by Gen
4 Words English:
largess - generous giving; gifts of money or other valuables
dilettante - an amateur; a admirer or lover of the fine arts
simulacrum - a representation; insubstantial or vague semblance
toothsome - delicious; attractive; luscious
4 Words Spanish:
rebeca - cardigan
embutidos - cold cuts
veinte - twenty
conocer - to know
4 Words Latin:
angelus - angel
animi - at heart
angustus - narrow, limited, strait, tight, constricted
angulus - corner, niche
4 Words Japanese:
tou - the present, to hit
chou - dynasty, morning
minami - south, southern
mugi - wheat, barley, oats
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
To Blogspot...
by Gen.....
For some reason I have lately been having to enter word verification for every post "or change of a post" I make. It makes it increasingly annoying to handle my blog because some features are not working. This is not a spam blog.
For some reason I have lately been having to enter word verification for every post "or change of a post" I make. It makes it increasingly annoying to handle my blog because some features are not working. This is not a spam blog.
Word Of The Day
by Gen
4 Words English:
chicanery: the use of trickery of deceive
defenestrate: to throw out of a window
martinet: a strict disciplinarian
brummagem: cheap and showy
4 Words Spanish:
Agresion: aggression
Competencia: rivalry; competition
Campo: country, countryside, field
Saber: to know
4 Words Latin:
Adepto: to obtain, get, acquire
Abhuc: till then, till now, still, even now, besides, also, yet
Adicio: to direct, address
Adimpleo: to fulfill, perform
4 Words Japanese:
Chuu: daytime, noon
Ji : ground, earth
Chi: pond, pool
Higashi: east
4 Words English:
chicanery: the use of trickery of deceive
defenestrate: to throw out of a window
martinet: a strict disciplinarian
brummagem: cheap and showy
4 Words Spanish:
Agresion: aggression
Competencia: rivalry; competition
Campo: country, countryside, field
Saber: to know
4 Words Latin:
Adepto: to obtain, get, acquire
Abhuc: till then, till now, still, even now, besides, also, yet
Adicio: to direct, address
Adimpleo: to fulfill, perform
4 Words Japanese:
Chuu: daytime, noon
Ji : ground, earth
Chi: pond, pool
Higashi: east
Monday, December 18, 2006
Great links for all readers
by Gen
This website is awesome. The perfect "go-to" dictionary with words of the day, a translator, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and much more!
http://dictionary.reference.com/
Tons of books at your disposal here.. also has poems! Will keep you busy for a looong time.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/
Excellent resource for just about anything.
http://wikipedia.com/
Another great resource page.
http://www.infoplease.com/
Has answered all my questions...
http://www.howstuffworks.com/
From school, to news, to just about everything else... this site is awesome with great content, cool interactives, and much much more.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Ill add more as soon as possible...
This website is awesome. The perfect "go-to" dictionary with words of the day, a translator, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and much more!
http://dictionary.reference.com/
Tons of books at your disposal here.. also has poems! Will keep you busy for a looong time.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/
Excellent resource for just about anything.
http://wikipedia.com/
Another great resource page.
http://www.infoplease.com/
Has answered all my questions...
http://www.howstuffworks.com/
From school, to news, to just about everything else... this site is awesome with great content, cool interactives, and much much more.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Ill add more as soon as possible...
Saturday, December 02, 2006
People of Film
by Gen
When you watch a movie, do you know what happens behind the scenes? Do you know what does a producer do? What is a screenplay? Ill take you through all the different people who are essential to film.
Firstly, lets start with a director. A director oversees all aspect of a film, from start to finish. Directors can be recognized by their special trademark lighting or mood, and the overall look of their film. When a director reads a script, he/she developes a vision of how it should interpret into the screen; from lighting, mood, and camera angle, a director chooses it all. Athough a director is responsible for the vision behind the film, a good director also listens to his crew and cast and works collaboratively.
A producer creates the condition for making movies. The producer initiates, coordinates, supervises, and controls matters such as raising funding, hiring key personnel, and arranging for distributors. The producer is involved thoughout all phases of the filmmaking process from development to completion of a project.
An actor is a person who plays a role for a dramatic production. Actors usually work in movies, plays, radio, and tv. Actors usually play a fictional character, but in the event of a true story, they play a real person. Sometimes actors even play themselves!
A cinematographer is a camera operator. As the director visualizes the script, it is the cinematographer's job to film it.
A screenplay or script is a blueprint for making a motion picture. It can be adapted from a previous work like a novel, play, short story, or it may be an original work itself!
When you watch a movie, do you know what happens behind the scenes? Do you know what does a producer do? What is a screenplay? Ill take you through all the different people who are essential to film.
Firstly, lets start with a director. A director oversees all aspect of a film, from start to finish. Directors can be recognized by their special trademark lighting or mood, and the overall look of their film. When a director reads a script, he/she developes a vision of how it should interpret into the screen; from lighting, mood, and camera angle, a director chooses it all. Athough a director is responsible for the vision behind the film, a good director also listens to his crew and cast and works collaboratively.
A producer creates the condition for making movies. The producer initiates, coordinates, supervises, and controls matters such as raising funding, hiring key personnel, and arranging for distributors. The producer is involved thoughout all phases of the filmmaking process from development to completion of a project.
An actor is a person who plays a role for a dramatic production. Actors usually work in movies, plays, radio, and tv. Actors usually play a fictional character, but in the event of a true story, they play a real person. Sometimes actors even play themselves!
A cinematographer is a camera operator. As the director visualizes the script, it is the cinematographer's job to film it.
A screenplay or script is a blueprint for making a motion picture. It can be adapted from a previous work like a novel, play, short story, or it may be an original work itself!
Monday, November 06, 2006
Rembrandt
by Gen
Rembrandt was born in Leiden on July 15, 1606. He was the son of a miller. Despite the fact that he came from a family of relatively modest means, his parents took great care with his education. Rembrandt began his studies at the Latin School, and at the age of 14 he was enrolled at the University of Leiden. The program did not interest him, and he soon left to study art, first with a local master, Jacob van Swanenburch, and then, in Amsterdam, with Pieter Lastman, known for his historical paintings. After six months, having mastered everything he had been taught, Rembrandt returned to Leiden, where he was soon so highly regarded that although barely 22 years old, he took his first pupils. One of his students was the famous artist Gerrit Dou.
Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam in 1631; his marriage in 1634 to Saskia van Uylenburgh, the cousin of a successful art dealer, enhanced his career, bringing him in contact with wealthy patrons who eagerly commissioned portraits. An exceptionally fine example from this period is the Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts (1631, Frick Collection, New York City). In addition, Rembrandt's mythological and religious works were much in demand, and he painted numerous dramatic masterpieces such as The Blinding of Samson (1636, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt). Because of his renown as a teacher, his studio was filled with pupils, some of whom (such as Carel Fabritius) were already trained artists. In the 20th century, scholars have reattributed a number of his paintings to his associates; attributing and identifying Rembrandt's works is an active area of art scholarship.
In contrast to his successful public career, however, Rembrandt's family life was marked by misfortune. Between 1635 and 1641 Saskia gave birth to four children, but only the last, Titus, survived; her own death came in 1642- at the age of 30. Hendrickje Stoffels, engaged as his housekeeper about 1649, eventually became his common-law wife and was the model for many of his pictures. Despite Rembrandt's financial success as an artist, teacher, and art dealer, his penchant for ostentatious living forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1656. An inventory of his collection of art and antiquities, taken before an auction to pay his debts, showed the breadth of Rembrandt's interests: ancient sculpture, Flemish and Italian Renaissance paintings, Far Eastern art, contemporary Dutch works, weapons, and armor. Unfortunately, the results of the auction, including the sale of his house, were disappointing.
These problems in no way affected Rembrandt's work; if anything, his artistry increased. Some of the great paintings from this period are The Jewish Bride (1665), The Syndics of the Cloth Guild (1661, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), Bathsheba (1654, Louvre, Paris), Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph (1656, Staatliche Gemäldegalerie, Kassel, Germany), and a self-portrait (1658, Frick Collection). His personal life, however, continued to be marred by sorrow. His beloved Hendrickje died in 1663, and his son, Titus, in 1668, only 27 years old. Eleven months later, on October 4, 1669, Rembrandt died in Amsterdam.
Rembrandt was born in Leiden on July 15, 1606. He was the son of a miller. Despite the fact that he came from a family of relatively modest means, his parents took great care with his education. Rembrandt began his studies at the Latin School, and at the age of 14 he was enrolled at the University of Leiden. The program did not interest him, and he soon left to study art, first with a local master, Jacob van Swanenburch, and then, in Amsterdam, with Pieter Lastman, known for his historical paintings. After six months, having mastered everything he had been taught, Rembrandt returned to Leiden, where he was soon so highly regarded that although barely 22 years old, he took his first pupils. One of his students was the famous artist Gerrit Dou.
Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam in 1631; his marriage in 1634 to Saskia van Uylenburgh, the cousin of a successful art dealer, enhanced his career, bringing him in contact with wealthy patrons who eagerly commissioned portraits. An exceptionally fine example from this period is the Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts (1631, Frick Collection, New York City). In addition, Rembrandt's mythological and religious works were much in demand, and he painted numerous dramatic masterpieces such as The Blinding of Samson (1636, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt). Because of his renown as a teacher, his studio was filled with pupils, some of whom (such as Carel Fabritius) were already trained artists. In the 20th century, scholars have reattributed a number of his paintings to his associates; attributing and identifying Rembrandt's works is an active area of art scholarship.
In contrast to his successful public career, however, Rembrandt's family life was marked by misfortune. Between 1635 and 1641 Saskia gave birth to four children, but only the last, Titus, survived; her own death came in 1642- at the age of 30. Hendrickje Stoffels, engaged as his housekeeper about 1649, eventually became his common-law wife and was the model for many of his pictures. Despite Rembrandt's financial success as an artist, teacher, and art dealer, his penchant for ostentatious living forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1656. An inventory of his collection of art and antiquities, taken before an auction to pay his debts, showed the breadth of Rembrandt's interests: ancient sculpture, Flemish and Italian Renaissance paintings, Far Eastern art, contemporary Dutch works, weapons, and armor. Unfortunately, the results of the auction, including the sale of his house, were disappointing.
These problems in no way affected Rembrandt's work; if anything, his artistry increased. Some of the great paintings from this period are The Jewish Bride (1665), The Syndics of the Cloth Guild (1661, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), Bathsheba (1654, Louvre, Paris), Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph (1656, Staatliche Gemäldegalerie, Kassel, Germany), and a self-portrait (1658, Frick Collection). His personal life, however, continued to be marred by sorrow. His beloved Hendrickje died in 1663, and his son, Titus, in 1668, only 27 years old. Eleven months later, on October 4, 1669, Rembrandt died in Amsterdam.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Periodic Table of Elements
#1: Hydrogen
Atomic Symbol: H
Atomic Weight: 1.0079
Melting Point: -259.34C
Boiling Point: -252.87C
#2: Helium
Atomic Symbol: He
Atomic Weight: 4.00260
Melting Point: -272.2C
Boiling Point: -268.96C
#3: Lithium
Atomic Symbol: Li
Atomic Weight: 6.941
Melting Point: 180.5C
Boiling Point: 1342C
#4: Beryllium
Atomic Symbol: Be
Atomic Weight: 9.01218
Melting Point: 1287C
Boiling Point: 2471C
#5: Boron
Atomic Symbol: B
Atomic Weight: 10.81
Melting Point: 2075C
Boiling Point: 4000C
#6: Carbon
Atomic Symbol: C
Atomic Weight: 12.011
Melting Point: 3550C
Boiling Point: 3800C
#7: Nitrogen
Atomic Symbol: N
Atomic Weight: 14.00674
Melting Point: -210C
Boiling Point: -195.79C
#8: Oxygen
Atomic Symbol: O
Atomic Weight: 15.9994
Melting Point: -218.79C
Boiling Point: -182.95C
#9: Fluorine
Atomic Symbol: F
Atomic Weight: 18.998403
Melting Point: -219.67C
Boiling Point: -188.12C
#10: Neon
Atomic Symbol: Ne
Atomic Weight: 20.179
Melting Point: -258.59
Boiling Point: -246.08
#11: Sodium
Atomic Symbol: Na
Atomic Weight: 22.98977
Melting Point: 97.8C
Boiling Point: 883C
#12: Magnesium
Atomic Symbol: Mg
Atomic Weight: 24.305
Melting Point: 650C
Boiling Point: 1090C
#13: Aluminum
Atomic Symbol: Al
Atomic Weight: 26.98154
Melting Point: 660.32C
Boiling Point: 2519C
#14: Silicon
Atomic Symbol: Si
Atomic Weight: 28.086
Melting Point: 1414C
Boiling Point: 3265C
#15: Phosphorus
Atomic Symbol: P
Atomic Weight: 30.97376
Melting Point: 44.15C
Boiling Point: 280.5C
#16: Sulfur
Atomic Symbol: S
Atomic Weight: 32.06
Melting Point: 119.6C
Boiling Point: 444.60C
#17: Chlorine
Atomic Symbol: Cl
Atomic Weight: 35.453
Melting Point: -101.5C
Boiling Point: -34.4C
#18: Argon
Atomic Symbol: Ar
Atomic Weight: 39.948
Melting Point: -189.35C
Boiling Point: -185.85C
#19: Potassium
Atomic Symbol: K
Atomic Weight: 39.098
Melting Point: 63.5C
Boiling Point: 759C
#20: Calcium
Atomic Symbol: Ca
Atomic Weight: 40.08
Melting Point: 842C
Boiling Point: 1484C
#21: Scandium
Atomic Symbol: Sc
Atomic Weight: 44.9559
Melting Point: 1541C
Boiling Point: 2836C
#22: Titanium
Atomic Symbol: Ti
Atomic Weight: 47.90
Melting Point: 1668C
Boiling Point: 3287C
#23: Vanadium
Atomic Symbol: V
Atomic Weight: 50.9414
Melting Point: 1910C
Boiling Point: 3407C
#24: Chromium
Atomic Symbol: Cr
Atomic Weight: 51.996
Melting Point: 1907C
Boiling Point: 2671C
#25: Manganese
Atomic Symbol: Mn
Atomic Weight: 54.9380
Melting Point: 1246C
Boiling Point: 2061C
#26: Iron
Atomic Symbol: Fe
Atomic Weight: 55.847
Melting Point: 1538C
Boiling Point: 2861C
#27: Cobalt
Atomic Symbol: Co
Atomic Weight: 58.9332
Melting Point: 1495C
Boiling Point: 2927C
#28: Nickel
Atomic Symbol: Ni
Atomic Weight: 58.70
Melting Point: 1455C
Boiling Point: 2913C
#29: Copper
Atomic Symbol: Cu
Atomic Weight: 63.546
Melting Point: 1084.6C
Boiling Point: 2562C
#30: Zinc
Atomic Symbol: Zn
Atomic Weight: 65.38
Melting Point: 419.5C
Boiling Point: 907C
#31: Gallium
Atomic Symbol: Ga
Atomic Weight: 69.72
Melting Point: 29.76C
Boiling Point: 2204C
#32: Germanium
Atomic Symbol: Ge
Atomic Weight: 72.59
Melting Point: 938.25C
Boiling Point: 2833C
#33: Arsenic
Atomic Symbol: As
Atomic Weight: 74.9216
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#34: Selenium
Atomic Symbol: Se
Atomic Weight: 78.96
Melting Point: 220.5C
Boiling Point: 685C
#35: Bromine
Atomic Symbol: Br
Atomic Weight: 79.904
Melting Point: -7.2C
Boiling Point: 58.8C
#36: Krypton
Atomic Symbol: Kr
Atomic Weight: 83.80
Melting Point: -157.38C
Boiling Point: -153.22C
#37: Rubidium
Atomic Symbol: Rb
Atomic Weight: 85.4678
Melting Point: 39.3C
Boiling Point: 688C
#38: Strontium
Atomic Symbol: Sr
Atomic Weight: 87.62
Melting Point: 777C
Boiling Point: 1382C
#39: Yttrium
Atomic Symbol: Y
Atomic Weight: 88.9059
Melting Point: 1522C
Boiling Point: 3345C
#40: Zirconium
Atomic Symbol: Zr
Atomic Weight: 91.22
Melting Point: 1855C
Boiling Point: 4409C
#41: Niomium
Atomic Symbol: Nb
Atomic Weight: 92.9064
Melting Point: 2477C
Boiling Point: 4744C
#42: Molybdenum
Atomic Symbol: Mo
Atomic Weight: 95.94
Melting Point: 2623C
Boiling Point: 4639C
#43: Technetium
Atomic Symbol: Tc
Atomic Weight: 97
Melting Point: 2157C
Boiling Point: 4265C
#44: Ruthenium
Atomic Symbol: Ru
Atomic Weight: 101.07
Melting Point: 2334C
Boiling Point: 4150C
#45: Rhodium
Atomic Symbol: Rh
Atomic Weight: 102.9055
Melting Point: 1964C
Boiling Point: 3695C
#46: Palladium
Atomic Symbol: Pd
Atomic Weight: 106.4
Melting Point: 1554.9C
Boiling Point: 2963C
#47: Silver
Atomic Symbol: Ag
Atomic Weight: 107.868
Melting Point: 961.78C
Boiling Point: 2162C
#48: Cadmium
Atomic Symbol: Cd
Atomic Weight: 112.40
Melting Point: 321.07C
Boiling Point: 767C
#49: Indium
Atomic Symbol: In
Atomic Weight: 114.82
Melting Point: 156.6C
Boiling Point: 2072C
#50: Tin
Atomic Symbol: Sn
Atomic Weight: 118.69
Melting Point: 231.93C
Boiling Point: 2602C
#51: Antimony
Atomic Symbol: Sb
Atomic Weight: 121.75
Melting Point: 630.63C
Boiling Point: 1587C
#52: Tellurium
Atomic Symbol: Te
Atomic Weight: 127.60
Melting Point: 449.5C
Boiling Point: 988C
#53: Iodine
Atomic Symbol: I
Atomic Weight: 126.9045
Melting Point: 113.7C
Boiling Point: 184.4C
#54: Xenon
Atomic Symbol: Xe
Atomic Weight: 131.30
Melting Point: -111.79C
Boiling Point: -108.12C
#55: Cesium
Atomic Symbol: Cs
Atomic Weight: 132.9054
Melting Point: 28.5C
Boiling Point: 671C
#56: Barium
Atomic Symbol: Ba
Atomic Weight: 137.34
Melting point: 727C
Boiling Point: 1897C
#57: Lanthanum
Atomic Symbol: La
Atomic Weight: 138.9055
Melting Point: 918C
Boiling Point: 1897C
#58: Cerium
Atomic Symbols: Ce
Atomic Weight: 140.12
Melting Point: 798C
Boiling Point: 3443C
#59: Praseodymium
Atomic Symbol: Pr
Atomic Weight: 140.9077
Melting Point: 931C
Boiling Point: 3520C
#60: Neodymium
Atomic Symbol: Nd
Atomic Weight: 144.24
Melting Point: 1021C
Boiling Point: 3074C
#61: Promethium
Atomic Symbol: Pm
Atomic Weight: 145
Melting Point: 1042C
Boiling Point: 3000C
#62: Samarium
Atomic Symbol: Sm
Atomic Weight: 150.4
Melting Point: 1074C
Boiling Point: 1794C
#63: Europium
Atomic Symbol: Eu
Atomic Weight: 151.96
Melting Point: 822C
Boiling Point: 1529C
#64: Gadolinium
Atomic Symbol: Gd
Atomic Weight: 157.25
Melting Point: 1313C
Boiling Point: 3273C
#65: Terbium
Atomic Symbol: Tb
Atomic Weight: 158.9254
Melting Point: 1356C
Boiling Point: 3230C
#66: Dysprosium
Atomic Symbol: Dy
Atomic Weight: 162.50
Melting Point: 1413C
Boiling Point: 2567C
#67: Holmium
Atomic Symbol: Ho
Atomic Weight: 164.9304
Melting Point: 1474C
Boiling Point: 2700C
#68: Erbium
Atomic Symbol: Er
Atomic Weight: 167.26
Melting Point: 1529C
Boiling Point: 2868C
#69: Thulium
Atomic Symbol: Tm
Atomic Weight: 168.9342
Melting Point: 1545C
Boiling Point: 1950C
#70: Ytterbium
Atomic Symbol: Yb
Atomic Weight: 173.04
Melting Point: 819C
Boiling Point: 1196C
#71: Lutetium
Atomic Symbol: Lu
Atomic Weight: 174.97
Melting Point: 1663C
Boiling Point: 3402C
#72: Hafnium
Atomic Symbol: Hf
Atomic Weight: 178.49
Melting Point: 2233C
Boiling Point: 4603C
#73: Tantalum
Atomic Symbol: Ta
Atomic Weight: 180.9479
Melting Point: 3017C
Boiling Point: 5458C
#74: Tungsten
Atomic Symbol: W
Atomic Weight: 183.5
Melting Point: 3422C
Boiling Point: 5555C
#75: Rhenium
Atomic Symbol: Re
Atomic Weight: 186.207
Melting Point: 3186C
Boiling Point: 5596C
#76: Osmium
Atomic Symbol: Os
Atomic Weight: 190.2
Melting Point: 3033C
Boiling Point: 5012C
#77: Iridium
Atomic Symbol: Ir
Atomic Weight: 192.22
Melting Point: 2446C
Boiling Point: 4428C
#78: Platinum
Atomic Symbol: Pt
Atomic Weight: 195.09
Melting Point: 1768.4C
Boiling Point: 3825C
#79: Gold
Atomic Symbol: Au
Atomic Weight: 196.9665
Melting Point: 1064.18C
Boiling Point: 2856C
#80: Mercury
Atomic Symbol: Hg
Atomic Weight: 200.59
Melting Point: -38.83C
Boiling Point: 356.73C
#81: Thallium
Atomic Symbol: Tl
Atomic Weight: 204.37
Melting Point: 304C
Boiling Point: 1473C
#82: Lead
Atomic Symbol: Pb
Atomic Weight: 207.2
Melting Point: 327.46C
Boiling Point: 1749C
#83: Bismuth
Atomic Symbol: Bi
Atomic Weight: 208.9804
Melting Point: 271.4C
Boiling Point: 1564C
#84: Polonium
Atomic Symbol: Po
Atomic Weight: 209
Melting Point: 254C
Boiling Point: 962C
#85: Astatine
Atomic Symbol: At
Atomic Weight: 210
Melting Point: 302C
Boiling Point: 340C
#86: Radon
Atomic Symbol: Rn
Atomic Weight: 222
Melting Point: -71C
Boiling Point: -61.7C
#87: Francium
Atomic Symbol: Fr
Atomic Weight: 223
Melting Point: 27C
Boiling Point: 677C
#88: Radium
Atomic Symbol: Ra
Atomic Weight: 226.0254
Melting Point: 700C
Boiling Point: 1140C
#89: Actinium
Atomic Symbol: Ac
Atomic Weight: 227
Melting Point: 1051C
Boiling Point: 3159C
#90: Thorium
Atomic Symbol: Th
Atomic Weight: 232.0381
Melting Point: 1750C
Boiling Point: 4788C
#91: Protactinium
Atomic Symbol: Pa
Atomic Weight: 231.0359
Melting Point: 1572C
Boiling Point: 4000C
#92: Uranium
Atomic Symbol: U
Atomic Weight: 238.029
Melting Point: 1135C
Boiling Point: 4131C
#93: Neptunium
Atomic Symbol: Np
Atomic Weight: 237.0482
Melting Point: 644C
Boiling Point: 3900C
#94: Plutonium
Atomic Symbol: Pu
Atomic Weight: 244
Melting Point: 640C
Boiling Point: 3228C
#95: Americium
Atomic Symbol: Am
Atomic Weight: 243
Melting Point: 1176C
Boiling Point: 2011C
#96: Curium
Atomic Symbol: Cm
Atomic Weight: 247
Melting Point: 1345C
Boiling Point: 3100C
#97: Berkelium
Atomic Symbol: Bk
Atomic Weight: 247
Melting Point: 1050C
Boiling Point: ???
