christians; and the yellow, the Jews. The four little hills were the four islands that gave name to this kingdom. I learned all this from the enchantress, who, to add to my affliction, related to me these effects of her rage. But this is not all; her revenge not being satisfied with the destruction of my dominions, and the metamorphosis of my person, she comes every day, and gives me over my naked shoulders a hundred lashes with a whip until I am covered with blood. When she has finished this part of my punishment, she throws over me a coarse stuff of goats hair, and over that this robe of brocade, not to honour, but to mock me."
When he came to this part of his narrative, the young king could not restrain his tears; and the sultan was himself so affected by the relation, that he could not find utterance for any words of consolation. Shortly after, the young king, lifting up his eyes to heaven, exclaimed, "Mighty creator of all things, I submit myself to Thy judgments, and to the decrees of Thy providence: I endure my calamities with patience, since it is Thy will that things should be as they are; but I hope that Thy infinite goodness will ultimately reward me."
The sultan, greatly moved by the recital of this affecting story, and anxious to avenge the sufferings of the unfortunate prince, said to him: "Inform me whither this perfidious sorceress retires, and where may be found the vile wretch, who is entombed before his death." "My lord," replied the prince, "the Indian, as I have already told you, is lodged in the Palace of Tears, in a superb tomb constructed in the form of a dome: this palace joins the castle on the side in which the gate is placed. As to the queen, I cannot tell you precisely whither she retires, but every day at sunrise she goes to visit her charge, after having executed her bloody vengeance upon me; and you see I am not in a condition to defend myself. She carries to him the potion with which she has hitherto prevented his dying, and always complains of his never having spoken to her since he was wounded."
"Prince," said the sultan, "your condition can never be sufficiently deplored: no one can be more sensibly affected by your misfortune than I am. Never did anything so extraordinary befall any man! One thing only is wanting; the revenge to which you are entitled, and I will omit nothing in my power to effect it."
In his subsequent conversation with the young prince the sultan told him who he was, and for what purpose he had entered the castle; and afterward informed him of a mode of revenge which he had devised. They agreed upon the measures they were to take for accomplishing their design, but deferred the execution of it till the following day. In the meantime, the night being far spent, the sultan took some rest; but the young prince passed the night as usual, without sleep, never having slept since he was enchanted.
Next morning the sultan arose with the dawn, and prepared to execute his design, by proceeding to the Palace of Tears. He found it lighted up with an infinite number of flambeaux of white wax, and perfumed by a delicious scent issuing from several censers of fine gold of admirable workmanship. As soon as he perceived the bed where the Indian lay, he drew his cimeter and deprived him of his wretched life, dragged his corpse into the court of the castle, and threw it into a well. After this he went and lay down in the blacks bed, placed his cimeter under the covering, and waited to complete his design.
The queen arrived shortly after. She first went into the chamber of her husband, the king of the Black Islands, stripped him, and with unexampled barbarity gave him a hundred stripes. The unfortunate prince filled the palace with his lamentations, and conjured her in the most affecting tone to take pity on him; but the cruel wretch ceased not till she had given the usual number of blows. "You had no compassion," said she, "and you are to expect none from me."
After the enchantress had given her husband a hundred blows with the whip, she put on again his covering of goats hair, and his brocade gown over all; she went afterward to the Palace of Tears, and as she entered renewed her tears and lamentations; then approaching the bed, where she thought the Indian lay: "Alas!" said she, addressing herself to the sultan, conceiving him to be the black, "My sun, my life, will you always be silent? Are you resolved to let me die without affording me the comfort of hearing your voice?"
The sultan, as if he had awaked out of a deep sleep, and counterfeiting the pronunciation of the blacks, answered the queen with a grave tone: "There is no strength or power but in God alone, who is almighty." At these words the enchantress, who did not expect them, uttered a loud exclamation of joy. "My dear lord," cried she, "do I not deceive myself; is it certain that I hear you, and that you speak to me?" "Unhappy woman," said the sultan, "art thou worthy that I should answer thee?" "Alas!" replied the queen, "why do you reproach me thus?" "The cries," returned the sultan, "the groans and tears of thy husband, whom thou treatest every day with so much indignity and barbarity, prevent my sleeping night or day. Hadst thou disenchanted him, I should long since have been cured, and have recovered the use of my speech. This is the cause of my silence, of which you complain." "Well," said the enchantress, "to pacify you, I am ready to execute your commands; would you have me restore him?" "Yes," replied the sultan; "make haste to set him at liberty, that I be no longer disturbed by his lamentations." The enchantress went immediately out of the Palace of Tears; she took a cup of water, and pronounced some words over it, which caused it to boil, as if it had been on the fire. She afterward proceeded to the young king, and threw the water upon him, saying: "If the Creator of all things did form thee as thou art at present, or if He be angry with thee, do not change; but if thou art in that condition merely by virtue of my enchantments, resume thy natural shape, and become what thou wast before." She had scarcely spoken these words when the prince, finding himself restored to his former condition, rose up and returned thanks to God. The enchantress then said to him, "Get thee from this castle, and never return on pain of death." The young king, yielding to necessity, went away without replying a word, and retired to a remote place, where he patiently awaited the event of the design which the sultan had so happily begun. Meanwhile the enchantress returned to the Palace of Tears, and supposing that she still spoke to the black, said, "Dear love, I have done what you required; nothing now prevents your rising and giving me the satisfaction of which I have so long been deprived."
The sultan, still counterfeiting the pronunciation of the black, said: "What you have now done is by no means sufficient for my cure; you have only removed a part of the evil; you must cut it up by the root." "My lovely black," resumed the queen, "what do you mean by the root?" "Wretched woman," replied the sultan, "understand you not that I allude to the town and its inhabitants, and the four islands, destroyed by thy enchantments? The fish every night at midnight raise their heads out of the lake, and cry for vengeance against thee and me. This is the true cause of the delay of my cure. Go speedily, restore things to their former state, and at thy return I will give thee my hand, and thou shalt help me to arise."
The enchantress, inspired with hope from these words, cried out in a transport of joy, "My heart, my soul, you shall soon be restored to your health, for I will immediately do as you command me." Accordingly she went that instant, and when she came to the brink of the lake she took a little water in her hand, and sprinkling it, she pronounced some words over the fish and the lake, and the city was immediately restored. The fish became men, women, and children; Mohammedans, Christians, Persians, or Jews; freemen or slaves, as they were before: every one having recovered his natural form. The houses and shops were immediately filled with their inhabitants, who found all things as they were before the enchantment. The sultans numerous retinue, who found themselves encamped in the largest square, were astonished to see themselves in an instant in the middle of a large, handsome, well-peopled city.
To return to the enchantress: As soon as she had effected this wonderful change, she returned with all expedition to the Palace of Tears, that she might receive her reward. "My dear lord," cried she, as she entered, "I have done all that you required of me, then pray rise and give me your hand." "Come near," said the sultan, still counterfeiting the pronunciation of the black. She did so. "You are not near enough," he continued; "approach nearer." She obeyed. He then rose up, and seizing her by the arm so suddenly that she had not time to discover him, he with a blow of his cimeter cut her in two, so that one half fell one way and the other another. This done, he left the body on the spot, and going out of the Palace of Tears, went to seek the young king of the Black Isles, who waited for him with great impatience. When he found him, "Prince," said he, embracing him, "rejoice; you have now nothing to fear; your cruel enemy is dead."
The young prince returned thanks to the sultan in a manner that sufficiently evinced his gratitude, and in return wished him long life and happiness. "You may henceforward," said the sultan, "dwell peaceably in your capital, unless you will accompany me to mine, which is near: you shall there be welcome, and have as much honour shown you as if you were in your own kingdom." "Potent monarch, to whom I am so much indebted," replied the king, "you think, then, that you are near your capital." "Yes," said the sultan, "I know it is not above four or five hours journey." "It will take you a whole year to return," said the prince. "I do indeed believe that you came hither from your capital in the time you mention, because mine was enchanted; but since the enchantment is taken off, things are changed: however, this shall not prevent my following you, were it to the utmost corners of the earth. You are my deliverer, and that I may give you proofs of my acknowledgment of this during my whole life, I am willing to accompany you, and to leave my kingdom without regret."
The sultan was extremely surprised to understand that he was so far from his dominions, and could not imagine how it could be, but the young king of the Black Islands convinced him beyond a possibility of doubt. Then the sultan replied: "It is no matter; the trouble of returning to my own country is sufficiently recompensed by the satisfaction of having obliged you, and by acquiring you for a son; for since you will do me the honour to accompany me, as I have no child, I look upon you as such, and from this moment appoint you my heir and successor."
The young prince then employed himself in making preparations for his journey, which were finished in three weeks, to the great regret of his court and subjects, who agreed to receive at his hands one of his nearest kindred for their monarch.
