Samuel Rich is from the United States. Samuel was born in Chicago. Samuel is an alumni of Northeastern University. Samuel was born on January 28, 1964. Samuel receives email at sr71@gmail.com. Samuel is a translator. Samuel has the unique identifier 30d05017e27c49aa95cce8d0fb5e17bc.<|endoftext|> So you could be lured to allow it slip if some guy does not see their kids often вЂњbecause their ex is crazyвЂќ or he вЂњwasnвЂ™t ready to become a dad.вЂќ But donвЂ™t.

вЂњThe fault game antics are lame cover-ups,вЂќ says Klungness. вЂњHis choice to abandon their kids вЂ” emotionally or financially вЂ” ought to be an instantaneous deal breaker.вЂќ You donвЂ™t want his luggage in your lifetime.

4. Party Animal

Yep, solitary mothers have any right to allow their locks down and also a time that is good. But having a hangover and looking after an infant donвЂ™t mix. In case the guy believes the ideal date is all-night clubbing with bottle service, heвЂ™s maybe perhaps not likely to be up for diaper changing at 5 a.m. Adequate stated.

5. Home Turfer

In the beginning, you unconsciously like escaping your globe to hold away in their. (the child has been grandma and youвЂ™re getting some slack through the single mommy routine!) However, if heвЂ™s constantly refusing to come quickly to your throat of this woods, thatвЂ™s a sign somethingвЂ™s maybe perhaps not quite right.

вЂњIf taking the time to obtain together into you and is likely seeing other women,вЂќ warns Klungness with you on your turf doesnвЂ™t interest him, then heвЂ™s just not that.

6. Insta-Dad

Your one-date-wonder desires to satisfy your kid currently? This can be his embarrassing method of permitting you to understand that heвЂ™s fine along with your mom that is single status. But donвЂ™t feel force to make this meeting. вЂњMake it clear it is 100 % your call whenever or _if _your kid satisfies him,вЂќ says Klungness. Him loose!вЂњIf he has a problem with that, cutвЂќ

7. Mr. ADD

You donвЂ™t want to deal with someone whoвЂ™s constantly making lame jokes with the waitress, or who canвЂ™t take his eyes off the basketball game on TV or the pretty woman at the bar when you go out on a date. Find somebody who has a more impressive attention period than your son or daughter does. вЂњYour two year-old will mature and develop out from the quick attention phase,вЂќ claims Klungness. вЂњThis is _not _just a stage because of this man. HeвЂ™s telling you, clear and loud, that youвЂ™re scarcely on their radar.вЂќ

8. Problems Guy

HeвЂ™s wonвЂ™t and depressed see a medical expert. He downs three Manhattans ahead of the appetizers arrive. You discovered a container of painkillers in the medicine cabinet, but heвЂ™s not hurt and it hasnвЂ™t been any time recently. HeвЂ™s asked you for cash. The main reason to not ever date somebody with severe dilemmas is you wonвЂ™t wish him around your son or daughter. One other explanation is the fact that their issue _will _get into the real means of their relationship with you. You canвЂ™t fix him, therefore, want him well and hightail it, mama.

9. Over-the-Top MamaвЂ™s kid

If he falls everything to improve a bulb at their momвЂ™s house and takes her telephone calls whenever youвЂ™re during intercourse together (ew), there might be a reason that is good. вЂњIs she in illness? Recently widowed? Emotionally unstable?вЂќ asks Klungness. вЂњRemember, guys that treat their mothers well usually are keepers.вЂќ But if thereвЂ™s no good explanation for him become mounted on MomвЂ™s apron strings, you really need to most likely reconsider the partnership because youвЂ™re perhaps not their primary squeeze. Their mother is.

10. Your Neighbor

HeвЂ™s hot, solitary, good to your kid and offered you a crisis cup milk when. ItвЂ™s tempting and apparently simple to, well, have it on aided by the man across the street вЂ” but donвЂ™t do so if youвЂ™re maybe not dedicated to him. If it comes to an end defectively, heвЂ™ll nevertheless be your neighbor, which means that heвЂ™ll be in your lifetime. Along with your kidвЂ™s. Your youngster wonвЂ™t understand just why it is suddenly strange for him to play catch aided by the neighbor or why you hide when the thing is their brand new girlfriend pull in to the driveway.

Christine Coppais just one, dating mother. Recently, a guy that is sweet her kid an ice cream and invested ashley madison reviews the afternoon during the park together with them. SheвЂ™s hopeful.<|endoftext|>Turn off iOS 7 vibration while your iPhone is in silent mode

Disable vibration in iOS 7 silent mode

Here's how you can turn off vibration while your iPhone is set to silent mode. This can help avoid having your iPhone vibrate at inappropriate times.

1. Go to Settings.

2. Go to Sounds.

3. Set the "Vibrate On Silent" setting to the off position.

More at Cult of Mac

Additional resources for iOS 7

iOS 7 at Apple

Apple iPhone Support Forum

Apple Support
<|endoftext|>Friday, August 30, 2019

Blogtour: The Witchstone Amulet by Mason Thomas

Please welcome Mason Thomas with

The Witchstone Amulet

Protect it at all costs.

Get the book:

Tackling the Question of Show Vs Tell
The first advice writers are given from very early on is “show, don’t tell.” This means, instead of stating what the reader needs to know, or what is occurring, you instead pull the reader into the scene in a way that they experience it for themselves. Easy enough to trumpet from rooftops, but its execution tends to be a tad more elusive. It is a technique that requires intention and ongoing practice.
New writers have often asked what the difference between the two really is. And is it as important a rule as people make it out to be? As in all things regarding art, rules exist to guide the artist, yet there are occasions when you can break those rules. The “show don’t tell” rule is no exception. But it has become a cliché for a reason. It makes for better writing.
Can you get away with just telling sometimes? Yes. In my view, sometimes telling is more appropriate. The important distinction however is to know when it’s better to tell. And to do that, you have to deeply grasp the greater significance of showing.
Admittedly, “showing” requires more effort, and it takes up considerably more real estate on the page. Telling might be a single sentence on the page. And it can do the job just fine if the circumstances are right. For example, if the information that is being conveyed is important but doesn’t have any emotional depth, then telling is perfectly fine. If the information needs to get out quickly so it doesn’t slow down furious pace of the action scene, tell away!
But if you want your readers to feel it more than know it, then the obvious solution is to show them what is happening.
Character development is one of the areas you need to lean heavily on showing. Simply announcing a character’s traits doesn’t have the necessary depth or impact to draw them in. You have to show the reader who they are. When asked to provide an example of this, I tend to draw from a real-life example—something that occurred in my family’s past.
My grandfather died when I was still rather young. He had lived a long life and died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 88. He had many children, and a ridiculous number of grandchildren. I was a mere ten years old when he passed, and I can honestly say that I didn’t know him all that well. He was a kindly old man that lived far away from me. I interacted with him once a year when the we went to the family reunion. I remember him being soft spoken and gentle, but that was about all I knew about him.
The irony however is I feel like I knew him better years after he died than

 So you could be lured to allow it slip if some guy does not see their kids often вЂњbecause their ex is crazyвЂќ or he вЂњwasnвЂ™t ready to become a dad.вЂќ But donвЂ™t.

вЂњThe fault game antics are lame cover-ups,вЂќ says Klungness. вЂњHis choice to abandon their kids вЂ” emotionally or financially вЂ” ought to be an instantaneous deal breaker.вЂќ You donвЂ™t want his luggage in your lifetime.

4. Party Animal

Yep, solitary mothers have any right to allow their locks down and also a time that is good. But having a hangover and looking after an infant donвЂ™t mix. In case the guy believes the ideal date is all-night clubbing with bottle service, heвЂ™s maybe perhaps not likely to be up for diaper changing at 5 a.m. Adequate stated.

5. Home Turfer

In the beginning, you unconsciously like escaping your globe to hold away in their. (the child has been grandma and youвЂ™re getting some slack through the single mommy routine!) However, if heвЂ™s constantly refusing to come quickly to your throat of this woods, thatвЂ™s a sign somethingвЂ™s maybe perhaps not quite right.

вЂњIf taking the time to obtain together into you and is likely seeing other women,вЂќ warns Klungness with you on your turf doesnвЂ™t interest him, then heвЂ™s just not that.