#98: Californium
Atomic Symbol: Cf
Atomic Weight: 251
Melting Point: 860C
Boiling Point: ???
#99: Einsteinium
Atomic Symbol: Es
Atomic Weight: 252
Melting Point: 860C
Boiling Point: ???
#100: Fermium
Atomic Symbol: Fm
Atomic Weight: 257
Melting Point: 1527
Boiling Point: ???
#101: Mendelevium
Atomic Symbol: Md
Atomic Weight: 258
Melting Point: 827C
Boiling Point: ???
#102: Nobelium
Atomic Symbol: No
Atomic Weight: 259
Melting Point: 827C
Boiling Point: ???
#103: Lawrencium
Atomic Symbol: Lr
Atomic Weight: 262
Melting Point: 1627C
Boiling Point: ???
#104: Rutherfordium
Atomic Symbol: Rf
Atomic Weight: 261
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#105: Dubnium
Atomic Symbol: Db
Atomic Weight: 262
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#106: Seaborgium
Atomic Symbol: Sg
Atomic Weight: 263
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#107: Bohrium
Atomic Symbol: Bh
Atomic Weight: 262
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#108: Hassium
Atomic Symbol: Hs
Atomic Weight: 265
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#109: Meitnerium
Atomic Symbol: Mt
Atomic Weight: 265
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#110: Darmstadtium
Atomic Symbol: Ds
Atomic Weight: 271
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#111: Element 111
Atomic Symbol: Uuu
Atomic Weight: 272
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#112: Ununbium
Atomic Symbol: Uub
Atomic Weight: 277
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#114: Ununquarternium
Atomic Symbol: Uuq
Atomic Weight: 296
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#116: Ununhexium
Atomic Symbol: Uuh
Atomic Weight: 298
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#118: Ununoctium
Atomic Symbol: Uuo
Atomic Weight: ???
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
Atomic Symbol: H
Atomic Weight: 1.0079
Melting Point: -259.34C
Boiling Point: -252.87C
#2: Helium
Atomic Symbol: He
Atomic Weight: 4.00260
Melting Point: -272.2C
Boiling Point: -268.96C
#3: Lithium
Atomic Symbol: Li
Atomic Weight: 6.941
Melting Point: 180.5C
Boiling Point: 1342C
#4: Beryllium
Atomic Symbol: Be
Atomic Weight: 9.01218
Melting Point: 1287C
Boiling Point: 2471C
#5: Boron
Atomic Symbol: B
Atomic Weight: 10.81
Melting Point: 2075C
Boiling Point: 4000C
#6: Carbon
Atomic Symbol: C
Atomic Weight: 12.011
Melting Point: 3550C
Boiling Point: 3800C
#7: Nitrogen
Atomic Symbol: N
Atomic Weight: 14.00674
Melting Point: -210C
Boiling Point: -195.79C
#8: Oxygen
Atomic Symbol: O
Atomic Weight: 15.9994
Melting Point: -218.79C
Boiling Point: -182.95C
#9: Fluorine
Atomic Symbol: F
Atomic Weight: 18.998403
Melting Point: -219.67C
Boiling Point: -188.12C
#10: Neon
Atomic Symbol: Ne
Atomic Weight: 20.179
Melting Point: -258.59
Boiling Point: -246.08
#11: Sodium
Atomic Symbol: Na
Atomic Weight: 22.98977
Melting Point: 97.8C
Boiling Point: 883C
#12: Magnesium
Atomic Symbol: Mg
Atomic Weight: 24.305
Melting Point: 650C
Boiling Point: 1090C
#13: Aluminum
Atomic Symbol: Al
Atomic Weight: 26.98154
Melting Point: 660.32C
Boiling Point: 2519C
#14: Silicon
Atomic Symbol: Si
Atomic Weight: 28.086
Melting Point: 1414C
Boiling Point: 3265C
#15: Phosphorus
Atomic Symbol: P
Atomic Weight: 30.97376
Melting Point: 44.15C
Boiling Point: 280.5C
#16: Sulfur
Atomic Symbol: S
Atomic Weight: 32.06
Melting Point: 119.6C
Boiling Point: 444.60C
#17: Chlorine
Atomic Symbol: Cl
Atomic Weight: 35.453
Melting Point: -101.5C
Boiling Point: -34.4C
#18: Argon
Atomic Symbol: Ar
Atomic Weight: 39.948
Melting Point: -189.35C
Boiling Point: -185.85C
#19: Potassium
Atomic Symbol: K
Atomic Weight: 39.098
Melting Point: 63.5C
Boiling Point: 759C
#20: Calcium
Atomic Symbol: Ca
Atomic Weight: 40.08
Melting Point: 842C
Boiling Point: 1484C
#21: Scandium
Atomic Symbol: Sc
Atomic Weight: 44.9559
Melting Point: 1541C
Boiling Point: 2836C
#22: Titanium
Atomic Symbol: Ti
Atomic Weight: 47.90
Melting Point: 1668C
Boiling Point: 3287C
#23: Vanadium
Atomic Symbol: V
Atomic Weight: 50.9414
Melting Point: 1910C
Boiling Point: 3407C
#24: Chromium
Atomic Symbol: Cr
Atomic Weight: 51.996
Melting Point: 1907C
Boiling Point: 2671C
#25: Manganese
Atomic Symbol: Mn
Atomic Weight: 54.9380
Melting Point: 1246C
Boiling Point: 2061C
#26: Iron
Atomic Symbol: Fe
Atomic Weight: 55.847
Melting Point: 1538C
Boiling Point: 2861C
#27: Cobalt
Atomic Symbol: Co
Atomic Weight: 58.9332
Melting Point: 1495C
Boiling Point: 2927C
#28: Nickel
Atomic Symbol: Ni
Atomic Weight: 58.70
Melting Point: 1455C
Boiling Point: 2913C
#29: Copper
Atomic Symbol: Cu
Atomic Weight: 63.546
Melting Point: 1084.6C
Boiling Point: 2562C
#30: Zinc
Atomic Symbol: Zn
Atomic Weight: 65.38
Melting Point: 419.5C
Boiling Point: 907C
#31: Gallium
Atomic Symbol: Ga
Atomic Weight: 69.72
Melting Point: 29.76C
Boiling Point: 2204C
#32: Germanium
Atomic Symbol: Ge
Atomic Weight: 72.59
Melting Point: 938.25C
Boiling Point: 2833C
#33: Arsenic
Atomic Symbol: As
Atomic Weight: 74.9216
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#34: Selenium
Atomic Symbol: Se
Atomic Weight: 78.96
Melting Point: 220.5C
Boiling Point: 685C
#35: Bromine
Atomic Symbol: Br
Atomic Weight: 79.904
Melting Point: -7.2C
Boiling Point: 58.8C
#36: Krypton
Atomic Symbol: Kr
Atomic Weight: 83.80
Melting Point: -157.38C
Boiling Point: -153.22C
#37: Rubidium
Atomic Symbol: Rb
Atomic Weight: 85.4678
Melting Point: 39.3C
Boiling Point: 688C
#38: Strontium
Atomic Symbol: Sr
Atomic Weight: 87.62
Melting Point: 777C
Boiling Point: 1382C
#39: Yttrium
Atomic Symbol: Y
Atomic Weight: 88.9059
Melting Point: 1522C
Boiling Point: 3345C
#40: Zirconium
Atomic Symbol: Zr
Atomic Weight: 91.22
Melting Point: 1855C
Boiling Point: 4409C
#41: Niomium
Atomic Symbol: Nb
Atomic Weight: 92.9064
Melting Point: 2477C
Boiling Point: 4744C
#42: Molybdenum
Atomic Symbol: Mo
Atomic Weight: 95.94
Melting Point: 2623C
Boiling Point: 4639C
#43: Technetium
Atomic Symbol: Tc
Atomic Weight: 97
Melting Point: 2157C
Boiling Point: 4265C
#44: Ruthenium
Atomic Symbol: Ru
Atomic Weight: 101.07
Melting Point: 2334C
Boiling Point: 4150C
#45: Rhodium
Atomic Symbol: Rh
Atomic Weight: 102.9055
Melting Point: 1964C
Boiling Point: 3695C
#46: Palladium
Atomic Symbol: Pd
Atomic Weight: 106.4
Melting Point: 1554.9C
Boiling Point: 2963C
#47: Silver
Atomic Symbol: Ag
Atomic Weight: 107.868
Melting Point: 961.78C
Boiling Point: 2162C
#48: Cadmium
Atomic Symbol: Cd
Atomic Weight: 112.40
Melting Point: 321.07C
Boiling Point: 767C
#49: Indium
Atomic Symbol: In
Atomic Weight: 114.82
Melting Point: 156.6C
Boiling Point: 2072C
#50: Tin
Atomic Symbol: Sn
Atomic Weight: 118.69
Melting Point: 231.93C
Boiling Point: 2602C
#51: Antimony
Atomic Symbol: Sb
Atomic Weight: 121.75
Melting Point: 630.63C
Boiling Point: 1587C
#52: Tellurium
Atomic Symbol: Te
Atomic Weight: 127.60
Melting Point: 449.5C
Boiling Point: 988C
#53: Iodine
Atomic Symbol: I
Atomic Weight: 126.9045
Melting Point: 113.7C
Boiling Point: 184.4C
#54: Xenon
Atomic Symbol: Xe
Atomic Weight: 131.30
Melting Point: -111.79C
Boiling Point: -108.12C
#55: Cesium
Atomic Symbol: Cs
Atomic Weight: 132.9054
Melting Point: 28.5C
Boiling Point: 671C
#56: Barium
Atomic Symbol: Ba
Atomic Weight: 137.34
Melting point: 727C
Boiling Point: 1897C
#57: Lanthanum
Atomic Symbol: La
Atomic Weight: 138.9055
Melting Point: 918C
Boiling Point: 1897C
#58: Cerium
Atomic Symbols: Ce
Atomic Weight: 140.12
Melting Point: 798C
Boiling Point: 3443C
#59: Praseodymium
Atomic Symbol: Pr
Atomic Weight: 140.9077
Melting Point: 931C
Boiling Point: 3520C
#60: Neodymium
Atomic Symbol: Nd
Atomic Weight: 144.24
Melting Point: 1021C
Boiling Point: 3074C
#61: Promethium
Atomic Symbol: Pm
Atomic Weight: 145
Melting Point: 1042C
Boiling Point: 3000C
#62: Samarium
Atomic Symbol: Sm
Atomic Weight: 150.4
Melting Point: 1074C
Boiling Point: 1794C
#63: Europium
Atomic Symbol: Eu
Atomic Weight: 151.96
Melting Point: 822C
Boiling Point: 1529C
#64: Gadolinium
Atomic Symbol: Gd
Atomic Weight: 157.25
Melting Point: 1313C
Boiling Point: 3273C
#65: Terbium
Atomic Symbol: Tb
Atomic Weight: 158.9254
Melting Point: 1356C
Boiling Point: 3230C
#66: Dysprosium
Atomic Symbol: Dy
Atomic Weight: 162.50
Melting Point: 1413C
Boiling Point: 2567C
#67: Holmium
Atomic Symbol: Ho
Atomic Weight: 164.9304
Melting Point: 1474C
Boiling Point: 2700C
#68: Erbium
Atomic Symbol: Er
Atomic Weight: 167.26
Melting Point: 1529C
Boiling Point: 2868C
#69: Thulium
Atomic Symbol: Tm
Atomic Weight: 168.9342
Melting Point: 1545C
Boiling Point: 1950C
#70: Ytterbium
Atomic Symbol: Yb
Atomic Weight: 173.04
Melting Point: 819C
Boiling Point: 1196C
#71: Lutetium
Atomic Symbol: Lu
Atomic Weight: 174.97
Melting Point: 1663C
Boiling Point: 3402C
#72: Hafnium
Atomic Symbol: Hf
Atomic Weight: 178.49
Melting Point: 2233C
Boiling Point: 4603C
#73: Tantalum
Atomic Symbol: Ta
Atomic Weight: 180.9479
Melting Point: 3017C
Boiling Point: 5458C
#74: Tungsten
Atomic Symbol: W
Atomic Weight: 183.5
Melting Point: 3422C
Boiling Point: 5555C
#75: Rhenium
Atomic Symbol: Re
Atomic Weight: 186.207
Melting Point: 3186C
Boiling Point: 5596C
#76: Osmium
Atomic Symbol: Os
Atomic Weight: 190.2
Melting Point: 3033C
Boiling Point: 5012C
#77: Iridium
Atomic Symbol: Ir
Atomic Weight: 192.22
Melting Point: 2446C
Boiling Point: 4428C
#78: Platinum
Atomic Symbol: Pt
Atomic Weight: 195.09
Melting Point: 1768.4C
Boiling Point: 3825C
#79: Gold
Atomic Symbol: Au
Atomic Weight: 196.9665
Melting Point: 1064.18C
Boiling Point: 2856C
#80: Mercury
Atomic Symbol: Hg
Atomic Weight: 200.59
Melting Point: -38.83C
Boiling Point: 356.73C
#81: Thallium
Atomic Symbol: Tl
Atomic Weight: 204.37
Melting Point: 304C
Boiling Point: 1473C
#82: Lead
Atomic Symbol: Pb
Atomic Weight: 207.2
Melting Point: 327.46C
Boiling Point: 1749C
#83: Bismuth
Atomic Symbol: Bi
Atomic Weight: 208.9804
Melting Point: 271.4C
Boiling Point: 1564C
#84: Polonium
Atomic Symbol: Po
Atomic Weight: 209
Melting Point: 254C
Boiling Point: 962C
#85: Astatine
Atomic Symbol: At
Atomic Weight: 210
Melting Point: 302C
Boiling Point: 340C
#86: Radon
Atomic Symbol: Rn
Atomic Weight: 222
Melting Point: -71C
Boiling Point: -61.7C
#87: Francium
Atomic Symbol: Fr
Atomic Weight: 223
Melting Point: 27C
Boiling Point: 677C
#88: Radium
Atomic Symbol: Ra
Atomic Weight: 226.0254
Melting Point: 700C
Boiling Point: 1140C
#89: Actinium
Atomic Symbol: Ac
Atomic Weight: 227
Melting Point: 1051C
Boiling Point: 3159C
#90: Thorium
Atomic Symbol: Th
Atomic Weight: 232.0381
Melting Point: 1750C
Boiling Point: 4788C
#91: Protactinium
Atomic Symbol: Pa
Atomic Weight: 231.0359
Melting Point: 1572C
Boiling Point: 4000C
#92: Uranium
Atomic Symbol: U
Atomic Weight: 238.029
Melting Point: 1135C
Boiling Point: 4131C
#93: Neptunium
Atomic Symbol: Np
Atomic Weight: 237.0482
Melting Point: 644C
Boiling Point: 3900C
#94: Plutonium
Atomic Symbol: Pu
Atomic Weight: 244
Melting Point: 640C
Boiling Point: 3228C
#95: Americium
Atomic Symbol: Am
Atomic Weight: 243
Melting Point: 1176C
Boiling Point: 2011C
#96: Curium
Atomic Symbol: Cm
Atomic Weight: 247
Melting Point: 1345C
Boiling Point: 3100C
#97: Berkelium
Atomic Symbol: Bk
Atomic Weight: 247
Melting Point: 1050C
Boiling Point: ???
#98: Californium
Atomic Symbol: Cf
Atomic Weight: 251
Melting Point: 860C
Boiling Point: ???
#99: Einsteinium
Atomic Symbol: Es
Atomic Weight: 252
Melting Point: 860C
Boiling Point: ???