At length the sultan and the young prince began their journey, with a hundred camels laden with inestimable riches from the treasury, followed by fifty handsome gentlemen on horseback, perfectly well mounted and dressed. They had a pleasant journey; and when the sultan, who had sent couriers to give advice of his delay, and of the adventure which had occasioned it, approached his capital, the principal officers came to receive him, and to assure him that his long absence had occasioned no alteration in his empire. The inhabitants also came out in great crowds, received him with acclamations, and made public rejoicings for several days.
The day after his arrival the sultan acquainted his courtiers with his adoption of the king of the Four Black Islands, who was willing to leave a great kingdom to accompany and live with him; and in reward for their loyalty, he made each of them presents according to their rank.
As for the fisherman, as he was the first cause of the deliverance of the young prince, the sultan gave him a plentiful fortune, which made him and his family happy the rest of his days.
The Arabian Nights - Their Best-known Tales
Author: Unknown
Editor: Kate Douglas Wiggin, Nora A. Smith
Illustrator: Maxfield Parrish
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"The king, my father, died when he was seventy years of age; I had no sooner succeeded him than I married, and the lady I chose to share the royal dignity with me was my cousin. I had so much reason to be satisfied with her affection, and, on my part, loved her with so much tenderness, that nothing could surpass the harmony of our union. This lasted five years, at the end of which time I perceived the queen ceased to delight in my attentions.
"One day, after dinner, while she was at the bath, I found myself inclined to repose, and lay down upon a sofa. Two of her ladies, who were then in my chamber, came and sat down, one at my head and the other at my feet, with fans in their hands to moderate the heat, and to prevent the flies from disturbing me. They thought I was asleep, and spoke in whispers; but as I only closed my eyes, I heard all their conversation.
"One of them said to the other, Is not the queen wrong, not to love so amiable a prince? Certainly, replied her companion; I do not understand the reason, neither can I conceive why she goes out every night, and leaves him alone! Is it possible that he does not perceive it? Alas! said the first, how should he? She mixes every evening in his liquor the juice of a certain herb, which makes him sleep so sound all night that she has time to go where she pleases, and as day begins to appear she comes and wakes him by the smell of something she puts under his nostrils.
"You may guess, my lord, how much I was surprised at this conversation, and with what sentiments it inspired me; yet whatever emotion it excited I had sufficient self-command to dissemble, and feigned to awake without having heard a word.
"The queen returned from the bath, we supped together, and she presented me with a cup full of such liquid as I was accustomed to drink; but instead of putting it to my mouth, I went to a window that was open, threw out the water so quickly that she did not perceive it, and returned.
"Soon after, believing that I was asleep, she arose with so little precaution, that she whispered loud enough for me to hear her distinctly, Sleep on, and may you never wake again! and so saying, she dressed herself, and went out of the chamber.
"As soon as the queen, my wife, was gone, I arose in haste, took my cimeter, and followed her so quickly that I soon heard the sound of her feet before me, and then walked softly after her. She passed through several gates, which opened upon her pronouncing some magical words, and the last she opened was that of the garden, which she entered. I stopped at this gate, that she might not perceive me as she passed along a parterre; then looking after her as far as the darkness of the night permitted, I saw her enter a little wood, whose walks were guarded by thick palisadoes. I went thither by another way, and concealing myself, I saw her walking there with a man.
"I did not fail to lend the most attentive ear to their discourse, and heard her address herself thus to her gallant: I do not deserve, she said, to be reproached by you for want of diligence. You well know the reason; but if all the proofs of affection I have already given you be not sufficient to convince you of my sincerity, I am ready to give you others more decisive: you need but command me, you know my power; I will, if you desire it, before sunrise convert this great city, and this superb palace, into frightful ruins, inhabited only by wolves, owls, and ravens. If you would have me transport all the stones of those walls so solidly built, beyond Mount Caucasus, the bounds of the habitable world, speak but the word, and all shall be changed.
"As the queen finished this speech she and her companion came to the end of the walk, turned to enter another, and passed before me. I had already drawn my cimeter, and the man being next me, I struck him on the neck, and brought him to the ground. I concluded I had killed him, and therefore retired speedily without making myself known to the queen, whom I chose to spare, because she was my kinswoman.
"The wound I had given her companion was mortal; but by her enchantments she preserved him in an existence in which he could not be said to be either dead or alive. As I crossed the garden to return to the palace, I heard the queen loudly lamenting, and judging by her cries how much she was grieved, I was pleased that I had spared her life.
"As soon as I had reached my apartment, I went to bed, and being satisfied with having punished the villain who had injured me, fell asleep.
"Next morning I arose, went to my closet, and dressed myself. I afterward held my council. At my return, the queen, clad in mourning, her hair dishevelled, and part of it torn off, presented herself before me, and said: I come to beg your majesty not to be surprised to see me in this condition. My heavy affliction is occasioned by intelligence of three distressing events which I have just received. Alas! what are they, madam? said I. The death of the queen, my dear mother, she replied, that of the king, my father, killed in battle, and of one of my brothers, who has fallen down a precipice.
"I was not displeased that she used these pretexts to conceal the true cause of her grief. Madam, said I, so far from blaming, I assure you I heartily commiserate your sorrow. I should feel surprise if you were insensible to such heavy calamities: weep on; your tears are so many proofs of your tenderness; but I hope that time and reflection will moderate your grief.
"She retired into her apartment, where, giving herself wholly up to sorrow, she spent a whole year in mourning and lamentation. At the end of that period, she begged permission to erect a burying-place for herself, within the bounds of the palace, where she would continue, she told me, to the end of her days: I consented, and she built a stately edifice, and called it the Palace of Tears. When it was finished, she caused the object of her care to be conveyed thither; she had hitherto prevented his dying, by potions which she had administered to him; and she continued to convey them to him herself every day after he came to the Palace of Tears.
"Yet, with all her enchantments, she could not cure the wretch; he was not only unable to walk or support himself, but had also lost the use of his speech, and exhibited no sign of life except in his looks.
"Every day the queen made him two long visits. I was well apprised of this, but pretended ignorance. One day my curiosity induced me to go to the Palace of Tears, to observe how my consort employed herself, and from a place where she could not see me, I heard her thus address the wounded ruffian: I am afflicted to the highest degree to behold you in this condition, she cried, I am as sensible as yourself of the tormenting pain you endure; but, dear soul, I am continually speaking to you, and you do not answer me: how long will you remain silent? Speak only one word: alas! the sweetest moments of my life are these I spend here in partaking of your grief.
"At these words, which were several times interrupted by her sighs, I lost all patience: and discovering myself, came up to her, and said, Madam, you have wept enough, it is time to give over this sorrow, which dishonours us both; you have too much forgotten what you owe to me and to yourself. Sire, said she, if you have any kindness or compassion for me left, I beseech you to put no restraint upon me; allow me to indulge my grief, which it is impossible for time to assuage.
"When I perceived that my remonstrance, instead of restoring her to a sense of duty, served only to increase her anguish, I ceased speaking and retired. She continued every day to visit her charge, and for two whole years abandoned herself to grief and despair.
"I went a second time to the Palace of Tears, while she was there. I concealed myself again, and heard her thus cry out: It is now three years since you spoke one word to me; you answer not the proofs I give you of my devotion by my sighs and lamentations. Is it from insensibility, or contempt? O tomb! tell me by what miracle thou becamest the depository of the rarest treasure the world ever contained.
"I must confess, my lord, I was enraged at these expressions; for, in truth, this adored mortal was by no means what you would imagine him to have been. He was a black Indian, one of the original natives of this country. I was so enraged at the language addressed to him, that I discovered myself, and apostrophising the tomb in my turn, I cried, O tomb! why dost thou not swallow up that monster so revolting to human nature, or rather why dost thou not swallow up this pair of monsters?
"I had scarcely uttered these words, when the queen, who sat by the black, rose up like a fury: Miscreant! said she, thou art the cause of my grief; do not think I am ignorant of this, I have dissembled too long. It was thy barbarous hand that brought the object of my fondness into this lamentable condition; and thou hast the cruelty to come and insult me. Yes, said I, in a rage, it was I who chastised that monster, according to his desert; I ought to have treated thee in the same manner; I now repent that I did not; thou hast too long abused my goodness. As I spoke these words, I drew out my cimeter, and lifted up my hand to punish her; but regarding me steadfastly, she said with a jeering smile, Moderate thine anger. At the same time she pronounced words I did not understand; and afterward added, By virtue of my enchantments, I command thee to become half marble and half man. Immediately, my lord, I became what you see, a dead man among the living, and a living man among the dead. After this cruel sorceress, unworthy of the name of queen, had metamorphosed me thus, and brought me into this hall, by another enchantment she destroyed my capital, which was very flourishing and populous; she annihilated the houses, the public places and markets, and reduced the site of the whole to the lake and desert plain you have seen; the fishes of four colours in the waters are the four kinds of inhabitants, of different religions, which the city contained. The white are the Mussulmans; the red, the Persians, who worship fire; the blue, the Christians; and the yellow, the Jews. The four little hills were the four islands that gave name to this kingdom. I learned all this from the enchantress, who, to add to my affliction, related to me these effects of her rage. But this is not all; her revenge not being satisfied with the destruction of my dominions, and the metamorphosis of my person, she comes every day, and gives me over my naked shoulders a hundred lashes with a whip until I am covered with blood. When she has finished this part of my punishment, she throws over me a coarse stuff of goats hair, and over that this robe of brocade, not to honour, but to mock me."