6. Insta-Dad

Your one-date-wonder desires to satisfy your kid currently? This can be his embarrassing method of permitting you to understand that heвЂ™s fine along with your mom that is single status. But donвЂ™t feel force to make this meeting. вЂњMake it clear it is 100 % your call whenever or _if _your kid satisfies him,вЂќ says Klungness. Him loose!вЂњIf he has a problem with that, cutвЂќ

7. Mr. ADD

You donвЂ™t want to deal with someone whoвЂ™s constantly making lame jokes with the waitress, or who canвЂ™t take his eyes off the basketball game on TV or the pretty woman at the bar when you go out on a date. Find somebody who has a more impressive attention period than your son or daughter does. вЂњYour two year-old will mature and develop out from the quick attention phase,вЂќ claims Klungness. вЂњThis is _not _just a stage because of this man. HeвЂ™s telling you, clear and loud, that youвЂ™re scarcely on their radar.вЂќ

8. Problems Guy

HeвЂ™s wonвЂ™t and depressed see a medical expert. He downs three Manhattans ahead of the appetizers arrive. You discovered a container of painkillers in the medicine cabinet, but heвЂ™s not hurt and it hasnвЂ™t been any time recently. HeвЂ™s asked you for cash. The main reason to not ever date somebody with severe dilemmas is you wonвЂ™t wish him around your son or daughter. One other explanation is the fact that their issue _will _get into the real means of their relationship with you. You canвЂ™t fix him, therefore, want him well and hightail it, mama.

9. Over-the-Top MamaвЂ™s kid

If he falls everything to improve a bulb at their momвЂ™s house and takes her telephone calls whenever youвЂ™re during intercourse together (ew), there might be a reason that is good. вЂњIs she in illness? Recently widowed? Emotionally unstable?вЂќ asks Klungness. вЂњRemember, guys that treat their mothers well usually are keepers.вЂќ But if thereвЂ™s no good explanation for him become mounted on MomвЂ™s apron strings, you really need to most likely reconsider the partnership because youвЂ™re perhaps not their primary squeeze. Their mother is.

10. Your Neighbor

HeвЂ™s hot, solitary, good to your kid and offered you a crisis cup milk when. ItвЂ™s tempting and apparently simple to, well, have it on aided by the man across the street вЂ” but donвЂ™t do so if youвЂ™re maybe not dedicated to him. If it comes to an end defectively, heвЂ™ll nevertheless be your neighbor, which means that heвЂ™ll be in your lifetime. Along with your kidвЂ™s. Your youngster wonвЂ™t understand just why it is suddenly strange for him to play catch aided by the neighbor or why you hide when the thing is their brand new girlfriend pull in to the driveway.

Christine Coppais just one, dating mother. Recently, a guy that is sweet her kid an ice cream and invested ashley madison reviews the afternoon during the park together with them. SheвЂ™s hopeful.<|endoftext|>Turn off iOS 7 vibration while your iPhone is in silent mode

Disable vibration in iOS 7 silent mode

Here's how you can turn off vibration while your iPhone is set to silent mode. This can help avoid having your iPhone vibrate at inappropriate times.

1. Go to Settings.

2. Go to Sounds.

3. Set the "Vibrate On Silent" setting to the off position.

More at Cult of Mac

Additional resources for iOS 7

iOS 7 at Apple

Apple iPhone Support Forum

Apple Support
<|endoftext|>Friday, August 30, 2019

Blogtour: The Witchstone Amulet by Mason Thomas

Please welcome Mason Thomas with

The Witchstone Amulet

Protect it at all costs.

Get the book:

Tackling the Question of Show Vs Tell
The first advice writers are given from very early on is “show, don’t tell.” This means, instead of stating what the reader needs to know, or what is occurring, you instead pull the reader into the scene in a way that they experience it for themselves. Easy enough to trumpet from rooftops, but its execution tends to be a tad more elusive. It is a technique that requires intention and ongoing practice.
New writers have often asked what the difference between the two really is. And is it as important a rule as people make it out to be? As in all things regarding art, rules exist to guide the artist, yet there are occasions when you can break those rules. The “show don’t tell” rule is no exception. But it has become a cliché for a reason. It makes for better writing.
Can you get away with just telling sometimes? Yes. In my view, sometimes telling is more appropriate. The important distinction however is to know when it’s better to tell. And to do that, you have to deeply grasp the greater significance of showing.
Admittedly, “showing” requires more effort, and it takes up considerably more real estate on the page. Telling might be a single sentence on the page. And it can do the job just fine if the circumstances are right. For example, if the information that is being conveyed is important but doesn’t have any emotional depth, then telling is perfectly fine. If the information needs to get out quickly so it doesn’t slow down furious pace of the action scene, tell away!
But if you want your readers to feel it more than know it, then the obvious solution is to show them what is happening.
Character development is one of the areas you need to lean heavily on showing. Simply announcing a character’s traits doesn’t have the necessary depth or impact to draw them in. You have to show the reader who they are. When asked to provide an example of this, I tend to draw from a real-life example—something that occurred in my family’s past.
My grandfather died when I was still rather young. He had lived a long life and died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 88. He had many children, and a ridiculous number of grandchildren. I was a mere ten years old when he passed, and I can honestly say that I didn’t know him all that well. He was a kindly old man that lived far away from me. I interacted with him once a year when the we went to the family reunion. I remember him being soft spoken and gentle, but that was about all I knew about him.
The irony however is I feel like I knew him better years after he died than when he was alive.
My grandfather was a farmer, and his farm—still in existence today—is in northern Michigan about thirty minutes from Traverse City. At the time, he grew potatoes mainly, but other crops as well, and he would sell his products in Traverse City. When he was in his mid to late twenties, an unthinkable tragedy


David Mace is from the United States. David was born in San Juan Capistrano , California. David is an alumni of Cornell University. David was born on September 18, 1984. David receives email at mace@gmail.com. David is an artist. David has the unique identifier 6ffcf6b4a21543dba10dc9a17e59f27c.<|endoftext|> went in farther than waist deep, must have felt comfortable. He did not realize that the millrace was full, and the depth of the water quickly rose to about seven or eight feet, overwhelming the unfortunate man, who quickly drowned. The first person to dive into the water after him almost drowned as well, and it was at least three hours before his fellow slaves recovered James's body.

In 1798 thirty slaves at Mount Vernon, presumably adults, divided into two groups and played a team sport that Niemcewicz, the Polish visitor, described as "prisoner's base," which involved "jumps and gambols as if they had rested all week." Prisoner's base was a traditional English game, dating back to the Middle Ages, which is depicted in contemporary prints and was the subject of at least one song. In the eighteenth century, both children and adults of all classes played it outdoors. It appears to have been a highly athletic, team version of the modern game known as Tag.

George Washington occasionally gave his slaves leave to attend special sporting events. In the fall of 1786, for example, he permitted them to go into Alexandria to attend the horse races, stipulating that so long as responsible individuals remained on each of his farms, the others were free to stagger their attendance over the several-day event. Washington was not the only plantation owner to allow such privileges; slaves belonging to his longtime friend, Dr. David Stuart, went to the races in Alexandria in October 1784. The slaves who accompanied the Washingtons to Philadelphia during the presidency received several opportunities to enjoy the entertainments available in the city. In May 1791, Martha Washington gave Christopher Sheets and Hercules each a ticket to a play. Two years later, Mrs. Washington gave her maids, Oney Judge and Molly, a dollar "to see the tumbling feats," and two months later she funded the women's visit to the circus. They must have liked what they saw there, because less than a month later Hercules and another man, Austin, also received money for the same purpose.

The Washingtons occasionally included the slaves at Mount Vernon in family celebrations as participants, rather than as servants. One of the most memorable of such events was the marriage on 22 February 1799 (George's sixty-seventh and last birthday) of Martha Washington's youngest granddaughter, Eleanor Parke "Nelly" Custis, to George Washington's nephew, Lawrence Lewis. In addition to various members of the extended family, a sizable number of slaves also attended. Martha Washington wore a "light flowered satin" dress and "let all the servants come in to see" the wedding, according to a woman known as Mammy. She described the event nearly sixty years later to the bride's niece, Agnes Lee (who called Mammy "the last but two of the Mt. Vernon servants"). The slaves were more than just spectators, however. Mrs. Washington, or "ole Mistis" as Mammy called her, also provided them with "such good things to eat," probably the special delicacies prepared for the wedding. While it is doubtful that the Washingtons would have or even could have invited all of the slaves from the outlying farms, it is conceivable that they would have included in the festivities the approximately ninety slaves on the Mansion House Farm, with whom the Washingtons were not only physically but likely emotionally close.

Less than a year after Nelly's wedding, the death of George Washington had a tremendous effect on the personal lives of virtually every slave at Mount Vernon. He died on 14 December 1799 after a short illness and on 18 December was buried in the family vault following Episcopalian and Masonic funeral rites. Frank Lee, the family's mulatto butler (and brother of William Lee), and two of the other serving men from the mansion, Christopher Sheets and Marcus, were outfitted with new shoes the day after Washington's death, probably to look extra-special while waiting on guests attending the funeral. Two other slaves, Wilson Hardiman and Cyrus, took part in the ceremonies, leading Washington's horse, which carried his saddle, holster, and pistols, in the funeral procession from the mansion to the tomb. After the interment, the family offered something to eat and drink to the large number of unrelated visitors who had taken part in the funeral. Afterward, the family distributed to the slaves "remains of the provisions," according to Tobias Lear, Washington's friend and secretary.