#100: Fermium
Atomic Symbol: Fm
Atomic Weight: 257
Melting Point: 1527
Boiling Point: ???
#101: Mendelevium
Atomic Symbol: Md
Atomic Weight: 258
Melting Point: 827C
Boiling Point: ???
#102: Nobelium
Atomic Symbol: No
Atomic Weight: 259
Melting Point: 827C
Boiling Point: ???
#103: Lawrencium
Atomic Symbol: Lr
Atomic Weight: 262
Melting Point: 1627C
Boiling Point: ???
#104: Rutherfordium
Atomic Symbol: Rf
Atomic Weight: 261
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#105: Dubnium
Atomic Symbol: Db
Atomic Weight: 262
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#106: Seaborgium
Atomic Symbol: Sg
Atomic Weight: 263
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#107: Bohrium
Atomic Symbol: Bh
Atomic Weight: 262
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#108: Hassium
Atomic Symbol: Hs
Atomic Weight: 265
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#109: Meitnerium
Atomic Symbol: Mt
Atomic Weight: 265
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#110: Darmstadtium
Atomic Symbol: Ds
Atomic Weight: 271
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#111: Element 111
Atomic Symbol: Uuu
Atomic Weight: 272
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#112: Ununbium
Atomic Symbol: Uub
Atomic Weight: 277
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#114: Ununquarternium
Atomic Symbol: Uuq
Atomic Weight: 296
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#116: Ununhexium
Atomic Symbol: Uuh
Atomic Weight: 298
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
#118: Ununoctium
Atomic Symbol: Uuo
Atomic Weight: ???
Melting Point: ???
Boiling Point: ???
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Sigmund Freud
by Gen
Freud took up the study of medicine at Vienna; he eventually choose a specialty, neurology. While no evolutionist would argue with Freud's theory of the Universe1 Freud's extended views have gotten us into some serious difficulty. He advanced the theory "that hysteria can be cured by making a patient recall painful memories under hypnosis." His colleagues frowned at the idea, and Freud changed over from neurology to psychopathology.
"To use a familiar but helpful analogy, the mind is like an iceberg, with only a small proportion of it visible above the surface, but a vast hidden bulk exerting its influence on the rest. For the unconscious is dynamic in nature, that is, it actively exerts pressures and influences on what a person is and does. For instance, there are unconscious desires, which can cause someone to do things that he cannot explain rationally, to others or even to himself."
Personality is a result of both the individual's heredity; and, in addition, his experience. Most, I imagine, would agree with this proposition, but I suppose there might to a number of persons prepared to debate as to what extent personality is governed by experience; personally, I do not think by much. Experience, undoubtedly, governs our actions; but personality changes,I think they come about as a result of physical changes to the brain. Freud's theory of individual human character, his theory of psychoanalysis, starts from Josef Breuer's discovery that "traumatic" experiences could, although the events of the trauma may well be forgotten, exercise a baneful influence on a person's mental health.
Freud classified mental activity to exist at three levels: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id is the centre of our primitive instincts; it is blind and ruthless and caters to the business of gratifying our desires and pleasures; the new born infant is the personification of the Id. The Ego develops out of the Id as the child grows. The Ego is not so inward seeking and recognizes that there does exist a world beyond; the Ego acts as censor to the Id, checking the primitive desires for immediate gratification, recognizing the larger picture, so to speak. Conflict between the Id and the Ego can result in a person having neuroses. The third state is the Superego. The Superego is the highest state at which we have arrived in our evolutionary "progress." The Superego is an overseer, our conscience; and, like the Id, is something of which we are not conscious. Though we are not aware of the struggle, according to Freudian theory, there exists a continuing battle between the Id and the Superego with the Ego in the center trying to keep them apart.
Freud came out with his first influential work, in 1900, The Interpretation of Dreams. In this work there is contained nearly all his fundamental observations and ideas. "Dreams," Freud said, "are invariably the product of a conflict ... (they help sleep) releasing tensions that come from unattainable wishes." It is, according to Freud, the Id which unleash our dreams; and their meanings are expressed in symbols that require "expert" interpretation.
Freud took up the study of medicine at Vienna; he eventually choose a specialty, neurology. While no evolutionist would argue with Freud's theory of the Universe1 Freud's extended views have gotten us into some serious difficulty. He advanced the theory "that hysteria can be cured by making a patient recall painful memories under hypnosis." His colleagues frowned at the idea, and Freud changed over from neurology to psychopathology.
"To use a familiar but helpful analogy, the mind is like an iceberg, with only a small proportion of it visible above the surface, but a vast hidden bulk exerting its influence on the rest. For the unconscious is dynamic in nature, that is, it actively exerts pressures and influences on what a person is and does. For instance, there are unconscious desires, which can cause someone to do things that he cannot explain rationally, to others or even to himself."
Personality is a result of both the individual's heredity; and, in addition, his experience. Most, I imagine, would agree with this proposition, but I suppose there might to a number of persons prepared to debate as to what extent personality is governed by experience; personally, I do not think by much. Experience, undoubtedly, governs our actions; but personality changes,I think they come about as a result of physical changes to the brain. Freud's theory of individual human character, his theory of psychoanalysis, starts from Josef Breuer's discovery that "traumatic" experiences could, although the events of the trauma may well be forgotten, exercise a baneful influence on a person's mental health.
Freud classified mental activity to exist at three levels: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id is the centre of our primitive instincts; it is blind and ruthless and caters to the business of gratifying our desires and pleasures; the new born infant is the personification of the Id. The Ego develops out of the Id as the child grows. The Ego is not so inward seeking and recognizes that there does exist a world beyond; the Ego acts as censor to the Id, checking the primitive desires for immediate gratification, recognizing the larger picture, so to speak. Conflict between the Id and the Ego can result in a person having neuroses. The third state is the Superego. The Superego is the highest state at which we have arrived in our evolutionary "progress." The Superego is an overseer, our conscience; and, like the Id, is something of which we are not conscious. Though we are not aware of the struggle, according to Freudian theory, there exists a continuing battle between the Id and the Superego with the Ego in the center trying to keep them apart.
Freud came out with his first influential work, in 1900, The Interpretation of Dreams. In this work there is contained nearly all his fundamental observations and ideas. "Dreams," Freud said, "are invariably the product of a conflict ... (they help sleep) releasing tensions that come from unattainable wishes." It is, according to Freud, the Id which unleash our dreams; and their meanings are expressed in symbols that require "expert" interpretation.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Robert Browning Poem
That low man seeks a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it;
This high man, with a great thing to pursue,
Dies ere he knows it.
That low man goes on adding one to one,—
His hundred’s soon hit;
This high man, aiming at a million,
Misses an unit.
That has the world here—should he need the next,
Let the world mind him!
This throws himself on God, and unperplexed
Seeking shall find him.
Sees it and does it;
This high man, with a great thing to pursue,
Dies ere he knows it.
That low man goes on adding one to one,—
His hundred’s soon hit;
This high man, aiming at a million,
Misses an unit.
That has the world here—should he need the next,
Let the world mind him!
This throws himself on God, and unperplexed
Seeking shall find him.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Today's Vocabulary
Today's Vocabulary:
4 Words English:
fructuous - fruitful; productive
sui generis - unique
nonpareil - having no equal
conflate - to bring together; to meld
4 Words Spanish:
tio - uncle
tia - aunt
primo - cousin (male)
prima - cousin (female)
4 Words Latin:
adverto - to turn foward
advoco - to call; summon
aeger eger - sick; ill
adversus - against; facing
4 Words English:
fructuous - fruitful; productive
sui generis - unique
nonpareil - having no equal
conflate - to bring together; to meld
4 Words Spanish:
tio - uncle
tia - aunt
primo - cousin (male)
prima - cousin (female)
4 Words Latin:
adverto - to turn foward
advoco - to call; summon
aeger eger - sick; ill
adversus - against; facing
Intelligence
by Gen
Intelligence, in psychology, the general mental ability involved in calculating, reasoning, perceiving relationships and analogies, learning quickly, storing and retrieving information, using language fluently, classifying, generalizing, and adjusting to new situations. Alfred Binet, the French psychologist, defined intelligence as the totality of mental processes involved in adapting to the environment.
Early investigations into intelligence assumed that there was one underlying general factor at its base (the g-factor), but later psychologists maintained that intelligence could not be determined by such a simplistic method. Raymond Cattell argued that intelligence can be separated into two fundamental parts: fluid ability and crystallized ability. Fluid ability is considered innate, basic reasoning skill, while crystallized intelligence is the information and skills that are acquired through experience in a cultural environment. Other psychologists have further divided intelligence into subcategories. Howard Gardner maintained in 1985 that intelligence is comprised of seven components: musical, bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. J. P. Guilford tried in 1982 to show that there are 150 different mental abilities that constitute intelligence.
It is generally accepted that intelligence is related to both heredity and environment. Studies done on families, particularly among identical twins and adopted children, have shown that heredity is an important factor in determining intelligence; but they have also suggested that environment is a critical factor in determining the extent of its expression. For instance, children reared in orphanages or other environments that are comparatively unstimulating tend to show retarded intellectual development. In recent years, controversy regarding intelligence has centered primarily around how much of each factor, heredity and environment, is responsible for an individual's level of intelligence.
Intelligence, in psychology, the general mental ability involved in calculating, reasoning, perceiving relationships and analogies, learning quickly, storing and retrieving information, using language fluently, classifying, generalizing, and adjusting to new situations. Alfred Binet, the French psychologist, defined intelligence as the totality of mental processes involved in adapting to the environment.
Early investigations into intelligence assumed that there was one underlying general factor at its base (the g-factor), but later psychologists maintained that intelligence could not be determined by such a simplistic method. Raymond Cattell argued that intelligence can be separated into two fundamental parts: fluid ability and crystallized ability. Fluid ability is considered innate, basic reasoning skill, while crystallized intelligence is the information and skills that are acquired through experience in a cultural environment. Other psychologists have further divided intelligence into subcategories. Howard Gardner maintained in 1985 that intelligence is comprised of seven components: musical, bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. J. P. Guilford tried in 1982 to show that there are 150 different mental abilities that constitute intelligence.
It is generally accepted that intelligence is related to both heredity and environment. Studies done on families, particularly among identical twins and adopted children, have shown that heredity is an important factor in determining intelligence; but they have also suggested that environment is a critical factor in determining the extent of its expression. For instance, children reared in orphanages or other environments that are comparatively unstimulating tend to show retarded intellectual development. In recent years, controversy regarding intelligence has centered primarily around how much of each factor, heredity and environment, is responsible for an individual's level of intelligence.
Everest
by Gen
Ever dreamed about the wonders of Everest? Ever wished to be able to see the world from about 29,000 feet? Everest is truely a feat to climb... and literally breathtaking. Here is a Q./A. on Everest.
How tall is Mt. Everest?
The official altitude of the world's highest peak is 29,029 feet. However, the National Geographic Society has determined the height to be 6 feet taller, 29,035 feet, but the Nepali government has not yet been made this new altitude official.
Shifting tectonic plates continue to push Everest upward, along with the whole Himalaya mountain range, at 1.6 to 3.9 inches (4 to 10 centimeters) per year.
Where is Mt. Everest?
Everest is part of the Himalaya mountain range along the border of Nepal and Tibet. It is located 27° 59' North latitude, 86° 55' East longitude.
Why is it called Everest?
In 1841, Sir George Everest, Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843, first recorded the location of Everest. It was subsequently named "Peak XV". In 1865, it was renamed Mt. Everest to honor Sir George.
Everest is also called Chomolungma in Tibet and Sagarmatha in Nepal.
Is it windy at the top of Everest?
Yes. Blowing with the strength of a hurricane at 118+ miles/hour, the Jet Stream blasts the rocky, icy summit of Everest nearly all year long. The Jet Stream is a constant wind force at 4 - 6 miles above the earth. Observers can tell when the Jet Stream is blowing on the summit of Everest from the long while stream of ice crystals extending out from the tip of the mountain. Those wishing to actually stand on the summit have to choose their moment carefully: the mountain is most inviting in early May, when the Jet Stream is pushed northward over Tibet by the arrival of the monsoon. There is also a window of opportunity in the Fall when the Jet Stream is again pushed northward.
Is the air very thin on Everest?
As the altitude increases, the oxygen content of the air decreases dramatically. At 9,800 feet, for example, there's about 2/3 of the oxygen in the air than at sea level. At 20,000 ft, there is roughly half the oxygen content in the air. At 29,035ft, the summit of Everest, there is only a third of the oxygen in the air.
How does your body get used to the altitude?
Mountaineers climbing Everest establish a camp at the base of the mountain, and four higher camps before reaching the summit. For the next 30 days or so, they will move up, then down again, allowing their bodies to get used to the reduced oxygen content of the air. This process is called acclimatization.
Acclimatizing properly is essential to safely ascend to high altitudes. Climbers acclimatize by ascending slowly, resting one day for every 1,000 feet they climb in one day. They drink plenty of liquids and eat healthy food. They also practice a rule of thumb: climb high, sleep low. Climbing high, then descending to lower altitudes allows the body to build up and gain strength with fresh oxygen, digest food better, get sounder sleep and any wounds can heal and they'll feel much stronger by descending. It was also allow them to build up their bodies, worn from the low O2 content, with fresh oxygen.
Some climbers don't like to go down, but the significant benefits on the body from staying at lower altitudes make it worth it. It's important that the climbers don't stay down too long because it's possible to lose some acclimatization in the process.
How high are the camps?
The approximate elevations of each of the camps are:
Base Camp - 17,500ft (5,400m)
Camp 1 - 20,000ft (6,100m)
Camp 2 - 21,300ft (6,500m)
Camp 3 - 24,000ft (7,400m)
Camp 4 - 26,000ft (8,000m)
Summit - 29,035ft (8,850)
What is the temperature high on Everest?
At the summit, the temperature can be 100°F below zero. But on a good summit day, a climber can expect around -15°F
What is the hardest part about climbing Everest?
Each climber has a different opinion about what is the most difficult part of climbing Everest. Most would agree, though, that the altitude is tough to deal with. And most will also have stories about crossing the infamous Khumbu Icefall going from Base Camp to Camp One. Mountaineers climb through this moving sea of ice using ordinary aluminum garden ladders.
When was Everest first climbed?
On May 29, 1953, Tenzing Norgay Sherpa of Nepal & Edmund Percival Hillary of New Zealand climbed to the summit of Everest via the Southeast Ridge Route
What are some other important "firsts"?
The first woman to climb Everest was Junko Tabei of Japan. She climbed via the Southeast Ridge on 16 May, 1975.
Appa Sherpa has made the most successful ascents of Everest. He has reached the top 11 times.
On May 8, 1978, Peter Habeler of Austria and Reinhold Messner of Italy climbed made the first ascent without bottled oxygen via the Southeast Ridge.
Ang Rita Sherpa has reached the summit 10 times, all without oxygen.
Reinhold Messner climbed for 3 days completely alone from his base camp at 6,500m without the use of artificial O2. Messner climbed via the North Col to the North Face and the Great Couloir.
Babu Chiri Sherpa set the speed record from the Nepal side.
Davo Karnicar made the first true ski descent.
At age 16 Temba Tsheri Sherpa become the youngest person to Summit Everest in 2001.
American Sherman Bull, at age 64, is the oldest person to summit Mount Everest, also in 2001.
Anna Czerwinska was born on 7/10/49 and climbed Everest from Nepal side, making her the oldest woman to reach the summit.
On 24 May, 1996, Hans Kammerlander of Italy Hans made the fastest ascent of Everest via the standard North Col-North Ridge-North Face. He left base camp at 6,400m on 23 May at 5pm and was on the summit 16 hours, 45 minutes later at 9:45 am the next day. He descended most of the route on skis.
Andrej & Marija Stremfelj of Slovenia were the first married couple to summit together on 7 October, 1990.
Peter Hillary of New Zealand was the first son of a summiteer to reach the summit on 10 May, 1990.
First Ascent by an American was made by James Whittaker via the Southeast Ridge Route on May 1, 1963. Whittaker summitted with Sherpa Nawang Gombu.
Stacey Allison made the first Ascent by an American Woman via the Southeast Ridge Route on 29 September, 1988.
Mexican climber Ricardo Torres was the first Latin American.
In May, 2001, American Erik Weihenmayer becomes the first blind person to summit Everest.
Ever dreamed about the wonders of Everest? Ever wished to be able to see the world from about 29,000 feet? Everest is truely a feat to climb... and literally breathtaking. Here is a Q./A. on Everest.
How tall is Mt. Everest?
The official altitude of the world's highest peak is 29,029 feet. However, the National Geographic Society has determined the height to be 6 feet taller, 29,035 feet, but the Nepali government has not yet been made this new altitude official.
Shifting tectonic plates continue to push Everest upward, along with the whole Himalaya mountain range, at 1.6 to 3.9 inches (4 to 10 centimeters) per year.
Where is Mt. Everest?
Everest is part of the Himalaya mountain range along the border of Nepal and Tibet. It is located 27° 59' North latitude, 86° 55' East longitude.
Why is it called Everest?
In 1841, Sir George Everest, Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843, first recorded the location of Everest. It was subsequently named "Peak XV". In 1865, it was renamed Mt. Everest to honor Sir George.
Everest is also called Chomolungma in Tibet and Sagarmatha in Nepal.
Is it windy at the top of Everest?
Yes. Blowing with the strength of a hurricane at 118+ miles/hour, the Jet Stream blasts the rocky, icy summit of Everest nearly all year long. The Jet Stream is a constant wind force at 4 - 6 miles above the earth. Observers can tell when the Jet Stream is blowing on the summit of Everest from the long while stream of ice crystals extending out from the tip of the mountain. Those wishing to actually stand on the summit have to choose their moment carefully: the mountain is most inviting in early May, when the Jet Stream is pushed northward over Tibet by the arrival of the monsoon. There is also a window of opportunity in the Fall when the Jet Stream is again pushed northward.
Is the air very thin on Everest?
As the altitude increases, the oxygen content of the air decreases dramatically. At 9,800 feet, for example, there's about 2/3 of the oxygen in the air than at sea level. At 20,000 ft, there is roughly half the oxygen content in the air. At 29,035ft, the summit of Everest, there is only a third of the oxygen in the air.
How does your body get used to the altitude?
Mountaineers climbing Everest establish a camp at the base of the mountain, and four higher camps before reaching the summit. For the next 30 days or so, they will move up, then down again, allowing their bodies to get used to the reduced oxygen content of the air. This process is called acclimatization.
Acclimatizing properly is essential to safely ascend to high altitudes. Climbers acclimatize by ascending slowly, resting one day for every 1,000 feet they climb in one day. They drink plenty of liquids and eat healthy food. They also practice a rule of thumb: climb high, sleep low. Climbing high, then descending to lower altitudes allows the body to build up and gain strength with fresh oxygen, digest food better, get sounder sleep and any wounds can heal and they'll feel much stronger by descending. It was also allow them to build up their bodies, worn from the low O2 content, with fresh oxygen.
Some climbers don't like to go down, but the significant benefits on the body from staying at lower altitudes make it worth it. It's important that the climbers don't stay down too long because it's possible to lose some acclimatization in the process.
How high are the camps?
The approximate elevations of each of the camps are:
Base Camp - 17,500ft (5,400m)
Camp 1 - 20,000ft (6,100m)
Camp 2 - 21,300ft (6,500m)
Camp 3 - 24,000ft (7,400m)
Camp 4 - 26,000ft (8,000m)
Summit - 29,035ft (8,850)
What is the temperature high on Everest?
At the summit, the temperature can be 100°F below zero. But on a good summit day, a climber can expect around -15°F
What is the hardest part about climbing Everest?
Each climber has a different opinion about what is the most difficult part of climbing Everest. Most would agree, though, that the altitude is tough to deal with. And most will also have stories about crossing the infamous Khumbu Icefall going from Base Camp to Camp One. Mountaineers climb through this moving sea of ice using ordinary aluminum garden ladders.