When he came to this part of his narrative, the young king could not restrain his tears; and the sultan was himself so affected by the relation, that he could not find utterance for any words of consolation. Shortly after, the young king, lifting up his eyes to heaven, exclaimed, "Mighty creator of all things, I submit myself to Thy judgments, and to the decrees of Thy providence: I endure my calamities with patience, since it is Thy will that things should be as they are; but I hope that Thy infinite goodness will ultimately reward me."
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| When he came to this part of his narrative the young king could not restrain his tears. |
"Prince," said the sultan, "your condition can never be sufficiently deplored: no one can be more sensibly affected by your misfortune than I am. Never did anything so extraordinary befall any man! One thing only is wanting; the revenge to which you are entitled, and I will omit nothing in my power to effect it."
In his subsequent conversation with the young prince the sultan told him who he was, and for what purpose he had entered the castle; and afterward informed him of a mode of revenge which he had devised. They agreed upon the measures they were to take for accomplishing their design, but deferred the execution of it till the following day. In the meantime, the night being far spent, the sultan took some rest; but the young prince passed the night as usual, without sleep, never having slept since he was enchanted.
Next morning the sultan arose with the dawn, and prepared to execute his design, by proceeding to the Palace of Tears. He found it lighted up with an infinite number of flambeaux of white wax, and perfumed by a delicious scent issuing from several censers of fine gold of admirable workmanship. As soon as he perceived the bed where the Indian lay, he drew his cimeter and deprived him of his wretched life, dragged his corpse into the court of the castle, and threw it into a well. After this he went and lay down in the blacks bed, placed his cimeter under the covering, and waited to complete his design.
The queen arrived shortly after. She first went into the chamber of her husband, the king of the Black Islands, stripped him, and with unexampled barbarity gave him a hundred stripes. The unfortunate prince filled the palace with his lamentations, and conjured her in the most affecting tone to take pity on him; but the cruel wretch ceased not till she had given the usual number of blows. "You had no compassion," said she, "and you are to expect none from me."
After the enchantress had given her husband a hundred blows with the whip, she put on again his covering of goats hair, and his brocade gown over all; she went afterward to the Palace of Tears, and as she entered renewed her tears and lamentations; then approaching the bed, where she thought the Indian lay: "Alas!" said she, addressing herself to the sultan, conceiving him to be the black, "My sun, my life, will you always be silent? Are you resolved to let me die without affording me the comfort of hearing your voice?"
The sultan, as if he had awaked out of a deep sleep, and counterfeiting the pronunciation of the blacks, answered the queen with a grave tone: "There is no strength or power but in God alone, who is almighty." At these words the enchantress, who did not expect them, uttered a loud exclamation of joy. "My dear lord," cried she, "do I not deceive myself; is it certain that I hear you, and that you speak to me?" "Unhappy woman," said the sultan, "art thou worthy that I should answer thee?" "Alas!" replied the queen, "why do you reproach me thus?" "The cries," returned the sultan, "the groans and tears of thy husband, whom thou treatest every day with so much indignity and barbarity, prevent my sleeping night or day. Hadst thou disenchanted him, I should long since have been cured, and have recovered the use of my speech. This is the cause of my silence, of which you complain." "Well," said the enchantress, "to pacify you, I am ready to execute your commands; would you have me restore him?" "Yes," replied the sultan; "make haste to set him at liberty, that I be no longer disturbed by his lamentations." The enchantress went immediately out of the Palace of Tears; she took a cup of water, and pronounced some words over it, which caused it to boil, as if it had been on the fire. She afterward proceeded to the young king, and threw the water upon him, saying: "If the Creator of all things did form thee as thou art at present, or if He be angry with thee, do not change; but if thou art in that condition merely by virtue of my enchantments, resume thy natural shape, and become what thou wast before." She had scarcely spoken these words when the prince, finding himself restored to his former condition, rose up and returned thanks to God. The enchantress then said to him, "Get thee from this castle, and never return on pain of death." The young king, yielding to necessity, went away without replying a word, and retired to a remote place, where he patiently awaited the event of the design which the sultan had so happily begun. Meanwhile the enchantress returned to the Palace of Tears, and supposing that she still spoke to the black, said, "Dear love, I have done what you required; nothing now prevents your rising and giving me the satisfaction of which I have so long been deprived."
The sultan, still counterfeiting the pronunciation of the black, said: "What you have now done is by no means sufficient for my cure; you have only removed a part of the evil; you must cut it up by the root." "My lovely black," resumed the queen, "what do you mean by the root?" "Wretched woman," replied the sultan, "understand you not that I allude to the town and its inhabitants, and the four islands, destroyed by thy enchantments? The fish every night at midnight raise their heads out of the lake, and cry for vengeance against thee and me. This is the true cause of the delay of my cure. Go speedily, restore things to their former state, and at thy return I will give thee my hand, and thou shalt help me to arise."
The enchantress, inspired with hope from these words, cried out in a transport of joy, "My heart, my soul, you shall soon be restored to your health, for I will immediately do as you command me." Accordingly she went that instant, and when she came to the brink of the lake she took a little water in her hand, and sprinkling it, she pronounced some words over the fish and the lake, and the city was immediately restored. The fish became men, women, and children; Mohammedans, Christians, Persians, or Jews; freemen or slaves, as they were before: every one having recovered his natural form. The houses and shops were immediately filled with their inhabitants, who found all things as they were before the enchantment. The sultans numerous retinue, who found themselves encamped in the largest square, were astonished to see themselves in an instant in the middle of a large, handsome, well-peopled city.
To return to the enchantress: As soon as she had effected this wonderful change, she returned with all expedition to the Palace of Tears, that she might receive her reward. "My dear lord," cried she, as she entered, "I have done all that you required of me, then pray rise and give me your hand." "Come near," said the sultan, still counterfeiting the pronunciation of the black. She did so. "You are not near enough," he continued; "approach nearer." She obeyed. He then rose up, and seizing her by the arm so suddenly that she had not time to discover him, he with a blow of his cimeter cut her in two, so that one half fell one way and the other another. This done, he left the body on the spot, and going out of the Palace of Tears, went to seek the young king of the Black Isles, who waited for him with great impatience. When he found him, "Prince," said he, embracing him, "rejoice; you have now nothing to fear; your cruel enemy is dead."
The young prince returned thanks to the sultan in a manner that sufficiently evinced his gratitude, and in return wished him long life and happiness. "You may henceforward," said the sultan, "dwell peaceably in your capital, unless you will accompany me to mine, which is near: you shall there be welcome, and have as much honour shown you as if you were in your own kingdom." "Potent monarch, to whom I am so much indebted," replied the king, "you think, then, that you are near your capital." "Yes," said the sultan, "I know it is not above four or five hours journey." "It will take you a whole year to return," said the prince. "I do indeed believe that you came hither from your capital in the time you mention, because mine was enchanted; but since the enchantment is taken off, things are changed: however, this shall not prevent my following you, were it to the utmost corners of the earth. You are my deliverer, and that I may give you proofs of my acknowledgment of this during my whole life, I am willing to accompany you, and to leave my kingdom without regret."
The sultan was extremely surprised to understand that he was so far from his dominions, and could not imagine how it could be, but the young king of the Black Islands convinced him beyond a possibility of doubt. Then the sultan replied: "It is no matter; the trouble of returning to my own country is sufficiently recompensed by the satisfaction of having obliged you, and by acquiring you for a son; for since you will do me the honour to accompany me, as I have no child, I look upon you as such, and from this moment appoint you my heir and successor."
The young prince then employed himself in making preparations for his journey, which were finished in three weeks, to the great regret of his court and subjects, who agreed to receive at his hands one of his nearest kindred for their monarch.
At length the sultan and the young prince began their journey, with a hundred camels laden with inestimable riches from the treasury, followed by fifty handsome gentlemen on horseback, perfectly well mounted and dressed. They had a pleasant journey; and when the sultan, who had sent couriers to give advice of his delay, and of the adventure which had occasioned it, approached his capital, the principal officers came to receive him, and to assure him that his long absence had occasioned no alteration in his empire. The inhabitants also came out in great crowds, received him with acclamations, and made public rejoicings for several days.