Little is known about the spiritual life of the Mount Vernon slaves. Few plantation owners of the eighteenth century took interest in their slaves' religious activities, and no evidence indicates that George and Martha Washington held daily devotional services for their family and servants. In fact, Oney Judge, Martha Washington's maid, who ran away in 1796 and then converted to Christianity, complained that she "never received the least . . .moral instruction, of any kind, while she remained in Washington's family." However, a few clues hint that the Mount Vernon slave community developed spiritual leaders of its own. One man, Will, at Muddy Hole Farm, perhaps was a minister, for George Washington's 1799 census shows the letters "mint'r" written beside Will's name. An enslaved clergyman was not unknown in Virginia at this period, but since there is no other reference to Will in this role, it is impossible to know for sure. However, Caesar, a slave at Union Farm, had a reputation as a well- known preacher among the local African American population in the last years of the eighteenth century. He often wore black and white clothing, perhaps an indication of his ministerial role.

Washington's slaves probably interacted with white members of nearby Baptist, Methodist, and Quaker congregations. In 1797 the Prince Louis-Philippe of France and his servant, Beaudoin, visited Mount Vernon and talked with a number of the slaves, who said that the three religious groups had raised their hopes for freedom in the not-too-distant future. The Quakers had even approached Washington's slaves at places that Louis-Philippe described as "clubs," possibly meetings of mutual-aid or self-help societies, in Alexandria and Georgetown. Throughout Virginia in the last half of the eighteenth century, Baptists and Methodists actively sought new members from the slave community and, whether through their open acceptance of them into the congregation as equals or through their anti-slavery message, received an enthusiastic response, especially from those slaves who were younger and had been born in America. Therefore the presence of Baptists and Methodists among the Mount Vernon slaves is to be expected.

Several tantalizing hints indicate that religious traditions and influences from Africa had survived at Mount Vernon by the end of the eighteenth century. (Such cultural remnants were not unusual; similar evidence has appeared in Virginia at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, in Maryland, and in South Carolina.) African-born slaves generally continued to practice their native religions after their enslavement and transportation to the Americas, with the traditions surviving longest in areas where the population had a high concentration of Africans. Such artifacts from the site of a slave quarter at Mount Vernon as an owl's leg bone, bearing marks from a knife where someone had cut off the talon, and a raccoon baculum (penis bone), incised along one end, might be amulets. A former Maryland slave recalled in the late 1930s that the "only charms" belonging to slaves on the plantation where he grew up "were made out of bones."

The carving on the bones at Mount Vernon effectively transformed them into ceremonial or decorative objects, which someone could have suspended from a cord around his or her neck. The well-known sexual aggressiveness of male raccoons might have led a slave to see the baculum as a fertility symbol, while the owl's prowess as a nighttime hunter may have caused someone to see its talon as a valuable aid to their own hunting endeavors. Archaeologists suggest that these pieces indicate either cultural borrowing from Native Americans or are New World manifestations of African custom. Whatever the answer, the artifacts certainly suggest the practice of other belief systems beside, or perhaps in conjunction with, Christianity on George Washington's estate. They also lend credence to an undocumented local tradition that the slaves at Dogue Run Farm practiced voodoo or conjuring.

Given the dominant European and Christian culture of the time, it was difficult for African-born slaves to transplant another religion to the Americas completely intact. Using Islam as a cursory example, slaves would have found traditional Friday prayers almost impossible to continue in the New World, with the typical work week in Virginia being Monday through Saturday. Further, given the prominence of pork in slaves' diets, it would have been hard to follow Islamic dietary guidelines; however, the availability of fish, the occasional issue of mutton and beef, and game might have made it possible. Of course, pilgrimage to Mecca was out of the question. Still, other elements of Islamic religious traditions, for example daily prayer and almsgiving, might well have survived the Middle Passage in some form.

The life of Sambo Anderson, the African-born carpenter at Mount Vernon, suggests that some slaves may have based their marriages on a non-European pattern, for it is entirely possible that he had two wives. As of 1799 he was married to Agnes, a thirty-six-year-old woman at River

 went in farther than waist deep, must have felt comfortable. He did not realize that the millrace was full, and the depth of the water quickly rose to about seven or eight feet, overwhelming the unfortunate man, who quickly drowned. The first person to dive into the water after him almost drowned as well, and it was at least three hours before his fellow slaves recovered James's body.

In 1798 thirty slaves at Mount Vernon, presumably adults, divided into two groups and played a team sport that Niemcewicz, the Polish visitor, described as "prisoner's base," which involved "jumps and gambols as if they had rested all week." Prisoner's base was a traditional English game, dating back to the Middle Ages, which is depicted in contemporary prints and was the subject of at least one song. In the eighteenth century, both children and adults of all classes played it outdoors. It appears to have been a highly athletic, team version of the modern game known as Tag.

George Washington occasionally gave his slaves leave to attend special sporting events. In the fall of 1786, for example, he permitted them to go into Alexandria to attend the horse races, stipulating that so long as responsible individuals remained on each of his farms, the others were free to stagger their attendance over the several-day event. Washington was not the only plantation owner to allow such privileges; slaves belonging to his longtime friend, Dr. David Stuart, went to the races in Alexandria in October 1784. The slaves who accompanied the Washingtons to Philadelphia during the presidency received several opportunities to enjoy the entertainments available in the city. In May 1791, Martha Washington gave Christopher Sheets and Hercules each a ticket to a play. Two years later, Mrs. Washington gave her maids, Oney Judge and Molly, a dollar "to see the tumbling feats," and two months later she funded the women's visit to the circus. They must have liked what they saw there, because less than a month later Hercules and another man, Austin, also received money for the same purpose.

The Washingtons occasionally included the slaves at Mount Vernon in family celebrations as participants, rather than as servants. One of the most memorable of such events was the marriage on 22 February 1799 (George's sixty-seventh and last birthday) of Martha Washington's youngest granddaughter, Eleanor Parke "Nelly" Custis, to George Washington's nephew, Lawrence Lewis. In addition to various members of the extended family, a sizable number of slaves also attended. Martha Washington wore a "light flowered satin" dress and "let all the servants come in to see" the wedding, according to a woman known as Mammy. She described the event nearly sixty years later to the bride's niece, Agnes Lee (who called Mammy "the last but two of the Mt. Vernon servants"). The slaves were more than just spectators, however. Mrs. Washington, or "ole Mistis" as Mammy called her, also provided them with "such good things to eat," probably the special delicacies prepared for the wedding. While it is doubtful that the Washingtons would have or even could have invited all of the slaves from the outlying farms, it is conceivable that they would have included in the festivities the approximately ninety slaves on the Mansion House Farm, with whom the Washingtons were not only physically but likely emotionally close.

Less than a year after Nelly's wedding, the death of George Washington had a tremendous effect on the personal lives of virtually every slave at Mount Vernon. He died on 14 December 1799 after a short illness and on 18 December was buried in the family vault following Episcopalian and Masonic funeral rites. Frank Lee, the family's mulatto butler (and brother of William Lee), and two of the other serving men from the mansion, Christopher Sheets and Marcus, were outfitted with new shoes the day after Washington's death, probably to look extra-special while waiting on guests attending the funeral. Two other slaves, Wilson Hardiman and Cyrus, took part in the ceremonies, leading Washington's horse, which carried his saddle, holster, and pistols, in the funeral procession from the mansion to the tomb. After the interment, the family offered something to eat and drink to the large number of unrelated visitors who had taken part in the funeral. Afterward, the family distributed to the slaves "remains of the provisions," according to Tobias Lear, Washington's friend and secretary.

Little is known about the spiritual life of the Mount Vernon slaves. Few plantation owners of the eighteenth century took interest in their slaves' religious activities, and no evidence indicates that George and Martha Washington held daily devotional services for their family and servants. In fact, Oney Judge, Martha Washington's maid, who ran away in 1796 and then converted to Christianity, complained that she "never received the least . . .moral instruction, of any kind, while she remained in Washington's family." However, a few clues hint that the Mount Vernon slave community developed spiritual leaders of its own. One man, Will, at Muddy Hole Farm, perhaps was a minister, for George Washington's 1799 census shows the letters "mint'r" written beside Will's name. An enslaved clergyman was not unknown in Virginia at this period, but since there is no other reference to Will in this role, it is impossible to know for sure. However, Caesar, a slave at Union Farm, had a reputation as a well- known preacher among the local African American population in the last years of the eighteenth century. He often wore black and white clothing, perhaps an indication of his ministerial role.