When was Everest first climbed?
On May 29, 1953, Tenzing Norgay Sherpa of Nepal & Edmund Percival Hillary of New Zealand climbed to the summit of Everest via the Southeast Ridge Route
What are some other important "firsts"?
The first woman to climb Everest was Junko Tabei of Japan. She climbed via the Southeast Ridge on 16 May, 1975.
Appa Sherpa has made the most successful ascents of Everest. He has reached the top 11 times.
On May 8, 1978, Peter Habeler of Austria and Reinhold Messner of Italy climbed made the first ascent without bottled oxygen via the Southeast Ridge.
Ang Rita Sherpa has reached the summit 10 times, all without oxygen.
Reinhold Messner climbed for 3 days completely alone from his base camp at 6,500m without the use of artificial O2. Messner climbed via the North Col to the North Face and the Great Couloir.
Babu Chiri Sherpa set the speed record from the Nepal side.
Davo Karnicar made the first true ski descent.
At age 16 Temba Tsheri Sherpa become the youngest person to Summit Everest in 2001.
American Sherman Bull, at age 64, is the oldest person to summit Mount Everest, also in 2001.
Anna Czerwinska was born on 7/10/49 and climbed Everest from Nepal side, making her the oldest woman to reach the summit.
On 24 May, 1996, Hans Kammerlander of Italy Hans made the fastest ascent of Everest via the standard North Col-North Ridge-North Face. He left base camp at 6,400m on 23 May at 5pm and was on the summit 16 hours, 45 minutes later at 9:45 am the next day. He descended most of the route on skis.
Andrej & Marija Stremfelj of Slovenia were the first married couple to summit together on 7 October, 1990.
Peter Hillary of New Zealand was the first son of a summiteer to reach the summit on 10 May, 1990.
First Ascent by an American was made by James Whittaker via the Southeast Ridge Route on May 1, 1963. Whittaker summitted with Sherpa Nawang Gombu.
Stacey Allison made the first Ascent by an American Woman via the Southeast Ridge Route on 29 September, 1988.
Mexican climber Ricardo Torres was the first Latin American.
In May, 2001, American Erik Weihenmayer becomes the first blind person to summit Everest.
Cuban Missle Crisis
by Gen
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use battlefield nuclear weapons to defend the island if it was invaded. Luckily, thanks to the bravery of two men, President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, war was averted.
In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe but US missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba. A deployment in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential US attack against the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile, Fidel Castro was looking for a way to defend his island nation from an attack by the US. Ever since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Castro felt a second attack was inevitable. Consequently, he approved of Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island. In the summer of 1962 the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build its missile installations in Cuba.
For the United States, the crisis began on October 15, 1962 whenreconnaissance photographs revealed Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba. Early the next day, President John Kennedy was informed of the missile installations. Kennedy immediately organized the EX-COMM, a group of his twelve most important advisors to handle the crisis. After seven days of guarded and intense debate within the upper echelons of government, Kennedy concluded to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba. He wished to prevent the arrival of more Soviet offensive weapons on the island. On October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery of the missile installations to the public and his decision to quarantine the island. He also proclaimed that any nuclear missile launched from Cuba would be regarded as an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union and demanded that the Soviets remove all of their offensive weapons from Cuba.
During the public phase of the Crisis, tensions began to build on both sides. Kennedy eventually ordered low-level reconnaissance missions once every two hours. On the 25th Kennedy pulled the quarantine line back and raised military readiness to DEFCON 2. Then on the 26th EX-COMM heard from Khrushchev in an impassioned letter. He proposed removing Soviet missiles and personnel if the US would guarantee not to invade Cuba. October 27 was the worst day of the crisis. A U-2 was shot down over Cuba and EX-COMM received a second letter from Khrushchev demanding the removal of U.S. missiles in Turkey in exchange for Soviet missiles in Cuba. Attorney General Robert Kennedy suggested ignoring the second letter and contacted Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin to tell him of the US agreement with the first.
Tensions finally began to ease on October 28 when Khrushchev announced that he would dismantle the installations and return the missiles to the Soviet Union, expressing his trust that the United States would not invade Cuba. Further negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light bombers be removed from Cuba, and specifying the exact form and conditions of United States assurances not to invade Cuba.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use battlefield nuclear weapons to defend the island if it was invaded. Luckily, thanks to the bravery of two men, President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, war was averted.
In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe but US missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba. A deployment in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential US attack against the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile, Fidel Castro was looking for a way to defend his island nation from an attack by the US. Ever since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Castro felt a second attack was inevitable. Consequently, he approved of Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island. In the summer of 1962 the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build its missile installations in Cuba.
For the United States, the crisis began on October 15, 1962 whenreconnaissance photographs revealed Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba. Early the next day, President John Kennedy was informed of the missile installations. Kennedy immediately organized the EX-COMM, a group of his twelve most important advisors to handle the crisis. After seven days of guarded and intense debate within the upper echelons of government, Kennedy concluded to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba. He wished to prevent the arrival of more Soviet offensive weapons on the island. On October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery of the missile installations to the public and his decision to quarantine the island. He also proclaimed that any nuclear missile launched from Cuba would be regarded as an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union and demanded that the Soviets remove all of their offensive weapons from Cuba.
During the public phase of the Crisis, tensions began to build on both sides. Kennedy eventually ordered low-level reconnaissance missions once every two hours. On the 25th Kennedy pulled the quarantine line back and raised military readiness to DEFCON 2. Then on the 26th EX-COMM heard from Khrushchev in an impassioned letter. He proposed removing Soviet missiles and personnel if the US would guarantee not to invade Cuba. October 27 was the worst day of the crisis. A U-2 was shot down over Cuba and EX-COMM received a second letter from Khrushchev demanding the removal of U.S. missiles in Turkey in exchange for Soviet missiles in Cuba. Attorney General Robert Kennedy suggested ignoring the second letter and contacted Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin to tell him of the US agreement with the first.
Tensions finally began to ease on October 28 when Khrushchev announced that he would dismantle the installations and return the missiles to the Soviet Union, expressing his trust that the United States would not invade Cuba. Further negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light bombers be removed from Cuba, and specifying the exact form and conditions of United States assurances not to invade Cuba.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Shirley Temple
by Gen
Shirley Jane Temple was born on April 23, 1928. She was the youngest child and only daughter of George and Gertrude Temple. Her brothers, Jack and Sonny, were quite a bit older than she was. At the age of 3, she was taking tap dancing lessons at Melgin's dance studio. A film producer named Jack Hays came along to the studio one day to find the next star for his short films called Baby Burlesk. Once he spotted Shirley, he knew she was the one. "Baby Burlesk" were spoofs of hit pictures with little kids taking the roles of the adults, wearing adult looking tops, with diapers on their bottoms. They were not exactly great movie making, but they paid the bills. After the series ended, Shirley did a few more comedies including "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts", "Merrily Yours", and "Pardon My Pups". These were also very short films that were shown before a movie (kind of how they show previews before the main picture now-a-days). Round that time, a Fox studios songwriter saw Shirley at the theater (which just happened to be showing one of her shorts, and spoke to her parents about auditioning Shirley for a role in a new movie that he was working on. Soon after, Shirley auditioned for a small part in a happy-go-lucky film called "Stand Up and Cheer" she got the part hands down, and basically stole the film. She sang and tap danced to "Baby Take a Bow" with James Dunn. Every move, every jiggle of her head, the dimples, the curls, the spunky innocence, it was just what the audience needed during the Depression.
The Shirley Temple doll came along soon after the success of "Stand Up and Cheer". Ideal Novelty and Toy Co. gained exclusive rights to manufacture the doll using her name. They hired the best doll artist (Bernard Lipfert) to design the mold for the doll, the hired the best clothes designer (Mollye Goldman) to design the outfits for the doll. The Shirley Temple was the most successful dolls ever made up to that time. The face on these dolls was beautiful, with the golden curls, hazel eyes, and big smile. Every little girl wanted a Shirley Temple doll...it was the most successful doll ever sold up to that time, with over six million Shirley Temple dolls being sold!!
This little child could lift their spirits like no other person could. After "Stand Up and Cheer", Fox knew they had a gold mine; there would be no bankruptcy for them with Shirley Temple around. She was loaned to Paramount for a star-making turn in "Little Miss Marker", and then Fox began working full time on getting Shirley into every movie they possibly could. The quickly hired the best screenwriters to make storylines devised specifically for Shirley, and the best songwriters to write her songs, the best dancers (Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Buddy Ebsen) to dance with her. Shirley starred in eight movies in 1934, four starring roles in 1935, and four in 1936. In 1937, Shirley was directed by john Ford in the classic tale of "Wee Willie Winkie". Daryl Zanuck (who ran Fox at the time) declared the her appeal was endless. She was the top box office star for the years 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1938, an amazing accomplishment, never duplicated. As she got older however, Fox began the resort back to the same themes that they had been using with Shirley since she was 5 years old. In 1939, Shirley's box office draw started to wain, simply because she was getting older, she wasn't that tiny little child any more, Shirley's last big successful picture as a child star was "The Little Princess", which almost every generation of children in the years following has seen, it was a beautiful story, and showed that Shirley could do more than just be cute on screen.
In 1940, a deal to loan Shirley out to MGM to star in "The Wizard of Oz" fell through due to the death of Jean Harlow, so Fox studios decided after "The Wizard of Oz" fell through, Fow made their own fairytale starring Shirley. Released in 1940, "The Bluebird" was based on a famous chilren's fairytale, however, it did not have the appeal that "The Wizard of Oz" did. Fox had wagered quite a bit on its success, having filmed it in Technicolor (a very expensive process), and after its failure, Shirley became less and less important to Fox (at the same time, Fox was also aquiring other bankable movie stars). After one last nostalgic try with "Young People", Fox, the studio that Shirley saved from bankruptcy just a few years before, decided that it didn't need Shirley any more.
Shirley did a few movies in the following years, such as "Kathleen" (with MGM), and "Miss Annie Ronney" (in which Shirley received her first *real* screen kiss), neither of these did all that well at the box office, and Shirley seemed happy to go to high school and go out with boys just as any other normal teenager. In 1944 and 1945, Shirley co-starred in a few war movies, "Since You went Away" and "I'll be Seeing You", these were successful, and in 1945, Shirley was a typical teen in the well received "Kiss and Tell". Shirley seemed to be making the transition to adult star. In 1945, Shirley also married her sweetheart, John Agar, it seemed almost like a real life fairy tale. Shirley did a few more starring roles in movies in the years following, but none really met expectations. She also starred in one quite memorable picture with Henry Fonda and her husband John Agar called " Fort Apache". It was at the time of filming that she learned that she was pregnant.
In early 1948, Shirley gave birth to her first child, daughter Linda Susan. Shirley Temple had truly "grown up". Everything seemed so perfect for Shirley, but it wasn't. In 1949, Shirley filed for divorce and revealed that the marriage was not the fairy tale that it seemed. After this, Shirley slipped from the public eye, she never did another movie.
Shirley Jane Temple was born on April 23, 1928. She was the youngest child and only daughter of George and Gertrude Temple. Her brothers, Jack and Sonny, were quite a bit older than she was. At the age of 3, she was taking tap dancing lessons at Melgin's dance studio. A film producer named Jack Hays came along to the studio one day to find the next star for his short films called Baby Burlesk. Once he spotted Shirley, he knew she was the one. "Baby Burlesk" were spoofs of hit pictures with little kids taking the roles of the adults, wearing adult looking tops, with diapers on their bottoms. They were not exactly great movie making, but they paid the bills. After the series ended, Shirley did a few more comedies including "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts", "Merrily Yours", and "Pardon My Pups". These were also very short films that were shown before a movie (kind of how they show previews before the main picture now-a-days). Round that time, a Fox studios songwriter saw Shirley at the theater (which just happened to be showing one of her shorts, and spoke to her parents about auditioning Shirley for a role in a new movie that he was working on. Soon after, Shirley auditioned for a small part in a happy-go-lucky film called "Stand Up and Cheer" she got the part hands down, and basically stole the film. She sang and tap danced to "Baby Take a Bow" with James Dunn. Every move, every jiggle of her head, the dimples, the curls, the spunky innocence, it was just what the audience needed during the Depression.
The Shirley Temple doll came along soon after the success of "Stand Up and Cheer". Ideal Novelty and Toy Co. gained exclusive rights to manufacture the doll using her name. They hired the best doll artist (Bernard Lipfert) to design the mold for the doll, the hired the best clothes designer (Mollye Goldman) to design the outfits for the doll. The Shirley Temple was the most successful dolls ever made up to that time. The face on these dolls was beautiful, with the golden curls, hazel eyes, and big smile. Every little girl wanted a Shirley Temple doll...it was the most successful doll ever sold up to that time, with over six million Shirley Temple dolls being sold!!
This little child could lift their spirits like no other person could. After "Stand Up and Cheer", Fox knew they had a gold mine; there would be no bankruptcy for them with Shirley Temple around. She was loaned to Paramount for a star-making turn in "Little Miss Marker", and then Fox began working full time on getting Shirley into every movie they possibly could. The quickly hired the best screenwriters to make storylines devised specifically for Shirley, and the best songwriters to write her songs, the best dancers (Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Buddy Ebsen) to dance with her. Shirley starred in eight movies in 1934, four starring roles in 1935, and four in 1936. In 1937, Shirley was directed by john Ford in the classic tale of "Wee Willie Winkie". Daryl Zanuck (who ran Fox at the time) declared the her appeal was endless. She was the top box office star for the years 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1938, an amazing accomplishment, never duplicated. As she got older however, Fox began the resort back to the same themes that they had been using with Shirley since she was 5 years old. In 1939, Shirley's box office draw started to wain, simply because she was getting older, she wasn't that tiny little child any more, Shirley's last big successful picture as a child star was "The Little Princess", which almost every generation of children in the years following has seen, it was a beautiful story, and showed that Shirley could do more than just be cute on screen.
In 1940, a deal to loan Shirley out to MGM to star in "The Wizard of Oz" fell through due to the death of Jean Harlow, so Fox studios decided after "The Wizard of Oz" fell through, Fow made their own fairytale starring Shirley. Released in 1940, "The Bluebird" was based on a famous chilren's fairytale, however, it did not have the appeal that "The Wizard of Oz" did. Fox had wagered quite a bit on its success, having filmed it in Technicolor (a very expensive process), and after its failure, Shirley became less and less important to Fox (at the same time, Fox was also aquiring other bankable movie stars). After one last nostalgic try with "Young People", Fox, the studio that Shirley saved from bankruptcy just a few years before, decided that it didn't need Shirley any more.
Shirley did a few movies in the following years, such as "Kathleen" (with MGM), and "Miss Annie Ronney" (in which Shirley received her first *real* screen kiss), neither of these did all that well at the box office, and Shirley seemed happy to go to high school and go out with boys just as any other normal teenager. In 1944 and 1945, Shirley co-starred in a few war movies, "Since You went Away" and "I'll be Seeing You", these were successful, and in 1945, Shirley was a typical teen in the well received "Kiss and Tell". Shirley seemed to be making the transition to adult star. In 1945, Shirley also married her sweetheart, John Agar, it seemed almost like a real life fairy tale. Shirley did a few more starring roles in movies in the years following, but none really met expectations. She also starred in one quite memorable picture with Henry Fonda and her husband John Agar called " Fort Apache". It was at the time of filming that she learned that she was pregnant.
In early 1948, Shirley gave birth to her first child, daughter Linda Susan. Shirley Temple had truly "grown up". Everything seemed so perfect for Shirley, but it wasn't. In 1949, Shirley filed for divorce and revealed that the marriage was not the fairy tale that it seemed. After this, Shirley slipped from the public eye, she never did another movie.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Today's Vocabulary
Today's Vocabulary:
4 Words English:
mendicant - a beggar
homily - a sermon or lecture
recumbent - reclining; lying down
sonorous - yielding sound; inpressive in soud
4 Words Spanish:
tanto - as much
yo - I
soy - I am
donde - where
4 Words Latin:
absconditus - hidden; sealed
abstergo - to wipe off; clean away
absum - to be absent; away; missing
adultus - adult; mature; of age
4 Words English:
mendicant - a beggar
homily - a sermon or lecture
recumbent - reclining; lying down
sonorous - yielding sound; inpressive in soud
4 Words Spanish:
tanto - as much
yo - I
soy - I am
donde - where
4 Words Latin:
absconditus - hidden; sealed
abstergo - to wipe off; clean away
absum - to be absent; away; missing
adultus - adult; mature; of age
Friday, October 13, 2006
Today's Vocabulary
Today's Vocabulary:
4 Words English:
autochthonous - indigenous; naive
palliate - to relieve
comely - pleasing to the sight
dictum - an authoritive statement
4 Words Spanish:
tiene - it has
tengo - i have
tanto - as much
sueno - i sound
4 Words Latin:
abbas - father
abbatia - monastery
abduco - to lead or take away
abeo - to go away, retire, die
4 Words English:
autochthonous - indigenous; naive
palliate - to relieve
comely - pleasing to the sight
dictum - an authoritive statement
4 Words Spanish:
tiene - it has
tengo - i have
tanto - as much
sueno - i sound
4 Words Latin:
abbas - father
abbatia - monastery
abduco - to lead or take away
abeo - to go away, retire, die
Monday, October 09, 2006
Afghanistan
by Gen
What is Afghanistan's culture?
Who are the taliban?
What happened in Afghanistan under Taliban rule?
All these questions and more will be answered.
But First a few facts:
**************************************
Afghanistan
Capital: Kabul
Language: Pashto and Persian
Government: Islamic Republic
President: Hamid Karzai
Vice President: Ahmad Zia Massoud
Area: 251,772 sq mi
Population: 29,863,000
**************************************
To answer the questions...
What is Afghanistan's Culture?
Afghanistan's culture is largley influenced by Islam but has also been influenced by religions such as Buddism and Zoroastranism. Afghanistan has been a crossroad for India, Iran, and Central Asia which has influenced its culture.
One of the most famous types of Afghan Art is the Gandhara Art between the 1st and 7th centuries which had Greco-Roman ancestry. Since the 1900's Afghanistan began to use Western techniques in art. Art was mostly done by men... but recently women are dominating theatre art. Art is largely centered in the Kabul Museum.
Who are the Taliban?
The taliban is a Sunni Islamist fundamentalist movement which effectively ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001.
The group, comprised of Afghans trained in religious schools in Pakistan along with former Islamic fighters or mujahedin, proved effective bodyguards, driving off other mujahedin groups who attacked and looted the convoy.
What happened to Afghanistan under Taliban rule?
They went on to take the nearby city of Kandahar, beginning a remarkable advance which led to their capture of the capital, Kabul, in September 1996.
The Taliban's popularity with many Afghans initially surprised the country's warring mujahedi factions.
As ethnic Pashtuns, a large part of their support came from Afghanistan's Pashtun community, disillusioned with existing ethnic Tajik and Uzbek leaders.
But it was not purely a question of ethnicity. Ordinary Afghans, weary of the prevailing lawlessness in many parts of the country, were often delighted by Taleban successes in stamping out corruption, restoring peace and allowing commerce to flourish again.
Their refusal to deal with the existing warlords whose rivalries had caused so much killing and destruction also earned them respect.
The Taleban said their aim was to set up the world's most pure Islamic state, banning frivolities like television, music and cinema.
Their attempts to eradicate crime have been reinforced by the introduction of Islamic law including public executions and amputations.
A flurry of regulations forbidding girls from going to school and women from working quickly brought them into conflict with the international community.
Such issues, along with restrictions on women's access to health care, have also caused some resentment among ordinary Afghans.
The Taleban now control all but the far north of the country, which is the last stronghold of the ethnic Tajik commander Ahmed Shah Masood.
With 90% of the country under their control, the Taleban have continued to press claims for international recognition.