The day after his arrival the sultan acquainted his courtiers with his adoption of the king of the Four Black Islands, who was willing to leave a great kingdom to accompany and live with him; and in reward for their loyalty, he made each of them presents according to their rank.
As for the fisherman, as he was the first cause of the deliverance of the young prince, the sultan gave him a plentiful fortune, which made him and his family happy the rest of his days.
The Arabian Nights - Their Best-known Tales
Author: Unknown
Editor: Kate Douglas Wiggin, Nora A. Smith
Illustrator: Maxfield Parrish
How to Build a Ladder Home Projects
The preparation and putting together of the parts of a ladder having round, tapered rungs let into holes in the two sides is beyond the capacity of the average young amateur; but little skill is needed to manufacture a very fairly efficient substitute for the professionally-built article -- to wit, a ladder of the kind to which builders apply the somewhat disparaging adjective "duck."
The rungs of such a "duck" ladder are merely nailed to the outside if the ladder is required for temporary purposes only; but as we are of course aiming at the construction of a thing made to last, we shall go to the trouble of "notching-in" each rung, so that the sides shall take the weight directly, and the nails only have to keep the rungs firmly in position. The objection to notching-in is that it reduces the strength of the ladder, which is of course only that of the wood between the bottom of the notches and the plain side. Therefore it is necessary to have sides somewhat deeper than would be required for a centrally-runged ladder; which is pierced where the wood is subjected to little tension or compression.
House ladder and details of letting in a rung.
The rungs are 10 inches apart (Fig), centre to centre. The distance may be increased to a foot, Or even more if weight-saving is an object.
These are cut to exactly the same length, which we will assume to be 11 feet 6 inches, planed quite smooth and rounded off slightly at the corners to make handling comfortable. Before marking them for the rungs it is important that they shall be so arranged that both incline equally towards a centre line.
Stretch a string tightly three inches above the ground, and lay the sides of the ladder on edge to right and left of it, their ends level. Adjust the bottom ends 8-1/2, the top ends 6-1/2 inches from the string, measuring from the outside. Tack on cross pieces to prevent shifting, and then, starting from the bottom, make a mark every 10 inches on the outside corners, to show the position of the tops of the rungs. A piece of the wood to be used for making the rungs of is laid up to the pairs of marks in turn, and lines are drawn on both sides of it.
Cutting the Notches. -- The work of marking the ends of the notches will be quickened, and rendered more accurate, if a template (Fig. 10) is cut out of tin. The side AC is 3/8 to 1/2 inch deep. Apply the template to both faces of the side in turn, with its corner A at the line below the rung, and DE flush with the upper corner. When all the notches have been marked cut down the AC line of each with a tenon saw, and chisel along BC till the wedge-shaped chip is removed. Finish off every notch as neatly as possible, so that the rungs may make close contact and keep water out.
Preparing the Rungs. -- Lay a piece of rung batten across the lowest notches, the end overhanging the side by a quarter of an inch or so to allow for the taper of the ladder, and draw your pencil along the angles which it makes with the sides. Mark the positions of the nail holes. Cut off the rung at the cross lines; drill the four nail holes on the skew, as shown in Fig. 10; and round off all the corners. The other rungs are treated in the same manner, and the sides are then separated, for the inside top corner and both back corners, which will be handled most, to be well rounded off and rubbed smooth with glass paper.
Assembling. -- Before putting the parts together give them a coating of paint, as the contact surfaces will not be accessible to the brush afterwards. When the paint has dried, lay the sides out as before, and nail on the rungs with 3-inch nails. To counteract any tendency of the sides to draw apart, a light cross bar should be fixed on the back of the ladder behind the top and bottom rungs.
Round off the end angles of the rungs, and apply a second coating of paint.
Note. -- A ladder of this kind is given a more presentable appearance if the rungs are let in square to the sides and flush, but at the sacrifice either of strength or lightness, unless narrow rungs of a hard wood, such as oak, be used. Moreover, square notches are not so easy to cut out as triangular.
For a short ladder, not more than 9 feet long, the section of the sides may safely be reduced to 2-3/4 by 1 inch (actual), if good material is selected.
Excerpt from the book:
Things To Make
by Archibald Williams
Published - 1918
Read more »
The rungs of such a "duck" ladder are merely nailed to the outside if the ladder is required for temporary purposes only; but as we are of course aiming at the construction of a thing made to last, we shall go to the trouble of "notching-in" each rung, so that the sides shall take the weight directly, and the nails only have to keep the rungs firmly in position. The objection to notching-in is that it reduces the strength of the ladder, which is of course only that of the wood between the bottom of the notches and the plain side. Therefore it is necessary to have sides somewhat deeper than would be required for a centrally-runged ladder; which is pierced where the wood is subjected to little tension or compression.
House ladder and details of letting in a rung.
Materials
The length of the ladder will decide what the stoutness of the sides should be. For a ladder about 12 feet long, such as we propose to describe, larch battens 3 by 1-1/8 inches (actual) in section and free from knots, especially at the edges, will be sufficiently strong to carry all reasonable weights without danger of collapse. But be sure to get the best wood obtainable. The rungs may be of 2 by 1 inch stuff, though 2 by 3/4 inch will suffice for the upper half-dozen, which have less wear, and are shorter than those below.The rungs are 10 inches apart (Fig), centre to centre. The distance may be increased to a foot, Or even more if weight-saving is an object.
CONSTRUCTION.
Preparing the SidesThese are cut to exactly the same length, which we will assume to be 11 feet 6 inches, planed quite smooth and rounded off slightly at the corners to make handling comfortable. Before marking them for the rungs it is important that they shall be so arranged that both incline equally towards a centre line.
Stretch a string tightly three inches above the ground, and lay the sides of the ladder on edge to right and left of it, their ends level. Adjust the bottom ends 8-1/2, the top ends 6-1/2 inches from the string, measuring from the outside. Tack on cross pieces to prevent shifting, and then, starting from the bottom, make a mark every 10 inches on the outside corners, to show the position of the tops of the rungs. A piece of the wood to be used for making the rungs of is laid up to the pairs of marks in turn, and lines are drawn on both sides of it.
Cutting the Notches. -- The work of marking the ends of the notches will be quickened, and rendered more accurate, if a template (Fig. 10) is cut out of tin. The side AC is 3/8 to 1/2 inch deep. Apply the template to both faces of the side in turn, with its corner A at the line below the rung, and DE flush with the upper corner. When all the notches have been marked cut down the AC line of each with a tenon saw, and chisel along BC till the wedge-shaped chip is removed. Finish off every notch as neatly as possible, so that the rungs may make close contact and keep water out.
Preparing the Rungs. -- Lay a piece of rung batten across the lowest notches, the end overhanging the side by a quarter of an inch or so to allow for the taper of the ladder, and draw your pencil along the angles which it makes with the sides. Mark the positions of the nail holes. Cut off the rung at the cross lines; drill the four nail holes on the skew, as shown in Fig. 10; and round off all the corners. The other rungs are treated in the same manner, and the sides are then separated, for the inside top corner and both back corners, which will be handled most, to be well rounded off and rubbed smooth with glass paper.
Assembling. -- Before putting the parts together give them a coating of paint, as the contact surfaces will not be accessible to the brush afterwards. When the paint has dried, lay the sides out as before, and nail on the rungs with 3-inch nails. To counteract any tendency of the sides to draw apart, a light cross bar should be fixed on the back of the ladder behind the top and bottom rungs.
Round off the end angles of the rungs, and apply a second coating of paint.
Note. -- A ladder of this kind is given a more presentable appearance if the rungs are let in square to the sides and flush, but at the sacrifice either of strength or lightness, unless narrow rungs of a hard wood, such as oak, be used. Moreover, square notches are not so easy to cut out as triangular.
For a short ladder, not more than 9 feet long, the section of the sides may safely be reduced to 2-3/4 by 1 inch (actual), if good material is selected.
Excerpt from the book:
Things To Make
by Archibald Williams
Published - 1918
Capitalism The Most Dreaded Economic System in History
Let me tell you a few things before I get to the main content of this post.I am not into defending my own ideals by making rubbish acclaims towards others,something that we always have to face from the other inhuman,mean group of exploiters,who forget the basic human traits while speaking to someone who does not have faith in their ideals (if they have any,after all.)"Communists are perverts." "Communists are stupid.Communists are this and Communists are that." "Socialists are criminals." "Liberals are serious threats to the culture." These are the ones with least magnitude.If I have to quote everything that I have seen in my fifteen year old life,I will unfortunately have to quote words with as much dirtiness to bring any human beings dignity down.I dont want that.But I dont want to sit like a conservative and tie a piece of cloth on my mouth so that I am not tempted to speak.We all will continue with the fight,but there are ways to intellectually defend an ideology that is so feeble that you will not need education to understand that it is baseless.But you will definitely require education to get rid of Capitalism.Economics is like a Maths riddle,something that was based on proper logic.So,it does have solution and there are no doubts on this.