Washington's slaves probably interacted with white members of nearby Baptist, Methodist, and Quaker congregations. In 1797 the Prince Louis-Philippe of France and his servant, Beaudoin, visited Mount Vernon and talked with a number of the slaves, who said that the three religious groups had raised their hopes for freedom in the not-too-distant future. The Quakers had even approached Washington's slaves at places that Louis-Philippe described as "clubs," possibly meetings of mutual-aid or self-help societies, in Alexandria and Georgetown. Throughout Virginia in the last half of the eighteenth century, Baptists and Methodists actively sought new members from the slave community and, whether through their open acceptance of them into the congregation as equals or through their anti-slavery message, received an enthusiastic response, especially from those slaves who were younger and had been born in America. Therefore the presence of Baptists and Methodists among the Mount Vernon slaves is to be expected.

Several tantalizing hints indicate that religious traditions and influences from Africa had survived at Mount Vernon by the end of the eighteenth century. (Such cultural remnants were not unusual; similar evidence has appeared in Virginia at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, in Maryland, and in South Carolina.) African-born slaves generally continued to practice their native religions after their enslavement and transportation to the Americas, with the traditions surviving longest in areas where the population had a high concentration of Africans. Such artifacts from the site of a slave quarter at Mount Vernon as an owl's leg bone, bearing marks from a knife where someone had cut off the talon, and a raccoon baculum (penis bone), incised along one end, might be amulets. A former Maryland slave recalled in the late 1930s that the "only charms" belonging to slaves on the plantation where he grew up "were made out of bones."

The carving on the bones at Mount Vernon effectively transformed them into ceremonial or decorative objects, which someone could have suspended from a cord around his or her neck. The well-known sexual aggressiveness of male raccoons might have led a slave to see the baculum as a fertility symbol, while the owl's prowess as a nighttime hunter may have caused someone to see its talon as a valuable aid to their own hunting endeavors. Archaeologists suggest that these pieces indicate either cultural borrowing from Native Americans or are New World manifestations of African custom. Whatever the answer, the artifacts certainly suggest the practice of other belief systems beside, or perhaps in conjunction with, Christianity on George Washington's estate. They also lend credence to an undocumented local tradition that the slaves at Dogue Run Farm practiced voodoo or conjuring.

Given the dominant European and Christian culture of the time, it was difficult for African-born slaves to transplant another religion to the Americas completely intact. Using Islam as a cursory example, slaves would have found traditional Friday prayers almost impossible to continue in the New World, with the typical work week in Virginia being Monday through Saturday. Further, given the prominence of pork in slaves' diets, it would have been hard to follow Islamic dietary guidelines; however, the availability of fish, the occasional issue of mutton and beef, and game might have made it possible. Of course, pilgrimage to Mecca was out of the question. Still, other elements of Islamic religious traditions, for example daily prayer and almsgiving, might well have survived the Middle Passage in some form.

The life of Sambo Anderson, the African-born carpenter at Mount Vernon, suggests that some slaves may have based their marriages on a non-European pattern, for it is entirely possible that he had two wives. As of 1799 he was married to Agnes, a thirty-six-year-old woman at River Farm, with whom he had three children, Henky, Cecilia, and Anderson, ranging in age from seventeen to eleven. Also living on River Farm at that time were three other children: Ralph, age nine; Charity, two; and Charles, one. Their mother, Sall, had died not long before. The 1799 census did not, however, name Sall's husband or the


Rick Nicole is from the United States. Rick was born in Queens. Rick is an alumni of London School of Economics. Rick was born on November 18, 1974. Rick receives email at nicoler@gmail.com. Rick is a poet. Rick has the unique identifier dea559c281724ab2a881efa2a232b278.<|endoftext|>

Check if a given string is Palindrome

A Palindrome is defined as a phrase or a number which when reversed also gives the same phrase or number. For example, the word abcdcba is a palindrome because even when you read the string from end to the beginning you'll get the same string as the original. Some real words such as malayalam, madam, refer, reviver, noon, mom and such are all palindromes in general use.

Checking for a palindrome string is similar to how we check for a palindrome number, except that we go with full-length character operations instead of modulo divisions.

        public static bool IsPalindromeString(string input)
            var reverse = new char[input.Length];

            for (int j = 0, i = input.Length - 1; i >= 0; j++, i--)
                reverse[j] = input[i];

                if (input[i] != reverse[i])
                    return false;

            return true;

How it works:

We begin by copying the input string in reverse into another character array, and then examine both the strings character by character for any inequality. If none found, then its a palindrome else its not.

Enter input: abcdcba
abcdcba is Palindrome? : True

Enter input: abcabc
abcabc is Palindrome? : False

Strings Loops •  Added one month ago

Sponsored Links<|endoftext|>Interview with Vanessa Brooks

What is your writing process?
I tend to pick up the thread of an idea and weave myself a story line over a few days before I begin to write a skeleton plot down on paper first. I then fill out my characters with hair color eye color etc. I then write my first chapter so the characters can come to life, before I write in my note book the details of their past, likes dislikes etc.
Yes, I read a Norwegian story about an otter when I was about six years old and that tale captured my imagination so much that I have read books ever since.
How do you approach cover design?
I like my book covers to evoke something of the characters within the story line. My publisher Blushing Books are wonderful with ideas for book covers.
What are your five favorite books, and why?
1 - Sense and sensibility by Jane Austen. I adore Jane Austen's writing but I particularly love this cautionary tale of passion and betrayal that is Marianne's tale balanced against the gentle restraints and deep love that is Elinor's story.
2 - Crosstitch (Outlander) by Diana Gabaldon. This book has it all for me. Adventure, romance, passion and time travel all well researched and beautifully written.
3 - Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. A wonderful historical and atmospheric tale of human behavior.
4 - Past Imperfect by Julian Fellows. I adore Julian Fellows and love Downton Abbey but I so enjoyed this tale by him.
5 - The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. This enthralled me as a child and I still love the story and message it holds today.
What do you read for pleasure?
At the moment I am reading a Karen Rose thriller 'Count To Ten' I love her work and also Nicci French thrillers.
What is your e-reading device of choice?
I have a Kindle but I still love books!
What book marketing techniques have been most effective for you?
I find that a difficult question to answer because authors are generally not told sales figures by their publishers and I wouldn't know how many sales have been made through say Twitter or Facebook.
Describe your desk
It is a large, curved at one end, solid wood pine desk and I love it!
When did you first start writing?
I have always scribbled little stories even as a child. I started writing seriously when my sons left home and I had some free time. I could then get onto the computer with no boys hogging it!
What's the story behind your latest book?
My next book is set in 1967 and is the tale of a young woman, Nicola, who lives and works in London. One fateful day she is told by her mother that her father whom she was told had died, is actually still alive and that she also had a twin sister who has been murdered. Nicola and her twin sister were separated by their parents, each of them taking a daughter for themselves.
Nicola's father wants her to travel back to America with him to impersonate her dead twin and flush out her sisters killer.
How has Smashwords contributed to your success?
I hope that Smashwords has contributed to my success with their excellent reputation!
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
Being lost inside another world and sharing that world with my readers!
What do your fans mean to you?
Without them there would be no point to what I do - so they mean a good deal to me.
I want them to let me know what they like about my tales, especially if they have a theme or an idea they want me to explore in my next book.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
The sunshine and my family, I love life!
When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
I like walking, especially by the sea. My husband and I enjoy antique shops. I love exploring other countries and of course I love to read.
Published 2015-03-19.<|endoftext|>Taken out of Context

Billy - Little Rock, Arkansas
Entered on September 12, 2007
Age Group: 18 - 30

Many years ago we (African Americans) were referred to as “niggers” by white people and till this day we still are. But it’s not only by white people; it’s by black people to. What’s with that? That word is a word that was used to degrade black people but now it has become a word that is used to meet and greet by African Americans. Getting mad at the use of that word by whites is so unnecessary for blacks depending on the context, if we (African Americans) can use it then what’s the big deal about white people using it. Wow, the world is full of hypocrites.

I listen to music everyday and everyday I hear the word “nigger” or the way they use it is “nigga.” Some people think using the “n” word in songs makes them better…or do they? It’s really a mistake because some white people like to listen to rap music just as much as black people and they like to sing along to. They might say the “n” word while doing so, but it’s something wrong with that, Right? But when an African American sings along and says that word its okay. So basically rap music encourages people to use the word “nigger/nigga. Well I believe that we (African Americans) can not get mad when a white person says the “N” word unless taken out of context.

Almost everyday in high school someone would speak to me by saying “what s up nigga,” or “what it do nigga” and at first it would not bother me. But my senior year I took an African American History class and it changed my whole perspective on that word. After being in that class for two days I started asking people not to use that word around me, but I really couldn’t get mad because I have slipped and used the word myself. I would explain to them why I don’t want them using that word and they would be like “whatever dude” or “okay” sarcastically. After everything is all said and done I would also ask them what kind of pleasure they get out of using that word… They can never give me a good explanation; they always say “I don’t know” or “because I want to. And every time I would tell he/she to take Coach Hardiman for African American History and then they would think twice about using the word “nigger/nigga.”

Society has changed the word from nigger to nigga. This word can mean the same as friend, homie, or even pal. I’m not justifying the use of the “N” word by white people but what if that’s the way they want to refer to there friends?