But the Afghan seat at the United Nations continues to be held by former President Burhanuddin Rabbani.
The UN sanctions which have now been imposed on the country make it even less likely that the Taleban will gain that recognition.
The sanctions are intended to force the Taleban to hand over the Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden, who is accused by the United States of plotting the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 250 people.
The Taleban say that Osama Bin Laden is a guest in their country, and they will not take action against him.
What is Afghanistan's culture?
Who are the taliban?
What happened in Afghanistan under Taliban rule?
All these questions and more will be answered.
But First a few facts:
**************************************
Afghanistan
Capital: Kabul
Language: Pashto and Persian
Government: Islamic Republic
President: Hamid Karzai
Vice President: Ahmad Zia Massoud
Area: 251,772 sq mi
Population: 29,863,000
**************************************
To answer the questions...
What is Afghanistan's Culture?
Afghanistan's culture is largley influenced by Islam but has also been influenced by religions such as Buddism and Zoroastranism. Afghanistan has been a crossroad for India, Iran, and Central Asia which has influenced its culture.
One of the most famous types of Afghan Art is the Gandhara Art between the 1st and 7th centuries which had Greco-Roman ancestry. Since the 1900's Afghanistan began to use Western techniques in art. Art was mostly done by men... but recently women are dominating theatre art. Art is largely centered in the Kabul Museum.
Who are the Taliban?
The taliban is a Sunni Islamist fundamentalist movement which effectively ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001.
The group, comprised of Afghans trained in religious schools in Pakistan along with former Islamic fighters or mujahedin, proved effective bodyguards, driving off other mujahedin groups who attacked and looted the convoy.
What happened to Afghanistan under Taliban rule?
They went on to take the nearby city of Kandahar, beginning a remarkable advance which led to their capture of the capital, Kabul, in September 1996.
The Taliban's popularity with many Afghans initially surprised the country's warring mujahedi factions.
As ethnic Pashtuns, a large part of their support came from Afghanistan's Pashtun community, disillusioned with existing ethnic Tajik and Uzbek leaders.
But it was not purely a question of ethnicity. Ordinary Afghans, weary of the prevailing lawlessness in many parts of the country, were often delighted by Taleban successes in stamping out corruption, restoring peace and allowing commerce to flourish again.
Their refusal to deal with the existing warlords whose rivalries had caused so much killing and destruction also earned them respect.
The Taleban said their aim was to set up the world's most pure Islamic state, banning frivolities like television, music and cinema.
Their attempts to eradicate crime have been reinforced by the introduction of Islamic law including public executions and amputations.
A flurry of regulations forbidding girls from going to school and women from working quickly brought them into conflict with the international community.
Such issues, along with restrictions on women's access to health care, have also caused some resentment among ordinary Afghans.
The Taleban now control all but the far north of the country, which is the last stronghold of the ethnic Tajik commander Ahmed Shah Masood.
With 90% of the country under their control, the Taleban have continued to press claims for international recognition.
But the Afghan seat at the United Nations continues to be held by former President Burhanuddin Rabbani.
The UN sanctions which have now been imposed on the country make it even less likely that the Taleban will gain that recognition.
The sanctions are intended to force the Taleban to hand over the Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden, who is accused by the United States of plotting the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 250 people.
The Taleban say that Osama Bin Laden is a guest in their country, and they will not take action against him.
Grammar: Gerund and Infinitive
Gerunds and infinitives are forms of verbs that act like nouns. They can follow adjectives and other verbs. Gerunds can also follow prepositions.
A gerund (often known as an -ing word) is a noun formed from a verb by adding -ing. Not all words formed with -ing are gerunds.
A infinitive is to + the verb.
When a verb follows a verb it either takes the gerund or infinitive form.
Some verbs can take either the gerund or the infinitive with no loss of meaning.
For example:
With the verb start - "It started to rain." or "It started raining." Both sentences have the same meaning.
Sometimes the use of the gerund or infinitive changes the meaning of the sentence.
For example:
With the verb remember - "I remembered to do my homework". or "I remembered doing my homework."
In the first sentence (I remembered to do my homework), the person speaking remembered they had some homework first and then carried out the action and did it. In the second sentence (I remembered doing my homework.), the person speaking carried out the action (their homework) first and then remembered doing it.
Other verbs only take one or the other, unfortunately there is no rule as to which form the verb takes. The same is true when the verb follows an adjective.
When a verb is used after a preposition the verb takes the -ing form.
For example:
You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.
A gerund (often known as an -ing word) is a noun formed from a verb by adding -ing. Not all words formed with -ing are gerunds.
A infinitive is to + the verb.
When a verb follows a verb it either takes the gerund or infinitive form.
Some verbs can take either the gerund or the infinitive with no loss of meaning.
For example:
With the verb start - "It started to rain." or "It started raining." Both sentences have the same meaning.
Sometimes the use of the gerund or infinitive changes the meaning of the sentence.
For example:
With the verb remember - "I remembered to do my homework". or "I remembered doing my homework."
In the first sentence (I remembered to do my homework), the person speaking remembered they had some homework first and then carried out the action and did it. In the second sentence (I remembered doing my homework.), the person speaking carried out the action (their homework) first and then remembered doing it.
Other verbs only take one or the other, unfortunately there is no rule as to which form the verb takes. The same is true when the verb follows an adjective.
When a verb is used after a preposition the verb takes the -ing form.
For example:
You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.
Chemistry: Compunds and Reactions
by Gen
Can you think of some everyday items you use?
Margarine
Paper
Baseballs
Glass
Flouride
Sunscreen
Can you guess what elements or compounds are inside of these common everyday items?
Sunscreen
Sunscreen protects our skin from harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. Sunscreens can be organic or inorganic. The compound Octyl Methoycinnamate is used in organic sunscreens. Inorganic sunscreens have a mixture of element titanium with dioxide and zinc with oxide.
Margarine
Margarine is a substitute for butter which was believed to reduce the incidence of heart disease by switching saturated fats with trans fatty acids. It has discovered though that it does not do much to reduce heart disease due to its trans fatty acids which raise bad cholesterol. Despite this, margarine is prefered over butter. Margarine contains Oliec Acid and Elaidic Acid.
Paper
Today's method of making paper is simple, plant fibers stick together when the fibers are pulped, spread on a screen, and dried. Paper has a wide range of use from bags to writing material. Paper contains polyoxometalates.
Baseballs
Baseball is one of the the most popular sports in America, its birthplace. A baseball should be a sphere formed by yarn wound around a small sphere or cork, or rubber, or similar material covered with 2 stripes of white horseide or cowhide tightly stitched together.
Fluoride
Fluoride prevents tooth decay in 2 main ways:
I reduces the ability of bactieria in plaque to generate tooth-weakening acids
It helps remineralize those tooth areas where acid attack has already begun
Fluoride toothpaste contains Stannous Fluoride, Sodium Fluoride, and Sodium monofluorophosphate.
Glass
This transparent material plays a big role in many modern applications such as, windows, glasses, jars, microscopes, beakers, etc. Glass contains Sodium Carbonate, Calcium Silicate, and Sodium Silicate.
Can you think of some everyday items you use?
Margarine
Paper
Baseballs
Glass
Flouride
Sunscreen
Can you guess what elements or compounds are inside of these common everyday items?
Sunscreen
Sunscreen protects our skin from harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. Sunscreens can be organic or inorganic. The compound Octyl Methoycinnamate is used in organic sunscreens. Inorganic sunscreens have a mixture of element titanium with dioxide and zinc with oxide.
Margarine
Margarine is a substitute for butter which was believed to reduce the incidence of heart disease by switching saturated fats with trans fatty acids. It has discovered though that it does not do much to reduce heart disease due to its trans fatty acids which raise bad cholesterol. Despite this, margarine is prefered over butter. Margarine contains Oliec Acid and Elaidic Acid.
Paper
Today's method of making paper is simple, plant fibers stick together when the fibers are pulped, spread on a screen, and dried. Paper has a wide range of use from bags to writing material. Paper contains polyoxometalates.
Baseballs
Baseball is one of the the most popular sports in America, its birthplace. A baseball should be a sphere formed by yarn wound around a small sphere or cork, or rubber, or similar material covered with 2 stripes of white horseide or cowhide tightly stitched together.
Fluoride
Fluoride prevents tooth decay in 2 main ways:
I reduces the ability of bactieria in plaque to generate tooth-weakening acids
It helps remineralize those tooth areas where acid attack has already begun
Fluoride toothpaste contains Stannous Fluoride, Sodium Fluoride, and Sodium monofluorophosphate.
Glass
This transparent material plays a big role in many modern applications such as, windows, glasses, jars, microscopes, beakers, etc. Glass contains Sodium Carbonate, Calcium Silicate, and Sodium Silicate.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Today's Vocabulary
Today's Vocabulary:
4 Words English:
puckish - whimsical; mischievious; impish
coterminous - of equal extent or duration
tirade - a long angry speech
palaver - idle talk; also, to talk idly
4 Words Spanish:
dream - sueno
nightmare - pesadilla
rest - resto
excitment - entuisasmo
4 Words English:
puckish - whimsical; mischievious; impish
coterminous - of equal extent or duration
tirade - a long angry speech
palaver - idle talk; also, to talk idly
4 Words Spanish:
dream - sueno
nightmare - pesadilla
rest - resto
excitment - entuisasmo
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
The Atomic Bomb
by Gen
Was the atomic bomb really needed to end WWII?
There are many questions and contreversies about the atomic bomb... lets get in depth and find out if the A-Bomb was really needed.
First.. there are several reasons why the A-Bomb was needed:
The Japanese demonstrated near fanatical resistance, fighting almost to the last man on Pacific Islands, committing mass sucicide on Saipan and unleashing kamikaze attacks on Okinawa. Fire bombing had killed 100,000 in Tokyo with no discernable political effect. Only the the atomic bomb could jolt Japan's leadership to surrender.
With only two bombs ready it was too risky to waste one in a demonstration over an unpopulated area.
An invasion of Japan would have caused casualties on both sides that could have easily exceeded the toll of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The two targeted cities would have been firebombed anyway.
Immediate use of the bomb convinced the world of its horror and prevented future use when nuclear stockpiles were far larger.
The bomb's use impressed the Soviet Union and halted the war quickly enough that the USSR did not demand joint occupation of Japan.
However, lets take a look at some of the reasons it wasn't needed:
Japan was about to quit anyway. More than 60 of its cities had been destroyed by conventional bombing, the home islands were being blockaded by the American Navy, and the Soviet Union entered the war by attacking Japanese troops in Manchuria.
American refusal to modify its unconditional surrender demand to allow the Japanese to keep their emporer needlessly prolonged Japan's resistance.
A demonstration explosion over Tokyo harbor would have convinced Japan's leaders to quit without killing many people.
Even if Hiroshima was necessary, the US did not give enough time for word to filter out of its devastation before bombing Nagasaki.
The bomb was used partly to justify the $2 billion spent on development.
The two cities were of limited military value. Civilians outnumbered troops in Hiroshima five or six to one.
Japanese lives were sacrified simply for the power politics between the US and the Soviet Union.
Conventional firebombing would have cause as much damage without making the US the first nation to use nuclear weapons.
Death toll: 140,000
Gob bless the innocent souls that died that day...
Was the atomic bomb really needed to end WWII?
There are many questions and contreversies about the atomic bomb... lets get in depth and find out if the A-Bomb was really needed.
First.. there are several reasons why the A-Bomb was needed:
The Japanese demonstrated near fanatical resistance, fighting almost to the last man on Pacific Islands, committing mass sucicide on Saipan and unleashing kamikaze attacks on Okinawa. Fire bombing had killed 100,000 in Tokyo with no discernable political effect. Only the the atomic bomb could jolt Japan's leadership to surrender.
With only two bombs ready it was too risky to waste one in a demonstration over an unpopulated area.
An invasion of Japan would have caused casualties on both sides that could have easily exceeded the toll of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The two targeted cities would have been firebombed anyway.
Immediate use of the bomb convinced the world of its horror and prevented future use when nuclear stockpiles were far larger.
The bomb's use impressed the Soviet Union and halted the war quickly enough that the USSR did not demand joint occupation of Japan.
However, lets take a look at some of the reasons it wasn't needed:
Japan was about to quit anyway. More than 60 of its cities had been destroyed by conventional bombing, the home islands were being blockaded by the American Navy, and the Soviet Union entered the war by attacking Japanese troops in Manchuria.
American refusal to modify its unconditional surrender demand to allow the Japanese to keep their emporer needlessly prolonged Japan's resistance.
A demonstration explosion over Tokyo harbor would have convinced Japan's leaders to quit without killing many people.
Even if Hiroshima was necessary, the US did not give enough time for word to filter out of its devastation before bombing Nagasaki.
The bomb was used partly to justify the $2 billion spent on development.
The two cities were of limited military value. Civilians outnumbered troops in Hiroshima five or six to one.
Japanese lives were sacrified simply for the power politics between the US and the Soviet Union.
Conventional firebombing would have cause as much damage without making the US the first nation to use nuclear weapons.
Death toll: 140,000
Gob bless the innocent souls that died that day...
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Today's Vocabulary
Today's Vocabulary:
4 Words English:
perfidy - faithlessness; treachery
anathema - a curse
doughty - brave; valiant
repletion - the condition of being completely or excessively full
4 Words Spanish:
scientist - cientifico
month - mes
week - semana
yesterday - semana
4 Words English:
perfidy - faithlessness; treachery
anathema - a curse
doughty - brave; valiant
repletion - the condition of being completely or excessively full
4 Words Spanish:
scientist - cientifico
month - mes
week - semana
yesterday - semana
Monday, October 02, 2006
Today's Vocabulary
Today's Vocabulary:
4 Words English:
tenet - any opinio, principle, or doctrine held to be true
qua - in the capacity or character of; as
invective - insulting or abusive language
bowlderize - to remove or modify the parts considered offensive
4 Words Spanish:
molecule - molecula
atom - atoma
universe - universo
element - elemento
4 Words English:
tenet - any opinio, principle, or doctrine held to be true
qua - in the capacity or character of; as
invective - insulting or abusive language
bowlderize - to remove or modify the parts considered offensive
4 Words Spanish:
molecule - molecula
atom - atoma
universe - universo
element - elemento
Atoms
by Gen:
It has been said that during the 20th century, man harnessed the power of the atom. We made atomic bombs and generated electricity by nuclear power. We even split the atom into smaller pieces called subatomic particles.
But what exactly is an atom? What is it made of? What does it look like? From the ancient Greeks to today... we have wondered what ordinary matter is made of.
The idea of the atom was first devised by Democritus in 530 BC. In 1808, an English school teacher and scientist named John Dalton proposed the modern atomic theory. Modern atomic theory states the following.
1. Every element is made of atoms
2. All atoms of any element are the same
3. Atoms of different elements are different
4. Atoms of different elements can combine to form compounds
5. In chemical reactions, atoms are not made, destroyed, or changed
6. In any compound, the numbers and kinds of atoms remain the same
The ability to weight atoms came from an observation by an Italian chemist named Amadeo Avogadro. Avogadro was working with gases (nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, chlorine) and noticed that when temperature and pressure was the same, these gases combined in definite volume ratios.
Avogadro said that at the same temperature and pressure, equal volumes of the gases had the same number of molecules. So, by weighing the volumes of the gases, he could determine the ratios of atomic masses. For example, a liter of oxygen weighed 16 times more than a liter of hydrogen.
To know the structure of an atom, we must know the following:
What are the parts of an atom?
How are these parts arranged?
Near the end of the 18th century, the atom was thought as nothing more than a indivisable sphere. However, a series of discoveries in the fields of chemistry, electricity, magnetism, radioactivity, and quantum mechanics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries changed all that.
In the late 19th century, chemists and physicists were studying the relationship between electricity and matter. They were placing high voltage electric currents through glass tubes filled with low-pressure gas (mercury, neon, xenon) much like neon lights. Electric current was carried from one electrode (cathode) through the gas to the other electrode (anode) by a beam called cathode rays. In 1897, a British physicist, J. J. Thomson did a series of experiments with the following results:
He found that if the tube was placed within an electric or magnetic field, then the cathode rays could be deflected or moved (this is how the the cathode ray tube (CRT) on your television works.
By applying an electric field alone, a magnetic field alone, or both in combination, Thomson could measure the ratio of the electric charge to the mass of the cathode rays.
He found the same charge to mass ratio of cathode rays was seen regardless of what material was inside the tube or what the cathode was made of.
Thomson concluded the following:
Cathode rays were made of tiny, negatively charged particles, which he called electrons.
The electrons had to come from inside the atoms of the gas or metal electrode.
Because the charge to mass ratio was the same for any substance, the electrons were a basic part of all atoms.
Because the charge to mass ratio of the electron was very high, the electron must be very small.
About the same time as Thomson's experiments with cathode rays, physicists such as by Henri Becquerel, Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, and Ernest Rutherford were studying radioactivity. Radioactivity was characterized by three types of emitted rays:
Alpha particles - positively charged and massive. Ernest Rutherford showed that these particles were the nucleus of a helium atom.
Beta particles - negatively charged and light (later shown to be electrons).
Gamma rays - neutrally charged and no mass (energy).
The experiment from radioactivity that contributed most to our knowledge of the structure of the atom was done by Rutherford and his colleagues. Rutherford bombarded a thin foil of gold with a beam of alpha particles and looked at the beams on a fluorescent screen, he noticed the following:
Most of the particles went straight through the foil and struck the screen.
Some (0.1 percent) were deflected or scattered in front (at various angles) of the foil, while others were scattered behind the foil.
Rutherford concluded that the gold atoms were mostly empty space, which allowed most of the alpha particles through. However, some small region of the atom must have been dense enough to deflect or scatter the alpha particle. He called this dense region the nucleus; the nucleus comprised most of the mass of the atom. Later, when Rutherford bombarded nitrogen with alpha particles, a positively charged particle that was lighter than the alpha particle was emitted. He called these particles protons and realized that they were a fundamental particle in the nucleus.
However, protons could not be the only particle in the nucleus because the number of protons in any given element (determined by the electrical charge) was less than the weight of the nucleus. Therefore, a third, neutrally charged particle must exist! It was James Chadwick, a British physicist and co-worker of Rutherford, who discovered the third subatomic particle, the neutron. Chadwick bombarded beryllium foil with alpha particles and noticed a neutral radiation coming out. This neutral radiation could in turn knock protons out of the nuclei of other substances.
In summary, science in the 20th century has revealed the structure of the atom. Scientists are now conducting experiments to reveal details of the structure of the nucleus and the forces that hold it together.
It has been said that during the 20th century, man harnessed the power of the atom. We made atomic bombs and generated electricity by nuclear power. We even split the atom into smaller pieces called subatomic particles.
But what exactly is an atom? What is it made of? What does it look like? From the ancient Greeks to today... we have wondered what ordinary matter is made of.
The idea of the atom was first devised by Democritus in 530 BC. In 1808, an English school teacher and scientist named John Dalton proposed the modern atomic theory. Modern atomic theory states the following.
1. Every element is made of atoms
2. All atoms of any element are the same
3. Atoms of different elements are different
4. Atoms of different elements can combine to form compounds
5. In chemical reactions, atoms are not made, destroyed, or changed
6. In any compound, the numbers and kinds of atoms remain the same
The ability to weight atoms came from an observation by an Italian chemist named Amadeo Avogadro. Avogadro was working with gases (nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, chlorine) and noticed that when temperature and pressure was the same, these gases combined in definite volume ratios.
Avogadro said that at the same temperature and pressure, equal volumes of the gases had the same number of molecules. So, by weighing the volumes of the gases, he could determine the ratios of atomic masses. For example, a liter of oxygen weighed 16 times more than a liter of hydrogen.
To know the structure of an atom, we must know the following:
What are the parts of an atom?
How are these parts arranged?