For a moment or two,I would request you to forget the ideology term,the propaganda of this blog,my own ideology and words such as Left-wing,Communism or Socialism.It would be better to think here,in front of the screen of your device is an article on economics and you are a human being.Just an ordinary human being.There are perhaps deeper attributes we could plunge into - something like why the Protestants are in favour of Capitalism and a certain,major section of Catholics are not.What were the ways of segregation of the Irish nationalists,but that would just lead to difficulty in understanding the basic logic and might seem like I am for the Catholic Church but I am not writing on that topic here and I am not a Catholic,not even a Catholic Marxist.I am just plain supporter of Marxism.For now,we will look at the basic logic and look into this matter of Catholics and Protestants more prominently in an upcoming post in the blog.
Is This What You Want?
- The British economist John Maynard Keynes argued that capitalism suffered a basic problem in its ability to recover from periods of slowdowns in investment. Keynes argued that a capitalist economy could remain in an indefinite equilibrium despite high unemployment.
- Under Marxist ideology, capitalism refers to a stage of history in which there is a class system in which the proletariat is exploited by the bourgeoisie.
- Emma Goldman famously denounced wage slavery by saying: "The only difference is that you are hired slaves instead of block slaves."
- Private ownership imposes constraints on planning, leading to inaccessible economic decisions that result in immoral production, unemployment and a tremendous waste of material resources during crisis of overproduction.Private property in the means of production becomes obsolete when it concentrates into centralized, socialized institutions based on private appropriation of revenue (but based on cooperative work and internal planning in allocation of inputs) until the role of the capitalist becomes redundant.With no need for capital accumulation and a class of owners, private property in the means of production is perceived as being an outdated form of economic organization that should be replaced by a free association of individuals based on public or common ownership of these socialized assets. Private property relations as limit the potential of productive forces in the economy.
- For the influential German individualist anarchist philosopher Max Stirner "private property is a spook which "lives by the grace of law" and it "becomes mine only by effect of the law". In other words, private property exists purely "through the protection of the State, through the States grace." Recognising its need for state protection, Stirner is also aware that "it need not make any difference to the good citizens who protects them and their principles, whether an absolute King or a constitutional one, a republic, if only they are protected. And what is their principle, whose protector they always love? Not that of labour", rather it is "interest-bearing possession . . . labouring capital, therefore . . . labour certainly, yet little or none at all of ones own, but labour of capital and of the -- subject labourers".
- Noam Chomsky contends that there is little moral difference between chattel slavery and renting ones self to an owner or "wage slavery". He feels that it is an attack on personal integrity that undermines individual freedom. He holds that workers should own and control their workplace.
Nothing can be good absolutely because that is similar to defying laws of nature.Whatever has a major positive impact has to have little drawbacks.Whatever seems to be the most positive instance might be the biggest drawback.When almost every other ideology except Conservatism and Capitalism tends to defy Capitalism,it is naturally acceptable that there is a drawback right in there.If you do not want a theoretical explanation of why Capitalism cannot be accepted,then here is it - you cannot keep exploiting and increasing it everyday to those who sustain this entire system.Wage slavery indeed is not the way,it cannot be.If,other than using rubbish acclaims,anyone has a way of intellectually defending any of the factors so enlisted here,you are free to contradict.
Disclaimer - The data (divided in the six points enlisted above) and images been collected from Wikipedia.
Famous Celebrities with Green eyes
Celebrities with green eyes
Green eyes are special eyes. We all know some people with brown and blue eyes but what about the green ones? Lets take a look in Hollywood and find some celebrities with green eyes. The first celebrity with green eyes we probably all know is Kirsten Stewart (Twilight). Also Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron and David Beckham all have green coloured eyes.
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| Kirsten Stewart with dark green eyes |
People with green eyes
Of course, there are more people with green eyes. Remember Tom Welling? The Superman from Smallville also had green eyes. Also Angelina Jolie and Clair Bear from Heroes both have green eyes.
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| Tom Welling with lighter green eyes |
Even more Celebs with green eyes
Also Rihanna and Lindsay Lohan have green eyes. Of course, when we take a close look at their irisses, we see a lot variation in its brightness. Some people have light green eyes, some have them very dark, almost brown/yellow. Light green eyes have low levels of melanin and a mediate amount of lipochrome. This lipochrome makes eyes a little bit yellowish. Eyes with a huge amount of lipochrome (and very little melanin) look yellow. Genes responsible for the lipochrome production are very rare. This is the main reason why green (and amber) eyes are very rare.
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| Clair Bear (Hayden Penettiere) with green eyes |
Fates Greek Mythology Greek goddess of fate
The ancients believed that the duration of human existence and the destinies of mortals were regulated by three sister-goddesses, called Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, who were the daughters of Zeus and Themis.
The power which they wielded over the fate of man was significantly indicated under the figure of a thread, which they spun out for the life of each human being from his birth to the grave. This occupation they divided between them. Clotho wound the flax round the distaff, ready for her sister Lachesis, who span out the thread of life, which Atropos, with her scissors, relentlessly snapt asunder, when the career of an individual was about to terminate.
Homer speaks of one Moira only, the daughter of Night, who represents the moral force by which the universe is governed, and to whom both mortals and immortals were forced to submit, Zeus himself being powerless to avert her decrees; but in later times this conception of one inexorable, all-conquering fate became amplified by the poets into that above described, and the Moiræ are henceforth the special presiding deities over the life and death of mortals.
The Moiræ are represented by the poets as stern, inexorable female divinities, aged, hideous, and also lame, which is evidently meant to indicate the slow and halting march of destiny, which they controlled. Painters and sculptors, on the other hand, depicted them as beautiful maidens of a grave but kindly aspect.
There is a charming representation of Lachesis, which depicts her in all the grace of youth and beauty. She is sitting spinning, and at her feet lie two masks, one comic, the other tragic, as though to convey the idea, that, to a divinity of fate, the brightest and saddest scenes of earthly existence are alike indifferent, and that she quietly and steadily pursues her occupation, regardless of human weal or woe.
When represented at the feet of Aïdes in the lower world they are clad in dark robes; but when they appear in Olympus they wear bright garments, bespangled with stars, and are seated on radiant thrones, with crowns on their heads.
It was considered the function of the Moiræ to indicate to the Furies the precise torture which the wicked should undergo for their crimes.
They were regarded as prophetic divinities, and had sanctuaries in many parts of Greece.
The Moiræ are mentioned as assisting the Charites to conduct Persephone to the upper world at her periodical reunion with her mother Demeter. They also appear in company with Eileithyia, goddess of birth.
Text:
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome
Author: E.M. Berens
Published: 1880
The Project Gutenberg EBook
Produced by Alicia Williams, Keith Edkins and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Read more »
The power which they wielded over the fate of man was significantly indicated under the figure of a thread, which they spun out for the life of each human being from his birth to the grave. This occupation they divided between them. Clotho wound the flax round the distaff, ready for her sister Lachesis, who span out the thread of life, which Atropos, with her scissors, relentlessly snapt asunder, when the career of an individual was about to terminate.
Homer speaks of one Moira only, the daughter of Night, who represents the moral force by which the universe is governed, and to whom both mortals and immortals were forced to submit, Zeus himself being powerless to avert her decrees; but in later times this conception of one inexorable, all-conquering fate became amplified by the poets into that above described, and the Moiræ are henceforth the special presiding deities over the life and death of mortals.
The Moiræ are represented by the poets as stern, inexorable female divinities, aged, hideous, and also lame, which is evidently meant to indicate the slow and halting march of destiny, which they controlled. Painters and sculptors, on the other hand, depicted them as beautiful maidens of a grave but kindly aspect.
There is a charming representation of Lachesis, which depicts her in all the grace of youth and beauty. She is sitting spinning, and at her feet lie two masks, one comic, the other tragic, as though to convey the idea, that, to a divinity of fate, the brightest and saddest scenes of earthly existence are alike indifferent, and that she quietly and steadily pursues her occupation, regardless of human weal or woe.
When represented at the feet of Aïdes in the lower world they are clad in dark robes; but when they appear in Olympus they wear bright garments, bespangled with stars, and are seated on radiant thrones, with crowns on their heads.
It was considered the function of the Moiræ to indicate to the Furies the precise torture which the wicked should undergo for their crimes.
They were regarded as prophetic divinities, and had sanctuaries in many parts of Greece.
The Moiræ are mentioned as assisting the Charites to conduct Persephone to the upper world at her periodical reunion with her mother Demeter. They also appear in company with Eileithyia, goddess of birth.