Basically we have let that word become apart of the slang that many people use today. Are we finally saying its okay?<|endoftext|>Interesting Facts

Interesting facts about google

Google’s index of web pages is the largest in the world, comprising of 8 billion web pages. Google searches this immense collection of web pages often in less than half a second.

The infamous “I feel lucky” is nearly never used. However, in trials it was found that removing it would somehow reduce the Google experience. Users wanted it to be kept. It was like a comfort button.

Google’s Orkut is most popular in Brazil and India. It was the brainchild of a Google engineer who was given free reign to run with it.

The first real person that named after “

 key which the bat is flying around with. Then use it to unlock the padlock and onpen the door!
<|endoftext|>

Check if a given string is Palindrome

A Palindrome is defined as a phrase or a number which when reversed also gives the same phrase or number. For example, the word abcdcba is a palindrome because even when you read the string from end to the beginning you'll get the same string as the original. Some real words such as malayalam, madam, refer, reviver, noon, mom and such are all palindromes in general use.

Checking for a palindrome string is similar to how we check for a palindrome number, except that we go with full-length character operations instead of modulo divisions.

        public static bool IsPalindromeString(string input)
            var reverse = new char[input.Length];

            for (int j = 0, i = input.Length - 1; i >= 0; j++, i--)
                reverse[j] = input[i];

                if (input[i] != reverse[i])
                    return false;

            return true;

How it works:

We begin by copying the input string in reverse into another character array, and then examine both the strings character by character for any inequality. If none found, then its a palindrome else its not.

Enter input: abcdcba
abcdcba is Palindrome? : True

Enter input: abcabc
abcabc is Palindrome? : False

Strings Loops •  Added one month ago

Sponsored Links<|endoftext|>Interview with Vanessa Brooks

What is your writing process?
I tend to pick up the thread of an idea and weave myself a story line over a few days before I begin to write a skeleton plot down on paper first. I then fill out my characters with hair color eye color etc. I then write my first chapter so the characters can come to life, before I write in my note book the details of their past, likes dislikes etc.
Yes, I read a Norwegian story about an otter when I was about six years old and that tale captured my imagination so much that I have read books ever since.
How do you approach cover design?
I like my book covers to evoke something of the characters within the story line. My publisher Blushing Books are wonderful with ideas for book covers.
What are your five favorite books, and why?
1 - Sense and sensibility by Jane Austen. I adore Jane Austen's writing but I particularly love this cautionary tale of passion and betrayal that is Marianne's tale balanced against the gentle restraints and deep love that is Elinor's story.
2 - Crosstitch (Outlander) by Diana Gabaldon. This book has it all for me. Adventure, romance, passion and time travel all well researched and beautifully written.
3 - Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. A wonderful historical and atmospheric tale of human behavior.
4 - Past Imperfect by Julian Fellows. I adore Julian Fellows and love Downton Abbey but I so enjoyed this tale by him.
5 - The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. This enthralled me as a child and I still love the story and message it holds today.
What do you read for pleasure?
At the moment I am reading a Karen Rose thriller 'Count To Ten' I love her work and also Nicci French thrillers.
What is your e-reading device of choice?
I have a Kindle but I still love books!
What book marketing techniques have been most effective for you?
I find that a difficult question to answer because authors are generally not told sales figures by their publishers and I wouldn't know how many sales have been made through say Twitter or Facebook.
Describe your desk
It is a large, curved at one end, solid wood pine desk and I love it!
When did you first start writing?
I have always scribbled little stories even as a child. I started writing seriously when my sons left home and I had some free time. I could then get onto the computer with no boys hogging it!
What's the story behind your latest book?
My next book is set in 1967 and is the tale of a young woman, Nicola, who lives and works in London. One fateful day she is told by her mother that her father whom she was told had died, is actually still alive and that she also had a twin sister who has been murdered. Nicola and her twin sister were separated by their parents, each of them taking a daughter for themselves.
Nicola's father wants her to travel back to America with him to impersonate her dead twin and flush out her sisters killer.
How has Smashwords contributed to your success?
I hope that Smashwords has contributed to my success with their excellent reputation!
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
Being lost inside another world and sharing that world with my readers!
What do your fans mean to you?
Without them there would be no point to what I do - so they mean a good deal to me.
I want them to let me know what they like about my tales, especially if they have a theme or an idea they want me to explore in my next book.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
The sunshine and my family, I love life!
When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
I like walking, especially by the sea. My husband and I enjoy antique shops. I love exploring other countries and of course I love to read.
Published 2015-03-19.<|endoftext|>Taken out of Context

Billy - Little Rock, Arkansas
Entered on September 12, 2007
Age Group: 18 - 30

Many years ago we (African Americans) were referred to as “niggers” by white people and till this day we still are. But it’s not only by white people; it’s by black people to. What’s with that? That word is a word that was used to degrade black people but now it has become a word that is used to meet and greet by African Americans. Getting mad at the use of that word by whites is so unnecessary for blacks depending on the context, if we (African Americans) can use it then what’s the big deal about white people using it. Wow, the world is full of hypocrites.

I listen to music everyday and everyday I hear the word “nigger” or the way they use it is “nigga.” Some people think using the “n” word in songs makes them better…or do they? It’s really a mistake because some white people like to listen to rap music just as much as black people and they like to sing along to. They might say the “n” word while doing so, but it’s something wrong with that, Right? But when an African American sings along and says that word its okay. So basically rap music encourages people to use the word “nigger/nigga. Well I believe that we (African Americans) can not get mad when a white person says the “N” word unless taken out of context.

Almost everyday in high school someone would speak to me by saying “what s up nigga,” or “what it do nigga” and at first it would not bother me. But my senior year I took an African American History class and it changed my whole perspective on that word. After being in that class for two days I started asking people not to use that word around me, but I really couldn’t get mad because I have slipped and used the word myself. I would explain to them why I don’t want them using that word and they would be like “whatever dude” or “okay” sarcastically. After everything is all said and done I would also ask them what kind of pleasure they get out of using that word… They can never give me a good explanation; they always say “I don’t know” or “because I want to. And every time I would tell he/she to take Coach Hardiman for African American History and then they would think twice about using the word “nigger/nigga.”

Society has changed the word from nigger to nigga. This word can mean the same as friend, homie, or even pal. I’m not justifying the use of the “N” word by white people but what if that’s the way they want to refer to there friends?

Basically we have let that word become apart of the slang that many people use today. Are we finally saying its okay?<|endoftext|>Interesting Facts

Interesting facts about google

Google’s index of web pages is the largest in the world, comprising of 8 billion web pages. Google searches this immense collection of web pages often in less than half a second.

The infamous “I feel lucky” is nearly never used. However, in trials it was found that removing it would somehow reduce the Google experience. Users wanted it to be kept. It was like a comfort button.

Google’s Orkut is most popular in Brazil and India. It was the brainchild of a Google engineer who was given free reign to run with it.

The first real person that named after “Google” is a Lebanese with full name of Oliver Google Kai. He is now three years old and owns a website, which is probably run by his father Walid Elias Kai, a vertical search marketing consultant.

Google products appear in


Aaron D. Lanker is from the United States. Aaron was born in Manhattan. Aaron is an alumni of University of Arizona. Aaron was born on December 25, 1969. Aaron receives email at aaron_lanker@gmail.com. Aaron is an association football player. Aaron has the unique identifier 62e891700f0f4f2cb7cd1a350428ff4a.<|endoftext|>The Australian)

It was fascinating to watch this story spread around the globe, even returning to the Times of India which repeated its own story with a brand new headline:

Revealed: Truth behind near death experience

Given all this coverage, we could be forgiven for believing that an actual explanation has indeed been found. As a scientist, however, I decided to do something which none of the above writers had apparently bothered to do … and read the actual study. It turns out that the reality is nowhere close to what the headline-writers imagine.

20.04.10: The LiveScience website has belatedly jumped on the bandwagon with a bizarre twist in its headline: ‘Near death experiences linked to oxygen deprivation‘. The study found no such link. Ironically, this take on the story comes from LiveScience‘s ‘Bad Science’ columnist.

The case for carbon dioxide: Slovenian study

Sceptical doctors and scientists have long sought in vain for a rational (non-mystical) explanation for near-death experiences (NDEs). A standard medical-scientific explanation for NDEs would be that they are meaningless hallucinations triggered by the physical condition of the dying brain, then misconstrued by lay folk (non-doctors, non-scientists) as having religious significance.

To date no evidence for such an explanation has ever been found. For while the NDEs themselves are impressively consistent, the physical, psychological and cultural circumstances of those experiencing them vary greatly and show no consistent pattern.

This week, however, Critical Care, a peer-reviewed open-access journal, published a report by a team of researchers in Slovenia which seemed to hold the answer. Their paper is entitled

Near-death experiences (NDEs) are reported by 11-23% of cardiac arrest survivors whose hearts have stopped for significant intervals. We only know of the existence of such experiences because, increasingly, modern resuscitation techniques are able to bring some heart attack victims back to life.