Near the end of the 18th century, the atom was thought as nothing more than a indivisable sphere. However, a series of discoveries in the fields of chemistry, electricity, magnetism, radioactivity, and quantum mechanics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries changed all that.
In the late 19th century, chemists and physicists were studying the relationship between electricity and matter. They were placing high voltage electric currents through glass tubes filled with low-pressure gas (mercury, neon, xenon) much like neon lights. Electric current was carried from one electrode (cathode) through the gas to the other electrode (anode) by a beam called cathode rays. In 1897, a British physicist, J. J. Thomson did a series of experiments with the following results:
He found that if the tube was placed within an electric or magnetic field, then the cathode rays could be deflected or moved (this is how the the cathode ray tube (CRT) on your television works.
By applying an electric field alone, a magnetic field alone, or both in combination, Thomson could measure the ratio of the electric charge to the mass of the cathode rays.
He found the same charge to mass ratio of cathode rays was seen regardless of what material was inside the tube or what the cathode was made of.
Thomson concluded the following:
Cathode rays were made of tiny, negatively charged particles, which he called electrons.
The electrons had to come from inside the atoms of the gas or metal electrode.
Because the charge to mass ratio was the same for any substance, the electrons were a basic part of all atoms.
Because the charge to mass ratio of the electron was very high, the electron must be very small.
About the same time as Thomson's experiments with cathode rays, physicists such as by Henri Becquerel, Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, and Ernest Rutherford were studying radioactivity. Radioactivity was characterized by three types of emitted rays:
Alpha particles - positively charged and massive. Ernest Rutherford showed that these particles were the nucleus of a helium atom.
Beta particles - negatively charged and light (later shown to be electrons).
Gamma rays - neutrally charged and no mass (energy).
The experiment from radioactivity that contributed most to our knowledge of the structure of the atom was done by Rutherford and his colleagues. Rutherford bombarded a thin foil of gold with a beam of alpha particles and looked at the beams on a fluorescent screen, he noticed the following:
Most of the particles went straight through the foil and struck the screen.
Some (0.1 percent) were deflected or scattered in front (at various angles) of the foil, while others were scattered behind the foil.
Rutherford concluded that the gold atoms were mostly empty space, which allowed most of the alpha particles through. However, some small region of the atom must have been dense enough to deflect or scatter the alpha particle. He called this dense region the nucleus; the nucleus comprised most of the mass of the atom. Later, when Rutherford bombarded nitrogen with alpha particles, a positively charged particle that was lighter than the alpha particle was emitted. He called these particles protons and realized that they were a fundamental particle in the nucleus.
However, protons could not be the only particle in the nucleus because the number of protons in any given element (determined by the electrical charge) was less than the weight of the nucleus. Therefore, a third, neutrally charged particle must exist! It was James Chadwick, a British physicist and co-worker of Rutherford, who discovered the third subatomic particle, the neutron. Chadwick bombarded beryllium foil with alpha particles and noticed a neutral radiation coming out. This neutral radiation could in turn knock protons out of the nuclei of other substances.
In summary, science in the 20th century has revealed the structure of the atom. Scientists are now conducting experiments to reveal details of the structure of the nucleus and the forces that hold it together.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Albert Einstein
by: Gen
Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, in Wurttemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. Six weeks later the family moved to Munich and he began his schooling there at the Luitpold Gymnasium. Later, they moved to Italy and Albert continued his education at Aurau, Switzerland and in 1896 he entered the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich to be trained as a teacher in physics and mathematics. In 1901, the year he gained his diploma, he aquired Swiss citizenship and, as he was unable to find a teaching post, he accepted a position as technical assistant in the Swiss Patent Office. In 1905 he obtained his doctor's degree.
During his stay at the Patent Office, and in his spare time, he produced much of his remarkable work and in 1908 he was appointed Privatdozent in Berne. In 1909 he became Professor Extraordinary at Zurich, in 1911 Professor of Theoretical Physics at Prague, returning to Zurich, in 1911 Professor of Theoretical Physics at Prague, returning to Zurich in the following year to fill a similar post. In 1914 he was appointed Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Pysical Institute and Professor in the University of Berlin. He became a German citizen in 1914 and remained in Berlin until 1933 when he renounced his citizenship for political reasons and emigrated to America to take the position of Professor of Theoretical Physics at Princeton. He became a US citizen in 1940 and retired from his post in 1945.
After WWII, Einstein was a leading figure in the World Government Movement, he was offered the Presidency of the State of Israel, which he declined, and he collaborated with Dr. Chaim Weizmann in establishing the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Einstein always appeared to have a clear view of the problems of physics and the determination to solve them. He had a strategy of his own and was able to visualize the main stages on the way to his goal. He regarded his major achievements as mere stepping-stones for the next advance.
At the start of his scientific work, Einstein realized the inadequacies of Newtonian mechanics and his special theory of relativity stemmed from an attempt to reconcile the laws of mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. He dealt with classical problems of statistical mechanics and problems in which they were merged with quantum theory: this led to an explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules. He investigated the thermal properties of light with a low radiation density and his observations laid the foundation of the photon theory of light.
In his early days in Berlin, Einstein postulated that the correct interpretation of the special theory of relativity must also furnish a theory of gravitation and in 1916 he published his paper on the general theory of relativity must also furnish a theory of gravitation and in 1916 he published his paper on the theory of relativity. During this time he also contributed to the problems of the theory of radiation and statistical mechanics.
In the 1920's, Einstein embarked on the construction of unified theories, although he continued to work on the probabilistic interpretation interpretation of quantum theory, and he persevered with this work in America. He contributed to statistical mechanics by his development of the quantum theory of a monatomic gas and he has also accomplished valuable work in connection with atomic transition probabilities and relativistic cosmology.
After his retirement he continued to work towards the unification of the basic concepts of physics, taking the opposite approach, geometrisation, to the majority of physicists.
Albert Einstein received honorary doctorate degrees in science, medicine and philosophy from many European and American universities. During the 1920's he lectured in Europe, America and the Far East and he was awarded Fellowships or Memberships of all the leading scientific academies throughout the world. He gained numerous awards in recognition of his work, including the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London in 1925, and the Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute in 1935.
Einstein's gifts inevitably resulted in his dwelling much in intellectual solitude and, for relaxation, music played an important part in his life. He married Mileva Maric in 1903 and they had a daughter and two sons; their marriage was dissolved in 1919 and in the same year he married his cousin, Elsa Löwenthal, who died in 1936. He died on April 18, 1955 at Princeton, New Jersey.
Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, in Wurttemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. Six weeks later the family moved to Munich and he began his schooling there at the Luitpold Gymnasium. Later, they moved to Italy and Albert continued his education at Aurau, Switzerland and in 1896 he entered the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich to be trained as a teacher in physics and mathematics. In 1901, the year he gained his diploma, he aquired Swiss citizenship and, as he was unable to find a teaching post, he accepted a position as technical assistant in the Swiss Patent Office. In 1905 he obtained his doctor's degree.
During his stay at the Patent Office, and in his spare time, he produced much of his remarkable work and in 1908 he was appointed Privatdozent in Berne. In 1909 he became Professor Extraordinary at Zurich, in 1911 Professor of Theoretical Physics at Prague, returning to Zurich, in 1911 Professor of Theoretical Physics at Prague, returning to Zurich in the following year to fill a similar post. In 1914 he was appointed Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Pysical Institute and Professor in the University of Berlin. He became a German citizen in 1914 and remained in Berlin until 1933 when he renounced his citizenship for political reasons and emigrated to America to take the position of Professor of Theoretical Physics at Princeton. He became a US citizen in 1940 and retired from his post in 1945.
After WWII, Einstein was a leading figure in the World Government Movement, he was offered the Presidency of the State of Israel, which he declined, and he collaborated with Dr. Chaim Weizmann in establishing the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Einstein always appeared to have a clear view of the problems of physics and the determination to solve them. He had a strategy of his own and was able to visualize the main stages on the way to his goal. He regarded his major achievements as mere stepping-stones for the next advance.
At the start of his scientific work, Einstein realized the inadequacies of Newtonian mechanics and his special theory of relativity stemmed from an attempt to reconcile the laws of mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. He dealt with classical problems of statistical mechanics and problems in which they were merged with quantum theory: this led to an explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules. He investigated the thermal properties of light with a low radiation density and his observations laid the foundation of the photon theory of light.
In his early days in Berlin, Einstein postulated that the correct interpretation of the special theory of relativity must also furnish a theory of gravitation and in 1916 he published his paper on the general theory of relativity must also furnish a theory of gravitation and in 1916 he published his paper on the theory of relativity. During this time he also contributed to the problems of the theory of radiation and statistical mechanics.
In the 1920's, Einstein embarked on the construction of unified theories, although he continued to work on the probabilistic interpretation interpretation of quantum theory, and he persevered with this work in America. He contributed to statistical mechanics by his development of the quantum theory of a monatomic gas and he has also accomplished valuable work in connection with atomic transition probabilities and relativistic cosmology.
After his retirement he continued to work towards the unification of the basic concepts of physics, taking the opposite approach, geometrisation, to the majority of physicists.
Albert Einstein received honorary doctorate degrees in science, medicine and philosophy from many European and American universities. During the 1920's he lectured in Europe, America and the Far East and he was awarded Fellowships or Memberships of all the leading scientific academies throughout the world. He gained numerous awards in recognition of his work, including the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London in 1925, and the Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute in 1935.
Einstein's gifts inevitably resulted in his dwelling much in intellectual solitude and, for relaxation, music played an important part in his life. He married Mileva Maric in 1903 and they had a daughter and two sons; their marriage was dissolved in 1919 and in the same year he married his cousin, Elsa Löwenthal, who died in 1936. He died on April 18, 1955 at Princeton, New Jersey.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Today's Vocabulary
Today's Vocabulary:
4 Words English:
venerate - to treat with deep respect
gustatory - pertaining to the sense of taste
serendipity - the faculty or phenomenon of making fortunate accidental discoveries
yen - a strong inclination or desire
4 Words Spanish:
make - haga
break - rotura
holiday - dia de fiesta
dark - oscuro
4 Words English:
venerate - to treat with deep respect
gustatory - pertaining to the sense of taste
serendipity - the faculty or phenomenon of making fortunate accidental discoveries
yen - a strong inclination or desire
4 Words Spanish:
make - haga
break - rotura
holiday - dia de fiesta
dark - oscuro
Today's Vocabulary
Today's Vocabulary:
4 Words English:
abrogate - to annul
penury - extreme poverty
variegated - varied
clamber - to climb with difficulty
4 Words Spanish:
poor - pobre
rich - rico
port - puerto
possible - posible
4 Words Japanese:
yen - en
hundred - hyaku
year - nen
river - kawa
4 Words English:
abrogate - to annul
penury - extreme poverty
variegated - varied
clamber - to climb with difficulty
4 Words Spanish:
poor - pobre
rich - rico
port - puerto
possible - posible
4 Words Japanese:
yen - en
hundred - hyaku
year - nen
river - kawa
Monday, September 25, 2006
Biomes
by Gen
A biome, in definition, is an entire community of living organisms in a single ecological area.
Here are some biomes:
Tundra - The tundra is a cold, treeless area; it is the coldest biome. The tundra is characterized by very low temperatures, very little precipitation, a short growing season, few nutrients, and low biological diversity. The word tundra comes from the Finish word tunturia, which means "treeless plain"
Taiga - A taiga, also called a boreal forest or northern coniferous forest, is a cold woodland or forest. The taiga is characterized by a cold, harsh climate, a low rate of precipitation, and short growing season.
Deciduous Forest - Deciduous forests are forests in cool, rainy areas; they have trees that loose their leaves in Fall and regrow them in Spring. Deciduous forests are found in the middle latitudes around the globe and have four distinct seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.
Grasslands - A grassland is a grassy, windy, partly-dry biome, a sea of grass. Almost 1/4 of the Earth's land area is grassland. In many areas, grasslands separate forests from deserts. Deep rooted grasses dominate the flora in a grassland; there are very few trees and shrubs in a grassland... less than one per acre.
Savanna - A savanna is a hot, seasonally dry grassland with scattered trees. Savannas are located in the dry tropics and the subtropics, often bordering a rainforest. Savannas have an extended dry season and a rainy season.
Desert - Deserts cover about 1/5 of the Earth's land area. The desert is a harsh enviroment with very little rainfall and extreme temperatures. Some deserts get both very hot during the day, and very cold at night... when temps can fall below freezing!
Some deserts, however, are always cold. For example, the Gobi Desert of Asia and the desert on the continent on Antarctica.
Tropical Forests - Rainforests are very dense, warm, wet forests. They are haven for millions of plants and animals. Rainforests are extremely important in the ecology of the Earth. The plants of the rainforest generate much of the Earth's oxygen. These plants are also very important to people in other ways; many are used in new drugs that fight disease and illness.
A biome, in definition, is an entire community of living organisms in a single ecological area.
Here are some biomes:
Tundra - The tundra is a cold, treeless area; it is the coldest biome. The tundra is characterized by very low temperatures, very little precipitation, a short growing season, few nutrients, and low biological diversity. The word tundra comes from the Finish word tunturia, which means "treeless plain"
Taiga - A taiga, also called a boreal forest or northern coniferous forest, is a cold woodland or forest. The taiga is characterized by a cold, harsh climate, a low rate of precipitation, and short growing season.
Deciduous Forest - Deciduous forests are forests in cool, rainy areas; they have trees that loose their leaves in Fall and regrow them in Spring. Deciduous forests are found in the middle latitudes around the globe and have four distinct seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.
Grasslands - A grassland is a grassy, windy, partly-dry biome, a sea of grass. Almost 1/4 of the Earth's land area is grassland. In many areas, grasslands separate forests from deserts. Deep rooted grasses dominate the flora in a grassland; there are very few trees and shrubs in a grassland... less than one per acre.
Savanna - A savanna is a hot, seasonally dry grassland with scattered trees. Savannas are located in the dry tropics and the subtropics, often bordering a rainforest. Savannas have an extended dry season and a rainy season.
Desert - Deserts cover about 1/5 of the Earth's land area. The desert is a harsh enviroment with very little rainfall and extreme temperatures. Some deserts get both very hot during the day, and very cold at night... when temps can fall below freezing!
Some deserts, however, are always cold. For example, the Gobi Desert of Asia and the desert on the continent on Antarctica.
Tropical Forests - Rainforests are very dense, warm, wet forests. They are haven for millions of plants and animals. Rainforests are extremely important in the ecology of the Earth. The plants of the rainforest generate much of the Earth's oxygen. These plants are also very important to people in other ways; many are used in new drugs that fight disease and illness.
Today's Vocabulary
Today's Vocabulary:
4 Words English:
neoteric - recent in origin; new
surly - ill-humored; sullen and gruff
vivify - to endue with life; to enliven
sycophant - one who seeks favor by flattery
4 Words Japanese:
city - haba
to fit - kuchi
to think - kokoro
paper - itohen
4 Words English:
neoteric - recent in origin; new
surly - ill-humored; sullen and gruff
vivify - to endue with life; to enliven
sycophant - one who seeks favor by flattery
4 Words Japanese:
city - haba
to fit - kuchi
to think - kokoro
paper - itohen
Independent vs Major Studio Film
by Gen
2 differences...
Firstly---
A Major Studio Film is usually a blockbuster film ... usually a action or thriller...
An Independent Film is usually of a special genre, like wildlife or contrevsal topics.
Second---
A Major Studio Film usually has a very big budget.
An Independent Film has a limited budget.
Examples of Independent Films---
The Silence of the Lambs
American History X
To Kill a Mockingbird
Magnolia
Examples of Major Studio Films---
Finding Nemo
The Sentinel
Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties
Now we will take a look at 2 independent film makers...
Woody Allen
Real Name - Allen Stewart Konigsberg
Woody Allen was born on December 1, 1935, as Allen Konigsberg, in Brooklyn, NY. When he was 15, he started selling one-liners to gossip columns. After working a while as a stand up comidian, he was hired to write What's New, Pussycat in 1965. He directed his first film a year later, What's Up, Tiger Lily? in 1966.
Trademarks:
Often makes films about a director making films, casts himself in the lead role.
Frequently plays a neurotic New Yorker.
Frequently casts himself, Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow, Alan Alda, and Judy Davis.
Often talks to the camera directly.
His thick black glasses, the same since the 60s.
His films are almost all set in New York City.
Spike Lee
Real Name: Shelton Jackson Lee
Spike Lee was born Shelton Lee in 1957, in Atlanta Georgia. At a very young age he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from a proud and intelligent background. His father was a jazz musician, and his mother a school teacher. His mother dubbed him Spike, due to his tough nature. He attended school in Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he developed his film making skills. After graduating from Morehouse, to go to the Tisch School of arts graduate film program. He made a controversial short, The Answer (1980), a reworking of D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) - a ten minute film. Lee went on to produce a 45 minute film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983), which won a student academy award. However success did not mean money, and Lee's next film, 'The Messenger', in 1984, was somewhat biographical.
With pointed political messages, insightful, different and intelligent films, Spike Lee has become a well known political presence. He looks likely to have further success in the film business.
Trademarks:
Frequently casts himself.
Frequently casts John Turturro,Samuel L. Jackson, Delroy Lindo, and Roger Guenveur Smith.
His films frequently involve African Americans and African-American themes.
Films called "A Spike Lee Joint"
Frequently has characters directly address the camera. Frequently places actors on dollies to achieve a gliding or rotating effect against the background of the shot.
His films often have the phrase "Wake Up!" as in an urging to the awakening of maturity and social conscience.
Baseball: Every one of his narrative feature films makes reference to baseball teams and players.
2 differences...
Firstly---
A Major Studio Film is usually a blockbuster film ... usually a action or thriller...
An Independent Film is usually of a special genre, like wildlife or contrevsal topics.
Second---
A Major Studio Film usually has a very big budget.
An Independent Film has a limited budget.
Examples of Independent Films---
The Silence of the Lambs
American History X
To Kill a Mockingbird
Magnolia
Examples of Major Studio Films---
Finding Nemo
The Sentinel
Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties
Now we will take a look at 2 independent film makers...
Woody Allen
Real Name - Allen Stewart Konigsberg
Woody Allen was born on December 1, 1935, as Allen Konigsberg, in Brooklyn, NY. When he was 15, he started selling one-liners to gossip columns. After working a while as a stand up comidian, he was hired to write What's New, Pussycat in 1965. He directed his first film a year later, What's Up, Tiger Lily? in 1966.
Trademarks:
Often makes films about a director making films, casts himself in the lead role.
Frequently plays a neurotic New Yorker.
Frequently casts himself, Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow, Alan Alda, and Judy Davis.
Often talks to the camera directly.
His thick black glasses, the same since the 60s.
His films are almost all set in New York City.
Spike Lee
Real Name: Shelton Jackson Lee
Spike Lee was born Shelton Lee in 1957, in Atlanta Georgia. At a very young age he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from a proud and intelligent background. His father was a jazz musician, and his mother a school teacher. His mother dubbed him Spike, due to his tough nature. He attended school in Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he developed his film making skills. After graduating from Morehouse, to go to the Tisch School of arts graduate film program. He made a controversial short, The Answer (1980), a reworking of D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) - a ten minute film. Lee went on to produce a 45 minute film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983), which won a student academy award. However success did not mean money, and Lee's next film, 'The Messenger', in 1984, was somewhat biographical.
With pointed political messages, insightful, different and intelligent films, Spike Lee has become a well known political presence. He looks likely to have further success in the film business.
Trademarks:
Frequently casts himself.
Frequently casts John Turturro,Samuel L. Jackson, Delroy Lindo, and Roger Guenveur Smith.
His films frequently involve African Americans and African-American themes.
Films called "A Spike Lee Joint"
Frequently has characters directly address the camera. Frequently places actors on dollies to achieve a gliding or rotating effect against the background of the shot.
His films often have the phrase "Wake Up!" as in an urging to the awakening of maturity and social conscience.