Text:
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome
Author: E.M. Berens
Published: 1880
The Project Gutenberg EBook
Produced by Alicia Williams, Keith Edkins and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Why you should go beyond MONEY and connect with TRUE WEALTH – Here are 10 ways
Why you should go beyond MONEY , and connect with TRUE WEALTH – Here are 10 ways
If I have to write one last article before I die it would be the one that you are reading. Don’t worry I am here to stay and we as a team will continue to write more and more articles! This article is special to us and I am glad I got this opportunity to share my thoughts on true wealth with you. Before you read any further I have few requests, don’t react to the content, read the content slowly, sink into the content and see how you can figure out your own way or process to connect with your true wealth.
By true wealth – I mean something that really matters to you and something that is close to your heart.
A lot of people out in the world are striving for high returns, perfect financial products and earning more MONEY but somewhere they are losing touch with their true wealth and so today we want our readers to get in touch with their true wealth.
If you are stuck in any relationship, no matter how much you try you won’t be able to live a fulfilled life. I interact with a lot of people who find themselves stuck in some or other relationship (they call it as disturbance in life). When relationships lack workability you lose half of the battle in the world. Because your bad relationships start to consume your mental energy and it takes you away from the kind of life you want to live. We invite you today to take some steps in your life to resolve relationship issues where you are stuck. There is nothing that you cannot resolve inside of a conversation and so start having dialogue with the other person where you can make that particular relationship better. Either get out of such relationship or continue but don’t remain stuck.
Your parents are your source relationship. You may have a lot of money, huge bank balance and everything with you but if you are incomplete with your parents you will never ever be fulfilled. If you want your life to work, see that you maintain good relationship with your parents. I was once interacting with one of our clients whose father is bedridden from last few years and his father now occurs to him as burden ( he is frustrated with his situation). He is willing to take care of his father but as a duty and not lovingly. I could clearly see in his life that he earns fantastic, has everything in life but this was an area where he was stuck and so was not able to experience life at its fullest. If possible write a letter to your parents (even if they are not alive) and make sure your relationship with your parent’s works. You just can’t afford to have non-workability in this relationship.
Your home environment really matters. I and my wife always feel that as parents our only job is to provide good environment to kids and nothing else. Environment which is positive, alive and creative. Sharing from my childhood, I had very normal childhood but I witnessed a lot of family quarrels and disputes which had negative impact on me as a child. Your home environment is the greatest gift you can give to your family and kids and so pause for a while and see what best you can do to enhance your home environment. This is the greatest wealth you can ever gift to your kids and family members.
I and Manish love what we do and we see that as our success. I left my family business and he left his high paying job so that we could follow our bliss. According to us, it is a complete waste of life if you have to wake-up every day and have to do work which you don’t like doing. I am not asking you to quit your job or immediately start your own business. But be clear that your work (your daily creation) is your true wealth and so see that you love and enjoy your work. See that you nurture your work and your work nurtures you. At the end when you reach 60 or 65 you will not see work as an opportunity to earn money, but it will be about something else. (And I am sure of that). You can read how Manish had quit his job for his passion
A lot of people get so busy with their routine life, somewhere they stop taking care of their own body. If I have to put the same in a harsh way I would say “People abuse their own body”. Jim Rohn said, “Your body is the only house in which you are going to live”. A few days back one of my close relative had some hearing problem and when they approached doctor they were told, the patient will not be able to hear by left ear. They were adviced to buy hearing machine at the earliest. This person now takes great care of his second ear. Your each and every body part is important and you have to care for yourself. Here is a great thread on Quora about some misconceptions about health and wellness.
Do you go for regular dental check-up? Do you go for regular eye check-up? Or regular health check-up? Or exercise regularly? – We are not saying anything new but we know that a lot of you need to bring attention to your body. This article will teach you 10 mind-blowing things “Health” can teach you about “Wealth”
Majority of you spend a lot of time in your office with your colleagues or having interaction with your clients. Most people have loving family and loving friends in their life but it is important to have loving circle of clients and colleagues. I was once having conversation with one of our clients who had some major issue with his boss and so he was not able to focus on other areas of his life. Stop blaming people, take all the politics and professional insecurities out of your work life, stop judging people you work with because when you judge people you are not able to form loving circle of colleagues and clients. People you surround with are part of your true wealth because that is from where all the support, information and leverage is going to enter your life.
When we lead our workshop we ask people to raise their hands if they have any hobby in life. A few hands raise as majority of them do not have any hobby in life. Hobby is something that you love doing without any compulsion or pressure. This is something you do for your own self and not for someone else. It helps you to rejuvenate, it gives you a chance to connect with your own self-expression and so I always urge our clients to stay connected with their hobby. Your hobby is your true wealth; your hobby is your companion who will be with you all your life.
My son is now 1 year and 2 months old (young) and I love playing with him and his little friends who visit our home. As parents a lot of people set children education goal and marriage goal but more importantly you have to spend quality time with your kids. In the first 5-8 years of kids upbringing it is important that you spend more and more quality time with your kids. It is my dream to write a book on how to teach kids about money ( I see it as my duty to do something for kids). After you return home instead of watching soap operas, see that you spend quality time with your kids. Here it is not about quantity it is always about quality.
A lot of people have home theater at their home but they do not have library. I am not against owning a home theater because I have one at my home. I always tell my wife that the only wealth I am going to pass on to my next generation is my collection of books and nothing else. I would not like to pass on money to next generation but I will pass on books through which they can build their own capacity to produce and create wealth. Make sure you build your small library at home with some quality and inspiring books (And don’t forget to add our 3 books to your library)
Being with Mother Nature is your greatest wealth. Where I live we have peacock and peahens visiting our house every day. Every day evening I spend some time sitting in my garden doing nothing and I just BE with Mother Nature. I invite you to spend 10 to 15 minutes every day with Mother Nature, it has tremendous power in it and it will leave you with a lot of energy and peace of mind. Wherever you live see that you stay connected with nature by some way or the other.
Some Final words
In life always stay grounded and connected with your true wealth. You are free to make list of what you consider as your true wealth and take steps to give yourself fully to what matters to you. We want our readers to grow, we want each one of you to always stay connected with your true wealth. We also want you to help others in connecting with their true wealth.
This is how we can spread jago effect; this is how we can create a world that works for everyone. Do share your key insights with us in the comment section. If you have any better idea do share the same with us.
Note – This article is written by Nandish Desai
If I have to write one last article before I die it would be the one that you are reading. Don’t worry I am here to stay and we as a team will continue to write more and more articles! This article is special to us and I am glad I got this opportunity to share my thoughts on true wealth with you. Before you read any further I have few requests, don’t react to the content, read the content slowly, sink into the content and see how you can figure out your own way or process to connect with your true wealth.
By true wealth – I mean something that really matters to you and something that is close to your heart.
A lot of people out in the world are striving for high returns, perfect financial products and earning more MONEY but somewhere they are losing touch with their true wealth and so today we want our readers to get in touch with their true wealth.
1. Great and loving relationships
If you are stuck in any relationship, no matter how much you try you won’t be able to live a fulfilled life. I interact with a lot of people who find themselves stuck in some or other relationship (they call it as disturbance in life). When relationships lack workability you lose half of the battle in the world. Because your bad relationships start to consume your mental energy and it takes you away from the kind of life you want to live. We invite you today to take some steps in your life to resolve relationship issues where you are stuck. There is nothing that you cannot resolve inside of a conversation and so start having dialogue with the other person where you can make that particular relationship better. Either get out of such relationship or continue but don’t remain stuck.
2. Relationship with Parents
Your parents are your source relationship. You may have a lot of money, huge bank balance and everything with you but if you are incomplete with your parents you will never ever be fulfilled. If you want your life to work, see that you maintain good relationship with your parents. I was once interacting with one of our clients whose father is bedridden from last few years and his father now occurs to him as burden ( he is frustrated with his situation). He is willing to take care of his father but as a duty and not lovingly. I could clearly see in his life that he earns fantastic, has everything in life but this was an area where he was stuck and so was not able to experience life at its fullest. If possible write a letter to your parents (even if they are not alive) and make sure your relationship with your parent’s works. You just can’t afford to have non-workability in this relationship.
3. Building Great Home Environment
Your home environment really matters. I and my wife always feel that as parents our only job is to provide good environment to kids and nothing else. Environment which is positive, alive and creative. Sharing from my childhood, I had very normal childhood but I witnessed a lot of family quarrels and disputes which had negative impact on me as a child. Your home environment is the greatest gift you can give to your family and kids and so pause for a while and see what best you can do to enhance your home environment. This is the greatest wealth you can ever gift to your kids and family members.