Zalika Klemenc-Ketiš, MD, and her colleagues at the University of Maribor, contacted 52 hospital patients in Slovenia and asked them to complete a questionnaire about their experiences. All of them were cardiac arrest survivors who had been successfully resuscitated outside of hospital and then admitted to an intensive care unit during the period from January 2008 to June 2009.

The 16-item questionnaire asked the patients about any mental, emotional, paranormal, and transcendental experiences which they could remember. A total score of 7 or more qualified as a near-death experience. Those patients who scored 7 or more were assigned to the NDE group, others were assigned to the non-NDE group.

After questionnaires were completed, the NDE group consisted of 11 patients (21%) — 10 male, 1 female — with an average NDE score of 11.5. The non-NDE group consisted of 41 patients (79%) with an average NDE score of 0.9.

The patients also provided information on their demographics, education level, religious belief, fear of death, and any previous near-death experiences. In line with earlier studies, the researchers found no correlation between near-death experiences and any of the patient characteristics.

Interestingly, of the NDE group, 3 were Catholics and 1 was Muslim, but the remaining 7 were all atheists. So much for religious wishful-thinking.

The researchers compared all of the above with clinical and lab data on the patients which had been obtained within five minutes of their emergency admission to hospital. These included blood serum levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide (CO2), sodium and potassium.

After analysing the data, there was found to be a significant correlation between NDEs and two measures of CO2: the serum partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) and the partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide (petCO2). In other words, those patients in the NDE group tended to have, on average, significantly higher carbon dioxide levels in the blood than the other patients. “We can conclude,” says the report, “that CO2 might be one of the major factors for provoking NDEs.”

Graph showing serum CO2 pressure levels for the NDE and non-NDE groups.

So that’s the finding. And if this finding were to prove valid and reliable, it could be the first time that any physical factor has been definitely associated with NDEs. But that’s actually a very big IF. Because as yet, we have no idea how reliable this finding is.

For one thing, the sample size of this study was pretty small. There were only 11 in the NDE group. So the finding will need to be repeated at least once, preferably using much larger samples, before it can be considered to be reliable. A single result from a small sample can never count as proof of anything.

For another thing, the results contradict those of earlier NDE studies.

In an email to MedPage Today, Bruce Greyson, MD, a psychiatry professor and NDE researcher based at the University of Virginia (and also the creator of the original 16-item questionnaire adopted for this study), referred to previous studies looking at blood CO2 levels in relation to NDEs. In contrast to the Slovenian findings, one earlier study found an association between NDEs and below-average carbon dioxide levels, whereas another failed to detect any significant difference in patients with versus without near-death experiences.

All of which simply highlights the lack of any reliable association in the evidence to date. If CO2 were the cause of NDEs, why did it not show up in all the previous studies?

Greyson has also criticised the team’s conclusion that CO2 plays a role in “provoking” near-death experiences, pointing out that correlation does not prove causality. (Shame on them for such a schoolboy error.) According to Greyson, high blood CO2 levels are associated with better cardiac output and coronary artery perfusion pressure, which, in turn, would help stave off the amnesia that often occurs in cardiac arrest. “Thus,” says Greyson, “the association between NDEs and higher carbon dioxide levels may indicate simply that patients who are able to recall more of their cardiac arrest also report more NDEs.”

In other words, a high level of carbon dioxide could simply enhance the memory of having had an NDE, rather than “provoke” an NDE in the first place.

And even if it were eventually established that there is a consistent association between raised CO2 and NDEs — this is still far from providing an explanation. The researchers themselves admit that the hallucinatory experiences that are typically induced by physiological factors such as CO2 tend to be fragmented, random and confusing — unlike NDEs which are clear, highly structured, deeply meaningful and easily recalled.

And finally, I would also make the following observation. The NDEs of these patients all occurred before hospital admission — either before or after an ambulance had been called. The blood CO2 measures, in contrast, were taken some time later, during or shortly after hospital admission — by which time the patient had already been resuscitated and their NDE was, presumably, over.

So what is the blood CO2 measure in this study actually telling us? That there could be a pattern of raised CO2 some time after having had an NDE.

On the strength of this study we could just as legitimately (and just as unreliably) conclude that having an NDE causes a subsequent increase in the level of CO2 in the blood, rather than the other way around!

Bad news for patients

It is possible that CO2 plays a role in NDEs, or in the memory of NDEs, or in the recovery from NDEs, or that it plays no role at all if this result was simply a glitch from a small sample. It is far too early to say on the basis of such flimsy evidence.

But, rather typically, a number of headline-writers have made the leap from tentative correlation to proven causation, announcing that NDEs have now been explained.

The experiences which near-death survivors report — which include floating out of their bodies, moving toward a bright mystical light, meeting the spirits of deceased friends and relatives, and feeling extreme joy and peace beyond anything known on Earth — are often described as the most joyful and most meaningful experiences of their entire lives. For many, they are conclusive proof of the existence of eternal life and a spiritual basis to reality.

The bad thing about all this misreporting is that for the next few months or even years, anyone who has a near death experience will be told by their family, friends and medical staff alike, “Oh, it was nothing but a trick of the mind caused by carbon dioxide. It’s been proven, you know. It was all over the news.”

Klemenc-Ketis, Z., Kersnik, J. & Grmec, S. (2010). The effect of carbon dioxide on near-death experiences in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors: a prospective observational study. Critical Care, 14(R56). doi:10.1186/cc89doi:10.1186

The Australian)

It was fascinating to watch this story spread around the globe, even returning to the Times of India which repeated its own story with a brand new headline:

Revealed: Truth behind near death experience

Given all this coverage, we could be forgiven for believing that an actual explanation has indeed been found. As a scientist, however, I decided to do something which none of the above writers had apparently bothered to do … and read the actual study. It turns out that the reality is nowhere close to what the headline-writers imagine.

20.04.10: The LiveScience website has belatedly jumped on the bandwagon with a bizarre twist in its headline: ‘Near death experiences linked to oxygen deprivation‘. The study found no such link. Ironically, this take on the story comes from LiveScience‘s ‘Bad Science’ columnist.

The case for carbon dioxide: Slovenian study

Sceptical doctors and scientists have long sought in vain for a rational (non-mystical) explanation for near-death experiences (NDEs). A standard medical-scientific explanation for NDEs would be that they are meaningless hallucinations triggered by the physical condition of the dying brain, then misconstrued by lay folk (non-doctors, non-scientists) as having religious significance.

To date no evidence for such an explanation has ever been found. For while the NDEs themselves are impressively consistent, the physical, psychological and cultural circumstances of those experiencing them vary greatly and show no consistent pattern.

This week, however, Critical Care, a peer-reviewed open-access journal, published a report by a team of researchers in Slovenia which seemed to hold the answer. Their paper is entitled

Near-death experiences (NDEs) are reported by 11-23% of cardiac arrest survivors whose hearts have stopped for significant intervals. We only know of the existence of such experiences because, increasingly, modern resuscitation techniques are able to bring some heart attack victims back to life.

Zalika Klemenc-Ketiš, MD, and her colleagues at the University of Maribor, contacted 52 hospital patients in Slovenia and asked them to complete a questionnaire about their experiences. All of them were cardiac arrest survivors who had been successfully resuscitated outside of hospital and then admitted to an intensive care unit during the period from January 2008 to June 2009.

The 16-item questionnaire asked the patients about any mental, emotional, paranormal, and transcendental experiences which they could remember. A total score of 7 or more qualified as a near-death experience. Those patients who scored 7 or more were assigned to the NDE group, others were assigned to the non-NDE group.

After questionnaires were completed, the NDE group consisted of 11 patients (21%) — 10 male, 1 female — with an average NDE score of 11.5. The non-NDE group consisted of 41 patients (79%) with an average NDE score of 0.9.

The patients also provided information on their demographics, education level, religious belief, fear of death, and any previous near-death experiences. In line with earlier studies, the researchers found no correlation between near-death experiences and any of the patient characteristics.

Interestingly, of the NDE group, 3 were Catholics and 1 was Muslim, but the remaining 7 were all atheists. So much for religious wishful-thinking.

The researchers compared all of the above with clinical and lab data on the patients which had been obtained within five minutes of their emergency admission to hospital. These included blood serum levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide (CO2), sodium and potassium.

After analysing the data, there was found to be a significant correlation between NDEs and two measures of CO2: the serum partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) and the partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide (petCO2). In other words, those patients in the NDE group tended to have, on average, significantly higher carbon dioxide levels in the blood than the other patients. “We can conclude,” says the report, “that CO2 might be one of the major factors for provoking NDEs.”

Graph showing serum CO2 pressure levels for the NDE and non-NDE groups.