Baseball: Every one of his narrative feature films makes reference to baseball teams and players.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
WWII
by Gen
The second global conflict resulted from the rise of totalitarian, militaristic regimes in Germany, Italy, and Japan, a phenomenon stemming in part from the Great Depression that swept over the world in the early 1930s and from the conditions created by the peace settlements (1919-1920) following WWI.
After WWI, deaeated Germany, disapointed Italy, and ambitious Japan were anxious to regain their power, all three eventually adopted forms of dictatorship that made the state supreme and called for expansion at the expense of neighboring countries. These three countries also set themselves up as champions against Communism, thus gaining at least partial tolerance of their early actions from the more conservative groups in the Western democracies. Also important was a desire on the part of the democracies, which resulted in their military unpreparedness. Finally, the League of Nations, weakened from the start by the defection of the United States, was unable to promote disarmament, moreover, the long economic depression sharpened national rivalries, increased fear and distrust, and made the masses susceptible to the promises of demagogues.
The failure othe the League to stop the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1931 was followed by a rising crescendo of treaty violations and acts of aggression. Adolf Hitler, when he rose to power (1933) in Germany, recreated the German army and prepared it for a war of conquest; in 1936 he remilitarized the Rhineland. Benito Mussolini counquered (1935-1936) Ethiopia for Italy; and from 1936-1939 the Spanish war raged, with Germany and italy helping the facist forces of Francisco Franco to victory. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria, and in September 1938, the British and French policy of appeasement toward the Axis reached its height with the sacrifice of much of Czechoslovakia to Germany in the Munich Pact.
When Germany occupied (March 1939) all of Czechoslovakia, and when Italy seized (April 1939) Albania, Britain and France abandoned their policy of appeasement and set about creating an antiaggression front, which included alliances with Turkey, Romania, Greece, and Poland. Germany and Italy signed a full military alliance, and after the Soviet-German nonaggresive pact removed German fear of a two front war, Germany was ready to launch an attack against Poland.
WWII began on September 1, 1939, when Germany, without a declaration of war, invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war mon Germany on September 3, and all the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, except Ireland, rapidly followed suit. The fighting in Poland was brief. The German blitzkrieg, or lightning war, with its use of new techniques of mechanized and air warfare, crushed the Poland defenses, and the conquest was almost complete when Soviet forces entered east Poland. While this campaign ended with the partition of Poland and while the USSR defeated Finland in the Finland-Russian War (1939-1940), the British and the French spent an inactive winter behind the Maginot Line, content with blockading Germany by sea.
The inactive period ended with the surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway by the Germans. Denmark offered no resistance; Norway was conquered by June 9. On May 10, German forces overran Luxembourg and invaded the Netherlands and Belgium; on May 13 they outflanked the Maginot Line. Their armored columns raced to the English Channel and cut off Flanders, and Allied forces were evacuated from Dunkirk. General Weygand had replaced General Gamelin as supreme Allied commander, but was unable to stop the Allied debacle in th "battle of France." On June 22, France signed an armistice with Germany, followed with an armistice with Italy, which had entered the war on June 10. The Vichy goverment was set up in France under Marshal Petain. Britain, the only remaining Allied power, resisted, under the inspiring leadership of Winston Churchill, the German attempt to bomb it into submission.
While Germany was recieving its first setback in the Battle of Britain, fought entirely in the air, the theatre of war was widened by the Italian attack on the British in North Africa, by the Italian invasion of Greece, and by German submarine warfare in the Atlantic Ocean. Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria joined the Axis late in 1940, but Yugoslavia resisted German pressure, and on April 6,1941, Germany launched attacks on Yugoslavia and Greece and won rapid victories. In May, Crete fell.
Britain gained a new ally on June 22, 1941, when Germany, invaded the Soviet Union. By December 1941, German mechanized divisions had destroyed a substansial part of the Soviet army and had overrun much of European Russia. However, theharsh Russian winter halted the German sweep, and the drive on Moscow was foiled by a Soviet counteroffensive.
Even though the US was determined to maintain neutrality, it was gradually drawn closer to the war by the force of events. To save Britian from collapse the Congress voted lend-lease aid early in 1941. In August, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met Churchill on the high seas, and together they formulated the Atlantic Charter as a general statement of democratic aims. To establish bases to protect its shipping from attacks by German submarines, the US occupied Greenland and later shared in the occupation of Iceland, despite repeated warnings, the attacks continued. Relations with Germany became increasingly strained, and the aggresive acts of Japan in China, Indonesia, and Thailand provoked protests from the US.
Efforts to reach a peaceful settlement were ended on December 7, 1941, when Japan without warning attacked Pearl Harbor, the Phillipines, and Malaya. War was declared on Japan by the US, the Commonwealth of Nations (except Ireland) , and the Netherlands. Within a few days... Germany and Italy declared war on the US.
The first phase of the war in the Pacific was disastrous for the Allies. Japan swiftly conquered the Philipines, Malaya, Burma, Netherlands East Indies, and many Pacific islands; destroyed an Allied fleet in the Java Sea; and reached, by mid-1942, its furthest points of advance in the Aleutian Islands and New Guinea.
Australia became the chief Allied base for the countemoves against Japan, directed by General Douglas MacArthur, Admiral Nimitz, and Admiral Halsey. The first Aliied naval sucesses against Japan was scored in the battles if the Coral Sea and Midway, where US bombers knocked out the major part of Japan's carrier fleet and forced Japan into retreat. Midway was the first decisive blow against the Axis by Allied forces. On land the Allies took the offensive in New Guinea and landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
Despite the slightly improved position in the Pacific, the late summer of 1942 was perhaps the darkest period of the war for the Allies. In North Africa, the Axis forces under Field Marshal Rommel were sweeping int Egypt; in Russia, they had penetrated the Causcasus and launched a gigantic offensive against Stalingrad. In the Atlantic, even to the shores of the US and in the Gulf of Mexico, German submarines were sinking Allied shipping at an unprecedented rate.
Yet the Axis war machine showed signs of wear, while the US was merely beginning to realize its potential, and Russia had huge reserves and was receiving US lend-lease aid through Iran and the Port of Murmansk. The major blow, however, was leveled at the Axis by Britain, when General Montgomery routed Rommel at Alamein in North Africa. This was followed by the American invasion of Algeria; the Americans and British were joined by Free French forces of General de Gaulle and by regular French forces that had passed to the Allies after the surrender of Admiral Darlan. After heavy fighting in Tunisia, North Africa was cleared of Axis forces by May 12, 1943.
Meantime, in the Soviet stand at Stalingrad and counteroffensive resulted in the surrender of the German 6th Army, followed by nearly uninterrupted Russian advances. In the Meditterranean, the Allies followed up their African victory by the conquest of Sicily and the invasion of Italy, which surrendered on September 8. However, the German army in Italy fought bloody rearguard actions, and Rome fell only after the battles of Monte Cassino and Anzio. In the Atlantic, the submarine threat was virtually ended by the summer of 1944. Throughout German-occupied Europe, underground forces, largely supplied by the Allies, began to wage war against thier oppressors.
The Allies, who had signed the UN declaration, were drawn closer together militarily by the Casablanca Conference, at which they pledged to continue the war until the unconditional surrender of the Axis, and by the Moscow Conferences, the Quebec Conference, the Cairo Conference, and the Tehran Conference. The invasion of German-held France was decided upon, and General Dwight D Eisenhower was put in charge of the operation.
By the beginning of air warfare had turned overwhelmingly in favor of the Allies, who wrough unprecedented destruction on many German cities and on transport and industries throughout German held Europe. This air offensive prepared the way for the landing of the Allies in N France and a secondary landing in S France. After heavy fighting in Normandy, Allied armored divisions raced to the Rhine, clearing most of France and Belgium of German forces by October 1944. The use of V-1 and V2 rockets by the Germans proved as futile an effort as their counteroffensive in Belgium under General von Rundstedt.
On the Eastern Front Soviet armies swept through the Baltic States, E Poland, Belorussia, and Ukraine and forced the capitulation of Romania, Finland, and Bulgaria. Having evacuated the Balkan Peninsula, the Germans resisted in Hungary until Febuary 1945, but Germany itself was pressed. The Russians entered East Prussia and Czechoslovakia and took E Germany to the Oder.
On March 7 the Western Allies, whose chief commanders in the field were Omar N. Bradley and Mongomery, crossed the Rhine after having smashed through the strongly fortified Siegfried Line and overran W Germany. German collapse came after the meeting of the Western and Russian armies at Torgau in Saxony, and after Hitler's death amid the ruins of Berlin, which was falling to the Russians under marshals Zhukov and Konev. The unconditional surrender of Germany was signed at Reims on May 7 and ratified at Berlin on May 8.
After the completion of the campaigns in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea, the Allied advance moved inexorably, in two lines that converged on Japan, through scattered island groups, the Philippines, the Mariana Islands, Okinawa, and Iwo Jima. Japan, with most of its navy sunk, staggered beneath these blows. At the Yalta Conference, the USSR secretly promised its aid against Japan, which still refused to surrender even after the Allied appeal made at the Potsdam Conference. On August 6, 1945, the United States first used the atomic bomb and devastated Hiroshima; on August 9, the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The USSR had already invaded Manchuria. On August 14, Japan announced its surrender, formally signed aboard the US battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2.
Although hostilities came to an end in September, 1945, a new world crisis caused by the postwar conflict between the USSR and the United States—the two chief powers to emerge from the war—made settlement difficult. By March, 1950, peace treaties had been signed with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland; in 1951, the Allies (except the USSR) signed a treaty with Japan, and, in 1955, Austria was restored to sovereignty. Germany, however, remained divided—first between the Western powers and the USSR, then (until 1990) into two German nations.
Despite the birth of the United Nations, the world remained politically unstable and only slowly recovered from the incalculable physical and moral devastation wrought by the largest and most costly war in history. Soldiers and civilians both had suffered in bombings that had wiped out entire cities. Modern methods of warfare, together with the attempt of Germany to exterminate entire religious and ethnic groups (particularly the Jews)—famines, and epidemics, had brought death to tens of millions and made as many more homeless. The suffering and degradation of the war's victims were of proportions that passed the understanding of those who had been spared. The conventions of warfare had been violated on a large scale, and warfare itself was revolutionized by the development and use of nuclear weapons.
Political consequences included the reduction of Britain and France to powers of lesser rank, the emergence of the Common Market, the independence of many former colonies in Asia and Africa, and, perhaps most important, the beginning of the cold war between the Western powers and the Communist-bloc nations.
The second global conflict resulted from the rise of totalitarian, militaristic regimes in Germany, Italy, and Japan, a phenomenon stemming in part from the Great Depression that swept over the world in the early 1930s and from the conditions created by the peace settlements (1919-1920) following WWI.
After WWI, deaeated Germany, disapointed Italy, and ambitious Japan were anxious to regain their power, all three eventually adopted forms of dictatorship that made the state supreme and called for expansion at the expense of neighboring countries. These three countries also set themselves up as champions against Communism, thus gaining at least partial tolerance of their early actions from the more conservative groups in the Western democracies. Also important was a desire on the part of the democracies, which resulted in their military unpreparedness. Finally, the League of Nations, weakened from the start by the defection of the United States, was unable to promote disarmament, moreover, the long economic depression sharpened national rivalries, increased fear and distrust, and made the masses susceptible to the promises of demagogues.
The failure othe the League to stop the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1931 was followed by a rising crescendo of treaty violations and acts of aggression. Adolf Hitler, when he rose to power (1933) in Germany, recreated the German army and prepared it for a war of conquest; in 1936 he remilitarized the Rhineland. Benito Mussolini counquered (1935-1936) Ethiopia for Italy; and from 1936-1939 the Spanish war raged, with Germany and italy helping the facist forces of Francisco Franco to victory. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria, and in September 1938, the British and French policy of appeasement toward the Axis reached its height with the sacrifice of much of Czechoslovakia to Germany in the Munich Pact.
When Germany occupied (March 1939) all of Czechoslovakia, and when Italy seized (April 1939) Albania, Britain and France abandoned their policy of appeasement and set about creating an antiaggression front, which included alliances with Turkey, Romania, Greece, and Poland. Germany and Italy signed a full military alliance, and after the Soviet-German nonaggresive pact removed German fear of a two front war, Germany was ready to launch an attack against Poland.
WWII began on September 1, 1939, when Germany, without a declaration of war, invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war mon Germany on September 3, and all the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, except Ireland, rapidly followed suit. The fighting in Poland was brief. The German blitzkrieg, or lightning war, with its use of new techniques of mechanized and air warfare, crushed the Poland defenses, and the conquest was almost complete when Soviet forces entered east Poland. While this campaign ended with the partition of Poland and while the USSR defeated Finland in the Finland-Russian War (1939-1940), the British and the French spent an inactive winter behind the Maginot Line, content with blockading Germany by sea.
The inactive period ended with the surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway by the Germans. Denmark offered no resistance; Norway was conquered by June 9. On May 10, German forces overran Luxembourg and invaded the Netherlands and Belgium; on May 13 they outflanked the Maginot Line. Their armored columns raced to the English Channel and cut off Flanders, and Allied forces were evacuated from Dunkirk. General Weygand had replaced General Gamelin as supreme Allied commander, but was unable to stop the Allied debacle in th "battle of France." On June 22, France signed an armistice with Germany, followed with an armistice with Italy, which had entered the war on June 10. The Vichy goverment was set up in France under Marshal Petain. Britain, the only remaining Allied power, resisted, under the inspiring leadership of Winston Churchill, the German attempt to bomb it into submission.
While Germany was recieving its first setback in the Battle of Britain, fought entirely in the air, the theatre of war was widened by the Italian attack on the British in North Africa, by the Italian invasion of Greece, and by German submarine warfare in the Atlantic Ocean. Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria joined the Axis late in 1940, but Yugoslavia resisted German pressure, and on April 6,1941, Germany launched attacks on Yugoslavia and Greece and won rapid victories. In May, Crete fell.
Britain gained a new ally on June 22, 1941, when Germany, invaded the Soviet Union. By December 1941, German mechanized divisions had destroyed a substansial part of the Soviet army and had overrun much of European Russia. However, theharsh Russian winter halted the German sweep, and the drive on Moscow was foiled by a Soviet counteroffensive.
Even though the US was determined to maintain neutrality, it was gradually drawn closer to the war by the force of events. To save Britian from collapse the Congress voted lend-lease aid early in 1941. In August, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met Churchill on the high seas, and together they formulated the Atlantic Charter as a general statement of democratic aims. To establish bases to protect its shipping from attacks by German submarines, the US occupied Greenland and later shared in the occupation of Iceland, despite repeated warnings, the attacks continued. Relations with Germany became increasingly strained, and the aggresive acts of Japan in China, Indonesia, and Thailand provoked protests from the US.
Efforts to reach a peaceful settlement were ended on December 7, 1941, when Japan without warning attacked Pearl Harbor, the Phillipines, and Malaya. War was declared on Japan by the US, the Commonwealth of Nations (except Ireland) , and the Netherlands. Within a few days... Germany and Italy declared war on the US.
The first phase of the war in the Pacific was disastrous for the Allies. Japan swiftly conquered the Philipines, Malaya, Burma, Netherlands East Indies, and many Pacific islands; destroyed an Allied fleet in the Java Sea; and reached, by mid-1942, its furthest points of advance in the Aleutian Islands and New Guinea.
Australia became the chief Allied base for the countemoves against Japan, directed by General Douglas MacArthur, Admiral Nimitz, and Admiral Halsey. The first Aliied naval sucesses against Japan was scored in the battles if the Coral Sea and Midway, where US bombers knocked out the major part of Japan's carrier fleet and forced Japan into retreat. Midway was the first decisive blow against the Axis by Allied forces. On land the Allies took the offensive in New Guinea and landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
Despite the slightly improved position in the Pacific, the late summer of 1942 was perhaps the darkest period of the war for the Allies. In North Africa, the Axis forces under Field Marshal Rommel were sweeping int Egypt; in Russia, they had penetrated the Causcasus and launched a gigantic offensive against Stalingrad. In the Atlantic, even to the shores of the US and in the Gulf of Mexico, German submarines were sinking Allied shipping at an unprecedented rate.
Yet the Axis war machine showed signs of wear, while the US was merely beginning to realize its potential, and Russia had huge reserves and was receiving US lend-lease aid through Iran and the Port of Murmansk. The major blow, however, was leveled at the Axis by Britain, when General Montgomery routed Rommel at Alamein in North Africa. This was followed by the American invasion of Algeria; the Americans and British were joined by Free French forces of General de Gaulle and by regular French forces that had passed to the Allies after the surrender of Admiral Darlan. After heavy fighting in Tunisia, North Africa was cleared of Axis forces by May 12, 1943.
Meantime, in the Soviet stand at Stalingrad and counteroffensive resulted in the surrender of the German 6th Army, followed by nearly uninterrupted Russian advances. In the Meditterranean, the Allies followed up their African victory by the conquest of Sicily and the invasion of Italy, which surrendered on September 8. However, the German army in Italy fought bloody rearguard actions, and Rome fell only after the battles of Monte Cassino and Anzio. In the Atlantic, the submarine threat was virtually ended by the summer of 1944. Throughout German-occupied Europe, underground forces, largely supplied by the Allies, began to wage war against thier oppressors.
The Allies, who had signed the UN declaration, were drawn closer together militarily by the Casablanca Conference, at which they pledged to continue the war until the unconditional surrender of the Axis, and by the Moscow Conferences, the Quebec Conference, the Cairo Conference, and the Tehran Conference. The invasion of German-held France was decided upon, and General Dwight D Eisenhower was put in charge of the operation.
By the beginning of air warfare had turned overwhelmingly in favor of the Allies, who wrough unprecedented destruction on many German cities and on transport and industries throughout German held Europe. This air offensive prepared the way for the landing of the Allies in N France and a secondary landing in S France. After heavy fighting in Normandy, Allied armored divisions raced to the Rhine, clearing most of France and Belgium of German forces by October 1944. The use of V-1 and V2 rockets by the Germans proved as futile an effort as their counteroffensive in Belgium under General von Rundstedt.
On the Eastern Front Soviet armies swept through the Baltic States, E Poland, Belorussia, and Ukraine and forced the capitulation of Romania, Finland, and Bulgaria. Having evacuated the Balkan Peninsula, the Germans resisted in Hungary until Febuary 1945, but Germany itself was pressed. The Russians entered East Prussia and Czechoslovakia and took E Germany to the Oder.
On March 7 the Western Allies, whose chief commanders in the field were Omar N. Bradley and Mongomery, crossed the Rhine after having smashed through the strongly fortified Siegfried Line and overran W Germany. German collapse came after the meeting of the Western and Russian armies at Torgau in Saxony, and after Hitler's death amid the ruins of Berlin, which was falling to the Russians under marshals Zhukov and Konev. The unconditional surrender of Germany was signed at Reims on May 7 and ratified at Berlin on May 8.
After the completion of the campaigns in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea, the Allied advance moved inexorably, in two lines that converged on Japan, through scattered island groups, the Philippines, the Mariana Islands, Okinawa, and Iwo Jima. Japan, with most of its navy sunk, staggered beneath these blows. At the Yalta Conference, the USSR secretly promised its aid against Japan, which still refused to surrender even after the Allied appeal made at the Potsdam Conference. On August 6, 1945, the United States first used the atomic bomb and devastated Hiroshima; on August 9, the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The USSR had already invaded Manchuria. On August 14, Japan announced its surrender, formally signed aboard the US battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2.
Although hostilities came to an end in September, 1945, a new world crisis caused by the postwar conflict between the USSR and the United States—the two chief powers to emerge from the war—made settlement difficult. By March, 1950, peace treaties had been signed with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland; in 1951, the Allies (except the USSR) signed a treaty with Japan, and, in 1955, Austria was restored to sovereignty. Germany, however, remained divided—first between the Western powers and the USSR, then (until 1990) into two German nations.