4. Do what you love
I and Manish love what we do and we see that as our success. I left my family business and he left his high paying job so that we could follow our bliss. According to us, it is a complete waste of life if you have to wake-up every day and have to do work which you don’t like doing. I am not asking you to quit your job or immediately start your own business. But be clear that your work (your daily creation) is your true wealth and so see that you love and enjoy your work. See that you nurture your work and your work nurtures you. At the end when you reach 60 or 65 you will not see work as an opportunity to earn money, but it will be about something else. (And I am sure of that). You can read how Manish had quit his job for his passion
5. Take good care of your body parts
A lot of people get so busy with their routine life, somewhere they stop taking care of their own body. If I have to put the same in a harsh way I would say “People abuse their own body”. Jim Rohn said, “Your body is the only house in which you are going to live”. A few days back one of my close relative had some hearing problem and when they approached doctor they were told, the patient will not be able to hear by left ear. They were adviced to buy hearing machine at the earliest. This person now takes great care of his second ear. Your each and every body part is important and you have to care for yourself. Here is a great thread on Quora about some misconceptions about health and wellness.
Do you go for regular dental check-up? Do you go for regular eye check-up? Or regular health check-up? Or exercise regularly? – We are not saying anything new but we know that a lot of you need to bring attention to your body. This article will teach you 10 mind-blowing things “Health” can teach you about “Wealth”
6. Loving circle of clients and colleagues
Majority of you spend a lot of time in your office with your colleagues or having interaction with your clients. Most people have loving family and loving friends in their life but it is important to have loving circle of clients and colleagues. I was once having conversation with one of our clients who had some major issue with his boss and so he was not able to focus on other areas of his life. Stop blaming people, take all the politics and professional insecurities out of your work life, stop judging people you work with because when you judge people you are not able to form loving circle of colleagues and clients. People you surround with are part of your true wealth because that is from where all the support, information and leverage is going to enter your life.
7. Stay connected with your hobby
When we lead our workshop we ask people to raise their hands if they have any hobby in life. A few hands raise as majority of them do not have any hobby in life. Hobby is something that you love doing without any compulsion or pressure. This is something you do for your own self and not for someone else. It helps you to rejuvenate, it gives you a chance to connect with your own self-expression and so I always urge our clients to stay connected with their hobby. Your hobby is your true wealth; your hobby is your companion who will be with you all your life.
8. Give quality time to your kids
My son is now 1 year and 2 months old (young) and I love playing with him and his little friends who visit our home. As parents a lot of people set children education goal and marriage goal but more importantly you have to spend quality time with your kids. In the first 5-8 years of kids upbringing it is important that you spend more and more quality time with your kids. It is my dream to write a book on how to teach kids about money ( I see it as my duty to do something for kids). After you return home instead of watching soap operas, see that you spend quality time with your kids. Here it is not about quantity it is always about quality.
9. Build a small library at home
A lot of people have home theater at their home but they do not have library. I am not against owning a home theater because I have one at my home. I always tell my wife that the only wealth I am going to pass on to my next generation is my collection of books and nothing else. I would not like to pass on money to next generation but I will pass on books through which they can build their own capacity to produce and create wealth. Make sure you build your small library at home with some quality and inspiring books (And don’t forget to add our 3 books to your library)
10. Spend time with Nature
Being with Mother Nature is your greatest wealth. Where I live we have peacock and peahens visiting our house every day. Every day evening I spend some time sitting in my garden doing nothing and I just BE with Mother Nature. I invite you to spend 10 to 15 minutes every day with Mother Nature, it has tremendous power in it and it will leave you with a lot of energy and peace of mind. Wherever you live see that you stay connected with nature by some way or the other.
Some Final words
In life always stay grounded and connected with your true wealth. You are free to make list of what you consider as your true wealth and take steps to give yourself fully to what matters to you. We want our readers to grow, we want each one of you to always stay connected with your true wealth. We also want you to help others in connecting with their true wealth.
This is how we can spread jago effect; this is how we can create a world that works for everyone. Do share your key insights with us in the comment section. If you have any better idea do share the same with us.
Note – This article is written by Nandish Desai
The Red Within People of Latin America An Attempt To Venture The Leftist Sentiments
I perhaps went half mad when the FIFA World Cup 2014 was going on.I was so excited,mesmerised when the Latin Americans made their goals (Though I also cheered for other Third World Countries like Ghana,Nigeria and all the others from Africa or the Middle East.)But us Indians have a terrible sentiment within for the Latin America.So,when a football match and one like the World Cup had been going on,a lot of us cheered our hearts out for them.I was keen and enthusiastic throughout the session and I remember how I started muttering You have got to make it when Brazils matches were going on and I went on repeating that sentence - until,yes,they made it.But when the final match came up,that between Argentina and Germany,I was not one inch less concerned about the Latin American Pride and Glory and I wished they would win,I kept muttering,I sat upright and got all that hyperactive.I never wished any European country to make a record of winning the world cup football in Latin American soil.When Germany won,I felt shattered.When Goetze was running across the field in utter delight,I felt a certain sentiment and it was so deserting a feeling.I could see them cry and supporters of Germany were cheering.I was strong all this while and still made it but only upto this limit.I just turned across my pillow (it was past midnight in India then) and tried to close my eyes.But I could feel the warm liquid rush down my face.When I read about the Cuban revolution and still read about it,I feel a sense of pride.When I saw the photographs of the dissected body of Che Guevara,I was traumatised and I dont know how to explain how I felt and still continue to feel when I think about what CIA did to him,what CIA has been doing to the world.When I read about Tania the guerrilla (Bolivian Revolution), it was as if I had been linked to these incidents from many,many years.
There are reasons why I love Latin America,though.I love the natural beauty of the place and I love the Red sentiment the people are so evident and serious,yet passionate about.
Even today,when United States will go to any extent to root out every symbol of any kind of Leftist Ideologies from anywhere in the world,a lot of Socialist and Communist bases still exist in Latin America.Ernesto Che Guevara is himself,still a cause for the existence and extent the ideals cover today.In popular culture,Guevara is seen as a figure by many teenagers which according to me is a view as stupid as it can ever get to.His life is not only all about The Motorcycle Diaries or the crazy times he has had with Alberto Granado.His life is basically about struggle - class struggle.Even if he himself hailed from an upper middle class background,he had raised his voice for the Proletariat.Cuban Revolution,battle of Santa Claura do not just signify adventure,it explains that we can do it - we can get rid of sinners if we are united.Guerrilla warfare is of course not applicable anywhere but necessary changes can be made to the principles of Marxism to fit it in the context of a country.
The other huge factors are leaders like Fidel Castro,Hugo Chavez and Salvador Allende,to whom and whose contributions,emotional links are quite natural.Castro was a very close friend of Che and the way they had engineered the revolution,it proves their immense political intelligence.Che himself had designed the economical structure on which Cuba could work on.(Reference : Our America and Theirs written by Ernesto Che Guevara.)And of course the diplomat President Kennedys plans had failed to root out the existence of red from Latin America.Cubas infant mortality rate is less than that of United States and the medical facilities that such a small country (in terms of geographical area) has been able to come up with.
I remember a very popular slogan used by Venezuela - "Chavez vive,La Patria Sigue",which means as long as Chavez lives,fatherhood would prevail.President Chavez was administratively able and politically successful.People of Venezuela loved him and even after his demise in 2013,they still would continue to respect and love him until the end.
The incident of the military coup by Augusto Pinochet with necessary aid from United States is bound to leave every human heart moved.I had read Allendes last speech before they bombed his house and killed him.It was brave,it was something leaders are supposed to do and he was an ideal leader.He did a lot for the people and the only part of the country that did not like him were the capitalists and the silly clergy.(How can you talk about god when you dont know how to love people of your country?)It is very nice to know that Pinochets rule was ultimately thrown and democracy restored. Bachelet is a very able leader and has gained mass popularity owing to the incidence of General Alberto Bachelet and how Michelle and her mother was tortured in the prison cells.There were thousands killed in Chile and there were still thousands who went missing.The government under Pinochet was immensely corrupt and laid to foreigners the full access to the market.President Bachelet has got a part of the economy in the governments hand after the Socialist Party got elected by the people.
No matter what happens,how much America tries to get their hands into the business of Latin America,its never going to get easier to demolish this sentiment and after all,it is the people who are the decision makers.I dont think this evil system called Capitalism will ever make it totally in this wide Red base in the world.Though there is still a long way to go with the economy in these countries,we still find some peace looking at the fact that the great dictators have not yet made it here.Long Live Red! Long Live Revolution!
Unlike the other prudential and researched works in this week,this post allowed me some emotional space that I enjoyed writing all this time.I have circles from Latin America through the social networking spaces and I cant express how happy I am to work with them.Even young teenagers from Latin America are prone to the red sentiment.
Disclaimer - The photograph used does not belong to me.