So that’s the finding. And if this finding were to prove valid and reliable, it could be the first time that any physical factor has been definitely associated with NDEs. But that’s actually a very big IF. Because as yet, we have no idea how reliable this finding is.

For one thing, the sample size of this study was pretty small. There were only 11 in the NDE group. So the finding will need to be repeated at least once, preferably using much larger samples, before it can be considered to be reliable. A single result from a small sample can never count as proof of anything.

For another thing, the results contradict those of earlier NDE studies.

In an email to MedPage Today, Bruce Greyson, MD, a psychiatry professor and NDE researcher based at the University of Virginia (and also the creator of the original 16-item questionnaire adopted for this study), referred to previous studies looking at blood CO2 levels in relation to NDEs. In contrast to the Slovenian findings, one earlier study found an association between NDEs and below-average carbon dioxide levels, whereas another failed to detect any significant difference in patients with versus without near-death experiences.

All of which simply highlights the lack of any reliable association in the evidence to date. If CO2 were the cause of NDEs, why did it not show up in all the previous studies?

Greyson has also criticised the team’s conclusion that CO2 plays a role in “provoking” near-death experiences, pointing out that correlation does not prove causality. (Shame on them for such a schoolboy error.) According to Greyson, high blood CO2 levels are associated with better cardiac output and coronary artery perfusion pressure, which, in turn, would help stave off the amnesia that often occurs in cardiac arrest. “Thus,” says Greyson, “the association between NDEs and higher carbon dioxide levels may indicate simply that patients who are able to recall more of their cardiac arrest also report more NDEs.”

In other words, a high level of carbon dioxide could simply enhance the memory of having had an NDE, rather than “provoke” an NDE in the first place.

And even if it were eventually established that there is a consistent association between raised CO2 and NDEs — this is still far from providing an explanation. The researchers themselves admit that the hallucinatory experiences that are typically induced by physiological factors such as CO2 tend to be fragmented, random and confusing — unlike NDEs which are clear, highly structured, deeply meaningful and easily recalled.

And finally, I would also make the following observation. The NDEs of these patients all occurred before hospital admission — either before or after an ambulance had been called. The blood CO2 measures, in contrast, were taken some time later, during or shortly after hospital admission — by which time the patient had already been resuscitated and their NDE was, presumably, over.

So what is the blood CO2 measure in this study actually telling us? That there could be a pattern of raised CO2 some time after having had an NDE.

On the strength of this study we could just as legitimately (and just as unreliably) conclude that having an NDE causes a subsequent increase in the level of CO2 in the blood, rather than the other way around!

Bad news for patients

It is possible that CO2 plays a role in NDEs, or in the memory of NDEs, or in the recovery from NDEs, or that it plays no role at all if this result was simply a glitch from a small sample. It is far too early to say on the basis of such flimsy evidence.

But, rather typically, a number of headline-writers have made the leap from tentative correlation to proven causation, announcing that NDEs have now been explained.

The experiences which near-death survivors report — which include floating out of their bodies, moving toward a bright mystical light, meeting the spirits of deceased friends and relatives, and feeling extreme joy and peace beyond anything known on Earth — are often described as the most joyful and most meaningful experiences of their entire lives. For many, they are conclusive proof of the existence of eternal life and a spiritual basis to reality.

The bad thing about all this misreporting is that for the next few months or even years, anyone who has a near death experience will be told by their family, friends and medical staff alike, “Oh, it was nothing but a trick of the mind caused by carbon dioxide. It’s been proven, you know. It was all over the news.”

Klemenc-Ketis, Z., Kersnik, J. & Grmec, S. (2010). The effect of carbon dioxide on near-death experiences in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors: a prospective observational study. Critical Care, 14(R56). doi:10.1186/cc89doi:10.1186/cc8952. Open access provisional PDF copy.

See also

Physician says near-death experiences are evidence for life after death.Personality & Spirituality

No medical explanation for near death experiencesNew Scientist

For more of my posts about near-death experiences, here’s an index:

2 thoughts on “Near-death experiences explained by carbon dioxide? [or: How journalism


 needed? Others think children have special environments and incentives, not more conducive brains. They have a strong motivation to communicate with caregivers and imitate peers, and are not afraid of making mistakes in the way adults are.

Some believe any “critical period” may only apply to the sounds of a foreign tongue. Adults struggle with accents: eight decades after immigrating to America and four after serving as secretary of state, Henry Kissinger still sounds fresh off the boat from Fürth—in what is nevertheless elaborately accurate English. (An alternative explanation, runs a joke about Mr Kissinger, is that he never listens.)

But grammar is different, and some researchers have reckoned that adults, with their greater reasoning powers, are not really at a disadvantage relative to children. One study found that when adults and children are exposed to the same teaching materials for a new language for several months, the adults actually do better. Most such research has had to rely on small numbers of subjects, given the difficulty of recruiting them; it is hard to know how meaningful the results are.

Now a large new study led by Joshua Hartshorne of Boston College (with Mr Pinker and Joshua Tenenbaum as co-authors) has buttressed the critical-period hypothesis. The study ingeniously recruited 670,000 online test-takers by framing the exercise as a quiz that would guess the participants’ native language or dialect. This made it a viral hit. The real point was to test English-learners’ knowledge of tricky bits of grammar, and to see how this correlates with the age at which their studies began.

Do younger beginners do better because their earlier start gave them more learning time, or because they learned faster in early years? It can be hard to tease apart these two questions. But testing a huge amount of data against a number of possible learning curves allowed Mr Hartshorne to do precisely that. Many previous researchers had posited a drop-off at around puberty. The new study found it to be rather later, just after 17.

Despite that later cut-off, learners must begin at around ten if they are to get to near-native fluency. If they start at, say, 14, they cannot accumulate enough expertise in the critical period. Unfortunately, 14 or so is precisely when many students, especially in America, are first introduced to a new language. (Even worse, this is an age when children are acutely sensitive to embarrassment in front of peers.)

Children who start at five don’t do noticeably better than those who start at ten over their lifetimes. But there is still reason to begin in the first years of school, as in Denmark and Sweden. Because mastery takes a long time—perhaps 30 years until improvement ceases—those who begin at five and are obliged to read and write English at university will by then have made much more progress than those who took the plunge at ten, even if their level is roughly the same by 40.

The existence of the critical period is not a reason for anyone 11 or older to give up. Some people remain excellent language students into adulthood. And Mr Hartshorne tested some truly subtle features of grammar that take years to master. A language learned even to a lower level can still be extraordinarily useful at work or enjoyable while travelling.

But for policymakers, the implication is clear. Earlier is better. Students outside the English-speaking world will eventually face English in the classroom or at work: they’ll have a better shot if they start younger. As for the Anglophone countries, getting foreign languages into the tender years is a hard sell. Many bureaucrats can hardly see past reading and maths. That is a mistake for many reasons. This study demonstrates one of them.

This article appeared in the Books and arts section of the print edition under the headline "Out of the mouths of babes"
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Classified ads<|endoftext|>Kari W. Mandan is from the United States. Kari was born in Tennessee. Kari is an alumni of Harvard Law School. Kari was born on May 5, 1965. Kari receives email at karim@gmail.com. Kari is a film director. Kari has the unique identifier 352f4f980c114526953313962d7ef1cb.<|endoftext|>o c t o b e r   9 9

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Oscar Tjärnberg. Photo: Tomas Annerby

photos: tomas annerby

Oscar Tjärnberg is the Captain of the New Swedish Tele Airforce. Well, that's what we call him. Basically, he rips. We had the good fortune to catch up with the Captain at his headquarters in Stockholm. Sweden that is.

Descender: When did you start freeheeling? How'd you get into it?

Oscar Tjärnberg: Well, actually I grew kinda tired of downhill skiing. I sort of stagnated in my evolution and I felt I needed something new. At the time I was working in a sport store at a Swedish ski resort where I could use rental equip for free. What a rush, that's the way skiing is supposed to feel. That was 1992, and I've been on tele's ever since, skiing roughly 150 days a year.

D: What's up with the tele scene in Sweden and Europe? How's the European tele scene different than the States?

Oscar: There are a lot of excellent telemark skiers in Scandinavia, go figure, since this is the home of freeheeling. But I still think we are less than 5 percent of all skiers. Keep in mind that almost everybody skis over here, so it's quite a bunch anyway. Europe, on the other hand, doesn't produce so many telemarkers, there is only a small core of hard hitting skiers in Austria, Switzerland and France. Randonee is, by far, the number one choice.

Oscar: Telemark and skiing in Scandinavia have diverted into two styles. One fast, hard, high jumping, doing snowboard tricks. The other, classic, staying in the grooms, hiking distant powder areas, touring. Both are fun in there own way, but I prefer the previous.

Oscar: How's the European scene different? Aren't all US telemarker pot smoking hobos, more or less? Nah, I don't really know. All the telemarkers in North America that I have met are really good guys, good skiers too. Maybe not that radical, since all they've experienced is powder. Over here we are born on blue ice and take any chance we get to huck off anything that resembles a cliff.