Despite the birth of the United Nations, the world remained politically unstable and only slowly recovered from the incalculable physical and moral devastation wrought by the largest and most costly war in history. Soldiers and civilians both had suffered in bombings that had wiped out entire cities. Modern methods of warfare, together with the attempt of Germany to exterminate entire religious and ethnic groups (particularly the Jews)—famines, and epidemics, had brought death to tens of millions and made as many more homeless. The suffering and degradation of the war's victims were of proportions that passed the understanding of those who had been spared. The conventions of warfare had been violated on a large scale, and warfare itself was revolutionized by the development and use of nuclear weapons.
Political consequences included the reduction of Britain and France to powers of lesser rank, the emergence of the Common Market, the independence of many former colonies in Asia and Africa, and, perhaps most important, the beginning of the cold war between the Western powers and the Communist-bloc nations.
Acids and Bases
by Gen
For thousands of years people have known that vinegar, lemon juice and many other foods taste sour. However, it was not until a few hundred years ago that it was dicovered why these things taste sour. The term acid, in fact, comes from the Latin term acere, which means "sour".
In the 17th century, the English writer and amateur chemist Robert Boyle first labeled substances as either acids or bases according to these characteristics:
Acids taste sour, are corrosive to metals, change litmus red, and become less basic when mixed with bases.
Bases feel slippery, change litmus blue, and become less basic when mixed with acids.
For thousands of years people have known that vinegar, lemon juice and many other foods taste sour. However, it was not until a few hundred years ago that it was dicovered why these things taste sour. The term acid, in fact, comes from the Latin term acere, which means "sour".
In the 17th century, the English writer and amateur chemist Robert Boyle first labeled substances as either acids or bases according to these characteristics:
Acids taste sour, are corrosive to metals, change litmus red, and become less basic when mixed with bases.
Bases feel slippery, change litmus blue, and become less basic when mixed with acids.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Today's Vocabulary
Todays Vocabulary:
4 Words English:
expropiate - to deprive of possession
imbue - to dye; to instill profoundly
denizen - an inhabitant
nonplus - to confound; to perplex; to bewilder
4 Words Spanish:
Confuse - Confunda
Puzzle - Rompecabezas
Real - Verdadero
Fake - Falsification
4 Words English:
expropiate - to deprive of possession
imbue - to dye; to instill profoundly
denizen - an inhabitant
nonplus - to confound; to perplex; to bewilder
4 Words Spanish:
Confuse - Confunda
Puzzle - Rompecabezas
Real - Verdadero
Fake - Falsification
Woodrow Wilson
by Gen
Wilson began his career practising law, but gave this up for acedemic life as a Professor of History and Political Economy at Bryn Mawr College, 1885-1888, Wesleyan University, 1888-1890, then as Professor of Jurisprudence and Politics, Princeton University, 1890-1910 (he was president of the University from 1902-1910). In 1911 taking another new turn, he was elected Democratic Governor of New Jersey.
He became president in 1913 and was re-elected in 1916 on the promise to keep the USA out of the First World War. In 1917, however, provoked Germany U-boat attack on American shipped and by German anti-America intrigues in Mexico, he persuaded Congress (the legislative body of the USA) to declare war on Germany.
He issued his famous 14 Points as a basis for a peace settlement in January 1918, and it was in the expectation that the peace settlement, including the Treaty of Versailles, which helped to negotiate in 1919, would be based upon national self-determination, but he was unable to impose his will on his allies, and the settlement was much harsher on Germany and its allies than Wilson had intended or expected.
He placed great hope in the idea of a League of Nations to settle international disputes peacefully, but he had underestimated the extent of opposition to the idea in the USA, where Congress voted to ratify the Treatyand therefore not join the League. Wilson's efforts to drum up popular support for the League broke his health, and he died in 1924.
Wilson began his career practising law, but gave this up for acedemic life as a Professor of History and Political Economy at Bryn Mawr College, 1885-1888, Wesleyan University, 1888-1890, then as Professor of Jurisprudence and Politics, Princeton University, 1890-1910 (he was president of the University from 1902-1910). In 1911 taking another new turn, he was elected Democratic Governor of New Jersey.
He became president in 1913 and was re-elected in 1916 on the promise to keep the USA out of the First World War. In 1917, however, provoked Germany U-boat attack on American shipped and by German anti-America intrigues in Mexico, he persuaded Congress (the legislative body of the USA) to declare war on Germany.
He issued his famous 14 Points as a basis for a peace settlement in January 1918, and it was in the expectation that the peace settlement, including the Treaty of Versailles, which helped to negotiate in 1919, would be based upon national self-determination, but he was unable to impose his will on his allies, and the settlement was much harsher on Germany and its allies than Wilson had intended or expected.
He placed great hope in the idea of a League of Nations to settle international disputes peacefully, but he had underestimated the extent of opposition to the idea in the USA, where Congress voted to ratify the Treatyand therefore not join the League. Wilson's efforts to drum up popular support for the League broke his health, and he died in 1924.
Monday, September 11, 2006
WWI
by Gen
Within hours of the declaration of war, many men and boys swarmed to recruiting stations in Britain to enroll for military service. Posters were everywhere with Field Marshal Kitchener's pointing finger urging, "Your Country Needs You!". This was part of a program to recruit a massive new army of volunteers to reinforce the regulars who were already fighting in France. Within the first month over 1/2 a million men enlisted in Britain and a proportionate number of men stepped foward in every country of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
Enlistment in Britain averaged over 100,000 a month for the next 18 months and eventually totaled 3,000,000 volunteers. In all, the British Commonwealth and Empire mobilized nearly 9,000,000 men. They and the Commonwealth troops were to be solely needed because by as early as October 1914 the small British Expeditionary Force had been badly depleted by an early war of movement following the Retreat from Mons. But the nature of the fighting was to change. When the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) returned north to counter the German thrust for the Channel ports, both sides collided in a fierce battle at Ypres. Although the Germans sustained enormous casulaties, the dwindling British force was in worse condition with few reserves.
German Strategy
Germany conquered so much strategic and industrial territory in 1914, including most of France's coal and steel making regions, that General Erich von Falkenhayn could afford to withdraw his army from less defensible ground and fortify generally higher and advantageous positions. This placed British and Frech troops at a disadvantage throughout the war; they continually had to occupy militarily less suitable areas and impermanent earthworks. In addition to this, as Germany was the occupier and defending her gains, most of the attacking between First Ypres and Spring 1918 was done by the Allies in attempts to oust that occupier, and the attacker almost always suffers more heavily than the defender.
Within hours of the declaration of war, many men and boys swarmed to recruiting stations in Britain to enroll for military service. Posters were everywhere with Field Marshal Kitchener's pointing finger urging, "Your Country Needs You!". This was part of a program to recruit a massive new army of volunteers to reinforce the regulars who were already fighting in France. Within the first month over 1/2 a million men enlisted in Britain and a proportionate number of men stepped foward in every country of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
Enlistment in Britain averaged over 100,000 a month for the next 18 months and eventually totaled 3,000,000 volunteers. In all, the British Commonwealth and Empire mobilized nearly 9,000,000 men. They and the Commonwealth troops were to be solely needed because by as early as October 1914 the small British Expeditionary Force had been badly depleted by an early war of movement following the Retreat from Mons. But the nature of the fighting was to change. When the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) returned north to counter the German thrust for the Channel ports, both sides collided in a fierce battle at Ypres. Although the Germans sustained enormous casulaties, the dwindling British force was in worse condition with few reserves.
German Strategy
Germany conquered so much strategic and industrial territory in 1914, including most of France's coal and steel making regions, that General Erich von Falkenhayn could afford to withdraw his army from less defensible ground and fortify generally higher and advantageous positions. This placed British and Frech troops at a disadvantage throughout the war; they continually had to occupy militarily less suitable areas and impermanent earthworks. In addition to this, as Germany was the occupier and defending her gains, most of the attacking between First Ypres and Spring 1918 was done by the Allies in attempts to oust that occupier, and the attacker almost always suffers more heavily than the defender.
Today's Vocabulary
Today's Vocabulary,
4 Words English:
supercilious - disdainfully arrogant
cadge - to beg, to sponge
agog - an eager desire
mimetic - imitative
4 Words Spanish:
think - piense
awake - despeirto
asleep - dormido
sudden - repentino
4 Words Japanese:
to say - kotoba
self - mizukara
to go - gyouninben
to calculate - takekanmuri
4 Words English:
supercilious - disdainfully arrogant
cadge - to beg, to sponge
agog - an eager desire
mimetic - imitative
4 Words Spanish:
think - piense
awake - despeirto
asleep - dormido
sudden - repentino
4 Words Japanese:
to say - kotoba
self - mizukara
to go - gyouninben
to calculate - takekanmuri
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Today's Vocabulary
Today's Vocabulary:
4 Words English:
daedal - skillful, artistic, ingenious
comestible - suitable to be eaten
sardonic - scornful, mocking
lexicon - a dictionary
4 Words Spanish:
sky - cielo
ground - tierra
left - izquierdo
right - la derecha
4 Words English:
daedal - skillful, artistic, ingenious
comestible - suitable to be eaten
sardonic - scornful, mocking
lexicon - a dictionary
4 Words Spanish:
sky - cielo
ground - tierra
left - izquierdo
right - la derecha
Monday, September 04, 2006
Today's Vocabulary
Today's Vocabulary:
4 Words English:
explicate - to explain
censorous - harshly critical
equable - equal and uniform
assidous - constant in application or attention
4 Words Spanish:
hazard - peligro
attention - atencion
amaze - soprenda
awful - tremendo
4 Words English:
explicate - to explain
censorous - harshly critical
equable - equal and uniform
assidous - constant in application or attention
4 Words Spanish:
hazard - peligro
attention - atencion
amaze - soprenda
awful - tremendo
The First Punic War
by Gen
The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and the Phoenician city of Carthage. They are known as the "Punic" wars because Rome's name for Carthaginians was Punici.
The cause of the war was the clash of interests between the expanding Carthaginian and Roman influences. The Romans were very interested in expansion through Sicily, most of which was under Carthaginian control. At the start of the first Punic War, Carthage was the ascendant power of the Mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire, while Rome was rapidly rising in prominence as the most dominant power in Italy. By the conslusion of the third war, Rome had conquered Carthage's entire empire, becoming the most powerful state in the Mediterranean.
The First Punic War
The First Punic War was fought between Rome and Carthage from 264BC to 241 BC. It was the first of 3 major wars between the two powers for supremacy in the Mediterranean. After 23 years of fighting, Rome emerged the victor and imposed heavy conditions upon Carthage as the price for peace.
In the middle of the 3rd century BC, the power of Rome was growing. Following centuries of internal rebellions and disturbances, the whole of the Italian penisula was tightly secured under Roman hands. All enemies, such as the Latin league or the Samnites, had been overcome, and the invasion of Pyrrhus of Epirus was repelled.
Romans had an enormous confidence in their political system and military. Across the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Strait of Sicilly, Carthage was already an established naval and commercial power, controlling most of the Mediterranean maritime trade routes. Originally a Phoenician colony, the city had become the center of a wide commercial empire reaching along the North African coast to as far as Iberia.
In 288 BC, the Mamertines, a group of Italian mercanaries, occupied the city of Messina in the northeastern tip of Sicily, killing all the men and taking the women as their wives. From this base, they ravaged the countryside and became a problem for the independent city of Syracuse. When Hiero II, tyrant of Syracuse, came to power in 265 BC, he decided to take definitive action against the Mamertines and sieged Messina.
Most likely unwilling to see the Carthaginian power spread further over Sicily and get too close to Italy, Rome responded by entering into an alliance with the Mamertines.
In 264 BC, Roman troops were deployed to Sicily and forced a reluctant Syracuse to join their alliance. Soon enough the only parties in the dispute were Rome and Carthage and the conflict evolved into a struggle for the possession of Sicily.
Sicily was a hilly island, with geographical obstacles and a terrain where lines of communication are difficult to maintain, land warfare played a secondary role in the First Punic War. Land operations were mostly confined to small scale raids and skirmishes between the armies, with hardly any pitched battle. Sieges and land blockades were the most common operations for the regular army. The main targets of blockading were the important naval ports, since neither of the belligerent parties were based in Sicily and both needed a continuous supply of reinforcements and communication with the mainland.
Despite these general considerations, at least two large scale land campaigns were fought during the First Punic War. In 262 BC, Rome besieged the city of Agrigentum, an operation that involved both armies, a total of 4 Roman legions, and took several months to resolve. The garrison or Agrigentum managed to call for reinforcements and a Carthaginian relief force commanded by Hanno came to the rescue. With supplies from Syracuse cut, the Romans found themselves sieged. After a few skirmishes, the battle of Agrigentum was fought and won by Rome, and the city fell. Inspired by this victory, Rome attempted another large scale land operation, this time with different results.
Following several naval battles, Rome was aiming for a quick end to the war and decided to invade the Carthaginian colonies of Africa, to force the ememy to accept terms. A major fleet was built, both of transports for the army and its equipment and warships for protection. Carthage tried to intevene but was defeated in the battle of Cape Ecnomus.
As a result, the Roman army commanded by Marcus Atilius Regulus landed in Africa and started to ravage the Carthaginian countryside. At first Regulus was victorious, winning the battle of Adys and forcing the Carthage to sue for peace. The terms were so heavy that negotiations failed and, in responce, the Carthaginians hired Xanthippus, a Spartan mercenary, to reorganize the army. Xanthippus managed to cut off the Roman army from its base by re-establishing Carthiginian naval supremacy, then defeated and captured Regulus at the battle of Tunis.
Toward the end of the conflict, Carthage sent general Hamilcar Barca to Sicily. Hamilcar managed to gain control of most of inland Sicily; in desparation, the Romans appointed a dictator to resolve the situation. Nevertheless, Carthaginian success in Sicily in Sicily was secondary to the progress of the war at sea; Hamilcar remaining undefeated in Sicily became irrelevant following the Roman naval victory at the battle of the Aegates in 241 BC.
Rome won the first Punic War after 23 years of conflict and in the end replaced Carthage as the dominant naval power of the mediterranean. In the aftermath of the war, both states were financially and demographically exhausted. To determine the final borders of their territories, they drew what they considered a straight line across the mediterrean. Hispania, Corsica, Sardinia and Africa remained Carthaginian. All that was north of that line was signed over to Rome. Rome's victory was greatly influenced by its persistent refusal to admit defeat and by accepting only total victory. Moreover, the Repulic's ability to attract private investments in the war effort by playing on their citizens' patriotism to fund shipps and crews, was one of the deciding factors of the war, particularly when contrasted with the Carthaginian nobility's apparent unwillingness to risk their fortunes for the common good. The end of the First Punic War also resulted in the official birth of Roman navy, further enticing the expansion of the Roman Empire.
The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and the Phoenician city of Carthage. They are known as the "Punic" wars because Rome's name for Carthaginians was Punici.
The cause of the war was the clash of interests between the expanding Carthaginian and Roman influences. The Romans were very interested in expansion through Sicily, most of which was under Carthaginian control. At the start of the first Punic War, Carthage was the ascendant power of the Mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire, while Rome was rapidly rising in prominence as the most dominant power in Italy. By the conslusion of the third war, Rome had conquered Carthage's entire empire, becoming the most powerful state in the Mediterranean.
The First Punic War
The First Punic War was fought between Rome and Carthage from 264BC to 241 BC. It was the first of 3 major wars between the two powers for supremacy in the Mediterranean. After 23 years of fighting, Rome emerged the victor and imposed heavy conditions upon Carthage as the price for peace.
In the middle of the 3rd century BC, the power of Rome was growing. Following centuries of internal rebellions and disturbances, the whole of the Italian penisula was tightly secured under Roman hands. All enemies, such as the Latin league or the Samnites, had been overcome, and the invasion of Pyrrhus of Epirus was repelled.
Romans had an enormous confidence in their political system and military. Across the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Strait of Sicilly, Carthage was already an established naval and commercial power, controlling most of the Mediterranean maritime trade routes. Originally a Phoenician colony, the city had become the center of a wide commercial empire reaching along the North African coast to as far as Iberia.
In 288 BC, the Mamertines, a group of Italian mercanaries, occupied the city of Messina in the northeastern tip of Sicily, killing all the men and taking the women as their wives. From this base, they ravaged the countryside and became a problem for the independent city of Syracuse. When Hiero II, tyrant of Syracuse, came to power in 265 BC, he decided to take definitive action against the Mamertines and sieged Messina.
Most likely unwilling to see the Carthaginian power spread further over Sicily and get too close to Italy, Rome responded by entering into an alliance with the Mamertines.
In 264 BC, Roman troops were deployed to Sicily and forced a reluctant Syracuse to join their alliance. Soon enough the only parties in the dispute were Rome and Carthage and the conflict evolved into a struggle for the possession of Sicily.
Sicily was a hilly island, with geographical obstacles and a terrain where lines of communication are difficult to maintain, land warfare played a secondary role in the First Punic War. Land operations were mostly confined to small scale raids and skirmishes between the armies, with hardly any pitched battle. Sieges and land blockades were the most common operations for the regular army. The main targets of blockading were the important naval ports, since neither of the belligerent parties were based in Sicily and both needed a continuous supply of reinforcements and communication with the mainland.
Despite these general considerations, at least two large scale land campaigns were fought during the First Punic War. In 262 BC, Rome besieged the city of Agrigentum, an operation that involved both armies, a total of 4 Roman legions, and took several months to resolve. The garrison or Agrigentum managed to call for reinforcements and a Carthaginian relief force commanded by Hanno came to the rescue. With supplies from Syracuse cut, the Romans found themselves sieged. After a few skirmishes, the battle of Agrigentum was fought and won by Rome, and the city fell. Inspired by this victory, Rome attempted another large scale land operation, this time with different results.
Following several naval battles, Rome was aiming for a quick end to the war and decided to invade the Carthaginian colonies of Africa, to force the ememy to accept terms. A major fleet was built, both of transports for the army and its equipment and warships for protection. Carthage tried to intevene but was defeated in the battle of Cape Ecnomus.
As a result, the Roman army commanded by Marcus Atilius Regulus landed in Africa and started to ravage the Carthaginian countryside. At first Regulus was victorious, winning the battle of Adys and forcing the Carthage to sue for peace. The terms were so heavy that negotiations failed and, in responce, the Carthaginians hired Xanthippus, a Spartan mercenary, to reorganize the army. Xanthippus managed to cut off the Roman army from its base by re-establishing Carthiginian naval supremacy, then defeated and captured Regulus at the battle of Tunis.
Toward the end of the conflict, Carthage sent general Hamilcar Barca to Sicily. Hamilcar managed to gain control of most of inland Sicily; in desparation, the Romans appointed a dictator to resolve the situation. Nevertheless, Carthaginian success in Sicily in Sicily was secondary to the progress of the war at sea; Hamilcar remaining undefeated in Sicily became irrelevant following the Roman naval victory at the battle of the Aegates in 241 BC.
Rome won the first Punic War after 23 years of conflict and in the end replaced Carthage as the dominant naval power of the mediterranean. In the aftermath of the war, both states were financially and demographically exhausted. To determine the final borders of their territories, they drew what they considered a straight line across the mediterrean. Hispania, Corsica, Sardinia and Africa remained Carthaginian. All that was north of that line was signed over to Rome. Rome's victory was greatly influenced by its persistent refusal to admit defeat and by accepting only total victory. Moreover, the Repulic's ability to attract private investments in the war effort by playing on their citizens' patriotism to fund shipps and crews, was one of the deciding factors of the war, particularly when contrasted with the Carthaginian nobility's apparent unwillingness to risk their fortunes for the common good. The end of the First Punic War also resulted in the official birth of Roman navy, further enticing the expansion of the Roman Empire.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)