There are reasons why I love Latin America,though.I love the natural beauty of the place and I love the Red sentiment the people are so evident and serious,yet passionate about.
Even today,when United States will go to any extent to root out every symbol of any kind of Leftist Ideologies from anywhere in the world,a lot of Socialist and Communist bases still exist in Latin America.Ernesto Che Guevara is himself,still a cause for the existence and extent the ideals cover today.In popular culture,Guevara is seen as a figure by many teenagers which according to me is a view as stupid as it can ever get to.His life is not only all about The Motorcycle Diaries or the crazy times he has had with Alberto Granado.His life is basically about struggle - class struggle.Even if he himself hailed from an upper middle class background,he had raised his voice for the Proletariat.Cuban Revolution,battle of Santa Claura do not just signify adventure,it explains that we can do it - we can get rid of sinners if we are united.Guerrilla warfare is of course not applicable anywhere but necessary changes can be made to the principles of Marxism to fit it in the context of a country.
The wide Red Base in the world - Latin America
The other huge factors are leaders like Fidel Castro,Hugo Chavez and Salvador Allende,to whom and whose contributions,emotional links are quite natural.Castro was a very close friend of Che and the way they had engineered the revolution,it proves their immense political intelligence.Che himself had designed the economical structure on which Cuba could work on.(Reference : Our America and Theirs written by Ernesto Che Guevara.)And of course the diplomat President Kennedys plans had failed to root out the existence of red from Latin America.Cubas infant mortality rate is less than that of United States and the medical facilities that such a small country (in terms of geographical area) has been able to come up with.
I remember a very popular slogan used by Venezuela - "Chavez vive,La Patria Sigue",which means as long as Chavez lives,fatherhood would prevail.President Chavez was administratively able and politically successful.People of Venezuela loved him and even after his demise in 2013,they still would continue to respect and love him until the end.
The incident of the military coup by Augusto Pinochet with necessary aid from United States is bound to leave every human heart moved.I had read Allendes last speech before they bombed his house and killed him.It was brave,it was something leaders are supposed to do and he was an ideal leader.He did a lot for the people and the only part of the country that did not like him were the capitalists and the silly clergy.(How can you talk about god when you dont know how to love people of your country?)It is very nice to know that Pinochets rule was ultimately thrown and democracy restored. Bachelet is a very able leader and has gained mass popularity owing to the incidence of General Alberto Bachelet and how Michelle and her mother was tortured in the prison cells.There were thousands killed in Chile and there were still thousands who went missing.The government under Pinochet was immensely corrupt and laid to foreigners the full access to the market.President Bachelet has got a part of the economy in the governments hand after the Socialist Party got elected by the people.
No matter what happens,how much America tries to get their hands into the business of Latin America,its never going to get easier to demolish this sentiment and after all,it is the people who are the decision makers.I dont think this evil system called Capitalism will ever make it totally in this wide Red base in the world.Though there is still a long way to go with the economy in these countries,we still find some peace looking at the fact that the great dictators have not yet made it here.Long Live Red! Long Live Revolution!
Unlike the other prudential and researched works in this week,this post allowed me some emotional space that I enjoyed writing all this time.I have circles from Latin America through the social networking spaces and I cant express how happy I am to work with them.Even young teenagers from Latin America are prone to the red sentiment.
Disclaimer - The photograph used does not belong to me.
Swallowtail Scales
Like most long-established university biology departments, Durham University School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences has substantial collections of specimens that have been donated over the years, including a large number of butterflies ........... which offer an opportunity to explore one the the microscopist’s favourite natural objects – butterfly wing scales. These are the wing scales of a swallowtail Papilio macheon which in this old pinned specimen cant match the vibrancy of colour in the living insect portrayed below, but they are still exquisite objects. If you look closely you can see that they vary in shape as well as colour ... notice how the edges of the red ones are more indented than the blue ones. The metallic colours in butterfly scales are the result of optical effects rather than pigments and are produced by ultra-fine grooves in the scales, where light penetrates to different depths and the reflected light waves interact to produce the electric blue interference colours.
Human Eye How The Eye Works For Kids
Your eyes are like two tiny movie cameras inside your head.
They are sending a steady stream of pictures back to your brain, like a television camera sending live pictures back to a TV screen.
Your eyes have a part called the lens, just like a camera. The lens helps to bring everything you look at into focus, so that details are as clear as possible.
To see colors, we have special cells in the eye called cones.
They share the work of seeing with other cells called rods.
Rods do not detect the difference between colors and don’t need as much light as cones to make them work.
So at times, rods are more useful to you than cones, such as at night when the light is very dim.
Have you ever been for a walk in the moonlight and noticed how pale, silvery, and colorless everything seems?
Photographers can take pictures by moonlight which are just as colorful as pictures taken by day. So the colors are still there by moonlight, but we can’t see them.
Can you think why this is?
The cones help us to see color, but moonlight doesn’t provide them with enough light to function well at night.
Read more »
They are sending a steady stream of pictures back to your brain, like a television camera sending live pictures back to a TV screen.
Your eyes have a part called the lens, just like a camera. The lens helps to bring everything you look at into focus, so that details are as clear as possible.
What are Rods and Cones?
Human beings are luckier than many other animals because they see in color. Some other animals, such as birds and butterflies, can also see colors.To see colors, we have special cells in the eye called cones.
They share the work of seeing with other cells called rods.
Rods do not detect the difference between colors and don’t need as much light as cones to make them work.
So at times, rods are more useful to you than cones, such as at night when the light is very dim.
Have you ever been for a walk in the moonlight and noticed how pale, silvery, and colorless everything seems?
Photographers can take pictures by moonlight which are just as colorful as pictures taken by day. So the colors are still there by moonlight, but we can’t see them.
Can you think why this is?
The cones help us to see color, but moonlight doesn’t provide them with enough light to function well at night.
What Is Stereoscopic Vision?
When we use both our eyes, we have a kind of sight called stereoscopic vision.
Because both eyes are at the front, they both see the same object. But your eyes are a little apart from each other, so each has a slightly different view of things.
You can check this if you place two objects, such as drinking glasses, on a table in front of you.
Place one about 8 inches (20 centimeters) away from you, the other 2 feet (60 centimeters) away.
Put your chin on the table with the two glasses in a straight line away from you.
Close one eye, then the other.
Do you see exactly the same thing with both eyes?
Your brain makes use of the fact that your eyes tell different stories.
By comparing the messages from each eye, your brain works out how far away an object is.
Your brain does this in a split second every time you look at anything.
Stereoscopic Vision Test for kids
Why are our eyes on the front of our head, both looking the same way?
It seems a waste of an eye, doesn’t it?
To discover the answer, play this game of throwing and catching a ball with a friend.
You will need:
- stiff, black paper or cloth
- scissors
- a sharp pencil
- a ball
- thin elastic or ribbon
1.Cut out an eyepatch from the paper or cloth. Using the pencil point, make a small hole on either side of the patch. Thread the elastic or ribbon through the patch.
2. Play at catching the ball with both eyes first. Throw the ball 20 times, and make a record of how often you drop the ball.
3. Now cover one eye with your patch. Keep a record for another 20 catches. Did you do as well? Explain what happened.
Consus Roman Gods Names
Consus was the god of secret counsel.
The Romans believed that when an idea developed itself spontaneously within the mind of an individual, it was Consus who had prompted the suggestion. This applied, however, more particularly to plans which resulted satisfactorily.
An altar was erected to this divinity on the Circus Maximus, which was kept always covered, except during his festival, the Consualia, which was celebrated on the 18th of August.
Text:
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome
Author: E.M. Berens
Published: 1880
The Project Gutenberg E-Book
Produced by Alicia Williams, Keith Edkins and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Read more »
The Romans believed that when an idea developed itself spontaneously within the mind of an individual, it was Consus who had prompted the suggestion. This applied, however, more particularly to plans which resulted satisfactorily.
An altar was erected to this divinity on the Circus Maximus, which was kept always covered, except during his festival, the Consualia, which was celebrated on the 18th of August.
Text:
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome
Author: E.M. Berens
Published: 1880
The Project Gutenberg E-Book
Produced by Alicia Williams, Keith Edkins and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Network Diagram Tools
Images gallery of network diagram tools
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Online Diagram Software Flowchart Software Gliffy
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Map-Driven Network Automation Automate Network Diagram
There are about a dozen or so different types of network diagram software for network professionals, price ranging from free to over $100,000.
Comparison of network diagram software the free
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Diagram your network with these tools TechRepublic
Takeaway: Document your network by checking out our list of network diagramming tools (half the list are free). Submit a network diagram to us and get some TR swag
Visio is not your only choice for network diagramming TechRepublic
When you think of network diagramming, Microsoft Visio is usually the first tool that comes to mind. However, Visio does have its drawbacks, especiall
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