D: What kind of beer do you bring to the party? Who's the band?

Oscar: Beer!!! My favorite. I'd like to gulp a Carlsberg, or Norrlands Guld, or Snake River Lager. Love the Guinness. Hell, I'll drink anything that's yellow with bubbles in it, I'll even drink cheap Miller High Life if that's what they serve. Right now I'd really like to see Eve 6 or Everclear on the stage. I wish you could set that up for me when I come over to the States in the spring. Man, it's been a long time since I went to a good concert.

D: When we come to Sweden can we stay at your place? Will you introduce us to the Swedish tele groupies we hear so much about?

Oscar: Sure you can stay at my place. Nopraw. I share a 225 sq. ft apartment with my girlfriend. Rather tiny but my hospitality is huge. There is no skiing in Stockholm worth the name though, we'll have to go to the alps for that, but you should come here just because of the women. I'll make sure to introduce you around when you get over.

D: Where is skiing taking you? What's next in your skill progression?

Oscar: Right now I'm all about recovering. I got a femur (thigh bone) fracture during a photo session in Chamonix, last spring. Four steel pins and stiff knee, that what you get. The way back is long and hard. I have as a goal to be able to do that back flip in a mute grab position, that the guys in the Canadian Air Force do so nicely, before the winter is over. And I probably will too. Ever heard the expression: If you reach for the stars ...

D: Have you ever heard of Oliver Steffen?

Oscar: Ooh, now that's a laid back fella. He's a rude dude! Actually, no, I have not. Sorry. Who's he? (see Descender interview this issue)

D: We hear those guys that made Free Radicals

 ages and (in evolutionary terms) is no longer needed? Others think children have special environments and incentives, not more conducive brains. They have a strong motivation to communicate with caregivers and imitate peers, and are not afraid of making mistakes in the way adults are.

Some believe any “critical period” may only apply to the sounds of a foreign tongue. Adults struggle with accents: eight decades after immigrating to America and four after serving as secretary of state, Henry Kissinger still sounds fresh off the boat from Fürth—in what is nevertheless elaborately accurate English. (An alternative explanation, runs a joke about Mr Kissinger, is that he never listens.)

But grammar is different, and some researchers have reckoned that adults, with their greater reasoning powers, are not really at a disadvantage relative to children. One study found that when adults and children are exposed to the same teaching materials for a new language for several months, the adults actually do better. Most such research has had to rely on small numbers of subjects, given the difficulty of recruiting them; it is hard to know how meaningful the results are.

Now a large new study led by Joshua Hartshorne of Boston College (with Mr Pinker and Joshua Tenenbaum as co-authors) has buttressed the critical-period hypothesis. The study ingeniously recruited 670,000 online test-takers by framing the exercise as a quiz that would guess the participants’ native language or dialect. This made it a viral hit. The real point was to test English-learners’ knowledge of tricky bits of grammar, and to see how this correlates with the age at which their studies began.

Do younger beginners do better because their earlier start gave them more learning time, or because they learned faster in early years? It can be hard to tease apart these two questions. But testing a huge amount of data against a number of possible learning curves allowed Mr Hartshorne to do precisely that. Many previous researchers had posited a drop-off at around puberty. The new study found it to be rather later, just after 17.

Despite that later cut-off, learners must begin at around ten if they are to get to near-native fluency. If they start at, say, 14, they cannot accumulate enough expertise in the critical period. Unfortunately, 14 or so is precisely when many students, especially in America, are first introduced to a new language. (Even worse, this is an age when children are acutely sensitive to embarrassment in front of peers.)

Children who start at five don’t do noticeably better than those who start at ten over their lifetimes. But there is still reason to begin in the first years of school, as in Denmark and Sweden. Because mastery takes a long time—perhaps 30 years until improvement ceases—those who begin at five and are obliged to read and write English at university will by then have made much more progress than those who took the plunge at ten, even if their level is roughly the same by 40.

The existence of the critical period is not a reason for anyone 11 or older to give up. Some people remain excellent language students into adulthood. And Mr Hartshorne tested some truly subtle features of grammar that take years to master. A language learned even to a lower level can still be extraordinarily useful at work or enjoyable while travelling.

But for policymakers, the implication is clear. Earlier is better. Students outside the English-speaking world will eventually face English in the classroom or at work: they’ll have a better shot if they start younger. As for the Anglophone countries, getting foreign languages into the tender years is a hard sell. Many bureaucrats can hardly see past reading and maths. That is a mistake for many reasons. This study demonstrates one of them.

This article appeared in the Books and arts section of the print edition under the headline "Out of the mouths of babes"
Reuse this content
When it's a matter of opinion, make your opinion matter
Each week, over one million subscribers
trust us to help them make sense of the world.

Join them. to The Economist today

Classified ads<|endoftext|>o c t o b e r   9 9

issue info
Photo: Tomas Annerby

 This Issue:
 Igneous- TOC
 - Armond
 - Tomas
 - Bones
 - Rip Tip
 chair 13- chair 13
 nw lines- nw lines
 about- about
 Last Issue:
 Igneous- TOC
 Igneous- Igneous
 Oscar- Oscar
 G3- G3
 Baker- Baker
 chair 13- chair 13
 nw lines- nw lines
 about- about

 contact descender

 email updates:

Oscar Tjärnberg. Photo: Tomas Annerby

photos: tomas annerby

Oscar Tjärnberg is the Captain of the New Swedish Tele Airforce. Well, that's what we call him. Basically, he rips. We had the good fortune to catch up with the Captain at his headquarters in Stockholm. Sweden that is.

Descender: When did you start freeheeling? How'd you get into it?

Oscar Tjärnberg: Well, actually I grew kinda tired of downhill skiing. I sort of stagnated in my evolution and I felt I needed something new. At the time I was working in a sport store at a Swedish ski resort where I could use rental equip for free. What a rush, that's the way skiing is supposed to feel. That was 1992, and I've been on tele's ever since, skiing roughly 150 days a year.

D: What's up with the tele scene in Sweden and Europe? How's the European tele scene different than the States?

Oscar: There are a lot of excellent telemark skiers in Scandinavia, go figure, since this is the home of freeheeling. But I still think we are less than 5 percent of all skiers. Keep in mind that almost everybody skis over here, so it's quite a bunch anyway. Europe, on the other hand, doesn't produce so many telemarkers, there is only a small core of hard hitting skiers in Austria, Switzerland and France. Randonee is, by far, the number one choice.

Oscar: Telemark and skiing in Scandinavia have diverted into two styles. One fast, hard, high jumping, doing snowboard tricks. The other, classic, staying in the grooms, hiking distant powder areas, touring. Both are fun in there own way, but I prefer the previous.

Oscar: How's the European scene different? Aren't all US telemarker pot smoking hobos, more or less? Nah, I don't really know. All the telemarkers in North America that I have met are really good guys, good skiers too. Maybe not that radical, since all they've experienced is powder. Over here we are born on blue ice and take any chance we get to huck off anything that resembles a cliff.

D: What kind of beer do you bring to the party? Who's the band?

Oscar: Beer!!! My favorite. I'd like to gulp a Carlsberg, or Norrlands Guld, or Snake River Lager. Love the Guinness. Hell, I'll drink anything that's yellow with bubbles in it, I'll even drink cheap Miller High Life if that's what they serve. Right now I'd really like to see Eve 6 or Everclear on the stage. I wish you could set that up for me when I come over to the States in the spring. Man, it's been a long time since I went to a good concert.

D: When we come to Sweden can we stay at your place? Will you introduce us to the Swedish tele groupies we hear so much about?

Oscar: Sure you can stay at my place. Nopraw. I share a 225 sq. ft apartment with my girlfriend. Rather tiny but my hospitality is huge. There is no skiing in Stockholm worth the name though, we'll have to go to the alps for that, but you should come here just because of the women. I'll make sure to introduce you around when you get over.

D: Where is skiing taking you? What's next in your skill progression?

Oscar: Right now I'm all about recovering. I got a femur (thigh bone) fracture during a photo session in Chamonix, last spring. Four steel pins and stiff knee, that what you get. The way back is long and hard. I have as a goal to be able to do that back flip in a mute grab position, that the guys in the Canadian Air Force do so nicely, before the winter is over. And I probably will too. Ever heard the expression: If you reach for the stars ...

D: Have you ever heard of Oliver Steffen?

Oscar: Ooh, now that's a laid back fella. He's a rude dude! Actually, no, I have not. Sorry. Who's he? (see Descender interview this issue)

D: We hear those guys that made Free Radicals live in van down by the river. Do you ever visit them? Ever ski with Erik Mossfeldt?

Oscar: They keep changing the address, haven't seen them for a while. I think they've been all busy making the new FR 3. I hear it's gonna be even better than the last one.

Oscar: Erik got